SensoryMetrics

Flixster.com is a movie database / social networking mashup. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a site like this get swallowed by Amazon or the like. Flixster is a wonderful environment with a very targeted purpose – sharing your opinion about movies with your social network.

Can you remember when we had to choose between buying one software application over another? For instance, Aldus Freehand or Adobe Illustrator? QuarkXpress or PageMaker? With web applications, such as Facebook or LinkedIN, there’s no need to choose. You can use both. Although very similar, they serve different needs. There may be some overlap in function, but the boundaries between web apps will fade as the popularity of APIs continues to grow. Successful web apps will be infectious and will show up across your web horizon in multiple locations when you need access to them. My Flixster Movie Favourites popped right into my Facebook without any effort. It’s fun to use applications that plug and play.

[tags]Flixster,social-media,APIs[/tags]

Popularity: 37%

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Long Tail, User Experience, Web Apps APIs, Flixster, social-media

Fresh off the USPTO press – Cisco published a patent application this morning titled System and method for changing network behavior based on presence information.

A system and method for changing network behavior based on presence information includes detecting one or more presence indicators. The one or more presence indicators indicate presence information. An electronic persistent presence (EPP) is formed based on the one or more presence indicators. It is determined whether to change the network behavior from a first user policy to a second user policy according to the EPP. The second user policy associated with the EPP is implemented according to a determination that the network behavior is to be changed.

The interesting part is that the network component will be open to a number of “presence indicators”. I’m interpreting this as meaning that future networks will be able to natively respond to new presence indicators such as relationships and context. This is the kind of new presence often touted by Alec Saunders in his famous Voice 2.0 manifesto.

[tags]Cisco, presence, Alec-Saunders[/tags]

Popularity: 34%

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Innovation, Patents, User Experience, Web 3.0 Alec-Saunders, Cisco, Presence

ok… we’ll stop writing about iPhone…soon. SM friend Peter Krug points us to iPhoney – a browser simulation tool from Markham Ontario based MarketCircle. The simulator is free and open-source. It only runs on Mac OS X 10.4.7 and up. What can you do with it?

• Test your iPhone-enabled Web 2.0 applications and compatible web sites.
• Open any website that works with Safari (use Safari 3 beta for the most accurate experience).
• Rotate to see websites in either portrait or landscape orientation.
• Show or hide the location bar for a full-screen iPhone experience.
• Simulate the iPhone user agent, to test browser redirection scripts.

[tags]iphoney, iphone, simulation[/tags]

Popularity: 35%

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Usability, User Experience iphone, iphoney, simulation

Just listening to this long painful iPhone keyboard video from Apple, I really feel that there’s no way I’m giving up my trusty keyboard! “If you’re good enough, you can master two thumbs!” Why would I give up eight fingers? Would it be because I’m not going to be using my keyboard very often with this device? This is where voice recognition could have really made a big difference in a product, and Apple skipped it.
I’m also surprised to hear people say things like, this device has no games. Well, no kidding, if you want a gaming device buy a cell phone or better yet a PSP. Of course, the lack for Flash support kills a lot of online gaming options. WTF Apple? Haven’t heard of Flash? Even a cheap Nokia portable wifi web device supports Flash on its Opera browser.
Maybe iPhone 2.0 will be a little smoother. Of course, the iPhones have so much else going on that, the minor inconveniences probably won’t put you off owning one of these cool new hand held computers. And the lack of a real keyboard should keep you happy that you still have a real computer to do most of your online stuff including surf the web, read your Facebook, update your Flickr, and write your blog. Wait a minute, why would I buy an iPhone? Because it looks cool and you can watch YouTube videos! Oh, it’s a limited device for when I’m on the bus. Uh, ok.

How often would you use the keyboard?

Why would you buy an iPhone?

[tags]iPhone,virtual-keyboard[/tags]

Popularity: 32%

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Innovation, Mobility, Usability, User Experience iphone, virtual-keyboard

Of course usability is not just important for software and old Chrysler automobiles…it’s also critical for ghost tracking equipment! Suppose it’s late at night and you’re alone in some drafty deserted mansion – you don’t want to be fumbling around with the user guide for your handy 3-axis digital gaussmeter! Worse yet you don’t want to be on hold waiting for tech support!

Thankfully the SPI Ghost Hunt Store offers the Bell Model 4090! It’a bargain at $794.00. Finding out that the ghosts are closing in on you is easy as 1-2-3!

Hand held, and completely self-contained, it is extremely fast and easy to use. Simply turn the unit on and take true RMS 3-axis readings. Hit the axis button once to view the X-axis component of the field strength, a second press gives the Y-axis component, a third press shows the Z-axis. This is a really fine piece of equipment at a great price. Made is USA. Full year warranty.

Popularity: 18%

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Gadgets, Mobility, Usability, User Experience

While product usability is all the rage right now, it’s rare that you’ll see it mentionned in mainstream media ad campaigns. I’m not sure why. Back in the glory days of magazine ads and the consumer revolution of the 40-50s, ease of use was often touted as a key differentiator – especially when marketing to women.

Here in this terrific ad for a 1956 Plymouth, the spread focusses on all the ease-of-use advantages of its new “push button transmission.” As an added bonus – push button electric windows!

ad via historyofthebutton

[tags]Buttons, advertising[/tags]

Popularity: 27%

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Business, Innovation, Usability, User Experience advertising, Buttons

Ok, for all you crafty developers out there, here’s a great product opportunity – after the fact digital camera sensor dust clean. Let’s say you have some dust on your camera’s CMOS sensor. Of course, we all know how to clean the sensor having read articles like this one. However, what if you’ve just come back from vacation with thousands of shots and you realize that… “yes, there really was dust on that sensor!” And worse, you did nothing about it! If you’re patient, you can fix the photos with Photoshop removing the specks one by one, photo by photo. Youch!

If only there were a software program that could take a photograph of a test pattern using your camera (with the dust not yet removed) and then use that test pattern as a basis for correcting all your photographs from your last vacation in one foul swoop. Either a PS plug-in or a self running app. This would be pretty cool and I’d buy it. Well, please let me know if you wrote such an application or know of anyone that has. Free advertising of that product here!

[tags]Digital-Camera,Sensor,Dust-Removal[/tags]

Popularity: 21%

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Innovation Digital-Camera, Dust-Removal, Sensor

If the Facebook open API is any indication, LinkedIn’s announced app platform should generate a lot of interest from developers. Granted, most of the Facebook apps are a bit “juvenile” – although I can appreciate the satisfaction of biting your old boss and turning him / her into a brain eating zombie! What other Facebook apps might adapt well to LinkedIn’s business community?

iVouch – recommend some restaurants from the places you’ve travelled. Might be useful for a business trip to a place you haven’t been – especially trying to find that perfect place to meet clients.

LocationUpdater – trying to find that wayward employee? Is he sleeping in the broom closet again?? What a second – your secretary appears to be in there too!

SuperPoke – Sometimes just poking someone just won’t get their attention. Just try to tear developers away from their workstations to attend a UI design review! Why not throw sheep at them to get you noticed? After all, it’s not like they’re coding Cobaaaaaahhhl!

CountDowns – everyone’s got deadlines, schedules… how many days until the end of this sprint??? Why not share you stress with others?

BluntOpinions – Some ideas are just stupid. If only you had a safe way to let your colleagues know that their idea just sucks.

ChipIn – The dreaded office task of collecting spare change to buy a gift for the departing, or the retiring, or the sick, or the pregnant, or the engaged, or the mentally committed… Round up your network and ChipIn handles the communication…

[tags]Facebook, APIs, Zombies, LinkedIn, ChipIn, BluntOpinions, CountDowns, SuperPoke, LocationUpdater, iVouch[/tags]

Popularity: 58%

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Business, Long Tail, User Experience, Web 3.0, Web Apps APIs, BluntOpinions, ChipIn, CountDowns, Facebook, iVouch, LinkedIn, LocationUpdater, SuperPoke, Zombies

At last count there’s over 1000 entries in Facebook’s app directory since it launched it’s platform. So out of a thousand there’s bound to be good ones, right? Here’s my favourite (at least this minute.) Zombie. It’s a game of sorts – you just go out and bite your friends, then they turn into zombies. Infect 9000 people and become a zombie god! There’s already nearly 50,000 users signed up – so you better watch out!

I should call O’Reilly and start planning the WastedTime 2.0 conference!

[tags]Facebook, APIs, Zombies[/tags]

Popularity: 42%

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Innovation, Long Tail, Web 3.0, Web Apps APIs, Facebook, Zombies

Well you might find this spam funny (if you weren’t a dog!!!)

Hello my friend! I am ready to kill myself and eat my dog, if medicine prices here (http://stopmatch.hk/) are bad. Look, the site and call me 1-800 if its wrong..

My dog and I are still alive

Popularity: 17%

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Pirates