N-Trig's new tablet tricks with DuoSense Digital Pencil

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 28 January 2011 11:16

Your IT - Mobility

N-Trig, the company behind capacitive multitouch screen technology that works with fingers and also a stylus, has released two videos which show the practical applications of how its technology 'enhances the multi-touch experience by giving people more options and ways of connecting with their computers'.

After having piqued our interest by suggesting Android tablets would launch with advanced stylus compatible capacitive screens at CES 2011, N-Trig has launched two videos showing the advantages its 'DuoSense Digital Pencil' stylus has over the standard, fluffy tipped capacitive pens, like the Pogo, that are available for the iPhone and iPad.

N-Trig's technologies aren't yet iPhone or iPad compatible, and while there is the promise that we'll see Android tablets with N-Trig's technology appear this year, there's no word on when this technology will come to Apple's iDevices.

Indeed, the two videos in question (video 1 here, video 2 here) show the N-Trig technology being used on a Windows 7 powered Fujitsu LifeBook T580 Tablet PC.

While the videos are certainly impressive, the untrained eye would question what differences there are between earlier non-fingertip-touch compatible stylus-only Tablet PC screens, or earlier screens that worked with both fingers and styluses. 

In essence, the technology simply appears to be an evolution of all of N-Trig's previous technologies, with N-Trig clearly showing the superiority of its stylus technology over that of standard capacitive screens that have to use a Pogo or similar stylus, which don't even have capabilities such as pressure sensitivity - naturally, unlike N-Trig's technology.

N-Trig says that, utilising pen capabilities to enhance the multi-touch functionality, 'the Digital Pencil enriches traditional media consumption by enabling an increased creative potential for on-screen user interaction. It offers a significant advantage over touch-only devices by enabling greater levels of precision and accuracy that cannot be achieved by fingertips alone, and results in new heights of performance for maximum productivity.'

Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, Vice President, Emerging display technologies at DisplaySearch is quoted by N-Trig stating: 'Touch technologies that can sense both pen input and finger touch are the ideal touch technologies. Pen inputs are accurate and capable for the signature/handwriting application; finger touch use is fast and intuitive. The worldwide market value of touch screen modules will reach about $14 billion in 2016, up from $4.3 billion in 2009.'

N-Trig also promotes its technology's flexibility by saying that 'the pencil enables people to jot down an idea as soon as it occurs to them or doodle on long car rides, for students to write down math equations during class, for architects and engineers to sketch or draw designs directly on their computers screens while the road warrior can work directly on a spreadsheet without juggling a mouse on the plane.'

Continued on page two, please read on!