Synaptics: Touched By The Storm

Synaptics (SYNA) shares seem to be getting a boost from the hoo-hah today over the new Research In Motion (RIMM) touch screen phone, the Blackberry Storm. The reason, of course: Synaptics makes the touchscreen for the phone. The on-screen keyboard for the Storm in intended to feel more like a real keyboard; the screen depresses slightly, and using “haptics” technology to vibrate, provides feedback to your fingers for more accurate typing. The news may also be giving a lift to Qualcomm (QCOM) , which according to Nomura’s Richard Windsor makes the chipset for the 9530 version of the phone. The other version, known as the 9500, uses a chipset from Marvell (MRVL) The touch screen technology in particular is getting nice early reviews; see, for instance, the extensive writeups by Engadget and Gizmodo . In today’s trading: Research In Motion is up $4.95, or 9%, to $60. Synaptics is up $2.78, or 12.9%, to $24.37. Qualcomm is up $3.65, or 9.3%, to ... (link)