S60 touch

In S60 5th edition, the software platform supports traditional keypads, and touch screen UI. Touch screen enables direct manipulation of content and objects, allowing for far more natural interaction with the device. This means a completely different user experience and interaction style compared to using a hardware keypad.

All S60 5th edition applications should be touch-enabled, meaning they can be used with the touch screen alone, regardless of the presence of a keypad. There are only three mandatory hardware keys in S60 touch devices: Send, End, and Multitasking key.

However, the touch UI is by no means the definitive feature of the whole platform. Any knowledge gained from previous S60 development is still relevant. The core of S60 still remains its scalability, wide range of options, the wealth of multimedia features, and language support.

The application features must follow the platform support for different hardware. When designing a touch-enabled S60 application, the UI must be designed so that everything can be accomplished by using the touch screen interface, as the potential target devices may or may not have a hardware keyboard.

The touch UI in S60 is based on the use of resistive touch screen. In resistive touch screen technology, two conductive and resistive layers are separated by a thin space. When an object touches this kind of touch panel, the layers are connected at a certain point, and a touch event is registered. This allows efficient stylus control, in addition to finger touch - unlike capacitive panels, which usually register only finger touch. Additionally, resistive touch screen offers a higher resolution and more durability.

The hardware is supported by a number of

  • touch-specific components

  • component and UI behaviour changes

  • layout changes, and

  • additions to the interaction style.

The touch UI is designed to enable full task flow with touch, with minimal need to switch to hardware keys. Thus, the design ensures that users can complete a task with the chosen interaction method from start to finish.

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