That's a sentence I didn't imagine I'd be typing anytime soon.
Finding the Sweet Spot for Gesture Control
The process of taking my hands off the keyboard to wave them in the air to perform a gesture which I could do just as easily with keyboard shortcut, however, seems counterproductive. This is part where the Leap controller starts feeling like a novelty device. There are, however, times that I sit in front of my computer and I don’t have my hands on the keyboard. For instance, when I dictate.
This is the key to making something like Leap Motion Controller work well. I'm looking for how it might be used for presentations, where I'm similarly unlikely to sit down and use a keyboard.
The Wrong Compromise
So what's not to like about the new Nexus 7? For one thing, its 7-inch screen isn't as big as the nearly 8-inch iPad Mini's. While an inch of difference isn't remarkable, smartphone screens are growing to over 5 inches, making the Nexus 7 look more like one of those than a tablet.Another drawback: In my test, the new Nexus 7's battery life was underwhelming. Compared with the same battery test of the iPad Mini and first Nexus 7, it fell short at just six hours; the others clocked in at 10 hours and 27 minutes and 10 hours and 44 minutes, respectively. Google claims the battery life can last over nine hours, but the company tests it in Airplane mode (Internet connection off), with screen brightness set to 44% while playing video. I keep Wi-Fi on in the background and screen brightness at 75% while playing video.
Design is all about compromise, despite what Microsoft would have you believe. Great design is about making the right compromises. I once noted that the original iPad was essentially a more-than-good-enough display bolted to a great battery, and I still think that's mostly the right balance for a tablet. The new Nexus 7 seems to have prioritised screen over battery (that display is a remarkably tight 323ppi). That'll demo well, but over time it'll annoy to have the device die on you at the six-hour mark. (Hat tip to The Loop for the original link)
An Input Device You'll Always Have Handy
In addition to offering nearly fail-proof feedback, using body parts as input devices also has another distinct advantage: the device is literally always with you — because your body is you.
Yes, people often carry their mobile phones, but they'll never be without their hands or their ears. Thus they'll never be without system functions that have been assigned to their hands or ears.
While we're on the subject of novel user interfaces.
Leap Motion & The Pains of the Early Adopter
One problem is arm fatigue—holding your hand within the Leap's field of view in a comfortable fashion might require some workstation adjustment. I found that if I rested my elbow on my chair's arm, my hand wasn't at an angle that the Leap particularly liked to register; I spent quite a bit of time moving things around to overcome arm tiredness so that I could play with my elbow supported.
This has been my initial takeaway too. While the software and the hardware are bound to improve rapidly, holding up your hand towards the screen for any length of time is just horrible. Nevertheless, it's a very interesting device, even if it's not ready for prime-time just yet.
(Hat-tip to the always-interesting myapplemenu for the article link.)
Sword & Sorcery iOS Revenue
With over 1.5 million copies sold, it’s pretty obvious that #Sworcery has been a resounding success, and we’d like to share a few details of that success with you. There’s not that many titles out there that began on iOS and made their way to this many other platforms over time, so we hope that this info is helpful in some way/shape/form.
Useful infographic revealing the platform split of sales of the much-admired Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery game. In short: iOS accounts for a third of 1.5 million copies sold, but 55% of all revenue. Even more interesting is that 86% of iOS copies were sold at full price ($5.99), compared to only 23% of the copies shipped on Google Play. As is often the case, iOS might not always dominate units, but it definitely still dominates profits. My rough calculation is that S&S has brought in $1.5M in revenue to the developer (after Apple's 30% distribution cut). Sounds like pretty good money to me.
The 1937 Office of the Future
When the project is complete, SC Johnson's headquarters will once again resemble its 1950s-era look, upgraded of course with the technology of the second decade of the 21st century. And Wright fans will surely continue to come to visit the building that inspired "Life" magazine to compare the building and the 1939 World's Fair, "Future historians may well decide that a truer glimpse of the shape of things to come than is represented by the New York World's Fair was given in a single structure built strictly for business--the Administration Building of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., in Racine, Wisconsin."
The department where I teach has been moving into the new Parkside building in Birmingham this week, so you can expect a plethora of office-related posts. For what it's worth, I really like our new building, but it's no S.C. Johnson.
The Death of The Telephone
But by middle of the 20th Century most workers had a phone on their desk. They got used to the constant ringing and interruptions. People didn't get up to talk to each other, they spoke on the phone instead. The office switchboard was the hub of office, a sort of social glue connecting everyone to everyone else.
And that's how it stayed - until the last couple of years. We are now witnessing the death of the office landline, and with it the main switchboard.Continue reading the main story
If anyone really wants me, they send me an email, and because I don't like random disturbances any more than the Edwardians did, I've stopped answering my desk phone altogether.
This is how I feel about the telephone too. During the 1990's I relied on the phone for almost all business, though our ability to do more by email grew steadily throughout the decade. From about 1999 to 2005 I was really dependent upon people contacting me by mobile phone, but my dependence upon voice calls dropped off rapidly afterwards. About the time of the introduction of the iPhone I pretty much quit calling people. There's a phone on my desk in the new office, and the first thing I worked out how to do was to turn the ringer off.
With Logic Pro X, iPad becomes a great Control Surface
The most obviously useful way to control Logic Pro X from the iPad is to use the tablet's surface as a mixing board. This mode literally puts a bank of faders in front of you, up to eight at a time, and you can jump between different banks of eight faders at will. Manipulating the mixing board faders via iPad instead of a mouse and keyboard has one big advantage: thanks to the multitouch screen on the iPad, you can grab several faders at once and manipulate them in real time. On a laptop or desktop, you'd have to link several tracks together or else record fader automation one track at a time.
This for me is one of the big appeals of Logic Pro X, as I've been looking for a way to use the iPad to control recording levels live, and to quickly automate mixes for podcasts. I've been using Auria, which is great, but I'd love something that ties into a fuller production environment on the Mac.
There's a decent video overview of the iPad Remote features at the CNET link.
EA Games and Apple are a Gaming Powerhouse
For the first time ever, Electronic Arts (EA), the world's third-largest gaming company, gained more revenue through Apple than any other single partner. All-told, the company's mobile and tablet revenue hit $90 million last quarter, representing 18 percent of its overall takings. Digital revenue in general grew to $378 million, meaning less than a quarter of EA's $495 total revenue came from traditional sales.
It's worth clicking through to EA's own Investor portal too, where you'll probably spot that they're the top iOS publisher. When you put Apple's platform and distribution together with EA's software you've got a pretty formidable gaming behemoth. More to watch here I think.
Re:Sleeves On Davis Bowie Is
Ben Waddington's Re:Sleeves podcast has been on holiday for a while, but we broke radio silence yesterday in order to get together and share our thoughts about the V&A's massive David Bowie exhibition, which closes in a couple of weeks before heading to Canada. We were joined for the show by sculptor Ana Rutter, who was one of a small number of artists commissioned to produce original work for the show, and we talked about our experiences of the show, and our thoughts about what makes Bowie's visual legacy so compelling. Hope you enjoy the episode.
Logic Pro X and Apple's Professional Commitment
Earlier in the week Jim Dalrymple over at The Loop posted a really detailed look at Logic Pro X, and has some insights into what it indicates about Apple's commitment to the professional market going forward. The response to LPX has been markedly different to that which greeted Final Cut Pro X, and the whole experience seems to have focused Apple on getting this one right. I really like how Logic seems to blend the depth of pro features expected with some effective use of consumer-oriented UI design. It's a tough balancing act, but one which they seem to have pulled off, at least on first impressions.
Logic Pro X is probably overkill for my current production needs, but as we shift things up a gear over the coming months (more on which soon) I can really see us moving to this (on the Mac at least: I'm still liking how much I can do with Auria on iPad)
The Ethics of Biological Video Games
While these games are a far cry from Halo or World of Warcraft, they’ve garnered international interest from both scientists and the general public over the past five years. Creators believe this concept has the potential to engage both kids and adults in learning about biological processes.But a small number of observers think that interfering with living things for entertainment, even on such a microscopic scale, raises ethical issues. At the heart of this argument is a concern for human beings’ level of control over life. If we alter organisms or manipulate them for fun, are we entering into an unhealthy relationship with the world around us?
Fascinating. Perhaps the ethical questions may disappear when astronomers finally discover the Universe's coin slot.
Frontiers will be funded in 5 hours
Big congratulations due to Lars Simkins, whose game project Frontiers will in 5 hours' time be funded on Kickstarter. He's more than trebled his goal of $50,000, which means the game gets its stretch goal features (including multiplayer!).
If you want to make sure you get a copy before official target release next year, head to Kickstarter now and get on board. And if you want to hear all about the development so far, check out the Doom Ray interviews with Lars at Futurilla Radio.
Our Data Will Survive Us
“It is thrilling to think that we have created the first document which will likely survive the human race,” said Peter Kazansky, professor of physical optoelectronics at the Univ. of Southampton’s Optical Research Centre. “This technology can secure the last evidence of civilization: all we’ve learnt will not be forgotten.”
360 Terabytes on a single disk is amazing in itself, but it's even more thrilling to think that we might have now created something that will outlast our species. I guess this is what the organic robots will need to be able to decode. Let's hope they have disc drives.
PayPal Boldly Goes Where No Payment System has Gone Before
Creating a secure and functional commerce system that can operate in space at scale will not be easy, but with the support of the scientific community, other technology companies and the public at large, we hope to find the solutions to address these challenges.
Here's hoping they don't freeze your account when you're stuck out on Europa.
Particles, not Pixels
Here's the gist, though: Apple has built a complete, robust physics and particle engine for iOS 7. Elements don't just go from point A to point B, they move through a "real" world. They react to the accelerometer and gyroscope, they collide and bounce off each other and with the edges of the display, and they can change color according to the environment around them. They behave like objects in space, and interact like objects in a game.
Good piece by Rene Richie at iMore on how iOS 7 fundamentally changes the nature of UI design. Also worth looking at this ZDNet piece on iOS 7 Dynamic Type.
Annual iPod Classic Obituaries Begin
Also, as much as those who love the classic, love it a lot and for very specific reasons, Apple is moving away from this 'old' way of doing things. With iTunes Match and iTunes in the cloud – even the forthcoming iTunes Radio – we're seeing where the future of Apple's music offerings lie – somewhere the classic can't join in. There's still a lot to be said for having an iPod that just plays music, and lots of it, but the chances of it receiving a Lightning upgrade like the rest of the range are pretty slim at best.
It's that time of year again.
Missing the Palm V
One of the most interesting decisions that the company made was to not add features. With rivals like HP stuffing everything but the kitchen sink into devices like the Jornada 420, Palm decided to focus on making the product as simple and as elegant as possible. Jeff Hawkins told his designers that “No, we're not going to add any features. Nothing. We’re going to make a beautiful product… We’re going to focus on industrial design.”
Richard Baguley over at Medium hits the nail on the head about what made the Palm V so great. I bought its successor–the Palm Vx–in late 1999 and instantly fell in love. For me it was the first real successful attempt to strip down a pocket digital device to its essence, and it replaced my more powerful and bulkier Apple MessagePad 130 almost instantly.
The next few iterations of the Palm were not really what I'd call progress. I went through a series of models (the colour m515, the Tungsten T3, and the Palm LifeDrive) with each one adding complexity and decreased reliability. All the time my cell phones were getting more capable and I used the Palms less and less, until the first iPod touch software update turned it into almost the perfect PDA.
I still remember the Palm V with great fondness, but I wouldn't swap it for my iPad mini.
Underwear In Space, Not a Problem
So it would seem that George Lucas lied.