New Year’s 2011 breaks non-recurring iPhone alarm clocks (update: auto-fixes)

According to multiple users expressing their frustration through Twitter, come New Years 2011 (where ever you are) your iPhone alarm clock won’t function correctly. You may recall a similar bug in iOS when daylight savings time switched on but this is exactly the opposite. This New Year’s 2011 iPhone alarm clock bug shows its face to users without recurring alarms.

This means that anybody who sets an alarm just for tomorrow won’t be woken up by the iPhone’s built-in alarm clock application. To avoid this issue you need to set a recurring alarm by tapping repeat to select the days you want the alarm to go off on. Apple is yet to say anything and it is still unknown whether this is iOS 4.2.1 only or if it affects past system versions too. Be sure to tell everyone you know with iPhones! (via Engadget)

Update: We just ran a few tests and the above iPhone alarm clock issue fixes itself on January 3rd. You should follow our steps to avoid the issue above until then. Reader Aaron F. has let us know that the issue is occurring on his iOS 4.1 iPhone 4 as well (iOS 4.0.2 t00). Let us know if you see the issue on anything earlier. The issue does not appear to be present on iOS 3.x devices.

Food Year in Review 2010: 2011 Food Predictions

Earlier this year, Brendan Francis Newnam, co-host of American Public Media's Dinner Party Download podcast, predicted that one of the big food trends of 2010 would be food trends, as "more and more people get into the business of predicting what is going to be popular in food." It seems fair to say, as I wade through a sea of year-end food trend listage, that this is one prediction that has come true.

Newnam then went on to interview Kara Nielson, a food trendologist with the Center for Culinary Development, who shared some insights into the methodology of trendology as she explained her prediction that coconut is going to be big in 2011:

First I saw coconut in an organic green tea, then I started seeing coconut in a lot of the simmer sauces from South-East Asia, and then I was seeing traditional coconut in more of a confection place, as well as chocolate-covered coconut peel as a snack. So pretty soon I'm thinking, "OK, that's a trend." If it's too small, it's not a trend. If it's just happening in one place, if it hasn't really expanded yet, then it's something that interesting to watch. But when it starts appearing in different forms in different places, then you know you've got a trend on your hands.

GREEN DESIGN PREDICTIONS FOR 2011!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

As we kick off 2011 this fine Saturday, there's no better time to reflect on the year passed and to make some predictions as to what the coming year may hold. In what's become a bit of a tradition here at Inhabitat, we asked some of our favorite movers and shakers in the green design space to share their forecasts for what 2011 may mean for sustainable design, architecture and the natural and social environment. From the proliferation of share programs and bike culture, to eco-innovations in technology to make building and energy management easier — read on what some of the most eminent minds in the green design world have to say about 2011.

William McDonough - Designer/Thought Leader, Founder McDonough Consulting, MBDC, and William McDonough + Partners

For more than 30 years, I have been lucky to learn a great deal. As I continue to collaborate with German chemist Dr. Michael Braungart, with whom I co-developed the Cradle to Cradle philosophy, we are seeing broader and deeper understanding that less bad will never be enough. Moving forward, I predict that the pace of change will quicken and that Cradle to Cradle ripples will widen. What a delightful journey—toward abundance for all—we are on together.

6 Predictions for Social Networks in 2011

The past year was an eventful one for the world of social networking. Facebook went on an acquisition spree. Twitter started growing up. And MySpace? Well it’s the same old story over there.

In 2010, we predicted that Facebook would conquer the web. We just didn’t know the social network would do it so convincingly. We’re not oracles, though, and we did miss on some of our acquisition picks. Well, time for round two.

Now that FacebookFacebookFacebook is clearly king, what is going to happen to the rest of the world’s social networks? What will happen to BeboBeboBebo? What’s next for MySpaceMySpaceMySpace? And will Facebook finally hold that IPO?

Here are my predictions for what will happen in the world of social networking in 2011:

1. Google’s Social Networking Efforts Flop Spectacularly

Google (Google) dominates search. It has nailed mobile. Oh, and it owns YouTube (YouTube), the web’s biggest video property. So why the heck does it fail so miserably at social?

Until this year, Google’s had middling success in social — YouTube, Gmail (gmail), Gtalk (Gtalk), Blogger (blogger) and Orkut (Orkut) have all had varying levels of success. This year though, Google Wave was shut down, Google Buzz (Google Buzz) flopped and Google’s big social initiative has been delayed due to in-fighting and a lack of clarity and purpose.

Here’s my first prediction of the year: Google’s social media efforts will be spectacular failures. TechCrunch nabbed a screenshot of the “Google +1″ social toolbar, one big component of Google’s social plan, we’ve been told. We remain unimpressed, though. As Buzz demonstrated, sticking something social on a page doesn’t mean people will instantly use it.

More importantly, Google as a company is built for speed and efficiency, neither of which are critical to the success of a social network. That’s why we predict another horrendous year for the search giant in the social realm.

5 Predictions for Startups in 2011

How we engage with the people, places and things around us is ever-changing thanks to rapid improvements in mobile and web technologies. The speed at which this evolution takes place will only continue to accelerate in 2011 with the help of fledgling startups who will push the boundaries around geolocation, mobile photos, entertainment services, community and physical-to-digital connections.

What follows is an exploration of five significant startup markets that will grow in significance in 2011. Some of these specialized categories are ripe for disruption and innovation, while others have already produced early leaders that will be difficult to best.

Regardless, the startups iterating in these newly invented product categories will capture our imagination in the year ahead and transform the way we use technology in our daily lives.

Read on for five major trends that will hit startups in 2011, and let us know your own predictions in the comments below.