Synaptics and Microsoft team up to support ClearPad multitouch screens

Late Wednesday, Synaptics, maker of mousepads and touchscreens used in laptops and mobile devices announced direct support with Microsoft for Windows Phone 7. Specifically, the two will work to incorporate Synaptics' ClearPad™ for high-resolution capacitive, multitouch screens into new phones developed by Microsoft partners. The deal will help accelerate development for manufactures and developers while giving customers top-notch multitouch tech for their phones.

Synaptics has three levels of ClearPad: 1000, 2000 and 3000 series, with the 3000 announced just last year (seen above) and featuring

...the ability to distinguish up to 10 simultaneous finger touches and complex multi-finger gestures (such as pinch and rotate) with fine accuracy and low latency, the ClearPad 3000 Series sensors are ready for the next generation of 3D graphical user interfaces on a broad array of handheld consumer electronics devices. The ClearPad 3000 Series is based on new, proprietary Synaptics technology that features 48 sensing channels and advanced power management.

We like the looks of this deal as Synaptics general has pretty good products and this looks to be at least the high-end of current multitouch screen technology out there. No word on which OEMs will (or already are) taking advantage of this deal, but we'll keep an eye out for any info.

Read the full presser after the break...

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Synaptics Announces Windows® Phone 7 Native Touch Support for its ClearPad™ Touchscreen Solution
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Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Synaptics Inc. (Nasdaq: SYNA), a leading developer of human interface solutions for mobile computing, communications, and entertainment devices, announced today that Windows® Phone 7 platform developers will have access to native touch support for Synaptics ClearPad™ capacitive touchscreen solutions.The Windows Phone 7 operating system utilizes multi-touch technology designed to help revolutionize the user experience with effortless connectivity to social networking, search, gaming, and media. ClearPad native multi-touch support simplifies the design-in process for developers, enabling them to easily incorporate Synaptics best-in-class solution. The combination of reliability and performance that ClearPad delivers allows developers to create differentiated products with a competitive advantage."The collaboration between leading solution providers such as Synaptics and Microsoft builds the foundation necessary to deliver a unique mobile experience," said Stan Swearingen, senior vice president of strategic technology and corporate development. "Our ClearPad solution, combined with Windows Phone 7, is another exciting step in improving the mobile experience."Synaptics has more than a decade of experience in clear, multi-touch, capacitive touch sensing. ClearPad solutions are available to OEMs looking to incorporate proven, high-performance capacitive touchscreen solutions in their handheld devices—for navigation, scrolling, virtual controls, and other intuitive gestures. Synaptics customizes its ClearPad solution offerings to match the performance and production requirements of OEMs, utilizing its network of ecosystem partners and suppliers resulting in best-in-class performance with short development lead times.For more information about Synaptics ClearPad solutions, please visit www.synaptics.com/go/ClearPad.About SynapticsSynaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA) is a leading developer of human interface solutions for the mobile computing, communications, and entertainment industries. The company creates interface solutions for a variety of devices including notebook PCs, PC peripherals, digital music players, and mobile phones. The TouchPad™, Synaptics' flagship product, is integrated into a majority of today's notebook computers. Consumer electronics and computing manufacturers use Synaptics' solutions to enrich the interaction between humans and intelligent devices through improved usability, functionality, and industrial design. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. www.synaptics.comAbout Window® Phone 7Window® Phone 7 is a different kind of phone designed to bring together what you care about most. It's a phone that finds information and presents it at the right time, making it glanceable. A phone that organizes what you love so finding those things is easier and faster. Windows Phone 7 simplifies basic every-day tasks – like managing email or taking and sharing pictures - so you can do more in fewer steps. With Windows Phone 7, the things that matter most like people, such as games, music and video, photos and office productivity are organized through integrated experiences known as Hubs and fueled by the rich experiences of Xbox LIVE ®, Zune®, Bing™, and Office. Microsoft Windows Phone 7 and Marketplace are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.