Thanks tso! Indeed, multi-touch must be a tremendous boon to on-screen keyboards for faster typing, and something I hadn't thought about originally.

I fully agree with you, that this is a nice bit of tech to have for resistive screens, though the cost in battery life is still a mystery.

One benefit is that future resistive devices (N900?) can have the same multi-touch bragging rights as capacitive devices, which should make them much more marketable.

Slightly offtopic... Ok, really offtopic:
I think the N810s screen is a killer hardware feature (IPS TFT?). I had a chance to use one recently, and noticed that it can be viewed from almost any angle without any loss in contrast or colour! This is extremely useful when sharing a view, or viewing the screen on a tilt. Impressive!

YARR!
}:^)~

(cap)

About n810 LCD - I have to admit.
It's the best LCD I've ever seen when it comes to angle visibility.

I agree with you that many buttons all over takes away from the aesthetic of the device, without necessarily contributing to the usability, but it can be done right.

Case in point:

Have you had a chance to play with the n810? In this man's opinion, it is designed extremely well. Far better than many modern 'pods' or 'phones' IMHO, of course.

On the top left, you have a full-screen button and a +/- button. The placement of these buttons is excellent. They work well in landscape mode, but their placement really shine in portrait mode. When using the N810 as an e-book reader, for example, these buttons are in the perfect place for left-handed or right-handed page switching without moving a single finger. It must be experienced to be appreciated. The +/- button is harder to access in landscape mode, but of course this can be replaced with a clever UI.

The top middle is the power button (rarely used), and the top right is the lock slider.

On the device face is the 'task switch' button and the 'return' button, but they disappear into the face quite nicely and are not obtrusive. What's more, is that they are easy to operate without moving the thumb when holding the device in landscape mode.

In the end, you have a very minimalist looking face, with a minimal set of buttons that provide useful software function that make interaction extremely carefree for less interactive apps. For more interactive apps, the touch screen suffices.

Other things to point out about the N810 design:

The mic and speaker arrangement is very smart. The placement functions well for projecting stereo sound, but also allows one to hold the N810 to their head as a voip-phone! This is a useful feature for an ultra-cheap home/quasi-mobile phone.

The screen (see my previous post) is amazing. Bright, crisp, and viewable from any angle.

Even the built-in kick-stand is supremely useful. It is a useful complement to desk productivity. It protects the device from scratches when it's placed on a surface, and even from spills (only a single edge is touching the surface)! Also, it acts as a good handle when holding the device to reduce the risk of dropping it.

If you haven't played with an n810, check it out! Though maemo may not have the zoomy-cubes and slidey-windows that everyone seems to love, the N810 really is a solid, well thought through device, that warrants special attention.


Indeed, this will be a cost! Will the benefit outweigh the cost? I suppose time will tell!


YARR!
}:^)~

~(^:{

there is always this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-function_display

Let's not kill this before it develops into something really interesting.

Sit and imagine with me.

Imagine one day if it evolves that you could use it as a flat bed scanner of sorts. You simply place a business card on the screen and it is instantly transferred (scanned) into the contacts. You could then have games where you roll dice on the screen and it reads the number facing the screen and tells you what you rolled. A new level of interactivity. Or, there are learning games where children put a shape on the screen to match a circle, octagon, that the device displayed.

Maybe the sensitivity could get to the point that it could pick up vibrations (sound and light are both vibrations but at a higher frequency). If it could detect sound, it would instantly becomes a microphone with the ability to sense the direction the sound emanated from. It would be a new type of microphone that could record several sound streams from different angles (mono, stereo, quad, etc). If one day it could read temperature, by placing it against your forehead, it could tell you your temperature (how sick you were).

There are so many options that this could mature into.

buisness cards? try digital ones exchanged via nfc. and why use real dice when one could use a roller program?

I find the N800 slightly better, actually, because the N810 display augments the backlight with reflected light. The variation of reflective contrast with angle causes worse saturation loss at extreme angles than the N800 has.

(This is hard to notice with the backlight up under normal indoor lighting, but quite visible at ~30% backlight that I commonly run at. Obviously it's more noticable outdoors, but then the added visibility from reflected light is worth it.)

Beyond the "neat" factor. I think it opens up so many more opportunities on how the user interacts with the GUI. And not just the pinch factor. On top of which, the precision on this new technology means you don't have to be constantly using your fingernail if you don't have a stylus handy. The ability to measure how much pressure is being applied can also open up so many more interface options. I have not even mentioned multitouch yet...The tech without the multitouch seems to take resistive touchscreens to the next level in terms of precision, something they are in need of.

Um, our tablets have pressure sensitivity too, not that sensitive but still. The protective screens don't help much too.

Exactly what problems are there with capacitive screens other than the lack of support for stylii?