Display tech to watch this year: Multitouch catches fire
Touch-screen panels have been around for more than a decade, but it was the 2007 introduction of a multitouch screen in Apple's iPhone that galvanized the market. Now the business is going gangbusters -- as are the innovations that touch-screen manufacturers hope will build on Apple's success.
Multitouch technology has exploded into a $6 billion business for display manufacturers this year, with more than 200 vendors vying for a piece of the action -- and it's expected to grow to more than $13 billion by 2016, according to market research firm DisplaySearch. "It's already a huge market, and growing fast," says analyst Jennifer Colegrove.
Multitouch now dominates in smartphones, and with the introduction of the iPad in 2010, multitouch helped launch the market for tablet computers. The technology is now moving into everything from larger desktop PC displays to the in-flight entertainment systems found in the seatbacks of commercial airliners -- and beyond. Read more...
Can’t sleep? Blame your computer, cell phone
Not getting enough sleep these days? You may have to blame your computer or your cell phone.
The National Sleep Foundation on Monday released the results of a poll showing that many people aren't getting a good night's sleep. The survey found that 43% of Americans said they rarely or never get a good night's sleep during the week. A full 60% said they experience a sleep problem, such as waking too early, snoring or feeling unrefreshed, every night.
While part of the problem is busy lives, crying babies and jobs that require attention around the clock, another is electronics, the foundation said. Read more...
New Games Link Tech and Reality
Both major media companies and start-ups are experimenting with new tools that combine technology and reality in a bid to get children to engage with real-world objects. And researchers are already investigating whether the new tools help kids learn better than regular computer games do.
Brendan Smialowski for The Wall Street JournalSenior Web designer Jon White demonstrated a mobile version of the PBS Kids website last March.
Last month, children's media giant PBS Kids, part of the Public Broadcasting Service, began testing games that use "augmented reality," or computer-generated content that is combined with images from the real world. Using augmented reality, a computer or smartphone can detect objects and provide information about them. Children can also move the real objects to make something happen in a computer game. Read more...
Oracle Rolls Out New Application
Oracle Corp. (NasdaqGS: ORCL - News) has introduced the PeopleSoft Mobile Inventory Management application, an important addition to its portfolio of inventory management and mobile solutions.
The PeopleSoft Mobile Inventory Management application enables users to perform common inventory transactions through handheld devices, personal digital assistants and radio frequency scanners, using Microsoft Corp.’s (NasdaqGS: MSFT - News) Windows operating system.
The ability to perform the transactions on wireless devices would result in real-time transaction processing, thus ensuring greater accuracy of data at any given time. The increased accuracy of data would in turn enable companies to project both stock and labor requirements more accurately, thus saving costs, such as inventory carrying costs and labor charges. Therefore, the tool is designed to improve operating efficiencies and margins of companies deploying it. Read more...
A Digital ‘Magazine’ With One Subscriber
Each morning, the President of the United States gets briefed on the day's news by some of the smartest advisers around. The rest of us aren't so lucky. We have to sift through newspapers, magazines and websites to find out what's going on around us. Now, thanks to a free iPad app called Zite, the news-gathering process may get a lot easier for those of us who aren't leaders of the free world.
A new app for Apple's iPad called Zite analyzes social network activity and reading behavior to create a personalized magazine. WSJ's Katherine Boehret says that in a world of information overload, Zite can be a huge help. Read more...