Touch-sensitive screens come in handy when using ATMs or self-service ticket kiosks at cinemas. But when used in more delicate devices such as mobile phones, PDAs or laptop PCs, they tend to befuddle users. The smooth screen does not provide any physical sensation like that of pushing a button, thus making it hard to know that the right key is being pressed.Recognizing this discomfort, phone makers are beginning to market devices that are more intuitive to use. The second generation of touch-screen phones is often combined with traditional technologies, such as a push-button keyboard or a vibration motor.
LG Electronics on Thursday unveiled its latest touch-screen phone named Voyager, setting sights on the U.S. market for the coming holiday season. It has a 2.8-inch touch-screen on the front, but also has a hidden QWERTY keypad underneath.
Another impressive feature of the Voyager is its vibration feedback. It gently vibrates when the screen is touched. Named Vibe Touch, the technology was also used in the Prada phone sold in South Korea.
``When you press the button, the screen gently quivers to let you know that you did press the button,'' LG spokesperson Song Geun-young said.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are leaders in the touch screen field along with several other makers such as Apple. LG has especially focused on the ``haptic'' engineering, the study of the interface between human and device via the sense of touch, since last year.
The Vibe Touch is only the first step of LG's haptic technologies, and more advanced techniques are to be introduced later. According to media reports, the firm has already developed a smart vibration feature. For example, when one scrolls down the screen, the device flickers with tick sounds in accordance with the speed of the finger movement.
A touch screen is not a cutting-edge technology. Various types of touch-sensitive screens were developed in the 1960s and 1970s. But to implement it into more useful and intuitive forms for consumer electronics was the real challenge for engineers and marketers.
This year, Apple has rediscovered the potential of touch-screen technology in mobile phones such as the iPhone. The iPhone was the first to recognize multiple touches, which means it can handle more than one finger at the same time. By pinching or expanding two fingers on the display, for instance, users can zoom in or zoom out of the pictures shown on the screen.
No other companies have succeeded in introducing gadgets with the multi-touch feature yet due to the difficulties in developing software applications. But market watchers believe that the iPhone will act as a catalyst for touch-screen technology to flourish. According to market research firm iSuppli, touch-screen products are to jump from fewer than 200,000 units in 2006 to more than 21 million by 2012.
Like LG, Samsung also introduced a touch-screen phone with a sliding QWERTY keypad. Again, the essence of the product is the software.
Samsung has developed a unique user-interface system called ``Croix,'' where the functions are lined up in the shape of a cross (croix in French) for easier navigation.
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