Leap Motion sensors to be integrated within smartphones and tablets next year

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Leap Motion, the motion tracking, 3D space creating PC peripheral will be integrated within smartphones and tablets next year, the company has stated.

Having launched as a USB connected PC add-on earlier this year, Leap Motion Founder and CEO Michael Buckwald has told us he expects to see the Leap technology tackle portable devices within the next 12 months.

“We are just at the very, very beginning,” he said. “We expect that there will be tablets and phones in the market with Leap Motion technology embedded next year, probably Q3 or Q4.”

He added: “The module is already small enough to go into a tablet or a phone so we are there today in terms of the mechanical and physical part of the equation.”

Creating an eight cubic foot field of motion reading space, the Leap Motion peripheral allows your individual finger and gesture controls to be converted into 3D movements on your PC, and soon smartphone and tablet. Accompanied by an array of compatible apps, the device lets you manipulate and sculpt 3D shapes, play motion enabled games and pull apart educational items in true Minority Report fashion.

“I think for tablets and phones the primary user case is very similar to PC in that it will be about interacting with apps,” Buckwald said.

Speaking exclusive with TrustedReviews, he added: “We are working with several OEMs that we will probably announce next year.”

Looking to the benefits of Leap Motion enabled tablets he stated: “The tablet will be even better than the PC for Leap. Beacause it is still such a new form factor, people don’t have the same preconceptions about what a tablet is for. People see the PC as a productivity tool today but the tablet is about education and creativity and games and play.

“For tablet I think it’s about creating a three-dimensional experience for interacting with the device. There are some unique things that we are talking to OEMs about though. You could use that 3D space to control screens that are distant so you could use your Android phone to control a TV on the other side of the room using the space above it to control that TV.”

Suggesting that smartphones and tablets are the company’s future, the Leap Motion CEO added: “We have always wanted the technology to be wherever there is a computer. Although we started with PC, we want it to be in tablets and phones.”

Next, read all the latest Samsung Galaxy S5 news and rumours

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Vodafone Smartphones Mini review

Extremely cheapEasy interfaceDecent audioPoor use 2-megapixel lazy 1 GHz CPUThe cameraSlightly Vodafone phone Smart Mini is a real budget. Is available for just £ 50 on a basis of allocation, you get a phone with a 3.5-inch screen, processor single-core 1 GHz processor, 4 GB of built-in memory and a 2 megapixel camera running on Google Android OS 4.1 Jelly Bean. It is as much as £ 100 cheaper than similarly specced phones such as Samsung's Galaxy.

Not what you're looking for? Try our top mobiles 2013 round-up.

Simply put, the Smart Mini Vodafone isn't much of a looker. Is a squat, square, plastic that seems exactly what you would expect from a smartphone to £ 50 – cheap materials put together in a simple, unpretentious. The phone is only available in black and, unlike his brother Smart 3, Vodafone cannot be customized.

As you might expect given the price, build quality Vodafone Smart Mini is nothing to write home about-it feels a tad cumbersome and cables. But considering the price seems relatively solid in the hand. There is no undue bend or flex when put under considerable pressure, although it is an audible rattle when you tap on the back with your finger that suggests that something in there is not nailed as well could be.

The Smart Mini Vodafone has only two physical buttons (power/sleep and volume rocker), both of which are surprisingly robust in their homes and offer a reassuring amount of resistance during use.

3.5 inch screen Smart Mini Vodafone might be the same format iPhone 4S, but that is where the similarities end. Is not particularly brilliant, sharp or colorful, and the ambient light sensor is slow to adjust brightness when required.

Has a resolution of 480 x 320 pixels, which is equivalent to a density of 165 image pixels per inch. Although this is not particularly conducive to entertaining video playback or viewing pictures, nor is terrible. Is there any visible pixelisation and color contrasts are weak, but it's exactly the same display size and resolution of that found on the Samsung Galaxy Hunger, a phone that will set you back £ 150.

Unfortunately, the screen seems slightly sunken from the rest of the phone, that does nothing to help his appeal to poor quality acts to accentuate further the already disastrous viewing angles. Mini touch panel is no longer responsive or accurate, with a tempting presses the screen area that often cause reactions elsewhere. This becomes more evident when browsing on the web where multiple links are often grouped in the immediate vicinity, while multi-touch gestures are slow and sometimes glitchy.

None of these problems make the Smart Mini totally unusable, however. In fact, the screen just as good, if not better, the Samsung Galaxy fame that cost considerably more, not to mention Samsung Galaxy Young-a direct alternative to £ 89.

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