ExperienceLab

Silver Sat Navers

Over the holidays it was the ideal time to visit friends and relatives, as everyone seemed to be on a break. My Mum and Nan, in particular, wanted to visit family in west London. So, not wanting to be the family’s permanent chauffeur service during my time off… I handed over the satnav.

While identifying the main roads wasn’t going to be an issue, the destination was in an unfamiliar part of town, and so that’s where the satnav was to come into play.

 

 

With mum at the wheel, they headed off from East London on the A406 towards some random part of Southall, using the satnav but not really paying closer attention until they had to locate the specific address. When it was time to make the return journey they set the satnav to go home…except now here’s the problem.

They wanted to return via the same route used to get to their destination because they knew the main roads that they needed to get to. However, a journey that should have taken maybe an hour, took three hours.

The satnav unhelpfully programmed itself to drive through central London. Mum didn’t think she needed to check the details of the route the satnav had planned for them as it took them through the A406, which was the ideal route, and just started driving. As they were unfamiliar with the destination area they trusted the satnav to take them home. What they really wanted was for the satnav to remember the route.

Why can’t satnavs be programmed to remember routes? Why can’t I save a journey? Why can’t it remember the route I want to travel by? Consequently, Mum's driving home, now even more confused when following the satnav, not realising until it’s too late that they will end up central London with a diabetic Nan in the car cursing the satnav. That’s an awful long time especially when it’s not expected.

Although, I am quite reliant on my satnav, it would be great if I could save a route. I just want it to take be somewhere and bring me back the same way. At least that would help me remember the route too...it’s just not as simple as I want it to be.

MiFi impossible

A new trend for mobile broadband has been the appearance of mobile WiFi routers or 'MiFi's' allowing the user to setup their own WiFI hub quickly for internet access via 3G. As many of our jobs here at ExperienceLab mean that we need to be out and about we decided that one of these MiFi's would be a useful addition to our technology arsenal.

Technology is really powered by magical beings!

During a recent conversation between my sons on the merits of different camera phones, various technical pros and cons were discussed. Much of the teenagers discussion centered on the value of a three versus a five megapixel camera. At which point my eight year old daughter asked what a ‘mega pixie’ was.  Now this perfectly reasonable question has got me thinking. What if technology products are, in fact, powered by little magical beings like pixies? 

I suppose that having five pixies inside a camera will allow more detailed pictures to be created than if just three are on duty. Though they must all be pretty good at painting pictures to warrant the title ‘mega’!

And what of other devices? What fantastical creatures might lie within, waiting for us to turn on the power button? If you reckon you know how your favourite gadgets really work let us know.

Product ‘mash ups’: an interesting way forward?

Some recent product releases and announcements have been of interest. Not because they represent completely new ideas but because they seem to present an interesting blending of two or more product elements into a new product.

Take the recently announced nook e-reader from Barnes and Noble. The new device features an e-ink screen for reading text plus a touch sensitive colour screen at the bottom. The colour screen allows a user to flow through book covers using gestures and touch. If you were to blend elements of standard e-readers with the iPhone or iPod Touch the nook could well be the result.

In a previous blog we have expressed doubts about e-readers. In the case of the nook it is possible that the colour screen might detract from the experience of becoming ‘lost’ in a good book, however the combined functionality does seem intriguing.

This also makes me wonder what other products and design elements could be ‘mashed up’ to produce something new. Ideas on an electronic post card please!

POWERMAT - an end to cable / charger clutter?

Last summer our family packed in preparation for our holiday. It took most of the day to get ready and load the car, allowing for everything needed by 3 children, 2 adults and 1 dog. A long drive lay ahead and the car was loaded with gadgets and entertainment devices to keep the kids happy. This included MP3 players and handheld games consoles, mobile phones, a camera and a camcorder. Plus, of course, a tangled mess of chargers, cables and power adaptors.   

Who wants a dedicated ereader?

Who wants a dedicated ereader? Not a lot of people. Not yet, anyway. But there are three groups, maybe four, that are hot for the Amazon Kindle, the Sony Reader, and the other wannabe contenders.

We've talked to scores of people in our studies, and we aren't yet seeing much demand for dedicated ereaders. People almost always like the ereaders better after they've tried them, but not enough to actually want to buy one.

The Amazon Kindle goes worldwide

Amazon's ebook machine, the Kindle, has just gone international making it legitimately available in my home country, the UK, for the first time. I'm excited -- I've been studying ebook readers for most of this year and this is the one that has the most buzz.

I've already been testing one borrowed from an American friend so I know what it's like. It feels great in the hand, just the right weight and with nicely curved edges and corners. The pages turn much more quickly than with the first generation Sony Reader I was using. I like the 'read aloud' feature and the large font sizes when my eyes got tired. And when I tried it out in the States, the shopping features were head and shoulders above any other ebook reader we've seen.

The new PSP go: initial impressions are mixed

Sony launched the PSP go on the 1st October 2009. Here at ExperienceLab we like to think of ourselves as intrepid researchers, so I volunteered to take a look at the new device (well, someone had to!).

In this article I summarise my initial impressions of the new PSP and the setup process. Despite having owned the original for several years my experience with the new product was not entirely positive. 

I have concerns about the physical design of the device, as well as a few gripes regarding the setup process and associated Sony PlayStation websites. For further details read on.

Stanza/iPhone make strong first impression

Stanza on the iPhone/iPod Touch makes a better first impression than dedicated E Ink devices like the Kindle or Sony Reader. (Stanza is a free book-reading and book-downloading application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as for PCs and Macs. Stanza is now owned by Amazon.)

We're doing some long-term research on ebook readers, and it will be a while before all the results are in, but one thing is clear. Every user we've spoken to, from students to professionals, from 2-book-a-week pleasure readers to people who only ever pick up the occasional nonfiction book, the first impressions favour Stanza on the iPhone/iPod Touch every time.

Why?