10 Touch-Screen Technologies

Our touch screen future is finally here. At the Consumer Electronics Show, Steve Ballmer talked about how Microsoft will put touch-screen capabilities into the next version of Windows. LG showed off a touch-screen watch. Sony hawked a touch-screen camera. Palm is betting its new touch-screen Pre can turn the struggling smart phone maker around. And Samsung introduced a touch-screen music player. Here's a list of devices that showcase the technology.

Windows 7



The next version of Windows, Windows 7, will boast support for touch-screen interfaces. While touch screens may not be useful for heavy-duty office chores--cranking out memos or blasting through spreadsheets--they could make Windows a better platform for kiosks, tablet computers and home entertainment systems.

iPhone




Apple's iPhone kicked off the latest touch-screen fad. The iPhone's innovation, however, isn't so such its touch screen as the way the phone can be controlled by gestures, such as pinching and swiping, which could become the building blocks for a whole vocabulary of gestures.

Palm Pre



The struggling smart phone vendor is betting the Pre will help lead it back to glory. Like the iPhone, Pre's interface can be controlled through gestures made on the gizmo's touch-sensitive screen.

Microsoft Surface




Microsoft Surface was the star of the Consumer Electronics Show in 2008. While it's gotten lots of attention, Apple has gone further and faster with its dinky touch-screen devices.

Sony DSC-G3

The headline feature on this camera is wi-fi, not its touch screen. In a connected world, this only makes sense: a photo is no longer really useful unless it can be sent to friends and relatives, posted to Web pages, or sent to a computer for editing. It also makes sense that such a device would have a touch screen, giving the user the ability to navigate wireless networks, and the camera's features, when they need to.

Samsung P3

Samsung's P3 is more than just another iPod touch knockoff. Sure, this media player has a touch screen. Unlike the iPod or iPhone, however, Samsung uses haptic feedback to give a user a little reassuring vibration whenever a menu item is selected. The P3 will go on sale sometime during the first half of 2009.

LG's Watch Phone

The idea of putting a phone on your wrist is as old as Dick Tracy. But it's a place where a touch-screen interface makes a lot of sense, since there's little room for buttons. LG's Touch Watch Phone comes with 3G Video Telephony service, thanks to a 7.2 Mbps 3G HSDPA connection. It goes on sale in Europe later this year. Oh, and it also tells time.

ATMs

Touch screens have become common on ATMs and kiosk machines.

Asus Eee Top

Asus' touch-screen tablet version of the "nettop" allows users to bop from one Web-based service to another with a touch of the finger.

Coke machines

Samsung's interactive uVend machine has a touch screen display to let users pick out a refreshing beverage. Samsung worked with Sapient and Coca-Cola to create the machine.

Most Important Inventions of the Next 10 Years

Innovation from Recession

Ocean-Driven Hydropower

Till now, hydropower has mostly been generated at dams. Now, turbines around the world are being designed to harness the power of the ocean. Blue Energy Canada is close to commercializing a turbine that captures energy from ocean currents, and already has purchased power agreements in India, Indonesia, and New Zealand. With a set of subway-size floating turbines, Pelamis Wave Power is converting wave power into electricity off the coast of Scotland.

Miniaturized Medical Equipment

Truly tiny implants that can test, diagnose, and even alert doctors to problems with their patients will replace costly routine visits. Researchers in the Netherlands say they've developed a pill that can be loaded with medicine and programmed to travel to a specific part of the body to unload it. A pen-size device is being developed at the University of Texas that can detect skin cancer without the need for a biopsy.

3D Printing

It has been around for a while, but 3D printing, in which three dimensional object is created by layering and connecting successive cross sections of material, is becoming more affordable, which in itself will unleash a host of new inventions and applications, pushing beyond prototypes and models. Scientists have been experimenting using the technology to reconstruct human tissue.

Even Smarter Apps

Mobile applications can already identify what song is playing, point you to a nearby restaurant, or manage your social networking utilities, but that was just the start. The relatively low cost of entry and the speed at which an app hits or misses creates a environment ripe for breakthrough innovation. What's next could be the first big business to arise from the downturn.

Next-Generation Bio-Fuels

The first round of biofuels caused a spike in global food prices. Now companies are developing the next generation from non-edible sources. Scientists at ADM (ADM) are creating cellulosic ethanol from corn stalks, and other companies are experimenting with switchgrass, woodchips, and the tropical grass miscanthus.

Electric Avenues

While Detroit struggles, would-be automakers are getting in on the action, with a host of electric vehicles now in various states of readiness to roll. Shai Agassi's Better Place is proposing a network of stations where drivers of electric cars can exchange dying batteries for ones freshly charged. For its part, GM's (GM) Chevy Volt is due in 2010.

Truly "On-Demand" Entertainment

As entertainment technologies converge, we're better able to watch, listen, or read anything we want any time we want. The Netflix Player by Roku streams an ever-growing library of Netflix and Amazon content directly to the TV. Apple TV offers both shows and movies for purchase or rental. Open-source media software, Boxee, aims to run on all third-party streaming boxes and plans to release its own box, too. Soon, these systems won't only be for the alpha geeks.

Nanotech Computing

In Chicago, two separate teams recently made breakthroughs that dramatically shrink the size of electronics. One team's new transistors allow for processors that will make silicon chips seem gigantic. The other came up with film material that can store the equivalent of 250 DVDs on the space of a quarter.

Cure for Cancer

Huge advances are being made that could some day eradicate cancer, AIDS, brain tumors, prostate cancer, and other diseases. Nanotech medicine provides a more targeted delivery to cells than chemotherapy or other treatments, which means doctors can lower dosages to minimize side effects.