GENERAL STYLES + PRACTICES SECTIONS IN THE MAGAZINE f
STARTERS
ANDROID KITKAT LAUNCHES BY JINWOOK LEE
BY STIAN MIKALSEN Spotify is a digital musicstreaming service that gives you on-demand access to millions of songs on all your devices. There is both a free and premium version—the latter of which is based on subscription plans. Some of the benefits of the premium version include unlimited streaming of music and no ads.
NEWS OPINIONS SHORTS LIFEHACKS SNIPPETS AND RAMBLINGS THE MERGE GOOGLE PLUS AND YOUTUBE BY CALLUM MCEACHEN
ven those who dwell in the darkest of caves will still have heard of the day YouTube was merged with Google+, or, in other words, the day Google shoved it’s social networking site down our throats. It was the day the Internet exploded with rage, anger, and frustration. Campaigns and petitions immediately popped up in all corners of the interwebs, but till this day Google has not responded to the voices of these netizens.
Google has just taken the newest swing in the fight agains iOS with their release of Android 4.4, dubbed as “Android Kit-Kat”.
However, the inevitable eventually happened. I had just returned from Cambodia and wanted to comment on a video and BAM, “Create a Google+ profile to comment”. I refreshed the page, hoping it would disappear, but it just would not leave. I finally gave in and created an account and re-uploaded my profile picture (because the people at Google are too lazy to transfer it from my old YouTube Account), but there were still some problems. I actually had to edit my picture because Google deemed it “too dark” and so kindly edited it for me to make it brighter, and then I had to spend more time trying
to get back to the way I wanted it in the first place, without those magical Google Enhancements. Of course, Google is a very powerful business and it knows it can get away with doing anything short of murder with few consequences and naturally, everyone hates change, especially if it involves doing something they will never need, want or use. But eventually we will adapt to the new ways, even if we still dislike the changes. Not very long ago, YouTube went through a major redesign of its entire
On October 31st, 2013, Google finally unveiled their latest operating system— Android Kit-Kat—and to match it, a new smartphone named the Nexus 5. This reference-design phone (manufactured by LG) is the first to be equipped with Android 4.4, and it’s electrified the market. Specs, display, price, there’s nothing it lacks. The Nexus 5 also works unlocked, so you can use it anywhere in the world, without a contract.
site with new video layouts, menus and navigation. Everything was brand new, from the buttons that used to be there to the buttons that never existed, effectively turning YouTube into a fully fledge Google product. It was clear at the time that the changes to YouTube would not end with the outer coat of looks and design but would, in time, extend to every cog in the system. After the redesign, creating new accounts on on YouTube, a service that was once been of independent entity from Google, became very Google in nature. From the demand for you to use your real names to linking your YouTube accounts with your Google accounts, it seems as though Google wants to be part of everything in my life, from my emails, now my videos, and probably, in the future, my identity.
COURTESY OF NESTLÉ
Those of you who have YouTube accounts have been asked to get a Google+ account for a very long time now. This thoroughly annoyed me personally, because, at that time, I was pretty sure the number of people who used Google+ was pretty much similar to the total number of people who, for whatever reason, still use MySpace.
The true highlight of the OS launch hides behind something called “Project Svelte”. This makes Kit-Kat a welcoming release in that it can now support more low-end devices than previous updates. Google set out to make the Android 4.4 more accessible to older, cheaper devices; instead of the 1 GB of RAM encouraged for the previous version, 4.4 now only requires a minimum of 512 MB of RAM to be able to be used comfortably. This way, more phones can experience the benefits of KitKat.
you relevant information without having to search for it. Searching Google on Android 4.4 is easier, through a more accurate voice search (that listens 25% better), and a new portion of the home screen dedicated to Google Now and it’s cards. The message application has also been changed into Google Hangouts so all messages from Google Plus and SMS can be viewed in one place. The overall user interface is also improved. The transition across different screens is smooth and multitasking is more efficient with fewer crashes and lags. The general aesthetics also underwent a small redesign with more whites and greys than the all-black predecessor. Icons are bigger and less cluttered, making for a more organized visual. However, the general looks will still stay similar to the past Android 4.1 and 4.2. So, when will you be able to get Android 4.4? That’s up to your smartphone’s manufacturer and when they release an update to your model. Good luck, all you Samsung-endorsers, as Samsung’s says that updates are “in due course”. (Don’t expect it anytime soon)
Regardless, I use Spotify and believe it’s a phenomenal application for those who really enjoy listening to music as you can get unlimited access to any album or artist. If you want Spotify Premium you have to be in one of the countries where Spotify is available and download it there. And as long as you have the premium version of Spotify you should be able to access music anywhere internationally.
Back in September of 2013, Apple released its newest iteration of iOS 7, and marked the biggest release of iOS since Steve Jobs showed the world the first iPhone in 2007. As Evernote’s CEO, Phil Libin, puts it, the day iOS7 Launch was “the biggest day in technology ever. There has never been another day like this in the history of the universe where hundreds of millions of people will see a big change to something that they’re used to. Nothing of this scale has ever occurred.”
O
7
BY DHIRA KHEWSUBTRAKOOL AND JUSTIN KAE
—8—
COURTESY OF STEPHEN LAM—REUTERS; JEFF SCOTT; JUSTIN SULLIVAN—GETTY IMAGES
CHANGING MILLIONS
AND THE FUTURE
• • • • • • •
Outer border color Content area border Section title Article titles Bylines Drop caps Text Heavy
This section is where short pieces are added similar to newspapers. The content of this section can range from important news, to special tips on doing something (ie. life-hacks etc.) The normal length with the section is 2 spreads or 4 pages (A4).
The custom title page Header styles Large and powerful images
In the magazine there are 2 in-depth articles. Their length, based on text, is around 1600 words to 2400 words and their length, based on spreads, is around 2-3 spreads per article. WE want to keep this section image heavily while still maintaining a large amount of text.
Over the last two years Apple’s technique of imitating the user interface as ordinary objects (skeuomorphism), from the green felted Game Center to the leather stitched Notes app, have intimidated designers the world over. For the many, it was regarded as the “new Comic Sans” of user interface, but using skeuomorphism is not necessarily a decision that Apple can avoid. Apple’s genius has always been in creating innovative user interface that look and feel like something much better than the future, but in order to achieve such a goal, skeuomorphism has to be used. From the very first folder icon on the Mac, skeuomorphism has been crucial to advancing and maintaining Apple’s reputation for “intuitiveness.” The iPhone is testament to why skeuomorphism and imitation must be used to bring to this world a truly innovative product. The hardware was beautiful and the skeuomorphism user interfaced allowed it to be approachable for millions and millions of consumers around the world who had never had a smartphone. If skeuomorphism was not used, the iDevices we know of today may not have taken off the way we had seen in the last few years.
IN-DEPTH ARTICLES • • •
THE WHY
COURTESY OF ROB WAUGH
S
SHORTS/STARTERS
—5—
FLATTENING
THE BIGGEST REDESIGN
EXAMINING
Piracy is still a big issue in Asia but the premium service’s ability to offer a more convenient way to get musical content is near unbeatable. Ofcourse Torrenting is free, and you could theoretically capture a streamed track in all its 320 kbps glory, but free accounts should adress this illegal alternative,.
THE LAUNCH
THAT ANY PRODUCT EVER HAD
THE IMPACT
Today, Spotify is a popular service in Europe and America, but has yet to come to Korea and many other countries. Currently Spotify is only available in 35 countries, mostly in Europe, but is also now available in Australia and the U.S.A. However Spotify is slowly moving towards Asia as it launched in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong earlier this year. However due to piracy concerns, Spotify has refrained from entering the Asian market on a wider basis.
One benefit of Android 4.4 is the increased integration of Google Now. Google Now is a search assistant giving
—4—
i
WHY SPOTIFY IS NOT HERE
But it has now been 7 years and hundreds of millions of people around the world have grown accustomed to use them, and thus the market is, without a doubt, ready for something new, something exciting. Skeuomorphism is no longer a solution to a problem but instead a problem that needs a solution. Enter Jony Ive’s iOS 7.
—9—
For each in-depth article there is one A4 page dedicated to the title and custom layout design/art for the section’s content.