Touching the Future - Touch Screen Interfaces and Mobile Phones

by davlak

The touch screen interface is one that has been a long time developing. The first touch interfaces used in computers were Wacom graphics tablets, which were developed by a Japanese company to support writing Japanese ideograms as a text input method. Wacom’s means to measure both the pressure area and direction of a touching pen or stylus has led to the innovative handsets and touchscreens we have today.

As a smart phone interface, touch screens started out with the original Apple Newton, but unfortunately it didn’t take off - the form factor was too large to be convenient, and battery technology made them heavy. It was greatly improved by the Palm Pilot, which enjoyed immense popularity in the late 1990s, becoming more powerful but requiring less battery power to operate. Their modern day descendant the Palm Treo has since foregone the touch screen in favour of a thumb-driven keyboard.

Touch screen phones started taking off again in the first half of 2006 - nearly a year and a half before the iPhone made it “the must have” feature on any mobile phone. The phones got some dedicated followers, but the overall prospect of using the touch screen for carrying out any significant data work was daunting and frustrating - mostly because the software wasn’t up to it, and the menus weren’t built around the user experience.

With the iPhone, we saw the first example of someone creating a touch interface right - the touch screen on an iPhone or iPod touch is amazingly sensitive to both multiple points of contact and to noting the direction of travel. It’s this software/hardware integration that makes the iPhone such an elegant piece of equipment, with the ability to pinch to zoom out, stretch to zoom in, and a fingertip flick to roll through your contacts or playlist.

New Smartphones, new touch technology

With the popularity of the iPhone, it’s no surprise that other mobile phone companies are going to be hitting the market soon with their own touch screen models. Samsung, for example, is releasing the Tocco which is smaller and thinner than Apple’s model. It has a touchscreen and allows for the dropping and dragging of widgets for the user’s convenience.

Still at the forefront of mobile phone sales, Nokia isn’t going to be left out of the smartphone race. They are currently working on a touchscreen model prototype currently referred to as Tube. With built-in GPS and a nice widescreen display, the phone will fit in nicely with the competition. It’s also believed to support handwriting recognition.

Clearly, Apple has led the touchscreen revolution and it promises to be a great year in smartphones both for consumers and for the industry.

What’s next? Well, probably two things taken from gaming consoles - sensitivity to direction of motion for the unit as a whole (think of the Nintendo Wii), and something called haptics. Haptics is all about the study of touch. Integrating haptic technology within a touch screen could enable phones and other devices to allow us to experience a whole new set of senses.

Insure and Smile offers competitive mobile phone insurance for all models of mobile phones and smartphones. Mobile insurance from as little as £2.99 a month against theft, breakdown and water damage with gauranteed 48 hour replacement.

Related articles

• O2 wins exclusive Palm Pre deal (guardian.co.uk)
• Smartphone sales shine in Q1 (news.cnet.com)
• My Must-have Wishful Thinking (24hourparadigm.com)
• Nokia N97 Review: Big leap, small step (dvirreznik.blogspot.com)
• Sony Ericsson says new Satio will beat iPhone 'hands down' (telegraph.co.uk)
• Gartner to Handset Sellers: Beef Up Your Smartphone Offerings (gigaom.com)
• First Dell, now Philips: Invasion of the iPhone clones in China begins (digital.venturebeat.com)

Related Sites :
Mizuno, Calvin Klein, Nike, Moschino, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Dickies, Skecher, DKNY, Emerica, Kayland, Miss Sixty, Umi Kids, Tommy, Wee Box, Onex, Olukai, FlyFlot, Fratelli, Gravati, Daniel Green, Jumping Jack, Yellow Box, Nine West, Tatami, Coclico, , Via Spiga, Naturalizer, Ecco Golf

DON'T FAIL TO VISIT:
Naked Pinay Views, Friendly Remarks , Money Talks , Marc Nand's Blog , Nodding Nanding's Journal, Amusing Disclosure , Cyber Tweaks , PC Operatis , Bytamin I , Cool Gizmodgets , Online Shopster

9 Tips and suggestions for first-time inventors

Coming up with a brilliant idea is by far the easiest part of the invention process. Developing that brainwave and turning it into a successful, moneymaking product can prove to be a minefield. We offer advice on how to avoid the pitfalls that often beset first-time inventors...

One of the most important things to do before spending time and money is to absolutely avoid the invention scam companies. They will try to lure you in to their web and they will provide you absolutely nothing in return. The second thing to do is to do an evaluation of your invention idea. Once you have completed an evaluation you will immediately know if you have something to move on with or not. If the evaluation is overwhelmingly negative, STOP RIGHT THERE and abandon the project and move on to something else. If the evaluation is positive, then check that the idea is new, that it is technically practical, and that there is a potential market for the idea. A good evaluation program provides a very cost-effective way of finding out whether these things are true for your idea or business.

Nine Important Things to Do!

1. Keep it to yourself! - One of the most tempting things to do if you’ve just come up with an ingenious new invention is to tell your friends without even a whiff of a confidentiality agreement. Not only does this make your idea liable to be stolen, you will also not be able to patent it, as it will be considered to have entered the public domain. Use a Confidentiality Agreement that you can adapt.

2. Do your research - So many people come to us with an invention without having dared to find out if it’s been done before - sometimes we type a ‘new’ idea into Google and it’s the first result. Spend a little time having a look yourself. By finding out what the competition is you are in a much better position to improve your idea and sell it successfully.

3. Beware of corporations - It may also be tempting to take your idea to one of the big companies - for example, take your improved lawn-mowing device to one of the large garden machinery brands - but many of them won’t sign a confidentiality agreement. Without this you are in danger of losing the rights to your idea.

4. Don’t fear lawyers - All patent attorneys will offer a free half-hour confidential consultation in which they will quickly offer invaluable advice about your invention and the patent implications.

5. Make sure it can be built - If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a prototype is worth a million. It makes it a lot easier for people to know what your invention is if they can see and touch it. But don’t spend money on making a prototype until you are really sure that you can protect the idea and that there is a market for it! Even if it doesn't work in its original form, you may be able to improve it or seek alternative technologies that could make it work

6. Don’t waste your money - We know of people who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on patents, lawyers and manufacturing, without ever checking whether it was a new idea or whether anybody would actually want to buy the thing. Just because your family and friends say they would use your invention doesn’t necessarily mean that anybody else will. Always do your market research on strangers to see if it would sell.

7. Patent, patent, patent - In the US, the first to invent gets the right to that invention. Apply for the Provisional Patent Application as your first step in the patent process and become patent pending.

8. Registered designs & trade marks: could be better- If a patent is not appropriate, a registered design or trade mark can be a way to protect the appearance of your idea or your business or product name, slogan or logo. Registering your company name is not the same as registering a Trade Mark and a web site name (URL) has no legal standing in protecting a name or brand. The value of many large organizations is in the goodwill in their brand names, not just the technology in their business. This is especially true of service and software businesses.

9. Stay positive! - While all these legal complications can seem overwhelming, inventing is a wonderful thing, and the perfect way to escape the drudgery of a 9-to-5 job. A healthy dose of enthusiasm and genuine belief in your idea (as well as a touch of arrogance) can do wonders for you, and for your invention.

In conclusion, stay focused, limit your risks, and avoid the invention companies. Above all, have fun!

Author:

Victor Martel is a successful inventor with several products. His website http://www.InventorEducation.com assists inventors helping them learn the invention process. His free eBook Save Your Money To...Save Your Invention is available to all registered users on his website.