Skip to main content

Android may soon have a flatter look, if these leaked shots are real

Android is getting a makeover. According to Android Police, a major redesign may be coming to the Android interface, one that emulates what we’ve seen in iOS 7. 

The supposed leak, which Android Police said came from “a source familiar with the new designs,” shows a flatter interface similar to the design scheme that first appeared in iOS 7. The new design, which is said to be called “Moonshine” internally, shows Android app icons that more closely resemble their desktop versions.

The leaked photo is a screenshot of an Android home screen that shows the revamped icons for Google+, Chrome, YouTube, Hangouts, Maps, Gmail, Calendar, People and the Play Store. To make the changes a lot easier to spot, Android Police put out a side-by-side comparison of Google icons, which can be found below. As added proof, the site also published a screenshot of a Google Partners home page that shows the new flatter icons.

Recommended Videos

We should point out that design elements can be easily changed so you should take this leak with a degree of skepticism. It’s also unclear how far along the new style is in the design process so even if it does show up in a future Android release, some elements can be changed completely. There’s also no way to tell when this may come out. However, some publications have already called it for the upcoming Android 4.5 release. If that turns out to be accurate, we may see it as early as this summer.

Christian Brazil Bautista
Christian Brazil Bautista is an experienced journalist who has been writing about technology and music for the past decade…
Low-cost smart ring shows the future of sign language input on phones
Person wearing SpellRing on their thumb.

The smart ring segment has matured significantly over the past couple of years. We have entered the era of miniaturised sensors that are ready for ultrasound-based blood pressure monitoring. The likes of Circular are taking a different dual-sensor approach to measuring blood pressure levels, and are even eyeing glucose trend analysis by next year.
Health sensing, however, has remained the predominant application area for smart rings. Now, experts at Cornell University have developed a smart ring platform that can continuously track American Sign Language in real time, and send it as input to computers and smartphones.
Dubbed the SpellRing, it can recognize the full 26-letter range of the English alphabet pool. Worn on the thumb, this ring comes equipped with a speaker and mic array. Together, they allow the back-and-forth transfer of audio waves generated by hand motion, while a gyroscope measures the angular data.

Accessibility for all

Read more
Future smartwatches could get battery life boost from an unusual source
(From left to right) Dr. Han Joong Tark of KERI and Dr. Kim Taehoon of KIMS, along with their research teams, are posing while holding the CNT dope and wires, as well as necklace-type supercapacitors.

Wearable devices like smartwatches and smart glasses have gradually become a regular part of daily life, but there's still an ongoing annoyance with many of them: battery life. While devices like smartwatches can do a few days per charge, larger devices like smart glasses have a history of shoddy battery life that makes them impractical for many people.

Now, though, new technology could help make wearables last for longer and make them lighter weight. A team from the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute has developed a new method for creating the functional wires which form the basis of smart wearables.

Read more
Samsung could have a fourth folding phone up its sleeve
A person closing the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.

It wasn't all that long ago that folding phones didn't even exist, and the ones that did, weren't without their issues. As the years have gone by, folding phones have become significantly better, but there are also a number of companies pushing the boundaries of what these devices offer a little further.

Samsung was the first to deliver a folding phone for consumers in the Galaxy Fold back in 2019, so the South Korean company has now been making folding phones for 6 years. It's expected to announce the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 later this year, but we might also see a tri-folding flip phone at some point in the future. 
What could a Samsung tri-fold flip phone deliver?
A patent that was spotted by Android Headlines has been filed showing a device with a z-shape design, featuring two hinges. Currently, the Z Flip 6 simply folds in half to offering a compact form factor when folded and a typical-looking smartphone when unfolded. 

Read more