Engineers at Fujitso Laboratories have developed motion and graphics sensors that can detect texts and images on paper surfaces with 1 pixel accuracy. The technology means that gesture interface systems can leave your digital tablets for the real world.

Until now, gesturing has often been used to operate PCs and other devices. But with this interface, we’re not operating a PC, but touching actual objects directly, and combining them with ICT equipment.

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The future, according to Apple and designers of modern devices, looks clean, minimal and lacking in texture. It looks pretty – it feels … like nothing. I’ve spoken with a number of users who purchased cases for their new iPhone 5 simply because they couldn’t hold it. It was too thin, too sleek, and too clean.

I’m with the minority that believes that the lack of tactility in modern devices is less interesting, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit optimistic when I saw this elastic touchscreen design. Its strangely rubberized material reminds me of skin and its interface is nothing short of interesting:

Create mountains by pulling them out of the screen, draw rivers with your fingers, elevate an entire terrain to see a cut section view. Make your data come alive. The video shows our working prototype.

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Technology is great at simplification – so much so that we forget how much work is being displaced at the touch of our fingertips. Likewise, with the invention of the touchscreen and its ubiquitous use in mobile devices, many gestures have come to replace our analog life with varying degrees of appreciation.

When was the last time you had to use a rotary phone? Do you recall how long it took to dial the number 9? It’s that kind of technological provocation that informs the work of artist Gabriele Meldaikyte:

Nowadays, finger gestures like tap / scroll / flick / swipe / pinch are considered to be ‘signatures’ of the Apple iPhone. I believe that in ten years or so these gestures will completely change. Therefore, my aim is to perpetuate them so they become accessible for future generations. Read more

Reading options on the HP TouchPad are about to get a little bit thinner.

Time posted a notice over the weekend that they are bout to abandon the platform. This publisher was one of the high points at the TouchPad launch, and apps for Time Magazine, People, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune were available shortly after launch. But now it looks like all that work was for naught; the apps will no longer be updated after 10 March.

Time plans to refund customers for their unfilled subscriptions; there’s no word yet on whether the apps will continue to function after the EOL, but it seems likely that previously purchased content won’t be available for download after the cut off.

If you cannot live without these magazines on your TouchPad, you might want to consider Zinio. This digital magazine distributor still has a TouchPad app, and there has been no indication that it will be retired.

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Did you miss the fire sale on the TouchPad the weekend after HP killed it? if you still want a TouchPad, here’s your chance to get one.

TigerDirect will be having a sale today on the TouchPad. It has a limited number of the tablets on hand and it’s selling them as parts of a bundle. Along with the 32GB TochPad you’ll also buy a case, stand, Bluetooth speakers, and a 16GB thumb drive.

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When HP put its webOS tablet on clearance, it spawned a buying frenzy here in the US. Most stores sold out within hours of announcing the new price; HP’s own retail website nearly collapsed under the load; and there were rumors of fist-fights in some stores.

Well, it’s not over with just yet. Several retailers in various countries announced yesterday that they would also be selling their remaining stock at the clearance price.

Due to it being quiet a few hours ahead of us, the Australia sales happened first. Most retailers including Harvey Norman lowered the price on Monday and sold out within hours. There were even some reports of store staff buying up the remaining units before officially announcing the sale.

Next, the UK based Dixons dropped the price on the TouchPad yesterday and it appears that the tablet is no longer available on the website. But there is a chance that you might still find units in Currys and PCWorld stores (2 retail chains owned by Dixons).

And then there’s France. According to my source, FNAC is supposed to have put both models on sale, but I cannot see the sale price. Of course, if I were in France, there’s a chance that I might be able to see the price. This wouldn’t be the first time that a retailer used regional restrictions to show several different prices.

So, have you found any good deals? We’d like to hear about them.

You won’t hear HP saying that, but according to some inside sources, it appears to be true.

Late last night AllThingsD broke a story that one of the US’s largest gadget retailers, Best Buy, had more TouchPads filling up its warehouses than it knew what to do with. There’s a rumor going around that Best Buy accepted 270,000 TouchPads from HP but have only managed to sell a measly 25o,000. Yes, in the 6 weeks since the TouchPad launched, BB managed to only sell around 25,000.

But it gets worse. The TouchPad has steadily dropped in price since it launched six weeks ago, which has to be something of a first. When was the last time that you can recall a new gadget getting a 20 percent price cut when it’s barely been on the market a month? I don’t know when that has ever happened before.

And then there’s Woot. This daily deals website had the HP TouchPad on sale a couple weeks back and only sold 612 units.

And to top it all off, today is the day that HP will release its earnings report for last quarter. How much do you want to bet that the first question asked will be about the TouchPad?

If you’ve been thinking about getting HP’s second-rate 10″ tablet, now would be a good time. There’s a couple of coupon offers that you can combine to lower the price of the TouchPad by $200.

This weekend only, Hewlett-Packard is offering a $100 instant rebate. All TouchPad ordered through HP will cost $100 less than they did yesterday. This offer is also good at retil outlets and Staples has already confirmed that it will match that price.

Let me tell you how to get the other $100 off. There’s a coupon that you can download and print which will give you $100 off the TouchPad. This coupon is only good at Staples, and it’s only good this weekend.

I, for one, am going to pass. The TouchPad is still running what I would consider beta software; it’s unstable, slow, and you need to hack it to get the best functionality. But I’m also going to pass on it becuase there simply aren’t any apps to make the purchase worthwhile. Right now I can get thousands of useful apps on the iPad or an Android tablet; there are dozens of apps available for the TouchPad.

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