A recent Ice Cream Sandwich software update to the Sony Xperia Sola has enabled full use while wearing gloves. The phone's major selling point has always been its Floating Touch sensor, which enables users to interact with the phone without even having to touch the screen. Sony has been touting the gloves-on capability of the Xperia Sola since its announcement back in March, so it's a little confusing why it has taken so long for the feature to go live, but there you have it. Along with the Xperia Sola, Sony has also started rolling out ICS updates for the Xperia Go and Xperia U, which include a few extra features.
- New ways to experience your tunes, images, videos and films with Sony’s media applications – “WALKMAN”, “Album” and “Movies”
- Extended standby mode, increasing standby time by up to four times (depending on user-profile and data consumption)
- Lock screen with improved functionality
- Resizable widgets for improved personalization
- Improved control of your mobile data consumption
- Recent Apps button for a clear overview of your applications
Glove Mode is activated depending on how you unlock your phone, so there's minimal manual fiddling back and forth (though there's also a manual toggle if you prefer). The only major difference here is that instead of normal Floating Touch, where hovering over the screen would produce a different set of actions, they're treated as regular, honest-to-goodness screen taps. Those taps also provide visual feedback similar to what's currently available in developer options. It would be nice if icons and UI elements were enlarged to reflect fingers fattened by big mitts, but this is a good start.
As a Canadian that has spent more than enough time fiddling with a phone in sub-zero temperatures, this is a pretty sweet feature and easily a selling point for those of us in colder climes. Be sure to check out the video demo below. Any Xperia Sola owners in the house excited about the update? Any of y'all pick up the Xperia Go or Xperia U that have been itching for an upgrade from Gingerbread?
Source: Sony Developer World
 |  |
Olivia Wilde
Megan Fox
No comments:
Post a Comment