control - 2/4 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jul

Switcher Provides An Incredible Gesture-Based App Switching Tool

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Vito Cassisi, the developer behind a piece of software that could potentially revolutionize the way Android users switch between apps, updated Switcher today.

Working on the principle that swiping gestures are naturally more satisfying (from a UX standpoint) than press-and-wait actions (a la Android's multitasking button), Switcher's functionality is entirely based on the utilization of universal swipe gestures to switch between running apps (or all apps).

According to the developer, the concept was first imagined when studying on the train, desperately wishing for a way to switch between notes and web that was faster than using home or back buttons.

Those concerned that the vertical "add" and "remove" gestures can rest assured that Switcher's pre-defined swipe zones (which rest fairly high on the screen) will almost never interfere with normal in-app scrolling.

May

[Weekend Poll] Voice Control Apps: Future Or Fad?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Galaxy S III, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Follow Up: Is Gaming On Android Lackluster?

Though voice control apps have been around for quite some time, it took Apple's release of Siri to bring the functionality to the mainstream. Now, competing manufacturers are trying to push out similar services. Samsung's first to the punch with a Vlingo-based "S Voice" service, though it remains to be seen how well it works. Google, too, is rumored to be working on improved Google Voice Actions, reportedly named Assistant.

Debates over the usefulness of voice control have cropped up around the Android Police offices before, with the team fairly split on the topic.

May

Sony And Google Show Off New GoogleTV Box With A Remote That Resembles A Space Shuttle Control Panel

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google TV, News

You guys remember Google TV, right? It's the project that every CEO and their mothers stood on a stage with to declare war on Apple's AppleTV hobby? Yeah, those guys have been pretty quiet since about that platform for a while now. Sony, however, got up the nerve to announce a new Google TV box at a special event in Palo Alto. Where "announce" means "say some words near, without actually talking about."

Details one the device are scarce. In photos we can see that it comes with standard fare in the port department. A couple of HDMI ports, optical audio out, ethernet, a couple USB slots, and even an (optional?) space for an IR blaster.

Apr

Moborobo Is An Insanely Powerful Desktop Manager For Your Android (Or Other) Device

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Google has never really made it a priority to give Android a desktop syncing and management client like iTunes is for the iPhone. For the most part, it hasn't been missed that much. Google can perform cloud-based backups of app data, contacts, email, photos, music, and just about everything else you might need. If you use all of its services, of course. Moborobo, on the other hand, is a beautiful client that does all of that and more right from your desktop.

One of the nicest features of this device is that it can operate entirely via a WiFi connection, so whether you're backing up/transferring contacts, managing your apps, or fiddling with your photos, you can do it all without ever plugging in your device.

Mar

a-JAYS One+ Earbuds Review: Impressive Features And Performance - Without A Hit To Your Wallet

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Reviews

Last Updated: April 30th, 2012

These days, earbuds are a dime a dozen - they can be had for as little as $1 at the dollar store, all the way into the hundreds of dollars for a high-end pair. And sound quality has improved quite a bit since the early days - any buds that are mid-range or better usually offer pretty good sound, so they're differentiated as much by features as by sound quality. That's where the $50 a-JAYS One+ headphones come through: features. In this case, the largest selling point (that gives it that little "+" in the name) is the inclusion of a control button.

Mar

First Alpha Build Of Utter! Released With Limited Functionality, Goes By The Name Of (N)utter, Still Reads Your Mind

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

About a month and a half ago, we posted about a highly impressive voice control app named "Utter!". Siri competitors are a dime a dozen nowadays, but Utter! is a lot more HAL than Siri:

Want a add a calendar appointment? Tell Utter, and it'll take care of it. Get travel details, find out the weather, and launch applications - all child's play for Utter, and all done using native applications instead of just simple searches.

Actually, that's just scratching the surface for Utter - if you watch the entire 22 minute video, you'll see the developer, brandall of XDA, use Utter to set his CPU governor (yes, it asks for superuser permissions), reboot into the bootloader, and even have a conversation.

Mar

[Update: v2.0] GestureControl Gives Rooted Users Universal, Customized, Multitouch Control Of Their Tablet

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News, Tablets

Last Updated: April 29th, 2012

One of the great advantages of using a tablet device is its display. Having a big, bright touch display allows for enhanced media enjoyment, browsing, and gaming. Logically, a large touch display should make heavy use of touch controls, implementing at least some level of universal functionality to unify the touch-centric interface a tablet display begs for. Looking to bring this idea to fruition, Good Mood Droid created GestureControl, an app that allows rooted users to control their tablet using a variety of multitouch gestures.

GestureControl, as you can see from the video above, allows users to hide Honeycomb's status bar in any app, at any time, and also allows basic system navigation using simple gestures.

Mar

OnLive Launches L.A. Noire: Touch Edition, Bringing Context-Specific Touch Interaction To Award-Winning Detective Thriller

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Games, News

OnLive, a hugely popular on-demand gaming service which came to Android late last year, announced tonight the release of L.A. Noire: Touch Edition, which Founder and CEO Steve Perlman dubs "BY FAR the highest-performance game ever designed for tablets."

For those unaware, OnLive features 25 other touch-playable titles, some of which have been totally redesigned to support touch interaction. L.A. Noire is the latest title to get a touch makeover and is, according to Perlman, "the highest-performance console video game developed specifically for touch-enabled play via mobile cloud gaming. Ever."

Integrating context-specific touch controls with console-quality games successfully marries high-quality gaming with the dynamic touch interaction demanded by the tablet platform, making for an awesome gameplay experience.

Mar

[New App Review] Slider Widget Puts Powerful Volume And Brightness Controls On Your Homescreen

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in App Reviews, Applications, News, Videos

Volume control on Android can be kind of a pain to manage, as there's multiple volume settings that need to be managed, but it's not always obvious what settings you're adjusting when. Slider Widget simplifies this process by placing all five independent volume controls, as wells a brightness control setting, on your homescreen in one convenient widget.

The widget not only displays what level the various settings are at, but gives the user a handy slider for adjusting each one without taking up a ton of space on the homescreen. The stock power widget (and the manufacturer variations thereof) generally only allow you to adjust the brightness to a couple of preset levels, and volume buttons only affect whatever volume level you're currently using.

Mar

[New App] Take Skyrim, Portal, And All Your Other PC Games Anywhere With Kainy

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Games, News

Jean-Sebastien Royer, a developer making his debut on Google's Play Store, recently released Kainy – an app that promises to allow users to stream games from their PC over a Wi-Fi, 3G, or 4G connection. The first problem that comes to mind with this concept is devising a cohesive and broadly applicable control scheme. Addressing that in perhaps the most logical (and ingenious) way possible, Kainy allows users to create customized control layouts for each game.

Kainy offers ~100 preset control templates, and allows for infinite customization, as well as accelerometer control where appropriate. For added control, users can connect a Bluetooth keyboard.