Welcome to the Liv Design blog, an eclectic mix of great design and quirky finds

Not content with the current 'new' Nano, out comes another 'New New' Nano. And just so everyone knows you've got the previous one, they've changed the shape, size, and introduced a whole new range of colours (how very 'early iMac'). It's an all-aluminium and glass design, more oval in profile than the previous ipod nano, and available as an 8GB or 16GB. It now comes with the 'accelerometer' feature – shake it to shuffle your music, turn it sideways to view Cover Flow and view photos, and play games designed with your moves. It's now more geared to watching movies, TV shows and videos too rather than pure music. All it needs is a phone... I can't help feeling it won't be long before their products merge into one.

Following in the footsteps of nearly every other company these days, Microsoft is to make 'Windows' into more of a 'brand' rather than just a manufacturer of the Vista operating system. Microsoft have not been doing too well recently especially when compared to Apple. Sales of Vista were poor and it was heavily criticised, and Apple's 'Mac vs PC' TV ad campaign didn't help at all. Brad Brooks, vice president for Windows consumer product marketing, said "The Windows brand identity has gotten a little invisible. We want to make sure Windows goes from being invisible to something that becomes indispensable." Strange that they have taken so long to promote themselves. Apple has been successfully advertising and diversifying for years with their memorable campaigns for branded products such as iMac, iTunes, iPod and now iPhone. Is there such bad feeling for Microsoft and the Windows platform? To relauch their image and hopefully start afresh is a n...