Shiny and new!

We’re lucky to have some fantastically creative clients. With the new permutation of iOS 7, we thought it’d be appropriate to ask a small sampling of our favorite design folks their thoughts on Apple’s truly new take on iOS. We’ve got more on the way, but thought this was a great start. Don’t forget to leave your comments below, too!

Overall, its an improvement, most will be critical on the departure from dimensional UI to more flat graphics and start to draw comparisons to Win 8, etc. Little things like better access to airplane mode and the do not disturb features are big to business users. Plus the swipe back nav is very helpful with the taller screen on the iPhone 5. Damn back button was always just out of reach.

-John Moberg, COO/CTO, Modern Climate

From a purely design aesthetic, the transition from iOS 6 to iOS 7 will be a bit jarring to both users and those of us in the design industry specializing in mobile interfaces. We’ve been looking at essentially the same thing for almost 6 years now, so to make a jump like this is always a bit jarring, but not necessarily in a bad way. Lots of people have already hopped on the nay-sayer train, but I personally look forward to something new. Gives us all a chance to use something we love in a new way, and as designers, gives us the opportunity to design something we’ve come very accustomed to, in a whole new way. Its a challenge, but one that’s welcomed.

- Jamey Erickson, Owner and Creative Director, Sevnthsin

I have loved my iPhones. I have held them dearly in my palm. My left thumb specifically feels the urge to touch that beautiful smooth screen. And interact with the visual roadmap iPhone has offed over the years. Enter iOS7. Ever since the iPhone has been had set the standard in smart phones, it was up there. But lately it has been passed by left and right by it’s competitors. So for the very first time, it seems, it was not Apple or the consumer demanding better functionality and design, but competition has forced Apple to step it up. Well? Done!

 

The new iOS7 delivers. By borrowing a few ideas from popular apps, and by rethinking the visual simplicity of the interaction screen, it looks and feels fresh again. Exactly what we want from Apple. If that will deliver will have to been seen, I will let you know what my thumb will say. As for myself: Nice job, Apple. You enticed me again. I’m falling head over thumbs in curiosity and excitement. Happy to spend hours with the connection to the global village I call my phone. (And I mean it, I literally connect with friends and family all over this planet!)

 

What I have not tried yet, and I am afraid to ask, whether Siri will finally understand my German accent without making fun of me.

 

- Stefan Hartung, Creative Director, Ideas that Kick

As Phil Schiller put it, reacting to the new Mac Pro, “Can’t innovate anymore? My ass!” It’s clear the post-Jobs team is eager to make a worthy mark across hardware, services and operating systems. While iOS7 isn’t getting much love from Wall Street (because it’s not increasing revenue via handsets), it should get lots of respect from customers and developers. The iOS7 design and engineering achieve two tricky feats:

1.) It further gets out of the way, allowing content to shine. Apple is stepping back its interface aesthetic to allow content from app creators, customers and publishers to come forward more.

2.) It reduces ever-expanding complexity; iOS is now even easier to use. This creates less friction for Apps and content, and continues to emphasize iOS and Apple as the computing interface “for the rest of us.”

- Tim Brunelle, President, Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association

iOS 7 represents a significant change of direction for Apple… right behind Microsoft and Google. The “flat” design trend has been sweeping across a variety of industries, interfaces and organizations. Microsoft committed to this styling with their tiles and focus on colors.The idea of simplicity has been adopted and improved upon—Apple seems to be catching up with some of their interface work. This is sort of tangential, but a quick thought on the simplicity of these designs… I think Google is kicking ass at it. In the same way I think the goal of UX is not only to simplify the experience, but enrich and to communicate in exceptional ways, Google has done this. They’ve taken the “flat” style of design that’s so trendy and added remarkable attention to detail in their use of shadows, colors and small inflections. Really impressive stuff.

To summarize: iOS 7 is an improvement (from what I’ve seen), but it doesn’t really represent new approaches to interface and use, the stalwarts of the Apple brand. I’m not just trying to be cynical… I feel like they could do better—not just to simplify, but to add value in new ways.

I haven’t actually used the new OS, but from what I’ve seen that’s my impression.

Rock on.

- Grant Spanier, Founder + Creative Lead, The Less Co.

Overall I think the improvements to some of the standard apps and the interface in iOS7 are a good evolution of the platform. I especially like the way they are positioning the new control panel and my hope is that the new Siri will actually be usable in this update. I like the look of the new camera interface design as well, and the fact that they are doing away with the toggle switch between photo and video settings.

 

I also feel however that Apple is taking a lot more (and maybe too much) influence from other platforms and popular music and photo sharing apps. For the first time in a long time they seem to be following the trends instead of creating them. The new iOS7 feels a bit too flat and more generic. The redesigned icons and thinner typeface are not as readable, and I found it somewhat difficult to immediately understand the hierarchy of actions available from screen-to-screen.

 

-John Golden, Partner, EatonGolden

Ok, so maybe it isn’t just for the little guy, but we think it’s a big deal.

One of the struggles for all of retailers is point of sale. Big, small, near and far. Building a POS that isn’t a POS is no easy task. Especially for under $1,000.

That’s where we might be able to help.

Historically, buying a terminal for POS involves several parts, and high costs, and sometimes multiple different vendors, and someone to make it all work together (without you pulling your hair out). We’re trying to make it easy.

Today, we’re announcing our BYOS iOS POS. It may be a lot of capital letters, but it’s pretty easy. And that’s what we prefer.

So what does this all mean?

We’ve built a kit for you to run your POS on, and we’ll integrate it all together for you.

BYOS: Bring Your Own Software.

Perhaps you’ve already got something. Perhaps not. We can help you decide between the options, and some might save you quite a bit in terms of processing fees. Square for example is free to use, and charges you only 2.75% per transaction (or $275/month). It’s simple. We like simple.

Other options to investigate include LightSpeed, which gives you a more robust solution for larger locations, and the opportunity for a matching online store.

There are several other options too, and we’ll help you figure out what works best for your location.

iOS: The Platform of Choice

Utilizing iPads, and iPod Touches, creates the scalability that didn’t exist previously, without making any security compromises. Need a second terminal? No problem. The expansion costs using an iOS platform versus a traditional POS system is extraordinary. It’s a platform we know and trust. We can help manage it all remotely, too. The tools exist to make it easy, and economical, to build and support ongoing.

POS: The Whole Point

Point of Sale is where retail business really needs to work well. POS inefficiency can cost transactions, and transaction times that are unnecessary. Our team works with you from day one to make sure that every second counts.

We’ve got two bundles to facilitate your needs; with or without networking. 

Already have a wireless network? Great. Here’s what we can get you:

• iPad 16GB Wifi model in either black or white
• Heckler Design locking kiosk for iPad
• Cash drawer
• Thermal receipt printer
• Our installation

Total price? $999

Need a wireless network?

Add $969 for a new wireless router fully configured for a private and public network (including a captive web portal for your guests), firewall, ability to add a 3G/4G failover, and much more.

Want ongoing support? 

We’ve got options beyond break-fix, including ongoing 24/7/365 monitoring and support.

Interested? Let’s chat. Call 612-465-0700 or email us at info@fndtn.com to talk about how we can change the way you do business.

iOS updates are great. Getting them over the air is truly magical.

Until it causes problems.

We’ve been in the IT world for quite some time, and our opinion is that IT companies should say yes far more than they should say no. We’d prefer to enable people.

That’s part of the reason why mobile devices are such a big part of what we do today. But there is a trade-off. With the release of iOS 6.1, we’ve heard of issues with users who rely on Exchange as a communications platform. There are reports that by upgrading to 6.1, Exchange log files are growing at an exponential rate for no real known issue at this point (with no resolution on the horizon, either).

And this is why we are partners with AirWatch. Using AirWatch (or an alternative Mobile Device Management platform), you can set it up so that based on certain parameters, certain benefits get taken away.

For example, it is not unreasonable to say that if a device is running iOS 6.1, it becomes out of compliance and therefore looses the Exchange profile associated with the device. Setting these types of compliance profiles can help from headaches in the future. Plus, they’re easy to remove or update once the latest version of any OS moves from the Bleeding Edge to Leading Edge.

To learn more about AirWatch and our process for managing remote devices, contact us.

We like getting better, while helping others. If you’re in the same mood, sign up here to see if you’re one of the lucky ones who gets to join us for Service Jam. We’ll select a limited number of folks to join us, and pay their way.

Want it to be you? Want to do something that matters?  Learn more about it here: http://minneapolisservicejam.org

Sign up:

Today, we received our quarterly update from Apple for our Depot repair services.

Every quarter, we get feedback from our customers, through Apple, telling us how we’re doing. Feedback is a hugely important part of our business, as we believe that it’s one of the only ways we can truly get better.

Apple, but more importantly, our customers gave us a 100% satisfaction rating based on our repairs and Depot work. That’s amazing, and for that, we say thank you.

But, we want to do better. Always give us feedback, and please give us an opportunity to help you out.

Thanks again!

Friday, October 26th, we’ll help quiet the noise and help guide you through the world that surrounds iPads. From bring-your-own-device in enterprise, to creating truly paperless environments, we get it. Our team has worked with several cities to reduce their paper weight substantially, while maintaining secure, and easy to integrate environments.

Ok, so maybe not. But we can tell you that font licensing lawsuits are becoming more common. It may be time to look at mitigating your risk. We can help, and so can Extensis.

Proper licensing of software is a must, however an often overlooked liability is font use. There have been several instances where organizations have incurred litigation from font misuse and some are multi-million dollar lawsuits.

Universal Type Server can help mitigate that risk.

Even Harry Potter, Rick Santorum, and NBC have had run-ins. Are you at risk?

Contact The Foundation’s account management team today to talk about the options for your organization.

In the meantime, test your typography eye by playing The Rather Difficult Font Game.

It’s not that we left. That’d be a little awkward after over 7,300 tweets to just leave.

No no, we’re actually expanding and diversifying our presence.

For general industry news, and news about us, keep following @theFNDTN . And calling it industry news is a bit….vague. We’ll continue to tweet about things that we deem to be important content to you our customers – so you’ll see pertinent tweets and retweets about the advertising, design, architecture, tech, and Apple community.

We’ve also got our @FndtnDepot account where you can ask us more technical stuff, and we’ll tweet tips and tricks from there.

The latest addition to our Twitter family is @FndtnEvents. Here we’ll try to curate the best content from local events from MIMA, AdFed, SMBMSP, JMU612 and of course, our BBQs. Luckily, most everything is an acronym so our precious 140 characters don’t get wasted.

And, if you’d prefer to be a little more personal with us, feel free to follow Matt at @mjwessty and Stacie at @iT_Stacie. Sure they aren’t official Twitter accounts of the Foundation, but that means they can get away with making fun of the Yankees. (Not that it would ever happen…)

And, of course, don’t forget us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest and Instagram (@theFNDTN).

For introverts, we sure are social!

It’s true. The rumor mills are abuzzing with “news” about what’s next at Apple.

(Un)Fortunately, we have no idea what is going to happen. We’ve got our hopes and our dreams, just like everyone else, but there’s only one thing we do know.

Apple continues to make revolutionary (and magical) devices that we didn’t think of, or that we’d ever need. And then we need them.

What are you hoping for in the next ___________?

Recently, we were invited to participate in the local Angelbeat event for IT professionals. We’re both excited and honored to be talking about integration of Macs and iOS in real enterprise scenarios.

There’s lots of marketing fluff out there about how to do this, and the lion’s share of it is true. Lucky for us, we get to talk about it, because we do it all the time. This helps us be more realistic about what can, and can’t be done out of the box.

A good example of this is Active Directory integration. Sure, Macs can bind to a domain out of the box – they have been able to since 10.4. But make sure that the computer’s name is less than 16 characters, only alpha-numeric, numbers, – or _ characters can be used. And to be clear, using – or _ may be ok, but they aren’t valid components of standard DNS naming, and binding may not function as you’d expect.

To learn more, you should join us at the conference: http://bit.ly/Qmvu1k