Windows 8 interface's design heritage

(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft's new interface for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, formerly known as Metro, is based on squares and rectangles of flat colour arranged on a seamless panoramic canvas; a complete break from the traditional desktop metaphor.
The new interface is a stylistic development of the look developed for Windows Phone 7, something that caused confusion when it was announced in 2010.
"When I first saw the Windows Phone UI ... I was genuinely surprised. The flatness of it, an awful lot of white space ... I mean, it was clearly a shift in direction from what we've been seeing on the other platforms," said Shane Morris, formerly a Microsoft user interface evangelist, but now a user experience designer with Automatic Studio.
"I literally thought that Microsoft was being very clever and not revealing the final user interface. Instead, it put in place these square, coloured placeholders where the user interface would be revealed," Morris told ZDNet.

But the interface was real, and the abandonment of the familiar desktop metaphor was also real. Microsoft believes that it's appropriate in the era of digital natives.

"We're at a point where our users are sufficiently confident with using information technology that they don't need the reassurance of those references to real-world objects. That would be Microsoft's argument," Morris said.

"That's why the new user interface has what a lot of this what we call chrome [borders, shading, textures, and the like on user interface elements] stripped out, the argument being we can just focus on the actual information now," he said.
"You manipulate the content itself. You drag it, you drop it, you poke it. As an old-school usability guy, I found that quite confronting. Traditionally, my job was to provide enough signals onscreen to communicate to users what you're supposed to do."

In his presentation at Microsoft TechEd 2012 this week, Morris showed how the Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 interfaces have evolved from Microsoft's previous content-focused interfaces for Media Center and Zune.

"Those applications similarly don't have a lot of chrome, the focus on the content, there's a lot of animation, a lot of use of text," he said.

The inspiration for Microsoft's new visual style can be traced back to design schools from the middle of the 20th century, including the International Style or Swiss School, the Bauhaus movement, and motion graphics such as the cinematic title designs of Saul Bass, as well as the wayfinding signage used in airports and urban transit systems.

source: zdnet

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iPhone 5 Could Get Banned Thanks To HTC Patents

Apple likes to sue other handset makers for patent infringement. The companies on the receiving end of Apple’s legal tactics reciprocate with their own patent lawsuits. The resulting patent wars exploded into a mess that hasn’t been remotely cleaned up over the last two years. During that time, Apple either settled or won the majority of their patent lawsuits. HTC might just be the first to strike back in U.S. courts and win.
HTC brought a suit against Apple last year claiming that the company violated two of their patents for data transmission in wireless devices. HTC’s lawsuit was a direct response to Apple bringing a lawsuit against them that resulted in their phones being banned from sale in the U.S. Apple attempted to have HTC’s patent lawsuit thrown out, but a U.S. judge says the patents are probably valid.
Bloomberg reports that U.S. ITC Judge Thomas Pender said that HTC’s arguments are “clear and convincing.” This may lead to trouble for Apple as Pender says that he has to be “pretty darn certain a U.S. patent is invalid.” In other words, Apple has their work cut out for them if they’re going to prove that HTC’s patents are invalid in the U.S.
The patents in question, according to HTC, refer to 4G LTE signals. The new iPad uses LTE technology and the iPhone 5 will most assuredly use the wireless signal as well. HTC could use a successful ruling in their favor to have both products banned from sale in the U.S. unless Apple pays them a licensing fee for the patent or removes LTE functionality altogether.
In their defense, Apple says that HTC’s patents don’t relate to 4G technology whatsoever. The patents were bought from ADC Communications. Apple claims that ADC was using the patents for work that began in the 1990s. That very well could be the case as HTC said that patents covered Wi-Fi technology before changing their claims to say that they covered 4G LTE technology.
A lot of embittered Apple haters would probably love to see HTC win this case, but it won’t solve anything. Fighting fire with fire is the only way tech companies can proceed because policy makers won’t concede that there’s a problem with the current patent system. The winners and losers of the tech world should be decided by consumers, not judges and lawyers.

source: webpronews

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eBay For Android Gets Significant Update

Update: eBay has reportedly recalled this version fo the app, following numerous complaints of connectivity issues.
eBay revealed its new logo today, but the company has also launched an update to its Android app. Here’s the new features, as listed on Google Play:

• Find cars, trucks, motorcycles as well as compatible parts and accessories with the mobile-optimized eBay Motors experience (US only, more countries coming soon)
• Improved My eBay list access
• Simplified navigation throughout the app
• View bidding history on an item
• Add up to 12 photos when listing an item with the app
• Users in Italy and Spain can now list items with the app
• Payment support for Malaysia and Singapore

The design aspects of the updated app are getting some praise. One blogger writes, “I do a lot of buying and sell off of eBay pretty frequently, and as of late, I have been using my mobile devices to do both buying and selling. It was a very nice application when it came to performance and easy access. It was a very easy application to use, but the application looked like it was designed by someone still living in the past. It really wasn’t a modern application. It was annoying on the eyes and was often pretty frustrating to use. I would love to see the application reach for a different design. Thankfully, that day is here.”

The reviews of the update on Google Play are mixed. There are a number complaints about the app not working since the update, but generally, those who haven’t had any trouble seem happy with it.

source: webpronews

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iPhone 5's Camera Upgrade Is A Missed Opportunity

Apple's latest smartphone will sport an upgraded camera when it ships on September 21, as is customary with just about every new iPhone. For people who care about mobile photography, though, the new camera is a disappointment. Apple passed up a chance to bring phonecam quality closer to that of point-and-shoots.
To be fair, the iPhone 5 camera is among the best in any smartphone. Yet at 8 megapixels (3,264 x 2,448) and with an aperture of 2.4mm, it's not a leap forward from the 4S, which has the same specs. The iPhone 4S jumped from 5 to 8 megapixels. That improvement was a big win for photography, and the overall quality of mobile-shot photos is better because of it. Sadly, we'll have to wait for another iPhone - or another manufacturer - to make the next leap in smartphone cameras.

Why This Camera Upgrade Wasn't Bigger

Why did Apple choose to tread water with the iPhone 5's camera? For one, the company had to fit it into a thinner device amid a host of new parts. As Phil Schiller acknowledged on Wednesday, "making something thinner is about the worst thing you can do" if you're looking to include a more powerful camera on the inside. The engineers managed to pack several improvements into the device. They just couldn't squeeze in everything.
Some photo buffs argue that megapixels matter only up to a point. There's some truth to that, especially when images are destined for the Web and mobile apps like Instagram. In some technical scenarios, jamming extra pixels onto a tiny sensor won't necessarily help image quality all that much anyway. But there's a reason point-and-shoot cameras capture images at much higher resolution. The quality tends to be better, especially when the photos are printed on paper.

Form Factor Over Functionality

If Apple hadn't put the form factor ahead of functionality, it could have helped bring mobile photography closer to the quality available from stand-alone cameras. Nikon's new Android-powered CoolPix point-and-shoot, for instance, captures 12 megapixels and works in much lower light, thanks to its higher ISO options. It also sports a real zoom lens (something that may not be practical to include on a smartphone just yet). Apple didn't say much about the flash on the iPhone 5, but if previous models are any indication, it probably doesn't produce the most flattering results in many lighting conditions. If Android-powered point-and-shoots take off, you're going to see an uptick in the quality of mobile photos, especially in apps like Instagram.
Of the camera improvements the iPhone 5 does have, a few shouldn't be overlooked. As anybody who has tried using their phone to quickly photograph a moment as it unfolds, speed is everything. The new iPhone camera is engineered to take pictures faster. Combined with the device's faster processor, that should lead to fewer missed photo opportunities. And while plenty of third party apps produce similar results, the iPhone's new native panorama feature is pretty nice.
Apple had quite a bit to pack into an iPhone that's thinner than ever. It's a worthwhile upgrade. When it comes to snapping high-quality images, though, the iPhone 5 is a missed opportunity

source: readwriteweb

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Microsoft Shows Off Office Home and Student 2013 for Windows RT

Microsoft discussed changes it made in order to provide a full Office experience on a Windows RT tablet

Microsoft's Office blog, "Office Next," revealed what programs like Word and Excel will look and feel like on a Windows RT tablet. 

 

According to the blog, the Microsoft Office team was looking at what consumers required in a mobile version of the Office Suite. They discovered that users wanted two things: a full Office experience, and great battery life while using it. 

 

So, the team did just that. Office Home and Student 2013 for Windows RT isn't just a viewer or a quick edit system; it's a full Office  experience complete with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote just the way they work on a PC. 

 

But for obvious reasons, Office can't work on a Windows RT tablet exactly the way it works on a PC. A different device calls for different functions, so the Microsoft Office team addressed this as well. The question at hand was, how could they create a classic full Office experience that adapts well to a tablet? 

 

Windows RT devices typically have features like 2 GB and up memory capabilities, 16 GB to 32 GB SSD storage capabilities and ARM system-on-a-chip processors. These specs offer plenty of potential as far as optimizing the use of Office programs and the device's battery life. The storage allows for plenty of document saves while the ARM processor reduces power consumption and increases performance. 

 

Other changes were made as well, such as the addition of coalescable timers, which specify a range of time to wake up the central processing unit (CPU) to do work instead of an absolute interval. This doesn't drain the battery as much. Other timers that are battery consuming, such as those that support a blinking cursor, were eliminated entirely. Instead, Windows RT stops the blinking cursor after a few seconds if the user has stopped responding. 

 

Aside from providing a full Office Suite and optimizing battery life, the blog mentioned that Office for Windows RT will also be able to tell whether you're using a cellular network, and if that data is unlimited or metered. This helps customers with issues like bill shock. When customers are nearing or over their monthly cap, Office lets them know. 

 

Office Home and Student 2013 RT will be available on Windows RT devices October 26, when Windows 8 is released. Initially, only preview editions will be available, but starting in November, free Microsoft updates will start rolling in through January. These updates will boost the Office Suite RT to its full-featured version. 

source: dailytech

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Facebook Is Poised to Shake Up Advertising, Insider Says

Under relentless Wall Street scrutiny, Facebook has clammed up about its advertising experiments. But one ad broker invited into the social network’s nascent ad exchange says the marketplace is light-years ahead of competing offerings from Google, Yahoo, Rubicon and others – and that advertisers are clamoring to pump more money into it.
Facebook Exchange is “exponentially better” than competing systems, says Zach Coelius, whose company Triggit places advertiser bids on Facebook Exchange and all its major competitors. Coelius says his company’s limited data from three months of trials suggests Facebook customers targeted through the exchange are roughly twice as likely to buy or otherwise “convert” after clicking on an ad as those targeted through competitors. To sweeten the deal, such ad orders cost approximately one-sixth as much when acquired via Facebook Exchange versus competitors.
Triggit’s data provides the most extensive information yet on an experimental product that could turn into a strategic crown jewel for Facebook. Launched in late June with just eight participants, Facebook Exchange offers advertisers the chance to follow customers from certain websites onto Facebook and then bid to show them an ad. That practice is known in the online ad industry as “real-time bidding” and is widely adopted, including by Google via the DoubleClick Ad Exchange and by Yahoo via Right Media. It is often used to target people who visit an e-commerce website and browse for a particular type of product, urging them to come back and complete a purchase.
Facebook’s ad product director Gokul Rajaram hinted in July that the exchange was performing well, telling Wired Business that the “pre-alpha” system had “many, many people chomping at the bit to be let in and to ramp up their campaigns.” But he clammed up in a September interview with Ad Exchanger, stating “I can’t say anything about success because it’s still in beta right now.”
Coelius, who says he’s been authorized to speak by Facebook, says Facebook Exchange generates about four times as many clickthroughs per dollar spent when compared with its competitors (a measure known in the industry as “click-through return on ad spend”). That’s based on data from two Triggit advertisers, Shutterfly and Surveymonkey, but Coelius says “we are seeing this data across all … three dozen advertisers” whose ads it has sent to Facebook Exchange. (He elaborates in this blog post.)
Coelius attributes Facebook’s performance to a “highly engaged audience” and to the fact that people tend to log on to the social network at both home and work, making them much easier to track. A chart prepared by Triggit (below) shows traditional ad exchanges like Google’s DoubleClick Ad Exchange (grouped together on the left) tend to to be dormant during the workday and to sell most of their ad impressions at night, when people get home from work. Facebook Exchange, in comparison (on the right), sells more than half as many ads at 10am as it does at 6 p.m.

Being able to target consumers around the clock is crucial to the merchants, app sellers and other transaction-driven advertisers who tend to use ad exchanges. “In our business, an expression of intent – a desire to find a pair of shoes, for example — goes stale very quickly,” Coelius says.
Many of Triggit’s advertisers would like Facebook to lift the exchange’s experimental status so they can spend more money on it, but the social network’s reticence to do that is understandable. Because they are based on your past web behavior, including searches and site visits, exchange ads can seem creepy to users, and Facebook has already ignited more than its share of privacy controversies and must tread carefully with its massive user base.
Unlike some of the initiatives of Facebook’s past, Facebook Exchange does not take the company into virgin territory; its competitors are already there. And it might make Facebook ads less annoying. “The relevance of the ads outweighs any concerns [users] might have,” Coelius says.
Given the state of Facebook’s stock – and Facebook Exchange’s potential to lift it – the social network no doubt hopes that’s true.

source: wired

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Apple Debuts Redesigned iPod nano, Colorful iPod touch with 4” Display

Apple's iPod touch finally gets a real update, while the iPod nano gets redesigned

While Apple’s iPhone 5 was the highlight of today’s keynote, the boys from Cupertino were also showing off new iPods.

The new iPod nano features a 2.5" touch screen display and a home button (as seen on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad). It also features physical controls on the side and is available in seven different colors.
 
The iPod nano now features Bluetooth, widescreen video playback makes a reappearance, a pedometer is built-in, and it also includes FM radio with DVR functionality.

The new 16GB iPod nano is priced at $149.

Not to be left out, Apple has also redesigned the iPod touch in the image of the iPhone 5. It too features a 4” screen (640x1136), but includes the older A5 processor. The anodized aluminum iPod touch is only 6.1mm thick and weighs just 88 grams. Interestingly the iPod touch now supports Siri.

The iPod touch also includes a 5MP rear-facing camera with LED flash (it supports the Panorama feature introduced with the iPhone 5) and a FaceTime HD front-facing camera. There is also a little button on the backside of the device that once pressed, opens to reveal a lanyard loop to better secure your device when taking pictures.

The iPod touch offers up to 40 hours of music playback and 8 hours of video playback.

The redesign of the iPod touch has been a long time coming. Last year’s “refresh” amounted to little more than a new color (white). The iPod touch is now also available in five colors (with a color-matched lanyard loop).

Like before, the iPod touch is available in 32GB ($299), and 64GB ($399) versions.

In other news, iTunes has finally gotten a drastic makeover and now features an edge-to-edge design. In a move that we’ve seen with the recent iOS-ification of OS X, the latest version of iTunes takes many design cues from the Music app on the iPad.

source: dailytech

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