Those who are waiting for the Windows update vis-Ã -vis the copy and paste functionality, here is a good news.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is working on a project, Sparsh, which could enable the users to copy and paste data from one device to another, which is not possible at present though numerous wireless connectivity options such as 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth are available.
Sparsh, which means ‘touch’ in Hindi, is not exactly an application, rather it’s more likely to become a component of the operating system of the phone itself, just like select all (Ctrl+A) or undo (Ctrl+Z) or redo (Ctrl+Y) functions in the personal computers.
Sparsh works by creating a clipboard based in the cloud. The copied data remains there in the cloud clipboard till the time it is pasted on some other device.
For it to work, both the devices need to have Sparsh and the users have to log in on both before proceeding. Users first need to select the data, which is then copied and sent to the Sparsh cloud. When the user touches another Sparsh enabled device, the copied data is pasted as if it has been copied from that very device.
Right now, the project is only at the concept stage, but it holds substantial promise to be pursued by the operating system creators.
Copy and paste functionality was in the news thanks to Microsoft, which after much brouhaha, brought NODO updates recently. There was a time when Microsoft believed the Windows Phone 7 series didn’t need copy paste because users didn’t need it, or even if they did, they used it rarely. The clipboard option was left out by Microsoft deliberately.
But due to user demand, Microsoft had to bring in copy-and-paste for the Windows Phone 7 with the NODO update, which is still being rolled out.