SoundGraph: Touch Your Secondary Screen
For those of you unable to make it to the Computex exhibition in Taipei, let us be one of the first to acquaint you to SoundGraph. SoundGraph recently introduced their new FingerVu 895S to the mix which stands apart from previous Soundgraph models as it has an 8.9” LCD screen with a decent 1024×600 resolution, but without an IR receiver or remote control, nor a webcam. You will be asking yourself whether this is just a secondary monitor, since it offers quite a few unique features.
What made the zaftig 895S stand out was the touch screen that works independently from your primary monitor. Recently we reviewed the DoubleSight DS-90UC and though it had a comparable 9-inch LCD screen and resolution, it lacked a touch screen.
This model features a touch control interface, called the “FingerUI”. It’s kind of like using an iPad or iPhone, as many of the gestures are the same as is the iconography (widgets instead of apps, without quite the polish). We were impressed by a few of the touches- colorful menus, and a cute system for adjusting settings. Of course, it wasn’t quite as responsive. And unlike some others, you may also use a stylus pen, though the touch screen easily detected the pressure from our fingertips. Furthermore, the FingerVU monitor did not interrupt or affect our mouse, keyboard, or tasks on our main monitor and we didn’t notice any real slowdown when in use.
We were subsequently able to play back media including music, YouTube videos, and photos, and enjoyed the capacity to search news and weather. We used it primarily with our Windows 7 desktop, but support is offered for Windows XP and Windows Vista as well. As with other models, use with a netbook or low-powered laptop might not be optimal, and use as a photo frame is a bit difficult due to the wired nature of the device.
We became increasingly engaged in using the interface and being able to simply touch and touch drag to scroll through lists. We could manipulate the Touch Wheel in either counter clockwise or clockwise position to adjust the volume, for example. All in all, it’s turned out to be a clever and welcome addition to our computer desk.
SoundGraph has mentioned the eventual release of an API for third party developers who want to expand the ecosystem of tools and utilities. We’ll see if that happens. Also, it’s worth noting that two USB ports are suggested, which can be a bit difficult.
You can purchase online from the SoundGraph website for around $200. It might not be the biggest, the brightest, and we did miss the webcam a bit- but it’s a pretty good all-around sidescreen and offers some nifty interface features.
