ui - 12/13 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

Kite UI Is The Next Mind-Bending Android UI Concept, Looking For More Coders

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Development, News

Despite the frequency with which I check the XDA forums, I'd never heard of Kite UI before today. You may think that another UI alternative is the last thing Android needs, but give Kite UI a glance and you'll realize it's pretty mind-blowingly awesome... or at least, the concept video makes it look that way.

At the moment, the project is still in the process of being coded, but the team is looking for help. Yesterday, they released a teaser video that provides a brief demonstration of what they have in mind, and it looks damn impressive. Check it out:

Think you've got the coding know-how to help speed this on its way to reality?

Dec

Android Gingerbread UI Gets Exposed In The Crispest Video To Date

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Videos

Wow, this went unnoticed for a while, didn't it? On November 23rd, Google's own GoogleinHK YouTube account posted a video walkthrough of the new Google Voice Search in Cantonese. With only 2100 views, this official Google-authored video did not grab anyone's attention, until someone noticed that it featured over a minute of the clearest Gingerbread user interface video we've seen to date. The greens, the blacks - it's all there. Have a look:

Update #2: the original video was pulled but luckily, I found another copy:

Update #3: another mirror, in case Google takes down our YouTube mirror.

Nov

Overhauled Evernote v2.0 Lands In Android Market

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Following a beta testing phase that has been going on for about a month now, Evernote, the fantastic note-taking service, has finally updated the public market version to 2.0, bringing a lot of cool and much-needed changes and features. Whether you're using Evernote to organize your documents for work or to streamline your notes at school, these are the changes you've been waiting for.

The first change, which was arguably the most necessary, was the whole interface of the app. The older version kind of...sucked horribly. The new version is shiny and clean, demonstrating all of the new powers that were bestowed upon the new Evernote for Android.

Nov

T-Mobile myTouch 4G Review Roundup: T-Mobile's Best

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, myTouch 4G (Glacier), News, Phone Reviews, Reviews, T-Mobile

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

It seems like only a few days ago the nation's fourth largest carrier launched its highly anticipated and well received first HSPA+ device - the G2. Those of us who aren't keyboard fans, however, didn't have to wait long, as yesterday T-Mobile introduced a second Android device to join HSPA+ ranks: the myTouch 4G. According to some of these early reviews, it's not only better than the G2, it may even be the best phone T-Mobile has to offer. Let's count 'em down.

PC Magazine

In the first paragraph of his review, Sascha Segan of PC Magazine stated that although some of the myTouch 4G's features are still a bit rough around the edges, the fact that those features exist earn the phone an Editor's Choice award.

Nov

First Hints At Gingerbread UI Given By Latest Google Maps Update

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Applications, Gingerbread 2.3, News

Google Maps was updated to version 4.60 last week, and you may not have noticed it on the surface, but contained inside were some interesting resources providing an early glimpse at the style direction Gingerbread is set to take. Freenode IRC member canadiancow rather astutely spotted that there was a folder contained within the 4.60 APK that included icons and styling for API level 9, whilst we're currently on level 8 with Froyo. He changed all references to level 9 down to level 8 and recompiled the APK, and voilà, this is what Maps will look like (on left):

Obviously not a great deal has changed, but we are liking the new styling on the buttons, and the slight-transparency on the pop-up dialog.

Oct

Slick UI Wants To Be The Next Game Changer In Android UIs, Looks Plenty Original

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News, Videos

One of the reasons I love Android is because you can customize the heck out of your experience. Replacing the stock launcher with Launcher Pro is pretty much the first thing I do now when I get a new phone because of the innovations a hard-working, smart, and dedicated engineer (Fede) can bring to the table.

However, Launcher Pro is not too much different from the stock UI, outside of tweaks and other little but important things - same goes for ADW and other home replacements. Because of that, I get especially excited when I see some outside the box thinking (remember Mozilla's Seabird and the TAT's Horizon concepts, for example?)

The visionaries behind Slick UI are some of those outside the box thinkers that I am so fond of - they're thinking of a UI nobody's ever done before, and I'm very much interested in seeing this concept go to something real we can all install on our phones.

Oct

Behold PowerAMP - The Most Gorgeous Player On The Android Platform, With Preamp And Equalizer Support

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News, Videos

There is no shortage of media applications for Android - in fact, Winamp that came out last week was the most serious and robust media offering I've seen so far. However, when it comes to strictly the media player functionality, even Winamp can't touch what I'm about to show you - a new beta app called PowerAMP.

PowerAMP is an Android media player developed by a cool Russian dude by the name of Maxim Petrov (Max MP). Its most notable features are, in my opinion, the gorgeous interface, support for both equalizer and preamp, and very fast file scanning speed.

Here are the features at a glance, courtesy of owziee from xda:

-MP3, MP4/M4A,loseless ALAC,FLAC, OGG, WAV, TTA, WMA
-Has own codecs
-Widget
-Choose music from SD card
-Tags, lyrics
-Skins, 2 in beta version
-Fast scan of files ( in 1 second 1000files, depends on phone speed)
-EQ
-Preamp

Unfortunately, genre support is yet again missing, but hopefully Max will add them in the next update.

Oct

The Direction Android Smartphones Are Headed, Why It Might Be Bad, And How Google Can Stop It

Posted by David Ruddock in Editorials

We constantly hear about how smartphones are the evolutionary next-step in personal computing. Laptops sat atop this pedestal in the late 1990's, and tablets may soon come to share this title with their smartphone cousins.

But there's a glaring issue with smartphones: the players in the smartphone industry are to smartphones what Taco Bell is to choice of meat in your burrito. There's not a whole lot of wiggle room, and it's an increasingly take it or leave it sort of affair. HTC's new boot restore on the G2 and Desire Z, Motorola's eFuse bootloader protection, and Apple's extensive efforts to thwart jailbreaking on every iPhone software update are all evidence a trend that is decidedly against the spirit of personal computing.

Sep

HTC Posts An Official 7-Minute Closer Look At The Upcoming HTC Desire HD And The New Sense

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Desire HD (Ace), HTC, News, Videos

Kudos to HTC for taking time with producing their official walkthrough videos - they are usually superb, to say the least.

The video HTC posted today showcasing the upcoming Desire HD with the updated Sense UI is no exception. Over 7 minutes of high quality, narrated video is awaiting you below - just hit play, adjust the stream to 720p HD, kick back, and watch:

Source: HTC Youtube

Sep

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

Posted by T. Carter Ross 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.