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Creative Profiles - iPhone developers - ustwo™

Wed, 30 Sep 2009

Based in London and Malmö, ustwo™ is a creative design studio specialising in pioneering graphical user interfaces that drive the services and products of some of the world's leading brands. The team behind hit iPhone applications Steppin, MouthOff and most recently The Dot - or simply .™- the first of a series of games created spontaneously in just 48 hours. Macworld caught up with Matt Miller, Creative Director at ustwo™, to discover more about the studio.

The secret, hmm... I'd say never give up, never listen to those who say "put it to sleep", an app is never dead, and even when it is dead... it's free! With MouthOff™ we set out to make an application that showcased ustwo's™ classic blend of design quality and personality.. our company philosophy 'we make products smile' has never rung so true. 

Nick Spence | Read more...


Sennheiser gets creative with headphone design contest

Tue, 29 Sep 2009

Leading Hi-fi specialist Sennheiser has introduced a competition to celebrate the worldwide release of the new HD 400 headphone range. Rather than simply pluck names from a digital hat or think of a catchy phrase to sum up the new models, Sennheiser wants you to design your very own HD 418 closed-back circumaural stereo headphones.

You can use an online Design Editor to mix and match various elements into one striking design or better still simply upload your own as a Jpeg file formatted as 770 x 635 pixels. The competition aims to appeal to everyone from have-a-go enthusiasts to illustrators and designers.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Apple, Wacom: How not to recycle packaging

Mon, 28 Sep 2009

Earlier today, on a trip to pay some bills and make a doctor's appointment, I somehow ended up spending £100 on a James Bond 'The Ultimate Editions 007 Attache Case.' It wasn't the 22 films across 44 discs that sprung it, but having a rather nice case to keep them all in. While I'd probably happily make do with just the Roger Moore films of my youth, packaging can still be persuasive and enticing even in a sometimes throw away world.

Last week Apple let everyone know, including Greenpeace, that they are doing their bit for the planet with a newly improved dedicated Apple website highlighting the companies environmental footprint, with facts and figures rather than hollow promises, along with a little more insight from CEO Steve Jobs via a rare Business Week interview.

Nick Spence | Read more...


0870 iPhone app finally available after 429 day approval process

Fri, 25 Sep 2009

An 0870 iPhone application, which could save canny callers money on premium phone calls, has been made available on the iTunes App Store after a staggering 429 day approval process.

The work of Simon Maddox, the 0870 application will change such numbers, including 0870, 0845 and 0800, into 01 and 02 calls, saving iPhone users on average 35p a minute. The application has been available on the Google Android marketplace for some time, with Maddox estimating customer savings of around £84,000 so far.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Designer Zune at least looks cool

Thu, 24 Sep 2009

If you must buy a Zune, Microsoft's answer to Apple's phenomenal iPod, and let's face it that might be difficult outside the US, how about this stylish model from character design/illustration guru Junichi Tsuneoka, aka Stubborn Sideburn.

The engraved music and video player is available to buy on the official Zune store. While skins are widely available for both the iPod and iPhone, I wonder if Apple would ever offer a range of limited edition decorative designer models.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Monster tackles in-ear headphone shortcomings with Turbine Pro speakers

Wed, 23 Sep 2009

Are in-ear headphones, like the ones bundled with iPods, always a compromise in sound? Having worked my way through several dozen pairs over the years, from no frills pound shop 'bargains' to over-priced but sonically seducing big brands, I'm still drawn to traditional over-the-ear headphones. While you might look a bit of a prat wearing them on the bus, and the open-back design of choice bleeds sound, nothing compares to the clarity and listener focus of big headphones.

Enter Monster, a company with an excellent track record in the audio and home theater markets, and probably best known, initially at least, for some impressive high performance speaker cables. Monster by name, monster by nature, the company has today announced the mighty sounding Turbine Pro In-Ear Speakers, which promise great things for in-ear listening, cramming a whole studio of sound into two small in-ear headphones.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Creative Profiles - Middle Boop - Why Macs matter to designers

Tue, 22 Sep 2009

As Middle Boop, Gordon Reid is both a designer and blogger with a love for music. With record labels 4AD, Bella Union and Mille Plateaux, and bands Deerhunter, 65daysofstatic, Of Montreal and Dan Deacon as clients, Reid is also a keen Mac user and enthusiast. Macworld caught up with the man behind Middle Boop to discover why Macs are, in the main, the choice of creatives.

Yes, my first encounter with a Mac was at college about six years ago, which was the iMac G3 complete with its hockey puck mouse, and I have used them ever since.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Lakeside Apple Store iPod showed porn claims mother

Mon, 21 Sep 2009

A mother was reportedly left furious when her young daughter picked up an iPod in an Apple Store showing a video of a couple having sex.

The iPod, likely the iPod touch, the only iPod with Internet access, was on display at the Apple Store in Lakeside Shopping Centre.

Nick Spence | Read more...


My OS X shameful secret

Mon, 21 Sep 2009

If “Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread”, as Alexander Pope purported 300 years ago in his poem An Essay on Criticism, then many Mac users are surely idiots and most Windows users are the blessed.

While Microsoft is about to embark on another attempt to get its zillions of passive users to switch from 2001’s Windows XP to a newer version (Windows 7) of its Mac-copying operating system, Apple has just released the latest version of Mac OS X.

Simon Jary | Read more...


NPR iPhone app hits one million downloads and more

Fri, 18 Sep 2009

Good to see the team behind the excellent NPR News application announce an iTunes Store update and one million plus downloads.

Just last month, the application was a Macworld Editors' Choice and we profiled Bottle Rocket, the iPhone developers responsible for the application over a lengthy, insightful Q&A.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Creative Profiles: Imago - the power of creative thought

Thu, 17 Sep 2009

For designers should creative thought come from only brainstorming client's briefs or should the process be as natural and necessary as breathing, eating and sleeping. When times are hard and jobs rare should you fill your website and portfolio with self-initiated briefs or will that show potential clients you have too much time on your hands and too little commissioned work?

Is blogging work in progress and ideas an insight into the creative process or self-indulgent navel gazing that should be best left in house. Macworld caught up with design duo imago new media to discover some answers.

Imago is a two person motion graphics studio, established in 2004 by designer Çiğdem Keresteci and director/animator Quba Michalski. The pair are currently located in the heart of Istanbul - billed as the biggest and loudest city of Europe.

Nick Spence | Read more...


ITV dumping Silverlight is TV heaven

Wed, 16 Sep 2009

Bravo to ITV for dumping Microsoft's Silverlight for Adobe's Flash. It's a move which should see the online ITV Player available to many more, including those with PowerPC Macs, myself included, which Silverlight 2 doesn't support.

Even on an Intel based Mac, compared to BBC iPlayer, Channel 4's 4oD on-demand service and five's Demand Five, ITV Player seemed sluggish, occasionally unresponsive.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Apple iPod nano 5G keynote - adjectives only

Wed, 16 Sep 2009

This version of last week's Apple Keynote is dramatically shortened, but it's somehow the most accurate summary possible of how it unfolded...

Andy Penfold | Read more...


Creative Profiles - iPhone Developers - Mubaloo

Tue, 15 Sep 2009

Mubaloo create and develop business applications on the iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Microsoft and Palm Pre handsets. Amongst Mubaloo applications are Fuel Prices UK, Woobius Eye, Alcohol Aware and HereBe.

Fuel Prices UK, launched recently, offers users a chance to make savings on petrol prices, both locally and across the country. The application checks the ten closest petrol stations to you and then ranks the cheapest five, green being the cheapest, red the most expensive. Fuel Prices UK also offers directions to the cheapest petrol supplier - using Google Maps - if you are unfamiliar with the area.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Creative Profiles - Literature & Latte - Scrivener

Mon, 14 Sep 2009

Scrivener from Literature & Latte is the kind of intuitive yet multi-layered software that makes me glad we use Macs. A five star review and Macworld Editors' Choice Award we recently caught up with Literature & Latte's Keith Blount for a very long informative chat.

Scrivener is a first drafting tool for anyone who writes long texts - novelists, scriptwriters, academics, non-fiction writers and so on. It provides a number of structuring and research tools that make it easier to get a grip on a long document by breaking it down into smaller pieces which can then be viewed separately, together as one, or alongside one another. Documents can also be represented by synopses in an outliner or virtual corkboard so that you can get an overview of the whole work and restructure it by dragging and dropping its constituent parts.

Nick Spence | Read more...


An emotional night with Steve Jobs

Fri, 11 Sep 2009

Wednesday night was my first Apple event. I didn't make it to San Francisco but did jump on the bus to The Brewery, close to the Barbican complex, in London for a live broadcast. Apple's 'It's only rock and roll but we like it' event focused on refreshed iPods and a new iTunes. Those hoping for a Beatles on iTunes announcement had to make do with Norah Jones, the antithesis of rock and roll.

I had the best seat in the house. Front row, centre, Apple's European boss Pascal Cagni sat to the right of me, separated by an aisle with press on one side, guests on the other. The BBC's Technology Correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones kept wandering by, phone in hand, possibly checking the news on any Windows 7 updates.

Nick Spence | Read more...


The mystery of the iPod touch camera

Fri, 11 Sep 2009

Of all the surprises at this week's iPod event, the biggest one was probably what Apple didn't introduce. It wasn't the new iPod Nanos that stole the show.

It wasn't even Steve Jobs' return from a liver transplant five months ago.

Seth Weintraub | Read more...


iTunes LP offers great potential for artists, illustrators, designers

Thu, 10 Sep 2009

One of my few but proudest achievements was walking into a flagship HMV store on London's Oxford Street and seeing a rack of record sleeves I'd designed. The 12 inch single for indie guitar band The Wedding Present proved a one off but I still occasionally see copies for sale on eBay and in second hand record shops, markets and yes, charity shops and car boot fairs. Any find always raises a smile and some sense of achievement and pride.

The band, a favourite of the late great John Peel, where on the ascent, yet peaked at a time when, prior to Oasis, Blur and Pulp, indie was still on the margins of popular music. CDs where then still an exotic alternative to vinyl, although I have a copy of the single somewhere on CD with the sleeve printed the wrong way round.

Nick Spence | Read more...


The Beatles: All You Need Is Cash

Wed, 09 Sep 2009

Apple and Steve Jobs may or may not announce The Beatles availability on iTunes later today at a music themed event in San Francisco. Yoko Ono claimed on Tuesday a deal was done, Sky News reported the story then later spiked the news perhaps after a call from Apple or EMI.

Music giant EMI yesterday dismissed the reports. "Conversations between Apple and EMI are ongoing and we look forward to the day when we can make the music available digitally. But it’s not tomorrow," Ernesto Schmitt, EMI’s global catalog president, told the Financial Times.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Scrivener, not just great writing software but great links as well

Tue, 08 Sep 2009

Literature & Latte has recently released Scrivener 1.52, the latest update to its award-winning Mac software dedicated to the structuring and composition of long texts such as novels, screenplays, theses and research documents.

Snow Leopard compatibility and new support for Hog Bay Software’s WriteRoom for the iPhone makes Scrivener a better choice than ever. More so when you consider the Literature & Latte website contains a treasure trove of useful links for budding and experienced writers.

Nick Spence | Read more...


iTunes: You can't put your arms around a MP3*

Mon, 07 Sep 2009

If the rumours are true this Wednesday will see the unveiling of a new version of iTunes at Apple's music themed event to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, California.

Starting at 10 am Pacific Time, around tea time our time, Apple could offer an aperitif, dubbed "Cocktail" by those claiming to be in the know, adding value to downloads in the form of "interactive books." Unique content essentially, rumoured to be backed by major labels in EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music Group.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Corel learns lessons from Apple with Digital Studio 2010

Fri, 04 Sep 2009

This week I attended a press launch for Corel Digital Studio 2010, a PC only digital media suite for photo and video editing. Okay, a little out my comfort zone maybe, but having worked for a couple of Corel related magazines in the past I was keen to see what the fuss was all about for myself.

Housed in a rather plush Soho club, where I'd last attended a Playboy TV party with a now WWE wrestling diva as my guest, it was also a chance to see Windows 7 in action. Optimised to take full advantage of the new Microsoft OS, Corel Digital Studio 2010 is billed as the easiest photo, video editing and DVD-burning software you’ll ever use. Well, maybe on a PC.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Snow Leopard proves tempting for Apple Store thieves

Thu, 03 Sep 2009

If you are still trying to justify spending £25 for the Mac OS X 10.6 update, thieves in Marlton, New Jersey opted instead for some spectacular five finger discount.

As the ABC local news report shows below robbers made away with MacBooks and iPods in a frightening smash and grab raid that lasted all of 31 seconds.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Rorschach iPhone case inspired by Watchmen

Thu, 03 Sep 2009

Etsy is seemingly a one stop shop for everything that's handmade and in some cases unique. If you are looking for something a little unusual than you might just find it on this vibrant marketplace. Here, for example, is an iPhone case inspired by Rorschach from Watchmen, the acclaimed 1986 comic book mini-series and lately a major feature film.

Created by Watchmen writer Alan Moore with artist Dave Gibbons and brilliantly realised by actor Jackie Earle Haley, Rorschach made right wing vigilante superheroes almost loveable.

Nick Spence | Read more...


Sony is all make.believe

Wed, 02 Sep 2009

Sony's new marketing message is dubiously honest, in a roundabout way. It's pretty much just publicly said: "we just make this s**t up".

It's been a while since Sony knocked our socks off with its marketing spiel. There was that business with the Emotion Engine but Sony's been on a downward slope since the PS2 and its got to the point now where its unfortunate recent Bravia patent pretty much summed up how many people see the company.

Mark Hattersley | Read more...


Snow Leopard's anti-bloat install has super slimming effect

Wed, 02 Sep 2009

While much of Apple's recently released OS enhancements in Snow Leopard are fine-tuning rather than new features, one of the advantages of upgrading is to reverse the bloat of software installs.

As Apple is keen to point out - 'Snow Leopard takes up less than half the disk space of the previous version, freeing about 7GB for you - enough for about 1,750 more songs or a few thousand more photos.'

Nick Spence | Read more...


In anticipation…

Wed, 02 Sep 2009

And now, it’s Snow Leopard. By the time you read this, Apple may have announced a ship date for Mac OS X 10.6, or even shipped it. As an Apple follower, it’s par for the course that I’m less interested in the thing itself as in its potential as an engine of speculation. And the more half-assed the better.

The name itself bespeaks the goals for the release. Not a new cat, but a newer version of one we’re already familiar with. Or maybe, after five releases, Apple has simply run out of names of fierce felines predators?

Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


Apple's silhouette figures need another dimension

Tue, 01 Sep 2009

Can you judge a party by its invite? Chances are if it's drawn by a callow hand and includes monsters or ponies, then jelly and ice cream, along with party games, are likely to be on the menu. Apple's "It’s only rock and roll, but we like it," invite for a special, invitation-only event to be held next week at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, California hints at both the future and the past.

The line comes from The Rolling Stones 1974 album "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll," a classy but not classic outing for the band which saw guitarist Mick Taylor bow out in some style, with his eventual replacement Ronnie Wood playing on the title track. The simple straight ahead rocker - both the song and former - Faces guitarist - sums up all that's best about no nonsense unpretentious rock music.

Nick Spence | Read more...


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