Omni "invests in the future" with iPad, delays Mac updates
SAN FRANCISCO—It’s no secret that the Omni Group, makers of well-respected Mac software like OmniFocus, OmniGraffle, and OmniWeb, has decided to go all out for the iPad. The company made the decision to go iPad or bust the minute the device was announced and has been working feverishly ever since then to start making iPad versions of some of its most well-loved apps. This isn’t just another software company hopping on the latest gadget bandwagon, however, something we learned from chatting with CEO Ken Case at the Macworld Expo. Omni is working on investing in the future of multitouch.
The two apps that Omni wants to push for the iPad as soon as possible is OmniGraphSketcher (OmniGS) and OmniGraffle—two apps that are not currently available for the iPhone on the App Store (currently, OmniFocus is the only Omni app available in the App Store). Case said the company wanted to offer something new for iPad users besides what’s already available, and also said that the larger screen of the iPad enabled Omni’s developers to work on things that they simply couldn’t do within the tiny constraints of the iPhone.
etc: Content at Fingerworks.com has been removed just before an expected tablet announcement, even though Apple bought it five years ago. Fingerworks founder Wayne Westerman, now an Apple engineer, is still owner of the the domain name.
Content at Fingerworks.com has been removed just before an expected tablet announcement, even though Apple bought it five years ago. Fingerworks founder Wayne Westerman, now an Apple engineer, is still owner of the the domain name.
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MacRumors
Apple: pixels as touch sensors for brighter, thinner screens
Touchscreens and multitouch technology make up a significant majority of Apple’s research into future user interface improvements, and the iPhone introduced some of those UI paradigm shifts into our increasingly mobile computing. Since almost all interaction with the iPhone—and presumably the hopefully imminent Apple tablet—involves a touchscreen, Apple hopes to improve on touchscreen technology by using each individual LCD pixel as a touch sensor.
Apple has filed a patent application, published today, for a “display with dual-function capacitive elements.” By mixing display and sensing functions into each individual pixel, it would make touchscreens thinner, lighter, and brighter than they currently are today.
Apple flirts with a 3D interface for mobile devices
A recent patent application uncovered by The Baltimore Sun details a user interface for interacting with three-dimensional objects. The described UI may show the future of interaction on the iPhone or the rumored Apple tablet.
The patent application, filed last year but published early last month, describes a number of multitouch gestures to manipulate objects, including icons, presented in a simulated 3D space. Such gestures could present users with a simplified and intuitive way to interact with increasingly complex mobile devices. “As portable electronic devices become more compact, and the number of functions performed by a given device increase, it has become a significant challenge to design a user interface that allows users to easily interact with a multifunction device,” according the patent application.
Speculation is that the described interface may make its debut on an Apple tablet device expected to be revealed later this month. A former Apple employee recently told The New York Times that the device’s user interaction would be unlike what we have seen so far from the iPhone. “You will be very surprised how you interact with the new tablet,” the former employee said.
Curiously, unlike a number of other patent applications related to iPhone technology, Apple’s name appears nowhere on the application itself. A Palo Alto-based IP law firm is listed as the contact, while it turns out the three people listed as inventors do in fact work in software engineering at Apple. Searching for the same law firm turned up several other patents related to iPhone interface elements with Apple employees—including SVP of iPhone software Scott Forstall—listed as inventors. Keeping Apple’s name off of the published patent applications may have been an attempt to prevent publicizing of the patent application prior to the unveiling of the technology.
etc: Part of the surprising new interface for Apple’s tablet m…
Part of the surprising new interface for Apple’s tablet may include an on-demand tactile multi-touch keyboard, according to a recently published patent application that Apple filed earlier this year.
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AppleInsider, USPTO
Multitouch clickwheels may be coming to future iPods
Though the iPod touch has been a great success, it seems there’s still plenty of life in Apple’s clickwheel-based iPods. Apple maybe adding advanced multitouch gestures to them with modified clickwheels, according to a recently published patent application.
The application, filed last September, details a number of ways to increase the number of sensing areas underneath a clickwheel to enable a variety of multitouch gestures. Current clickwheels have sensors arranged in a radial pattern, and work by sensing a finger moving from one to the next around the wheel. Apple’s patent describes adding an additional loop of sensors around the wheel, as well as adding sensors underneath the middle click button.
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Multitouch clickwheels may be coming to future iPods
Though the iPod touch has been a great success, it seems there’s still plenty of life in Apple’s clickwheel-based iPods. Apple maybe adding advanced multitouch gestures to them with modified clickwheels, according to a recently published patent application.
The application, filed last September, details a number of ways to increase the number of sensing areas underneath a clickwheel to enable a variety of multitouch gestures. Current clickwheels have sensors arranged in a radial pattern, and work by sensing a finger moving from one to the next around the wheel. Apple’s patent describes adding an additional loop of sensors around the wheel, as well as adding sensors underneath the middle click button.
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The Bacterial Orchestra uses the iPhone to create "viral music"
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Multimedia, Odds and ends, Developer
This is really wild: what you see above is an example of “viral music” — it’s part of an upcoming music festival that’s taking place in Sweden, and it features a circle of iPhones that are both listening to and playing a very abstract kind of “music.” Each one is picking up audio from its environment, then running it through a series of software filters to make it sound more musical, and finally playing it back in a rhythm. As each iPhone is picking up the tune from the other iPhones it’s playing it back through the same filters, and so on and so forth. All while the software is “judging” each “cell” of sound, to see if it’s interesting or loud enough or so forth, and cells will live or die based on that criteria — in essence, a musical organism.
Like I said, wild. That program is called the “Bacterial Orchestra — Public Epidemic No. 1,” and it sounds like the app will be available on the iPhone soon as well. Of course, you’ll have to have a bunch of iPhones with the app in one place for it to work the way it’s designed, but at least there’s good video of it.
Continue reading The Bacterial Orchestra uses the iPhone to create “viral music”
TUAWThe Bacterial Orchestra uses the iPhone to create “viral music” originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 19 May 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Eliss releases version 1.1
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, Developer, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Unfortunately, I missed Eliss the first time around, but I won’t make the same mistake this time. It’s a game designed by a French and Portugese graphic designer named Steph Thirion, and it’s sort of an abstract multitouch puzzler — you can pull and push together differently colored planets all floating around in a sort of space-like environment, with some groovy synth sound effects and music cuts to back up the gameplay. The game got nominated for an IGF award, and for anyone interested in fun puzzlers (not to mention the possibilities of multitouch in gaming), it’s a must-see.
I say “the first time around,” because it’s been on the App Store for a while now, but the game just got updated to version 1.1, and the main tweak is in the difficulty — there are now 25 levels instead of 20, and the curve has been adjusted to make moving through the stages a little smoother. And the game got a price drop, too — you can pick it up for a mere $3.00. As I said, definitely worth it to get a little multitouch practice in for what might be the future of gaming.
TUAWEliss releases version 1.1 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 07 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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BumpTop as a Finder Replacement: Unlikely
Most people have seen the BumpTop videos on YouTube and TED by now. (If you haven’t, I’ve embedded their current demo vid below. Take a look!) The official desktop replacement has been in private beta (for Windows only) for a little while now, and I’ve had the pleasure of playing along at home. The OS X release is pending, and after what I’ve seen on Windows, I’m interested to use it on my computer of choice.
Immediately, you get the cool vibe when using it. As a geek, I must say it’s just as slick as the video presentations we’ve seen. Though probably much better suited for the multi-touch interface it was designed for, at face value the features seem pretty useful. (Or at least a good alternative to the native Desktop.) But is BumpTop going to be worthy of daily use in place of the vanilla desktop we’re all used to? Right now I think its focus is a little too narrow for that. Here’s why.
BumpTop is first and foremost an application that runs in place of your computer operating system’s desktop interface. It’s neat, but it’s the Desktop, which is usually covered-up by the applications you’re actually using 90 plus percent of the time. In many cases, one of the applications being used quite regularly is probably a file browser, like Finder. This is the space into which I think BumpTop could become a great fit because honestly, who keeps the majority of their files right on the desktop?
Personally, I just don’t focus on my desktop all that much. Some of the craftier among us have begun making their desktops pretty interactive (by using widgets and GeekTool, for instance — see Lifehacker for some of the cool stuff I’m talking about), so they may have room to disagree. For now though, they’re in the minority. But I submit that many of us spend more time in the likes of Finder, looking for files to work with. If BumpTop can come up with a more file-browser-centric strategy, I think it will gain more longevity. Otherwise, I think its cool factor will wear off after a short honeymoon period and fall by the wayside for many users.
You can sign up to get updates on the availability of the Mac version by entering your email address at BumpTop’s web site. If you have a Windows machine, that version is currently available to the public, so you can download and enjoy it for yourself.
