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Touchscreen Touchscreen Touchscreen!

By: , IntoMobile
Sunday, January 11th, 2009 at 6:35 AM

Yep, that seems to be the battlecry of the Mobile handset vendors at the moment.  Each is realising it in slightly different ways – be it capacitive, or some kind of force feedback – but none of the majors is without at least one touchscreen device in it’s range!

Take Nokia for example – I was emailed this week to ask if I wanted to review their Tube/5800 device, which is the first true touchscreen (mass-market) device of theirs. It does look like a big stride forward, and from what indicative reviews I’ve seen on the web, it is getting a thumbs-up.

On a different note altogether, I read something on Reuters about Stevie Wonder saying that touchscreen disadvantages those sight-impaired people – which is a fair enough comment – his point being that a generation of tech advances won’t be available to the blind.

Also at CES, there are plenty of devices hitting the (web) news that in one way or another use touch(screen) technology – the plethora of new products coming out this year has been impressive, to say the least.

So overall then, Touchscreen tech is hitting the news, and there is a lot of new gadget goodness which is relying on it. My question is where that tech might evolve to, and then, who is going to be leading the charge with it? So far I’d argue Apple have led, but are we going to see a new contender take over the mantle and do something truly phenomenal with a touchscreen – I wouldn’t bet against that happening……

About The Author

Ben Robinson

Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.

  • Darren

    Like Microsoft? Like Nokia? Like Rimm? Like who exactly are you thinking about pray tell? All are lamo.

  • Kevin

    There have been touchscreen phones for a decade. And even phones with portrait slider keyboards.

    The difference now is in the software, more than in the hardware. The UIs are more finger-friendly.

    So it’s more like it’s the year of the touchscreen UI.

  • bazza

    The Palm Pre seems to be that worthy successor to the throne. Its an incredibly powerful, beautiful, and intuitive OS.

    But of course everyone prefers it to come from a fruit, even if palm is better.

  • Will Park

    Indeed it is the UI that is making 2008-2009 a breakout year for touchscreens. But, capacitance technology is also helping drive touchscreen adoption.