Google Street View On The Slopes For Winter Olympics 2010.

Get a better idea of how steep the slopes really are with Google’s Snow View.

Keep up to date with the games with Google and Street View for the slopes at :

http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/games10/index.html

Web Trends – Burberry uses 3D at fashion week.

Burberry has displayed a good example of online brand engagement by utilising the latest new TV technology that’s currently doing the rounds…3D.

Burberry Prorsum’s 3D show with thigh-high boots and heritage jackets
A 3-D online extravaganza celebrated the brand’s future while the clothes reminded us of Burberry’s great heritage. Read More…

Article source courtesy of Lisa Armstron, TIMESONLINE.

Watch a repeat of the video here :

Autumn/Winter Burberry catwalk show Feb 2010.

Watch BBC News Report, running up to the show at :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8534058.stm

Love magazine are also using online media to help promote it’s brand.

Check out the short film released on Valentine’s Day earlier this year,  The Love Thing

Facebook urged to act after memorial sites defaced – Australia.

Article courtesy of Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters UK :

CANBERRA (Reuters) – Cyber attacks on Facebook pages set up to pay tribute to two murdered Australian children has prompted calls for the social networking site to be more accountable for its users.

Social media experts say it is natural that people who use sites such as Facebook or MySpace as a major form of communication should turn to these sites with personal tragedies. Read more…

Xbox Project Natal.

Saw this video a while back, and Wired UK reminded me that this project continues.

Check out the demo video below :

Looks like you need to be seriously fit to enjoy the benefits of this add on.

Read more courtesy of Wired UK at :

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-02/25/microsoft’s-project-natal-is-go.aspx

The guy that broke the Internet.

One of my favourite articles from Wired Magazine November 2008.

Secret Geek A-Team Hacks Back, Defends Worldwide Web

But who was he kidding? He was just some guy. The problem had been coded into Internet architecture in 1983. It was 2008. Somebody must have fixed it by now. He typed a quick series of commands and pressed enter. When he tried to access the Fortune 500 company’s Web site, he was redirected to an address he himself had specified.

“Oh shit,” he mumbled. “I just broke the Internet.”

Read the full article courtesy of Wired UK at :

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-12/ff_kaminsky?currentPage=all

USB Negatives Photo Film Scanner.

Recently I organised 20GB of digital photos taken from the last 12 years, took a few days.

I need to start on the negatives.

With useful devices like this USB Negative Film Scanner, the process of backing up those priceless negatives with a digital version sounds good for those of us they don’t own a scanner with the negative add on feature.

Here’s an example from Gadgets.co.uk :

New model of Scanner now available. Windows Vista and Mac compatible, will also scan 110 negatives as well as 35mm negatives and slides.

Back in the dark ages, before the advent of digital cameras, there was the whole big hassle of loading film into camera, only having a limited number of photos per film, and no way to see if what you were taking photo’s of was being captured in glorious colour, or just a big blurry blob, thank goodness we don’t have to put up with that anymore! Read more…

AAXA intros L1 Laser Pico Projector.

I love these new mobile phones that are coming out into the marketplace. Each year bringing higher specs and newer features. The idea of a projector phone has always inspired me. This year sees the launch of several new types of these phones into the marketplace.

Today’s pick is the AAXA Laser series, which uses lasers instead of an LED, the result is brighter, sharper and more focussed image.

But before I can imagine if such a device is worthy of a purchase, I need to know about usability. For example how easy is it to watch movies from a portable drive whilst on the train late at night. With all the other features, am I looking at carrying around an extra set of batteries? And most importantly, how does it sync with my current life style choices of work, play and technology.

There are numerous reasons we choose one product over another, but if the fundamental usability is not there, then the is only one choice. However, you can be reassured, because the higher spec versions in the coming months and years will should be fixing some of those irritating technological workarounds.

Taken from the AAXA site :

AAXA Technologies proudly introduces the AAXA L1 Laser Pico Projector – the worlds first laser pico projector with an internal media player and storage. The unique three-color laser light source enables the L1 to produce images with amazing color saturation that are always in focus.

Find out more about the AAXA L1  and a comparison of AAXA Projectors at :

http://www.aaxatech.com/news/l1_laser_pico_projector.html

Review courtesy of Donald Melanson, Engagdet.com at :

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/05/aaxa-intros-l1-laser-pico-projector-media-player/

Fancy A New Telly? How about an Ultra Thin, OLED, with 3D and a remote like a Wii.

Telly’s have become high maintenance appliances over the last few years and this sets to continue with the advent of 3D television.

We have gone from terrestrial to digital.

Digital to High Definition and online services. Add in Free Sat, if you need ITV in HD.

Now HD gets replaced with 3D as the latest in the line of new technologies.

Ultra High 3D should be with us just before finishing this post…

…..only joking, one must always keep a sense of humour about change, since the wallet is empty from buying all those now redundant Televisions, TV Tuner Cards and Set Top Boxes.

No but seriously, with specifications like this from LG :

OLED

Ultra Thin 6.9mm

3D

DTV

TruMotion 480Hz

Together with the LG Magic Wand system,  the whole experience sounds sweet, check out the demo video at :

Find out more about LG at : http://www.lge.com/uk/index.jsp

Bundle Box – Provides you with a personal address in the US where you can send and store your purchases from US websites.

It is true that some new products are made for sale in the US before other countries, or that sometimes the product you are looking for is only available in the US. Whatever your reason, Bundle Box makes this process easier by providing you with that all important US postal address, making your purchases a breeze.

How it works

1. Register and get your Bundle Box.

2. Purchase items from US websites and send these to your Bundle Box.

3. Bundle your purchases and book a shipment.

4. Receive your purchases hassle free.

Find out more about Bundle Box at : http://www.bundlebox.com/

Augmented Reality iPhone Application.

This is a good use of augmented reality as a navigational tool.

Check which features work for your iPhone before downloading.

Uses are endless, from basic land surveying to navigation, and the app is great for hiking, boating, hunting, sightseeing, sports, and finding your way around.

About

Based on a centuries-old astronomical instrument, Theodolite is a cool new multi-function augmented reality app for the iPhone that serves as a compass, GPS, map, zoom camera, rangefinder, and two-axis inclinometer. Theodolite overlays real time information about position, altitude, bearing, and horizontal/vertical inclination on the iPhone’s live camera image, like an electronic viewfinder. The app even includes a handy “A-B” calculator to compute height of landmarks, distance to landmarks, triangulate position, compute distance/heading between points, show relative angles between observations, and show two points on the map. Uses are endless, from basic land surveying to navigation, and the app is great for hiking, boating, hunting, sightseeing, sports, and finding your way around.

Find out more about the Theodolite app at : http://hunter.pairsite.com/theodolite/

Exploring Social Media Monitoring: An Industry Survey.

It has taken social media to get corporations thinking more seriously about all those web possibilities.

Using Social Media to create the communities of brand loyal Internet savvy users, corporations can learn so much about why consumers adore or hate their brand.

But the knowing of when and how to communicate will be one of the first challenges.

James Falls from the Social Media Explorer makes his comments :

You could say the social media monitoring industry has been the single fastest-growing niche in the world of technology over the past three years. As more companies engage in social media, participate in conversations and launch social media initiatives, the demand to monitor what is being said and analyze that data is critical for companies to not only read and react, but also fund and staff social initiatives.

Read more about this article, courtesy of the Social Media Explorer at :

http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/2010/02/24/exploring-social-media-monitoring-an-industry-survey/

Apple Bans Some Apps for Sex-Tinged Content.

Apple has started banning many applications for its iPhone that feature sexually suggestive material, including photos of women in bikinis and lingerie, a move that came as an abrupt surprise to developers who had been profiting from such programs.

Read more from the article courtesy of the New York Times at :

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/technology/23apps.html

From another report :

Apple, There’s Pornography On My iPhone. The App Is Called Safari. You Made It.

Apple’s hypocrisy with regard to the App Store is something I know well. Several times last year I wrote about Apple allowing apps like “Asian Boobs” and upskirt apps into the App Store while rejecting things such as satirical apps that mocked public figures. It was ridiculous. So you might think I’d be happy that Apple is now rejecting and removing sexy apps from the App Store as well. But actually, the hypocrisy is much worse now.

Continued at Apple, There’s Pornography On My iPhone. The App Is Called Safari. You Made It.

Courtesy of MG Siegler at TechCrunch on 23.02.2010

Interactive Textbooks for Education.

I used to hate carrying books to school. You’d think I was packing for a round the world tour, filled with sun and action packed adventures. No, I was just going to school.

Macmillan US makes textbooks dynamic which allow teachers to freely customise and modify the textbooks, which can then be made available online or for download.

Find out more about this story at :

http://www.graphicartsonline.com/article/450700-Macmillan_Launches_DynamicBooks_Subsidiary.php

Couretsy of GraphicArts ONLINE

Find out more about Dynamic Books at :

http://dynamicbooks.vitalbook.com/

Find out about Macmillan at :

http://international.macmillan.com

Web Trends – Twitter users creating 50 million ‘tweets’ a day and the occasional Twitterholic.

I imagine the war between micro-blogging and sms messaging has begun. Not to say that there might not ever be a loser here, but now we get to find out just what really is the required forms for particular communication. As the handsets providers create greater converging tools,it remain to be seen as to who will be using what services, if at all any.

Sources :

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/twitter-users-creating-50-million-tweets-a-day-1908036.html

Check out some of the crazy numbers on the this leader board by Twitterholic : http://twitterholic.com

Updated 15th March 2010 :

Graph above, courtesy of Mashable.com

Judging by this graph Twitter has peaked very quickly. But are the Tweeters maximising the use from this communication channel? With the advent of tools like TweetDeck and the cyberculture of hash tagging you would think so. Twitter is still very young and because of its platform openness its real values are still being realised by the many.

Read more about Twitter stats at :

http://mashable.com/2010/03/10/twitter-follow-stats/

http://hashtags.org/

Web Trends – Fiat is the first brand to use new Facebook ad format.

Fiat is the first brand in the UK to use a new Facebook ad format that captures consumer data.

The ad format asks users to input their address in order to receive more information, product samples or vouchers.

Source by Charlotte McEleny, New Media Age : http://www.nma.co.uk/news/fiat-first-brand-to-use-new-facebook-ad-format/3010171.article

This is a great example of the brand embracing the web.

Fiat are just prying the door open here on a world waiting for seamless interactive experiences.