Daily News Courier

Does Gestural Computing Break Fitts’ Law?

Fitts’ Law has quantified human-computer interaction for decades. But is it still relevant in a post-GUI world?

You’ve probably never heard of Fitts’ Law, but if you’ve used a computer in the past 25 years, you’ve felt its influence. Fitts’ Law mathematically models how quickly you can point to something–whether it’s with your finger, or with a device like a mouse. It’s a foundational principle of human-computer interaction in the WIMP era–“windows, icons, menus, pointer”–pioneered by Xerox PARC and made mainstream by the original Macintosh. It says that moving a pointer a short distance to a large target is faster than moving a larger distance to a smaller target. This has a distinctly “no duh” flavor to it, but Fitts’ Law has many fascinating and subtle implications for GUI design. If you ever wondered why Apple puts its menu across the top of the screen (instead of anchoring menus to individual windows, like Microsoft does), Fitts’ Law is the reason.

International Galaxy S2 gets Jelly Bean update and new Nature UX

As rumored, the official Jelly Bean update for the international Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-i9100) has started to roll out, starting with unlocked handsets in Spain. The update is based on Android 4.1.2, and features all the benefits you'd expect from that version of the OS, including "Project Butter" performance enhancements and the new Google Search with Google Now.

What's also new is the "TouchWiz Nature UX" from Samsung's 2012 line-up, which has been back-ported to the Galaxy S2 along with Jelly Bean. This means S2 owners will be in for some pretty sweeping visual changes when they apply this latest firmware update. (The ICS update for 2011 Samsung phones was of course based upon the older TouchWiz 4 UI.) Galaxy S2 owners are also set to inherit a bunch of Galaxy S3 features in their Jelly Bean update, including Direct Call, Smart Stay and Pop-up Play (picture-in-picture video).

Right now the update is only available for Spanish Galaxy S2 phones, so other territories may have to wait a few days or weeks for localized firmware to be released. In particular, we wouldn't hold our breath for an immediate release on any of the U.S. Galaxy S2 models. Regardless, it's great to see the latest updates rolling out for an almost two-year-old handset.

Source: SamMobile, via XDA

Is 2013 the year of the smart appliance? LG thinks so, and is bringing them to CES

LG is a big ass company. Like Samsung, another Korean electronics giant, they make a little of everything — if you plug it in, chances are LG makes several different models of it. Of course they make appliances, and their new breed of "smart appliances" look to be pretty damn cool if you're an Android fan.

Get your fridge, or oven, or dryer (you get the picture) installed and turned on, then touch your LG Android smartphone to it and the magic of NFC sets it up so that your phone controls your appliance. You have a Smart Control app to use if you like, or you'll be able to use your voice — "Home-bot, start cleaning" starts up the Roboking cleaning unit, or "Have you got a few minutes, washer?" will tell you the status of the load of laundry you've got washing. As long as you're on the same Wifi network, you're in control.

While it's not quite the level of automation control we see from Hollywood movies, it sounds awful damn cool (and expensive). You bet your ass we're going to look at these next week at CES.

Source: LG (Korea)

?Insatiable Demand? for iPad Mini Reported in China

AppleInsider reports today that according to analyst Brian White from Topeka Capital Markets, the iPad mini is proving to be just as popular in China and Hong Kong that it is all over the world. White even goes as far as to say that there is “insatiable demand” for the iPad mini in China and Hong Kong. The iPad mini went on sale in Hong Kong on November 2, and AppleInsider says that almost all models were sold out this week. The iPad mini did not launch in China until more than a month later, on December 7, and White says that according to his checks in China, the smaller tablet is sold out at Apple’s retail stores in the country.

Quote:

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“Prior to the China launch, we indicated that the iPad mini would be the ‘next big thing in China’ and we believe this phenomenon is starting to develop," said White. "In our view, the smaller form factor and lower price point will allow Apple to sell the iPad mini in more meaningful volumes versus the regular-size iPad.”

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White goes on to say that according to his research, the iPad mini seems to be even more popular than the fourth-gen, regular-sized iPad in China and Hong Kong.

Source: ‘Insatiable demand’ for iPad mini drives stock-outs in China

The week in international Android news – Dec. 22, 2012

As things wind down for the holidays, and the torrent of international Android news temporarily slows to a trickle, there's just enough time for one last weekly round-up. And despite the incoming festivities, there's been plenty of interesting pre-Christmas news.

The week started with news of a serious security vulnerability in certain Samsung phones, which could allow a rogue app to take complete control of affected handsets. The was exploit discovered in kernel code for phones running Samsung's Exynos CPU, meaning it affects devices like the international Galaxy S3 and S2, as well as all Galaxy Note 2 models. It's a bg deal, and Samsung has acknowledged its existence, saying it's working to deliver a fix "as quickly as possible."

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Samsung ‘conducting an internal review’ on Exynos vulnerability

There was potentially worrying news for Samsung phone owners this weekend, as a serious kernel security vulnerability was identified in Android devices running Exynos 4210 and 4412 chips. The list of affected devices includes some of the most popular Samsung phones, like the international Galaxy S2 and Galaxy S3, and all Galaxy Note 2 models. The exploit in Samsung's kernel could give a malicious app free reign over a device's memory, allowing it to take complete control of it.

We reached out to Samsung for comment, and the company has today informed us that it is "currently in the process of conducting an internal review" into the matter. That's not a whole lot of information, but it at least confirms that Samsung's aware of the issue and is looking into it.

We'll keep you apprised of any further developments. In the meantime, if you're concerned about whether your own phone could be affected by this security vulnerability, check out our full report from yesterday.

More: The Samsung Exynos kernel exploit – what you need to know

Samsung ‘conducting an internal review’ on Exynos vulnerability

There was potentially worrying news for Samsung phone owners this weekend, as a serious kernel security vulnerability was identified in Android devices running Exynos 4210 and 4412 chips. The list of affected devices includes some of the most popular Samsung phones, like the international Galaxy S2 and Galaxy S3, and all Galaxy Note 2 models. The exploit in Samsung's kernel could give a malicious app free reign over a device's memory, allowing it to take complete control of it.

We reached out to Samsung for comment, and the company has today informed us that it is "currently in the process of conducting an internal review" into the matter. That's not a whole lot of information, but it at least confirms that Samsung's aware of the issue and is looking into it.

We'll keep you apprised of any further developments. In the meantime, if you're concerned about whether your own phone could be affected by this security vulnerability, check out our full report from yesterday.

More: The Samsung Exynos kernel exploit – what you need to know

What Google Sees in New Hire, Futurist Ray Kurzweil

Kurzweil is best known for predictions of immortality but has also created speech recognition technology

Ray Kurzweil, notable for developing some early speech and text recognition software, and more recently for his views about the singularity and defeating aging, has joined Google. Kurzweil

Android Central 119: Things that are not phones (but still excite us)

Thing 1: We review Samsung things that are not phones

• Samsung Muse review: The S Pebble cometh
• Samsung Galaxy Camera initial photo and video samples

Thing 2: Updates galore

• Verizon Galaxy S3 gets Jelly Bean starting Dec. 14
• EVO 4G LTE – Jelly Bean update – NOW!!!
• International Galaxy Note 2 models get Android 4.1.2 update with new TouchWiz features
• Facebook finally releases a native Android app
• Youtube app updated with new 10-inch tablet layout
• Instagram update brings new filter, performance improvements
• Official Twitter app updated with photo filters

Thing 3: Other stuff

• Verizon Galaxy Note 2 bootloader unlock now available
• Nexus 4 factory images, binaries disappear from Google site
• The best Android smartphones on U.S. carriers [late 2012]
• Samsung reminds us that new things are coming at CES 2013
• The 2012 Android Central Awards – voting is now open!

Pioneer updates AV receivers with HTC Connect support

Pioneer has announced that it's updating firmware o its range of 2012 networked AV receivers with support for HTC Connect streaming capabilities. Announced back in June, Pioneer's HTC Connect support lets users with HTC smartphones stream multimedia content to supporting Pioneer devices, similar to the way HTC's own Media Link HD works.

Pioneer is the first manufacturer to roll out HTC Connect support. Currently-supported AV receiver models include VSX-822-K, VSX-1022-K, VSX-1122-K, VSX-42, VSX-60, SC-1222-K, SX-1522-K, SC-61, SC-63, SC-65, SC-67 and SC-68.

On the HTC side, phones supporting HTC Connect include the One X, One S, EVO 4G LTE, Droid Incredible 4G LTE, One X+, One VX and Droid DNA. On early 2012 phones like the original One X and One S, you'll want to make sure you're running the latest firmware update before attempting to use HTC Connect.

Pioneer says supported devices can be updated through a network update or via a manual update method using a USB drive.

More details in today's presser after the break.

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