Making Music at WWDC

If you’re looking for a comprehensive summary of everything covered in today’s WWDC keynote, move along now, there’s nothing to see here. If however you’re after a look behind the scenes of the Moscone memorandum and its impact on developers, brands and consumers over the next 12 months, you’re in the right place.

My day began at 3:15am when my alarm jolted me rudely into consciousness. As my jet-lagged brain took in the surroundings of my shabby-chic San Francisco hotel room, I checked the charge levels of my mobile devices. It was going to be a long day.

Armed with my 15” MacBook Pro, 11” MacBook Air, iPad Mini, iPhone 6, 42mm Apple Watch and a bag full of battery chargers, I made the ten minute cold, dark and lonely cab ride to the Moscone Centre. It was keynote day and to ensure a decent seat I had to begin my queuing ‘experience’ at 4am.

I’m no stranger to the iQueue. In 2010 I stood outside the 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York waiting a mere 12 hours for the launch of the iPad. We were 6th and 7th in line, behind representatives of the four corners of the world… and a guy in a deckchair that waits in ALL the lines. He’s not a developer so isn’t at WWDC.

You’d think 4am would be early enough, right? Not a chance. I began writing this crouched on the floor round the back of the Moscone West Convention Centre, next to the bins. This international globe-trotting ain’t as glamorous as you think. Assuming you think it’s glamorous of course.

To cut a long and rather tedious story short, the Moscone Center doors opened at 7am and the iQueue was directed like a shuffling chain-gang to the inner hall where our next 3 hour wait began.

Through a combination of running, elbowing and misdirection I found a seat in the front row of the ‘non-VIP’ enclosure with a good view of Tim Cook’s kick-off. He took to the stage to deliver the usual stats about global eyeballs and fingertips on iOS and OS X and positive words about Apple Watch.

Others will have summarised word-for-word the minutia of the keynote. As mentioned, I don't intend to do this so here are my top 5 announcements.

Watch Kit 2.0

Apple set the standard for Apple Watch apps early on. We were restricted to a limited feature set, using official Watch Kit designated GUI (Graphical User Interface) and restricted access to the sensors on the watch itself. We made the most of this with our Porsche Car Connect app, launched on Day 1. You can read more about that [here].

This tight control wasn’t out of character for Apple (the original iPhone didn’t even have an App Store at launch) and the idea was to keep the focus firmly on the hardware and its OS, rather than take the Android Wear approach and encourage a free for all.

At WWDC, the development door has been pushed open a little and we now have access to sensors and buttons not previously in our armoury, making the watch a much more interesting proposition when pushing creative barriers, if not breaking them all down just yet.

Consumers will appreciate the new photo watch faces and customisable content but I’m still waiting for full watch faces to make the device truly personal or an easy win for brands.

Apple Music

Hands up if you love iTunes… anyone? Bueller? Yep, it’s been a necessary evil since day one. Poor search (that still applies to the App Store and iBooks Store), cranky UI and little or no encouragement to actually access all your music, movies and books.

Apple wants all that to change with the introduction of Apple Music and Beats1. With the focus firmly on streamed music and playlists or shows curated by humans rather than algorithms, Apple have proved they are probably the only organisation capable of combining all the essential content, features and platforms to deliver an end-to-end music service.

That doesn’t mean everything they offer from the start will be the best but by placing it all in one place, they certainly make it easier. The music labels should also be happy with Apple Music as it offers them a higher profile for both new and established artists and brings music, video and more to an audience likely to pay for both a streaming service and downloadable tracks.

So, farewell to cranky old iTunes on our desktops? No, I'm afraid we'll have to suffer that for a while longer, until the new UI and user experience filters down from Apple Music. It's a shame this isn't a replacement, just an improvement to music discovery, not its storage once purchased.

Apple Music is available soon in the US, UK and Australia and on Android by the end of the year. The first three months access will be free then $9.99 a month. I think the Tide may have just gone out for Jay Z…

Apple News

It will probably be referred to as ‘News’ but whatever it’s called, it looks like a potential Flipboard killer. Having worked with publishers, Apple revealed its digital magazine platform, providing a customisable feed with live interactive content.

The proof will be in the simplicity of integration with online content and how this will be monetised when News looks as good as a regular digital magazine. Publishers or bloggers can now sign up to use ‘News Publisher’ and get their hands on the tools required. Watch this space…

Car Play

Greater integration and wireless connectivity and now Apple Music. All cars should offer both iOS and Android integration as standard in the next few years, adding functionality both in and out of the car so we’re ticking boxes here.

Clearly our Porsche Car Connect app is the perfect example of this but the challenge remains for designers, developers and marketers to make the brand experience as seamless as possible with both technical, lifestyle and service information living in digital harmony within the app ecosystem.

Apple TV 2.0

Only joking, it didn’t make an appearance because Apple hadn’t joined all the dots – hardware, software (including apps) and the big one… content. The content is there, it’s just the issues that remain, such as localisation, advertising and subscription models.

This hasn’t been an easy business for Apple as the direct download and rental models are far less complicated than streaming. Whilst Apple has been trying to own the end-to-end experience, the market has moved on around them with major players such as NetFlix and Amazon making substantial gains. Apple TV is still poised to make the next step very soon…

The two main headlines this year were Apple Watch OS2 and Apple Music. The rest provided interesting updates but nothing to change the world, unless you aim to use these tools to do it yourself.

WWDC is an Apple Event so naturally we all have iPhones and MacBooks of one shape or size. I’m comfortable with this as it’s the right (and in our collective opinion) the best kit for the job. I’m less at ease with the fact we all have Apple Watches. I’ve always worn a watch 1. to tell the time and 2. because I actually like wearing one - as a personal statement. It’s not very personal when everyone has the same thing.

I’ve ordered my personalised strap from Casetify to alleviate some design anxiety but I’m still not happy to run with the crowd. I’ll feature that strap later this week in my new Dawn of The DumbWatch article, alongside the Olio Model One and metal Cogito Classic.

I’m also surrounded by developers wearing the official WWDC15 fleece. I have mine on under a jacket as it feels a little like a school uniform. That and it was freezing next to the bins!

May The Force, Maleficent, Bernhoft... and Moondog be with you!

In the past ten days, the English have demonstrated both extremes of the effort and achievement scale. At one end (the bottom) we have the English football squad. unceremoniously dumping themselves out of the World Cup. At the other, we have our award-winning team at Brandwidth.

I hate for my writing to turn into the agency equivalent of a party political broadcast, but sod it – we’re passionate, we’re dedicated and we’re brilliant. Not a particularly British attitude (we’re supposed to be all politeness and deference) but when most of the conversation on our own fair shores revolves around a failed football team and a shortlist of the same old agencies and developers, someone has to fly the flag. We're responsible for the current US number one Entertainment app and Multi-Touch book – I'm pretty sure we're the first developer in the world to achieve this.

So, what have I got to shout about? In a nutshell, having returned from speaking at the Mobile Show in Dubai, I spent a week in the US covering WWDC in San Francisco, visits to Apple in Cupertino and meetings in LA, I touched down briefly in the UK, only to head off to Poland.

“Why Poland?” I hear you cry... I spoke at the brilliant ‘Bitspiration’ Conference in Krakow, an amazing gathering of the great and the good from the worlds of music, digital innovation and start-ups. I couldn’t have been more pleased to be attending when our latest multi-touch book for Disney Studios ‘Maleficent’ was the number one Entertainment title in the US iBooks Store! I was also happy to reveal the incredible ‘Bernhoft Islander’ app and announce our forthcoming ‘Star Wars Scene Maker’ app. More on those later...

As if that wasn’t enough, we had just updated our classic ‘Top 100 Albums’ app for Amber Books in stunning Retina detail and a new FREE cover price. I challenge anyone with an interest in any genre of music to find a reason not to download!

Despite the superstitious overtones, I returned home safely from Poland late on Friday 13th and caught up with the wonderful Nikki Bedi on her BBC London 94.9 show on Saturday evening. My role as ‘Inspector Gadget’ allows me the freedom to talk about the latest tech from around the world, discuss Harrison Ford’s injured foot and further tease the Star Wars and Bernhoft projects.

A big digital product launch usually delivers a mix of extraordinary highs and monumental lows. I’m glad to say, the arrival of ‘Star Wars Scene Maker’ last Thursday offered many more highs than lows. The Brandwidth team has been working closely with Lucasfilm and Disney for nearly a year, with the mission to bring storytelling bang up to date – and take it kicking and screaming into the future.

Who wouldn’t want to step into George Lucas' or JJ Abrams' shoes and direct the iconic scenes from all six movies, then take the reins from Episode VII and beyond? I have worked in publishing, design and technology for nearly thirty years (I started young!) and this project delivers in all areas. Don’t tell me publishing is dead when this is the result – storytelling and interactive narrative taken to digital extremes.

I’m happy to say we’re not stopping here. This is a living, breathing product with a healthy future of enhancements and updates, platform and content opportunities. Oh, and a lot of fun!

Speaking of living and breathing products, another Brandwidth blockbuster is now available – ‘Bernhoft Islander’. We had an incredible opportunity to collaborate with HD360 and Jarle Bernhoft and bring his hypnotic blend of contemporary soul music to life in an encapsulated album app. We’ve worked with a number of digital formats for artists such as The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Demi Lovato, Michael Bublé and the aforementioned Top 100 Albums app but Islander is the first app to launch globally alongside the main album, providing a genuine HD experience, with all music embedded at the quality it originally left the recording studio.

360º video, the Loop Station, an interactive Studio, all create a unique approach for a unique artist and a genuine premium product. Don’t take my word for it, here’s the man himself...

As I’m still on a music theme, the clock is ticking on a superb Kickstarter campaign, ‘The Viking of 6th Avenue’ Documentary. In their own words:

"The inspirational true story of Moondog, the legendary musician and New York icon whose life was an unexpected, outrageous adventure. 

Charlie Parker and Benny Goodman hung out with him. Philip Glass lived with him, Janis Joplin covered his music, Allen Ginsberg stuck it on his fridge, Diane Arbus took his picture and Andy Warhol’s mother designed one of his album covers. Merv Griffin interviewed him, Lenny Bruce shared the bill, Phillippe Starck named a building after him, Elvis Costello brought him to London and fashion designers have created entire collections around his look."

I’m not directly involved but Holly Elson is a brilliant documentary film maker and the Moondog story deserves to be told. At the time of writing, there are 3 days remaining and around $40,000 still to raise. It’s all or nothing – Kickstarter and the Viking of 6th Avenue are only a click away!

So that’s it then? Nope, we’re on a roll. Apart from the rest of the Brandwidth business, providing digital infrastructure and mobile solutions to the automotive sector, enterprise level websites, amazing experiential environments and all the data analytics you can eat, we have a stunning title ready to launch for Taschen later this month followed by many many more. It’s going to be a long hot summer where you’ll hear all about our amazing products, even if you don’t hear about Brandwidth.

The Battle for the Dashboard

As the pace of technological innovation within the automotive sector continues to  increase, more and more of the analogue interior is becoming the new digital frontier. Apple hopes CarPlay will provide a common visual language to streamline the process.

Last week, the focus was all on Apple's WWDC keynote announcements in San Francisco. They delivered a wide range of software solutions, arming iOS developers with the next generation of digital tools and laying the groundwork for a raft of exciting hardware products in the run up to the holiday season.

Headlines were grabbed by enhanced Photos, audio Messages, smart Keyboards, Family Sharing, iCloud Drive, HealthKit, HomeKit and an entirely new programming language – Swift.

At WWDC 2013, Apple announced its intention to bring iOS to the car, on more than just your phone screen and earlier this year the first serious brand partners were revealed...

I have worked with the automotive industry for nearly 15 years and had much more than a passing interest in cars my whole life. However, I’ve never been a big fan of motoring classics unless influencing contemporary curves, so technological developments inside the car offer a fascinating design and development challenge. How do we bring the screen experience from our pockets to the the dashboard?

On the surface, this would seem a relatively simple step for Apple. iOS7 and iOS8 offer a flat graphic simplicity that lends itself to quick actions accessed at a glance, or effective voice commands for key features. Just the kind of interaction you want when 99% of your attention should be on the road ahead.

Apple’s hardware always follows a beautiful, streamlined aesthetic, free from unnecessary adornments and flourishes. Thanks to last year’s iOS7 overhaul, the software now compliments this perfectly.

The automotive market is a very different animal. Whilst brands may retain a level of consistency and share common components (ie VW Group or GM), they all assume different characters.

Consistency of digital brand: BMW UI from key to smartphone to smartwatch.

The BMW family screen UI is probably the best example of a diverse range, all reaching for the best on-screen graphics whilst adopting wildly different personalities. The MINI colour palette, iconography and graphics take on a cheeky, playful persona. Rolls Royce provides the polar opposite with layered glass-like panels to match the physical buttons surrounding the main screen. BMW’s conventional range uses a subtle colour palette to identify key functions (Audio, Sat Nav, Phone, etc) and gentle layering of content, with occasional light flares and reflective buttons. The new ‘i’ EV range range takes this a step further with a more adventurous palette and deeper layering for something that wouldn’t look out of place on the bridge of the USS Enterprise... but in a good way.

Graphic vs skeuomorphic, flat vs layered, corporate fonts, colour palettes and screen ratios. These are all graphic elements to take into consideration and there is undoubtedly a fine creative balancing act involved to combine existing branding and features with Apple’s CarPlay interface.

I’ve dwelt on the potential pitfalls but many automotive manufacturers are still offering drivers a pretty poor on-screen experience. Although the latest Land Rover Discovery Vision concept has a full set of screens displaying content that looks as if it could have emerged from Apple’s own creative studio, Tesla offers a comparatively poor graphic interface within the largest digital real estate on the market. The Model S UI is the perfect candidate for a full CarPlay-compatible makeover – especially as Tesla is a shoe-in for Apple acquisition and Elon Musk being Steve Jobs’ true successor-in-waiting.

I digress. Currently, CarPlay is only supporting 3rd party audio apps such as Beats (naturally) and Spotify music streaming services. Future app integration will build on this, with huge potential for voice commands and audio interaction. The focus will always remain on products that don’t distract the driver and offer the continuation of relevant services from phone to car. There’s little point offering everything in the car, in much the same way the compass app is pretty pointless on a smart TV.

Where CarPlay comes into its own is the familiarity through shared interfaces and content. The continuation of basic actions is essential, such as track syncing if started outside the car, then continued once driving. Also, the ability to share mapping data is genuinely useful (this wouldn't have been an option with Apple Maps 1.0). Navigate to a location in your car, then park and seamlessly continue on foot – that’s useful.

So what does the future hold for CarPlay? Apps are dead, right? No, this isn’t about using the internet in your car to replace apps.

Consider the following...

• Mapping data to provide info regarding payment services for parking, admission or valeting
• PassBook electronic tickets issued upon payment to display in-dash and on phone
• Biometric integration – Apple's Health app linked to wearable tech to monitor heart rate and consciousness levels for safety at the wheel
• HUD and gesture recognition – there’s a thought for future generations of iPhone interaction.

CarPlay offers automotive manufacturers the opportunity to streamline their UI and make consumers‘ lives simpler through familiarity. Apple has a chance to lock down another sector into the world of iOS. It’s not a bad place to be.

A version of this article originally appeared in iCreate issue 134

The Phone Ranger Rides Again

It's hard to believe a whole year has passed since my last US coast-to-coast WWDC week. A lot has happened in that time, much of it as a result of that week. America feels like my second home now so you can't beat the adrenaline rush of 6 big towns in 6 big days (June 9-16) – San Francisco, Cupertino, Mountain View, Los Angeles, Washington and New York.

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Last year Apptain America and the 'Avengers Dis-assemble' poster took centre stage. This year it's the turn of The Phone Ranger.​

There are a few familiar faces starring in this production. See if you can spot Chris McVeigh, Dan Franklin, Apptain America, Sam Missingham, Eric Huang, Charles Catton, Alastair Horne, Nikki Bedi and taking centre stage, Mark Staufer and er, me.

Hi-Yo Silver and all that...