With the tablet craze at an all time high, I recently bought an iPad 2.While I am still exploring my favorite apps on there, Flipboard grabbed my attention pretty quickly. A social magazine application, it allows you to integrate all of your favorite websites, blogs, and social media outlets into one place and read them in a more visually appealing way.

Why it Works

Since starting to use the application, I’ve found that I read more than before. Being more of a visual person, the layout and big imagery on pieces of content keeps my attention longer. After checking out their site, it seems like I am one of many who feel this way. As they state, “We believe this more beautiful, more readable layout will increase your viewership and cause more people to retweet, share and like your content.” The application currently has over 4.5 million downloads.

Ease of Use

Another one of the reasons I love this application so much is the ease of use on it. Andrew Cross, a Media Relations Specialist here at Walker Sands, agrees. “I’m a big Flipboard fan, mostly because it displays the information in a way that’s easy to digest. Twitter can be a great source for news, but I like Flipboard’s Twitter stream because I don’t have to click a bunch of links and open new windows just to see if something is worth reading,” stated Andrew. The idea of making it easier to sift through the hundreds of thousands of articles that are shared on the web daily adds to the appeal of the visual application.

Developers: Take Note

From a development perspective, Flipboard demonstrates elements that every app should have. Between it’s ease of use to it’s UX overall, Flipboard is doing it right. Hillel Fuld wrote a great piece on the 7 Lessons Developers Can Learn From Flipboard. There are a lot of great takeaways in that piece as well about why Flipboard works.

For me, it’s all about having my favorite places on the internet in one central location to check out. Watch the video here to get the full experience.

What do you think? Would you consider using Flipboard?

Screenshots:
1 – Homepage of my Flipboard account. You can add your favorite social media sites, blogs, or sort by industry topics to manage what you want to see.
2 – How the blog all that inspires me appears in the application

It’s a new year, meaning it’s time to get crackin’ on those resolutions that seemed like such a good idea last week.  Like millions of others, I made a list of resolutions that I hope to accomplish in 2012, and also like millions of others, I’m beginning to feel like that list is a little daunting – and it’s only day 3.

Enter the iTunes App Store. Knowing that average folks like you and me have trouble keeping up with our New Year’s resolutions, the geniuses at Apple crafted a new addition to the App Store last year: a section entitled New Year, New You. Now it should be easier to make – and stick to – those New Year’s goals.

Over the next few weeks, I will be testing out two apps from each category of the New Year, New You section of the iTunes Store to discover which work best for keeping New Year’s promises, be it in terms of health, lifestyle, finances, or time management.* I will then review each app because, let’s face it, by that time we’ll probably all need a reason to recommit to our resolutions.

The apps I will be reviewing include:

Health -

Nike Training Health Club: According to the App Store it “Gives you your own personal trainer anytime, anywhere.” (Yikes!) It includes 130+ drills and allows users to listen to music and track progress, among other features.
vs.
DailyBurn – Personalized Fitness Evolved: DailyBurn is a little different in that its users track both fitness and nutrition (Bye bye, delicious chocolates sitting on the countertop in the Walker Sands kitchen). Like Nike Training Health Club, DailyBurn provides users with advice and videos from personal trainers to get fit.

Lifestyle -

Bloom: My friends at Apple tell me that Bloom “inspires you to live every day to the fullest: Reminders to make healthy choices, stay connected with others, manage stress, strengthen your spirit, save money, advance your career, and enhance your creativity.” That sure sounds better than an anytime/anywhere personal trainer…
vs.
TED: TED is an acronym standing for Technology Entertainment and Design. Its app provides users with access to educational conference videos. Though this app is much different than Bloom, it will be interesting to see if one sticks out over the other as far as enhancing lifestyle goes.

Finances -

Mint.com: Mint helps you manage your money by securely accessing your banking information. It sends out email updates that summarize where you’re spending the most money.
vs.
Pageonce: Pageonce promises “financial peace of mind” by allowing users to pay all bills at once.

Time Management -

Wunderlist: Wunderlist lets people share and sync to-do lists on its cloud-based platform. My first to do: emotionally prepare myself for seeing my Mint spending summary.
vs.
Orchestra To-do: Orches tra has been named the “Productivity App of 2011.” It helps users remember tasks to accomplish and assign tasks to others, regardless of whether or not they own the app.

Have you tried out any apps that help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions? I invite you to try this experiment along with me. You can visit the iTunes App Store for more information about compatible devices, or, feel free to try out apps on other mobile platforms and suggest them to other readers in the comments below.

*Note: because one of my resolutions is to watch my spending, I will only be downloading the free apps.

The internet has been abuzz since social networking giant, Facebook, launched a series of rather radical changes to its platform Wednesday. These changes are the largest overhaul to the site since 2008 and although Facebook deems these changes “improvements,” many users are in an uproar.

This happens every time Facebook unveils a new series of updates.  The Oatmeal developed a very funny
 comic that sums this sentiment up perfectly.

People are blogging, tweeting and commenting about the new site, what it means for users (and the world in general), businesses, and other social media sites. According to AllFacebook.com, a Facebook-tracking blog, since the updates went live on Wednesday, status updates that complain about the changes are appearing at least once every ten seconds and comments on these posts are going up too fast to even track.

Interestingly enough, Ben Parr of Mashable, wrote in an article on Wednesday, before the official announcement, that Facebook is changing its site to address users’ aversion to the platform. Even though Facebook has more than 800 million users to date and spectacular levels of engagement, it has lost its emotional connection with users, Parr explained.

People love to hate Facebook but refuse to leave because everyone is still using it. Unfortunately for Facebook, Google+ is gaining traction and most users do not have the same distaste for Google as they do for Facebook. Parr says the newest changes are designed to address this issue by enhancing Facebook’s emotional appeal and providing a more enhanced user experience.

The major changes include a complete overhaul of profiles and integration of the Facebook timeline, which allows users to personalize and share their life story. It introduces new media applications for discovering, sharing and playing music and video through partnerships with media providers such as Spotify and Netflix, as well as lifestyle apps. Facebook has partnered with lifestyle application developers to make updates to your ticker and timeline so you can share activities, like running, shopping, and dining in real-time.

Personally, I am curious to see what the new Facebook is all about. What do you think? Is it another bad move by Facebook or will the addition of social applications add value to the platform?

You’re it, Mr. Cook. Reports are circulating that Apple will hold a media event to showcase the iPhone5 (or whatever the name will be) on October 4th.

With Steve Jobs resigning and the Tim Cook era beginning, the launch of the highly anticipated iPhone5 will be a momentous occasion for Apple.

1. It will be the first launch without Steve Jobs at the helm

Although there doesn’t seem to be much uncertainty with CEO Tim Cook officially taking charge, there is still that sense of waiting with bated breath to see how the launch operates and whether or not the product is successful.

2. Questions are also circulating on whether Apple products will remain the same with Tim Cook now in charge.

Steve Jobs has been mentoring Tim Cook basically since his arrival to Apple in 1998, so the probability of significant changes being made isn’t worth the hype. Yet come October 4th, we may get a better view of what is to come at Apple.

And then finally, the age-old questions before any Apple release…

3. Is it really worth the price to upgrade or switch services? What’s different about this product than its predecessor? Will it be worth it for iPhone4 users to switch unless it has 4G?

If half of the rumors (the exciting half) are true about the new iPhone5, it may be worth shelling out the cash (not yet disclosed). Some of the rumors here… (http://www.iphonestuffs4u.com/iphone-5-features-specifications/)

Yes, we all know that the iPhone5 was already designed before Jobs resigned and Tim Cook probably had a big hand in it, but we don’t care about that. This is Tim Cook’s initiation. We all know he made Apple more efficient, but he has to prove himself by owning this launch and unveiling a success without Steve Jobs.

If this launch disappoints, will current iPhone users and the Apple loyal jump ship and switch to the Android?

At this point, I don’t tend to get too excited when I learn about a new social media tool. I don’t doubt that some new ones are cool and useful, but there are an overwhelming number of them and, obviously, only so many hours per day to use them all. I think that’s a tumbleweed blowing through my Google+ profile right now…

HOWEVER, as a designer who loves to gaze upon the work of the millions who do it better than I do, Dribbble recently caught my eye. Dribbble (no typo) is a smallish community of graphic and web designers who post screenshots of their works-in-progress for quick evaluation by their peers, who then can provide suggestions for improvement. As a registered user of the site, you can choose to follow other users who are posting their work, and whenever you log in, you’ll see everything the people you follow have recently posted. It’s kind of like the way your Twitter timeline works: most recent stuff first, but only from the accounts you choose to follow.

The catch with Dribbble is that you have to be invited, or “drafted,”(they’re fond of sports metaphors; notice the basketball-ish logo) to actually post your own work for others to see. Yup, new Dribbble “prospects” have to submit portfolio links for peer review before they can even show work on the site. Anyone can show up and look around, but to actually share, you have to be good. This built-in filter is great for visitors who want to browse through exclusively awesome stuff, rather than (for instance) junk uploaded by a 12-year-old kid with a pirated version of Photoshop and too much time on his hands. Thus, most of the people who share on Dribbble are incredible graphic and web design talents who make me feel woefully inadequate, but inspired at the same time.

I think this social model makes a lot of sense for designers who want to share, discuss, and improve their work. It also helps that Dribbble itself is a well-designed yet understated site that’s very easy to use. It’s one of my new favorite social tools (actually it’s not all that new, just new to me) and has become one of my favorite quick sources of inspiration. Now all I need to do is make it past “prospect” status and join the elite ranks of its members…