Nyan Cat, if you’re not aware, is a cat made mostly of pop tart that travels endlessly through space and has spawned iOS games and countless spin-offs after first appearing on LOL-COMICS in April. It’s bizarre and adorable, and now you can see its smiling face and pink-frosted body every time you open Software Update or copy a file in Finder.

To install the Nyan Cat loading bar, just go to creator Michael Buckley’s GitHub page and follow the instructions he provides there. It takes a minute or two at most, and is easy enough to reverse. Maybe you want to surprise a loved one with some unexpected space kitty action the next time they go to see if there’s an iTunes update available, or you’re just tired of Apple’s rather plain aqua loading bar. You’ll have to supply your own background music.

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Alongside the army of consumers and tech pundits waiting for a peek of the aptly named iPad, the over 25,000 strong development community have been patiently standing on the sidelines too.

Taking several leaps forward in terms of its processing power and onboard hardware, the device includes Apple’s own chip, said Jobs, “It’s called the A4, and it screams.” Most exciting for developers with iPhone apps already on sale is that Apple has made the transition up to iPad as smooth as possible.

Since the device’s Home Screen is essentially a facsimile of the iPhone Home Screen, developers won’t have to worry about creating new icons or other assets in order to port the app across. In fact, as stated by Apple themselves, the iPad can run all iPhone apps unmodified out of the box.

The big announcement for the dev community is that Apple are releasing the new SDK today. Just like the user experience is somewhat like a big iPhone, development will take place within the iPhone SDK and — thanks to the device’s app scaling feature — developers won’t even have to worry about creating content in the larger device’s resolution.

It’s unclear whether Apple will also take steps to update its Developer Connection site, that unusually clunky web-based tool-set and administration area for App Store developers.

Most interesting though will be seeing how developers leverage the additional processing power that the iPad includes. Developers can grab the new SDK from Apple.com today.

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But when is touch too much? The latest rumors, coming from the Chinese-language Commercial Times newspaper, as reported by DigiTimes, suggest that Apple will be launching a brand new addition to the iMac line in 2010 with a touch-enabled display. If the report is accurate, the new iMac would have a 22-inch screen, in between the current 21.5-inch and 27-inch models.

The report is based on a supplier called Quanta supposedly receiving the outsourcing contract to make the machines, with Sintek Photronic supplying the necessary touchscreen panels. The rumor is at least plausible, and even a likely next step coming from a manufacturer like Apple that has consistently done touch well and introduced it across much of its product line in some form or another. The question isn’t whether or not Apple will do it, it’s whether or not it should.

I get a tablet computer. I understand what that’s for, how people will use it, and how, thanks to mobility, touch controls make sense. I can’t say the same thing for touch-enabled desktops, except in special cases. For retail, sure, and for restaurants and other similar industry applications where touch has been used because it makes an exceeding amount of sense to do so, that I understand. But as I sit at my home office typing up this post, I wonder if I would derive any benefit by being able to control my iMac by touching the screen versus using my mouse.

In fact, I already sort of have touchscreen computing capability in my iMac, via a connected Wacom Cintiq monitor. Admittedly, you have to use a stylus, so it isn’t exactly the same, but I still finding myself abstaining from using it for anything but drawing and photo editing. Even the Sony Vaio L (check out the second “Con”) and other PCs already on the market with the tech built-in strike me as fairly silly. I’ve used them on display in Best Buy and the like, but that’s an entirely different thing from sitting at a desk and using it for many hours at a time.

Touch control will also be shoehorned into a number of different applications. Unlike the more expensive versions of Windows 7, Snow Leopard isn’t designed to work on a touch-enabled machine, and neither are any of the Mac apps you’d be using with your computer. I can see flick scrolling and image browsing being a bit of a boon, but not enough to merit the inclusion of the tech, especially when it would mean constantly having to switch from using the mouse to interacting with the screen in all likelihood.

Where touchscreen desktop computing has been introduced, it has faced questions about how truly useful and effective it is. Galen Gruman at TechWorld describes his disappointment with the Windows 7 implementation of touch in a piece that soberly addresses the tech’s current shortcomings. In this excerpt, he discusses some UI and feedback problems with the idea:

[O]n a touchscreen, your hand and arm obscure your view of where your fingertip actually is, making it hard to actually touch the intended radio button, close box, slider, or what-have-you. It doesn’t help that these elements are often small. And there’s no tactile feel to substitute for the lost visual feedback.

It’s far from his only strike against touchscreen desktop computing, but even on its own, it describes an issue so annoying as to set me against the concept of a touch sensitive iMac, at least until the next generation of OS X takes touchscreen computing as its focus instead of as an afterthought or add-on.

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A nice feature is the streamlined description area, which has been “tamed” for the developers who tend to abuse the area, filling it with excessive information and keywords in an attempt to gain favor in the App Store search results. The new system truncates the description past a certain point, allowing the rest to be disclosed upon clicking a “more” link.

New App Store Look

Also highlighted along the left side is a more organized view of the specifics of the app (version, developer and rating) as well as a quick way to see the most popular apps also by the same developer.

Recommendations based on other user’s purchases are now along the bottom, augmented by the inclusion of the app’s icon, which is a nice addition.

New Visual Recommendations

At the moment, featured apps that have custom designed pages (like Twitterrific) still use the original look, but it’s likely that Apple will migrate them over to the new style soon.

For comparison, check out the screenshots below of the same app. What do you think of the new look? Does it highlight the app better? Do you find it more useful or usable?

iTunes 8 & Earlier App Store Interface

iTunes 8 & Earlier App Store Interface

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Just as BumpTop 3D is coming into its own on the Windows platform (Multi-Touch support in 7), a private Mac alpha is being circulated. It’s in Alpha for a reason too, because in its current state, it does little more than look like its Windows counterpart. But the BumpTop Mac team is looking for input and feedback as they build it out, which is where those with an Alpha version come into play.

Immediately after downloading and installing the BumpTop Alpha, I was terribly underwhelmed. Despite the Alpha team’s email-based warning, I was expecting something akin to what I’ve seen on the Windows side of the fence. But as I’ve considered the situation, I’m taking the optimistic approach.

The fact that the Mac Alpha is so bare bones leads me to the conclusion that it wasn’t simply ported over from the Windows incarnation, but rather, is being crafted from the ground up, for the OS X platform. I assume that the developers recognize the unique differences in the operating systems, and plan to build it to the strengths that Apple’s OS offers. I’m hopeful that the BumpTop Mac development team will be responsive to user input, because I’m certain there are a lot of great ideas out there for such a bit of software — especially on a possible future Mac Tablet/touch device…

If you’ve got some ideas of your own for how BumpTop for Mac could really shine, I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments. I’ll of course pass them along to the Dev Team as well — who knows, maybe we’ll see some of your ideas implemented in the not too distant future.

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The one thing many people did not expect with a new version of iTunes was that Apple would use the opportunity to cause dissent among its fanbase by introducing another new user interface. Some classify the new styling as “needed” and “elegant and refined” while others have resorted to a variety of hacks to return to the UI of yesteryear.

We’ve gone through every corner of iTunes we could find and dug up all of the major changes in the interface. Here’s what we found.

Welcome to iTunes 9

The first thing many noticed is that iTunes 9 now launches with a Welcome to iTunes screen, offering quick links to videos showcasing some of iTunes features. Similar to apps like iPhoto and iWeb, users can disable this by ticking a checkbox.

iTunes Preferences

iTunes Preferences also featured a few notable changes, specifically adding support for grouping iTunes U content.

iTunes 9 General Preferences

iTunes 8 General Preferences

Parental Control also received a new icon (matching the icon in Snow Leopard) as well as some slight rewording.

iTunes 9 Parental Controls

iTunes 8 Parental Controls

Removed from iTunes 9 are references in the Store section to “adding to shopping cart” versus buying with Amazon’s licensed 1-Click technology. Added is an option to use the full window when browsing the iTunes Store.

iTunes 9 Store Preferences

iTunes 8 Store Preferences

Browsing Content

Browsing content within iTunes has also received a refresh. While browsing music in List Mode, the artists have been grouped along the left, making it easier to narrow down your selection rather quickly.

iTunes 9 Music List Mode

When browsing in Grid View, the first thing you will notice is that the dark black background is gone and now albums are scattered amongst an off white background. Badged content, such as Podcasts, TV Shows, iTunes U and Movies feature blue badges instead of the original red. Gone from this view are the tabs to sort content within an area (such as Music) by Albums, Artists, Genres and Composers. This can be re-enabled via the View menu.

ITunes 9 Podcasts

Cover Flow view is pretty much the same, with the refining of the “full screen” icon.

iTunes 9 CoverFlow

The iTunes 9 Equalizer also received a refresh, styling the control knobs with blue accents.

iTunes 9 Equalizer

iTunes 8 Equalizer

Icons & Buttons

Buttons and displays in iTunes 9 have been overhauled to give them a more glossy, shiny three dimensional look. The toolbar has also been realigned, removing the ‘View’ label and moving the ‘Search’ label instead the Search field. The information area has also been updated, providing more useful information during syncing and downloading of content from the iTunes Store (such as time remaining).

iTunes 9 also brings about many refreshed icons, including many of the icons in the sidebar. Specifically, playlist icons have gotten the most attention, while TVs, Movies, Audiobooks, and Applications have seen slight refreshes as well.

Syncing

Syncing is by far the area that received the most attention in this revision. Specifically, users now have the ability to sync content more selectively. When choosing a TV show, for instance, they can sync specific seasons or specific episodes. When syncing a podcast, they can choose to sync specific episodes. When syncing photos, users can take advantage of the iPhoto ’09 Faces and Places aspect to sync photos of particular people or a particular place. Many of these areas also provide a search field, making it easier to quickly narrow down and select the specific content you’re looking for.

Syncing TV Shows

Syncing Ringtones

Syncing iTunes U

Syncing Music

Syncing Photos

The biggest feature in the redesigned sync options is the ability to organize your iPhone and iPod touch apps directly within iTunes. Check the ones you wish to add, highlight to select them and drag them to whichever home screen you desire. Selecting multiple apps is a cinch and moving them between home screens is equally easy.

Syncing Apps

Everything Else

Upon a user’s first visit to a section, such as creating a new Playlist, or visiting the Podcast area, they are greeted with a new UI that discusses how that particular concept works.

iTunes 9 New Playlist

While this overview is fairly exhaustive, there are likely many other features that users will continue to discover. If there’s one we’ve missed, please use the comments to let us know!

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Expose

Below is a screenshot of a new Expose feature in Snow Leopard. I opened six Safari windows and simply clicked on the Safari dock icon for a second. The dock icon lights up while the rest of the dock darkens. Very fast. Very slick.

Airport

Next is the new Airport menu. We finally have signal strength next to the network name. Before, a third-party tool was required for this.

Services

Honestly, I have never used the Services feature in the Finder. It’s cluttered and confusing. Now, it’s smart enough to know what I want to do and provide the correct options. A more thorough write up of the new Services feature is coming to TheAppleBlog shortly.

Leave a comment with links to screenshots of your favorite UI changes in Snow Leopard!

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I wrote about the patent Apple received for this, but I’d like to comment further in light of all the discussion going on about the relative usefulness of this patent.

A lot of the discussion seems to stem from these sources:

• A Gizmodo article using a “professor of patents law” as a source.
• An analyst report that claims Apple going after Palm could cause more harm than good.

I do not dispute these are valid opinions, but so are the opposite.

The tech world has set this up as between Apple and Palm despite Apple’s own denials. Frankly, it’s not clear to me why Apple would stop (or start, for that matter) with Palm. Seems to me, if they’re going to fire this weapon there are plenty others in line.

My biggest issue is that none of these articles and opinions can possibly be even close to definitive. They cannot. Let me see a show of hands on the following:

• Who believes that Gizmodo could just as easily have found a patent “expert” who believes the opposite?

Good, good, all hands are raised.

• Who believes another analyst report could have reached the opposite conclusion?

Yes, that’s correct. Nothing but hands.

• Finally, who believes that Apple’s “experts” support Apple’s view, and their counterparts at a rival company support that company’s view?

A sea of hands. Excellent! TheAppleBlog must have the smartest readers anywhere.

My point is that if an “expert” could read the patent and make a definitive determination we’d never even have gotten this far. After all, if he read it and then told Apple it’ll never fly, wouldn’t they just say, “Oh, shucks. Well, it worth a try. We never get to patent the cool stuff,” then pout and sulk back to their rooms?

This cannot be solved definitely unless and until it gets into a courtroom, and there are hours of testimony from “experts” on each side (who, surprise!, do not agree), and judge and jury are involved. And even then, when a decision is reached, there will be howls of derision from many that it was all wrong.

I don’t know what Apple’s strategy is here. I suspect they don’t want obvious rip-offs to make a few bucks, and hope to keep them at bay. Still, only they know what their plans are.

There seems to be more than just one overall multi-touch patent. I think any moves Apple makes would be somewhat specific, and not some kind of hammer claiming all touch devices since the iPhone are rip-offs. I believe Apple is more specific in what they consider IP rip-off than people are giving them credit for.

Most of the attention has settled on Palm and Apple. Many think Palm has patents of their own they can hammer Apple with. To that extent, they believe there could be some cross-licensing agreements made. My first thoughts on this are:

• If Palm’s patents are so good, why did they abandon their own OS — in which presumably the patented technology is used — and start selling Windows Mobile, an OS even Microsoft fans ridicule?
• Why has Palm sat around for over two years and said (and done) nothing about the iPhone if it’s walking all over their patents? Forget action, there hasn’t even been so much as a threat. Palm was awfully quiet about this patent portfolio until they responded to the tech press stoking the fires about Apple.
• Seems to me Palm taking no action with valid patents, and abandoning their own OS, goes a long way to saying they may not have the dangerous patent portfolio some people think they do. At the very least it doesn’t help their case any.

Apple’s patent was just granted. It remains to be seen how they’ll use this potential weapon, but it seems to me they have bullets in their gun. I suspect half of them are blanks, but at least it’s loaded; I think Palm’s may be empty.

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Before the iPhone hit the market in 2007 the general population’s experience with a touch screen interface was limited to devices such as the Palm Treo, Tablet PC’s, and GPS navigation systems.  All of which have one thing in common, their touch screen interfaces can only recognize a single point of contact at a time.  It wasn’t until the iPhone that consumers really got a taste of a practical use for the touch screen, and we have started seeing multi-touch interfaces making their way into other products such as HP’s Touch Smart PC.

There is one word that I find most appropriate to describe what Apple has accomplished with their multi-touch user interface for the iPhone: renaissance.  As many of you recall from your days in literature classes, renaissance means rebirth, and I see it as the rebirth of the personal computer, meaning the end of the keyboard and mouse interface.

The way I see it, a personal computer is defined by four major components: the monitor, mouse, keyboard, and CPU.  Just looking at Apple’s iMac line of products, they have already combined the CPU and monitor.  Imagine if Apple or another company elaborated a bit more on that concept and discontinued the keyboard and mouse all together.

I am not implying that slapping a touch screen on a current Mac or PC and calling it a day. But rather I believe that in the next few years we will see the standard of the personal computing interface change dramatically, and possibly take a backseat to practicality.

As consumers are we beginning to see the keyboard/mouse dynasty come to an end as touch screens become more advanced? Perhaps this is propelling us into the next level of home computing where the nerd fantasy of owning the Minority Report computer becomes a reality.

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So Apple is finally awarded their multi-touch patent, and the hue and cry from the Apple Bashers is pretty loud. But not only Apple Bashers are worried, Daring Fireball had this to say:

Very broad language – taken at face value, Apple effectively owns the IP rights to multi-touch in the U.S. This sucks.

DF’s major beef is with the patent office awarding the patent in the first place due to its broad language. However, what other type of language does one use for the concept being patented? We’re talking a whole new UI here. The implication seems to be that the patent is short on specifics, yet it’s 358 pages! When you’re patenting a new UI, I’m thinking you’re going to have to brush with broad strokes lest you forget a corner of the canvas that a competitor uses to white out your picture.

Other comments I’ve read on various blogs are more alarmist. Apple will become a monopoly. Apple is evil. I hated them before, I hate them even more now. Apple will kill innovation. Apple hates competition. Blah, blah, blah…

And all of this without Apple even lifting a finger. I guess it’s easier to yell and scream first, and then look for justification later.

What’s Really Going On?

My view of the whole thing is that Apple remembers a painful lesson, and has no intention of letting it happen again. They invented the computer GUI we’ve been using for 25 years and got precious little for it. It was ripped off, and those goods rammed down our throats through means that are still questionable, at best.

Back then, the idea of patenting or copyrighting software or a UI was pretty fuzzy (just ask the inventor of Visacalc, it must suck to see a bajillion dollars of Excel sold every year and get bupkis). It also didn’t help that the ’85 agreement between Microsoft and Apple could have been worded better, but I’m not so sure that back then Microsoft would have been stopped from their rip-off Windows shell even without that agreement. Today we know better.

Apple spent millions of dollars and several years developing the premiere touch user interface, and they had no intention for any other company to simply copy the primary elements and then claim it’s the same thing. Not this time.

Does Apple Deserve This?

For those claiming Apple doesn’t deserve the patent because they did not “invent” multi-touch, who did invent it? Jeff Han? Did he not rely on the works of others? Doesn’t everybody? More to the point, who is everybody modeling their product after? That’s right, that would be Apple. No one is ripping off Jeff’s, or anyone else’s, designs for the simple reasons there was nothing practical enough to rip off.

At some point, when you perfect an idea, and actually make it work, and usable, and practical, and bring it to market, and it’s affordable and reliable enough to be a huge hit then, yes, you “invented” it. Apple absolutely did this with the Macintosh, and they did it with the iPhone OS.

Will It Kill Innovation?

As for the idea that this kills innovation, please re-think that question using incentive and history as your guides:

• Incentive, because why put in the massive amounts of time, money and effort to truly innovate — and put up with all your competitors mocking and ridiculing it until the product becomes a huge hit — only to watch them change their tune and just start ripping it off? The incentive is that if you take those huge risks (does anyone not appreciate what a risk this was for Apple?) you’ll get rewarded by being afforded some level of protection. That potential reward encourages innovation, it doesn’t kill it. In fact, it’s a major reason for the patent system in the first place.
• As for history, did Apple’s lack of control over the computer GUI give us innovation? Are any of you seriously going to argue the DOS shell known as Windows was innovative? It could be argued that not being able to stop Windows ultimately set the computer tech world back 15 years. Please. Blatant knock-offs from those trying to make a quick buck (or even just survive) is not innovation, it’s stolen IP. Let’s not get all teary-eyed over supposed suppressed innovation. The rip-off artists aren’t interested in innovating anything.

And please try to think back to only two years ago, when much of the planet was mocking Apple and the iPhone. How short some memories are! That every phone should be like this seems self-evident now, but it was Apple who realized it and did the work to make it so. I do not (and should not) care that someone was demoing resizing photos on a huge screen with expensive equipment in an implementation that was not at all practical outside of a lab, or university, or demo room. That’s not what the iPhone is. That’s its genius. That’s what is being patented.

Finally…

It remains to be seen how Apple will use this patent to protect their IP. I do not dispute that many patents are used as weapons to club everything in order to make a buck. We see a lot of such “patent trolling,” but does anyone seriously think Apple is going to be a patent troll now? I mean, surely you know they have better sources of revenue, right?

I just don’t see Apple having the time nor the inclination to try to make a few bucks that way. It’s about trying to stop blatant copycats of a major game-changing design in a way they could not 25 years ago. Good for them.

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