Technology

PS Vita – A Diehard Fan’s Ultimate Eulogy

September 24, 2018 General Happenings Technology
PS Vita
The PS Vita (Metallic Red) version which was exclusively launched in Japan in 2016. 

I was kind of expecting this update for some time now so there were no surprises for me in discovering that Sony has decided to put an end to the manufacturing and supply of the PlayStation (PS) Vita through 2019. This handheld gaming platform which received a well-deserved upgrade 4 years ago in the form of PS Vita Slim is sadly going to be buried forever. Personally, I was never able to push the potential of the gadget, which I bought when it launched in North America in 2014; beyond playing the Uncharted – Golden Abyss, with other exclusive titles such as Killzone Mercenary and WipeOut 2048; and Mortal Kombat. In fact, it was the storyline of the Uncharted series that kept me hooked to the Vita for the duration of its gameplay and I bagged the Platinum trophy as well, but it also left me lurking in the dark about why some of the other more popular franchises such as the Second Son or Crash Bandicoot (available on the Switch) for that matter, weren’t introduced on this handheld platform. Presumably, Sony’s gaming studios were more focused on developing games for the PlayStation 4.

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Gutenberg & The Era of Modern Editing

August 6, 2018 Happenings Technology
Gutenberg - WordPress

WordPress launched a sleek visual editor and named it after the German publisher Johannes Gutenberg who introduced the printing press in Europe in the 15th century, I thought that naming by WordPress is quite an oxymoron! This would only be my second post in Gutenberg, and ever since I have embraced WordPress blogging as a regular activity I’ve considered it as an art form of composing thoughts that are interspersed with emotions and delivered through phrases. Others might simply label this creative outfall as ‘content’. That it requires the blogger to reconcile with the technology & design first is only a part of a challenging journey in publishing a blog post. But it cannot, rather, technology should not make it any more complicated in putting at risk a writer’s heartfelt endeavour. What about the non-techies then? Bottomline, blogging platforms should aim to minimize any barriers, minimize fuss, and allow writers in publishing their views creatively & constructively.

It’s time to hail WordPress for achieving this goal and for introducing Gutenberg’ which I was amazed to ‘test-drive’ in their latest update. It’s also available as a plugin although Gutenberg would be a standard feature with the future release of WordPress 5.0. Least to say, when I thought about how the Classic editor could be further enhanced WordPress has just provided a modern & sleek replacement. Firstly, I’ve taken a fancy to the metaphor of ‘blocks’ as a WYSIWYG feature, these are movable containers carrying media such as images, audio, gallery, paragraphs, etc., (ah! similar to Gutenberg’s ‘movable type’ printing press) and each block which can be individually customized. In contrast, the Classic editor treated the entire post as a single structure and all media had to be inserted & refined from the toolbar. The other attribute which stood out for me was the often used ‘link’ feature which has now become more focused and it’s easier to choose whether or not a link should open in a new window. I’m pretty certain in the coming days these collective features would provide a new visual language to the blog posts here. I’m certainly open to experimenting in the coming days.

That being said, although there are some glitches and I’m still learning the ropes, I am particularly eager to see how the other taskbar functions through third-party plugins would be integrated within Gutenberg (or not!!). With that, I’d like to say that WordPress has become a robust, most widely-used blogging platform which is why it should now aim to integrate popular blogging features into its core program, such as SEO or web analytics which are currently being delivered through third-party plugins. This would not only provide efficiency to the non-techie bloggers, it’d drastically minimize security concerns, make the platform faster, and enable WordPress to become a clear alternative to the competition.

Spring Season Reading List

My Book Reading List For 2018…So Far!

July 15, 2018 Design Technology

In between a hectic project schedule, I have also committed myself to a reading list of books, the first half of 2018 is already behind me (can’t believe!) and I’m just letting myself wade through this hot summer with some practical knowledge books. I am already through a few titles and I am attempting to get that number up with some interesting non-fiction titles lined up for the latter half of 2018, so fingers crossed. I only decided to read about design so far, but now I’m accessing titles on communications, psychology, strategy, business and marketing. My overarching goal from reading the books is to broaden my vision of how I could commit to my long-term objective of merging creativity with building a value proposition for products while staying focused on service innovation & customer experience. Lastly, instead of doing an annual review/recommendation of books I decided to write a post as soon as I finish some volumes just so that I get my views out to the world quickly. Which also helps me to remember the value of my reading list and the freshness of the knowledge I gain each year.

The Business of Design: Balancing Creativity and Profitability (by Keith Granet)

The Business of Design - Book CoverEven though the target audience for this book seemed like the architects and interior designers, this book didn’t disappoint me so far as comprehending the principles of business were concerned. Keith Granet brings his insights from his experience of 30 years from bringing profitability to customers and setting up his architecture design firm Granet & Associates from spending considerable time on projects as a full-time employee. There are some terms and details which could be only be comprehended by someone from that industry, like for instance, the promotion cycles for employees or the contractual obligations for clients, etc., but despite that seemingly nonessential information, the rest of the principles in the book from billing and human resources, to managing a team, stay pretty much relevant as foundations for setting up any business. In the end, this book is profound and inspirational in its approach towards design entrepreneurship, even if you don’t plan to work as an architect or an interior design.

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The Nintendo Classic Is Back In Stores

June 28, 2018 Happenings Technology

The Nintendo Classic (aka NES Classic) is making its way back to the stores beginning tomorrow. After its initial but limited launch in November 2016; like always, I was disappointed that I couldn’t grab this legendary gaming console, however, I was told there was a chance that it would be back in stores very soon until news came in that Nintendo was discontinuing the product for lack of “resources”. Sigh. With its in-built package of 30, classic games and a price tag of around C$80, the NES Classic feels like a great purchase for reliving that wonderful era of low-pixel gaming on the big TV.

On the other hand, the enthusiastic market reaction to the NES Classic back in 2016 should have prompted them to invest in a new product line and it was a clear mistake to discontinue it. In fact, tomorrow’s launch could have been an updated version with some notable improvements, such as in the product design by making it relatively distinct to the original Nintendo 64, as well as, adding more games to the list. Sadly, the loyal fans are being thrown under the bus with an unvarying experience, again.

It’s No Longer An ‘Old’ iPhone

June 7, 2018 Happenings Technology

The iPhoneSince that spectacular launch of the iPhone, the Apple WWDC events have brought loads of encouraging features and promising apps to the dedicated consumers. However, during every WWDC event, I always get the jitters before the announcement of a newer iOS version, the innate question being, will they support my iPhone model or will I have to live with an ‘older’ model. I say “old” because, in Apple’s parlance, the annual releases of iOS and macOS makes even a two-year-old device purchase obsolete! Without an upgraded iOS the iPhone becomes slower, loses support for most of the apps I use frequently which consequently downgrades the overall user experience for me. Besides, as a committed Apple consumer, the addition of features and product upgrades with subsequent iOS releases, there’s a sense of betrayal that they couldn’t manage to upgrade the software and support a wide array of iPhones. Not anymore. At the WWDC 2018 this week, Craig Federighi announced that the forthcoming iOS 12 (launching this fall 2018) would be supporting the same iPhone/iPad devices running iOS 11! Which means, not only would the newer release include tons of new features the apps in older iPhones are expected to launch up to 40 per cent faster, and you can slide to take a photo at up to 70 per cent faster than with iOS 11. This is a big win for iPhone 5S owners which was launched as far back as 2013. Most importantly, it decisively puts to rest the argument about the ‘planned obsolescence’ theory in iPhones and iPads thus saving them from the land-fills.

As Jason Koebler at Motherboard opines:

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It remains to be seen whether iOS 12 will actually make the iPhone 6 faster, especially with third-party apps. But it’s important that Apple is at least paying lip service to phone longevity, and appears to be trying to optimize its new software for old hardware. It’s not sexy, but it’s a small step toward making our electronics less disposable.[/perfectpullquote]

This is a promising start by Apple and their commitment to sustaining the environment is noteworthy, but what the consumers heartily desire is to hold onto their beloved iDevices a little bit longer.