Beyond the haptics, the MX-5000 is a fairly standard high-end universal remote, intended for system builders to pair with similarly high-end home media systems—not your 40-inch HDTV. This explains the unorthodox button choice and inclusion of Wi-Fi, which the remote uses to display all manner of information broadcast from your receiver. It also explains the price price—although there's no official figure, Crunchgear's inquiry was answered with an ominous "below $1500."

Even if most people could never dreaming of needing one of these, the concept is still exciting: having to looks at a remote every time you use it feels like a step back, so if URC can clear that hurdle, more power to them. [Crunchgear]

The new soft keyboard improvement, called TouchSense, is designed to mimic both the feel and sound of a real, mechanical keyboard, to enable easier transitioning between keys. Immersive Messaging, on the other hand, is a cornball idea that's essentially text messaging gussied up with haptic feedback: You can send a heart design to your significant other, and he or she can feel it "beating," which kind of sounds more scary than romantic to me. They dub such icons "Hapticons." Even further, they announced "Twiddling," which is essentially a separate app in which two people can "feel" each other through haptic feedback on their iPhones. Now you see what I mean about that corny romantic nonsense.

Both TouchSense and Immersive Messaging were demonstrated on the iPhone, and the Immersion rep dodged questions about possible other platforms (*cough* WebOS *cough*) and even Immersion's immediate plans for their creations. We could see Immersive Messaging showing up as an irritating app, a theory the Immersion rep wouldn't deny. [All Things D]

Teases for hologram technology are commonplace nowadays, but it is usually taken for granted that the projected images will provide no haptic feedback. Though the researchers have said little about integration with other projection systems, the possibility of a tactile hologram now doesn't seem totally out of the question. There's a major catch, though: the virtual objects won't provide much resistance or seem very "hard," because at high enough levels the aurally imperceptible ultrasound will destroy your eardrums. Even considering the limitations, my hope remains: that we may soon be able to (very delicately) slap people through a webcam. [BBC]

The maglev haptic control consists of two bowl shape objects, powered by electromagnets. Inside these bowls, a joystick floats around with a tracking sensor that relays its position back to a Linux Fedora-powered computer. The technology is precise to 2 microns and produces 40 newtons of force. One specific demo was the "physics playpen," where a variety of 3d shapes were displayed on screen and users could interact with them using the joysticks; moving the shapes back and forth between each hand, getting feedback of the collision, and a feel for the volume and weight of the objects.

Ultimately, the goal for this maglev haptic technology would be to have it implemented in a medical setting (microsurgery), military use (drone control), or even data visualzation (minority report, perhaps?). Just don't expect it anytime soon, as the electromagnets that power this thing cost tens of thousands of dollars alone. More pics are available over at [Gadget Lab].