Controlling your smartphone from the screen? How boring. Controlling a smartphone with a capacitive touch case from the back – that's the smudge-free display future.
That's how accessory maker Canopy sees it, anyway. The company introduced the Sensus iPhone case with a capacitive touch back at the 2012 GDC (Game Developers Conference) on Wednesday. The case plugs into the smartphone's dock connector and adds an additional interface dimension to the device.
Touch-capacitive sensors are located on the back and right edges of the case. From the looks of the – video on Canopy's pre-order page, the company is clearly courting gamers and game developers. The case moves fingers off the front of the iPhone and out of the way of the action. Dual processors that reside in the case support multi-touch gestures and free the iPhone from having to power an additional input device, which can be a drain on performance. Canopy also introduced a free SDK for developers to create games that take advantage of the case's backside controls.
But even non-gamers will find the case worth a look. Users can control photo zoom via the sensor along the right edge of the case and can pan maps by sliding fingers across the back of the Sensus while in landscape mode.
The Sensus case is available for pre-order for the iPhone 4 and 4S for $59 and will ship in the first quarter of 2013. The iPhone 5 and 5th-generation iPod touch cases are expected to ship in late spring of 2013.
