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The Phorm case adds rising buttons to your iPad Mini's keyboard
Tactus is finally bringing its practically magical rising touchscreen keyboard to a shipping product -- but right now it's only meant for iPad Mini owners. The company's Phorm cover looks like a typical iPad Mini case, but slide a switch on its rear and you'll see physical buttons morph into shape atop the tablet's keyboard. Slide it back, and the buttons disappear completely to reveal a flat screen (the case holds a bit of fluid to make its floating keyboard work). As you can imagine, it's something aimed directly at people who could never quite get the hang of touchscreen keyboards. Tactus CEO Dr. Craig Ciesla tells us that the case has helped testers improve their typing speed and accuracy, but the biggest improvement was in overall typing satisfaction. A bit of feedback goes a long way, it seems. You can preorder your very own Phorm today for $99, or snag one for $149 when it starts shipping this summer.
12 moments in the keyboard's history
At some point in the day, we all smash our fingers against some form of keyboard -- whether it's of the physical or virtual variety. In this week's Rewind, we take a look at how the keyboard's grown beyond its humble typewriter beginnings and taken on a life of its own.
Alleged budget iPhone shows off polycarbonate body, brings back good memories
The rumor about that more affordable iPhone just keeps coming back, but this time we're finally seeing some sort of progress. Courtesy of case manufacturer Tactus, we're apparently looking at the upcoming budget iPhone's polycarbonate shell, which was spotted at a factory that provides parts to Foxconn. It's the same story for the "iPad 5" case leak that Tactus published two days ago (the same day as our own scoop), so the company does seem to have a good contact for these kinds of goodies -- and it is a very competitive market, after all. Compared to the old polycarbonate iPhone 3G and 3GS, this mysterious shell appears to have a flat back instead of the old curved one, meaning it should reduce manufacturing complexity and therefore the cost as well. Another notable difference is that the old volume rocker is split into two, and then there's also the LED flash that was absent on the old polycarbonate iPhones. Tactus adds that this body is slightly taller, wider and thicker than the iPhone 4 and 4S, but what we do struggle to believe is that apparently the same factory is producing this shell in black and white as well as blue, red and yellow. A decoy, perhaps? Only time will tell.
Making the virtual a reality at CES 2013
Microsoft's decision to drop out of CES prompted a lot of questions with regards to the future relevance of CES, not the least of which was how much the industry really needed an in-person tech trade show in an age where business is primarily done online. Of course, there's still a fair amount of value in offering members of the media and buyers the opportunity to actually interact with the technology in person. And while software companies have long been a staple of the show, their presence is most often an acknowledgement of hardware partners. It's fitting, then, that many of the show's offbeat highlights came in the form of companies looking to offer hardware solutions to our increasingly virtual world. Parrot's always-amusing CEO, Henri Seydoux said it best while showing off the latest additions to the company's AR.Drone on our stage. "Today, the kids have video games," he told us. "They've replaced toys, because it's a much more interesting experience. With the drone, we've tried to make toys as fun as video games." And it's easy to see how such a product can be taken as a real-world answer to smartphone gaming, with video from the built-in camera being overlaid with AR content.
CES 2013: Best in show
Selecting the best in show is no easy task, because CES covers such a crazy range of devices: refrigerators, tablets, smartphones and even technologically advanced cutlery. This year was no different. We've combed our CES 2013 coverage and narrowed it down to the biggest announcements that had us chattering at this year's show. Join us after the break for CES 2013's very best.
Tactus morphing touchscreen keyboard hands-on (with video)
We had opportunity to catch Tactus at SID earlier this year, though with news that the Tactus keyboard was new and improved for CES we had no choice but to take a quick peek. What's new? Well, Tactus has been sampling some new coating materials attempting to reduce glare -- and succeeding -- and to cut down on the controller's size by 70 percent and in so doing also doubled up the speed that the keyboard activates. As a refresher, the system includes a reservoir stored in the device, a controller to move the fluid into the tixels -- yes, tixels, Tactile Pixels -- and software to control the entire system. Once activated, the tixels inflate and become squishy that offer tactile keyboard-like feedback. We like this, though it's still early days, the system works surprisingly well. Application may eventually vary from gaming to accessibility with future offerings adding a complete matrix of independently addressable tixels. Take a peek at the gallery and video after the break.
Tactus' morphing smartphone and tablet display hands-on
Tactus Technology, a small start-up out of Fremont, CA, made a big splash at this year's Society for Information Display (SID) conference. The company, which came to Boston, MA toting a single product, showcased an early prototype of its morphing touchscreen display. The screen, which looks and acts like all other smartphone and tablet displays, has a very special and unique feature: it can dynamically create and remove tactile keys on demand. Tactus utilizes a specially designed window that sits directly on top of a display's touch sensor -- which we're told can be fitted to almost any touchscreen -- that has specially designed channels. A "proprietary oil" is, at the behest of the underlying operating system, forced in and out of these channels to raise the display surface and create a tactile interface for the end-user. It's a concept that, much to the delight of ardent smartphone and tablet keyboard lovers, can provide a physical input experience without sacrificing screen real estate. Have a look at our hands-on gallery then saunter past the break to see this tactile touchscreen in action and read our impressions. %Gallery-157475%
