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Google’s next Wear OS update will bring more speed and a weather app
A Wear OS update rolling out this fall will bring improved performance and a new weather app.
Apple seeks patents for 3D and 'physics metaphor' gesture controls
Deep in the stodgy bowels of the USPTO sits a folder full of Apple patent applications specifically for gesture controls. A few more pages from that expanding tome were just made public, and the concepts unearthed are certainly thought-provoking. The first involves using a proximity sensor in addition to the touch panel to register gestures in 3D. For example, you could use three fingers to mark out the corners of a triangle on the screen and then "pull up" and pinch to create a pyramid for use in a CAD application. The second idea involves gestures based on intuitive "physics metaphors" that are recognized using motion sensors. So instead of navigating menus in order to start a file transfer between an iPhone and iPad, the user could arrange the desired files on the phone's screen and then pretend to "pour" them onto the tablet -- an idea which rather reminds of the funky Project Blox. Oh, did we just make a Cupertino lawyer twitch?
Microsoft researchers show off intuitive stylus, don't know how to hold a pencil (video)
At this week's Microsoft promotional bonanza, otherwise known as TechFest 2011, a team of researchers debuted a rather shabby looking capacitive stylus that switches between functions based on your grip -- an interesting addition to a rather stagnant market, sure, but there are still a few kinks to be worked out. The multi-purpose tool enlists capacitive multi-touch and orientation sensors to respond to how you hold the thing, allowing you to perform a number of different tasks with a simple repositioning. A demo video of the stylus at work shows a disembodied hand switching between a pen, an airbrush, a compass, and even a virtual flute with ease, but while the project stresses the "naturalness" of the experience, we're pretty sure nobody sketches quite like that. Check out the video after the break to see what we mean.
Chloe the Corgi, meet iPad
Well, we've already introduced a cat to the iPad, so a dog would naturally follow, right? Tested.com tried their best to bring their corgi Chloe (I really love corgis, ever since Cowboy Bebop) to the iPad, but as you can see in the video above, she doesn't take to it quite as well as Iggy the cat did. After a little sniffing and experimentation, things go south fast. Poor puppy! Just not muscially-inclined, I guess. Maybe she'd rather wait for the gPad. In the meantime, tell Jobs to get Ive on the line -- there's at least one canine demographic out there for which the iPad's interface isn't quite so intuitive. [via The Daily What, who also posted this fun music video featuring iPhones]
Intuitive's smartphone UI concept thinks so you don't have to
Other than some fancy wallpaper that automatically changes based on the time of day or the music that you're listening to, the UIs of modern smartphones are generally pretty static -- what you see at 8AM is going to be the same thing you see at high noon or bedtime. Israeli firm Intuitive User Interfaces is looking to change all that with its new "one-touch" UI concept that uses situational cues -- presumably time and place, primarily -- to call up functions that you're most likely to use in a 3D mishmash of icons. Apps like Locale have been toying with the concept of situation awareness for a while now and Toshiba is working on a similar concept for phones released in its Japanese domestic market, so it seems like this could be the next logical step -- just in time to stop our poor, overworked thumbs from cramping up. The platform's first coming to Android with versions for other operating systems already in the pipeline.
