Touch Screen Gadget

Google previews a touch of Adroids

Posted by admin | Category: Software, Trend Watch & News

Google demonstrated some new tricks of its Android mobile phone software, including an elaborate use of Google Maps Street View and a touch-screen interface with abilities known for their presence on Apple’s iPhone.

Steve Horowitz, Android’s engineering director, used flicking gestures to sweep from the phone’s home screen to another during a speech here Wednesday at the Google I/O conference. More unusual, though was a demonstration of how the phone’s internal compass and accelerometer can enliven Street View.

After calling up a view of San Francisco using a Web browser, Horowitz turned around, and the Street View screen panned left or right accordingly, reflecting his orientation.

Also new were demonstrations of a central notification service that can display new e-mail, missed phone calls, and calendar appointments; the ability to unlock the phone using a specific connect-the-dots swipe across the screen; an option to put browser or contact list shortcuts on the Android desktop; and a version of Pac-Man from Namco. Read the rest of this entry »

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Could be too late for flash open screen project

Posted by admin | Category: Software, Trend Watch & News

The Open Screen Project by Adobe Systems could be too late as Adobe tries to put its Flash technology on a variety of devices.

Besides Apple, Inc.’s iPhone and iPod touch, a majority of mobile devices do not have Flash installed. Adobe’s initiative does not make Flash open source, but eliminating barriers will make it more attractive to developers.

In the wake of Thursday’s announcement by Adobe Systems that it is launching the Open Screen Project to make it easier for developers to use the company’s Flash technology on a variety of devices, the lingering question is whether the move simply comes too late.

Over the last few years, the mobile  market has burgeoned into a multibillion-dollar industry, but Adobe has struggled to match its desktop market share. Its Flash software is installed on an estimated 98 percent of desktop systems, but only on 30 percent or so of mobile devices.

Adobe hopes its Open Screen initiative, which will go live in mid-2009, will help it serve Flash software to as many as a billion mobile devices and produce a more consistent screen performance. Adobe is partnering on the project with a number of tech and mobile companies — including Cisco, NTT DoCoMo, Sony Ericsson and Verizon Wireless — as well as a number of content providers — BBC, MTV and NBC Universal, to name a few.

"Adobe is spearheading the Open Screen Project with support from industry leaders who share a common vision to provide rich, interactive experiences across computers, devices and consumer electronics," said Shantanu Narayen, Adobe CEO. "A consistent, more open platform for developers will drive rapid innovation, vastly improving the user experience."

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Android on the run

Posted by admin | Category: Mobile Phone, Smartphone, Software, Trend Watch & News

Where’s Android?

Google’s Android was the star at the mobile industry’s last big conference, February’s Mobile World Congress. Now, during the first week of April, as the industry gears up for CTIA Wireless, its major U.S. event, Android is a no-show. High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), the Taiwan-based maker that says it will roll out an Android phone later this year, will be at the show, but is keeping its Android plans under wraps.

Android is part of the company’s broader strategy to increase its sales and brand recognition in North America. To achieve that, HTC, which has manufactured cellphones and portable devices since 2002 but often sold them under other brands, like Palm ,is launching its first U.S. ad campaign, investing in high-end touch-screen phones, and moving into ultra-mobile computers.

As a founding member of Google’s Open Handset Alliance (OHA), a group of companies dedicated to promoting Android, HTC has been working on the project since last year.

That doesn’t make HTC a shoo-in, however. Other OHA members, including Samsung and LG, are also gunning for the honor of making the first Android-based phone. Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America, believes his firm is still in the lead. "I believe we’ll be first to market. We feel very comfortable in that claim," he says.

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Google’s Android platform working gPhones Youtubed

Posted by admin | Category: Software, Trend Watch & News

A new video taken at the Mobile World Congress this week is showing Google’s Android platform running on a fairly long-in-the-tooth mobile handset with a touch screen from a Hong Kong-based company called E28. Meanwhile, several major cellular players have thrown their support to the operating system by promising to deliver actual ‘gPhones’ by the end of this year or early next.

Apparently, Android runs unmodified on E28’s E283 and applications designed for the operating system downloaded, installed and ran without problems, if a little sluggishly. Not much of a surprise considering the E28 is an off-the-shelf cell phone without the speed and power you’ll likely find on ‘gPhones’ that’ll eventually ship with touch screens. Read the rest of this entry »

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