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All posts tagged "screen"


Thursday, February 26, 2009

Microsoft: "Understanding Phone Design Decisions"

Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC Articles" @ 08:45 PM

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmob...one-design.mspx

"In January, I had an opportunity to hear a presentation by Eric Lin, the Online Community Manager at HTC. Many of the Windows Mobile smartphones on the market today are made by HTC, even if they don't have the HTC name on them, so when it comes to smartphones, HTC is a market leader. The presentation covered several different topics, but the one I found most interesting was the question of how specific hardware design decisions impact the usability of the phone. When you pick up a Windows Mobile smartphone, the shape, size, weight, and feel of it give you an impression about the product - but did you know what kinds of decisions went into the final product you're holding? The answer may surprise you."

Read Jason's column on tethering? Well, here's another one. It discusses the design decisions that go into the phones you're carrying today - from the size of the screen to the feel of the keyboard and the sound it makes. Who knows? You may learn a thing or two that will help you choose the right phone the next time you're in the market for one.


Friday, May 2, 2008

Adobe Announces the Open Screen Project

Posted by Darius Wey in "Digital Home News" @ 06:36 AM

http://www.adobe.com/openscreenproject/

"Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the Open Screen Project, supported by a group of industry leaders, including ARM, Chunghwa Telecom, Cisco, Intel, LG Electronics Inc., Marvell, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics Co., Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Verizon Wireless. The project is dedicated to driving rich Internet experiences across televisions, personal computers, mobile devices, and consumer electronics. Also supporting the Open Screen Project are leading content providers, including BBC, MTV Networks, and NBC Universal, who want to reliably deliver rich Web and video experiences live and on-demand across a variety of devices. The Open Screen Project is working to enable a consistent runtime environment -- taking advantage of Adobe® Flash® Player and, in the future, Adobe AIR™ -- that will remove barriers for developers and designers as they publish content and applications across desktops and devices, including phones, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), and set top boxes. The Open Screen Project will address potential technology fragmentation by enabling the runtime technology to be updated seamlessly over the air on mobile devices. The consistent runtime environment is intended to provide optimal performance across a variety of operating systems and devices, and ultimately provide the best experience to consumers."



Adobe, in a typical long-winded manner, recently announced the opening up of Flash in an attempt to enable consistency in content delivery across a wide range of devices, including set top boxes and mobile phones. In what is most likely a response to Silverlight and HTML 5, the industry initiative sees the removal of restrictions on the use of SWF and FLV/F4V, the removal of licensing fees, and the publishing of multiple APIs and protocols. Definitely a step forward. Any developers and designers care to weigh in with their thoughts?


Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Google Makes Search Plug-In Available to Windows Mobile

Posted by Rocco Augusto in "Smartphone Software" @ 11:57 AM

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/20...-than-slow.html

"If you're a Windows Mobile user, browse to mobile.google.com on your device to download the plug-in and start searching faster than ever. Once you do, we think you'll find it so much faster and easier that you'll start conducting more mobile web searches than you ever had before. How do we know this? Well, when we look at the combined usage numbers for BlackBerry and Symbian versions of this plug-in, we see that users are able to get Google search results up to 40 percent faster. And, BlackBerry and Symbian users with the plug-in installed search 20 percent more than those without it."



It pleases me to see that more and more companies are showing our Windows Mobile handsets some love as of late. First we get MSN Direct, then Google Gears and now a dedicated Google Search homescreen/today screen plugin. Installing this application couldn't be easier. Just point your mobile browser to mobile.google.com and select the "Search (Download)" link to start a download of the plugin. After it is installed the program should send up a message to inform you of whether or not the plugin can work with your existing homescreen. If you are using an incompatible theme, Google Search will offer to automatically switch your theme to one that does work. Like I said, this plugin couldn't be simpler to use. Hats off to Google!

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  • Source: Phone Scoop


Friday, November 2, 2007

Motorola Q9h Unboxing Teaser

Posted by Rocco Augusto in "Smartphone News" @ 06:07 PM

I have fantastic news. I just sat down by my desk after a nice hearty lunch to find my brand new Motorola Q9h waiting for me. This is not the AT&T version, so their are a few tiny differences compared to our recent offering from the "Powers That Be" in AT&T Headquarters. For one, the packaging is different and as well as the name and nowhere throughout the packaging is the word "Global" used. Not a big deal, but I figured it would be nice to clue everyone in on this before I show the images.

Now that we have taken care of the disclaimer, it is time for a quick sneak peak at the unboxing on this surprisingly nice handset!


(Figure 1: The packaging that my brand spanking new Motorola Q9h arrived in!)
Read more...


Friday, July 13, 2007

Animated Weather Home Screen from Elecont

Posted by Mike Temporale in "SOFTWARE" @ 10:30 AM

http://www.elecont.com/

Weather has become one of the most popular 3rd party applications to be added on a Smartphone. At least, in my opinion anyway. It's the first thing I add whenever I get a new phone or flash my existing device. And why not? Who doesn't want to know what the weather is like before you leave the house for the day.

Elecont has released an animated home screen plugin that will show you the current and future weather conditions on your Smartphone. I sure hope the application is smart enough to know when the screen is off, or the home screen is not visible and stops the animation. Otherwise this would eat through your battery pretty quick. If anyone gives it a try, please let the rest of us know how it works out.

User submitted image


Wednesday, June 13, 2007

How To Make That Application Take Full Advantage of Your QVGA Screen

Posted by Mike Temporale in "SITES & RESOURCES" @ 05:30 AM

http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=89167#89167

"If you have a QVGA Smartphone like the HTC Vox / s710, you know well enough that most existing games and other graphics-based Smartphone apps (Windows Mobile 6 Standard) out there only use a postage-stamp sized screen area. An example of this is PDAMill �s Flux Challenge , which, being designed for the traditional low-res (176*220) Smartphone resolution, only uses part of the available QVGA screen estate"

Menneisyys has posted a very helpful tip in our forums and I wanted to make sure that all of our readers got the news on this one. If you have any games or applications that don't run full screen on your QVGA Smartphone, then you might want to try out the solution Menneisyys has shared with us. There's a number of steps, but the end result is worth it, in my opinion.

Check out the original thread for more details and further discussion on this handy tip. :)


Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Samsung SGH-i600 Home Screen Carousel/Card Wheel Plug-In Review

Posted by Kris Kumar in "ARTICLE" @ 01:30 PM

http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3743

"It took a little bit longer for Samsung to release the long awaited SGH-i600 Windows Mobile Smartphone but Samsung used the delay to add something really useful to the EMEA/APAC version of the "BlackJack" - a pretty unique Home Screen plug-in called "Carousel" or "Card Wheel". Since Samsung's first introduction of a Windows Mobile Smartphone (the SGH-i300), the Korean mobile phone specialist always added its own flavored Home Screen plug-ins but this one is really a great and unique one since it adds fast and easy navigation to the i600 in a way, not seen before. Basically, the Carousel/Card Wheel plug-in provides several decks which are accessed by using the D-Pad. Each deck contains grouped information which can be accessed straight from the Home Screen."

User submitted image

Our buddy Arne Hess over at the::unwired has published an excellent article on the unique home screen created by Samsung for its European and Asian version of the i600. I personally love the way Samsung has added this unique differentiation to its Windows Mobile device. Instead of just launching with some vanilla home screen and colour customizations, they have definitely done a good job of separating themselves from other Windows Mobile vendors. It also seems like this home screen approach would reduce the use of the Start menu, since most of the smartphone features are accessible from the home screen itself. It will definitely help newcomers to the Windows Mobile world find and launch things easily. :) The sad part is that this cool home screen is not available to the American customers. Hopefully Samsung will make it available as a download in the near future.


Saturday, February 24, 2007

In-Depth Look at Samsung's New Home Screen for the i600

Posted by Mike Temporale in "ARTICLE" @ 07:30 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/23/samsung-ultra-messaging-a-peek-at-the-future-of-windows-mobile/

"We're not at liberty to say how, but we acquired some exclusive footage of Samsung's new Ultra Messaging device, which is going to be hitting Asian shelves in short order. What's so special about this particular brand of i600? Check out the interface. We've seen some future builds of Windows Mobile beyond the now-current 6.0, and this is starting to look very familiar. If this is where WinMo's headed, sign us up"

User submitted image

Engadget has as in-depth look at that new home screen that we first saw on PDAGolds article about the new Samsung i600. They�ve got some pictures and even a video showing this home screen in action. I highly recommend that you go and check it out � cool stuff! :mrgreen:


Wednesday, January 24, 2007

SmartVista Home Screen Replacement From JGUI

Posted by Mike Temporale in "SOFTWARE" @ 06:45 PM

http://www.jgui.net/black/smartvista/index.html

"Do you want nicer look and feel on your mobile smartphone? More useful and easier for all your daily needs? See on this program. It displays all information in one conveniently screen. It simulates rich Windows VistaTM interface in a small screen of mobile device, includes Sidebar. This program was designed for Microsoft Smartphone devices with landscape screens, basically. There is no reason at all, to not use it in other mobile devices with Windows Mobile system. Specially, because it doesn't use touch-sensitivity screen for daily operating, but hardware keys only."

User submitted image

Here's a pretty interesting new home screen interface for your Smartphone. It's loaded with features including things like call display - on the home screen, RSS, Time, Weather, Calendar, SMS and so much more. Best of all, it's free with the option to buy if you want some of the extra features. I'll be downloading this as soon as they have a stable BlackJack version. 8)

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  • Source: dudeski


Friday, January 12, 2007

Move Over Apple, Synaptics Shows Touch Screen Phone

Posted by Kris Kumar in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 09:45 PM

http://news.com.com/1606-12994_3-6150132.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

"At CES 2007 in Las Vegas, ZDNet Executive Editor David Berlind speaks to Synaptics' Sr. Director Mariel van Tatenhove about the company's innovative touch screen concept phone."

User submitted image

Wow, it didn't take long. 8O While Steve Jobs was getting all the attention and media-hype for the iPhone, Synaptics was quietly demoing the Onyx concept phone at the CES. The CNET video shows how the new touch screen technology can improve the user experience. I wonder if this is the same technology that is in use on the Apple iPhone? Regardless, it looks like the touch screens are going to be back in style because of the new stylus, our fingers. I think I will have to review my anti-touch-screen stance. ;-)


Thursday, December 21, 2006

Ilium Releases Free Screen Capture Tool for Windows Mobile

Posted by Mike Temporale in "SOFTWARE" @ 03:00 PM

http://www.iliumsoft.com/site/fp/screen_capture.htm

"Ilium Software Screen Capture is a free, fast, and easy screen capturing program for your Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone. Download a copy today and you'll be able to take screenshots quickly, whenever you need to!"

User submitted image

Ilium has just released a handy little tool to help people take screen captures of their device. Best of all, it's free! The picture above shows this running on a Pocket PC, but don't worry, it also supports Smartphones. There are a number of these applications out on the market, but the Ilium one seems to be very straight forward and easy to use, plus it's free. And there's nothing better than free stuff. :mrgreen:


Friday, November 10, 2006

Home Screen Editor by V2R

Posted by Jerry Raia in "SOFTWARE" @ 08:00 AM

http://www.v2r.ag/products/smartphone/HomeScreenEditor.html

"With V2R Home Screen Editor you can add or remove all standard or 3rd party plug-ins, you can rearrange them in the desired order. Additionally you can add new themes or modify existing themes towards yor needs."

User submitted image

Mike reminded me I was just complaining (actually he used another word) about this very thing. Here is another one of those "rearrange the plug ins on your home screen" applications. This one will also let you insert ones that aren't yet there on the screen which is a cool feature. Those of us who use Facade know it will do most of this already. You can get a trial version or pick it up for $9.95 here at our affiliate store.

Tags: editor, home, screen

Thursday, October 19, 2006

V2R Releases the Photo Dialer Beta Plugin for the Home Screen

Posted by Kris Kumar in "SOFTWARE" @ 05:45 PM

http://www.v2r.ag/products/smartphone/PhotoDialer.html

"Photo Dialer shows you a "list" of your Photo Dialer people with their photo's in your Home screen. In order to use this feature just assign photos or any other images to your contacts. You can scroll through the Photo Dialer by using the left/right function with the joystick. In the sleep mode the application shows small thumb nails of your favourite people photos."

User submitted image

Okay, I admit; I have been out of the Smartphone world for quite some time now. :oops: I know that Treo introduced the home screen photo dialer and then I remember this how-to article, but I do not remember ever seeing a photo dialer application for the home screen. The Photo Dialer BETA from V2R looks like a promising application. I like the way the application allows us to enable and disable the home screen plugin, no need to mess around with the XML file.


Saturday, July 29, 2006

New Landscape Home Screen from Kleinweder

Posted by Mike Temporale in "SITES & RESOURCES" @ 09:35 AM

http://smartphone.kleinweder.ch/downloads/index.php

User submitted image

It looks like the internet's best home screen creator has turned his efforts to the new landscape devices like the Motorola Q and the Samsung i320. His new MyDigitalAssistant home screen offers a cool mouse over effect, uses the all day event plugin, and oddly enough, a WiFi status indicator. Neither the Q nor the i320 have WiFi, at least not in their current versions, but that HTC QWERTY device we talked about yesterday is rumored to have WiFi. Anyway, regardless of which landscape device you might have, there's now a cool home screen for you. :D


Thursday, July 20, 2006

Home Screen Photo Dialer with Facade

Posted by Mike Temporale in "THOUGHT" @ 02:15 PM

It's amazing what can happen when you lock a bunch of crazed Smartphone enthusiasts in a room. Ok, nobody was locked in a room. But we did come together to help solve and create a new way to dial your favourite contacts by photo, directly from the home screen of your device. :) The real story is something like this: encece IM'ed me last night about an idea he had for placing calls from the home screen using callers photos. Add Nedge2K (from MoDaCo) into the mix and together we were able to come up with this cool solution. It's easy to do and it requires nothing more than Facade plugin from SBSH. In 3 simple steps, you can have this setup too.

User submitted image

1) Create a picture - 40px by 40px works really well
2) Copy the picture to \Storage\Application Data\Home\Photo Contacts\{picturename.jpg}
3) Edit the Launcher shortcuts in the Facade plugin for your home screen with the following text:
[code]<!-- Facade Plugin Control: This is the launcher bar -->
<plugin clsid="{C49CEC80-D445-407C-AA72-C263EDBBAC96}" name="FacadeLauncher" type="Launcher">
<Buttons>
<Button image="\Storage\Application Data\Home\Photo Contacts\{picturename.jpg}" action="Run" command="tel:5551212"/>
</Buttons>
</plugin>[/code]

A couple things to note; You'll need to change the phone number accordingly, and change {picturename.jpg} to the name of the picture you created. Also, add 1 "Button Image" line for each of the photo shortcuts you want to create.

Check out the discussion on the SBSH forums, or the post on MoDaCo for more information on this cool new twist to an already great tool. :) And, special thanks goes to encece - Great idea! :mrgreen:


Friday, July 7, 2006

Full Screen Video in Windows Media Player Tweak

Posted by Jerry Raia in "SITES & RESOURCES" @ 10:00 AM

http://www.pocketnow.com/index.php?a=portal_detail&t=news&id=3683

"Here�s a great tip for us Smartphone users. This will let video play in full screen in Windows Media Player"

I love tweaks. Here is one for Media Player fans. As always, be aware of the risks and do a backup if you can before you try these kinds of things. I of course try most tweaks without backups, but that's just me. :lol:


Tuesday, June 20, 2006

New Screen Technologies Promise Longer Lasting Phones

Posted by Jerry Raia in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 11:00 AM

http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1766

"Two new screen technologies were shown off this week which could reduce the power strain on mobile devices. Both technologies significantly reduce the power required to light a display, which is typically the majority of a display's power drain. Qualcomm's iMoD uses a complex mirror to even out ambient light and use that to light a transflective-type display. iMoD can supply its own light when no ambient light is available. Liquavista screens, developed by Royal Philips use elecrowetting to create an image using captive droplets of dyed oil."

This sounds interesting. Still in the early stages though as they are only in monochrome. Still we know how fast things are coming to market now. Good news because the screen one of the biggest drains on a battery. Elecrowetting, you have to love the names they come up with for these things.


Samsung Introduces VGA 1.98" LCD Screen

Posted by Mike Temporale in "NEWS" @ 08:00 AM

http://www.samsung.com/PressCenter/PressRelease/PressRelease.asp?seq=20060607_0000261768#

"Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world's largest provider of thin-film transistor, liquid crystal display ( TFT -LCD) panels, announced today that it has developed the industry's first 1.98� LCD panel to achieve VGA resolution, using the company's amorphous silicon (a-Si) technology. Mobile phones equipped with this new, display will be able to show Windows screens and documents with the same VGA quality that is provided by most desktop or notebook PCs."

User submitted image

The press release goes on to talk about the pixels per inch on this new screen. Typical 40" HD LCDs have around 40 pixels per inch (ppi). This new 1.98" screen had 10 times as many - 400 ppi. That's insane! You're phone will have a better, crisper screen than your 40" HD TV! I got to get me one of these screens. :drool:

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  • Source: Edgar


Wednesday, June 7, 2006

OKWAP Slider Smartphone with Touch Screen

Posted by Mike Temporale in "HARDWARE" @ 08:30 AM

http://www.phonedaily.com/news/?news_id=4424

User submitted image

This is pretty wild stuff. OKWAP has added touch screen support to Windows Mobile Smartphone OS. The K728 is a slider style phone that measures 93.5mm x 46mm x 24.5mm and weights in at 107.8g. Inside that small footprint is a Samsung 400MHz CPU (S3C2442A), 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM, Bluetooth 2.0, A2DP support, miniSD slot, a 2.0 Megapixel camera, and a tiny 176x220 touch screen. The phone is listed as a Tri-Band device, which means I don't think there's much chance of seeing on on this side of the pond anytime soon. Regardless, it's an interesting addition by OKWAP. I 'm excited to see what else they can do. In case you think the above picture is really a Pocket PC, you can find more pictures here and be sure to pay close attention to the screens. The K868 is a Pocket PC, but the K728 is a Smartphone - no question.

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  • Source: Darius Wey


Monday, May 8, 2006

Programmatically Rotating the Screen using the .NET Compact Framework

Posted by Kris Kumar in "DEVELOPER" @ 04:30 AM

http://blogs.msdn.com/davidklinems/archive/2006/04/17/577897.aspx

"Several months back, I wrote about how to determine whether or not a device supported screen rotation. This post prompted the question of how to programmatically rotate the device..The snippets below check the device's current display orientation. If portrait (Angle0), the orientation is changed to landscape (Angle90). If the device has any orientation other than Angle0, it is changed to portrait. ... For more information on this and other cool settings provided by the Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms namespace, check out the MSDN documentation for SystemSettings."

David Kline has posted a handy code snippet to rotate the Windows Mobile device's screen orientation. I was hoping to try it out myself but the lazy side of me overpowered me. :) I wonder if triggering this code snippet can permanently change the screen orientation for all the applications or only for the application that calls it. It looks like it will do for all applications. I want to try it so that I can rotate the screen to make my email screen more readable. ;-)


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