Wednesday, December 26, 2012

How to Design Like Apple

How to Design like Apple

Spider phone design like apple

Steve Jobs was a notorious perfectionist. Apple engineers and designers went through hundreds of revisions on every prototype that made it into his hands. But Jobs’ maniacal obsession paid off. No gadget on the market is as instantly recognizable nor as coveted as the latest iteration of an Apple product. The company’s dedication to sleek design and intuitive, user-friendly technology has made each iPad, iPhone and Macbook launch an enormous success.

And how did Jobs and Apple do it? The company follows a set of simple but strict rules to ensure that every product meets Jobs’ standards for clean and flawless design. First, design must complement and improve the product’s usability, never detract from it. And of course, Apple’s sleek and uncomplicated aesthetic must be reflected by every component of the product, no matter how small.

Apple’s design philosophy sounds simple, but putting it into practice is more difficult. Check out Online MBA’s latest video to see Apple’s philosophy boiled down into five principles that any designer or brandmaker can leverage in their own work.

 

Provided by http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/design-like-apple


How to Design Like Apple

ZTE officially unveils high-end Nubia Z5

Despite no plans to hit the U.S., the ZTE Nubia Z5 quad-core specs are still impressive.

ZTE Nubia Z5The ZTE Nubia Z5

(Credit: ZTE)

Though it isn’t slated for the U.S. anytime soon, ZTE’s ultra-high-end device, the Nubia Z5, finally launched today.

The handset comes in black or white, and has a 5-inch 1080p touch screen with a 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution and 443ppi. The display itself is manufactured by Sharp.

Its aluminum uni-body design measures 5.43-inches tall, 2.71-inches wide, and has a thin, 0.3-inch profile. And at 4.44 ounces, it’s more lightweight than most standard 5-inch smartphones.

The Nubia Z5 runs on Android 4.1, and it’s powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core processor and a 2,300mAh battery.

On the back there is a 13-megapixel camera with LED flash, and it includes features like panoramic and continuous shooting. On the front is a 2-megapixel camera.

Other features include 2GB of memory, 32GB of storage space, Dolby sound technology, and free backup to a private cloud service.

The device costs about $554.26 (3,456 yuan) and is ZTE’s flagship phone for the season.

As previously mentioned, it doesn’t look like there are plans for the Nubia Z5 to hit our shores, but if it’s anything like the Grand S, another 5-inch, quad-core phone that ZTE is planning to unveil at CES 2013 for the U.S. market, I’ll be pretty excited.

ZTE already said it wants to heavily invest in its U.S. presence, and if it releases reliable handsets like the Nubia Z5 here, it might get the recognition it’s been trying so hard to attain.


ZTE officially unveils high-end Nubia Z5

Pocket (free)

Pocket (free)
Scroll RightScroll Left
  • Pocket (free)
  • SwiftKey ($3.99)
  • Wunderlist (free)
  • Evernote (free)
  • Google Drive (free)
  • Google+ (free)
  • Snapseed (free)
  • TuneIn Radio Pro (99 cents)
  • Pandora for Android (free)
  • Air Patriots (free)
  • Angry Birds Star Wars (free)
  • Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour ($6.99)

If you’re looking for a bookmark manager that syncs across different devices and different platforms, then look no further than Pocket. Better than Instapaper and other competitors, Pocket is hands-down the best app in the category.


Pocket (free)

ZTE Grand X brandishes T-Mobile logo in FCC listings

ZTE Grand X FCCA photo of the ZTE Grand X in FCC filings. Notice the T-Mobile brand.

(Credit: FCC)

The ZTE Grand X, a mid-level 4.3-inch handset with a dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor inside, made its way to the FCC strutting a T-Mobile logo on its exterior.

Though it’s safe to assume the carrier will most likely offer the phone, pricing and availability dates remain unknown. CNET reached out to T-Mobile reps and will update this story as soon as we hear back.

The Chinese manufacturer released the handset in Europe last summer.

Our reviewers at CNET UK reported that its nearly skinless Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich user interface was one of the device’s most likeable features.

However, its unresponsive screen and short, 1,650mAh battery life were unimpressive.

Other specs include a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and a microSD card slot.


ZTE Grand X brandishes T-Mobile logo in FCC listings

Netflix to get 'social features' next year

The video streaming and rental company will move fast to allow users to share their viewing habits after getting government clearance last week.

Netflix(Credit: Netflix)

Netflix will get “social features” that will allow users to share their viewed movies online, according to a report by Talking Points Memo.

Netflix has long wanted users to link their video accounts with Facebook and other social networks, but has been prevented from doing so because of the Video Privacy Protection Act, which bars company from disclosing information such as video rentals. An amendment to that law passed on Friday allows digital, as opposed to written, permission from users and thus makes it easier for Netflix to move forward with its social plans.

CNET contacted Netflix


Netflix to get 'social features' next year

Unmasking ungrateful Xmas kids on Twitter

Oh, deary me.

(Credit: Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

People’s expectations tend to stretch far beyond anything that resembles reality. And the people whose expectations tend to stretch furthest beyond reality — especially at Christmas — are known by the colloquial term “the young.”

We should, therefore, bow in solemn gratitude to writer Jon Hendren, who tears himself away from his own personal Xmas in order to retweet the messages of those who aren’t happy with their gifts.

Yes, the young, the feckless, the occasionally heartless.

Here’s a tweet — retweeted by Hendren — offered in advance of Santa wafting down a sooted chimney.

@annemcgerber groaned: “If I got a black iPad I’d probably kill myself.” Yes, there’s nothing more disappointing than getting a black iPad.

Take this from Alyssa Northcutt: “I’m really not getting an iPhone for Christmas…… #heartbreaking #depressing #WHYmom.”

Oh, puppy. Perhaps a mom’s love is conditional after all.

It wasn’t just girls whining. Here’s this from @jackthesphynx: “the only thing i really wanted for xmas was a macbook pro and i know i wont get one so whATEVER.”

Whatever, indeed. Laptops are out anyway, Jack. I can’t believe they didn’t get you an iPad Mini, though.

And then there was Katie: “I told my dad that if he got me the Iphone 4s instead of 5 I’d throw it at him #PrincessProbz.”

Princesses do have problems that are simply greater than the rest of us. We should all sympathize.

But after Santa’s visit, the pain came down sharper than surgery without anesthetic.

Here’s @leezadorio: “I didn’t get an IPhone for Christmas time to roll up into a ball and die.”

That seems like a slightly extreme reaction, poppet.

Panting close behind in the Ingratitude Marathon was a lady with the handle “Majesty.” She wrote: “and my mom went directly against me. she asked me if I wanted the black or white iPad. I said white, of course. tell me why mine is black..?”

Oh, your Majesty. Perhaps your mom has been trying to tune you out for years and you just haven’t noticed.

 

The trail of woe went on and on to the point that Hendren decided to post these tweets to his siteSad And Useless.

One of the latest samples came from the touchingly humane tweeter @jiawhite(:: “I feel bad for my mom cause I can tell she knows I’m pissed at her for giving me s*** ass presents.”

I feel bad for your mom too, Jia.

However, one or two might feel aggrieved at Hendren’s enthusiastic retweeting.

 

Take the Twitterer Finnick Odair. She tweeted: “Only got an iPad 2 god mum I wanted a f***** iPhone 5 f*** sake:///”

That little smiley thing at the end might suggest that she was annoyed… or just kidding.

Still Odair, who claims that the Hunger Games and HP are her life, managed to receive more opprobrium than most after Hendren’s retweet of her words.

Just a few hours ago, she tweeted: “559 retweets, eight people telling me to kill myself, five death threats and several condemnations. Christmas Day 2012 has been a fun one.”

 

Hendren had asked that his more than 49,000 followers don’t take their own righteous frustrations out on the guilty (or innocent).


Unmasking ungrateful Xmas kids on Twitter

Samsung plans to ship half a billion handsets in 2013

he Korean phone company aims to ship 510 million handsets next year.

Samsung Galaxy S3Samsung has big plans for 2013.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

This year has been a big year for Samsung, and if all goes as planned, the good times will continue well into 2013.

According to The Korea Times, the phone manufacturer expects itself to ship over half a billion handsets — 510 million to be exact — next year.

In 2012 alone, Samsung shipped an estimated 420 million devices. If we go by next year’s projections, it’s aiming for a 20 percent jump in devices shipped.

Of the 510 million devices forecast, 390 million units are expected to be smartphones, while the remaining 120 million will be feature phones.

Also in Samsung’s plans are more Microsoft Windows 8 handsets, and an executive at Samsung’s telecommunications department noted the high user demand for LTE devices.

Despite its ongoing patent battle with Apple, which topped CNET’s list of 2012′s biggest tech stories, Samsung has managed to be a huge success both in the U.S. and overseas, thanks to its successful Galaxy line of phones, tablets, and even ‘phablets.’ Do you guys think Samsung has what it takes to fulfill its big projections for next year?

 


Samsung plans to ship half a billion handsets in 2013