Digital Media: The Unfulfilled Promise of HTML 5 Video

HTML 5 is widely regarded as the holy-grail of internet video, or at least it’s supposed to be. It allows web-enabled devices (Smart TVs, video game consoles, phones, tablets, PCs. etc) to play video hosted on the internet right from the web browser with the need for any additional software i.e – plugins.  The framework for HTML 5 video was first drafted in 2007 and five years later, it is gathering steam. It hasn’t reached critical mass but it is flourishing. So just what has hampered this wonderful technology from being the massive success it was heralded to be? To understand this, we must consider how we got here in the first place.

Digital Media: Pixel Games

This is the first of a multi-part series covering various aspects of digital media. With the ever closing gap between premium and budget devices in the mobile industry, manufacturers are desperate to add features exclusive to their premium models. One aspect where this is being done is in screen resolution. Laptops, phones, tablets and TVs now have HD screens. HD content is either 720p (1280 x 720) and 1080p (1920 x 1080) or anything in between. 1080p is generally referred to as Full HD and this is the highest quality available for home video in the form of Blu-ray discs or digital downloads. With this in mind, I think manufacturers are pushing the envelope with their ever increasing pixel counts. There are already phones and tablets that have a native resolution of full HD. So why do manufacturers perceive a need for higher resolutions in their products? Devices like the iPad 3 and the Nexus 10 have a native resolution well in excess of 1080p. 

The Phones in the Crystal Ball

This is a look into the future. More particularly, the not too distant future of flagship smartphones. Over the course of mobile phone history, high-end features have usually made their debut on flagships; flagships of the major players like HTC and Samsung. The LG Optimus 2X was the first phone with a dual-core processor. The Samsung Galaxy S2 was the first phone to ship with 1GB of RAM. The first phone to ship with a screen larger than 4 inches was the HTC HD2 with its 4.3 inch screen, unless you choose to call the Dell Streak a phone. The first phone with a 720p screen resolution (1280 x 720) was the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, unless you also choose to regard the Samsung Galaxy Note as a phone.

An Open Letter to WhatsApp

In the wake of increased competition, it has become imperative for WhatsApp Inc to secure its place as the true leader of multi-platform instant messaging. Though there are alternative solutions, it is fallacious to regard services like Blackberry Instant Messenger and iMessaging as true competitors as they are not true multi-platform solutions; working only on Research in Motion's Blackberry devices and Apple's iOS devices respectively.

The Surface Pro: A Good Idea Wrongly Executed (Updated)

By now I bet we all know of the original Surface tablet, more properly called the Surface RT which costs $500 for 32GB of storage. The main difference with the recently announced Surface Pro is the flavor of Windows they run. The RT (which stands for Runtime) is simply a tablet running Windows Phone 8 with a different interface. The Pro on the other hand is a full-fledged PC running Windows 8 powered by a mainstream Intel Core i5 processor capable of running traditional Windows desktop apps. This is something the RT cannot do because its processor, the Nvidia Tegra3, is not x86 compatible. This has many obvious advantages, chief among which is the ability to install normal PC software on it just like you would on a laptop or desktop; something Apple OS X users cannot do on an iPad. However, if the tablet is truly running ‘vanilla’ Windows 8 with no modifications, I can think of a few problems that will prevent this tablet from being a huge success.

The Branding Dilemma

The branding of a product or service is a very important aspect of its marketing strategy. Companies and manufacturers alike spend tens of millions of dollars on marketing. Choosing a product name is just as important as designing and developing the product itself. Factors such as the intended market and intended demographic are usually considered when choosing a product name. 

Oprah Should be Ashamed

I had my suspicions when Oprah Winfrey likened the Microsoft Surface tablet to a Mercedes Benz automobile. I suspected it was all a marketing stunt but what I could not ascertain was if she had been paid to do it. However, I aired my suspicions only in informal circles because one should not allege what he cannot prove.

Reflecting on Scott Forstall's Dismissal

It is no longer news that Apple’s iOS chief, Scott Forstall has been fired. While no official reason has been given for the decision, there has been much talk that his sacking is not unconnected to the substandard iOS 6 Maps software. There has also been talk by former employees and insiders that he was difficult to get along with. While some of the rumours will most certainly be untrue, I am also mindful that there is no smoke without fire. My musings on all the reports and rumours raise some very cogent questions and point to a much bigger problem.

Has Apple's 'i' Branding Run Its Course?

Back in 1998, Apple announced the iMac computer and the ‘i’ branding strategy was born. This practice of attaching a lowercase ‘i’ to the names of their products has proved to be a masterstroke. And of course the rest is history. They’ve gone on to introduce other ‘i’ products like the iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iOS, iPad, iBooks and so on. There have also been some very funny uses like when Steve Jobs joked that he would adopt the title iCEO around the time when he was interim CEO.

Fourteen years later and the ‘i’ strategy is losing steam; we are beginning to see lacklustre names like iSight and iMessaging.  And then there’s that matter of what to call their fabled TV. A UK TV station already has the trademark to iTV. Frankly though, Apple has gotten very good mileage out of the strategy.

The time has come for Apple to come up with a new branding strategy. Nuff said.

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The iPad Mini: Why the Nexus 7 Has Never Looked Better

The iPad Mini has finally been unveiled and it leaves a lot to be desired. While I’m usually not swayed by unnecessary device spec details, I cannot but wonder why Apple went for a non-HD screen. The simple truth is that things look better on HD screens. Presently, the main contenders in the 7 inch tablet segment all have screens that are capable of displaying 720p HD. While the iPad Mini can display 720 pixels across (in width), it is not true 720p HD as the 720p standard is 1280 x 720. A standard which all the other contenders (Google’s Nexus 7, Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet HD) meet. Apple’s retina display is irrelevant because the screen on the iPad Mini is not true 720p.

A Concept User Interface for Touchscreen-based Mobile Devices

Project Summary
This project was borne out of a need to design a user interface that would remedy problems I have perceived with user interfaces of the major mobile platforms (Apple iOS, Google Android and Microsoft Windows Phone). I've been working on this since mid 2011. The interface in its original form was presented to Nokia by myself via the Invent With Nokia program in August 2011. I have since continued to work on the interface. Its present form is an evolution of the original designs sent to Nokia. 

The objective of the project was and still is to create an easy to use interface that requires no more than two taps or gestures to access every feature or function from absolutely any point or part of the interface. The result is a simplistic and intuitively laid out interface that retains all the functionality expected from a premium platform; an interface that is ergonomically superior to all other platforms. Its main features are:

In A Future Where Big Numbers Are Currency

Twitter has 150 million users. Instagram now has 80 million users and Twitter is not happy about it. George Takei has 2.5 million followers on his facebook page; the dancing cat video has been viewed 7 million times on Youtube. Rihanna has gathered 60 million likes on Facebook. Eminem has an equally impressive record. You should know just what I’m getting at by now. We now live in an era where big numbers equals big business. Or so the wisdom goes. Many people, corporations, and bodies publish these big numbers to signify their relevance or perceived success. But what does it all mean exactly?

And Now That Microsoft Has Changed Its Logo

As you are probably already aware, Microsoft has announced a change of its corporate logo. The new logo adopts a new font, Segoe; the same font used in all of their recent products like Windows Phone.  And the new logo also adds well….   a logo. This new ‘logo’ to the left the company’s name is simply the Windows icon. Is it brilliant? I guess that will be a matter of personal taste.

Apple Demystified

This article is a brief examination of Apple’s strategies before and after Steve Jobs’s death. Steve had many qualities: he was a talented visionary and as Apple put it: a good Editor in Chief. And I might also add, a distortionist of sorts. – This is an allusion to his famous self professed ‘’reality distortion field.’’ It is this last quality that is the focus of this article.