Microsoft's Xbox team testing smartwatch prototypes with a Surface connector

via theverge.com

Microsoft is prototyping its own wrist-worn device. A reliable source familiar with Microsoft's Xbox plans has revealed to The Verge that the company has been developing a wrist-worn device for just over a year. We understand that Microsoft had originally planned to release a "Joule" heart rate monitor accessory for the Xbox, but the company has since decided to focus on a smartwatch instead. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Microsoft's plans earlier this week, citing unnamed supply chain sources who claim Microsoft has requested 1.5-inch displays from component manufacturers.

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Is This an iPhone 5S Prototype? [Rumor]

via technabob.com

We know by now that Apple has adopted a more-or-less annual update cycle for the iPhone. In between major revisions, we’ve seen the company release “S” versions that feature upgrades to the previous version’s internal hardware. But GSM Arena received a couple of pictures showing what their tipster thinks is a prototype of the iPhone 5S. If – and that’s a huge if – these images are legitimate, then it looks like the iPhone 5′s thin and tall form will be discarded in favor of that of a Nokia Lumia.

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10 Wireframing and Prototyping Tools for 2013

via designmodo.com

Creating a website or application is not limited to deciding what to put on the homepage or what photos to use to match the site’s subject. Visual designs are necessary to attract searchers and be user friendly. Therefore, project developers must first be able to visualize a good output and see how it could get the interest of people. Well, this requires lots of creativity and project managers, web designers, and developers need wireframing and prototyping tools to put up their proposed sitemaps and application flow.

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HP Leaks Plans For Its First Google-Powered Chromebook

via businessinsider.com

HP will be launching its first Chromebook in February, according to a leaked document found on the HP website.

Chromebooks are Google's name for laptops that run its stripped-down, Web-friendly Chrome operating system.

The document is no longer on the site but it revealed pretty detailed plans and specs for a device called the HP Pavilion Chromebook.

It will have a 1.1GHz Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM, a 16GB solid-state drive, and a 14-inch, 1366x768 display, reports Nathan Ingraham on The Verge.

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Panasonic 4K tablet prototype hands on

via engadget.com

The Panasonic liveblog was barely finished when we saw this beauty calling out to us from the show floor. This is Panasonic's 20" 4K tablet, running Windows 8. It's a prototype design right now, but seemed to be pretty well put together, and not something quickly knocked up for the show. Given that it's not a full release model, details on specifications are sparse, but we can tell you that as well as that truly jaw dropping display, there is a front facing camera (no details on resolution, but possibly 2-megapixel), and an Intel Core i5 running the show. Input / output wise there wasn't a lot going on, but there was micro-USB, microSD and at least WiFi. If you're thinking that that display is going to pretty much keep you tethered to a wall to keep it powered, then we were told that it will at least give you two hours of use on the go.

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Getting Gamers off the Couch: Red Robot Tests Location-Based Gaming

via allthingsd.com

Over the past year, Red Robot Labs has discovered one major limitation in making games based on the real world: Laziness.

“Gamers are lazy,” said Pete Hawley, Red Robot Labs’ co-founder and chief product officer. “You can’t expect them to get off the couch.”

A year ago, the Mountain View, Calif., company attended the Penny Arcade Expo (a.k.a. PAX) in Seattle to launch its first game, Life is Crime. That weekend, three Red Robot employees hustled to make the convention a virtual game board, getting attendees to virtually commit more than 20,000 “crimes,” in addition to hospitalizing more than 1,000 people and stealing $35 million from real places.

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Wireframing and Prototyping a Mobile App

via designmodo.com

Hurray! We’ve made it to the fifth part of our wireframing and documenting design course. I hope the previous chapters provided all the basic knowledge and now you’re ready to go deeper into practice.

Today I’m going to take you on a trip through the meanders of mobile design – a super demanding and rapidly growing in importance part of the design industry.

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iPhone And iPad Early Prototypes Leak

via businessinsider.com

Another batch of early iPhone and iPad prototypes have leaked out as part of Apple and Samsung's legal battle.

The latest photos come from BuzzFeed and The Verge and show Apple considered including a kickstand in the first iPad and eliminating corners on the iPhone.

There's also an iPhone prototype that looks almost like an old iPod Mini.

Check out the gallery below to see the photos.

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Wireframing, Prototyping, Mockuping - What’s the Difference?

via designmodo.com

I’m very happy to welcome you all to the first part of this online course on wireframing and creating design documentation. I hope you’ll all have fun and learn useful, applicable techniques that will make your everyday work life much easier.

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Behold! The Early-2000s iPad Prototype That Started It All

via techcrunch.com

Prototype 035: it sounds like a nail-biting action RPG but it’s actually one of the first iPad prototypes, built years before the iPhone, and laid by the wayside as Apple kept experimenting with new form factors. The iPad in question, according to a great bit of digging by Yoni Heisler at NetworkWorld, is the one that Jonathan Ive remembers as being the true precursor to the first iPad model.

In December 2011, Samsung deposed Ive in relation to a patent case. The deposition is a goldmine of interesting facts about the growth of the iPad and its slow metamorphosis over the years. He recalled, in the deposition, that he had seen iPad prototypes as early as 2002...

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Video: RIM unveils BlackBerry 10 prototype

via theglobeandmail.com

Research in Motion's new boss has introduced the BlackBerry 10 OS on a prototype smartphone. CEO Thorsten Heins told the crowd of developers that RIM is taking their time with the software, but did not give a launch date

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Real Hands-On Photos Of The New Prototype BlackBerry

via businessinsider.com

We just swung by the press room here at BlackBerry World 2012 in Orlando to bring you a hands-on of RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Testing Device.
The phone doesn't actually run BlackBerry 10, it runs a watered down version of RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 operating system, and that's very apparent.

The entire UI is just like what you'll find on a PlayBook (although a ton of applications are missing) and RIM says it’s basically just for developers to use in order to create BlackBerry 10 applications.

RIM will push updates to the device in the future.

The company also stressed that this is in no way final hardware but is simply hardware for developers to use — and it basically looks and performs like a PlayBook with a 4.2-inch screen.

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Research In Motion Shows Off BlackBerry 10 Prototype

via allthingsd.com

With RIM’s future on the line, CEO Thorsten Heins took to the stage on Tuesday to outline the company’s future.

The company is in the midst of a major transition, aiming to shift BlackBerry from its current operating system to one based on the QNX operating system that powers its PlayBook tablet.

“We’re taking our time to make sure we get this right,” Heins said of the transition. “We’re making incredible progress on BlackBerry 10.”

Though final products running the new software are not expected until late this year, RIM is handing out prototypes running the new operating system to developers attending this week’s BlackBerry World conference in Orlando.

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Amazon: Design Prototypes For New Towers In Downtown Seattle

via businessinsider.com

Amazon is planning three new headquarters buildings in downtown Seattle.
The buildings could be 37 stories tall and have up to 3.3 million square feet of space -- the largest development ever proposed in downtown Seattle.

They will take up to 8 years to build, reports the Seattle Times.

Architect John Savo of NBBJ, which is working with Amazon on designs, presented some early concept designs to a city review board last night. (PDF here.)

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RIM Will Give Developer BlackBerry 10 Prototype Phones

via businessinsider.com

RIM is hosting a big developer convention in Orlando in May and attendees will get a prototype phone running the company's newest operating system, BlackBerry 10.

But don't get too excited. The phones won't be running a final version of BlackBerry 10. Instead, it'll be a slightly modified version of the OS that's already running on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

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14 Exciting Concept Cars

via forbes.com

Isn’t it fun to dream? Essentially that’s what automobile designers get to do every day. Their dreams start with sketches and drawings, and if they’re lucky culminate in mockups or even road worthy prototypes. The ultimate recognition is commercialization and full production. But the cars look best to me in the “dream state” where they have features and characteristics often too expensive for the resulting production car. Or the designs are not practical for everyday use. It’s in this spirit that I offer these 14 exciting concept cars.

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Apple loses iPhones, Seeks Security Experts

via news.cnet.com

Apple had lost control of another valuable iPhone prototype--the second misplaced prototype handset in the past 18 months--the company began looking for people to help protect unreleased products.

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Apple Loses iPhone 5 Prototype. Yes, in a Bar...

via pcmag.com

Another Apple iPhone prototype has gone missing, again lost by an Apple employee in a bar, CNET is reporting. The device, supposedly a prototype of the upcoming iPhone 5, apparently still hasn't been recovered.

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