Lots of folks are picking up on a study that says users are having some “fat finger” difficulty with Touch on the Kindle Fire. All of the Apple lovers are saying this affirms Steve Jobs’ comments that Tablets in a 7 inch form factor just won’t work. Time may indeed prove Jobs correct, but quite [...]
Patently Apple points to some new patent information from Apple that shows some possible (and potentially powerful) new touch gestures. The concepts behind these patents make good sense to me. First up is what is labeled as Swipe and Hold. The user swipes in a direction but leaves the finger on the screen. Data then [...]
Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute have taken the wraps off a new project that projects a hover-capable, motion-tracking, multi-touch interface on any surface, even your own hand. It’s called OmniTouch and it’s a step above anything I’ve seen before.
Wacom’s line of Bamboo pen + touch input tablets has new names, new color schemes, and a new wireless connectivity option to cut the tether between tablet to PC.
Finally. It seems like someone in the patent process has decided to apply some common sense and perspective. Apple had applied for a patent on the term “multi-touch” in 2007 when it released the first iPhone. At the time just about everyone who had been using multi-touch on other devices thought this was an over [...]
Of all the touch features in Windows 8, the one I feel is most valuable is also the least dazzling. “Fuzzy hit targeting” as it was called earlier this year enables wide fingers to more accurately work with an interface designed for pinpoint cursors. But how does it work? Long Zheng at istartedsomething explains. The [...]
I’m sure the hackers and tinkers out there will enjoy this. I’m not sure HP or the webOS team will though. The folks at Team TouchDroid have been working, as have other groups, to get a working port of Android onto the HP TouchPad. The Team TouchDroid folks now have that going and some working [...]
Last month, I had the good fortune to have tested two slates, the HTC Flyer and Fujitsu Stylistic Q550, with pen + touch digitizers from the same vendor: N-Trig. Due to software and design choices, the experiences of both were quite different, but I tried to look past that to get a feel for the [...]
A candy shell with sweet filling and a bitter core, that’s how I’d sum up the Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 slate Tablet PC if it was a confectionery treat. Nearly everything about this tablet is first-rate, except the slow processor. There are understandable reasons for that, but ultimately, while the Q550 can do the work, it [...]
Windows 7 enthusiast Justin Campana has put together a wonderful custom interface for a fully touch-optimized environment using a combination of ObjectDock, widgets, themes, and the right applications on his ASUS Eee EP121. Beautiful.
Patent applications can give us some idea of what companies are thinking about for the future. And usually that future is a ways down the road. Apple has recently filed some patents that show some interesting new multi-touch gestures for its iOS devices, although I would assume some of that might make it to the [...]
I’m sure you’ve heard that you can enable a few multi-touch gestures on your iPad (either the original or the iPad 2. We blogged about it here where you can find the instructions to turn them on. Essentially you download Xcode 4 (now up to 4.1) from the Mac App Store for $4.99. Hook up [...]
If you’ve downloaded Firefox 4 to your multitouch Windows tablet and wondered why pinch-to-zoom wasn’t working, it’s not just you. The update has that disabled by default, but a little configuration magic can get it up and running again, as well as a twist gesture to roll between tabs.
One of the best features of a tablet PC is that it does not require external input devices. On slate tablets in particular the lack of a keyboard and track pad, as well as the slim form factor makes them portable, easy to use and in many ways downright fun. Ultimately although the concept of [...]
With the developer previews of OS X 10.7 being rolled out by Apple, we’re beginning to see new features in additions to those features that Steve Jobs had demoed in a prior Apple keynote. Those features take the best-in-class user experience designs of Apple’s experience in mobile from iOS on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and [...]
Developers had discovered new multitouch gestures on the iOS 4.3 Developer Preview of Apple’s mobile operating system targeted for the iPad, however, the company is saying that those features are for testing at this time and will not make it to the consumer release of iOS 4.3. Those new multi-touch gestures provides the same functions [...]
With the rise of the iPhone, many handset-makers have tried to replicate Apple’s success with capacitive touchscreen displays, abandoning old technologies such as resistive touchscreens. While there are advantages and disadvantages to both touchscreen technologies, for now, gesture support, ease and accuracy of tapping, and the ability to use high-end materials, such as Gorilla Glass, [...]
The developer beta of iOS 4.3 will bring a number of new features to the iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV. On the Apple iPad tablet, the new version of iOS will allow users to swipe with four or five fingers to access important commands that were previously limited to the multi-function press of the home [...]
Microsoft’s Surface technology has always been some very cool technology. If you’re a casino, or other big money business that can afford to play the game. I guess it’s no real surprise that after the release of Windows Phone 7 we’d see a Surface 2.0 update since one of the appealing factors of the Surface [...]
Time to brush up on your penmanship: Yesterday’s report that N-Trig will support Android devices has been confirmed. The company posted a release backing the story from Ina Fried. But will Android tablets ship with pens or will pens be optional? And is this big news for tablets or bigger news for eReaders?
Ina Fried at D: All Things Digital is reporting that N-Trig is hoping to woo Android Tablet developers to the world of pen and touch. Featuring N-Trig’s DuoSense technology that allows both pen and touch, NTrig is making the rounds and hoping that Tablet makers see that Pen functionality might actually help them stand out [...]
Looks like Microsoft continues to try and push the envelope when it comes to touch. According to a recently filed patent they’ve created a method of touching a surface to create a different tactile experience that makes users think they are touching a 3D like surface. According to an article on New Scientist, Microsoft is [...]
The Microsoft Kinect sensor is one of the most impressive bits of consumer technology released this year and it’s going to impact much more than just the XBOX 360. A team of engineers has hacked the Kinect sensor to control a Windows 7 PC. In this demo you can see how a user can control [...]
As I wrong-headedly researched resistive multi-touch screens, I ran across an old announcement by Fujitsu on their offering. By strange coincidence, they followed that up just yesterday with an announcement of their North American debut of these multi-touch panels certified for Windows 7.
A projected capacitive touchscreen from Hitachi, previously named as a potential iPhone upgrade, sneaked out on a YouTube video from DigInfo. It demonstrates stylus input and contact through gloves, as well as multi-touch input. However, I don’t peg it as being an option for iPhone.
Awhile back I blogged about the pinky out test when it comes to multi-touch devices. In case you’re too lazy to follow the link, essentially the passing pinky out test means that when you’re sitting at a restaurant eating some greasy food you can extend your pinky and scroll up and down the screen effortlessly. [...]
I posted about AGloves a week or so ago. Although I don’t think they are actually for me, AGloves actually do work quite well with capacitive touch screens. I got sent a pair for review and so last night my lovely wife, Thomasin and I gave them a try. You can check that out in [...]
If you live in colder climes and like to use your touchscreen devices out of doors, you know the problem. Gloves on, cold hands, gloves on, not good for using a capacitive touchscreen. Well, it looks like the folks at AGloves might have a solution. I say might because I obviously haven’t tried these out. [...]
So we’ve heard from Chris about how he’s no longer using his iPad, and from Warner about how he’s using his iPad more and more. Seems like a straight point-counterpoint, right? Well, don’t count the third parties out yet. I don’t have an iPad. Am I alone?
At today’s “Back to the Mac” event, Steve Jobs and company showed off Mac OS X 7 a.k.a. Lion. Unlike the Snow Leopard release, which was primarily under the hood improvements, Lion is mostly UI improvements, specifically features they’re bringing in from the iPad and iOS.
HP’s refreshing the touch interface on its all-in-one PCs. The Touchsmart 600 and the newly minted Toucsmart 310 appear to have a heavily customized version of Thinix running on top of Windows 7. The Touchsmart’s UI is much more fluid and touch applications are no longer required to run in full screen, offering a little [...]
The talk lately is all about Tablets and Slates that’s for sure. But if Microsoft’s Principal Researcher Bill Buxton is correct, we might be seeing more multi-touch in the home about three years from now. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Buxton says that he expects to see Microsoft Surface in homes in [...]
Touch is touchy. It works well in many cases, and well there are just some cases that it isn’t quite there yet. According to this article on TechCrunch web designers don’t favor touch all that easily because it is harder to code for in the browser, and easier to do so in dedicated Apps. Yahoo [...]
Multi-touch on Tablets and slates have taught us all to tap to have our devices spring to life and execute our wishes. But on Notebooks, Netbooks, Laptops, and Desktops clicking is still all the rage. Until recently, the Mouse has been all about clicking, and trackpads (with or without buttons) have been as well. But [...]
Microsoft Research puts a lot of thought into how users interact with computers. In this video, they evaluate different methods of manipulating objects with a multi-touch mouse. The resulting report shows that it’s a pretty complex challenge to build a multi-touch mouse that’s more usable than an ordinary mouse or a multi-touch display. While the [...]
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These days whenever someone mentions the word “Tablet” visions of the iPad or something similar dance in their heads. Not that long ago a tablet was something quite different: a Windows-based slate computer. Since the rise of the new idea of the tablet there have been a few Tablet PCs trying for relevance in an [...]
