Apple new touchscreen tech would use IR light to discern hard presses from soft

Appleinsider reports that Apple new touchscreen tech would use IR light to discern hard presses from soft: "Apple's proposed invention, as described by a patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday, uses frustrated total internal reflection in conjunction with other touch sensing technology to determine how hard a user is pressing on a device screen. "

Synaptics going driverless

DailyTech - CES 2014: Synaptics Shows Off New Touch Tech:

"One of the biggest recent innovations has been the switch to driverless devices and advance being co-championed by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT).  With its latest laptop touchpads a tiny onboard ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) handles all the responsibilities directly that drivers would have done.  The tiny chip even interfaces with connected networks via the motherboard bus to updates its internal firmware."

This is a bad news for researchers and developers like myself. That means that the gesture recognition algorithms will be even further removed from software and only ones implemented in firmware by the vendor will be able to access touch sensor raw data.

New 'Sensus' case adds pressure-sensitive touchpads to Apple's iPhone

AppleInsider reports that New 'Sensus' case adds pressure-sensitive touchpads to Apple's iPhone.

"The Sensus case uses a proprietary new touch detecton system that parent company Canopy calls Variable Pressure Technology. Canopy's technology differs from traditional capacitive and resistive touch sensors, the company says, because it combines both touch detection and force detection into a single, rubber-like surface. "

AppleInsider reports:

With its U.S. Patent No. 8,581,870 for "Touch-sensitive button with two levels," Apple may be on the verge of introducing a new form of input; one that could change the face of iOS.
While a majority of the patent refers to a "button," a notation buried near the end of the document points out that a touch screen operatively coupled to an actuator can be considered a "touch-sensitive depressible button".