Brandcast Media

Here’s something you definitely didn’t need to see, but will undoubtedly make you go, “whooo, wow, awesome” or possibly, “who spends time on things like this???”. Either way, its certainly a sure fire way of erasing a disk!

This is an incredible short stumbled across recently. Bruce Branit’s “World Builder” short film is a impressive piece of storytelling. While it begins initially with a lot of technology, it is an impactful and rewarding human story that is one of the best short films I’ve come across for a few years. Enjoy!

Whilst the Segway was a great concept, lugging it onto the tube or up stairs didnt look particulalry easy, and there was perhaps something extra geeky in how you lean against the handles. However, the Solowheel looks less geeky (the jury is out on that one) and is far more practical. Is this the walking of the future?

watch?v=WOOoFEKiK8A&feature=player_embedded

Ever bought something and realised you could have bought it down the road for £20 less? Im sure most of us have, I certainly know I have, but Google have developed a new app which allows you to quickly check you’re getting the best deal when you’re out and about. Not only that, it even scans barcodes for you, and takes pictures of book covers, how easy is that?! But most importantly, its free. Surely it’s a must have? I know Im impressed…

Panasonic have just brought out a new video camera, nicknamed by some the “DSLR killer”. There seems to have recently been a craze for shallow depth of field (that cinematic look) and vibrant, HD images which a DSLR with a large sensor and interchangeable lenses is able to produce. However, they have  a lot of compromises, such as awful sound, shakey images and reduced recording times. The AG-AF101 seems to be the perfect compromise, offering all the pros of a prosumer video camera AND all the pros of a DSLR, without any of the cons. Sure, it might cost £3k more, and it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing camera ever, but goodness me the image quality it produces is nice… here’s a random video of some Japanese stuff to prove it:

Facebook is announcing its long-awaited move into the location-sharing space, saying that users of the social network will now be able to share their location with friends. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said there were three central aspects to the feature, which Facebook is calling Places; users will be able to “check-in” to share their locations, look up where their friends are, and also find new locations to go to.

Users will be able access the feature via an “advanced mobile browser” or from the company’s new iPhone app, which is debuting today. Product manager Michael Sharon explained that when a user is at a certain location he or she will be able to look up that “place” on their phone and then “check-in.” Each “place” will also have its own page on Facebook, which will let users see what other Facebook members are “here now” at a given moment-if they have selected to share that information.

Facebook appears to have learned its lesson from its previous privacy fiascos; Sharon said the company understood that broadcasting location was particularly sensitive to many users and that the default setting with Places therefore is that check-ins will only be visible to friends and not to everyone. Users will also be able to limit access to only a few specific people if they wish.

Question is – do you really all your Facebook friends to know where you are….? Time will tell when this goes live in the UK soon.

This video is a research project by Bonnier R&D into the experience of reading magazines on handheld digital devices. Looks like it could be a competitor for the iPad… Follow the discussion here:
bonnier.com/en/content/digital-magazines-bonnier-mag-prototype

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.