It was only a matter of time before someone made a QR Code commando patch! This is going to be added to my TAD Gear Stealth Jacket SS posthaste…
Here’s a velcro-backed QRcode patch I’ve been working on. It’s a polyester-twill patch, with the design applied using dye sublimation (so it’s waterproof.) Each p8tch contains a unique encoded URL. That URL can be read by mobile phones, now including the iPhone!
The patch links to a configurable proxy URL. Each p8tch comes with a unique keyphrase that allows you to set the destination. So your patch can link to:
* Your blog,
* Your Flickr photostream,
* Your Facebook/MySpace page
* A Google map link to your secret headquarters,
* Your Amazon Wish list/PayPal tip jar
…whatever you want.
Your friend snaps a picture of the QRcode with their mobile phone, and then they’re looking at the URL you set. You know, just like in Japan.
Of course, that’s assuming your friend has a steady hand and some patience; the iPhone QRcode readers are in their infancy, but with some patience and good light, I can reliably shoot a patch with the iPhone. More mature QRcode readers like the ones on board the Nokia N95 are faster (but rarer in the US.)
The design at the top is by Kenn Munk, and there are several available (cf. the next picture)
The guys over at AdMob have launched a new integrated Ad format for iPhone… Its pretty awesome and is not intrusive at all AND it integrates perfectly with the whole iPhone experience… be interesting to see how this all pans out… Thanks to George Chen for the tip!
To install this update, you must download the ipsw file and iTunes 7.7. Open iTunes and clicking the option + clicking the check for update button will prompt iTunes to ask for the ipsw location; once you’ve done that, iTunes will begin the firmware update.
Found this gem of a link to some Helvetica inspired wallpapers, incl. some for your iPhone! It was link checked from another designy item I was looking at on FFFFOUND…
I was at the 2008 Web2.0 Expo last week in San Francisco and stopped by the Instructables.com booth where they had a Laser Engraving Machine setup and were doing engravings for FREE for conference attendees. You could get either your laptop, iPod or iPhone (or any other device for that matter) engraved, as long as your provided them with vector art or high enough resolution bitmap art.
I provided them with a PNG file of a QR Code I generated (via Kaywa QR-Code Generator) with my entire email signature file, postal address, with links to my blog and twitter pages as well. It was a very large QR Code to say the least, in real world use it would not work on many handsets as it is too complicated. But, as a digital graffiti piece on my iPhone it was just fine.
Note: This article and QR engraving was mentioned recently on the Kaywa Blog as well… and I have since met a guy on Flickr who also engraved some QR codes on his iPhone as well!
Side-by-Side Comparison of iPhone Calculator and BRAUN ET66 (circa 1970s)
Yet another great design tidbit that makes me love my iPhone more and more every day. The GUI is a definitive tribute to Dieter Rams and Lubs Dietrich circa 1977 ET44 and ET66 calculators by Braun (ET stands for “electronic calculator” or “elektronischer Taschenrechner” in german, hence the “ET”, a design style that Braun traditonally followed in all of their naming).
I blogged about this earlier on my companies corporate blog site for Snap, but wanted to add some depth to this on my own blog.
As you may know I got an iPhone the day they were released and about an hour after I had it in hand, it was activated and I was using it as my regular phone… After about a week and a half of using it heavily every day, including on a camping trip over the July 4th holiday weekend… I have a few things that I want to see Apple improve upon…
As I use the iPhone I add user experience insight and thoughts to a Note I have with a running tally of bullets. Its great cause I can make an immediate note to myself in the app while its fresh in my mind. Here is my list in NO particular order…
Typing: Copy/Select/Paste Text (from anywhere to anywhere)
Bluetooth: Bluetooth File Exchange (for Photos/Ringtones)
Photos: Add Photo Albums (and Assign Photos to Albums)
Auto Recognition: Phone Num/Email Add/Str Add in ‘Notes’ App
Mapping: Select FWY or Surface Street Alternate Routes
Contacts: Edit Contacts in Email ‘Send’ Mode
Attachments: Send Email with Multiple Attachments (ex. Photos)
Attached Files: Support More… (ex. Keynote, PPT)
Podcasting: Record Audio/Video and Post to Blogs from iPhone
MS Exchange: Better Support! Calendaring and Contacts too!
My biggest gripe though is in the support of Exchange. In all the public discussion of this it was pretty clear there would be support. But, if you look at what they really have its kinda half assed. IMAP from an Exchange system is only half the picture. I need Calendaring and Contacts syncronization as well. Email is good, but not good enough. I really need to see better integration with Exchange! Adding a application settings tab with the word ‘exchange’ is kind of a fake out of you ask me, since its only IMAP email.
All things aside, the iPhone is a great piece of work and I applaud Apple for the accomplishment… Hopefully we’ll see a software update to the iPhone in the near future to add some of these enhancements in…
the term ‘oyayubizoku’ literally translated from japanese equates to ‘thumb-gang’ or ‘thumb-tribe’ referring to the masses of young people in japan that use mobile phones for texting, email, and mobile phone conversations.
