RIM files for hybrid capacitive/ resistive Blackberry touchscreen patent
In the minds of hardcore touch phone fans the answer about which – resistive or capacitive – touchscreen technology is better, is already answered. And the clear winner is capacitive screen.
After all, capacitive touchscreen displays are faster, more responsive, support multi-touch, and are the holy grail of a modern user interface…
In real life it’s not so simple. First there is an issue of price, and, at least for now, capacitive displays are way more expensive then resistive ones. Then there’s the issue of precision/accuracy, where resistive touchscreens are ahead. This is particularly important in Asia, where stylus based character entry is prevalent, and capacitive touch based devices are not up to the task for this.
And then don’t tell my girl friends about capacitive displays on some latest touch phones. I can still hear the screams and swearing as they try to text on a new LG Arena with those long polished nails…, while Diamond 2 works just fine.
But now RIM might have found a solution to the resistive or capacitive dilemma. At least for their high end Blackberry devices.
Just merge the damn things, make a touchscreen display with both resistive and capacitive touch sensors/controllers.
And they filed a patent app for that.
By having both -capacitive and resistive – touchscreen controllers in the same device, you get the best of both worlds. Fast responsiveness to finger touch, support for various gestures, high precision and stylus character entry capabilities, in a single device.
Of course, the issue of the price remains. These hybrid capacitive/resistive touchscreen displays will certainly be mighty expensive. But for the high end device like Blackberry Storm 2 or 3, they might be perfect.
And it’s not only RIM that is thinking about combining capacitive and resistive touch. In fact, it is said, that Samsung Jet already comes with something called R-Resistive display tech, that combines the best features of capacitive and resistive touch screens.
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