chapters
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YouTube will start showing video chapters in search results
YouTube has an impossibly large video library, and the company knows that navigating it is easier said than done. To that end, the company is introducing a few new features to improve the search experience. Probably the most significant new tool is chapter view right from the search results page.
DevJuice: Sneaking a peek at Bill Van Hecke's upcoming book
If the name William Van Hecke doesn't ring a bell, he's the User Experience Lead for The Omni Group. He's the guy behind those beautiful interfaces, or as he puts it, "I try to make Omni Group software look presentable and behave politely." When my editor at Pearson said I could get a sneak peak at his Learning iOS Design manuscript, I jumped at the opportunity. I've heard Bill speak several times at conferences, and am a big fan of his practical design approach. Learning iOS Design is basically design porn for developers. It offers chapter after chapter of advice, tips and explanations. From a tour of system-supplied classes to the essence of visual and functional simplicity, this book provides an in-depth dive of app design and the user experience. My favorite of the chapters I was able to preview were Chapters 8 and 9, "The Graceful Interface" and "The Gracious Interface," which describe how apps accommodate user tasks in both beautiful and user-centered ways. Other chapters discussed the design tension between richness and plainness, goal-centered design (with a big section on removing features that distract from an app's focus), prototyping and developing cross platform. After my initial taste of this book, I can't wait to read it in its final form. You can preview the table of contents here and a pre-order page is already live. The book should ship in June.
Nokia Beta Labs debuts Shoot and Tag scene app for your mobile phone
Say what you will about Nokia, the company has never had a shortage of ideas. And the latest from the kids at Nokia Beta Labs? Why, that would be a little something called Shoot and Tag. An app available -- you guessed it -- as a beta from the company, Shoot and Tag automatically creates individual scenes in the videos you shoot on your phone, not dissimilar to the chapters on a DVD. But that ain't all! You can also create your own scene markers, just in case you find yourself capturing footage you know you'll want handy access to later. Ready to give it a shot? Hit the source link to get started -- but not before peeping the demo after the break.
TUAW's Daily App: Chapters
Chapters (US$3.99 on the iPad) looks like a terrific app for your various notetaking enterprises. I haven't yet been completely sold on the iPad as a blogging or writing device; so far, I've stuck with my MacBook rather than an iPad when I need to be out remotely somewhere keeping notes or writing things down. But Chapters is exactly the kind of app that could change that. With a simple and powerful interface and a set of features that steps aside and lets you write in whatever fashion you want, it could easily help your iPad replace a more powerful notebook computer. The ability to add photos, edit text formatting, and quickly find and export text you've written into the app is all icing on the cake. Whatever your implementation would be (the reviews in iTunes have a teacher keeping notes, a photographer tracking trips, and a journal writer just documenting random thoughts), Chapters seems like a great app to keep notes, large or small, on the iPad. And that introductory price of $3.99 makes it pretty easy to check out, too.
