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Archos Child Pad gets capacitive screen upgrade, minor price hike to $140
Parents who've already purchased Archos' 7-inch Child Pad may be feeling somewhat miffed, as its screen's been upgraded from resistive to capacitive just two months after launch. There's no such thing as free multi-touch, so you'll have to fork out another ten bucks on top of the original asking price for the new version of the ICS slate, bringing the total to a cent under $140. Other internals are identical, so customers can still expect a 1GHz ARM processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of expandable storage, with some exclusive chipmunk-based content to boot. Just remember to let the kids have a go once in a while.
Keepin' it real fake: Chinese Nokia N9 makes but minor sacrifices
Chinese rip-off merchants have been crafting N9s since before the handset even existed and by now they're pretty good at it. This latest bogie comes in at just $64 -- way cheaper than a genuine budget smartphone -- but it still manages to pack in dual SIM slots, a mock iPhone UI and a resistive touchscreen that gives you the ergonomic pleasure of pressing everything three times. Sure, we have a few misgivings about the lack of functioning apps and the blurry 1.3MP rear camera, but then even the N-Man himself has the occasional phony moment. Update: We switched the pic to show you the iOS version, rather than the mock Sense variant depicted earlier. Yes, it seems you do get a choice.
Andy Pad, Andy Pad Pro now available within Europe, for not a lot of money
If you've been twiddling your thumbs in anticipation of the Andy Pad's arrival, twiddle no more, because the budget-friendly Android slate is now available across most of Europe. Both the 8GB model and its 16GB Andy Pad Pro counterpart appeared on the British manufacturer's website today, with the former priced at £129 (about $208) and the latter running for £179 (roughly $289). Both of the seven-inch tablets run on Gingerbread and offer up to six hours of battery life, though the Pro features a capacitive touchscreen (1024 x 600), compared with its little brother's 800 x 480 resistive display. If you need a little low-cost Android love in your life, hit up the source link to grab one for yourself.
Andy Pad Pro gets detailed while Andy Pad makes film debut (video)
Low-cost Android, actually looking decent? Seems like it. We've caught wind of a few hitting the scene at this point, and there's little question that the Andy Pad folks appear to have something better in mind. The company's been slowly releasing info on Twitter about its 7-inch Andy Pad and Pro variant, and has also recently updated its website; the AP Pro's finally been priced for £179 (about $290) and there's now a full shot of the slates along with specs. While we knew the Pro would have a capacitive touchscreen and front / rear cams, those "additional features" have panned out to be an increased 1024 x 600 screen resolution and Bluetooth connectivity (it seems the 16GB model was this version all along). Still aching to see one in action? AP's also posted a YouTube clip of the base model zipping along and effortlessly hurling Angry Birds through its Gingerbread scented air. It'll still be about month until the duo hit the streets, but for now, you'll find the video past the break.
ZiiLabs unveils Jaguar family of Honeycomb tablets for OEMs to devour
Just a few weeks after unveiling its ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 StemCell processors, ZiiLabs has now designed a new family of slates to house them. Developed with the OEM market in mind, the company's new Jaguar Honeycomb tablets come in two breeds -- one with a seven-inch, 1024x600 LCD and another with a ten-inch 1280x800 display. Unlike their ZiiO predecessors, these 64GB siamese twins call for both capacitive and resistive touchscreen capabilities, support OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics and, as you can see in the image above, feature front- and rear-facing five-megapixel cameras. And, of course, there's a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 ZMS-20 or quad-core ZMS-40 helping them purr right along, both clocking in at 1.5 GHz. The two Jaguars will be uncaged at next week's Computex tradeshow in Taiwan, but you can find more information in the PR that awaits you after the break.
Alcatel Onetouch 905A gets measured by the FCC, receives a stamp of approval for AT&T
When we played with Alcatel's entry-level Android offerings at this year's MWC, it was assumed the handsets would begin infiltrating the domestic paygo market -- of course, we hadn't expected a previously unseen feature phone to be the first arrival. The Onetouch 905A recently graced the FCC, and it's now clear for take-off on AT&T, bringing a 2.8-inch resistive touchscreen at 320 x 240 pixels, a 2 megapixel camera and FM radio to Ma Bell's bottom shelf. Get a good look, because if you accidentally destroy your iPhone and are needing a quick fix, the Onetouch 905A has "punishment phone" written all over it.
Nokia's upcoming C2-series slider spotted in India, keeps the low-end in check
A prototype of Nokia's C2 series dual-SIM phone was recently spotted in India, adding a resistive touchscreen to the manufacturer's mix of budget offerings. This glossy T9 slider was spotted with a two megapixel camera (sans flash), and sadly forgoes such niceties as WiFi and 3G connectivity -- presumably in the name of keeping cost down. There's no word on pricing (yet), though we do know this handset is running Series 40 6th Edition, and thankfully features Bluetooth (revealing the name of the device as C2-06). All told, Nokia is far removed from the bleeding edge on this one, although it's always comforting to know they're looking out for the little guy.
Resistive HTC devices can have (pseudo) multitouch, too
"Multitouch on a resistive screen?" We must be joking, right? Not at all -- if we've learned anything from our encounters with a little firm named Stantum, resistive multitouch is not only possible, but potentially preferable to its capacitive counterpart. Of course, that knowledge doesn't help you any if you're currently stuck with single finger commands, but if your phone is made by HTC and running Windows Mobile, you may one day get to see what two digit input feels like. Adel Al Zubeir figured out that when two fingers are placed on a single-touch screen, the digitizer reads the spot between the two... and with a little bit of math, he cooked up a program that can figure out the relative position of both fingers to allow vaguely useful pinch-to-zoom and other dual-touch gestures. Sadly, you can't just drop this onto your phone to instantly enable the tech a la Cyanogen, but if you develop for WinMo, you can start building functionality into your apps with the beta SDK at our source link. Early proof-of-concept video after the break. [Thanks, David C.]
Nokia's Maemo 5-equipped N900 on sale in America for $649
We've already given you a glimpse at the N900, but as of today, you Yanks in the crowd can wrap your own limber paws around Nokia's hero device. Admittedly tailored for enthusiasts and developers to use while the company maneuvers Maemo into its product line, the N900 is now available through Nokia Flagship stores in New York and Chicago, the firm's website and "various independent retailers and e-tailers." A tidy sum of $649 (or $510 if you're smart enough to check Amazon) nabs you an unlocked version with a 5 megapixel camera, 32GB of internal storage and a bombastic, Flash-lovin' web browser. Ain't no shame in lusting after one, but tell us earnestly -- are you forking out nearly seven bills to bring one home?
HTC Tattoo has resistive touchscreen, a few regrets
We suppose it was inevitable. In the effort to take Android to the mainstream (i.e., cheap) with the HTC Tattoo, HTC had to commit that most controversial of technological sins: fronting a touchscreen-only device with a resistive sensor. Granted, Android is more prepared for pairing a resistive screen with your stubby fingers than something like the stylus-oriented Windows Mobile, but it's still not going to be a joy for implementing the OS's few gestures or the imperfect touchscreen keyboard. As we're sure you'll all agree.[Thanks Pilou; via MobileTechWorld]
MacCores iTab Mini mod gives us a taste of the future
Given that September 9 is unlikely to finally reveal the fabled Apple tablet, this might be the nearest thing we have to it for a while yet -- and it has one other advantage: it's real. The iTab Mini is a mod project of the "more time and energy than sense" variety (our favorite kind) that melds together a 12.1-inch resistive touchscreen display with the remnants of an old PowerBook and a decidedly modern Core 2 Duo 2.16GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD spec. The outcome is, in a word, stunning. You can find a full run-through of the build at the read link.
RIM patent filing reveals hybrid capacitive / resistive touchscreens
RIM's no stranger to playing different tricks with touchscreens, and it looks like it may have another up its sleeve, with a recent patent application revealing some plans for a hybrid capacitive / resistive touchscreen. As you might expect, the idea here is to take the best aspects from each and form one super touchscreen, which would have the general usability and "goodness" of capacitive displays, and the added benefits of a resistive screen, like better support for stylus-based input. Of course, such a screen would also likely eliminate one of the biggest advantages of resistive displays -- their cost-effectiveness -- so it seems safe to assume that it'd be reserved for higher-end phones to start with.[Via Unwired View]
M&Soft launches 7-inch Mappy AP1 PND in South Korea
M&Soft's Mappy navigation software seems well established in Korea, and now the company has decided to offer its own hardware for it in the shape of a 7-inch SiRF-based touchscreen device. Of course, it wouldn't be a South Korean PND if it didn't include a DMB digital TV tuner, video and audio playback, and a photo / text viewer, but the company's gone one better by offering the elaborate, gimmicky GUI you see above. Pricing is pretty decent too, set at 349,000 KRW ($283) with a 4GB SDHC card, or 399,000 KRW ($323) for an 8GB unit. The AP in the model name stands for "Absolute Pride" -- sure, make your jokes, but maybe it's that wise-guy sense of humor keeping this sort of tech away from Western shores.[Via Slashgear]
Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet does a little hands-on time
Looks like the Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet has made it out of the labs (and controlled show floor settings) and into the hands of Crave UK, where that seemingly-amazing resistive touchscreen continues to impress -- so much so that they initially thought it was a capacitive unit. We actually pinged Crave ed Nate Lanxon to find out what was up, and the real story appears to be a mystery -- either Archos PR is mistaken in telling everyone that it's a resistive screen, or the company has somehow improved the tech to the point where it's virtually indistinguishable from a capacitive display. Given our experience with previous Archos resistive touchscreen devices that felt like mush, we've got to say we're going with Occam's Razor on this and that it's really capacitive, but we're definitely ready to be proven wrong -- hey Archos, you feel like sending us a new toy to play with?
Touchpanel Laboratories shows off touchscreen with 9-point detection
It's not exactly as impressive as a touch panel with unlimited points of input, but this new resistive touch panel with 9-point detection from Touchpanel Laboratories is still a cut above most and, better still, it seems to actually be ready to head into production. Unfortunately, details are otherwise a bit light, but the company does say that they're able to make panels ranging in size from four to 15 inches. Touchpanel Labs didn't stop there, however, and also took the opportunity to show off a touchpanel that can be installed on curved surfaces, as well as a touchpanel-based ordering system specifically designed for use in restaurants, which it intends to install in "bars located around the company."
Stantum's mind-blowing multitouch interface on video!
We just got a look at some amazing touchscreen interaction, running on a humble resistive touchscreen with some OMAP hardware backing it up. Stantum's technology is a software-based refinement to resistive touchscreens that allows for accuracy beyond the pixel density of the display, a complete lack of touchscreen "jitters" and some fairly incredible input methods. Termed "TouchPark," the multitouch framework provides gesture recognition, cursor management and physics processing for phone builders to stick on top of the phone OS (Symbian, Windows Mobile and Android are currently supported), and works with hardware such as Texas Instruments Zoom, Freescale i.MX and ST Nomadic. The PMatrix multitouch firmware allows for unlimited inputs, detection of any contacting object (a finger, a stylus or even a paintbrush) and pressure sensitivity. We played with the demo unit for a bit and were frankly blown away, it's far and away the best touch experience we've ever seen or felt, and the multitouch functionality is just gravy on top. Stantum is targeting resistive touchscreens because they're still considerably cheaper to build than capacitive ones, and from our perspective there seems to be zero tradeoff -- for sensitivity and accuracy this destroys everything else we've seen on the market, capacitive or not. Sadly, there's no word on when this will make it into real, shipping handsets, but we'll certainly be tracking its progress obsessively. Video is after the break.%Gallery-45326%
