Archive | May, 2012

IThe long abandoned plans for a Facebook Phone have resurfaced after Mark Zuckerberg, Facebooks CEO, approached former Apple iPad and iPhone engineers to help create his vision. Facebook originally put a dedicated button on the HTC Status, a failed attempt at moving from the software realm to the hardware one. Albeit as a partnering with an existing hardware company, the Facebook Button, and to a large extent the HTC Status, failed miserably.

If the first attempt was such a failure, why is Mark Zuckerberg reviving such grand notions? And how does this relate to their recent IPO?

The rumour mill has exploded over the past few days, all over a short comment made by Jony Ive, senior VP of Apple. In a recent statement he said that Apples most important product wasn't the Mac, the iPhone, the iPad or even the iPod, it was something else, and that something else was some of Apples best work. Rumours of imminent Apple releases always garner huge media attention even without any official hinting from prospective employees, so when one of their most senior guys makes such a bold statement everyone is bound to sit up and listen.

Whether you are a fan of Apple or are more firmly entrenched in the camps of Google or Microsoft, nobody can deny the level of design which goes into every Apple product. Design and function have long been the bedfellows of Apples strategy, who maintain that one without the other makes little sense. It is this determined approach to product design and implementation which has given Apple products their highly stylish moniker.

Many people attribute this style direction to the late Steve Jobs and whilst it is true that he was instrumental in the direction of the current product line-up, one man has been behind Apples creative vision for the past 20 years.

We recently backed the new CordLite, why? Not because we need more charging cables, Locassa HQ is awash with different charging cables and adapters, no, we backed it because it solves a problem in the most simple and elegant way we have seen and we love this approach to product design. The CordLite aims to solve the problem of trying to plug in an iPhone or iPad charging cable with little to no light, when you are plugging in your phone before that hard earned rest for example.

If rumours and speculation are to be believed then Apple are currently ordering up swathes of new 7.85" screens for it's new iPad Mini in readiness for shipping the mythical device later in the year. The rumours of such a diminutive device are by no means new, rumours of the iPad Mini, or iPad Nano as it was once nicknamed, have been around pretty much since the launch of the original 'full-size' version.

We hope Tim Cook puts on a show worthy of the new device if it ever surfaces, something in line with the now legendary PadFone announcement.

It appears the iPad is about to get a real test of it's ability to stand up in harsh conditions as the Manchester Fire Department, Vermont, have decided to trial the Apple device in place of the more traditional Toughbook.

Normally considered a fragile high-tech luxury, it remains to see how the iPad will hold up against the kind of treatment it can expect during an emergency call. Let's hope they have a decent case for it!

AppsBar.com, the free-to-use app building website has finally gone live after an extended beta period and joins the raft of other 'quick-fix' solutions for businesses looking to dip their toes in the waters of app development.

The current landscape is flooded with HTML5 app builders, web-based native app builders and template-based app builders including PhoneGap, a universal solution for all platforms, so it remains to be seen where AppsBar.com will fit in. Is the market going in the right way with these quick solutions or are they actually damaging the companies who use them? Reputation is everything, don't make the mistakes your competitors do.

Ever since the launch of the iPhone 4, we have had Retina Displays. With the recent launch of the "New iPad" (or iPad 3 as most call it), the Retina screen has been applied in a scale never before seen on a mobile device. Apps look more amazing, web sites more detailed and reading is now even more effortless than it was previously. This new technology provides us with a much richer experience and higher quality visuals than previously available, and with the advent of the new iPad, things look even more glorious than ever!