New 3lectro Mixy Mix

A new mix. Yeah. This goes out to Fraser, making me get back on the mixing.

Click on my podcast on the right to listen or download directly from here.

Sony Ericsson C905 Review

esterday I received my new phone - the Sony Ericsson C905 Cybershot. Here are my thoughts after a day of use.

I love it. I really do. People were saying that the phone would be ungainly because it has an 8.1 megapixel camera on board but in fact it is only a few millimeters thicker than the phone I was upgrading from - the Sony Ericsson K810i.

It’s my first slider phone so I have no experience with consistent slider usage but the motion seems solid. The only problem with the slider is that is doesn’t slide the keypad out far enough so there is very little space between the main phone and the first row of keys leading to pressing the ‘1′ and ‘4′ keys at the same time but I have no doubt I will get use to it.

The features list is quite extensive even though it isn’t a smartphone.

• 8.1 MP Camera
• Xenon Flash
• AF Assist Light (Which doubles as a torch when recording video in low light)
• Face Detection
• WI-FI
• GPS (Real not pseudo)
• HSDPA
• 3G
• GPRS
• WAP
• Accellerometer
• M2 Memory Card Slot (2GB Supplied)

The most important change in this phone for me is the inclusion of a ‘D-pad’ instead of the dreaded joystick that Sony Ericsson seem so fond of. They seem to randomly include either so I am glad this phone has been chosen for the ‘D-pad’.

All in all I am very impressed with the amount of technology that has been packed into this phone considering that 18 months ago my previous phone was the pinnacle of mobile camera technology. Imagine what will be available in another 18 months. Samsung have already hinted at a 12MP camera phone in 2009 that occupies less space than their existing 8MP sensor.

Here are some pictures taken from my window. The first with my old Sony Ericsson K810i and the second with my new Sony Ericsson C905. Click to see the full size images.

Dissertation Questionnaire

I have just come up with some questrions to try and help me find out the online usage and help me with my dissertation.

If you would like to help me out and fill it out, it’s just 10 questions and the link is below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=z9I4F5ll_2b_2bZgd_2fY1SSx8EA_3d_3d

Xbox Dashboard Update

Microsoft announced at E3 this year that the Xbox Dashboard would be getting revamped, more than that, it would be getting replaced by a newer supposedly better user interface. There are two parts of this that I am interested in, one being what the new interface will be, what new features it will have and how I will feel about the console I have come to know and love changing. The other is the fact that Microsoft is updating millions of Xboxes all over the world with nothing more than a download via the internet - something that I find staggering as the Xbox Live system will only be down for 24 hours.

Judging from the keynote speach at E3, the change will be a big one but not necessarily a good one. The new interface is drab - grey and black, not the colourful one that greets me currently. Lovely oranges, reds purples, greens and blues will be banished in favour of a more PS3 meets Wii style menu.

Next is the introduction of avatars. The most annoying creation of recent years in my opinion. You can spend half an hour creating a virtual character that is ridiculous and looks nothing like you. Designed so you can share more of your personality with the online community. No thanks. With the new interface when I sign in to Xbox Live and go to my ‘buddy list’ , god help me the American influence, I will now see stupid characters standing around on the screen instead of a list of friends. Is that better user experience? I think not.

This new interface is designed to make the Xbox more family friendly and in doing so will alienate many of its fans. I much prefer the existing Dashboard and even that of the PS3 which is clean, slick and easily navigated. In changing this, the most basic of functionality, Microsoft is trying to take some market share away from the family friendly Wii but will inevitabley dilute it’s niche market and will gamers struggle to identify with the console.

Best Feature: The ability to rip your games to your hard drive for faster loading times and reduced lag.
Worst Feature: Avatars. Trying to compete with second life, PS3’s HOME and the Wii means once again Microsoft have shown they have no imagination or creativity of their own and are simply copying the other guy.

In other words i think Microsoft have shot themselves in the foot with this one, but the technical skills involved with doing so are so mindboggling that I can;t wait to try it out.

Keep Murcielago ‘Bat Wings’ Up & Reset Them Again At Will

To start I would like to say that if someone shows you how to do something with an object that said object was not specifically designed to do, make sure they know how to put it back to the way it was.

Also we tried looking for a solution to the problem but Google came up with nothing relevant. So I thought I would contribute the solution to the world.

My dad had just such a problem with Murcielago air scoops affectionately known as bat wings. They are designed to raise out of the sleek lines of the car when you go above 50km/h to increase airflow to the engine. There is a button on the center console of the car to allow you to raise them at your whim but the engine needs to be running and so obviously the key needs to be in.

Someone told my dad how to ‘fool’ the car into keeping the bat wings up without the engine running. So without a second thought, he did it and, it worked - the engine was off and the bat wings were up. So how do you get them down? When you press the button on the center console the dash reads “FAULT”.

Here’s how to do it but more importantly how to PUT IT BACK courtesy of my father.

“Keeping bat wings up to either clean them or pose:

* start engine
* push bat wings up button
* wait for wings to fully extend
* open engine cover
* have somebody ready to switch off battery isolator
* switch of engine with key
* immediately switch off battery isolator
* wings will now stay up regardless of battery switch or ignition position and engine operation
* Bat wings fault light will indicate fault on dash if push button operated

Returning to normal operation:

* turn battery isolator off
* turn battery isolator on
* hold bat wings push button down
* turn on ignition but do not start engine
* wait for bat wings to fully retract
* start engine
* test bat wings open / close with push button

Done”

Have fun! Need I say more?

Lamborghini Murcielago & Shelby GT500

I recently had the opportunity to take some pictures of a Lamborhini Mercielago. The full set is on Flickr.

Give Me Buttons Any Day

iPhone. LG Viewty. Microsoft Surface, HP Touch Smart. All these touch screen phones are already on the market and there are many more on the way as every company follows suit wanting to have at least one touch screen product on their product line-up.

These are great technological achievements and showcase some of the best gadgets we have to offer…

BUT… They don’t have buttons! The traditional click button is one of the most fundamental, subtle, interactive experiences. The feeling you get when you press a button and hear the ‘click’ that it makes is fantastic and feeling the different textures of buttons is such a tactile experience that connects you to your gadget. You know the feeling of buttons that are familiar and you almost form a bond through that familiarity.

So now the world is moving away from this tradtitional technology towards an ironically named ‘touch‘ interface when the experience is a much more visual one. The visual experience is an obvious experience and with a new technology that many people are jumping on the band-waggon with. Few companies have considered the impact of a button-less design, some are experimenting with Haptic feedback. A vibration is felt when a virtual button is pressed, giving the user a physical cue confirming that they have actually pressed the button (a common problem with touch screen interfaces).

Now don’t get me wrong, touch screen interfaces do provide a great deal in place of traditional button interfaces such as the ability to instantly change the look of a virtual button or change the language. The best of which is to have contextual buttons based on the current screen you are viewing.

There needs to be a middle ground though. Something a few companies are experimenting with. The first that springs to mind is the iPod, a touch sensitive surface for scrolling and volume control but also a click button interface for making selections. Perfect. A few more examples examples are the LG KF600 which has a small contextual menu at the bottom of the main screen but has traditional buttons once the phone slides open. A happy compromise I think. Another example is the Optimus Maximus keyboard that has the traditional button layout but each button is a small OLED display capable of changing depending on what is required. So depending on what application you are using, contextual buttons appear. The best of both worlds is doable.

Touch screen works, but should not be exclusive. Users have other senses that need to be stimulated to create a more complete experience. Touch is a very important way of connecting with objects and I believe it should be used in harmony with the visual connection for the user to be able to have the best experience possible.

Masters of The Universe!

I have been offered a work placement at ITV Future Technologies in Camden. Great! I’m not writing about that now but I’m sure I will post about what I can while I’m working there. It has got me thinking about my future though. What do I want to do? Who do I want to do it for? Will it make me any money?

I am talking about employability of course, and not just getting a job after my BA Honours but ‘being all that I can be’. I am concerned that my BA may not be enough let me reach the heights that I want to in my career. Fate could deal me some great cards in terms of working for the right people and being in the right place at the right time but if there is something I can do now to give me the edge over my competitors then I owe it to my future to do it. I have learnt from my father’s experience when he reached a point from which he could not ascend because of a piece of paper (or lack thereof) regardless of experience and being the best in his field. I don’t want this to happen to me, so any qualifications I can get now, I won’t have to struggle without later and may open doors for me sooner than would have otherwise opened.

What this is all leading to is me doing a masters. To this end I have begun looking at MA and MSc courses starting September 2009 and thought I would share a few with you. I will NOT be doing a masters at Ravensbourne as I feel in order to get the best out of it, I need resources. Something that Ravensbourne’s head faculty seem reluctant to provide (for whatever reason) to the interaction department.

Here are a few of the courses I am considering:

MSc Multimedia Design and Virtual Reality Technologies

MA Interaction Design

MA Design for Interactive Media

MSc Human Computer Interaction with Ergonomics

MSc Digital Media

MSc Human-Computer Interaction

I am hoping to talk to someone at Ravensbourne soon about how to go about applying as even if I decide not to do a masters, there is no harm in applying. Oh and it’s going to cost about £5,000.

Photos From Bahamas

I have been receiving so many compliments about my photography from the Bahamas that I posted on Facebook, and yet I haven’t plugged them here. So, I shall — here are may favorites.

As always click on the images to view the full set in Flickr. The sunset is my desktop wallpaper at the moment :D

Rio Surfaced

While I was in Vegas I had the opportunity to go to the Rio hotel and casino and to the bar with Microsoft Surface tables in it. At first I was really quite amazed at how seamlessly they worked with the decor and surroundings but as I explored them further there were a few usability issues with them.

So start with, nobody was really ‘using them’. I sat down with a few other people at one of the tables, they were trying to communicate with the table next to us. On the screen was a CCTV feed from all the other active tables. It seemed as though you had to drag and drop words from the sides to the screen and the message would send. This didn’t happen, to the point where we were running backwards and forwards between the tables defeating the point of the casual flirty comment between tables.

Another thing was that nobody was putting their drinks on the actual screen, even though cool effects happen when you do, nobody seemed to have noticed this. The problem was that there was a rim round the edge that was a different colour to the screen so people put their glasses on the edge as they didn’t want to break the screen.

I’m sure there were many more features that these tables have (like ordering drinks and playing games etc) but after the initial frustration with the technology nobody seemed interested in exploring further. The average usage time from what I observed was less than 10 minutes.

The more you drink, the more you want it to work but the less it does.

All in all, it was a gimmick for the bar and for Microsoft.