Alltel debuts new widget-like Celltop phone interface
updated 11:15 am EST, Thu January 18, 2007
Alltel Celltop Phone UI
US cell provider Alltel today broke from traditional approaches to cellphone interfaces by revealing Celltop, a quick data access tool that brings the widgets of the Mac OS X Dashboard or Windows Vista's Gadget Sidebar to handhelds. Rather than ask the phone owner to delve into individual menus for new information, Alltel added a top-level program which shows the user two side-by-side widgets, dubbed cells, that provide a quick glance at useful information ranging from call history to weather. As with the Apple and Microsoft technologies, cells can be added, removed, or reordered; knowledgeable developers and hobbyists can even program their own, Alltel says.
The interface is available immediately at no extra charge for new subscribers who buy the carrier's Samsung U520, and is also available now as a free download for existing owners. Alltel plans to spread Celltop to other phone models over time. [via Crave]
