Running The Ladder is the company blog of Bainbridge Studios, a tiny runt of a design practice based in lovely Tacoma, WA.
So what's the deal with the fish?
Browse by Topic
Recommended Reading
Flickr at the Office
Latest via Twitter
RSS Feed
subscribe to the rss feed
Garmin Unveils Nüvifone, First Real Competitor to the iPhone?
Thursday, January 31st, 2008 | Tom Carmony
When we say “first real competitor to the iPhone”, we aren’t alleging there are not better selling mobile phones than Apple’s iPhone (though selling more than 22,000 smart phones per day isn’t too shoddy). No, we’re speaking of UI; user interface design. Even many of those aren’t particular fans of Apple’s mobile device acknowledge the idea that many of the UI innovations introduced in the iPhone will begin making their way into other mobile phones in the coming months and years.
Verizon has marketed LG’s Voyager as very much the iPhone-style, touch screen-driven device, but the Voyager’s touch functionality is significantly limited and isn’t even the primary interface for the phone’s OS.
Garmin, however, producers of some of the best-selling hand-held GPS devices, is now entering the smartphone market later this year with the Nüvifone, and based some of the initial available screenshots, it may be the first competing smartphone to really give the iPhone a run for its money.
Electronista highlights just how the phone’s GPS core will integrate with its smartphone functionality:
Almost entirely controlled by a 3.5-inch touchscreen interface, the device centers around its native GPS unit: in addition to straightforward navigation, a host of Google apps allow it to search for local businesses, check traffic, and view nearby weather. Any photos or videos taken with the built-in camera are automatically geotagged for positioning in location-based services.
Of course, we’ve yet to see a working model of the Nüvi. As noted by John Gruber, the only “screenshots” we’ve seen thus far are entirely mocked up vector art; they are currently no legitimate screengrabs available. So who knows where this announcement falls on the vaporware scale, but assuming it does make its way to market at some point this year, Garmin may well have a hit on their hands.
Obey Obama
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 | Tom Carmony
Shepard Fairey, he of the ubiquitous Obey art installations, stickers, clothing and more, has produced a pair of limited edition posters supporting Barack Obama’s candidacy for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
Fairey, in his own words:
I believe with great conviction that Barack Obama should be the next President. I have been paying close attention to him since the Democratic convention in 2004. I feel that he is more a statesman than a politician. He was against the war when it was an unpopular position (and Hillary was for the war at that time), Obama is for energy and environmental conservation. He is for healthcare reform. Check him out for yourself www.barackobama.com. Proceeds from this print go to produce prints for a large statewide poster campaign.
The “Hope” design (shown to the right) is being apparently being utilized by the Obama camp as a part of an awareness campaign; the second design, “Progress“, was released by Fairey today for sale (limited to 250 pieces) and sold out almost immediately.
(via Creative Review)
RIM to (Finally!) Add HTML Email Support to Blackberry Platform
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 | Tom Carmony
RIM has finally announced support for viewing of HTML emails on its Blackberry devices, via a press release last week. Given the percentage of business users regularly employing Blackberrys for viewing their email (back in October we discussed the latest numbers on mobile access as a primary means of email viewing for 37% of business users). This is a major step forward for those of us on the production side of email marketing, as RIM holds a significant share of the smart phone market and the addition of this feature set will make it easier for marketers to know they’re targeting Blackberry users with the full impact of the graphic/HTML campaigns.
Based on their release, it appears that the functionality will be added as a software/firmware update, meaning existing Blackberry users should be able to install the update and gain the functionality on their current devices, rather than necessarily needing to purchase a new Blackberry model.
(via Campaign Monitor)
Website Launch: RideFlyReservations.com
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 | Tom Carmony
We’re continuing to expand our footprint in the online travel sector with the launch of the newly redesigned RideFlyReservations.com. We’ve been working with the fine folks at RideFly for the past two months on developing the site’s front-end/user interface, which was then coded by their in-house development team for deployment. Click here to check out the newly redesigned site.
Website Launch: Vanessa Minnillo
Monday, January 28th, 2008 | Tom Carmony
We’re very pleased to announce the launch of the new official website for television personality Vanessa Minnillo. Ms. Minnillo, the former host of MTV’s TRL and a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight, has been working with Bainbridge Studios over the past year on developing a new online presence, which is now live. We’ll be working with Ms. Minnillo over the coming weeks and months on expanding the site and its content.