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Google Now awarded Popular Science's Innovation of the Year
Popular Science has given Google Now its "Innovation of the Year" award, putting it alongside past winners like the Large Hadron Collider, the Toyota Prius and the Mars Curiosity Rover. It's august company to be sure, and the reasoning behind the decision is that it's "the first virtual assistant that truly anticipates your needs." The service has grown quite a bit since its initial launch -- from personalized recommendations to public safety alerts and the addition of a pedometer, it seems that these are early days yet for the context- and location-aware app. Hit the Android G+ source link to read a Q&A between PopSci and part of the Google Now team to get some behind-the-scenes insight of the award-winning service.
Condition One immerses iPads and iPhones in 180-degree video, shakes up dreary apps (video)
Video in tablet magazines and similar apps sometimes -- okay, often -- comes across as a grafted-on extra. Condition One, a startup by war photographer Danfung Dennis, wants to make video an intrinsic part of the experience by taking advantage of the motion sensors in smartphones and tablets. Video shot from a DSLR or similar camera is converted into a 180-degree format that you can swipe or tilt through on an iOS device to get a more involving look. It's a lot more lively than plain movies, and Dennis sees the technique being used for documentaries and tours where it would help to put viewers directly in the action. Producers only need off-the-shelf hardware and software, too. There's a show-off app at the source link to get an overall sense of what the footage is like, but if you're looking for the first official projects, a pilot project has just started that's bringing apps from Discovery, Mercedes-Benz, Popular Science (below), The Guardian and XL Recordings.
Apple's Newsstand application aiding digital magazine sales, says 'I told you so'
There's no doubt that the digital magazine's road to success has been a bumpy one. The original -- and still the main -- idea was to push content creators and publishers forward in the paperless era, but there's been many doubters and fallen soldiers in the process. While Apple hasn't been the only outfit looking to bring the magazine to the small screen, the introduction of the Newsstand app in iOS 5 aimed to give digitized publications a place to shine on their own. According to AllThingsD, the shelf isn't just a real estate hog on your springboard, it's actually helping to boost sales; Popular Science alone has seen an uptick in subscriptions on the order of 11,000 since the app launched, and signs of slowdown are nowhere to be spotted. PopSci's results may not be found in every publishing house, but it's as solid a sign as any that the tactic may be working. Hit the source link for that whiz-bang chart action.
Popular Science sees boost from Apple's Newsstand
Apple's Newsstand app, which premiered on iOS devices with the release of iOS 5, was designed to improve the sales of newspapers and magazines by giving publishers their own virtual shelf space in a highly visible app. Several other publications have already touted their success stories with Newsstand, and now Popular Science is joining the chorus. The magazine, which is undoubtedly popular with the tech crowd, published cumulative subscription numbers recently. As reported by AllThingsD's Peter Kafka and visible in the chart at the top of this post, PopSci not only saw a leap in subscriptions the second week of October -- coincidentally the time when Newsstand was launched -- but since that time has been capturing new subscribers at a faster rate. The numbers are courtesy of Mag+, the tablet publishing arm of PopSci publisher Bonnier. Kafka notes that he personally uses the New York Times app less often than he did before it moved to Newsstand, and would like to be able to pull items off of the Newsstand shelf so that they're closer to other items that he uses quite often. How about you, TUAW readers? Do you find that you read magazines and newspapers more or less often now that many have moved to Newsstand, or do you avoid Newsstand at all cost? Leave us your opinions in the comments.
Popular Science has sold 10,000 iPad magazine subscriptions
When Apple introduced its new subscription terms earlier this year, Popular Science embraced this change and introduced subscription-based billing into its iPad-based magazine. Now that six weeks have elapsed, publisher Bonnier Technology Group is happy to report that Pop Sci now has 10,000 iPad subscribers. Each subscriber pays US$14.99 for one-year of access to the magazine's digital content. Gregg Hano, VP-group publisher at the Bonnier Technology Group, says the publisher had no idea what to expect when it launched its magazine subscription and is "very excited" by these early results. Though this 10K figure is small compared to the 1.3 million paid print subscribers, it is a step in the right direction for the publisher. The biggest drawback to Apple's subscription model is the lack of subscriber information provided to the publisher. Subscriber information stays within Apple's iTunes system, and Hano admits the publisher currently has no demographic information on the individuals purchasing its digital magazine. Continued growth may require the publisher to develop an alternative method to find out who is buying and reading its iPad magazine.
Elle, Nylon and Pop Sci gladly adopt Apple's subscription terms
Not every publisher's feathers were ruffled by the changes Apple made to its subscription policy earlier this week. While Rhapsody may have responded negatively to the changes, some publishers are accepting the new terms and adopting Apple's new subscription model. According to Advertising Age, three popular magazines, Elle, Nylon and Popular Science, will let customers subscribe via the App Store and, in return, will concede some of their valuable customer data to Apple. The trio believes the advantages of distributing content via Apple's mobile platform outweigh any potential disadvantages. Nylon is the smallest magazine of the bunch and will be least affected by the loss of customer information. The independent magazine eyes the monetary reward of increased subscriptions and assumes its customers will still provide demographic information via other methods. Popular Science shares a similar approach and may prompt users to share their information after they have purchased a subscription and received their second or third issue of the digital magazine. Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., the publisher behind Elle magazine, is taking a wait and see approach. Rather than become enemies with Apple, the magazine is going to adopt the model and see how it turns out. The publisher also sees the model as being very fluid and one that Apple and publishers can modify over time. "I don't think this is something that is set in stone either for us or for Apple. I'd rather work with them to improve it over time than just sit on the sidelines," said Philippe Guelton, Executive Vice President and COO at Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.
Apple highlights third party iPad apps with walkthrough videos
Apple has posted a new web page highlighting some third-party apps made for the iPad, complete with their own Apple-produced demo videos. Each highlighted app gets a description, App Store link and demo clip. The clips are short and to the point while showing off an app's main features. Among 'The Chosen Apps' are Things for iPad, Popular Science+ and Epicurious (a favorite of yours truly). There's also a great feature on Bonnier, the publisher of Popular Science. It describes a brief history of Mag+, the sub-group created to bring Popular Science to the iPad, with interviews and a slideshow of the app's development process. It's quite interesting. Congratulations to the developers whose apps got featured. We hope to see more features like that one from Bonnier. [Hat tip to David Chartier]
The making of The Elements for iPad
Popular Science takes an in-depth look into the makings of The Elements: A Visual Exploration for the iPad, the app that's had many reviewers nearly swooning with giddy geek pleasure. The article is written by the original book's author and Wolfram Research's co-founder, Theodore Gray, who described the experience as the chance to create something that "Harry Potter might check out of Hogwarts' library." The article is a fantastic read and is definitely worth checking out, especially if you have any interest in getting into media publication for the iPad, and how to design dynamic pages that Photoshop nor InDesign simply can't pull off. They took a library of nearly 350,000 images shot for the original book, combined it with a page layout tool constructed from scratch with Mathematica and added a runtime application code to turn those pages (processed on the fastest 8-core Mac Pro out there) into a beautiful iPad book that is truly worthy of Hogwarts. In addition to the Popular Science interview, check out the above video that debuted on Gray's YouTube channel for the book for an additional look at the book.
Just got my iPad. Now what?
It's pretty clear that new iPad owners are hitting the app store in droves. Books, games and movies are all flying off the virtual shelves. Since you may be suffering from sensory overload, or just looking for some ideas, here are some things I've seen that might be worth a look. I tried Time Magazine (U.S. $4.99) and Popular Science ($4.99) magazines on the iPad. The both look striking on the luscious iPad screen, but neither one really excited me enough to get me to subscribe. Time had nice use of video. Pop Sci looked stunning, but didn't have a lot of text. I think both magazines will need to come down below 5 bucks an issue to attract readers. For news, I liked Reuters News Pro, the new NPR app and the New York Times Editors' Choice app. All are free, and make clever use of the screen and finger gestures. USA Today looks nice, but tends to crash and has some confusing navigation. Sometimes I clicked on one story and got another. I'll be patient with them, because they have some sharp coders and I know the app will quickly get better. Be aware that the USA Today app is free for now, but will cost money at some time in the future. The AP News app (free) is a bit of a mess. It has some clever ideas, but the stories are reduced to little thin strips and a lot of screen space is wasted. I don't want my news apps cute. I just want the news. The Netflix app (free, but requires a Netflix subscription) is a major win. I tried a 2 week free trial, and the streaming movies look really good. The selection isn't always in line with my taste, but I'll probably sign up when the trial ends. Kudos to Apple for letting them in. They are certainly a movie competitor.
iPad apps: news and magazines
Apple's done a pretty good job convincing the old media that the iPad will save their industry, so we've taken our time trying out the launch titles in the App Store -- it's plain to see that different publishers have radically different ideas about how you're supposed to buy and consume their content, and everything from pricing to UI is currently up in the air. But while the apps we've seen so far are definitely intriguing, we haven't seen any silver bullets yet -- and to be perfectly honest, in several cases we wondered why an app was preferable to an iPad-optimized web site, or even (gasp) a paper subscription. Let's run down the launch lineup, shall we? Update: We added in NPR and Zinio by popular request, check 'em out below!
Popular Science magazine comes to the iPad
Mag+ live with Popular Science+ from Bonnier on Vimeo. The Mag+ digital magazine concept was first previewed in December, six weeks before Apple announced the iPad. Looks like their awesome concept just needed the right tech. Now Bonnier has released Popular Science+, the iPad edition of Popular Science magazine. Not content with just porting an issue's pages over to the iPad, Bonnier collaborated with BERG, a London-based design studio, and created Popular Science+ based on six design principles that rule their Mag+ philosophy. Their rules do a terrific job at explaining the difference between a magazine and a web page and what readers expect from a magazine that they don't expect from the web (magazines have a defined beginning and end, they have fewer distractions than the web, and are delivered on an issue-basis). The video above does a good job in showing how art directors are going to have to think outside the box to successfully transfer a print magazines to devices like the iPad. Popular Science+ for iPad is available now for $4.99.
iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave
There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That's on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple's tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history -- not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an "HD" suffix -- as if that somehow justified the increased cost. Besides, we've seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi -- but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers. Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.
Popular Science explains the making of Project Natal
Vaunted science magazine Popular Science got to check out Project Natal at CES, and has posted its own take on the project over on its site. While most of the coverage we've seen of Microsoft's motion controller has been from the gaming press, Pop Sci comes at it from a software engineering perspective. Essentially, Microsoft is trying to build a sophisticated AI that can look at video of what you're doing in front of a camera, and translate that to information the game can use. To accomplish that, the coders behind Natal took lots and lots of reference pictures and videos, and they're still "teaching" the software what it looks like when you try to hit a soccer ball or wave at Milo. It's fascinating stuff -- thirty "guesses" per second at your body's location and movement based on what the computer "knows" about what bodies look like and how they move, and lots of calculations based on that data. Hopefully by the time it's supposed to release later this year, Natal will have figured out what it looks like when we melee with a battle rifle. [Thanks, Wonderflex!]
Mag+ digital magazine concept makes e-readers cower with envy (video!)
As the decade comes to a close, we're seeing a bevy of real and mythical devices bent on saving main stream media through the execution of a variety of proposed content partnerships. Unfortunately, it's still hard to imagine how all this will play out in reality. That's where slickly produced concepts can be of benefit. Like this one from the R&D wing of Bonnier, the publisher of Popular Science magazine among others. While the concept still treats electronic magazines as periodic issues, the interaction is entirely new and immersive compared to their printed forms. Interestingly enough, our future is ad free if the video (and not Google) is to be believed. Compelling stuff and a possible glimpse at our not too distant future.%Gallery-80485%
Popular Science names Wii Fit one of this year's best inventions
Popular Science is smitten with the Balance Board and Wii Fit. In their top 100 inventions of 2008 feature, they feature the bundle and talk about the components that comprise the Balance Board. Personally, we've always been big fans of the whole package, aside from the price of the thing, so we're glad to see it get some exposure in an interesting magazine.%Gallery-4745%
It ain't easy to get an iPhone review unit
I'm not saying that Apple didn't send out any iPhone review units, but they sent out very few (probably in the single digits). It makes sense, since everyone is worked up into a froth at the moment about the iPhone. Apple doesn't need to beg publications to review this thing, they will be selling a boatload of 'em anyway.That being said, you would think a magazine like Popular Science would be able to get their hands on an iPhone ahead of time. It would appear not so much. The emails traded with Apple are particularly amusing.So, while you're online for an iPhone look to your left and your right.. you just might see some tech reporters anxiously hoping to get their iPhones before deadline.
More critics, more predictions of PS3 dominance by 2010
For a while, we thought video game market analysts went into hibernation. We didn't hear their slobbering predictions for a while and the world was at peace. However, all good things come to a premature, abrupt, and violent end. Popular Science has issued plenty of predictions, one of which is aimed squarely at the PlayStation 3. While the prediction is a positive one for the Sony crowd, it's still just a prediction.Long term plans are key with these predictions. Nintendo is sweeping the world with their Wii, but what will happen a few years from now? The novelty will wear off and the gaming quality will grow more obvious as people purchase HDTV's and want something with more pizazz, Popular Science implies. Perhaps they don't imply it, but that is the thought behind many analysts. With that in mind, Popular Science predicts the PS3 will begin to outsell the competition by the end of 2009. Very conservative, but not entirely unbelievable. Now we ask all of you to get out your crystal balls and tell us what you think will happen with the consoles by the end of this year. We'll make a basic one: PS3 sales will pick up drastically during the last three months of the year as PS2 sales taper off.[Via Gaming Today]
Popular Science picks at the brain behind Spore, Will Wright
In a massive eight page interview, game industry legend Will Wright talks about everything from the sociology of online gaming, his aspirations growing up and perhaps most importantly, his upcoming title, Spore.While the whole interview demands a read from those interested in anything Wright related, combing through it reveals a few tidbits regarding the looming project. Wright is still aiming for a Fall, 2007 release and while he doesn't go into the specifics of other consoles (Spore is, after all, a PC title), he does mention how the game is agnostic enough to go from the PC, to the Wii and even a cell phone. While it's nothing terribly new to us, he does go more in-depth as to the argument for each platform.The majority of the article revolves around Spore and the incredibly complex nature of its design. So grab a drink, relax and wrap your head around one of this year's biggest titles.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Wii, inside and out
Ouch! When many don't even have a Wii yet, it's simply painful to see one taken apart with so little care. The guys at Popular Science dismantled their Wii, breaking it in the process. While we get to see the fruits of their ill-fated labor, like the Wii guts above, it's still sad to think of a perfectly good system gone to waste. At least they took a lot of pictures.
Nintendo's Wii: opened up the easy way, and the hard way
While a few zany folks preferred to mindlessly operate on a PlayStation 3 without any tact whatsoever, the steady-handed folks over at Popular Science went by the books when they gingerly took apart Nintendo's latest. But alas, not everyone is so gentle (or considerate) when it comes to enjoying new toys, and the folks over at SmashMyWii shaved a few minutes off their uncasing time by going at it with a large foreign object instead of a minuscule screwdriver. We're reserving comment on which method we prefer most, but we do applaud both the tender care and rage expressed in each unique scenario. Nevertheless, snagging a Wii should've been slightly (and slightly we stress) easier than dodging bullets or quitting your job in order to (hopefully) get a PS3, but we're sure there's still quite a few of us sitting home empty handed -- so if you're craving an inside look at the Wii which you don't yet have (or don't want to dissect yourself), be sure to hit the read link for some well-captured Wii pr0n, and peek after the break for the painfully humorous slaughtering.Read - Popular Science performs a cautious WiisectomyRead - SmashMyWii obliterates Nintendo's Wii
