Seiko Epson Corp has integrated the mouse-killing cursor controller, TouchPad, from San Jose, California-based Synaptics Inc into its recently launched ActionNote 800 Series of multimedia notebook computers. Epson says the colour notebooks have been ergonomically designed, hence the use of TouchPad which replaces mouse or trackball control over cursor motion with the movement of a finger. TouchPad, when it was launched last year (CI No 2,529), was the first major product from the eight-year-old company. Synaptics claims that it is the first touch system to apply neural-based, mixed-signal technology. TouchPad controls cursor motion using finger pressure and enables the user to click on icons or drag and drop by just tapping. One of the reasons Epson chose TouchPad is its lack of moving parts which should reduce maintenance costs and the chance of mechanical failure: TouchPad uses capacitive sensing technology that senses top-to-bottom, right-to-left motion and pressure or area of contact; finger motion is detected by measuring the finger’s effect on an array of capacitive lines integrated into the TouchPad module. Other features available in TouchPad include an advanced control panel that allows users to personalise touch sensitivity, gesture control and edge motion. The ActionNote 800 Series comes in three configurations: the ActionNote 866C has a 66MHz 80486DX2, the ActionNote 880C and ActionNote 880CX come with an 80MHz 80486DX2. All systems have integrated write-back cache; built-in audio board (optional for the 866C) and microphone jacks; the ActionNote 880C and 880CX are configured with an internal 14.4Kbps fax/data/voice modem; and all have two slots that support all three PCMCIA standards. Prices for ActionNote 800s go from $2,500.
