Research in Motion has filed for a patent for a touchscreen that combines the technology behind resistive and capacitive touchscreen displays. The scren would use a dual layer resistive panel, but the top layer will have a capacitive sensor.

In other words, touch can be recognized both by the the motion of pushing the top screen toward the bottom and through the sensor. Resistive touchscreens are often more accurate than capacitive displays, while capacitive screens can support multitouch. This display should theoretically have the best of both worlds, letting you either tap away with multiple fingers or use handwriting recognition with a stylus.

There’s no word on whether RIM would license this technology to computer makers looking to use it in larger-than-cellphone sized screens.

via Unwired View

While it may seem like everyone and their kid brother is coming out with a netbook these days, there are a few companies that continue to insist that they’d rather focus on the areas where they’re most competent. Case in point: Research in Motion, makers of the popular BlackBerry smartphones. While BlackBerry devices have been blurring the lines between computers and phones for years, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie says the company has no plans to build a larger, netbook-like device.

Balsillie says the company is focused on devices with all-day batteries that can be held up to your ear or clipped on a belt. In other words, unless someone slaps a folding screen and keyboard on a netbook so that it can be squashed down to the size of a cellphone, mini-laptops just don’t fit the bill. That’s not to say that future BlackBerry devices won’t continue to add features that you currently find in netbooks like powerful web browsers and the ability to view rich media content. But Balsillie says that’s what accessories like Bluetooth keyboards or external displays are for.

I think this decision makes a lot of sense, but not for the reasons that Balsillie cites. He claims that consumers don’t really want all the bells and whistles that come with larger clamshell devices. What they want is small, pcoketable devices like smartphones.

I think they want both. Some people are going to be in the market for a smartphone and a cheap ultraportable laptop, which can each be used in different circumstances. And some are going to find that one suits their needs better than the other. I personally have a tiny candy bar-style cellphone with almost no special features (unless you count the fact that you can use the LED as a flashlight), because I find that I’m rarely away from a WiFi connection long enough to justify paying for a monthly data plan. So I carry a netbook around with me instead of a Smartphone. But I also keep an old Dell Axim PDA in my pocket in case I need to jot down some notes, check my calendar, or perform other simple tasks when I don’t have time to pull a computer out of my bag.

But I also don’t think it makes sense for companies that have expertise in one area (smartphones) to jump into a new area (netbooks) just because they’re hot. If you don’t have something new to bring to the table, there’s no reason to sit down at it. I also don’t see a lot of advantages to running the BlackBerry OS on a netbook instead of Windows, Linux, or even Google Android.

via Pocket Lint

Mobile technology has taken two interesting turns in the last few years. Cellphones, PDAs, and computers have started to merge so that today’s smartphones allow you to surf the web, send email, and oh yeah, make phone calls and send text messages. Over the last year cheap computers called netbooks (or mini-laptops, or something) with full sized keyboards and reasonably large screens have also appeared which provide a more full fledged internet experience on the go.

If you ask me, smartphones and netbooks serve two different purposes. A smartphone fits in your pocket and provides a stripped down internet experience. A netbook may be too big for your pocket, but since most netbooks weigh less than 3 pounds you can easily throw one in your bag and carry it with you for those times when you need to do some work on a nearly full-sized QWERTY keyboard on the go, or when you want to view web pages, videos, or other content on a roomier 7, 9, or 10 inch display. Heck, you can even make VoIP phone calls  using Skype if you really want to, but I wouldn’t really expect a netbook to replace a good cellphone.

RIM founder Mike Lazaridis, on the other hand, seems to think that a smartphone can be a replacement for a netbook. In an interview with CNET Asia, Lazaridis said he’s not worried about competition from netbooks because the new BlackBerry Storm is a netbook. Umm… OK.

I can understand why he might say that. The Storm does provide a mobile internet experience, and no CEO wants to say “yes, I’m afraid of the competition from other devices that offer more features.” But a better answer might have been “no, because netbooks don’t fit in your pocket and don’t feature always-on technology like a phone. They serve a different market than smartphones like the Storm.” But maybe that’s just me.