Words from Thomas Edison

Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.

The Newspaper Tablet Concepts – (by @baekdal)

The newspaper industry is falling over themselves in the fight to come up with a ever more impressive newspaper tablet. The problem is that they miss the point completely (as I wrote about in "The Future of News, Tablets, and Business Models").

The future of news is not a fancy interactive versions of each newspaper. It's a more engaging and information friendly personal news aggregator. Or a personal, augmented, social RSS reader on steroids. One that is about news and not newspapers.

We are all waiting for the mythical Apple tablet, but I actually think that you should be watching Amazon instead. All they need to do is to create a personal RSS reader, for the Kindle, and combine that with a little layout magic.

But all these concepts are really pretty. Just take a look below:

Mag+

The Mag+ concept is created by Berg, for Bonnier Magazines. Looks good, except that they are only using a very small part of the screen for the actual text. It's not very scalable in that format.

Sports Illustrated tablet

Again, very pretty - but too focused on just a single news source. This would not work with news for many different sources. The layout controls the content, not the other way around.

Wired Tablet

Not as pretty as the other ones. mainly because it is merely the print layout on a tablet. They are not using the power of the screen or touch. And they apparently asked the CEO's 12 year old nephew to play some music...

Microsoft "Courier" tablet

Not exactly a newspaper tablet, but Microsoft's concept comes much closer to what the future of tablet will really be like.

The Sun Tablet

Of course, this article wouldn't be complete without the Sun tablet... :)

SOY on FWA

My vote went to: http://soytuaire.labuat.com/

Sustainable Minds: Web-based Life Cycle Assessment Software

Sustainable Minds has just released the first version of their web-based, on-demand life cycle assessment software. Based on the Okala Design Guide 2009, this comprehensive SaaS software encourages the design of greener products by providing information at the beginning of the design process about the potential impacts of material choices on the environment and human health.

Features include optimization for electro-mechanical products; assessment for any portion of the product (whole or subassembly); streamlined use with CAD and PLM systems; 450+ impact factors with CO² equivalent values; and much, much more.

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You can watch the video demo or look through the comprehensive information available on their website. The cost is $700 for a single user, annual subscription, and a 30-day free trial is available as well.

10/GUI: The Video

Myths and realities about women and mobile phones

Mobile phones have been a boon to developing countries and to social development. Access to mobiles may indeed allow for better medical information, change the way farmers grow and sell crops, expand the way families interact, influence the way governments treat their citizens, and improve the way students learn in schools. But, asks MobileActive in its ongoing series on Mobile Myths and Realities: Deconstructing Mobile, what is the real story behind these benefits? And who really gains from them? In her contribution to the series, Anne-Ryan Heatwole looks at “how women are or are not benefitting from the ubiquity of mobile telephony”. “Mobile technology has the ability to change the way we communicate, but its effects are not evenly distributed. In societies that are divided by social and gender roles, women, especially rural women, are often left out. Gender disparity in society is often echoed in mobile usage; while technology allows some women greater social and economic freedom, in other cases, it simply upholds previously held social constructs. In the areas of social interactions, education, and economics, mobile phones have a distinctly gendered impact on its users. An examination of research and case studies that focus on women and mobile technology reveals that although access to mobile telephones has many benefits for female users, it not a solution to female poverty or gender inequality.” Read full story

Philips Design and ABN AMRO create emotion mirroring system for online traders

Philips Design and ABN AMRO’s Dialogues Incubator cooperate to create the ‘Rationalizer’ concept, an emotion sensing system targeted at serious home investors who trade online. It acts as an ‘emotion mirror’ in which the intensity of the user’s feelings is reflected. Research shows that home investors do not act purely rationally: their behavior is influenced by emotions, most notably fear and greed, which can compromise their ability to take an objective, factual stance. This insight led to the Rationalizer concept in which online traders are alerted when it may be wise to take a time-out, wind down and re-consider their actions. Read full story

Game Design taken to the Next Level

“A new internet game is about to be launched which allows ’super snooper’ players to plug into the UK’s CCTV cameras and report on members of the public committing crimes.

The ‘Internet Eyes’ service involves players scouring thousands of CCTV cameras installed in shops, businesses and town centres across Britain looking for law-breakers.

Players who help catch the most criminals each month will win cash prizes up to £1,000.”

This is real!

Full article in Daily Mail

http://interneteyes.co.uk/

Nokia Mixed Reality

Memories from the summer