The INQUIRER - nibbling the toes of the people who have hands to bite
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How touchy are touchscreens?
ACCORDING TO a research report the Iphone has the touchiest, feeliest touchscreen of them all.
In a test that looks rather simple, Moto, a testing and development firm, traced fingers over touchscreens to create a number of grids. The test was designed to see how sensitive the capacitive technology is in the screens.
Introducing its results Moto said, "All touchscreens are not created not equal. If a manufacturer cuts corners or flubs any of the critical elements, the user's experience with a touchscreen product is likely to suffer."
Selecting a handful of handhelds and an index finger, Moto drew the lines first slow and soft, and then fast and hard, and laid them out for comparison. Those screens with cheaper components resemble a chess board marked out by a drunken snail, while the phone with the best screen - in this case the Iphone - managed to keep its lines fairly true and straight.
"On inferior touchscreens, it's basically impossible to draw straight lines. Instead, the lines look jagged or zig-zag, no matter how slowly you go, because the sensor size is too big, the touch-sampling rate is too low, and/or the algorithms that convert gestures into images are too non-linear to faithfully represent user inputs."
However, its not all about how straight your lines are, but where they start. The Nexus One, had the best 'edge performance' in that its lines started the closest to the outside of the screen. It was closely followed by the Droid Eris, which uses the same touch controller chip, while the Iphone was marked down for its "notable loss of sensitivity at [the] edges".
The firm had a message for any manufacturers looking to launch new products in the area. "Don't skimp on materials. With touchscreen hardware, manufacturers get what they pay for - and consumers will notice the difference," it said.
Makes sense to us. µ
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What he says is pretty relevant for me. I don't care about drawing straight lines in a telephone, but I do care if they die on the first drop.
Phones drop sooner or later, and they have to have some tolerance to gravity.
Its not all about the touch though is it? OK, put on gloves (given its winter) and repeat test.
I can quite happily use my touch-screen with my gloves ON (HTC Touch HD), and, despite "apparently" not being as good as the iPhone, accurately enough to get the right letters (OK, I'm not doing full-on CAD drawing but who is?).
How are our blue-fingered friends in iPhone land?
So, NOT doing CAD, typing a text in -10 Celcius, which is the best touch-screen?
My point is, this test is pointless!
tim, you've added nothing whatsoever to the discussion.
I will trust this type of review, when it will be done on a flatbed plotter, with controlled pressure applied onto the (conductive) pen. Until then, I will trust myself...
Firstly i'd like to say, i love my iPhone it's the best phone i've had. However i haven't had it for over a month now.
I pulled my keys out of my pocket and my iPhone came with them, fell to the ground, and shattered the screen. I've been waiting since the 3rd of December to get my replacement through optus insurance who a screwing me around, that is beside the point though.
Th iPhone screen works well, but is far to easy to break!!
on xda its been proven that this is fake check this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=614946
this guy did the same test on his nexus one
http://www.cartoonmonkey.com/nexus.jpg
Touchyness is one thing with a touchscreen, but there are two other critical factors. The first is durability, in the sense of how much abuse the screen can put up with and whether too hard of a press or knock will cause it to no longer work (or as effectively). The second critical consideration is longevity. Longevity differs from durability in the sense that its how long the screen will last with standard use. The two are related, but do not necessarily equate to each other.
A lower sensitivity screen may actually be better in the long term considering the time that someone may have the phone (realistically much longer than people may think). Would someone upgrading a touch screen do so to get the latest technology or because the old phone wasn't working or working as well anymore? in most cases you'll find its the latter, even though they generally last a shorter time anyway!