The iTunes Mini Player has always been a feature I’ve stayed away from: it never helped me browse, queue up or enjoy my music in new ways. With the latest update, however, that’s all changed. I now find myself making heavy use of it.

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Here are some reasons why:

• Playback controls from within the mini player, including being able to add the current playing song to playlists or start a genius playlist
• AirPlay controls
• Up Next access allows me to queue up songs to play after the current track finishes — or stop playback when the current song ends
• Search feature allows me to find and queue up any song within my music library
• Beautiful artwork display, with a user interface which fades away when not being used
• Mini Player hovers above all other OS X windows allowing me to enjoy artwork whilst doing other work — it’s even possible to hide the “Up Next” or “Search” drawer at the bottom of the window so only the artwork is visible

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This update to iTunes seems to be one of the most profound in recent memory: whilst the upgrade to iTunes 11 was arguably a bigger undertaking, Apple has now really brought the Mini Player up to the next level. Music enthusiasts and casual listeners alike should enjoy all the new features. To get started, just click the icon next to the “Full Screen” button on the top right of the full iTunes window.

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The compact mini player is now a beautiful artwork viewer, too: apps like Bowtie are now almost unnecessary if you want to just enjoy your artwork whilst doing other things.

Brilliant update.

Watch the whole thing. Terrifying.

(Via Mike Rundle.)

Great cut, from the recently launched Verge Video website.

A summary? Nothing huge happened, but (as usual), Google gave away hardware to every attendee which cost more than the ticket to attend. I have to wonder if doing that every year attracts “Google fans” rather than Google developers. This year it was a Chromebook Pixel ($1,299) for a $900 ticket.

As a platform, Android is quite poor by a surprisingly large number of metrics: New version uptake statistics are very slow — which isn’t helped by carriers. The paid app business on Android is generally considered bleak, too — even more so when directly compared to iOS.

(And remember that Google makes four times more money from iOS than Android.)

Bill management and reminder software will never be sexy, but the folks behind Chronicle are doing all they can to make it useful. I reviewed the software suite for The Industry.

If you’ve never used any kind of software to remind you about due bills (I hadn’t before using Chronicle), you could do worse than starting here.

From a BGR article about the Samsung Galaxy S4, Zach Epstein writes (emphasis mine):

My sincere hope is that Samsung takes advantage of its success and focuses its resources on refining the hardware, software and service experiences it presents to users. I want a more cohesive experience across Samsung apps. I want better services that lock users into the Samsung ecosystem for years to come. These are the things Samsung might consider working on as it develops the Galaxy S5 and other upcoming phones.

Samsung is a hardware company fighting its most important battle in an industry dominated by multiple software giants.

The kinds of integrated services Zach is hoping to see in a Samsung smartphone take incredible amounts of resources to put together: imagine the negotiations and business deals that happened in order for just the iTunes Store to exist — the same iTunes Store that recently had its tenth birthday. That’s forgetting the Movies, TV and App Stores and iCloud. If Samsung wants to play with the big boys, it needs to make one hell of a commitment.

Samsung is facing a tough decision: should the company continue to use Android in its smartphones, relying on Google to update and maintain the software and add these integrated experiences and services, take a more self-reliant approach, modifying Android so heavily that it becomes essentially a Samsung skin on an Android foundation, or — possibly outrageously (and in the style of Apple) — ditch Android altogether and create an entire phone OS from scratch? As shocking as this last option may sound, The Verge reports that a “High-end Samsung Tizen smartphone is coming in August or September of this year:

[A]ccording to [Samsung executive vice president of mobile] Lee [Young-hee] the upcoming phone will be “the best product equipped with the best specifications.”

This could certainly be pure marketing spiel. But it could also be a mysteriously vague announcement of the smartphone industry move of the year.

Let’s backtrack for a moment. In Q4 2012, Samsung recorded $4 billion in profit from its cellphone and telecom business. In the same quarter, Google recorded “just” $2.9 billion profit from all its businesses combined. Samsung is making significantly more money from Android than Google is. The question arises, does this huge reliance on Android and massive profit disparity cause tension between the two companies? And, if so, who has more to lose?

If Samsung takes the smartphone industry seriously — which I believe they do — making a bold move like ditching Android could potentially reap huge rewards for the company. If done right. But it’s a colossal undertaking and one very big risk: what if customers are more loyal to Android than they are to the Galaxy brand, rejecting any high-end device lacking the Android apps and Google services they’ve grown to love? How will Samsung launch an app store in 2013, when there are already established market leaders and competitors?

Back in January I pondered if Samsung leaving Android might just be the “story of 2013”. I still think it’s a pretty long shot, but I’m watching this space.

From the YouTube channel where this embarrassing video was posted (officialfilmsofindia):

The event was the launch of Samsung's new mobile device the ‘S4’.

They still haven’t learned.

What are the chances we’ll see a similar occurrence at this year’s WWDC? I’m not betting on it.

Daniel Jalkut writes about one of the less often discussed, but still incredibly frustrating problems with Apple Maps — the “Report a Problem” feature not appearing to... well... do anything:

In order for Apple’s customers to continue “reporting a problem” with Maps, they need to feel that their reports are having some impact. They need to feel respected. Ideally, good reports would lead to timely corrections on a mass level that would benefit all other iOS users. Anecdotally, this is not happening.

I can confirm this to be the case here, too. On day one of iOS 6’s release, I submitted corrections to Maps for a few places in my local area. None of the mistakes I highlighted have been corrected.

Furthermore, back in February, Apple Maps directed me over an hour off-course, wasting valuable time when I was traveling to a music store just before closing time. When I arrived (almost too late), I mentioned this Apple Maps mishap to the owner of the company, who had actually been aware of the issue since day one. He told me that corrections had been submitted by him and multiple customers, all to no avail.

I haven’t used Apple Maps since.

What’s clear is that taking the time to “Report a Problem”, correct the incorrect information in the app and then hit submit is a non-trivial amount of work. Apple seems to be completely ignoring this wealth of user-submitted information, which leads to a very dangerous situation — the most valuable users (those who submit feedback) becoming alienated by the very company their (wasted?) efforts were trying to help.

“Did Apple even see my corrections?” “Haven’t I corrected this before?” “Why does nobody at Apple care that my road is incorrectly named?!” “Why do I even bother telling Apple about these problems if they’re not doing anything about it?”

Daniel has some smart thoughts about how to solve this incredibly frustrating problem — but it’s a difficult challenge to tackle. Even though it’s complex, Apple went ahead and shipped Maps knowing full well how many users they have: there is no excuse for not staffing appropriately to deal with customer feedback, especially when it helps improve your own (admittedly half-baked) product.

The best case scenario for Maps is every single piece of Maps feedback getting logged and checked, with the “true” reports being applied in one huge update. Is that likely? I’m not so sure.

This is a simple little trick that fixes a major annoyance for me. Most websites using Typekit fonts take a second or so longer to load — and before they’re fully loaded, any underlined areas show up incorrectly for moment.

It’s hard to notice on the desktop, but much more obvious on mobile. This simple piece of CSS code hides all text that’s using a Typekit font (so all text on Chasing Perfection), until the typeface is loaded.

The specific CSS code I added to my CSS here is as follows:

.wf-loading {
    visibility: hidden;
}
.wf-active {
    visibility: visible;
}

Check out Typekit’s guide before trying this on your own site, but it’s fairly simple to implement and solves a little annoyance.

I’ve touched on the differences between Apple and Microsoft before, but here’s a more visual example of the two companies; namely, their adverts for smartphones.

Update: I felt I’d been lazy and not fully explained my thoughts about these two ads. I’ve updated this article with some thoughts below the videos.

Microsoft’s “Switch to the Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone” Ad

Apple’s “Photos Every Day” iPhone Ad

I think these two adverts speak volumes about the companies behind them.

Microsoft’s ad lets us know they’re not even remotely afraid to acknowledge competition: Windows Phone’s two biggest rivals are mentioned by name: “Galaxy” and “iPhone”.

It feels to me as if this advert is far too focused on bringing up competition. There’s no mention of any Windows Phone features which might be a reason to switch: the only reason given is the dogmatic and weak motto “Don’t fight. Switch” — which doesn’t even make sense.

50 seconds into Microsoft’s advert shows a man with a large Apple logo tattooed on his chest. This logo is (amusingly) pictured larger than any other logo in the ad, including the Windows Phone logo.

Don’t get me wrong — I don’t think bringing up competition is always a mistake: Apple has done similar things in the past, with the “Get a Mac” campaign back in 2006. However, these adverts were always carefully written to show the advantage of a Mac in different situations. Further, actors were used to represent the two camps, as opposed to Microsoft’s approach: using real iPhone and Android handsets in their own marketing materials. (And big Apple logos.)

If your biggest competitor’s logo appears larger than your own in an advert commissioned by you, that’s a pretty good sign that something is wrong.

Apple, with its advert, is focusing on how the iPhone fits into people’s lives. Their ad is exactly 60 seconds long — not a word from a commentator (about the iPhone) is spoken until 54 seconds in. Even then, it’s one simple and true statement: “Every day, more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera.”

The iPhone is being shown fitting into lives, being used by real people. Real people who don’t fight about the device they’re using; real people who care more about what they’re doing than the device they’re using to do it.

A recent episode of Back to Work compelled me, someone with a lot of experience flying (…economy), to write a guide of sorts for anyone noble enough to care about other people's feelings on an aeroplane. Here's my set of pointers which will — hopefully — improve your experience whenever you take to the sky.

Don't recline your chair. Ever.

The only thing reclining your chair accomplishes is making the life of the poor passenger behind you slightly more miserable. A chair recline isn't a victimless crime: for every inch you gain, the passenger behind you looses.

The total space for passengers in an aircraft is a zero-sum game. If you work to increase your personal space, you’re just taking away from fellow passengers. And nobody wants that.

"But what if the person in front of me reclines?" No buts. Suck it up like a champ and deal with having less room. In fact, go one further: expect the person in front of you to recline their chair. If everyone on the entire plane reclines, the result is pretty much the same as if nobody reclined. It's really not worth the effort.

Help people with their ridiculous baggage

Yes, I know they bought waaaay too much “Duty Free” alcohol and it's not your problem, but the more this sunburnt, middle-aged passenger with a questionable fashion sense struggles getting their bag in the overhead compartment, the more time the whole plane wastes waiting. And nobody likes waiting.

Help the cabin crew (and every other passenger waiting in line) out by offering to lift, carry or squash someone else's baggage into the overhead compartment. One day you'll be glad when someone else offers to help you.

Don't touch other seats

The rules for seats unoccupied by you are simple: avoid touching them. Even one hand rested on another passenger's seat will make it feel (to them) like the world is about to end.

Hate getting your seat on the plane kicked by young children? Having it lent on by an aging holidaymaker can be even more disruptive. (Just think of the weight difference!)

Use your own seat if you need to steady yourself when standing — and if you need to steady yourself as you're moving through the plane cabin, you chose a bad time to move. Which brings me neatly to…

Choose a good time to move around during the flight

If you realise you need the toilet 15 minutes before the estimated landing time, it's probably best to wait. All that's likely to happen if you get up and start wandering around the aisle dangerously close to the descent is that you'll get caught in turbulence.

And who wants to go to the toilet when everything's shaking?

Be aware of other passengers' senses

What do I mean by this? Well, let's take the sense of smell. That leftover curry you decided to carry on board and proceed to eat really stinks. And perhaps the passengers around you aren't fans of Indian cuisine.

What about the sense of touch? We've dealt with not touching other seats, but the same goes for other passengers. Be aware of the available legroom between you and the fine folks next to you. Are your legs in their Personal Space? Be careful. You probably wouldn't want their legs brushing against yours.

Be aware of your own senses!

Flying drunk is almost certainly not going to end well for you or any of the passengers within earshot of you. Most fliers aren’t there because they enjoy flying: they’re on board to get from A to B with the least amount of hassle possible.

Anything you do to increase hassle in other passengers’ lives will probably result in bad things happening to you. This is just one example:

Other things worth considering

These points didn’t fit into the main article, but that doesn’t make them any less important. In no particular order:

• Young children + aeroplanes = a bad time
• Don’t try and repeatedly talk to someone who looks busy
• Share the damn armrest
• Don’t mess around with the window blind
• The cabin crew have a tough job — try and make it easier

I’ve probably forgotten a bunch of important and obvious things. If there’s something you think should be added to this list, you can let me know on twitter or drop me a line. I hope you’re now a better passenger.

I wrote a pretty great review of Sleevenote for iOS for The Industry, even if I do say so myself.

In short, this is an app for music lovers who really care deeply about their collection. The interface is noteworthy: with a completely black background and no UI chrome at all, the artwork of your albums becomes the interface. I'm a big fan.

(If you read Chasing Perfection because you're an audiophile like myself, be sure to read on to find out how I use Sleevenote on my iOS devices. I use it with iTunes Match in a pretty clever way.)