Although Apple has been the dominant player in the recent tablet market, many manufacturers have been spending R+D dollars playing catch-up. Although many agree that a fully fledged operating system like Windows 7 would be difficult to adapt into a fully touch-based interface model, the designers at UI Centric are currently developing a promising looking solution.
Their user interface, codenamed "Macallan", looks to be an up-an-coming solution to the potential Windows 7 adaptation issue. With native multitasking, flash support and full camera functionality the impressive featureset of this upstart is targeting the iPad head-on. Combining these features with a very slick interface, UI Centric also states that a "major manufacturer" will be shipping their product in Q3 of this year.
While harnessing the abilities of a fully-fledged Windows 7 based deployment, Macallan simplifies navigation and usage into a similar, yet discrete, paradigm. Users familiar with iOS may be taken aback by the minimalist approach, but users should find themselves at home as the UI looks quite intuitive at first glance.
Although details are sparse, early screenshots depict what seems to be a rolling menu along with very sleek page to page transitions. The "smart overview" section allows a quick glance at many difference pieces of pertinent information, while the "acetate peel" multitasking seems to be a neat touch. This combined with the underlying Windows 7 architecture opens a whole range of opportunities for the user, many of which will be quite welcome in the currently small tablet market.
It is an exciting time in this new field and many new developments can be expected from developers across the board. Be sure to keep your eye on this, and other software as it may be coming to a palm near you.
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