13
Sep
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Editorial: Why On-Screen Virtual Buttons In Android Ice Cream Sandwich Will Be Great

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0
Last Updated: June 29th, 2012

Ice Cream Sandwich will be the first phone version of Android to support virtual buttons. It seems like a lot of people don’t "get" the whole idea behind them. If used correctly, virtual buttons will be way better than the painted on Back/Home/Menu/Search we have now. So I figured I would lay out the benefits for everyone and hopefully start a nice discussion.

For starters, virtual buttons are much better UI

  • They can change orientation with the phone so they are always in the same place.
  • Situational buttons (like Menu and Search) can disappear when they are unusable. You’ll no longer have to guess if Menu will do something.

27
Dec
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QuickDesk Dev Releases Calendr 1.0 To Android Market, Minimalists Rejoice!

Posted by in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Faruq Rasid, the developer behind QuickDesk, has developed and now finally released a minimalist calendar widget called Calendr that's inspired by Clockr. The widget is simple and attractive, showing your next upcoming event, as well as the date and time, from your Google Calendar. As a complete minimalist when it comes to my home screen, I am truly loving it!

calendr_alpha1

Unlike early Alpha versions, the 1.0 version of Calendr only updates when an event is created, edited or deleted. The widget has a lot of customization options, including font color, font size, font alignment, font shadow, uppercase/lowercase, and semi-transparent background, to name a few.