
Using the Maps SDK for Android, you can customize the way in which usersĬan interact with your map, by determining which of the built in UI componentsĪppear on the map and which gestures are allowed. Prepare for Google Play data disclosure requirements.If Seven is to live up to its billing, there will have to be.
GOOGLE EARTH MULTITOUCH WINDOWS 7
This might just be a repercussion of the new reticent Microsoft perhaps there is far more to Windows 7 than the company is letting on. By referring to the next version of Windows as "Windows 7" Microsoft is promoting Seven as a major release (Vista being version 6 of the Windows NT platform), but those few details revealed so far suggest that it is anything but. Windows 7 will not introduce any radical overhaul of core operating system subsystems instead, it will leverage the new features introduced as part of the Vista release. To remedy this, Windows 7 is being pushed as a release that will consolidate on the ground-work laid by Vista. This might not be such a problem were it for the fact that Vista fails to make any significant use of these new features.
GOOGLE EARTH MULTITOUCH DRIVERS
These changes were very disruptive as they required all-new drivers for video, sound, and other core functionality, and this has contributed significantly to Vista's reputation for poor compatibility when compared with its predecessor. Although the Vista plans were watered down from the Longhorn ideals, it nevertheless saw significant under-the-hood development, with the most significant part of this being an all-new graphics subsystem.

Windows 7 is shaping up to be a far-less-ambitious release than Vista. Those few people using tablets will probably love it, but it won't mean anything to the vast majority of Windows 7 users. Microsoft has long championed touch-screen computing, but tablet PCs have consistently failed to set the market alight, and at this stage it doesn't look likely that multitouch will change that situation. If a technology is going to require new screens and endless supplies of screen-cleaner to remove the inevitable finger-prints, it had better offer something really killer to justify the cost, and so far, it doesn't. In devices with limited form factors (smartphones being the canonical example) it certainly seems to have a lot to offer, but for a regular desktop or laptop PC, the benefits are far from obvious. Multitouch is fun to play with, but it doesn't appear any more useful today than it did when Surface was first demoed.

GOOGLE EARTH MULTITOUCH SOFTWARE
The demoed software appeared to have a new taskbar, but no details on this were forthcoming when quizzed on it, the demonstrator replied, "It's something we're working on for Windows 7 that I'm not supposed to talk about right now."Īs a demonstration of what to expect from Windows 7, this left a lot to be desired. The demonstrated software was more or less the same demos we saw with Surface-photo scaling, finger painting, splashing about in water-along with a Virtual Earth/Google Earth-style mapping program. The big feature-in fact, the sole feature-demonstrated was multitouch, the same technology as found in Microsoft's multi-thousand-dollar Surface table and Apple's iPhone. What was shown at D6 was rather less than hoped.

Microsoft is deliberately keeping quiet about Windows 7 to attempt to ensure that the company can actually ship everything it promises in late 2009/early 2010. The tack being taken with Seven is very different. As is now well-known, Vista didn't deliver all of the features promised during its extended development, and the widespread negative perception of the OS has undoubtedly hurt both the Microsoft and Windows brands. Details about Vista were talked about in public seemingly non-stop from about 2003 until its eventual release in late 2006. Whereas Windows Vista had a huge amount of public build-up, Microsoft has so far kept pretty quiet about Seven. Recent revelations from Microsoft have suggested that Windows 7 will be far more evolutionary than its radical predecessor this was confirmed by last night's demonstration. It was for another reason, however, that this session was so keenly anticipated: it was to contain the first public look at Windows 7. Discussion spanned topics ranging from the failed Yahoo acquisition to the lukewarm reception Windows Vista has had to the impact that Gates' imminent departure will have on the company. D6, the sixth annual All Things Digital conference, kicked off yesterday with a session starring Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.
