Archive for October, 2011:
A View of Android Fragmentation
Michael DeGusta (@degusta) has an exhaustive chart depicting Android fragmentation. Maybe someone can visualize the data in a slightly easier to consume way, but it paints a good picture. the understatement: Android Orphans: Visualizing a Sad History of Support h/t TechCrunch Aside from a minor quibble with the original iPhone’s green status (iOS 4 launched a [...]
Nest, the iPod of Thermostats
Interesting post about Nest, the thermostat from the co-creator of the iPod, and more broadly about the so-called Apple-fication of other areas outside computing. Nest is a very handsome device that has an impressive list of features that any household could use, mine included. I actually may buy one of these after the initial kinks [...]
On Apple’s Design Aesthetic: When Delight Turns Patronizing
Found this fascinating post by way of Kottke.org, it accurately describes something that has bugged me about areas of OS X Lion, specifically iCal. Apple’s aesthetic dichotomy | Made by Many I use iCal every day, all day, and when I opened it for the first time on Lion I felt annoyed and vaguely patronized [...]
Dreaming of a Smooth Upgrade
Oneiric means of or relating to dreams or dreaming. I had to look it up, and the reason I did so was because the latest release of Canonical’s popular Linux distro, Ubuntu, is called Oneiric Ocelot. I made the jump to Ubuntu in July 2008 with Hardy Heron, and for the most part, I’ve been [...]
Interesting Take on Smartphones
As I read this tantalizingly titled post, I found myself nodding like an idiot. I work from home, so at least no one saw me silently agreeing with what I was reading. I Hate My Smartphone The main point is highly applicable to me and to many of you and is pretty much the same one I [...]
Do We Need More Multitouch Options?
From the same guy who created OmniTouch, which allows any surface to be used as a touchscreen, comes TapSense, which can tell what is touching its display, e.g. fingernail, finger pad, knuckle, fingertip. While this is really cool from a technology perspective, it further complicates the usability issues wrapped up with the diversity of multitouch [...]
Details of Android 4.0 and Galaxy Nexus New Features
TechCrunch has a long walkthrough of the cool stuff in Android 4.0 and the hardware features of the Galaxy Nexus. I didn’t really expect to have device envy, since the Nexus S is a really nice device, but when I saw “zero shutter lag” and immediately wanted a bump. My daughter is the reason. She’s [...]
How Google’s Self-Driving Cars Work
Ever since they were outed, I’ve been fascinated by Google’s self-driving cars. They are a combination of awesome potential and scary future vision. Here’s some interesting information on how they actually work, very cool as expected. How Google’s Self-Driving Car Works – IEEE Spectrum As with any algorithm, there are some interesting tweaks: Sometimes, however, [...]
Divide Your Work and Personal Smartphone Usage
Interesting and seemingly simple approach to separating your work and personal lives on your smartphone, h/t Fast Company Design. More to the point, do tools like this even matter anymore? Yes, IT and IS will always want division and security to protect digital assets, but have we moved into an era where people know enough [...]
Turn Any Surface into a Touchscreen? Yes, Please.
Last week, I was complaining about how boring smartphones have become. Check out OmniTouch, which allows pretty much any surface to become a multitouch input, including body parts, walls and notepads. There’s a longer video over on TechCrunch. Now this is cool. The shoulder-mounted unit is a bit clunky, but I can see definite potential [...]
Privacy in the Age of Facebook
This is part generational study and part truth. The short version: two kids meet, don’t hit it off, one starts taking secret shots of the other in public and posts them to a fake stalker blog, the other finds out, isn’t pissed and interviews him for a school assignment. That’s as short as I could [...]
Kickstarter Reaches One Million Backers
If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, you should be. It’s a fantastic way to get your pet project off the ground without pounding the pavements looking for investors. Well, they just reached one million backers and one hundred million dollars pledged. Interesting stuff out there, including projects like TikTok, the svelte iPod Nano watchband which started [...]
Smartphones All Look Alike, Are Boring
This will sound a bit get-off-my-lawn, but smartphones are too much alike nowadays. Recently, I saw several smartphones laid out at my gym, and I was struck at how much alike they looked, despite being produced by different manufacturers and rocking different carriers and OSes. It’s all black bricks with big screens anymore. I’ve followed [...]
A Supermarket Featuring 40 Years of Product
I’m a nostalgic person, so this type of thing fascinates me. I would totally waste a day wandering through this place. For Design Researchers: The NewProductWorks Collection, a Supermarket Featuring 40 Years’ Worth of Product – Core77 This massive warehouse of old product packaging doesn’t appeal to my consumerism; it appeals to my design sense. [...]
On the 3.5 Inch Screen Size
I saw this post and reactions to it floating around, but honestly, I thought they were floppy disk memoirs or something. 3.5 Inches – Dustin Curtis When I first read the post, the assumption that the iPhone’s 3.5 inch screen is a design decision based on thumb-reach radius sounded very plausible. After all, Apple does [...]
Chrome Remote Desktop
Google announced something very cool today, Chrome Remote Desktop beta, an app in the Chrome Web Store that allows desktop sharing between any two computers. Each machine needs to be running Chrome, as well as the web app, but that’s it. No additional software to install and manage. This is huge for IT, support, and [...]
Working with Email, Not against It
Recently, I’m reminded of how much people depend on email to GSD. Despite all the flashy (and useful) content management solutions out there, the most common way to share files is still by attaching them to emails. By now, everyone understands the limitations and issues wrapped up in this practice. We only have 1 GB quotas [...]
On the Oracle Social Network
In yesterday’s afternoon keynote, the Oracle Social Network was officially announced. Check out friend of the ‘Lab Peter Reiser’s (@peterreiser) coverage for details. A few of you who’ve been reading here for a while have asked if this new product is any part of the socials apps we built and operate internally, Oracle Connect and [...]
Let’s Talk iPhone: Running the Gamut
Tons of coverage of today’s Let’s Talk iPhone event out there, as usual for Apple events. The smartest: Apple will continue to sell the iPhone 3Gs and iPhone 4 at lower prices, free with contract for the 3GS and $99 with contract for the 4. This is a great move against pressure from middle and [...]
Facebook’s Confusing Settings
While reading Nik Cubrilovic’s post on how to set up secure and private Facebook browsing, I stumbled across some interesting copy and messaging. People correctly complain that Facebook’s privacy and security options are too complex, and here’s an example of why. Check out the boilerplate and label for Facebook’s Instant Personalization feature: Carefully read the [...]
