Company unveils haptic EMP feedback keyboard at CES

from http://phys.org:

At CES, Strategic Polymers showed off what it calls "The Awake" a Bluetooth enabled keyboard that employs EMPs to provide feedback to the person typing.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-01-company-unveils-haptic-emp-feedback.html#jCp

San Francisco based Strategic Polymers has unveiled new haptic technology the company has developed at this year's Computer and Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. At a press conference, CEO Christophe Ramstein told those in attendance that his company has developed superthin electro mechanical polymers (EMPs) for use in smartphones and tablet computers.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-01-company-unveils-haptic-emp-feedback.html#jCp

San Francisco based Strategic Polymers has unveiled new haptic technology the company has developed at this year's Computer and Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. At a press conference, CEO Christophe Ramstein told those in attendance that his company has developed superthin electro mechanical polymers (EMPs) for use in smartphones and tablet computers.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-01-company-unveils-haptic-emp-feedback.html#jCp

Haptic Actuator suits touchscreen displays and surfaces.

from http://news.thomasnet.com:

>>Johnson Electric today announced an addition to its growing range of haptic actuator product for touch screen displays and surfaces.  Haptic feedback gives a user confirmation, through tactile sensations, that a selection has been made in any type of control system.  Launched under the Ledex-HA brand, the HA300 haptic actuator provides the highest G force rating with rapid response times for screens and displays > 375 mm in size.  The HA300 has a rated life of greater than 60 million cycles and acceleration to 20G.  The Ledex actuator has a low output frequency, which is ideally suited to human discernment and has controllable stimuli which allows for multiple haptic effects for different circumstances.

"Haptic feedback is emerging as an important factor for automotive and entertainment applications," said Jim Dick, Johnson Electric's senior vice president of Strategic Marketing.  "As haptic technology develops, it can also be deployed in medical devices, business machines and industrial controls," he added.

New polymers magically transform into haptic buttons and speakers

from http://dvice.com:

>> A company called Strategic Polymers has just announced (and demonstrated to us) a handful of prototype devices that use electromechanical polymers to generate pushable buttons, haptic feedback zones, and even speakers on cellphones and computer peripherals on demand. It's amazing.

'phablets', chips to drive Samsung fourth quarter profit

from Yahoo: 

>>Shipments of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III, which overtook the iPhone 4S in the third quarter to become the world's best-selling smartphone, are likely to have slipped to around 15 million in the last quarter from 18 million in July-September. But estimated sales of around 8 million Galaxy Note II phone-cum-tablets, or 'phablets', should more than make up for that - pushing overall smartphone shipments to around 63 million, analysts estimate.

Continental

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/com/en/continental/pressportal/themes/press_releases/3_automotive_group/interior/press_releases/pr_20120109_haptic_en,version=1.html

To make the operation of touch elements even safer and more effective for motorists – whose primary task is, after all, to keep their eyes on the road – Continental is focusing on tactile (i.e. haptic) feedback from touch-sensitive surfaces. For example, slight counter-pressure from the display on the driver’s finger indicates that an operating step has been performed successfully, making it unnecessary for the driver to look at the screen again.  

http://www.cst.com/Content/Events/downloads/euc2012/Talk_3-3-3_CST_EUC_2012.pdf

 Development of a planar actuator for active haptic feedback in an automotive environment

Target: haptic feedback when you expect to have haptic feedback, and stiff when you expect it to be stiff!

Different haptic feedbacks generated by electronic module

visteon e-bee

http://e-bee.visteon.com/_library/_download/e-Bee%20Decorative%20Control%20Panels%20Tech%20Sheet%20Nov%206%202012.pdf

Low to no wobble rotary devices built off platform design allows precision tuning of haptic feel

 http://www.wfsb.com/story/20506571/visteon-to-demonstrate-automotive-innovations-at-2013-international-ces

This "touch with intent" capability is enhanced with visual and audible feedback and will be expanded on future implementations with tactile feedback.

Samsung to widen smartphone gap with Apple this year -Strategy Analytics

from Yahoo/Reuters: 

>>Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to widen its lead over Apple Inc in global smartphone sales this year with 35 percent growth, helped by a broad product lineup, market researcher Strategy Analytics told Reuters on Friday.

Immersion Corporation: Profiting From The Touch Screen Revolution

Read the whole article at Seeking Alpha: 

>Immersion Corporation (IMMR) was founded in 1993. The company is the leading innovator in haptic technology with over 1,200 issued or pending patents in the US and other countries.

Haptics is a tactile feedback technology that aims at bringing back the sense of "touch" when not available to end users. Practical examples include reproducing the feeling of pushing a button on touch screens, as well as allowing the rumble effect in a console game controller. Haptics may also be used in medical simulators to help doctors "feel" the forces that would be encountered for example when navigating the leads through a beating heart.

Mohawk Industries Becomes Worldwide Leader In Ceramic Tile

Read the whole article at Seeking Alpha: 

>>Last week, Mohawk Industries (MHK) finally announced the acquisition of Marazzi Group, the fifth largest producer, in volume, in the ceramic tile industry. The combination of Mohawk's existing ceramic tile division, Dal Tile, and Marazzi Group creates the largest ceramic tile company in the world as far as revenues.

The first rumors about the deal spread out about one month ago, when the Italian financial magazine "Il Mondo" reported that advanced negotiations were in the works (link, in Italian). Seeking Alpha was the first English speaking source to talk about the deal, also supplying added information about the acquisition target, soon followed by Reuters and other news feeds.

The market reacted positively to the acquisition, and the stock gained 4.88% on Friday, on a down day for most securities.

Samsung aims to sell 510 million phones

from www.koreatimes.co.kr:

 >>``Of the 510 million handsets it plans to sell, 390 million are slated as smartphones and 120 million, feature and budget phones,’’ according to an executive from one of Samsung’s key suppliers.

Adding a Sense of Touch to Online Shopping

from WSJ: 

>>The Samsung Galaxy S III has an advanced feature called Auto Haptic that uses vibration to create physical responses such as feeling the sling stretch in Angry Birds. Apple is also researching and applying for patents in haptics.

IBM 5 in 5 2012: Touch

from IBM:

>>Within the next five years, your mobile device will let you touch what you’re shopping for online. It will distinguish fabrics, textures, and weaves so that you can feel a sweater, jacket, or upholstery – right through the screen.

Global touch screen shipments expected to reach 1.75 billion in 2013

from Digitimes: 

>>Global touch screen shipments are expected to reach 1.75 billion in 2013, up 17.2% on year. Of the shipments, approximately 1.28 billion or 73% are estimated to be for handsets, which will be a 14.2% on-year increase. Shipments for touch screens used in tablets meanwhile are expected to reach 230 million units, up 38.2% on year, while touch screens for PCs are expected to reach 26.33 million in 2013, up 251.3% on year, according to Digitimes Research.

Equinix's Journey From IPO To The Nasdaq 100 Through Near Bankruptcy

Read the whole article at Seeking Alpha:

>On Friday night, the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NDAQ) announced the results of the annual re-ranking of the NASDAQ-100 Index, which will become effective prior to market open on Monday, December 24, 2012. Among the most recent inclusion is Equinix (EQIX), the worldwide leader in the network-neutral colocation business, a company whose birth, survival through the dot-com bubble burst and impressive growth afterwards is one of the most interesting stories in the Telecom sector.

Background

Equinix was founded in 1998 by Jay Adelson and Al Avery, with the aim to provide secure physical connection points where networks, content providers and enterprises could interconnect through a neutral party to avoid the competing interests of telecommunication providers.

Data Center Related Stocks Close Mixed In November And After Q3 Earnings

Read the whole article at Seeking Alpha: 

>>Companies under our radar screen in the data center and CDN sector closed mixed in November, after experiencing, as a group, strong declines in October, when all stocks but Telecity Group were in the red.

Post-earnings performance was also mixed, as most data center related stocks closed negatively after announcing Q3 numbers, and four companies only showed some sort of moderate upside.

Q3 2012 post-earnings performance

Here is a quick look at how each individual company performed after announcing Q3 earnings:

Welcome back to the 1980s: Vice City

We’re excited for the release of the mobile version, not only for the amazing soundtrack, but also because this is the latest title from Rockstar Games to incorporate Immersion’s tactile effects to enhance gameplay. So however you choose to tackle Vice City’s criminal element, you’ll be satisfied when you feel the action with Immersion. The best part? Immersion’s low power tactile effects have a minimal impact on battery life, so command your attack helicopter, launch some rockets, and immerse yourself as you rise to power in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

 http://blog.immersion.com/2012/12/vicecity/

Worldwide Smart Connected Device Market, Led by Samsung and Apple, Grew 27.1% in the Third Quarter, According to IDC

 P/R

Looking forward, IDC expects the worldwide smart connected device space will continue to surge well past the strong holiday quarter and predicts shipments to surpass 2.1 billion units in 2016 with a market value of $796.7 billion worldwide. IDC's research clearly shows this to be a multi-device era, although market dynamics are shifting in terms of product category. In 2011, PC's – a combination of desktop and portable PCs – accounted for 39.1% of the smart connected device market. By 2016 it is expected to drop to 19.9%. Smartphones will be the preferred product category with share growing from 53.1% in 2011 to 66.7% in 2016. Tablets will also grow significantly with share growing from 7.7% in 2011 to 13.4% in 2016. The shift in demand from the more expensive PC category to more reasonably priced smartphones and tablets will drive the collective market ASP from $534 in 2011 to $378 in 2016.

Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight Rating, $225 PT on Equinix

In a report published Monday, Piper Jaffray & Co. reiterated its Overweight rating and $225.00 price target on Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX [FREE Stock Trend Analysis]).
Piper Jaffray noted, “We believe Equinix will be another top performing stock in '13. While the stock is up 86% over the past 12 months, we believe there are a number of positive fundamental reasons the business will continue to perform. The secular trend to outsourced IT is not changing, enhanced by the cyclical trend to asset-light, and supply/demand trends are favorable. Equinix's conversion to REIT process could act as a catalyst, and we believe the company is set up for continued positive estimate revisions. We are re-iterating our Overweight rating, and consider Equinix to be a top idea within our coverage universe.”

Read more: http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/12/12/3159851/piper-jaffray-reiterates-overweight-rating-225-pt-on-equ##ixzz2EgvwyLmp

Evercore's List Of Tech Picks For 2013

from Forbes: 

>>Telecom and data center services analyst Jonathan Schildkraut picks Equinix, with a target of $245. “The most attractive investment in our coverage universe for CY13, underpinned by strong fundamentals, REIT conversion and an attractive valuation.”

Auto Haptic Widget

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.immersion.android.autohaptic

This widget is designed to address an issue with certain Galaxy S III handsets that have updated to Jellybean. Users who have not upgraded to Jelly Bean do not need to install this application, as the Auto Haptic Feature can be managed through the standard device settings (Settings/Sound/Auto Haptic).

Auto Haptic allows users to automatically incorporate low-power tactile effects in downloaded applications to enhance mobile gaming. With the recent update to Jelly Bean some handsets have lost the “Settings” menu controls for the Auto Haptic feature. This widget is a universal ON/OFF control for Auto Haptic which allows users to enable or disable tactile effects for all downloadable applications. After installing this widget, please reboot your device.

This Auto Haptic widget does not impact the tactile effect settings for other device functionality, such as alerts and keyboard tactile feedback.

It is anticipated that the “Settings” menu will be restored with full functionality to enable Auto Haptic at an application level in a future OS update from carriers. At that time, this widget will no longer be needed.
The widget is not yet available for the recent Jelly Bean update on AT&T. We are currently testing for AT&T, and will provide an update shortly.