MobiWire has launched its new user interface for Android smartphones. Surface UX is now available to brand, retail and device partners. The news follows the company’s transformation in February, when it changed its name from Sagem and first revealed its user interface plans.
Surface UX enhances the standard Android user interface. It claims to simplify and improve usability - and also introduces ‘Surface Apps’ that appear as branded on-screen widgets.
Jerome Nadel, EVP of User Experience at MobiWire, said “We are already in a post-app world where silos of data are being superseded by an aggregated, real-time, multi-tasking user experience. As we look beyond apps, the user interface is a dynamic environment where multiple feeds of data, content and services come together to create a definable experience. By bringing the principles of relevance, context and intuition to the UI design process, Surface UX delivers a connected user experience that is unmatched in the way it takes full advantage of the power and flexibility of the Android platform, creating a UI that encourages usage and exploration, and simplifies conversion to buy services and products.”
Patented aspects of Surface UX include a tiered menu structure that doesn’t need to be in alphabetical order, a new task switcher and a customisable menu button on every screen. The first smartphones with the Surface UX are expected to be available from Q2 2011, with Android 3.0 tablets due to follow later this year.
| We spoke to Jérôme Nadel of MobiWire at Mobile World Congress last month. Click here to listen to the 25th February 2011 podcast via our website - or download the programme free from iTunes. |