[Sigia-l] Another brand of sugar: Apple multi-touch

[Will Parker]

As most of you have probably heard by now, Steve Jobs did indeed  
announce an Apple phone today. Among other things, it sports  a touch- 
sensitive screen, which implements a rudimentary 'multi-touch'  
gestural interface.

We'll have plenty of time to check out the features before it ships,  
but what I'd like to point out is the simple visual symbols Apple  
uses in their demos to show how the multi-touch interface works.

Check out the QuickTour videos at http://www.apple.com/iphone/phone/  
for examples. The 'Photos' QuickTour is probably the best of the lot.

A finger-touch is shown with a translucent white circle, a finger- 
press is shown by a brief 'radar ping' around the circle, and multi- 
touch gestures are shown by moving the white circles around as required.

Other UI highlights:

	'Calls' QuickTour - solutions for:
		quick scrolling through a list using a 'throw' gesture;
		adding users to a conference call

	'Voicemail' - solution for:
		Callouts for pending items

	'SMS' - solution for:
		switching between multiple active and saved chat sessions.

	'Photos' - solutions for:
		Gestural resizing and positioning, including as-needed scroll  
indicators;
		Improved accuracy when using an on-screen alphanumeric
			keyboard, using temporary callouts above the fingertip-obscured
			button and autocomplete.
		
Two other items of note:

First, Steve Jobs made a comment that indicates we're unlikely to see  
a 'Graffiti'-style interface. "Nobody wants a stylus".

Second, there was no significant discussion of Apple's upcoming OS  
and app offerings. I think this means we'll see another largish Apple  
event sometime between February and May to discuss Mac OS X 10.5 and  
iLife/iWork '07.

- Will
Will Parker
wparker at ChannelingDesign.com

"The only people who value your specialist knowledge are the ones who  
already have it." - William Tozier