12 September 2007
Dubai: What Apple made famous, its competitors are making widely available.
Touchscreen technology is nearly everywhere at the consumer electronics stands at Gitex this year, from small mobile handsets to large projector screens and TV monitors.
Apple's iPhone introduced the touchscreen as a consumer feature, highlighting its use in navigating through the iPhone's user interface and a user's virtual music library.
However, the iPhone is several months away from even being sold in the UAE, but electronics firms have seized upon the touchscreen's potential to boost other business and consumer applications.
Sanyo is marketing a projector system with a touchscreen display for business which want to provide interactive guides for their guests.
The touchscreen itself is a glass screen, with a projector behind it. "Our sense is that this can be used in retail stores, helping consumers search for products, or shopping malls," said Amandeep Singh, assistant manager for Sanyo.
Panasonic, meanwhile, is betting on a higher end touchscreen product. It has produced a touch-enabled overlay panel for its widescreen plasma TVs. Fitted for 42, 50 and 65-inch TVs, the touch panel allows users to write directly on to the screen with a light touch using an optical sensor system.
"It's a good alternative to using projectors with touchscreens since you have the advantage of the plasma display," said Ayman Elkhidir, a Panasonic systems engineer. "They're convenient solutions for office meeting rooms and schools, and we've also found they are quite popular for showrooms for kiosk applications."
The touch craze is also prominent among mobile handsets. Sony Ericsson's new P1 business phone has a screen that users can write on with a stylus to make notes and update contact books.
Dubai-based i-mate, and Chinese device maker HTC also have touchscreen-enabled mobile devices.
By Ivan Gale
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
