Bloomberg: Apple’s design guru Jony Ive ‘methodically reviewing’ iOS 7 overhaul

By Christian Zibreg on May 1, 2013

It’s been six months since Tim Cook reshuffled Apple’s leadership team, firing iOS architect Scott Forstall over his abrasive management style and unwillingness to collaborate with other members of the executive team, namely Apple’s industrial design guru, the 46-year-old Jonathan Ive.

As a result of the shake-up, Ive has assumed much broader responsibilities that now encompass all of Apple’s design, both the look and feel of its hardware and software.

Apple’s press release stated that America’s most influential Briton “will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company” and today Bloomberg sheds more light on the difficulties Ive faces in the massively challenging overhaul of iOS 7, Apple’s mobile operating system powering iPhones, iPads and iPods… Read More

 

Alleged iPad 5 rear shell highlights new design

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 22, 2013

Case maker Tactuc is on a roll lately. After the vendor, in what some people likened to a PR stunt, last week released a batch of photos purported to depict a polycarbonate shell for a rumored less-pricey iPhone model, the company is back at it today with a new leak claimed to represent the rear shell of a fifth-generation iPad. There isn’t much to glean from the photograph and, of course, we have no way of telling whether or not this is the real deal, an early prototype or a shell for some other product. However, the image does bear resemblance to iPad molds Tactus leaked earlier… Read More

 

Google talks Search iOS app design

By Christian Zibreg on Apr 9, 2013

When it comes to UI design, Google up until recently used to make what you’d call Spartan programs, more often than not resembling old-school software your parents might use. What a difference a leadership change makes: after co-founder Larry Page took over from Eric Schmidt as Google’s CEO in April 2011, we started noticing radical changes to how the Internet giant approaches app design.

I think it is safe to say that some of Google’s contemporary iOS apps are starting to look arguably better than Apple’s. But what’s so special about Google’s newly found design language? To answer that question, Google recently uploaded an interesting video to its Life at Google channel on YouTube. The entire clip is dedicated to highlighting how the new app design philosophy lends itself to the nimble, streamlined and interactive search experience on the Apple tablet… Read More

 

Jony Ive envisions mail window, media controls and more for iPad’s Smart Cover

By Ed Sutherland on Apr 4, 2013

Who thought Apple’s Smart Cover, first designed to simply protect the iPad screen without adding too much bulk to the device’s form factor, would grow to become another platform for the firm’s design guru, Jony Ive? A new patent application which identifies Ive as one of the inventors suggests the Smart Cover could become a mini screen, displaying new email and controlling music playback, among other possibilities.

In a patent filing published earlier this week by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Apple includes a redesigned Smart Cover which includes buttons to control your iTunes playback, along with a window where you can quickly check new e-mails or incoming texts… Read More

 

Polycarbonate budget iPhone renderings to die for

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 18, 2013

Another publication has commissioned Dutch concept artist Martin Hajek to bundle all the less-pricey iPhone rumors together in some plausible renderings. The 3D designer’s fresh batch of conceptual renderings imagine the rumored device in two flavors, one with a screen measuring four inches diagonally and the other sporting a larger 4.5-inch display.

Hajek took into account credible talk of the budget iPhone adopting a polycarbonate shell, having combined that rumor with analysts speculating about some vivid colors, too. If you ever though using plastics would ruin the iPhone brand with unwanted and cheap feel to it, have a look at the images and think again… Read More

 

BlackBerry CEO: iPhone UI is obsolete

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 18, 2013

Following Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller’s anti-Android comments on the eve of Galaxy S 4 launch and Apple’s new ‘Why iPhone’ web campaign, the CEO of BlackBerry has unsurprisingly launched a critique of Apple’s handset and its user interface, referring to the the fact that iOS now 5+ years old.

In his view, Apple is being out-innovated by others, right up to the point where the Cupertino company could get replaced “pretty quickly”. Of course, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins, like every other handset vendor in the ferociously competitive mobile market, is really drumming up his own platform by arguing that the iPhone is an old hat. Be that as it may, I’d choose my words carefully if I were Heins.

The struggling handset maker’s market share and capitalization have all but evaporated because of the iPhone and now stand in the single-digit range and below the $8 billion mark, respectively. That’s how much investors thought the entire BlackBerry biz was worth Monday morning. Now, contrast Blackberry’s market cap to Apple’s first-quarter net profit of $13.06 billion… Read More

 

Here’s an iTV concept Jony Ive would approve of

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 13, 2013

Resident Apple mockup artist Martin Hajek is on a roll lately. Just a day following his publication of the traditional iWatch concept which adorns the April 2013 cover of the MacUser magazine, he’s back at it with a new Apple television mockup that has Jony Ive written all over it. The beautiful renderings are based on the familiar iMac look and sport the sinister black design, with details reminiscent of the iPhone 5. Go past the fold for the full awesomeness… Read More

 

Hands-on with new one-column Facebook Timeline

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 13, 2013

The social networking giant Facebook today announced that the improved Timeline rocking a much-awaited one-column layout is rolling out today and “in the coming weeks” to users worldwide. The subtle and welcomed redesign has nothing to do with a new-look News Feed, also coming pretty soon.

The two-column Timeline prominently features shortcuts to your About, Friends and Photos sections. Facebook has also introduced several new sections for your About view: Movies, Books and Photos, where you can indicate what you read, watched and shared.

Also cool: the new Instagram Timeline app replicates your photo stream across the full width of your Facebook profile, quite handy for showcasing the photos you shared on this Facebook-owned service without having to manually upload them to Facebook… Read More

 

iWatch concept, the traditional edition

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 12, 2013

Hot on the heels of releasing a set of renditions depicting what an iPhone 6 with a 4.6-inch screen might look like, 3D artist Martin Hajek is out with a new concept for the iWatch, Apple’s rumored iOS-powered smartwatch that has been reportedly cooking in Jony Ive’s kitchen for quite a time now.

Unlike a bunch of sci-fi renderings and some pretty radical mockups that couldn’t be farther from the real thing (or so we hope, from the bottom of our hearts), Martin’s new renderings featured on the April cover of the MacUser magazine employs a more traditional approach to what an everyman’s app-enabled wristwatch should look like… Read More

 

Very early iOS device prototype surfaces

By Christian Zibreg on Mar 11, 2013

The monster 2012 Apple v. Samsung trial was a treasure trove of various iPhone prototypes that we had never seen previously. These not only gave us a glimpse into Apple’s creative process, we also got to see the various bodies Apple had been exploring for its then still work-in-progress iPhone. But this is something entirely different from everything so far.

For the first time, at least to my knowledge, we are offered a look into an extremely early iOS device prototype. The thing looks like something engineers would duct-tape together after a brainstorming session in Apple’s kitchen. As you can see, it has a bunch of chips, tacked-on ports and a massive screen measuring five by seven inches. A former Apple employee said that “at the time, it was really impressive seeing basically a version of OS X running on it”… Read More

 

These rear shell photos could mean colors are coming to iPad mini 2

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 21, 2013

A fresh batch of images purportedly representing the back shell believed to belong to a next-generation iPad mini have popped up on a Chinese forum. On the surface, the back part is reminiscent of the current-generation iPad mini design. On closer inspection, however, it appears to be a little thicker. Per rumor mills, the next iPad mini looks virtually identical to the original, but if the iPad 3 is anything to go by, the Retina upgrade in fact could add thickness in order to accommodate a bigger battery and better graphics, both required to power the Retina display… Read More

 

Jony Ive on Apple product naming, David Beckham connection

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 20, 2013

Apple’s London-born VP of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive was last week honored with the greatest accolade in United Kingdom’s children TV, BBC’s Blue Peter programme. BBC’s Barney Harwood briefly interviewed Ive on his design work and journalist and recording engineer Tom Davenport has posted a video where Ive discusses how product naming philosophy can affect the design process. And as 9to5Mac noted, Ive also reveals a little known connection to David Beckham. Another video right after the break… Read More

 

Engineers poke holes in ‘fake Apple projects’ myth

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 15, 2013

A lot of urban myths have popped up around how Apple goes about designing its products and protecting its famous paranoid secrecy. Through mindless repetition, these unconfirmed facts tend to become kinda public knowledge, some of them so compelling we cannot help but believe those overly romanticized Apple stories without questioning them or even consider asking the subject of whom the rumor is about.

One journalist thought different and sought to apply a healthy dose of skepticism to one of the most popular myths – that Apple assigns engineers to fake projects. He set out to separate the wheat from the chaff by interviewing several former and current Apple engineers who – surprise, surprise – apparently have absolutely no knowledge of fake projects being a regular occurrence at Apple… Read More

 

Jony Ive honored with exclusive gold Blue Peter Badge

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 15, 2013

Apple’s head of industrial design, London-born Jonathan Ive, has been honored with the greatest accolade in United Kingdom’s children TV, BBC’s Blue Peter programme. First broadcast in 1958, Blue Peter is the world’s longest-running children’s television programme that educates the youngsters on craft tips, kids art and more.

Ive was honored with an exclusive golden Blue Peter badge and BBC’s presenter Barney Harwood sat down with him in his design bunker in California for a quick chat. Ive, a life-long Blue Peter fan, said the show was an “inspiration to children around the world” and recalled how they reused products that you thought were no longer useful.

By the way, notice those mean CNC machines behind Ive in the above clip (sorry, Flash-only – talk to BBC!)? That’s a pretty expensive piece of prototyping equipment Ive and his team use to experiment with materials and prototype various designs for future Apple gadgets… Read More

 

New iPad 5 mockups look just about right…

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 7, 2013

If the rumors pan out, the fifth-generation iPad should have an all-new design that borrows heavily from the iPad mini, down to the skinnier side bezels, a thin-film touchscreen tech and a much thinner profile. Based on a purportedly leaked iPad 5 backplate, MacRumors has commissioned graphics artists over at CiccareseDesign to create a nice batch of renders depicting how the device should stack up against the iPad 4, iPad mini and the iPhone 5 in terms of the size and industrial design… Read More

 

Analyst reinvents the wheel, says iPhone 5S will look the same as iPhone 5

By Christian Zibreg on Feb 5, 2013

Apple’s 10-Q filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission shows purchase commitments for the March quarter dropping from $4.5 billion two quarters ago to just $904 million. Of course, two quarters ago Apple was ramping up iPhone 5 production and investing heavily in then new in-cell touch displays. Still, that’s a huge drop.

One clever interprets this data point as a sign of the iPhone 5S not needing new manufacturing processes, in turn proving it’s gonna look just the same as the current-generation iPhone 5. Notable changes will be from the inside, like the speedier CPU/GPU, better cameras and what not. Man, I should have been an analyst… Read More

 

iPod Godfather explains Apple’s secret design sauce

By Christian Zibreg on Jan 17, 2013

Tony Fadell needs no introduction. The brains behind the Nest thermostat, this former Apple engineer also helped engineer the iPod music player and led the development of the first eighteen iterations of the iPhone. He recently talked Apple, Steve Jobs and secrecy inside the walls of Apple’s Cupertino HQ.

He also commented on Forstall’s departure in an interview with BBC and told Bloomberg that he is ”not that dumb” to compete directly with his former employer. And now, Fadell at the Bloomberg Design conference this week once more tried to explain Apple’s secret sauce which results in the sexy gadgets people lust after. He also explained the difference between designing products at Apple and Phillips, here are some highlights… Read More

 

Mockup time: iPad 5 with iPad mini style skinnier side bezels

By Christian Zibreg on Jan 16, 2013

Remember ahead of last September’s iPad mini introduction, when a great deal of shabby renderings tried to depict what the device might look like?

It wasn’t until designer Martin uit Utrecht set out to create some beautiful mockups that we started believing that the iPad mini would indeed become a smash hit for the Cupertino, California firm.

Also behind some pretty darn accurate renderings of the then-unreleased iPhone 5, Martin’s now back at it with a bunch of new renderings done in Rhinoceros 3D, depicting what a full-size iPad 5 with the reportedly skinnier side bezels might look like. Go right past the fold for some more beautiful mockups… Read More

 

The Apple-HTC settlement allows for this?

By Christian Zibreg on Jan 16, 2013

What you’re seeing here isn’t one of the early iPhone 5 prototypes. Instead, that’s apparently a leaked rendering of an upcoming HTC handset, called the M7. Recognize the familiar two-tone design with the distinct stripes alongside the top and bottom, with a large metal backplate in between?

Funny, we thought the ten-year Apple-HTC cross-licensing deal didn’t include rights to the iPhone 5 design. Count us surprised! Read More

 

Galaxy tablets didn’t copy Apple’s design, Dutch court rules

By Christian Zibreg on Jan 16, 2013

Apple isn’t having as much litigation success in Europe as it’s had over in the United States, where the jury hit Samsung with a massive $1.05 billion fine in the high-stake Apple v. Samsung trial. Courts in The Netherlands, for example, aren’t nearly as sympathetic to Apple’s infringement claims.

To refresh your memory, Apple has been claiming that Samsung’s Galaxy tablets infringe upon its design patents for the iPad. However, it’s been reported this morning that a Dutch court upon closer examination of Apple’s claims has ruled that the Galaxy tablets do not infringe an the iPad design. Interestingly enough, the ruling mentions previous decisions in British courts… Read More

 
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