Stefan Mileschin

Typing with thumbs on glass can often prove to be as fruitful as talking to an actual wall. That is to say, both are an exercise in frustration. Yet, with smartphone adoption continuing to climb, that method of touchscreen input is only going to become more pervasive. Good thing, then, that companies like Tactus Technology are working on a scifi-seeming haptic solution that should catapult the wireless industry into true innovation and bring back some much needed tactile feedback. To spur this, the company's crafted a prototype Android slate in conjunction with Touch Revolution, shown off at this week's SID 2012, that shapeshifts from flatscreen to physical button layout and back as needed. The screen, which would reportedly add no extra thickness to future tablet or phone displays, makes use of microfluidic tech to make those disappearing UIs possible. So, forget about quad-cores and the 2GB RAM spec race, this is where those next-gen flagships ought to be headed. Click on past the break to marvel at a demo of this dynamic interface in action.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/06/t...f-shapeshifti/