This particular project aimed for simplicity and was notable for the impact that peer reviews had on removing non-core features, which added to the overall experience.
Thursday, 16 December 2010
T-Hub webmail
This went live in recent days. A clean and simple webmail application for T-Hub that I designed and prototyped earlier in the year.
This particular project aimed for simplicity and was notable for the impact that peer reviews had on removing non-core features, which added to the overall experience.
This particular project aimed for simplicity and was notable for the impact that peer reviews had on removing non-core features, which added to the overall experience.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
The next internet revolution will be on your TV
Mapping out recent internet evolution I personally think we're in the midst of the 3rd internet revolution and I'm wondering what the 4th might be. The current one (Web 3.0 if you like) is migration from the PC to other devices. Bought about by the migration from heavy specced desktops to netbooks, games consoles (increasingly internet/media devices), smartphones, iPads/tablets and next to TVs.
The following factors all indicate that the TV is the next big thing set for revolution, and a revolution in which Google TV is very much the tip of the iceberg:
The following factors all indicate that the TV is the next big thing set for revolution, and a revolution in which Google TV is very much the tip of the iceberg:- The big players lined up to merge internet and TV
- The cloud and thin client are now ready
- A growing preference for streaming over downloading, renting over owning. Watch once & discard.
- Disillusionment with a plethora of boxes and remotes by the TV
- HTML5 and upcoming browser based, thin client Chrome OS
- Set top box/games console/HDD recorder etc are ripe for abstraction to SAAS
- eCommerce went from PC to smartphone but its natural home is surely our TVs
- Skype-like services are already migrating to the TV
- The home network and multi-device homes are the norm
- The (Australian) Government is spending $43 billion on a National Broadband Network. What media needs fat pipes? HD Video. Where does HD video belong? The biggest screen in the house.
Monday, 18 October 2010
28 flavours of online conversation in 2010
This chart has everything for me. Symetry, colour, purpose, beauty and infographic glory. Form and function.
Source article and supporting commentary here.
Source article and supporting commentary here.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
What drives customer satisfaction?
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Facebook Caller Tones app
Been working on and off on design of this one for some time. It was released last week.
Caller Tones replace the ring-ring when your friends call you with something personal, like your favourite Kylie track.
Nice to see, 650 people have joined already and 139 have clicked like, plus some have given reviews with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5.
Caller Tones replace the ring-ring when your friends call you with something personal, like your favourite Kylie track.
Nice to see, 650 people have joined already and 139 have clicked like, plus some have given reviews with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5.
Recruiting users to recruit users
This is a great example of how to make friends and influence people.
Online storage solution Dropbox offers extra free space for recruiting a friend and gives both of you the free space. Not only that, it's done so well and made so easy with Facebook and Twitter integration plus retrieving contacts from Hotmail, Gmail etc.
Online storage solution Dropbox offers extra free space for recruiting a friend and gives both of you the free space. Not only that, it's done so well and made so easy with Facebook and Twitter integration plus retrieving contacts from Hotmail, Gmail etc.
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
T-Box, coming soon
More good stuff coming out of our team is T-Box, sister to T-Hub.
Early review from APC Mag...
VIDEO | Telstra's T-Box seems more akin to something Apple would have produced -- it's really quite impressive.
Early review from APC Mag...
VIDEO | Telstra's T-Box seems more akin to something Apple would have produced -- it's really quite impressive.
We were quite struck by the ease of use and ‘flow’ demonstrated by the T-Box’s user interface — it seemed more akin to something designed by Apple, or Microsoft’s Xbox 360, than something Telstra would produce
Monday, 12 April 2010
Initial T-Hub press coverage
After sneak previews this week (pictured), Telstra's new T-Hub received coverage on Today Tonight (video) alongside the iPad, Star Trek gadgetry and Back to the Future's hover board.
It has also received a favourable Cnet first impressions review in which the challenge of making the home phone cool was compared with the challenge of resurrecting John Travolta's career pre Pulp Fiction.
Watch for imminent product launch and media campaign, press reports now rolling out.
14 April. Also in the Herald Sun New touch-screen phone at home
14 April. The Age. Telstra joins iPad fray (a little misleading when you compare price, is approximately akin to comparing a Ford Fiesta against a Ford Mondeo).
14 April. Herald Sun gadget pullout. Home phone not dead yet. Pictured below, including 5 star review.
14 April. SmartCompany, Telstra introduces tablet home phone device called T-Hub, but denies it's aimed at the iPad
14 April The Australian. Telstra puts fate in T-Hub
20 April, launch day Review from Gadget Guy (video)
20 April Start of the TV ad campaign (video)
25 April, comprehensive and balanced review from ITWire
20 May, David Thodey announces we have sold 10,000 units in first month
28 May, CRN review
Also heaps of Twitter buzz in a neat video, some good, some bad, that's life.
It has also received a favourable Cnet first impressions review in which the challenge of making the home phone cool was compared with the challenge of resurrecting John Travolta's career pre Pulp Fiction.Watch for imminent product launch and media campaign, press reports now rolling out.
14 April. Also in the Herald Sun New touch-screen phone at home
14 April. The Age. Telstra joins iPad fray (a little misleading when you compare price, is approximately akin to comparing a Ford Fiesta against a Ford Mondeo).
14 April. Herald Sun gadget pullout. Home phone not dead yet. Pictured below, including 5 star review.
14 April. SmartCompany, Telstra introduces tablet home phone device called T-Hub, but denies it's aimed at the iPad
14 April The Australian. Telstra puts fate in T-Hub
20 April, launch day Review from Gadget Guy (video)
20 April Start of the TV ad campaign (video)
25 April, comprehensive and balanced review from ITWire
20 May, David Thodey announces we have sold 10,000 units in first month
28 May, CRN review
Also heaps of Twitter buzz in a neat video, some good, some bad, that's life.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Facebook Infographic
Quite remarkable infographic re: the phenomenon that is Facebook. No more words needed, it speaks for itself.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Quick look back at start of 2000's
Well, a new decade. It's hard to think back to where we were a decade ago.
Y2K had just fizzled, the dotcom bubble hadn't yet exploded.
A PC (just about) ran Windows 98, had a processor measured in Mhz and maybe a 20 GB hard disk. Less than modern smartphones. Although we marveled at it's "multimedia" capabilities, it really amounted to being able to look at low-res pictures and clunkily play a bit of music. It was beige and had a CRT monitor that weighed so much you weren't allowed to try and move it at work, for fear of damaging your back. You regularly shared files limited to kb on floppy disks, though they were so unreliable that it was like russian roulette.
Mobile phones were black and white screened and limited to just phones, no camera, no music, no mobile internet. The iPod wasn't around. Taking your music with you literally meant taking your Cd's (worse still but slightly more mobile, cassette tapes) with you.
Websites were basic and limited to reading information (pre Web 2.0 read, write, revolution), they ran across dial-up internet connections and lots of tea was drunk whilst waiting to be wowed by... well not much at all.
Microsoft still remained a giant, Google and Yahoo were on a par and in relative infancy. We kind of had cloud computing, in the form of Hotmail, though it was so slow and cumbersome that even sharing a photo was slow, low-res and subject to upload or download dropouts.
It all seems very old-hat now, but back then it seemed amazing, a new frontier and enabled us to do things we hadn't been able to before. For myself I was travelling on the other side of the world and loving the fact that I could email home. Flickr, Facebook, Youtube and smartphones were yet to make it even easier for later generations.
What did the 2000's give us?
Here's the interesting part though, things like the following didn't exist, many weren't even dreamed of and others remained part of science fiction. Wikipedia, Google Maps, iTunes, Youtube, Skype, flat-screens TVs, iPods, mobile facebook updates, twitter, wifi, geo-tagging, user-generated content, flash drives, netbooks, blogs, mash-ups, video-calls, video on demand, IPTV.
What's next?
So what's coming that we haven't dreamed of yet and don't realise we are missing? It'll be far more than the 3DTV, Tablet devices and Cloud computing that are on our current horizon.
In the words of 3 wise men.
Niels Bohr "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future."
Peter Drucker "The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different."
Carl Sandburg "Nothing happens unless first we dream."
Y2K had just fizzled, the dotcom bubble hadn't yet exploded.
A PC (just about) ran Windows 98, had a processor measured in Mhz and maybe a 20 GB hard disk. Less than modern smartphones. Although we marveled at it's "multimedia" capabilities, it really amounted to being able to look at low-res pictures and clunkily play a bit of music. It was beige and had a CRT monitor that weighed so much you weren't allowed to try and move it at work, for fear of damaging your back. You regularly shared files limited to kb on floppy disks, though they were so unreliable that it was like russian roulette.
Mobile phones were black and white screened and limited to just phones, no camera, no music, no mobile internet. The iPod wasn't around. Taking your music with you literally meant taking your Cd's (worse still but slightly more mobile, cassette tapes) with you.
Websites were basic and limited to reading information (pre Web 2.0 read, write, revolution), they ran across dial-up internet connections and lots of tea was drunk whilst waiting to be wowed by... well not much at all.
Microsoft still remained a giant, Google and Yahoo were on a par and in relative infancy. We kind of had cloud computing, in the form of Hotmail, though it was so slow and cumbersome that even sharing a photo was slow, low-res and subject to upload or download dropouts.
It all seems very old-hat now, but back then it seemed amazing, a new frontier and enabled us to do things we hadn't been able to before. For myself I was travelling on the other side of the world and loving the fact that I could email home. Flickr, Facebook, Youtube and smartphones were yet to make it even easier for later generations.
What did the 2000's give us?
Here's the interesting part though, things like the following didn't exist, many weren't even dreamed of and others remained part of science fiction. Wikipedia, Google Maps, iTunes, Youtube, Skype, flat-screens TVs, iPods, mobile facebook updates, twitter, wifi, geo-tagging, user-generated content, flash drives, netbooks, blogs, mash-ups, video-calls, video on demand, IPTV.
What's next?
So what's coming that we haven't dreamed of yet and don't realise we are missing? It'll be far more than the 3DTV, Tablet devices and Cloud computing that are on our current horizon.
In the words of 3 wise men.
Niels Bohr "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future."
Peter Drucker "The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different."
Carl Sandburg "Nothing happens unless first we dream."
Thursday, 14 January 2010
ACMA report on Australian Communications
ACMA released a report today which confirms what we already know... our mobile and online usage is growing at a staggering rate. Research that shows the extent to which we are online more, in more places, downloading more data.
Mobile services up 9.5% on a year earlier.
3G mobile services up 43%
Wireless broadband up to 25% of all internet subscribers
Data downloaded up a massive 80%
Average time online up 21%
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