David Lidsky's Blog, page 3425

What To Expect At Tomorrow's Apple Event

If you hadn't already marked it in your diary, tomorrow is another day for Apple to show off some new gear. It comes less than two months after the last event, which saw, of course, the new iPhone 5S and 5C, both of which performed more than admirably on the sales front on their release. With "a lot to cover"––that's all Cupertino is saying about the day's activities––expect everything from the world of software to some hardware upgrades. But should we be waiting, breath–a–bated for Apple to dive into a brand new hardware category?

Those of you on iWatch watch should remain calm and remember to keep breathing regularly. Apple does not sign up to Facebook's Done Is Better Than Perfect credo––in fact, it does the opposite. Anyway, there's enough to get through, what with the upcoming new Mac OS, OS X Mavericks. Apple site 9to5 Mac says that the software could be available in the Mac App store as early as this week. And the firm is increasing its giveaways in the software department. GarageBand is expected to become free for iOS 7 users, although there will be in–app purchases, says MacRumors. Both iWork and iLife are expected to get significant refreshes.

So, the hardware bit––which, let's face it, is the bit that the analysts, the consumers and the mainstream media's headline writers are only interested in.
Are we going to see a new iPad? Almost definitely. It will probably be slimmer, a la iPad Mini. Are we going to see a fingerprint sensor on it? The Verge thinks there's more than an outside chance. Is it going to have a better camera? One would expect so. Are we going to see Retina Displays on the new Minis? In order to stay in with its rival tablets, such as the Nexus 7, it should be a given, but there have been recent whispers of issues in Apple's supply chain.

Read Full Story

       

Nokia's Lumia Phablet Leaks Ahead Of Tomorrow's Event

Apple's not the only one planning a large product–led media even tomorrow: Nokia has a lavish Nokia World event in Abu Dhabi––with not–so–ideal timing that places it several hours ahead of Apple's San Francisco affair. But via Engadget we know that one of the six or so big surprises Nokia has scheduled for tomorrow has leaked online already: The Lumia 1520, a 6–inch screened "phablet".

The 1520 is likely to be one of the last big plays Nokia makes in the Lumia line pending finalization of Microsoft's acquisition of the smartphone part of the company, and it's an interesting one given the soaring popularity of larger screen mobiles. Confirming recent rumors, the leak shows it's also a beast of a device, priced at the Chinese equivalent of about $820, with a 1080p screen, Snapdragon 800 CPU and a 20–megapixel PureView camera. Nokia is evidently chasing after the same kind of market that Samsung is doing well in with the larger members of its sprawling Galaxy line.

Separately, fresh reports suggest that after months of poor performance, Nokia sold a record number of Lumia smartphones in the previous three months––at least 8 million units in total, more than twice the year ago figure. While this number is dwarfed by the bigger smartphone players like Apple, which sold 9 million new iPhones on their launch weekend alone, it does suggest that Nokia is at last achieving some traction.

Read Full Story

       

Twitter May Be Killing Its #Music Experiment

Twitter may be on the verge of killing off its #Music tunes discovery and sharing service, according to All Things D. The service is Twitter's attempt to capture some of the fast–growing streaming music market.

The app looked promising at launch back in April, quickly reaching the top rank of free app downloads. But since then, the download rates have fallen dramatically, and Twitter seems to have made little effort to expand the availability of the app to more regions, or even to promote it since its debut, though it did partner with Apple in June to get #Music playlists into iTunes. The app was built by the team Twitter acquired when it bought a small startup called WeAreHunted.

Apart from music, Twitter is also carefully aiming itself toward strong integration with TV content providers in a long–term strategic plan to make money. Closure of #Music wouldn't be unexpected, given how badly the app seems to be doing, but it would be bad news for Twitter as it prepares for its IPO.

Read Full Story

       

Infecting An Audience: Why Great Stories Spread

In his 1897 book What is Art? the great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy defined art as "an infection." Good art, Tolstoy wrote, infects the audience with the storyteller's emotion and ideas. The better the art, the stronger the infection––the more stealthily it works around whatever immunities we possess and plants the virus. Tolstoy reached this conclusion through artistic intuition, not science, but more than a century after Tolstoy's death this is exactly what psychologists are finding in the lab. When we enter into a story, we enter into an altered mental state––a state of high suggestibility.

Note that this goes against our culture's dominant idea about stories. When I ask my students why people like stories, most cite escapism. Life is hard. Storyland is easy. Stories give us a short vacation from the troubles of our real lives. We enter the pretend worlds of stories and have a nice time, and then walk away unscathed and unchanged. But if we think this we are wrong. Studies show that our fears, hopes, and values are strongly influenced by our stories.

[image error]Image: Flickr user Martin Cathrae

For instance, if psychologists get a bunch of people in the lab and just tell them all the reasons it is wrong to discriminate against homosexuals, they don't make much progress. People who feel differently dig in their heels. They get critical and skeptical. They don't walk out of the lab with more tolerant views. But if they watch a TV show like Will and Grace, which treats homosexuality in non–judgmental ways, their own views are likely to move in the same non–judgmental direction. And if a lot of us start empathizing with gay characters on shows like Ellen, Modern Family, Six Feet Under and Glee, you can get a driver of massive social change. American attitudes toward homosexuality have liberalized with dizzying speed over the last fifteen years or so, and social scientists give TV some of the credit.

Read Full Story

       

The "Yelp Of Weed": Leafly And Other Marijuana Startups Hope To Gain As Feds Ease Up On Pot

Ask investors about emerging trends in technology, and they might mention wearable devices, the connected home, mobile payments, even Bitcoin. But more often than not, they're glossing over cannabis, a multibillion–dollar industry that's only gaining momentum with varying degrees of legalization in 21 states and the District of Columbia.

It's not just growers and dispensaries that stand to make money off Americans hitting the bong. Startups are finding opportunities as more states loosen up their stance on marijuana. The industry scored a major victory when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder declared in August that the Department of Justice wouldn't challenge laws passed in Washington and Colorado legalizing pot for adult use. But that doesn't mean the war on drugs is over. There's still a haze surrounding ganja: Growing, selling, and possession are considered illegal in the eyes of the federal government.

With shifting attitudes toward cannabis––a majority of Americans are now in favor of legalization––companies are looking to capitalize on the flowering pot industry, estimated to bring in $30 billion a year in the United States. In Canada, which recently launched a medical marijuana free market, the industry is expected to reach $1.3 billion in a decade.

Read Full Story

       

This Huggable Monkey Robot Will Make You Feel Better About The World

The Huggler is a cuddly monkey that's for adults as much as kids. It grunts, yawns, and laughs when squeezed, tickled, and poked, and contains a host of sensors to pick up on the emotional state of people doing the hugging. The idea is to offer a tactile companion for elderly patients, while monitoring for risks of Alzheimer's and dementia.

Developed in Singapore, the Huggler is currently on trial at the St Luke's Eldercare Hospital, in the north of the island. And according to the Straits Times, it's a popular addition so far. "I prefer it to an actual dog as it does not bite," one patient told the paper.

[image error]

Its creators say the Huggler can engage the elderly where traditional stimulation can't, and alert caregivers to moods in an unobtrusive way. The robot tracks how people are interacting with it, picking up on both physical actions (how hard a person squeezes, say) and the noises they make. This data is then fed into a "sound–event classification" system that assesses the hugger's state of mind.

Read Full Story

       

Specs To Your Specs: Custom 3–D Printed Glasses For $299

There are more than a few hiccups with the promise of 3–D printed goods (which we've covered here), but one specific issue is the inevitable plastic ceiling. Until we can produce goods in materials other than plastic, the notion of say, 3–D printed shoes is going nowhere, because who can lust over a pair of yellow plastic boots the way they would a pair in leather.

But eyewear is different, and a fledgling company called Protos has taken notice. Ages ago, the Italian company Luxottica built their optical frames from goat horns (thus the term horn–rimmed glasses). But that's history, and now eyewear makers––including industry darling Warby Parker––pretty exclusively craft their frames out of plastic.

[image error]

It follows suit that 3–D printing is a solid match for spectacles. But more specifically, 3–D printing is a boon to anyone who wants bespoke frames. It's a niche market that designers like Tom Davies have cornered and profited handsomely on by charging somewhere in the thousands for a pair of custom frames, the extra cost attached to the extra time and labor that comes with the personalization.

Read Full Story

       

Decade In Design: The Biggest Events Of 2009

       

I Didn't Know Dog Beds Could Be This Badass

The world of pet accessories can get pretty scary. There's the $725 mink fur coat for princess pooches by Hartman and Rose; a $3000 22K gold–thread pet mattress (the price of three human–sized Tempur–pedics); the $23K Louis XV Pet Pavilion, styled after an 18th–century French Rosewood commode; and, best of all, the Hello Kitty Crystal Doghouse, which can be yours for just $30,000. (Hope these pampered animals are housebroken.)

But then there's the rare design for pets that delights rather than disgusts. If Batman had a dog, it would probably sleep in a bed like the one Japanese design studio Nendo just created for lifestyle magazine Pen. Part of a three–piece set of accessories called "Heads or Tails," the bed is made of triangular panels of artificial leather, connected in polygon mesh. In Toto black or Dogbert white, it becomes an igloo–like hut when a dog burrows inside, then collapses into a bed when the dog climbs on top. There's also a reversible geometric bowl, with a shallow side for food and a deeper bowl for water when turned upside down; and a silicon rubber toy bone that becomes a polyhedron–like ball when its ends are flipped inward. Buckminster Fuller's dog might've appreciated balls and bones like these.

[image error]

Nendo's ingenious creations are included in museum collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, LACMA, the Cooper–Hewitt design museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Nendo says on its website that the design firm's mission is to "Give people a small '!' moment." Dogs, too, will now get such moments. The designs are still in prototype stages and not yet available for purchase, but watch out for Heads or Tails on the world premier of Pimp My Dog Bed.

Read Full Story

       

How A Company Gets Away With Stealing Independent Designers' Work

You've probably never heard of Cody Foster & Co. That doesn't matter, though, because if you're an independent artist, designer or illustrator, there's a good chance Cody Foster has heard of you. In fact, the company may already be selling works based upon your designs to retail clients such as Nordstrom, Madewell, Anthropologie, Terrain, and Fab.com. And, legally, there might not be a thing that anyone can do about it.