Archives for posts with tag: Hardware

Back in December, I talked to Dan Rosenfeld about the capacitive version of the Mouse 2.0 project (we also went by the Fab Lab where mice are born). Hrvoje Benko is a researcher in the Adaptive Systems and Interaction group at Microsoft Research and is also working on the project. I recently stopped by Benko’s office to get more info and a detailed look at how some of the optical versions of Mouse 2.0 may work.

In this video, Benko walks us through a deconstruction of the Orb mouse prototype and the FTIR (Frustrated Total Internal Reflection) mouse prototype.

The latest products to come out of Microsoft Hardware’s Webcam Lab are the HD5000 and HD5001 webcams. This means that along with the Lifecam Cinema HD, we’ve now have three webcams available that deliver an HD picture. The 5000 and 5001 are similar cameras with the same HD optics, the difference between the two being that the 5000 is designed for desktops and the 5001 is optimized for laptops with a shorter cord, a carry case, and the ability to spin 360 degrees. Both retail for $50.

Daniel Anguiano from the hardware team joined me to show us the new cams and some of the new features on the 5000 series, and to talk about why Microsoft has so many different webcams.

At TechFest this year I met with Desney Tan and Dan Morris who showed me several very interesting systems, each of which allows your body to become the input device for hardware. Granted, this hardware was literally put together with tape and exposed wires (that just increases the cool, IMHO), but this proof of concept worked incredibly well considering its fragility. Also, Desney really could use a metronome and some time spent practicing Guitar Hero. :)

Dan showed us how we might interact with devices by using our body as a control device. By tapping in a specific area on your arm you are able to navigate, read email, or play games.

In October I put together a list of all the available multitouch hardware that I could find. Here is an updated list of multitouch hardware. The number of touch points on each differ, and because that number is tied to the driver and can change, I haven’t included that. A good rule of thumb is that optical and resistive often have 2 touch points while capacitive often have 4 or more. Thanks to Shane Abreu for helping compile the list.

OEM

Model

Platform

Form Factor

Technology

Acer

Aspire AS5738PG

Notebook

Clamshell

Capacitive

Acer

Aspire Z5610

Desktop

AIO

Optical

Acer

1420P

Notebook

Tablet

Resistive

Asus

Eee PC T91

Netbook

Netbook

Resistive

Dell

SX2210T

Display

Monitor

Optical

Dell

Latitude XT

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

Dell

Latitude XT2

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

Dell

Studio One 19

Desktop

AIO

Optical

Dell

Studio 17

Notebook

Clamshell

Capacitive

Fujitsu

Lifebook T4310

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

Fujitsu

Lifebook T4410

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

Fujitsu

LifeBook 5010

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

Fujitsu

DeskPower F Series

Desktop

AIO

Optical

Fujitsu

T900

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

Fujitsu

LifeBook UH900

Notebook

Netbook

?

Gateway

Gateway One ZX4800

Desktop

AIO

Optical

HP

TouchSmart 600t

Desktop

AIO

Optical

HP

TouchSmart 300z

Desktop

AIO

Optical

HP

TouchSmart TX2

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

HP

TouchSmart dx9100

Desktop

AIO

Optical

HP

DV3

Notebook

Clamshell

Capacitive

HP

TM2

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

HP

5102

Notebook

Netbook

Capacitive

HP

L2105tm

Display

Monitor

Optical

HP

L5009tm

Display

Monitor

Optical

Lenovo

ThinkPad X200

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

Lenovo

ThinkPad T400

Notebook

Clamshell

Capacitive

Lenovo

IdeaPad S10-3t

Notebook

Tablet

Capacitive

Lenovo

C310

Desktop

AIO

Optical

Medion

X9613

Desktop

AIO

Optical

MSI

AE2220

Desktop

AIO

Optical

Positivo

Union Touch 2200

Desktop

AIO

Optical

Sony

VAIO L

Desktop

AIO

Optical

Toshiba

Satellite U505

Notebook

Clamshell

Capacitive

Toshiba

Satellite M505

Notebook

Clamshell

Capacitive

 

Closing our CES 2010 coverage, this is a look at some of the hardware that Lenovo currently has or will be offering this year. It includes everything from the typical business machines to contemporary all-in-one machines, even a laptop that lets you game in 3D (they tell me all DirectX games are 3D compatible.)

John interviews Silverlight MVP David Kelley about developing multi-touch applications in Silverlight. David discusses the types of multi-touch hardware and his experiences in developing real world multi-touch applications. Then he jumps right into the code and shows how to create a multi-touch application with Silverlight 3 or 4! The application David demonstrates walks through the key multi-touch events, handling those events, touch IDs, tracking the location of the touch points, and much more. Being a sly devil, John even got David to commit to coming on the show again and demonstrating some advanced multi-touch samples and sharing his stories of how developers have broken their monitors using multi-touch!

David also calls out props to Tim Heuer and Davide Zordan!

Inside the Microsoft booth at CES is a row of computers that we call Muscle Beach. These are some of the latest PCs from partners that will be coming out over the next year. I’m really impressed this year with some of the forward thinking features hardware companies are coming out with, like the dual monitor netbook shown here. My favorite had to be the Pegatron slate though. This device shown in the keynote has an 11.6″ screen with an Atom processor, 1GB RAM and 32GB HDD. It’s so light and portable, it would be perfect to carry around the house for reading and remoting into the other PC’s around my house via Mesh. With so many different types of devices, there’s something for everyone.

Microsoft’s Gary Schare demos some of the new hardware for Windows 7 at CES including network media devices and touch-enabled monitors that will allow you to multitouchify your current laptop or desktop.

Microsoft’s Mouse 2.0 project is an interesting look at the next step for pointing devices in five completely different versions of multitouch mice. One of the things I liked about the Mouse 2.0 news is that we put our cards on the table at a very early stage and asked what the public thought. Speak up, we’re listening.

Dan Rosenfeld is a researcher who is at the center of the Mouse 2.0 project. I stopped by Dan’s office to see what he’s working on and if I could squeeze any more details out about how they work, how we’ll develop for them, and what we can expect. I’ll be stopping by again to look at some of the other Mouse 2.0 contenders soon so leave your questions in the comments.

There is a somewhat little known department here at Microsoft called the Applied Science Group and they do some truly incredible work. They are the research team behind Microsoft Hardware. I met up with Paul Dietz from this group and he showed me the amazing new Micrososft Pressure Sensitive Keyboard. Not only are the possibilities limitless- but they’re multi-touch and predicted to be priced affordably. After he demo-ed the keyboard for me he showed off some of the winning applications made for it from the User Interface Software & Technology Conference. Absolutely Innovative!