Atmel's XSense technology will make curved touchscreens possible (hands-on)
Atmel's XSense technology made its debut way back in April of 2012, but today ASUS became the first big name gadget maker to commit to using the tech -- pledging to put it in an unnamed next-gen tablet set to debut in Q1 of this year. For those unfamiliar, XSense is a capacitive touch sensor that can be bent and bonded to surfaces of any shape. We got to see XSense for ourselves at CES today and chat with its makers to learn a little more about it.
While there are no technical limitations to the size of its touch sensors, Atmel's technology is currently limited to a max size of 32 inches due to manufacturing constraints. However, the company has plans to increase that fabrication size at its Colorado manufacturing facilities. We got to test out the technology on a piece of Corning Gorilla Glass bonded imbued with XSense (alas, no ASUS tablet sneak peeks to be had), and can confirm that the technology does work quite well. The company sees its touch sensor as a way for device makers to utilize currently unused edge real estate on phones and tablets, in addition to providing designers with more flexibility when creating gadgets. Of course, we'll have to see what kind of creative ways ASUS and other OEMs implement XSense, but you can see some shots of the sensor film and Atmel's demo unit in our gallery below.
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ASUS Selects Atmel XSense Flexible Touch Sensor for Next-Generation Tablet
First Tablet Featuring Film-based XSense Technology
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 2013 International CES -- Atmel® Corporation (ATML), a leader in microcontroller (MCU) and touch solutions, today announced that leading mobile computing provider ASUS has selected the recently launched Atmel XSense™ touch sensor for a next-generation tablet scheduled to be released to the market in Q1 2013.
Using Atmel XSense touch sensors, a 2013 CES Innovations award winner, the new ASUS tablets offer consumers superior touch performance. ASUS already offers several Android-based tablets, including its award-winning Eee Pad Transformer powered by Atmel maXTouch® technology.
"We are thrilled to have an inventive company such as ASUS select our XSense technology for their new tablet," said Jalil Shaikh, Vice President and General Manager of Touch Materials, Atmel Corporation. "ASUS is one of the first companies to integrate and bring to market our revolutionary touch sensor technology to the mass market taking advantage of XSense's improved performance and better noise immunity. We are excited to team with ASUS and look forward to continuing this collaboration."
Optimal for a wide range of touchscreen products, XSense touch sensors provide a high-performance alternative to existing touch sensors. XSense enables thinner sensor stacks with superior performance to enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as ASUS to develop larger, lighter, sleeker, curved and edgeless designs for smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks and a plethora of next-generation touch-enabled products.
