Monthly Archives: July 2011

Angry Birds Themed Mooncakes

A Rovio press release details the imminent release of more locally branded merchandise in China.

Rovio will develop games and other products designed to appeal to Chinese fans, with the first game, the “Moon Festival” episode for Angry Birds Seasons arriving in September, in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Beyond China, “Moon Festival” will share this culturally important festival season with hundreds of millions of Angry Birds fans worldwide, celebrating Chinese culture in every corner of the world.
Angry Birds themed moon cakes will also be available in China, allowing local fans to connect their virtual and physical worlds to the delight of their family and friends.
“As we have done in all of our markets around the world, we will create products specifically for this market,” said Vesterbacka. “Angry Birds will recognize the uniqueness of China and our Chinese fans.”

Unfortunately no pictures of the mooncakes were available. Via Gamasutra.

Good Mobile Experiences Unfold & Progressively Reveal their Nature

Rachel Hinman argues that successful PC and mobile experiences are built on fundamentally different conceptual models and leverage different psychological functions of the user. Understanding these differences will help you create better experiences for both contexts.

Users of desktop experiences interact with graphical user interfaces (aka GUIs). Graphical user interfaces are built on the psychological function of recognition. Users click on a menu item, the interface provides a list of actions, the user recognizes the appropriate action and clicks on it. GUIs reliance on recognition gave rise to the term WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get). Users can see all their options and minimal visual differentiation between interface elements is commonly used.
In contrast, mobile experiences – especially those with touch screens and natural user interfaces – can feel anchorless by comparison….
The natural user interfaces (aka NUIs) found on most modern mobile devices are built on the psychological function of intuition. Instead of recognizing an action from a list, users must be able to sense from the presentation of the interface what is possible. Instead of “what you see is what you get” NUIs are about “what you do is what you get.” Users see their way through GUI experiences, and sense their way through NUI ones. Unlike GUI interfaces with minimal differentiation between interface elements, NUI interfaces typically have fewer options and there is more visual differentiation and hierarchy between the interface elements.

Read her complete article here. Via Putting People First.

Great Balls of Wire

Great Balls of Wire
Designed by Søren Refsgaard for Danish company Bald & Bang, winner of the Red Dot Design Award in 2009, Great Balls of Wire is a tennis ball sized device which can swallow up to 5 feet of cable and gives a simple and attractive solution to the usual mess of cables associated with modern life. Available in red, orange, pink, grey, blue, black, yellow, green, and white.
I hate cables.

Bagby Limited Edition Bag

Bagby Limited Edition Bag
Los Angeles-based design studio Otaat’s Bagby features a large opening for easy access and two straps (one long, one short) to allow carriage versatility. Carry as a funnel-like hang-bag where small items fall to the tip for easy access, or carry as a cornucopeia with an extended bottom surface for longer items. Made with cotton canvas with double-stitched seams.
Bagby Limited Edition Bag

Peg


Peg uses a simple clamp mechanism found in a clothespin rather than the traditional twist socket utilized in most household lights. By Steffi Min.

Table 7 – short film


A couple on the brink of a breakup has an intimate conversation in a restaurant, unaware that their every word is being closely monitored. However, not all is as it seems.

Wood Wood Tri Purse

Wood Wood Tri Purse
Despite the unfortunate purse moniker, this bag made from 100% sheep nappa is perfect for all your personal items like iPod, phone, passport, credit card holder. Not for the organized obsessed but perfect as a stuff sack.
Wood Wood Tri Purse

Sunforger Painter Bag

South2 West8 Painters Bag
Lovely utility bag made from traditional boat cover cloth. Fabric like this is usually characterized by a high count cotton army duck with compounds for greater water repellency and mildew resistance. Fantastic material for Asian weather. Huge bag with a large pocket at the front, leather loops and metal hardware. Classic.
The whole South2 West8 catalogue kills me.
Sunforger Painter Bag

Bangkok – City of Angels


Thinking of Bangkok today I am reminded about how much I miss visiting the Chatuchak weekend market. Part 1 of a series, Bangkok – City of Angels by Dirk Fischer is a nice taste of the atmosphere there (without the heat).

American smartphone customers are consuming lots of media

A new study indicates there’s a dramatic shift to “smartphone culture,” where people are using social networks and downloading media such as games on their phones, according to Magid Media Futures: Mobile 2011. Among the findings, smartphone users spend more on virtual goods in games than social networking users do.

For years, American cell phone usage lagged behind that of Europeans and the Japanese, but that seems to be changing at long last.
About 45 percent of smartphone users play games on their phones. Smartphone owners are three to five times more likely to play games, use social networks, and access the internet from their phones, in comparison to traditional feature phone owners.
Magid found that among those who play games on their phones, the majority use the phone as their primary gaming device. Of those who do not play smartphone games, 55 percent said they may start playing in the next 12 months. One third of smartphone gamers who have not spent money on smartphone games say they may start in the next 12 months.

VentureBeat: American smartphone customers are consuming lots of media