sense

Most onscreen keyboards, like those in the iPhone or other smartphones, have no tactile feedback, so you need to look at the screen and the virtual keyboard to make sure of the correct input. However, this might soon change, thanks to haptic technology, a mechanism that allows the screen to "touch" you back.

One of the major developers of this technology, the Immersion Corporation, announced Tuesday a new product that powers touch-feedback effects in touch-screen computers, the TouchSense 2500. The company claims that this product enables drop-in integrated circuit solutions to drive haptic effects that bring the user … Read more

TabSense, a fast-moving Google Chrome extension, fights the distractions inherent to multiple tabs and windows. Similar to Mozilla Firefox's upcoming "Tab Candy," this Chromium extension efficiently declutters your work space by organizing your tabs all in one spot. While it has a few glitches that need hasty fixing, this new tool is handy for anyone who finds themselves navigating through multiple windows and tabs.

The TabSense icon at the right-hand side of the address bar opens a page filled with boxes that represent your open Chrome windows. Each box contains a list of the window's tabs. … Read more

Similar to Mozilla Firefox's upcoming "Tab Candy" concept, Google Chrome add-on TabSense helps manage your tabs in a streamlined, organized manner. Though in its rookie status--there are still minor bugs--the extension is definitely worth keeping thanks to its simple utility. After the lightning-fast install, a rounded/rectangular icon will appear to the right-hand side of the address bar. A message will say that settings can be configured through the extensions option of the tool menu. In this menu users can uninstall and disable; however, the "options" link takes you to a blank page that merely … Read more

The U.S. copyright office now says that there are instances in which you may hack, fold, spindle, or mutilate copy protection, but just a few, and don't go breaking any other contracts while you're at it. Also, Microsoft wants its employees to build Windows 7 phone apps... for free!

Amid reports that HTC is working hard to bring its Sense user interface to Windows Phone 7 gadgets, there's been at least one reported sighting of just such a phone that lacks Sense.

A tipster has shared with Engadget some details of a "mystery HTC Windows Phone 7 device" that the gadget blog describes as likely a developer build with hardware that's ready to go. But the phone doesn't seem to have a Sense skin atop the Windows Phone 7 OS, according to the report.

Smartphone makers typically tweak the user interface of the handsets … Read more

OAKLAND, Calif.--Everyone knows that Google is the richest Internet company of our time. But Google doesn't think people know enough about the impact its services have on the broader economy.

In an effort to shine a brighter light on its economic contributions, Google held a series of press conferences around the country Tuesday highlighting the impact that AdWords, AdSense, and Google nonprofit grants have on the small business community. The events accompanied the release of a report claiming that Google advertisers generated $54 billion in U.S. economic activity during 2009, and that doesn't even count the … Read more

Google has finally revealed how it shares advertising revenue with AdSense customers who run Google ads on their own sites.

AdSense customers are publishers who run "Ads by Google" ads on their pages as well as those who use a custom Google search box on their site and run search-related ads. Those in the first category--AdSense for content--receive 68 percent of the revenue that Google earns for selling those ads, while AdSense for search customers get 51 percent of that revenue, the company revealed for the first time Monday in a blog post.

Major publishers negotiate individual deals … Read more

Somewhere in your closet there's a pair of gloves straight out of "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo." Well, if you dust them off and fire up your Webcam, you'll have the beginnings of a nifty gestural interface system, thanks to research at MIT.

Robert Wang of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory designed a gestural system that tracks a pair of rainbow-colored Lycra gloves to be used with a standard Webcam. The gloves, which cost only a dollar to manufacture, can be used to manipulate virtual objects such as blocks or even complex machinery models (… Read more

A new curriculum being developed by Common Sense Media is intended to help middle school teachers, parents, and kids themselves "raise a generation of responsible, smart, and safe digital citizens."

The curriculum is based on the digital ethics framework developed by the GoodPlay Project, led by Harvard School of Education professor Howard Gardner.

The curriculum has been tested in pilot programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, Omaha, and New York and will be rolled out nationwide in the fall.

To learn more about this curriculum, I spoke by phone with Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer. You … Read more