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Blue Circles — so hot right now! The latest version of iTunes...

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:24:37 +0100

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Blue Circles — so hot right now!

The latest version of iTunes hasn’t been getting a lot of good press since its launch recently, especially of the design front. There’s the vertically-orientated close/minimise/maximise buttons, the monochrome icons in preferences and the sidebar, and the new application icon.

Dan Benjamin and John Gruber talked about these points in the latest episode of The Talk Show (highly recommended podcast by the way). At 42:55 John Gruber said this:

“…the problem is it’s yet another blue circle…it’s unbelievable how many icons in my dock are blue…and most of the blue ones are blue circles.”

This was an curious observation, and one I hadn’t hit on before. It did concern me however that our logo is…a blue circle!

The pebble.it branding in it’s current form is a little over a year old. The remit for the design was for it to reflect our technical savvy and Mac leanings. So, in light of this revelation it looks like we were successful (could even say prescient)! As we’re not talking about an application icon here, we’re not battling to distinguish ourselves in a crowed Dock, so I don’t think it’s of any concern. Interesting convergence though.

To illustrate the point, please enjoy the slideshow of blue, circular application logos. I could of gone on, but thought 10 was enough!

Think Different Despite the poor audio/video quality, this is a...

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:06:57 +0100

Think Different

Despite the poor audio/video quality, this is a great video to watch for a number of reasons:

this is Steve Jobs shortly after his return to Apple as interim CEO.
we’re familiar with the large-scale Jobs Keynotes but this is an internal presentation to Apple staff.
it introduces the very successful Think Different ad campaign.
it’s one of the best five minute explanations of good branding available.

Enjoy!

Apple will be holding a music-orientated event today, September...

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:45:00 +0100

Apple will be holding a music-orientated event today, September 1st, at the Yerba Buena Centre, San Francisco (6pm GMT). As with any Apple event, speculation is rife - Steve Jobs is expected on stage to deliver updates to the iPod family, with further rumours suggesting a new Apple TV and announcements regarding the iTunes store.

Live Streaming

For the first time in a number of years, the event will be live-streamed via the Apple website - this time using ‘HTTP Live Streaming’ - an open standard championed by Apple and built into Quicktime in Snow Leopard and iOS devices. Unfortunately, this does mean that Windows and PowerPC users may not be able to view the stream (although, if you’re willing to play around with VLC, take a look at a possible workaround here).

We’re looking forward to a video keynote - previously we’ve all been glued to the text/photo updates from various live blogs such and Engadget and Gizmodo (which will still be happening, if you’re one of the unfortunates mentioned above). It’s been suggested that one of the main reasons for this approach is to test the $1bn data centre Apple have been building in North Carolina, as well as the possibility that they’re launching a streaming version of iTunes, similar to Spotify. If the latter, the live-stream would be a suitable demonstration of Apple’s capabilities in this arena.

Rumor Roundup

In the past few years, several case manufacturers have given us a preview into upcoming Apple products by leaking their new case designs in the weeks prior to a Keynote. More recently there have been leaks of individual parts and even complete devices - take the infamous iPhone 4 leak, for example. Here’s what we’ve seen so far:

Leaked Nano cases and touch-sensitive display - this would take the Nano down to almost shuffle size, but what of the recently introduced camera?

iPod Touch with front and back facing camera - suggesting Facetime capabilities.

New Apple TV - an update to the much neglected media device - now with iOS?
iOS 4 for the iPad - promised at the last keynote - iPad owners are chomping at the bit for this missing update.

In pebble we have been busy developing a product called ideapi....

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:37:25 +0100

In pebble we have been busy developing a product called ideapi. Ideapi is a brief and idea collaboration tool that helps groups of people work together better. You can collaborate on and agree a clear brief, as well as manage the process of submitting and approving ideas.

Ideapi is currently in beta, but you can still check it out for yourself by signing up for an account at ideapi.com. Feedback very welcome!

Support video: Configuring iPad for pebble.mail How to setup...

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:05:57 +0100

Support video: Configuring iPad for pebble.mail

How to setup your iPad to work with pebble.mail, our hosted mail/contacts/calendar service.

Support video: Configuring iPhone for pebble.mail How to setup...

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:02:19 +0100

Support video: Configuring iPhone for pebble.mail

How to setup your iPhone to work with pebble.mail, our hosted mail/contacts/calendar service.

Apple TV Evolution

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:35:00 +0100

Way back in September 2006 Apple announced their innovative Apple TV device, which brought the iTunes-powered media experience to your HDTV. Since then, it’s seen a small amount of success, and a couple of spec bumps, but was never really the game-changer it could have been.

Recent speculation suggests that the device is getting a rethink and relaunch - perhaps even as soon as this September, as suggested by Digg Founder, Kevin Rose.

Changing Trends

The evolution of our television consumption is a hot topic right now - almost all UK households are now endowed with Digital Freeview, Virgin Cable or Sky, and there’s a rise in the number of Freeview HD boxes available on the market. More significant is the increase in users of the ‘on-demand’ internet services provided by the channel operators. Research figures suggest as much as 78% of viewers in the UK are now using on-demand services, such as 4oD and BBC iPlayer. This is only going to increase as more devices capable of streaming these services hit the market.

Apps

Given the success of the iPhone, iPad and the App Store, it would seem certain that a new iOS-based device could make waves by bringing Apps to our living room screens. Forget the web - it’s unlikely that we’re going to be sitting on our sofas with a full keyboard. The key is in simplicity: making online services, such as weather, news and media content accessible with a simple remote. It’s fair to assume that existing on-demand services, such as iPlayer, would be immediately available alongside apps from other media outlets. The PS3 has been leading the way with this so far, but Sony’s integration of new services has been slow.

Not forgetting, content providers will also have a fantastic potential revenue stream built into iOS - either by charging for their applications in the App store, or via Apple’s emerging iAds service.

Google’s Approach

It’s certainly not an unexplored space though - Google announced ‘Google TV’ back in May this year - but their focus is on the software, which will run on many devices from multiple manufacturers, such as upcoming Bravia TVs and blu-ray players from Sony. That approach has worked for Android, so there’s a fair chance they’ll see success in this arena too - they’ve also got the jump on Apple, with Google TV devices likely to be in the hands of consumers towards the end of this year.

Speculation

Early indications suggest the new Apple TV (or ‘iTV’) would be launched this year, and at a price point of $99 - that seems a bit low for Apple: there’d be concern that hardware at that price would be underpowered. Nevertheless, if they’re hoping to make a large impact then market saturation through hardware subsidisation would be one way to go. They’d certainly recoup via iTunes and App Store purchases.

We’ll have to wait and see what Apple announces, and how well Google’s platform is adopted, but we can brace ourselves for the next stage in the ongoing platform battle between these two innovators.

snowman=☃

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:06:00 +0100

We’ve got a neat little Ruby on Rails project going in the office - early stages, but coming along nicely. Whilst idly browsing the site I notice this in my address bar:

Do you see the little snowman image there? My first thought was that this was some little developer easter egg, so I ran over to Shapeshed’s desk to let him know I’d found it. Turns out, he was as surprised as me. A little more digging and he discovered this is actually RoR’s way of dealing with a IE bug, where the browser stubbornly refuses to deal with unicode characters. By passing our little frosty friend as a hidden input, IE is forced to look at the ‘accept-charset’ attribute.

A more detailed explanation can be found here, for the technically minded amongst you!

Apple Consultants Network

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:07:06 +0100

For some time, our US cousins have had the opportunity to be part of the ‘Apple Consultants Network’ - a program run by Apple that recognises the 3rd party support and consultancy services (like pebble.it) and provides them with greater access to sales tools, hardware purchasing, training and materials. As a UK-based company, this program had not been available to us, yet we soldiered on, disheartened, but still waving the Apple flag with pride.

In May this year, our prayers were answered, and pebble.it were one of the first Apple Consultants to join the ‘UK Apple Consultants Network’.

So what does this mean?

Well, firstly, we get to put the Apple logo on our site (down there, bottom right!). They also kindly link to us from the ACN page of the Apple website. We think of it as Apple’s way of saying ‘We love pebble.it - they’re just super cool awesome dudes.’

For our team, it is recognition of what they’ve achieved - they’re certified engineers who have taken exams and learnt the inner workings of Apple hardware and software. Apple has stringent requirements that all companies on the network must meet - certifications are just one of them. As a customer, you can be sure that members of the program are trained professionals, and are ensured the highest level of service.

Most importantly, I have it on good authority that we are being sent some official black polo shirts, emblazoned with the Apple Consultants logo, so we too can look as happy as this chap here:

The keyboard computer

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:48:17 +0100

People used to look at iMacs and say “oh, so the computer is in screen?”

Well now, a very clever modder has mashed together MacBook Air parts, a Wireless Keyboard and a Magic Trackpad to create a keyboard computer!

pebble.it-based team won EcoMo09

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:30:29 +0100

pebble.it-based team won EcoMo09:

Last year, a number of the pebble.it dev team entered (and won!) a 24-hour hackathon, EcoMo09.

That was before this version of the blog existed, so I’m linking to another post on it for prosperity. Please check it out.

Very proud to announce that pebble.it are sponsoring Capital...

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 07:28:07 +0100

Very proud to announce that pebble.it are sponsoring Capital Escapes Racing - a triathlon training and events company. If you are interested in getting fit or doing some triathlons, get in touch with Tom at Capital Escapes.

The end-to-end experience

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 10:00:00 +0100

How we do things at pebble.it is always up for reevaluation. It’s important to ask questions like “where can we improve?”, “why did this happen?” and “how can we stop that happening again?”

Answers to these questions are often things that we can address. Learn, correct, evolve. But equally, sometimes we discover the answer is something we can’t fix directly or is out of our control. And as guys who like to fix things—that’s frustrating.

Which brings us onto my real point: things generally go more smoothly with fewer parties involved.

If you enjoy using Apple products, you’re probably somewhat aware of this already. They also choose this path and it shows. Their strategy of developing both hardware and software is central to delivering coherent, solid and polished products¹. With iOS devices Apple have taken this further with the App Store. Although not without controversy, by ratifying and delivering apps and content, Apple can guarantee the user experience (as far as possible). And Apple have stretched this concept horizontally with their Stores. They now control the retail experience and have bolstered their after-sales service with the introduction of Genius Bars.

As “unquestioning fanboys,” we wholeheartedly agree this approach. Experience has shown us that our customers are happier² when we have full control over their IT systems. This is not a greedy land-grab nor a snub to our competitors; just a pragmatic attempt to serve clients better.

We’re realistic of course. Circumstances often require integration and working with others (and we pride ourselves on being able to do this well). However, our preference is to take sole responsibility. Much more efficient. If there’s a problem, it’s down to us to resolve it. If there’s a delay, it’s clear where to point the finger! Nothing worse for a client than being stuck in the middle of some arcane technical slinging match, while two opposing contractors try to blame one another over an impasse.

So, let us take it all on, and you’ll be allowing us to serve you better.

The opposite being of course, the Windows PC model. More successful in terms of market share, true (for now!), but at the expense of user experience (driver conflict? Whaa!?). ↩
Metrics such as resolution times support this too. ↩

PC vs Mac: Microsoft's Perspective

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:53:00 +0100

Apple have been taking pot shots at Microsoft for years, and they’ve wasted no time on subtlety. Now it seems Microsoft have stepped up to the plate and fired some shots back with their new site ‘PC vs Mac’. The site compares the two platforms across 6 categories, and makes some bold statements in each. Now what sort of fan-boy Mac loving blog would this be if we didn’t rip it apart? To hell with impartiality!

“Macs might spoil your fun.”

“You can’t get a Mac that ships with a Blu-ray player”

No. That’s true. The question is, why would you want a Blu-Ray player? There’s maybe a couple of years of life in it left, before digital downloads eclipse all types of physical media. Many will disagree, but Apple isn’t one to support formats they have no faith in, and they’re pushing the digital distribution model forward instead.

“Macs can’t connect to an Xbox 360”

There’s simple, cheap software that connects your Mac to a 360 (Connect360). Anyway, isn’t this more a failure of the Microsoft-made 360? There’s no reason the two shouldn’t work together natively - Apple had no issues making the iPhone, iPod, Apple TV and most of their other hardware products compatible with Windows.

“Macs can take time to learn.”

“Things just don’t work the same way on Macs if you’re used to a PC…the mouse works differently… many of the shortcuts you’re familiar with don’t work the same way”

Well that’s true the other way round of course. This isn’t reality a ‘negative’ - more an acknowledgement that the two systems are different. Having worked with and met many ‘switchers’ in my time, I’ve yet to meet somebody that complains that Macs are hard to use. Sure, there’s a learning curve, but it’s smooth and you quickly fall into natural intuitive usage.

“Windows 7 supports Touch, so you can browse online newspapers, flick through photo albums, and shuffle files and folders—using nothing but your fingers”

There are so few touch-capable PCs out there that this is a meaningless statement. Apple are leading the way with multi-touch on their devices, and the new Magic TrackPad is bringing this to the desktop in a big way.

“Macs don’t work as well at work or at school.”

“Sharing files with PC users can be tricky. Your documents might not look right and your spreadsheets might not calculate correctly.”

Again, Microsoft pointing out issues with their own software. iWork does a great job of opening and saving Microsoft Office documents - Office isn’t compatible with iWork formats at all.

“Macs don’t like to share.”

“With a Mac, it’s harder to set up secure sharing for your photos, music & movies, documents, and even printers with other computers on your home network.”

iTunes takes care of the Music & Movies with Home Sharing and it’s no more than a few clicks to setup. Document sharing is easy through AFP and public folders. Granted, photos is a little more tricky, but it’s possible.

“Macs might not like your PC stuff.”

“Apple’s productivity suite file formats won’t open in Microsoft Office on PCs.”

Yes, Microsoft, you’ve said that already. So in summary: PCs can only open Office documents, whereas Macs can open Office and iWork documents.

“Macs don’t let you choose.”

“You can’t get a Mac with a Blu-ray player, TV tuner, Memory Stick reader, or built-in 3G wireless.”

I don’t want a blu-ray player (although I appreciate some people might). Everything else listed here is covered by any number of peripheral manufacturers.

“Macs only come in white or silver. PCs are available in a full spectrum of colors across a range of price points.”

I’ve never come across a PC that is more aesthetically pleasing than my Macbook Pro or an iMac. Most are fairly ugly, bulky creatures, but apparently that’s OK because you can get them in fuchsia if you want.

In conclusion…

A fair amount of hyperbole, with one or two truths in between. Admittedly, there are some things that Windows 7 does better than OS X, but there are a lot more that OS X does better than Windows. I actually like Windows 7 (a bit), and guess what - if I really wanted any of it’s features I can happily and easily run it on my Mac, via Bootcamp or virtualisation. The choice remains yours, but make a choice based on your own experience and preference and of those around you, rather than propaganda from Microsoft or Apple.

Unlikely Business Lessons

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 02:54:35 +0100

A very interesting audio podcast from The Economist on a few things that for profits can learn from not for profits.

In particular:

What is the company vision - make sure all are aligned
Feel what you do matters
Find what it is that separates you from the rest (the best, the only, the X)
Treat people as an asset
Align with a cause (if there is a choice between you and another, customers are likely to go with the company aligned to a cause)
Open up your numbers (very motivating)
Say thank you.

Well worth a listen - the podcast can be found on The Economist website. Or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Covent Garden Apple Store Opening Shaun and I attended the...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:17:00 +0100

End of the line

Facade

Receptive staff

Plenty of iPads

Central courtyard space

Spiral glass staircase

Outnumbered by staff

Complimentary t-shirt

Logo detail

Covent Garden Apple Store Opening

Shaun and I attended the opening of Apple’s latest retail store this morning in Covent Garden. Despite rising early on a Saturday and the long queue, it was a great experience.

As expected, the turnout was enthusiastic and the whole event was immaculately organised. There were of course, the usual passionate celebrations: cheering, whooping and high-fives which somehow seemed not to jar with the cultural surroundings.

The store itself is impressive on all fronts. The largest Apple Store in the world (with a huge stock to go with it) is now less than 2 miles away! The architecture/interior design is sensitive to the locale but with Apple’s signatory modern flourish. It has the largest Genius Bar in the world and, the first Briefing Room: a space dedicated to business consultations.

This last feature particularly interested us professionally: it’s reassuring, gratifying, not to mention shrewd, to see Apple taking business customers more and more seriously.

In conclusion, the success of Apple’s retail division continues unabated. Like the wider company, confidence is high. Despite tough economic times and market challenges, Apple continues to hone and polish all aspects its brand. We left with a renewed vigor, excitement and pride to be playing a role on this side of the computing industry.

Oh, and we got a free T-shirt!

Photos taken with an iPhone 4.

A very sexy personal setup. iPad, Wireless Keyboard and an...

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:19:28 +0100

A very sexy personal setup. iPad, Wireless Keyboard and an UpStand. Is this what the future of personal computing looks like?

(via @likecool)

Changing Times & Opportunities

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:06:27 +0100

Great article from Neil Perkin’s blog, Only Dead Fish, about the opportunities that the huge changes in media we are living through are bringing.

Example statistic: 2 billion video views per day on YouTube.

The opportunity is in the exploitation of data that is, or soon will be, available to us all.

Getting a startup off the ground

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:36:00 +0100

Following the yellow brick road

Photo by Chris Devers

Recently at pebble we’ve had a lot of discussion about the best way to get a startup off the ground. We have the ideas and the skills but need a coherent way to make it happen. We’ve got a mixed team of designers, developers and business level people all of whom have different skills and different ideas on the right way forward.

Here are the options as we see it and the relative pros and cons.

Use client work to fund the startup

This model works where the team works on client projects in order to fund the time to work on the startup. The profit from the client work pays salaries and any fat is pooled into a fund to support working on the startup project.

Pros

No external or personal investment is required

Cons

Lead time before the fund is big enough and the project can start.
Will end up working on the project in fits and starts.
Client work never ends!

Hack days

Come into the office at weekends to work on the startup. Given the short amount of time available it is felt more work will get done and the project will progress further.

Pros

Everyone is available at the same time

Cons

This isn’t great for life outside of work and needs an understanding family/partner
Very short amount of time to work on the project

Spare time

This essentially asks members of the team to work on the project for free in their spare time. Particularly for designers and developers this can be a significant amount of time.

Pros

If you can find a willing developer this is a great option as it doesn’t affect cashflow or client business.

Cons

Pressure on personal life.
No guarantee that you’ll actually see a return on the investment of your time.
Risk of developer burn out.
Working in fits and starts.

Venture Capital Investment

Go into the market and see if an idea can get investment.

Pros

The project will be funded properly so a team can be resourced properly.
Dedicated time to the project
Bad ideas will quickly be shown to be bad ideas
No need to continue client work

Cons

Need to give a significant part of the business away
Very competitive

Personal Investment

Members of the project team put up their own cash in order to fund a project.

Pros

Able to resource a project properly
Full ownership of the business

Cons

Personal money at stake
Further rounds of investment likely to be required

Develop something for a client then spin it off

This model means developing a product for a client and then extracting it into a web application. There are issues over intellectual property here but if these can be resolved this is a great option.

Pros

You have an active client to help scope the product
You get paid for it
The development costs are largely covered by the client

Cons

The product may end up being too specific to the client
Intellectual property issues

Conclusion

The biggest issue in all of this is funding. We have the skills and the ideas but we also have mortgages and families. None of the options are 100% perfect and the one we’ll choose won’t necessarily be the right one for all situations.

Ultimately this situation is no different from normal business rules and getting a business off the ground. It is about risk and return. Some options are safer and take longer to achieve, whilst others are more risky but resolve the situation more quickly.

So take your pick Dorothy.

Our New Dashboard

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:31:00 +0100

There’s a great deal of admiration and a hint of jealousy when we look at Panic Software. They have a stunning office in Portland, a suite of brilliant Mac products such as Transmit and Coda, and manage to find the time to build a custom status board for their office.

Metrics are important for any business, but are so often presented badly or spread across multiple systems and processes - Panic have found a neat solution to this, but not all businesses have the time or skills to create custom apps like this. Now, thanks to Geckoboard, the solution may be within reach.

Currently in beta, Geckoboard is a web-based dashboard that hooks into an already impressive range of APIs. We’re heavy users of Zendesk, Basecamp & Highrise, use Google Analytics for our websites and converse with the world via Twitter. Geckoboard works with all of these tools, and have plans to add more in the future.

First impressions are great - setting up your accounts is easy, the data is displayed in an attractive and useful way, and the UI is slick. Given the fact that they’re only a few days into public testing we’re forgiving of the very few bugs we’ve found so far, and can see a lot of potential.

We’d like to see a few more detailed configuration options within the widgets, and the ability to add our own branding and colour scheme to the page, but no doubt this will come.

Paul Joyce from Geckoboard has very kindly provided exclusive invitation code for 20 readers of this blog - signup here with the invitation code ‘PEBBLEIT’ to get access to the beta right away. Enjoy!