YouTube looks slicker than it ever has, and comes with a few performance adjustments. It's a sign that Google's got big plans for the site--as big as taking on television. READ»
Surveillance equipment is supposed to cut costs, but if it stalls in rough terrain or breaks, it can actually add to them. That’s a design problem.
In Sweden, a mobile surveillance robot originally designed to explore other ...READ»
The surprise star at Facebook's f8 conference was Nicholas Felton, whom Facebook's head product developer credited with inspiring the layout of the revamped Facebook. How'd that happen?!READ»
In all the coverage of Facebook and its dominance, one group is seldom talked about: The 64-member design staff, which is busy honing interactions that affect hundreds of millions of people.READ»
You're on iTunes downloading something. For the purposes of this article, let's just say it's the new Fast Company United States of Design iPad app (It's free!). You navigate the simple interface, click the well-designed icons, and ...READ»
Pop Chart Lab, one of our favorite creators of infographics, has done it again: a poster which every gamer should get RIGHT THIS SECOND. Having already tracked everything from wrestler names to beer, they've created what is surely the ...READ»
It sounds like a character in a Ridley Scott film: A robot that's so smart, so efficient, it only works when people are there to monitor its performance. A robot that's so creative, so conniving, it actually preys upon human attention ...READ»
When you're a company with an encyclopedic list of achievements that includes everything from the transistor radio to the telephone, your employees can't possibly be asked to remember every single innovation detail from your storied ...READ»
The Google-powered precision of the Maps app for iPhone and iPad is so ubiquitous that it's hard to think of digital maps looking any other way. But Apple, preternatural innovator (and now-enemy of Google) that it is, may change that ...READ»
The long-fought battle for the remote control hasn’t gone away; it’s just gotten more complicated. With most TV hookups requiring a receiver or DVD player, the power-grabbing command “Just hand me the remote” can now be ...READ»
Over the July 4th holiday weekend, with patriotism and fireworks in the air, some colleagues and I began discussing the concept of American Design -- that is, the design characteristics and elements that are distinctly and ...READ»
The Nokia N9, unveiled last week, is a beautiful device with an exceedingly difficult job: improve upon the iPhone's UI without totally admitting that it has become a universal standard for touch phones. At its best, the N9 succeeds ...READ»
Over the past week, both Microsoft and Apple previewed their new desktop operating systems. Both explicitly pull their interactions from their respective smartphone user interfaces. Here’s Microsoft’s Windows 8:
[youtube ...READ»
Let’s call 2011 the year of the tablet. In the last several months, virtually every major electronics manufacturer has introduced a hopeful competitor to Apple’s iPad, and the aisles at January’s International Consumer ...READ»
Microsoft teased Windows 8 for tablets late last night, giving us a sexy peep at its UI. The tech world has since gone aflutter, despite big questions about Microsoft's approach. And the real innovation is behind the scenes: ARM chip support.READ»
Interface: what a weird word. But all it really means is "a means of letting you do something." When you come home, you don't "interface with your house," you open the door. When you want to curl up with a novel, you don't "access ...READ»
There are enough musical-instrument apps to fill an orchestra, converting iPhones and iPads into everything from pocket pianos to trombones. But the new NodeBeat doesn't just ape another instrument; it transforms your iPad into a ...READ»
Everyone on the web (read: that tiny subclass of "everyone" that gets paid to care about social networking apps) was shooting their mouth off last week about the latest'n'greatest app on the block, a $41-million funded doohickey ...READ»
The iPad is a natural device for magazine content--it may be the future of the genre, in many ways. But successes have been few and far between so far, so Apple may be trying to help digital magazines by building in a template to its code. READ»