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Wired.co.uk: You’re not crazy, and neither are we: The touchscreen on the Apple iPhone really is more responsive than the screens on the BlackBerry Storm, the Motorola Droid, the Nexus One and many other phones, even though all of these devices use essentially the same touch-sensing hardware.

Though handset makers buy their touchscreens as components from the same select pool of suppliers, a good touchscreen experience requires more than just hardware. It requires a bit of design alchemy blending software, engineering and calibration for the perfect feel. Few smartphone makers have managed to get that balance right, say experts. Read more…

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TechDaily: A test has been developed that should improve the performance of smudge- and glare-resistant touch-screens.

“Surfaces are particularly important in consumer products. This work investigates how products can be modified to reduce smudging and reflections. These modifications can offer improved resistance to fingerprints, anti-reflection properties or enhanced physical resistance,” Steven Carlo told the American Chemical Society.

The basis of anti-smudge coatings is a compound called perfluoro alkyl ether, a derivative of Teflon with added ether groups to enhance its repellent effects. Anti-reflective materials use alternating layers of material, including silica and aluminum layers, to bend and diffuse light to reduce glare.

Since traditional chemical techniques could not be used on these super-thin coatings, Carlo and his team used depth profile X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The data allowed them to compare chain length, degree of branching and the hydrocarbon and fluoroether content of various samples.

The fluoroether content has a key effect in enhancing efficacy. Anti-reflective coatings need alternating layers, which have differences in their refractive index, a measure of how fast light travels through a material. Fluorocarbons in general have low RI and they offer anti-smudge properties.

XPS allowed the scientists to visualize the multi-layer structure and the chemical species present in each layer. In general, the greater the number of layers there are in a coating, the greater the anti-reflective properties. Carlo and his team also discovered that more silica and aluminum layers led to better glare reduction.

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T3: A new report from ABI Research claims that the touch screen industry in the mobile device market will be worth $5 billion (3.5 billion euro) in 2009.

ABI says that shipments of touch screen devices in 2007 increased by 91% over 2006. The report figures in touch screens used in mobile phones, MIDs, UMPCs and navigation devices.

ABI says that Samsung and Motorola command the bulk of the touch screen mobile phone market with 33% and 30% of the market respectively. This is based on strong presence in Asian markets where 80% of the world’s touch screen phones are produced. Sony Ericsson has 24% of the touch screen market.

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