touchscreen

Ask AI-powered Rabbit R1 for anything (without touching an app) [Updated]

By

Rabbit R1 AI device
It won't replace your iPhone anytime soon, but it could make operating all your apps easier.
Photo: Rabbit

You can ask the new AI-powered Rabbit R1 gadget to do pretty much anything you’d normally do with some combination of apps on your smartphone, according to Rabbit’s fascinating keynote at CES 2024.

You can ask it to explain something, call an Uber, order a meal delivery or even book a fairly complex vacation itinerary, to name a few examples.

And unlike a would-be iPhone replacement like the Humane Ai Pin, Rabbit R1 comes with a screen and costs just $199 with no subscription necessary.

Update: Rabbit noted it sold out its R1 units on day one of sales, moving 10,000 units. See the company’s tweet below.

Save 33% on a portable 4K touchscreen monitor and increase your productivity

By

Save more than 30% on this portable 4K touchscreen monitor and increase productivity during our version of Prime Day.
Expand your workstation with a $125 discount on this 4K touchscreen monitor.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Ready to maximize your setup’s screen real estate — and give it a touchscreen boost? Right now, you can add an additional HD monitor at a low price.

You don’t need to wait until Amazon Prime Day to take advantage of great savings on the Desklab Portable 4K Touchscreen Monitor, currently available for only $249.97 (regularly $375) with no coupon necessary. Get early access to special pricing during our Deal Days event, which lasts through July 14. You’ll have to act fast, though, as supply is limited for this innovative monitor!

Clever Apple concept brings giant touchscreen keyboard to the iMac

By

The iMac finally gets a touchscreen.
The iMac finally gets a touchscreen.
Photo: Antonio De Rosa

Apple’s iMac lineup hasn’t seen any major design changes in years, but a clever new concept imagines some simple ways that Apple could bring some big innovations to its all-in-one PC. And we’re totally in love.

The Mac Touch concept created by Antonio De Rosa would transform the iMac into a powerful creation PC by adding a revolving and adjustable touchscreen. Video and photo editing, drawing, or even just surfing the internet would feel more magical on this iMac. It even brings back the hockey puck mouse with a new twist.

Take a closer look:

Tim Cook won’t compromise Mac and iPad by combining them

By

Clamshell iPad
This concept for a combined Mac and iPad will stay just that: a concept.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Tim Cook generally stays quiet about Apple’s plans, but there’s one thing he’s open about: his company’s laptops and tablets aren’t going to merge together.

It’s a question that comes up every couple of years. Which is understandable, given the recent rumors that macOS is migrating to the same type of processors as iOS, allegedly to enable apps to run on both Mac and iPad.

iOS 11.3 breaks iPhone 8 touchscreens replaced by third parties

By

iPhone SE 2 could cost $399 just like the first-gen iPhone SE
Don't install iOS 11.3 if your iPhone 8 touchscreen was replaced by anyone other than Apple. Bad things will happen.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

If you have an iPhone 8 touchscreen that wasn’t repaired by Apple, you must not install iOS 11.3. Your touchscreen could stop working.

This problem hasn’t been acknowledged by Apple, but independent phone repair companies are reporting that many iPhone 8 touchscreens they replaced stopped working after the latest iOS version is installed.

Developers create a touchscreen MacBook for just $1

By

Touchscreen MacBook prototype
Will we ever have a MacBook with touchscreen interface?
Photo: Amish Athatye

There’s good news for everyone who wants a MacBook with a touchscreen. A group of developers came up with a way that cost them just $1 in hardware.

The process involves the laptop’s webcam, a mirror, and some programming. It’s just a proof of concept, but it shows potential.

Amazon Echo Show brings video to smart-speaker party

By

echotouchscreen
Could this be Amazon's new Echo speaker?
Photo: AFTVnews

Update: Amazon unveiled its new touchscreen Echo Show device Tuesday. In addition to smart-speaker functionality, the Amazon Echo Show brings video calls, video flash briefings, YouTube, karaoke-style music lyrics, security camera integration and more. Available for preorder now, the device will ship June 28 for $229.99.

Amazon could debut its new touchscreen Echo smart speaker as early as today, claims a report from The Wall Street Journal.

The latest in a line of popular Amazon Echo voice-activated speakers, the new device is likely to add a 7-inch display and a built-in camera. It will function like the existing Echo, but with the addition of touchscreen-based features.

This post contains affiliate links. Cult of Mac may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items.

Soon you’ll be able to use your iPhone while wearing gloves

By

mujjo-touchscreen-gloves-typing
I guess the alternative use-case would be committing crimes while still playing Angry Birds.
Photo: Mujjo

What with it being winter and all, it would be great if Apple embraced the concept of letting people use iPhones while wearing regular gloves — something already offered by manufacturers such as Samsung.

Well, according to a patent application published today, we may not be waiting too much longer because Apple has invented something called “Glove Touch Detection.” The patent would allow Apple touchscreen to work in situations where it is separated from a finger by a barrier, such as a glove.

This cool touchscreen tech can tell the angle your finger is pointing

By

FingerAngle could change the way we interact with touchscreens.
FingerAngle could change the way we interact with touchscreens.
Photo: Qeexo

Your iPhone can now distinguish between a light tap and a hard press thanks to 3D Touch, but the geniuses at a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff called Qeexo have found a way to one-up the iPhone 6s display with some new software that can determine the exact angle of your finger as you tap.

Qeexo’s researchers created ‘FingerAngle’ by using a new algorithm that estimates the direction your finger is pointing along with the angle as it makes contact. FingerAngle also keeps track of the rotation of your finger while it’s making contact.

The new tech could especially useful on small smartwatch touchscreens where pinching and pulling on the display isn’t really practical. Best of all, it doesn’t require any extra hardware and could implemented on Android and iOS with a software update.

Check out the full demo:

Your iPhone is an awesome chemistry kit

By

Screen Shot 2014-09-16 at 8.00.32 AM

What’s your iPhone made of? Just looking at it, you might dismiss it as just a slab of metal and glass, with a dose of magic inside. But our iPhones are actually portable chemistry labs, and there are an incredible number of complex chemical functions happening underneath the glass and metal shell that keep your iPhone ringing.

The iSlider: A Portable, Versatile, And Stylish iPad Stand [Deals]

By

redesign_islider_mainframe

At Macworld/iWorld last year, I had the opportunity to get a look at The iSlider by Rain Design. After using it for a bit, the folks at Rain Design decided to let me have one to use for review purposes. And after only a few days of use, The iSlider became my go-to iPad stand.

Cult of Mac has reviewed The iSlider before, and while I’ve used several stands for my iPad in the past (among them are the ZAGGmate and the Kribbit) The iSlider is by far the most versatile and best-designed stand I’ve ever used. It’s made me more efficient and effective when using my iPad, which is exactly the kind of thing I like in my tools. And right now Cult of Mac Deals is offering The iSlider for just $39.99.

Stay Warm And Connected This Winter With The Touch-Screen Compatible Gloves [Deals]

By

CoM - Gloves

Winter’s coming, which means colder weather. And we all know how annoying it is to use our smartphones with gloves on, constantly taking them on and off to make calls and send texts.

Well, no more. The touch-screen compatible gloves use sensor technology to conduct your skin through the material, and enable you to use any touch screen as if you had no gloves on at all. Grab a pair (or 5) of the perfect stocking stuffer for only $14 during this limited time offer courtesy of Cult of Mac Deals.

Next iPad Will Feature New Touch Technology To Help Make It Thinner & Lighter [Rumor]

By

ipad-touch-screen

Apple’s fifth-generation iPad will feature a new touchscreen technology that will help it become thinner and lighter, according to industry sources. The device is expected to adopt a new form factor much like the iPad mini’s, with thinner bezels and a smaller frame — and Apple will have to make a number of changes to its internals to enable that.

iOS Game ‘Can Knockdown 2’ Gets Supersized into Touchscreen Coin-op Arcade Game

By

cult_logo_featured_image_missing_default1920x1080

This may be a first: The iOS game Can Knockdown 2 is coming to arcades as a fully-sized, coin-operated console — complete with a massive, 42-inch touchscreen.

The game — developed by masters-of-3D Infinite Dreams — is a hot item at the App Store, racking up over 11 million downloads, according to its developer.

If you don’t want to wait for the game to hit the arcades, it’s a buck at the App Store. Or try its predecessor, Can Knockdown, for free.

Outdoor Research Sensor Gloves Work Like Magic, Mostly [Review]

By

post-214023-image-9cdbdc5aea17e78e66bcdf0363f38760-jpg

 

I have a complicated relationship with gloves. On the one hand, I love that they keep my fingers from falling off in frigid weather. But then there’s the frustration at their complete lack of cooperation when I’m trying to use the touchscreen on my phone. As a result, I end up either constantly removing and re-donning my gloves in an endless cycle that freezes my delicate fingers anyway — or abandoning my phone altogether in disgust.

The problem is that most touchscreens rely on our fingers to act as conductors, and conventional gloves block that conductivity. But glove-makers have rolled with the times, and there are solutions — gloves that allow conductivity to pass through the glove’s fabric and onto the screen. One of the most buzzed about is Outdoor Research’s Sensor Gloves ($69), which use real leather that doesn’t appear or feel any different than leather used in non-conductive gloves.

A Touchscreen iMac Might Be Impractical, But It Would Look Awesome In The New iPad Mini Ad [Video]

By

The iMac touch might be impractical, but it looks good in the new iPad mini commercial.
The iMac touch might be impractical, but it looks good in the new iPad mini commercial.

Steve Jobs said that touchscreen desktops just don’t work, pretty much ruling out the possibility of a touchscreen iMac in the future. But he also said that tablets under ten inches don’t work, and his company is now selling the awesome iPad mini. There’s every chance, then, that we’ll see an ‘iMac touch’ someday, and it’ll fit in perfectly alongside Apple’s iOS devices — as this awesome concept commercial demonstrates.

iPhone 5’s New In-Cell Touch Display Is Causing ‘Significant Production Constraints’ [Report]

By

iphone5
Manufacturers simply cannot produce the iPhone 5's new display fast enough.

It seemed like Apple was coping well with the iPhone 5 demand, despite it being the company’s fastest-selling iPhone to date. Sure, pre-orders sold out within the first hour of availability, but those who were told they wouldn’t get their new smartphone until October have already begun receiving shipping notifications.

But iPhone 5 production may have hit a stumbling black. The handset’s new 4-inch display, which boasts in-cell touch technology that allows it to be incredible thin, it reportedly causing “significant production constraints” that mean Apple cannot produce the device fast enough.

Apple’s Early iPad Prototype Had 12-Inch Screen, Was 3 Times Thicker Than iPad 2

By

This early iPad prototype was a mammoth.
This early iPad prototype was a mammoth.

Remember that early iPad prototype we showed you yesterday, built between 2002 and 2004, which looked like an old white iBook with a touchscreen? Now some new shots have surfaced that show a comparison between this and the iPad 2, and there are some interesting differences.

First of all, Apple originally built the iPad with a 12-inch display, and it was huge.

Jony Ive Deposition Reveals Very Early iPad Prototype From Around 2002

By

This early iPad prototype looks a lot like a MacBook with a touchscreen.
This early iPad prototype looks a lot like a MacBook with a touchscreen.

Apple’s iPad, with its sleek aluminum casing, large 9.7-inch display, is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful tablets currently available. But there was a time when it was as thick as a cheap Dell notebook and made from tacky white plastic — as these images of an early iPad prototype prove.

U.K. Judge Rules In Favor Of HTC In Apple Patent Case

By

Apple's record in the courtroom takes a surprise hit.
Apple's record in the courtroom takes a surprise hit.

A U.K. judge has ruled in favor of HTC over claims that the Taiwanese smartphone vendor infringes four of Apple’s patents for touchscreen technology, including its famous slide-to-unlock feature. Judge Christopher Floyd decided that HTC’s smartphones are not guilty of infringement, and that three of Apple’s four patents are invalid.

Introducing The iMac Touch [Video]

By

cult_logo_featured_image_missing_default1920x1080

Apple has a patent for a touchscreen iMac with an arm that swivels the display down to allow you to manipulate the display more like an iPad, without getting “gorilla arm.” It’s a cool patent, but what would that iMac look like in real life? Motion graphics and 3D animation student Joakim Ulseth put together an awesome video bringing an iMac Touch running OS X Mountain Lion to life. There’s a lot of problems with this sort of design, and Apple would never in a million years release it, but it sure does make a sexy video. [via iFans]

iPhone 5 Will Be Lighter And Thinner Thanks To This New Touchscreen Tech

By

iphone-5

Your iPhone’s touchscreen might look just like a single pane of living glass, but there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye. Every iPhone is comprised of multiple layers: an LCD that actually blasts the pixels out of the Retina Display, a glass substrate laye separating the LCD from the touch layer that translates your finger swipes and prods into input the system can read, and a layer of protective Gorilla Glass on top.

Obviously, Apple’s existing touchscreen tech works well, but having so many different layers has its drawbacks. A big one is that it adds to the iPhone’s thickness. But Apple may already be on the cusp of inking a deal with Sharp and Toshiba to adopt in-cell touch panel displays, which should lead to a slimmer, lighter iPhone 5.

Michelangelo Is Working In Apple’s Patent Filing Department [Humor]

By

Hey, drawing hands is hard!
Hey, drawing hands is hard!

As spotted by the beautiful souls over at Reddit, someone in Apple’s patent filing department seems to have taken a shortcut in illustrating an application for way to make a touchscreen iMac useable by tracing the hands of of the divine Renaissance artist, painter and sculptor, Michelangelo.

Hey, you know what they say. Good artists borrow, great artists steal. And trust me, you don’t Apple’s patent clerks drawing their own hands if you value your sanity.