Multitouch on Windows Mobile without touching the Screen !!!! - General Topics

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Microsoft has a new technology to show around its called SideSigh. According to them SideSight removes “touch” from the device and makes it a function of the paper, tabletop, or even the air that’s next to the device. What does this mean? According to Microsoft, it opens up the possibility for “touch” functions to be built into tiny devices that don’t actually need a touchscreen.
Source : News Link

im not sure that I can see this as replacing touch screens, but I do however see this being used as a new form of "buttonless" design. On screen markers that shows what part of the phone to "touch" for the button... Though I would think it would be highly inaccurate and buggy.

shadowline said:
....Though I would think it would be highly inaccurate and buggy.
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as is all emerging tech. One day it might mature into something very usefull though

Ive seen this on the HP Touchsmart PCs. The IR panel is a bit thick (2-3mm) but i could see this technology easily making it to smaller applications. I wonder how much battery a system like that would use.

seems like a tech bound to result in the process of putting ones phone into
ones pocket ending up with some sort of nasty zoom of hasselhoff's crouch :S

Related

Interesting New UI - Nexus

here is the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EKlV2IG7Hg&feature=player_embedded
looks like its on the omnia..
Very fast and smooth!
When we will see something like that on WM??
It looks like they are maybe selling the tools to be able to create things like that.
http://www.tat.se/site/media/news.html
orb3000 said:
Very fast and smooth!
When we will see something like that on WM??
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im sure wm7 would be fast and smooth!
alexsandros said:
im sure wm7 would be fast and smooth!
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Hope you´re right!
I have my doubts about it...
Theres a whole slew of videos by TaT on there (youtube) some of them are pretty cool, they should release some software rather than making these concept videos. Either that or maybe they are just trying to get MS attention
Its on a Samsung (meaning most likely a WM phone)... and in the youtube comments, the uploader said that it is for WM, Android, and S60... MS just needs to adopt that UI completely... and put pressure on phone companies to make CAPACITIVE touch phones... Resistive ones will NEVER be as smooth... Or maybe they should just invest in "nano" IR technology for touch screens so its truly multitouch...
I understand these are concept videos... so does that mean they are not functional as of now?... I would try to imitate a UI like that except I only know .NET and not OpenGL ES... and I dont trust .NET with speed or stability... :-/...
Edit:
More videos at
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAstonishingTribe
Seems like this company just creates UI concepts which never release. Hmmm... Maybe they just like people drooling on their keyboard, but never being satisfied :-?...
Edit2:
I like this one too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIkQguTRWgM&feature=related
really like this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SImOIMcMlk&feature=related
Hope they actually release those UI rather than the concept.
I feel like the Nexus UI is actually under development because the person is showing it on actual hardware... The other videos were just software movies (no hardware around them)... However, I feel like this UI will only support TI processors such as the one on Omnia and not the Qualcomms which is mainly what HTC uses... Because according to one of their documentation, their concepts and actual library have been running on TI processors...
drownage said:
(...) and put pressure on phone companies to make CAPACITIVE touch phones... Resistive ones will NEVER be as smooth... Or maybe they should just invest in "nano" IR technology for touch screens so its truly multitouch...
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Wrong. Take a look at this for example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv3X5y-ajtc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsfxdxmAUoo
these are resistive touch panels , so they have all advantages of this type: durability, accuracy (if extra accuracy is needed, you can use a stylus), plus they have advantages of capacitive panels: responsiveness and sensitivity (in the video you can see the touchscreen operated by a brush and a piece of paper) and of course multitouch.
Let's just hope we see touchscreens like that in our pda's soon.
Oh nice didnt know about that... the second video u linked to, the "How It Works" part, is it showing 4 filaments of different widths? Because otherwise, I cannot see how a single resistive filament can provide multiple touches... I doubt that kind of responsiveness wud be possible on the Kaiser, touching the filament, bends it all the way... I still dont get how that works... I guess we'll find out soon... If you have any further information on that tech, please let me know... Thanks
mr_deimos said:
Wrong. Take a look at this for example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv3X5y-ajtc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsfxdxmAUoo
these are resistive touch panels , so they have all advantages of this type: durability, accuracy (if extra accuracy is needed, you can use a stylus), plus they have advantages of capacitive panels: responsiveness and sensitivity (in the video you can see the touchscreen operated by a brush and a piece of paper) and of course multitouch.
Let's just hope we see touchscreens like that in our pda's soon.
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EDIT:
Hmm.. heres how it works:
http://www.stantum.com/spip.php?article52
Wouldnt the touchscreen feel bumpy due to the matrix? Hmm supposedly coming out Q4 2009... I doubt any current phones have that technology...

How optimised is WM6.5 for finger use?

My understanding is that while there is some optimisation for finger use in WM6.5, there are other parts of the OS that are still best suited to a stylus. For example accurately selecting text in Word, or selecting a range of cells in Excel.
One of the reasons Apple took so long to come out with copy/paste in the UI is because they knew they had to make it work with a fat finger.
My point is that I wonder how wise it is to combine a capacitive screen with WM6.5 on the Leo. I'm sure it will work fine with the basic stuff, particularly in TF3D applications. However, if I can't easily use a finger for everything, then it's going to be a real pain either struggling to touch accurately with a finger or carrying around a capacitive stylus that I'll just lose after a couple of days.
What do you reckon?
How optimised? The short answer is "not very". By default, the WM6.5 finger-friendliness is only skin deep. A few clicks and you'll quickly find yourself back at the ancient ugly stylus-designed interface from 2002.
TF3D makes things much, much nicer, but no matter how much you customise WM, there are many applications designed only for stylus use. Pocket Informant, for example, is a very useful PIM - but is difficult to use with only fingers. Many, many pieces of third-party software out there are the same. Really only a few applications are truly designed for fingers rather than stylus.
This is a problem that WM can't really fix. It's just a byproduct of the OS's age - it's been around in various forms since at least 2000. For the most part, applications written 5 to 10 years ago still work on modern WM devices. This is compounded by the fact that modern WM phones are still shipping with styluses.
I suppose if WM7 requires finger-friendly support, then things will improve considerably from third-party software companies. But until then, things are pretty dire.
microsoft fired their director for windows mobile and is putting a fire under its mobile division's ass to make winmo7 a homerun. microsoft isnt sleeping on this anymore, expect big things next year for windows mobile...
I have a Touch Pro2 running a 6.5 ROM and I actually find that, in combination with the large WVGA screen, I rarely need the stylus even in applications made for previous versions of WM. Though TouchFLO helps, even when disabled I can still navigate without a stylus. However, occasionally finger precision isn't enough and I need the stylus, but for the most part, 6.5 is actually pretty finger friendly.
However, the 6.5 Build can make a huge difference with how finger friendly the ROM is, so it's not terribly accurate to say that all 6.5 builds are finger friendly when the features of different builds are so diverse.
Windows 6.5? Not very. Practically not at all. The outside is different but the insides are almost identical to 6.1
HOWEVER 6.5.1 is VERY finger friendly. There is a lot of difference and you can expect a lot more finger friendliness with the future builds of windows mobile.
I am really looking forward for more detailed reviews about Leo, especially working with tiny UI elements, which are still there in WM 6.5. Actually, the changes of 6.5 are minor and it is not nearly as touch optimized OS. And in all of this hype about Leo no one talks about how we are going to work without stylus on this device. There already are a couple previews and some videos with a lot of "wow’s" about the first capacitive screen with multi-touch zoom in WM, but no any word or demo about using Excel or some other application that has many small buttons or things to click, drag and move. And aren't exactly these apps the real power of WM not the useless fancy weather effects, beautiful scrolling gallery (out of use for more than 20 pics) or multi-touch zoom only in few apps? I am not sure if the capacitive screen is an advantage or at least not for Windows. Nevertheless, soon we’ll see if I’m wrong (hope I am ).
martoto said:
And in all of this hype about Leo no one talks about how we are going to work without stylus on this device.
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Well with my current 2.8" screen (Touch Pro) I genuinely can't remember the last time I had to get the stylus out to do anything. Moving to a device with over 2x the screen size, I can't see there being a big problem. Sure I'll be using more of my finger and less of the nail, but a >2x bigger screen should more than compensate for that!
That said, resistive is still probably going to be the technology of choice for smaller screens, especially since for a while at least MS plan for smaller(/cheaper) devices to stick with 6.x instead of 7.
As for 6.5's general finger-friendliness, it's ahead of 6.1 in some places but the difference isn't that big. 6.5.x is where the action is on that front, and at least we enthusiasts will be making the most of that, even if the average buyer won't be. Well, we'll be making the most of it until we first get the v7 leaks
mr_Ray said:
Well with my current 2.8" screen (Touch Pro) I genuinely can't remember the last time I had to get the stylus out to do anything. Moving to a device with over 2x the screen size, I can't see there being a big problem. Sure I'll be using more of my finger and less of the nail, but a >2x bigger screen should more than compensate for that!
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You can't use a nail at all on a capacitive screen, only skin.
I have a Touch Pro2 (3.6" screen) and I have to say that I use the stylus all the time - Opera 9.5 would be totally unuseable without it, and any time you start using a Windows app with radio buttons and checkboxes, the stylus is far easier. That would even more true if I couldn't use a fingernail for added accuracy compared to a finger. It remains to be seen how much difference WM6.5 and production Opera 9.7 make to that.
I for one, just don't know what Microsoft is doing with this half arsed attempt of a finger friendly OS,
They are shipping 6.5.....the OS looks like one of the worst put together it looks very very rushed (we know its not...they've had more than enough time)
HTC with thier TouchFlo is a far more elegant solution.
Microsoft can stick 6.5 where the sun don't shine....
No such thing as a finger friendly Microsoft OS...yet
mr_Ray said:
Well with my current 2.8" screen (Touch Pro) I genuinely can't remember the last time I had to get the stylus out to do anything. ...
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A very simple example with app that every WM has - the mobile Excel. Open a new file and try to change the row height without using a stylus or a nail. It is possible but not near as easy, isn’t it? On a twice bigger screen, the row border will be almost the same thickness. So here a bigger screen won't help. Just imagine that you need to work with a similar interface every day. Now, tell me is there anything that can be done with capacitive screen but cannot with resistive? Don't get me wrong, I know that if you work only with fingers, capacitive screens are far better. But here we have windows mobile, and for these users that often leave the TouchFlo to use the true power of windows, the lack of possibility of precise pointing on the screen could be a big issue.
martoto said:
A very simple example with app that every WM has - the mobile Excel. Open a new file and try to change the row height without using a stylus or a nail. It is possible but not near as easy, isn’t it? On a twice bigger screen, the row border will be almost the same thickness. So here a bigger screen won't help. Just imagine that you need to work with a similar interface every day. Now, tell me is there anything that can be done with capacitive screen but cannot with resistive? Don't get me wrong, I know that if you work only with fingers, capacitive screens are far better. But here we have windows mobile, and for these users that often leave the TouchFlo to use the true power of windows, the lack of possibility of precise pointing on the screen could be a big issue.
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I never claimed that my usage was a template for every other person on the planet, and would never think to do so. For *me* capacitive has a few advantages over resistive, and likewise a few disadvantages, it pretty much comes out as a wash. I'd stil be as happy with the HD2 if it had a resistive screen.
My use of Excel on the go is purely simple data entry or just viewing. There are also other ways to resize than clicking on and dragging a line a pixel or two wide. I also recognise there are many people who would find such things infuriatin with *their* usage patterns, applications, and habits.
This whole issue really highlights Microsoft's biggest issue in Windows Mobi... er Windows Phone today. It's a stylus-based PDA OS trying to be a finger-based phone OS. The heritage is based entirely in yesterday's PDAs - where it was fantastic for the job and thrashed PalmOS in the marketplace.
However there's been a gradual change in usage of the OS from PDAs to phones, and the underlying systems just haven't adapted to the changes. The UI today is much the same as it was in 2002. If you want your OS on a modern smartphone where people want to pull their phone out of their pocket and tap and slide with their fingers, you just can't get away with an interface and screen tech from a 2002 PDA.
Be one or the other - create a side branch for the dwindling userbase who want a PDA or PDA/phone if you have to - but the core of the OS itself if you want it on a phone - just has to adapt to survive.
Thanks for everyone's thoughts. It seems to me that if WM6.5 is not fully optimized for finger use, which it's not, then HTC really shouldn't combine it with a capacitive screen. Simple as that.
Moandal said:
Thanks for everyone's thoughts. It seems to me that if WM6.5 is not fully optimized for finger use, which it's not, then HTC really shouldn't combine it with a capacitive screen. Simple as that.
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Well, that's a large part of the reason for TouchFLO/Sense UI, of course; WM6.5 by itself isn't sufficiently finger-friendly, but with the HD2's customised UI on top of it, it is (in HTC's opinion, anyway).
But is it just where the balance of their expertise and development lies? One looks at the HTC Leo and it looks like an android device.....lots of hardware supported under Android, but not under WM.....and the whole thing kludged together to work on an operating system with built in short term obsolescence.
It seems to me that we are in a transition period. Hardware too sophisticated for WM 6.5, but development of WM7 and Android not yet complete.
I think WM is a dead duck until (and maybe beyond) WM7, and the inroads that other systems can make between now and it's release will probably give an indication of the future direction of mass market smartphones.
Given the apparent inability of Microsoft to deliver a satisfactory platform for ordinary users and developers alike, and Androids success in doing exactly that (although still early days), I see it going only one way for the mass market.
I've bought my last WM phone (I think). It was Blackstone.
in short like only 1 or 2 have already said.... 6.5 is not
6.5.1 [aka towards wm7] is very much finger optimised.
if u guys are not clear, then only the versions which have start buttons on bottom are 6.5.1 and can be used with one hand. 6.5 its a mixed bag and u have to use both hands sometimes.
atifsh said:
in short like only 1 or 2 have already said.... 6.5 is not
6.5.1 [aka towards wm7] is very much finger optimised.
if u guys are not clear, then only the versions which have start buttons on bottom are 6.5.1 and can be used with one hand. 6.5 its a mixed bag and u have to use both hands sometimes.
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What's the big difference between 6.5 and 6.5.1 then? I wouldn't have though a 0.0.1 version change would be much different. Also which version does the HD2 have? The specs I've seen say it's got 6.5.
Windows has really lost it's way. They need to pick a path tha makes sense and stick to it.
The way I see it there are two camps. the iPhone is for entertainment and the blackberry is more business oriented. Why they are going after the iPhone is beyond me. The pocketpc was an awesome business tool and they are trying to evolve it into an iPhone.
Look at Blackberry, most of their phones have no touch screen. They have a trackball! Yikes! But that works for business...
I routinely use my phone for powerpoint presentation, I use excel, I am an original PPC user and they are making the product stylus unfriendly and removing the hardware buttons...
I have the TP2 and I would trade in the touch screen for a scroll wheel, and a d-pad...
I don't think Windows can win against the iphone. They should go after blackberry...
I think there's 2 things here.
Windows Mobile as an OS needs a lot of work IMO. The current hardware is so capable but still windows manages to be sluggish at times. This needs to be fixed, it should be rewritten for the ground up for the more capable modern hardware, better resource management, using all resources to make the thing go as smooth as possible.
Then for the interface ... well ... it's all in the name 'Pocket PC'. It's like a small computer, it even has a startmenu etc... that's how it was build. Devices changed though, and now we need finger friendly interface with eye candy and 3D.
Let's hope that Windows Phone 7 will be as good and revolutionary as Windows 7 for desktop. And let's hope that we won't have to buy a new phone to run it
Moandal said:
Also which version does the HD2 have? The specs I've seen say it's got 6.5.
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6.5.1 hasn't been released yet and won't be until somewhere around February. I wouldn't be surprised if the HD2 gets a 6.5.1 upgrade, although there's no guarantee. If you don't mind installing a "cooked" ROM then it may be available sooner in beta form.
I had no trouble using my big nail-less thumbs on 6.1. WinMo 6.5 is better but not much different. You want something better install the 6.5.1 ROM. I've been using it for the last month and it's the most finger freindly version of WinMo.

Current device trend: Large screens, no jog dials or d-pads - Discuss

I'm a two year Kaiser user and have been happy with it generally. But the small screen and resolution, plus sluggish CPU is making me want to upgrade.
However HTC (and seemingly other manufacturers) seem to be shifting all UI interaction to the screen only (practically). I know I'm not the only one saddened by this, as d-pads and jog dials have their place and offer guaranteed responsiveness and precision which no screen tech can easily match. Unless you have fingers that look like stylii and a permanently steady hand.
Anyway, I'm just interested to hear if there are other people out there wishing for a Touch Pro 3 / Leo / Kaiser hybrid? Nice big screen, Snapdragon but a little d-pad squirrelled away at the bottom and jogger on the side. I wouldn't mind the phone being a bit longer to make it all fit.
Oh and I'm a business user and can appreciate that on a device like the Leo aimed more at the mass-market, the missing buttons aren't so important. But I think the Touch Pro line could do with them.
More than agree!
hardware keyboard is a must for me also, 2 lines of production I can see:
One for more multimedia non professional use like Leo and the second with more business capabilities like the keyboard
I´m sure TP3 will come out with larger screen, snapdragon and more surprises, but we have to wait at least 6 months for that.
just my opinion
Here some possible options:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=556749
i agree completely !
one of the things that i hate about mobile phone design is that everyone thinks that to make a better phone than the iphone you have to copy it rather than take the best ideas and improve on them.
i'm eagerly awaiting news of the touch pro 3 (rather than the touch hd2 / leo) because a hardware keyboard is important to me - i'm hoping that they'll include a scroll wheel and d-pad like my old kaiser in a form factor of my current xperia with a decent processor and the latest version of tf3d. they're all htc devices so it shouldn't be too hard ...
I agree, too. I still use my iPaq 210 daily not only because of the 4in screen, but for the dpad. It just doesn't feel like a pda without one. I would actually prefer phones to come wit jog dials on the side, but that's just a personal preference. How are we supposed to get anything done without them? I recently got a TD2, and while i like it, i don't think I will ever have it replace both my phone and PDA for lack of buttons. The main reason my BA was used so long was for all of its buttons.
I'm surprised to see people sticking up for jog dials -- I'd argue that the dial on my Kaiser is terrible, and WM doesn't handle 'em well anyways.
Dpads are nice, though. I'm particularly fond of the "stealth" pad on the Touch Pro.
At the same time, they're getting less and less useful. As more and more apps are designed to be finger-friendly, the usefulness of the dpad will decrease. I already find myself using it much less than I did, say, two years ago.
I agree that they are being used less in programs, but honestly how could you like the touch pro dpad? It is probably the worst i've ever used
typo said:
As more and more apps are designed to be finger-friendly, the usefulness of the dpad will decrease. I already find myself using it much less than I did, say, two years ago.
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Finger friendliness is one thing, but buttons just can't be beaten in some cases. E.g. I use Profimail for email and when replying, I often need to position the text cursor (?) at the very top. If I do this with a finger it's very tricky to get it in the right place. Or positioning the cursor between the words for adding / removing characters etc. is easier with a D-pad. Or when walking and wanting to do things on the phone without giving the full concentration you'd need by focussing on and positioning your finger on the display.
I agree though the usefulness is decreasing but I just don't think it will ever decrease to the point the D-Pad should be removed, but HTC obviously do.
But people are concentrating on the benefits of faster cpus and forgetting the drawbacks of slower input.

Help me with Windows Mobile.

I have this marketing class and my group is deciding to create an advertising for WM7. I'm asking you guys for your opinion on why WM wasn't as successful as the iphone? What were the issues is because they only targeted professionals and developers. Also why do you think WM7 will be successful because its going be more commercial oriented too all?
I really appreciate any responses thanks a lot.
have a look here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=605
Though i'm looking for peoples opinon on why they didnt like old WM..
KidTech said:
I have this marketing class and my group is deciding to create an advertising for WM7. I'm asking you guys for your opinion on why WM wasn't as successful as the iphone? What were the issues is because they only targeted professionals and developers. Also why do you think WM7 will be successful because its going be more commercial oriented too all?
I really appreciate any responses thanks a lot.
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Was it really less successful than iphone? windows mobile has been around way longer. I am guessing combining all of the devices with windows mobile vs how many devices with iphone os windows mobile will come out on top.
Very briefly:
1) Inconsistent performance and freeze prone. Sometimes it is okay for days, sometimes I feezes 20 times a day.
2) Slow. Microsoft was too relaxed when specifying minimum hardware requirements. Hardware vendor did'nt want to beef up the hardware because they try to keep the profit high.
3) Passive screen was no match for capacitive touch screen
4) User interface was based on desktop windows - not optimised for finger use.
5) Most programs have ugly user interface.
6) Many programs no longer works in newer ROM. Too easy to pirate the software so software vendors not motivated to update them.
7) iPhone's application store was a game changer. There are now 185,000 applications to choose from. MS was not able to put together something similar.
8) iPhone's firmware support and upgrade was impeccable. In contrast, window phone vendor almost never support any upgrade. XDA ROM cook had to do this job for them. I think it''s fair to say that without XDA, winmo would have died much much earlier. Ironically, MS didn't express any thanks to the people here. In fact they even tried to threaten them with legal action in the beginning.
9) iPhone has far better ecosystem of accessories such as speaker system that allows you to dock the iPhone.
10) User interface design of iPhone is hard to match. Not just because it uses passive screen and does pinch and zoom. Some applications also use true multitouch UI such as two or three fingers swipe and touch for webpage navigation, thus making it really enjoyable and easy for the user. The keyboard accuracy and forgiveness is great. Webpage scroll down for example, is 100% vertical without having any slight left or right movement. Size of controls, size of text, colors, are all done right. It is easy to accurately click on even extremely tiny link on webpage without being any need to be accurate. In short, everything feels right and works right.
11) MS took too long to react, and did too little too late. Worst, they became very confused.
I was honestly a person who absolutely wanted to stick with MS and had despite iPhone when it was first released. Who wanted a phone with no third party sofotware, right? But then, when things became to change, MS was still complacent, and arrogant. I always told myself that WM7 would blow iPhone away very very soon, so be patient. Then when WM7 was delayed again and again, and when I saw how crappy the new desktop in 6.5 was, I began to doubt the capability of MS and begin exploring iPhone. The other important factor that drove me away was when I saw MS not knowing the direction by pursuing WM7, Zune, and Pink phone simultenously, and that made me lose confidence in MS significantly.
Winmo does have things to its favour though. For example: You have the chance to select the style of phones exactly to your taste. E.g. having hardware keyboard, having hugh or smaller screens, having flash in the camera, having higher megapixel camera. HTC also did a splendid job with its TouchFlo/Sense UI, and in hiding the ugly OS as much as possible from the end user. Unfortunately, the moment you start using your applications, all the ugly UI come back in its full force. Also, Sense UI is not very customizable or flexible for the end user beyond just hiding the unwanted tabs. So, unless your requirements are more or less totally satisfied by the functions of features on TouchFlo/Sense, then you'll still be dealing with the old ugly stylus based user interface.
Winmo is considered to be extremely attractive to people with technical skills to cook/flash ROMs, and for people who wish to keep using the programs they had developed for it. For the ordinary users who just want to get things done easily, quickly, reliably and also with lots of fun, iPhone seems to be able to cater to what they were looking for better.
Hope this give you something to write about.
Cheers.

Notion Ink - Adam.

Have you guys seen/heard about Notion Ink - Adam. Search youtube for "Notion Ink Adam First look" in this video 25 year old CEO(Founder of Notion Ink) shows some of it's innovative hardware features like Swivel Camera / Trackpad etc. This runs on Android 2.2 and it rumors are to be believed they already have a Gingerbread version in works!!
The product got delayed should be ready for pre-ordering in a three of days.
Based on Sharvan's(CEO's) lastest blog, sounds like pre-ordering initially would be allowed only for people who has posted on his blog before 12/04/2010 .
Your thoughts?
i've been following the progress of the Adam for a little over a year now. Engadget & TechCrunch were starting to call it Vaporware as it supposedly has been in production for almost 2 years now.
it looks promising and i've actually held off buying a tablet specifically because of the Adam. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
I have been following the Adam tablet as well for about a year now. I think the wait is going to be worth. They have really put alot of thought into the developing not only the hardware but the user interface as well.
What I want to know is if the tablet will come with Gingerbread installed or will it be released a month after it has intially been sold??
I also followed the Notion Ink Adam since its first appearance.
In the beginning, it was a wonderful product with perfect features:
eInk and LCD - so outdoor readable/usable, very efficient, but also capable of normal use
ARM processor using the very open and new Android - powerful, long battery life, and customizable with lots of great features.
It also had some great designs and ideas.
But now, almost two years later, it isn't anything special any longer.
It uses Android, which is a great smartphone OS, but a useless tablet PC OS, even more useless than iOS on the iPad.
Useless because it lacks powerful software which gives you FULL text, spreadsheet, PDF creation, editing, viewing. iOS does not offer this either, but much better than Android does.
Also do all of them lack a fundamental thing any slate must have: PEN with handwriting recognition.
The first adam prototypes seemed to have pen input, the final product, not. So what does it make better than the iPad, except even the lack of tablet friendly apps?
So what would you use the Adam for?
To read books and use it as a media tablet to browse the web. Well, if it's what you're searching for, great. I think that's not enough.
You can't take notes, you can't replace your computer with it on the go, you're very limited. The display isn't that special either. Better panels (Mirasol or oil displays) get released next year, Windows 7 still gives you the most powerful tablet OS experience, MeeGo gets released soon, too, which is even more open than Android and optimized for tablets and much more powerful.
So sorry, a year ago, it was a great product, now, it's good, but nothing special, nothing I would have a use for.
The HP Slate looks much more interesting for me, sadly does it only get sold in the US.
Yathushan said:
What I want to know is if the tablet will come with Gingerbread installed or will it be released a month after it has intially been sold??
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NotionInk has already said it will ship with Android 2.2 and will inform all what to expect regarding Gingerbread. The hardware specs definitely can handle it.
UpSpin said:
I also followed the Notion Ink Adam since its first appearance.
In the beginning, it was a wonderful product with perfect features:
eInk and LCD - so outdoor readable/usable, very efficient, but also capable of normal use
ARM processor using the very open and new Android - powerful, long battery life, and customizable with lots of great features.
It also had some great designs and ideas.
But now, almost two years later, it isn't anything special any longer.
It uses Android, which is a great smartphone OS, but a useless tablet PC OS, even more useless than iOS on the iPad.
Useless because it lacks powerful software which gives you FULL text, spreadsheet, PDF creation, editing, viewing. iOS does not offer this either, but much better than Android does.
Also do all of them lack a fundamental thing any slate must have: PEN with handwriting recognition.
The first adam prototypes seemed to have pen input, the final product, not. So what does it make better than the iPad, except even the lack of tablet friendly apps?
So what would you use the Adam for?
To read books and use it as a media tablet to browse the web. Well, if it's what you're searching for, great. I think that's not enough.
You can't take notes, you can't replace your computer with it on the go, you're very limited. The display isn't that special either. Better panels (Mirasol or oil displays) get released next year, Windows 7 still gives you the most powerful tablet OS experience, MeeGo gets released soon, too, which is even more open than Android and optimized for tablets and much more powerful.
So sorry, a year ago, it was a great product, now, it's good, but nothing special, nothing I would have a use for.
The HP Slate looks much more interesting for me, sadly does it only get sold in the US.
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Remember its a tablet, not a desktop or laptop replacement. The iPad nor an Android tablet are meant as a replacement to them. If that's what a person is in the market for, then obviously these are not for them.
For your information though Adam can take notes and it does have full text & spreadsheet capabilities as well as the ability to view PDF's but not create. But again, it's not meant to replace a laptop/desktop but rather as a placeholder until you can get to one.
I for one would rather use the Adam (or iPad if I was forced to) to hold me over on outings or to keep my children busy. It has a longer battery life because its not meant to do 40-50 other things. But alas, its up to the individual consumer to make their decision.
I've got a laptop with the Pixel Qi Screen, it's awesome. Even if everthing else about the adam would suck... I would get it just for that display.
peterocc said:
For your information though Adam can take notes and it does have full text & spreadsheet capabilities as well as the ability to view PDF's but not create. But again, it's not meant to replace a laptop/desktop but rather as a placeholder until you can get to one.
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Can take notes? On a capacitive touchscreen? That's useless.
I also don't want that it replaces my laptop (in reality I have a convertible tablet PC running Win 7), rather that I can easily send documents, view documents, edit documents. And also that I'm able to take and collaborate notes, similar to the features OneNotes has.
And if the Adam software has the same 'features' DocumentsToGo has, then no, that's not enough.
It does not have to replace a full working PC (would be great, but that's optional), but I must have some use for such a device, that means I must be able to do productive things with it.
Browsing the web on a slate is awkward and makes no fun.
Writing posts or mails on a touchscreens QWERTY keyboard, no thanks.
Reading eBooks is ok on such an eInk device, as long as they are 'stupid' books. I can't learn with scientific eBook. It just does not work for me. It's too slow, too awkward to skip through pages, ...
You can't even draw on those 'modern' tablets, because they only have a capacitive touchscreen, all you can do with them is doodling around, and that's not worth the money.
So personally, I have absolutely no use for the Notion Ink Adam. It looked great in the past, but now they reduced it to a normal media tablet with a special display, which isn't that outstanding until it gets finally mass released.
I'm still interested in the device and hope that maybe sometime there will be good apps available for Android with which I can do some work, and people learn that there's a huge difference between a capacitive touchscreen and an active digitizer with a pen.
Lol an innovative camera? My old Motorola A925 had a camera that could rotate like this one.
I've been keeping an eye on the Adam for about a year as a replacement for my aging OLPC XO (running Ubuntu 8.10) that I've been using as an e-reader, email and web-browsing on the road, and for reviewing photos out in the field. The Pixel Qi display on the OLPC has spoiled me and I won't even consider a replacement that doesn't include one. That sunlight-readable display is just amazing.
eyegor said:
Lol an innovative camera? My old Motorola A925 had a camera that could rotate like this one.
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Which other tablet(or tablet like device running on Android) is offering a swivel camera / trackpad / Pixel Qi display / 1080 p video out / completely custom and innovative software(They have re-written Mail / Weather / Calendar etc) from scratch ?
All this from a company which is just over 2 years old with average employee age 22. I believe this is device will truly be refreshing and we will be hearing a lot from them in future as well.
Well, I just woke up this morning to the fact that Andy previewed the new Motorola tablet last night with Honeycomb onboard. It does not look half bad.
ww.engadget.com/2010/12/06/motorola-android-tablet-prototype-makes-a-cameo-at-d-dive-into
From this I can see the Adam tablet being able to handle more general features such as word processing and spreadsheets in a more integrated way(Google Docs). Although, we have no idea exactly what they are going to add Honeycomb. I feel that they will include something to allow for the tablet to become an on-the-go device. It may not be perfect initially but they will get there as they always do.
I was referring strictly to the camera. For something to be innovative ot has to be done for the first time. Such a camera isnt innovative, it is just new to the android world.
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UpSpin said:
Can take notes? On a capacitive touchscreen? That's useless.
You can't even draw on those 'modern' tablets, because they only have a capacitive touchscreen, all you can do with them is doodling around, and that's not worth the money.
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Why do u say that, cause it isn't pressure sensitive and u can't make thinner or thicker lines or something like that?
Elusivo said:
Why do u say that, cause it isn't pressure sensitive and u can't make thinner or thicker lines or something like that?
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- it's not pressure sensitive, so the ink looks not smooth and it's not that great to draw on it
- it's not precise, the resolution or accuracy of a capacitive touchscreen is pretty low, no smooth lines
- no palm detection, so as soon as you put your palm on the Display while you write it will stop working.
- fat pen. The pen tip must be huge to work on a capacitive touchscreen. So it will cover your written text
- no software. There's no software on any mobile operating system which could be used to take notes with, software like Microsoft OneNote, Bluebeam PDF Revu, Microsoft InkSeine.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

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