touch

Dialed In 33: HTC Touch Dual, Samsung Instinct hit stores

Two of the spring's most anticipated cell phones are arriving in stores. We also catch you up on the latest news and cell phone reviews, including a Sony Ericsson handset with gesture control. What's that, you ask? Just listen and find out. Listen now: Download today's podcast

1. NewsHTC Touch Dual in Best Buy storeshttp://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9951399-1.html Palm CEO comments on next-gen OShttp://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9953533-37.html Pantech Breeze should be a breeze to usehttp://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9952289-1.html Samsung 'Tocco' wants to be touchedhttp://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9951230-1.html … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 733: Flying Poop Factory

That is, sadly, the new name for the International Space Station, where astronauts have a real problem to contend with, unlike the New Mexico folks trying to ban public Wi-Fi. In other news, Warner Music is backing a hilariously insane plan to get you to rent a song, one time, for 10 cents a pop, and it turns out that all those furious, ranty e-mails about Dell's terrible tech support were true! Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 733

$20 Million Dollar Experiment to See if You’ll Rent a Song for 10 Cents http://michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=265… Read more

Samsung 'Tocco' wants to be touched

"Tocco" isn't a taco gone wrong: It's the Italian word for touch, and Samsung has seen fit to use it as the name of its latest touch-screen phone. Bene! Previously known as the Samsung F480, we saw this bella down at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year and thoroughly approved.

The Samsung Tocco is smaller than other touch-screen phones and thin too, but it feels very solid because of its metal casing. Its screen is responsive and vibrating feedback ensures you know when you've clicked something.

Samsung has introduced a new interface that lets … Read more

HTC Touch Dual in Best Buy stores this weekend

While you're out buying goods for your Memorial Day barbecue, why not swing by Best Buy and pick up a HTC Touch Dual? Yes, the Touch Dual will be available in stores and online starting this weekend for a nice chunk of change--$549 to be exact. First announced at CTIA 2008, the Touch Dual alleviates some of the text entry pains of the original HTC Touch by providing a slide-out SureType-like keypad. It will also be the first Windows Mobile 6.1 device available in the United States, and also features support for U.S. 3G bands (HSDPA … Read more

Apple's digital home, five years out

Five years from now, with Apple aiming to become the center of the digital home, users may expect to see a number of key products and services designed to connect PCs and digital content to HDTV stereo audiovisual networks, according to "The Future of Apple" report, released by Forrester Research on Thursday.

Currently, audiovisual equipment "and IT aren't actually connected together in most homes. A few bridge products exist...Apple's own Airport Express and Apple TV are designed to bridge this gap," according to the Forrester report. "Nevertheless, the AV/IT divide remains … Read more

iPod Touch dock is surprisingly normal

If there's one accessory that seems to have reached near-ubiquity in record time, it would be the iPod speaker dock. But most of them have been made for earlier generations of the media player, not the Touch or the iPhone. And even when they are, manufacturers for some reason seem compelled to design them in some odd fashion, whether they resemble Dumbo ears, truncated phone receivers, or a dressing room mirrors.

Against those options, the "Sound Frame" from QDOS appears refreshingly sane. With a clean design and straightforward functions, it rotates 90 degrees for both vertical audio … Read more

If the TouchWall had a gambling baby brother

Let Bill Gates have his TouchWall. You can still be the envy of your friends with the "Heads-Up Challenge" digital poker table.

Unlike the "iDealer" or its mahjong counterpart, this one truly brings the game of champions into the Digital Age by using a large touch screen to shuffle, deal, calculate odds, and pay the winner. And get this: It will even let you peel up the cards, according to Chip Chick.

Unfortunately it can handle only two players--hence the name, which refers to a one-on-one game. But it certainly beats that other wireless poker game, … Read more

Want to have dinner with Bill Gates?

This week at the Microsoft CEO Summit in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft unveiled a multitouch prototype called Touch Wall, which has the capability to turn almost any flat surface into an interactive computer.

The technology works via a series of small lasers and a projector, so no expensive hardware is needed, which means it could be integrated into a wide variety of products. Immediately, that empty space above my stovetop comes to mind. What if I could interact with relevant information while I am making dinner?

Recipe books are great, but they would be much more useful if could display them … Read more

Gates: Every surface to be a computer

It's one step removed from the Midas approach, but Bill Gates wants to turn nearly everything we touch into a computer.

Speaking to a crowd of CEOs gathered in Redmond, Wash., Gates showed off prototype technology he said will allow home and office walls to become computers.

While Microsoft's Surface computers are currently shipping for about $10,000, Gates said the hardware costs for such products need not be that high. Within a few years, it could be in the hands of individuals.

"We're saying it will be absolutely pervasive," Gates said. "When I … Read more