Posted 12/12/08 at 04:57:58 PM by Andy Salisbury

Sony’s latest addition to the Walkman line is slated for a 2009 debut at CES. The supposed touchscreen Walkman will come in 16GB and 32GB flavors, sport an OLED screen, and even feature some Wi-Fi capabilities! You know, so you can watch YouTube and other completely original tasks for a internet-capable touchscreen MP3 player.

It’s suggested that the software of the Walkman will remain essentially the same, and there won’t be much difference between the menu structure of current Walkman players and the expected arrival. It’ll support MP3, WMA, AAC and PCM audio codecs along with AVC, MPEG-4 and WMV video.

Heck, the player is so advanced that it even features a fully featured music store, a web browser, and to help set it apart from anything else on the market that might bear any resemblance, an FM tuner! Booyah!

It’s rare that in today’s market you’ll see fresh and original pieces of technology like this. It’s always great when a big company like Sony takes it upon themselves to really break the mold. I wonder what Appl--- err, Sony will come up with next?

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sony, iphone, touchscreen, Walkman, iPod Touch

Posted 12/01/08 at 06:11:12 PM by Andy Salisbury

If your mouse just isn’t doing it for you anymore, consider this – $44 is all it takes to change your notebook’s boring LCD monitor into a tablet!

Thanks to the Duo Wireless Digital Pen Mouse, all it takes is a clip on sensor and a wireless pen to make the conversion from mouse to touchscreen. Clipping the sensor onto the top of your screen will allow you to doodle all you want, directly on your LCD. Though, at $44 it’s suspected that the resolution might not be up to par with other kits. But if you’re looking for a very cheap alternative (cheaper than some traditional mice), it’s definitely worth checking out.

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lcd, notebook, laptop, tablet, touchscreen

Posted 11/24/08 at 11:32:33 AM by Paul Lilly

Asus is on target to ship between 300,000 and 400,000 handsets by the end of 2008, which isn't nearly as many as the company would have liked. Part of the lower than expected shipment numbers can be attributed to not having enough models to choose from. So far in 2008, Asus has launched just seven new smartphones, or only half as many as the company had hoped with its initial target of 13 to 15.

Going into 2009, Asus plans to make a bigger push into the smartphone market with at least 10 new models, almost all of which will support 3G and come with a touchscreen. Both the transition to 3G and developing handsets based on Google's Android platforms have prevented Asus from releasing as many models as it would have liked up to this point, but according to industry sources in Taiwan, Asus has strengthened its R&D to address both of these areas. If Asus meets its new goals for 2009, it could prove interesting as Asus and rival handset maker High Tech Computer (HTC) try to one-up each other with new devices.

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mobile, asus, Smartphone, consumer electronics, htc, touchscreen

Posted 11/21/08 at 08:09:59 AM by Paul Lilly

VIA, a one-time major player in the enthusiast motherboard chipset market and a current producer of low power processors (VIA Nano), has largely been overshadowed by bigger players in nearly every sector it competes in. So while VIA might be having trouble finding some love in the PC market, the company hopes it can fare better in less traditional areas with its new VIPRO VP7710 fanless touch-screen panel PC.

"Amid growing public acceptance of intuitive touch screen technologies, the VIA VIPRO addresses an increasing demand for cost effective, intelligent displays in commercial applications such as ticketing, ATM, vending and information kiosks as well as sophisticated fleet deployment infrastructures in transport, delivery and logistics enterprise," VIA states in a press release.

VIA opted for heavy steel and aluminum to construct the VIPRO's chassis, which serves to protect the 10.4-inch TFT display from shock, vibration, and other potential calamities. The touch screen also resists both water and dust, making it ideally suited for outside use.

From a hardware standpoint, the VIPRO comes with either a 1.6GHz VIA Eden or 1.0GHz C7 processor, up to 1GB of DDR2 memory, support for both IDE and SATA 2.5-inch hard drives, and integrated VIA UniChrome Pro II graphics. Additionally, a second display can be added via a VGA port.

Hit the jump to see a YouTube video of the VP7710 in action.

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display, hardware, VIA, touchscreen, vipro

Posted 11/06/08 at 09:47:02 AM by Paul Lilly

Among other things, Vista's successor, Windows 7, will bring with it multi-touch support utilizing technology developed by the Surface team. What impact this will have on touch-based computing as a whole remains to be seen; just be sure not to make the mistake of referring to the Tablet PC as a niche market when discussing touch-based computing.

"I won't go so far as to say it's the next mouse, meaning it will be on everything and you have to use it," Microsoft's Ray Ozzie said during an interview with TechFlash. "But it's not going to be like the Tablet PC, where it was truly niche. I think it will go broader and broader."

Ozzie's comments have sparked a backlash of sorts from some of the Tablet PC faithful who feel that the his comments are a slight against their, well, niche PC. But it's not necessarily the truth of the statement that has users perturbed so much as it is hearing Microsoft make such a comment. For example, Loren Heiny of the Incremental Blogger writes:

"What is the case, is that Tablet PCs have been sold like they are niche. The manufacturers have kept the prices high – keeping the volume down and off of store shelves. Even Microsoft itself has relegated the Tablet features to its premium SKUs rather than making them available in low-cost educational PCs where isn’t it obvious that there’s great value and need for them? And feature-wise, we keep coming back to Tablets and IT. Yeah, I wonder why that might be? Might it be the niche thinking of some large northwestern company? Huh? Ring a bell?"

Do you take issue with Ozzie's statement? Hit the jump and let us know.

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microsoft, operating system, Software, windows 7, touchscreen, tablet pc, ray ozzie

Posted 10/21/08 at 09:32:25 AM by Paul Lilly

If Dell's Latitude XT Tablet PC is any indication, expect a few growing pains as multi-touch technology moves into the mainstream. More than a few users have voiced displeasure with the Latitude's N-Trig digitizer. Tablet PC and mobile PC news site GottaBeMobile.com has been particularly vocal about the as-yet unresolved quirks.

"More times than not, whenever I reboot, I’ll get N-Trig digitizer not found errors or applet loading errors," writes Rob Bushway, Editor-in-Chief for GottaBeMobile, "which render the auto and dual mode useless. The digitizer will only start working again after consecutive reboots. In addition, I still have problems coming out of standby with the digitizer accidentally clicking items while the pen is just hovering. In addition to the digitizer issues, I still have a recurring problem with my wireless card - it’ll just stop working and the only thing that will turn it back on is a reboot."

Bushway goes on to claim that he's worked with Dell engineering support to come up with solutions to no avail, with Dell reassuring him the company is working on a resolution. But Bushway's most frustrated by the lack of public acknowledgment from both Dell and N-Trig that problems exist.

Any Latitude XT Tablet PC users out there suffering similar woes? Hit the jump and sound off.

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mobile, dell, consumer electronics, multi-touch, touchscreen, latitude, digitizer

Posted 10/16/08 at 01:03:10 PM by Paul Lilly

"Do you want to touch (yeah), do you want to touch (yeah), do you want to touch me there-ere, where-ere?" Recognize those lyrics? If so, you've either just dated yourself, or you caught a glimpse of HP's latest commercial featuring its TouchSmart PC. And yes, we want to touch.

But HP isn't stopping at the desktop.  According to The Wall Street Journal, HP will come out with a touchscreen notebook by the end of the year, and that's only the beginning. An upcoming line of touch-based cellphones is expected to follow sometime afterward, with even more devices on the horizon. What those devices might be remains to be seen, but an HP spokeswoman did acknowledge the company is "building a whole family of touch" gadgets for future release.

Leading the charge into touchscreen technology is Phil McKinney, CTO of HP's PC division. McKinney has been working on software that works with and on top of Windows. He's also enlisted the help of design company Frog Design to come up with new touch software and hardware. If done right, HP could conceivably do for PCs what Apple has done for cellphones.

Anyone else allured by touchscreen computing?

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mobile, hp, OEM, netbook, touchscreen, Hewlett Packard

Posted 09/10/08 at 04:09:27 PM by Paul Lilly

In what's sure to elicit Tim Allen-like grunts, Philips has unveiled its Pronto TSU9800 touchscreen remote control. The new models retains all the same features as the previous model (TS9600), but upgrades to a bigger full-size 6.4-inch VGA display. Also new to the TSU9800:

• Two more buttons + optical rotary wheel
• Pronto Link support (allows a homeowner to control home theaters, lights, temperatures, security, and multi-room audio systems via a single remote)
• Advanced two-way functionality by receiving feedback from RS-232 or IP-controlled devices in real-time

Philips is offering an optional accessory allowing users to mount the remote to any wall or table top, and will also make available two extenders for integrating into with home controls.

No word yet on pricing or availability.

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philips, remote, consumer electronics, touchscreen, Pronto TSU9800