N0w Fee! ImAgeS 0n Y0ur Smartphones

Smartphone users can now 'feel' images and objects seen on their touchscreen! 

In a game-changing invention, engineers at Disney Research, Pittsburgh, have developed a new technique that allows you to feel the texture of objects seen on a flat touchscreen. 

The novel algorithm enables a person sliding a finger across a topographic map displayed on a touchscreen to feel the bumps and curves of hills and valleys, despite the screen's smooth surface. 

The technique is based on the fact that when a person slides a finger over a real physical bump, he perceives the bump largely because lateral friction forces stretch and compress skin on the sliding finger.

By altering the friction encountered as a person's fingertip glides across a surface, the Disney algorithm can create a perception of a 3D bump on a touch surface. 

The method can be used to simulate the feel of a wide variety of objects and textures. 

"Our brain perceives the 3D bump on a surface mostly from information that it receives via skin stretching," said Ivan Poupyrev, who directs Disney Research, Pittsburgh's Interaction Group. 

"Therefore, if we can artificially stretch skin on a finger as it slides on the touchscreen, the brain will be fooled into thinking an actual physical bump is on a touchscreen even though the touch surface is completely smooth," Poupyrev said in a statement. 

In experiments, researchers used electrovibration to modulate the friction between the sliding finger and the touch surface with electrostatic forces. 

Researchers created and validated a psychophysical model that closely simulates friction forces perceived by the human finger when it slides over a real bump. 

The model was then incorporated into an algorithm that dynamically modulates the frictional forces on a sliding finger so that they match the tactile properties of the visual content displayed on the touchscreen along the finger's path. 

A broad variety of visual artifacts thus can be dynamically enhanced with tactile feedback that adjusts as the visual display. 

"The traditional approach to tactile feedback is to have a library of canned effects that are played back whenever a particular interaction occurs," said Ali Israr, a Disney Research, Pittsburgh research engineer who was the lead on the project. 

"This makes it difficult to create a tactile feedback for dynamic visual content, where the sizes and orientation of features constantly change. With our algorithm we do not have one or two effects, but a set of controls that make it possible to tune tactile effects to a specific visual artifact on the fly," Israr said. 

The new research will be presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in St Andrews, Scotland.

Samsung launches Galaxy Round with curved screen

Samsung Electronics launched the world's first smartphone with a curved display, a variant of the Galaxy Note which moves the Asian giant a step closer to achieving wearable devices with flexible - even unbreakable - screens.

Curved displays are on the frontline of Samsung's innovation war with rivals such as Apple and LG Electronics, as the South Korean firm seeks to expand its lead in the slowing market for high-end smartphones.

"It's a step forward for having unbreakable gadgets and flexible devices eventually. But for now, the new phone is more of a symbolic product," said Hana Daetoo Securities analyst Nam Dae-jong, adding that Samsung did not yet have capacity for large-scale production of curved touch-screens for the new Galaxy Round.

The Galaxy Round is Samsung's attempt to gauge consumer appetite for curved phones although its lack of other eye-catching features means it is unlikely to be a hit, he said.

"I don't think it'll be massively compelling enough for gadget buyers as ... the curved display doesn't come with many unique features," he said.

The Galaxy Round's 5.7-inch (14.4-centimetre) display has a slight horizontal curve and weighs less than the Galaxy Note 3, allowing a more comfortable grip than other flat-screen models on the market, Samsung said in a statement.

Its key features include a tilt function which allows users to check information such as missed calls and battery life, even when the home screen is off. Users can also scroll through media files by pressing the screen's right or left, the company said.

The phone initially would be available only in South Korea and no decision had been made about releasing it in other markets.

Design challenges
Curved displays open up possibilities for bendable designs that could eventually transform the high-end smartphone market, where growth has slowed amid competition from low-end producers.

Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch released last month has a flat screen, but the company is hoping to have the technology to make more attractive and wearable devices in what is shaping as a key battleground for consumer electronics companies.

Technology firms have yet to figure out how to cheaply mass produce the parts and come up with display panels that can be thin and heat-resistant. Batteries also have to take new forms to support flexible screens that can be rolled out, attached to uneven surfaces or even stretched. The battery in the Galaxy Round is not curved, Samsung said.

Competition is heating up with Samsung's cross-town rival LG Electronics planning to introduce a smartphone with a vertically curved display in the first week of November, a source familiar with the matter said this week.

Its components affiliate, LG Chem, said on Tuesday it had started commercial production of a curved battery for use in the device.

The firm also said it has developed a battery in cable form, suitable for wearable devices, and expected to start commercial production within the next couple of years.

Technology analysts and media reports say Apple is working on a smartwatch, potentially with a curved screen, but there has been no word from the California-based company about its plans.

Samsung's new curved-screen phone, available through South Korea's biggest mobile carrier SK Telecom, costs 1.089 million won ($1,000).

YouTube plans to come on TV soon

 Google is making a big push to boost YouTube usage in India and is in talks with direct-to-home cable providers to bring the service to televisions screens, its global director of platform partnerships, Francisco Varela, said.

Varela, who is on his first trip to India, said the country was among the video service's fastest-growing markets and that talks were on with partners to boost usage further. Strategically, YouTube is an important part of Google's revenues, which crossed $50 billion (about Rs 3.1 lakh crore) in 2012.

About 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube and about 100 hours of video are uploaded to the service every minute. "When we talk to direct-tohome providers or television makers or device makers, it's so that you can watch YouTube on every screen you have, in a fully scalable way," Varela told ET.

Varela declined to name the DTH providers he was in discussions with and would only say the company was working on a tie-up "as soon as possible". The video platform receives more than 55 million unique monthly users from India, up from 15 million in 2011, a number set to grow as internet and mobile penetration in the country rises.

Access to DTH subscribers would open up more viewers for YouTube, which has already become a key component of companies' digital marketing and advertising spend. According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, there were about 54 million DTH subscribers, at the end of last year.

The major DTH players are Dish TV, Tata Sky, AirtelBSE 2.77 % Digital TV, Videocon D2H, Reliance Digital TV and Sun Direct. YouTube already has partnerships with television makers like Samsung, LG, Sony for making the video sharing site available on their smart TVs. As of March, India had about 164 million users, with seven out of eight of them accessing the internet from their phones. But network speed still remains a barrier for YouTube in India.

Google Hangouts update to add SMS, MMS

Google Hangouts will soon get SMS and MMS integration with the upcoming update.

Micromax’s rival to Samsung Galaxy S4 in works: Report

Samsung has been in the news for the past few weeks for the launch of its Galaxy Note 3, while Micromax has been relatively quiet. Its last top-end smartphone was Canvas Doodle 2, which was launched in July. 

It is now rumoured that Micromax is gearing up to launch a new top-of-the-line smartphone in November, which is expected to be named Canvas Turbo. And the specifications of this device have leaked already, courtesy technology website DroidNext. 

The report claims that the phone will have a full HD display (resolution of 1920x1080p). Similarresolution is already a standard feature in all top-end Android smartphones and phablets today, including Samsung Galaxy S4 and Note 3, HTC One, Sony Xperia Z1 and Z Ultra as well as LG G2 and G Pro etc. Entire current crop of Micromax phones has maximum screen resolution of 1280x720p only. 

The upcoming Micromax Canvas Turbo is said to have a Mediatek MT6589T chipset, with a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and 357MHz GPU. This handset will come with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) out of the box, but it is speculated that the manufacturer will release the Android 4.3 update soon after the launch. 

This phone is also said to have a 13MP rear camera, 5MP front unit, 32GB internal storage and 64GB microSD card support. It is speculated to have 1GB RAM, while most top Android smartphones today have 2GB RAM. 

HTC One mini available online for Rs 35,000

HTC One mini, the smaller version of HTC One smartphone, may finally be launched in India soon. 

Though the phone has been listed on the Taiwanese company's Indian website for long, there has been no word when the company would launch it in the country. But online retailers have started selling the smartphone, even though it continues to be listed as 'Coming Soon' on HTC India's site. 

At least two online sellers, Flipkart and Infibeam, have started selling HTC One mini with manufacturer warranty. Infibeam is taking pre-orders for the smartphone for Rs 35,054, with delivery date of October 11. On the other hand, Flipkart is selling the smartphone for Rs 37,299, promising delivery within next 6-7 days. 

Rival smartphones like Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, Google Nexus 4 and Sony Xperia SP can be purchased for approximately Rs 26,000 in the market. 

HTC One Mini has a 4.3-inch screen with 1280x720p resolution and 341ppi pixel density. It runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), topped with Sense 5.0 user interface, and packs a 1.4GHz dual-core processor under the hood. It has 1GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and no microSD card support. 

The new One Mini features a 4MP UltraPixel camera and LED flash on the back, while a 1.6MP unit is present in the front. The handset has connectivity features like 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB 2.0. This phone has a 1,800mAh battery and comes with BoomSound speakers and Beats Audio technology for sound enhancement. 

In terms of design, the HTC One Mini looks exactly like the current flagship, though the dimensions are smaller due to the decrease in screen size.