- Touch panel makers to increase supply to China market in 2H09
- Interactive Touch Panel Tables
- Taiwan makers poised for production of multi-touch notebook panels
- Taiwanese chip designer sues Apple over touch screen technology
Touch panel makers to increase supply to China market in 2H09
19 March 2009
Several Taiwan-based touchscreen makers, including Young Fast Optoelectronics and Emerging Display Technologies (EDT), are expected to see their shipment volume to the China white-box handset market increase significantly in the second half of the year, according to market sources.
Young Fast started to increase shipments in February, and the company plans to expand its monthly capacity to two million units of capacitive touch panels (3.5-inch equivalents) by the end of this year from the current capacity of one million units, the sources noted.
STN LCD maker EDT started shipping capacitive touch panels recently and the company expects to increase shipments in the second half of the year, the sources said, adding the the company's current monthly capacity is one million units of touch panels (3.5-inch equivalents).
EDT had February revenues of NT$241 million (US$7.13 million), up 8.05% from NT$223.04 million for January, but down 23.45% from NT$314.83 million for February of 2008, according to data from the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE).
LCD panel maker Innolux Display also reportedly will start producing capacitive touch panels in March, but mainly for in-house use, the sources added.
Sources from: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090319PD215.html
Interactive Touch Panel Tables
MARCH 16, 2009
Blacksheep, a London architecture and design office, created the restaurant Inamo’s tables with projector and computer above each one. Customers utilize the touch panel to order food, change the look of the table, check out the kitchen webcam and play games. The interactive furniture can also call up local information on services like booking a cab. You can see it in action here. Someday soon we hope this becomes more commonplace, however if games are involved, there may a considerable waiting list.
Sources from: http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/q408-inamo-interactive-touch-panel-tables/
Taiwan makers poised for production of multi-touch notebook panels
1 April 2009
Taiwan players are gearing up production for capacitive multi-touch panels for use in netbooks and notebooks in the second half of 2009, according to industry sources.
LCD panel maker HannStar Display has co-developed a capacitive touch panel with CF (color filter) maker Sintek Photronic, with shipments expected to start at the end of June, the sources said.
CF maker Cando is working with its parent company AU Optronics (AUO), as well as Qisda, for capacitive touch panel and aims to start shipments in the second half of 2009, the sources noted.
Touch panel makers Young Fast Optoelectronics started mass production of capacitive touch panels in February and will cut into the netbook touch panel market in the second half of the year, according to the company. Mildex Optical will soon extend their production from resistive touch panels to capacitive multi-touch panels, the sources pointed out.
The moves are in preparation for the launch of Microsoft Windows 7 which will include multi-touch interface support, the sources added.
Taiwanese chip designer sues Apple over touch screen technology
04/09/2009
In a patent infringement lawsuit, recently filed in US District Court in San Francisco, Taiwanese chip designer Elan Microelectronics has sued Apple, alleging that the touch-screen technology used in the MacBook, iPhone, and iPod Touch infringes on two of its patents.
Talking to New York Times about the infringement case, Elan spokesman Dennis Liu said that the suit was filed as a last resort, after talks about the contentious multi-touch technology issue with Apple for nearly two years brought no avail.
Liu said: "We couldn't find a common viewpoint with Apple, so we decided we had to take action." In its statement issued Wednesday, Elan said it is seeking a ban against Apple, barring it from the production and sale of products that make use of Elan's patents.
Elan added that it owns the rights to the technology, which it calls 'multi-finger' technology, using perception of the finger's position on a to allow users ape a 'pinch' motion to zoom in and out, rotate images and execute other screen tasks.
The lawsuit against Apple is not the first one by Elan related to its patented touch-screen technology - in 2006, the company sued US firm Synaptics over breach of one of the patents in question this time around too, finally settling on a cross licensing pact!
Sources from: http://topnews.us/content/24791-taiwanese-chip-
designer-sues-apple-over-touch-screen-technology