I’m not sure why I didn’t do this earlier, but I’ve turned on the Do Not Disturb switch on both my iPad and my iPhone. I think many of us grow used to (dare I say addicted?) alerts and notifications.

Given that most of the day I’m working on my laptop, getting notifications from every device on my desk is too much. It’s not enough to just turn the ringer/sound switch off.

My guess is I’m going to quickly get used to this change.

Mashable updated with a new, responsive design.

via siteInspire

Dear third party iOS developers,

Every native iOS application autofocuses. While it’s small detail, it’s still a detail and they add up to being important.

(Giving how consistently absent this is, I’m wondering if developers even have the ability to instantiate a focus action when spawning an email message window within an app.)

Update: via Twitter, Bryan Clark and Arnold Sakhnov confirmed my suspicion third party developers have no way to focus on input fields, but there appears to be a hack.

Looks like Mercedes-Benz has a new website up.

Standing out to me are new links in the main navigation for Innovation and Design.

I just downloaded and started playing around with the new Nokia Maps application, Here, for iOS (via Jim Darymple).

I can’t yet vouch for how much better or worse the accuracy of the maps data is compared to Apple’s own Maps app, but on sheer software quality alone there’s a world of difference. What I mean is Here feels like crap. Transitions are choppy, the color palette is cold (blue and grey?) and almost every time I tap to zoom in a level of detail all the tiles flicker while they re-render. Weird.

The experience seems to be consistently jerky on both my iPhone 4 and my iPad 2. If I didn’t know better I might attribute the choppy behavior to hardware deficiency, but since I’ve been using the native, iOS Maps app for over a month now, I know this can’t be the reason. Just compare the difference in Human Experience between the two and feel how much smoother Apple’s Maps app is.

Also, what’s the thinking (or lack thereof) behind the Here logo skewed at a 45 degree angle with the leg of the ‘h’ cut off?

The whole experience is leaving a bad taste in my OS.

Like most of the reviews I’ve read, Jakob Nielsen thinks Windows 8 sucks. I don’t agree with all his points, but he makes some solid points against the user interface of 8.

Then again, he also concludes his review saying he’s a fan of the ribbon in Office.

You should have kept that last part to yourself, Jakob.

Update: I also love how he has to qualify his review by saying he doesn’t hate Microsoft and he’s not an Apple fan boy. Like it’s impossible to be a Microsoft user but not be a fan of Windows 8.

See, this is what happens. I moved out of NYC in April all this bad stuff happens. First it’s Hurricane Sandy and now my friend Victor switches from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy Note:

The good news is he hasn’t totally lost his mind, as he’s ready to “hit the EJECT button” if things don’t go well:

So I’ll make the switch but with two huge EJECT buttons: 1) If I find i’m not using the stylus enough (maybe it’s like the Pepsi Challenge in that it seems better at first, but you have to live with it for a while to truly judge), if adopting a new music ecosystem is too cumbersome. As I write this I’m reminded of the brilliant Samsung commercials with the hipsters in line for the new Apple product release bemoaning the feature gap… If the iPhone 6 comes out and closes the gap, there’s still one thing that Apple has that no one else does… the “Apple Experience” – and that’s a competitive differentiator.

*Regarding his observation of his Samsung not being as ‘smooth’ as his iPhone. I think this has less to do with the screen type and more with the fact that Android wasn’t designed for animation. With iOS, everything you see on the screen is built on top of Core Animation. This is why animations are smooth even on first generation iPhones.

Scott Forstall, and his penchant for the over-the-top skeuomorphs in iOS, is leaving Apple and Jony Ive will be leading Human Interface for iOS (in addition to his duties as SVP of Industrial Design).

Wow.

If you’re like me, and always annoyed by the discrepancy between the clean, minimal aesthetic of Apple’s hardware and the sometimes overly indulgent aesthetic of iOS, this executive shake-up signals an end to it.

The days are numbered for the torn-off sheets in the Notes app, stitched leather in the To Do app and reel-to-reel in the Podcasts app. I can appreciate the thoroughness with which these skeuomorphs have been implemented, but they’re just too much.

Expect more consistency between Apple hardware and software moving forward.

Last night, while I was watching the San Francisco Giants win the World Series, I saw commercials for Apple’s new Retina MacBook Pro 13 and Microsoft’s new Windows 8 operating system. It got me thinking about the differences in marketing software products versus marketing hardware products to regular people in their homes, not in their offices.

In the ‘traditional’ business world of yesteryear, the IT department decided when to upgrade your machine to the latest version of Windows. We’re clearly not in that world anymore. Now Macs can run Windows via Parallels or VMWare, CEOs carried their iPads into meetings and you can use Google Docs to open Word and Excel files. This is the world Windows 8 is launching in and I’m skeptical how many average, non-nerdy people will be upgrading their PCs (if they’re compatible) versus A) leaving their current PC as it is and/or B) buying a new piece of hardware—be it laptop, desktop or tablet.

I think it’s really hard to sell software to people when it’s not wrapped around a piece of hardware. One of the reasons iOS 6 adoption reached over 60% after just a month after release is because it was free and all it required was hitting UPDATE in the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.

Windows 8 looks great in the new commercials (and to people who don’t know about all the loose ends still in it), but when it’s up against commercials for a Windows RT-powered Surface, it’s a soft sell.

And while I’m on the topic of Windows RT, it’s important to mention another mess Microsoft might be making and eventually be stepping into. Windows RT and Windows 8 both use the same Metro-style interface so it’s making the lines fuzzy between the two OSes. Sure, Microsoft’s whole goal is to prove Apple wrong and show there are no lines between PCs and tablets, but there are. Windows 8 can’t run on all Windows tablets including the Surface.

I wouldn’t be surprised if, after watching commercials for Surface, some non-nerdy guy or gal buys a new all-in-one desktop PC running Windows 8, brings it home, fires it up, and tries to *swipe* across the screen to move the tiles, only to discover they can’t because the screen is not a capacitive, multi-touch screen.

Soft and fuzzy are good things to have in a stuffed animal, but not your product marketing.

Tim Cook’s closing words from this morning’s Apple Event where they debuted the iPad Mini:

“I invite you you all to get your hands on them now.”

Microsoft, are you paying attention? They’re letting everyone use them.

Yes, even before they ship.

Very smart iPhone watch idea by Lennart Ziburski.

The outer rim of the watch face is a scroll wheel and the rest is a touchscreen.

I love it.

via The Loop

I have to say, this demo of the Blackberry 10 OS is pretty hot.

But is it too late?

Blackberry 10 is coming 6 years after the iPhone was launched.

Six years.

From GigaOm:

Startups that really make a commitment to design and Human Experience are emerging as the web and mobile’s most successful companies, like Instagram and Pinterest. Mike McCue, CEO and co-founder of social digital magazine Flipboard, explains to us in this video interview clip that he’s seen a resurgence of startups like Path that are putting design first and foremost and he thinks a strong commitment to design will separate the pioneers from the followers.

Design is important. Who knew?