redesign
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The time for variant skins is now
With the upcoming character model redesign for Warlords of Draenor, and with no announcement for any new races or classes, a question I've heard asked a lot is is that enough? And while I think it is enough, considering how massive a task it is and how much it will change the game for people, I do think the focus on character models means that now is absolutely the time to introduce another level of character customization. I don't expect (based on what we've seen) to see many new options like a height slider. So I think the old idea to give us variant skins based on sub-groups like the broken draenei, Mag'har orcs, Dark Iron dwarves, Grimtotem tauren and so on should finally become an option. In some cases this would be easier than in others. Giving draenei a playable broken appearance (seen above) would require a lot of work - as you can see, the model is outdated and is even on the wrong skeleton for a draenei. (It's built on top of the current tauren skeleton.) But allowing a player to choose a Dragonmaw, Blackrock or Mag'har orc is as simple as giving them more options in skin tone.
Ubuntu desktop and mobile icons redesigned, united at last
Canonical's been working for years to turn Ubuntu into a universal OS for whatever sized screen you use, be it of the television, desktop or mobile variety. Recently, the company showed off the next step in this evolution: unified icon designs for mobile and desktop Ubuntu implementations. In keeping with current UI trends, the new icons have flatter, more stylized appearance when compared to the old desktop iconography. System tiles are less colorful and more reserved in appearance, while apps and folders have been punched up with a flashier look to set them apart visually. Of course, the new icons won't actually make their way into a Ubuntu for awhile, as the goal is to get them into the 14.04 release for mobile (13.10 is the current version). Should you want more background on the production of the new icons, there's an hour-long video discussing it after the break. Don't forget the popcorn.
Say hello to the new Engadget design and logo!
Engadget breaks news all day long, but today we've got a little of our own. I'm really excited to announce that over the next few days we're rolling out some of the biggest, most important updates ever to launch on the site. Our goal is nothing short of making Engadget the most useful, advanced, and thoughtfully designed place on the internet to learn about personal technology. Step one on that path launches today: a dramatically simplified new site design, and a fresh new Engadget logo to go along with it. Then, in a few short days we'll be launching a ton of new functionality to take advantage of this all new design, including user profiles, forums, product lists, product comparisons, user reviews, price alerts, and much more. I can't wait to tell you all about it. Read on to learn more.
Nest's mobile app gets a full makeover, Protect smoke detector support
Since Nest's hardware and app go together like birds of a feather, new mobile software was inevitable after it launched the Nest Protect smoke detector. However, the startup darling has also taken the opportunity to completely revamp its app, mostly to make it easier to see all the important goings-on in your house. At a glance, you'll now get the temperature you've set on your Nest Thermostat, whether it's heating or cooling, the outside temperature and weather, and a big button to switch between home and away mode -- in lieu of the former, slightly lame method of tilting your phone to landscape. You'll also see an icon for the new Nest Protect smoke alarm, which displays a green ring if everything's a-okay, and yellow or red one for a heads-up or emergency, respectively. Selecting that icon will bring up the full app, showing all the detectors by room name, a green, yellow or red status for both smoke and carbon monoxide and the status of each alarm's batteries and sensor. In addition, it'll show the last WiFi update and time of your last manual test. Finally, the new app will bring a firmware update for the Nest Thermostat itself, with new features like "Quiet Time," to prevent potentially noisy humidifier equipment from waking up kids, for instance, along with tweaks that make the system more efficient. Hang tight if you're anxious to get them, because Nest said the new app and thermostat update will happen in a few days and install automatically.
LinkedIn unveils new iPad app with a fresh look, improved feed and better search
LinkedIn launched its first iPad app in April of 2012, and today the company has revealed its latest version for Apple slates. The new app's changes revolve mostly around an improved feed interface. Aside from gaining a kind of card interface that's all the rage in mobile UI design these days, the feed now incorporates influencer posts and photos and embedded videos can be viewed in all their glory in the feed. Interacting with individual posts (liking, sharing, etc.) can now all be done directly from the feed via a horizontal swipe within each post, which reveals your options for those interactions. Additionally, search function has improved, so now users can look for jobs, people, groups and companies from one convenient place. The app also brings new top-level navigation in the form of a horizontal scrolling carousel that houses personalized categories and items that populate based upon your usage. Sound good? The new app will be available later today in the App Store, but in the meantime, you can read more about it at the source. Update: The revised app is available now, grab the update here.
Flickr previews new design for photo pages, gives pictures room to breathe
If you often find yourself digging for larger photo sizes while browsing Flickr, Yahoo's just outed a new beta design for image pages that should strike your fancy. With the new look, a 25-percent larger picture fills the left side of a page, while its description, comments, meta information and more take residence on a right-hand rail. Yahoo's also made things snappier as well, promising a speed boost when loading the next image -- which can now be done by clicking the current photo. Marissa Mayer and Co. say that this is an early version of the revamp, however, and that not all features have been included. To preview the fresh layout, just navigate to a photo and hit the "Try Our New Photo Experience" button, which seems to have been knocking about browsers for a few days. Holdouts, however, will see the partial redesign roll out en masse later this year.
Pocket redesigned on the web: overhauled article viewer, enhanced navigation and more
Hot on the heels of releasing a freshly designed application for iOS 7, Pocket is now switching its focus to the experience it offers on the web. The save-for-later reading service says the revamped site takes a lot of cues from its mobile apps, presenting a much more polished UI with major performance improvements throughout. Browsing Pocket has been made easier thanks to added support for keyboard shortcuts, allowing you to easily archive, favorite and jump across stories you've queued up. The Article View, which is perhaps the most important section, now features an all-new layout that can automatically adjust depending on the content being read, as well as being able to display Retina-class images within articles. Pocket's makeover can be enjoyed on most major web browsers starting today, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera and and Internet Explorer 9 or higher.
Google drops its black menu bar, rolls out more streamlined look for the web
Some users of Google's web-based products may have already seen the familiar black menu bar disappear from one Google site or another, but the company has now confirmed that was only just the beginning. It's announced today that a broader rollout is underway that will see most of its sites get a new "app launcher" in its place. That new interface should be familiar to anyone who's used Android or Chrome OS; it simply consists of a small icon in the top right of each page that expands to reveal a grid of larger icons. According to Google, the change is being done to make getting around various Google services more "seamless," and eliminate any distractions once you're inside an app. Along with the menu bar change, Google has also confirmed that it's "refined the color palette and letter shapes" of its logo, and that the updated version of it will be making its way across the company's various offerings along with the new menu bar. You can apparently expect those changes to occur over the next few weeks.
Pocket for iOS 7 offers automatic syncing, hyphens
That's right, the iOS 7 refresh of the save-for-later app formerly known as Read It Later is now available with hyphens. The seemingly miniscule dash addition (which automatically adds hyphens for a more refined justified layout) is part of a redesigned reading experience that also includes automatic syncing. With "Instant Sync," the company promises that content saved on any device will automatically be pushed to the iOS app, meaning you won't have to waste precious minutes of your life waiting for that study on the rejuvenating effects of video games to appear. The update also includes full-bleed images, a fullscreen article view and an increased focus on typography and font adjustments. For more, check out the source link below.
Will we see an ability purge?
A fact of any MMO is that over time, as we get expansions to the game, we get more abilities, talents, and spells and as a result, our bars get complicated. Cynwise in his recent return to blogging (hopefully a long return) pointed out this exact issue recently, and now Ghostcrawler has tweeted a response to a question about ability bloat that has me wondering. Clearly, the easiest way to reduce the number of spells on the action bar is to remove some of them. Either fold separate attacks/spells into a smaller amount, combining them or just flat out removing ones that see less use. We saw some of this moving into Mists of Pandaria (one example that springs to mind is the folding of Deep Wounds and Rend into one ability) and we could always see more. Of course, the concern is always that you're getting rid of someone's favorites in the process. At any rate, we have only the idea that there are plans out there, and that they will cause some crying. Keep an eye out, folks.
Yahoo to reveal new logo next month, send off current one with daily tribute
Since taking on Marissa Mayer as CEO last year, Yahoo's kept itself occupied with purchasing Tumblr, giving Flickr a facelift, redesigning its email service, fine-tuning its fantasy sports solution and much more. Citing a renewed sense of progress, the company's announced it's taking up a new logo that'll evolve "the essence" of the brand accordingly. While the fresh design won't be unveiled until September 5th, Yahoo will show off a unique take on its current logo -- like the one above -- for the next 30 days throughout its homepage and network of sites. Don't expect a radical departure from its roots, however. An exclamation mark, the color purple and the hallmark yodel will all be a part of the new branding.
The Naga 2013: Improving on a classic by degrees
One of the hardest things to do is look at something you've created and try to make it better. Because sometimes you can't. I first picked up a Razer Naga back when I was first working at Massively, mostly because it suited my piloting style in Star Trek Online. Once I had it in my hand, I never wanted to let it go. It was small, which was a welcome fact for someone with small hands. It had a useful thumb-pad for keys that felt comfortable and intuitive. It was responsive, it was attractive, it was everything I could want from a gaming mouse. Of course, the Naga was getting a bit long in the tooth. So it got redesigned. I was sent a review copy of the mouse to take for a spin, to see if this new edition of the product was nearly as good as the existing mouse that I've been using for nearly four years. Is the new Naga a worthy inheritor, or did something beautiful get ruined by a redo?
Google brings new full-screen compose window to Gmail
It looks like those not satisfied with the recent Gmail redesign will soon have a new option to make things operate in a slightly more familiar manner. Google announced today that it's begun rolling out a new full-screen compose window that gives you more room to work with than the current option that's pinned to the lower right corner. What's more, you'll also find that the formatting toolbar is now on by default instead of requiring an extra click as it does now, and you can choose to make the full-screen view the default if you prefer it. If you don't have the new option already, Google says you should within the next couple of days.
Google Play for web gets the refreshed interface promised at I/O 2013
Back at its I/O 2013 developer conference, Google pledged that it would be bringing the mobile design of Google Play to its internet portal. Today, that change has finally rolled out into the world wide web, and with it comes the tiled interface that's become so familiar to Android users. Of course, with the added real estate the web provides, Google has also added the left side navigation that's become so popular on its other services -- to allow folks easy access to the different categories of digital (and physical) goods it offers. Head on down to the source and see for yourself.
Revamped Google Maps for Android rolling out with new discovery, navigation tweaks
Google showed off its new maps UI for desktop and mobile back in May, and now the update is slowly rolling out for Android 4.0.3+ devices. At its event Google said this new version is bringing a more personalized experience, while the changelog reveals new navigation data with "live traffic updates, incident reports and dynamic rerouting." Ratings, reviews and other info have also been pushed to the front in an effort to help users find out more about local places, and on tablets an "Experience" feature should bring enhanced indoor walkthroughs. Assuming you haven't already booked your own ticket to the desktop beta, check out Google's PC-centric video preview after the break, or our hands-on impressions here. The description is live in the Play Store, but you may need to go another route if you'd like to snag the latest APK before the download rolls out to everyone. Update: Google has posted the official information about its new Maps app for Android, check out all the details (including how to get offline maps) and our hands-on impressions right here.
New Xbox 360 torn down, shows we're all the same on the inside
A teardown of the new Xbox 360 announced at Microsoft's E3 press conference by iFixit showed some surprising non-changes to the redesigned system. Namely, the console still uses the storage, cooling fan and processing power from the current version of the system first announced in June 2010. Among the changes made to the system (referred to as the Xbox 360 E), iFixit noticed that Microsoft updated the RF module and that "the absence of the power button backlight found in the Xbox 360 S is easily noticed." The redesigned console is available now for the same price as the existing models. We got a good look at the system ourselves at E3, albeit from the outside.
Xbox 360 gets a One-like redesign: estimated pricing starts at $200, shipping today
While all eyes are on Xbox One news at Microsoft's E3 keynote, the company's just announced that the Xbox 360 is getting yet another design iteration. Taking cues from the "modern look and feel of the Xbox One," it's touted as smaller, sleeker and quieter. Microsoft did a good job keeping this quiet, as it's shipping today in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia, with other markets receiving it over the coming months. "Hundreds of new games" are apparently headed to the 360 over the next couple of years, proving the old console's still got some life in it yet, and an Xbox Live subscription will net you some older ones for free, come July. The estimated retail price for the console with 4GB of storage is $200; adding a Kinect to that option hikes the cost up to $300. Or, swap the Kinect out for a 250GB HDD and it'll also cost $300. Follow all of our E3 2013 coverage at our event hub.
Yahoo gives search a redesign, unveils Google-esque nav bar
Yahoo has been a busy little bee recently, updating its various properties and snatching up new ones. Now its giving its Bing-powered search page a facelift. The redesign is actually quite subtle. The color scheme remains the same and there's still a sidebar, though, the various search tabs have all been pushed to the left rail. The look is flatter, boxier and more modern with quite a bit of empty space. In fact, the padding on the right side has been expanded, leaving much of the screen strangely bare. In addition to the updated aesthetics, the company has introduced a new navigation bar that sits glued to the top providing shortcuts to the homepage, your mailbox, Flickr and other Yahoo-owned properties. The nav bar will also be rolling out to these other services soon, providing a Google-esque way to quickly hop around. Now Yahoo just needs to figure out how to serve up actually useful results. When our search for sushi on Staten Island turned up only one restaurant actually in the borough and a query for "old fashioned recipe" spit out a pile of pancake plans, we knew that there was still quite a lot of work to be done.
Rdio intros new social features and redesigned player
Social media streamer Rdio rolled out a major redesign a little over a year ago and has done a bit of tweaking since then. Now, following a recent update to its mobile apps, the service is making even more changes. At the top of the list are methods for getting social on the site, with friends from Twitter and Facebook hitting its front page, alongside their listening habits and influencers selected by the service. You can also check out a curated list of potential friends, if the front page just isn't doing it for you. Autoplay, meanwhile, creates personalized stations and keeps the music going after you're out of ideas, or you can proactively create stations by clicking on album artwork. Also new is a thumbs up / thumbs down voting feature and a full-size player featuring big album artwork and upcoming tracks.
Threadflip redesigns, seeing 20% of purchases made through mobile app
Threadflip is an app where users can buy, sell and discover various clothing and other fashion items, and it's just undergone a major redesign. The app was introduced about a year ago, and since then, Threadflip has seen about 20 percent of purchases made and 40 percent of items listed come directly from the mobile app, so it's a fairly big market for them. That follows the trends that we've seen with mobile shopping lately, with more and more people using their iPhones and iPads to shop, either buying items directly on the touchscreen, or using the mobile devices while out in a more traditional retail environment. Threadflip's new design includes both a new shopping experience and a new seller dashboard, so users can easily and quickly find what they want to buy (and then check out with those items), or put items up for sale. The app is available now, and to celebrate the redesign, Threadflip is offering 20 percent on purchases from the app until Sunday, June 2, when you enter "TFAPP" at checkout. Threadflip seems like an excellent example of the growth of mobile commerce, and odds are that we'll see more and more of these apps in the future.
