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At this week's Microsoft promotional bonanza, otherwise known as TechFest 2011, a team of researchers debuted a rather shabby looking capacitive stylus that switches between functions based on your grip -- an interesting addition to a rather stagnant market, sure, but there are still a few kinks to be worked out. The multi-purpose tool enlists capacitive multi-touch and orientation sensors to respond to how you hold the thing, allowing you to perform a number of different tasks with a simple repositioning. A demo video of the stylus at work shows a disembodied hand switching between a pen, an airbrush, a compass, and even a virtual flute with ease, but while the project stresses the "naturalness" of the experience, we're pretty sure nobody sketches quite like that. Check out the video after the break to see what we mean.

Continue reading Microsoft researchers show off intuitive stylus, don't know how to hold a pencil (video)

Microsoft researchers show off intuitive stylus, don't know how to hold a pencil (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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French sensor manufacturer Fogale Nanotech -- historically more of an industrial supplier than a consumer-facing one -- was demonstrating its non-contact capacitive sensors at CeBIT this week and how they might be used for the most consumer-facing application of them all: smartphone interfaces. Fogale had two stations set up, PCs running Windows Phone 7 emulators with the sensors attached out front (oriented like you might place a trackpad on a desk). Though they didn't have any actual phone prototypes on hand with the technology integrated, it's clear that they're trying to drum up support with a manufacturer partner or two; in the meantime, you can get a sense of what's going on by waving your hand over the phone-shaped sensors at the stations. We found that as long as you're within about half inch of the pad, the on-screen cursor flys by in perfect harmony with your finger. Of course, there are plenty of unanswered questions here: deciding on the best user experience for actuating taps is key... but perhaps more importantly, we're not certain that you need your hand waving slightly above your phone while using it anyway. Don't get us wrong, it's super cool -- but are you really that worked up over smudges? Follow the break for a quick video of Fogale's recorded demos plus some time at the live kiosk.

Continue reading Fogale Nanotech takes the 'touch' out of 'touchscreen smartphone' at CeBIT

Fogale Nanotech takes the 'touch' out of 'touchscreen smartphone' at CeBIT originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were quite bedazzled by the HTC Incredible S after our hands-on at MWC, but it's the auto-rotating icons for the capacitive buttons that left us most intrigued. So we went back to the HTC booth to try to make sense of it all. From what we were able to observe, there's some optical trickery happening here: the icons appear to be glittering and shimmering depending on viewing angle as if lit through a prism, half-mirror or grate of some kind. We think that a pair of LEDs are used to project the intended icon onto the glass surface via either a combination of prisms and half-mirrors, or via horizontally and vertically polarized grates. Watch our video after the break, and let us know in the comments how you think this actually works.

Continue reading HTC Incredible S auto-rotating buttons explained? (video)

HTC Incredible S auto-rotating buttons explained? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were quite bedazzled by the HTC Incredible S after our hands-on at MWC, but it's the auto-rotating icons for the capacitive buttons that left us most intrigued. So we went back to the HTC booth to try to make sense of it all. From what we were able to observe, there's some optical trickery happening here: the icons appear to be glittering and shimmering depending on viewing angle as if lit through a prism, half-mirror or grate of some kind. We think that a pair of LEDs are used to project the intended icon onto the glass surface via either a combination of prisms and half-mirrors, or via horizontally and vertically polarized grates. Watch our video after the break, and let us know in the comments how you think this actually works.

Continue reading HTC Incredible S auto-rotating buttons explained? (video)

HTC Incredible S auto-rotating buttons explained? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Things tend to get messy for the competition when Apple decides to direct its vast cash reserves on "very strategic" components. Especially when Cupertino starts waving around stacks of dough in the range of $3.9 billion to $7.8 billion. For reference, just look at what Apple did to NAND supplies as the flash-based iPod rose to dominance. Today DigiTimes is reporting that Apple is occupying close to 60 percent of the global touch panel production capacity from the likes of Wintek and TPK resulting in "tight supply" for the competition. The impact on consumers, according DigiTimes' sources at upstream component makers, is that tablet PC makers are unable to ship enough product to match orders due to component shortages. The issue is especially troublesome for second-tier tablet hopefuls who must compete with the likes of HP, RIM, Motorola, HTC, Samsung, LG, Dell (everyone but Sony) for the scraps. As a result, Apple should be able to more easily meet iPad demand in 2011, according to DigiTimes, while its competitors struggle to keep up.

Apple creating touch panel shortages for tablet competition? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 01:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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