Owened

maps.apple.com

I really, really hope Apple is planning on exposing maps on the web to desktop users this way. It would actually give us some real alternatives to Google Maps.

3rd-party Twitter application apocalypse

Twitter said today after announcing their new API, that developers “should not build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience” and “any developer who creates an app must work with Twitter and as that app becomes more popular — especially if it's a "traditional” 3rd party client — Twitter's rules give the company more leverage over how that app will work.“

You know what that means? 3rd-party applications will have to display Twitter sanctioned ads or essentially cease to exist. Desperate cry for money by forcing revenue to flow into their own accounts? I think so. By taking away the ability to get rid of ads in 3rd-party apps, many developers won't have motivation to invest in building them anymore.

It gets worse, too.

Developers who create apps that perform traditional 3rd party Twitter client functions (like Tweetbot) will be limited to 100,000 users total before the developer must get "permission” and/or “work with [Twitter] directly.”

Aren't those numbers nice and vague? What is the definition of a user? How does it work? What does “working with Twitter directly” mean? It's clear Twitter only wants their applications to be the way into their service, and they're going to make life hell for applications like TweetBot to exist.

How many users of Twitter actually use the official applications? Millions. And how many use third party ones because they hate the official ones? Millions. Twitter stands to lose a lot of users.

Twitter can't make their own applications great, so they're just squashing everyone else. Developers built their applications because the mainstream Twitter experience wasn't good enough, and it still isn't.

The platform is burning. App.net, your timing could be perfect.

Nokia and Microsoft plan event for September 5, but will they actually tell us anything?

It appears that Nokia and Microsoft are planning on launching a new line of Lumia devices. That's right, devices. I'm willing to bet that Nokia announces both a new Lumia handset, featuring Windows Phone 8, and then, they announce a Windows 8 tablet.

Since Microsoft pulled the rug from under Nokia with the Surface, I suspect that they're doing the announcement together (and it'll be the first WinRT device) to appease some of that. However, I doubt that Nokia will announce pricing or solid dates yet, since Windows Phone 8 hasn't even hit 'gold' yet and isn't supposed to until the end of September. The SDK isn't even out yet.

What I'm worried about is why they feel the need to make an announcement like this (before Apple) if they aren't ready to go to market with a device. If they announce “Holiday 2012” and don't say anything more, Apple is going to steal their thunder on September 12. Unfortunately, even if you're not interested in the iPhone or the iPad mini, everyone will forget about Nokia once it's been announced.

I really hope they can pull a new trick out of the bag, announce availability dates, pricing and pre-orders on the day. I doubt it, though.

Windows 8 “final” edition

This morning, I enthusiastically downloaded the Windows 8 RTM (Release to Manufacturing) bits and wiped my computer to install them. It's clear from the outset that Microsoft has been working pretty hard to resolve issues with the previous preview releases, but whilst it's a 'polished product' right now, it definitely doesn't have that complete feel that I've felt previously. That said, it's come a long, long way from where it was just a few months ago.

The Good

Despite a lack of final polish, the product feels a lot more useful than before, thanks to a combination of small tweaks that have really made usability better.

Metro's new color options and crazy-patterned wallpapers make it pop a little more, and is more visually appealing. The fact that there's actually high-resolution icons for normal applications just feel better. The desktop improvements are incredible (Seriously, I love the new copy interface) and are extremely useful.

The desktop feels like Windows 7.1. It's literally Windows 7 with a V8 engine inside. It's faster, smarter and finally syncs across PC's. I set 'Hidden folders' to show at home and like magic they start showing up at work. Magic.

For me, a desktop user, the changes just outweigh the annoyance of having to dive in and out of Metro. I tend to avoid it with a combination of keyboard shortcuts and the run dialog where I can, but occasionally I'm thrown into it, and it's just a minor inconvenience rather than too much of a hassle for the most part.

The Bad

There's some obvious changes here in response to user backlash. Like the 'tutorial' that tells you how to find the start menu while it's loading. It doesn't really tell you much about what you're about to be thrown into, but it's a nice way to hide the fact that Windows is still configuring in the background.

As I went about setting up my machine, I found my first annoyance. I knew Microsoft was “removing” Aero from Windows 8, but it seems like they've decided they would rather half remove it instead. The taskbar is transparent, but nothing else is. It's no big deal, but it's just a visual inconsistency really.

The second I was into Metro I fell into a world of hurt. Perhaps it's just not being used to the new 'order' of doing things, but after opening the formerly-known-as-Metro Mail app, and accidentally cancelling the wizard, I was met by this:

Well… I have to be honest, I was a little stumped. There isn't really anything to click on. I wasn't really sure what to do next. After messing around a little bit I found that I was required to go to the charms bar, then settings, then accounts and new account to get something to show up. Now, all is dandy, but I wasn't told about this in the manual.

There's still two control panels for everything, too. Some settings are in one place, like lock screen wallpaper, and some are in others, like the desktop wallpaper. I don't understand why Microsoft couldn't just unify these things.

The only other complaint I have about Metro, other than it not being rich enough, is that it doesn't expose features that are actually pretty useful. I love that one can name groups of applications, and knew I could do it, but there is no way my mom could figure out how to do it since it's hidden behind a tiny button and then a right-click action.

The new activation technology in Windows 8 is much more advanced, by the way. I wanted to test out what it behaved like, and after two hours of use, I began getting a floating “You need to activate” message. This one is unlike it's predecessors, though, and does not pop up periodically. It's just always there, overlaying over the very top of whatever you're doing. It's annoying as hell, and for good reason.

Also, there's quite a few things you can't do until you've activated, even during the 'grace period' it seems. I couldn't customize the logon screen or change my notification settings there, for example. Fair enough, though.

Not that anyone uses it, but Media Player doesn't seem to have gotten any better, either. I just wanted to play a few tracks to test out some new headphones, but my MP3's wanted me to download… something.

After the download of whatever it was that media player needed, I tried again to play my music. And then got this. This is when I gave up and installed iTunes.

Right now, that's all that I can fault, and honestly, Windows Media Player really doesn't even matter that much. I still feel the same way about this release as I did with the Release Preview, though. Metro applications feel like just the web, in a wrapper.

I'm assured 'great applications' will come with time, and that Windows 8 right now is really just version 1 of a product that will evolve over time. What concerns me, is that I prefer to use Outlook.com over the built-in Metro application just because it handles better. Shouldn't I be wanting to use native one's when I'm able to?

I'll write more on this later, when I've spent more time with Windows 8.

Microsoft Surface for $199

If this is really true – and I hope it is – it shows how desperate Microsoft is for market share in the tablet PC land grab, and how much of the company's future is hinging on this. It's all or nothing, and would position them perfectly against Google and Amazon, but could leave a significant hole in Microsoft's pocket.

It’s just not as rich

It's a sentiment that I've repeated over and over again on Twitter, much to the dismay of some of my Windows-cuddling followers, but it's also one that I find hard to explain to those firmly entrenched in the 'Windows 8 is the future' camp.

I have a Windows 8 device. I have a iPad. I prefer the iPad. Why? Because the applications I have there are far more immersive and well-built that it just feels smoother. I'm sure it's all down to personal preference, but I've finally figured out what it is that bothers me.

'Modern UI' applications feel like web pages.

Not only that, they feel like side scrolling web pages. Maybe it's something that can be resolved over time, maybe it can't, but of all the applications in the store I can't find a single one that feels as smooth (or as native) as one does on iOS or Android.

Take Metrotwit, for example. It doesn't really feel like an application at all. To me, it looks and acts like something I'd expect of Tweetdeck (pictured below) or Bottlenose, which both actually run in the browser. It acts and feels like something out of a browser. It doesn't feel native, and it certainly doesn't feel like it's installed on my PC. It's HTML5.

A similar issue is that of the Facebook app for mobile devices. It is one of the worst applications on mobile because it's simply a wrapper around a website. You can read millions of one star reviews here. HTML5, in this case, is just not rich enough yet.

I find, even on my tablet, that they don't enhance the experience. They 'look' like tablet applications but they don't act like them. They act like the web. They scroll like websites scroll, and their elements don't really provide much more than squares that feel like they're embedded in a web page.

Mobile apps should be enhancements of what's available online.

Complimentary to their website companions, and offer alternative ways to access their content without needing to open a browser. Take The Verge's mobile app for example, it adds to the experience that you'd get from their mobile site, while presenting their content in a different way and adding functionality. They don't feel like the web anymore, they feel like extensions of the phone.

With Windows 8, I don't get that feeling. They don't feel like natural extensions of my device. They feel like websites and bits of HTML rendered in a shiny wrapper of color. Maybe over time they'll get better and more powerful, and slowly begin defining how they are an extension of the Windows 8 experience, but right now they feel like nothing more than a random assortment of web pages forced into a 'Modern-UI' box.

It's been over a year, and even Microsoft hasn't shown us a 'rich' application that really shows off Metro (Seriously, just compare the way Calendar for iOS handles VS Calendar for Windows 8).

Where are the incredible applications? I hope that they will be there soon. Or that they are actually possible.

Castle Story

This game looks fantastic - a cross between Minecraft and tower defence. It appears to bring an actual interesting component to the original Minecraft game and expands on it well; and from the looks of the video the development is a fair way along!

I backed them, so should you.

“Photography has become so easy that a lot of students don’t realize how phenomenally difficult it is.”

In a world of Instagram, Hipstamatic and the iPhone, will anyone remember how to use a real camera in ten years? Do they actually realize how much blood, sweat and tears go into creating a beautiful photo?

The convenience and quality of the iPhone camera is arguably too good now, meaning young people don't understand the pain of film. Do you remember losing a roll because you didn't mount it right? I do. They will likely never experience that, meaning photos don't have the same value.

The Attention Economy

We live in a time where giving something your attention is almost as valuable as giving them your money. Attention is sparse. In the time between this post being started and published, I have checked numerous blogs, Twitter, Facebook, replied to text messages and talked to people in the real world. Each of those things probably only took but a few seconds of my time, but because it was shared amongst so many tasks, I couldn't spare much more than that.

James Shelley notes that “in 1971 that Herbert Simon suggested that “a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention,” and this is becoming increasingly evident in the world we currently live in. Information is consistently available at our fingertips – some of it useful, some of it useless – and we are literally consuming it without swallowing.

Instead of possessing knowledge, we task our smartphones with knowing the answer for us. To avoid forgetfulness, we rely on technology to remind us of things from our friends' birthdays to what their actual names are. In lieu of mastering skills, we learn the 'tl;dr' version. Worse even, instead of giving the things that should matter in life the attention they need – such as those we love – we choose to stare into the ever alluring glow of the screen.

“If everyone has everyone’s attention the value of attention is nullified.”

Now that technology has such a firm grasp on our lives, and devices that pop, ding, ring and vibrate are constantly fighting for our attention, to avoid 'mental bankruptcy' we will have to be as concious of our time and attention as we are with that which is closest to us; our money.

In the future, ever single one of us is going to have to be wary of what we invest time in. Do I waste five minutes checking my Twitter feed, or five minutes talking to my girlfriend? Do I read ten different technology blogs and browse Reddit for the afternoon, or do I go and breathe some fresh air? Do I read five blogs and then work, or just get straight to work? Despite our best efforts, we all only have the same amount of time to work with until we die.

Attention is the new currency. Everything is wrestling to steal it. If yours had a monetary value, would you be considered broke, middle-class or well-invested?

Microsoft: It was never ‘Metro,’ it was always ‘Modern UI’

An example of the 'Modern UI' from 1920.

How stupid does Microsoft really think everyone is? People out there might think that the naming convention doesn't matter, but it does. It causes unnecessary confusion changing it around and making all these outrageous claims so close to going to market. Then we end up with great titles that have been run through 'find and replace' like this gem:

“Building a Windows 8 Modern UI-Style UI”

Maybe it's time to fire all of Microsoft's PR people. Lying to developers (and making them feel like you think they are stupid) isn't the greatest way to motivate them to build great applications.