A Newsletter from
Elo TouchSystems
August 2008
IN THIS ISSUE |
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Elo in the News |
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Elo on the Internet |
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Multi-Touch Update |
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Product Announcements |
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Enhancements |
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Other Product News |
Mark Mendenhall Talks Touch on Fox Business
On May 30, 2008 at 11:53 AM ET, Fox Business' Dagen McDowell and Brian Sullivan interviewed Mark Mendenhall, vice president Tyco Electronics and general manager Elo TouchSystems. They spoke about the current and future applications for touchscreens.
Mark confirmed that while the growth for this industry is still significant in areas like gaming and public kiosks, there is a lot of innovation taking place in portable and mobile devices. "We also see it appearing in a lot of white goods and stereo systems," he added. Mark also commented on Elo's involvement in helping Microsoft unveil multi-touch, the touch screen version of its next edition of the Windows operating system.
APR...Appearing on a Cell Phone Near You
In his article "Unique Touchscreen Tech Gets Ready to Enter Portable Markets" in the January 31, 2008 online issue of Electronic Design, Mat Dirish explains how Elo and AMI Semiconductor are working together to integrate Elo's acoustic pulse recognition (APR) touch technology into portable consumer products such as cell phones, PDAs, navigation units, portable gaming and signature capture, as well as handheld and medical devices.
While APR is normally associated with larger commercial and industrial applications, AMI is working with Elo to develop a silicon solution that will integrate APR into mobile and handheld devices. According to Ken North, Elo's director of engineering, an APR IC has the potential to scale screen size more effectively than other touch technologies, potentially accommodating displays from 1.8 inches to over 65 inches.
Tigers at Your Fingertips: Elo Touch Technology Provides Interactive Information
According to filmmaker, explorer and conservationist Carol Amore, there are approximately 5,000 tigers living in natural habitats left in the world and that places this magnificent animal on the endangered species list. To increase public awareness, Amore created "TIGERS—Tracking a Legend," an interactive, sensory-based exhibit that brings human visitors into the shrinking habitat of a real mother tiger and her cubs. The exhibit premiered at the Santa Ana Discovery Center, California, in February 2008 and features interactive displays powered by Elo's 1537L LCD open-frame touchmonitors using IntelliTouch surface acoustic touch technology.
"The Elo touchscreens monitors are really perfect for this environment," says Amore. "The IntelliTouch displays' crisp image resolution serves to showcase the exhibit's HD film footage and their durability is critical, considering the amount of traffic the exhibit will generate."
Mediaport Entertainment Inc. Has Selected Elo TouchSystems Touchscreens
Mediaport Entertainment Inc., the global leader in music/media burning and digital download systems, has begun installing media systems in many cities across the U.S., Asia and Australia and has chosen Elo TouchSystems touch screens.
"Elo touch screens have proven to be very reliable in our media systems," said Mediaport COO Mike Thompson. "With the ease of install, the touch screens have a sense of clarity and precision that we need in our business."
Mediaport's media system, also known as a MediaATM®, is also simple-to-use as customers are able to download songs to a listening device or burn a CD with the touch of a finger. Compatible devices range from memory sticks to mobile phones. Shoppers are able to choose from over one million songs from the major recording labels, including the newest releases, which are updated on a weekly basis.
"We are pleased that Mediaport Entertainment has selected Elo TouchSystems touch screens for their entertainment systems," said Lorna Wood, global marketing manager for Elo TouchSystems. "The ease of a touch interface truly enhances the delivery of music for the consumer."
Mediaport has recently deployed media systems in Greyhound Lines and several independent music retailers, such as Crazy Dee's and Music Depot, around the world that include the Elo touch screen.
Technorati has been busy putting together clips of Elo touchscreens at work. Here is a sampling of what you can find on-site. Just search for "Elo" and look under Posts, Blogs and Videos.
- Touchscreen jukebox
- Vista Media Center touchscreen
- 12" touchscreen
- Ncomputing network terminals
- Flight Sim X
- 19" touchscreen monitor
Multi-touch technology was the talk of the recent D6 convention and the buzz was even heard during CNN's coverage of Super Tuesday.
CNN: Pixel Touch Screens and Pie Charts
CNN's coverage of Super Tuesday went beyond the candidates to include multi-touchscreens. John King, CNN's chief national correspondent, used multi-touch to display pie charts that showed the differences between voting districts and how a small percentage of voters can affect the electorate map.
Microsoft's D6 Demos
Microsoft's hands-on demonstrations of its new Windows operating systems at the recent D6 conference featuring multi-touch capability seems to have caught everyone's attention judging by the number of posts that appeared on the Internet. Here is just a selection:
- www.macrumors.com
- www.betanews.com
- d6.allthingsd.com
- www.informationweek.com
- blog.wired.com
- www.ableton.com
- www.youtube.com
- jkkmobile.blogspot.com
- sa9r.blogspirit.com
- experiencemobility.com
Elo and Multi-Touch: What's Next?
First of all, what is "multi-touch?" At its simplest, multi-touch is the ability to recognize multiple touch points simultaneously. Some touch technologies can realistically handle only two simultaneous points; others are unlimited. Technology demos at SID 2008 ranged from 2 to 36 fingers. But, the capability is not new. Multi-touch first appeared in 1982 at the University of Toronto and "pinching" gestures were first defined in 1991.
So, what about Elo TouchSystems? Since inventing touch technology in 1971, Elo has continually been on the leading edge of innovation. And, multi-touch is no exception. At the recent Society for Information Display (SID) show in Los Angeles, CA and in the Microsoft Windows 7 demonstration at the D6 conference in May, an Elo TouchSystems 19-inch CarrollTouch touchmonitor was on display featuring a multi-touch technology demonstration. As a significant force in the touch industry, Elo products are the result of both state-of-the-art R&D and mass-production capabilities. That's one of the reasons Elo TouchSystems CarrollTouch infrared (IR) touch technology is the first foray into the multi-touch marketplace—it's a proven technology that could adapt quickly and easily to deliver reliable multi-touch functionality in desktop and kiosk monitors. Not only that, IR provides high touch sensitivity and can be manufactured in high volumes. Stay-tuned: in the next few months, Elo touchmonitors with multi-touch capability will be on the market.
A New Look in Touch
The new Elo TouchSystems 1900L 19-inch and 2200L 22-inch high-resolution LCD touch monitors with Zero-Bezel APR, to be released later this year, are intended for use in high-traffic retail, hospitality and other public environments. The 1900L and 2200L symbolize the first zero-bezel wide-aspect ratio touch monitors with a 100-percent useable surface area. The zero-bezel design removes the frame, or bezel, of standard monitors to create a seamless glass surface designed to showcase the wide-screen, high-definition experience that today's consumers have come to expect. Combining state-of-the-art Elo TouchSystems Acoustic Pulse Recognition (APR) touch technology with a seamless screen, the 1900L and 2200L will offer both aesthetic elegance and world-class durability.
Because APR technology works by recognizing the sound created when the monitor's surface is touched, users can interact with the new 1900L and 2200L touchscreens with virtually any kind of stylus—from a fingertip to the edge of a credit card. As a result, the new 1900 and 2200 series monitors both invite and respond to human interaction like virtually no other touchscreen monitor on the market today.
Coming Soon: Elo TouchSystems 1900L and 2200L with Zero-Bezel APR!
The Elo Family of All-in-One Touchcomputers Expands with the New 15A2
Elo has expanded its successful family of 15- and 17-inch POS-ready LCD all-in-one touchcomputers with the addition of the new 15-inch 15A2. Aimed at meeting the requirements of systems integrators (SIs), OEMs and value-added resellers (VARs), the versatile 15A2 offers a choice of easily integrated, optional peripherals: three-track magnetic stripe reader (MSR); rear-facing LED customer display; biometric fingerprint recognition device; and/or speaker bar with/without built-in single- or omni-directional barcode scanner.
Touch options include Elo's AccuTouch five-wire resistive, CarrollTouch infrared or IntelliTouch surface acoustic wave touch technology. The new 15A2 offers a choice of Microsoft Windows Embedded for POS (WEPOS), XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Embedded operating systems.
Clear, precise graphics and a contrast ratio of 500:1—together with a typical LCD panel brightness of 300 nits—provides bright, high contrast for improved readability. Silent, fanless design, cables hidden from user view, controls placed on the side not the front and lockout to minimize public tampering are just some of the features that make the new 15A2 the ideal solution for POS, POI and kiosk applications.
Bigger, Wider and Brighter: Elo 1938L 19-in Open-Frame Touchmonitor
The new Elo TouchSystems 1938L open-frame wide-aspect ratio touchmonitor features ultra-slim outline dimensions and industry-leading Elo touch technologies. The 1938L touchmonitor combines a high-performance LCD panel with the industry's leading touch technologies and is intended for use in public venues, especially gaming/amusement, point-of-information kiosks, interactive digital-signage displays and retail self-service. It offers a 1000:1 contrast ratio and brightness as high as 300 nits. The new large-screen, wide-aspect display includes a choice of the industry-leading Elo TouchSystems touch technologies, such as IntelliTouch surface acoustic wave, SecureTouch vandal-resistant surface acoustic wave, surface capacitive and the innovative Acoustic Pulse Recognition (APR). In addition, the 1938L features an injection-molded bezel with a virtually invisible watertight seal, thus making it a good choice to withstand the rigors of public use. Narrow borders, black anodized bezel hardware, multiple mounting options and dual serial/USB touch interface add to the touchmonitor's flexibility.
Drawings, final specifications and user's guides in six new languages—Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese—have been added for the wide-aspect family of rear-mount open-frame touchmonitors: 2039L, 2239L, 2639L and 3239L.
"3D" PDFs are now offered for all open-frame products on www.elotouch.com and www.elogaming.com. These files contain a model that you can rotate, spin, pan, zoom and measure. You can also change the lighting, background color, projection and rendering mode, and create cross sections.
Version 8.1 or newer of the Adobe Reader is required to view 3D PDFs. The software is available from the Adobe website.
Discontinued Product Notice
After a long period of reliable service, the Elo TouchSystems 1229L LCD desktop touchmonitor with CarrollTouch infrared touch technology is discontinued due to components that are no longer available. A suitable replacement with equal or better specifications is the Elo 1529L LCD desktop touchmonitor with CarrollTouch infrared touch technology.
We are continuing to offer the Elo TouchSystems 1229L product line, available with IntelliTouch surface acoustic wave, AccuTouch 5-wire resistive and surface capacitive touch technologies. Only the CarrollTouch infrared products are affected by this notice.
Driver Releases and Updates
The most up-to-date drivers are always available for download on the Driver and File Downloads page. Recent releases and updates include:
- Release of the Linux serial unified driver, which includes multiple monitor support and NVRAM calibration support
- Addition of a downloads page for beta drivers
- Replacement of the Linux Package Manager with a downloads page for pre-built Linux drivers
- Revision of APR driver to support non-English versions of Windows XP
- Minor revision of the Windows XP/Vista universal driver
- Minor revision of the Windows CE Embedded 5.0 and 6.0 drivers
United States: Tyco Electronics - Elo TouchSystems - 301 Constitution Dr. - Menlo Park, CA 94025 - Tel: 800-ELO-TOUCH (800-356-8682) - Tel: 650-361-4700 - Fax: 650-361-4747 - www.elotouch.com - eloinfo@elotouch.com
AccuTouch, CarrollTouch, COACh, Elo, Elo TouchSystems, IntelliTouch, iTouch, SecureTouch, TouchReady, TouchTools, TE logo and Tyco Electronics are trademarks. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Elo TouchSystems is a Tyco Electronics Corporation business. Copyright © 2008 Tyco Electronics Corporation, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy. Previous Issues.