Dell has introduced its first touchscreen monitor, the SX2210T. The device offers the same basic specs as the company's SX2210 product, with a 21.5-inch panel and 1920x1080 resolution, but adds support for touch control. The optical touch technology can be used with a finger or stylus, with +/- 2.5mm accuracy across most of the screen area.
LG on Thursday introduced its latest messaging device, the Bliss UX700. The entry-level device features a 2.0-megapixel camera with video capture, stereo Bluetooth connectivity, and a 3-inch touchscreen with 240x400 pixel resolution. Users can listen to music or access the web through the full HTML browser, while microSD support allows storage expansion up to 16GB.
Lexmark on Tuesday introduced eight new all-in-one inkjet printers geared for small- to medium-size business. The Platinum Pro905 features a 4.3-inch touchscreen and a customizable interface for quicker access to frequent tasks. Users can also view web content from the display, such as news, weather, or photo sharing sites.
Product pages for an unannounced Magellan GPS, the RoadMate 1700, have leaked on several online retailers such as Tiger GPS. The 1700 matches many of the same features as the rest of the RoadMate series, but adds a larger 7-inch display. Otherwise, the GPS offers a AAA TourBook, 6 million points of interest, text-to-speech and multiple-point routing.
Mimo Monitors on Monday introduced the 720-S, a 7-inch portable touchscreen display geared for netbook users. The monitor provides 800x480 resolution, 350 cd/m² brightness and a contrast ratio of 400:1, while utilizing resistive touchscreen technology. The device is powered and connected via a single USB cable, enabling use as a secondary screen for presenting applications, formatting palettes, instant messengers or other interfaces.
California developer Troll Touch has announced the availability of its internally integrated touchscreen system for Apple’s recently released 24-inch LED Cinema display. Already available for Apple's 20- and 30-inch Cinema displays, the product joins the company’s lineup of high-resolution, analog resistive touchscreen systems which support user input via fingertip, gloved hand or stylus. Powered via an internal USB connection, Troll Touch says that its custom touchscreen overlay design and innovative component integration technique does not alter the machine’s form factor in any way. To the casual observer, the system does not appear to have been modified.
Nikon on Friday unveiled several new consumer-level cameras, including the touch-aware Coolpix S60, feature-packed S560, the intuitive S610, and wireless S610c, all coming in September. The Coolpix S60 offers users a touchscreen LCD, with simplified access to all the cameras functions and capabilities. The camera has a 5x optical zoom NIKKOR lens, with a 10-Megapixel sensor, capable of using ISO 3200 sensitivity. It also features Nikon's EXPEED and Optical VR technologies, and the Scene Auto Selector mode. Nikon is selling the S60 for $350.
Troll Touch on Wednesday announced an extension to its well respected SlipCOVER range, adding support for 20- and 24-inch 'aluminum' iMac computers. The SlipCOVER consists of a touch-sensitive overlay that replaces the iMac's display glass, connecting via a custom designed USB cable. Providing a high resolution, analogue resistive touchscreen that supports fingertip, stylus and gloved hand user input, the SlipCOVER provides an alternative to conventional user interaction methods.
Bell Canada is now shipping the LG Vantage – also known as LG Glimmer on the US carrier Alltel – offering Canadians their first glimpse of the touchscreen slider phone. The phone will feature EVDO connectivity and dual-band GSM, and sports a 2MP camera, Bluetooth, and a microSD card slot. The Vantage joins Bell’s list of devices as competition to the LG Shine, which is currently in service with both Telus and Rogers Wireless.
Philips is preparing to launch two high-end touchscreen phones - the X800 and Xenium X-Connect - which feature large color screens and several luxury features. The X800 offers users a tri-band GSM/GPRS platform, which uses a 2.9 inch touch screen to display information, with a screen resolution of 240 by 400 pixels. It also features handwriting recognition, a 2MP autofocus camera, a MicroSD slot, Bluetooth, and an office document reader. Battery life for the unit sits at 850 hours standby, and 8 hours of talk time.
Two new job openings at Apple may point to technological trends at the company. Recruiters are firstly searching for a senior module process engineer, who would be hired full-time in Apple's home city of Cupertino. There they would be responsible for leading engineering efforts on multi-touch displays, from conceptualization to product formation. Candidates are expected to have a PhD in Physics or Mechanical Engineering and three years of experience, or an MS degree with five years of experience.
Sweden-based Neonode announced on Tuesday it will add four vibrant new colors to its N2 cellular phone. Originally offered only in black, Neonode's web store now offers the quad-band GSM phone in Lime (green), Azure (blue), Rubine (red) and Roza (pink). The phone features an optical 2-inch touchscreen with a programmed Neno user interface that uses various finger sweeps across the screen as shortcuts. It is not yet available in the US, but Neonode mentions the new colors are meant to help the company bring the phone to new markets as it attempts to boost sales.
Wacom today unveiled a new touch-screen technology, dubbed Reversing Ramped Field Capacitive touch – or RRFC – which uses low-power circuitry and reversing ramped electro-static fields to offer precise performance. The technology supposedly prevents cursor drifting, and can be used as a touch display or as a simple touch surface. Wacom states that the surface used for the technology is tougher than glass, allowing for increased durability, while also being able to recognize softer touches.
The LG Vu, announced yesterday at CTIA, features a full touchscreen that is capable of displaying mobile TV through AT&T's Mobile TV plan. It also delivers 3G access with up to 1.4Mbps real-world download speeds on AT&T's HSPA network. The Vu sports a 2-megapixel camera with autofocus and relies on microSD alone for storage. LG hasn't announced AT&T's pricing, but it said the phone should ship in May, just ahead of the one-year anniversary of its in-house rival, the iPhone. Included below are several shots of the LG Vu from the CTIA 2008 conference in Las Vegas.
Dell has taken the unusual step of defending the cost of its new Latitude XT tablet. In a post to Dell's official PR blog, the senior manager for the Commercial Products Team, Glenn Keels, says that the $2,500-plus pricetag for the computer may be extremely high next to similar systems from competitors, but that it is worth it for certain feature enhancements, as well as Dell's three-year warranty.
