Hasta La Gadget!

Canonical’s been working for years to turn Ubuntu into a universal OS for whatever sized screen you use, be it of the television, desktop or mobile variety. Recently, the company showed off the next step in this evolution: unified icon designs for mobile and desktop Ubuntu implementations. In keeping with current UI trends, the new icons have flatter, more stylized appearance when compared to the old desktop iconography. System tiles are less colorful and more reserved in appearance, while apps and folders have been punched up with a flashier look to set them apart visually. Of course, the new icons won’t actually make their way into a Ubuntu for awhile, as the goal is to get them into the 14.04 release for mobile (13.10 is the current version). Should you want more background on the production of the new icons, there’s an hour-long video discussing it after the break. Don’t forget the popcorn.

Filed under: Software, Mobile

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Source: OMG! Ubuntu!

Since Nest’s hardware and app go together like birds of a feather, new mobile software was inevitable after it launched the Nest Protect smoke detector. However, the startup darling has also taken the opportunity to completely revamp its app, mostly to make it easier to see all the important goings-on in your house. At a glance, you’ll now get the temperature you’ve set on your Nest Thermostat, whether it’s heating or cooling, the outside temperature and weather, and a big button to switch between home and away mode — in lieu of the former, slightly lame method of tilting your phone to landscape.

You’ll also see an icon for the new Nest Protect smoke alarm, which displays a green ring if everything’s a-okay, and yellow or red one for a heads-up or emergency, respectively. Selecting that icon will bring up the full app, showing all the detectors by room name, a green, yellow or red status for both smoke and carbon monoxide and the status of each alarm’s batteries and sensor. In addition, it’ll show the last WiFi update and time of your last manual test. Finally, the new app will bring a firmware update for the Nest Thermostat itself, with new features like “Quiet Time,” to prevent potentially noisy humidifier equipment from waking up kids, for instance, along with tweaks that make the system more efficient. Hang tight if you’re anxious to get them, because Nest said the new app and thermostat update will happen in a few days and install automatically.

Filed under: Misc, Peripherals

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Source: Nest

Hot on the heels of releasing a freshly designed application for iOS 7, Pocket is now switching its focus to the experience it offers on the web. The save-for-later reading service says the revamped site takes a lot of cues from its mobile apps, presenting a much more polished UI with major performance improvements throughout. Browsing Pocket has been made easier thanks to added support for keyboard shortcuts, allowing you to easily archive, favorite and jump across stories you’ve queued up. The Article View, which is perhaps the most important section, now features an all-new layout that can automatically adjust depending on the content being read, as well as being able to display Retina-class images within articles. Pocket’s makeover can be enjoyed on most major web browsers starting today, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera and and Internet Explorer 9 or higher.%Gallery-slideshow99774%

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Pocket

Some users of Google’s web-based products may have already seen the familiar black menu bar disappear from one Google site or another, but the company has now confirmed that was only just the beginning. It’s announced today that a broader rollout is underway that will see most of its sites get a new “app launcher” in its place. That new interface should be familiar to anyone who’s used Android or Chrome OS; it simply consists of a small icon in the top right of each page that expands to reveal a grid of larger icons. According to Google, the change is being done to make getting around various Google services more “seamless,” and eliminate any distractions once you’re inside an app.

Along with the menu bar change, Google has also confirmed that it’s “refined the color palette and letter shapes” of its logo, and that the updated version of it will be making its way across the company’s various offerings along with the new menu bar. You can apparently expect those changes to occur over the next few weeks.

Filed under: Google

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Source: Google Inside Search

Out with curly and blue; in with angular and gold. Microsoft’s Bing search engine has just received a major redesign which it’s hoped will reinvigorate the service—but is it really enough?

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