Adobe’s ‘core’ design apps are now all touch-friendly on Windows

When the Surface Pro 3 was announced last spring, Adobe revealed that it was working on touch-friendly versions of its design apps for Windows. At today's Max event, the company announced that its collection "core" apps are ready to accept your swi...

Panasonic Eluga P P-03E takes on Samsung with its own air gestures (video)

Panasonic Eluga P P03E centers on air gestures, says two can play Samsung's game

Don't think that the Galaxy S 4 has a lock on the concept of touch-free input. Panasonic has bolstered NTT DoCoMo's summer lineup with the Eluga P P-03E, a 4.7-inch Android phone whose one-handed interface can involve even less finger contact than Samsung's flagship. Its central Touch Assist feature lets owners unlock their phone, answer calls, preview content and enter text by hovering a digit just above the glass. The handset is no slouch outside of its signature trick, either -- it carries a 1080p LCD, a 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor, 32GB of expandable storage and a sizable 2,600mAh battery. Japanese customers will have their chance at Panasonic's above-the-screen magic in late June, although we wouldn't count on the Eluga P reaching the US anytime soon.

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Panasonic (translated)

SwiftKey 4 launches with Flow, personal style detection (hands-on)

SwiftKey 4 launches with Flow, personalized recommendations handson

SwiftKey has been promising its own answer to Swype ever since it launched the SwiftKey Flow beta late last year, and the company's retort is at last finished. The newly available SwiftKey 4 -- Flow is just a component here -- brings Android writers the promised gesture-based typing along with Flow Through Space, which lets users glide to the spacebar to keep typing rather than pause after every word. The upgrade also expands contextual word prediction to 60 languages, offers simpler corrections and watches for personal typing habits to adjust accordingly -- it should learn whether you're a hunt-and-peck newcomer or a seasoned pro blazing along with both thumbs. The update is free for existing users in both phone- and tablet-sized forms, and it's temporarily priced at $2 (normally $4) to lure in anyone who isn't happy with their existing input methods.

We gave the final version a spin on a Galaxy Nexus, and much of what we saw in the SwiftKey Flow beta holds true with SwiftKey 4. Anyone comfy with a gesture-based keyboard will be happy with the speed and accuracy here, especially when they don't have to lift their finger between words. However, the previous quirks remain as well: Flow Through Space tends to melt down after a few words, so you'll want to stop after "the quick brown fox" before you finish with "jumps over the lazy dog." The style recognition is harder to gauge when this author is an an experienced user who's only had a short while to teach the app any tricks, but the simplified corrections are handy for quickly polishing up a sentence. While we don't feel that SwiftKey is orchestrating a revolution with version 4, it doesn't have to -- the appeal here is not having to give up SwiftKey's generally well-regarded feel to get a feature previously reserved for competitors. It remains our go-to keyboard for those times we don't like what Google or phone designers have to offer.



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SwiftKey 4 Best-Selling Android App Revolutionized with Innovative 'SwiftKey Flow' Gesture Typing

SAN FRANCISCO -- February 20, 2013 - SwiftKey 4 launches today on Google Play with smarter features that make typing on a touchscreen faster, easier and more accurate. Available now at the promo price of $1.99 and as a free upgrade for existing users, the new release features a unique take on gesture typing called SwiftKey Flow.

SwiftKey Flow combines the mind-reading capabilities of SwiftKey's personalized autocorrect engine with the speed of gliding your fingers across the screen. This revolutionary approach to continuous input begins predicting words from the moment a user touches the screen and goes on to predict their next word when they let go. A unique feature called 'Flow Through Space' also makes gesture typing more powerful than ever before by allowing users to enter entire phrases simply by gliding to the space bar between words.

SwiftKey 4 adds to everything that has made the app a bestseller since first launching in 2010. Users can still tap to type, the app constantly learns a user's style to ease the frustration of entering long words and users can further personalize predictions by granting access to their Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, SMS or blog posts.

"Everyone's had embarrassing autocorrect moments," said Ben Medlock, SwiftKey co-founder and CTO. "That's why we built SwiftKey to understand the context of words, not just their spelling. It works from the word go to adjust to you - from the phrases you write to how you touch the screen. It means you don't have to worry about typing, it does all the hard work for you."

The new features in SwiftKey 4 include:

* SwiftKey Flow - blending SwiftKey's mind-reading next-word prediction and autocorrect with the speed of gesture typing
* Flow Through Space - lets users write entire sentences in one motion without ever having to lift their finger to add a space
* Support for contextual prediction across 60 languages - with new support for Albanian, Bosnian, Javanese, Sundanese, Thai and Vietnamese, all with dynamic auto-correction and next word prediction
* Easier corrections - tap on a word and SwiftKey 4 will move the cursor to the end of the word and offer two alternatives
* Personalized typing style - whether you write inaccurately with two thumbs or more carefully using a single finger, SwiftKey 4 now automatically adapts to how users type to provide more insightful corrections and prediction

Beta versions of the app have been tested by more than 200,000 SwiftKey fans over the last 11 weeks, with more than 2.4 billion characters flowed. A No.1 best-selling app on Google Play in 38 countries, SwiftKey is available in 60 languages and counting. For more information about SwiftKey, visit www.swiftkey.net.

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Source: SwiftKey

Elliptic Labs develops touchless gesture control for Windows 8, assuages our fear of fingerprints (video)

Elliptics Labs develops touchless gesture control for Windows 8, assuages our fear of fingerprints

The rise of touchscreen Windows 8 PCs isn't a happy occasion for anyone who's been carefully keeping PC screens clean: years of slapping wayward hands have been undermined by an interface that practically begs us to smudge up the display. While we suspect it's really aiming for ease of use, Elliptic Labs may have heard that subliminal cry for cleanliness while producing its new Windows 8 Gesture Suite, a touchless control system built for a very touch-focused platform. The company's newest take on ultrasound control can pick up 3D hand motions near the display and invoke all of Windows 8's edge swipes and scrolling without the extra effort (or grease) of putting skin to screen. The method doesn't need a one-to-one map of the screen and can work even in pitch darkness, which leaves adoption mostly dependent on hardware support rather than any wary users -- despite immediate availability for the SDK, PCs need extra microphones and transducers to drop the touch layer. If computers with the Gesture Suite arrive in the hoped-for 12 to 14 months, though, we can get back to obsessing over a fingerprint-free LCD while saving some physical strain in the process.

Continue reading Elliptic Labs develops touchless gesture control for Windows 8, assuages our fear of fingerprints (video)

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Elliptic Labs develops touchless gesture control for Windows 8, assuages our fear of fingerprints (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 06:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourceElliptic Labs  | Email this | Comments

Tokyo University of Technology’s Pinch interface creates ad hoc video walls from mobile devices (video)

Tokyo University of Technology's Pinch interface creates impromptu video walls from mobile devices video

Most video walls would be just a tad too large for the average living room, but the Tokyo University of Technology might have a clever technique to make them travel-sized. Its new Pinch interface joins mobile devices (currently iOS hardware) into a single display simply by making the namesake gesture between at least two gadgets: WiFi keeps them in sync and recognizes the relative size and orientation. While we probably wouldn't resort to a wall of iPads in place of a large TV, there's clear practical uses like extra-large creative apps, communication and very local multiplayer games. The best news may be that the university isn't keeping the technology to itself. It wants developers to borrow Pinch for their own apps, which could lead to a legion of smartphones and tablets getting extra-cozy.

Continue reading Tokyo University of Technology's Pinch interface creates ad hoc video walls from mobile devices (video)

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Tokyo University of Technology's Pinch interface creates ad hoc video walls from mobile devices (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink DigInfo TV  |  sourceDigital Content Expo  | Email this | Comments

SwiftKey Flow keyboard takes the fight to Swype with predictive gestures (video)

SwiftKey Flow keyboard takes the fight to Swype with predictive gestures video

SwiftKey must be keen to finish its bout with Swype, as it just went for the knockout. It's launching SwiftKey Flow, an extension of its Android keyboard that blends SwiftKey's familiar word prediction with the hold-and-swipe gestures we most commonly associate with the company's arch-rival. Speed-minded typists now just have to glide across the virtual keys and let go as soon as Flow makes a correct guess. They don't have to pick a typing mode and stick with it, either, as both gestures and the usual taps will work at the same time. Prospective testers will want to sign up today for the SwiftKey Flow beta starting in the next few weeks. Everyone else, though, might want to watch from the bleachers -- the new parallels between SwiftKey and Swype just made this fight infinitely more entertaining.

Continue reading SwiftKey Flow keyboard takes the fight to Swype with predictive gestures (video)

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SwiftKey Flow keyboard takes the fight to Swype with predictive gestures (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CyanogenMod code fixed to prevent unlock gestures from being logged locally on handsets

Line of CyanogenMod code means unlock gestures may have been logged locally on handsets

If you're one of the root-and-ROM brigade, it's also likely that you have a keen eye on what goes on under the hood of your mobile OS. It might, then, come as a surprise to users of CyanogenMod, that a line of code could have been logging your phone-unlock gestures and patterns. Gabriel Castro, a developer involved in the project, was surprised to spot the rogue logging, that seems to have been part of an update regarding grid sizes for screen locks in August. While there is no serious compromise to users (gaining access to the log file would involve a lot of work, and direct access to the phone) it will certainly be considered an unwelcome addition by many, and a reminder that open-source relies heavily on trust. The issue has been resolved in an update, so if you're at all unsettled at the thought, perhaps now is the time to get the latest build.

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CyanogenMod code fixed to prevent unlock gestures from being logged locally on handsets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ArsTechnica  |  sourceCyanogenMod, GitHub  | Email this | Comments

Microsoft Touch Mouse gets promised Windows 8 support, works like a Charm

Microsoft Touch Mouse hands-on

Microsoft vowed that its Touch Mouse would get Windows 8 support in time for the software's big release day, and it's being very true to its word by posting the relevant update with less than a week to go. Mouse and Keyboard Center 2.0 saves time for those not graced with a touchscreen by introducing multi-touch swipes that bring up Windows 8's Charm bar, switch between active apps and invoke Semantic Zoom. Will the Touch Mouse update trick you into thinking you have a Surface? No, but it's certainly much easier on the wallet.

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Microsoft Touch Mouse gets promised Windows 8 support, works like a Charm originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Oct 2012 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourceMicrosoft  | Email this | Comments

Pioneer’s latest Raku Navi GPS units take commands from hand gestures

Pioneer's latest Raku Navi GPS units take commands from hand gestures

An AR heads-up display wasn't the only navigation hardware Pioneer showed off at CEATEC 2012. The firm also took the opportunity to tear the wraps off a new line of gesture-controlled Raku Navi GPS units. With the infrared-powered Air Gesture feature, drivers can wave their hand in front of a device to pull up a menu with commands such as setting their home or a personal haunt as a destination or skipping to the next tune on a playlist. Once a hand is retracted, the menu will be replaced with the usual map interface. Though the solution isn't completely hands-free, horizontal hand waves can be assigned one of ten different functions. Japanese store shelves will be lined with two dashboard-embeddable units by mid-October, while four console-independent models will join them in early November. As of now, there's no word if the hardware will make the pilgrimage stateside.

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Pioneer's latest Raku Navi GPS units take commands from hand gestures originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 04:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo, Tech-On!  |  sourcePioneer  | Email this | Comments

Google makes Gesture Search compatible with Nexus 7, improves app’s overall performance

Google makes Gesture Search compatible with Nexus 7, improves app's overall performance

Earlier this morning, Google did the iOS crowd a generous favor by flipping the switch on its Street View service to help alleviate some of those Maps troubles, so it's only natural to take care of the Android faithful as well. With that in mind, Google has updated its Gesture Search to be fully compatible with the ASUS-built Nexus 7, as well as improving the application's UI, boosting search performance, adding support for more languages and allowing contacts without digits to now be searchable. The new version of Gesture Search can be downloaded now via Google Play, straight from your device or by simply using the link down below.

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Google makes Gesture Search compatible with Nexus 7, improves app's overall performance originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Droid Life  |  sourceGoogle Play  | Email this | Comments