Impressed by a bearded dragon playing Ant Crusher? Check out how intense an African Bullfrog gets during the game.
As the ants climb down the touch screen, it becomes quickly obvious that the tired phrase "there's an app for that" is now becoming relevant to keeping exotic amphibian pets entertained. After successfully lunging and darting its tongue at the Android smartphone, the frog easily passes to the next level. … Read more
Google+ introduces improvements just before the holidays, text-sending teens increase their data usage by 256 percent over last year, and a federal judge rules that a lawsuit targeting Facebook's "sponsored stories" can proceed.
Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:
Facebook lawsuit can proceed Facebook private messages for biz Google+ improvements Teens text way too much Japanese touchscreen vending machines Saudi prince invests in Twitter Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (HD) | RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS HDThe next-generation Microsoft Surface is now available for preorder. If the $8,400 price tag is a little much to spend for your personal use, you might want to wait for the EXOdesk to appear next year.
The EXOdesk is 40 inches of interactivity designed to sit right in front of your regular computer monitor. It's an extension of the touch-screen user interface work done by EXOPC for slate-style devices running Windows 7.
EXOPC already offers a selection of touch apps optimized for its devices through the EXOstore. The EXOdesk appears to be a much larger interface for using those apps.
The below teaser video ahead of an appearance at CES next year shows the EXOdesk in action. A user opens apps, moves them around, and turns all 40 inches into a virtual piano for the finale.… Read more
Not unlike an artfully created but tiny-portioned appetizer leading into a flavorful and filling main course that remains stuck in the kitchen, my first hands-on experience with Windows 8 left me eager for what was coming but disappointed with what was set in front of me.
Microsoft lent out Windows 8 tablets to attendees at the end of the Build conference preview yesterday, surprisingly running an earlier version of the in-development operating system than the one that had been demonstrated as functional earlier in the day.
The operating system represents a major change for the company and its fans, as … Read more
I've known for years that there are special pens that can be used with capacitive touch screens, like the ones used on the iPad or any modern tablet or smartphone. Still, I've never bought one. It's not that they're too expensive (some are as cheap as $5), it's just that my curiosity doesn't match the level of patience required to order one online and wait a few days for it to show up.
So when I read iLearn Technology's tutorial on making your own capacitive stylus using common office supplies, I had to … Read more
Doodle Jump is a fun and addictive platform-jumping game with a cute, hand-scribbled aesthetic and a cleverly integrated leaderboard. Not surprising for such an addictive game, the interface couldn't be more simple: you keep jumping automatically, and you gently tilt the device to move left and right. As you move higher and higher up an infinitely scrolling, wraparound vertical screen, you jump onto an increasingly challenging arrangement of platforms--including moving blue platforms, crumbling brown platforms, white platforms that disappear after one jump, and platforms with jump-boosting springs and jet packs.
You have to tap the screen to shoot the … Read more
Apple's winning of a key touch-screen patent this morning could give the company some of its biggest ammo yet when it comes to both fending off and going after technology rivals in the courtroom.
Apple is no stranger to legal battles, but the company is a relative newcomer to the mobile-phone business, and has extended its reach into that space with mobile devices like the iPad. Apple's success has made it an increasingly larger target, and a player that needs to defend its turf. Patents make up a huge part of that.
Now's as good a time … Read more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple a key patent for touch screen functionality on portable devices, such as the iPhone and iPad.
Apple's patent, which the company applied for in 2007, boils down to one simple focus: when a person uses their fingers to interact with the touch screen, the software reacts to that gesture. Images that Apple included with its patent application show that functionality being implemented across several different applications, including a Web browser and a home screen.
Here's the more technical description:
"A computer-implemented method, for use in conjunction with … Read more
Doodle Jump is a fun and addictive platform-jumping game with a cute, hand-scribbled aesthetic and a cleverly integrated leaderboard. Not surprising for such an addictive game, the interface couldn't be more simple: you keep jumping automatically, and you gently tilt the device to move left and right. As you move higher and higher up an infinitely scrolling, wraparound vertical screen, you jump onto an increasingly challenging arrangement of platforms--including moving blue platforms, crumbling brown platforms, white platforms that disappear after one jump, and platforms with jump-boosting springs and jet packs.
You have to tap the screen to shoot the … Read more
We've gotten used to touch screens always being flat. Get ready for that to change.
Silicon Valley start-up Tactus Technology has designed a touch screen that grows 3D buttons and knobs where and when you want them.
Smartphones, tablets, game consoles, and kiosks equipped with the technology would sprout physical controls like QWERTY keyboards and knobs on demand. The controls would recede into the touch screen surface after they've served their purpose.
3D controls are often easier to maneuver than today's flat touch-screen controls, as you can use them without looking. Getting the best of both worlds means marrying physical controls' higher accuracy and ease of use with touch screens' elegance, simplicity, and dynamic nature. The physical cues are especially important for people who can't see well or who have trouble with fine hand movements. They also make it easier to control your cell phone when it's in your pocket.
The trick to making a morphing touch screen useful is fitting it in a smartphone. The Tactus design calls for sandwiching a fluid between touch-screen layers and pushing the fluid around with a series of tiny valves. The top layer is flexible, so pushing the fluid to one part of the screen raises the surface there. … Read more
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