DEMO Conference: The Mobile Future Beckons

Virtual Keyboard Could Empower Mobile Devices

Everyone wants their mobile devices to be small, but many people also curse the tiny, cryptic keyboards that manufacturers squeeze into smart phones and PDAs. The laws of physics have proved a significant barrier to solving this problem, but VKB Inc.'s Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard offers a possible solution.

Unveiled at this week's DEMO conference, VKB's technology uses a red laser to illuminate a virtual keyboard outline on virtually any surface. Despite its futuristic look, the laser is really just a visual guide to where to put your fingers. A separate IR illumination and sensor module invisibly tracks when and where your fingers touch the surface, translating that into keystrokes or other commands.

Manufactured for the Israeli- and Palo Alto, Calif.-based VKB by ITech, the BTVKB is a slick, black standalone unit about the size of a small fist. It connects to the device it controls via Bluetooth. The company announced that Radio Shack has agreed to sell the units (pricing has not yet been set). The company also said they will be available online for $199.

The units' lithium-ion batteries are estimated to last about 2.5 hours, and the unit ships with an AC adapter.With no tactile feedback, the virtual keyboard requires getting used to, CEO Jonathan Curtis explained. Touch typists have to retrain themselves not to rest their fingers on the typing surface, for example, while hunt-and-peck users adapt very quickly. The system does provide an audible click when a key is successfully "pressed."

Although the VKB attracted its share of admirers at the DEMO show, the company's real goal is to build the virtual keyboard technology directly into mobile devices by mid-2006. That would shrink the size, extend battery life, and potentially let users rely on a small mobile device instead of a full-fledged laptop.

Curtis sees applications in airplane seatbacks, cars, defense uses, hospitals (virtual keyboards don't trap dirt and germs), and home appliances and automation. Curtis also said the sensor technology could be used to create touchscreens that don't suffer the brightness loss common to most models.

This Is Not Your Father's LCD

When people talk about LCDs these days, they're probably thinking about cool new high-end televisions and computer monitors. But while the big color screens get all the press, humble black-and-white LCDs are everywhere: in calculators, alarm clocks, watches, and iPods.

NTera Ltd. has developed what it says is a better, cheaper version of the LCD. Dubbed NanoChromics Display, or NCD, the display technology delivers "paper-white" or transparent backgrounds, higher contrast, and up to ten times lower power consumption than traditional LCDs.Power is required only to update an image, not to continue displaying it. In addition, the company says NCDs are so readable--even in low lighting or direct sunlight--that they often don't require backlights, potentially reducing cost, size, and power consumption for many devices. In the commercial lighting environment of the DEMO conference where the NCD was introduced, they were noticeably clearer and brighter than conventional LCDs.

In development since 1997 at University College in Dublin, Ireland, the "ink-on-paper"-like NCDs use modified nanostructure films, optics, and organic inks. They can be manufactured on existing LCD production lines, and with fewer steps.

The first products using NCDs will include timepieces, parking meters, thermostats, and alarm clocks. The company said it will soon announce a major manufacturer that will use the new displays. Later this year, NTera plans to introduce an active-matrix version of the NCD.

Motorola iRadio To Mix Radio, Digital Music

Talk about convergence. Motorola's iRadio service merges hundreds of channels of digital "radio" services with a user's own MP3 files on a home PC, puts the combination on a media-capable cell phone, and then uses Bluetooth to deliver the music to off-the-shelf car stereos or other music systems.

Unveiled at the DEMO conference here, iRadio isn't really a radio at all.Here's how it works: You need a Bluetooth adapter for your car radio, a media-capable cell phone, and special software for your Bluetooth PC. Then, you subscribe to a music service from a wireless carrier or Internet Webcaster for $5 - $7 per month.

You then select what programming you want from your PC, and mix in your own audio files as desired. When you charge your phone, the system refreshes the selection of music stored on the phone.

Finally, the phone streams the content to your car stereo, or any other Bluetooth-equipped sound system. You can also play right from phone. Either way, the phone works as a remote control device with iPod-style functionality, including artist info and other bells and whistles.

The first trial of 150 consumers on both coasts is scheduled to start in the second quarter with a commercial launch planned for the end of the year.