Gizmodo Australia » icons

Welcome To Your New Start Page

Brian Barrett — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:47:36 +0000

This is even cooler than it looks: Fav4.org starts your browsing off with your four favourite website’s icons already queued up. You can customise from among the 34 current offerings, and it looks as though they’ll be adding more soon.

That’s right: finally all you AOL/ffffound/MySpace/Linked In junkies will have a one-stop start page of your very own.

Let the write-in campaign for a Gizmodo icon begin! [Fav4 via NYTimes Twitter]

Steve Jobs’ Colourful Past, Rendered In Salvaged Logos

Matt Buchanan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:20:00 +0000

I think computer makers should pull a Starbucks and bring back their classic logos, at least for one year. It would remind everybody of happier, more vibrant times. [univac/Flickr via Gadget Lab]

‘Trash’ T-Shirt Shows A Digital Hobo At Work

Adam Frucci — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:20:00 +0000

It’s like your computer’s trash can! Get it? [Glennz Tees via Book of Joe]

Emoji Comes To IChat, Cuteness Ensues

Mark Wilson — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:00:00 +0000

In case you can no longer express yourself in words, instead demanding cute Japanese emoticons to encapsulate inner longing and turmoil, you can sleep well knowing that the iPhone’s Emoji set has been ported to iChat.

It’s a free download from Einar Andersson & Tor Rauden Källstigen that includes an installer and everything. In other words, you can pretty much double click your way to emoji bliss. And once you’re done, maybe you could ping Jason Chen and remind him that I don’t need to see that little poop guy every time he forgets his Lactaid. [Emoji for iChat via TUAW]

Star Trek Icons! Star Trek Icons!!

Mark Wilson — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:00:00 +0000

The Icon Factory has a sharp set of Star Trek icons available for a free download… I mean… downbeam.

Yes, it’s dorky. Yes, it turns your computer into an ad for the new Star Trek movie. And yes, I’m still about to make the latest NCC-1701 into my new hard drive.

Don’t judge me. [The Icon Factory]

MobileAge Wine Enthusiast App Icon Looks Like Something…

Jason Chen — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:20:00 +0000

…I just can’t put my finger in it. What could it be? [App Store - Thanks Jeremy!]

Future iPhones May Have Always-On Display

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Apple has patented a new display technology that will allow their iPhones to have always-on displays with almost no battery cost whatsoever. This doesn’t mean the whole display would be lit at all times. In reality, only part of it would be activated using a secondary backlight system located under the main one. According to Apple, the objective is to give feedback to the user at all times, even when the main display is turned off:

The primary backlight system may block light from the secondary backlight system except for those one or more regions. Thus, the size and shape of the status indicator may be set by sizing and shaping the transparent or semitransparent regions of the primary backlight system. In addition to setting the size and shape of the icon, the colour of the icon may also be set by adjusting the colour of the light provided by the secondary backlight system.

For example, each indicator may have a particular colour, blinking speed, or light intensity. These properties may be programmed into the electronic device by the user, or may be hard-coded or hard-wired into the system. Thus, when the secondary backlight is turned on, the properties of the light provided by the secondary backlight system may depend on the status of the device. Also, if the status of the electronic device changes while the secondary backlight is on, the properties of the light provided by the secondary backlight system may change to reflect the new status.

To avoid depleting the battery, these icons’ backlight system will be low-power. Don’t get your expectations too high, however. The patent doesn’t clearly explains how the icons themselves may be displayed. By the look of the diagrams included, they may not even be actual pixel-based icons, but cut-outs illuminated by individual LED lights shining through the main display.

But of course, you know that this may be something completely different from what the diagram shows, since the drawings included in patents always seem to be drawn by a monkey on drugs. At least, I want to believe this thing is more like the illustration I did, because if it’s just little icons–like every other single cheap clamshell mobile phone out there–I won’t be very excited. [Apple Insider]