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TAT founder Hampus Jakobsson leaves RIM for startup land (update: not as much of a blow)
RIM just can't seem to avoid staff shakeups. Hampus Jakobsson, The Astonishing Tribe founder and a key factor in BlackBerry 10's interface design, has signaled that he's leaving the smartphone maker. He cites an itch to launch another startup as the impetus behind the move, although he hasn't said what he'll be doing. We can certainly tell that Jakobsson is aware of the climate in which he's leaving -- the veteran has been quick to note that others at RIM are taking his role and that he doesn't expect an upheaval as he heads through the door. There's at least a grain of truth to the reassurances, we'd say. With BlackBerry 10 devices appearing in January on RIM's current schedule, most of the hard work on the software will likely have already been done. Nonetheless, we're sure some fans will be disappointed that a guiding light won't be around to influence any followups. [Image credit: Media Evolution, Flickr] Update: We've learned that Jakobsson had been a Director of Strategic Alliances at RIM since TAT was acquired; while the company he brought into the fold is clearly working on BlackBerry interface design, he hasn't been guiding the work himself. The departure still has an impact -- it's just at the corporate level rather than in design.
Guild Wars 2 dev shows off company pride with dragon tattoo
To show his love for Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet content programmer Eric Rane devoted a large section of skin to the game's dragon logo. The eight-hour labor of love is splayed across Rane's torso, where it will proudly proclaim his devotion whenever he's wandering shirtless around Seattle. Aside from being an extremely cool piece of art, the logo symbolizes Rane's time and accomplishments at ArenaNet. When talking about his motivation for getting the tattoo, Rane said, "ArenaNet is without a doubt the best video game company I have ever worked for." He went on to talk about his pride in his company and co-workers. As a programmer, he's worked on the event system, boss monsters, and character creation that so many people have been enjoying in the beta events. Rane didn't even wait for the game to ship before dedicating a sizable chuck of flesh to it, so take a moment to consider that the next time you're tempted to proclaim yourself a hardcore fan.
Switched On: RIM's shot
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Much like their home countries, Apple and RIM share much in common, but contrast in important ways. Both companies are among the few that produce their own software for their cellular handsets. Apple, a personal computing pioneer, sees market expansion in smartphones. RIM, a smartphone pioneer, sees market expansion in mobile computing. Looking at the tablets on offer, Apple has been just as adamant in decrying a 7-inch display as RIM has been defending it, the latter saying that it sought to create an ultramobile device with the PlayBook. Apple designs products for consumers that have relevance for enterprises. RIM designs products for enterprises that have relevance for consumers. This has also been evident with the PlayBook, which has taken heat for its lack of native e-mail and calendaring options. RIM consciously put these on the back burner because it wanted to appease CIOs concerned about data theft, even though it meant a less appealing launch product for consumers. Another parallel: RIM has suffered as AT&T delays in supporting Bridge, just as Apple struggled with AT&T supporting tethering on the iPhone.
TAT-astic native PlayBook development discussed and demoed on video
Yesterday at BlackBerry World 2011 we were fortunate to sit down and chat with Chris Smith, Senior Director of the BlackBerry Developer Platform, along with Rasmus and Karl from The Astonishing Tribe. One of RIM's recent acquisitions, TAT is known for some rather, well... astonishing user interface designs, and for infusing a bit of magic into some of the PlayBook's apps, such as the bundled picture viewer and calculator. We were shown a number of demos, including the downloadable Scrapbook app, a rather nifty contact list, and a location-aware news reader. Over the years, TAT has built an engine and framework that make it easy for developers to create powerful and attractive UIs, and some of this will be making its way into the PlayBook's native software development kit sometime this summer. Along with support for Open GL ES 2.0, SQLite, cURL, and POSIX (amongst others), this NDK will provide API's to control the audio system, the cameras, and the sensors -- possibly even code to enable stereoscopic 3D output over HDMI, as demonstrated before. We know that's a lot of exciting stuff to sink your teeth into, so be sure to get a taste of it by watching our video.
RIM shows off TAT-developed BlackBerry PlayBook apps
We've been eager to see what The Astonishing Tribe (otherwise known as TAT) would come up with for the PlayBook since RIM acquired the design firm back in December, and we're now finally getting our first glimpse at a few of the things they've been working on. Those include a scrapbook app that takes advantage of four-fingered multitouch, and a weather app dubbed "Aura" that was built with the WebWorks platform and makes use of the PlayBook's accelerometer -- both of which are relatively simple, but are intended to demonstrate how easy and quickly developers can build applications for the PlayBook. Also on display at Mobile World Congress this week was fairly impressive media player that can be used when the tablet's connected to a TV via its HDMI port -- it will not only let you view videos, but play games (albeit just a Rubik's Cube in the demo) and even view 3D content as well. Head on past the break to check them out on video.
RIM tilts BlackBerry PlayBook keyboard on side, drops hints about TAT, module cavities and battery life
<div style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.engadget.com/preview/rim-blackberry-keyboard-battery-tat-module-cavity/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="0" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/02/2-3-11-blackberry-playbook-portrait-keyboard.jpg"/></a></div> RIM held a BlackBerry WebWorks developer event in San Francisco this evening, and while hard news was not in attendance, we did score a number of tidbits about the company's <a href="http://www.engadget.com/tag/BlackBerryPlayBook/">BlackBerry PlayBook</a>. First and foremost, there's most definitely a <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/03/blackberry-playbook-gets-demoed-in-portrait-mode/">portrait virtual keyboard</a> in the latest QNX tablet build, and we literally gave it a spin, watching as the landscape layout slowly switched to portrait mode as we changed the slate's orientation. Second, we may have gotten our first hint about what RIM's doing with the recently-purchased <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/02/rim-buys-tat-blackberry-ui-in-danger-of-becoming-awesome/">TAT</a> -- we overheard that the PlayBook's <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/blackberry-playbook-preview/">bezel gestures</a> actually aren't quite finalized yet, and that the astonishingly silent UI design division may be lending a hand. On the all-important subject of battery life we don't have much to add beyond <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/24/rim-playbook-battery-life-will-be-equal-or-greater-than-the-ip/">earlier boasts</a>, but a staffer did tell us that RIM's shooting for a "full work day" of juice. Last but not least, we were told that Jim Balsillie's <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/16/jim-balsillie-says-blackberry-playbook-has-a-module-cavity-hi/">module cavity</a> certainly exists, but it's not the user-upgradable slot or socket we'd hoped -- rather, it's a orifice deep inside the PlayBook for hardware enhancements at the factories where devices are built. Like <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/blackberry-4g-playbook-coming-to-sprint-network-this-summer-obv/">this one</a>, perhaps? Video after the break.
RIM buys TAT, BlackBerry UI in danger of becoming awesome
This is not a joke, in fact it's quite official. Research In Motion has just confirmed the acquisition of Swedish UI design company TAT, which will soon be "bringing their talent to the BlackBerry PlayBook and smartphone platforms." You'll be familiar with TAT as the team that helped polish the original Android interface on the T-Mobile G1 as well as from more recent UI design projects -- the important thing is that these guys have shown they know what they're doing. We have to admit, pairing the rock solid foundation of the QNX-built PlayBook OS with some top-level spit-shine from a company specializing in exactly that has us legitimately excited. Who knows, maybe we'll even see a BlackBerry with a user interface that someone other than a BBMer could love. [Thanks, Rasmus]
TAT releases trio of awesome live wallpapers for Android
Android comes with a pretty great set of live wallpapers built in -- and some manufacturers add their own, too -- but if you're ready for a change of pace, the UI nerds (we mean that in the best way possible) over at TAT have just dropped three of 'em for free. Called Artemia, Blue Range, and Retro Pixels, the trio run the gamut from dreamy aquascape to eBoy-esque 3D environment to 8-bit gaming, and they're all interactive in one way or another -- poking and shaking both seem to have interesting effects. They're in the Market now, so you may as well grab if you've got a compatible phone. Follow the break for TAT's movie trailer teaser video.
TAT's Dimension S3D is a user interface for stereoscopic TVs (video)
You can't quite see it without 3D glasses, of course, but this clock is actually sticking out of the screen -- one of several illustrious illusions in this latest concept interface from the dreamers at TAT, spotted at Open Mobile Summit 2010. Give that watch face a spin, and you'll find a working countdown timer on the back, or browse through icon-based music, weather and Twitter interfaces, a media browser and a Rubik's Cube that spins in 3D space. The firm's calling the setup Dimension S3D, though like most TAT concepts, it's not for sale in its present form -- the company hopes to license the underlying framework to TV manufacturers who want to build menus in 3D, and hopefully attract content providers to build 3D apps as well. TAT wasn't naming names, but said that two "major" TV manufacturers had already expressed interest in possibly signing up. See what it looks like (in just two dimensions, of course) on video after the break.
Fujitsu dual-touchscreen concept phone hands-on
Back at Mobile World Congress in February, the mobile UI gurus at TAT showed off their interpretation of a dual-screen phone interface using TI's powerhouse OMAP4 testbed. Seemed a little pie-in-the-sky at the time, but frankly, the concept device being shown off by Fujtisu at CEATEC this week -- created with TAT's involvement, it turns out -- seems virtually ready for production. Or the hardware did, anyway; the software was spartan by comparison, obviously designed to call out a few key use cases where having two giant, glorious 960 x 480 displays right next to each other might come in handy. We were shown browser and email list scrolling across both displays -- boring, if not obvious -- but what really piqued our interest was a cool photo sharing feature whereby you fling photos you want to share from a gallery on the bottom display to a list of contacts on the top one -- very TAT, if we do say so ourselves. Both displays can be rotated between portrait and landscape, creating either a nicely-sized clamshell or a gigantic flip, not an uncommon shape among Japanese phones. Indeed, given the form factor, the entirely-Japanese interface, and Fujitsu's history, we're sure this was designed entirely with the Japanese domestic market in mind -- and we wouldn't be at all surprised to see it show up in a retail capacity there within a year or so. Follow the break for video. %Gallery-104244%
The Engadget Show - 013: NASA Technologist Bobby Braun, exclusive mobile demos from TAT, Tim Wu on net neutrality, and more!
Get ready humans, because we have an all new, amazing Engadget Show fresh out of the box. For your viewing pleasure, Josh sits down with NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun to find out about the next generation of NASA technology. Next, Engadget explains wireless net neutrality with animation and Rick Karr sits down with Columbia law professor and author of The Master Switch, Tim Wu in an interview that you absolutely do not want to miss, with Nilay and Rick breaking it all down afterward on stage. Up next, Josh and Nilay welcome Paul Blomdahl of TAT, The Astonishing Tribe, for a look at some never-before-seen mobile interface concepts... including TAT's upcoming Android skin and some of the most exciting uses of 3D we've ever seen. One lucky audience member walks away with a brand new Parrot AR Drone and Starscream brings the show to a close with a set of mind-bending chiptunes music with visuals from J.Y.K. What are you waiting for? Watch it now! Hit up the new video stream after the break, now with convenient chapter markers! Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Rick Karr Special guests: Bobby Braun, Tim Wu, Paul Blomdahl Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Danny Madden Music by: Starscream Visuals by: J.Y.K. Net Neutrality Animation by: Ornana Films Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Taped live at The Times Center Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 013 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 013 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
The Engadget Show: live tonight with NASA's Bobby Braun, Tim Wu, TAT, and more!
Keep your eyes tuned to this post -- because at 8:00 PM ET, we'll be starting The Engadget Show live, with NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun, Tim Wu, Rick Karr, TAT, and more! Josh and Nilay on hand, plus we'll have music from Starscream and much, much, more. You seriously don't want to miss it. Check out the live stream after the break! Update: That's a wrap, folks! We'll be cutting up the footage and getting it online as soon as possible for those who missed our live taping.
The Engadget Show returns September 14th with NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun, net neutrality advocate Tim Wu, giveaways, and more!
Guess what humans? The Engadget Show is back in a big way on September 14th at 8pm! We're celebrating our first birthday and lucky 13th episode with an incredible show for you... first up, Josh is sitting down with NASA's new Chief Technologist Bobby Braun, the man tasked with recharging NASA technology! Next, Engadget investigative correspondent Rick Karr is back for a deep look at wireless net neutrality with Columbia law professor and author Tim Wu. Then, Nilay and Josh sit down with interface designers TAT, The Astonishing Tribe, to check out some never-before-seen prototype UIs and demonstrations. Oh, and did we mention that one lucky audience member will be walking away with a Parrot AR Drone remote quadricopter? We're rounding the night out with live chiptunes music from Starscream and some more special giveaways at the live show only, so make the trek and join us at The Times Center in person. We have a new ticketing policy, so if you're coming to the live show, be sure to read about it below. If you're geographically incapable of joining us in New York City, just tune into the stream at right here on Engadget. The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are -- as always -- free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served... so get there early! Here's the updated info on our new ticketing policy that you need to know: There is no admission fee -- tickets are completely free The event is all ages Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:00PM on Tuesday, September 14th, doors will open for seating at 7:15PM, and the show begins at 8PM We now have assigned seating, so the first people to get their tickets -- and the Sprint text-to-win winners (see below) -- will get priority seating. This also means that once you get a ticket, your seat is guaranteed -- you won't have to get back in line to get a good seat. Ticketing will continue until all tickets are given away. You cannot collect tickets for friends or family -- anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we're full, we're full The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break) The show length is around an hour If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com. Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
The Engadget Show returns next Tuesday, September 14th with NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun, net neutrality advocate Tim Wu, giveaways, and more!
Guess what humans? The Engadget Show is back in a big way next Tuesday, September 14th at 8pm! We're celebrating our first birthday and lucky 13th episode with an incredible show for you... first up, Josh is sitting down with NASA's new Chief Technologist Bobby Braun, the man tasked with recharging NASA technology! Next, Engadget investigative correspondent Rick Karr is back for a deep look at wireless net neutrality with Columbia law professor and Free Press chair Tim Wu. Then, Nilay and Josh sit down with interface designers TAT, The Astonishing Tribe, to check out some never-before-seen prototype UIs and demonstrations. Oh, and did we mention that one lucky audience member will be walking away with a Parrot AR Drone remote quadricopter? We're rounding the night out with live chiptunes music from Starscream and some more special giveaways at the live show only, so make the trek and join us at The Times Center in person. We have a new ticketing policy, so if you're coming to the live show, be sure to read about it below. If you're geographically incapable of joining us in New York City, just tune into the stream at right here on Engadget. The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are -- as always -- free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served... so get there early! Here's the updated info on our new ticketing policy that you need to know: There is no admission fee -- tickets are completely free The event is all ages Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:00PM on Tuesday, September 14th, doors will open for seating at 7:15PM, and the show begins at 8PM We now have assigned seating, so the first people to get their tickets -- and the Sprint text-to-win winners (see below) -- will get priority seating. This also means that once you get a ticket, your seat is guaranteed -- you won't have to get back in line to get a good seat. Ticketing will continue until all tickets are given away. You cannot collect tickets for friends or family -- anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we're full, we're full The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break) The show length is around an hour If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com. Sprint is offering 50 guaranteed tickets to the Engadget Show taping to the first 50 entrants who text "ENGADGET" to 467467 or enter online! Standard text messaging rates apply. Click for the Official Rules and see how to enter online. Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
Swedish display concept makes the future look so nonchalant
If there's one thing Sweden knows how to do, it's looking cool doing just about anything -- especially using technology. Look at this lady. Just, you know, browsing her feeds, checking her calendar, and brushing her teeth at the same time. What's worse, she has a whole bunch of friends who use Minority Report-crushing display concepts to similarly whelming effect. Have a little Labor Day weekend fun with this laid-back and mind-expanding tech demo from display innovators TAT -- who actually make some of the amazing products they dream up -- after the break.
Pay no attention to that playful UI behind the Google Maps curtain (video)
Thought the page-turning Macallan was nifty? You ain't seen nothing yet -- The Astonishing Tribe (the brains behind the look of Android) aims to give you billowing, rippling cloth-like curtains of clever interactive content with their concept Velvet UI. Pull out a widget or Google Maps query, and a sheet of your desired result waves with the virtual wind, before stretching out flat for you to more comfortably interact with. Running on MeeGo (and apparently possible on Android) it's built with the company's proprietary UI framework, so don't expect it to hit tablets anytime soon unless someone throws them some bucks. Also see: TAT's other impressive concepts. Video after the break.
Hands-on with TAT's dual-screen phone concept and augmented reality app
What, you thought Home was the only project in the pipeline for these guys? The mobile UI experts at Sweden's TAT are in the house at MWC this week showing off a couple other nifty developments that are keeping them busy these days: a dual-screen UI concept utilizing TI's next-gen hardware, and an app that makes good on a concept it had demoed before. First up, they've been using a TI Blaze to demonstrate their vision of a phone with two displays, likely in a slider configuration (in fact, they showed a Droid to represent how they think the form factor could work) with a screen where you'd normally expect they physical QWERTY keyboard to be. It's slick and wicked smooth on the brutally powerful OMAP4 core, but realistically, this is something unusual enough so that we'd need to play with a unit for a good, long while before drawing any usability conclusions. TAT believes we could see devices with this kind of setup by years' end, but we don't know what carriers, manufacturer, or time frames would be involved at this point. Next up, Recognizr is the realization of the Augmented ID concept it showed off last year that lets you tag your face (it sounds weird, but it's quite literally true) with icons representing services that you use, each of which exposes information about you that you want others to know; then, other users with the system can put you in their viewfinder and see the same icons. It's not flawless -- in fact, TAT readily admits that they probably need better camera tech before it can be commercialized, and they had quite a few issues during our demo time -- but it's a clever concept that's better watched on video than explained, which is convenient considering that we've got videos of both of these goodies in action after the break. Check 'em out, won't you?
TAT Home: the gesture-powered 3D home screen your Android device has longed for
It's hard to believe this homegrown home screen actually runs as quickly as the video demo (posted up after the break) shows, but even if it's just 89.877 percent as fast, we have a good idea we'd be interested. TAT Home is a gesture-powered 3D home screen for Android, and it relies heavily on cascading windows and finger flicks in order to improve your navigational efficiency. Clueless as to what we're referring to? Jump past the break and mash play, and then surf on over to the source link to sign up for the preview program. [Thanks, Jesper]
Second Fuse UI video shows wild, dynamically lit 3D interface
We only got the briefest of glimpses at the new UI approach in Synaptics' collaborative Fuse concept handset, and now TAT (The Astonishing Tribe, the folks behind the original Android UI), has posted a brief clip that gives a better idea of the full UI. It's pretty wild, with some sort of rendering engine that really emphasizes depth, lighting and motion. We're not sure it's the most usable UI on the planet, but it's certainly one of the oddest we've witnessed. Check it out in motion after the break.
Synaptics Fuse concept handset puts a new squeeze on touchphone interaction
In case you weren't aware, Synaptics dabbled in the touchscreen handset game way back in 2006 with the Onyx concept, before phones like the LG Prada and Apple's iPhone came along and proved the idea so convincingly. However, Synaptics thinks innovation has stagnated since, and has girded itself once again to attempt another trend-setting concept. This one's a bit more wild: the "Fuse" involves contributions from Alloy, TAT, Immersion and Texas Instruments, and includes squeeze, tilt and haptic interaction. The big idea is to approach single-handed and no-look operation on a touchscreen handset, no small feat to be sure. The result is a pure kitchen sink of sensors, including a touchpad on the back of the phone, touch and pressure sensitive strips along both sides of the phones, dual haptic feedback motors, a 3-axis accelerometer and of course a new-generation Synaptics touchscreen in front. The TI OMAP 3630 processor powers the TAT Cascades 3D UI Engine which attempts to contextualize UI interaction with perspective tilts and fancy motion, and the haptics feeds back to let you know where your finger is on the screen -- an attempt to emulate feeling out the correct nub for keypad orientation on a button phone. We'll have to play with it to find out if Synaptics is really on to something, but even if the Fuse isn't the next best thing, we could certainly see somebody using some of these sensors to improve existing handset interaction. Check out a quick video after the break.
