Eric Leamen

Tech nerd, app addict.

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Our first season finale has arrived! Micah and I discuss a deluge of random topics, ranging from earthquakes to Marvel movies, as well as new iPhone 6 and iWatch rumors, and Twitter's profile redesign.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for season 1 - stay tuned for special episodes this June and our triumphant return this fall for #SegueSeason2!

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Mailbox: now on Android, soon on Mac, still not perfect.

Mailbox launched on Android today and announced an impending Mac release (with a private beta starting soon). The Android app is surprisingly fast and responsive and includes every feature of the iOS version. Though I haven't used it yet, the Mac app looks gorgeous and uses trackpad gestures to replicate the touchscreen experience on a computer.

I've used Mailbox on-and-off since it first launched, and now that it's coming to every platform I use, the potential is there for me to truly make the switch.

However, there's a small list of features that are still missing from Mailbox that I absolutely need in my primary email client:

Gmail labels: I know they don't fit with Mailbox's philosophy, but I and many others have spent a lot of time crafting an organizational system around labels, and by ignoring them completely, Mailbox makes it difficult for switchers.

Per-account signatures: I can't have the same "Sent from Mailbox" signature for my personal and work email accounts.

Contact photos: I spent hours adding photos to all of my contacts in Gmail and iCloud - I want to see them!

That's it. I love everything else about Mailbox, and I think it's a great way to deal with email. If these three small but important features are ever added, I wouldn't hesitate to permanently switch to Mailbox as my primary email client.

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This week, Eric, Micah, and Mike discuss Facebook's $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR, and the potential implications of an Apple + Comcast TV partnership. Then in an extended Aftershow, we try really hard to have a serious discussion about the new 2014 HTC One. We fail.

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The Segue is taking a summer hiatus

This week, Micah and I announced that our podcast, The Segue, will be taking a break for the summer so that we can work on a new secret project. Episode 30 - scheduled to be released on April 11th - will be our Season 1 Finale, and we'll be back in September for Season 2. Don't miss our final 3 episodes before then - Episode 28 will be released tomorrow (March 29th).

We won't be gone all summer though. We're planning special episodes to cover Apple's WWDC, Google I/O, and E3 in June, and we're hoping to have some special guests join us, so stay tuned for those.

I hope everyone who listens to The Segue has enjoyed the show so far! If you think there's something we should change or tweak for Season 2, or if there's something you really enjoy hearing that we should do more of, please feel free to shoot me an email or a tweet. We hope to make the show even better when Season 2 kicks off this fall.

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We have some interesting things happening at The Segue, which will become public in a few weeks time. In all the years I’ve known my partner-in-crime Eric Leamen, we’ve never been able to go long without building something new and innovative, and this will be no different.

Stay tuned.

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The wonders of wearables. This week Eric and Micah discuss the possible casting of Christian Bale as Steve Jobs in the upcoming biopic, the announcement of Android Wear, the gorgeous Moto 360, Apple's iWatch plans, expound on the latest episode of HIMYM, and drop some news you should stick around for at the end.

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Today I'm thrilled to introduce Emerge Magazine, a project I've been working on for the last two months. We officially launched last Friday, February 14th, and I couldn't be prouder of what our team has built in just a short time.

As Head of Product, I am leading the Emerge Magazine website team, and we have big plans beyond what has already launched - so stay tuned! For now, check out our awesome collection of launch stories, including an editorial I co-authored analyzing the movie Her, and a great piece on the metrosexual trend.

We're also working on a print edition of Emerge Magazine, as well as a one-day Conference that will be held April 22nd in Toronto.

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Today the company launches Evomail+, an entirely new app redesigned and rebuilt for iOS 7 on the iPhone. Far more than a simple redesign, Evomail+ combines its beautiful UI with intuitive gesture controls, traditional inbox elements, and modern productivity features. That balance of old and new is one of my favourite things about Evomail; it immediately feels familiar, yet also fresh and modern. Unlike competitors such as Mailbox and Triage, the Evomail team has not set out to reinvent the way users think about and manage their email. As their tagline proclaims, their goal is simply to provide “Modern Mobile Mail”.

A report/interview/review I've been working on for a few months. Big thanks to Jonathan and David at Evomail for granting me an interview, and Brandi for all of her help. Big things coming from this small Wichita start-up!

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Any advice for young journalists entering the industry?

I would tell them quality over quantity, which is one of the biggest sins on the web, particularly today. I would tell them that it is enormously important to earn the readers’ trust by being ethical, another problem that some websites are guilty of. I would tell them to keep in mind who your reader is. Never talk down to that reader.

As a young, wannabe tech journalist myself, I appreciate hearing such sound and simple advice from a journalist that I admire so greatly. Thank you, Walt.

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Super Mario 3D World: first thoughts

Finally picked up the game yesterday and I just sat down to play for the first time. Though I was skeptical about the game copying the “3D Land” style and camera angle on a home console, the glowing reviews had me very excited to play.

After a few levels though, I’m more frustrated than excited. I find the controls uncomfortable and weird. I’ve tried the GamePad, Pro Controller, and Wii Remote with Nunchuk, and none feel right to me. I think it’s because - as far as I can tell - there is no way to swap the ABXY controls as in most other Mario titles. I prefer A for jumping and B for dash, however 3D World appears to be locked with A/B for jump and X/Y for dash. My fingers aren’t used to using X or Y for dash, which is making the controls feel off to me.

Is there something I’m missing? Can I change the controls?

Aside from that, the level design and art style are great. But I’ve already decided to take a break from playing after just 3 levels because of my frustration with the controls.

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Paid Apps and Updates

People like this and this make me sick. And I know it is futile to try and convince normals that paying for apps and updates is worth it, but here's the best analogy I could come up with at 10:30 at night...

Imagine you are a chef, and someone pays you for one meal, but then they expect you to keep cooking more food for them for free until the end of time.

That’s what it is like being an app developer. They deserve to be paid for every meal they cook.

Bravo to all of the iOS developers working their asses off to build great apps and great app updates for iOS 7. If I could buy your apps more than once, I would.

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Hope Lost for Batman vs. Superman

I have officially lost all hope of Batman vs. Superman being good.

On top of reports that both Wonder Woman and The Flash are expected to appear in the flick, IGN is reporting that Warner Bros. is close to casting an actor to play Nightwing in the movie as well.

Yep, it appears that Zack Snyder is trying to rush into a Justice League movie by jamming every popular DC superhero into Batman vs. Superman, as a clear counterattack against Marvel's billion dollar Avengers.

But it's way too soon for that. Snyder was already stretching it by introducing a brand-new Bruce Wayne and forcing him to share the stage with Clark Kent and his pals. Now we're talking about trying to use one movie to establish not only a new Batman universe, but an entire DC roster of characters, which will presumably be split off into their own movie franchises later on. Horrible, ass backwards move. We need to meet all of them first, get to know them and care about them, then freak out when we see them all together in a movie.

With all these characters crammed in, I fear Batman vs. Superman will suffer from the same missteps that made Man of Steel so bad; a whole lot of bing bang boom with no substantial storyline and a complete lack of character development. I didn't care about any of the characters in Man of Steel because I didn't get enough time to get to know them. Despite the filmmakers calling it an "origin story", Man of Steel deviated from every other Superman origin that I know. To me, Superman is a story about Clark Kent, his relationship with his parents and Louis, and how he learned to accept his powers and his destiny, which ultimately led him to become Superman. In Man of Steel, Clark found the cave, threw on the cape, and started beating the shit out of everyone.

There was just too much going on in Man of Steel to keep up with the characters, and with all these famous faces crammed into Batman vs. Superman, there will be no room to focus on and develop them all as characters.

I'm afraid we're in for another flashy action flick with no substance from the "renowned" Zack Snyder.

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Fantastical 2 launched yesterday and continues to be one of my favourite iPhone apps. Flexibits have done a great job redesigning Fantastical for iOS 7, keeping everything in place but giving the entire UI a flatter, simpler design. Fantastical 2 is so much more than a redesign: the app now integrates iCloud Reminders, showing them in-line with your Calendar events. Fantastical's Natural Language Input continues to be best in-class, allowing you to create events (and now reminders!) simply by typing a phrase like "Recording with Micah tomorrow at 2pm" rather than scrolling a bunch of dials or looking like a weirdo asking Siri to do it. The update also brings a new Light theme, landscape Week view, Google Maps integration, and more. Fantastical replaced Apple's stock Calendar app for me when the original launched a year ago, and I was more than happy to pay for Fantastical 2.0 which has now replaced Reminders, too. A must have.

Download Fantastical 2 Price: $2.99 (launch sale)

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Instagram iOS 7 App Icon (Concept) 

My first shot on Dribbble, a concept iOS 7-style icon for Instagram. What do you think? (Thanks for the invite, Josh!)

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My favourite Twitter client Tweetbot was finally updated for iOS 7 last week, and in my excitement I forgot to post about it here. Tweetbot 3 includes a gorgeous new design, much lighter and flatter than the old Tweetbot but still unique and distinctly Tapbots. Developer Paul Haddad and designer Mark Jardine have done a remarkable job reimagining Tweetbot for iOS 7, embracing the simplistic new UI while adding fun, playful, bouncy animations and physics throughout that make Tweetbot feel like the most polished iOS 7 app yet. Tweetbot 3 retains all of the fantastic features of its predecessor, making it a must-have for any hardcore Twitter user. iPhone only at the moment, but an iPad update is coming soon.

Download Tweetbot 3 Price: $2.99 (launch sale, regular price $4.99)

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Google, why must you tease us like this? It appears the old Sparrow team has had a bit of free time lately, as Sparrow for iPhone was recently updated with compatibility fixes for iOS 7 and a new, flatter icon.

Despite the fact that it still doesn't have push notifications (or even fetch), this update has pushed me back to using Sparrow on my iPhone again. I'm still in a state of denial over Sparrow, hoping that one of these days it will be revived as either an alternate Gmail application from Google, or perhaps as the official Gmail client for iPhone. The old team obviously hasn't abandoned the fan favourite app yet, and recently Sparrow's App Store listing was updated to list the seller as "Sparrow by Google", which I hope hints they have some future plans for it.

In the year since Sparrow was acquired by Google, I have yet to find a suitable replacement for email on my Mac, and I'm struggling to find one I like on iOS as well. For now, I'll keep my fingers crossed that this isn't the end for Sparrow.

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Apple Event. October 22nd.

What’s coming? New iPad (5), Retina iPad mini, updated MacBook Pro, brand new Mac Pro, and OS X Mavericks. We’ll be talking full predictions this Friday on The Segue, plus we’ll be joined by another awesome guest.