05
Oct
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[App Review] Graffiti for Android Improves Text Entry, Old-School Style

Posted by in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Reviews
Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Reviewed version: 2.0.4
Requires: Android 1.6 or newer
Cost: Free

I have fat fingers. There. I said it. With my old Sanyo Katana, it wasn’t a problem because I would just multitap and tap and tap to enter text. But when I finally made the jump to a smartphone, I quickly ran into a stumbling block with the virtual keyboard.

The HTC Hero has a pretty compact screen, especially in portrait orientation. Trying to hit letters on that tiny virtual keyboard drove me crazy, particularly since I usually touch type and find hunting and pecking my way across a QWERTY keyboard difficult.

20
Sep
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Amazing Ingenuity: TAT's "Horizon" Concept Blends 2D With 3D In Maps And Contacts [Must-See Videos]

Posted by in News, Videos

Even with Street View, it can be hard to orient yourself in a strange area with a smartphone-based map. The Astonishing Tribe (TAT), an absolutely genius group of UI designers, wants to jazz things up by letting users shift dynamically from a flat object, like a map or a list of contacts, to a 3D one, which can be overlaid with additional information.

Horizon 2D-3D Maps

By allowing the user to seamlessly transition from a two-dimensional display to a three-dimensional one and back, TAT aims to make it easier to comfortably maintain a sense of space and orientation. At the heart of it all lies TAT Cascades, a UI framework for the production of advanced user interfaces.

31
Aug
hurricane-katrina-category-5

App Roundup: Hurricane Season Edition

Posted by in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews
Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

With the Atlantic hurricane season ratcheting up and several named storms expected to form before the season ends on Nov. 30th, it makes sense for those of us in potential hurricane zones to look for an app that will help keep an eye on developing tropical systems. For example, Hurricane Danielle has dissipated in the North Atlantic, but Earl is expected to hit the East Coast before the end of the week and Fiona is hot on its heels.

Several applications are available through the Android Marketplace with varying degrees of usefulness. All of them rely on public domain information from the U.S.