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Experimental controller has 'thumbstick within thumbstick' for blistering sensations (video)
Just when you thought slingshots were the future, here comes a whole new way to enjoy baddie deletion in Uncharted 7. Each thumbstick on the prototype controller above has a secondary force feedback-enabled nub at its center, which moves independently and creates different sensations by stretching the skin on the pad of your opposable digit. In the video after the break, the designers at the University of Utah show how they've created effects for crawling, collisions, explosions and even fishing. They're apparently hoping to push their technology into next-gen games consoles, but they'll have to join the queue.
MyFord Touch update rolling out now, promises to be 'faster, simpler, better'
It's been a few months since Ford promised us that juicy refresh to its whips' infotainment system, but it looks as if the wait is about to come to an end. The Built Tough manufacturer says it's finally shipping those 2GB USB sticks (plus an SD card if you have Navigation) to proud owners of MyFord Touch-equipped rides. Included in the fresh update -- which promises to be faster, simpler and better -- are things such as easier controls, audio support for tablets, improved Sirius commands and the ability to jam listen to Audible audiobooks. Folks rockin' the Nav add-on will also see bits like updated map views, additional 3D landmarks as well as better graphics. So you should probably be hitting up your mailbox more often than usual to grab your stick as soon as it arrives, and if you'd like to prepare yourself, then head on over to the source where an installation walk-through video awaits. [Thanks, Letalis]
Neonode zForce uses infrared LEDs to measure pressure, replace capacitive touch (hands-on)
Smartphone fanatics may recall the Neonode N2 -- a rather unique recall-plagued feature phone that ultimately resulted in the demise of the company's handset arm. Neonode is still a major player in the portable device market, but may be more familiar to OEMs that employ its infrared LED-based touch technology, rather than consumers that utilize it in e-readers, with tablets soon joining the mix. zForce offers several advantages over its capacitive-based counterparts -- it's incredibly responsive and accurate, and can now measure the intensity (or pressure) of your touch, and not just position. There's also a built-in proximity sensor that can be added to any device for a few pennies, which is considerably less than traditional offerings. However, because Neonode uses an array of infrared LEDs and photodiodes, a raised bezel is required to accommodate the additional hardware, making it impossible to integrate a flush display.We went hands-on with an updated smartphone-sized embed of the company's zForce technology that not only works with any object, such as a finger, pen or a paint brush, but also recognizes both the pressure of your implement and also its size, so a larger paint brush has broader strokes than a smaller one, for example. Because the device can operate at 500Hz all the way up to 1,000Hz (refreshing 1,000 times per second), it appears to be incredibly responsive, with an almost unnoticeable delay between the time you touch the pad and when your input is displayed on the screen. A second demo unit, called Stargate, offers dual-layer touch with support for 3D control -- you can literally reach inside the unit to manipulate an object. There's no word on when this latest tech will make its way into devices, or how exactly we'll see it used, but you really need to see it in action to get a feel for how it works -- jump past the break for our video hands-on.%Gallery-149305%
Wacom announces Intuos5 graphics tablets, we go hands-on! (video)
It's a couple of months since we spotted paperwork for a mysterious "PTK-450" device at the FCC and now Wacom has finally revealed the gadget that goes with the label. The Intuos5 tablet is available to purchase immediately in Small (4 x 6 inches), Medium (6 x 8) and Large (13 x 8) sizes, priced at £200, £330 and £430 respectively. We're still waiting on confirmation of US pricing, but it'll no doubt be less than what a straight currency conversion suggests (i.e. somewhere below $320, $525 and $680). There's actually a fourth variant to add to the trio, but it's not an XL -- Wacom is hoping to up-sell you to a Cintiq 21UX or Cintiq 24HD if you want something bigger. Instead, the fourth tablet is a version of the Medium that comes without touch sensitivity, bringing the price down to £270 if you're able to live with pen-only input. Opting for this particular model will remove one of the biggest upgrades in this three-year product cycle: the ability of the Intuos5 to sense up to 16 finger-touches simultaneously, rather than just the nib of the pen. But there have been other revisions since the Intuos4 aside from touch, and you only have to read on to discover what those are.Update: There was a problem with the embedded video -- sorry folks. It's working properly now, along with more gallery pics below.Update: Just got word on US pricing. $230, $350 and $470 for the touch sensitive models. $300 for the Medium without touch. Also coming to the US is a pen-only version of the Small tablet -- we're not sure how much that'll cost (and Wacom's site seems to be down right now), but it'll be the cheapest upgrade of the bunch.
Hands-on with Immersion HD Integrator hi-fi haptics
It was just over a year ago when we met with the folks from Immersion, and they showed us a prototype handset packing its HD haptics technology. Since that time, the piezoelectric actuator that makes the tactile magic possible has gone into mass production, and the first commercial device packing such hi-fi haptics, the Pantech Element, hit store shelves. Immersion's got greater aspirations for its tactile tech, however, and its new HD Integrator platform aims to put high fidelity haptics in every handset. We got to sample the HD haptics goods once again and chat with Immersion about the new platform and its technology, so head on past the break to see what the company has in store.
Switched On: Think form factors, not PCs
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The iPad, launched in 2010, kicked off the post-PC era. The combination of a multitouch display and keyboard-less design enabled mobile computing in a way not done before. On the other hand, maybe the IBM Simon, launched in 1992, kicked off the post-PC era. Widely considered to be the first smartphone, it enabled mobile computing in a way that was not done before. Then again, maybe the Osborne I, launched in 1981, marked the beginning of the post-PC era. After all, it was widely considered to be the first portable computer, enabling mobile computing in a way that was not done before.
Super Meat Boy to be torn apart, rebuilt for touchscreen devices
Super Meat Boy has seen success on Xbox Live, PC and Mac, but as is often the case while playing SMB, Team Meat have decided that's not good enough. Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes of Team Meat announced via Twitter today that they're rebuilding Super Meat Boy from scratch for a potential launch on mobile touch devices.In a six-part tweetfest, Team Meat disclosed the following details: The touch title will be remade from scratch and won't play like Super Meat Boy; it will be a larger, more traditional game, unlike titles such as Doodle Jump; and they promised it won't use "shitty touch controls.""if you liked SMB im sure you will enjoy this (if its good enough to continue on :) ) we just had a few cool ideas and wanted a challange," one of Team Meat's tweets reads.Team Meat said that if the project fails and turns out to not be any fun, they'll scrap it and move on to the next idea, which we can only assume is a Super Meat Boy live-action point-and-click adventure title in 3D. Those adventure things are all the rage these days, we're told.
Cryoscope gadget simulates tomorrow's weather today (video)
This multi-layered device can't shower you with hail or tan your outdoor-deprived complexion, regrettably. What it can do though, is deliver a direct haptic sensation of how warm or cold it'll be tomorrow, just in case you decide to venture out of your bedroom. An Arduino controller pulls in forecast data from the web and uses it to adjust a Peltier element and a cooling fan, which are housed along with a heat sink inside a neat and tactile aluminum box. The Cryoscope is the handiwork of industrial design student Robb Godshaw, and it's the reason he already knew he'd be wearing a skinny t-shirt and stripey socks in the video after the break.
Parrot reveals Starck-designed Zik Bluetooth touch-activated headset, Zikmu Solo wireless tower speaker (hands-on)
Parrot's AR.Drone 2.0 may have been one of the more joy-inducing wares we've seen here at CES, but that was yesterday. Today, we dare to say that that one of two audio devices just unveiled (and designed by Philippe Starck, we might add) has our jaw dropping, and our ears tingling -- the absolutely gorgeous Zik Bluetooth touch-activated headset, pictured above. The Zik's loaded with goodies -- Bluetooth connectivity, active-noise cancellation, NFC and touch controls on either earcup, not to mention its jawbone and "presence" sensors among a few other notable tidbits like its DSP-enabling app that adds a "concert-type" vibe to its sound. As far as that second device goes, Parrot's introducing a singular stereo version of its Zimku wireless tower speakers, aptly named Zikmu solo. Head past the break to find our brief impressions and a video overview of a pre-production Zik, and hit up the galleries below for some closeup shots of it and the Zikmu solo.
Intel demos Ultrabooks with multitouch displays, games using an accelerometer
Well, this was probably inevitable, wasn't it? We're here at Intel's Ultrabook CES keynote, where PC client head honcho Mooly Eden just showed off Ultrabooks with touchscreen displays. No convertible form factors, just yet, but clamshells with multitouch screens -- you know, the kind of thing we marveled over when the TouchSmart tm2 came out two CES' ago. Sounds predictable enough, right? Well, get this: after he was done swiping the display, using pinch to zoom to magnify webpages, he launched a game, and used the accelerometer in the laptop to fly a plane into the horizon. That's right: you'll soon be able to game with your sub-three-pound laptop as you would with a smartphone or tablet. Let's just hope those Ultrabooks eventually stop ballooning back into straight-up notebook territory, eh? Billy Steele contributed to this report.
Mogees uses contact microphone and gesture recognition to create music on any surface (video)
The piezoelectric effect is an interesting phenomena. Capable of turning vibrations into electric signals, it's at the heart of the Mogees project from Bruno Zamborlin and Norbert Schnell. Here, a contact microphone is connected to a system that processes sound from unique gestures and then triggers the appropriate instrument in its database -- thereby turning virtually any surface into an experimental jam band. Different gestures may be added to Mogees, which can also recognize the difference between fingers and objects such as coins. The project isn't commercially available, but if you're unfamiliar with the magic of contact microphones, we think the video after the break will be a rather fascinating introduction. Hell, with a similar setup, anyone could be a budding musician. Just don't let it all go to your head if you make the big time.
Neonode's NN1001 optical touch controller tracks gestures with any object, 'gloved fingers' included
Neonode's name isn't plastered on your spate of gizmos, but if you've purchased a touchscreen-based device in the past year or so, there's a better-than-average chance that it's technology is tucked within. In the run-up to CES, the outfit is introducing the world's first ultra-low power single-chip optical touch controller, NN1001. This guy was developed in cooperation with Texas Instruments, specifically designed to shave costs and increase performance / functionality for smartphones, tablets, e-readers and automotive applications. The device has a scanning speed of 1,000 Hz (latency down to one millisecond) and consumes less than 1mW at 100Hz; better still, it'll track any high-speed multi-touch gesture with any object (including a finger, gloved finger and passive pens). We're told that it'll work in single or multiple configurations to support screen sizes up to 20 inches, but there's no clear view as to what products are lined up to receive it. That said, we're promised an early look of an automotive application at CES, where it'll head into the public world in the latter half of 2012.
Galaxy Nexus users reporting touchscreen trouble, lower scores in multitouch games (video)
Looks like the honeymoon is ending a little early for some Galaxy Nexus users -- a pair of RootzWiki threads say that the device is struggling to maintain multitouch in some situations. Apparently the bug is repeatable, booting up a multitouch game like Gun Brothers or Shadow Gun will put the lower right hand portion of the smartphone's touchscreen in a finicky mood. We gave the glitch a go on a couple of different handsets, and were indeed thwarted by the touchscreen's tantrum. Turning the Nexus' screen on and off seems to fix the problem -- at least until you jump into your next game -- and the bug only seems to appear when the device is in landscape mode. This is likely a software bug, but until it's fixed, we'll just have to take it one touch at a time. Don't have a Nexus? See the glitch in action after the break. [Thanks, Jim]
How UMvC3's Vita touch controls work
Portable versions of fighting games have a long and storied history of using alternate control schemes, although it's primarily been more out of necessity than for the sake of innovation. These days, however, modern handheld systems (like Sony's upcoming Vita) offer just as much input dexterity as their shelf-based counterparts, if not more so, to the point where developers are able to expand and experiment with their control paradigms. The Vita port of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, for example, makes use of both the device's touch screen and its rear capacitive touch panel for movement and attacks. Moving your finger horizontally along the back panel moves your character left or right, moving it down makes them duck and moving it up makes them jump. Attacks are initiated by tapping the screen, and hyper-combos are triggered by tapping the hyper meter; assists are called in by tapping the respective character's icon. It sounds like an awful lot of furious tapping and awkwardly loving strokes along the back of the device, and considering that all of your characters' meters could be on the left or right side of the screen, a bit of ambidextrousness may be required as well. Fear not, however: Conventional control methods will be included at no extra charge.
PingChat! becomes Touch, delivers real-time social collaboration to Android, BlackBerry and iOS (video)
13 million PingChat! users will soon find their cross-platform instant messaging companion taking on a more social and interactive life. Today, Enflick is announcing a new platform for communication known simply as Touch. In addition to being available as a separate download, existing PingChat! users will be presented with an upgrade that maintains their existing user names and contacts. Rather than working from predefined lists or blasting messages to all contacts, Touch allows users to determine specifically who to share a message or photo with, and also bring new friends and family members into the conversation on-the-fly. The program also shows when someone is typing, and the push-style system allows users to see exactly when messages have been read. The free app will launch today for Android, BlackBerry and iOS users. Sorry, Windows Phone fans, Enflick has no immediate plans for your platform, although it promises to continue to monitor demand. Be sure to check out the full gallery below, along with a quick video and the full PR after the break. %Gallery-141033%
Apple updates look and feel of App Store on iOS
Apple has updated the App Store as usual today with the newest staff picks and featured apps for the week, but there's one other new touch (so to speak) on the iPhone and iPad. You can now simply swipe in the App Store's featured window to flip through pages of apps, as pointed out by AppleNApps. Before, you had to actually click on to each category page or featured page, and then when you went to look at an app specifically, the store tossed you right back out to the front. But now you can simply swipe both the apps on the main page as well as apps on the category pages, and viewing an app and then hitting back just sends you right back to where you were browsing. Very handy, much less annoying than the old way. As far as I can tell, there are no major updates for the iTunes version of the store -- it looks the same to me. Last week on the Talkcast, I had talked about updates I'd like to see in the App Store in the future, including some way of marking whether apps were on sale or not, and even a section a little more specific than "New and Noteworthy," showing just which apps were brand new, or even apps which were recently updated. But this change is nice nevertheless. It should definitely make app browsing even easier on the various iOS devices. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Amazon Kindle Touch review
It was back in back in September that Amazon finally unveiled the Kindle Fire, its long awaited entry into the budget space. The full-color, multimedia slate hit the sweet spot, price-wise, sliding in at a hair under $200 and setting the tech world abuzz. The company made it clear, however, that it still had a horse in the standalone e-reader race -- three horses, in fact. That same event also saw the unveiling of the fourth-generation Kindle and the Kindle Touch, two new devices that take slightly different approaches to the post-keyboard world of e-readers. And, to play it safe, Amazon announced that it would be keeping the Kindle 3 around -- albeit, rebranded as the Kindle Keyboard. At $79 for the ad-supported version, the Kindle 4 carved out a whole new price point for e-readers. The Kindle Touch meanwhile, marked a belated entrance into touchscreen e-ink devices -- a market that had already been populated by several high-profile competitors: Barnes & Noble's Nook, Kobo and Sony. Why did Amazon hold off so long? According to the company, it was "waiting to get touch right." Without spoiling this review too much, there are indeed some features of this new device that suggest the wait was worth it. But are these elements enough to dethrone the Nook Simple Touch as the best devoted e-reader out there, especially given that the Nook, too, recently got a refresh of its own? Does Amazon still have what it takes to remain the clear market reader in e-books? And is the $20 premium worth the step up from the fantastically affordable fourth-gen Kindle? The answer to all of this and more can be found after the break.%Gallery-139211% %Gallery-139209%
Synaptics shows conceptual trackpad interface with Windows 8, better make it a reality (video)
It's pretty obvious from Microsoft's outing of Windows 8 that touch is going to be a real focal point, but on machines that lack a touchscreen, it'll be the trackpad pulling weight. Synaptics, a famed touchpad maker, has just outed a new concept video demonstrating how its products will eventually -- in theory, anyway -- interact with Microsoft's forthcoming desktop OS. We've made no bones about the fact that most Windows-based laptops could use a serious lesson in trackpad awesomeness, and while there's no way to know for sure that the latest Series 7 ClearPad and ClickPad solutions will feel like they need to, the video hosted up after the break sure gives us reason to be optimistic.
New use for an old technology brings touch input to... almost anything
Imagine, if you will, a world where everything from the clothes on your back to the glass in your hand was a touch-enabled device. We're not there yet, but thanks to researchers at the University of Munich and the Hasso Plattner Institute, we're closer to just such a touchy-feely future. Those German scientists are now able to tell when and where your fingertip touches (or gets close to) a wire using time domain reflectometry, or TDR. It works by sending electrical pulses through a wire and measuring the time it takes for the pulses to return. See, the presence of a finger reflects some of the pulse, and by using an oscilloscope and a computer to view and analyze the resulting waveform, researchers can pinpoint where the touch occurs. TDR has been used for years to find faults in underwater cabling, but only recent advances have allowed its application over the short distances used in consumer applications. In its current form, the equipment isn't quite ready for public consumption -- those pulse generators and detectors need to shed a few pounds first -- but given how quickly silicon's shrinking, it shouldn't be long before our truly tactual world is real.
Stanford builds super-stretchy skin sensor out of carbon nanotubes (video)
An artificial skin that senses pressure, pinches and touch sounds like a macguffin from The Outer Limits (the episode "Valerie 23" if we recall correctly), but that's what a team from Stanford University has cooked up on the back of its pick-up truck. Sensors made of silicon films with a matrix of liquid carbon nanotubes ensure the material snaps back to its original shape no matter how frequently it's pulled about. When compressed, the electrical conductivity of the skin changes, and by measuring where and by how much, it knows the location and pressure of where you jab your fingers. The team wants to combine this super stretchy film with a much more sensitive sensor and if it can do it, then the technology could end up as an artificial skin for burn victims, covering prosthetic limbs or even replacing your multitouch display -- just be careful, you might hurt Siri if you pinch-to-zoom her too hard.
