RF Pen Erodes Competitive Advantage of Resistive Touchscreen

Touchscreen technology is an interesting one to see which operating system chooses to run on which type of screen. There are two main types of touchscreens--capacitive and resistive. Resistive is mainly employed by Windows Mobile, which works when two thin layers press against each other to register a touch--this technology can be used with either s stylus for more accurate input or a finger, which may require a harder press than the capacitive version to register input. Capacitive screens, on the other hand, works by detecting electric current from the fingers to register a touch.

Screen accuracy and stylus input, long held the major advantage of resistive touchscreen, is no longer exclusive to resistive touchscreen. According to Engadget Mobile, a company called WriteSense is developing an RF pen that works directly with capacitive touchscreen, providing the same benefits as the resistive counterpart and eroding the competitive advantage that resistive screen devices have. Now, capacitive touchscreens don't need an active digitizer layer to work with pens, like the older Tablet PCs.

Can an iPhone or T-Mobile G1 with its glossy glassy capacitive screen and accurate RF pen input sway you? Hopefully HTC will employ the new capacitive technology and equip devices with an RF stylus. The main reason that the large OEM chose to use a resistive screen on the Touch Diamond/Pro/HD/Max was because resistive technology works with a stylus, thereby providing more accurate screen inputs.