Cypress backs 'hover detection' technology

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Cypress Semiconductor has announced its support for 'hover detection', a capacitive touchscreen technology that anticipates the touch of a finger as it approaches the touch sensor. A corresponding circle on the screen changes size to demonstrate how the application detects the user's finger as it hovers above the screen.

Driven by Cypress's TrueTouch, hover detection changes the fundamental navigation functions on mobile devices by emulating 'mouseover', a feature designed to deliver interface navigation for handsets, GPS systems and other mobile applications. Dhwani Vyas, vice president of the User Interface Business Unit at Cypress, said: "Mobile phone manufacturers are looking for ways to differentiate their products, and features such as hover support and stylus recognition enable them to do just that. Delivering a mouseover-like capability to the mobile phone space shows that Cypress continues to focus on creative features aligned with market demand. "With so much emphasis on web content to the mobile handset, innovative navigation techniques are necessary to bring a familiar web-browsing experience to the user. Our customers are excited about TrueTouch because its flexible architecture enables them to continuously create and deliver value-added features." Cypress is currently working with lead customers on hover support for the TrueTouch touchscreen solution. A hover support module is expected to be broadly available in the second quarter of 2010. A video demonstration of the hover feature is available here.