We don’t know too much about the new Sharp AQUOS Feel UX experience just yet, but we’re definitely intrigued by what we’ve seen. It looks like Sharp has taken a unique approach to Android smartphone user interface (UI) design, borrowing from stock Android, iPhone and Windows Phone in the process.
The Lock Screen is particularly impressive, as it seems to offer some great options for easy customisation and information retrieval without actually having to unlock the device. The upper portion of the screen is taken up by pictures which can be scrolled through. The lower portion offers information such as weather and time that can also be scrolled through.
Notifications that appear on the Lock Screen can also be jumped to directly with a grab and swipe. Swiping the unlock button upwards instead of down opens up a list of options: camera, phone and either SMS or Email. Overall it looks like a fantastic example of what a Lock Screen can do when a developer puts their mind to it.
The main Home Screen area looks to be a blending of iOS, Windows Phone and the version of Meego found on the ill-fated Nokia N9. Users can scroll in all four directions in order to access different content. Up and down moves through a tile-set of applications, while side swipes takes you to widgets and shortcuts.
The widgets section is reminiscent of the new Windows Phone 8 layout we saw recently from Microsoft. It’s a vertically scrolling list of resizable widgets.
Rearranging icons in the vertically-scrolling app and widget sections also looks a bit easier that we’ve seen on other Android devices. Usually on modern Android smartphones it’s unfortunately not possible to drop an icon in an area that is already occupied without creating a folder. Feel UX seems to have no problems with this, as users can hold the icon slightly to the side of another and the list will automatically shift about. Dropping directly on to the icon will create a folder. It’s very similar to iOS and refreshing to see on Android.
It’s great to see someone doing something new with Android, even if it’s just borrowing great ideas from multiple UIs and using all the best bits.
Unfortunately for us the video ends with “Available in Japan Summer 2012” with no mention of global availability. However, both the ad and the UI were in English, so there’s still hope to be had yet.