Apple’s iCloud will now work even more with Macs, syncing calendars, contacts, email, notes and reminders across all compatible devices. Messages will replace the popular iChat and is iMessage-friendly. You will be able to send photos and videos, as well as launch FaceTime directly from the application. A notification center will be placed on the desktop, similar to that found on the most recent version of iOS for iPod, iPad and iPhone.

The popular iOS Game Center will also become compatible with Mac, allowing you to play your games with friends on iOS devices. Airplay Mirroring will come to Macs, sending whatever is on your screen to Apple TV.

Gatekeeper will also come with Mountain Lion — a new way to protect your Mac from malware. You can choose in your system preferences whether you want to install and run apps from the Mac App Store only or from anyone, allowing you to set your own level or protection.

When Lion was released in 2011, Mac users struggled with the many bugs that came with the new OS. Although some of those bugs have since been straightened out with the new update that was released on February 1st, 2012, this may still raise concerns when it comes to another new OS being released so quickly. Or does it?

Last July, Adobe struggled to make over a dozen products compatible with the new Mac OS X Lion. Acrobat, Adobe Drive, Contribute, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash Builder, Flash Catalyst, Flash Player, Lightroom, LiveCycle, Photoshop and Premiere Pro were all programs initially affected by the release of Lion. Although updates have since helped fix some of the bugs to settle these issues it makes you wonder if it will again be an issue when Mountain Lion is released.

One problem Jon Brodkin of Network World explained; “Flash Catalyst CS5 does not work on Lion and Adobe does not intend to update the product for the new OS. Catalyst CS5.5, the current version, is generally compatible with Lion but issues that degrade user experience caused Adobe to say, ‘We do not recommend that [Catalyst CS5.5] customers upgrade to Mac OS X 10.7.’”

He also went on to explain that Adobe Reader and the Acrobat plugin aren’t compatible with the Safari 5.1 browser, which will ship with Mac OS X 10.7. There are also crash reporter delays, as well as the scrolling behavior being the opposite of what is expected.

The new Mac OS X Mountain Lion is one of the first major steps toward combining iOS and Mac OS X closer together. Unifying all of the apps amongst devices makes it easier to sync information with iCloud. iPhone sales passed Mac sales in 2010 and I believe this is Apple’s way of trying to boost their already booming Mac sales. Although it won’t be available to the general public until later in the summer, it definitely sounds like an upgrade I’d like to make, depending on the amount of “bugs” that come with this one.

This article was contributed by Kathleen Zacrep, Philadelphia Art Institute 2012

In August 2008, I met up with an old friend who didn’t live in Rome. I wondered if he was on Facebook, but didn’t hear a word from him until his friend request showed up a few months later. I accepted, and upon visiting his profile, I learned that I was one of his first Facebook friends. That was in December 2008.

My observations are one thing, but I’ve spent several years studying these types of phenomena. I signed up for Facebook in January 2008, I met my friend in August 2008, and the friend request I received from him arrived on December 12, 2008 amidst a boom of new users.

Do you think that all social networks expand following a similar pattern?

Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in hashtags and links to Pinterest on Twitter. Have you noticed too? Just a few days ago I was browsing through the italian newspaper “La Repubblica” and guess what I find? Yes, timely and predictable, here is the article on Pinterest! Last anecdote and I’ll stop: Even Andrea here in the Iperdesign Italy office has started to receive a flood of calls about Pinterest this morning. Ladies and gentlemen, Pinterest has exploded!

But that leaves us asking the question — what is Pinterest?

Pinterest showcases the interests and tastes of its members. Each user can select pictures or material on the web and “pin” it on their wall and comment. Everything is divided into subcategories, such as “my style”, “art”, “ideas”, and so on.

But why should we prefer Pinterest to Facebook or Google+? Some may be hesitant to try it out because it looks so different. Both Facebook and Google+ resemble a sort of second life where you can meet friends and enemies, real or imagined. After all, Facebook’s forced transition to the new Timeline does nothing to further customize your profile.

To exaggerate a bit, Facebook is me, while Pinterest shows what I like, what I want, and what I dream. It reflects my taste and asthetic, but respects my privacy more. And it also leads to great networking and communication, as I can follow users with similar interests.

And let’s face it — the design in fantastic. Flat, simple, straightforward; no frills. Check out some of our iPhone and iPad apps and you’ll see what I mean. We love that clean look.

As of this morning, our web agency is on Pinterest. Check us out and see what happens.

Below is a video that we created — a clip dedicated to Domenico Petrone, President of Viasat Group and winner of the prize for the Technology & Innovation category.

The official ceremony was held in Milan on January 23, 2012. Iperdesign was glad to finally enjoy the show. The winners were:

• Alessandro Benetton – Benetton Group (National Winner)
• Giulio Bonazzi – Aquafil (Category: Industrial Products)
• Maria Laura Garofalo – Garofalo Group (Category: Health Science)
• Claudio Luti – Kartell (Category: Fashion & Design)
• Ernesto Pellegrini – Pellegrini (Category: Food & Services)
• Domenico Petrone – Viasat Group (Category: Technology & Innovation)

I stayed in Rome and asked our Creative Director Nicola Di Cosmo to take some photos and give life to the unique atmosphere of the Entrepreneur of the Year award. The elegance, impeccable class, professionalism and prestige of the event are more evident in these photos than the words with which this article is conveyed.

This is the location of the event — Mezzanotte Palace, seat of the Italian Stock Exchange:

The presence of the press, along with the spotlight, has made the event unique and exciting. Like in the years past, the award has become a showcase of Italian excellence. Below is Alessandro Benetton – National Award Winner – while releasing a statement to reporters:

Here are all the winners while conversing before the ceremony:

Finally, the institutional group photo for the winners of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award:

Well, that’s the world we live in. And Valentine’s Day is evident in the App Store and Android Marketplace now more than ever, with many applications dedicated to the tech-savvy romantic.

Our web agency has been seeking apps dedicated to Valentine’s Day, so let’s start with one of my favorites — Love Letter. It’s a free app for Android that lets you create personalized postcards to share with those who are most important to you. Sure, there are other apps that accomplish this, but Love Letter has such a cute protagonist. Try it!

If you’re planning to prepare a dinner with all the accourtrements and quietly spend the most romantic night of the year at home, I recommend The Kitchen, which provides the user with several menus to choose from. You can choose the traditional I Love You menu or the spicy Aphrodite menu, for example.

But if you’d rather have a memorable night out, ditch the classic restaurant review guides and try the FoodSpotting app, available for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows phones. The gluttonous FoodSpotting app allows users to share photos of the dishes they’ve tried and recommend them to others.

Finally, if you have some time and a bit of imagination, try the Romantic Ideas app for iPhone, which will give you some quick hints and tips to make your Valentine’s Day simple and beautiful.

Ah, I forgot! One last thing — copy the following equation and paste it into a Google search:

sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5

Nice, right?

Happy Valentine’s Day!