touch

After too long with a single-ringer, no-frills, colorless, call-and-text-only Motorola cell phone, this blogger has upgraded to a touch-screen, Windows Mobile, wi-fi capable, hand-held nugget of a computer.

Enter the HTC Touch, also branded Dopod S1.

I picked this phone up yesterday from the mobile phone market in the "Super Bar Street" (星吧路) complex at N?ren Jie (Women Street) in Beijing. I'll have to give a tour of the market later on, but the key here is to come with a friend who knows one of the stalls. In my case, one member of a couple who have bought several phones from one stall came along to introduce me and help negotiate a fair price (though I still had sticker shock, being one of those "Which phone is free with the plan?" consumers).… Read more

A lot of computer gear these days seems to be following the Hummer/SUV trend of the auto industry from the early '90s: the bigger and tougher the better. We've seen, for example, military-grade laptops, keyboards, and even nuke-proof USB drives. So why should LCDs be left out?

Specialty equipment maker Stealth Computer plans to fill that void with the "TuffTouch," a 17-inch touch-screen monitor encased in aluminum alloy for "harsh environment applications," according to the company. The 1,280x1,024 monitor can also be ordered with a built-in "Little PC"--and it'… Read more

Alltel Wireless has just announced the immediate availability of the HTC Touch smartphone with pricing starting at $199.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts. The Alltel HTC Touch has a number of the same features as the other versions of the phone (unlocked and Sprint's), such as the TouchFlo interface, Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition, and a 2-megapixel camera. They've also added a fourth "cube" to the menu interface where you can access some of the carrier's exclusive applications such as Voice2TXT (converts voice mails into text), Games from Magmic, Sharpcast … Read more

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Hitachi is demo'ing a product called Starboard that is a multi-touch interface at a very large scale. You can use it to control a regular PC, and they've also got some custom apps for it. One of those is shown in the video.

What's interesting is that this is a projected interface, so it's untethered from the need to have a touch-sensitive LCD. This allows it to scale very large relatively inexpensively. They were also showing a wall-size version.

The projector in both cases was a very short throw Hitachi model … Read more

As I've noted before, iPod deals are rare indeed, so I gotta post 'em when I find 'em. B&H has the 16GB iPod Touch (droooooool) for $365 with shipping. That's $34 less than you'll pay if you order straight from Apple.

I won't bore you with Touch details; you already know it's the coolest iPod ever. So here's your chance to save a few bucks on one--money you can use to stock up on DRM-free MP3s from AmazonMP3. Just a thought.

B&H also has the 8GB model on sale for $… Read more

Just what is a wiki, anyway? A few years ago, I could have told you. Today, I'm not so sure.

Part of the problem is that wiki authors have made innovations, broadening the appeal and scope of wikis. Witness MindTouch's recent upgrade of its DekiWiki platform to 1.8.3.

DekiWiki, the leading enterprise wiki (measured in terms of downloads and, in my opinion, by raw innovation), still allows easy creation of Web pages by nontechnical users.

But the new release goes much further. DekiWiki eliminates the need to use a separate programming environment to add widgets, external services, or JavaScript libraries. In other words, it makes it easy for developers to connect a wiki to everything else. Yes, everything else:… Read more

LG.Philips, one of the major worldwide LCD panel suppliers, is planning to debut a series of mammoth touch screens, including two so-called world-first commercial flat panels: a 52-inch multi-touch and a 47-inch triple-view HDTV.

The former has an ultra-high 1,920x1,080 resolution and the ability to recognize two touch points, as well as gestures. Its high responsiveness is also capable of picking up more exacting writing instruments, thereby improving interactivity.

The HDTV, meanwhile, can display three images to viewers standing at various angles simultaneously. It's intended for such uses as in-store directories and shopping mall advertising.

(Source: … Read more

There's no denying the mobile version of Safari found on the iPod and iPhone Touch offers an above-average browsing experience for a portable device. That said, the software is not without its shortcomings, and one of them is how it handles links found on various Web pages. Depending on how they've been coded by the author, links can be set to open up in a new window or tab, or simply in the same page. Usually you don't find this out until you click on them, which can be a juggle considering the device is only capable … Read more

We're a little more than a month away from the Macworld Expo, and the expectations are starting to get a little clearer for arguably Apple's biggest show of the year.

CNBC reported Thursday that Apple plans at Macworld to introduce a 12-inch Mac laptop with flash memory in place of a hard drive. Apple followers have long anticipated such a product, and several other reports have come out this year predicting a similar type of announcement was nigh.

The ultraportable Mac is said to be 50 percent thinner and lighter than a current MacBook Pro, the largest notebook … Read more