Nate Bird

I recently wanted to use the official brand colors in an app I’m working on. I really like the UIColor syntax for the built-in colors and thought it would be nice to be able to choose the appropriate brand color in a similar manner.

In Swift there is a very clean way to do this. Creating an extension of UIColor we can create some class functions that act just like the built-in colors.

I created a Swift file called UIColorExtensions and just added the class functions I wanted named after the brand color I wanted. Now, all the brand colors are available easily all over the project. And we have a single file for setting the colors that is easily transferrable between projects.

In a world where Google is trying to reinvent itself as a social company it is ironic that it now finds itself more and more isolated. 5 years ago Google seemed to be friends with everyone - including Apple. Today I can't think of a single company (besides the companies that rely on its Adsense breadcrumbs) who thinks of Google as a friend or partner.

Android OEMs are shying away from Google more and more. Samsung is the only successful Android OEM (they are profitable) and even they are creating software ontop of Android that competes or replaces Google features. It is only a matter of time before they do as Amazon and fork Android into their own OS. Amazon never even partnered with Google - they just took Android and are running with their own version.

The days of alliance between Apple and Google against (supposedly) Microsoft are gone. Steve Jobs' "thermonuclear" quotes against Google and the fallout of Eric Schmidt on Apple's board have left the two companies at odds. Once featured Google services on iOS devices are being replaced with alternatives. Maps in iOS has been replaced with Apple's own backend. YouTube, the surprise app on the first iPhone, isn't even a share option in Apple's new OS X release due out this summer.

Google TV made enemies with media companies because Google tried to get around content restrictions using web interfaces. That didn't work and their OEM partners suffered immensely because of it. Google has also had problems getting deals with music and TV studios because the studios don't trust Google.

To me this isn't good for Google in the long run. They can only burn so many bridges before becoming so isolated that they become irrelevant.

Now the Apple has officially announced the iPhone 4S and the tech world is officially let down (again) I'd like to discuss how Apple handled the expectations for this event. First, I don't think they did enough. There were a couple planned leaks to their normal crew at the WSJ but it obviously didn't have as much of an impact as the cases being thrown around by Chinese case manufacturers. 

Apple, as usual, officially said very little about the new iPhone. It was a single line phrase a week before the event stating, "Let's talk iPhone".

The problem is the Apple didn't shoot down or at least drown out the case leaks. Most of the reviewers were expecting an iPhone 5 and they received an iPhone 4.5 (see what I did there? The 4S looks like 4.5… never mind).

The 4S looks great. I really like the iPhone 4. It is really beautiful. It is the best smartphone I've ever seen. The 4S is even better not only with better hardware but also with exclusive new software (Siri) as well.

What to tell customers when dealing with a crisis.

Here is what happened…

This is what I did to fix the issue…

The fix will be available in time frame…

Here is what I'm doing to prevent it from happening again…

In light of the recent ruling banning the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany it is important to remember what tablets looked like before and after the iPad. Also remember that the ban is based on a design trademark and not software patents. Thanks to ReiVersuri for the image.

Josh Topolsky reviews the Droid Bionic:

…this is the first phone to come preloaded with Google Talk video chat, which was great when I could get it to work (it still seems a bit buggy).

Even though the Bionic has a larger battery than every other LTE device on Verizon, I don’t see most people getting through a full day without a recharge or a spare battery, especially if you’re making lots of calls.

As far as auto-focus lenses on phones go, this seems to be one of the slower models.

You know you can expect some significant software tweaks. That’s certainly true for the Bionic, where you’ll find a mishmash of previous Moto customizations atop Android 2.3.4

To simply place an icon on your homescreen, you must open your application launcher and then long press on the app you want. This brings up a contextual menu asking if you’d like to place the icon on your homescreen or add it to a group. If you choose homescreen, it places the icon in the first available position on your page — meaning you have to long press again to move it into the location you want. 

Elsewhere in the OS, there are graphical inconsistencies that make the Bionic’s interface feel thrown together.

Let me just say that any money spent on any of the Webtop devices is essentially money wasted. The quasi-PC interface which Motorola provides (based on Ubuntu and little more than the Firefox browser) is largely useless. The browser itself is sluggish and there are no other applications aside from a window into your phone on-screen.

This is not the killer handset that I think a lot of people were expecting it to be…

John Gruber posted about a MS article on Windows 8's new "no compromises" design. While Steven Sinofsky goes to great lengths to reinforce the point of "no compromises" the fact is they are making compromises - you have to compromise something.