One thing that has always turned us off about PDA’s is the inaccurate control the touch screens actually grant you. They hand you a stylus and send you on your way, but they neglect to tell you that the touch control does more messing up than it does controlling.

Some researchers for Microsoft over in Redmond are working on a system called Shift, which will enable users to use their fingers as a mouse to control their PDAs. This technology is similar to what the iPhone might have or will have in the future. Maybe we’ll see it in a Zune phone eventually. One thing’s for sure, Apple seems to be the company to follow in terms of innovation, and Microsoft is doing exactly that. — Andrew Dobrow

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Believe it or not, this exquisite phone concept design was made by a high school student. 15-year-old Andrew Kim posted his design on a forum recently and has understandably been getting great feedback. The Butterfly features a horizontal slider with dual AMOLED touchscreens. Unlike other horizontal sliding phones, Butterfly would feature a “slide ‘n tilt” feature, allowing the first screen to become your keypad.

The phone would also feature a SD card slot, audio/video playback, and a side button which deactivates the touchscreen for pocket-friendly use. Like any other design, there are some drawbacks. For one, you would have to slide out the phone to use the keypad, and then slide it back to activate the call, which we guess could be a perk if you look at it from a keypad-free standpoint. Still though, absolutely gorgeous. And we thought the Pantech concept phones were cool? They need to hire this kid.

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The days of Minority Report-like technology seem closer and closer everyday. With the popularity increasing on touch screens and touch based interfaces, the Ukraine made 3D Touchpad is a step ahead of the crowd.

It’s not even really a touchpad at all technically. You don’t have to touch the thing to make it work. The touchpad can sense movements above the pad area, without any real physical contact. Great for those OCD germ weirdos who hate touching things they’re unfamiliar with.

The 3D touchpad can be kept below the computers keyboard, so the pad won’t take up any extra room to clutter your desk. The Ukraine inventors have high hopes for the 3D touchpad, expecting them to eventually be on every computer. Now that, my friends, would be revolutionary.

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