Google has officially announced its latest version of the Android mobile operating system and the rollout of this new update has also begun. Now, it’s time for smartphone markers to unveil their custom UI skins.

South Korean technology giant Samsung has today shared a promotional video for the upcoming One UI 4. The Samsung One UI 4 Beta is already available for some Samsung phones and the stable version is expected to be available in a couple of weeks.

In the promotional video shared by the company, towards the end, Samsung reveals that there will also be One UI Book 4 which is aimed at laptops. As the name clearly says, this will be a version of the custom skin for the laptops from the brand.

Once released, the Samsung One UI Book 4 will be available for the Galaxy Book Pro 360, Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Flex 2, Galaxy Book, and Galaxy Book Odyssey. We also expect it to be available to the upcoming or future laptops from the company.

Similar to how One UI 4 affects smartphones, the One UI Book 4 will change the look of the Windows operating system and apps to be in line with Samsung’s design. The aim behind this seems to offer a similar visual experience across its phones and laptops.

As of now, there’s not much known about how the upcoming One UI Book 4 will look or what elements will be changed in the Windows operating system. Given that Windows is not open source like Android, there isn’t much that Samsung can do. We will have to wait for its release or for the South Korean giant to share more information.

This is also something major that the company is doing to further integrate its features into Microsoft‘s Windows OS. Prior to this custom skin, Samsung was an early adopter of a system that allows Android phones and Windows to work together. Also, Samsung is also bundling some Microsoft apps on its smartphones.

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Most manufacturers now ship their phones with a TPU case that provides protection against scratches and drops. However, some folks do not like putting a case on their phone.

There are also others that prefer a different type of case from the one in the box. You will also find people that have multiple cases that come in different designs and colors.

Another group of folks prefers applying a skin on to their phone that gives it a pretty unique look as well as feel and also protects it from scratches.

For this week’s poll, we want to know which category you belong to. Do you like your phone bareback i.e. without a case or skin on? Are you a case person? Or do you prefer skins? Do take the poll below and also let us know in the comment box why you prefer one over the other.

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The post Poll of The Week: Do you use a case, skin, or leave your phone bareback? appeared first on Gizmochina.

You think you’ve heard everything sometimes, but then you hear something that blows your mind all over again. Today is one of those days. Forget protective covers – there are now smartphone cases that are meant to simulate the feel of real skin. As if that weren’t weird enough, it also responds to being touched and pinched.

The project, which was in collaboration with researchers from HCI Sorbonne Université and CNRS, is called the “Skin-On Interface.” As you’d expect, it’s essentially a phone case made from artificial skin. That in itself would be a creepy enough prospect, but this is combined with interactivity that elevates it to the next level of nope.

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According to Marc Teyssier of Telecom Paris, the skin responds to different gestures that mimic human emotional communication. Sudden hard pressure on the skin is associated with anger and tapping is a means of seeking attention, while sustained contact and stroking are associated with providing comfort. Yes, you can comfort your phone.

So the obvious question here is, why? Well, Marc says “I wanted to pinch my phone,” which isn’t only somewhat bizarre, but also really answers nothing. Regardless of reasoning, it’s rather impressive that they’ve made an artificial skin that responds to touch. The skin is able to detect a variety of gestures, including sliding, stretching and rotation.

“This is the first time we have the opportunity to add skin to our interactive devices. The idea is perhaps a bit surprising, but skin is an interface we are highly familiar with so why not use it and its richness with the devices we use every day?” said University of Bristol Professor Anne Roudaut who supervised the research.

“Artificial skin has been widely studied in the field of robotics but with a focus on safety, sensing or cosmetic aims. This is the first research we are aware of that looks at exploiting realistic artificial skin as a new input method for augmenting devices,” Teyssier said.

No words on when (if ever) these monstrosities will be available for purchase. The researchers and designers behind Skin-On will present their work at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in New Orleans starting Sunday.

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(Source)

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