David Lidsky's Blog, page 4727

Rhapsody First Subscription Service in U.S. to Offer Offline Music on iPhone

Streaming music service Rhapsody is claiming a first for the iPhone: It's the first to "let people enjoy subscription downloads on the iPhone." It's a score, for sure, but also a strong indication of the way you may consume mobile music in the future.

Rhapsody's delivering the new functionality as part of a normal software update via the App Store, and the system couldn't be simpler: If you're a Rhapsody subscriber, you'll be able to listen to your playlists even when you're not online...

Three Ways the iPad Could Kill Qwerty

The Qwerty keyboard is holding back a true revolution in interface design. What could replace it?

As well-designed as the iPad might be, its most glaring design flaw hides in plain sight: The Qwerty keyboard. Granted, Apple claims that the device is meant to consume--rather than create--content. But if you've used the tablet, the typing experience immediately starts feeling ridiculous: First off, you're never typing with two hands--no matter how hard Apple tries to convince you (as in the...

Infographic of the Day: What Colors Mean Across 10 Cultures

A massive, comprehensive guide.

Colors are probably the most obvious way that design varies across cultures (a theme that came up in our interview with Frog Design about designing for China). But the funny thing is that for most designers and companies, those color sensibilities often don't rise past "Red is lucky in China; blue is soothing in the West." That's naive, as this superb infographic by David McCandless and Always With Honor shows.

The chart encompasses 10 different cultures, and...

The Most Influential Women in Technology 2010

Last year, our list of the Most Influential Women in Technology raised plenty of eyebrows, ire, and fist pumps of joy — depending on the reader. And we've no doubt this list will follow suit. But the overwhelming number of nominees and fresh names proved that, while women in tech may remain at a distinct disadvantage by almost any metric (average salary, top-management representation, etc), there is also plenty to celebrate and be inspired by.

Steve Jobs' Advice to Nike: Get Rid of the Crappy Stuff [Video]

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is among the greatest innovators of our time. And yet his genius for understanding business is rarely explained in any public way. Rarer still is to hear the advice he would give to the CEO of another hugely successful company: Nike. But that's exactly what you'll learn from this video, in which Nike president and CEO Mark Parker tells about the advice that Jobs gave him shortly after the release of the Nike+ product line. It's a simple bit of wisdom that any...

Work Smart: 3 Apps for Syncing Home and Office

You're at home and want to edit a file that's on your work computer. You're on the family PC and want to see a photo you saved on your laptop. Most of us use several different computers on a day-to-day basis, but our files aren't always where we are. Three products make sharing and syncing information across all the computers you use each day easy and free.

[twistage 41df7f6d7074d:]

Google Docs is an online office suite--kind of like having Microsoft Office in your Web browser. You can...

Bedtime iPad Use Can Affect Sleep, Says Someone. Baloney, Says Another

What is the scientific formula that explains the time between a new product's release on the market and a host of experts popping up in the media to explain just why this thing is bad for you? Barely a month after its release, it's the turn of the iPad, which is now, apparently, a bad thing to use before bedtime. A report in the L.A. Times today claims that reading your tablet before you go to sleep can lead to disturbed sleep patterns. Better, apparently, is to use your Kindle or similar...

New RIM, Nokia Phones Out, Ready to Lose the Smartphone War

The veil has just lifted on two new BlackBerrys due soon. They look just like older BB's. Along with bad news about Nokia's N8, the future of these big players looks grim.

What we have on the table from RIM are the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and the Pearl 3G. See anything wonderfully new? Nope? Well, both have BlackBerry's new touch TrackPad controller...and, well, they're new! The 9650 has a 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS, a "large, high-resolution screen," 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and comes in either a...

Mac, iPhone, or iPad? Device Advice for Modern Adventures

 In a future full of iPads, iPhone OS 4, next-gen iPhones, and iPod Touches with cameras (plus whatever Gray Powell leaves at a German beer joint next week), a significant portion of your tech life will likely bear an Apple logo--and keep Steve Jobs in the finest stonewashed jeans regionally available. The question isn't, "Do you use Apple devices," but "Which one?" And "Where?" Here's a cut-out-and-keep cheat sheet.

Infographic by Column Five

iPad's Camera Connection Kit Works for More Than Importing Photos

When the iPad was released, many decried its lack of connectivity. In keeping with its position in the iPhone OS lineup, the iPad is designed to be a companion to a full-fledged computer, not a replacement--you can't plug in any external gadgets like hard drives, USB flash drives, MP3 players (including iPods), printers, or cameras. Apple does offer the $30 Camera Connection Kit, however--and people have just started figuring out what it can do.

The Camera Connection Kit consists of two...