Winter’s here, and so are Moshi’s conductive gloves

Fingertip-less gloves might not be needed for a phone or tablet now that a new type of glove has arrived, making it possible to use your gadgets when it’s cold outside.

I really can’t swipe / Baby it’s cold outside.
I can’t seem to type / Baby it’s cold outside.
This morning has been / Been colder than you would like
So very cold / I’ll warm your hands they’re just like ice
**To be sung to “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”

As the cooler months set in and we start to realise just why we prefer the warmth of summer to the bitter chill of winter, technology chimes in with a solution to one of our growing complaints.

You see, it’s cold in the morning. Quite cold, and while Sydney isn’t as harsh a mistress as places like Melbourne or Canberra — or Canada — it’s still cold enough for us to feel it as we pull out our iPad, iPhone, Android or Surface tablet and start prodding the screens, surfing the web, playing games, and typing messages into these products.

But a possible fix is here, and it’s even semi-fashionable.

Made by Moshi, the solution appears to be gloves designed specifically for touchscreens, made not just protect your digits from the cold, but also to keep them warm and let you control a tablet or phone at the same time.

To do this, the fingertips have conductive fibres sewn into them, emulating what a finger does for a touchscreen to make the screen responsive enough for use.

Holding the device is just as important: you wouldn’t want the phone or tablet to slip when you’re wearing the gloves, and to help with that, there’s a “GripTrak” pattern on the inside of each glove that does more than look neat, as it provides resistance to any gadget it sits against, making it harder to drop the product.

Testing them this week, the Moshi Digits gloves are surprisingly warm, and feel less like another gimmick and more like something we’d actually use, especially if the cold air sticks around any longer.

It is worth noting that your phone or tablet may not need these gloves, as more products these days are coming with enhanced touchscreen sensitivity, making these gloves less necessary for some gadgets.

That’s certainly the case with recent Android handsets and several of the products running Windows Phone (see image below), though it may not be the deal for tablets.

If you do have a tablet or a phone without this extra sensitivity, Moshi’s Digits may be the saviour for your seasonal stress, and priced at $39.99 and available in small-medium and large, they’re not likely to break the frostbitten wallet either.