512 Pixels

While NASA doesn’t use the old “worm” logo anymore, this style guide is a fascinating study in detail and production oriented design.

Here are some Overcast-related headlines that I’ve been workshopping:

• Overcast: Cloudy with a chance of podcasts
• Finally.
• Overcast rains on Instacast’s parade
• Orange you glad Overcast is out?
• Overcast: The BMW of podcast clients
• BREAKING: Overcast does support shows on networks
• Overcast beats Fast Text for iOS 7 to release
• Something Something Accidental

Joking aside, Overcast is great. It’s been on the home screen of my iPhone from the very first beta, and even though it isn’t as full-featured as some of the competition, it’s a real winner. The app’s Smart Speed feature which dynamically shortens silences, which has saved me over five hours of time over the last few months. Overcast actually makes you younger.

If you are listen to poorly-mixed shows, or listen to podcasts with a Jambox while in the shower, Overcast’s Voice Boost feature normalizes audio and makes it louder in a clear, even way. It’s a great way to squeeze more decibels out of a device without blowing everything out.

Overcast is free on the iOS App Store, with a $4.99 in-app purchase that unlocks lots of goodies.

Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan at Gizmodo:

Apple, Trapper Keeper, and Reebok: Three of the most well-known brands of the 1980s, and three companies that used the same futuristic-looking typeface to do it. So why isn’t the typeface a classic like other period pieces cough Helvetica cough? Fate is a funny thing.

Today Fonts In Use and BrandNew point out the odd case of Motter Tektura, a typeface created in 1975 by the Austrian designer Othmar Motter, who died in 2010. If you were alive in the late 1970s or 80s, you’ll recognize it as the former font used in Apple’s early logos, as well as those of Trapper Keeper and Reebok—which kept it in use well into contemporary times.

While I have a couple of computers floating around that are graced with Motter Tektura, I had no idea that it was used by other brands until reading these links.

As Gizmodo points out, Tektura is more or less a lost font, as there’s no authorized digital version of the typeface. This is the case with many older Apple-related typefaces.

To read more about fonts used by Apple over the years, check out this list of links:

• Wikipedia: Typography of Apple Inc.
• Wikipedia: List of Apple Typefaces
• Wikipedia: Fonts on Macintosh
• Wikipedia: List of typefaces included with OS X

With iOS and now OS X Yosemite, Apple is turning to Helvetica Neue more and more for its interfaces. While beautiful, it’s a tad boring after revisiting these old typefaces.

Brian X. Chen and Steve Lohr at The New York Times, on the companies’ new partnership:

Under the partnership, IBM will serve as a sales force in corporate accounts for Apple products and provide on-site service, which have been gaps in Apple’s capabilities.

IBM once gripped the technology industry with an iron fist, and now it’s in bed with the little hippie company from Cupertino.

Also, that headline really hurt me to write.

It is always weird to see a flagship product crumble away.

Justin Lee:

Six months ago, I was reading Kinfolk, a culture and lifestyle magazine with lots of beautiful photos. Flipping through it was a really delightful experience. Then it came to me, what if I could flip through my own photos as if they were a beautiful photo magazine, say on my iPad? And even better, what if I didn’t have to organize and layout the photos?

And that was the beginning of Photo Book Flip. After five months of design and development, the app has finally come to life.

Photo Book Flip instantly turns the photos on your iPad into a beautiful digital photo book with a single tap. Inspired by photo-centric magazines like Kinfolk and beautiful cookbooks like Mast Brothers Chocolate and Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee, the page layout features a minimalist design to spotlight your moments. And just like the iBooks app, as you flip each page, you’ll also see what’s behind the page as if it was a real book.

Photo Book Flip lets you experience your photos in a delightful and different way. Like what physical photo albums do, they’ve created this app to celebrate the wonderful memories and moments in everyone’s life.

Find it on the App Store at a limited-time introductory price of $0.99 and learn more on the Apperie website. You’re going to like it. Please check it out, and let them know how we they make it better.

Sponsored via Syndicate Ads

This week marks the sixth anniversary of the App Store, as Jim Dalrymple reminds us:

On July 10, 2008, Apple launched the App Store, forever changing the way we use smartphones, tablets and many other devices. Think about how you used devices before apps, and how you use them today—there is no comparison. The iPhone and apps have changed the world.

(This means the iPhone 3G and MobileMe are also six years old. This batch of releases is one reason I left the Apple Store.)

Here’s Scott Forstall introducing the original iPhone OS SDK:

While it’s hard to believe now, early iPhone apps couldn’t do much. Things like multitasking, notifications and copy and paste weren’t present in 2008. When an app was closed, it was dead, and data was even more locked away into silos than it is now.

All that aside, those early days of the App Store were magical. In fact, by the end of the first month, my iPhone was already set up with several screens of apps:

One of the early apps that really stands out to me to this day is Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D. By today’s standards, the racing game isn’t much to look at or experience, but it turned my iPhone from something useful to something fun.

Sometime over the last six years, however, my iPhone has turned from something fun into something indispensable. Most days, it’s not only my iPod, camera and phone, but my primary computer. I couldn’t do my job or run this site without it.

In his review of the iPhone 3G, John Gruber wrote:

If I could travel back 20 years and show my then 15-year-old self just one thing from the future of today, it would be the iPhone. It is our flying cars. Star Trek-style wireless long-distance voice communicator. The content of every major newspaper and magazine in the world. An encyclopedia. Video games. TV. Etc.

Over the last six years, this has held up pretty well, but Apple doesn’t deserve all the credit. A device is only as good as what it can do, and thanks to the App Store and third-party developers, they can do just about anything.

Speaking of The Prompt, yesterday’s episode was a lot of fun:

Myke, Federico and Stephen follow-up on Sherlocking and discuss photo management in the light of the upcoming Photos app from Apple. Then Myke shares his experience with Android Wear and the Weekly Picks sound effect gets played for the first time in ages.

Oh, and I yell about my actual age and Federico sings some Justin Bieber.

Myke Hurley:

Today I am announcing that I will be departing 5by5 on July 16th 2014.

The last 18 months have been a tremendous experience, but it is time for me to move on to new things. I have new goals that I want to tackle, and to be able to do this I need to be independent again.

Next week will mark the last episodes of Myke’s shows on 5by5, including The Prompt. To settle any doubts: Federico and I are 100% behind Myke, and we aren’t done doing things together.

Stay tuned.

Ben Brooks:

This week I am joined by Stephen Hackett of 512pixels.net, and The Prompt. We discuss wearables and how fashion is going to make this a tough market to crack, and diving into the unknown waters of what Apple may offer.

I enjoyed my chat with Ben. We broke down what’s on the market now and pretended we were smart enough to guess what’s going on behind locked doors in Cupertino.

I wonder if this is good news or bad news for the Mac mini.

Or if anyone at Apple remembers the Mac mini is still for sale.

Sigh.

My favorite podcast ended today. Here’s my friend Matt Alexander:

Historians often reflect upon Bionic’s turning point — episode 51 — wherein Myke accidentally loosened his grip on the narrative and we ended up on an odd trajectory discussing nothing in particular for 44 episodes. So, for those looking to see what all of this was about or wondering why “Car, Plane, or Boat?” is a serious question, I’d recommend starting there.

I mention those episodes because, simply put, Bionic’s later moments — fondly known as the Bonanza episodes — were a constant source of happiness for Myke and I.

Personally, whilst going through periods of intense self-doubt and worry regarding Need and the future, Bionic represented a moment — albeit brief — of respite, ridiculousness, and disconnection from reality. I know it was emblematic of something similar for Myke, too.

Today’s episode is great, but if you haven’t listened to Bionic, take Matt’s advice. Go download episode 51 and get to work.