Leaked Smartwatch Pictures Show Square Touchscreen Device

Samsung’s long-awaited ‘Galaxy Gear’ smart watch might have been leaked ahead of its unveiling in Berlin later this week.

But it might not be quite the vision of the wearable computing future you were hoping for.

VentureBeat published photographs of what it said was a “first look” at the watch, confirmed to be a prototype sent to several developers.

The device has a one-inch square, high-quality OLED  touchscreen, and a bulky, industrial look. The post by VentureBeat described a marketing video promoting the watch’s health and fitness features, pitching it as a competitor to the Nike FuelBand more than a potential Apple iWatch.

But other tech sites have since claimed the prototype is quite different from the finished product.

GigaOM said that Samsung has a “different, more finished” product which will be announced in Berlin.

GigaOm’s (also unnamed) source says that the watch uses Android 4.3, has no keyboard abilities but can connect to iOS devices as well as Android with Bluetooth Low Energy.

The prototype has a battery life of around 24 hours – but 10 hours if used regularly – as well as full-screen notifications, a built-in camera and microphone and a dual-core 1.5GHz processor.

We’re still excited to see what Samsung has up (and on) its sleeve. But if you were hoping for something with a beautiful, potentially impossible curved screen as seen in various concept images you might be disappointed.

From:NJYTOUCH

Some Nexus 7 (2013) units still have touchscreen issues

The Nexus 7 (2013) tablet experienced some annoying bugs after its launch, including GPS issues and touchscreen problems, both acknowledged by Google and supposed to have been fixed by a recent software update.

However, it looks like the touchscreen issues are still there for some new Nexus 7 buyers, even after the JSS15Q update is applied (see video below).

Android Police speculates that some of these Nexus 7 units that still present touchscreen glitches may have been calibrated incorrectly – but such a problem could be solved via a second software update.

However, even if a second software update is released, it may not completely fix the issue in case Asus used various touchscreen digitizer types when manufacturing the tablet.

Another explanation offered for the problems is a grounding issue, which can’t be fixed with a simple software update:

The origin of this theory comes from a specific symptom where the tablet doesn’t experience any problem while being held or connected to a charger, but erratic behavior and ghost touches start occurring while resting on a flat surface. Again, these are only educated guesses and have not been validated by Google or any third party.

Paul Wilcox from Google’s Product Support forum has confirmed that the company is still looking into these remaining touchscreen issues, so we’ll probably learn more details about it in the future.

Meanwhile, in case your new Nexus 7 still behaves erratically, you can always have it replaced.

From:NJYTOUCH

Constant use of touch-screen devices poses serious risks to youth

Rambam Medical Center experts worry that mobile devices poses threats to welfare of young people, threatening to affect them physically, emotionally, cognitively and developmentally.

Rambam Medical Center experts worrythat the mobile devices pose serious threats Photo: Edward Kaprov

While people of all ages seem unable to live without a touchscreen device – smartphone, tablet or i-Pad and all the rest – Rambam Medical Center experts worry that the mobile devices pose serious threats, especially to young people.

Recent surveys have shown that as the use of the interactive devices spreads even to kindergarten children – with a third of those aged six to nine having their own cellphone – touchscreen devices threaten to affect them physically, emotionally, cognitively and developmentally.

Prof. Naim Shehadeh, director of the pediatrics A department at Rambam and the juvenile diabetes and obesity clinic, said this week that tablets can lead to serious overweight in children.

“A fat child is very likely to turn into a fat adult, with all the risks of diabetes, hypertension, high cardiac risk and more. The causes include the lack of physical activity.

I don’t exaggerate when I say that the most common physical activity in young people today is moving their fingers on the touch screen of a computerized device, which is why the current crop of young people is called ‘the Touch Generation.’ Even when they go out, they are usually busy with their touch screens. There is no doubt that the Touch Generation is a significant high-risk group for the development of overweight at a young age,” said Shehadeh.

Besides the fact that the brains of very young children, with thin skulls, could be affected by electromagnetic radiation from cellphones held close to their heads, there are many other risks not connected directly to physiological health, said Amisar.

Dr. Dana Amisar, an expert in child and adolescent psychiatry and head of children’s psychiatry at the Haifa hospital, said that there are also psychological implications.

Children are increasingly exposed to the world not by experiences but to a virtual world via the screen.

“Their attention used to be dependent on what happened directly in their environment at a certain time. But now, she said, their attention is captured by the screen. They have less direct connection with friends and more virtually, giving the impression that they are ‘connected’ and are in contact. But in fact, many children see their friends less and less, and whole relationships begin, carry on and end virtually.”

The averagetouch-screen user receives some 150 messages and SMSs per day while they are doing other things. At any given moment, the user must divide his attention among all these “events,” said Amisar, and each activity cuts off the previous one. This reduces the quality of their attention and reduces their freedom of choice.

They become dependent on the devices and can’t manage without, the psychiatrist continued.

The latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association, lists “Internet addiction” as a new diagnosis and notes the need for more research.

Such addiction, said Amisar, can cause users to forgo social ties or daily tasks, reduce their ability to reach satisfaction, and lead to the inability to stop using computers and smartphones and using the Internet to try to improve their mood or escape from reality.

Researchers around the world who collect data say the phenomenon is quickly becoming a syndrome like other addictions.

From:NJYTOUCH

Touch-screen voting initiated in Bali

On a bright Monday morning on July 29th, residents of Mendoyo Dangin Tukad, in Jembrana, Bali, lined up to choose their next village chief. Most wore traditional Balinese attire – batik sarongs– with kebaya for the women and a headscarf (destar) for the men.

Election workers assist Wayan Ngidep during e-voting at Mendoyo Dangin Tukad village in Bali on July 29th. [Ni Komang Erviani/Khabar]
A voter uses touch-screentechnology in the village chief election in Mendoyo Dangin Tukad in Jembrana, Bali, on July 29th. [Ni Komang Erviani/Khabar]

Related Articles

The election voting was far from traditional, as election officials said it was the most technologically advanced ever held in Indonesia, using touch-screen devices that verify voters’ identity via their national ID cards.

Implementation of the e-voting system was a collaborative effort by the Agency for Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the Jembrana regional administration. BPPT provided the four e-voting devices, each worth about Rp 10 million ($1,000).

A major breakthrough

The new technology is a breakthrough for Indonesia, which plans to implement it in other parts of the country, according to the head of BPPT, Marzan Iskandar.

“We are very happy the system could be implemented for the first time in Bali, as this will be a pioneer of many other elections. The e-vote village chief election will become a miniature of a system that will be implemented across our country,” he said.

All election workers were trained and certified by the BPPT and the Indonesian Technological Auditors Association (IATI), he said. The system prevents any attempt to vote more than once, because voters use their electronic identity card.

“So, no one can manipulate the result,” Marzan said.

E-voting is also part of the country’s attempt to reduce election costs, and could decrease such costs by nearly 50%, according to Marzan. “It will also cut much time for the vote count process, as well as cut the social cost that can be caused by polling disputes,” he added.

Mixed Reactions

Many Mendoyo Dangin Tukad voters appeared sceptical about the new system as they’d never previously voted by computer. Local election committee members patiently guided voters through the process, one-by-one.

“I’d rather vote using ballot papers than using a computer system. It is harder. The traditional system is far easier for me,” said 55-year-old voter Wayan Ngidep.

The grandmother of eight had a particularly rough experience when the device she was using malfunctioned. Although election officials helped her navigate through the system, she felt her privacy was breached.

“Everyone finally knew my choice when they tried to help me,” Wayan said.

Putu Bukit, 70, had to ask for guidance from her nephew in order to vote. “I don’t understand at all how to use the computer,” she said.

But other villagers said it was smooth sailing. “I had no problem in the booth. I think the e-voting system is good,” said I Gusti Agung Ayu, 67.

Initial rejection

Voting ended at 2pm, after 1,753 out of 2,381 eligible voters cast their ballots. Candidate number two, IGAK Bambang, won the election with 536 votes, defeating three other rivals.

It was also a victory for local election officials who managed to convince the community to pioneer the system, with the help of promotional programmes and outreach by BPPT and the Jembrana administration.

“It was not easy for me to ensure the local leaders in the village would use the e-voting system. Most of them were worried about the accuracy of the election result,” said local election committee chairman I Gusti Putu Suarden.

“The e-voting system was stipulated in Jembrana Bylaw No. 1/2010 on village chief elections. It was our pride to be the pioneer of our national e-voting system,” Jembrana Regent I Putu Artha said.

E-voting could be implemented in other elections on the island, even the presidential election, said Ketut Lanang Sukawati Prabawa, chairman of Bali’s General Election Commission.

“However, it needs a long preparation time before the system can be implemented all over the country. We should also conduct special programmes for several remote areas across the country, where most of the residents are not able to read,” Sukawati said.

From:NJYTOUCH

Haptix aims to be a “mouse killer

Haptix, a little camera device that promises to turn regular surfaces into 3-D multi-touch controllers, has exceeded its Kickstarter goal of $100,000 in just five days.

That’s enough for the five-person Haptix team to complete “tooling” of its device so it can be manufactured in China and sold for $70.

Haptix aims to be a “mouse killer,” so users can precisely manipulate what they see on the screen in front of them by using their fingers on any flat surface. Of course, they’ll have to set up Haptix so it can “view” that surface, but the gadget should work on a desk, or on top of a regular keyboard.

Haptix co-creator Darren Lim says the trick is his team’s software, which allows affordable 3-D sensing to work in poor conditions like close proximity to surfaces.

Sure, $100,000 is a particularly modest goal as far as Kickstarter hardware campaigns go, but now it’s out of the way. Today, Haptix is telling backers that if it can hit $150,000, it will also produce a pressure-sensitive stylus for artists.

Haptix fits into one of the more interesting current trends in technology — taking users away from the abstractions of standard computer interfaces and back into the environments around us. I like to think of it as “the disappearing interface.” It all started with the touchscreen — where you feel that you directly manipulate virtual objects — and now is extending into the air and onto regular surfaces.

After Microsoft’s Kinect, the best-known recent effort in this space is Leap Motion, a well-established startup with nearly $50 million in funding as well as a $25 million fund from its investors to support third-party application development. Leap famously and somewhat magically allows users to control their PCs by gesturing in the air. But it has suffered delays, and continues to be “challenging” and “tiring,” given that users must hold their hands in the air for extended periods of time.

In a way, Haptix seems less exciting than Leap Motion because it’s anchored to surfaces. It also seems like it might be less relevant in the coming years, as more laptops add touchscreens, and as tablets continue to rise in popularity.

Lim disagrees, because Haptix will allow users to comfortably rest their hands so they can use the controller all day without tiring, for all sorts of tasks other than typing on a keyboard. Also, Lim said, Haptix doesn’t rely on infrared, so it will work in all lighting conditions, where Leap doesn’t function as well in very bright light.

Haptix currently works on Windows and Ubuntu, with Android in progress. Lim says the most salient bit of feedback so far has been from backers who want a Mac version. If all goes as planned, the device will be shipped to Kickstarter backers in January, and applications won’t have to be modified to support Haptix input.

Haptix has been in development for a year, and Lim received support for the project as one of the young entrepreneurs selected to be a Thiel Fellow this year. He said the company is also now raising an angel round of funding.

from:NJYTOUCH

Touchscreen Breaker For Google’s Second-Gen Tablet?

An HD display and new Android operating system may not be enough to save the 2013 Nexus 7, as complaints from early adopters continue to roll in. Most recently, users reporttouchscreen issues, which could possibly be the deal breaker in the popularity of Google’s second-generation tablet.

The ultra-sensitive touchscreen on the 2013 Nexus 7 appears to be much more of a hindrance than an asset. Users report a number of mistyping issues including the wrong keys registering when typing, double taps and ghost taps registering when a user has not touched the screen. Nexus 7 2013 users also have an issue with the multi-touch gestures malfunctioning with phantom gestures.

These problems are reportedly only briefly remedied with a reboot; however, most report that rebooting, booting to safe mode or resetting their tablet solves nothing and that thetouch screen issues have worsened over time. Nexus 7 users have noted that they only appear to have trouble when their 2013 Nexus 7 is running on battery power. When plugged in for charging, the tablet supposedly works fine.

In addition, Nexus 7 users report other varying conditions that accompany problems. One 2013 Nexus 7 owner reported touchscreen issues with his tablet only when it was lying on a flat surface but not while holding it, while another user reported having issues regardless of whether the 2013 Nexus 7 was being held or lying flat. A number of fed up users have said the issues occur often enough for them to have considered returning their 2013 Nexus 7.

It remains uncertain whether the issues are a hardware or software problem; however, the closet connection appears to be the over-the-air JSS15J software update that was delivered to 2013 Nexus 7 units shortly after its release. So far, Google has acknowledged the problem and says it is investigating the cause.

Another major issue 2013 Nexus 7 users are experiencing is a GPS bug, in which the device’s GPS won’t work at all or will quickly drop within minutes of connecting or while switching in between apps. A malfunctioning GPS is an especially frustrating issue for those who use their tablets often while out and about. A number of systems and apps on such devices are connected to and powered by GPS. Google has similarly stated that it is investigating the issue.

The 2013 Nexus 7 released in the U.S. in late July and has yet to hit most international markets. However, it has seen some popularity in its early release, having sold out at such retailers as Staples.

In addition to issues with the 2013 Nexus 7 tablet itself, many users have also had issues with the new Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system, including slow performance speed, device freezing and Bluetooth incompatibility, among many other bugs.

Do you think the touchscreen and GPS issues will be a deal breaker for the 2013 Nexus 7? Let us know in the comments below.

from:NJYTOUCH

Apple first sued Motorola Mobility

Now-ubiquitous touch screen for Apple iPhones and iPads are worthy of patent protection, the Federal Circuit ruled, reversing the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Apple first sued Motorola Mobility – now owned by Google – in 2010 for a number of patent infringements related to its iPhone and iPad. Motorola countersued over claims that Apple infringed on its wireless technology, and the two companies have been locked in a multi-pronged worldwide war ever since.

Though an administrative law judge found that Apple violated Motorola’s 3G wireless patents, the ITC recently reversed that decision. Despite the finding, Motorola continued to enforce a German ban on Apple products and drew the ire of the European Commission, which opened antitrust proceedings earlier this year.

Back in the U.S., Apple had been appealing an ITC decision that invalidated one of its touch screen patents for obviousness and anticipation, and a finding that Motorola did not infringe a second related patent. The first, patent ’607, covers the way the screen handles finger swipes and touches. Patent ’828 meanwhile discloses how the touch screen is made transparent.

A three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit panel found Wednesday that the first seven claims of Apple’s ’607 patent had been anticipated by a prior patent. The court rejected Apple’s argument that its speed improvements and the enabling of multiple touches at once make it sufficiently different than the prior patent.

“Apple fails to provide any reason why the faster or optimal approaches would be too slow or inaccurate to detect multiple touches or why the disclosure of Perski ’455 fails to enable multiple touches,” Judge Kimberly Moore wrote for the panel. “To the contrary, as Motorola points out, the scanning algorithm disclosed in the ’607 patent is very similar to the ‘faster approach’ disclosed in Perski ’455. The ’607 patent discloses a sensing circuit that detects changes in capacitance at each node along n columns in the matrix by cycling through one row at a time for the m rows. Moreover, the claims of the ’607 patent do not expressly contain a speed or accuracy limitation. Thus, we conclude that substantial evidence supports the ITC’s finding that Perski ’455 anticipates claims 1-7 of the ’607 patent.”

The panel nevertheless took the ITC to task for its finding that claim 10 of the ’607 patent should be dismissed for obviousness. The ITC agreed with its administrative law judge that the Apple technology at issue stemmed from a previous innovation called SmartSkin without even examining Apple’s evidence, according to the ruling.

“This is not adequate under our law,” Moore wrote. “The ultimate conclusion of obviousness is a legal conclusion to be reached after weighing all the evidence on both sides. The ITC analyzed only the disclosure of the prior art references and based solely on that evidence determined the claims would have been obvious.”The ITC’s prejudicial failure to take into account industry accolades for the iPhone, sales figures and evidence of industrywide copying undermined its obviousness finding, according to the 37-page opinion.“Apple presented evidence showing a nexus between the undisputed commercial success of the iPhone and the patented multitouch functionality, namely evidence that Apple’s competitors copied its  touch screen and that those in the industry praised the iPhone’s multitouch functionality,” Moore wrote. “The ITC did not address any of this evidence.”

She continued: “To be clear, we conclude that the ITC fact findings regarding the scope and content of the prior art (what the reference discloses) are supported by substantial evidence. We remand so the ITC can consider that evidence in conjunction with the evidence of secondary considerations and determine in the first instance whether claim 10 would have been obvious to one of skill in the art at the time of the invention.” (Parentheses in opinion.)The panel completely threw out the ITC’s finding that Motorola did not infringe Apple’s ’828 patent. It agreed with Apple that the ITC improperly limited terms in the patent’s specifications to find noninfringement.In his partial dissent, Judge Jimmie Reyna said he would have gone further and reinstated the first seven claims of the ’607 patent.

Reyna applauded Apple’s innovation and said the majority made a mistake in invalidating the claims as secondary art.“Based on the extensive record in this case, I believe Apple overcame significant complexities to produce a touchscreen with desirable optical properties that accurately detected multiple simultaneous touches,” Reyna wrote. “Ultimately, it was Apple – not the prior art inventors – who identified the problem, disclosed the steps explaining how the problem was solved, and then created a marketplace for its contribution. By incorporating the invention in the patented products of the iPhone and iPad, Apple’s efforts endowed users around the world with better access to information, more efficient communication, and unparalleled convenience to organize life on the mobile.”

from:NJYTOUCH

Touchscreen controls coming to Chrome

The latest developer ‘Canary’ version of Google’s desktop Internet browser can support swipes, pinches and other hands-on operations.

Touch screens are already the standard for mobile devices — even BlackBerry’s latest flagship keypad phone the Q10 also offers a high-definition touch screen in support of its QWERTY keyboard. Likewise, without the leaps and bounds made in multi-touch and finger-tracking technology, the tablet would still be something a doctor prescribes to treat illnesses and not something that schools are starting to prescribe as a means of boosting children’s educational attainment.

Indeed, so big are touch screens that according to Lux Research, the market for haptics — the technology that provides a tactile response to a touch command — will experience a 16-fold increase over the next 12 years as touch and gestures become the norm for everything from smartwatches to control pads on running machines.

“An emerging wave of haptics offers the potential for a more intuitive and information-rich touch experience than today’s simple whole-device vibration,” said Anthony Vicari, Lux Research Associate, of the company’s research, published yesterday.

However, while there’s little doubt that the touch screen is going to play a greater and greater role in how we as consumers interact with and make sense of modern technology, the jury is still well and truly out as to whether it has a role — haptic or non-haptic — to play in navigating and interacting with the traditional notebook or desktop PC.

Apple believes that touch screens are not only unnecessary but actually counterproductive on computers. Its research into the subject showed that forcing users to take their hands off the keyboard and mouse, change their seating position, lean forward and touch the screen in order to achieve a task or launch an application that could have been done in microseconds via a mouse click, keyboard shortcut or voice command, destroys productivity.

However, Microsoft has ‘bet the farm’ on touch as the future of the same computer interface, which many commentators claim is the reason why consumers have been less than willing to upgrade to Windows 8. Intel has also come out on Microsoft’s side and announced that any manufacturer who wishes to describe their product as an ultrabook will, from 2014, have to include a touch screen in order to do so.

And now Google is also playing around with the same interface, albeit limited to its web browser. As well as supporting pinch to zoom and left and right swipes to load cached pages, it also offers support for Microsoft’s virtual keyboard that appears on the screen when a webpage field requires information — say for example a social media login page. Just like Apple, Google is a serious innovator in the consumer electronics sphere, even if, until recently, its efforts have been focused on software and services, rather than hardware.

And, although the features in the latest Chrome build will not be filtering through to the latest consumer version within the next few weeks, the fact that the company is considering them at all highlights the fact that although traditional PC sales are falling, it is still a market well and truly dominated by Microsoft. Focusing touch input around a specific computer function also makes a lot of sense.

If the swipes and pinches are specifically for browsing, then there is no chance of disrupting productivity. It also means that as Windows 8 tablets become more popular that their owners will be able to use Chrome instead of Internet Explorer and still have the same features and commands, literally at their fingertips.

from:NJYTOUCH

The Curse of the Touch-Screen Tablet

"I don't want one," I distinctively remember saying three months after the iPhone 3 came out. Back then, I was perfectly satisfied with my ageing Samsung, completely believing that I had no need to access my emails, the internet and goodness knows what else through a technological device which didn't even appear to have manual buttons. However, that was three years ago before the attractions of Facebook and Twitter came luring into our lives, social media networks which, it turns out, are quite handy tools for a journalist. 

So, I now have one. An iPhone. Yes, I can download emails in seconds and follow breaking news on countless different apps, and I can even find my way around London using its Sat Nav device. Admittedly, it did blow my mind when a friend told me that she had created a two-minute movie via a collection of photos and music from her phone for a friend's birthday party trailer. Amazing. Though I'm just fine watching from afar, I'd rather not be shown the hassle involved in creating it. 

Although having emails and internet on hand 24/7 has, I confess, been a massive help to my life in recent years, it still saddens me slightly that technology is fast taking over our everyday lives. After the iPhone came the iPad (yes, I've got one of these too). The iPad is brilliant for travelling as it generally takes up less room than a laptop, but again, I try only to use it for the necessity of retrieving emails and an internet connection when abroad. Indeed, access to emails when out of the country appears a crucial need for most friends and colleagues too. When emailing a fellow journalist last week, I received an automatic reply informing me that they were away until the end of the month. Despite this, I nevertheless found a reply sitting in my inbox less than an hour later. Holiday or not, anything's possible with a Blackberry. 

News this week coming from Ofcom, the communications regulator, stated that over a quarter of British households currently own at least one touch-screen tablet, highlighting that children even use the devices for homework and communicating with friends. Gone are the days of catching up with school chums playing hopscotch in the park, it seems. Following this, whilst on holiday last month it struck me just how influential iPhones, iPads and technology in general has evolved on an international scale. Sitting at a local taverna, I spotted no less than five tablet devices balancing on the corners of dining tables. "Right guys, iPads away!" exclaimed Dennis from New York, who was on a family holiday and staying at an apartment near us. The audible sigh of disappointment coming from his children was evident - it was too much to bear. 

It didn't stop there, though. After an invitation to a nine-year olds birthday party in Greece, I gave Anna's parents €20 for her to spend on whatever she wished, not knowing what Greek children are into these days. "Thanks," said Anna after receiving the card, "I'm saving up for an iPad." Of course, I thought. I should have guessed. 

Having given into the iPhone as well as the iPad, the latest peer pressure to come my way is the Kindle. But the limit stops here. Turn in the excitement of handling a newly released, beautifully structured book in favour of reading it from yet another screen? I couldn't do it. Nor could I read The Times from my iPad on the train into London. Compared to the blurred breaking news stories that I can retrieve from Twitter, nothing beats the thrill of reading from print. Newspapers win me over every time. 

from:NJYTOUCH

Full HD Touchscreen and Latest Intel Processors Come With Acer’s New Premium Thin and Light Laptop

Computer maker Acer has released their latest premium laptop computer for the Ultrabook market in North America. The new models don’t have a catchy name, no, Acer decided to name the new models Acer Aspire S7-392-9890 (highest-end model) and Acer Aspire S7-392-6832. The new models boast very thin 0.51-inch designs and a carrying weight of only 2.87 pounds while offering the latest hardware advancements in the laptop industry. As far as pricing goes these two new laptops aren’t inexpensive, the entry price is $1,399.99 MSRP for the “base” 6832 and $1,649.99 MSRP for the top-end 9890 model.

Those prices are only the suggested retail price Acer has provided retailers with, online you can already find both of these models for less than those prices through various major electronics retailers. Amazon has the base Acer Aspire S7-392-6832 priced at $1,329.40 (savings of $70 off MSRP) and the high-end Aspire S7-392-9890 is offered at $1,552.99 (savings of $97 off MSRP).

Acer Aspire S7-392 gallery:

Given the reasonably sized gap in the pricing between the two available Aspire S7-392 models let’s discuss the differences between the two Ultrabooks first. For starters powering these new thin and light laptops are some of Intel’s latest dual-core low-voltage Haswell processors that are optimized to offer users some of the best battery life. The top-end 9890 model has a 1.8 GHz Intel Core i7-4500U (4M Cache, up to 3.00 GHz Turbo Boost) and the cheaper 6832 has a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-4200U (3M Cache, up to 2.8 GHz Turbo Boost). Although the two models have different central processors the integrated graphics chips that works along both of those CPU’s is the new Intel HD Graphics 4400 iGPU, the only difference is the Core i7′s iGPU has a maximum operating frequency that 1.1 GHz and the Core i5′s iGPU maxes out at 1 GHz. Moving along to the final difference between these new touch Ultrabooks, the 9890 comes with a 256GB solid state drive and the 6832 has a 128GB SSD built-in.Differences

Similarities

The differences aside let’s delve into the many similarities between these new Acer premium laptops. Design wise the two notebooks offer Crystal White colored body that has a glossy looking lid that uses Corning’s tough Gorilla Glass 2 for protection from scratches. As for the displays these new laptops come with 13.3-inch Full HD 1920-by-1080 pixels 10-finger multi-touch capacitive IPS screens that are LED back-lit. Hitting back on the last difference listed, the solid state drives for each machine are setup in the performance oriented RAID 0 format that offers very fast data read and write speeds. For random access memory (RAM) Acer has gone ahead and included 8GB of DDR3 RAM for each model.

Now for the inputs and outputs the two new Acer Aspire S7-392 models have only a few built-in ports HDMI, two USB 3.0 (1 with power-off charging), SD card reader and the new Acer Converter Port. The Acer Converter Port was basically a new design idea that Acer has come up with to help them create thinner machines by stripping out multiple ports that take up much more space than one port can. For the laptops in question the Acer Converter Port will use an included dongle to provide VGA, Ethernet and USB 2.0 ports to users when they need them.

Moving on, in the audio and video department you get two stereo speakers with Dolby’s new Advanced Audio v4 software, a microphone and a 720p HD webcam. The wireless connectivity included with these new thin and light laptops is your now-standard 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi with Bluetooth 4.0. Both models also come with a Acer ZoomPerfect touchpad, which offer built-in gestures compatible with Windows 8 for things link pinch-to-zoom and more. Of course both of these touch-enabled Ultrabooks come with Windows 8 64-bit edition.

As for the battery life Acer has been cautious and decided to list the maximum battery life for each model at 7 hours, even though with some optimization you can achieve well above that. Already users are reporting 8-9 hours for online browsing and e-mailing after getting rid of some pre-installed software and dropping the display brightness to 70 percent. So, with optimization you can definitely compute all day with the new Acer Aspire S7-392 Ultrabooks. The 7 hours Acer estimates is attainable and you can use the laptop at full 100% brightness all you need to do is charge the notebook to at least 99% full. Acer lists the same spec. battery for the two different models mentioned above, the battery is a 4-cell lithium polymer battery that can hold a charge of 6280mAh
.

from:NJYTOUCH

Ready for a 3D touchscreen?

Soon, future tablets, smartphones and mobile devices may sport touchscreens that not only let you pinch and zoom, but also let you poke and stretch them as well.

The screen, which its creators described as 2.5-D instead of full 3-D, has a flexible liquid rubber sheet laid over actuators, and sits under a Kinect-based camera that projects images onto the sheet, Discovery News said.

“If you pull on it, the sheet makes a little mountain. Poke it and it dents. Rub your finger on it and it senses the friction. Stretch it and it shows the distortion on the image,” it said.

Discovery News said the camera also measures how deep the screen is poked into it or how far its stretched.

Appropriately, the device designed by Massachussetts Institute of Technology Media Lab’s Dhairya Dand and Rob Hemsley was named Obake – a mythical Japanese shapeshifting spirit.

Dand and Hemsley said today’s 3D displays are not true 3D but mere optical illusions.

“We created a 2.5D display that is shape changing with the help of actuators, depth cameras, projector and a silicone screen. ‘Obake’ (o-baa-keh) as we lovingly call it, imagines how we would interact with elastic display. We could literally pinch and pull them!” they said.

“Create mountains by pulling them out of the screen, draw rivers with your fingers, elevate an entire terrain to see a cut section view. Make your data come alive,” they added.

The two also said current state-of-the-art touchscreens still assume 2D images, while many 3D displays do not exploit the range of gestural controls.

Long way to go

But Discovery News noted it will take some time before this technology finds its way into a mobile device as small as a smartphone.

“Actuators are relatively large, and there would have to be room for pressing in as well as extruding, and the need for a projector. Odds are this technology will first show up on tabletop applications,” it said.  — ELR, GMA News

from:NJYTOUCH

MeridianSooloos produce first jointly developed touchpanel: Control 10

Given just how zany the past few months have been in the HD world, you probably

forgot all about Meridian and Sooloos' little tie-up back in December. Lo and behold,

 the newly conjoined company has just released its first jointly developed product,

the Control 10 touchscreen. The device integrates Meridian's proprietary connectivity

 with a Sooloos touchscreen in order to create what's called the "most user-friendly

media-access solution yet." For those with lots of Meridian equipment, it'll be hard to

let this one pass given just how well it'll integrate, and there's also RS-232 for more

 widespread control. Hop on past the break for the nitty-gritty, but only after you've

grown comfortable with the $5,000 asking price. 

Meridian Sooloos, Together At Last: New Touchscreen Available

Control 10 now offers Meridian SpeakerLink/Comms Connectivity for Simple
Integration

New York, New York, March 13, 2009‹Meridian is pleased to deliver the first
of its new designs with Sooloos, the recently acquired manufacturer of
server-based home entertainment systems widely acknowledged as the most
innovative and sophisticated available. The Control 10 integrates Meridian¹s
proprietary connectivity with the award-winning Sooloos touchscreen, the
most user-friendly media-access solution yet created.

³Our goal for the first Meridian Sooloos product was to incorporate the
SpeakerLink technology as well as legacy-standard Meridian Comms, providing
an integrated system that was incredibly simple yet technically and
sonically superior,² said Meridian CEO, Peter Wellikoff. ³Now the Control 10
is not only the perfect complement to a Meridian system, it remains a superb
option for any installation requiring the most intuitive media server on the
market.²

Featuring the Meridian SpeakerLink and legacy Meridian Comms protocols, the
Control 10 can seamlessly integrate with Meridian¹s famed Digital
Loudspeakers, preamp/controllers, and music systems, and includes RS-232 for
integration with the full spectrum of legacy media and home-control systems.
The Control 10 also incorporates on-board S/PDIF coaxial digital outputs,
permitting it to function as a complete Sooloos ³zone².

The desktop-style Control 10 touchscreen features a razor-sharp 17-inch LCD
display with crisp, HD-level imaging and a resistive touch panel with
outstanding user feedback. Adding to its ease of use, the Control 10
includes a slot-loading CD drive in its low-profile base for convenient,
local loading or playback of content without requiring a computer or
outboard disc drive.

The Meridian Sooloos touchscreen uses cleverly integrated heatsinking for a
fanless design that renders the Control 10 completely silent, and thus ideal
for the most demanding listening environments and customers. Like all
Sooloos components, the Control 10 communicates with its Storage and Source
components via standard TCP/IP Ethernet connectivity, using either the
supplied high-quality Neutrik EtherCon connectors or any conventional
CAT5/5e/6 RJ-45 cables.

In the ever-changing world of home-entertainment technology, the Meridian
Sooloos media-management system is a complete solution that allows music and
photos to be easily accessed easily and reliably stored.

NJYTOUCH

Habey USA's 12-inch panel PC brings that rugged look to your home

It's a shame this steel-encased touchscreen PC from Habey USA arrived too late for our violent outburston the Engadget Show, but at least it has some broadly agreeable specs. The PPC-6512 can reel off 1080p vids on its 12-inch screen while consuming just 30W thanks to its 1.8GHz Atom D525 and NVIDIA Ion GT218 combo. An empty 2.5-inch removable HDD tray and eSATA port give it potential as a networked storage hub, and an old-school serial port lets it handle home automation controls too. It could also be used as a comms or security terminal, as there's a 1.3MP webcam on board, vesa mounting holes and four USB 2.0 ports. Heck, we'd buy three and rig our whole house up -- were it not for the $800 price tag, the apparently limited availability on Habey USA's underloved Amazon page, and the fact that we like our terminals to show a bit of emotion. Full specs in the PR after the break.