From beginning of March european users will be able to choose which web browser they want to install as an alternative to Internet Explorer. In random order MS shows Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera и Safari. These “primary” browsers list is visible instantly and scrolling down the page users can find Avant, Flock, Green Browser, K-meleon, Maxthon, Sleipnir и Slim.

This browser choice windows only appears to those users that have IE as their default browsers. Users of Chrome or Firefox won’t get to see alternative browser windows.

One more small step towards support of W3C standards and better user experience.

Current members:

• América Móvil
• AT&T
• Bharti Airtel
• China Mobile
• China Unicom
• Deutsche Telekom
• KT
• Mobilkom Austria Group
• MTN Group
• NTT DoCoMo
• Orange
• Orascom Telecom
• Softbank Mobile
• Telecom Italia
• Telefónica, Telenor Group
• Telia Sonera
• SingTel
• SK Telecom
• Sprint
• Verizon Wireless
• VimpelCom
• Vodafone and Wind
• Samsung
• LG
• Sony Ericsson

Purpose of the alliance is “to create a ’wholesale applications community’ that will establish a simple route to market for developers, in turn, providing access to the latest and widest range of innovative applications and services to as many customers as possible worldwide. This alliance will deliver scale unparalleled by any application distribution ecosystem in existence today”.

The terms of the new service is still unclear.

Aperture 3 is out and packed with more than 200 new features such as:

• Full screen
• Metadata Pane Map
• Nondestructive Brushes
• Support for Pressure-Sensitive Tablets
• Feather Tool to blend adjustments more easily
• Multiple Instances of Adjustments
• Faces
• Places with support for iPhone Photo GPS Locations
• Web publishing to Facebook, Flickr, MobileMe
• Video support
• Audio Support
• Slideshows
• Enhanced Printing optioins
• Vanishing HUD and mother other UI improvements.

Read more here http://www.apple.com/aperture/features/

Update:

Trial version is still not available. As of today (Feb 10th) there is no email from Apple with the download URL.

20% of the market sound like a lot but on other hand this number will inevitably become smaller and smaller every month. Many designers have moved to liquid design that gives resolutions-independent feeling, full screen browsing “friendly” and potentially makes it easier to accommodate higher resolutions in the future.

Still we should probably stat with 1024×768 for a little longer and here is why:

• About 76 % of users don’t browse using full screen mode. They simultaneously chat, emil, access widgets.
• Users that have 1600×1200 and higher resolution, usually don’t used full screen and instead have multiple windows / websites open, which is more productive.
• 20% is still a significant piece of the market that should not be ignored.

That being said one needs to take into account user audience demographics. Designing for b2b website for IT industry that routinely uses latest generation of computers and monitors, it would be save to go one step  up and optimize a site for 1280px. Retail sites should aim at 1024×768 to be able to support casual users that don’t upgrade their hardware unless it’s necessary. Learning target audience is always a good idea that helps delivering more usable product.

So we have 3 players: Google with half-open Android, Apple OS with closed iPhone OS and now Symbian with fully open code.

At the end of the day it’s all comes down to UX and it will be interesting to see what approach will be more beneficial to a end-user. Most of us care about how much can we do of what we need to do and how easy it can be done. Right now iPhone OS looks like a clear leader in it’s simplicity and user satisfaction.

“Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash, he says. The world is moving to HTML5.”

With Google’s YouTube switching to HTML5 Flash takes a big hit. I’m not missing Flash on my iPhone, I try to skip Flash splash page when I run into one surfing the web and I never ever advice my clients to use Flash on their sites unless they need to build an interactive app with Cold Fusion backend. So no hard feeling about absence of Flash on future Apple devices.

ASCII once dominating the web is down to 20% and it is probably pages that have not been updated in last several years.

Pros:

• Beautiful design
• Vertical and horizontal modes
• Long batter life (10 hours)
• Amazing stand by time of 1 month
• LED screen, which delivery reach colors and wide view angle.
• 3G connectivity
• Wi-Fi N connectivity
• PRICE (!)

Cons:

• No multitasking. Works pretty much the same way as iPhone. One needs to close one app to open another
• No camera and video chat
• Quite heavy (1.5 pounds)
• iBookstore – US only at launch

* This is initial thoughts and we’ll be probably updating the list.

According to MSN.co.uk which conducted the survey, computer problems are “as frustrating for people as being stuck in traffic or losing a wallet” . Almost half of users say that they just want a computer that “works” and would like to avoid “flashy updates” or new features.

Probably half of the frustration can be attributed to hardware issues, drivers compatibility and overall OS stability issues. But the other half is purely in hands of UI designers. Things like UI inconsistency, badly designed workflows, confusing colour schemes and mystifying error messages – each taking valuable user time and creating a frustrating user experience.

For those who still think they don’t need to employ UX or UI designers,  just think about saving your valuable customers four days a year by simply creating a better interface.

• Adobe Illustrator CS4 is here
• Adobe illustrator 8 is here
• Adobe EPS is here

• Adobe Illustrator CS4 is here
• Adobe illustrator 8 is here
• Adobe FireWorks Layered Vector PNG is here

UPA (Usability Proffesinoals’ Association) 2010 International Conference: Embracing Cultural Diversity – User Experience Design for the World will be hosted in Munich, Germany 24 – 28 May, 2010!

Early bird discounted registration NOW OPEN!

Follow #UPA2010 on Twitter