Touch Screen Gadget

Nokia 7700 was just the first stab

Posted by sawaru | Category: Mobile Phone, Trend Watch & News

Today, however, Nokia is trying to play catch-up with the likes of Samsung and more notably, Apple with its iPhone. Both have touchscreen products in the marketplace while Nokia’s version could be released by the end of the year.

The Finnish company’s first stab at the touchscreen format was in 2003 with the Nokia 7700 series which was later discontinued. Local pricing and availability would be revealed closer to launch date in the first quarter next year, a company spokesperson said.

Rumored Atila from Motorola

Posted by sawaru | Category: Mobile Phone

Motorola’s latest  much-rumored smartphone, currently named "Atila," has had images of it supposedly leaked to the public. Designed as a device to compete directly with the iPhone, it features a touchscreen, 3G support and will run Windows Mobile.

The device reportedly will feature quad-band GSM/EDGE along with tri-band UMTS/HSPA, making it ideally suited for use overseas or on AT&T and Rogers in North America. The device will not support T-Mobile USA’s 3G rollout, only the carrier’s existing 2.5G network.

Atila will supposedly run on a Qualcomm 7201A processor, speed unknown but likely in the 400 MHz range.

Its 2.8 inch QVGA touchscreen will be its only means of input, lacking a hardware keyboard or numeric keypad. This is a big part of what separates it from the Motorola Alexander, a similar model that was recently leaked.

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Qantas launches iPhone-optimized site

Posted by sawaru | Category: Software, Trend Watch & News

iPhone users are now able to check flight schedules and fares using the iPhone’s touchscreen.

Qantas has launched a new web service designed to take advantage of the iPhone’s touchscreen functionality. IPhone users can use the site to check flight schedules and fare prices.

According to Qantas representatives the airline has become the third in the world and the first in the southern hemisphere to launch such a service.

By the end of the year, Qantas intends to launch a similar site optimized for blackberries, and will steadily introduce new functions to these mobile-optimized sites.

Qantas intends to offer customers using the sites the ability to access seat selection, complete flight bookings and opt to be notified by SMS if a flight is delayed.

HP usher touchscreen technology for masses

Posted by sawaru | Category: Desktop, LCD Monitor, Laptop & Notebook, Tablet PC & UMPC, Trend Watch & News

Hewlett-Packard Co. is hot on the prospects of touchscreen technology.

H-P says it’s working on an array of products, including notebooks, that use the same type of finger-tapping interface popularized by Apple Inc.’s iPhone. H-P’s so keen on the idea that it says it’s trying to get touch-enabled notebook computers on the market within the next 18 months.

H-P’s plans illustrate how the iPhone has whetted the world’s appetite for touchscreens, which have become increasingly available on handheld devices and are now making their way into the personal-computer sector. Several competitors already have touchscreen desktops, but few have laptops with touchscreens.

Market research suggests H-P is making a smart bet. The number of touchscreen devices, including PCs, should more than double to 800 million by 2013, according to industry tracker iSuppli. Spending on touchscreen components likely will reach $6.4 billion, up 33% from $4.8 billion, over the same period, iSuppli said.

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HTC Touch Diamond on track for millionth mark

Posted by sawaru | Category: Mobile Phone, Smartphone

Taiwanese HTC handset maker CEO expecting HTC Diamond Touch will hit the 1 million mark by mid August. HTC Diamond Touch is a great device and we’re everything but surprised to see HTC saying the sales projections are on track. 

In a further statement, Chou confirmed HTC’s plans to ship 2 million units this year. However, sources at the Taiwan handset industry speculated that HTC will eventually revise its projections to ship between 2.5 and 3 million Touch Diamond smartphones by the end of 2008.

As a sidenote, it took HTC about five months to ship one million HTC Touch devices. It’s still not Apple, which sold 1 million iPhones 3G for a weekend, but they’re working on it. Keep up the pace folks, you’re onto something!

via Digitimes & intomobile

iPhone 3G in Singapore soon

Posted by sawaru | Category: Mobile Phone

Singaporean will be able to get their hands on iPhone 3G at the end of August or early September, a person familiar with the situation said Monday.

Apple Inc.’s  third-generation iPhone in Singapore "They Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) may start selling and have been seriously looking at launching the iPhone at the end of August or early September," the person said.

A SingTel spokesman reiterated a company statement in June that the company, the largest telecommunications firm in Singapore by revenue, will bring the 3G iPhone to Singapore by the end of the year.

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iPhone 3G demand too great

Posted by sawaru | Category: Mobile Phone

iPhone 3G demand skyrocket.

With almost 7 times the amount if shifted of the first generation iPhone, Apple’s struggling to crank out enough iPhone 3G handsets to meet supply. They’re in such high demand, the company’s on track to shift more than 40 million of the touchscreen mobiles in its first year alone.

According to TechCrunch, Apple’s manufacturing partner, Foxconn, is churning out iPhone 3Gs at the rate of 800,000 per week. But there could be trouble ahead, as that number is reportedly “above current full capacity.” TechCrunch says that if it continues, there could be quality control issues around the corner.

Interpreting iPhone Touch-location

Posted by sawaru | Category: Mobile Phone, Trend Watch & News

Interpreting Touch-location Data

The iPhone’s processor and software are central to correctly interpreting input from the touch-screen. The capacitive material sends raw touch-location data to the iPhone’s processor. The processor uses software located in the iPhone’s memory to interpret the raw data as commands and gestures. Here’s what happens:

Signals travel from the touch screen to the processor as electrical impulses.
The processor uses software to analyze the data and determine the features of each touch. This includes size, shape and location of the affected area on the screen. If necessary, the processor arranges touches with similar features into groups. If you move your finger, the processor calculates the difference between the starting point and ending point of your touch.
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Early spied BlackBerry Thunder photo

Posted by sawaru | Category: Mobile Phone

Enough with the iPhone frenzy news? Blackberry answer to iPhone maybe your next choice.

And, to make sure the world isn’t so caught up in iPhone hype that they forget about the rest of the smartphone industry’s touchscreen offerings, it seems that RIM has let a few pictures of their highly anticipated BlackBerry Thunder handset.

A quick refresher - the BlackBerry Thunder will be toting RIM’s new BlackBerry OS - BlackBerry OS 4.7 - and a localized haptic feedback system that vibrates a specific region of touch-input rather than vibrating the entirely device. 

via IntoMobile

Nokia Tube in 2008 or next year

Posted by sawaru | Category: Mobile Phone, Trend Watch & News

Now it appears that the Nokia touchscreen Tube wait is almost over… with potentially less than inspiring results. In a statement released today from the company’s head of devices, Kai Oistamo, the phone-maker says it will be launching a series of touchscreen devices in the second half the year, with the first model — likely the Tube — aimed at the "volume market." Oistamo claims that the mid-range market (not the high-end sector that devices like the iPhone 3G occupy) account for 50 percent of the total value of the touchscreen phone game. Essentially, it looks like Nokia’s strategy will be business as usual, likely flooding the field with unspectacular mid-range phones, rather than taking on pricier competition like recent Apple and Samsung devices head-to-head, at least initially. Of course, who can argue with the company that shipped 122 million units in Q2 2008?

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