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Monitoring stress

Posted by chezza on March 3

FastCompany just published an article about the Q Sensor, a new portable, wearable stress-level monitor.

Some of their findings from their initial tests are really interesting, for example, dealing with email on a daily basis was more stressful than public speaking, and getting a kid ready to go in the morning was more stressful than going on a roller coaster for one mother.

What I find particularly interesting was some of the potential uses for this device, particularly in hooking it up to a smartphone. Fastcompany suggested that the smartphone could tell the user when they need to chill out but that’s just scratching at the surface.

Imagine out-patients from hospital being able to send this data to their doctors on a regular basis via their phone. (Or therapists, or counselors or even yoga teachers).

As they mentioned, high stress situations is when recovering addicts can often relapse. Getting those early warnings connected to your smartphone could send alerts at the right time.

I didn’t think that stress could be an interesting topic but there is so much potential for the health industry, fitness industry, HR, corporations and personal health. Looking forward to the Q Sensor launching so we can start hacking together some really cool apps.

Native vs Mobile, again

Posted by gleddy on February 17

Awesome quote from Craig Villamor on Mobile Web Apps:

When you visit a website and discover that they have a mobile version of the site, you are pleasantly surprised. The experience is so much better than what you had expected that little quirks don’t even register in your mind. On the other hand, when you download an app from the AppStore and it seems even slightly sluggish, when animations are not smooth and scrolling stutters, you think that app is a piece of junk.

I think Craig really taps into an exciting, yet freaky aspect of mobile design and development. The anti-climactic release of The Daily goes to show that native certainly doesn’t guarantee better results.

So if the silver bullet is not native, will it ever be web?

Native vs. Web

Apple's way of screwing your phone.

Posted by chezza on January 20

I hadn’t noticed this on my devices (well really, on how many gadgets do you really examine the screws) but Apple have switched to using non-standard screws, possibly to prevent you from opening your devices, on the iPhone 4, Macbook Air and other new devices.

There are more details here, they’re calling the new screw type the Pentalobe, and it’s got a different shape to a regular Torx screw – meaning there are no readily available screwdrivers that will fit these screws.

Apparently the Genius Bar is replacing old screws with these new screws when items are taken in for repair. 

This screw head is new to us. In fact, there isn’t a single reputable supplier that sells exactly the same screwdrivers Apple’s technicians use—which is Apple’s point. —_Kyle, iFixit_.

iFixit are calling this “Apple’s Diabolical Plan to Screw Your iPhone” and the Consumerist aren’t too happy about it either.

The Dreaded LCD

Posted by gleddy on January 19

A lot of our clients are stuck having to provide mobile web solutions for Blackberry devices, which despite having one of the worst mobile browsers out there, it is still a very popular device with many users across the world.

When supporting Blackberry devices you must confront the dreaded LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) and like a piece of parsley dangling from your co-worker’s chin at lunch, it’s something we would all rather ignore.

But ignore it at your own peril, below are some tips for better LCD design:

• First, don’t let older devices get in the way of your great design. Design as you would for the iPhone, Android or any new device out there and worry about bad devices later.
• Next, take a step back from the design and make sure you aren’t obsessing about pixels. There are so many different browsers in the mobile ecosystem that you will drive yourself crazy if you think in pixel precision… take a long deep breath and be more fluid.
• Again, take one more step back from your design and think about how it will break in older, non-Webkit browsers. Identify potential trouble spots such as floats, absolutely positioning, advanced CSS3 selectors and JavaScript. Be ready for these to break and think about how you’re going to handle each situation.
• If you have no idea what half of that last sentence meant then grab your front-end developer or mobile agency and get them to walk through your design and tell you how they will handle these issues. Remember, the Blackberry will take your design, chew it up and spit it out again… your developer is the person who will repair this damage. Your task is to take another deep breath and let that pixel obsession fade away while they propose solutions.
• Finally, get your hands on the devices your users will have in their hand and test, test, test. Don’t like how it’s breaking down? You probably won’t – but think of this – is the essential information still being presented to the user in an efficient manner? Can the user complete the task at hand? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you have built a successful mobile web application.

Remember, the more devices you want to support the more complex your application will become and the less control you will have over the final design. It’s a crazy, fragmented world out there.