If you are as old as I am, you probably remember a time when you were grappling with difficulties in convincing your parents to buy you that new touch sensitive cell phone. Touch screen phones are all the rage these days. Using this hot interface makes navigation much easier and the replacement of the clunky keys with touch makes the display wider. Who doesn’t love a larger screen!!Touch screen always received a good consumer response. Consequently the touch screen technology adopted by phones has become cheaper and affordable to consumers. There are a number of types of touch screen technology:RESISTIVE: the touch screen panel is composed of several layers (generally employ a stylus)CAPACITIVE: such panels are coated with indium tin oxide that conducts a continuous electrical current across the sensor. Eg apple iphone , LG pradaINFRARED: uses infrared sensors that detect the interruption of a modulated light beam near the surface of the screen. Not soo popular as they are most expensive. So we bring down our discussion to the resistive and capacitive type.The most renowned apple iphones use the capacitive touch screen. They are given the ‘light touch’ interface. They don’t need much contact and you can swipe your way through the entire phone. But all these features come with a ridiculously high-price tag.For those of us who cant afford these, would we settle down for a touch screen that fits our budget and needs, though designed to test our patience. These are the one’s that use resistive type of touch screens, and quite a few are priced below 10,000 Rs. And, these arent all that bad. You can operate them with your nail, stylus or any other object. Most phones like nokia N97, HTC tattoo etc have made their resistive type touch screens more sensitive, but its not fully developed. They do not respond to multiple touch, have poor visibility in sunlight and are more vulnerable to scratches.So, now that you know the basic differences in the the touch technologies, you can judge which touch is suitable for you. The all I need -resistive, the turn your pockets out-capacitive or I should just stick to my normal keypad cell phone!!!
