orientation
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Tinder wants to protect LGBTQ users in countries that discriminate
Tinder wants to keep its users safe in the nearly 70 countries that have discriminatory LGBTQ laws. Today, the company is launching a feature called Traveller Alert. When members of the LGBTQ community open the app in one of those countries, the alert will warn them about the potential dangers LGBTQ people face.
Next-gen USB connector will be smaller and reversible
In order to squeeze the ultra-fast 10Gbps USB 3.1 standard into the next gen of slim devices, the USB 3.0 Promoter group has just announced the USB Type-C connector. It'll be similar in size to existing USB 2.0 Micro-B connectors, while bringing USB 3.1 speeds and other distinct advantages over current cables. For starters, the new design will be reversible like Apple's Lightning ports, meaning at long last you won't have to worry about which end goes up. In addition, Type-C will bring scalable power charging and the ability to support future USB standards. The downside is that it won't be compatible with existing connectors, but if we don't have to do the flippy dance to insert a phone cable anymore, we'll take that trade-off in a New York minute.
Google's smartphone patent doesn't mind which end you talk into
The rectangular, predominantly symmetrical nature of most smartphones means if you're not looking, you might find you're holding the handset the wrong way around when a call comes in. Google's most recently awarded patent may seek to end your orientation confusion by adding a microphone and speaker at both ends of the device. That way, when you pick it up to answer a call, it'll determine which way you're holding it and select the microphone and speaker accordingly. Then again, this is a patent filing, so it's just as likely to wind up lining the bottom of a Mountain View engineer's drawer.
Microsoft talks Windows 8 portrait mode, really wants you to be proud of it (video)
If Apple is that paranoid friend that has four deadbolts on his door and a loaded weapon in every room, then Microsoft is the over-sharer who tweets where, when and what he had for lunch -- including both before and after photos (and we're not talking about pictures of a clean plate). Redmond wants you to know about everything it does -- no accomplishment is too minor for a lengthy explanation of the what and why. Take for example, portrait mode. Windows 8 will have one. We know what you're thinking, "well I would frackin' hope so," but the devs want you to know this isn't just some feature they slapped in the OS knowing people would expect it. The team studied users both familiar with and new to the tablet form factor. They looked at grip, posture and when people chose to rotate their slates. And, if you're some weirdo who likes reading things on their side, there's a rotation lock option. For more details hit up the source link and the video after the break.
Microsoft's PocketTouch prototype is like x-ray vision for your fingers (video)
Is it more gauche to pull out your phone in the middle of a date, or to draw a bunch of crop circles on your pants? That's the question we were asking ourselves after coming across PocketTouch -- a new Microsoft Research prototype that lets you manipulate your handset without ever removing it from your pocket. Developed by researchers Scott Saponas, Chris Harrison and Hrvoje Benko, the device essentially consists of a customized, multitouch capacitive sensor hooked on to the back of a smartphone. This sensor is capable of picking up gestures through fabric, allowing users to execute a wide array of eyes-free, gesture-based functions (including simple swipes and alphanumeric text) without ever having to actually whip out their phones. To do this, the team implemented what it calls an "orientation-defining unlock gesture," which helps the prototype get its bearings, before testing the capacitive sensors across different fabrics. According to Microsoft, the outcome "exceeded expectations," though there's no word on when or if this Goliath of a device could ever hit the mainstream. Head past the break to see a video of a man playing tic-tac-toe on his pants.
NoMute reclaims iPad orientation lock in iOS 4.2, but only if you jailbreak
If you've yet to upgrade your iPad to iOS 4.2.1, and you're head-over-heels with your orientation lock, you've got two options: upgrade and lose that functionality altogether, or upgrade / jailbreak and get it back. Naturally, we'd recommend the latter. In what can only be described as "so typically Apple," the software engineers at Cupertino figured that they'd convert the perfectly acceptable orientation lock switch into a mute switch. We lamented this fact in our review of the update, but rather than Apple creating (non-fiddly) alternatives within its software, we're left to look for a solution in the jailbreaker's app store. NoMute has just emerged under the BigBoss repository in Cydia, promising to reclaim the switch you've already become accustomed to using. It's available now for absolutely nothing, but users are encouraged to cast a wicked glare in Steve's direction as the download ensues. Update: After installing the tweak and doing our own testing, we came one minor issue. Some apps decided to mute when the physical orientation (er, mute) switch is flicked on. So, when we played Angry Birds and physically locked the orientation, we lost sound. However, the sound remained when we locked our screen and tested videos on YouTube via Safari.
iPad devsugar: Letting go of iPhone visual design patterns
The new iPad has lots of space. The screen offers 1024x768 pixels. That's way more room to work with than the iPhone gave you. And because of that room, it's time to re-think the way you designed iPhone applications. Things that worked well with the iPhone's limited space -- things that were meant to expand the device's virtual world beyond the screen's tiny reality -- are the things that you need to readdress and confront. Why keep using visual tricks when you can expand into real pixel space? Take the traditional UINavigationController class for example. Its entire role on the iPhone is to provide the same kind of tree view used in Mac OS X's Finder windows (View > As Columns, Command-3). The animations as you select and push view controllers and the back button are both there because you can't reasonably see an entire tree structure at once, in columns, the way you do on a Mac.
Firefox 3.6 will support accelerometers, make the internet seasick (video)
If you, like us, are tired of the so-called browser wars trying to woo us with barely identifiable, context-dependent speed differences, this might be of interest. Firefox is about to get a whole lot more sentient on us -- at least those of us with accelerometers in our hardware -- courtesy of a new device API that is capable of maintaining a webpage's vertical orientation relative to the ground, no matter what sort of salto mortale the underlying machine (Mac or otherwise) might be doing. Think of it as the cherry atop your Windows 7 multitouch tablet cake. Originally intended for mobile platforms only, this software will make its way into version 3.6 of the full-fledged browser -- and you can find an early demo of what it can do just past the break.
Second Life shutters orientation islands
Linden Lab has chosen to close its existing task-based Second Life Orientation Islands, which have been problematic in so many ways. Instead a modified version of the so-called Help Islands will be used as default user-entry-points instead. These modified islands were a part of an A/B testing program last month, and Blue Linden, Linden Lab's volunteer coordinator, said that the modified Help Islands 'are proving to do a bit better' according to the internal metrics that Linden Lab keeps. Just how much better, we're not sure, as Linden Lab generally plays those cards fairly close, but one Linden staffer is reported as saying that the hub-structured, task-oriented Orientation Islands are currently only yielding about 1%. We're not even sure whether to believe that grim statistic, as it seems to be shockingly low. Linden Lab's testing seems to indicate that the task-oriented nature of the Orientation islands is a mark against them, while many others have suggested that it is the hubbed layout that is at fault. Certainly everyone agrees that the outdated and faulty Orientation HUD system (an attachable user-interface item that is intended to guide and instruct) is a major strike against the existing orientation experience. Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
Linden Lab skips orientation
Wednesday through Friday this week, Linden Lab decided to skip starting some new Second Life users on their Orientation Island, as an experiment, and land them straight onto ten updated Help Islands instead. We use the term 'updated' rather loosely here, unfortunately. Help Islands 201 through 210 had a few more exit signs placed around the island, and some SL-in-your-own-language signs. And ... that's about it, apparently. Given that the orientation HUDs keep breaking, we can only guess that someone figured maybe going without instructions might be better than with instructions that are out-of-date or not working.
DS Daily: Sideways
What do you prefer: games that use only the stylus and position the DS sideways, book-style, or traditional games with "normal" orientation (whether or not they use the buttons)? Personally, this blogger prefers the former, simply because it seems easier to hold the DS that way, but of course, it depends on the game. But overall, do you wish more games would employ the sideways style?
KTF's EV-KD370 does automatic screen rotation, too
Of the iPhone's 200-plus patents, automatic screen rotation must not be one of them -- either that, or we're up for a rather rousing legal brouhaha between His Steveness and Korea's KTF. It seems KTF's latest DMB slider for the local market, the pictured EV-KD370, can rotate the display with a flick of the wrist for enjoying mobile TV in the orientation of its lucky owner's choice. Perhaps even cooler, the sensor can be used to change tracks while listening to music, though we're guessing that means using it on a jog is out of the question. Otherwise, the KD370 seems like your typical Korean slider, complete with touch sensitive controls, a grim outlook for American availability, and the creepy out-of-focus hand model in the background.
