touch

Turn your phone into a picture-taking beast

The vanilla camera app on the iPhone and iPad does a decent job at capturing those special moments but sometime the occasion may calls for more. With Camera+ you can turn that little camera into something that will give most dedicated point-and-shoot a run for their money.

Packed with a ton of features, Camera+ will bring that dinky phone/tablet camera to the next level. With burst mode those fast-paced sports shots are now within your reach. Timer function will set free you from another self-portrait with the lower quality front-facing cam. Finally, the featured Stabilizer mode is available for … Read more

Medical robot RP-VITA gets FDA approval

LAS VEGAS--How would you feel if you were hospitalized and your doctor were talking to you through a 5-foot robot?

RP-VITA (Remote Presence Virtual + Independent Telemedicine Assistant) is a remote-, iPad-operated telepresence bot. It's become the first self-navigating communications robot to receive FDA certification, developers InTouch and iRobot said at CES 2013.

The machine is approved "for telemedicine consults inclusive of active patient monitoring in high-acuity environments where immediate clinical action may be required," InTouch said in a release. Specifically, it's cleared for "active patient monitoring in pre-operative, peri-operative and post-surgical settings, including cardiovascular, neurological, prenatal, psychological, and critical care assessments and examinations." … Read more

E-ink smartphone on display at CES 2013

Wednesday's CNET Update from CES 2013:

It's day two of the 2013 International CES, and this is the place to see what gadgets could be in our future. There's lots to talk about, but here's a breakdown of the tech that has our attention:

- The YotaPhone has been the most interesting smartphone seen at CES, because it has an e-ink touch screen on its backside.

- Fulton Innovation is showing off technology that lets you wirelessly transfer power from device to device.

- TheEyeTribe has shown how future tablets and smartphones can be controlled with your eyes. … Read more

Stylus lets you 'touch' normal screens, except when it won't

LAS VEGAS--Apen's Touch8 Smart Pen is a soft-tip stylus that gives non-touch-screen Windows 8 computers the power of touch. It's a great idea, but it can't quite leave its mark.

The idea is clever. Instead of missing out on touch functionality on an otherwise high-end system that lacks a touch screen, pick up an $80 USB dongle and its connected pen to bring that touchless monitor into the future. There's no word yet on when it will be available.

The Touch8 Smart Pen works on desktop monitors and laptops of up to 17 inches and … Read more

LG's Touch 10 monitor optimized for using all 10 fingers

LAS VEGAS--LG showed off a trio of monitors at CES 2013, and one of the more impressive models is the Windows 8 optimized 23-inch ET83 Touch 10 monitor. The monitor is optimized to run Windows 8 with its touch capabilities and 1,920x1,080-pixel IPS display.

The monitor has 10-point touch capability and allows the user to use all 10 fingers on the touch screen simultaneously, providing an easier and faster experience when interacting with the Windows 8 onscreen keyboard.

The other LG monitors announced at CES 2013 were the 27-inch EA83 ColorPrime, which is geared toward graphic designers and … Read more

Dell’s latest Inspiron laptops get slimmer and touchified

LAS VEGAS--Sensing a trend at this year’s CES? While touchscreens may have been an option for rarified Windows 8 products back in October, it looks like there will hardly be a Windows PC product around in mid-2012 without touch in some configuration or another.

The Dell Inspiron laptops of 2012 were largely forgettable: big, ridiculously thick and pre-Windows 8, they felt like a downturn from the previous year. The 2013 Inspiron and Inspiron Rs, codenamed “Oak,” seem like a return to form: slimmed-down bodies, improved specs all around, and--of course--optional touch.

The new 14, 15 and 17-inch Inspiron and … Read more

Viewsonic introduces series of Windows 8 touch displays

LAS VEGAS--ViewSonic announced its new series of Windows 8-certified touch displays. The TD40 series consists of the 23-inch TD2340, the 27-inch TD2740, and the 32-inch TD3240 monitors. The IPS panel displays have a 1,920x1,080 HD resolution and were announced at CES 2013, along with ViewSonic's 24-inch VSD240 smart display.

The TD40 series monitors are designed to maximize and enhance the use of Windows 8 on the touch displays. In addition to the professional grade IPS panels and full HD resolution, the monitors use 10-point projected capacitive touch technology that is designed to make the touch-screen interaction … Read more

Touch will be 'mandatory' for next-gen Intel ultrabooks

LAS VEGAS--Your next laptop may be touch whether you like it or not.

"To be an ultrabook with 4th generation core [processors], it will be required to have touch," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president of Intel's PC client group at the keynote today, referring to laptops based on Intel's upcoming "Haswell" chip.

That means all ultrabooks coming later this year -- likely in the summer timeframe -- will have touch, not as a feature, but as standard.

This will be a way for suppliers of Windows 8 ultrabooks to demonstrate that they have something … Read more

Sony supersizes its ultrabook with Vaio T Series 15

LAS VEGAS--Go big, add touch. Sony's subdued CES formula in a nutshell.

Sony's latest Vaio T Series 15 is a new, larger ultrabook with 1080p, sporting a 10-finger multitouch display. It joins the fray of a seemingly endless run of touch-enabled laptops at this year's CES that continue to be announced with knee-jerk predictability. Sony's also adding a touch-screen option to the Vaio T 14 that's already on sale.

Yes, having touch on a Windows 8 laptop is better than not having touch, but it's hard to get excited at all about its presence … Read more

Alcatel One Touch Scribe X packs on a 12-megapixel camera

LAS VEGAS--Similar to its cousin, the Alcatel One Touch Scribe HD, the Scribe X has a large, 5-inch screen with a full 1080p HD display (that's 1,920x1,080 pixels.)

The juiced-up model also features a 1.4GHz MediaTek quad-core processor, and a 12-megapixel camera with a 720p HD front-facing camera. It runs on stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, a refreshing change from manufacturer's heavily customized OS layers.

Stay tuned for hands-on impressions of the One Touch Scribe X from CES.