Background

Being in college has any number of complications, one of those being the cost of virtually anything. In that respect, I've stuck with being on my family's cell phone plan, which was on a feature phone on U.S. Cellular. Almost two weeks ago I got notified we were switching networks to Verizon, and in the process getting smart phones. Hit on me at the moment of purchase, I didn't truly get a say in device, family already getting sold on the Droid Razr, one of the premier Android devices on that network. With that, I was forced into the Android ecosystem, and the mess that it is.

Experience

Getting the device almost a week and a half ago, the initial process of getting the phone setup was definitely different, the loading sequence featuring the ever present and overly tech looking DROID eyeball animation and a big plastered advertisement of its dual core power.

After you get past the initial branding, you get thrown into what you'd expect. Plug in your Google Account information, as well as plug in your social networks. Yes, it has social networking support - sort of. In what feels to be a Windows Phone want-to-be experience, Motorola includes a "Social Networking" application to be the center of your Facebook and Twitter worlds, as well as gadgets to let you quickly view what's happening on each network, plus another to post to the ones you want.

Please.

If you've used a Windows Phone, the experience is seemless. The networks feel like they're meant to be part of the phone, not some glued on accessory that someone thought would be a good idea. It just performs horribly on the Droid, scrolling jumps as things want to load, and how anyone could use it is beyond me. Maybe it works if you have a couple friends and follow a handful on Twitter?

So, squash that, and jump into the app experience. Run to Google Play, whose name seems like a sad excuse to avoid getting Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft mad, and get your Facebook and Twitter apps, both official, both actually quite well built. For that matter, you CAN actually find them in the store, something that far too common isn't possible on the Windows Phone.

Compared to the Windows Phone experience, Facebook pushes much more of the Timeline experience, the app appearing to show information much like you'd think of it on the website. Lacking Windows Phone's creative use of type, it does work as an app, but it doesn't have that futuristic, information driven feel that I've come to love.

Jump over to Twitter and I get reminded of what your regular Twitter experience is vs. that of Rowi on Windows Phone. Just to use the phrase, the UI is very information dense, crammed full of data in boxes with boxes of boxes next to boxes with icons and gloss and boxes. It works, something I never denied about iOS or Android, but it isn't really that interesting. Where the Android experience gains a point is that the apps simply feel snappier, both Facebook and Rowi seeming to have to load data every time they are opened, something that The Verge made note of in their review of the Lumia 900 and was roundly criticized of.

Apps

Where the platforms shows its dominance over Windows Phone would be in apps. Yes, there is the numbers game that Android has x-hundred thousand apps, but where this really matters is when it has those select apps that are truly worth while.

In my experience, my interest in apps is largely in social, something which sees more activity on both Android and iOS sadly. While Windows Phone has premium Facebook and Twitter support, what I can on Android is the benefit of more niche social networks, Instagram having an official app vs. only explorer on the Windows Phone, and then Path and Pair, both which don't exist on the Windows Phone platform. The problem here is that getting these niche apps depends upon breaking through the niche audience that the platform currently has, something I'm not sure Microsoft knows how to breach - other than paying developers to make apps.

Now, at the same time, the app experience can be plain worse. I have no clue how, but WeatherFlow, a beautiful app on Windows Phone, looks absolutely horrible on Android. The type they used is different, likely a platform issue, but placement on their widget is plain horrible, and it's oddly sized compared to anything else I have.

Also, don't kid yourself into thinking that Android or iOS escape the garbage pit of the app world. I've been plain disappointed in the apps available from Bloomberg, CNBC, most third party podcast players, not to mention that music players seem to universally suck on this platform.

Summary

Coming from the Windows Phone world, Android is a bit of an eye opening experience. While the platform lacks the solid look and feel, as well as social integration of Windows Phone, the platform benefits from having a rich app catalog, whatever you search for likely providing you an option in app form. At the same time, something about either the hardware or the software makes apps snappier, though that does not forgive how many times I've seen apps crash.

Like I tweeted...

It's like a Windows 9x machine. You do too much at once, random things start failing. 

It's absolutely maddening that if I want to change an icon on the dock-like bottom bar on my Droid RAZR the phone literally freezes, FREEZES, for two seconds before providing a list of what I can put in place. This isn't even account for the random freezes changing icons on different screens, or moving icons, or moving widgets, or just doing things that simply shouldn't freeze a dual core phone.

It is a Windows 9x machine! Seriously!

Does it work? Absolutely. Does it beat Windows Phone? In some ways yes, in many others no. The question I have to ask is if the upcoming ICS upgrade will improve it, or of this phone is destined to be an imperfect mess for the next two years I have stuck with it.

For more, feel free to check the #droidexperience hashtag on Twitter, or check back for what will likely be a continuing series of frustration and love.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

In a great example of motion & sound coming together, I present CNN Newsroom.

Relaunched in 2010 with a brand new look and a brand new studio, the program’s first day was a prime example of what a the cascading hours of news coverage on cable could truly look like.

Featuring a fairly large studio, one of the focal points had to be the giant screen behind Kyra early on.  While the network didn’t continue this use of it, the application of video on it with the anchor standing in front, or using it as a transition piece when a correspondent was to come on air, was a great example of how a studio should truly be used.  It’s not just a prop, it’s a story telling tool!

Combine the large screen with the network’s ever famous magic wall and you set yourself up for a set that can do anything you need it to. 

Now, on the side of motion & sound, while the video does have jump cuts (I used the network’s own transition for them), it still conveys the look and feel of the program.  While other network’s had tried to create a kind of cyber-tech feel to their newscast, CNN mastered it through the combination of abrupt music and these flowing, bold, you could even argue harsh graphics.

What truly conveys that sense of motion here is the continual use of it, items sliding to the screen, as well as how the network made use of sounds between live shots, or topic graphics to transition to another story.  Combine that with the use of camera’s moving in towards the anchor when needed, or utilizing the set as a storytelling piece, it all comes together as a pristine example of what a newscast should look like.

Now, did this last?  Like most things in cable news, the first day broadcast is always a perfectly designed day, but once you get the regular cycle back, the finishing touches disappear.  Gone is the use of the giant screen for video regularly, gone are the different locations on the set being used.  It’s always sad to see these networks spend heaven knows how much on these sets, then throw it down the drain doing what they’ve always done.

Is it a wonderful example of ‘motion & sound’ none the less?  Absolutely. 

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

One of my favorite apps on my Windows Phone at the moment would have to be InstaCam. (view in online marketplace)

See the full gallery on Posterous

Now, the weakness of this application, if nothing else, is loose design.

Primary UI

See the full gallery on Posterous

In terms of the look and feel, I've gone through above and experimented with what some minor tweaks, as well as one major one, could do to the experience visually. Changes include:

• Removing the background with the user's color scheme
• Changing font used for app title, as well as making use of accent color
• Adjusting the spacing for each element within a "feed" image
• Adding an action list with the primary app functions
• Removing search from the panorama

In terms of justifying these ideas, the removal of the background, plus use of the accent, would assist in making the app feel more like the user's own chosen experience phone-wide.  Adjusting the spacing assists in adhering to the phone's default grid, making the app appear of higher quality as well as display content better. The action list seems a key feature, the idea of a user being able to slide left to easily get to option a nice advantage over an app bar in an already quite consumed screen, as well as removal of search stems from how, in part, apps aren't recommended to put too much content on a panorama control.

Photo UI

See the full gallery on Posterous

The next major UI present in this app is the Photo view, seen when you select any picture from any section of the application.

Presently three different pages, this part of the apps design is likely the most troublesome and in need of some assistance.  As it stands currently, the app displays a fair amount of content, but does it sloppily, not adhering to the grid, as well as not adhering to the user's color choices or overall color scheme.  Additionally, the user has to dive onto another page to view comments or likes, something which could be viewed more easily in a different way.

In going a different direction, what would be interesting to see here would be the use of a Pivot control, allowing a user to slide left and right between the view of the image with description, the people who have liked it, and the comments.  What this would assist in is allowing the user to view the comments in a meaningful way, vs. in an overly cramp, hard to read form.  The issue present with this concept, I'll admit, is that the way to favorite or comment would not be easily visible, only being viewable by clicking the button to expand the menu.  This would be remedied by either keeping the app bar present and tightening the spacing slightly, or simply accepting that the user will need to scroll some to view content.

Profiles

See the full gallery on Posterous

Presently a mixture of pages and a Panorama, the issues here stem in alignment, as well as improper use of the Panorama control.  The Panorama control should only be used once in an app, and that use should be out front, as the front page.  When a situation calls for multiple pages of information, the best control that could likely be used would be a pivot.  This situation would be a prime candidate for that, which I present in my concept.

Transforming the Profile view itself, as well as the photos of the user, the Pivot would also include the currently disconnected pages of followers and following.  Taking a bit of liberal inspiration from Rowi, the profile page would be reordered to focus on the name of the person, as well as their bio, before diving into their follower / following / photos stats.  Jumping to the Photos panel, the only real changes here to speak of would be the spacing corrections, otherwise the page workable.

Other Issues

In the latest updates we've seen a fair improvement for the actual gallery of effects, as well as the upload page, but there are a few issues here that need to be addressed.

Bullets vs Checkmarks On the uploads page, alignment once again matters (stick to left preferably) but the other situation here would be the use of bullets vs. checkmarks.  In terms of general practice, it's best to use bullets when you are only able to select one option, but checkmarks when you are able to make multiple ones.  Additionally, it would look close to the Metro style to remove the social networking icons.

Settings Across the App As it stands, the only way to access the social networking settings is after you've got to the upload page. It would be helpful of this was accessible app-wide by either the actions list I suggested earlier, or through something in the app bar on the main panorama.

About/News/? Pivots I'm a little confused on this part. How many Pivot controls do you presently have in this app? I think the number is two, but I'm not quite sure.  Discovering these when needed works, but it's a little confusing why multiple ones exist, and why they need to exist.

Alignment There are more pages mentioned then I've gotten to, but a universal issue across the app where you haven't touched it would continue to be alignment. Check out Bil Simser's post about your app to get a more detailed account of what improvements could be done there.

In all, the finishing touches are what truly matter in making an app look amazing on Windows Phone.  With some revisions, maybe a bit of exploration as well, InstaCam can become as good experience wise as it is functionally.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

In terms of criticism of the Windows Phone, one of the more obscure, though aggravating, of the platform come from this idea of "information density."

Information density of an interface examines the compactness of an interface in terms of the amount of information. The information density metric is calculated as the quantity of visible node instances containing information divided by the screen space area of the whole interface in pixels. (source)

In terms of how this appears to be interpreted in mobile is the concept of placing as much information as possible on the screen at any time. On the iPhone, an example of this would be the border to border endless wave of photos in their photo app, or the use of the homescreen with rounded icons from border to border.

Translate this over to the Windows Phone platform and people's criticisms can be rounded up to how the Metro Design Language doesn't make use of every inch of the screen for content. Is that true? Yes, and no.

Lock Screen

Starting from the top, one of the key differences with the platform is the design of the lock screen.

Based with an image of the user's choosing, the phone always displays the time, date, as well as a calendar item when applicable. Below that would be indications of your latest e-mails, instant messages, as well as missed phone calls.

At the top we also make use of the space for anything being played in the background, as well as your phone indicators at top.

When compared with the iPhone, current or previous generations, the UI takes more of the "computer administrative debris" away with the presence of no true controls while leaving relevant content, actually enhancing the information density on the lock screen with at least three status indicators and three pieces of information.

Start/Home Screen

Move into your homescreen, and you see one of the examples of where "information density" falls.

The phone presents the user only eight tiles, vs. the twenty icons present on an iPhone, as well as only presenting the clock at the top during regular operation, vs. the always present status bar with multiple icons on the iPhone.

In terms of the iconography though, Windows Phone takes its lack of dense buttons and replaces it with live tiles, a metaphor which presents the user with relevant information that's available at a glance, enhacing one form of information density, though not that defined.  In terms of usage, the experience can be considered enhanced of the iPhone in that a user doesn't require diving into the application to know an initial layer of information.  Examples of the live tile functionality would include the number of new items in your me tile from Twitter and Facebook, the number of messages and emails you have, the weather forecast, or even your friends popping in and out of the People tile.

While the phone sacrifices a form of information density, it gains it back in presenting the user with more information per tile than an iPhone would present, or even an Android device.

Me Tile

See the full gallery on Posterous

Continuing the push about information density, the way in which the phone utilizes space can be considered liberal, again pushing the density present down.  The issue with purely going off of "density" is not taking into consideration how the use of design here makes sense for the user experience.

In terms of the three sections of this 'app' experience, the Profile consists of one piece of information, matched with three different user linked options.  Pan over to the notifications section and the user faces, on average, seven different clickable links, presenting more information than the profile, though not as dense as present on other platforms.  Jump to What's New, which displays your own status and wall posts, and you can average two to five depending on the length of your messages and what content is present.

What the Metro design language here pushes is only the latest information, as well as what holds relevance at the moment you open your phone to the app.  While other platforms may push the amount of information up, the question becomes whether that's easily visible in the hand, as well as whether it actually serves a purpose for the device's user.

Apps

See the full gallery on Posterous

Where Windows Phone succeeds, and fails, in terms of information density is apps.

Created by third parties, as well as some by Microsoft themselves, the apps are quite open to follow the general look and feel of the Windows Phone experience as they see fit, something many take full advantage of.

Weather Live

A personal favorite, WeatherLive, matches the styling of Windows Phone in many ways with the use of flat color weather iconography and a reasonable background and pivot UI, but deviates in reducing the size of the navigational elements to make space for more information, thus increasing the information density of each different panel of the app.

Facebook

The Facebook app is another app which follows, to an extent, the Windows Phone motif, but deviates with the top portion of the screen used for their notification and messages, not the phone status icons, as well as an always present large symbol of the social network.  Additionally, the amount of space used between the logo/icons, plus the panorama titles, actually pulls a lot of screen space away from what could be more area for content, decreasing the information density.  The worst example, which even annoys my design eye, would have to be the view of the news feed.

Presented using the traditional form of Windows Phone hierarchy with font sizes, the issue becomes that you can typically only view one, yes one, piece of news at a time.  When compared to the integrated experience, or those on other platforms, this is extremely low.  While other apps and experiences in the phone push glance and go, the Facebook app is actually an example where you are going to be scrolling to find what you need, vs. the possibility of seeing what you need placed above the fold.

Fox News

The last app I'm including in this roundup is Fox News.

Built with a panorama, a new app design style created for Windows Phone, the UI makes a liberal use of space while, once again, reducing information density.  What this does is allow for editorial choices to be made which stories are at top and which are below, as well as providing a variety of ways to present different sections of information.

For the user, what this represents is more of a focus by the news organization of what's presented, and what simply matters.  The latest item includes a large headline image, larger headline text, and a fair description to follow.  Those following can actually amount to four to a screen view, improving the density while giving the concept of that information being less important, but still relevant to the user.  As you continue to progress down, information is once again enhanced as the amount of elements on screen is reduced.

While the platform does have a lower information density than that of iOS or Android, what you gain is a much more visually interesting experience, driven by the use of type, not by the use of distracting user interfaces and, in the words used in the video, 'computer administrative debris'

With flat color icons, limited color use, and a solid grid, the Windows Phone presents what you need up front, with beautiful hierarchy, but with less density than you'll find on other platforms.  Whether this is a good thing, or a bad thing, is personal choice.  For the casual user, less at once may be a good thing, for the power, that may be aggravating.

In the end, to each their own platform, for their own needs, and let's leave it at that.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Taken with picplz.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

In truth, Think Different summarizes Windows Phone in a nutshell.

Ubiquitous Social

See the full gallery on Posterous

There really is something cool when you can get Facebook in a people-centric form, sans the updates of pages you've liked, plus your Twitter stream. Converge that all into a hub and you really do get a good scope of your social media friends, from top to bottom.

Open up your own tile, or a friends, and you get instant access to their current status, all their contact information, their feed of status updates from Facebook, Twitter, and if you have it set up Linked In, as well as their pictures and history of text messages and emails with them.

In terms of messaging, this is, this is the untold story of the device. If your friend is available on Facebook, you can chat with them there. Messenger? Yup. Text Messaging? Absolutely.

With that said, the future here is interesting to say the least. With the concept of reducing steps and making things simplier, it would be interesting to see FourSquare integration here, or even the location service of Facebook to the extent of showing a friend's location, not just being able to sign in to a location. Also, since Microsoft did purchase Skype, it would be interesting to see them integrate that into the OS, something said to be coming, but not seen yet.

Gaming

See the full gallery on Posterous

Achievements, need I say more?

In truth, gaming on the phone is as much fun as one would expect, all of your games easily available under the Games hub on the phone. Split between games and XBOX Live Games, the qualities can vary, but it's very much what you'll find on other platforms.

In terms of the big names, such as Angry Birds, Plants vs Zombies, Fruit Ninja, and others, they fall under the umbrella of XBOX Live, supporting the option of trials, as well as achievements when you purchase the games. I can't really speak to how much time I've lost enjoying Plants vs Zombies, or Angry Birds.

Again, with that said, some of the games have the feeling that they need to be updated to support the multi-tasking ability of Mango, Angry Birds starting from the boot screen every time, and Plants vs Zombies being a touch slow to load on my Samsung Focus.

Apps

See the full gallery on Posterous

First of all, let's recap the Metro Design Language and underline what this means in apps. In short, you're talking about making actions quicker to achieve, as well as reducing UI to the essential base of what's needed. Now, how many apps achieve this is extremely erratic.

Included above are some of my favorites I use on a near daily basis, including 4th & Mayor, a FourSquare client, Rowi, a Twitter client, MetroTube, a YouTube client, and WeatherLive, a weather client.

In terms of look and feel, each are quite fair to the language, respecting the light/dark and color choice of the user, WeatherLive adding a background image from Bing as well.

Now, in terms of actual simplicity and steps, that's a mix. 4th and Mayor probably tops the list due to the option of a "Check In Now" tile which actually makes checking in an almost automatic activity, followed by Rowi and MetroTube, both which make browsing their respective mediums easy. WeatherLive is a big of a mess, the app going through a UI change in the latest version to be more understandable, but still a touch too much information for a pivot UI.

Which brings up the issue with Metro, at least how people make use of it. The weakness of the language is in how people use layout styles, as well as forgetting the concept of "reducing steps". Panoramas, Pivots, and the other styles each serve a select purpose, and some apps don't understand this, such as my local news channel's King 5 app.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Built from an apparent template. the app includes pivots throughout to the amount of over 80. 80! This isn't to mention the point that as a template there's pieces that are broken, presenting just a simple block with a paper icon indicating something I'm not quite sure of. Add to that the point that it features ads and it's just a deal breaker.

See the full gallery on Posterous

On the other end of the scale, you have a third party app like BBC News Mobile which really present's a news organization in a great way. Starting out a user in a panorama with the latest stories listed right in front, a user can also view tiles with imagery of the story, or even dive into the feeds they choose. Once you jump in, you get a long feed of stories, and diving into any one of them presents the story, as well as imagery when possible. Elegant.

Aggravating? You bet. Deal breaker. Nah, you just avoid the bad ones.

Part 2 To Come...

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

So, I finally have one of these things, and what can I say? I'm in love.

From the start screen alone, it's fascinating to actually see a Windows Phone with your own content, your own customizations, and make the little chimes and vibrations as messages come in.

The other piece, what's in the picture above, are Groups. Built out of your People hub, each of these serve a purpose for me, keeping track of what's happening with family, classmates, news, Microsoft, as well as a group of Twitter folk I enjoy.  On occasion, it's actually fun to see how the profile pictures cycle through and create ... interesting people, like the hybrid bunny and boy on the bottom left there.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Overall, it's something to have one of these to call your own, pictures of friends flipping about in Group tiles, or going through your People and Pictures hubs noticing pictures you've never seen before. Oh, and Zune, Zune exploration is great on this larger screen, though the odd tidbits that are missing are, well, signs of how foreign Zune is at Microsoft I suppose.

Still, a few days in and I'm in love. There are quirks, minor issues here and there, but I'm amazed. With any luck, I should have a review-type post up here soon.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I'm a bit methodical when I do things.  When it comes to Twitter, this is useful.

While Twitter is considered by some to be useless babble, I'm convinced it's a platform that's only useful once you find your purpose for it.  In that respect, my own use for Twitter has been to find interesting people's work, share my own, as well as hold conversations and keep up with what's happening in the world.

So, once you figure out your purpose with it, the question is how you use it effectively.  For myself, consuming my Twitter feed is quite an enjoyment because of two things: Lists and the number 80.

Let's go over the first one, lists.

Lists 

Everybody gets a list!

Okay, seriously, Lists make the Twitter experience breathable no matter if you're following 80 people, or 8,000 people.  While your main stream contains everything, lists provide an option to have a more focused stream of thought, whether it's just a group of closer friends, or those of a specific topic.

In practice, I make use of three lists: Posse, Microsoft, and NewsNow.

The first of these, my Posse, are a handful of folks in the Twitter-verse who I find myself being a little closer with, like a small group of friends, and I keep this private.  

Second, the Microsoft list, is a mixture of Microsoft bloggers, as well as some folks inside, and gives me a good scope of what's happening in the Microsoft-verse.  This list embodies one of the biggest advantages of lists: You don't have to follow everyone in it.  If anything, this helps keep your main stream clean, as well as makes that information available more easily.

Last, I have my NewsNOW list, which I've built to give me news about everything (@breakingnews), business (@bloombergnow), tv news (@tvnewser + @insidecablenews), Seattle (@king5seattle + @kiro7seattle), and technology (@arstechnica).  Now, this list is my newswire, and nothing truly compares to the point that you can have constant stories flow by and catch the ones you want to share, or maybe go and read further.

In all, each of these make my experience better, but there's one more piece.

80

Another piece to my strategy of Twitter is to limit who I follow.  While arbitrary, 80 has been the number that I can fit everyone I'm interested in underneath, as well as be able to keep a good scope on what's going on.  Earlier, I had let this creep over 100, and it was amazing how useless my stream became, and how Twitter just became another thing vs. something I enjoyed.

So, that's how I make use of Twitter. How do you?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Oh CourtTV, how you've become yet another fatality of the cable trends.

Back during its prime though, CourtTV was one of the best examples of simplicity matched with motion to make a network look downright stunning.

Another compilation built out above, the network's primary identity was based around the pillars present in most courthouses, moving left and right as a motion-driven element on screen. Combine that with a splash of color and you have the transitions used throughout the day.

As for program opens, it's almost a perfect match of motion and sound. In each, the open's build up as the network logo appears, followed with the swift use of transitions and effects, as well as appearance of the personalities, to give the show a bit of a brisk feeling. Combine that with, very often, sharp sounds to command their presence, and you have it nailed.

Even the lower thirds on the network have motion and sound, the small circular arrow element being pressed in, then everything else appearing with a sound to match.

Compared to everyone else in cable, even now, it's hard to find someone who matches this kind of pace or presence in this style. Maybe it just wasn't destined to survive, I don't know.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Typography. Imagery. Voice. Music. All put together perfectly.

Beyond my love of the Metro Design Language, I've always had a sweet spot in my heart for television graphics. Show opens, lower thirds, transitions, split-screens, topic graphics, all of the above on your various television networks just entice my mind and feed my need for ideas, as well as pursuit to see how close to perfect a network can get.

The above one, a three year old commercial from Fox News Channel, is probably one of my favorites in terms of its simplicity. Take the slogan how you will, the commercial combines one graphical element (a plus symbol) and uses it as a pull through the whole piece, each time introducing another personality of the network, as well as a sound bite to match. Combine that with background music to keep the motion going, and you have a winner.

In terms of a full look-and-feel, no one compares to CNBC.

Driven by data, above in their HD+ view, CNBC presents itself as one of the most professional and well put together channels on cable. Making use of a teal-blue tone throughout, as well as a bright white base on multiple elements, the network pulls it all together with the use of what appears to be Klavika on every bit of the screen.

In terms of motion and sound, CNBC also nails.

Although this compilation is a little out of date after CNBC's made modifications, I can't help but always be a bit amazed how well together the network is in terms of animation and sound. Every chart appears on screen with motion and sound, and every topic graphic comes in and out like butter.

Still, there's a lot of horrible examples of graphics on television. I'll talk about those in a future post.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Update: After nearly a week of downtime, apparently somebody found the error and fixed it. Thanks guys.

For anyone who's familiar with the Zune service & devices, one part that's largely unused, but still present, is the Zune Social. Recording everything you play and part of the engine that helps you find new music, it's essential to the service.

There's one problem. It's down. 

Its been down. For five days or more.

@ZuneSupport replies with essentially non-responses.

That's great, but truthfully, I'd love to hear something out of you guys to explain this. Our servers failed and we're recovering data. The application is broken and we're working on a fix. Everything was destroyed and we're in the end times. Anything.

It's working online; I can see my profile online is having its play count updated, but no sign of it working in the application in sight.

Come on!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Wow. I think that sums up the Windows 8 Developer Preview in a nutshell.

Released on Monday this week from Microsoft, we got our first chance to really look at Windows 8 in our own hands and it's quite a change.  As anyone would, should, or could expect of a Developer Preview, bugs and quirks run wild in the software, but truth be told, it's overall a fascinating experience to really see Metro on the Desktop.

Right from the beginning, seeing a Windows Phone-like start screen (top) is a mighty big change from the Windows we're used to. (bottom)

Featuring tiles over icons, the real push on the new Start screen is this idea of, alike on the phone, information right at your fingertips, or in this case, in sight.

Jump into applications, and you get the feel that you do on the phone, or even a Zune: Clarity.

Internet Explorer is seen above, not truly an app as much as a window to the web, but still, the UI is hidden away on top and bottom in this situation, only visible with a finger swipe or a right click of the mouse. It was one of the best words of the keynote, but there is something great about a "completely [Chrome]-less browsing experience."

There's a lot more to mention here, including the swipe-from-the-left approach to multi-tasking, as well as the "charms," but I'll post more once I get more time to experiment.

Until then, gah, I dunno, try it out yourself if you have a spare PC around, get a virtual machine working, or what-have-you else. It's an interesting experience, by no means for regular use, but definitely a sign of the future.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Um...we'll hear about all of this at /build/, so let's all just shut up for awhile, okay?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

This has been in me for awhile, since I've been a kid actually. I've always had this need to record the world around me, originally limited by the physical object of film, but let loose when I got my first digital camera, a Sony Cybershot.

No matter what, if I went somewhere distant, or just was in the mood, I had that camera on hand, and was taking shots of things. Sometimes plants around the house, sometimes of some family event, but it always found a way in.

Anyway, photography has always been in my life in some form, toying around with cameras, most shots of not truly shareable quality in my book, but tied to memories unlike anything else I own.

So, circle this back to today, and my photography kick has a rebirth: Mostly365

Take a photo a day for an entire year and share it with the world. Simple, right?

It started with a shoe & a want to improve. It's been followed by completing 103 of 177 days so far, 459 uploads to PicPlz, & just under 9800 photos taken.

It's something to truly rack your mind around. 9800 photos. That's ~82 a day.

The further I get into this project, the more optimistic I've become that my abilities are improving, but the more I find myself stuck at a brick wall for ideas.

Nonetheless, that photo bug still lives on. It's only June and I have around six months worth of photos left to take. How will I do it? No clue.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

After months of leaks, from one website to another, Windows 8 has finally been brought out into the open for it's first appearance. So, what exactly did we see?

Tile Based Start Screen

One of the first things we were introduced to in Windows 8 is a brand new start experience, focused around Live Tiles, a user experience which first appeared on the Windows Phone.

Alike to those tiles, many of these appear to present relevant information, such as a latest e-mail, or the current weather conditions. Compared to what we've seen on the phone though, the ones presented in the video do not appear to be animated, though whether this is final or just in the current build isn't apparent.

In use, this start screen has a horizontal orientation, vs. the vertical one we've seen on the Windows Phone, as well as the tiles have a horizontal placement style. At this point, we don't know whether this has a vertical orientation, but we'll likely see that in later builds.

Panoramic, "Immersive" Applications

Another part of the Windows 8 experience includes "Immersive" applications, a user experience similar to Panoramic applications on the Windows Phone.

Exampled with a weather application (above), as well as a news reader and stock checker, the experience here appears to be equal to those of the Windows Phone, presenting you a cascading amount of information across the screen, navigable by moving left to right throughout the lists provided.

On the developing end, this appears to be a bit confusing. Microsoft has said that this new experience is powered off of HTML 5 and JavaScript, and it has been said that APIs would be provided to developers to connect into "new services." Now, if Microsoft is serious about this being HTML, I can't help but imagine that not lasting ala the iPhone development system from their launch days.

Touch Focus First

From top to bottom, this UI screams touch.

On the start screen, the experience features large tiles more than capable of being touched easily on a wide arange of screen sizes, and the experience requires movement left to right, something easily possible with a finger, no so much a mouse and keyboard. While theoritical, I can't help but imagine there's a possibility that this is a prime location for a Kinect for Windows experience to exist, waving your hand about to enter experiences.

On the application level, you once again have lots of touchable elements, as well as menus which appear to be touchable in size and placement, though how this evolves toward launch will be interesting to see as well.

Small Touches

This, this is what Metro is all about. One major piece of it is 'Motion'

Life is in motion. So Are We.
Motion brings Metro to life, moving swiftly,
responding to input, tying everything together.
You know how good that feels?

This is essential, and 8 is keeping to this mantra.

Watching through the video with a keen eye, you can really notice how much more fluid of an experience this is comapred to any version of Windows prior.

How so? Fluid in that the tiles fly into the screen in a natural way. Applications also fly in in a similar form. Moving left to right, up and down, each have a smooth as silk appearance throughout the OS.

See the full gallery on Posterous

What truly gets me as a Windows user, and I mean this like mad, is the point that the desktop resolution can change this smoothly. Once again, go to the video, but resizing the desktop, from the 95 days to even 7, has always included flickering, bumps, and bruises. This is fluid beyond belief, and I'm just amazed.

The Legacy Lives On

Now, I'm sure most would hear this and think code, but I'm talking about all the user experience elements build over years and years of experimentation.

Ultra Mobile PCs

The moment I saw the split keyboard presented in Windows 8 I couldn't help but think of the Oregami Project and the Ultra Mobile PCs.

An experiment from the early 00's, and refreshed during the Vista launch, these small devices featured a thumb keyboard of a similar, but different form.

Windows Media Center

Also, seeing the file browsing experience, which was shown while choosing an image to upload, was also a bit of a kickback to a product I know very well: Windows Media Center.

Once again, it's another piece of the legacy which has helped Microsoft get where they are with Windows 8. This isn't even making note of the hundreds of Research projects at Microsoft, plus products including the Zune desktop software, hardware, Windows Phone, Kinect, and XBOX.

What's Left?

As evident through the leaks, as well as the tiny preview we got of Windows 8, there's a lot left that we don't know about.

On the user experience end, we haven't seen an actual productivity application inside of this new experience, so how well those can be executed, and how usable they'll be, has yet to be seen on this scale. We've seen them on the Windows Phone, but not on the desktop yet.

Also, there's other parts of the experience which apepar to be in transition. If you paid close attention during the video, the Windows Explorer is being transitioned over to a Ribbon, and there's likely other changes to occur to the traditional Windows UI.

On the backend, there's plenty of questions left. What options exist for developers inside the new experience? Will there be legacy support on ARM? Will we get a new file system? That's all likely to be explained at BUILD in September.

So, What Does it Mean?

In short, and this may be from a touch of a fanboy point of view, but Microsoft is finally tying together their years of experience into something that appears to be a cohesive strategy for tablets, and likely to be a good evolution of the desktop.

While services were not mentioned, the next big thing Microsoft would have to do, to truly tie everything together, would be to show how this new OS would tie into their Windows Live services, as well as a media experience ala Zune or however that part of their company is re-shaped.

So, truth be told, Windows 8 looks exciting. It's a culmination of 10 years of experimentation, from Windows XP Tablet PC & Media Center Edition, to the Oregami Project and Zune, plus the Windows Phone & even Kinect.

Question is, will they execute it well, and will people buy it?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

It's not that often we get to see a revolution, but this is one of them.

If you've been paying attention to Microsoft lately, it's been quite visible that 'Metro' has been a focal point of their branding, taking their homepage into the 10's with a fresh modern approach, along with their store.

For their services, MSN, Bing, Windows Live, Zune, and XBOX all appear to be taking the same tact, pushing much simpler, cleaner front ends with their respective content being the key.

On the product end, the transition is slowly occuring, including Security Essentials, the upcoming Windows 8, upcoming Office 15, Surface, Windows Phone, Zune, and Zune software.

It's, to be honest, interesting to see Microsoft truly take what's essentially design guidelines and spread it throughout their products and services, transforming it at each end to meet the needs of the situation.

Ultimately, it lets them do something they've never really been able to: Simplify.

As much as Microsoft may have tried in the past, there was no true design direction at the company. XP's Luna look was largely panned, the old 9x era look was good for its day but was never a stunner, and truthfully nothing has been this cohesive out of the company before.

If they can keep this up, and truthfully spread their wings into this content-driven future, I think they could stand a chance against Apple, as the slightly more open alturnative, affordable to everyone, and available on anything.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

So, it's April 2nd, and you know what that means? New apps! Why? No clue.

*sigh* As goes with owning a Zune HD, we get these sporadic and apparently non-planned app releases, this round bringing us a decent enough e-mail client, plus a new game, BBQ Battle.

So, how do they hold up?

The e-mail client is a mixed bag, browsing and managing your e-mail accounts (Windows Live, Gmail, POP) simple enough with a Windows Phone style UI, but there's a glaring miss here: HTML support. So, instead of regular looking e-mails, some appear with odd [bracketed] elements. Nonetheless, the experience is surprisingly good once you get it down, everything readable with a basic black-and-white scheme, and Metro-style buttons to help you finish actions.

As for the game, BBQ Battle actually is enjoyable as well, defending a piece of food from an impending group of insects, and is a solid edition to what's available.

So, Zune, I'm wondering, any chance of a Spring firmware update? I'd love some improvements to the browser, if possible, plus maybe some minor bug/performance fixes.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

So, why am I sharing what I use?

The main purpose of this is just to be objective. I have experience in what I use on a daily basis, and it builds what I believe in, will defend, and where my criticisms are formed from.

So, let's go...

Hardware at Home

• Gateway SX 2800-01 Desktop [Core 2 Quad, 8GB Ram, 1TB HDD, ATI HD5570]
• Microsoft Arc Keyboard
• Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 [Downtown]
• Logitech Z313 2.1 Speakers
• HP w2338h 23" Monitor on a Neoflex LCD Stand

Hardware on the Go

• HP Mini 1030nr Netbook [1.4GHz Atom, 2GB Ram, 16GB SSD]
• Microsoft Zune HD 32GB [Platinum]

OSes

• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional [at home]
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium [on the go]

Software Used Regularly

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 9
• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Zune
• Skype
• MetroTwit
• TweetDeck
• Windows Media Center
• Windows Live Messenger
• XChat 2
• Microsoft Office 2007
• Adobe Design Standard CS5

Services Used Regularly [more detail @ Wakoopa]

• Windows Live Hotmail
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Tumblr
• DailyBooth
• Zune Pass
• Netflix [1 disk + streaming]
• PicPlz
• Mostly365

Websites Visited Regularly

• Bloomberg
• BrandNew
• DeviantArt
• Engadget
• Mediaite
• TVNewser
• The Weather Channel
• WinExtra
• WinSupersite
• ZDNet

Also to note, I have regular weekly experience with Macs and OS X at the college I'm attending, and that includes using the Adobe suite on that hardware, plus the Safari browser.

So, what's what I use, what do you use?

*Also, I am going to take pictures, albeit likely slow, of what I use here

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Alas, tonight it appears everyone is getting excited about this Amazon cloud streaming service that's going to launch, but I'm wondering, will it be usable?

Gah, I turned to Amazon MP3 years ago after I began to grow tired of iTunes and wanted to go DRM free, and the one thing you noticed immediately is that Amazon is not strong in the UI department. Yes, they understand purchasing straight items, absolutely, and their suggestion engine there is fantastic, but for their MP3 service? Forget it.

Yes, the world appears convinced the Cloud is our savior, but if you want to explore music and purchase it, I'm sorry, applications win in that department. Between iTunes, and the superior Zune, I'll take an in-app, easily navigable, quick and easy service any day.

What about movies? Amazon is horrible in this department as well, streaming only available through an extremely primitive Flash player [compare this to Netflix's decent player, for example], and their movie files have their own class of DRM, which ties you into using their download application on Windows, which is honestly a joke.

So, how does the app purchasing system work? I honestly don't know, but most accounts seem to approve of it, though the initial setup can be a bit difficult. Their curation may be fantastic, but how well it works will be the question in time.

And, this circles back to this dream of the geekdom: Streaming cloud music. It exists elsewhere, Zune for those in the Microsoft ecosystem, assorted other services elsewhere, and now Amazon.

Question is, will this be usable, or will this be as klugy as most of their offerings?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

RIP Zune Hardware: 2006-2011

I'll admit it, I was late to the social, only diving onto the Zune banwagon after the HDs release, being convinced through the Pass, and iTunes frustration, and it looks like we've hit the end of the line.

Ala Bloomberg, it looks to be all but confirmed that Zune hardware is going to be phased out, Microsoft focusing in on its Windows Phone devices with Zune integration, and the platform as a whole moving forward.

As for why the devices failed, there's any number of reasons. Advertising was awkward, if non-existent. Devices were clunky early. Software was lacking by many accounts early on. Etc. Etc. Even the HD, for the advantages it had, it doesn't have apps in numbers.

So, what's next for a Zune devotee? I'll keep using my Zune HD 32, and I'm going to keep my eyes set on getting a Windows Phone, probably a Samsung Focus, if any of them.

Can't deny my disappointment. Bye Zune.

(Oh, the German solute is for Apple. Long live your ugly world of gradients, centralized power, and one man controlling the world.) 

Permalink | Leave a comment  »