Webcatch » google

A New Era for Web Design

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:16:38 +0000

Yesterday saw web giant Google showcase a “doodle” on their search engine home page with an interactive version of their logo which freely distorts when hovered over by the user’s mouse. This kind of animation is usually reserved for Flash applications but this ran with no sign of the Flash player and there has been speculation as to how (and why?) Google have put this together.

It had been suggested that this is an early example of HTML5, the new programming language currently in development for creating web pages but it has since been confirmed that Google have achieved this effect using Javascript. It has though, already been duplicated using HTML5 which looks to show some significant advances in comparison to it’s predecessors including being equipped with better audio and visual capabilities without the need for Flash player or other third party software.

From the looks of Google’s example, it seems there may be exciting times ahead for website design!

Goodbye to Google Wave?

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:41:16 +0000

When Google Wave was released on May 19th 2010, it was heralded as the next generation for online communication. The Wave described by Google as “Equal parts conversation & document” allows users to work collaboratively over the internet on projects and communicate in real time taking away the need for physical long distance travel to achieve the same objectives.

In theory, it’s an excellent idea but the current popularity of the social networking giants such as Facebook and Twitter has overshadowed the concept resulting in Google pulling the plug just 3 months after the service was put out on general release. Google have announced that the service will remain live for the rest of the year and it looks like the functionality of Wave will be reintegrated into future developments from the online giant.

From Google’s perspective, waves are definitely the future and may take over from traditional e-mails. The company is also planning to relase most of the source code as open source software to allow the devlopment community to work on the project as well for both personal and commercial applications in order to build up the popularity of this burgeoning technology.

For more info on Google Wave, check out the official site

Google phases out support for IE6

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:42:40 +0000

Over the last few years more and more new browsers have been emerging with better capabilities and faster browsing, however statistics show that people are still not updating from IE6. As a browser that doesn’t support key web standards it is essentially holding back the Internet, with designers and developers forced to implement ‘hacks’ and ‘workarounds’ to make websites cross browser compatible.

However with the latest security threat identified as a weakness in the Microsoft browser it’s no wonder larger companies are now backing the campaigns to phase out IE6. IE6 No More and Bring Down IE6 are just two of the campaigns set up to encourage Internet users to upgrade their browsers and there are many great ones to choose from.

So do you bit and download a new browser or update your existing one today:

Firefox

Chrome

IE8

Safari

Opera

Google tells you how much of your website people can see

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:44:32 +0000

When it comes to browser sizes it’s important to remember that not everyone has the same, whether you’ve got a widescreen monitor, a small monitor or view a browser through a screen projector. To this end when laying out a website it’s vital to bear in mind where key elements are positioned, such as a ‘Buy now’ button or any other call to action.

Google have created a tool to help website owners see how much of their website their visitors can see depending on their browser size: http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/. The main aim of this tool is to allow website owners to improve conversion rates and engagement. Have a go with your website and see if it’s optimised for the average browser size.

Of course at WebCatch we design all of our websites with this in mind, if you have an existing site but are worried that you’re missing out on potential customers due to the layout then get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.