Prototype goes 'see-through' with touch screen

There may finally be a compromise between the world of ever-shrinking electronic devices and our ever-expanding fingers.

A prototype device called the NanoTouch features a 2.4-inch screen and a touch-sensitive pad of the same size on the back, according to a video demonstration on NewScientist.

Using the touch pad on the back, users can manipulate icons on the screen in front without obscuring the target with their fingers, creating an experience resembling transparency.

Researchers say tests showed that targets as small as seven-tenths of an inch wide were easy to select using the NanoTouch. Targets on conventional touch screens are typically at least twice that size.

The NanoTouch is intended to demonstrate an evolving technology that focuses on making user interfaces practical on small devices. Developed by Microsoft Research and Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam, Germany, the technology is expected to be unveiled in April at the Computer/Human Interaction conference in Boston.

[wshun0]

Nice! Then our finger will not block my view!

[dracoaffectus]

Is it just me, or did the researchers at Microsoft pick the wrong name for this device?

NanoTouch makes me think iPod...

Still really cool, can't wait to try it out.

[-fjtorres-]

Funny, as an old-time Creative labs customer, Nano reminds *me* of the old Creative Labs Zen Nano line.
Kinda like this one.
http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=12720

Apple's trademark is on iPod not on Nano, much as they tried to hijack it, so MS has as much right to the term as anybody.
Not that they'll use the term in a commercial product; if MS ever comes out with a gadget using this tech--which theyre most likely to simply licence out to cell phonemakers--they would probably call it something snappy like "RPTS". ;-)

[dragonbite]

I use the nano text editor in Linux when working on my server, so "nano touch" makes me first think of the text editor. Oh well.

[Pishkado]

The issue is not, as fjtorres suggests, whether or not Microsoft has a legal right to the term "NanoTouch." Since there are an iPod Nano and an iPod Touch, and both are well known to the general public, most people will associate this name with iPods. That's an objective fact. Nobody, including Microsoft or its battalion of expensive lawyers, can do a thing about it. As a conscious choice, it is dumb. (That said, if went into the car business and called my prototype the "CamryPrius," you can bet that Toyota's legal team would be all over me in a hurry. The fact that "Nano" and "Touch" are generic words, not made-up character strings with no prior meaning, may change things here.)

[pjhenry1216]

You seemed to have glossed over fjtorres other point in his post. Its highly unlikely that this will be the name of the consumer product. It will most likely be a licensed technology which consumers may or may not ever see the actual name of. MS has few products that can benefit from this technology, so the money will be in licensing.

[PhaseDMA]

I'm sure Apple would love for Microsoft to launch of a product with that name. Imagine the millions of dollars they would make in damages.

NanoTouch is a perfectly fine name - Right up until the point that MS decides to allow it to play music.

Microsoft has this nasty habit of doing the most strange things. They must just get to excited.

[D3vildog699]

you're an idiot...

[darkstar32170]

I have no problem selecting things on my iPod Touch that are much, much smaller than 7/10ths of an inch. I am a normal sized adult and my fingers are only about 5/10ths of and inch wide. I find that I can easily select things that are as small as 2/10ths of an inch. The article talks about selecting items that measure 7/10ths of an inch. That's nearly 3/4 of an inch and that's pretty big. Come on, what's the real measurement they're talking about.

[jhoeforth]

Forget the name, the technology is really cool. If they could incorporate this effectively on a new device, it will be a game changer. I'm thinking on that rumored NVidia phone MS is working with?

[KingKuei]

When I saw this, I knew that I had seen something like this before. Not in a posted video, but on a patent filing that I had read about. A quick search later, I found this: http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/10/apple-patent-app-reveals-back-side-interface-for-handhelds/

It appears that Apple submitted a patent application prior to the middle of 2007. The technology seems very similar. I certainly wonder who was granted the patent first...