Published in News

Microsoft still thinks the pen is mightier than the swipe

by on13 February 2015


Buys Israeli company

Software giant Microsoft has written a cheque for the Israeli tech manufacturer N-trig which specialises in the development and production of digital pens and touchscreens.

It seems that while the rest of the world is going touch screen, Vole still sees legs in having tablets with pens. Microsoft wants to bring handwriting recognition into the 21st century, just as the kids of today have forgotten how to do it.

The deal is supposed to be worth a couple of hundred million dollars and means that a new R&D centre will be established that will investigate the possibilities of new touch technology in combination with digital stylus input.

N-trig hires 190 employees, 160 of which are based in Kfar Saba in the Sharon region of Israel. One hundred of these are actively engaged in research and development. The staff are thought to be headed for integration with Microsoft Israel.

Eyal Leibovitz, Vice-President of R&Dsaid that N-Trig had overcome some of the typical problems that had plagued stylus input in its earlier days.

Vole uses N-trig hardware in its Surface Pro 3 slab-top; N-trig's advances in touchscreen development allowed it to remove a superfluous layer from the original specs of the device's screen, reducing the weight of the device.

Rate this item
(5 votes)