The PlanetRecruit Blog

The Job Interview Mind Reader

Wherever you happen to be at the moment, take a look at the person next to you – what are they thinking? Can you tell? Don’t be surprised if you can’t; it turns out that human beings are surprisingly bad at guessing what others are thinking.

In 2005, scientists at the University of Cambridge began developing a device to help autistic people decode the emotions of others via their facial expressions. People with autism find this apparently simple task extremely difficult, so such a device would be very useful for them.

While calibrating their device, the scientists discovered that the average person correctly identifies the emotion behind an expression just 54% of the time – a useful skill to have for a job interview. Their prototype device, on the other hand, was right 64% of the time.

Making niche technology mainstream

Apple could be about to do for the cloud what it did for the MP3 player and the tablet computer – make previously niche technology mainstream.

For most, the first MP3 player was the first generation iPod, released in 2002 – when in fact they had been around since 1998. Most recently, since the release of the iPad manufacturers and people alike are falling over themselves to release and buy tablet computers. However, the concept of tablet computing has been around for some time, with Microsoft trying it as far back as 2001.

These innovations have hugely changed the way we think about and consumer media. Take music, for example. Many swore never to give up their CD collections and to continue buying CDs after the iPod release. Compressed music doesn't sound as good – true – and nothing beats owning a real CD or record, yet most music lovers will now have extensive digital collections. The same holds true for books, with research indicating more digital books than paper copies were purchased last year.

Navigating the technology and applications market

Making sure that we meet the needs of our clients means that we are constantly keeping an eye on emerging technologies, staying on top of demand, so that when a new type of requirement materialises, we are in a position to respond and offer expert assistance. This does involve an element of guesswork and sometimes when you call heads it will come up tails from time to time.

We recently took such a plunge when we began providing specialist services to those looking to hire mobile application developers, specifically the development of new applications using the Android platform. Entering a new market takes time and money so it was with some satisfaction this week that I learnt that the number of Android mobiles has passed the number of iphones for the first time. Gartner research predicts that Android will account for almost 50 per cent of the smartphone market by the end of 2012, giving it an enormous lead on its competitors.

The market is ever more steadily moving towards applications and devices that can be used on the move. While we don’t yet have a credible rival to the iPad tablet, we are surely only a few upgrades away from having an iPad killer on the market, most likely running on Google's honeycomb platform.

20 Useful Free iPhone and iPad Apps for Designers and Developers

Big shocking news of the day: iPhones and iPads are increasingly popular and widespread and are being used by more and more people. But what’s interesting is this also includes web developers. And the following list will feature 20 free iPhone and iPad apps for web developers.

While iPhones and iPads appear to be more consumer-driven devices, there are apps on there that can assist in your web development and make your development and design life much easier. Think of it as having sketchbooks, notepads, calculators, communications devices, and more – all in one device. Of course, there are paid apps that provide much more robust development tools, but these free apps will be more than enough to get you started using your iPhone and/or iPad as a web development aid.

Without further ado, here are 20 free iPhone and iPad apps for web developers:

Now Apple wants to "replace cash"

Whatever you think about Apple, you can't fault the company for any lack of ambition. Its latest wheeze? Just to "replace cash."

Yup, Steve Jobs may be taking a back seat for the time being but Apple's intent to stay ahead of the game and keep competitors on the back foot is as determined as ever. Now Apple says it is "aiming to replace cash" with compelling, robust, secure and easy-to-use mobile payment apps and systems for the iPhone and iPad.

The idea is to make both hard cash and credit card payments redundant for millions of consumers and strong rumour has it that Apple is prepared heavily to subsidise special new payment terminals in shops and restaurants as it gets into Near Field Communications (NFC) to take on new rivals such as Visa and Mastercard. Others say Apple may even be prepared to give the payment terminals away, swallowing the cost for the sake of entree to a market potentially worth trillions of dollars.

Why I won't be using Facebook Places

If you're the kind of social media junkie who likes to tell the world far more than the world needs to know, then brace yourself. Facebook Places has arrived in the UK.

Places is an iPhone application that captures your current whereabouts – literally, down to the door number – and relays this information back to your Facebook account. It's very similar in its concept to Foursquare. And in my opinion, it's just as fatally flawed.

As an application, Facebook Places is impressive. Simply by thumbing over my iPhone, I can ‘check in’ to wherever I happen to be. I can also mooch for local events or see which of my friends have been here before me. The information is in real-time, so if someone else checks in at the same location, I could potentially use Places to track them down…even if they're not a Facebook friend.

Pulsate from AM Laboratory

Click to create at least two circles.

Listen to the tunes they make.

Press Space to clear them all.


Pulsate was created by André Michelle from AM Laboratory. You can view Pulsate and many other music toys here.

Google Android's ten great apps

With the Android platform now outselling the iOS (iPhone) platform, app developers are quickly building great apps for our beloved new smartphones.

Every app featured in the list is totally free to download from the Android marketplace.