interface

The next version of Ubuntu will get multitouch interface abilities, catching the Linux operating system up to Windows and Mac OS X in at least one domain.

"Every single major PC manufacturer has been asking for a touch story on Linux. This has been one of the major missing points for Linux in the PC ecosystem," said Mark Shuttleworth, founder of the company called Canonical that develops and supports Ubuntu. But multitouch support will arrive in the next version of Ubuntu, 10.10, aka Maverick Meerkat.

Adding multitouch isn't easy, particularly in the open-source world of Linux … Read more

Android app developers looking for user interface inspiration now have something to help get the process going: a cold, sharp piece of laser cut metal that promises to speed up the design mock-up process.

Remember the super thin, laser-cut iPhone user interface design stencil kit from Seattle-based Design Commission? The group has just come out with a follow-up version for Android developers.

The new kit, which retails for $25 (plus $5 shipping), features 150 percent scale cut-outs of standard Google Android OS buttons and iconography, as well as a mechanical pencil and some stickers. Developers can use the stencil to … Read more

Mozilla said it hopes to release its second beta version of Firefox 4 "on or about July 22," bringing Mac users a major new user interface that the first beta enabled by default only on Windows.

That feature, called tabs on top, follows the look of Google Chrome and Opera, in which tabs get top billing over the address bar. It's not revolutionary, but it's hard to change the habits of software used by hundreds of millions of people, so Mozilla has made it easy to switch off and has been taking pains to explain its tab rationale. … Read more

Ever found yourself struggling to stabilize that mobile device for optimum in-flight entertainment? Toronto-based Interaxon says it may have an alternative in the form of thought-controlled in-flight games that let you keep your hands (and gadget stands) tucked away.

Yes, soon enough, you may be playing the likes of Mario Kart on your way from coast to coast--with brain power alone.

Interaxon's system measures brain waves through electroencephalography (EEG) technology, reacting to alpha waves associated with relaxation and beta waves linked to concentration. As users relax or focus their thoughts, the interface translates their brains' electrical activity into a control signal the computer can understand.

Earlier this year, visitors to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver got to test a similar Interaxon system for controlling displays at one of three light shows. At Niagara Falls, for example, they had 15 seconds to harness their brain waves to choose the color for each of seven lights illuminating Horseshoe Falls.

The in-flight system involves a headset, a display attached to the seat in front of the passenger, and games specifically designed for use at 35,000 feet. It was shown off last month at On the Wings of Innovation, a global aerospace symposium organized by the Ontario Aerospace Council and the Ontario government.

At the event, executives from companies like Boeing and Bombardier played with brain wave-controlled software including a meditation title that helps travelers relax and a golf game that helps users improve concentration, focus, and even their golf game. … Read more

The stable version of Google Chrome received multiple security fixes this week, including four rated as "high," while the developer's version adopted an interface tweak to create more room for extension icons.

Google Chrome dev 6.0.453.1 for Windows, Mac, and Linux consolidates the former page control menu into the customization menu that's accessible from the wrench icon. This clears space on the toolbar for an extra extension icon, as well as giving a stronger visual presence to the cut, copy, and paste options, page zoom controls, and the full screen view toggle. Other … Read more

Google has released a tool to let command-line aficionados use several of the Net giant's services with the full glory of a text-based interface.

The tool, called GoogleCL, offers commands to control the contents sites of YouTube, Blogger, and Picasa, and the Google Apps sites of Docs, Calendar, and Contacts.

For example, people can create a photo album, change a document in a text editor, delete all blog posts mentioning a certain word, list all videos, or add a calendar appointment.

Command-line tools aren't for most folks--do you relish the prospect of typing "google youtube post --category … Read more

The market for personal finance software has exploded in recent years, and the quality of these programs varies widely. We're happy to report that Simple Home Budget is one of the better budgeting programs we've come across; the program didn't blow us away, but it's easy to use, and we couldn't find any major faults with it.

The program's interface is well-organized and intuitive, with a helpful calendar in the upper left corner and its major features--transactions, recurring transactions, categories, and overview--arranged in tabs. Simple Home Budget easily passed our primary financial software litmus … Read more

Monkey see, monkey do. And if monkey is a cyborg with a massive robot arm, monkey will do anything it wants.

University of Pittsburgh researchers led by Andrew Schwartz have made a monkey control a seven-axis robot arm and manipulator with its thoughts alone by implanting sensors in the simian's brain.

Like Honda's brain-controlled Asimo experiment, the research is aimed at developing better brain-machine interfaces to give disabled or paralyzed people greater mobility.

The researchers inserted two implants in the animal's motor cortex, covering the arm- and hand-controling areas. The video shows how the monkey controls the … Read more

The venerable dialog box, long a staple of software design, faces extinction or at least endangered-species status in Firefox.

Mozilla designer Stephen Horlander has published Firefox interface mock-ups that illustrate how the browser could look with some options set through a preferences tab rather than through a preferences dialog box.

The designs are experimental, but some of the work is proceeding already. For example, Firefox's new interface for managing add-ons uses this "in-content" interface, and Firefox's about:config controls have appeared in a browser tab for years.

Moving away from dialog boxes is by no means … Read more