Jony Ive paints a fresh, yet familiar, look for iOS 7

http://9to5mac.com/2013/04/29/jony-ive-paints-a-fresh-yet-familiar-look-for-ios-7/

Ive at iPhone 5 event (Getty Images)

According to multiple people who have either seen or have been briefed on the upcoming iOS 7, the operating system sports a redesigned user-interface that will be attractive to new iOS users, but potentially unsettling for those who are long-accustomed to the platform…

The new interface is said to be “very, very flat,” according to one source. Another person said that the interface loses all signs of gloss, shine, and skeuomorphism seen across current and past versions of iOS. Another source framed the new OS as having a level of “flatness” approaching recent releases of Microsoft’s Windows Phone “Metro” UI.

Windows Phone UI

“Flat” design is based on simplicity and pushes aside heavy textures and digital metaphors of real-life objects found in skeumorphic interfaces. “Flatness” could also point to a more streamlined interface across the entire system that can stand the test of time.

iPad’s Calendar, Reminders, and Contacts apps

For example, younger generations of iOS users may not resonate well with a yellow notepad (as found in the current iOS Notes app) or the leather-bound calendar app.

iOS has typically been regarded as an easy-to-use, intuitive operating system. The Company even seems to say as much on its iOS webpage (shown directly below). With its large user-base and market attraction, Apple obviously does not want to make any design changes that make the software more difficult to use.

Apple’s iOS site

While the look of the updated system may be surprising to some, iOS 7 is reportedly not more difficult to use than earlier versions of software platform. There is apparently no new learning curve in the same way there was no learning curve when the iPods went color. While iOS 7 does look different, its core apps and system fundamentals  (like the Lock and Home screens) mostly operate in a similar fashion to how they do today.

iOS 7 is codenamed “Innsbruck,” according to three people familiar with the OS. The interface changes include an all-new icon set for Apple’s native apps in addition to newly designed tool bars, tab bars, and other fundamental interface features across the system. iOS devices running the next-generation software reportedly have polarizing filters to decrease viewing angles of on-lookers.

OS X Notifications panel

In addition to losing the complex interface design characteristics from earlier versions of iOS, Apple has been discussing and testing ways to add more ‘glance-able’ information and system options panels, like Notification Center, to the software. While it is still uncertain if Apple will end up including such new functionality in iOS 7, or how the Company will implement the potential addition, one of the early ideas was to implement the new panels via swipes from the left and right side of an iOS device’s display. This would be similar to the gesture on Apple’s Mac trackpads for accessing Notification Center in Mountain Lion, but what, specifically, the iOS gesture could access is uncertain.

Test version of iOS 4 multitasking from 2010

Prior to announcing and launching new versions of iOS, Apple tests many various implementations for features. For example, Apple had toyed with the idea of having an Expose-like Multitasking interface for iOS 4, but ended up choosing the linen-backed bottom drawer that we are now accustomed to.

Apple’s redesigned iOS experience stems from Apple Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jony Ive now spearheading interface design. With former Senior Vice President of iOS Scott Forstall leaving Apple late last year, influence on software design was handed over to Ive. Ive is long-known as the king behind Apple’s many hardware successes like the iPad, iPhone, iPod, and Mac computers.

In an interview early last year, Ive shared his lack of connection to the software that runs on his hardware.

When I mention the fake stitching, Ive offers a wince but it’s a gesture of sympathy rather than a suggestion that he dislikes such things. At least, that’s how I read it. He refuses to be drawn on the matter, offering a diplomatic reply: “My focus is very much working with the other teams on the product ideas and then developing the hardware and so that’s our focus and that’s our responsibility. In terms of those elements you’re talking about, I’m not really connected to that.”

Matching the information about iOS 7 gaining a “flatter” interface design, a profile of Apple’s internal software design work paints Ive as against flashy, skeumorphic interfaces:

Inside Apple, tension has brewed for years over the issue. Apple iOS SVP Scott Forstall is said to push for skeuomorphic design, while industrial designer Jony Ive and other Apple higher-ups are said to oppose the direction. “You could tell who did the product based on how much glitz was in the UI,” says one source intimately familiar with Apple’s design process.

Apple’s change in interface philosophy under Jony Ive and Tim Cook is also a radical departure from Apple under Steve Jobs.

Jobs and Forstall (Image via Getty)

Jobs, according to the same profile of Apple’s design work, was, like Forstall, a proponent of life-like interfaces.

But before Forstall, it was Steve Jobs who encouraged the skeuomorphic approach, some say. “iCal’s leather-stitching was literally based on a texture in his Gulfstream jet,” says the former senior UI designer. “There was lots of internal email among UI designers at Apple saying this was just embarrassing, just terrible.”

While one of our sources paints the iOS 7 design changes as changes that will gain the appreciation of some and the surprise of others, Apple CEO Tim Cook seems excited and confident about what the company has in store. During the question-and-answer session of the Q1 2013 earnings call, responding to a question regarding Apple’s software updates for 2013, Cook said, “we feel great about what we have got in store.”

Based on Cook’s past comments and moves to further integrate both Apple’s products and its internal culture, Cook’s choice to put Ive in charge of software design also seems to stem from Cook’s admiration of integrated experiences. In a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek earlier this year, Cook addressed Forstall’s ousting from Apple and Ive’s new work on software design as a way to further unify Apple’s hardware and software:

Jony [Ive, senior vice president of industrial design], who I think has the best taste of anyone in the world and the best design skills, now has responsibility for the human interface. I mean, look at our products. (Cook reaches for his iPhone.) The face of this is the software, right? And the face of this iPad is the software. So it’s saying, Jony has done a remarkable job leading our hardware design, so let’s also have Jony responsible for the software and the look and feel of the software, not the underlying architecture and so forth, but the look and feel.

Over the past couple of months, Apple seems to have been hinting at an impending shift in its software design philosophy.

Before (left) and after (right) look at Apple’s Podcasts app (Comparison by Zach Kahn/@zkahn94)

Earlier this year, Apple released an updated version of its Podcasts app for iPhone and iPad in order to simplify some design elements (comparison shown above). Prior to that recent update, the application included a physical “tape deck” interface for the user to manipulate in order to move through a podcast.

WWDC 2013 logo

Additionally, Apple’s WWDC 2013 logo, the art for the conference in which iOS 7 will be announced, has sparked speculation about flat interface design with its modern, lightweight text and other elements. Indeed, one source claims that Apple’s Game Center icon and interface materials will be somewhat akin to the colorful nature of the WWDC 2013 logo. Because of its casino-like, green-felt design, Apple’s current Game Center app has been widely panned by proponents of flat software interface design.

Apple’s homepage

Also, Apple highlights iPad and iPhone applications on its homepage that include flat-interface designs. For example, the home page touting the full-sized iPad and iPad mini highlights former Apple employee Loren Brichter’s popular Letterpress game. Letterpress has been regarded by many as a simple to use, “easy-on-the-eyes” game for its flat textured interface.

With Apple’s vibrant iOS application development community, the prospects of a redesign iOS go beyond Apple’s apps and core interface functions. Internal to the third-party iOS app community, some fear that Apple’s interface changes could deem App Store apps, that are currently built to look consistent with Apple’s own interface, outdated.

AppHero’s Jordan Satok, who has a comprehensive view of the App Store ecosystem, points out that iOS interface changes will likely not pose challenges for all developers.

“When we started building iOS apps almost 5 years ago, most apps looked the same. Apple did an amazing job designing UIKit to provide a really consistent user experience across apps,” he said. “As the App Store has grown, and the types of apps being built have evolved, designers and developers have pioneered new interface styles and concepts.”

Because many apps are picking up unique interface designs, Apple’s changes to its core software will likely not make much of a difference to these developers. Nonetheless, it is likely that once iOS 7 is announced, developers that have followed Apple’s own past iOS design trends will quickly move to enhance their App Store apps to follow some of Apple’s changes.

Apple’s next version of OS X will include some design changes, but the changes will not be as notable as the aforementioned enhancements to iOS.

Learning To Code: Get A Degree, Or Just Teach Yourself? [Infographic]

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/26/is-it-better-to-learn-to-code-at-school-or-at-home-infographic

Say you're interested in learning to code. Should you go back to school and pick up a formal diploma? Or just teach yourself (perhaps with some help from the Internet) in your spare time at home?

Catalin Zorzini, the founder of Web design resource site Inspired Mag, was wondering just that, so he built an infographic on the subject. “Some readers are confused by the relevance of attending university in a time where technology information is not locked within the university walls anymore,” he told me.

(See also: There's A Boom In Teaching People To Code)

After two weeks worth of extensive research, however, Zorzini said it’s not about one type of education being superior. “The challenge is to be able to match the right type of course with the right student mindset,” he said.

Zorzini’s finished infographic, based on information from editorials, universities curriculums, reviews, and even the opinions of practicing Web designers, won’t tell you which method is “best.” But it may help you figure out which method would be best for you. Check it out below:

Dear College Students: LinkedIn Is Not The Same As Facebook

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/29/dear-college-students-linkedin-is-not-the-same-as-facebook

College students are understood to be incredibly savvy at social networking - 90% regularly use Facebook, for example. Yet too many students fail to leverage readily available professional social networking platforms, such as LinkedIn, to help launch or accelerate their careers. In my first post on this phenomenon, I was struck by two seemingly opposing facts:

1. More than half of recent graduates are either unemployed or underemployed.
2. Nearly half of current college students "have never used LinkedIn - typically thought of as the social network for job seekers." Even among those that do, LinkedIn is not typically a priority in their job search. 

Are students blissfully naive? Certain that they will land that perfect job upon graduation based solely on personal relationships? Are colleges not doing enough to promote the value of professional networking? What about LinkedIn itself ? Could it do more to appeal to students?

Turns out, there is plenty of blame to spread around.

(See also Why Aren't College Students Using LinkedIn To find Jobs?)

Fear Uncertainty And Doubt

A common theme across commenters and tweeters of my first post was that students need help in their employment search and aren't sure how to get it despite the many online services available to them. Students aren't convinced their schools are doing enough to guide them, and many simply do not believe LinkedIn, for example, offers much help for students just starting out in the professional world. A sampling of comments:

LinkedIn contains useless job listings:

Companies that rely on LinkedIn for recruiting are generally doing so because they don't want to pay for any other means of finding good people—and that pretty much tells you all you need to know.

Colleges are not helping:

I just spent 2 hours with my Intern (who is a Senior at our local University) learning Linkedin. She said that her University "tells" the Seniors that they need and should have a profile on Linkedin but don't tell them "how" to do it. That generation is very computer savvy, however, [they] don't know what to put onto Linkedin.

Students fail to understand LinkedIn's potential:

Several years ago I founded a LinkedIn discussion group, Girls Who Print, for women in the printing industry, which has grown into a worldwide "virtual" sorority. Each year, I find more college students join in order to begin making connections within the industry.

LinkedIn is of no use to a student:

As a college student with little/no experience and one of millions looking for internships, do you think a 'Connect With Me on LinkedIn' will set a candidate apart? No. This will be made on campus, through networking events or through their specific on campus organizations.

LinkedIn Needs To Do More For Students

Nicole Williams, a career expert who consults on behalf of LinkedIn, was surprised by students' general lack of acceptance of LinkedIn, given how "social media savvy" they're assumed to be. "There is a lag, and we're working hard to rectify that lag," Williams said.

LinkedIn employs Williams, among others, to speak at schools and other events college-age students are likely to attend. Williams says she urges students to understand what LinkedIn can offer even students just beginning a career. "You have to be searchable. Students need a strategic professional brand online that they control."  

"LinkedIn is committed to helping college students utilize the platform," Williams noted. That's not only about finding connections or job listings, she added. "The power of LinkedIn is that you can find someone online, know where they graduated from, learn the trajectory of their career, track their experience and replicate that if you want your career to look like that."

Students Have Professional Networking Choices

Despite LinkedIn's outreach, the fact that many college students are not fully leveraging the site creates opportunities for competitors. Eyal Grayevsky, CEO of FirstJob, a service that specializes in entry level jobs for college students and recent grads, was well aware of the meager number of college students using LinkedIn. "From our point of view, LinkedIn has seen low engagement from the younger demographic because its core focus is professional networking, something that doesn’t appeal to someone who has little-to-no professional experience."

But Grayevsky added that college students typically underestimate the "wealth of company connections" available to them. These may be from alumni networks, volunteer work and other connections, for example.

It's easy to blame supposedly social-savvy students for not fully promoting their online "brand" and not availing themselves of all possible professional social networking opportunities.

But maybe there's also a big difference between the kinds of friends-and-family social networking skills possessed by many young adults and what they need to know to network for professional purposes. Being a whiz at creating interesting Facebook posts, sharing slick Instagram pictures and composing pithy tweets may not easily translate into job-search skills.

Google chairman: 6 predictions for our digital future

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/23/tech/web/eric-schmidt-google-book/index.html

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has a new book that portends how tech trends will shape our planet.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• In new book, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt says Web will be everywhere soon
• Schmidt and co-writer Jared Cohen note rise of mobile in Africa and Asia
• Cloud storage will prevail, they say, meaning privacy thoughts will change
• Terrorism may benefit from expanded Web, but also get easier to catch

Editor's note: Doug Gross covers consumer technology and the Web for CNN.com. Follow him on Twitter, and add him to your Circles on Google+.

(CNN) -- Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has been thinking a lot about our digital future.

Maybe that's not a big surprise for a man whose company has played a major role in shaping our 21st-century lives, from how we find information to how we use our phones.

It's that role, perhaps, that has made Schmidt's new book, "The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business," so widely anticipated.

The book, out Tuesday, is co-written with Jared Cohen, a former U.S. State Department terrorism adviser who now heads up Google Ideas, the company's think tank. In it, the authors consider what our world will be like when everyone on Earth is connected digitally. (Schmidt believes this will happen by the end of the decade).

First ever look inside Google New York

Read: Let's get everyone online ASAP

A universal Web, the authors say, will be an inevitable outcome of a world that's increasingly being driven by technology. But instead of an ominous sci-fi vision of a planet run by robot overlords, they envision a world that will be shaped, for better or worse, by us.

"This is a book about technology, but even more, it's a book about humans and how humans interact with, implement, adapt to and exploit technologies in their environment, now and in the future ...," they write. "For all the possibilities that communication technologies represent, their use for good or ill depends solely on people. Forget all the talk about machines taking over. What happens in the future is up to us."

Here are six predictions Schmidt and Cohen make about the future of the Web:

Online privacy classes will be taught alongside sex education in schools.

"Parents will ... need to be even more involved if they are going to make sure their children do not make mistakes online that could hurt their physical future. As children live significantly faster lives online than their physical maturity allows, most parents will realize that the most valuable way to help their child is to have the privacy-and-security talk even before the sex talk."

Conversely, they say, "Some parents will deliberately choose unique names or unusually spelled traditional names so that their children have an edge in search results, making them easy to locate and promotable online without much direct competition."

The rise of the mobile Web means the entire world will be online by 2020.

"What might seem like a small jump forward for some -- like a smartphone priced under $20 -- may be as profound for one group as commuting to work in a driverless car is for another," they write. "Mobile phones are transforming how people in the developing world access and use information, and adoption rates are soaring. There are already more than 650 million mobile-phone users in Africa, and close to 3 billion across Asia."

One example they cite of how mobile is already changing lives: Congolese fisherwomen who used to take fish to the market, only to sometimes watch their catch spoil, now leave their fish in the water and wait for calls from customers.

News organizations will find themselves out of the breaking-news business, as it becomes impossible to keep up with the real-time nature of information sources like Twitter.

"Every future generation will be able to produce and consume more information than the previous one and people will have little patience or use for media that cannot keep up," the authors say.

"News organizations will remain an important and integral part of society in a number of ways, but many outlets will not survive in their current form -- and those that do survive will have adjusted their goals, methods and organizational structure to meet the changing demands of the new global public."

Online "cloud" data storage will continue to emerge as the norm, and that's going to radically change how we view privacy.

"The possibility that one's personal content will be published and become known one day -- either by mistake or through criminal interference -- will always exist. People will be held responsible for their virtual associations, past and present, which raises the risk for nearly everyone since people's online networks tend to be larger and more diffuse than their physical ones," they write.

"Since information wants to be free, don't write anything down you don't want read back to you in court or printed on the front page of a newspaper, as the saying goes. In the future, this adage will broaden to include not just what you say and write, but the websites you visit, who you include in your online network, what you 'like,' and what others who are connected to you say and share."

As the Web expands, revolutions will begin springing up in nations with oppressive governments "more casually and more often than at any other time in history."

"With new access to virtual space and to its technologies, populations and groups all around the world will seize their moment, addressing long-held grievances or new concerns with tenacity and conviction. Many leading these charges will be young, not just because so many of the countries coming online have incredibly young populations ... but also because the mix of activism and arrogance in young people is universal."

More people will use technology for terror. But a Web presence will make those terrorists easier to find, too.

"Many of the populations coming online in the next decade are very young and live in restive areas, with limited economic opportunities and long histories of internal and external strife. ... Terrorism, of course, will never disappear, and it will continue to have a destructive impact," the authors write.

"But as the terrorists of the future are forced to live in both the physical and the virtual world, their model of secrecy and discretion will suffer. There will be more digital eyes watching, more recorded interactions, and, as careful as even the most sophisticated terrorists are, even they cannot completely hide online."

More Women Own Smartphones Than Men [Infographic]

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/24/more-women-own-smartphones-than-men-infographic

As smartphones shift from the realm of early adoption to mainstream use, the demographics of smartphone users are also shifting strongly. A new UK survey has found that more women are using smartphones now than men, and in general users are increasingly older.

It's a pretty clear trend, if you look at the infographic provided by eDigitalResearch and IMRG. In 2010, when smartphones had only penetrated 38% of the UK market, 63% of smartphone owners were men and 37% were women. Contrast that with 2013, when smartphones hold 60% of the UK user base, and you have 58% female smartphone users and 42% male.

Older consumers are owning smartphones, as well, as the devices move from purely business use to consumer ownership. In 2010, a little under a third of all smartphones were owned by people aged 45-74. It's a little hard to get an exact percentage from the displayed pie chart, but in 2013 that age group now makes up about 45% of the overall smartphone population.

That stats show other interesting phenomena in the UK: the rise of browsing as a smartphone activity, as well as the fall of Nokia and the rise of Apple and Samsung as smartphone manufacturers sold in the UK.

Take a look at the infographic below to see other stats from across the pond.

Lead image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Midterm Project- Computer graphics and animation

Why Aren't College Students Using LinkedIn To Find Jobs?

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/23/why-arent-college-students-using-linkedin-to-find-jobs

The jobless numbers in the U.S. remain an ongoing concern throughout the country. For college students and recent graduates, often dubbed "millennials," the numbers are even worse. More than half of recent graduates are either unemployed or underemployed. Despite these figures, according to a recent survey, nearly half of current college students have never used LinkedIn - typically thought of as the social network for job seekers.
This seems like a wasted opportunity - for both students and LinkedIn.
I spoke to Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding, about the recent survey his firm conducted with AfterCollege. Despite the fact that most students are extremely social-media savvy, often heavy users of Facebook and Twitter, for example, students are  avoiding LinkedIn.

I believe that the LinkedIn numbers are low because students aren't thinking about networking until after they graduate and don't feel like they have enough contacts to add to their profiles since many don't have real work experience yet.
The students who focus on networking starting freshman year are at a great advantage because everyone knows that relationships lead to jobs.

Students Need Guidance

Students are certainly experienced with social media, just not with LinkedIn. While a surprisingly low 46% of student have never used LinkedIn, 90% of the students surveyed "frequently or occasionally" use Facebook. Even for those students who are using LinkedIn, however, it's still not a priority in their job search. When searching for a job, current students focus their efforts, in order, on:

1. Employer's Web site (70%)
2. Contact within the company (65%)
3. School career fair (61%)
4. Online job listings site (58%)
5. Social networking - including LinkedIn (26%)

Colleges can do more to help. Most students, the survey claims, believe their college is failing to offer adequate networking opportunities. For example, 46% of the students wanted their school to offer more instruction on "how to get jobs." Approximately 50% of students either "haven't used their career services department or had a bad experience" with the department.
Schawbel says he hears this theme often when speaking on campuses.

Students need more than resume reviews these days. They need a stronger rolodex and a better idea of how to go about their job search. (Colleges) should bring in speakers, hold more career fairs - not just one each season - and help make connections between students and alumni. Alumni like to recruit from their alma matter. 

The University Perspective

I asked my former university, the University of Michigan, how it helps current students leverage professional social networking. I spoke with Lynne Sebille-White, senior assistant director of the university's Career Center. She told me that "we encourage students to use LinkedIn to identify professionals and alumni working in their fields of interest. We also routinely recommend students check out our alumni group on LinkedIn."
She added, however, that many students are intimidated by LinkedIn - worried that their "partial profile" may not provide an effective representation of the student's abilities and prior experiences. "Current students usually have little experience [with professional] networking so we need to coach them through that process. Those who come by this skill more naturally use social media extensively to find and make professional connections which prove quite helpful in the search process."
Nonetheless, Sebille-White was effusive about the power of social media in general for current college students. "Social media allows you to showcase your skills, experience and unique talents in a very public manner... Social media provides amazing access to others in a way that was not previously available. You can find almost anyone and if you're smart, you can make a positive impression by how you manage your online presence."
Of course, it matters more in some positions more than others. "In fields like PR, corporate communications, and journalism, you need to have a presence on social media and leave a positive impression," she said. "You can't get hired in these fields if you aren't showcasing your interest and savvy in using social media and showcasing your writing style." The bottom line, she concluded, is that "every job seeker needs to think about their personal brand. Social media now allows folks to be seen as experts in ways that were not previously possible. "

A Student Perspective

That's one side of the story. To hear the other side, I also contacted a current Michigan student - not referred to me by the university - who landed a paid internship following her sophomore year.
Now a junior, Rachel Bradley-Haas has just accepted a paid summer position with a different company in her field (industrial engineering). Turns out, she actively uses LinkedIn.
Bradley-Haas initially created a LinkedIn profile because companies she was interested in listed jobs through the site - and these typically required she respond with her LinkedIn profile. She noted, however, that Twitter did not prove helpful in connecting her with potential employers. Facebook proved useful after the search. For those companies she did connect with - even if she was not offered a job or if she turned their offer down - she typically "liked" the company on Facebook.
Survey Notes: Millennial Branding bills itself as a "Gen Y research and consulting firm." AfterCollege is "the largest online career network for college students and recent graduates." The two firms emailed "thousands" of registered students across the U.S. and 600 responded. The companies told me that "just over half" of those who responded are currently attending schools with more than 10,000 students, and that 66% of all respondents are females.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock. Picture of Dan Schawbel taken from his site. Image of Lynne Sebille-White courtesy of the University of Michigan. 

Facebook’s Mobile Layout for Business Pages Highlights Location

http://socialtimes.com/facebooks-mobile-layout-for-business-pages-highlights-location_b124894

Devon Glenn on April 23, 2013 3:50 PM
Today Facebook has revealed a new layout for business pages on its mobile application that will help users find businesses while they’re on the go.
In the new version, a map of the nearest store location, company contact information, customer reviews, check-in data, and the company’s business hours are near the top of the screen, ahead of status updates and comments.
The view changes slightly depending on whether the viewer is looking at the company’s main page, an individual branch, or the administrator’s page. Page administrators will be able to switch between “admin” and “public” views.

Our sibling blog InsideFacebook notes that “The layout, with a top row of buttons and a prominent map and recommendations module, is similar to the design Facebook had been using for its local search product Nearby.”
The changes will appear on mobile browsers and the Facebook iOS app starting today. An Android version is coming soon, according to Facebook.
“As a Page owner, there’s no need to do anything to prepare your Page in advance of these updates, but it’s important to make sure the information currently listed on your Page is complete and up-to-date,” the company said.
Page administrators will also be able to “pin” important posts, such as special offers or videos, higher in the feed.
In the announcement, Facebook did not say precisely how many people are accessing Facebook Pages on the social network, but the post noted that almost half of the “millions” that do are using their mobile phones.

REVIEW: The Facebook Phone

http://www.businessinsider.com/htc-first-and-facebook-home-review-2013-4

You can argue about technicalities all you want, but the HTC First is the first real Facebook phone.
Yes, it's pretty much just an Android phone with a Facebook layer on top. And yes, the hardware is built by HTC, not Facebook.
But this is our first taste of Facebook's true vision for mobile, one where it wants to give you the ability to turn any phone into a Facebook phone.
The HTC First just happens to be the first device to ship with that experience right out of the box.
Click here for hands-on photos of the HTC First and Facebook Home >

First things first: What is Facebook Home?

Facebook Home is an Android app that acts a bit differently than the regular smartphone apps you're used to. You can install it on several Android phones like the Galaxy S III and HTC One, but the HTC First is the only phone available that ships with Facebook Home running right out of the box.
It's best to think of Facebook Home as a wrapper for Android that replaces your home screen with a visual slide show of photos and status updates from your Facebook friends. It's called Cover Feed, and it hides your other apps and Google services beneath all that Facebook stuff.
The other main component of Facebook Home is a messaging product called Chat Heads that syncs with your Facebook messages and regular text messages. Chat Heads let you receive and respond to messages on top of any app you're using. (It's an awesome feature, but more on that in a bit).
The rest of Android sits beneath Facebook Home, so all your apps and other services are hidden in a separate app menu, not on the regular home screen like you see on most phones.

Using Facebook Home

So what happens when you have no control over what appears on your phone's home screen?
It becomes a mess.
With Cover Feed, you're a slave to whatever your friends decide to post on Facebook at that moment. On Monday, for example, my HTC First was full of depressing news, commentary, and photos related to the bombings at the Boston marathon.
Later in the week, it was all selfies and photos of my friends' breakfasts.
By Friday, it was back to Boston and the manhunt for the bombing suspects.
But I do see the value in Cover Feed. It turns your phone into a reflection of what's happening at the moment, whether it's good, bad, violent, or completely inane. That's probably really useful for some people, especially those who are already obsessed with Facebook.

Cover Feed also encourages you to engage a lot more with your Facebook friends. I'm not a heavy Facebook user, but I did find myself getting sucked in a lot more than usual, liking and commenting on status updates and photos from my friends just because all that stuff was sitting in front of me on the home screen.
And Cover Feed really is gorgeous, full of big, beautiful photos with a white text overlay for the captions. The images flow behind the text, and it's very pleasing to swipe through them. I'd like to see the regular Facebook app adopt that design style.
Cover Feed is central to the Facebook Home experience, but it's also the most polarizing feature. It's a matter of preference. Do you want to see Facebook and only Facebook when you switch on your phone? If the answer is yes, then you'll love it. If the answer is "no," or "well, maybe..." then Cover Feed will probably annoy you.
Now on to the part of the phone that you'll love no matter how you feel about Facebook: Chat Heads.
With Chat Heads, Facebook solved a problem with smartphone messaging that we didn't even realize we had: You shouldn't have to close out of whatever you're doing in order to communicate with someone.

Steve Kovach/Business Insider

Here's how it works: Whenever you get a Facebook message or text, a tiny circle with your Facebook friend's photo appears over whatever you're doing. You can choose to respond by tapping the photo, or tap and drag it away if you want to respond later.
It's brilliant.
Chat Heads remove the friction from messaging on your phone. There's no more tapping around, switching between apps, or digging for a message later. It floats on top of whatever you're doing and can disappear with a swipe. Everyone from Apple to Microsoft to BlackBerry should copy the concept on their respective mobile operating systems. It's that good.
That's Facebook Home in a nutshell: Cover Feed and Chat Heads. The phone pretty much forces you to spend a majority of time in a Facebook world. If you want the rest of your stuff: Gmail, Chrome, Twitter, games, etc., you have to dig beneath the Facebook layer.

Steve Kovach/Business Insider

It's my biggest beef with Facebook Home, and something I suspect will turn off a lot of potential users. As Mark Zuckerberg said when he first introduced the product, Facebook is the most popular individual app on smartphones. But when you look at the total time spent on phones, most of it is gaming, productivity, and other apps. In that sense, Facebook Home is a barrier to the stuff most people want to do on their phones.
To put it simply, unless you're absolutely obsessed with all things Facebook, unless you mostly use your phone for Facebook and not much else, unless you don't mind ceding control of your home screen to Facebook's Cover Feed algorithm (and eventually advertising), you're better off with a regular Android phone.

The Hardware

At first glance, the HTC First is a simple-looking, unimpressive device. It's about as basic as you can get: a plain black rectangular slab with rounded edges.
The First is still solid and well-built, with a rubbery backing and a high-resolution 4.3-inch display. It can also connect to AT&T's LTE network, the fastest type of data network available.

Steve Kovach/Business Insider

The First won't turn heads like the HTC One or iPhone 5, but that's probably not the point. It's a cheap ($100) proof-of-concept device designed to show off what Facebook has accomplished with Android. Buying a First is buying into Facebook's people-centric vision of mobile.
There is one hidden benefit that'll probably delight some hardcore Android fans: If you switch off the Facebook Home app under settings, the First runs the clean, unmodified version of Android. That's a rare thing these days outside of Google's Nexus line of phones. And getting one for just $100 is a pretty good deal.

Should you buy it?

Do you like Facebook?
I mean, do you really, really like Facebook?
Do you like Facebook so much that it's pretty much all you want to see when you turn on your phone?
If yes, you should buy the HTC First. If not, or you're not quite sure, you're better off with a normal Android phone.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/htc-first-and-facebook-home-review-2013-4#ixzz2RC9sjfop

Why Google Glass Is Far More Important Than Any Smartwatch

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/17/google-glass-outsmarts-smart-watches

This week has been full of news on wearable devices: First the report from The Wall Street Journal that Microsoft is fabricating a smart watch (whether it’s just a prototype or an actual product is not confirmed); then Google’s release of guidelines for developers building apps (known as “Glassware”) for Glass; followed by the news on Wednesday that Google will start shipping Glass units to participants in its Explorers program.

(See also Google Glassware: How Developers Can Build Apps For Google Glass.)

To put these stories in perspective, Glass is a much, much more important story than any smart watch story — whether that watch is made by Microsoft, Samsung or even Apple. Smart watches could enable new “glanceable” experiences that we haven’t had on other devices, enhanced by body-generated data, like the Basis smartwatch does today. But they won’t fundamentally disrupt social norms in the way that Glass will. At best, they’ll reinforce existing ecosystems for smartphones — i.e., iPhone buyers might buy an iWatch; an iWatch might displace some phone usage, but wouldn’t replace a phone altogether.

Google Glass Could Be The Next Big App Platform

Smart watches are incremental steps forward toward the smart body future, but Glass is a giant leap forward in shoes propelled by rocket fuel. There is a very real chance that consumers will reject Glass, consigning it to the geeky niche of Bluetooth earpiece headsets. But if Glass succeeds, it could be the next iPhone: the next great platform for app development — not just for professional software developers but for non-tech companies like media, banks, retailers, hospitals and every other entity that wants to engage its customers or employees digitally.

Three initiatives in particular stack the deck in favor of the Glass success scenario.

First, Google’s transparent approach to product development gives Google insight into how consumers envision using Glass, identify concerns early and adapt its product and marketing accordingly, all while building buzz among socially connected early adopters. (Key fact: 68% of Glass Explorers have 1,000 or more followers on Twitter.)

Second, the new Glass Collective seed fund from Google Ventures, Andreeson Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins ensures that Glass-related apps, accessories and other products get the investmeent they need to feed the Glass ecosystem — just as iPhone app startups got in 2008.

The third initiative — Google placing restrictions on app developers in support of the user experience — takes on the biggest barrier to Glass adoption.

Wearing Glass creates a new experience not just for the person wearing the device, but also for everyone near someone wearing the device. Initial curiosity could quickly fade to annoyance when talking to someone seemingly distracted by a display you can’t see.

(See also 5 Socially Unacceptable Things You're Going To Do With Google Glass.)

And then, of course, there’s the anger and frustration you feel when your likeness is photographed or videoed, autotagged and shared without your consent or control.

(See also Google Glass: Our Lives Are Not Reality TV.)

We already live this every day on Facebook; Glass just accelerates the phenomenon. The hardest challenge for Glass to overcome is not making the technology work or attracting developers, but establishing social norms around the device that draw people in rather than making them want to run for un-surveillanced cover.

Google Can Influence How People Use Glass

Google can’t control consumers’ manners — if you’re rude enough to text on your phone at the dinner table, you’ll be rude enough to read texts on Glass in front of other people. Your rudeness is not Google’s fault any more than it is the phone manufacturer’s fault. Still, Google, Glass Collective investors and app developers can influence the degree to which Glass supports, rather than distracts from, human goals (see Adam Gazzaley’s research at UCSF to understand what I mean).

Google is moving Glass in a positive direction, forbidding apps with advertising on Glass, forbidding apps to access sensors on the device and forbidding apps to track and share user data for advertising purposes - at least to start. The New York Times Bits Blog quotes Google advising app developers to “make sure apps do not send updates too frequently and to be sure to avoid doing anything consumers do not expect,” and get users’ explicit permission to do things on the user’s behalf.

This is a smart move on Google’s part. It not only supports consumers’ interests but also makes it more likely that using Glass — and being around someone using Glass — will be a positive experience: The less intrusive and distracting the experience of using Glass is, the more Glass wearers can focus attention on the people they’re with or the task they’re trying to accomplish.

(See also Is There Any Way To Jam Google Glass?)

We will all play a role in shaping how Glass fits into our lives and our culture. Consumers must take ultimate responsibility for how they use the device, but it’s encouraging to see Google playing its part.

RW10: Six Things ReadWrite Will Cover In 2023

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/19/rw10-readwrite-2023

ReadWrite celebrates its 10th anniversary on Saturday, April 20, 2013. For the occasion, we're running a series of articles  looking back—and looking forward.
On Saturday, this website turns 10 years old. The changes its writers and editors have witnessed and chronicled have come fast and furious—the creation of Facebook, YouTube and the iPhone; the seemingly inexorable rise of Google and Apple; and the growth, everywhere, of connectivity.
At ReadWrite, we continue to grapple with the deeper implications of technological change. We make annual predictions about the future of technology, many of which have proven prescient and timely. But now, at the verge of ReadWrite's second decade, it makes sense to look even farther forward and imagine what ReadWrite will cover in 2023. Expect to hear a lot about these trends from us in the years to come.

Something To Anticipate

Think of anticipatory systems as really smart artificial intelligence. Computers won't wait for explicit inputs, like search queries; instead, they will draw on internal and external data—your entire history of interactions—to supply context and predict what you'll need. Google Now, the intelligent assistant function on Android, and Apple's Siri provide glimmerings of such functionality today.
A decade from now, anticipatory systems won't just predict your next move; they'll smartly feed data back into the system to improve themselves. There will no longer be a concept of a check-in, for example; some future version of a Foursquare-like app will simply know where you are and for what purpose, and they'll log that and share that appropriately across your social graph, which they will likewise adaptively update as your social connections shift and change.

Kill Your Gadget

We won't own smartphones, tablets, or smart watches. There will be a surfeit of screens at our disposal that roll up into a watchband form or roll out and stiffen to form a screen. Or ring-sized computers will project an image on any available surface. This will have an impact on architecture: White walls will be everywhere, with colors or patterns seen as either an indulgence or a countercultural statement.

Ambient Electricity

Moore's Law, the dictum that processors improve continuously will every generation, will continue to thrum. But instead of using these improvements to process bits faster, we'll harness them to lower power consumption and extend battery life. Meanwhile, innovations like radio-wave battery charging will mean we'll never have to plug things in again.

Park The Car 

Self-driving cars will peak in 2020, when they will start being seen as an inefficient use of resources. Why, for example, do they still have a driver's seat and a steering wheel when no one even remembers how to activate manual driving mode? Post-car vehicles will link themselves into trains on dedicated lanes—or even tracks.

A Nation Of (Unemployed) Programmers 

All those efforts to teach people how to code will succeed past their creators' wild dreams, to the point that it will be hard to find work as a professional coder. Meanwhile, new programming languages will have added so many layers of abstraction that the act of coding will resemble a formal mode of speech—or just a drag-and-drop process that's not much more complicated than downloading an app.

Undersea Data 

We'll be generating and processing unfathomable amounts of data in 10 years. The so-called "cloud" comes to ground in the form of data centers, where all these bits are stored and shuffled. The challenge is finding spots with lots of land and cheap electricity or other means of cooling servers. The answer: the sea.
Google started using ocean water to cool its data centers in 2011. A dozen years later, this will be commonplace—and we'll start putting data centers not just next to the water, but under it.

What Else?

There will be changes born out of current trends that seem obvious. There will also be surprises along the way. One thing, though, I believe will be true of ReadWrite in 2023 as it is now—we will find our way through the change with each other's help, through an interplay and exchange of ideas.

RW10: A Decade Of Spotting The Future Taking Form

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/19/rw10-richard-macmanus-readwrite-tenth-anniversary

ReadWrite celebrates its 10th anniversary on Saturday, April 20, 2013. For the occasion, we're running a series of articles  looking back—and looking forward.
Ten years ago, I published the first post on this weblog. Entitled simply "The Read/Write Web," it was a manifesto of sorts. The first era of the Web, from the 1990s to the early 2000s, had been largely read-only. It was stuck in the old broadcast model: professionals published the content, the rest of us merely read it.
But in 2002 and 2003, I could sense that a sea change was near. Tools were being developed that empowered everyone—including me—to publish to the Web.
"The goal now is to convert the Web into a two-way system,” I wrote in that debut post. “Ordinary people should be able to write to the Web, just as easily as they can browse and read it.”

ReadWrite’s Predictive Powers

Well, that goal was well and truly achieved! While nobody could have predicted in 2003 the scale of innovation that would occur, I’m proud that over the years ReadWrite did predict many technologies that people take for granted today.
For example, I remember writing a lot about the Web Office over the first five years of this blog. In our end-of-year predictions post in 2006, I wrote: “The consumerization of the enterprise trend will start to infiltrate corporate IT, in the form of Web-based office apps and more collaborative systems.” Scan your typical office in 2013 and you will see Google Docs, corporate versions of Twitter, Evernote Business, and many more applications that came from the consumer world.
Also look at the rise of Amazon Web Services, a cloud-computing platform from the online retailer that was well ahead of its time and which we wrote about extensively (mostly thanks to Alex Iskold, one of our earliest feature writers).
Our 2006 predictions post stated:

“We also think there will be moves toward an Amazon-like web services stack from other players, particularly Google. For example Google may want to catch up with Amazon’s S3 – EC2 services. And where Google goes, you can expect Microsoft to go too.”

Since 2006, not only have Google and Microsoft created cloud-computing platforms, but so have Apple, Oracle, HP, Rackspace and many other companies.
I’m also proud that ReadWrite wrote about some trends long before they became popular. For example, The Internet of Things—when real-world objects get connected to the Internet. ReadWrite was the only tech blog exploring that trend back in 2009, when only a few brave developers and startups were building consumer products. Fast forward to 2013 and the market for Internet-connected cars, thermostats, security systems, watches and other real-world objects is thriving.

A Decade of Astounding Innovation

In April 2003, I was an unknown 31-year old website manager from New Zealand, about as far away from Silicon Valley as you can get. I may not have been in the right place, but I was certainly at the right time. Over the next ten years, I got to explore and help chronicle the emergence of first the Social Web (2003-2005), then the Mobile Web (2007-2008)—arguably the two biggest waves of technology innovation over the past decade.
ReadWrite has witnessed—and written about—the creation of many revolutionary technologies:

• MySpace, the first mass-market social network, launched in August 2003.
• Flickr, which became the leading photo-sharing website of the era, launched in February 2004.
• Facebook launched to Harvard students in February 2004 and eventually opened to the wider public in September 2006.
• YouTube, the video-sharing phenomenon, opened as a beta site in May 2005.
• Twitter was created in 2006 and had its first tipping point in March 2007 at SXSW.
• The iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs in January 2007.
• Google announced its open-source mobile operating system, Android, in November 2007.
• Apple launched the App Store in July 2008.
• The first Android phone, the HTC Dream, was released in October 2008.
• The iPad was released in April 2010.
• Google+ launched in June 2011.

Here’s To The Next Decade!

When I started ReadWrite in 2003, the Web was primarily about what was happening on your home computer. And as outlined above, a lot of innovation happened in that era of the Web—Flickr, YouTube, Facebook and more.
But today, the Internet is everywhere. As Owen Thomas wrote in his introductory post as ReadWrite’s new editor-in-chief, the Internet is now in our pockets, on our bodies, scattered around the physical world. So I’m thrilled that the blog I founded will chronicle this new era of the Read/Write Web—a world where everything is read/write.
Photo composite by Madeleine Weiss.

Here’s What People Are Doing On Their Smartphones And Tablets

http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/mobile-applications/heres-what-people-are-doing-on-their-smartphones-and-tablets-029865

People are using smartphones and tablets to do things. Lot of things. A chart from BI Intelligence‘s new Future Of Mobile deck breaks the activity down:

It’s interesting to note how smartphone behavior differs from tablet behavior:


So, what are some key behaviors – aside from gaming and content consumption?
Well, mobile commerce is exploding. It now makes up 20% of overall ecommerce activities, as seen below:

29% of U.S. mobile users already have used their smartphones to make a purchase,
and Bank of America expects that there will be $67 billion in revenue from smartphone and tablet retail purchasing by European and U.S. shoppers in 2015
Also, people are increasingly using their phones to make mobile payments. The below graph shows the amount of mobile payments processed by Paypal from 2008 until 2012. The number now sits at nearly $14 billion:

According to BI Intelligence analyst Marcelo Ballvé, “mobile payments are not so much about the act of effecting a ‘wallet-less’ payment via a mobile device, but about the extra value such an app can create as a direct link between brands and consumers.” The explosion of mobile payments can, therefore, have profound effects on consumer behavior.
———–
These charts are from the new Future of Mobile slide deck. The deck was produced by Henry Blodget and the team at BI Intelligence, a research and analysis service focused on mobile computing and the Internet. Please check out the full Future of Mobile deck here. All of the charts and data in the report are available for download from the BI Intelligence library.

Social Networking For Marketers: How Pinterest Crushes Facebook [Infographic]

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/17/social-networking-for-marketers-pinterest-crushes-facebook-infographic

Guest author Justin Smith is product engagement manager for BloomReach.

Understanding what people do on different social networks is the key to effectively using those networks for marketing. Companies currently spend 8.4% of their marketing budgets on social media, and that’s expected to grow to 21.6% in the next five years. But with so many social networks competing to grab marketing dollars, determining the most effective channels can be extremely difficult. To illustrate, let’s look at how Facebook and Pinterest stack up against one another.

Different Networks For Different Reasons

While both Facebook and Pinterest offer deep customer segmentations and user engagement, it would be a mistake to target audiences in the same way across both networks. For example, you wouldn’t market your product to someone shopping at a trendy boutique the same way you would to someone walking down the street with their friends. In a store, you’d likely look to make a sale, while on the street you’d probably have more luck building brand awareness.

Similarly, BloomReach’s analysis consistently shows that Pinterest has a higher concentration of people who are in a ‘buy’ state of mind, while Facebook users are more interested in interacting with friends - and brands. (According to Paul Adams, Facebook’s global head of brand design, Facebook’s strength is relationship-building, noting that many lightweight interactions over time can help promote brands.)

Traffic Analysis Tells The Tale

That is borne out by BloomReach’s analysis of total traffic – 46,277,543 site visits – for a set of retail clients from Sept. 20 through Dec. 31, 2012. We looked at five key metrics: total traffic, revenue per visit, conversion rate, bounce rate and average pages viewed. While Facebook delivered more than 7.5 times the traffic, Pinterest handily won the remaining four areas:

• Pinterest traffic spent 60% more than did traffic coming from Facebook.
• Pinterest traffic converted to a sale 22% more than Facebook.
• Facebook traffic bounced 90% of the time, compared to 75% for Pinterest.
• Facebook users viewed an average of 1.6 pages. Pinterest users saw an average of 2.9 pages – a 76% difference.

The average revenue per visit for Pinterest traffic was more than $1.50. But while Pinterest is able to drive highly lucrative leads – and the release of Pinterest’s Analytics Tool for Businesses should help companies make use of them - it can deliver only a relatively limited set of eyeballs.

Facebook Still Rules Awareness

If a company’s goal is to simply reach a larger audience to create or maintain brand awareness, Facebook remains the best option. Its sheer volume of users – 1.06 billion active monthly users, 680 million mobile users and 618 million daily users – and the army of people ready to sell impressions make it an easy channel to leverage. But it may be difficult to realize an immediate return on marketing investments on the network.

Perhaps the best approach is to look for ways to optimize Facebook campaign while expanding Pinterest presence. Both Facebook and Pinterest should become larger parts of the media mix model as visitor referrals from these sites grow. At the end of 2012, only 2.7% of total traffic in our analysis came from the networks, demonstrating that social commerce is still in an early stage. In the meantime, though, it seems fair to say that Pinterest is a more efficient marketing channel than Facebook.

Tags:

• Marketing,
• Social Networks,
• Facebook,
• Pinterest

Google Glassware: How Developers Can Build Apps For Google Glass

http://readwrite.com/2013/04/16/google-glassware-how-developers-can-build-apps-for-google-glass

Dan Rowinski yesterday

Google Glass just got a little bit more real. If you were worried that Google’s augmented reality glasses were a pie-in-the-sky concept that might not ever become a real product, you can relax. That is not going to happen to Google Glass.

Google released the tech details to Glass this week - along with everything that developers need to know to build apps for the specs. Called “Glassware,” the Google Mirror API is designed to let developers create innovative, useful and fun apps for the forthcoming Glasses.

What can you build and how do you build it? Let’s break it down.

Java Or Python

Google recommends two programming languages for building apps for Glassware: Java and Python. For Java, developers will need Java 1.6 capability, Apache Maven for part of the build process and the App Engine SDK for Java. Apps can then be built in Eclipse, an integrated developer environment (IDE) for app building. Developers will need to create an OAuth verification and tie their Google account to their Glasses and allow access to Google’s Glassware API and access the SDKs. 

It is essentially the same for Python, except you do not need Maven or Eclipse. Developers use the App Engine SDK for Python to start. 

Add A Cat: User Interaction

Users of Google Glass interact with apps on a timeline. These items, or “cards” display information to users (like weather, business information, search results and so forth). Glassware is accessed from the cloud, not locally on the device, and developers call upon a RESTful endpoint to carry out actions such as creating new cards, updating cards, receiving input or subscribing to Glass push notifications.

Google uses the example of a cat to show off examples of the Mirror API. For instance, a user could automatically composite a picture they have taken with a random picture of a cat accessed through the API. Here is a work chart from Google on how a developer could "add a cat to that.”

Since the user is so fond of cute little kitties, she might decide to find the nearest pet store after adding a cat to her most recent picture. Glass can do that as well. Glass will fetch the user's location, run the search and “pin” a card to the user’s interface as they move around in search of a pet store. 

Timeline + Cards

This timeline + card interaction is the primary method of building apps and functionality for Glass and for users to interact with the hardware. Timeline cards can be text, images, HTML or video. Essentially, anything you can create on the Web can be created as a timeline card in Glass. 

If you add the capabilities of Glass to what we know of the timeline cards, we begin to get a clearer picture of exactly what can be done with Glassware. The primary hardware features of Glass will be location ability, photos with a 5-megapixel camera, videos shot in 720p, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 12GB of usable memory synced with Google cloud storage (16GB Flash memory total) and a full-day battery for “typical use.”

So a user could take a picture, search the contents of it, save the picture to a Google+ profile. If a user subscribes to a service, that service can send push notifications through Glassware tied to location. Examples could go on and on. Thoughtful and innovative developers will have a field day with Glass capabilities, extending what a smartphone can do to a device specifically designed for augmented reality. 

Glass can be tied to a smartphone through an app called MyGlass. To enable GPS or SMS, Glass will need to be tethered to a smartphone through MyGlass.

Guidelines For Glass

Google has four primary guidelines for developing for Glass:

1. Design for Glass: Do not design for another device, like a smartphone, and import to Glass. Because Glass is unique in how users interact with it, Google suggests that you developer directly for it.
2. Don’t get in the way: Apps should be for users, not for developers. Don’t be pushy with notifications and other information.
3. Timely: The goal is to provide users with up-to-date information with Glass. Make sure your app responds with correct information in a timely manner.
4. Avoid the unexpected: Imagine walking down the street and Glass sends you an unexpected notification. This can be annoying or even dangerous. Make sure the user has given explicit permission to be notified in Glass.

What Google Won’t Let You Do

Google does not want developers placing their own advertising in their Glassware. Part of this is likely because Google wants the user interaction to be free from clutter and pleasing to the user. Another reason may be that Google would rather be the one monetizing the data collected from Glass through its own apps and services - like Google Now. 

Google prohibits developers from gathering data of any kind for advertising purposes and will not allow developers to charge fees or collect payments for downloaded apps. Developers may not tie payment to virtual goods or upgraded functionality.

Essentially, Google has made it impossible for developers to make money from Glassware apps. No ads, no in-app payments or “freemium” functions will be allowed. This should help protect the user experience, but may slow developer participation past a certain point. Why would developers bother to create Glassware timelines and cards if they can't make any money from it?

Are you going to build apps for Google Glass? Let us know your plans in the comments. 

Cultivation Theory - mass media & society

1. What is the Cultivation Theory?
George Gerbner’s “Cultivation Theory” which basically states that what society sees in the media shapes how we act, react, and think about things in the real world. We are shaped or “cultivated” by any stereotypes that are shown consistently in the media.

2. Examples

★ The Big Bang Theory

 While watching one of my favorite show, The big bang theory, I never realized how scripted and planned it was so that the cast had their specific roles based on their gender.

The main characters include: Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, Raj, and Penny. Penny is the only female and she works as a waitress at a local restaurant. The four males are all students and also doctors and scientists because they have such a high degree. They are all Caucasian except for Raj, in their 20s, and living a pretty good life.

This definitely fit into Cultivation theory. One proof is that shows how the roles of men and women are portrayed in society is on page two when the theory says, “No one is born a minority. Minorities are trained to act like minorities.” That just goes to show how minorities, in this case women, are basically trained throughout their lives to act like a women should according to society and the media. Penny plays a waitress who doesn’t really care much for her education while the guys are all doctors and scientist and very smart. I never realized it before, but after watching it while keeping the Cultivation theory in mind, I was surprised at how true it ended up being.

★ The Grey’s anatomy

I watched a latest episode of Grey’s anatomy. The episodes name was “Support system.” This episode displayed the major problems that Cristina and Owen were having. What their colleagues don’t know is that the two of them are faking the flu in order to stay home to discuss Owen’s infidelity. Christina wants all the painful details but Owen is reluctant to give them to her because he knows it will hurt her. Because she demands them Owen gives step by step details about the night he slept with another women. This causes Cristina to sob uncontrollably when he tries to console her she locks herself in the bathroom.

A worried Owen tries to break down the bathroom door just as his wife opens it. the two of them laugh about this momentarily, but then all the pain comes rushing back. Chrisatina ultimately believes that the reason Owen slept with another woman is because he was still so hurt about her abortion. He wanted to hurt her back. After this unsetting revelation, Owen packs a bag and moves out of the firehouse.

The characters are all doctors and very attractive. Christina is a female, she is a asian, and middle aged as well. In the episode the men played the strong leads and Christina was vulnerable throughout the whole show. This goes along with theory very well, because like stated in his theory the most leads in TV shows are successful, white, male, attractive, and strong leads. The girls will be vulnerable and a victim just like in this episode. Christina was the hopeless victim because her husband and cheated on her and she spent the whole episode crying.

In the Cultivation theory, the males were in power and the one female that really had a lead role was devastated and crying pretty much the whole episode because a guy broke her heart. Most of the main characters in this episode are while males. Some of the other leads are of color, but the most important, main characters in the show are white. Males were in power and most of the women were having troubles or seemed just lost, like they needed help and were victims.

Overall, this episode and many episodes in Grey’s Anatomy fit into Cultivation theory. White, handsome, successful, males were the main focus and leads of the show and the females were vulnerable and seemed to be the victims.

3. CSI

Sometimes I watched an episode of the CSI Miami. The characters were mixed some females, some males but the main roles were men. The most powerful role belong to: Lieutenant Horatio Caine a white male of roughly 40 years. In cultivation theory, the leading role is both white and a male. He is not a minority and is someone that the media portays as powerful all the time. The media has done such a good job setting the standards of power to while men that anything other than that is weird in the eyes of the public. In my opinion if SCI had a female lead it will not be the success it is today.

Overall, most criminals are minorities and the leading roles of CSI are majorities. Females do hole a semi powerful role in the show, but it is not the number 1 power roles. There is one CSI agent who is Puerto Rican, but the rest CSI’s are Caucasians. Most minorities play the enemy, criminal, bad guy.