Archive for: capacitive
Love your touchscreen-enabled phone, live in a cold climate, and absolutely despise having to take off your gloves to do anything with your phone? Apple hears your cries for help according to a new patent that details a soft-cloth type of glove with thin wires hidden inside the glove. While we are thrilled Apple is thinking of their end users (especially considering they produce a ton of touchscreen-only devices), do they really need to enter the market and sell an overpriced pair of cloth gloves? Off the top of my head, I can think of the IsoToner SmartTouch gloves (reviewed here) and AGloves (reviewed here) — both of which whom have touchscreen compatible gloves, but approach the problem in two very different ways. The AGloves in particular retail for only $10, making them an awesome deal.
But hey, competition’s competition, right? Another slide of iGlove patent material after the jump…
- February 11, 2010 5:25 am
I don’t know about you, but there are some times when I wish I didn’t have to touch the screen of my phone. Sometimes my fingers are dirty, I could have gloves on, or maybe I’m just having a lazy moment and feel as if moving my finger all over the screen is a huge burden on life itself. Either way, there is now a way to touch a capacitive touchscreen without my finger — use a miniature sausage. It’s so simple it will spawn a *facepalm* moment or two I’m sure.
While it doesn’t really help me if I’ve caught a case of the lazies, not wanting to move my finger around as I can imagine controlling a floppy piece of sausage would take even more work. For the rest of the scenarios however, a sausage might be just the thing I’ve been looking for. Am I all alone in this little boat? Ingenuity at it’s finest I think.
Still laughing at me? I hear they’re all the rage in Korea these days. *On a completely unrelated side note, sausage shortages start making the rounds in Korea…
BoingBoing > Source
- December 10, 2009 8:04 am
While newspapers and large organizations would like you to believe they still are the best place for breaking, exclusive news, anyone remotely familiar with the way in which the digital world works knows that many of the “breaking” stories start in short 160 character messages and can be found on Twitter. Sourcing Twitter for major news articles by big media outlets is still somewhat a rarity though is increasing in usage. In contrast, the ultra fast and ever changing tech scene whom stays up to the minute in technology embraced Twitter long ago for breaking news. Because of that, mention that Mobile Review editor Eldar Murtazin recently tweeted about Foxconn receiving an order from Apple for the 4th Gen iPhone seems just as good a source as any “big media trusted source”.
I’m certainly eager to see how Apple plans to further evolve the iPhone platform as well as the how they plan to answer criticisms relating to the App Store’s increasingly negative accounts. As for the actual 4th gen iPhone, what it will look like and how Apple plans to reinvigorate the iPhone mania after the 3GS’s rather lukewarm “upgrade” remains to be seen. It’s business as usual however — this summer, same place, same time. See you there.
Ubergizmo
If you were holding of on getting an Android device to see what was coming up late this year or just to save a few pennies, it looks like this weekend through monday (December 4-7th) will be your best chance yet. We can pretty much guarantee that the Passion is coming to Verizon late this year rockin’ a Snapdragon processor and….need I say more? Snapdragon dreams aside, the Droid and Eris aren’t bad phones by any means, each with plenty of life left in them. So what about this BOGO? It pertains to Verizon corporate stores (online availability as well) and is self explanatory: You buy one. You get one. Best part is, even those individuals who purchased Droids and Eris’ on launch day can go back to the same location they purchased them from as they still qualify for the BOGO. Sweetness! The only catch is that you’ll have to sign a new 2-year contract to get that second free Droid or Eris.
I know many of you out there in internet land are suffering from the mid-week doldrums. What better way to kick up the second half of the week than the anticipation of a free Droid/Eris? Heck, even if you are waiting for the Passion, you can always snap up two of these lovely beings and flip them down the road. Just remember not to cancel those new smartphone lines. Verizon’s draconian million dollar cancellation fee is fresh out of the incubator. Who’s going Android shoppin’ this weekend?
**Update: It’s happenin’ folks. But it isn’t for the Droid and Droid Eris. The only freebie Verizon will part with is the Droid Eris. So, buy either Droid get the Eris free. Find out more…
Phandroid
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Android is quickly rocketing ahead in popularity with end users, manufacturers, and carriers alike. Verizon is set to release their first Android device, the DROID, tomorrow. The Eris while not nearly as hyped as the DROID appears to be dropping at the same time. So right off the bat, two Android phones. One to cover the high end and one to cover the low end. The Motorola Calgary has been spied in near final form and while it has ok specs, is’s obvious the market is the tweener market. (Read: Pass). But a new challenger who is unheard of here in the land of red, white, and blue could usher in the 3rd (or 4th depending on when it drops) Android device to Verizon. This company, Saygus, recently had a 3.5″ touchscreen device slip through the FCC with CDMA bands in bound and some little blurb about Verizon. The phone? A Saygus “V1 or VPhone” How does it stack up?
- 800×480 3.5″ capacitive touchscreen
- 624 MHz Marvell processor (PXA 310)
- WiFi, Bluetooth, FM Radio, GPS, Compass
- Second front-facing camera for video calling
It’s not looking too bad. I have to say, the keyboard looks a tad more comfortable than the DROID’s though since I haven’t actually held the DROID yet I’ll reserve final comment. Motorola hasn’t really had any real standout keyboards come to think of it. Maybe they should swipe an ex-RIM or HTC engineer no? Eh. How does this Saygus VPhone rate in your book?
Gizmodo > Slashgear > AndroPhones
Penetrating and actually turning a buck in the lucrative and downright massive mobile user market in China has been the dream of many cellphone manufacturers. Given the Chinese government’s tight control however, such dreams have stayed at just that as stiff regulations and often odd rules make entering the market so difficult some manufacturers simply stay away. One such manufacturer who is trying their luck is Apple. As many of you know, they’re been trying to tap the Chinese market for some time now but have so fare been unsuccessful. We all also know that Apple recently struck a deal with China Unicom to sell the iPhone 3GS in China, a big win for Apple. But is it really that much of a win for Chinese customers?
Now why would I raise such a silly question? Chinese mobile users have been able to get unlocked iPhone 3GS’s with WiFi from street side vendors for roughly 5,700 yuan ($835 USD). The new official phones from China Unicom are coming in hot and heavy but lacking WiFi. Yup, pass. Even worse, prices for Unicom’s iPhone are grossly higher — between 4,999 yuan ($730 USD) and 6,999 yuan ($1,025 USD)! Why would anyone want to spend more for less? Beats me. It’s hard to say if China Unicom’s iPhone’s will/won’t be a big hit. I can honestly see both scenarios. (1) It sells well because now every has a legitimate source to get it or (2) it’s so expensive that people flock to street vendors who understandably have limited quantities thereby driving up price. If the latter plays out, maybe rising street prices will limit the sting from picking up China Unicom’s neutered version. After getting this far in, I’m sure you’re wondering why the iPhone 3GS from China Unicom doesn’t have WiFi.
It’s simple really. At the time, Beijing banned WiFi because they were working on their own version. That’s it. That has since been abandoned (please correct me if I’m wrong) and as such the ban has been lifted. By the time the ban was lifted however, China Unicom’s iPhones had already started production. Bummer I know. It’s just a reason to wait for the next version of the iPhone which Unicom spokesman, Yi Difei, stated “We hope to have WiFi in the next version”. Some comfort I guess.
Cellular-News
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In-house screen grabs are always a nice, reassuring piece of evidence to an impending new device launch. With Verizon’s holiday flagship device, the Moto Droid, is not even released yet, a second Android/Droid Series device, the Eris is already being caught making it’s way through Verizon in-house training documents. A welcome sight indeed. The most plausible and talked about launch date for the Eris isn’t too far away, falling on November 10th, just a few days after the Moto Droid walks into the spotlight. In case you forgot or didn’t already know, the Eris will pack in a 320 x 480 capacitive display, 5 megapixel camera w/ auto-focus, trackball navigation, and microSD support to round out the more popular features. Do you think launching another rather tempting device so close to Droid will cannibalize sales? Or is the fact that one is a touchscreen w/ slider while the other is void of any real physical input will set them apart in their own respective circles?
Phandroid > gdgt
In the age of glitz and glam from the likes of iPhones and Android devices, LiMo, Androids cousin gets left out of the lime light. LiMo, which is a string of Linux, has so far suffered from slower adoption than it’s once equally small cousin Android. Perhaps the Access Emblaze Else shown above can get that ball rolling hmm? The fan-like interface pictured isn’t quite my style as it’s a bit dark and bland. But you can’t please everyone. What’s your take? Does it need more work or are you diggin’ this fan UI?
UI aside, on paper the “Else” handset above looks like it could compete with bigger names as it features a 3.5-inch, 854 x 480 capacitive touchscreen WiFi/3G/Bluetooth/GPS, built in accelerometers, and a 5 MP camera. As far as radios go, it’s stuffed: WCDMA/HSDPA/GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900MHz and Tri-band 850/1900/2100MHz. If this device can ever make it past prototype and lab basement, I wouldn’t mind feeling it up. I’m sure I’m not alone am I?
Linux for Devices
We all knew it was inevitable that AT&T would eventually jump in on the Android game. Though I’m sure many hoped they’d be a bit more timely and original. A few of you may see AT&T as milking the iPhone and it’s publicity for all it’s worth. While others may believe AT&T was simply waiting for the right handset to launch Android with. On that note, details of an HTC Hero launch on AT&T in early 2010 are building, leading to what we all suspected — that AT&T will finally launch an Android handset. Going back to that “waiting for a decent device to launch with arguement”, why launch a “new” handset 4-6 months after everyone else has had it? I understand that the Hero is a damn good Android phone, but with the absolute beauty that is the Sholes/DROID coming out soon and who knows what else in the wings for 2010, the Hero won’t cut it for a flagship, 1st Android device. I would think a completely unique and exclusive handset would make it’s way to AT&T. I guess I thought wrong. There’s still time though. We’ll see how it goes. Anyone else happy/sad/wishing for more?
Phone Arena
