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mdelvecchio

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2010
3,151
1,149
They need a "hover" sensor for touch, to at least replicate the mouse pointer's hover functionality for all the websites that use CSS hover code.

This is one of the more frustrating conversions to do between mouse/pointer vs. touch websites, since it affects operational usability and not just appearances.

a web app that relies on hover for operational functionality rather than appearance cues is doing it wrong.
 

blackcrayon

macrumors 68020
Mar 10, 2003
2,256
1,824
I love how they need to research this when Wacom is already on multiple tablets for Android and Windows.

Is Apple too proud to license?

Cool. I thought the Wacom tech only worked with a stylus. Does it work for finger pressure too? And even if so, what if there's a better method?
 

thejadedmonkey

macrumors G3
May 28, 2005
9,180
3,328
Pennsylvania

They're fantastic to use! Apple's party line is that you'll end up with "gorilla arm" syndrome or some BS like that, but I work with touchscreens at work, and the touchscreen isn't a primary input device. It's a secondary input device, and if you use it as a secondary input device, it's absolutely fantastic to use.
 

dona83

macrumors 6502
Nov 26, 2004
319
47
Kelowna, BC
Doesn't Samsung just use Wacom techonlogy?

I have a Dell Venue 8 Pro which uses Synaptics digitizer. Not great, but honestly I didn't find that the Asus Vivotab Note 8 with Wacom technology much more impressive either, the digitizer is terrible thin and not comfortable to hold for long periods, but props to having it hide away in the tablet. My Dell Active Stylus may not tuck away into the unit but I can markup drawings all day with it.

But as soon as iPad comes with any active stylus support, I am ditching my Dell. I don't care about pressure sensitivity, I just want to markup construction drawings on site and write notes.
 

tucotuti

macrumors member
Feb 22, 2011
39
14
Didn't they implement some sort of pressure sensitivity in the Garage Band app for iPad? I thought there was something like the harder you hit a drum the loaded the sound would be. Or is that something completely different?

Nintendo DS and 3DS also had games/apps that used that mechanism, but I don't think they are pressure sensitive devices.
 

identity

macrumors 6502
Nov 18, 2011
316
0
Both of you guys are incorrect. The company that developed pressure sensitive touch technology for PixelSense (Perceptive Pixel) and Kinect were both bought by Microsoft. PixelSense has seen very little change since the acquisition in 2007, other than spec bumps. As for Kinect, that underlying technology is the same since 2008. What they've done is improve the accuracy slightly.

This is like calling Google innovative because they bought a "smart" thermostat company.

Yeah, tech companies do this all the time except Apple right?
 

wiz329

macrumors 6502a
Apr 19, 2010
509
96
ZOMG. Apple hasn't invented it yet, but Samsung and Microsoft are already copying it!!!

P.S. The thing is, the pressure sensitive tech has one major problem on portable devices: they are, well, portable and often are held in the hand. Even if highly effective/precise method of measuring the pressure would emerge, it would still be a gimmick, because human hands are not as precise. Same applies to the Samsung's finger-hover-over-the-screen thingy.

By portable, do you mean tablets?

Active digitizers make a world on difference on those for note taking, or any sort of drawing, really.
 

mozumder

macrumors 65816
Mar 9, 2009
1,285
4,416
a web app that relies on hover for operational functionality rather than appearance cues is doing it wrong.

Only when that web app is used with touch devices.

Mouse & keyboards user interface design is vastly different from touch UI design.

Hover has been around since the 90's, while touch UI's didn't get popular until the 2007 with the iPhone.
 

69Mustang

macrumors 604
Jan 7, 2014
7,895
15,043
In between a rock and a hard place
Licenses it, doesn't give Samsung free roam to use it wherever they please.



Not quite sure where you're going or what you're actually saying to be honest. The OP was clearly mocking Samsung with a "don't copy this because it's already patented" and the implication was it was patented by Apple. I pointed out that was false and Samsung already uses the tech so the copying would not be possible.

As to your statement about Samsung's license... yeah that's false too. You have no idea what freedoms or restrictions their license gives them. Or do you?
 

vartanarsen

macrumors 6502a
Jul 2, 2010
712
307
Isn't pressure based going backwards? iPhone broke through in 2007 as the first capacitive touch on glass while everything else was that crappy pressure- based resistive screens…..
 

blackcrayon

macrumors 68020
Mar 10, 2003
2,256
1,824
Isn't pressure based going backwards? iPhone broke through in 2007 as the first capacitive touch on glass while everything else was that crappy pressure- based resistive screens…..

Pressure *sensitive*, not pressure "based" e.g. "resistive" screens.

Same touch experience as we have now, but the hardware will be able to detect how hard your fingers (or some other object) are pressing against the screen and optionally respond to that pressure (drawing apps or maybe ability to discern different intents from the user).
 

Dorje Sylas

macrumors 6502a
Jun 8, 2011
524
370
Actually this kind of tech should get a real boost from rainbow-catching waveguide stacks.

http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/r...cles/stories/2014/April/waveguide.detail.html

http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140328/srep04498/full/srep04498.html

=====

Now if only we could also see some form of haptic feedback as well. Combined you could almost instantly remake the whole Controller market.

There is also a second angle to consider for Apple, on Magic Mice, which is giving pressure sensing mouse buttons without mechanical parts.
 

dreadnort

macrumors regular
Jun 12, 2012
104
19
Samsung is a corporation. Maybe you mean one of their engineers?

They wouldn't have to "copy" Apple. They could easily "copy" Microsoft...

Samsung already have a wacom digitized screen on the Galaxy note 2014 edition and yes it already has pressure levels......
 

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
Why would Apple put ouch screens in their Mac ? They're devices out there already that add this.... Maybe finicky i dunno... But this is what sets Apple apart from everyone else...

Why would Apple need to play with everyone ? Just because Microsoft does something, dos this mean Apple has to ? Maybe not with THEIR own technology, but at all ?

Apple can go it's own way.....

(or not) .... True, this senor is kewl looking, but bloggers would bash Apple anyway..... why can't Apple just walk away and not implement this ? Give me one good reason ?
 

thekeyring

macrumors 68040
Jan 5, 2012
3,485
2,147
London
Didn't they implement some sort of pressure sensitivity in the Garage Band app for iPad? I thought there was something like the harder you hit a drum the loaded the sound would be. Or is that something completely different?

That is the case, however GarageBand takes note of how much your iPad moves with each tap to work out how hard you're hitting the screen.
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
Both of you guys are incorrect. The company that developed pressure sensitive touch technology for PixelSense (Perceptive Pixel) and Kinect were both bought by Microsoft. PixelSense has seen very little change since the acquisition in 2007, other than spec bumps.

The original MS Surface table project (later renamed Pixelsense) started back around 2001.

Microsoft bought Jeff Han's Perceptive Pixel company in 2012.

Did Pixelsense get pressure sensitivity after that? Thanks!

--

As for this patent, what it's mainly about is using capacitive sensing to tell when a finger begins to touch the screen.

That way, the software can better calculate the pressure represented by the amount of finger pad subsequently pressed against the FTIR optical layer.

Also, it can reject leftover marks and moisture that the FTIR layer sees, because there will be no large matching capacitive touch at the same spot.
 

Bibbler

macrumors regular
Jun 23, 2007
188
0
The Mon Valley!
They're fantastic to use! Apple's party line is that you'll end up with "gorilla arm" syndrome or some BS like that, but I work with touchscreens at work, and the touchscreen isn't a primary input device. It's a secondary input device, and if you use it as a secondary input device, it's absolutely fantastic to use.

I can see both sides of the argument. I'll side with Apple's "gorilla arm" characterization if a touch screen is used as a primary input device for general computing. I'm a mouse and keyboard guy (and before that a keyboard key, and before that a punch-card guy which show how ancient I am) but for certain applications (like CNN's big news wall) touch works well as a primary input device.

I tend to agree with Billy G. on this one - a modern computer system should be able to receive input from a myriad of sources - the keyboard, mouse, touch, pen, voice, etc with each new technology supplementing the other, rather than replacing. When it comes to primary input for general computing, the mouse and keyboard, IMO, are hard to beat.
 

dansix

macrumors member
Apr 17, 2012
84
2
ZOMG. Apple hasn't invented it yet, but Samsung and Microsoft are already copying it!!!

P.S. The thing is, the pressure sensitive tech has one major problem on portable devices: they are, well, portable and often are held in the hand. Even if highly effective/precise method of measuring the pressure would emerge, it would still be a gimmick, because human hands are not as precise. Same applies to the Samsung's finger-hover-over-the-screen thingy.


You mean, Samsung and Microsoft has already been able to implement it and Apple hasn't. News flash, Apple is usually behind. For example, most of the features on iPhone have been around on Android for a long time now. The only thing Apple does right is, it comes out with beautiful hardware. On the software side, Apple is mediocre at best...
 

matrix07

macrumors G3
Jun 24, 2010
8,226
4,891
You mean, Samsung and Microsoft has already been able to implement it and Apple hasn't. News flash, Apple is usually behind. For example, most of the features on iPhone have been around on Android for a long time now. The only thing Apple does right is, it comes out with beautiful hardware. On the software side, Apple is mediocre at best...

Hasn't been able to? You meant hasn't been able to implement something that's too limited? And for your information, main features of Android (touch screen phone) had come from iPhone. Without iPhone showing Google the way... Well, we all know the history, don't we?
 

Acorn

macrumors 68030
Jan 2, 2009
2,642
349
macrumors
this is a waste of time. just use a real digitizer for pressure. then you can use a real pen or touch. the pen would be 100% optional and would work with touch also. they are doing this to shove a square block through a round hole and get pressure for their existing touch. it still sucks without a real pen (point tip not nub) plain and simple.
 
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