by stephanlange on August 24, 2010
I have seen concepts from this company before (more about this below) and they always seem to be taking different approaches to the rest of the world.
The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) has yet again showcased a UI they call Velvet – 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.
This is what TAT has to say about the Tablet UIs out there and why they are different:
On one hand we have companies that scale phone UIs to tablets. On the other hand we have companies offering the full blown desktop experience scaled down to tablet size. We believe that both of these approaches will result in crippled user experiences. For example, the tablet form factor is perfect for media consumption and this could be manifested in the UI. TAT recognizes tablets as a radically different type of device – personal and mobile yet powerful and creative. We are now on a quest to design fantastic UIs that are optimized for this device space.
Here is the Velvet UI in action
As I said before these guys have some pretty awesome, yet radical ideas – check this augmented reality ID out – TAT augmented ID
I have an Android phone and I have been looking for a decent home screen and I really hope this little beauty will hit the market at some time soon – TAT Home
These guys are definitely someone to look out for in the future – if you want to learn more about them, check out their blog
@maniac13
by stephanlange on May 23, 2010
Imagine being able to feel the buttons on your mobile when you slide them across the screen or feeling the material as wood, metal or stone.
Toshiba’s working on just such a project, which operates on the basis of a film affixed to your smartphone’s touch panel. Electrical currents are sent through this layer, and your fingers are shot up with the simulated sensation of touching those various surfaces.
And it is not fiction anymore as they have a working prototype and they weren’t shy to show it off.
@maniac13
by stephanlange on May 10, 2010
In my line of work (and because I love it) I come across a lot of cool gadgets and usually (at least if you ask my wife) I spend too much money on them.
So this year I will follow my moms advice and make myself a list.
Usually I start these lists with the least and work my way up to the best, but I want to start with the device I really really want this year.
1. Samsung Galaxy S
I have been using my 8310 blackberry for too long and for a while there I was carrying around 3 devices to do my phonecalls, emails and browsing and gaming, but the Samsung will be able to do all that.
So why do I want it?
for a start I don’t like the iPhone (don’t get me wrong I think it is a good phone for “normal” users), but it just doesn’t do what i want from a phone.
apart from that here is my shortlist on why I want it:
* 4 inch WVGA Super Amoled screen (finally a device i can use outside)
* big (as in big capacity) battery – 1500mAh
* 16GB internal memory + extendable with micro sd
* wireless n
* camera capable of 720p video @ 30fps
* support of MPeg4, H.263, H.264, WMV, RV, DivX, Xvid and MKV – no more converting movies
* Samsung Social Hub – no more opening up app after app after app – I just have it all in one inbox – sweet
2. Tablet
I had a chance to play with the iPad for a few weeks now and I have to say I am not impressed – especially since Apple announced the AU pricing for it today and again, Australia gets screwed – all you really get is a big iPod
so what do I want in a Tablet?
[click to continue…]
by stephanlange on April 10, 2010
Even though Apple’s Steve Jobs was very clear about not liking a stylus, it looks like Microsoft Research went back to it to combine it with touch input and give the user new tools that weren’t possible before.
Of course this comes from the research department and might never see the day of life, but it looks awesome and I can see this “addition of the past” bringing some useful things to the end user.
check out the video
@maniac13
by stephanlange on March 9, 2010
Techcrunch was able to get a preview of the upcoming projects that MS will show off at the upcoming TechFest.
As usual not all of these will become an actual product but most of them are definitely interesting.
Here are the once I like:
Immersive Digital Painting
The translating telephone
Cloud Computing
there are a couple more here if you are interested
@maniac13
by stephanlange on February 1, 2010
The Human Media Lab at Queen’s University in Ontario wants to use slim, networked touchscreen hexagonal tiles with edge-to-edge OLED displays to play the games.
Check out the video below where they demo the idea by “faking” the hexagons with projectors, because the tech out there is not quite there yet.
Also even if the tech would be around already your board game would be about $1000
I’d play it if I could afford it
@maniac13
by iclazie on November 4, 2009
by stephanlange on October 26, 2009
Everywhere you go now you see touch interfaces, phones with touch screens, computers based on touch screens, maps in shopping centres are touchscreens and Windows 7 will support multi-touch.
Something we saw in Minority report would give you aching arms after a while and a tablet would just destroy your neck.
So the guys at 10/GUI came up with their own version of the future of Multi-touch and I think it is rather nice. It will take a while to get used to but so did the mouse when it first got introduced.
check out the video:
Here is the site
by stephanlange on July 24, 2009
Now that I am a dad I get drawn to different types of topics that never really interested me.
So I came across this one and it made me sad because it’s so true.
Being a geek myself I enjoyed reading about the “good old” days and i made it my mission to at least teach my child about all the great gadgets from the past.
here are my top 10 that i hope our children will remember because we tell them about it.
- Inserting a VHS tape into a VCR to watch a movie or to record something
- Sending that film away to be processed
- The scream of a modem connecting
- 5- and 3-inch floppies
- Screens being just green (or orange) on black
- Phone books and Yellow Pages
- Waiting several minutes (or even hours!) to download something
- Putting film in your camera: 35mm may have some life still, but what about APS or disk?
- LEGO just being square blocks of various sizes, with the odd wheel, window or door
- Finding out information from an encyclopedia – times before Google and Bing
There are plenty more here
by stephanlange on June 29, 2009
Up to now this is only a concept, but if they ever get this to work I am so going to dig out my old records and get me one of these.
This is how it should work:
The record player uses a carrier and dock outfitted with a magnetic and auto-calibrating control system which carries the LP into thin air as it is playing music. A self-running record player shaped in the form of a red sphere, contains a needle, amplifier and speaker, spins around the record, bringing the music to life.
It was inspired by the Vinyl Killer which you can see here in action:
If they ever get this on the market, I will so get one.
found here.
