RnaLabs

I’m not sure if all the WAP browsers on the mobile phone are going away overnight but the iPhone, with its Safari browser, has certainly showed everyone that mobile browsing need not be a compromise. The folks over at Mozilla have been working on a mobile version of Firefox for some time and the latest version looks like it’s progressing nicely. It’s an interesting take on a mobile browser with user-configurable spaces and touch-based slides in various directions that give the user access to common browser functionality. That last bit is an interesting approach to maximizing the real estate that’s pretty limited on a mobile. Also, I agree with the comment that typing on a traditional mobile number pad is “like trying to remove a contact lens with a cotton ball; it’s just not fun.”

I’ve heard that the browser on the Nokia N810/800 is a Mozilla version.  It works very nicely.  Can’t wait to try this new version of Firefox on other mobile devices.

The mobile is the new computer!

Firefox Mobile Concept Video from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Our UI design for Monsoon Multimedia’s HAVA for the Nokia Internet Tablet was covered in the press this week at CTIA.   The HAVA Player lets you take your TV anywhere and access either your DVR, Cable, or Satellite boxes (Standard NTSC or HD channels) connected to a HAVA at home, via the Nokia Internet Tablet, as long as it is connected via WiFi or now WiMax via Sprint.

Since screen real estate is limited, the UI is divided into modes each giving the user access to a different set of virtual remote buttons.  There’s a channel flipping mode, a PVR mode, a set-top box mode and a favorites mode which gives the user 1-click access to their favorite channels.  The quality of the HAVA streaming video is quite amazing on the Nokia tablet and I love watching my TiVo shows while traveling, at the airport, a hotel, or drinking a latte.

Press coverage: Engadget, G4TV, Internet Tablet Talk, Tablet Blog

Don’t take my word for it, the next big thing will always be the user-centered device…

Electronic News sat down to discuss the future of consumer electronics with David Milne CEO of Wolfson Microelectronics; Michael Maia, VP of Marketing at Portal Player; Jarreth Solomon, director of technology at Lexar Media; and Allen Leibovitch, semiconductors program manager at International Data Corp. What follows are excerpts of that conversation. The [full article can be read here->http://www.reed-electronics.com/electronicnews/article/CA604106.html]

Solomon: …What made the iPod take off was that it was a very easy system to use. It came bundled with an iTunes package and it was a very attractive user interface. That’s one of the things consumers are looking at now. As new products come out, the user interface has to be easy to use in order to be mass adopted.

Maia: That is the critical thing. If you hit that nail on the head, you’ve got a winner.

Solomon: Yes. Take a look at Kodak. It very recently took a leader position in the digital camera space because of the Kodak EasyShare. You plug your camera into a docking station, push a button and it prints. You don’t have to deal with Photoshop or adjusting colors; 80 percent of the population out there doesn’t have that kind of expertise or the time to do that.