White Edition

It is amazing that what used to be science fiction is now pretty much reality. The inventions have already been made, the innovative ideas have been put forward, the technology is more than capable, and the cost is not a problem either. So what is the problem? Why don't we yet live in the sci-fi future we dream of?»

Today I received a letter from my insurance company. They asked me if they could get my approval for sharing my insurance data between the companies in the insurance group. This is a quite common request, as it is illegal to share financial data without approval (in this country). »

If you give me two glasses of good red wine, I will probably be able to tell them apart - and I will certainly be able to tell which one I like the most. But that doesn't make me a wine connoisseur. While I can tell which one I personally like, I cannot tell you which one is actually the best one. To do that, I need experience.»
Back in 2006 I wrote the article "The Battle between Usability and User-Experience", where I illustrated that usability and user experience are two different things. Since then, I think, the problem has grown in proportion. »

Online backup has, so far, been a joke. Most online backup solutions either limit your space to a couple of gigabytes, and if you need more (like everyone does) it costs a gazillion dollars. But, now HP has released Upline.»

I often write about efficiency because it is the most important element in creating a great user experience. But efficiency is not just about getting things done, or doing something as fast as possible. Efficiency is really about optimizing the user experience. »

There has always been a lot of talk about simplicity. "Make it simple" is a very common approach to creating better products. But, unfortunately a lot of people think that you can achieve simplicity by removing features and creating less. This is rarely the case.»

It is 2008 and time for my annual look into the foggy future of the thing we call "the web"»
Creating a usable product is one of the most important things you can do. Where would Apple's iPhone be if it wasn't because it was so damn usable? But many products have a kind of hit-and-miss approach. There is no overall plan; usability is done in areas that seem right at any given moment. »

As you might have noticed this site has gone green - at least for the duration of this month. The purpose is to raise awareness to the "planet crisis", more specifically that we need to do something to prevent global warming. »
Adobe has pre-released a new version of the Flash 9 Player which includes support for HD quality video including hardware acceleration. This is big news for video on the Web but how close are we really to HD in our browsers? The short answer is... not that close. »
The question of online privacy is a very hot topic. Many people have an opinion, many companies talk about it - but few really protect your privacy. »

I was recently pointed towards NSyndrome - a viral campaign for the new Nokia N95. »

Bloomberg is undoubtedly one of the biggest players in the financial industry offering a wide range of products for people in and around Wall Street. One of their products is the Bloomberg Terminal. It is a 17" dual screen setup that displays the financial information from Bloomberg Profession Services - all in one tightly packed system.»
Security companies and IT people constantly tells us that we should use complex and difficult passwords. This is bad advice, because you can actually make usable, easy to remember and highly secure passwords. In fact, usable passwords are often far better than complex ones. »
Gerry McGovern recently wrote that the best websites are the ugly ones - he is wrong. Only cheap companies can have ugly websites.»
Making usable graphs is not as simple as it sounds because usable graphs are highly rich on detail, while showing a general trend. But, adding too much detail will make it hard to read, and you see the wrong trends if you don't.»

Mozilla Labs is asking us for help determining how we are going to use the browser in the future. Aza Raskin came out with his vision about a month ago, and now Adaptive Path has made theirs.»

Researchers from University of Washington have developed a technique to drastically enhance video clips using high-res photos taken of the same scene. »
Robert Winter (and colleagues) has looked at how the next generation GPS's could work on devises such as the iPhone 3G. And it has a number of nice features to it.»

Water is a very common thing, and not surprisingly it is also the subject of many interactive experiments. Here are some of them. »

Have you ever wanted to have your very own multi-touch table? So far this has been an extremely expensive endeavor, but now you can get a "do-it-yourself" multi-touch kit. »
Aza Raskin, the user experience chief of Mozilla Labs, have published a video about how he envisions Firefox on a mobile phone equipped with a touch screen.»

Opel is introducing a new safety technology that reads the traffic signs and displays them on your instrument panel in your car. »

We were all amazed when the Wii controller came onto the market. The ability to swing a virtual tennis racket, play golf or bowling similar to the way we do it in real life was quite spectacular. But a company called Softkinetic has taken this a step further. Now you don't need a controller at all.»

This interaction concept by Chris Woebken explores how we can interact by flipping, wrenching or bending the screen - as opposed to using multi-touch or keypads.»
A group of people from Toronto University have come up with an ingenious way to manipulate videos. Traditionally this is done using some kind of "bar", but what if you could simply drag each element right in the video itself. »

Lacoste is celebrating their 75th anniversary with a look another 75 years into the future - or to be more precise - a look at what the game of tennis will be like in 2083.»

Flickr has finally opened up for the one thing that, in my opinion, was holding it back - video. »

About a year ago I was told that Adobe was going to create an online version of Photoshop - and that was big news. It is relatively easy to create an online mail application (it is just text), but an online version of Photoshop? That would be a spectacular example of advanced application design. »

Internet Explorer 8 (beta) is now available for download, and as I predicted in my web trends "the web community will love it - nobody else will notice any difference."»

Regular readers know that I always advocate efficiency, and this is definitely no exception. I give you Boom! - a much faster way to search the web. »

Niall McClelland has created these interesting collages. Most collages are usually just a mess of images slapped on to a surface, but these are different with its empty spaces and geometric angles. »

Here is a nice collection of handbags from designer Natasha Kimling Kwan. The handbags look and feel like they are made of leather, but it is merely polyurethane (no animals were harmed or even sneezed at).»

I really like the Luau portable lamp from Vessel. It looks great and the best part is that you can bring it with you. »
Graypants has created this beautiful chair, where the footstool can slide out from underneath the chair. It is a rather ingenious design that looks good at any configuration. »

There are many different kinds of emergencies, but I really like to experience one like this. »
There a lot of interesting things going on at BMW's Museum. You might remember the BMW GINA concept car. But what about this cool kinetic sculpture (watch the videos)?»

I just bought the new HTC Touch Diamond mobile phone and it is as good as the iPhone (if not better).»

In the past, bicycle helmets made you look like you were wearing a big sponge on top of your head. Today that are all pretty well designed. Most helmets though have a very sporty look, like these from Giro. And while they are certainly cool, it doesn't really fit well with the city-dwellers. »
This is probably the most expensive museum of modern art in the world, at least if you look at the production costs. And like many other architectural masterpieces this one is going to be located in Dubai.»

Today is the day when you get to see Wall-e (at least in some parts of the world). But one thing is the movie, which I am sure is absolutely spectacular, but what about the art the goes into making it? I am of course referring to the book - "The Art of Wall-e".»

I am not really into small cars, but there is something special about Toyota's new concept car - the Toyota IQ. But you know if I were ever to buy one of these it would need some special paintjob (or a wrap). »
Do you know the real cause of Global Warming? I mean, besides us humans trying to wreck the planet. It turns out that a small group of sea creatures have decided to flood the planet. The most effective way to do that is to raise the temperature so that the polar ice melts - at least according to these funny (and very well made) animations from Plankton Invasion.»

Have you ever wanted to get a pair of shoes with a special and unique design, maybe even with a design you have made all by yourself? Well, the Swedish company "Look Down" will make you a pair of shoes with your design on them for roughly 200-500 EUR. »

BMW has created a new concept car, and it is unlike anything you have ever seen before. It is a shape-shifter, has a textile skin, and it challenges our perception of what a car should look like.»