ui

Gmail tweak gives nod to folder metaphor

Gmail forsook folders for a more flexible idea, labels, but Google has begun making a change acknowledging that the older interface idea has its place.

The drawback of folders is that you must decide which one is the best location for a message you want to file--"family" or "travel," for example. With labels, you can apply both, and in Gmail, clicking either label will show that particular message.

But Google concluded that folders have one nice feature: when you move a message out of the in-box and into them, the message is filed. With Gmail … Read more

New Google toolbar gives Firefox a Chrome look

Google released a second beta of its toolbar software for Firefox that gives the browser a prominent feature of Google's own Chrome.

In Chrome, when you open a new tab, the browser displays a page with up to nine miniature versions of pages you visit often--a selection of what you've shown to be your collective home page. The new beta version of Toolbar 5 does the same for Firefox, including not just the miniature pages, but also the list of recent bookmarks and recently closed tabs that Chrome shows.

There are still no ads, though, which I wonder … Read more

What this Firefox user misses about Chrome

Call me fickle, but I switched my default browser back to Firefox for the time being. In doing so, I discovered the features I really miss about Chrome.

Why did I switch back so soon after lavishing praise on Google's open-source Web browser? Well, when Google added the option to use a cutting-edge "developer preview" version, I signed up, and guess what--it's not as stable. Specifically, both 2.0.156.1 and the newer 2.0.157.2 that I now have installed inexplicably become unresponsive for long periods of time--at least 10 seconds, which is … Read more

A computer revolution through a child's eyes

I have proof from an expert that the iPhone interface really is better. Who's the expert? My 3-year-old son.

Over the years, I've seen countless newbies struggle to use the latest gadget, computer, or software. I like new technology, but it's been work hauling myself up learning curves.

But I'm convinced that after years stuck with only modest tweaks to the WIMP interface--windows, icons, menus, pointing device--real change is upon us. That's chiefly because the pointing devices now can be your own fingers.

Within moments of his first crack at an iPhone, my son, Levi, … Read more

Tab tearing live in latest Firefox test build

Good news for Firefox users who have lusted over Chrome and Safari's option that lets you "tear" away tabs from an open window. The latest build of 3.1 offers it as a standard feature--and it works marvelously.

As in Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari browsers you simply pull away a tab from the interface and it turns into its own window. Likewise you can drag it back into an already opened window, just like you'd do to re-order your existing tabs.

While not a ground-breaking feature, tab tearing is a large step … Read more

Five old-fashioned Web concepts that need to die

Wake up! It's 2008. There are things we've become accustomed to doing and seeing on Web sites for years that really should have vanished by now. Five things come to my mind that are user interface disasters. When I am president I will make sure the Supreme Court outlaws them:

1. Refresh

This whole story came about because I was monitoring the Apple announcement this morning and had to struggle to find a site that didn't need me to press the reload button to see the latest. I just wanted to pull up a blog and see … Read more

MobUI acquires Action Engine, plans iPhone apps

Mobile-app development company MobUI announced Monday that it has raised an undisclosed amount of funding and acquired Action Engine, a fellow mobile-app firm with customers including TiVo, AOL, and The Wall Street Journal.

Though terms of the acquisition haven't been made public, the motivation for MobUI's move is obvious: the success of Apple's iPhone App Store. Since it was launched on in early July, more than 100 million mobile applications have been downloaded.

Other Action Engine customers include MarketWatch, Barrons, MSNBC, and Sports Illustrated. With the acquisition, MobUI said it plans to rapidly create iPhone, mobile Web, … Read more

How will Google Chrome change the user experience on the Web?

By Gianluca Brugnoli, Principal Design Analyst in frog design 's Milan studio

Google Chrome was born explicitly as a platform for Web applications. From the first bits I saw I can say that Google's new creation delivers most of the promises and brings new interesting innovations in the user experience realm. Competitors will find them hard to ignore, especially when you look at the tab concept improvements. For a good review of these points, you can refer to this post on Ars Technica.

Many hailed Google's move as a revolutionary step. And indeed, with Google Chrome, the Web … Read more

82: HDTV in your car at 62 mph

Pirelli's Cyber Tyre talks to the car, HDTV proven to work on the highway, Viper no longer a Dodge? And we go for a ride in the Mazda RX-8 R3. Listen now: Download today's podcast Show notes

• Pirelli Cyber Tyre

• 4G to power HDTV on the road

• California backs pay-by-the-mile auto insurance

• New Sony head unit with USB and ZAPPIN technology

• FCC to force a marriage of HD Radio and Satellite Radio?