Entries tagged with “app development” from WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Motorola launched advanced Android development resources through MOTODEV, including a new App Accelerator Program and MOTODEV Studio for Android Beta.

MOTODEV will offer developers early access to a new suite of Google Android developer tools and programs, along with the opportunity to attend the next MOTODEV Summit in San Diego, CA, on October 6, for advanced training and information-gathering. The program is intended to accelerate the development of applications to be used on Motorola's mobile devices using the Android operating system scheduled to ship later this year.

To give developers a head start in creating apps that realize the full power of Android and utilize Motorola's newest handset features, the company invites developers to join MOTODEV's App Accelerator Program. Through this program, select developers will have the ability to submit their applications to Motorola and leverage the opportunity to distribute through a variety of channels, including carrier stores, the Android Market and third-party distributors. In addition, the program will specifically offer developers:

* Early access to tools, technical specs, documentation and other development support resources.
* Exclusive pre-release access to upcoming Motorola devices for testing and debugging.
* Direct access to Motorola's developer support engineers via private discussion boards.
* Maximum market exposure for applications as soon as new mobile devices ship to users.

The Motorola Krave ZN4 is now available from Verizon Wireless. The Krave is the first  full-touch phone with a clear, interactive flip so consumers have phone and multimedia features at their fingertips on the outside and inside. Start Trek fans please note, it looks just like a Star Trek communicator, but  won't help you beam up, even though you can beam Bluetooth and TV.

The ad on the Motorola website, touts, "It's clearly you."  We're not sure if it is the clear choice yet. Reviews have been mixed but favorable for the design.

 

Without opening the flip, Krave lets consumers view texts, watch TV, access photo galleries, play music and get GPS directions on the clear, external touch screen with haptic feedback. The comfortable flip design enables easier phone calls and prevents accidental touch screen usage and damage. Krave gets even better on the inside, with pinpoint haptics for enhanced touch control and premium Verizon Wireless services to satisfy advanced phone and multimedia cravings.

Immersion Corporation, developer and licensor of touch feedback technology announced more than 25 million mobile phones have been sold worldwide featuring Immersion’s renowned haptic technology. In the second quarter of 2008 alone, more than 7 million handsets shipped with Immersion’s VibeTonz platform, double the number that shipped in the previous quarter.

Market movers such as Samsung and LG are incorporating Immersion’s touch feedback system into their devices to enhance the consumer’s experience with a variety of mobile applications from games to alerts. More than 90 different handsets have shipped with VibeTonz haptic technology around the world.

Touchscreen-equipped mobile handsets sales have been building steadily for over a year now, and a new report from IMS Research forecasts that growth will become even stronger. Although there were fewer than 30 million touchscreen phones sold in 2007, IMS Research expect that number to increase to over 230 million by 2012.

There are numerous signs that touchscreens are poised to significantly increase their presence in the mobile handset market. Recent reports and announcements from the three largest mobile phone manufacturers have highlighted a trend in the increased production of phones using touch technology.

In July, LG revealed that it had sold 7 million touchscreen handsets. This announcement came just five quarters after LG launched its very first touchscreen mobile phone. Showing similar success, Samsung recently released the Instinct, a full touchscreen handset, through Sprint. Just one week after the launch, Sprint announced that the Instinct had already become the best selling EV-DO device in the carrier’s history. Not to be outdone, Apple reported selling 1 million of the new 3G iPhone handsets in just the first three days of its release

Wacom announced a major innovation in capacitive touchscreen technology, called Reversing Ramped Field Capacitive (RRFC™) touch, that will be publicly unveiled at the International Society for Information Display Exhibition, booth #1129, May 20 to 22, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.

Wacom’s patent-pending technology employs newly designed low-power circuitry and r reversing ramped electro-static fields to deliver pinpoint precision and drift-free performance to touchscreen users. The technology can be integrated into platforms that require only a finger touch interface.

“Wacom’s latest capacitive touch innovation is truly another technology breakthrough for Wacom,” said Masahiko Yamada, President and CEO of Wacom Company Ltd. “It demonstrates our calling and commitment to bringing human interface products to market that make computing more natural, easy and fun.”

Intuitive Integration
Wacom’s RRFC touch technology overcomes many limitations that are inherent in surface capacitive touchscreens available today. For starters, Wacom employs new static field engineering for increased stability and drift-free performance. With advanced ASIC design and high resolution signal processing, RRFC touch is effectively immune to noise. It is also the only surface capacitive touch technology that can demonstrate excellent accuracy, stability and sensitivity even when working on battery power. As an additional benefit, both Wacom’s RRFC touch and EMR pen input technologies can work together off of a single ASIC and MCU pair, significantly reducing overall bill of materials and manufacturing costs.

Garmin International announced its entrance into the mobile phone market with the nuvifone, an all-in-one, touchscreen device that combines a premium phone, mobile web-browser, and cutting-edge personal navigator.

“The nuvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “This is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for — a single device that does it all.”

The nuvifone has a wide range of advanced yet easy-to-use features. The all touchscreen device is the first of its kind to integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. When powered on, the 3.5-inch touchscreen display reveals three primary icons — “Call,” “Search,” and “View Map” which allow the user to effortlessly master the nüvifone’s functions.

The nuvifone is the ultimate multi-tasker. Calls are easily initiated by tapping the “Call” button and selecting a name from the contact list or by using the on-screen keypad. When the user is trying to juggle talking on their phone while entering their vehicle to start a trip, the nuvifone makes the transition simple. When the nuvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling so that the user never misses a beat in the conversation and is able to begin routing to their destination with ease.

Garmin anticipates that the nuvifone will be available in the third quarter of 2008. Specific details about pricing and sales partners will be announced in the future.

The photogenic grandaughter of LG Prada named the LG Viewty, will be coming to a carrier in the near future and it's looking pretty good as well as deserving recognition for handwriting recogntion better than a Palm.  I was able to try the phone at CES today with a resistve touchscreen.  Even though I wasn't using a stylus, just the end of pen, I was able to write faster than on a iPhone. The screen size is slightly smaller than an iPhone at 240 x 400 pixels that measures 3 inches.

It's called the Viewty because it has a 5 megapixel camera with a stabilizer which can shoot 120fps video .  It also features direct uploading to YouTube and full Internet browsing.  It sold 310,000 in its first 5 weeks in Europe. There is no word yet when and if it will be available in the States.

AT&T Inc. announced two new applications that will increase usability for wireless customers who are blind or have low vision. AT&T is partnering with Code Factory to offer Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier, both for Windows Mobile and Symbian Series 60operating system devices.

Mobile Speak is a powerful, full-fledged screen reader with an easy-to-learn command structure, intuitive speech feedback in several languages and Braille support, which can be used with or without speech. Unlike other screen readers for mobile phones, Mobile Speak automatically detects information that the blind user should know, just as a user with sight would easily find highlighted items or key areas of the screen at a glance. Supported applications and functions include:

• Speed dial, call lists and contacts
  
• Text messaging Calendar, tasks, notes and calculator
• Internet browser Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  
• Voice Recorder, Media Player, voice speed dial and voice command
  
• Phone/device settings, profiles, alarms and ringtones

Mobile Magnifier is a flexible, full-screen magnification application that supports low- and high-resolution screens and can be used with or without speech feedback. Magnification software is compatible with a wide range of mobile devices

Mobile Speak and Mobile Magnifier are each available for a one-time charge of $89, which is billed directly to the customer’s credit card. For additional information or to obtain a 30-day software trial, contact the National Center for Customers with Disabilities (NCCD) at 1-866-241-6568 or place a TTY call to 1-866-241-6567. The NCCD is available from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Sony Ericsson announced the W960 Walkman® phone will start to ship in November. The W960, a combination of slim UMTS and Wi-Fi™ enabled phone with high performance media player, will be available in selected markets across the globe in time for the Christmas season.

The W960 has room for up to 8,000 songs* and finger-touch navigation around playlists on the large touch screen. The 2.6” display also serves as an excellent viewfinder for a 3.2 megapixel camera and as a widescreen for watching video in TV quality.

According to PC World.: A group representing people with a hearing loss filed complaints with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month, accusing Apple Inc. of not making its iPhone compatible with hearing aids.

Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:
The iPhone is also not operable by physically disabled people.  I have been writing about technology for people with disabilities for some time and recently wrote about new issues with touch technology on Mobile Content Writers.

From the Blog at Mobile Content Writers:by Lynn Walford

I ran into Dr. David Rogers, a clinical geneticist whom I wrote about in the Los Angeles Times several years ago.  Dr. Rogers was having trouble operating Mac products with touchpads because he is a quadriplegic who uses a mouth stick.

Although he can operate a Palm device such as a Treo that uses a stylus with a mouth stick, he can not operate an iPod or the touchpad on the iMac. The touchpads on the iPod, Mac and iPhone are capacitive and require a change in electrical charge.  A mouth stick does not have an electrical charge like human fingers do.

According to PC World.: A group representing people with a hearing loss filed complaints with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month, accusing Apple Inc. of not making its iPhone compatible with hearing aids.

Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:
The iPhone is also not operable by physically disabled people.  I have been writing about technology for people with disabilities for some time and recently wrote about new issues with touch technology on Mobile Content Writers.

From the Blog at Mobile Content Writers:by Lynn Walford

I ran into Dr. David Rogers, a clinical geneticist whom I wrote about in the Los Angeles Times several years ago.  Dr. Rogers was having trouble operating Mac products with touchpads because he is a quadriplegic who uses a mouth stick.

Although he can operate a Palm device such as a Treo that uses a stylus with a mouth stick, he can not operate an iPod or the touchpad on the iMac. The touchpads on the iPod, Mac and iPhone are capacitive and require a change in electrical charge.  A mouth stick does not have an electrical charge like human fingers do.