Vertically scrolling grid list items are sorted in traditional western reading direction: left-to-right and top-down. When displaying the list, cut off the items in the bottom row to communicate that the user can scroll the list down to show additional items. Be sure to retain this scheme when the user rotates the screen.

Finally out… It took Google just 3+ years to get their official Android design guide lines out.

The new site covers everything you as an Android UI designer or developer needs to be aware of when you design and develop your application user interface.

The site is divided into different sections that cover their creative vision:

“Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) marks a major milestone for Android design. We touched nearly every pixel of the system as we expanded the new design approaches introduced in Honeycomb tablets to all types of mobile devices. Starting with the most basic elements, we introduced a new font, Roboto, designed for high-resolution displays. Other big changes include framework-level action bars on phones and support for new phones without physical buttons.”

These design principles were developed by and for the Android User Experience Team to keep users’ best interests in mind. Consider them as you apply your own creativity and design thinking. Deviate with purpose.

A good section on the site is the Building blocks section that gives you an overview of all the built in controls that you have  The only thing I am missing is a link to how to use these controls. That would have been useful.

The Patterns section gives you a nice overview on how you better can arrange your app, how gestures work, how to use notifications and how to make your app compatible with more devices and form factors.

Getting started? The Android Design site should be your first mandatory stop on your way to create an app.

http://developer.android.com/design/index.html

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What looks to be my next found watch-love is almost the complete opposite of the Rolex, it’s a high-tech smart-watch that brings back a lot of memories from my early Casio days :)

Italian designer tech company i’m debuted its i’m Watch, which is currently marketed as “the first real smart watch.” The i’m Watch can run nearly anything on its customized Android interface and tethers to your current smartphone to handle phone calls, SMS, music and a host of apps. But the i’m is just as focused on beauty as technological practicality.

So this is a customized Android OS inside a watch with all the possibilities of AndroidOS, how cool is that? :) I’m also has their own i’m-developer program  with their own official i’market for application distribution.

I’m is thinking even bigger and also has a franchise program for people looking to open their own physical ‘i’m store” shops

The i’m watch ranges in price from a low-cost versions that comes in colorful variations called “i’m Color” is  available from €290,- (discounted to €249 while writing) then the middle price version is called “i’m Titanium” or “i’m Tech” that costs €499,-. Finally they also have the “i’m Jewel” version that starts at €9,999. The most expensive i’m Jewel is the “i’m White Gold and Diamonds” that costs €11,999,-.

Only thing I didn’t like here is that every watch comes with a rubber band. I would feel a lot more comfortable having a metal band for this watch but I think I’ll start with a I’m Tech watch to see how it feels.

Here’s a promotional video for the watch:

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I am a huge fan of NFC and I am really looking forward to this technology becoming more mainstream.  Sadly I wouldn’t dare to use it on an Android device in fear of having software with no quality control  that “accidentally” can listen to my payments…. Please  Google, create some control over your applications so that we can trust all this cool technology you are developing!

I think the break of NFC will come with Windows 8 tho.

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With String, it’s not only 2d objects that can be added, you can also add and interact with 3d objects. String is a high performance, Software Developer Kit (SDK) for developers who wish to create true augmented reality applications that can be experienced with an iOS device such as iPad 2 or iPhone.  An Android version is due sometime this fall.

Here’s some of the features of String AR technology.

• Comes in vanilla OpenGL and Unity flavours.
• Add AR to any iOS project, regardless of 3D engine.
• Add AR to your Unity iOS project without a single line of code.
• Unity SDK has preview plugin for lightning fast test cycles.
• Create your own image markers; they’re just PNGs.
• Contains hooks to easily create your own native.

When it comes to performance the frame rate limited only by camera hardware. Typically runs internally at ~70FPS on a 3G, excluding video capture. It can track up to 10 images simultaneously. Lets you mimic real-world lighting in your scene by measuring the relative colour and lightness around each marker. Typically uses ~120 kB of memory at runtime, excluding video capture.

String AR is a commercial SDK and is available through Developer, Indie, Pro and Campaign licensing.

I think that adding this to a marketing campaign would really create a huge WOW effect.  Take a look at the video, It’s not the most advanced option, but it shows how it easily could have been used in a printed ad. If you also add linking to online shopping, this could become the coolest online shopping app ever.

We took String®, our new Augmented Reality technology running on iPhone, out on to the streets of East London. This is the reaction of the public to their first glimpse of AR. And seeing a giant virtual sneaker in the middle of the street of course.

More videos with new content coming soon..

For more information, go to http://www.poweredbystring.com

CREDITS:

Soundtrack: “The Daydream” by Tycho | http://www.tychomusic.com

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Talking about future, in january I wrote about the future of computing, “The PC is dead – long live the PC”  and that is exactly what Microsoft have done with Windows 8. Taking the design concepts from Windows Phone, know as Metro and extended it onto their other platforms like the PC and Xbox. Making everything touch and gesture centric but still with your excepted support for interaction through keyboard and mouse.

You can now create applications that behave and look the exact same (if you want to) on all screens and share content across computers and devices without custom adaptation and development for each and every device/form factor.

I applaud this and congratulate Microsoft on their launch. Apple and Google must seriously step up their game to keep up with this because I think that when 450 000 000 copies of Windows 8 is running on PC’s, and then another multi million figure of tablet devices are running windows 8 with seamless integration the platform choice  more or less becomes obvious for most IT Pros and consumers.

From the developer point of view application (or app(s) as it is called nowadays) developers also has a new way of creating Metro style applications for Windows 8 through HTML5, CSS and JavaScript in Visual Studio 11 and Blend. You can still use all of your familiar technologies from .NET if you prefer that, but everyone that can create a web page is now a Windows Application Developer!. And with the possible reach out to 450 000 000+ computers/users with the click of a button for distribution and marketing - the competition to create the coolest app of the universe will be fierce.

The core of Windows 8 comes with a huge array of sensory features built into the operating system and when the next version (beyond 7.5) of the phone os is being released we will probably see a transition to where you just install windows, not really caring if it’s on a PC, tablet or phone - these sensory features, like the support for NFC just becomes available on all your devices.

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The stylus (or smartpen) looks great too.. Could this phone revive the stylus from its grave? I’ve missed to have a stylus available on my iPad when I am sketching new app ideas or trying to explain things that could easily have been explained with an easy diagram….

Screenshot of features from samsung.com

For me, a perfect screen size and hardware to back it up. I wish that i could have a Windows Phone version of this so I wish it best of luck and hope it becomes a huge success among the Android users.

You can read more on this phone and the announcement made at IFA Berlin on GoMo News and Engadget.

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iPhone is deactivated, connect to iTunes

My son just came back from  summer hockey camp and some kids had played with his iPhone 3Gs and his four digit phone lock code. Of course the phone went in panic mode and deactivated itself.

I don’t think that the scenario where someone enters a pin code to many times is such an unlikely event that Apple haven’t tested it, so why the bloody …  can’t they manage to give some understandable feedback on either the phone or in iTunes? Here’s my conversation with the iPhone and iTunes.

iPhone say: iPhone deactivated, connect to iTunes

Me: Ok.

iTunes say: Cannot connect iPhone because it is locked with a passcode.

Me: WTF…

iPhone say: iPhone deactivated, connect to iTunes…

Me: %&%$$%##*

Sometimes you can wonder how Apple got so famous for their usability.

Now, I know and Google will tell you that  I have to put the phone in restore mode and restore the phone from a backup through iTunes. What’s up with that Apple? First, why don’t you tell me that in an error message either on the phone or in iTunes?  and do I always have to carry my computer around for when my phone gets sick? Cos you know you gotta connect to iTunes. Can’t live without iTunes.  Why isn’t there a factory default/reset that doesn’t involve the bloody phone being plugged into something?

Yes, but i CANNOT enter the passcode because the phone is disabled!!!

Argh. :/

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Today, through Mashable I learn that it looks like HP plan to discontinue its tablet and webOS operations altogether, meaning more or less that webOS is as good as dead.

The HP press release regarding this matter say that they plan to discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and all other webOS phones, but that they will explore options to optimize the value of webOS software continuance.

As HP is the ONLY device manufacturer that runs webOS, I find it highly unlikely that they will find any options or ways to optimize the continued life of webOS. I don’t see why a third part device manufacturer would want to choose webOS over Android or Windows Phone.

One laugh from Mashable is that they actually thought it would be an iPad killer ;) nonetheless they write that TouchPad and webOS is the first of more to come that was killed by iPad and iOS.

It was a very short life….. Have there ever been a more short-lived OS?

TechCrunch comments on the HP news here http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/18/apple-wins-without-throwing-a-punch/ There’s also a few posts on This is my next…

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Smartphone models marked with (-) was either not available for earlier months, or out of the top ten list in later months.

There is an overwhelming amount of Android devices out for sale.  Nearly 60% of all smartphones sold through the NetCom value chain in July 2011 was powered by Android.

I am starting to look forward to the launch of Nokia/Windows Phone devices later this autumn. Will they make it to the top ten list?

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Today i came across an article from All Things D called “Ouchpad: Best buy sitting on a pile of unsold HP tablets“. Best Buy have been able to sell less than 10% of their stock of HP TouchPads so I’m not the only one that doesn’t like platform.

I also found a blog post that said there was around 5000 apps available for WebOS around christmas of 2010, today i had a look at App Gallery and found 6827 apps. That’s 1827 apps in one year, so it isn’t only end users declining to buy, but also developers that won’t build.

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New devices that has made it onto the top ten list from previous month is HTC Desire Z and Sony Ericsson Arc on the expense of iPhone 3Gs and Samsung Galaxy S. It’s also interesting to see how completely Android dominates the top 10 list. Another curiosity is that for the first time ever in Norway, Android devices outsell iOS devices through the Netcom value chain. The platform ranking list for April 2011 looks like this:

1. Android: 46%
2. Apple iOS: 43%
3. Symbian: 11%

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Technically the Mag+ platform basically uses PDF files very much like many of the other platforms, and the way you create your magazine is by designing the content in Adobe InDesign, then export the finished interactive magazine for distribution onto iPads. It’s simple, easy, flexible and affordable. It supports both iPads and Samsung Galaxy Tab, something that indicates a promise of support for many of the coming Android based tablets being released.

The Mag+ platform can be downloaded by anyone that want to have a look at how it works from here. Before you start be sure have Adobe InDesign installed. A trial version of InDesign can be downloaded from here at the Adobe website.

Here’s a short instructional video on how to build a magazine page with Mag+

Calling this a “low-end” publishing platform is not done out of disrespect for the capabilities of this platform. I call it low-end because it’s a off-the-shelves products that work within a strict set of features and rules. An “high-end” magazine platform would not really be a platform, it would be a custom-built application. In my opinion Katachi has created such a high-end platform and I have yet to see anyone present an iPad magazine platform that can match the capabilities and design mindset they have.

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From his post there’s three conclusions.

• Don’t use cross-platform toolkits
• For maximum reach: built a web app that looks like web     app
• To appeal to a particular platform: build a native app for that     platform, with a experience design based on that platforms     interaction style

First of all I’d like to say that yes, it can potentially be problematic to use multi-platform frameworks in mobile development because of the difference in look and feel, usability expectations and the fragmentation of mobile OS capabilities, but to conclude that you should not use cross-platform toolkits because the UI might or might not look different is wrong in my opinion.

If it wasn’t for the “disclaimer” in the first footer note I wouldn’t be giving this article a second thought. Would have read it and bounced off thinkin how wrong even famous superstar techs can be.

Footer note one in the post sort of “saves” it, or gives it an “exception” from the rule or the silly conclusion because there IS cross platform toolkits that does not “interfere” with the native look and feel or the usability expectations, mono with MonoTouch/MonoDroid is one of these examples. This is tools that can be used to develop applications with a common code base, where all functionality is shared between the different app platforms. This common functionality is then consumed via the concrete implementation of each platform interface. Skills needed here is a clear understanding and knowledge of software design patterns and separation of responsibility between what is code/business logic and what is the UI. This is the “heavy weight” tools you can use and it fits into any MVC/MVVM/MVP design pattern and software architecture in a way that brings tears of joy to our eyes :)

If native look and feel or native usability expectancy is taken out of the equation, you might find that a wide reaching mobile web site would do the trick. Another possibility is if your usability and capabilities needed falls within what is available on the web but need more access to hardware or Native OS API’s than you can get from the web, open source toolskits like PhoneGap is probably the thing you are looking for.

There are other toolkits and frameworks but i have yet to come by a client project that cannot be solved with either mono or PhoneGap.

If you have been discouraged from using cross platform tools because they don’t get you the looks or the feeling you were looking for in your product, you have chosen the wrong toolkit.

Another quite important reason for choosing a toolkit is economy.

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Interesting to see that iPhone 3GS is still on the top five list and that I have to check out the X10 Mini Pro.

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By that intro I am by no means saying that Apple is dead or doomed, It’s just that it sort of reminds me of  the PDA market 15 some years ago. In 1993 Apple was the first company to use the term Personal Digital Assistant. The launched their first PDA – the Newton MessagePad. The first ever electronic address book and calendar that used a stylus (pen) for entering text input. The Newton MessagePad was hip, cool and priced way beyond what most people could afford :) At the end of it’s life in 1998 the cool, hip and innovative was more or less outdated and made uncool by competitors with a lot more computing power and features. Being technologically outrun by competitors Apple left the PDA market and killed off the whole NewtonOS brand.

In 2007 Apple  introduced it’s very first Apple iPhone, with it’s unique iPhone OS, bringing never before seen usability and capabilities from a mobile phone. I was an instant success, everyone wanted one, and it was cool, hip and priced beyond what many people could afford. In 2011 the iPhone is under fierce competition, mostly with phones running AndroidOS from Google. The Android phones are from a tech spec point of view becoming way more advanced and have superior tech specs. More and more analyst’s are predicting the “age of apple” as a market leader is behind us .

In 2012 the lifespan of the iPhone has reached the same age as Newton had when it died. In 2012 Nokia will start to roll out their Windows Phone 7 devices and the Android devices will have become even more sophisticated.

How many more iPhones will come?

:)

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