N-Trig pen tech whittled down to single DuoSense chips and sensors, shrinks scribblings to travel size
As much as N-Trig is an old hand at supporting styluses, it's had to focus on tablets and other larger devices due to technology limits: the HTC Flyer is about as small as the company has gone to date. A new version of N-Trig's DuoSense chipset family could be the ticket to going to much smaller sizes. The new 4000 series condenses both pen input and multi-touch finger gestures into a combination of one chip and one sensor, letting any entrepreneurial device maker stuff the two control methods into a handheld device with as little as a 5-inch display. Naturally, the chip line scales all the way to 15.6-inch panels for creatives poking at the screens of laptops and larger Ultrabooks. We're told that both Android and Windows slates will get N-Trig's tinier touch tricks before the end of the year -- whether or not that includes phablets with the same girth as the Galaxy Note or Optimus Vu, however, is left to our wild imaginings.
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N-trig Single-Chip Solution Brings Pen and Multi-Touch Computing to the Small Screen
July 18, 2012
A first in the industry, DuoSense supports devices with screen sizes from 5-15.6", lowering power and size requirements and opening the door to the handheld market
KFAR SABA, Israel -July 18th , 2012- N-trig, providers of the DuoSense pen and multi-touch user interface, today announced that the fourth generation DuoSense chipset family has been extended to include single-chip solutions. While competing solutions require either two sensors or multiple chips to support pen and multi-touch, N-trig is the first company to offer both on a single chip and a single sensor, providing device manufacturers with a compact, low-power solution and paving the way for N-trig to enter the handheld market. The newest DuoSense chipset is optimized for a variety of screen sizes, ranging from 5" handhelds to 11" tablets, and offers an Analog-IC that allows for support of up to 15.6" portable PCs.
The DuoSense single-chip solution is the first single-chip on the market to support both pen and multi-touch input for mobile computing, allowing for easier integration and flexibility in thinner and slimmer computing designs. It also offers the ability to support a chip-on-flex configuration, in which the chip is directly mounted and electronically connected to a flexible circuit, eliminating the need for a controller.
"Our innovative single-chip solution allows OEMs to offer industry-leading pen and multi-touch input while meeting market demand for lighter, thinner and smaller devices," said Ronen Heldman, VP Marketing, N-trig. "We especially look forward to introducing our unmatched pen and multi-touch capabilities to the handheld market."
The chipset family includes:
* DS-P4048 - Optimized for handheld solutions with screen sizes of 5"-6"
* DS-P4080 - Optimized for mini-tablets with screen sizes of 6"-8"
* DS-P4096 - Optimized for tablets with screen sizes of 9"-11"
* DS-A4016 - An analog-IC that can be used in conjunction with the DS-P4096 to support Ultrabooks and mobile computing devices with screen sizes of up to 15.6"
* DS-D4000 - A Digital-IC together with multiple DS-A4016, is optimized for meeting the increasing demand for narrow designs in the Ultrabook and mobile computing device markets
Chipset engineering samples are already available for customers, and the DuoSense solution will be integrated in a number of Android and Windows/Windows 8-based tablets scheduled for release later this year.
