The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) is currently giving Android’s new UI the finishing touches. Hampus Jakobsson from the Swedish company was so kind to answer some questions. Let’s see if TAT reveals Android’s new UI during the Mobile World Congress 2008 (February 11-14th).

Q: What was TAT’s role in giving Android a new UI?
A: We are part of the open handset alliance working with specifying the platform UI.

Q: What were your primary goals in terms of style and functionality and how would you describe the outcome?
A: We are still working on is as you know, there will be a release in a couple of days. As all UI:s the goal is to make the style fit the target group, and make the right features as accessible as possible. A good UI is seldom noticed, only bad ones. So our goal is to make the platform and the devices built on it as user friendly as possible.

Q: Which particular challenges did you face in doing this particular work and how did you solve them?
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The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) is a member of the Open Handset Alliance. What got my special attention about this particular OHA member was that they specialize in mobile UIs. The UI of a mobile platforms like Android is a key acceptance factor for the users. The current UI of Android works OK for most developers right now, but it’s still lame compared to the status quo. And when the first Android devices will ship, the iPhone will have had its first birthday…

So, I was eased to hear that Android gets a new UI soon. It seems Google does not repeat Suns mistake ruining Java UIs by giving Swing those “Look and Feels” that only half-blind engineers could stand. At least if TAT is doing Android’s new UI. I like TAT’s style, which is ranging from reduced to playful, but always classy. But have a look yourself and click for a demo movie (Quicktime):

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Auf dem gestrigen Android Workshop wurde bekanntgegeben, das mit der nächsten Version des SDKs eine neue Oberfläche für Android kommt. Laut Dan Morrill von Google ist das aktuelle UI nur ein Platzhalter und wird völlig ausgetauscht werden. Das lässt zumindest hoffen, auch visuell mit dem iPhone mithalten kann. In ein paar Wochen mit dem Erscheinen des neuen SDKs wird man mehr sagen können. Auf dem Workshop gab es ein paar Andeutung, dass das neue SDK um den 20. Februar erscheinen könnte.

Hier noch ein paar Fotos vom Workshop:

Dan Morrill	Dalvik	Das neue SDK	Der “Hackathon”	Jason Chen