hellokinsella

Is Google about to release a game changer? Check out this update to their Mobile App which is due this week.

Google Mobile App for iPhone, now with Voice Search

The internet is buzzing. Geo-aware voice recognition. Holy shit.. that is cool.

I know everyone’s talking about how amazing it is that Obama is going to be the next President so I’ll keep this short.

I think it’s an incredible landmark moment for so many reasons, but one thing that impressed me about the Obama campaign was it’s use of social media.

This was in my Twitter stream when i got home tonight.

I saved it.

A look at the world of brands, media, communication, technology and that in 2010.

2010: Entertainment and Communication from Faris Yakob on Vimeo.

There’s loads more great insights and thinking over at Faris’ blog.

I’ve recently realised what a complete waste of time it is opening up my bookmarks, visiting a site, checking for new content, closing the site, opening up my bookmarks, going to the next site, checking for new content, closing the site, repeat, etc, etc, etc.

I decided to give Google Reader a try after Joe Burke recommended it and it’s transformed the way I consume information on the web.

If you haven’t tried it yet, or heard of it, Google Reader is a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline.

You just drag a bookmarklet to your bookmarks bar then subscribe to the sites you normally visit.

Do that once and all your content is gathered in one place. Updated feeds are highlighted and broken down by site, or you can choose to view all the updates on a continuously scrolling page.

The benefits of using Reader over something like Netvibes, or a desktop based app, is that in the mobile browsing space Googles minimal uncluttered interface really comes into it’s own.

The clean layouts and snappy load times make Google Reader a joy to use on my iPhone.

The other amazing thing about using Google Reader is that because all the content is pulled into Google, everything is indexed and searchable. So digging out that post you read a few weeks ago is as simple as typing a few keywords.

You can also Share items on a public URL. Here’s mine.

Anyway that’s enough of me waxing-lyrical. it’s bloody brilliant and if you use the internet a lot for reading, research or keeping up to date with trends… it’s essential you move to Google Reader.

Google have been struggling for ages with how to monetise YouTube but starting with music and videogame partners YouTube will now begin inserting click-to-buy links below select videos.

Right now these affiliate links connect to iTunes and Amazon but we’re told more are coming.

Really good post from Ben Terret about the idea of Play Small. Spot on.

One thing that really brings home Play Small to me is iPhone web pages.

Most people would assume that a mobile web page is a compromise. Not as good or as rich as the main page. The thing is, more and more I’m finding I like the mobile pages better than the main pages.

Stripped of all superfluous content and navigation, devoid of over elobarate graphics, they’re like raw ‘what I came here for’ in one handy pocket sized rectangle.

I now find myself opting for the small version even when the full sized is next to me on the laptop. I prefer the BBC News small. I prefer Typepad small. Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Financial Times, Telegraph - I prefer them all small.

These aren’t iPhone apps. These are web pages designed for the iPhone.

Dopplr is pretty much the only site where the big version works just as well on the small screen, I’d even say it was better than the mobile version. Dopplr is very well designed and it’s also constructed around a very strict grid and I suspect this is why it works so well small.

The full Dopplr site is on the left, the mobile Dopplr site is on the right.

It’s a design truth that it’s better to design something with restrictions. And it maybe that size is just another restriction, but I think it’s more than that. Just like Wil’s sketches feel light and quick, so do iPhone web pages. Partly because they are quicker (quicker to load etc) but partly because they’re demanding less of my attention. I can get to where I want to go much, much quicker.

Make no mistake, we’re currently leaving the era of Baroque brands and moving into a new period of austerity in communication. And as we move towards Depression 2.0 maybe Play Small will become a vital tool for all designers across all forms of media.

Read the full article at Noisy Decent Graphics

PS.

What ever happened to .mobi?

Kleber, in collaboration with Universal Everything, have launched a new site for the Manhattan Loft Corporation using Google Maps as the foundation.

Layering a clean design on top of the data available from Google means visitors have access to information on nearby restaurants, shops and places of interest… and photos of the area.

Take a look for yourself:
Fitzrovia Apartments

It’s an example of how agencies are beginning to blend together the different layers of the static web and the social web.

The social web is at the root of what been coined the “Live Web“.

The Live Web isn’t just built, it grows, adapts and changes. It’s an environment where we text and post and author and update and tweet and syndicate and subscribe and notify and feed.

For more about changing nature of the web check out the excellent Social Web Design.

The latest minisite by Uniqlo is all about colors.

The site opens with you traveling through a colorful landscape populated by merino’s pullovers. When you see a color that you like, you click and discover the full range of products available in that tone.

Simple but effective.

http://www.uniqlo.com/merino/

via The Adverblog

I wanted to cut down on the number of sites I was promoting and saw Russell Davies had signed-up for a Soup account. I took a look and was hooked.

The registration is devastatingly well thought through.

You customise the look of the site and import all your feeds before it asks you to choose a username so they can ‘remember’ you settings. By that time you’re already hooked as you have a sense of ownership.

You’ve also had change to play with another really snazzy feature.

Using a nice bit of Ajax the site loads in more and more content when you get to the bottom of a page. I’ve got my blog, Delicious, Flickr, Last.fm, Twitter, Tumblr, Stumbleupon and YouTube feeds imported and scrolling endlessly.

If you want to have a crack yourself here’s a JQuery implementation for endless scrolling.

It’s a really fresh piece of functionality but you should check it out for yourself: http://hellokinsella.soup.io/

i’ve taken the plunge and signed-up to Dopplr.

Matt Jones from Dopplr came in to do a lunchtime session at glue and having seen some of the cool stuff they’re doing with data it was only a matter of time.

Dopplr lets you share your future travel plans privately with friends and colleagues. The service then highlights coincidence, for example, telling you that three people you know will be in Paris when you will be there too. You can use Dopplr on your computer or mobile, and it links with online calendars and social networks.

The UI and design of the site is simple yet fantastic, the use of advanced coding tricks is clever but never excessive, and it’s another great example of a “connected” app, talking to Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and Fire Eagle.

You can SMS, Twitter and email your tips into Dopplr and there are loads of nice touches which build over time, such as Personal Velocity.

Take a look at my trips:
http://www.dopplr.com/traveller/hellokinsella/public

Read more about Dopplr and the technology behind it on their blog or take a tour.