Way back when computers where very large and very specialist, Fred Brooks worked for IBM and was responsible for the writing of the world’s first big computer program (in fact it was an operating system) and the program ended up being late, slow and over budget. But in the aftermath two important things happened: 1) writing computer programs turned into software engineering and 2) Fred wrote a book about why it all went wrong. From this book (The Mythical Man-Month) several different software engineering laws emerged known as Brooks laws of which the most famous is that ‘adding more people to a late project makes it later’.

Well now, 35 years later, Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.  has written another book, this time not about software but about design. Design affects all of us. If design is defined as ‘make a plan for later execution’ then we all do it all the time. From kitchen remodelling to design software, there are  lessons to be learnt and used from across the whole spectrum of design disciplines.

Fred’s new book is 442 delightful pages of insights into design. Starting with the simple questions about what is design, it moves quickly to look at Collaboration and Telecollaboration and then Design Perspectives. The later half of the book takes a trip through a series of case studies from kitchen remodelling to the design of an operating system.

The case studies section of the book starts with this great quote: ‘In retrospect, most of the case studies have a striking common attribute: the boldest design decisions, whoever made them, have accounted for much of the goodness of the outcome. These bold decisions were due sometimes to vision, sometimes to desperation. They were always gambles, requiring extra investment in hopes of getting a much better result.’ Of course the latest craze in the gadget world is the iPad and I couldn’t help but think of the iPad (and in fact several of Apple products) when I read the quote. Since Apple announced the device in January there have been lots of naysayers who have mocked the bold design decisions of the iPad. But those bold design decisions have accounted for much of the goodness in the final products. It was the same when the iMac was launched, what no floppy? Do you use a floppy today?

Obviously Mr Brook’s book isn’t for everyone, it is a technical book in many ways, but if you are involved in any kind of design, in any field, then mark my words, this book is an essential read.

The Design of Design: Essays from a Computer Scientist is available from Amazon.co.uk and InformIT for less than £20.

From Music to Gadget, Are The Principles of Design the Same? New Book Examines the Design of Design is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Called  Broken Sword: The Director’s Cut [iTunes UK link], it is more than just a straight copy of the classic game but it is a significant update and has been tailored for the iPhone’s touch screen interface. There are new cut-scenes and animations from celebrated comic book artist Dave Gibbons and a context-sensitive help system offers a range of in-game hints for those who have got stuck! The Director’s Cut also includes a significant amount of content not found in the original game making the total play time about 20 per cent longer.

The game, which pitches the journalist Nico Collard and intrepid American George Stobbart into a mysterious journey of intrigue and jeopardy, begins with Nico Collard’s investigation into a brutal murder and develops rapidly into a race-against-time to stop a dark conspiracy!

To mark the release of the game, Apple and Revolution Software have teamed up to host a special one-off evening at the Apple Store, Regent Street. It is also an historic event in that it will be the first time that key figures behind the game will be brought together in public.

‘Broken Sword: A Celebration’ will bring together key figures from the development of the series. Join Charles Cecil (director), Dave Gibbons (artist, co-creator of Watchmen), Miles Gilderdale (guitarist, Acoustic Alchemy), Barrington Pheloung (composer, Inspector Morse), Hazel Ellerby (original voice of Nico) and many more from the cast and crew.

The event will take place at the Apple Store, 235 Regent Street, London, W1B 2EL. Everything kicks off a 7PM and entrance is FREE. For those using public transport the nearest tube station is Oxford Circus.

‘Broken Sword: A Celebration’ at the Apple Store Regent Street is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Like the dinosaur netbooks have become too big and too fat. The original Eee PC 700 had a 2GB flash hard drive, 512MB of Ram, a 900 Hz Intel Celeron processor and ran Linux.

Many of the latest netbook models run Windows 7 which has forced the specifications, and price, upwards. And to be honest (except for the screen size) it is hard to see what is the difference between a netbook and a laptop.

The Eee PC started a revolution because it was a device that was bigger than a mobile phone but yet smaller and simpler than a laptop. When netbooks changed from Linux to Windows it was really the beginning of the end for the format. Once you have Windows your mindset changes, you automatically start thinking about a small PC that can do everything your desktop can do and so naturally the hard disk size starts increasing, the installed memory is bumped up and so on. But the original netbook was something else, today the simple idea behind the Eee PC has been lost… Or has it?

Most mobile phones and devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch don’t use Windows and they certainly don’t use Intel processors. Instead they use a group of processors called Arm. The Arm chip is found in the iPhone and it will almost certainly be the processor in the upcoming Apple Tablet. Where there is Arm there isn’t Windows which means that a whole new philosophy can be used. This is what has happened with the iPhone/iPod Touch and the Google Android mobile phone.

The BBC has a quote by Ian Drew, spokesman for chip designer Arm, “We have failed the consumer because we have imposed constraints on them”. The force of change will come, he believes, from the phone world where many, many types of gadgets are already blooming. “It’s no surprise that your mobile has changed a lot in the last three years but your PC hasn’t,” he said.

And this is where Apple’s Tablet comes in. A device to replace the ideas and philosophies of the netbook but with a multi-touch screen and the chic of Apple design.

What do you think? If Apple launch a tablet device, would you buy one?

The Rise and Fall of the Netbook: Will Apple’s Tablet Become King? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

Rumours about a possible Tablet device from Apple have been circulating for ages now. Some expected the tablet to be announced earlier this year, in time for Christmas, but it didn’t materialise. The rumour was that Steve Jobs didn’t think the product was ready yet. Now with the booking of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts the word on the street is that Apple will announce a new Tablet device which has been nicknamed the iTablet.

So what is a tablet device? Basically it will be a 9 inch or 10 inch device with a touch screen similar to an iPod Touch. It will have flash memory like the iPod Touch and will be able to play music and video and run applications in the same way as the iPod Touch or iPhone. In fact there is another rumour which says that Apple has contacted some key developers to ensure that their iPhone/iPod Touch applications can run at “full screen” rather than using a fixed resolution.

The key of course will be Internet access. Having a bigger screen the device will be able to render webpages much better than the iPhone and won’t need as much zooming to see things. This makes the device better suited for reading eBooks and magazines. It is taken for granted that the device will support Wi-Fi and there are some thoughts that it could incorporate a data only 3G SIM card.

Another reason why this event is unlikely to be iPhone, iPod or Mac related is that all these products have been recently updated and in fact the last time Apple used the YBCA it was to update the iPod line. That was in September and also happened to be the place that Steve Jobs made his first public appearance after his illness.

Will Apple Reveal Tablet Device on January 26th? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The £3.99 game is available on the App Store and although it doesn’t feature a championship mode (where you can compete in every race and collect points), it does feature two unique modes. The first is the Time Trials mode. Here you need to produce one stunning flying lap and achieve the best time possible. The other mode is about endurance and is designed to test your consistency, speed and skill over six, nine or 12 laps.

All this action takes place on the 17 circuits featured in the 2009 season including classics like Monaco, Spa, Silverstone and Monza as well as brand new tracks such as the Yas Marina and the dramatic Singapore night race.

The game also features virtual K.E.R.S (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems) to help you set that fastest lap and in-game driving aids like showing the racing line, corner indicators, braking assistant and so on. All of these can be switched on and off according to your ability.

Be Jenson Button with the Official 2009 Formula 1 Game for the iPhone is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

According to a report on the BBC web site, which analyses the Ofcom findings, only 10% of UK homes could connect at over 8 megabits (Mbps) a second, compared with 37% in Holland. A report earlier this month from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) placed the UK 21st out of 30 countries in terms of network speeds. The OECD warned that the UK risks falling behind if it did not invest in fast broadband.

In contrast to the broadband deficiencies however, in the UK 88% of households have digital TV on their main set. So how many hours do we spend watching those digital TVs? According to Ofcom, UK households spent 3.8 hours per day watching TV. And if you thought the advent of the Internet, the Playstation 3 and the iPhone would mean we spend less time watching TV then you are wrong. The amount of time Brits spent watching TV increased by more than 3 per cent last year, which is the biggest increase across all the countries surveyed.

If we do a quick calculation that means that the average Brit will sit in front of the TV for 57 days a year which is the same as 8 years during the average adult life time. If that makes you feel bad, then look to Europe for consolation. We watch slightly less TV than viewers in Italy, Poland and Spain – as well as the US, which tops the TV viewing table on 4.6 hours a day (or 70 days a year).

Brits Text the Most in Europe But Don’t Have Best Broadband is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

When you first start the app on the iPhone (as it has GPS) Bing asks for permission to get your location. Then the location based services kick in. When you click on movies, it automatically shows you what is playing in a theatre in your area and similarly it automatically sets your current location as the starting point when using directions.

The voice search could be a really powerful feature. The examples Microsoft give in the blog post announcing the Bing App include: say “San Francisco weather” for a quick result, or even say a full address for a map or directions. Microsoft say the app will also work with complex addresses like “1 Microsoft Way, Redmond 98052.”

Comments on the iTunes App store have so far been generally favourable with one user saying that the new app puts Google’s equivalent app to shame.

As for the user interface, the home screen of the Bing App shows the Bing image of the day, complete with clickable hotspots to discover related trivia. Towards the bottom of the home page there are six categories (Images, Movies, Maps, Businesses, News and Directions) which give you access to the other areas of the app. Also when using the maps it is possible to add pins, save locations and show multiple locations on a single map.

If you are looking for a mobile search application with full map functionality, news, image search, web search (of course), videos and businesses all in one place, then Bing for the iPhone could be the very app for you… You can now download the free Bing App from your phone in the App Store, from your computer at iTunes, or go to m.bing.com and you will get redirected to the app store.

If you have downloaded the app why not let us know what you think.

Microsoft’s Bing App for the iPhone is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

BMW is striving to create the zero emissions vehicles of tomorrow and to help it in this task it has handed over forty electric MINI E cars to their test drivers, who are all members of the public. This field trial will evaluate the psychological, social and technical aspects of living with an electric car. The findings will be used to help guide power providers, policy makers and component manufacturers in their decision making about the cars of the future.

The front wheel drive, two-seater MINI E uses a single-stage helical gearbox which powers the MINI E seamlessly to 62 mph in 8.5 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 95 mph. Although based on the familiar MINI Hatch the MINI E is a two-seater because the space normally used by rear passengers is reserved for the lithium-ion battery.

This state-of-the-art rechargeable battery unit combines high output with ample storage capacity and a remarkable power output. A full recharge draws a maximum of 28 kilowatt hours of electricity from the grid. Each kilowatt hour translates into 5.4 miles giving the MINI E a theoretical range of over 150 miles.

What do you think? Are electric cars really the future? Are the days of the petrol station numbered?

BMW Starts Trialling Electric MINI is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The rumours of such a device started back in November when the first stories broke about its existence. Then over the weekend rumours of such a device have resurfaced because it seems Google has given some of its employees a phone each to play with and test. It them seems that they started Twittering about it: “we had fireworks and we all got the new Google phone. It’s beautiful.”

Some credence was also given to the rumours when the Wall Street Journal wrote a piece called: Google Set To Market Own Phone Next Year.

So here is a roundup of the rumours so far:

• It will be built by HTC and will be unlocked. You need to provide the SIM card and it should work anywhere in the world with any mobile phone network. Its 3G capabilities aren’t currently known.
• It will be out in January.
• It will feature a super high resolution OLED display.
• It uses the Snapdragon smartphone processor and is really fast.
• There is a mic on the back of the phone that helps to eliminate background noise.
• The phone identifies itself as “Nexus One” (a reference to the film Blade Runner).
• It will have a 5 megapixel camera (that is 2592×1944).
• It has a trackball (like the HTC Hero).

What does Google have to say about this? “At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements,” said Mario Queiroz, Vice President, Product Management in a blog post posted on Saturday morning.

So what do you think? Would you buy an unlocked Android phone from Google?

[Picture: Thanks to Cory O'Brien, an account manager at a San Francisco Bay Area marketing agency]

Is Google Going To Release Its Own Mobile Phone Called Nexus One? is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com

The iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS will be available from 14th December. The cheapest way to get an iPhone with Tesco is to go for the £20 a month tariff with a 12-month contract, but you won’t get a free iPhone with that tariff. You will need to pay £222 for an 8GB iPhone 3G, £320 for a 16GB iPhone 3GS or £407 for a 32GB iPhone 3GS. Splitting the £222 (for the 8GB iPhone) into 12 parts means that you effectively pay £38.50 per month (tariff of £20 + iPhone £18.50). This is slightly higher than O2′s and Orange’s £34.256 (which includes a free iPhone) but with O2 and Orange you need to sign up for a to year contract. This means that over a two year period you save £120 with Tesco mobile (or £10 per month).

The £20 a month subscriptions includes £60 of calls and texts. With Tesco Mobile calls costs 10p per minute and texts 5p to each of your 5 favourite numbers. Outside of those 5 numbers, calls cost 20p per minute and texts 10p to any UK network at any time. That means that for £60 you get something like 300 minutes per month (to non-favourite numbers) assuming you send no texts.

There is also a £60 a month subscription with unlimited calls and texts. Signing up to this for two years gets you a free 16GB iPhone 3GS. In the terms and conditions Tesco Mobile explain that ‘Unlimited calls & texts is for calls/ texts to UK mobiles, 01, 02 and 03 numbers only.’ Also there is a fair usage policy of £500 per month.

If you don’t want to go with a monthly subscription then you get an iPhone with Pay-as-you-go. The call rates are the same but an 8GB iPhone 3G will cost £342.

You can find out more information from Tesco Mobile’s web site: http://phone-shop.tesco.com/iphonelanding/

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Tesco Mobile Unveils iPhone Prices; You Could Save £120 is a post from: UK Gadget and Tech News, Reviews and Shopping Site - Gaj-It.com