Starmobile Touch Control Gestures for Android Smartphones : More Than Specs, It's About The Experience

In an industry where it's becoming more and more a mere "specs game", how does a local electronics company like Starmobile set itself apart from its main rivals in the market?

That's exactly the question I asked Mr. Ryan Joeyson Uy, Senior Product Trainer and Customer Care Head of Happy Man by Starmobile, in our conversation earlier and here's what he told me:

"With good specs should also come good features and functionality. The general user experience is quite broad and cannot be driven by hardware alone. Good software, customization, and functionality are highly integral, especially when considering that a smartphone is deemed an intelligent device. A good set of hardware without properly customized software could result in a frustrating user experience. Our product team ensures that through a rigorous software development and customization process, we can maximize the most out of available hardware and pair it with customizations like those found on our Android KitKat smartphones for a fun and enjoyable user experience. Topping it off with freebies like the case and screen protector in the package, and you're all set to go!"

One of the innovative software customization that Ryan was talking is Starmobile's Smart Gestures for Android smartphones; A set of touch controls that users can perform on the touchscreens of Starmobile Sky, Starmobile Turbo, and Starmobile Up to activate certain commands and functions. Double tapping on a blank part of the devices' homescreen, for instance, turns it off. Similarly, if the screen is inactive, double tapping on it will turn it on. There's also 'App Gestures' that allow you launch particular applications simply by drawing patterns on the phone's inactive screen.

"The gesture innovations make using our devices even more convenient. By simply drawing letters on the screen, they can be easily redirected to whatever application they assign to it. The multi-point gestures, on the other hand, are also convenient short cuts to some frequently done tasks such as opening the messaging application, taking a screen shot, or even adjusting the volume while listening to music," Ryan explained.

He added, "We wanted to show and give the users the great advances in technology that help to make devices such as smartphones even easier to use. We are also seeing a growing trend in people shifting to smartphones from feature phones so as an added convenience to them, we wanted to give them something that'll help the adjustment process easier."

In one of my meetings with our friends from Starmobile at their corporate headquarters in Pasig City, Mr. Elijah Mendoza - the company's Product Marketing Manager - gave me an exclusive demo of two handsets featuring Starmobile's touch innovations, the affordable KitKat releases Starmobile Sky and the Starmobile Up. I got everything on video, so make sure you check out the clips, TP Friends. And if you wish so, share them with your buds who might be interested in these handsets.

I was told that Starmobile also intends to bring these software innovations to its upper midrange and high-end smartphone and phablet categories. "We are always working to give our consumers the best mobile experience possible through these enhancements," the team shared.


I've always been a firm believer that to stand out from the rest of the pack and to be successful, you have to do something different; Something that will tell people that you're not like everyone else and hence, you're not replaceable.

In an industry where it seems that all players are just aiming to give consumers the best technical specifications possible at a certain period, it's definitely refreshing to see one that's striving to deliver more and distinguish itself on the software front and in terms of hardware-software integration. Thumbs up, Starmobile!