multi-touch

Inventor and engineer Jason Giddings hopes you have a few extra bucks to back his idea for a multitouch mouse and keyboard concept made entirely out of glass and metal.

The combo looks like the input device used on the Gibson supercomputer in "Hackers," but Hal and the Plague would probably be more psyched to use Giddings' wireless peripherals.

The glass surface of the keyboard and mouse shrug off food crumbs and most liquids, and both use Frustrated Total Internal Reflection (FTIR) technology with the help of an embedded camera to pick up infrared light reflected off the inside walls. Proprietary software then picks up the location of the tap and engages the appropriate key press.

Did I mention the software is open source? Yep, that means any developer can potentially manipulate it beyond the functionality of other multitouch peripherals like the Apple Magic Trackpad and the Optimus Maximus keyboard.

You can see visual mockups of the keyboard and mouse set at the Kickstarter donation page, but Giddings still has a long way to go before he reaches the $50,000 goal needed to build prototypes and enter preproduction.

Pledge $10 for a chance to submit your ideas on what to name this thing--the winner will receive the first production model! More concept photos after the jump.… Read more

Apple's effort to trademark the term "Multi-Touch" in the United States has been denied.

MacRumors posts the decision of the United States Patent and Trademark Office dated from last week, wherein the governing body denied Apple's application, saying that the term is merely descriptive of how people interact with its products.

"Thus, from the foregoing, we find that 'multi-touch' not only identifies the technology, but also describes how a user of the goods operates the device," the filing from the USPTO's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board reads. "Based on the evidence discussed … Read more

When Apple showed off Mac OS X Lion at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote speech earlier this year, it was clear the company had paid attention to its successes with the popular iOS devices, and was now beginning to include successful iOS features in its flagship OS.

Also, with Apple laptops and tablets now far outpacing desktop sales, Apple has moved from a primarily desktop computer company to embrace mobile computing. This release of Mac OS X seems to be a reflection of Apple's successes in those categories.

With this eighth major release of the big-cat OS, Apple is … Read more

Video games tend to be more enjoyable on a large screen, but what happens when you harness the power of a 20-foot-wide multitouch display that runs at 8,160x2,304 resolution? Some incredible pew pew.

Fleet Commander, designed by computer science grad student Arthur Nishimoto and developed at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois in Chicago, is perhaps the most tantalizing "Star Wars" concept game ever made.

Under development for several years, it currently harnesses the power of a giant multitouch LCD wall to "explore how a real-time interactive strategy game that would typically rely on complex keyboard commands and mouse interactions [could] be transferred into a multi-user, multitouch environment," according to EVL. Fingers are tracked via TacTile software. … Read more

We got our hands on a prerelease version of Apple's latest big cat, Mac OS X Lion, and we're definitely excited about what we've seen so far. The new Mac OS isn't slated for release until this summer, but the early prerelease shows off many of the latest bells and whistles that Apple hopes will help you be more efficient on your Mac.

Several of the new features make navigating your system and software easier. The new Launchpad, accessed from an icon in the Dock, lays out your applications just as on an iOS device, making … Read more

We previewed iOS 4.3 back in January, and now the time has almost come: the latest version of Apple's iOS software will be available March 11.

What's new this time around? Well, not as much as iOS 4.2, but there are some notable upgrades--especially if you're an iPad owner.

Support for additional multifinger multitouch gestures and swipes adds four-finger fast-swapping between open apps and a one-handed way to flick the app dock up, instead of double-clicking the home button. In fact, you'll probably be using that lone physical button a whole lot less now. … Read more

Sick of your keyboard and mouse? Our touch points with technology are finally expanding beyond them. The Wii gave us motion-controlled games to one extent, and the Kinect took it to the next step: gamers are using their entire bodies for control. Apple, of course, has ushered in an era of multitouch and gesture-based user interfaces, and voice-operated technology is making great strides. What's next? We discuss with Ars Technica's Jon Stokes and Forrester's James McQuivey.

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Some of our discussion points… Read more

Apple has released to developers a beta of iOS 4.3, the newest operating system update for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. iOS 4.3 will include several feature upgrades including the addition of personal Wi-Fi hot spots, new multitouch gestures for iPad, and customizable messaging alerts.

Also included in the first beta of iOS 4.3 is the return of orientation locking by using the hardware switch on the side of your iPad. Users will be able to toggle the usage of that switch from its current function, muting, to the new orientation lock.

The App Store app has … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Not mentioned at today's CES keynote address from Microsoft was something new--a multitouch mouse that's been designed to bring special gesture features to Windows 7 users.

Readers with a good memory might take one look at what Microsoft is calling Touch Mouse, and recognize it as the "Cap Mouse" from October of 2009, which the company unveiled as one of five mousing prototypes. Since then the mouse has cut the cord, tapered out in front, been given a completely different finish (black and red instead of gray and dark gray), and a $79.95 price … Read more