Things of note for the week ending… Sunday June 12th, 2016
It’s Sunday. Not Friday. Friday I was busy. Saturday afternoon I threw a house party – AMAZING – SO MANY PEOPLE (and literally just finished clearing up). And so today, Sunday, I’m bringing you Seven Things on Sunday instead.
And then I’ll get breakfast.
But first, for you lovely people, here are ALL THE INTERESTING THINGS I SAW ON THE INTERNET THIS WEEK…
LET’S GO!
1. SLOW JAM NEWS
Jimmy Fallon on President Barack Obama slow jam the neeeews. You’ve probably seen this by now but whatever, it’s still awesome.
— hit the image to play in YouTube, yo —
What’s not to love?
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2. SONY PS4 4K
So this is interesting. It’s been long rumoured that Sony will be launched a mid-life-time upgrade of the world’s best selling console, the PlayStation 4.
This week, that rumour was confirmed.
Original story (paywall – but you just need an account) or read more here.
The key points however are:
“Andrew House, president and global chief executive of Sony Interactive Entertainment, told the Financial Times that the “high-end PS4†would be more expensive than the current $350 version.
“It is intended to sit alongside and complement the standard PS4,†he said. “We will be selling both [versions] through the life cycle.â€
The new console, which is codenamed “Neoâ€, will target hardcore gamers, he said, as well as consumers with a 4K television set looking for more high-resolution content.”
Why is this interesting?
As a PS4 owner and avid gamer, I’m interested in this for a number of reasons.
First, as the leaders in Blu-Ray technology, you can hazard a guess that the PS4 4K (or ‘PS4.5’) will ship with the latest UHD Blu-Ray player therein. Meaning, like the PS3 before it, it’ll be arguably become one of the best UHD Blu-Ray players on the market – and that’s before you even get to any of the gaming.
Second, 4K TV ownership is on the rise. As prices tumble and content choice increases, more and more are investing in the latest screen technology to enjoy Netflix, Amazon etc (maybe Sky TV too at some point, but I won’t be watching that). Having a PS4 that can output at 4K res would be frankly awesome.
Third and finally, the gaming! Word is this upgraded machine somehow impacts the VR capabilities of the machine. I’ve got my PSVR headset on pre-order (you can read my experiences with it to date over on Plaaayed) and every time I’ve played it, it’s been a) excellent and b) on an original PS4 machine. I’m super intrigued as to how this might improve that experience and, as much as it seems like another ton of cash to shell out, I’m quite interested to see how this plays out.
Fingers crossed we’ll find out soon.
Bonus: it’s E3 next week. Keep an eye out for some huge game announcements (if that’s your thing).
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3. SO SOPHIE
“In less than a decade Sophie went from being a virtual unknown in the US to the go-to baby gift for the upper-middle class. Roughly 500,000 Sophies are sold in the US each year. Its price point is right in prime baby shower gift territory. The giraffe is the 10th most popular baby item on Amazon, alongside staples like changing pads and breast milk storage bags.”
4. THE PRINCE NOTES
I’m still ploughing through ALL THE AMAZING STUFF that has been written about Prince. Both from before and after his passing.
This post, by Anil Dash, covers off the notes that his long-time manager, Alan Leeds, wrote re: the above Greatest Hits album. They’re filled with little cute anecdotes and well worth ten minutes of your reading time.
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5. WHAT DO UBER DRIVES AND STRIPPERS HAVE IN COMMON?
This is a fascinating read from Bloomberg. No comments, just go read.
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6. HAVE YOU SEEN THE TIME?
The “normal†form of the condition called synesthesia is weird enough: For people with this condition, sensory information gets mixed in the brain causing them to see sounds, taste colors, or perceive numbers as having particular hues.
But psychologist David Brang is studying a bunch of people with an even odder form of synesthesia: These people can literally “see time.â€
THIS IS MIND-BLOWING AND AMAZING.
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7. 360 PHOTOS FOR EVERYBODY!
Hey look! Facebook rolled out 360 photo uploads for y’all this week.
Wanna give it a go? Follow the instructions above. Android users, if you have Google Cardboard Camera installed, they work too. Check out my [terrible] efforts from my Istanbul trip a couple of months back.
Really, really cool.
Expect to see a whole lot more of these in your newsfeed as of… NOW.
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Bonuses this week are all self-serving in some way or another.
- Ogilvy Blaze Radio. On June 14th, Ogilvy is launching a three-day pop-up radio station ran by entirely by its staff. From DJ sets to interviews and features, there’ll be a ton of cool stuff happening. We’ll be broadcasting from 9am to 9pm, 14th-16th of June. I’m on it too. Full schedule goes live tomorrow – here.
- How’s this for choice architecture?
- The 2016 Brand Z Top 100, from Millward Brown and WPP, launched this week. And it’s a pretty heavy read. I tend to flick through the full report when it comes out each year, and there are always a few interesting nuggets to take away (eg: Coca-Cola no longer in the top ten, McDonald’s now the only non-tech brand in the top ten). It’s a great little browse. This year however I’m super proud to say that I’ve been named as one of the key contributors and have a few quotes (on tech, millennials, and Gen z) as well as a two page piece on how to create core brand distinction in the digital age. Really, really chuffed with it.You can download your copy via this PDF link right now, I’d love to know what you think.
And that’s that!
Thanks for reading, as ever and – until next time – have an amazing week.
Whatley out, x.
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