Dual-screen tablets look bulky, I like the idea of Asus Eee Pad Slider more. But this three-panel phone concept by Kristian Ulrich Larsen is cool, just watch the video below – this thing has a lot of uses!

See more photos at Yanko Design.

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An analyst today agreed that Android Market apps running on the Galaxy Tab’s 7-in. screen with Android 2.2, also known as Froyo, won’t look good. Since Froyo was intended to be used on smartphones with smaller 3-to-4-in. screens, images on a tablet running Froyo will appear stretched or out of focus, pixilated or with jagged edges, said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

If images will appear out of focus, I would suggest this analyst to get a new pair of glasses. A basic knowledge of Android OS also won’t hurt.

The Galaxy Tab has a resolution of 1024 by 600 pixels, which is a little bigger than 800×480 of most modern smartphones. Not twice bigger, so there’s no need for higher resolution graphics. It will use the same (hdpi) UI graphics as in Nexus One, EVO or Galaxy S phones.

It’s important to understand that Android will not scale the entire screen image as on the iPad (this is also known as “pixel doubling”). The Android UI has a “fluid” design, like that on many web pages.

Just check out the image below:

Even if an app was not designed to support large screens, it won’t “look ugly”. It will be displayed in the middle of the screen surrounded with black borders. To fix this, developers should add the following string to the AndroidManifest.xml file:

supports-screens android:largeScreens=”true” android:anyDensity=”true” more…

Samsung will also provide has provided developers with custom AVD and skin as an SDK add-on. I don’t have it yet, but these screenshots below, taken from an emulator with a resolution of 1024×600, will give you an idea how Android apps will look like on the Galaxy Tab.

Tweet from the person who actually have the tablet:

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On one hand we have companies that scale phone UIs to tablets. On the other hand we have companies offering the full blown desktop experience scaled down to tablet size. We believe that both of these approaches will result in crippled user experiences. For example, the tablet form factor is perfect for media consumption and this could be manifested in the UI. TAT recognizes tablets as a radically different type of device – personal and mobile yet powerful and creative. We are now on a quest to design fantastic UIs that are optimized for this device space.

mobileuserinterfaces.blogspot.com

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What is Cubee?
Cubee is an interactive cubic fish tank VR display system that enables viewing from around all the screens. Its perspective-corrected rendering and real-time physics simulation establish an interaction metaphor of having real objects inside a physical box that a user can manupulate.

pCubee is a “personal” Cubee display that is light and compact enough to be held in one hand. We are building Cubees of different sizes for different applications.

www.cubee.ca

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Screen:

OLED screens have much better colors and viewing angles. Blacks are really deep because there is no backlight behind. Below is the picture comparing iPhone, Samsung i7500 and HTC G1 screens.

Camera

With small lenses like in these phones, the number of megapixels doesn’t really matter. As for a LED flash – sometimes it’s good to have it as a flashlight.

Video

Just found this test on the net: Nexus One vs. iPhone 3GS: Which Phone Is the Better Video Device?

Storage

Many reviewers have written about a 256 MB storage for installing apps. Most applications are less than 1 MB in size, so you can easily fit 200-500 apps in Nexus One.

Speaking about gigabyte games: there is no executable code of this size. I think it’s 10-20 MB at most, the rest is game data (levels, textures). And this game data can be stored on your SD card. Did you ever happen to download a small installer which then continued to download the rest of the data? This technique is already been used by Android developers, both in applications and games.

Controls

Back button is used not only to return to the previous screen within the same application, but also to return to the previously started application. You don’t have to return to the Home screen every time.

Menu button might not be very intuitive on first day of use, just like a Mac menu bar for some Windows users. But it saves a valuable screen space.

Trackball is rarely used, but it’s helpful for precise browser navigation and in other apps that support it. It’s also the only possible way you can dial a number with your gloves on.

Audio playback controls. Yes, I’m asking where is audio playback buttons on these so-called “multimedia” phones. And AVRCP support is not very good on iPhone, at least I can’t get to work these buttons on Jabra Halo wireless headphones.

Applications

Many people think that applications on the iPhone are more polished. Well, maybe not all:

My point is: nothing prevents the developers from making polished apps for Android.

Multimedia

Sure, it’s hard to beat the iPod. But I personally think that Spotify and similar services are the future. You can listen and discover music on a mobile device or a desktop, and there’s no need in syncing your music via USB cables or something else.

Multi-touch

It may be a matter of preference, but for me personally the multi-touch proved to be useful only when playing a game or typing on a virtual keyboard. It’s good as an additional zoom method in Google Maps, and may or may not be handy when browsing the Web. As for the latter, a double tap in the browser works good enough for me.

Anyway, the Android platform has multitouch support in its API since version 2.0. If you want multi-touch support in the browser (it’s device dependent) or in the maps application, try downloading Dolphin and Maverick from Android Market.

Update: multitouch functionality in stock apps (browser, maps, gallery) added in the recent OTA update.

Fragmentation

There aren’t many problems with multiple screen resolutions on Android devices. Check out this post on how the same application looks on 240×320, 320×480 and 480×854 screen resolutions.

Of course, different devices have different Android versions, but eventually all of them will be upgraded to 2.x (maybe except Samsung i7500, but some hackers are already porting v2.0 to it). Generally, if you have a phone with 1.6, you can install any app from the Market.

Dear iPhone fans

Please stop shouting “iPhone is better!” on every corner. If you are happy with your current devices, Apple will be happy with their sales. Maybe that’s why 3GS is not that different from its previous generation. Why bother making a better device if your current sales are so good?

Competition has always been a natural way to get the best out of someone. Google has done a remarkable thing in the mobile devices front in terms of openness to software developers, something that Apple has yet to surprise us.

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Follow the discussion in the Bonnier R&D Beta Lab:
bonnier.com/en/content/digital-magazines-bonnier-mag-prototype

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