Last night brought some very sad news to those of us in the world of creative, technology… and well, to those of us who’ve ever owned a piece of technology. The passing of Mr. Steve Jobs, co-creator of Apple, has hit every one of us here in a different way, but for me personally, the owner of the company, it hit me hard. I think what it comes down to is without the innovation and leadership of Mr. Jobs, my company wouldn’t exist. Not only are all the working machines in this office Apple products, but the iPhone fundamentally changed the game for us. So much of our business has been driven by the existence of the iPhone and now the iPad that I feel a huge debt of gratitude. The work we’re doing today simply would not be.

I won’t go on and on, as what can I really say that hasn’t been said or felt by everyone who’s been touched by the Apple brand over the years. But I will say that for all us crazy creatives out there, the world was made a little brighter by Mr. Jobs, and for that, I cannot thank you enough. You’ll be missed, but I’m grateful to have been a part of the magic.

Thank you and goodbye.

There’s been a lot of hype lately around the rush of touch devices, particularly tablets, to the marketplace. Well why is this such a big deal? Many claims point to “touch” being the new revolution in computing, and to a certain degree that’s a true statement, but touch has always been one of the primary instincts of human interaction. Yeah yeah yeah, we just got around to making devices you can touch, instead of click, and that’s exciting, but you can’t tell me for the last almost 20 years the concept of a mouse and arrow on screen was the best thing we could come up with.

Touch is a basic human instinct, paired quite nicely with sight. Sight drags you towards that shiny, glittery object, and that’s a great start, but what really seals the deal is the ability to then touch the thing, feel it, interact with it. Its fundamental. Its why you see children constantly touching and feeling as they grow… and have you ever watched a kid pick up an iPad or iPhone? Yeah, its pretty magical to see them figure it all out so quickly.

So what am I getting at? Yeah, babies love iPad’s, but so what? Well it has everything to do with User Interface Designer (or UI as we call it in “the biz”). Right now we’re in the midst of yet another shift in the world of interactive. We’re not designing for mouse clicks alone anymore. We’re not considering roll overs as creative solutions. We’re not coding mouse trails into the experiences anymore (RIP 2002). What we ARE doing is trying to find the best possible methods to engage users on ALL the devices we come in contact. What if the user has a mouse? What if the user is on a touch device? What is the user is equipped with Mind-Link™ Technology (or MLT™ as no one anywhere calls it)? How do we think about all these scenarios and best tackle each one?

Well, there’s no straight answer, but the biggest thing we could ever advise is to play, play, play. There’s no document online that’ll just SHOW you how to design the best possible interface that needs to be displayed in a traditional browser, on an iPad AND an iPhone. We have a whole stack of devices here to play with, but we get it, not everyone has that. Here’s a couple helpful tips for not only getting acquainted with they myriad of touch devices out there, but testing your experiences and changing your thought process to think about these things as well (yeah, that’s right, just because the website you designed and implemented in straight HTML will work just fine in both a regular browser and on an iPad, doesn’t mean users want to have to tap for drop down menus or will just accept it because they’re “just on a tablet.”).

1. Get yourself at least one device you can always have handy. Find whatever works for your needs and have it around. Heck, even buy an old used one on Craigslist. But get yourself SOMETHING you can spend some time with intimately (not like that) and really get acquainted with (not like that).

2. Find your closest mall and abuse it. Malls are notorious for the little pop-up kiosks for every cell phone provider in existence. Currently each one offers something different, and odds are, you’d like to try your creation out on a handful of devices conveniently all sold at different providers. Wander around from kiosk to kiosk “just browsing” and try your site out on every phone/tablet/whatever’s new you can find. See what its like on a DroidX, what its like on Galaxy Tab 10.1, what its like on an iPad, heck, even an HP Touch Pad (sorry HP, we were really rooting for you on this one, but we know you’re really not killing it out there). Experiment, play, test. They’re not gonna kick you outta the kiosk… its not even physically possible because you’re not even INSIDE of anything, you’re just standing at a glorified table a couple people are trying to hock cell phones from. Trust me, they’ll let you hang around, especially if there’s no one else there.

3. Emulators are your friend, kinda. There are some great device emulators out there, but the trick is not using an emulator the same way you’re using your regular desktop computer. Get yourself a track pad, or find a laptop that has one already and use that with your emulator. It’ll get you pretty close to the experience without having to fork out for a new device or trek to the mall only to practice your internal child screaming tolerance skills. There’s also a pretty amazing app called LiveView for iPhone & iPad that lets you push whatever you’re working on out to your device via a fancy little window you drag around your desktop. This, more than anything, gives you an amazing perspective into what your designs are at least LOOKING like on the device, which is often a HUGE help.

4. This one is specifically for phone devices, and is more of a question to continually ask yourself during the design process. “Can I do this while I’m driving?” Now, we realize the absurdity here, because you should never be messing with your phone while you’re driving, BUT, if at any point your answer is no, then you know your user interface is too complicated for a phone device. With phones, less is ALWAYS more. Simple simple simple. How often are you using anything other than your thumb when you’re on your phone? You’re ALWAYS using just your thumb, so why would you design something that requires the precision and accuracy of an index finger?

Ok, there you go. Clearly touch devices are hitting the scene, there’s no escaping that. Everything will be touch in a few years, as touch is clearly the preferred human interaction. So, as “web designers” its our responsibility to create usable experiences and adapt as things come along. So hopefully there were some useful things in here and making the transition to designing for touch is much more simple.

Mobile is all the rage these days, and everyone wants in on it because its literally changing the way we interact with the world. Whether its with a brands website, a fun social experience, just checking email or the weather, the idea of a touch based interface on a portable device has changed the way we design.

So what does that really mean? Why can’t I just take the website I designed, scale it down to 640×960 and make my buttons a little bigger? Well, you COULD do that, and it would work just fine from a technical standpoint (so long as its not Flash… that’s right, I said it), but what you’re missing are ideas of usability and user experience. This is the biggest new challenge when it comes to designing for a mobile device. Yes, there are lots of technical hurdles as all devices have different specs and some with varying screen aspect ratios, but what it really comes down to is how we as stumpy, five fingered humans engage with something we are also holding in our hands.

One question we constantly ask ourselves when attempting to tackle this problem is “What can you do while you’re driving?” The idea isn’t that you’d ever do this while you’re driving, because that’s totally illegal (right?), but when it comes to a phone, its all about the ease/simplicity of the interaction and the organization of content. You don’t want to have to multi-finger zoom in just to get at an email link or the button you’re trying to press to call someone. A very similar method comes into play when dealing with all these fancy little tablets (iPads) that’re roaming around out there now. Yes, you have more real estate to work with, and that’s actually pretty awesome, but you’re still not driving with a mouse. Odds are you’re embracing the thing with the palm of one hand and then gesturally interacting with the other hand. Swiping back and forth, flicking up and down, we liken it to the same motion you make while brushing the crumbs out of your bed before your dog realizes you’ve been snacking and tries to dive bomb under your sheets. This allows you a little more freedom when it comes to content organization and expected functionality, but its still not the same as your regular mouse driven website, just because you’re on a similarly sized screen. In both experiences, less is more and the idea is still king, regardless of what fancy tech you’re now afforded… unless that fancy tech completely supports your idea, of course.

So what’s the best place to start? Good question. Obviously you want to get a pretty good grasp on what your idea is first, as stated before, that’s ALWAYS the place to start. But secondly, you have to define WHAT you want to design FOR. You don’t design a poster to be printed on every type of paper or a mailer to be sent in just any old envelope. Web/Mobile Web design does afford you the option to be viewed across many platforms/devices, but at the same time, you still need to make some decisions about what you’re designing an optimum experience for and then study as much as possible about how you interact with that device. Secondly, you’ll want to consider the other devices in the playing field and at least consider them. Nothing more aggravating than pulling out your new device after seeing a commercial to visit a brand’s mobile site only to discover they completely neglected your device, not even a “Hey, we don’t support this one quite yet,” just a straight up broken experience.

There’s this concept called graceful degradation that works quite nicely with most modern web experiences. It allows you to create a wicked cool experience for whatever your primary target is, then remove advanced features as your go down the list, making it less jarring for devices that don’t support all the features you’ve intended, and you’ve at least found a solution for them. So consider it this way, you want to design an experience that looks real slick on all WebKit enabled devices. That’s cool, and most devices will support WebKit standards, however there are lots of devices that aren’t even a year old that do not support these standards and you don’t want to forget them. So you’re looking at designing for the iPhone/iPad, DroidX, HTC EVO, Samsung Galaxy Tablet and Motorola Xoom, which is all fine and good, but you’ll have to find a solution for anything running Windows Phone 7 as well as the entire BlackBerry suite, as none of these support WebKit standards, and many BlackBerries won’t even support things like JavaScript, so you’ll have to degrade yet again for those devices (if you even care, that is… you can probably throw a “Whoops, get a new phone, buddy” page up and be covered).

So once you’ve got those big questions figured out, its usually a good idea to start evaluating how the user will actually engage with your experience. Are they flicking, are they swiping, are they tapping, are they using a stylus (c’mon now… who uses a stylus these days)? Ultimately, it becomes very important to make some of those decisions up front and determine what the best method for Handular™ (a term I just made up) engagement is for each device. If you’re on a phone, its a pretty safe assumption there’s going to be plenty of thumbin’ going on, as well as an occasional index poke or swipe here and there. If you’re on a tablet, most notably the iPad (iOS supports up to 5 finger gestures), you can expect users will comfortably swipe and flick as well as pinch/zoom and even go so far as to 5 finger swipe. All interactions you can harness to create a more engaging experience that is naturally navigable to whomever your user is.

Lastly, you’ll want to consider the actual technical execution of the graphics in your design. Now, I know this sounds like a weird lineup of words that may or may not make sense, but its something that actually again requires a fair amount of consideration. Most devices out there right now are operating between 72ppi and 180ppi but then there are some higher end devices running around 326ppi. So the actual resolution varies along with the screen size. You may be designing on your computer, which has an output of 72ppi for a device running at 326ppi. Very easy to get a little screwed up in the process, as what might look perfectly sized on your screen will be way too small on a mobile device. Seems a little backwards, but happens more often than you’d imagine. One trick we’ve found is to snag yourself something like “LiveView.” This will let you literally preview your PSD files over on your iPhone or iPad as long as they’re connected to your computer. There are other similar applications you can use for Android devices, but they’re a little harder to come by. Also, get ahold of any/all available GUI files out there on the internet. There are a whole bunch of folks who’ve taken the time to meticulously re-create the elements of many popular OS’s out there just for you to use. For example, the great guys over at Teehan+Lax have offered up some pretty amazing iPhone, iPad and Palm Pre GUI’s. Smashing Magazine was even so inspired by their work, they released this great Android GUI. There’s also a great BlackBerry GUI, a new Motorola XOOM GUI, and our own Aaron Shapiro created this lovely little White iPad 2 Shell. So take advantage of things in an effort to ensure the designs you’re creating are adhering to device graphical standards and adequately sized both resolutionally (another word I just made up) and dimensionally, and your life will be a whole lot easier.

So there you go. A little insight into how to make sure you’re designing for touch devices in a way that accommodates the device you’re targeting. Hope it comes in handy and best of luck as you’re tackling these new and exciting challenges on your own. Its always a fun challenge.

Here are a few sites with some great examples of excellent mobile design to get you inspired:
CSSiPhone – http://cssiphone.com
TheFWA Mobile of the Day – http://thefwa.com/mobile
Mobile Awesomeness – http://www.mobileawesomeness.com
Designing for Mobile – http://smashingmagazine.com

So this past week’s huge craze was Color. Literally everyone was talking about, whether they were hating or praising, you couldn’t avoid it. So what is Color? Why do I care about Color, you ask? Well, lets break it down a bit, as its a pretty exciting concept.

Color is essentially another camera app for your iPhone, but where it differs is in what it DOES when you take that photo. We all know the disposable wedding camera game… well this takes that idea to a whole new level. Say you’re at a sporting event or a music festival, pull out Color, take a shot and it gets added into a giant collective group album of shots taken at that location. You can view photos taken recently, by location, by groups you’re a part of, etc, etc. You can even view the user profile of the folks who’ve taken the photos you’re viewing. Its like one giant Twitter/Foursquare/Flickr mashup all in one.

So far the reviews have been mixed, mostly due to little technicalities, but the overall consensus is that this is very much the future of mobile photography and group sharing. Its collectively compiling the moments and memories of everyone from a single location throughout time. Just think of how amazing it will be to hit up Lollapalooza in a couple years and look back through all the fun photos people have taken over the years… and maybe make some new friends in the process.

You can get the Color app right now for either iPhone or Android at: http://color.com

UPDATE – Agreed, Color is a bit confusing at first and won’t really show its true colors until it starts getting some wider adoption, but this review is simply hilarious. The sheer effort and creativity that went into it, alone, is enough to make you smile – http://mike3k.posterous.com/best-app-store-review-ever

UPDATE UPDATE – Lots of speculation as to the over-hyping of Color going on over at TechCrunch. Pretty interesting read. – http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/24/color/

I’m not what you would call a “joiner” when it comes to using companies’ rewards programs. For some reason, I’m always hesitant. Most of the time, I like to keep things strictly business. I don’t want corporate America to know where I live, my birthday or favorite episode of Full House (obviously it’s the one where they have the Greek Wedding).

Starbucks, though, has broken through and provided a mobile rewards program I can’t stop using. Their Mobile Card app (on iPhone & Blackberry), launched last year, has gotten me to do the impossible: sign up for an account and register a gift card.

The on-screen barcode scanning is nice, but the app is bundled with plenty of other features I find myself actually using. I find myself caring about my “star point” balance (I WILL hit “gold status”) and reloading your card is quick and painless.

I’ll never go un-caffeinated again!

Some days I feel like I’m testing the limits of caffeine consumption. Say a little prayer for my heart.

Well its no surprise now that the new iPad will be announced on March 2nd, after Apple sent out this little invite to all the major tech folks in the industry.

So we know its coming, but we DON’T know what it will entail. There have been lots of rumors floating around the past few months, even one that they’re already working on the iPad 3, but we’re not even going to get into THAT yet. Lets take a minute and talk about what we would LIKE to see in the new iPad, from a realistic standpoint. The initial iPad, in all its glory, did miss a few marks in our book, so here’s what we’re thinking for round 2.

1. Cameras
Now, whenever this argument comes up with my parents, they always say “Well I’m never going to use my iPad to take pictures.” and I’m pretty sure they won’t, but that’s not the point of a camera on the iPad. With every other product in Apple’s lineup able to FaceTime (you know the Nano will have it next.. ha!), the iPad, which was a clearly no-brainer for the ability to do so, has always lacked the one key piece… A Camera. FaceTime, Video Conferencing, Live Streaming your next sweet skate trick, or even recording that sweet move and using an iPad specific version of iMovie (there’s no way this won’t be available on the new iPad… editing video on an iPad would be glorious) and pushing it out to all your favorite social platforms. All of these things SHOULD be able to happen, and I’ll almost guarantee WILL happen on the new iPad. Front and back facing cameras are a definite #1 on this wish list.

2. USB Port
Now I know Apple has their fun little 30 pin connector that they refuse to abandon (unless Thunderbolt really takes off, which we can only hope for), but even if they leave that for general Mac connectivity, PLEASE give us another USB port to hook external devices up through. BlueTooth is great and all, and its always been a great feature for connecting other devices via apps, but not everything comes with BlueTooth nor should it. I recently really wished I’d had the ability to use my MiniUSB cable to hook my Canon 5D SLR up to my iPad and dump a few photos down for viewing on something a little larger than the 2.5″ screen on the back of the camera. How great would that be? Photographers being able to hook an iPad up for Live View purposes during a photo shoot? Even the ability to hook a USB Flash drive up to transfer some docs I wrote up in Pages, or a video I edited in the rumored iPad iMovie, etc. Give us a way to get things OFF the iPad w/o having to use iTunes.

3. External Storage
This is an argument that’s been around for awhile now, since even before the iPad came along. In fact, this used to exist in the early iPod’s, then one day, it was gone. WHY can’t we still use our iDevices as external storage? Why can’t I mount my iPad to my desktop, drag a few files over, taken them home and transfer them? I realize there was some attempts made to reduce media piracy, but locking off the external storage capability was not the solution to that problem. What you DID do, was suddenly make a bunch of broke design students have to purchase an additional device to move their files from home to school and back (not that any of us here dealt with this personally… or wait, we did!). With the iPad storage size being quite impressive, 64GB at its current highest capacity (and you know it’ll be something like 128GB when the new ones come out), I’ve currently got 8 full length movies, 4 complete 20+ episode television seasons, a boat load of apps, and still some room to spare. Back to my Canon 5D vacation argument… I had plenty of room to dump a few photos, but am currently just not allowed. Apple, bring this functionality back, we miss it dearly and it makes lives easier.

4. Better Screen Resolution
Now, we all realize there are arguments both ways on this. Right now the iPad is the PERFECT size for viewing HD video without any loss from blowing the video up to a larger screen. But at the same time, almost immediately after wowing us with the first iPad screen and its clarity, you killed it for us by unveiling the pixel-less Retina Display on the iPhone. Suddenly we couldn’t look at the big pixely disgusting screen on our iPads anymore… we got over it, but it happened for about a month this past summer. So why not do something similar on the iPad. You can increase the resolution but not double it. Make it just a LITTLE higher so we lose a majority of the pixel effect, and maybe our HD videos get a little smaller if we don’t expand them, but not so high that they’re halved in size and we start sacrificing battery life to power a massive 2048×1536 screen. There’s got to be some wiggle room in there, I’d imagine. Lets see if we can get this thing a little clearer and sharper.

5. HDMI Out
This is another no-brainer. You create this amazing little media device but you don’t give us a way to run video out to our TV’s at home? There’s obviously some incentive to purchase an AppleTV and stream between the two, but what if you’ve already got a Boxee or GoogleTV or something (I think I technically just used two Apple defined curse words) and don’t want to buy another set top device just to play media you’ve already got on your iPad. The iPad could easily replace the AppleTV, in theory, and be more versatile. So why NOT give it an HDMI out port for quickly, easily and adaptor-lessly watching video straight from your iPad to your TV? They could go one step further and create something like an AppleTV app that launches when the iPad detects an HDMI connection and you could then use the remote to run the app on your TV screen. There, I solved it!

So that’s the list we’ve settled on. There’s always plenty of other things, but these are the ones we feel are the biggest in our list. The kind of updates that could really change the game again, or at least keep Apple out in front of the rest of the onslaught of tablets saturating the market this year.

What do you think? What would YOU like to see on the new iPad?

iPad publications are all the rage right now. You can’t really go anywhere without seeing something on the news, a tech blog or even ironically enough, the cover of a printed magazine. But are they really taking off? Are they really changing the way we consume media? And considering the world’s new predisposition to “free,” is the subscription model one that’s going to actually work?

Well, we ask ourselves these same questions a lot here at Sevnthsin. Being currently involved in a couple iPublication projects, we’re always striving to find the best possible solution to this problem, all while working within the confines of a business model established by our approval overlord (Apple) so we can actually BE where we NEED to be right now.

There are a handful of inherent problems with the current system, naturally because its literally brand new, that could easily be avoided with five seconds of thought.

One of these big problems is in the actual translation to this new device. Its very much like what happened in the nineties when everyone was just making websites that looked like their direct mail pieces. Well, didn’t we already learn from that? Why are so many of these publications literally PDF rips of the print ready files? Most people didn’t buy a $400 device in an effort to feel like they’re holding a magazine that doesn’t have pages. They bought the device for many other reasons. iPublications being maybe one of them, but probably not high on the list considering most of the content this user reads is online anyway. They may have downloaded the NYT app or the USA Today app, but more out of curiosity than out of necessity. I for one, was really excited by all the hype surrounding the Wired app, as an avid reader of their website, but was really let down when it was nothing more than a port (with a few lo-fi interactive pieces like a rotating 3D model of Iron Man) of its existing magazine. I felt somewhat cheated by the fact that not only did I have to pay to get the thing in the first place, but then I had to pay for each individual magazine (aside from the sample issue which I assume came as a gift for my $5 investment in the app itself, which however provided no real content outside of some dummy “free demo app” content). Why wasn’t this content delivered in a way that was both engaging (their content always is), yet interactive in a way only an iPad can bring to the table (social integration, real time updates, integrated web/video/streaming content, etc). Opportunities are endless in how this is all delivered, but they opted for the glorified PDF instead.

That leads to the second point, Content delivery/cost model. Some apps are getting it right, but again, most aren’t. This concept of just delivering a PDF rip of the existing magazine yields some pretty high downloads. We’ve seen an average of 250-300mb per issue, with some as high as 600mb. Have you ever downloaded a 600mb magazine? Its not the worlds longest download, but lets be honest, sitting and waiting 20 minutes to read something is hardly worth it, especially considering most folks pick up something to read more as a leisure/down time activity. Purchasing, downloading and then reading at a later date hardly seems the best method to deliver content. We’ve been experimenting here with some HTML5 layouts, currently taking and expanding the “from print” layout and giving it expansion possibility along with interactive ads (think Nice Ride w/ a Google Map showing your location and directions to the nearest bike rental station… how cool is that?!). Ideally, we’d make these as progressive downloads, so you could realistically start reading almost immediately, and with HTML5 spreads, the download size of a full issue is anywhere from 20-40mb. That’s a pretty considerable decrease in size and the dynamic capability is limited only by the iPad browser limitations. HOWEVER, where we’re running into problems is in the model for delivering content. You MUST use Apple’s subscription system if you’re going to deliver paid content. That means you need to create your content, push it through Apple’s (a slightly different) approval system, and then the user must use their iTunes account to purchase and download the content like any other iTunes media. Apple, of course, then gets its 30% cut of the proceeds. Additionally, you cannot sign up for a true subscription. You must purchase every issue separately. Yes, you can get a push notification when its available every month, but wouldn’t it be nice to just purchase a true subscription and it would automatically download when available? We also toyed with that same idea, creating a subscription model using PayPal that then allows the users to sign up for a true digital subscription and all subscribed users will automatically download new issues as they’re available. That was the model we pitched and our clients loved, but of course, you can’t use non-Apple supported subscription methods within apps. Therefore, we’re stuck using iTunes (for now anyway).

The last thing I’d like to talk about is the concept of advertising. This is an area that needs to be completely re-thought. With banner ad over saturation on the traditional web-o-sphere, and click through rates of .02% over 3 million placements being considered a success, you can’t seriously argue that then placing the very same media structure in an iPublication is going to suddenly make it work. Banner ads anywhere are dead. That’s right, I said it. The banner ad needs to go. There needs to be some thoughtful consideration put into these things, not only in the content they deliver, but in their relation to the user and the device they’re on. I mentioned it briefly a paragraph ago, but why couldn’t you create an ad for a bike share program that utilizes a Google Map/GPS to pin point your location and show you the closest pickup/drop off location, including Map Directions? Why couldn’t you create an ad for a restaurant that allows you to not only view their menu, but book a reservation via OpenTable integration or pull in a webcam showing the line in the deli section? Ads that don’t just say “Hey, we exist, come spend money with us,” but actually provide some value to a user who may be new to the brand, or may be swayed by a simple, thoughtful execution that actually DOES something for them, other than hurl a clever tagline positioning them as “better” than their competition. We’re currently exploring these options with some of the advertisers in one of the iPub projects we’re doing. Its taking some pushing, but we ultimately feel its the future of media placement on these devices, and should be strived for, not fought against.

So where does that leave us? Where do we go from here? Good question. Its an interesting world to be involved in right now, because as much as we’d love to think this massive burst in technology would be breaking molds left and right, we’re quickly discovering that old, outdated business models are very much driving the shape of things to come. Maybe this is just a result of “not knowing what we COULD do,” but maybe its a classic example of just trying to push a square model into a round hole. If that’s the case, well, I learned something as a 3 year old that might break that bubble… its not gonna happen. What we need more than anything right now is some serious, thoughtful approach taking to a new medium. We need to forget, for a second, how we’ve done this type of publication in the past and think for a minute what we WISH this publication would be in the future. Somewhere in the middle is our answer for right now, but we shouldn’t lose sight of what it SHOULD be, as we’ll get there if we keep striving for it. Let the medium push the content and the content also push the medium… not drag the medium back down to its level.

MacRumors has a pretty amazing little sneak peek at the new iOS 4.3 updates that are about to come to the iPad. The Beta Developer SDK was released today, so that means the full update will come sometime in the next few months, but this is some pretty amazing stuff.

New gestures appear to include mostly 4-5 finger actions, like swiping between open apps, pinching to close apps and sliding upward to bring up background apps. All pretty amazing, intuitive gestures to add to an already pretty great device. Makes us wonder what that has in store for the inevitable iPad 2 that should be announced here in the next month or two.

In the meantime, feel free to salivate over this tasty little video from MacRumors:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Direct video link here.

(First off, I realize an AT-AT would never directly attach an AT-ST, but for the purposes of my clever graphic, you’re going to just have to get over it!)

We’ve talked about this before, but as with all new tech, we get to talk about it again. Location. Its big, everyone wants in on it, but what does it mean NOW?

Well just a few short months ago there were a LOT of players in the room. Everyone had a similar plan, each varying slightly to make their service fit a slightly different niche, or to try and position themselves as “better” than the others. The main idea was “Where am I? Where are my friends?” Well that’s all fine and good, it sustains interest for a little bit, but after awhile you need to come up with an ultimate end point. If you’re going to ask the user to DO something every time they go somewhere, the off chance of someone on their friends list (who they probably don’t even know half of anyway) being there isn’t enough of a kick after a few months. Gets boring.

So when Facebook got into the mix as yet ANOTHER player in the location game, everyone was a little confused as to why they’d make a play at a space they clearly were late to the party on. And lets be honest, Facebook is known for taking something someone else is doing better and saying “Hey, me too you guys!” and then they whole point of Facebook starts to look like a copy of someone else, but with a little glimpse of Facebook still in there to make it still Facebook. But there was something else going on I’m not sure too many folks saw coming. Facebook had a strategy for location the rest of the players hadn’t figured out yet (or at least hadn’t successfully implemented yet, and they’re all kicking themselves now).

If you missed the announcement, Facebook has announced “Deals” to go along with places. So not only do you get to participate in the “oh-so-important” location sharing so all your friends who so desperately care where you are can be constantly in the know, but instead of just maybe getting to be “The Mayor” of a place, you can actually get some real life reward for frequenting. Seems like this was always going to be the end destination for location services, but Facebook is actually going to be the first to really get it right, with the user base to back it. Having just updated their entire mobile app suite, finally making that serious push into mobile and including the ability to “check in” from every platform, Facebook just took however many billion users they already have and made them “location” users as well. Can’t really ignore that.

So what does that mean for the likes of Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc? Well, it doesn’t look good. They’ll most likely maintain their “early adopter” base, and I’m sure they’ll roll out a deals system of their own, but what started as a solid movement growing like wildfire, just got trounced by Facebook. Honestly, I’m a little disappointed by this, as with anything in this world, its good to have competition and options… at least options that haven’t been all but killed by the 900lb gorilla we call Facebook. Facebook is fine, but I don’t use Foursquare to have my friends “Like” that I’m somewhere, or for my Mom to question my late night dining choices in shorty, cynical quips, and that’s what Facebook is now bringing to the table.

So we’ll see how the Rebel Alliance responds. Maybe they’re hiding out on Yavin IV, waiting for a new hope. But maybe they’re not… We’ll see.

A good read on this can also be found over on TechCrunch: http://svns.in/i9

Google has had a bad month, and its only a third of the way over. First, they abandoned Google Wave because it really just didn’t catch on, which isn’t a huge deal because Google has abandoned plenty of projects before. However, now they’re in the midst of a pretty huge backlash resulting from recent actions with Verizon, which is really what we’re talking about here.

So what’s going on? Well, its relatively simple. Google’s original stance has always been around the idea of “open-ness.” The web should be open, their applications are open, their operating system (Android) is open and up until recently, they believed the wireless/mobile web should be open as well. Now, they’re playing it off as a compromise between themselves and the wireless companies, but lets be serious, Google’s got the power to stack up against these guys and if they REALLY wanted to push THEIR agenda, they could. They’re caving. They’re giving in, it seems. Not only were they recently discovered deleting apps from their “open” app marketplace per the request of carriers (primarily T-Mobile), but they gave up on the Nexus One immediately after a couple carriers bailed to try and get their own android device they could control without Google’s interference.

As cited in this excellent read over on Wired, Google could’ve easily stuck to their plan of providing one device that could run on any carrier, giving the consumer the power to choose the device, then the carrier they felt best covered their needs, but no, they didn’t. They could’ve made the phones to work on the networks without the buy-in form the carrier and then sued them for not providing a fair plan for consumers looking to use the device on the network. But instead, they just let it fizzle.. which in my opinion shows they were ok with their model dying. They had a huge moment. Everyone was paying attention to their first legitimate play in the field, and they quietly stepped off the stage.

And now this. We see they’re hopping on board with Verizon in the argument that the “Mobile Web” is somehow different than the traditional wired web and that the rules of net neutrality do not apply on this playing field. They’re calling it a compromise, we’re calling it a complete back-down. How can someone who has spent so much time/effort/money upholding this concept of “open-ness” then just side with the carrier, giving them the power to continue to control the consumer in ways, that by Google’s standards, would be considered un-just.

So if you’re still reading at this point, you should give this Wired article a read. Its much better than my ramblings and get WAY more into the details and history behind why this isn’t just a little hiccup, but more of something that’s been a long time coming.

Wired: http://svns.in/d4

Location means a lot of things to a lot of different people, but in the real of mobile, it means one big thing… the “future.” Or at least that what its clearly looking like. Location is playing a huge role in how mobile is being utilized. Long gone are the ways of Mobile being considered mere phone calls and text messages (and God forbid you’re still considering “Mobile Marking”, an SMS Campaign). Mobile has literally become these little computers you carry in your pocket. People love them and they change the way they interact with the world in exciting new ways.

Location is a HUGE player right now for a handful of reasons. First, it’s really in its infancy and people are just discovering new and exciting ways to utilize it in meaningful ways that benefit the user. Secondly, there’s really not a mobile device out there that DOESN’T have a GPS in it. Heck, even the tiny little clamshell phones are coming with GPS in them these days (remind me to tell you a story about the guy at the AT&T counter who was explaining how he hard wired a Nokia clamshell to his car dash and used it to locate his car when it got stolen). And lastly, people love to feel important, no matter how trivial it may seem. People want you to know they’re going to some cool underground film, they want you to know they’re eating at that “impossible to get a reservation” restaurant and they LOVE you to know they’re on vacation sipping martinis poolside somewhere summer never ends.

So what’re we talking about here? Well, we’re talking about location. But why? Well some interesting things are happening that’re breaking new ground literally right now. The new iPhone launched, and with it came the new iteration of their iPhone operating system called iOS. One tiny update to iOS is that Apple is now allowing 3rd party apps to run background services. In jumps Loopt, one of the oldest in the location “Game” game, and their new app that allows you to update your location AUTOMATICALLY! By clicking a very simple setting, you automatically keep a whole handful of friends up to date on your every move, every time you move. Privacy be damned! Now, there are some limitations, as in it only notifies for up to 8 hours (which is think is more of a “I don’t care where you are every second” filter) and you can only notify a handful of friends (which also isn’t so bad). But the potential for both scary and amazing is starting to unfold very rapidly. Everyone has gotten into the location game, Facebook, Twitter, Gowalla, Foursquare, etc, etc, but Loopt is really the first to pioneer the realm of the “always on” model. Should be interesting to see if the others follow suit or if a counter argument is proposed for why manual checkins provide great security, etc.

So where does this go? Well its hard to say, but the potential is monumental right now for another revolution in Mobile and the ability to provide legitimate, beneficial services that go beyond “Hey, I’m here” and bring real value to the user by being somewhere… anywhere. Maybe it goes without saying, but hyper-local within a global context is clearly the next big thing, and all these Location competitors are just scratching the surface, so keep your eyes peeled for a game changer in the next 6 months. I guarantee you’ll see something groundbreaking real soon… Will it be one of the major players? Will it be someone new? I hope it looks pretty too.

Never head of some of this stuff? Check em’ out:
Foursquare
Loopt
Gowalla
Buzzd
Whrrl
Facebook adds Location
Twitter adds Location

So if you haven’t heard, or have been living under a rock somewhere, that new iPhone comes out tomorrow. And while most of us here at Sevnthsin will be running to one of three local Apple stores to pick up our pre-ordered objects, we thought it’d be a good idea to spend a few minutes running through why this is a pretty big deal.

1. New hardware: This thing really screams. If you’ve played with the iPad at all, you know what we’re talking about. The new iPhone should be just as, if not faster than the iPad, which is pretty impressive. Additionally, we’re talking 512MB of RAM. For a phone, that’s pretty top notch. Additionally, they’ve not only upgraded the camera to compete with the rest of the devices out there (5MP isn’t new to the market, but its a nice step up for the iPhone, especially by finally adding an LED flash), they’ve added HD Video capabilities. Lastly, the retina display. They’ve managed to pack a 300+ppi, backlit LED screen into this thing, making the visual display unbelievable. So not only is is fast as hell, but you can shoot/edit HD Video right on the thing and it will all look stellar. Pretty impressive!

2. Face Time: This was one of the biggest features to come out of the new iPhone unveiling, and for obvious reasons. Video calling (WiFi only right now) from a phone is hands down the way of the “future,” and we’re seeing it in its first iteration now. Utilizing the new Front Facing camera, you can seamlessly initiate a Face Time call or convert an existing phone call into a Face Time call with the simple tap of a button. Really excited to try this out.

3. iOS: Now, you can get iOS for the older phones (excluding the 1st Gen and the 3G is a bit limited), but oh my does it change the game on the new device. Multi-Tasking (yes, I’m aware many other devices have had multi-tasking prior to the iPhone), folder categorization, background processing (especially nice for apps like Pandora, etc), video editing (with iMovie) and of course the ability to add your own wallpapers now (dangerous, as I know half the people are going to drop pics of their kids or their pets, making the screens next to impossible to look at).

4. Improved Reception: Now its not Apple’s problem that AT&T’s network is terrible when it comes to actually making phone calls. However, the outer ring of metal on the iPhone is part of the new antenna, boasting an increased ability to hold calls on america’s least favorite network.

5. 600,000: They’ve already moved six hundred thousand of these things. Let me say that again. Six hundred thousand units reserved on the first day of pre-orders. Holy crap! That’s got to be the highest volume they’ve moved ever! My guess is they’ll top the million mark before the end of July and 4+ by the holidays. Wow.

SO, if you didn’t pre-order your little guy, go get in line right now, as each store should have a handful on hand for the non-pre-orderers, but its going to be a cat fight to get your hands on one. Either way, have fun!

The new iPhone 4: http://apple.com/iphone

Well, it may or may not be true, but Gizmodo seems to claim they “found” (or purchased a stolen) the new iPhone. There’s all sorts of speculation as to whether this is or is not the new device, even Apple’s lead industrial designer Jonathan Ive posted to Twitter yesterday that its not real.

But either way, its interesting, its exciting, and we want to know more. So in similar fashion as last year, lets chat about what we THINK the new iPhone will entail. And since we already know it’ll be running iPhone OS 4.0, we’re going to skip software related things… lets just talk hardware.

1. Slimmer body. I think regardless of what we’ve “seen” from Gizmodo, Apple’s been thinking about slim for awhile now. Its time this thing droped a few inches off the waistline.

2. Front Facing Camera. Again, the Gizmodo shots show this, but this is a no-brainer for Apple. Other manufacturers have been doing this for awhile, and some of their primary Android powered competitors are already releasing front-facing cams into the wild. Its something Apple really needs to do, as the vain youth market will never not need “profile pics.”

3. A Flash. We thought this would’ve been out by now, but its not. Lets be serious for a minute, very few people who carry any smart phone these days also carry a digital camera. They all use their phone as their camera and its time Apple recognize their lack of forward-thinkingness in this realm. They’re always a step behind here.

4. More Megapixel. Stop skimping here, Apple. You were the worst in the market the first time around, you “caught up” for the moment during the 3rd release, why not get ahead of the game this time. If you’re going to release once a year (which is fine) you should start the year in front, not just catching up to speed. Why not break the mold and go 8.0mp or something?

5. HD Screen. 320×480 LCD has been the standard iPhone screen for quite some time. New technology is available and definitely at the Apple “quality” level not to where there’s no reason they can’t go 533×800 OLED (or higher).

6. Lastly, more battery life. I’m sure this is on their radar, but battery life is always a problem in smart phones. They always crap out RIGHT before you hit that last club. If anyone can figure this out, its Apple. They seem to take this pretty seriously, so we can most likely expect significant battery life improvements in this next release.

So there it is, our thoughts on the iPhone 4 or iPhone HD and what WE think it should be. If you want to dig a little deeper, there’s a great little roundup over at Gizmodo. It may or may not be real, but hey, if it is, its a pretty great analysis.

Gizmodo: http://gizmodo.com/5520164/

IT’S HERE! OMG!OMG!OMG!!!!

Ok, now that that’s out of our system, lets talk about this iPad for a minute.

For those of you who didn’t catch the buzz this weekend (or the last three months), the Apple iPad came out this weekend. There were lines, there were folks frantically waiting wherever they had their delivery shipped for the Saturday UPS guy to arrive, there was even panic when it was revealed some non-Apple retailers didn’t get their expected shipments causing lines of early risers to race to the next locale… to then wait in line again.

Naturally, because its an Apple product, this thing got the rockstar treatment before even hitting the shelves. It was “revolutionary” before we even really knew what it was. That’s expected from the Apple PR team, and honestly, its expected from every new Apple device, as well. So is it a rock star? Well, yes and no. Being an office full of Apple fan-boys/girls, its easy to see all the awesome things it does within the confines of our already extensive Apple built office. But what about everything else it could or doesn’t do? That’s what I want to dive into.

DOES : Want to talk about this first, because it does a lot of great things. After a weekend of playing with it, I’m impressed. It feels nice in the hands, not too heavy, the screen is slick and is quite pleasing to look at. With a 1024×768 resolution, its perfect for HD video, images, even reading e-books (which they sold approximately 250,000 of this weekend, by the way) is a pleasure. Browsing the web is especially nice as its not a mobile-only experience (for those who were prepared and modified their mobile-detect scripts, anyway) and it handles HTML5 sites quite elegantly. The Flash-junkies are already crying, but lets be honest, the world is moving away from flash-only experiences for web content and this further emphasizes that we don’t NEED flash to create amazing web experiences.There are plenty of apps available already and more on the way (we’re pushing our first in the next 24-48 hrs). Running iPhone apps isn’t the most amazing, but its pretty great that the ability is there if your app isn’t out in iPad mode yet.

DOESN’T : So this list is pretty short, but I feel its got some pretty key things missing, all of which I assume will be part of the iPad 2.0 launch we’re expecting this summer. The first thing I honestly see as a HUGE miss is the lack of the camera. Now, the argument already is “this thing isn’t a camera,” and I agree in the context of “Yes, I’m not taking this to the 4th of July to capture precious family moments,” but what I DO want to do with this is snap shots to include in that spreadsheet I’m working on, or to past into that word doc I’m sending back to someone with feedback around something we’re working on. I want to be able to live-stream via UStream or Qik an event happening at the office or even video chat with a client from another part of the country. I feel this was a HUGE miss on the iPad front… as this primarily WiFi device is PERFECT for that sort of thing. Secondly I’m a little disturbed that there is no actual USB port on the device. Apple’s wireless keyboards will sync with the device for typing, but you seriously can’t plug in a REAL keyboard, thus eliminating the somewhat cumbersome process of typing on the extremely condensed wireless keyboard. Not to mention the fact that I’d love to be able to not have to run through additional AA batteries just to power the keyboard I’ll occasionally be using for text input when I’ve got my iPad mounted at a mobile workstation. Lastly, and this doesn’t come as a surprise, but had heard rumor and had really hoped you’d be able to mount the iPad to the desktop, use it like an external hard drive like the iPods of the past. They make these things up to 64gb now and it would be great to be able to drop a few files on the thing to bring to meetings or home or wherever you may need to take files.

So that’s my somewhat biased but trying to be very objective review of the iPad after a weekend’s worth of play. So far am excited to see where this is going, but feel there are a few essential kinks that need to be added to really push this device far ahead of any competitor. Either way, Apple, nice to see a smart device first to market (kind of… first of its kind to market, at least), but expectations for the next launch are high. I’m hoping for more WOW next time.

Apple iPad: http://www.apple.com/ipad

Lets talk creative. Creative, creative, creative. There’s an epic struggle around creative right now that seems to have us all confused. There really is no reason for us all to struggle with this notion, but what’s happening is the idea of “creative” being exclusive and not intermingled with “technology” is mucking it all up. Creative has been seen, for incredibly far too long, as being confined to a couple categories (TV/Radio) and everything that isn’t in those categories falls into the realm of just campaign execution/production. So now, marketing initiatives are being shifted and are focusing heavily on new and emerging technologies, as they discover their audience rapidly shifting into these mediums while responding less to the otherwise traditional creative mediums… thus requiring the concept of creative to shift as well.

TELLING THE STORY
As we’ve talked before, telling a story will never die. Its the story that engages the audience in the first place. Its that connection they feel with the brand. Today, the technology has given users an even more direct connection with a brand. They’re still moved through the story, but they’re now part of the story. They’re no longer prone to being spoken to, but spoken with. So the success of social mediums like Facebook, Twitter, iPhone apps, etc, make it easy to see why people flock to them, but how do we transition our story into these mediums appropriately. The story falls apart when you take the old mediums and just push them into the new ones, you need to think on two levels now. What works for social media or mobile does not work for TV or Print. How can we tell a story, but also involve the users IN that story. Start with this simple question: “Does our idea get users involved?” Once you’ve answered that question, adapting the pieces of the story to work in other mediums is fairly simple.

One classic example of this (and as much as I hate to use this example because it clearly points to my obsessive nerdy side) was the first few seasons of LOST on ABC. Yeah, its a TV show, so you’d promote it with commercials during other TV shows, right? WRONG! ABC went to great lengths to generate a HUGE buzz online across many platforms. There were mysterious games, there were microsites for brands only found in the LOST series, there were Facebook pages AND there were commercials that cleverly drove people into these other mediums. The story was cohesive and the fans flocked to these experiences like ants to a picnic basket. The shows ratings grew like wildfire and it became one of the strongest TV shows in years. They took a look at the WHOLE picture, they crafted a brilliant story, modified it appropriately for each medium, and got their fans involved in that story.

A few pieces that still remain:
Find815.com
HansoAir.org
FlyOWA.com

So, to summarize, the story’s the same… its all about the story. HOWEVER, the execution of that story has changed. You can’t stuff a square peg into a round hole, and you can’t jam a TV commercial into Facebook and expect it to work the same. Your creative is key, but its got to be smart enough to adapt to ALL the mediums we’re facing today.

Next week… keeping up with the technoBOOM!

These are interesting times, that’s for sure. Our industry is changing at a lightning pace, which is a good thing, but it often brings about the same discussion that happens every time there’s a drastic change in our industry. That epic philosophical conversation surrounding the preservation of our art form or its bastardization through the advancement of technology. Well believe me, being the type of shop we are, we’re constantly on the forefront of that conversation. So, that leads us to today’s post, which will be one of three posts in a series, about today’s dilemma of gracefully wandering the line between the importance of design practice, striving towards beautiful excellence all while keeping up with the rapid growth of technology and the restrictions they ultimately impose upon your vision. Here we go!

THE IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN
Its both glaringly obvious, yet often undermined by the ever changing landscape, but those that succeed in this technological revolution are those who genuinely believe in the value of the creative solution. Very rarely are people rallied to a cause or become passionate about something because it has a 1GHz thingamajig and an OLED screen. They fall in love with the idea behind it all and the execution that calls to them in a meaningful way. They are drawn to the appealing visuals that grab their eye. They engage with an effective, yet intriguing user interface that makes interacting with an experience unique and inspiring.

THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY
Its no surprise that technology is clearly dominating our daily lives. The lure of each shiny new gadget and the race to be the first to support it from a creative standpoint is overpowering. Naturally, each new technological advancement brings a whole new set of standards, and in some cases, restrictions that will ultimately be imposed upon anyone entering that realm. The technology can wow us, we can get caught up in the brilliance of each new device and how its breaking new ground or making life so much more amazing.

WALKING THE LINE
That balancing act between pushing the creative solution and accommodating the limitations of whatever the new piece of technology may be is always a tricky rope to walk. It requires not only the commitment to the creative solution, but the constant passion to delve into the unknown with whatever piece of technology that bursts through the doors that week. This is no easy task. It often takes a team of people or a weird hybrid creative nerd who loves artsy films and the hi-tech new cameras they were shot on. But its not impossible, in today’s world, its essential.

Next week we’ll talk more about some specific examples and how we walk the line here at Sevnthsin. Would love to hear stories/see examples of how you’re all accomplishing this balancing act. Send away!

Google Buzz, in case you haven’t heard yet, is Google’s new “Social” tool that wraps into all their other tools. So what, you may ask, well so WHAT is right. Google buzz isn’t just some wishy washy additional social tool, its a literal add on to all of Google’s products… you know, the one’s you’re already using. Maps, Gmail, etc, etc. Buzz from anywhere!

The basic idea is a combo of Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare all in one. Make a post, add a picture, share a link… but from any Google product you’re using. Say you’re at Sevnthsin (for example) and you’re just having an amazing time, you can post about it through Maps and it’ll show your post on the Sevnthsin location in Maps. How cool is that? Its like all your favorite social tools combined into one and are usable everywhere.

Its so big, in fact, Google released stats from the first two days Buzz was open to the public. Get this, 9 million+ posts averaging 200+ posts per minute from mobile devices. That’s some pretty impressive usage for a brand new product. Also a pretty impressive stat for the argument of Mobile usage today.

There’s some flaws in the Buzz right now, like you can’t use it with Google Apps on your own domain, has to be a GMail based account, there are also some privacy bugs right now, as in emails being displayed publicly. Sounds like Google is all over these issues and will have fixes for them all in the coming days, which is nice to see them being proactive.

More on Buzz over on TechCrunch: http://svns.in/7j

They’re back at it again, only this time it looks like there’s nothing Apple can do to stop Google from making Google Voice available on the iPhone. If everyone remembers last summer’s debacle where the Google Voice app was rejected from the App Store, and the FCC got involved, and lots of people got all up in a fuss over it, then forgot it ever happened. Well Google didn’t forget, and today will be unveiling a new user interface that will allow users of the Palm Pre/Pixi and iPhone to be able to use their Google Voice accounts directly through the web browser.

Again, another bold step forward by Google (through a loophole, however) in an effort to make technology better. Exciting stuff.

More over at Tech Crunch: http://svns.in/6o

Apps are all the rage these days, right? Of course they are! Mobile devices are rapidly becoming the primary mode of communication (who has a home phone these days), computing (when was the last time you popped open your laptop at a starbucks to connect to their WiFi and check your email) and even social interactions (you know you just updated your status while reading this.. don’t lie to yourself). Of course this leads to the ever present argument of who’s phone is doing it better than the other… which will continue to be a never ending argument for as long as we live (which I’m fine with, as it’ll keep driving competition, right?). But lets get back on track here. Apps. Ah yes, today’s biggest marketing buzz word. At first, just being in the game was enough. Every brand and their mother had some sort of branded app out there, whether it was actually worthwhile or not (Target’s Snow Globe anyone… hey, at least they got in the game early). Then things changed, and for the better. Now people actually expect your app to DO something for you, and rightfully so.

So that leads me to today’s point (finally… get on with it): Android and its home screen. Now Google’s approach has always been one of “Let the users have at it,” which is all fine and good, but what about the folks out there who just want a clean, organized, precise home screen. Something that just delivers what they want in a concise manner? This whole notion was rumored on the iPhone about 4 months ago, but we all know it’ll never come to life as Apple will never approve an app that alters its user interface (both a good/bad thing. There’s some great things in the iPhone UI, but there are a handful of downsides, too), but Larva Labs has actually taken the initiative to make it happen on the Android platform. Their newest app, SlideScreen, does exactly that. After completing the setup, SlideScreen ties into much of the Android core, by bringing calls, SMS, email, weather, twitter, Google Reader, Stocks, etc to your home screen in a nifty little slide up/down interface. Soft clicking opens the item either in the SlideScreen interface (in the instance of tweets, also allowing for native retweet/reply/share functionality) or in the phone’s native app (in the instance of Calendar events and email). Long clicks allow you to add new items to the list in their respective category. The menu button now serves as a device to trigger the old menu drawer and brings up the apps you otherwise had stored on your home screen in a neat little overlay.

Larva Labs offers both a free and paid version of the app. So far we’ve only played with the free version, but will be upgrading to the Pro version shortly to get a feel for what additional features it bring to the table. Either way, its pretty impressive so far and seems to work nicely on all the different devices we have floating around here.

More over on TechCrunch: http://svns.in/6c

Unless you’re living under a rock, you all know the big launch of the Google Nexus One happened this week. Exciting news as the world of smart phones gets better and better. But what’s even more exciting than simply the launch of its own device from mega-power Google, is the quiet unveiling of their online store.

So what, you say? Well, on first glance, yeah, so what… So Google is selling their phone themselves, unlocked. WELL, the big picture here is that THEY are selling the phone, THEN you pick the carrier you want. To date, the traditional protocol is to sign up with a carrier, then pick what device that carrier sells. They may have what you like, or they may have something that suits you, if not, you need to switch to a new carrier, which is often difficult to do because you’re locked into a long term (approximately 2 year) contract every time you buy a new phone. Well that’s all about to change.

Apple really laid the ground work here, and I don’t think anyone will dispute that. Prior to the iPhone, no one really got overly excited about a device. Every carrier had some form of Blackberry and that seemed to fill anyone who needed a smartphone’s needs. Well when the iPhone hit, overnight millions of people dropped their coverage and flocked to AT&T to get it… because lets be honest, it wasn’t for the AT&T service, that’s for sure. So now the idea that was initially paved by Apple, however still executed in a somewhat traditional fashion (carrier provides device) is not being capitalized on by Google… and rightfully so.

Google has always been a game changer, whether it be search (RIP Webcrawler), Mapping (RIP Mapquest), Email (RIP Hotmail), web browsing (RIP Firefox… to be noted, the jury’s still out on this one, but we’ve got a good guess at the outcome) and now Mobile operating systems and devices (RIP RIM/Blackberry), Google has always been out to reinvent. So who better to take the concept of “Pick your phone, THEN pick your carrier” and run wild with it.

Ultimately, this represents a huge shift in the dynamic of the mobile model in the US, as well as the rest of the world. Its exciting to see such a dramatic shift as it now places greater emphasis on the carriers themselves to provide a better service as opposed to just lure you in with whatever the hottest device is. Should make for an interesting next couple of years as more manufacturers adopt this model and the carriers make moves to accommodate.

More on this over at TechCrunch:
“Apple And Google Just Tag Teamed The U.S. Carriers” http://svns.in/5x