BINGenuity.com : a look at what's on our minds at Bing Design

Google has released a BETA version of its Google Maps Navigation for mobile phones using Android 2.0 capability. Now users with supported devices can get from Point A to Point B with turn-by-turn navigation including voice (from user to phone and from Google to user)!

You can read about Google Maps Navigation on the Google website here: http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/index.html#p=default.

Screen shots of the new BETA application currently on Google’s site are below:

Currently Google says that only users in the US using Android 2.0 can use this BETA application, but more to follow.

Some features listed include the following: Search in plain English, Search by voice, Traffic view, Search along route, Satellite view, Street View, and Car dock mode. Each of these features have more details and videos on the Google page above.

Very cool! Users with mobile phones can already use Google Maps on their phones now. More on Google Maps here: http://www.google.com/mobile/products/maps.html.

It was announced this week that ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will be instituting Internationalized Domain Names (IDN)s for countries around the world so domains are not just Latin based. It might not seem a big deal to those in the United States, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, or Great Britain, but elsewhere in the world users who want to go online must be able to use Latin-based text and know it well enough to type in domains to websites in order to see content online.

As reported on NPR recently, users around the world currently have to make their computers temporarily use Latin-based text to enter domain names and URLs into their computers, and then they have to switch back to text, e-mail or shop. For those who may only know their native language, this is a HUGE barrier to going online.

In the next few years, web site extensions will be added for all the various languages in the world. ICANN’s own website has a video that talks about the benefits to local businesses, schools, neighbors, and peers to communicate without having to be held back due to language barriers.

A video from the ICANN website, of the new domain name program is below:

Now there’s an idea! Good job ICANN!!

At the heart of every designer or developer’s office is their browser. The internet provides a plethora of online applications and add-ons. This suite is dedicated to making sure that your browser becomes the ultimate productivity suite.

Browser: Firefox

Because of the useful options already provided by Firefox, its popularity is growing. There are numerous free downloadable extensions and add-ons available on the web for Firefox. Here are just a few add-ons that keep my productivity levels high:

PDF Download – Lets you convert any (unsecured) Web page into a high-quality PDF that’s great for archiving, printing and sharing.

Firebug – Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.

Read It Later – Save pages of interest to read when you have the time.

Word Processing: Google Docs

I use Google Docs for word processing. Sure, it doesn’t offer every feature that MS Word does, but it contains almost every necessary feature, function and utility to make it the best online word processor. You can export files in all the necessary formats — .doc, .txt, .rtf, .odt, .pdf and more! — and the online storage is easy to organize, safe and secure, and conveniently tied to your Gmail account.

Online Storage: Dropbox OR YouSendIt

For small files, it’s easiest to just .zip them and email them. For big stuff, you’ve either got to go with one of the many free upload websites (YouSendIt) or get your own upload space (Dropbox). Both allow you to send files up to 2GB. Even the most frugal of online workers can find ample space to store work-in-progress designs, documents and other important files. This also reduces the risks and costs with secure managed file transfer that seem like hours when trying to send via FTP.

Presentations: Prezi

Powerpoint and Keynote are great tools. But with Prezi is a browser-based application. Instead of putting every mindless detail on a separate slide, Prezi allows users to lay out your presentations on a single plane and move through them at their speed, in their own order, and if required, change the presentation on the fly.

Calendar and Scheduling: Google Calendar

This one’s nice and simple, with features that will keep you remembering dates and appointments. Simply set your schedule in the simple interface, decide whether or not you want SMS reminders, and leave it for the week. Check out some features we highlighted using our Google Calendar.

These tools are all part of my office suite. Once you implement all or even just a few of these tools, I hope you will see a dramatically increase in your productivity and make your work easier than ever. Would love to hear what applications or platforms keep you productive.

It’s hard to make things easy. And, it’s even harder to be visually appealing at the same time.

In the earliest forms of advertising, copy was king. Strong use of words and typefaces would be effective in your marketing piece, but not everyone understands concepts and information at the same rate. Some people can understand messages quickly while others need help to grasp what is being said. Visual aids are a way of further explanation. Nowadays, we’re able to relay much of what we once had to explain through the written word with the use of images.

Consumers have seen themselves moving away from wordy messaging and finding that most engaging piece of advertising in a graphic or photograph. You might recall a spoof we posted about how Microsoft would redesign Apple’s iPod packaging.

The very best visuals take a complex idea or series of connected ideas and make them instantly understandable. Just the right visuals make those ideas even more memorable. Use of visual tools led to longer retention of information. Visual aids allow a speaker to use verbal and nonverbal communication to solidify the message and provide a point of reference for the mind.

Visual representations of information, or infographics, are often used to support information, strengthen it and present it while leaving the amount of explanation required to a minimum. Using appropriate visual aids are the essential ingredients. Here’s a good reference to infographics to see how effective they can be without an explanation.

So when you have an advertisement that you want to convey to your consumers, give serious thought to using accompanying illustrations that will complement what you are trying to convey.

Here’s a video from the 2008 TED Conference of Chris Jordan on how he takes raw data and depicts it in his art in a more visual language. Notice how using visuals that integrate just enough to clarify his presentation. This makes for a powerful communications combination.

Map Illustration Software

Anyone who has ever had to produce a location map knows how much time can be used up on the simplest things! MapDiva sounds like it will give Adobe Illustrator, the current software of choice, some competition! Touted as simple to use and priced low, with the emphasis on map creation, Ortelius not only allows designers to use their own geographic information, but includes fully editable, royalty-free vector outline maps of regions, countries, continents, and the world, to get you off to a quick start.

Thanks to the program’s 20 tools, designers have open options of choice of colors, fills, strokes, and adornments that allow them to assemble unlimited style and symbol combinations. Ortelius also includes WYSIWYG drawing and editing; layers and layer groups; and automatic junctions and style transitions.

Read all about it, and try out a free trial of the Ortelius Standard Edition for the MAC.