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Samsung patent dynamically adjusts a smartphone UI to fit your thumbs reach

OUTL4W

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Navigating today’s massive handsets with one hand can be darn near impossible for some people. Fortunately, Samsung is working on a solution. Future versions of TouchWiz might auto-adjust to your thumb’s comfort zone.

The images in Samsung’s patent application show off a rather comprehensive overhaul of a phone’s UI, and it’s all based on the natural arc your thumb makes when you swipe it across from the bottom corner.

Samsung’s on-screen keyboard doesn’t just move closer to one edge of the screen, it also angles itself to place the keys in your thumb’s sweet spot. The same goes for things like video playback controls, and menu items could also be repositioned to fit the arc.
Samsung could even apply the same TouchWiz-ardry to home screen icons.

Over time, Samsung’s auto-sensing software could figure out where icons need to be positioned to put them within easy reach. Sure, you could do this manually if you wanted to — but there are no doubt some Android users would appreciate the automatic realignment.

A couple of years ago, this wasn’t a problem anyone except the exceptionally small-handed had to deal with. That, of course, was when phones with 3.5-inch displays were the norm. Today’s larger phones demand larger digits — or two-handed operation or* voice commands. What* Samsung’s pitching here could be a real plus on phones like the Galaxy S Series, not to mention the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Mega.

A phone that can dynamically adapt its interface to suit your thumb’s reach is at least as exciting as one that lets you answer phone calls by waving your hand over it, right?
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