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Pressure-sensitive screens coming to Android as Synaptics announces new display controller

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Synaptics has today announced the ClearPad 3700 force-sensing touchscreen controller, which the company hopes will be packed inside many a 2016 flagship Android smartphone. This comes just about a month after Apple’s September 9th event, at which the Cupertino company announced the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, both packing “3D Touch” as a headline feature…
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Touchscreen + Chrome OS: Do they work together? [Video]

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Acer did something a little unusual last month when it announced an all-in-one Chromebase desktop with a touchscreen. It’s the first of its kind, and the company hopes it can bring something unique to the market. I’ve been testing it for the past week and, although it’s clearly not an input replacement for the mouse and keyboard, it actually has its uses.

The entire 21.5-inch 1080p panel has a layer of touch sensors over the top of it. It’s ten-point multitouch, and can be used to do all manner of things. It’s mostly intuitive too. There’s little unusual or unfamiliar if you’ve been using touchscreen smartphones for any length of time.
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Acer Chromebase Touch: Unboxing the all-in-one Chrome OS touchscreen desktop [Video]

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Acer recently unveiled a new range of all-in-one desktop computers running Chrome OS. The Acer Chromebase Touch is one of the company’s most recent models, and it has a 21.5-inch, full HD touchscreen. It’s powered by a Tegra K1 quad-core processor, 4 GB RAM, 16 GB of storage and a couple of 3W front-firing speakers.


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Incoming Google Photos app with ‘Assistant’ feature gets shown off in screenshots

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Today we’re getting a look at an upcoming new version of the Google Photos app courtesy of some screenshots obtained by AndroidPolice. The app features a new Assistant mode that appears to replace the old Autoawesome feature with a more manual editing experience, as well as something new features and tweaks to the overall user experience.
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Dell introduces new affordable Chromebook 11 w/ 180-degree hinge, better durability

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Today Dell is launching the next generation of its education-aimed Chromebook 11, and the laptop comes with many improvements—durability and affordability were the focus with this device according to the company—that make it a worthy upgrade. The device packs an 11-inch, 1366 x 768 resolution screen (which is definitely nothing special), but there are a few things about this laptop that set it apart from the rest (and from its predecessor).
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HP quietly launches new higher-end touchscreen variation of the Chromebook 14

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HP has quietly launched a new version of the Chromebook 14 (via OMGChrome), a laptop the company launched earlier this year that was met with much criticism over its less-than-perfect screen. Now, with a more expensive revised version of that device (but the others aren’t going anywhere, obviously) being available, customers have the option of going with a touchscreen Chrome experience and slightly improved specs over its little brothers. HP said that it would be coming soon at the launch of the Chromebook 14, and it looks like company has now followed through with that promise.


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Samsung Galaxy S5 teardown highlights 16MP camera sensor, biosensor and fingerprint scanner

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Chipworks managed to get its hands on a Galaxy S5 ahead of Samsung’s new flagship handset officially going on sale on 11th April, and has been taking a look inside. The model it obtained was a Korean one, thanks to several carriers releasing it early. We’ve also noted third-party suppliers on Amazon advertising it as available in 1-2 days.

While Chipworks has only just begun its analysis, it does provide a sneak peek of the innards, together with a steer on three of the elements it plans to examine in detail: the fingerprint sensor, heart-rate chip and camera sensor.

The company says that the fingerprint sensor is split into two parts, a touch sensor embedded in the home button, and a second part connected to the touchscreen. It isn’t yet clear whether the screen simply detects a touch and switches on the sensor, or whether data from the touchscreen forms part of the identification process.

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Google rolling out update to fix new Nexus 7 multitouch issues

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As noticed by Droid-Life, Google has responded in its product forums to complaints related to multitouch issues for its new Nexus 7 and is rolling out an update to address the problems. The update will bring the Nexus 7 up to Android 4.3 build JSS15Q and a Googler confirmed the update should fix the touchscreen issues:

As a couple of you have mentioned, there’s a new system update that’s started rolling out for your Nexus 7s. This update does address the touchscreen issues discussed in this thread. If you’re one of the people experiencing touchscreen issues, please let us know how it’s going after you’ve received and installed the update.

We also heard earlier this month that Google was investigating reports of GPS problems with new Nexus 7.

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Google gets touchy-feely in latest Chrome beta

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The latest Chrome beta introduces the same slide navigation feature seen in IE8, sliding left or right to navigate back and forth between pages, reports The Verge. Apple also has a similar function in Safari on the Mac via its multi-touch trackpads.

Pinch-to-zoom also appears to be something Google is experimenting with too, thanks to an “enable pinch scale” option in the Chrome Canary flags. It’s more experimental than the swipe navigation, but it works as you’d expect by zooming in websites using your fingers. On Windows 8, Google is also supporting the onscreen keyboard fully in the desktop version by displaying it when you tap the address bar or text boxes.

You can download the latest beta for Chrome here. Chrome overtook Internet Explorer as the most popular browser in the U.S. just last month.

Samsung to exit desktop computer business, signaling the end of Chromeboxes?

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Update: Samsung has denied the claim, quoted in TNW as saying:

The rumor that Samsung is withdrawing from the PC desktop business is groundless. Samsung will continue to offer diverse PC products according to consumer and market needs.

 

Samsung has been the sole manufacture producing Chromeboxes over the last couple of years, but according to a new report from the Korea Times, the company will soon close its traditional desktop business. The report claims that Samsung has decided to close its unprofitable desktop PC business to focus on tablets, all-in-ones, and hybrid laptops. The company says that “demand for conventional desktop PCs is going down,” and that it would like to dedicate its resources “to popular connected and portable devices.”

Samsung says that even those in research and technology departments are being pressured to switch to tablets and convertible laptops.

“Tablets, all-in-one and hybrid PCs are Samsung’s current focus. Samsung is speeding up its restructuring of its PC business via product realignment toward profitable variants,” said a Samsung official.


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Sony explains Xperia V’s sensor-on-lens touchscreen tech

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After announcing the new ICS-powered Xperia lineup last month, Sony shared some details today on the new sensor-on-lens touch screen tech being built into the Xperia V. Sony described the tech as providing the same benefits to smartphones as in-cell and on-cell touch technology, which Apple is rumored to be including in the next-generation iPhone. In a blog post on the Sony Mobile Developer blog, the company explained exactly how the sensor-on-lens technology works and some of the benefits it provides to the Xperia V. Some of those benefits include better image quality, less haze, 5 percent better display luminance, and a lighter and thinner device due to an extra layer of glass being removed:

Sensor-on-lens touch technology means that the number of physical layers in the touch panel (handset stackup) is reduced, as the sensor layer is actually part of the lens itself. This in turn means that you will get better image quality, as there is no interference from the touch sensor component.  There is one less layer of glass and one less layer of glue, compared to conventional touch panels… This technology also moves the image plane closer to you as a user, which makes it feel like you are actually touching the image itself. With this direct touch experience, you will get less parallax issues compared to a conventional touch panel, as the image and the point of touch are closer together in the sensor-on-lens touch screen technology.


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From the ‘How bad could it be?’ dept: $50 Android 2.2 7-inch tablet with front and rear cameras from Pandigital

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OneSaleADay offers the “Google Android Pandigital Planet 7″ Touchscreen Tablet with Android 2.2 OS, 2GB & MicroSD Expansion Slot!” for just $49.99 with $5 for shipping. That’s a pretty insane price even if this thing is just a 2GB photoframe. But it isn’t. It is an Android 2.2 tablet with front AND BACK cameras, SD card slot (take that Nexus 7!), and 802.11N networking.

You are not going to love reading on this, with a 800-by-600 resolution, but it might make a good Google Hangout/web browsing/ general-use Android tablet for those without a lot of cash.  Amazon’s reviewers were not very kind, but “you get what you pay for.” The full specs are below:
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Ice Cream Sandwich ported to Kindle Fire, still lacking a few components

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Following the release of Cyanogenmod 7 on the Kindle Fire, an Xda-Developers user has ported the latest and greatest Ice Cream Sandwich to the device. The port is currently a bit sketchy — missing audio, Wi-Fi, accelerometer, and light sensor — but does have a working touch panel and hardware graphics. The forum user promises a release of the code in the near future, and we can promise you this project isn’t for the feeble. You have to remember there’s no going back if you mess up. But it doesn’t hurt to look does it? Head on after the break to see the port in action.


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Boeing signs with Android as exclusive entertainment system in new 787 Dreamliner

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Australian Business Traveler is reporting that Boeing has selected Android as the exclusive operating system for the entertainment system in the new 787 Dreamline aircraft. Boeing will use Android to provide flyers with music, video, and airline specific apps that will be embedded through touchscreen panels on the back of the headrest, built by Panasonic.

First class and business seats will have non-touchscreen panels, because they will be much larger, but will feature hand-gesturing — which is a prototype as of now.

Luckily, the touchscreen panels in coach will have wider viewing angles and will be less reflective of light than airplane screens that you see today.  Also capacitative sensors will replace resistive touch.

For those of you who use laptops on airplanes, you’ll be thrilled to know the 787s will include laptop power sockets and USB ports on the menu for economy seats. Chromebooks, anyone? 

There have already been 820 orders of the new 787 Dreamline aircraft, so the number of people that will be open to Android will be significant.

More shots after the break:


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How bad could this thing be?

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I see these things from time to time on 9to5Toys and wonder how the heck they can make any type of tablet with a 7-inch screen $90.

The one review it does get on Amazon sums it up pretty well:

While the unit does work. It’s slow, and sometimes the touchscreen is unresponsive to touch commands. I basically have to press really hard on the screen for it to take commands.

It does a poor job streaming video from youtube.
My Samsung Captivate, cell phone is faster than this unit.

Overall:

Pros: Works, great for web surfing low media content sites, great to use as a picture frame,

Cons: Slow, Touch screen not accurate/responsive.

So, it would appear that you are pretty much buying a photoframe with a battery and a resistive touch screen (enclosed stylus).  Still, for $90…