john_cox
Senior Editor

Is this the next GUI design for the Android’s OS?

Opinion
May 21, 20092 mins

The video below, from AndroidCommunity.com and Slashgear TV, could be a build of a future version of Android (though at least one reader suggested it might simply be a customization by smartphone maker HTC, which uses Android in phones like T-Mobile’s G1). I admit I’m not extremely familiar with the current Android GUI, o some of the following may already be in latest Android version. But the vide is impressive. Overall, this UI seems much more three-dimensional, or at least more sleekly 3-D, than images and videos I’ve seen of the current version. According to the AndroidCommunity post, this version is being referred to by the codename “Rosie.” The onscreen “cursor” is a bulls-eye-like button that’s highly visible but is somewhat translucent: move it to a widget and the widget is outlined or highlighted, here in an eye catching lime green. The touch interface seems very responsive but also very smooth — easily controlled and manipulated. The selected widgets, applications and data like photos or contact information is arranged somewhat like the Palm Pre’s “deck of playing cards” metaphor. The video shows how to select widgets, widget formats, and then add them to your home page. Here’s the SlashTV video. Future Android GUI? You can compare it with this short video showing some new features in the recently-released Android 1.5 version. Android 1.5 release demonstration:

My general impression is that the GUIs based on Android and Palm’s webOS seem more “organic” (and ill-defined term her, I grant) than the iPhone. Any iPhone user want to chime in? If that’s accurate, I wonder if it might be due in part to the multi-tasking multi-tasking that both OSes enable and exploit.

john_cox

I cover wireless networking and mobile computing, especially for the enterprise; topics include (and these are specific to wireless/mobile): security, network management, mobile device management, smartphones and tablets, mobile operating systems (iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry OS and BlackBerry 10), BYOD (bring your own device), Wi-Fi and wireless LANs (WLANs), mobile carrier services for enterprise/business customers, mobile applications including software development and HTML 5, mobile browsers, etc; primary beat companies are Apple, Microsoft for Windows Phone and tablet/mobile Windows 8, and RIM. Preferred contact mode: email.

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