Author Archives: Darren Wood
HTC + Microsoft = Attentive Phone
When you think about usability on a mobile device, you primarily think of UI. Interactive on mobile is as much about the device as it is about the software, so it’s great when both work together.
Enter attentive phone.
Essentially it’s an easy, tactile way to interact with a phone call – mainly through the use of meters. Your phone is ringing on your desk, pick it up to check the number and the ringer quietens; Put your phone in your pocket or purse and the volume automatically gets louder; On a call, put the phone face down on the table and it turns the speakerphone on; or simple turn the phone while it’s ringing to silence the call.
Attentive phone is an example of the experience extending past digital interactions and as these device add better meters it stands to reason that the interaction of the device in the lifestyle of person will become more important.
The Samsung Corby II
While we may never see the Corby II in North America, it’s an example of one of the branches of Android – economy. The phone is an entry level Android device that’s meant to be fun and affordable.
Foursquare 3.0
Foursquare launched their 3rd iteration of their mobile platforms yesterday with an emphasis on recommendation, loyalty and social gaming.
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.
Welcome to issue three of this weekly post. I’m hoping to develop the format a little further in the next couple posts.
The rise of Near Field Communication (NFC)
Some of the more exciting tech that was shown at the Mobile World Congress this year was in the vein of near field communication (NFC). The prospects of near field communication are quite profound – essentially the ability to use your phone to transfer data through near contact. Like RFID, NFC would allow you to pay at a point of sale, or transfer contact information for example. One of the large differences between RFID and NFC is security: NFC was built specifically to be more secure. Read more on CNET.
The new subscription model
Over the past week or so both Apple and Google released subscription models for their app stores, drawing a straight line from publisher and consumer. There are some key differences between the two:
Apple’s model allows publishers to set the price and recurrence, and all payment is handled by the iTunes store limiting those purchases to strictly Apple devices (surprise). The Google One Pass is a lot less limited – not only do they only take 10%, but they also allow their One Pass system to work across various platforms such as web, tablet, and smartphones. Google’s subscription system is smarter too allowing for metered billing and single content billings.
HP WEBOS
Introducing the Pre 3
What chances does yet another OS have in the evermore saturated world of mobile? Apple, Google, and RIM in the forefront, Microsoft training to win ground, and now HP rekindling the WebOS software it acquired with Palm. Is it worth it? I know one person in the CM Calgary building that might say yes. Anything can happen, there is no clear winner yet.
Palm may be dead, but their Pre is back, and so is WebOS. Personally I like the simplicity of WebOS. The ‘card’ based system makes it easy to multitask, and a simple flick will close an app. It’s clean and easy to understand. The obvious downside to WebOS are the apps available: a whopping 8000.
The hardware itself is said to be massive. The 3.6″ screen AND slide out keyboard make it a handfull, but for some they’ll be glad to still have the physical keyboard. Have a look at this hands-on video for a walkthrough.
Read More
If you’re anything like me, you enjoy a smart solution that keeps your data syncronized across everthings you own. I wish more was like this, but unforunately, it’s not. I like to sleep soundly knowing that if anything where to happen to my physical machines the important part would not be lost – the data.
I’m currently a heavy user of Evernote, I use it for everything, and with the premium account I know my data is encrypted both in transit and at rest. I even have it set so if I recieve a document via email, it is automatically stripped and moved to evernote for immediate cloud storage. The thing that has always bugged me about Evernote is it isn’t terribly smart. It stores everything how you like it and will perform full text searches within images – which is rad; however there is a whole internet out there you could potentially augment the data with.
The moderately quiet beast of Windows Phone 7 has suddenly made some noise – as do many beasts on their death bed, crying out into the night for help. Common speculation is that the Microsoft mobile solution is barely hanging on in the mobile market, but not before trying all the bandages on for size.
So in the spirit of windows having some of the bigger news this week, we’ll lead in with them.
WINDOWS PHONE 7
Microsoft goes Finnish
The biggest news hitting this week has been the adoption of Windows Phone 7 by the hardware giant Nokia. The announcement by Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop caused the 1500 person team responsible for the development of Symbian, Nokia’s own OS, to walk out of the building.
Ever since the announcement took place on February 11th, Nokia’s stock has dropped 18% draining 5.5 billion Euros*.
Elop is quoted in the Microsoft press release: “Today, developers, operators and consumers want compelling mobile products, which include not only the device, but the software, services, applications and customer support that make a great experience,” Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO, said at a joint news conference in London. “Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale. It’s now a three-horse race.”*
Perhaps the gravity of the situation is the clobbering both Microsoft and Nokia are getting from Android and Apple iOS, it may be natural that the two team up to really take this to market. Read More
Due the outstanding speed this space develops, and the desire from both clients and industry to adopt this space, I felt it would be poignant addition to our weekly publications to nestle in a quick hit on what’s happening in mobile. I hope to get these out every wednesday.
The mobile space is a huge, swirling flux of people, devices, and infrastructure, So i’ll break it up into the big players, Apple, Android, and RIM.
APPLE
The Daily
It would appear that there has been something lacking from the iPad – subscription based infrastructure. Now, any tech savant will no doubt say – why am I supposed to pay for content that I can curate myself for free?
I am one of those. I have my streams of RSS feeds that I can moderate in Flipboard, Flud, Pulse, or any other RSS reader – so how will this be meaningful to me? Will this just be another regurgitation of the multitude of posts that I already consume? Is it curated in a way that is meaningful?
We finally got The Daily in the Canadian stores late last week, and in general the consensus is a bit underwhelming. To me it holds no benefit over getting a newspaper subscription online. The buggy interface jutters and twitches as you try and navigate content, and your not given the news that’s relevant to you – something that you would expect digital to be the perfect agent for, but it grants you the typical blanket news you would get from any other source. The facts are you can get news from a free RSS reading app that would be more poignant to your interests than the waffling of what might as well be the 6 o’clock news.
Have a different experience, let me know!
iOS 4.3 Beta 2
Apple is building out it’s newest version of iOS with a few new features we should keep in mind as we look at developing for the platform. The first has to do with that little black Apple box that some of us have in our living rooms: AppleTV.
