Microsoft Proposes Two New Thumb-Driven User Interfaces
A team of Microsoft researchers have come up with AppLens and LaunchTile, two possible user interfaces that can be controlled entirely with a single thumb.
I have dreamed of just this at least 5 times a day for years.
I like the way my OS 5 Zire lets me pop up the time/date with a poke at the center button (though, I need a fingernail or pen to hit is properly. I actually was ready to send it back as defective until I was advised how precisely you have to hit the middle of some buttons)
I have frequent need of popping up DiddleBug to set a quick alarm. Can't do it without a stylus now.
This would be very handy. I am shocked that MS came up with it, but who cares. My next handheld seems more and more likely to be a WM... PPC... whatever they are being called now.
Actually, I don't think it was really MS that came up with AppLens; it was the team at the University. I could be wrong though. Since it uses .NET it probably was funded by MS though.
Seems like it would be pretty good but a couple of things that come to mind; smudges on the screen and a cramped thumb.
AppLens looks pretty cool. It reminds me of the way some of the early IBM voice control software for PC's worked, dividing the screen into a grid of nine boxes, with each selected box being further subdivide into another grid until you narrowed in on the object you wanted.
Thumb driven one handed operation...What a great idea (PalmOne Treo). The engineers at Microsoft truly are amazing . What will they think of next? Maybe when you close a program with a one handed thumb movement- The program will actually close (Treo)!!!!!!
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Microsoft Proposes Two New Thumb-Driven User Interfaces
5 Times a day
