14 DAY TRIAL // Every product on the IT market is defined by the components it uses, and it looks like ASUS has chosen a touchscreen solution that might not exactly ring many bells in prospective customers' heads.
Today's market is already past the point where companies were uncertain as to whether tablets would progress well or not.
While there was some skepticism back in early 2010, all fears were swept aside when the iPads started selling by the thousands.
Tablets aren't a new concept, to be sure, but they weren't exactly a feasible one several years back, mostly because there was no touchscreen technology advanced enough and affordable enough for them.
Now that multitouch input is more or less common, especially on mobile devices, one might say it would be strange if tablets hadn't been at least tried out.
Speaking of touch technologies, capacitive and resistive were rivals of sorts, until the former got its own, good support for styluses and overall better capabilities (responsiveness, number of touch point trackable at any time, etc.).
Resistive panels also have the unfortunate trait of being more susceptible to harm and wear.
Now, Neonode entered the arena and began promoting what it calls the zForce optical touch screen solution.
It will first be used on tablets developed by ASUS, which should come to market sometime during the ongoing year (2011), in the later half most likely.
"I'm very proud to announce an agreement with a leading global company like ASUSTeK. I firmly believe that the combination of our low cost high-performing touch screen and the outstanding know-how and experience of ASUSTeK will make this a win-win for both ASUSTeK and Neonode," said Thomas Eriksson, CEO of Neonode, Inc.
Nothing specific was said about the series of optical touch-enabled products, but it is only a matter of time before more information trickles out.