Monthly Archives: February 2010

“The interface that really matters is the map your mind creates to let you find what you need quickly on your phone. There are lots of ways to do this – buttons, pop ups, widgets, icons, & more we’ll see in the future. The most important thing is how quickly your brain can learn it & then map it into your routine so that you find the information you need quickly. I’ve done this through mapped buttons, screen swipes, memorized icon locations, & they all work well once you get used to them. It only has to make sense the first couple times you use it until you learn it.”

Wise words indeed from Tom Munch who wrote the above in response to our debate about the Windows 7 and iPhone user interfaces. He makes the perfect point about user interfaces and it is true that once you know how to use one it will be as quick as you want to make it. Your brain will work it for you and it does not matter how good it looks- if it works well then you will be good to go. Having the ability to customise a UI is an added advantage and this is where the iPhone currently falls over a little, although the same could be said of BlackBerry and Symbian as well. Under Android and Windows Mobile you can use third party apps and themes to change the way the UI works, but Tom would quite rightly say that it would just mean having to re-learn the UI all over again.

Do we add too much importance to the UI of a smartphone? I am confident we do and that in real world use it will not speed up getting things done on the move. No matter how you look at it, tapping an icon to enter or app or doing it some other way takes the same amount of time- the real stuff happens in the apps themselves. I do compare the iPhone and BlackBerry too much, mainly because they are so different, but-

Adding a calendar entry

iPhone:
1/ Tap Calendar app icon.
2/ Tap ‘+’ sign.
3/ Tap ‘Title & Location’
4/ Type in appointment details
5/ Tap ‘Done’
6/ Tap ‘Start / Ends’ and scroll to right time (can involve 3 lots of scrolling)
7/ Tap Done
8/ Tap ‘Alert’, choose alarm time and tap ‘done’
9/ Tap ‘Done.

BlackBerry
1/ Scroll to calendar app
2/ Scroll to time you want to add appointment and type description
3/ Press enter

The iPhone calendar is one example that is particular poor on the iPhone and not all functions are as labour intensive, but on the whole doing almost anything PIM related on an iPhone is painfully slow compared to a BlackBerry. Part of this is due to hardware (if you prefer hardware QWERTY keyboards), but mostly it is down to software design.

Android is a bit tricky in some apps as well, but I have to say that Windows Mobile is on the whole quite quick in the PIM stakes, probably because bits were directly taken from Palm OS. Symbian is a bit of a fudge for navigation and PIM to the point that the UI is in the way most of the time.

The main point I am trying to make is that millions of words are written about the UI on smartphones, and sometimes in great detail, but I personally believe that it matters little for the majority of mobile operating systems. The hardware and the core functionality will always be more important after the novelty of the first five minutes has worn off.

Things have changed recently at Astraware and so we decided to nab some of Howard Tomlinson’s precious time to get his thoughts on the smartphone market, mobile life in general and of course Astraware.

1/ How does it feel to have Astraware back as a standalone company again?

Great to be back – but that has pluses and minuses. We can make changes and try out new things a lot faster, but I’m very conscious that we don’t have a lot of margin for error. It’s very much like being a startup again.

2/ Did you enjoy your time with Handmark and was it a major change to the way you had to work?

It has been brilliant – they’re a fantastic team, and I have a whole load of new friends there. David and I have learnt a great deal about larger business (i.e. not just making it all up as we go along!) which is really good for us. I’m pretty sure it was a 2-way process too – I’m always asking awkward questions on strategy and direction, the end result of which has been pretty healthy all round.

3/ Is one mobile platform likely to dominate your new releases in the future or are you looking to cover them all?

For the past couple of years we’ve been hitting one platform at a time, bringing our own games across to each new platform. Going forward from here I think we’ll be trying to cover them all a lot more equally.

No surprise that we’ll be expanding to cover iPad too, but all the other platforms have interesting things going on too.

4/ What was your most successful game in the past year?

There’ve been a few interesting spikes – where a game is particularly successful in just one area (i.e. xxxxx in xxxx) – it’s nice to get that kind of data from the Apple App Store.  Phaze and Astraware Solitaire have both been successful in the last year, so that’s one we’ve developed internally and one we’ve published for Pazzazz.

5/ What smartphone are you using at the moment and why?

I’m using an iPhone right now – simply because I love the apps and the usability of it. I’m expecting to upgrade to a 3GS, or maybe whatever Apple have coming later.

6/ Any hints on what we can expect next from Astraware?

As well as iPad we’re investigating some of the other larger platforms too, netbooks and the new Meego OS. We’ve had requests for PC and Mac versions of some of our games, so that’s in consideration too!

We’ve got more games in the pipeline, something puzzley (and squishy!) coming out soon, something distinctly piratical, and more for later in the year. 3D is finally making its impact in our technology too, and we’ll be using that within games where it makes sense to add to the visual effect.

7/ Anything you would like to add?

“Embrace Change!” – wise words once given to me, and it appeals to the optimist in me. There’s a lot of change going on right now, Apple really kicked the ants nest over and that’s fired up a lot of effort and opportunity for all companies, developers and hardware manufacturers both, as we all make progress in new directions. I’m still excited to be part of this industry!

One question for you lot- do you prefer Howard with or without the beard?