UIQ (formerly known as User Interface Quartz) by UIQ Technology is a software platform based upon Symbian OS. Essentially this is a graphical user interface layer that provides additional components to the core OS, to enable the development of feature-rich mobile phones that are open to expanded capabilities through third-party applications.
Native applications can be written in C++ using the Symbian/UIQ SDK. All UIQ-based phones (2.x and 3) also support Java applications.
Version 2.0 and 2.1 are pen-based and used in the following 2.5G and 3G smartphones: Nokia 6708, Motorola A920/A925/A1000/M1000, Sony Ericsson P800/P900/P910, BenQ P30/P31 and Arima U300/U308.
UIQ phones employ touch screens with a resolution of 208×320 pixels (UIQ 1.x & 2.x) and 240×320 (UIQ 3.x). Depending on the phone, the color depth is 12-bit (4096 colors), 16-bit (65536 colors), or 18-bit (262144 colors) on some newer phones.
UIQ 3 is the latest version of the platform and, in addition to the pen-based UI, will also support one handed operation and a number of significant enhancements.
For developers the significant items are:
- Single SDK model - developers targeting core UIQ features can use the UIQ SDK to target any UIQ 3 device. Extensions targeting specific device features (such as WiFi, etc) are available from phone manufacturers websites.
- Increased tools support - developers can use whichever tools they are familiar with (DevStudio, Eclipse, Carbide, CodeWarrior, NetBeans). Many of these tools are beginning to support extensive RAD features for both C++ and Java developers.
- High volume, mid-range devices are now possible, to significantly increase the potential customer base.
The first phones with the pen-based UIQ 3 will be Sony Ericsson's P990, M600 and the Walkman-branded W950.
List of UIQ Phones
UIQ 2nd edition (Version 2.0), based on Symbian OS 7.0
UIQ 2nd edition (Version 2.1), based on Symbian OS 7.0
UIQ 3rd edition (Version 3.0), based on Symbian OS 9.1
Sources
Wikipedia.com
Uiq.com
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