The FancyPants 3.0 user interface (UI) from Fluffy Spider Technologies now supports the Google Android platform. This multimedia applications framework gives OEMs of Android-based devices and their channel partners new capabilities to differentiate their wares in an increasingly crowded marketplace, the company says. FancyPants 3.0 targets mainstream Android mobile development as well as applications beyond mobile in digital video, office automation, and other consumer electronics and industrial automation areas.

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By enabling the total separation of UIs from the applications that use them, FancyPants 3.0’s unique autonomous UI model enables comprehensive deep customization of Android device graphical UIs (GUIs) on a per-application or application-suite basis, Fluffy Spider Technologies says. Its patent-pending technology lets Android device manufacturers, developers, integrators, and other ecosystem participants to easily create visually rich applications and completely control and customize the look and feel of the end user experience, the company says. 

According to Fluffy Spider Technologies, the separation of applications and UI code lets developers and third parties add and/or remove items from Android interfaces such as images, videos, and widgets without modifying Android application code. It also supports the transformation of Android UI elements, including buttons, controls, images, and videos with a wide range of 2D and 3D visual effects.

Further, the separation enables the easy integration of new device capabilities and services in existing FancyPants applications, such as shaking and orientation (accelerometer), location and movement (GPS), and definable data and network events (calendars, stock quotes, sports scores, wireless traffic, etc.). And, it lets Android integrators, operators, and end users easily add new UI personalities at runtime without changing shrink-wrap application code. 

FancyPants uses standard Android methods to ensure correct interoperation with the Android operating system. Its applications work in parallel with Android applications. For example, FancyPants uses OpenGL ES on hardware-accelerated devices to achieve fast frame rates and rich effects. For systems without OpenGL ES, FancyPants provides a high-performance software graphics engine.

Additionally, FancyPants is compatible with the Android 1.5 and 1.6 software development kits (SDKs), with Android 2.1 coming soon. It also binds with Android application properties for easy development of launcher/home screen applications. It interfaces to native functions and services to access Android databases and call functions for development of media player and photo gallery applications. And, it supports the full Android application lifecycle. 

Android support in FancyPants 3.0 will be available this month for MIPS-based Android devices as well as systems based on ARM and other architectures.

Fluffy Spider Technologies