UI Centric announced tablet user interface for Windows 7, Windows CE 7 OEMs

August 1, 2010 | By Surur

Leading user interface designers UI Centric today announced details and first images of their upcoming tablet computing interface for Windows 7 devices – codenamed Macallan.

The Macallan user interface (UI) is designed from scratch specifically for tablet/slate form-factor devices. As a purpose built tablet UI it is not an adaptation of a desktop or mobile phone operating system UI. It aims to offer the most intuitive and responsive user experience of any tablet device.

Major benefits over other tablet device user interfaces include:

Native multitasking
Adobe Flash support
USB and memory card support
Camera and video chat functionality

Macallan will be available under a licensing model to hardware manufacturers targeting Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows 7 Embedded Compact. As a comprehensive "off-the-shelf" solution, it will empower manufacturers to easily and affordably offer a next generation multi-touch user experience. The first device from a major manufacturer’s to run Macallan will debut in Q3 2010 (more details to be available in a future announcement).

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UI Centric specialise in creating attractive and compelling user interfaces for a wide range of applications and industries.

With offices in London, New York and Mexico, their team comprises of graphic designers, software developers, information architects and usability experts. Combining these services they create graphical user interfaces that are visually striking, highly usable and accessible.

UI Centric will be demonstrating a selection of broadcast centric user interfaces at this year’s IBC exhibition in Amsterdam, September 10-14th.

Comment

Microsoft, buy this company right now! The main spoiler is that 3rd party apps will not use the same UI paradigm, something which can only be ameliorated if the tools used to create the user interface is released to all developers.

See some more screenshots after the break.

homescreen_light_theme homescreen_dark_theme

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Via MobilitySite.com

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged tabletpc, tablets, ui, video, windows 7, windows ce 7, windows embedded compact 7

http://twitter.com/WinExtra @WinExtra

I totally agree that Microsoft should be snapping this up ASAP. I said as much in my post about this but think they should go one step further and partner with an OEM to make a Microsoft branded slate using this UI.

okkkk

i didnt see anything earth-shattering enough to warrant a purchase of this. actually i think they should distance themselves from it. it didnt look like quality at all.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Northerngeek Northerngeek

Why? MS has made better user interfaces before now:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfami…

- Picture passwords
- Touch UI
- Released back in 2007
- Functional today

… problem is nobody wanted them, I must be one of the only people on Earth who remembers project Origami.

Avatoin

OMG! I didn't know they did that! Crap… stupid OEMs, never know a good design when they see it. Damn… that would have easily challenged the iPad if it was released with Windows 7. No need for OEMs to create custom UIs.

Black

Im not too sure about the peeling, but its a start.
Android is the only mobile OS that belongs on a tablet, everything else should be tailor made for tablets.
I like the idea of a company creating a CE7 UI and licensing it out, cool idea.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Parrotlover77 Parrotlover77

Screw the "mobile" OSes for the tablet devices. Windows 7 + tablet-optimized shell is the best combination. I've been wanting that combo for the longest time. I kept reading people wanting CE or WP7 or Android on their tablets, and I kept thinking, why the hell would you want that? If you are spending as much (more!) than a laptop, you should get a full mature OS like Windows 7. Windows 7 (and Vista, and to a lesser extent XP) have had touch controls forever. Windows 7 has mutlitouch. This native support for touch and the fact that you can run the full MS Word, OneNote, Outlook, etc. — this is the shiznit here.

Frankly, I'd be happy with a decent tablet with just the standard Windows 7 shell, but something like what is pictured above gives you a more touch optimized shell, so I can see how that would appeal to the general user more.

Either way, it's Windows 7! Screw the mobile OSes hwen you can have a full desktop OS and all the gazillions of apps already available!

If they have a decent 'sync' app, so you can get stuff to and from your desktop/laptop really easy, this is a winner.

http://intensedebate.com/people/djguapo djguapo

AMEN!
Jason

I don't know about that. People like tablets because they are small, light, and have a touch screen. For the people that all they use a computer for, a smartphone OS would be enough. Heck, if you just listen to music and browse the internet then you don't need a full fledged computer.

For the professional types and students there is the convertable tablet. That thing is amazing. They may be pricy but combined with OneNote it's an amazing productivty tool for on the go.

I think that there is room for both as they satisfy two different distinct needs.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Parrotlover77 Parrotlover77

Sigh. I'm getting really tired of posting a comment saying something looks cool (or not) to me, then having some smart ass explain to me that what I want is irrelevant because "most people" want something else.

Maybe — just maybe — there is more than one market for tablets? Maybe some people want an iPad and maybe some people want something more powerful? Maybe?

It's possible.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Northerngeek Northerngeek

Nobody is being a smart-ass here, people are merely taking a dimplomatic approach- this doesn't mean every niche gets attended to, companies need to go where the money is.

Microsoft have been trying the Slate PC form factor thing since at least 2005, I should know, I've owned tablet PCs, touchscreen desktops etc ever since; I even owned a Samsung Q1. The solution they used was a Windows UI and the experience broke down when it came to using legacy apps… very similar to how Windows Mobile could only become so finger friendly on the old system.

If you're asking for a dashboard, look at the Origami project, by Microsoft themselves and released years ago back when Vista came out- http://www.microsoft.com/library/media/1033/windo…

There was close to no demand for such devices, but that hasn't stopped Microsoft from trying, and these dashboards exist already, so if that's what you want, great. The fact of the matter is this, the current strategy isn't working, Windows is based on mouse and keyboard input and that's most likely always going to be the best way to use it.

GAM3R

page turn.. i'll never accept that as a computer ui component, & It is neither simple nor intuitive, and also very laggy and unresponsive… i find any shell or cover UI on Windows 7 is ridiculous, and useless in that to actually use the programs which is arguably the whole purpose of having Windows 7 on the tablet, you have to drop through to the Windows 7 UI. This whole concept is wrong-headed. It's the same basic concept as that stupid second screen on the cover of your laptop they were pushing for a while. I think this looks rushed and not fully thought out. They need an entire mobile OS, not a new layer on top.

I want you look at ABC News developed their own interactive globe, Its biggest perk is an interactive globe, an eye-candy way to discover news stories you might like. In other words, it’s a pretty globe with a bunch of articles wrapped around it. What’s cool is that the app lets you spin the globe with a swipe of your finger and touch any image to read or watch the content you care about!

MSFT got late in the game- THE LITTLE LATE, TOO LATE!
http://intensedebate.com/people/Northerngeek Northerngeek

I don't see why everybody goes Gaga over this UI, the "peel"/page-turn effect doesn't really help functionality, in fact it simply means if the information you're trying to "peek" at is in the lower left corner you can't "peek".

I have been using Windows tablets for a long time now and personally don't mind the windows GUI for pen based computing too much, however if there is a solution, this isn't it for me- it neither simplifies nor improves as far as I can see.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Parrotlover77 Parrotlover77

I think its a good "hybrid" between what is more like the iPad, but still has the ability to run Windows 7 underneath it. Think of it as an organizer dashboard, but underneath you can still run normal Windows apps (the stuff you are currently doing with a pen).

Really, I'm not looking at the page turning effect at all. I'm looking at the dashboard layout, where you have a nice organization of widgets and what looks to be a pretty cool easy finger friendly launcher.

But, apparently, what I want is not what most people want, so my opinion doesn't matter. lol.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Parrotlover77 Parrotlover77

I wish WP7 looked more like this. I really really like the layout and graphics. I think it's clean (as WP7 clearly is), but without going overboard into the two-tone bright color style that Metro does. Again, my opinion is apparently irrelevant to the universe, but I like how this has an Aero sort of feel to it, but still has an overall dark theme, with clean lines. I especially like the calendar. I think that looks amazing. I wish my phone looked like that!

http://intensedebate.com/people/djguapo djguapo

I've been seeing this story unfold across the tech press in the last couple of days, and I must say that I'm unimpressed. It seems like this company just kind of generously borrowed from Microsoft's design and aesthetics; it looks to me like a Media Center clone. Sure, it looks nice, but I don't see anything innovative or original here. Sorry, hate to be a party pooper.
I just don't see it

I never see the appeal or real practical use for tablet pcs. Too big, no keyboard, what's the point? Maybe it's better served as industrial dashboard and managerial dashboard. There's no real use beside ebooks and there are Kindles for that. Anyone want whistles and bells can get smartphones and laptops.

HG23

I can actually see something like this being useful for college students since it is lighter and more portable than a laptop and ideal for note-taking or lecture-recording. I know I could've used this in my Comp Sci classes back in the day.

HG23

I think one thing that the market has made very clear is that consumers will not accept the same UI they use on the desktop to be loaded on their phones, tablets, etc. MS took this approach with Windows Mobile and every OEM and their grandmother created an overlay for it. Windows 7 cannot just be slapped onto a tablet with the expectation that it will be successful. It needs to be re-tooled one way or another.

Sadly, the Courier would have been a great example of this. They should have just went with that but I suppose MS didn't want to step on their hardware-partner's toes.