The 7 Iconic Patents That Define Steve Jobs
via pixelturf:
Steve Jobs is a man who lives in the minutiae of details. He, with his loyal staff, perfects what others would pass off as perfect. He has 313 patents to his name, which range from the Apple III to the iPod’s acrylic packaging. Almost all of them are notable but only a few are iconic…
(Source: TechCrunch)
Understanding the iPad User Interface Through Leftover Fingerprints
George Kokkinidis of Design Language News came up with an ingenious way to visualize the user interfaces of various iPad apps: he analyzed the fingerprints left on the screen after using each app.
We’re trying to design better products. Sometimes we get them more right than others. That’s the goal. The goal isn’t to be different. The goal isn’t to be new. The goal is to do it well and to design better products. If they are new, or if they are different then that’s a consequence, but it’s not the goal.
UX Lab: How can we enrich the reading experience on a screen?
“… we thought this would make a nice little lab project and sketched out a bunch of ideas how to enrich the reading experience on screen devices. We used the iPad as rapid prototyping platform to bring these ideas to life – yet in a quite rough form. We’ve compiled a selection of our favorites to share with the rest of the world. Enjoy…”
How the iPad Is Influencing Web Apps
Christina Warren:
Google’s official line might be that Android is for tablets and Chrome OS is for netbooks, but in practice, it looks like more and more web developers are designing their web apps with the tablet form factor and features, like multi-touch, in mind.
(Source: daringfireball.net)
iPad Usability: First Findings From User Testing
iPad apps are inconsistent and have low feature discoverability, with frequent user errors due to accidental gestures. An overly strong print metaphor and weird interaction styles cause further usability problems.
So programmers continue to develop iPhone apps, even though Apple continues to maltreat them. They’re like someone stuck in an abusive relationship. They’re so attracted to the iPhone that they can’t leave.
AdMob’s October 2009 Mobile Metrics Report
via John Gruber of Daring Fireball
The full report, in PDF format, is here. Page 7 is where the interesting numbers are. The two most popular handsets are the iPhone and iPod Touch. Most interesting to me is column showing percentage share change in the list of top device manufacturers:
- Apple’s is great (6.9%)
- HTC’s is good (1.2%)
- Nokia’s, Palm’s and Sony Ericsson’s are bad (-2.6%, -1.0%, and -0.8% respectively — particularly ominous for Palm, I think, in terms of traction for the Pre)
- Everyone else, including RIM, is pretty much just treading water.
Also interesting on p. 7 are the pie charts comparing device market share with OS market share. The two charts are nearly identical. That might change if Android takes off.
updated.
Following the 9.9.09 debut of the digitally re-mastered catalogue on CD, Apple Corps and EMI Music are pleased to announce the worldwide release of a limited edition of only 30,000 Beatles Stereo USB apples on December 7 (December 8 in North America).
You can pre-order your copy in the official Beatles store.
