The capacitive vs. resistive touchscreen dispute has been more or less settled with the popularity of the iPhone and other lozenge-shaped touchscreen devices, but that doesn’t mean the loser has to just bow out. The resistive touchscreen is still useful for more precision work using a stylus; I doubt we’ll have capacitive artists’ tablets any time soon. But for convenience, the latter can’t be beat — unless, perhaps, someone were to make some sort of hybrid touchscreen display… oh, you say RIM is working on that? Great!

A patent application filed by RIM suggests a dual-layer touchscreen with both capacitive and resistive layers. The capacitive layer would be on top, obviously, and could be used for quick finger-based movements and multi-touch gestures. Underneath, a resistive layer would allow for precision activities like drawing, handwriting, or games.

It’ll probably cost quite a bit more than a regular screen, and you’ll be paying a premium for the privilege on top of that, but it might just be worth it.

[via Electronista]