Mobile devices equipped with touch screens, such as the iPhone, are without a doubt a stellar forward progression in device interface that is very intuitive to users, but still have their faults. The technology behind the screens fault due to occlusion and the way in which the touch is mapped to cursor position making it sometimes difficult to make a selection, especially if you have large fingers. Enter LucidTouch, a technology in the works from Microsoft and Mitsubishi Electric lab research.

LucidTouch employs a pseudo transparency that displays the fingers as shadows from behind the screen but not other objects behind it. The shadow effect is essentially a feature designed to make the user experience more natural than simply displaying touch points coming from the back of the screen which might confuse a user as to which finger is associated with which dot, with the shadow transparency the user needn’t think making the UX more intuitive. A passive touch feature allows the user to utilize their thumbs in making direct touch selections from the front of the device which may be used simultaneously with other fingers at the back using the multi-touch ability of the device.

Mitsubishi took the wraps off of a new zero-emission, all-electric concept car called the e MIEV Sport. Aside from having a pretty cool look to it, the i MIEV Sport features a couple less-common additions to add juice back to the battery while driving.

As with many other electric and hybrid cars, this one uses a regenerative braking system, but also adds a solar roof and small wind turbines built into the front grill. Additions like these aren’t going to make a drastic difference in the range, but adding a convex solar roof was found to bring as much as an additional 20 mile range to a Prius. The turbines would likely be less, but certainly can’t hurt.

NTT DoCoMo in Japan recently unveiled ten new mobile phones to the market which will be available for purchase in February. Of the 10 new designs, two stood out a little more from the rest due to some design innovations… and smells.

The D800iDS which was made by Mitsubishi Electric is a clam shell style mobile phone with a shape not much different from many other similar products, but it has one distinct difference - no keypad. Instead of the traditional design of having a screen in the top …