Synaptics announced today that its ClearPad solution is driving the interactive touchscreen in NTT DOCOMO’s new SH906i clamshell handset. Sharp SH906i is the first ClearPad-enabled touchscreen mobile phone in Japan’s mobile handset market.

The SH906i uses Synaptics’ ClearPad technology to enable finger-input character recognition capabilities for Japanese character entry. The combination of the SH906i character recognition software and Synaptics’ ClearPad solution improves usability for regions with more complex alphabets. Capacitive sensing-enabled text entry allows the user to access and control any number of applications and menus on a handheld device in an efficient and intuitive manner. Synaptics’ ClearPad sensors recognize a variety of gesture input for an effortless user interface. OEMs can customize their device user interfaces using Synaptics’ growing gesture library, which includes gestures such as flick and pinch. The SH906i, for example, uses flick to flip though channels and adjust volume on its mobile-television application.

The ClearPad solution is part of Synaptics’ growing ClearTouch product portfolio. Patented ClearPad technology builds on the capacitive touch sensing technology used in more than 400 million TouchPad devices.