Free and Open-Source Software for Designers & Creative People
Sketch is the industry standard for High-fidelity UI/UX design, It is also my favorite tool for the past 4 years, I love the plugins, and the integration with other tools (InVision, Zepplin, etc). But as a UX designer, I also use Adobe products (for design related tasks), and Axure RP (for low-fidelity wireframes, UX architecture, and mockups).
It’s no secret that the modern day smartphones are overtaking the desktop’s dominance as the primary gateway to the Internet and for media consumption. Smartphones have become users’ most important device driven in part by the rise of cloud computing. It looks like the only reason to use a computer is for work-related tasks, but that too won’t last long.
A lot of people ask, what’s the differences between VR (Virtual reality), AR (Augmented reality) and MR (Mixed reality)… So I made these images to easily explain the differences! it includes simplified images to easily explain it.
Apple has made it very clear that touch screen OS is not coming to the Mac. But from what we’ve seen in WWDC 2017, it makes a perfect sense that they will have to do that sooner or later and merge iOS with macOS. And if you think about it, iOS and macOS already share some similarities, not only when it comes to design, but also when it comes to functionality as well.
A new patent by Apple made public recently, (by AppleInsider) suggests that Apple is exploring the Modular Computer concept of turning an iPhone into a “Brain” (computing unit) that powers a MacBook device. But, what does it mean? Well, in a nutshell, a MacBook-like body (screen, keyboard and lots of batteries), as an “accessory device”, without a CPU. The idea is that you’d dock your iPhone into the accessory device (MacBook) to power it.
As UXers, we design with users’ needs in mind (User centered design), we think from our end-users’ perspectives, and we always do our best to design the most intuitive and user-friendly products. But when it comes to simplicity and UX vs. Security and privacy, where do we draw the line? how can we balance between the two? Is it even possible to design secured products without affecting the user-experience?
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Modern day smartphones are overtaking desktop’s dominance as the primary gateway to the internet and media consumption. Most of the users prefer smartphones over desktop computers, and Smartphones become their most important device as an alternative to a personal computer, especially with the rise of cloud computing. It looks like that the only reason to use a computer is at work, but not for long. We hold a lot of powerful devices in our hands than we have ever before, and our data is already there. So it is only natural to use our devices as desktop computers whenever we need to be productive. Simply plug your smartphone into a docking station that is also connected to a large screen and peripherals, to get an enhanced productivity experience than what’s possible with your smartphone’s tiny screen. just like the Windows 10 Continuum feature.
Lately, there have been many articles published about Design and UX in the context of today’s hottest topics, such as Cybersecurity and Privacy. However, what’s really special about these articles is the unique approach to these issues, from a design perspective, by encouraging user-experience designers with a holistic point of view, to take part in the early stages of product design. And also to participate in the problem-solving process by applying innovative design thinking methodologies, and encouraging design driven-innovation in a variety of fields, even outside their comfort zone. Given that nowadays, most of the designers care about a lot of issues in the tech world, and they can help in many ways to come up with better solutions. Designers have the power to change the world and improve people’s lives by making products and tools that give them magical experiences. So why not apply it everywhere?
Back in May I talked about how I was impressed by Microsoft’s Continuum, so let’s see what’s new about that!
Well, I’m really happy to see that finally the Sci-fi becomes reality, I talked a lot about this vision in the past, but as we see now, Microsoft has some advantages compared to others. Finally the smartphone becomes a real workplace computer, or sort of… Well it’s not a 64-bit processor in Microsoft’s Lumia 950 XL, and it’s not the full version of Windows 10 either, but the interface is similar to the full version of Windows 10, and in terms of UX this is the most important thing to eliminate learning curves! I really like Microsoft’s Continuum vision!
Things you should (and must) know before you design and develop cross-platform applications. And even if you are developing your app only for one platform, it is always essential to know the official design principles (more…)
It’s been a while since we talked about Material design and project Polymer, and now The search giant unveils Material Design lite for websites in order to help them look more like Android apps. Google made the announcement on Medium.
There are many entrepreneurs who are thinking about Crowdfunding campaigns, but most of them don’t know how to do that, In case you are wondering about How to Run a Successful Crowdfunding campaign,
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And this is the final version of Oculus Rift! The new version is going to ship with an Xbox One controller, but in the future it will be available with a special (not to say weird) controllers, to make it easy for the users to control the virtual reality environment. Although the controls seem clumsy and uncomfortable, according to The Verge, it’s better than Kinect.
Eric Schmidt in israel
Google chairman, Eric Schmidt visited Israel and spoke at the Weizmann Institute and said: “Israel is thriving in terms of innovation because you have a culture that makes it possible to question authority and to challenge everything, you don’t follow the rules,” he spoke in front of hundreds of students and researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Modular smartphone is not a fantasy anymore, I assume that most of you are familiar with Google’s Project ARA. So if a modular smartphone is not enough, there is a new modular smartphone case on Kickstarter called Nexpaq, However things have changed! We already know that the technology grows exponentially, and just like any other platform for developers and innovators, when there is a new platform, there will be new developments on top of it!
You probably heard about Google’s Project-Ara, the modular smartphone… Now there is an interesting Kickstarter project called Nexpaq, A modular case for smartphones, even for the iPhone ! well they deserve to have some modularity, right? It’s not dynamic like Project-Ara, but it’s ambitious, maybe some developers will be able to do things that will surprise even Apple…
Frankly speaking, I can’t believe that I’m writing about Microsoft’s keynote, but I guess that they really impressed me this time! Forget about Microsoft Edge, forget about Visual studio for OS X & Linux! Let’s talk about the real cool stuff from the Keynote… Thanks to multi-platform methodologies and responsive applications development, now we can finally get a real continuous user-experiences. Looks like Microsoft has finally realized that they have some advantages with Windows over other companies out there…
The Israeli startups ecosystem is a well-known one, that’s why they call it the “Startup nation”. It’s always good to see new Startups around here. there are some interesting Startups watch for investors and consumers around the world…
According to this information, Virtual Reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies could hit a market value of 150 billion dollars by 2020. Those technologies will be availbale not only in smartphones, but in every aspect of our lives: smart glasses, car windows, and even contact lenses. Worth following!
When Apple announced Force-touch, I said that someday its maybe gonna replace the Wacom tablets someday. and it’s only a few weeks after apple’s announcement and there’s already a development that uses the Force-touch technology in an interesting way! now you can draw and sketch with a pen (stylus) or any other capacitive object.
Another reason to talk about AR (Augmented reality), the guys from Magic leap made a cool video! now you can see how AR supposed to be, very interesting concept, eh? But it’s not that easy, placing virtual 3D objects behind real objects is very complicated even today, real-time processing and “masking” is a complicated process to render, I wonder if Microsoft’s HoloLens can do that (as for today) but I believe they will solve that, because after all, Microsoft’s HoloLens is a powerful computer on your eyes…
Well-known entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki talks about the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint presentation to keep it short and interesting! 10 slides, presented in twenty minutes, with thirty-point font, enjoy!
A short video to inspire Start-ups and designers, this is a step by step app design process, Enjoy!
I just love to see creative thinking, especially when it comes to connecting the dots between different technologies to create new innovations! We are living in a wonderful time for anyone who wants to create something. And I don’t mean to those who considers themselves part of the Makers movement, because today everyone can create amazing things, doesn’t matter what is your background and what skills you’ve got, if you like DIY projects than you know what I’m talking about…
The list contains details about more than 100 Israeli angels / investors and some contact information in order to reach them. The list is editable, so if you are an investor, you can easily add your contact details to the list. As for the Start-ups – do your homework! before you contact a particular angel, make sure that he/she is interested in your field.
