Items tagged with Touch-screen
The U.S. Navy has come to a conclusion that many drivers of modern vehicles would agree with; adding touchscreen interfaces for controls can often makes things more complicated. The U.S. Navy has now found out after an investigation into the aftermath of a fatal USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) accident that sailors aboard the Navy's destroyers also much prefer traditional mechanical controls over touchscreens. The investigation into the collision found that the touchscreen system in the destroyer, DDG-56, was complex and sailors had been poorly trained to use the system. This resulted in the loss of control of the ship just before it crossed paths with a merchant ship in the Singapore Strait. After...
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Back in 2013, a company called Kano set out to teach kids and adults alike how to code with a simple computer and coding kit that appeared on Kickstarter. It received over $1.5 million in funding and has been shipping every since. Today, however, Kano is kicking things up a notch with the Computer Touch Kit, essentially the same computer and coding kit but now with a touchscreen. "Designed to help beginners of all ages to understand how a computer works, what’s going on behind the touchscreens that we use everyday, and how to create art, music, and games with code—the Computer Kit Touch is a DIY computer that we want you to touch," Kano explains. At its core, the Computer Touch Kit...
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It's crazy to think what kind of technologies will be commonplace in vehicles within the next 10 or 20 years. Whereas power windows, cruise control, and more recently satellite radio were all once cutting features, today's generation of car buyers may wonder how we ever got by without such amenities. Likewise, the next generation might be accustomed to new technologies BMW is putting in place, like touchscreen displays with gesture controls and key FOBs that take the stress out of parking in tight spaces. Let's start with the touch display. In the next generation of the BMW 7 Series, the iDrive operating system's monitor will come with a touch display for the very first time. It's a logical extension...
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Over the past several years, Lenovo has been aggressively targeting PC gamers, who are known both for their willingness to drop serious cash on hardware and for their skepticism of mainstream brands. Lenovo inherited some of IBM’s corporate image when it took over the company’s laptop business, but winners like the Yoga line got Lenovo tons of exposure with mainstream consumers too. Along the way, the entertainment-friendly Y series of laptops became Lenovo’s gaming line: a suite of affordable systems that brought Lenovo’s understated design sense to bear in a market awash in garish colors, lights, and gimmicks. The Y70 Touch is Lenovo’s flagship mobile gaming PC, so we took...
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Today we’re going to take a look at the latest version of the XPS 13. This updated version has not been redesigned, but it does include a new, larger capacity battery (55WHr compared to the previous 47WHr battery). And along with Intel's 4th generation Haswell Core series processor for more efficient computing, Dell claims the new XPS 13 can deliver up to 11 hours of wireless web browsing on a single charge. Other key updates for this iteration of XPS 13 includes an optional 13.3-inch touch-enabled 1080p display and Windows 8.1. Review: 2014 Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Delivers With Exceptional Battery Life Like previous versions of the XPS series, the 2014 version of the XPS 13 features machined...
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Dell aims to give users a premium mobile experience with the company’s XPS line of laptops. Not long ago, we had some hands-on time with Dell’s XPS 15 and really liked it. Last year, we also took a look at the 2013 version of Dell’s XPS 13. Here again, we had many positive things to say of Dell's top shelf ultralight 13-inch machine. Today we’re going to take a look at the latest version of the XPS 13. This updated version has not been redesigned, but it does include a new, larger capacity battery (55WHr compared to the previous 47WHr battery). And along with Intel's 4th generation Haswell Core series processor for more efficient computing, Dell claims the new XPS 13 can...
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Intel's 4th generation Core processors, based on the company's Haswell microarchitecture, have done good things for ultrabooks this year. Thanks to Haswell, Ultrabooks have moved much closer to Intel’s original vision of thin, light, low-power (but still powerful) systems that eschew outdated components and usher in new features like ultra high resolutions and touchscreen displays. Acer’s recently-updated Aspire S7 is a good example of just how far ultrabooks have come, and where they are headed... Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook Review...
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Intel's 4th generation Core processors, based on the company's Haswell microarchitecture, have done good things for ultrabooks this year. Thanks to Haswell, Ultrabooks have moved much closer to Intel’s original vision of thin, light, low-power (but still powerful) systems that eschew outdated components and usher in new features like ultra high resolutions and touchscreen displays. Acer’s recently-updated Aspire S7 is a good example of how far ultrabooks have come and where they are headed. Acer sent us an Aspire S7-392-6411 for review and evaluation. The model rings in at $1,399.99 at Acer’s online store and seems to be consistently-priced among the usual online...
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Gateway still makes computers, and the company actually has a pair of notebooks coming out that offer 10-point touch screens. What’s more, the machines are surprisingly affordable--the Gateway LT41P starts at just $329.99, and the NV570P is $449.99. The LT41P is a small laptop with a 10.1-inch display (1366x768) running an Intel Celeron processor and Intel HD integrated graphics. There’s a 500GB hard drive on board along with 2GB of RAM, and for a nice value-add you get Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 Edition thrown in for free. Gateway LT41P The larger NV570P offers a 15.6-inch display and runs more powerful Intel Core (Ivy Bridge) processors. This machine offers Intel HD...
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Fox News is trying to bring TV news further into the digital age, where news runs 24/7 and updates are up-to-the-second, with its ambitious “Fox News Deck”. Comprised of a small sea of 55-inch touchscreen machines (called “BATS”, for “big area touchscreens”) and a 38-foot video wall, the whole brightly-lit setup looks like the deck of a spaceship. The set is for Shepard Smith’s new show “Shepard Smith Reporting”, which will air at 3pm eastern and run into the evening. Conceived by Roger Ailes, the Fox News Deck allows workers at the BATS to pull in and organize news from across a variety of platforms--and they’ll be on camera the whole...
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It's becoming ever more clear that 4K technology will gain some serious traction once it penetrates the mainstream with reasonable pricing, and if televisions weren't enough, Sharp's hoping to garner some attention with a new touchscreen LCD monitor. The new PN-K322B is a 32" LCD with a full 4K resolution (3840x2160), and yes, you can touch it. Assuming you can afford one, of course. Its high-precision touchscreen allows accurate onscreen handwriting of fine text and lines, with writing performed via a dedicated touch pen with a pen-tip width of just 2 mm. The display also supports multi-touch operation. The PN-K322B features a palm cancellation function that prioritizes pen input even when the...
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We hear the phrase "the future is mobile" a lot, but just what does that mean? Most of us are equipped with smartphones, and some of us tablets... just how much more mobile can we get? With devices that we don't own, but still use, of course. Case in point: an installation eBay is planning to kick-off with a major retail partner in New York City this summer. The plan was mentioned at TechCrunch's ongoing Disrupt conference by eBay CEO John Donahoe. Details are extremely light at the moment, but what is known is that this retail outlet will have a touchscreen window, likely to allow passersby to browse various collections and maybe even buy something. Would you have to log into your eBay account,...
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Windows 8 sales may have gotten off to somewhat of a slow start, but has since sold 60 million copies, which includes both individual licenses and new PC sales with Windows 8 pre-installed. That figure may get a boost in the coming weeks as Best Buy starts offering discounts on touchscreen PCs. According to The Wall Street Journal, Best Buy on Sunday is kicking off a two-week promotion offering $100 off the purchase of touchcreen laptops and desktops running Windows 8. Microsoft couldn't be happier about it. "Touch unlocks an entirely new way to interact with Windows that we believe represents the future of computing," Janelle Poole, marketing communications senior director for Windows, said...
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For a period of time, it looked as though Google's Chromebook platform would simply fade into the footnotes of technological history, but it's seeing a bit of a renaissance as of late, being reborn as the modern day netbook. It started with some much needed price cuts (Acer sells its Chromebook for $199 and Samsung's model runs $249) and continues with well timed upgrades, such as the 14-inch model HP now sells. What will tomorrow bring? Touchscreens! We already had an idea that Google was working on touchscreen support courtesy of a leaked Chromebook Pixel concept video, and now The Wall Street Journal is reporting that we'll see touch-enabled models debut by the end of the year. Details are...
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Although Nvidia's Tegra 3 has been taking tablets and smartphones by storm, there are other noteworthy mobile processors out there, including Qualcomm's dual-core, 1.5GHz 8060A. The Snapdragon S4 SoC appears in the Lenovo IdeaTab S2110, which is a 10.1-inch tablet that runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0. That's not a bad setup for a tablet, particularly if you're shopping on a tighter budget. Lenovo took a different approach with the IdeaTab S2110’s display than we usually see. Whereas other tablet makers are gunning for the highest resolution displays, Lenovo opted for a 10.1-inch screen with 1280 x 800 resolution and a 16:10 ratio. That means 1080p is out of the question, but the screen...
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Although Nvidia's Tegra 3 has been taking tablets and smartphones by storm, there are other noteworthy mobile processors out there, including Qualcomm's dual-core, 1.5GHz 8060A. The Snapdragon S4 SoC appears in the Lenovo IdeaTab S2110, which is a 10.1-inch tablet that runs Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0. That's not a bad setup for a tablet, particularly if you're shopping on a tighter budget. Lenovo took a different approach with the IdeaTab S2110’s display than we usually see. Whereas other tablet makers are gunning for the highest resolution displays, Lenovo opted for a 10.1-inch screen with 1280 x 800 resolution and a 16:10 ratio. That means 1080p is out of the question,...
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We recently had the opportunity to chat with Synaptics and get some hands-on time with an array of already-available and upcoming input technologies. The big announcement coming from Synaptics today is that the company’s ForcePad has been selected for the User Interface Software & Technology (UIST) Student Innovation Contest, which will take place in October in Cambridge, Massachusetts. UIST is a forum for innovations in the software and technology of human-computer interfaces, which is sponsored by ACM's (Association for Computing Machinery) special interest groups on computer-human interaction (SIGCHI) and computer graphics (SIGGRAPH). For the past three years, Microsoft hardware...
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Tablets and smartphones and Windows 8, oh my! In case you haven't noticed, touchscreen computing is a big deal, and it's only getting bigger. Unfortunately, gaming on a tablet pales in comparison to fragging your friends on a PC with a mouse and keyboard, or even on a console using a controller. Tapping and dragging is about all you can do. But what if there was an accessory that allowed you to do more? That's where Ringbow comes in, a neat little gamepad that you wear on your finger when using a touchscreen device. You operate the ring with your thumb while using your finger to tap the touchscreen, the combination of which opens up a world of possibilities. Ringbow is compatible with Android,...
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We're on the homestretch of Windows 7 being Microsoft's flagship operating system for consumers, and in a matter of months, Windows 8 will roll into view with its Metro UI sitting in the driver's seat. Microsoft appears to have built Windows 8 with a ginormous emphasis on touchscreen computing, which is great for tablets and all-in-one desktops, but what about laptops? Well, according to DigiTimes and its "sources from the upstream supply chain," Asus and Acer are gung-ho to launch touchscreen laptops. More than just a trial run for these two companies, DigiTimes says touchscreen laptops are expected to account for 10 percent of all notebook shipments by Asus and Acer by the end of the year....
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Haptics is one of the next big advances for touchscreen technology, and while there are always new ideas for tactile technology coming down the pike, the field is still wide open to innovation. NEC and the Tokyo Institute of Technology partnered up on an interesting concept that utilizes directional force to shift the whole touchscreen to give the user some tactile feedback. It’s actually sort of a primitive idea in some ways; there are four wires, each attached to a corner of the screen and operated by tiny motors, and they respond to input gathered by optical sensors in the bezel. What this technology does is provide a directional sensation, and because the tensile strength of the wires...
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When it comes to the iPhone, Apple doesn't prescribe to the philosophy that bigger is better, unlike Android devices, which keep growing and growing (Galaxy Note, anyone?). Instead of launching the iPhone 5 that everyone was expecting, Apple came out with the iPhone 4S and it shipped with the exact same measurements as the iPhone 4 (2.3 inches wide by 0.37 inches thick), almost the same weight (4.9 ounces versus 4.8 ounces), and the same Retina display (3.5 inches, 960x640 pixels). For the next iteration, conventional wisdom says Apple needs to finally increase the iPhone's screen size, and as rumor has it, that's exactly what the Cupertino company plans to do. Citing a South Korean media report,...
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A new iMac Touch model could be in the works over at Apple. Maybe. That's the speculation after the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that describes a desktop system with virtual control on a touchscreen. It's far too early to tell if that's what Apple is up to, but with so many all-in-one (AIO) PCs now supporting touchscreen input, it makes sense that Apple would add one of its own. Of course, Apple never seems to do anything without adding a twist, and this is no exception. According to Patently Apple, the patent application has to do with a new hybrid knob/slider control that would replace traditional knob controls (see illustration below). Source:...
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