Harsh environments tackled by smartphone using TrueTouch capacitive touchscreen

Cypress Semiconductor has announced that Kyocera has selected its TrueTouch capacitive touchscreen solution for the new, rugged DuraForce smartphone. The DuraForce is designed for active users to operate it in harsh environments where water, dust and other hazards are present. The Cypress-enabled, 4.5-inch touchscreen display allows users to make calls, check messages and email, take pictures and use other key features even if they are wearing thick gloves or the screen is wet. Kyocera chose Cypress's TrueTouch TMA445 controller for its ability to provide the touchscreen display with best-in-class tracking of fingers in gloves of various materials and thicknesses. The controller automatically switches between glove and finger tracking without requiring the user to switch settings. In addition, it provides industry-leading water tolerance and immunity to electronic noise from aftermarket chargers and displays, says the company. "We are pleased that Kyocera has selected our TrueTouch touchscreen solution to power its rugged DuraForce smartphone," said Joe Montalbo, vice president of the TrueTouch Business Unit at Cypress. "At Cypress, we pride ourselves on developing capacitive touch-sensing solutions that are made to operate in challenging real-world conditions, and this phone is a perfect showcase for this capability." TrueTouch features Cypress's patented DualSense technology that executes both self-capacitance and mutual-capacitance measurements in the same device. The result is the industry's best water rejection and wet finger tracking for seamless performance in real-world conditions, including the presence of rain, condensation or sweat. Additionally, DualSense technology delivers immunity to charger noise of up to 35V peak-to-peak (Vpp) from 1-500kHz, with a 0.5mm cover lens and a 9mm-wide finger.