Google plans to introduce its next smartphone, the Pixel 4, with new gesture technology. The company, betting that gestures will be the “next big thing” after touchscreens, dubbed the controls “Motion Sense,” and unveiled a video showing controls such as blinking and hand waving. When Pixel 4 is debuted in October, its Motion Sense will turn off alarms, skip songs, and silence phone calls. Gesture technology is expected to be a dramatic change in how we interface not just with phones, but many other electronic devices. Continue reading Google’s Upcoming Pixel 4 to Feature Gesture Technology

Apple is tweaking its iPhone design and features, to help differentiate it in an increasingly competitive market. According to sources, the company is currently working on a technology that would allow users to perform some tasks by moving a finger close to the screen but not actually touching it. Currently, Apple’s 3D Touch responds differently depending on finger pressure. The company is also working on a display that will curve inward, gradually, from top to bottom. All iPhones currently sport a flat display. Continue reading Apple R&Ds Curved OLED Screen, Touchless Gesture Feature

Google is building technologies that rely less on physical devices: Google Home and its virtual assistant; Project Jacquard, clothing with computing built into the yarn that responds to gestures and voice commands; and Project Soli, that allows gestures to control computers. Also new is Project Ara, a smartphone design that “surrounds” the user wherever she goes, which chief executive Sundar Pichai calls “ambient computing.” What’s unclear with the new paradigms, however, is how Google will generate revenue. Continue reading Google’s Virtual Products Could Upend Traditional Ad Models

A new generation of chips is making gesture tracking more accurate. German company Infineon Technologies AG has paired its radar chips with Google’s algorithms to create Soli technology, enabling devices to detect smaller gestures from several meters away. The first Soli technology devices, presented at the Google I/O developer conference, are prototypes of an LG Electronics smartwatch and a Harman Kardon loudspeaker. Recognizable gestures include hand movements such as those required to wind a watch. Continue reading Google, Infineon Prototype New Gesture Tracking Technology