gestures

Firefox 3 may get gesture support for MacBooks

There are a lot of Firefox users out there, and there are a lot of MacBook users as well, which means a lot of people use Firefox on a MacBook. And those users might be getting a special treat in future releases of the browser.

On his informative blog, Edward Lee, a Firefox developer, spills on steps he's taken to include gesture support for MacBooks in the next version of the browser.

For those unfamiliar with gesture support, Apple introduced the functionality to the MacBook line a couple of years ago. It allows you to interact with your computer … Read more

Dialed In 33: HTC Touch Dual, Samsung Instinct hit stores

Two of the spring's most anticipated cell phones are arriving in stores. We also catch you up on the latest news and cell phone reviews, including a Sony Ericsson handset with gesture control. What's that, you ask? Just listen and find out. Listen now: Download today's podcast

1. NewsHTC Touch Dual in Best Buy storeshttp://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9951399-1.html Palm CEO comments on next-gen OShttp://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9953533-37.html Pantech Breeze should be a breeze to usehttp://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9952289-1.html Samsung 'Tocco' wants to be touchedhttp://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9951230-1.html … Read more

Apple updates MacBook, MacBook Pro lineups

Apple updated its MacBook and MacBook Pro lineups today with Intel's Penryn processors, while bringing multitouch trackpads to MacBook Pros.

The MacBook Pro is available with Core 2 Duo (Penryn) processors at up to 2.6GHz and up to 6MB of cache memory. Storage options have been revised to include up to a 300GB hard drive. In addition, Apple has added Nvidia's GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor with up to 512MB of video memory. The 17-inch model now gives you the option to upgrade the LCD to an LED-backlit unit for $100. That feature is still standard on … Read more

MacBook Air not only laptop getting touchy-feely

From the moment I played with the iPhone and Microsoft's Surface tabletop computing technology, I have been waiting for pinch-zooming and other motions to make their way into mainstream PCs.

The wait is essentially over.

Although it's the MacBook Air that's been getting all the ink for adding such gestures, Synaptics announced at the Consumer Electronics show last week a version of its touchpad for Windows notebooks that will also support a range of gestures, including methods for continuous scrolling, zooming in and out, and trackball-like movement.

And that's just the start.

"There will be … Read more

GestureTek bestows Wiimote powers on cell phones. Just maybe not your phone.

GestureTek Mobile has bestowed the powers of movement-based navigation, popularized by the Nintendo Wii, upon cell phones. The one crucial difference: no Wii tennis elbow.

Since the technology in GestureTek Mobile's EyeMobile Engine is purely optic rather than hardware-based--unlike the accelerometer that tells iPhone when to jump into landscape mode--wrist motion is powerful and specific.

Here's an example from the demo: just click the soft key to zoom in on the map, and tilt the phone back and forth to zoom in and out. Do it again holding the scroll button to activate the motion detection, and tilt … Read more

'Minority Report' meets the Clapper

The Minority Report's sci-fi touch screen has become a cliche for futuristic gadgetry, and some are willing to pay $100,000 or more for anything that even approaches its fable. But there may be a form of digital control that does it one better: navigation without laying hands on the computer at all.

As fellow Craver Michael Kanellos found at the Ceatec show in Japan, Toshiba and others were anxious to show off PCs and various devices controlled by hand gestures. One company, JVC, has even managed to combine the cutting-edge technology with a concept made famous by late-night … Read more

Hot trend in Japan: Gesture recognition

CHIBA, Japan--The finger is the new mouse in Japan.

At the Ceatec show here this week, a whole raft of Japanese companies are showing off prototypes or upcoming products that users operate by making gestures or moving their fingers.

Toshiba showed off a PC that you operate with hand gestures. Hitachi Metals had a product in their booth called "Magic Waters." You wave a wand and point it at a fountain and the waters jump, sort of like the fountain at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Sharp has a screen that will let phone manufacturers put on … Read more

Xtreme Reality gets your hands on the Web

If you've kept an eye on the gestures scene, you'll be familiar with the concept of controlling various apps and services with hand gestures. The idea is to help you escape the use of traditional peripheral devices like a mouse or joystick in place of your body and hands. Lately we've seen examples from Microsoft, as well as a slick peripheral from 3dconnexion that's specifically been designed for navigating 3D spaces. Xtreme Reality is a software that captures body gestures via Webcam and converts them into keyboard and mouse inputs. You can create your own keyboard … Read more

Hand gestures on the horizon for Microsoft Virtual Earth

Microsoft showed off one of its famous videos at this morning's keynote speech at the Gartner IT Expo conference in San Francisco. Eric Horvitz, principal researcher at Microsoft Research rolled a clip of some gesture recognition technology that looked like something out of Minority Report.

One of the coolest uses for this was maneuvering around Microsoft Virtual Earth using your hands. Microsoft showed off two methods, the first using a projector that gleams down on a tabletop. Using your hands, you can pull the map around and zoom in and out by pinching, in a similar fashion to what … Read more