Disqus
It wasn’t long ago that we got a look under the hood of the unreleased BlackBerry 9550 Storm 2 (code-named Odin), revealing what’s believed to be piezoelectronic sensors that become pliable when an electrical current goes through them, but remain rigid when not powered. Although cool, it was a little tricky to determine why the new device would need something so elaborate. Well, after some additional fiddling with an early unit, apparently the screen clicking can be removed, resulting in a more traditional touchscreen smartphone experience. The option to disable clicking should be what differentiates SurePress from what has been called “TruePress”, and could easily be the clincher for many potential buyers, especially ones familiar with the original Storm’s screen.
Will and I actually got into a lengthy discussion about whether it was these four sensors that went squishy thanks to piezo technology, or if the screen itself went squishy to absorb taps before the pressure got to the buttons. The latter certainly rings a bell with RIM’s patent for a combined resistive/capactive touchscreen, although I’m more tempted to believe it would be easier to control clicking from the buttons themselves, rather than at the screen level.
Of course, there’s always the third distinct possibility that being able to to activate icons without clicking the screen is simply a bug from an in-development operating system. To judge for yourself, take a look at the short demo.
[RT @salomondrin]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
