New smartphone technology: Microsoft relies on Wave instead of wiping – Business Week

by Julia Gurol

Microsoft emulates Samsung and after working on a new mobile control that works with gestures. Later this year, the devices are coming on the market. What benefits do they offer.

touchscreens Microsoft smartphones could soon be replaced by a new form of mobile control system that works only with gestures. This feature would be similar to the motion control Kinect, which is used in the Xbox game console, hold on the smartphone collection.

This operating concept, which is within the company called “3D Touch” or “real motion” to hardware buttons on the smartphone superfluous . was years, developed over several from Finnish manufacturer Nokia, the mobile phone business, Microsoft has now incorporated.

Tap without touching

functioning is the gesture control very simple: By using “3D Touch” 3D tiles can be tapped on the mobile display without actually touching it. By shaking, turning and shaking the mobile phone user can perform most tasks – apart from entering the phone number or typing of letters in a text

calls could be adopted by holding the phone to your ear.. Infected users of the smart phone back in his pocket, it ends the call automatically. Who waves his hand in front of the device could turn off an alarm. And who covered it with his hand, it will mute.

With no finger work does not the gesture control but still. Although the user should be able to control games and apps without touching the surface of the screen, but they need to move their fingers above the display. This is ensured by the so-called depth sensors, a 3D microphone, a color camera and an installed application.

Copied For Samsung

This form of gesture control is not news. Samsung introduced in March 2013, the Samsung Galaxy S4 before that can be operated by using gestures. “Stay Smart”, “Smart Scroll” and “smart pause” to call the functions that can be set during the initial setup of the smartphone.

by eye movements, the user can scroll on the Samsung smartphone up or down. Thanks to “Smart Stay” the smartphone display remains bright as the user looks up. “Smart Pause” ensures that videos pause when the phone user rolls the view from your smartphone. The only restriction: Scrolling while working in the provided Internet browser, but not in an alternative browser

In addition to the scroll functions Samsung smartphones offer the gesture function “Air View”.. Here a preview of the content is displayed when the finger about a quarter inch on the screen of the SGS4 “floats”. Thus, a compact preview version of the underlying data is displayed.

ensures With Microsoft ” 3D Touch “is also that the unit turns on automatically when it is taken in a particular way in the hand. The camera’s zoom can be adjusted by a simple swipe along the edge devices. And if the finger lingers above a homescreen Tile, jump on small tiles with further options.

The technology that makes the gesture control of Microsoft smartphones possible, is called “McLaren” and will later this year comes on the market. First, it is to be used only for the in-house Microsoft smartphones. Windows Phones from Samsung, HTC and other manufacturers would initially forgo the new technology. But developers should get an interface to access the capabilities of 3D touch.

Originally wanted to introduce 3D touch already with Windows Phone 8.1 on a Nokia smartphone codenamed “Goldfinger” Microsoft, reported the online portal “The Verge”. Nokia’s Goldfinger was now but only intended as a hardware platform for developers.

With the development of gesture control enters Microsoft in a competition with Amazon. For the shipping giant also plans to soon present its own smartphone with gesture control.