Three quick news items this week.

iPad 2

This is the obvious post – I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Cameras, faster processors, and 33% thinner. And white! Amazing. Check it out.

What do these features mean for marketing? There are the obvious uses of these new features on the consumer end. But how will the relate to things like customer service? Could companies start utilizing FaceTime for customer service, or product support? There is plenty of room for more innovation in this space, and it may help the adoption of FaceTime – something I seldom, if ever, use.

The feature that I am excited about is the bump in processing speed – something Apple needed to add so it would keep up with the onslaught of competitors ramping up to launch. The experience I have working with developers on projects is that the iPad has a limited ability to run deeper experiences, so more processing speed means bigger ideas, and better execution.

Lastly, the addition of HDMI capabilities means more ipad to TV relationships leading to an even bigger experience.

The App vs. Web Dilemma

An interesting article this week on the trends of how people are using their smartphones – and the consensus is that the browser based experience is being left behind. Sure there seem to be uses called out for browser based experiences, like news, search and commerce, but web use on mobile devices is now 37% lower than app use.

It’s not a lie that there’s an app for most things, and might be the future that your next search engine is an app for a specific topic, and instead of searching for a webpage in Google, you’re searching for an app in the App Store or Marketplace. Source

Tracing your UI
The nice thing about touch interfaces is just that – they’re touched. Something as simple as letting someone play with your app and looking at the screen after can show an abundance in information.