One of Microsoft’s latest research projects offers gesture controls using a computer’s speakers, microphone and inaudible sounds. The technology is called “SoundWave” and it utilizes the Doppler effect to detect gestures. With the help of a computer’s speakers and microphone, SoundWave can detect the frequency change of a sound wave by using inaudible sounds and measuring the change in feedback as a hand gesture is performed. Even if a user is playing music on his or her laptop o...

A recent patent application from Microsoft reveals that the software giant is looking to bring real-time hand-gestures to tablets, PatentBolt reported on Monday. The patent summary doesn’t provide an extensive overview of the invention — instead, the company states “its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.” Microsoft goes on to say that there is “a need to provide simple, ...

Some believe a future full of massive, gesture-controlled computer displays like the ones seen in Twentieth Century Fox’s Minority Report are an inevitability, and a prototype PC designed by an intern with the Microsoft Applied Sciences Group may be among the first steps in making that future a reality. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D student and MIT Media Lab research assistant Jinha Lee recently set out to change the way we interact with desktop computers. While progress has been made wi...

Swype released the latest version of its popular software keyboard exclusively for Sprint Nexus S 4G users on Tuesday. Swype now supports new app gesture features, shortcuts, dictionary management, automatic noun capitalization and more. Users, for example, can now move from the Swype Key to “t” and then “w” to automatically launch Twitter. The shortcuts feature allows you to select all by moving from the Swype Key to “a,” and cut, copy or paste using similar gestures. We t...

Today Microsoft’s Larry Hyrb, also known as Major Nelson, announced that Microsoft has added Netflix support to the Xbox 360 Kinect accessory. Using Kinect, you’ll be able to browse your Netflix queue by waving your hands or speaking out loud, which means you won’t have to go searching for your Xbox 360 controller just to watch a movie. Controls include the ability browse, play, pause, fast forward and rewind, and you can perform any of those actions using your voice or gestures. Hyrb said t...

Google has announced an update to its Google Mobile App for iOS that adds several new features and gives the application a shorter name. Henceforth to be known simply as Google Search, the new application adds Google Apps shortcuts, gesture support, and a new toolbar, that make hunting down that nugget of Internet gold even easier from your iPhone or iPod touch. The application is available for free in the App Store immediately. There is a video demoing some the new features after the break. (more…)

Apple has been testing multitouch gestures for quite a while, and we reported in January that this will likely lead to Apple ultimately ditching the home button on future iPad and iPhone devices. The feature, which simplifies certain tasks such as app switching, still isn’t available to the general public. But as it turns out, anyone can enable multitouch gestures on the iPad or iPad 2 with just a few minutes and $5. As pointed out by Gizmodo, users can simply purchase Apple’s iOS developer softwa...

Today at Mobile World Congress, mobile processor juggernaut Texas Instrument held a press event to offer some additional details about its OMAP 4 and 5 processor lines. Greg Delagi, the company’s senior vice president and general manager, gave the keynote — which took place right on the showroom floor. He emphatically talked about the need to push the capabilities of “smart devices” forward while being mindful of the constraints battery technology puts on the industry. Both RIM and LG ...

BGR exclusively reported on Wednesday that Apple is currently testing a variety of gestures on its iPhone. While the more interesting gestures are still locked away safely on the Apple campus, the task-switching gesture managed to come out to play in Apple’s recent iOS 4.3 beta software. Antoni Nygaard decided to laugh in the face of Apple’s developer agreement on Wednesday and show off these new gestures on camera. As we’ve pointed out in the past, these gestures are currently in place for ...

One of our Apple sources has just sent us over a couple screen shots from what we’re told is an internal test model of the iPhone 4. The shots are interesting because it looks like Apple is testing multitouch gestures on the iPhone in addition to the iPad. While this isn’t shocking, what’s interesting is that internally, the same amount of fingers applies to gestures on both devices. What we mean by this, is that you have to use four finger gestures on the iPhone just like the iPad — k...

We just got some pretty wild information from one of our Apple sources and while it’s hard to believe at first, it does make sense. We have exclusively been told that the reason Apple just added multitouch gestures for the iPad in the latest iOS 4.3 beta is because the iPad will be losing the home button. Yes, we are told that Apple, at some point in time, will remove the home button from the iPad’s design. Instead of button taps, you will use new multitouch gestures to navigate to the home screen...

Following news that iOS 4.3 beta 1 has been seeded to developers, Apple’s servers are no doubt being hammered by anxious developers looking to explore all the new features. We pinged a few of our dev friends for feedback on new additions they’ve found and here’s what we have so far:Personal hotspot capabilities for GSM devices — as we exclusively reported earlier todayAirPlay support for third-party native apps and third-party Web appsRedesigned FaceTime iconMulti-touch gesture support for...

If you’re a BlackBerry fan, there is probably not a single thing you have been looking forward to more than what we have right here — screenshots and full details of RIM’s upcoming operating system, OS 6.0. One of our AT&T sources has not only showed us the brand new OS, but has also given us some screenshots that we could share. Since we have seen OS 6.0 in action first hand, we will break it down for you guys, along with all the other screenshots, after the break! (more…)

We know, we know, you’re sick of future iPhone OS rumors… but one more couldn’t hurt right? The folks over at 9to5Mac have been exploring the new iPhone 3.2 beta 4 SDK, and have found a few files that could indicate more gestures are coming to the next iPhone OS. Something we reported on a pretty decent amount of time ago. The two files, “3Tap.plist” and “LongPress.plist, are located in the “gestures” library folder and, according to 9to5Mac, are not in previous...