IPhone Screen May Develop Dead Spots -- Analyst 10 comments
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Reports of non-responsive spots on the iPhone's touch-screen raise concerns over the device's long-term viability, an analyst told clients in a note Friday. Nomura International analyst Richard Windsor said the iPhone's screen makes use of a chemical reaction to provide touch sensitivity based on heat. The technology, he said, was bought from a defunct Finnish company that had attempted to produce a similar device, but gave up after finding the chemical film began to degrade and lose its sensitivity after extensive use. Windsor said the problem typically appeared within 3-6 months. Apple was likely aware of the problem and should have fixed it, he wrote, but said only time will tell whether all is well with the iPhone touch-screen.
Sources: MarketWatch
Commentary: iPhone Competitors: Research in Motion • Possible Delay in Launch of Faster iPhone • Apple: The Best Is Yet To Come
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This article has 10 comments:
Teething problems.. big deal.
Exactly Tommo. The guy is out to manipulate or is paid by the players who never saw the future coming to smack them in the face... (and neither did Windsor)
www.roughlydrafted.com...
Apple have made about 1.5M iPhones to-date. You'd expect a 5-10% failure rate minimum (some handset manufacturers experience 25-30%), so by now, some 100K+ iPhone will definitely have been returned, repaired and/or replaced.
SO WHAT?
The iPhone uses a capacitive(electric field) screen. Touching the screen and breaking the electric field is how you get the iphone to do things. NOT HEAT!
www.apple.com/iphone/t.../
N
A fine grid of wires is embedded onto the rear of the screen which generates an electric field. The controller is built onto one edge of the screen and draws it's power from the serial port. A touch to the front draws current towards the finger and the software calculates the touch position.
As the touchscreen is laminated with a piece of plain, toughened glass on the front this is simple to seal to very high IP ratings and is the most impervious to damage. Even when the glass is scratched or damaged the touchscreen will still operate.
The touchscreen can be calibrated also to operate different distances from the rear wire grid, known as sense/drive lines, it can be calibrated to be sensitive enough to read a touch through gloves.
If there were "dead spots" the most likely cause would be a failure of the multiplexer to be able to calculate the distance to the field activation. This effect would most likely be the result of a failure within the matrix of embedded wires generating the electric field. If this problem existed it would most likely of existed from the onset of the sale of the device. The users experiencing this, most likely recently bought their phones. One thing is without question though, this has nothing to do with heat.
My final comment is the technology is well proven, has a history of reliability and eveyone using an ATM has been using similar tech for years.
PS: Hospitals have been using the same for years so if you are concerned about the iPhone screen, don't go to a hospital either. Did I hear someone say the LG Prada uses touchscreens.