Posts Tagged ‘touchscreen’

Nokia has given its Series 40-based range of touchscreen Asha smartphones another push to try to keep up with the low end reach of Google’s Android platform today. The mobile maker has announced a new addition to the range — the Asha 501 (pictured left & below) — which also ushers in a new version of the Asha touch UI that’s designed to be quicker and slicker, and has a focus on swiping gestures to make it feel more fluid.

The three-inch capacitive screen Asha 501, which has Wi-Fi but no 3G and costs $ 99 before taxes & subsidies, is expected to start shipping in June, via some 60 carriers in more than 90 countries worldwide. Nokia’s Asha range typically targets emerging markets in Africa, Asia and South America but Asha devices have also been ranged in Europe.

Although Nokia has retired its other in-house platform Symbian, to concentrate its smartphone efforts on Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS, it has continued to expand its portfolio of low end Android alternative S40-based devices — adding in a variety of new hardware and software features to devices in the range, including full Qwerty keyboards; dedicated keys for Facebook/WhatsApp; refreshed industrial design; its Bluetooth sharing technology Slam; its Xpress browser to lighten the data consumption load; preloaded social networking apps; free games downloads; and a focus on long battery life.

But keeping up with low end Androids also means improving Asha’s usability — and that’s what its latest platform refresh is all about.  The Asha 501 is in fact the first fruit of Nokia’s 2012 acquisition of Smarterphone, a Norwegian company that made mobile OSes for feature phones designed to give them smartphone looks and capabilities.

Nokia said the new Asha platform is faster and more responsive. It also introduces a touchscreen UI refresh — with a dual homescreen view: the Home screen is a “traditional icon-based view for launching individual apps or accessing a specific feature”, while the new Fastlane view changes based on device usage, showing things like “recently accessed contacts, social networks and apps”.

Fastlane “provides a record of how the phone is used, giving people a glimpse of their past, present and future activity, and helping them multi-task by providing easy access to their favorite features”, according to Nokia’s press release. The feature sounds a lot like certain portions of Motorola’s Android skinning software — such as the widgets deployed on 2012 devices like the Motorola Motosmart.

The overall idea of the design refresh is to make it easier for Asha users to get to the apps and features they’re after, according to Nokia – with the two main screens accessible by a “simple swipe”. ”Fastlane is integral to the whole Nokia Asha 501 experience, but so is the ‘swipe’ motion,” a spokeswoman told TechCrunch. “With swipe as you experience it on the device, we were able to make optimal use of screen space, so you see just what you need. You swipe to everything else, including pull-down menus and of course, Fastlane. The whole user experience is faster and more responsive.”

New Asha, New Apps

So what about apps? The new Asha platform does require developers to rework apps for it — either by writing them afresh or porting them over. Which does mean Nokia is pushing the reset button yet again, but the company would probably argue that at this price point with these price-conscious consumers, users aren’t expecting hoards of apps — just select key apps. It’s also added in-app purchases to the new Asha platform, offering developers a new way to monetise Asha apps, along with its Nokia Advertising Exchange and carrier billing network.

“A good percentage of existing apps can be ported to the new platform,” said Nokia’s spokeswoman. “We already have many developers working on this. Going forward and with the new Nokia Asha Software Development Kit, developers can write an app once, and it will be compatible with future devices also built on the new Asha platform, with no need to re-write code.”

Apps that are already available for the new Nokia Asha platform include CNN, eBuddy, ESPN, Facebook, Foursquare, Line, LinkedIn, Nimbuzz, Pictelligent, The Weather Channel, Twitter, WeChat, World of Red Bull and games from Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Indiagames, Namco Bandai and Reliance Games. Nokia said its HERE location software will also be available as a download, starting in Q3 this year — and will “initially include basic mapping services”.

Messaging giant WhatsApp is noticeably absent from the list but Nokia’s spokeswoman suggested that may change in future, noting: “WhatsApp and other key partners continue to explore new Asha.”

In select markets, certain carriers are also offering data-free access to apps including the Facebook app and mobile website on the 501 for a limited time, offering another hook for the target cost-conscious consumers.

The 501 comes preloaded with Nokia’s cloud-based data compressing Xpress browser. Nokia has also created a new web app, called Nokia Xpress Now, which ”recommends content based on location, preferences and trending topics”. It said this will be available via the Browser homepage or as a download from the Nokia Store.

“Nokia has surpassed expectations of what’s achievable in the sub-100 USD phone category with a new Asha handset that is unlike any other, with design cues from Lumia and a mix of features, services and affordability that is valued by price-conscious buyers,” said Neil Mawston, executive director, Global Wireless Practice, Strategy Analytics, in a supporting statement.

Commenting on the launch via Twitter, Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi added: “Asha 501 shows what you can achieve when you design bottom up rather than strip down features to hit the right price point.

“Asha 501 Dual SIM with hot swap very important to users but what is most striking on this device is the user interface.”

The full device specifications for the Asha 501 are as follows:

• Dimensions:  99.2 x 58 x 12.1 mm; 98 grams

• Camera: 3.2 MP

• Single SIM standby time: up to 48 days

• Dual SIM standby time: up to 26 days

• Talk time: up to 17 hours

• Additional memory of 4GB (card included in box), expandable up to 32GB

• Forty free EA Games worth €75 downloadable from Nokia Store

• Available colours: Bright Red, Bright Green, Cyan, Yellow, White and Black

• Suggested pricing is 99 USD before taxes and subsidies.

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After teasing it in a strange, Star Trek-infused commercial, Acer has finally revealed its mysterious transforming device. At an event at Milk Studios in New York City, the company has announced the Aspire R7. It has a (beautiful) 15.6-inch, 1080p touchscreen and it’s powered by an ultra-low voltage Intel Core i5 processor. While we know the specs, we’re not sure what to call it, honestly — it’s technically a laptop, but thanks to Acer’s new “Ezel” hinge the device sounds (and looks) an awful lot like both a tablet and a desktop computer. Maybe, as Acer calls it, it’s “the notebook designed for touch.” It’s certainly unlike any laptop we’ve seen before.

Whatever you want to call it, the R7 is an impressive and unique piece of…

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Intel, AMD, and ARM are all contending to offer a compelling Windows 8 experience at a low rate point, however Intel might be poised to shoot ahead. For the time being, you need to pay upwards of $ 400 for a tablet with Intel’s dual-core “Clover Path” Atom processor, but company CEO Paul Otellini claims that prices will drop significantly when the brand-new Bay Trail chip arrives later on this year. Not just will Bay Path presumably offer a quad-core chip without consuming added power, but Otellini declares that “prices are visiting be down to as reduced as $ 200″ for Windows 8 touchscreen laptop computers.

“The touch price points today are still relatively high and they’re coming down extremely quickly over the following couple of quarters,” Otellini stated today, on a quarterly …

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Icy, who wants to embrace their metro (geddit?) side. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“As Windows 8 is bringing touch to the desktop, I’m curious what touchscreen monitor I should buy. Any suggestions? Thanks!”

Short and sweet, Icy, just the way we like it. We’ll return the favor by pointing you in the direction of options from Viewsonic, Samsung and LG. Then we’ll bow out and let the massed ranks of the Engadgetarti oblige you with their worldly wisdom.

Filed under: Displays

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“Interactive Fish Container” is an installation that discovers brand-new, wet limits in touch-based user interfaces. Established in 2011 by Manuela Donoso and Crys Moore, Masters candidates at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunication Program, the piece efficiently turns a bed of water into a capacitive touchscreen, developing a virtual aquarium filled with pixelated goldfish.

With “Fish Storage tank,” individuals can “feed” a swarm of fish by merely tapping their fingers against the area of the water. This creates a bluish circle which the fish– stood for with orange dots– then gather together. The simulated fish will likewise follow a user’s finger as it brushes up throughout the water, as demonstrated in the video below.

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After going by Taiwan’s WiFi certification tests, Panasonic’s most current interchangeable lens camera has actually broken cover over at TechRadar. The leak has offered us the first look at the Lumix GF6′s full specification list, which consist of the same 16-megapixel sensor as the GX1, a brand-new Venus engine to assist with imaging performance, an electrostatic touchscreen and (in a first for ILCs) built-in NFC. Much better still, the team had some time to play with the camera, which has actually revealed itself nearly specifically 12 months after the last GF version. The camera apparently tries to straddle the space between compact point-and-shoots and the more technical world of mirrorless and DSLR shooters with a new mode dial ahead and a more receptive touchscreen. In addition to NFC, there’s even built-in WiFi to aid image sharing– although we can only share the original information with the magic of Google cache– take a peek at the source below. No word on a specific launch date in the leak, although the UK’s & pound; 449 price tag (which consists of a brand-new 14-42mm kit lens) need to translate to around $ 680 on the other side of the Atlantic.

[Image credit: TechRadar]

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