updated 02:10 pm EST, Mon December 14, 2009
Synaptics Fuse shows input beyond touch
Synaptics on Monday revealed a concept phone design that shows input methods beyond touchscreens. The Fuse, co-designed by TheAlloy and The Astonishing Tribe, has a multi-touch capacitive screen but also embeds grip and touch sensors on the sides that can recognize when the phone is squeezed or touched beyond its display. It would even have basic touch control from the back of the phone to provide control without blocking the screen itself.
Accompanying the touch input is haptic (vibration) feedback from Immersion, a three-way accelerometer that recognizes all forms of tilt, and 3D that extends to the interface, not just to individual apps. A relatively fast Texas Instruments OMAP 3630 processor underpins the whole design and is based on the same ARM Cortex-A8 architecture used in the iPhone 3GS.
Synaptics plans to demo the Fuse at CES. The phone in question won't become a production device as it's just a reference platform, but it's anticipated that some or all of the technology shown in the concept will reach production hardware.