The AppsLab

If you’ve used an iOS device and an Android one, you’ll know that iOS 4’s notifications and multitasking are horrible in comparison to Android’s. These features are so bad, I wonder how they even got released by a company so dedicated to user experience. So, check out this take on what iOS notifications should be, namely… Read More

Last week, I met John Yopp (@johnyopp) who runs a team called the Retail Applied Research. You might be familiar with the Retail (@OracleRetail) team, e.g. from reading David Dorf’s (@dordav) blog. Anyway, John and his team are a lab; they work on prototypes, proving concepts for retail use cases, etc. Sound familiar? Yeah, that’s… Read More

This is somewhat bittersweet news. Android 2.3.3 Makes Screen Shots a Root-Free Affair | Android Phone Fans Yes, Android should have an easier way to capture images of its screen, but the amount of traffic driven here by my how-to post on that very topic will be a loss. Not that we’re selling ads or… Read More

Facebook has been making a lot of news lately, not that I would normally care, but since creating a fan page for us, I’ve paid more attention to them, especially given the relatively high amount of referral traffic driven here. Here’s a quick roundup: 1. Facebook acquires Beluga Why it matters: I’ve been messing with… Read More

Very interesting post, especially as the Motorola Xoom finishes its first week of sales. Why operators will find it hard to sell tablets | asymco When the iPad was announced and ultimately released, a very common phrase thrown about was that it’s “a large iPhone.” More accurately, the iPhone is “a small iPad.” Even though… Read More

If you read here, you’ll know I love smartphone apps for small units of work. Aside from targeted use cases, what makes native apps really shine is their ability to address the device’s hardware, e.g. accelerometer, GPS, gyroscope, camera, microphone, etc. So, as a user, I’m into apps. As a developer, I hate apps with… Read More

Interesting post from DHH (@dhh) about corporate IT. As millenials join the workforce, the ongoing role of IT will change, or it should anyway. The end of the IT department – (37signals) Having been on both sides of this table, in IT early in my career and later in development, I’m empathetic to both sides.… Read More

Louis Gray (@louisgray) posted a thoughtful and measured review of his HTC HD7 Windows Phone 7 las week. louisgray.com: Windows Phone 7 is the Best Windows I’ve Ever Tried Side note, Louis does a nice job of avoiding fanboism, which I respect. His feedback is similar to what I’ve seen from others, essentially, it doesn’t… Read More

Having very recently tested a Motorola Xoom, the first device to run Android’s 3.0 version, a.k.a. Honeycomb, I found this both helpful and interesting. PSA: Own An Android 3.0 Device And A Mac? Install This One nice feature of Android is that it allows your phone’s micro SD card to be attached to your computer… Read More

Here’s a fun one to start your week. By Sticky Comics (@stickycomics), h/t Geekosystem.

This is one of those how-to/reminder posts. Consider yourself warned. You might recall that I ran a mobile survey a few months ago, and if you took it, you probably noticed that I used Google Docs Forms, an underrated, dead simple way to create a basic web form, collect data and analyze the results. Anyway,… Read More

As I did when the iPad launched, I just had to see the Motorola Xoom for myself. Did you know it launched yesterday? Did you know it’s the first Android table released running Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), the version specifically designed for tablets? I ask because Rich (@rmanalan) didn’t know the former, and many people don’t know… Read More

This is interesting to me for a couple reasons. First, it’s sweet data pr0n. Second, it shows both how fast Android has taken off in areas of the World and how much is left to conquer. I’d be interested to see a similar visualization of all smartphone activations for the same reasons. Visualized: Android activations… Read More

This is getting out of hand, sort of pun unintended. More stuff to stick on your deliberately slim and beautiful smartphone. Joystickers: For When You Wish Your iPhone (Temporarily) Had More Buttons My design sensibilities are officially miffed.

If so, I’ve got a new one for you, the WebCenter Suite New Features white paper, to be precise. Hit the link for more information, looks like there’s no registration required. Happy reading. White Paper: Oracle WebCenter Suite New Features (Oracle Enterprise 2.0 Blog)

Yesterday’s WordPress 3.1 update brought a surprise for me, Site Stats. These have long been available, but for whatever reason, ours weren’t working. I never really took the time to diagnose why. But happy day, now I can look back at nearly four years, more than 1,300 posts and more than 11,000 comments. I love… Read More

So, this is very meta, be warned. Paul (@ppedrazzi) posted this quote from Instagram’s developer site. I assume that’s the source, but I can’t verify without authenticating. We believe that the Instagram community is building a rich visual history of the world. So, if you’re familiar with Instagram, that’s obviously false and not a little presumptuous. For the… Read More

I’m no longer much of a baseball fan. I guess the strike of 1994-1995 and the fall from grace of my hometown team were the biggest contributing factors. Even if you can’t tell a baseball from a billiard ball, you’ll love Pennant, an iPad app created by Steve Varga, that visualizes every game played since… Read More

I rocked a hard shell case on my original iPhone, and for a while, on my EVO. The added form factor always embarrassed my design sensibilities, something Paul (@ppedrazzi) and Rich (@rmanalan) wouldn’t suffer, but the utility provided by a case outweighed the alternative. I did discover the alternative one day last Summer when I… Read More

I’m glad someone did some digging on this topic, which has been at the top of my mind now that a mass of Android tablets are nearing release. Why Nobody Can Match the iPad’s Price | Gadget Lab | Wired.com I don’t recall exactly when he said it, but in one of Steve Jobs’ keynotes,… Read More