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HTC Firestone leaked online - real design or fan-made render? Posted: 23 Jul 2009 09:45 AM PDT
Gorgeous phone. And they keep coming out with winners, because according to WMExperts, a new render of something called the HTC Firestone has popped up online. The question is, though, whether this is the real deal, or a fan-made teaser, and at the moment, it could go either way. The HTC Firestone itself is pretty certain to be actually happening, as specs for the device were leaked earlier in the year. They include things like an 8MP camera, a nice big WVGA screen, and Windows Mobile 6.5 Pro. So, there’s little doubt the Firestone will, at some point, actually happen. No, the debate is whether this new image is actually it. This new image with its offset call keys, and weird looking, front-facing loudspeaker (which could be either sublime or awful… the jury’s out on that one). Oh, and then, of course, there’s the rumour that this and the HTC Leo, whose specs were leaked on Tuesday, are one and the same, but if that’s true, then the specs of the Firestone must’ve been beefed up rather considerably, since the Leo’s specs are far superior. All we can say for certain, at the minute, is that at some point, HTC will unveil a new top-end Windows Mobile phone. I would imagine it’ll be built to go toe to toe with the Toshiba TG01, but hey, even that’s not confirmed yet… Ok, that might not be a very good conclusion to this blog post, but I’ll be blogging about it when more concrete info emerges, so keep ‘em peeled, folks! More news as it happens! And be sure to subscribe now to get all the latest action from the world of mobile phones! |
New Synaptics screen tech goes multitouch crazy Posted: 23 Jul 2009 09:22 AM PDT
And to that, I reply, “No it’s not!” ‘Cool’ is the new technology that Synaptics have come up with, according to IntoMobile, where they’ve looked at multitouch devices, and clearly thought to themselves that if you’re using two fingers on screen at once, you’re not using enough fingers. So, they’ve come up with the Synaptics 3000 series screen. Two fingers on screen simultaneously? Nah. Three? Nope. Try being able to use ten fingers on screen simultaneously… Yes, my first reaction when I saw it was to wonder why you’d need to use ten fingers at once on screen, too; or, more to the point, how it’s even possible to use ten fingers on screen at once, and still hold the phone. I have to wonder if Synaptics know something we don’t about how the human hand is going to evolve in future… Anyway, even if you’re using just three fingers, as he is in the demo video, it leads to some rather cool new ideas for gesture controls, since they’re all the rage now. For example, with the Palm Pre, it lets you do things like flinging apps off the top of the screen with an upward swipe to close them. Or, of course, there’s the infamous pinchy motion of an increasing number of phones, which lets you zoom in and out on things. Rake a look at what Synaptics have come up with: My favourite’s that ‘crumple’ gesture, where you use three fingers to scrunch up the screen, like you’re crushing a bit of paper to chuck it in the bin. That’s for closing apps. Or, there’s the one where you rub your finger across an item in a menu, just like you’re using a rubber (and if you’re reading this in America, I mean an eraser, not what you’re thinking…), which erases the thing you’re rubbing out from the menu. In other words, clever stuff, and since it can support ten fingers at once, it’s perfectly designed for the day when alien tentacle beasts arrive and enslave us all… Hey, it could happen… More news (but probably not about alien tentacle beasts) as it happens! And be sure to subscribe now to get all the latest action from the world of mobile phones! |
I’m a bit of an HTC fan, I have no shame in admitting that (despite my Sony Ericsson love affair). They’ve been cranking out some rather lovely phones, and my opinion of them was enhanced last night, when I got the chance to have a play around with my mate’s new HTC Touch Pro2.
The big new buzzword in touchscreen phones is multitouch. First seen on the original iPhone, a load of handsets now support multitouch, including top-enders like the Palm Pre and, surprisingly, non-smartphones like the | You are subscribed to email updates from Mobile Phone News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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