MobiWire debuts Surface UX Android user interface

Overlay designed to allow handset owners full use of the Google operating system

MobiWire has unveiled a user interface designed to help users more fully use the Android operating system on tablets and smartphones.

The Surface UX overlay is deeply integrated into Android, and has features that make it similar to the HTC Sense user interface.

Key among these are Surface Apps, complex widgets that allow one-touch access to information and digital content. There are currently four - Surface Stream, Post, Music and Web apps - and more are in development.

Surface Stream features dedicated tabs that allow users to view phone records, messages, social networks, RSS feeds or all of the above in a unified inbox without having to switch applications.

Post Surface allows users to share and update all social network status settings from one place, while the Music and Web apps will provide a direct connection to digital assets such as a mobile-commerce site or online music store.

MobiWire also offers a server-based security platform, much like the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which is likely to attract enterprise users.

The Surface UX overlay allows users to customise their device, access cloud-based content and carry out multi-pane multi-tasking, according to Jerome Nadel, executive vice president of user experience and marketing at MobiWire.

"People are only using a fraction of the Android operating system and this will make it easier for users to interact with Android out-of-the-box," he told V3.co.uk.

"The Surface Apps offer a different way to navigate the Android interface and to leverage the full capabilities of the operating system."

Surface UX will run on Android 2.3 devices and the first device with the user interface is set to ship in the first week of June, although the name of device has not yet been disclosed.

The Surface UX user interface will also be available on Android 3.0 tablets from the second half of 2011.

Nadel added that the interface may be made available over the air at some point in the future. This would benefit those who use devices such as the Google Nexus S, which ships with the basic version of Android.

V3.co.uk is expected to have some hands-on time with the interface before release and will post a video demonstration soon.