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Feeling the Interface→

Interesting thoughts by Alex4D on the new Force Touch trackpad and its possible implementation on iOS:

When I dragged the clip to its maximum length I did feel a little bump. Without looking at the timeline and looking at the viewer, I could ‘feel’ the end of the clip.

This feature presages the ability for UI pixels to be ‘bumpy’ - for user to feel the texture of application UIs without having to look at where the cursor is. This means that seemingly textured software keyboards and control layouts will be able to be implemented on future trackpads, iPhones and iPads.

Here’s what I wrote about iOS 7’s design refresh when iOS 8 came out:

What I realized in using extensions is how necessary last year’s redesign of iOS was. Imagine if Apple didn’t ship a new design with iOS 7: today, we’d have sheets of stitched leather or shiny metal on top of apps that look like agendas or little robots. The cohesiveness and subdued style that iOS 7 brought with its precise structure and hierarchy allows extensions to integrate nicely with apps, feeling like extra actions rather than eerily realistic objects.

Assuming Apple’s plan is to let users feel the interface on all their devices going forward, can you imagine doing that with UIs that have rugged leather, plastic buttons, and other physical textures close to each other? If that’s the case, I’d wager that Apple’s focus on clarity also applies to tactile feedback for on-screen elements.

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Virtual: Entertainment Lessons→

This week Myke and Federico discuss the reviews for Codename S.T.E.A.M, Kotaku’s revisit of the Metroid Prime Trilogy and why Federico cannot play video games on airplanes.

And when you’re done with the Apple-related part of my trip to America, you can join Myke in his disbelief over what I do on airplanes. You can listen to Virtual #30 here.

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Connected: To America and Back→

On the heels of Apple’s Spring Forward event, the boys talk about Federico’s trip to San Francisco, the new MacBook, the Apple Watch and more.

On last week’s episode of Connected, we discussed my trip to San Francisco for Apple’s event and our first impressions of the announcements. Good addition to my article about it (and great show notes). You can listen to the episode here.

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How the iPhone’s Slo-Mo Is Helping Dancers→

Fascinating story by Christina Bonnington at Wired:

Before the advent of high-quality smartphone shooters, slow-motion was largely left to movie montages, pro-sports instant replays, or pricey camera rigs. The idea that dancers, particularly freelancers and students, would have access to that sort of technology was unthinkable. When you’re making under $30k a year, that money is going towards food and rent, not a high-end DSLR. But now that a smartphone has become practically standard issue, previously high-end camera technology is accessible to almost everyone. And slow motion, while initially more of a gimmick, has slowly matured into a mainstay for some people.

For dancers, it’s become an incredibly useful tool for honing their craft. The newfound affordability of slow motion has enabled them to improve their technique, spruce up their audition reel, and isolate aspects of their performance that were once intangible.

My girlfriend is a dancer, and she can relate to this. Another testament to the iPhone’s transformative effect and how everyday tasks are empowered by new mobile technology.

Don’t miss Dancers of New York, Tristan Pope’s short film mentioned in the article. From Pope’s blog:

For slow motion I used Apple’s stock camera app and for timelapse I used Hyperlapse by instagram. The built in image stabilization made it ideal for quick shots without having to worry about keeping my hands still. If only the stock camera app could utilize this same technology to give the iPhone 6 the same stabilization as the 6 +. You may wonder why I didn’t just get the 6 plus… well, I enjoy my skinny jeans and have girlishly small hands, just ask my piano teacher from middle school.(Although they are rather soft…) Regardless the screen was the perfect size for viewing.

You can watch a preview below.

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Tim Cook on Health→

From Tim Cook’s call on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money, as transcribed by iMore:

Cramer: Let me ask you about where you think things are going — I know that the car, the home — do you think of them as connectivity/social mobile cloud connectivity? Do you feel as though these are the next frontiers, or is there a frontier that I’m missing, I’m not thinking big enough?

Cook: Well, I think that those are two big ones that you’ve talked about. I think that Health may be the biggest one of all, because for years, people have depended on strictly someone else to determine their health. And now these devices — in essence — empower people to manage and track their own health and fitness. And so I think that market is probably significantly underestimated.

I’m confident that Apple has huge plans for personal health over the next few years. They’re just getting started now.

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Thousands Sign Up for Apple’s ResearchKit→

ResearchKit is off to a good start:

Stanford University researchers were stunned when they awoke Tuesday to find that 11,000 people had signed up for a cardiovascular study using Apple Inc.’s ResearchKit, less than 24 hours after the iPhone tool was introduced.

“To get 10,000 people enrolled in a medical study normally, it would take a year and 50 medical centers around the country,” said Alan Yeung, medical director of Stanford Cardiovascular Health. “That’s the power of the phone.”

Bloomberg’s article has also initial numbers for the various apps announced by Apple last week. As I argued in my thoughts on the March 9th event, ResearchKit has the potential to bring change to millions of people.

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Benedict Evans on Apple Watch Edition→

Astute take by Benedict Evans on Apple Watch Edition:

Apple stores are huge rich-media billboards on every major shopping street in the developed world: I can’t think of any other company that has shops as big as that in such premium locations in as many places. Apple retail is a self-funding marketing operation. So too, perhaps, is the gold watch. Apple might only sell a few tens of thousands, but what impression does it create around the $1,000 watch, or the $350 watch? After all, the luxury goods market is full of companies whose most visible products are extremely expensive, but whose revenue really comes from makeup, perfume and accessories. You sell the $50k (or more) couture dress (which may be worn once), but you also sell a lot of lipsticks with the brand halo (and if you think Apple’s margins are high, have a look at the gross margins on perfume).

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Apple Watch Spreadsheet→

Rob Griffiths:

But I am fascinated by this new business Apple’s going into; the sheer number of products and prices is pretty amazing: By my count, Apple will be shipping 38 separate models of watches. There’s a gallery page at Apple’s site where you can page through all of the watches, and get the details on each specific model. You can also view the watches in the store, where you can find pricing info.

Rob put together a spreadsheet to compare case, weight, cost, and more for each Watch model. Useful.

(via Six Colors)

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Rene Ritchie on Using Apple Watch→

Smart observation by Rene Ritchie on using Apple Watch for the first time:

The digital crown and the button aren’t directly analogous to the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons on the iPhone. Force Touch has no analogue on the iPhone (at least not yet). Trying to use the Apple Watch like an iPhone works about as well as trying to use an iPhone like Mac. (Or trying to use the original iPhone like an old-school BlackBerry or Treo.)

Yes, you can go and seek out all the features if you really want to. Apple made it possible. But the watch really wants to bring those features to you.

Something that I’ve noticed is that a lot of people (myself included) tried to rationalize the UX of Apple Watch in the six months since the original announcement. And, for me, a wrong assumption was to believe that Glances were comparable to widgets on iOS 8 – always accessible from anywhere by swiping from the bottom. But Glances are meant to be used to peek at information from the watch face, and the entire structure of the Watch OS is different from iOS. I’m curious to see how quickly I’ll get used to Apple Watch, as brief demo sessions aren’t enough.

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