It beat Synaptics to the first cell phone design, in a high-end Motorola handset.
It put Synaptics through the passes, scrutinizing its quality control, testing and manufacturing capabilities.
Synaptics kept at it and got a lucky break from none other than Apple in 1994.
By the time Synaptics went public in January 2002, 98% of its revenue came from laptops.
No mystery there: Analysts estimate that Apple orders composed 30% to 40% of Synaptics' sales.
Synaptics scientist David Gillespie says "mushy and imprecise" problems exist that microprocessors have difficulty solving.
Some like Synaptics may not benefit as much given the cannibalization in the notebook PC market.
Back in February Wall Street got wind of Apple's decision to cut off purchases from Synaptics.
More likely than not, when you think of Synaptics you think of its touchpads.
ENGADGET: Synaptics enters the keyboard market, announces the ThinTouch keyboard aimed at Ultrabooks
Logitech, now a customer, has nifty new mice and wireless keyboards with Synaptics scroll and button pads.
Ironically, perhaps, the most intriguing possibility for renewed growth is for Synaptics to get back inside the iPod.
That could break Synaptics into the market for so-called resistive screens, like the face of a handheld computer.
Synaptics supplies touchpads for 55% of the world's laptops, serving all the big players--like Dell, HP and Acer.
Synaptics is at its most critical juncture since its first product was released.
Our analog stars are National Semiconductor, Anadigics, Synaptics, and power interface innovator Power-One.
Synaptics sent us a Samsung R480 that it had retrofitted with its new ClickPad IS Series 3.0 to find out.
ENGADGET: The Windows PC ClickPad finally improved? Synaptics ClickPad IS Series 3 preview
Synaptics keeps in a drawer a stack of autographed Faggin photos that it sends out to engineering fans who write in.
Lee, who runs touchpad maker Synaptics, says he accepted Apple's invitation out of a sense of obligation, not of collective joy.
Synaptics initially moved toward its first practical product in 1992, when Swiss computer-peripherals maker Logitech commissioned a chip for a touchpad.
To replace those losses, Synaptics must get better at breaking into new markets--like music players, computer mice, keyboards and cell phones.
Beyond those typical gestures, Synaptics has also configured the pad to support three- and four-finger swipes, much like the Apple pads.
ENGADGET: The Windows PC ClickPad finally improved? Synaptics ClickPad IS Series 3 preview
Jobs picked up the Toshiba drive and combined it with touch pad technology from a then obscure company called Synaptics.
Synaptics initially moved toward its first practical product in 1992, when Swiss computer peripherals maker Logitech commissioned a chip for a touchpad.
Right now it might take 12 to 18 months for a new customer to get a Synaptics touchpad integrated into its product.
Lee, who runs touchpad maker Synaptics, says he accepted Apple's invitation out of a sense not of collective joy but of obligation.
Synaptics' future looked golden, until Logitech reentered the market a year later.
Synaptics' prototype pad had a grid of electrodes running across a board.
Synaptics often has to retrofit its cutting-edge hardware into existing consumer hardware, but for this, had to manufacture Sensa entirely from scratch.
ENGADGET: Synaptics Sensa grip-sensing tablet concept hands-on
If you recall, Synaptics is looking to branch out from touchscreens and touchpads and break into a another kind of navigation device: keyboards.
ENGADGET: Fingers-on with Synaptics' ThinTouch keyboard for Ultrabooks (video)
Indeed, it is plausible that Apple kicked out Synaptics not only because of price, but also because it wanted to do its own tinkering.
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