Cypress offers TrueTouch touchscreen driver for Android phones; joins Open Handset Alliance

SAN JOSE, USA: Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has introduced a touchscreen device driver supporting the Android mobile handset platform, and announced that it has joined the Open Handset Alliance.

The I2C interface driver for Cypress’s flexible, robust TrueTouch touchscreen solution gives manufacturers of handsets based on Android or other Linux operating systems an easy and quick path to delivering high-performance touchscreen interfaces. The driver supports single-touch and multi-touch signaling and is backwards compatible for applications written in earlier versions of Android.

The Open Handset Alliance is a group of more than 60 technology and mobile companies working to offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience.

The Open Handset Alliance developed Android, the first complete, open and free mobile platform. Android features an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications. As a member of the Open Handset Alliance, Cypress will work with other members to contribute to continued development and success of the Android platform for mobile devices.

“The Android platform is rapidly gaining popularity, and our new driver has already enabled customers to rapidly integrate TrueTouch touchscreen controllers into Android-based phones coming to market,” said Dhwani Vyas, vice president of the User Interface Business Unit at Cypress. “Cypress is pleased to bring the unmatched design flexibility, accuracy and performance of the TrueTouch solution to members of the Open Handset Alliance for development of full-featured Android handsets.”

Cypress’s TrueTouch family includes single-touch, multi-touch gesture and multi-touch all-point offerings. Cypress was the first company to introduce multi-touch all-point functionality, which can track an unlimited number of touches. This capability enables designers to create new usage models for products such as mobile handsets, portable media players (PMPs), GPS systems and other products, and has been in mass production since 2008.

TrueTouch is the industry’s most flexible touchscreen architecture, which allows designers to implement differentiated features and make last-minute design iterations without board changes.

Cypress recently announced its next-generation high performance TMA300 multi-touch all-point family. This controller provides best-in-class scan times for true multi-finger touch and superior signal-to-noise ratio for the most demanding touchscreen applications. Additional information about the TrueTouch solution is available at www.cypress.com/go/TrueTouch.

The flexible TrueTouch solution allows customers to rapidly develop leading-edge solutions without having to buy turnkey modules. They have a choice of using touch sensors (glass or film) and LCDs from preferred partners, and can develop innovative mechanical designs ranging from flat to curved surfaces of varying thickness. In addition, TrueTouch devices offer Cypress’s legendary noise immunity with patented capacitive sensing technology that enables flawless operation in noisy RF and LCD environments.