Auto-awesome. That’s it.
A few things:
As features go, this is fantastic. Download Google+ (on iOS or Android), turn on Google+ Auto-Backup of photos (I have mine switched to ‘Wi-fi only’), line up a decent sequence shot, and then Google+ will do the rest.
Great stuff.
Things of note for the week ending March 7th, 2014.
1. Flash. Gordon.
This original poster made me smile a lot when I saw it. Related fact: about ten years ago I received Flash Gordon on DVD on the exact same day that I happened to meet Brian Blessed. Yes, he signed it. Yes, it is a treasured possession. And yes, he was awesome.
2. Creating Your Habit Environment
Old habits are hard to break. Zen Habits talks about how your environment contributes to that difficulty and suggests ways to help make that change. There are a bunch of quotes I could nab from it, but it really is just worth reading the whole thing.
3. Batman: Arkham Knight
The trailer for the third official* Arkham game dropped earlier this week and it looks awesome. Gamer or not, the work and animation in this video is outstanding. So good in fact that I’d be quite happy to watch a short film in this format.
Watch this one in full screen –
4. A tall tale about The Players Club, NY
This post, entitled ‘The Players Club, David Carradine, And The Guy From Revenge of the Nerds: The Mystery of the Broken Window’, not only seeks out the truth behind a legendary story about the people and things listed, but also gives a fairly decent guided tour of the Players Club on the way.
A fairly decent piece of random reading for your Friday and definitely worth a look.
5. Finders Keepers
I adore this.
’til next week…
I like LG. I like Sony. But which one is better? FIGHT!
UPDATE 1: the LG video has been removed. You can still see images from it however, here, here, and here. Hat tip: Dan.
UPDATE 2: the video is still viewable over on Creativity Online.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you two brand videos. One from LG Mobile, for the new LG G Flex (actually quite a good phone) and the other from Sony Mobile, for the QX100 lens/camera mobile accessory (a fantastic, if little bulky, hardware add-on).
One of them is the worst piece of branded content I’ve ever seen and the other is quite possibly the best piece of branded content I’ve ever seen.
Can you guess which one is which?
First LG –
And now, Sony –
Your comments, as ever, are welcome.
This promoted tweet appeared in my timeline yesterday.
Contract finally up? Why not get some excitement back in your life? http://t.co/YGqcgsO8YH #whynotswitch
— Samsung Mobile UK (@SamsungMobileUK) February 25, 2014
You click through and are given ten reasons to switch to Samsung. Where do I start?
‘Why not Switch?’
Nokia’s ‘Switch to Lumia’ campaign launched in August 2012 and has been a key part of its Lumia messaging ever since, e.g.: this video from 2013 –
Yeah, this ad branded content pokes a bit of fun at competitors, but use another’s campaign line it does not.
Promoted Tweets
Rule 1: if you’re going to promote a tweet, add an image. Twitter has a feature whereby all images uploaded to the service directly (displaying on the pic.twitter url) automatically display inline. Brands rarely use the functionality to its fullest potential but at least some of them try. Take this tweet from HTC, for example –
#HTCOneUp pic.twitter.com/Nh8q9WPAXp
— HTC (@htc) February 24, 2014
Pro tip: images in tweets drive more engagement.
While we’re talking about the S5
The link in Samsung’s tweet above (after listing the ten ‘reasons’ why you should switch) pushes the Galaxy S4, the Galaxy S4 Mini, and the Galaxy Note 3. At last week’s Mobile World Congress, Samsung announced its latest addition to the Galaxy family, the Galaxy S5. And yet the link pushes the older products. Don’t get me wrong, while the S5 wasn’t the best handset announced at MWC, it was certainly Samsung’s best. So why not promote your newest and best product to your fans and followers? Unless of course you have a shed load of older stock to shift before said S5 launched…
The ten ‘reasons’ why you should switch
This is excellent.
Reason 1: ‘Small screens are so last year’ – which would be fine, except there’s a link to the Galaxy S4 Mini at the bottom of the linked page. Is it possible to troll yourself?
Reason 2: Battery life. Well, not really. More like battery accessibility. The first comment on the article nails it: ‘if only Samsung would fit a battery that could last a whole day, I wouldn’t need to change it’.
Reason 3: Expandable Memory! In other words: our version of Android takes up so much space on our phones, you’re definitely going to need more (look who comes last on the infographic below – ouch).
Reasons 4 & 5: Apps! They’re on Android and you can switch them too apparently. This point is so good, they made it twice. Also: ducks representing apps? Haven’t seen that before.
Reason 6: We’ve not only crammed your already-limited-with-memory phone with videos but also a piece of bloatware called ‘My Galaxy’ – you’ll love it!
Reason 7: You can share stuff to other devices.
(I don’t know a device that can’t do this)
Reason 8: Widgets. Are these exclusive to Samsung?
Reason 9: Look at our meaningless awards!
Reason 10: This is my personal favourite. ‘We’ve got your back with our 24mth warranty!’
This is the picture that accompanies it –
The warranty doesn’t cover water damage. Not. Kidding.
—
This post initially started out as a way to highlight the ridiculous advertising move of using a competitor’s key line to promote your own product (after it had been promoted into my stream, bear in mind). Once I’d scratched the surface, the whole thing just became more and more ridiculous.
If you want a GREAT Android phone, there are tons to choose from – and the Galaxy S series would no doubt feature in that list. But please! Do your research, listen to a great podcast, ask a mobile geek friend, hell – even ask me! I guarantee you’ll get a more informed batch of reasons than those listed above.
This stuff annoys me. Badvertising really annoys me.
Come on guys, you can do better than this.
Related reading: Originality + Mobile 1
Short post covering off five things that happened this past seven days.
Regular readers will know I run a feature called ‘Five things on Friday‘ and I very nearly included these things in that, but then I realised it went against my own brief for that (e.g.: things about me might not actually be that interesting), so I broke them out into a separate post.
1. My new job got announced. So that was exciting.
2. I’ve started keeping a log of the brand-related Snapchat activity I find interesting. You may or may not find it useful [one day].
3. The Mobile World Congress edition of The Voicemail went live. If you only ever listen to one episode of this weekly mobile technology podcast, make it this one. It’ll prime you with all the mobile knowledge you’ll need for the rest of the year. Probably.
4. The Guardian wrote about ‘the secret to viral marketing‘ and they asked me to comment. I commented. They published it. Before you click through, can you guess what the secret is?
5. I wrote a piece for work about why Facebook bought WhatsApp and it went on to become one of our best performing posts to date. Proper sense of achievement that. As was presenting a webinar on my 2014 social media trends to the social teams globally (including this bunch of pizza-munching Ogilvy folk in DC). Amazing. Thanks for having me guys!
There were a few late nights and several early mornings, but this past week was pretty awesome.
That is all.
Things of note for the week ending February 28th, 2014.
1. Peter Sellers in a moving red car trying to take a picture of his wife, Britt Eckland, riding on the scooter near the Colosseum in Rome.
This needs no explanation.
2. Funk is not dead
Jungle – Platoon from Jungle on Vimeo.
3. Awesome 60s Batman Art is Awesome
4. Triple City Exposures
Created completely ‘in-camera’, by photographer Marcus Yam, the above image is one of a larger set put together for a Seattle Times photo essay. They’re all gorgeous, so go take a look.
5. The Secret Life of Heroes
I know I’ve featured a lot of imagery this week, but this stuff – by artist Gregoire Guillemin – is just great. The easy way forward was Batman but he’s already had a go this week so I figured Supes was the next best thing. Plus – THIS IS AWESOME.
via My Modern Met.
Bonus things –
That’s me done this week. Technically that’s eight cool things you’ve just had. Aren’t I nice to you? Tell you what, if you liked this post this week, why not tell your friends about it. There’s buttons just down there for you to do that so go on – click one. I dare ya. Â
Things of note for the week ending February 21st, 2014.
1. How do strategists level up?
This piece, written by Clay Parker Jones from Undercurrent, puts forward an extremely well-thought-out and logical case for how to ‘level up’ as a strategist. The whole article is worth a read (it’ll take 10mins to consume but you might be coming back to it for a while to come), especially for the planners and strategists out there looking for something new to take into their next review.
2. How do you get a job in North Korea?
Next time you’re staring at your CV (or even that cover letter) and stuck for what on Earth you could possibly put down next, thank your lucky stars that the hiring process [for good jobs] isn’t akin to the way North Koreans have to seek decent employment –
In response to the increasing demand for more rewarding jobs, bribery is becoming more common in North Korea. There are certain steps to follow to get the desired job: First, you have to bribe the officers and steal your personnel record from the local administrative agencies. Then you have to bribe the factory managers or party secretaries so that they will issue letters of confirmation that they would like to hire you. Lastly, you have to submit the letter to the administrative agency in charge of assigning jobs. Everyone involved knows about the other parties’ bribery, but they choose to overlook.
Source – ‘How do you get a job in North Korea?‘
3. NYC Henge
According to WIRED, twice a year, the setting sun lines up with the street grid of New York City’s Manhattan, creating an incredible show and a free-for-all for amateur photographers. The phenomenon is known as Manhattanhenge, but the map above, dubbed NYCHenge and made by Javier Santana shows when and where the show can be caught all across New York City, any day of the year.
If you’re headed to New York at all this year, use this map RIGHT NOW and plan those epic Instagram photos today.
4. The Secret Autobiography of Tom Cruise
If there’s a thread that runs through Cruise’s recent movies, it’s this: You may think you know me, but you don’t. His character in the Mission: Impossible movies seamlessly switches faces and is described as “a ghostâ€; even Ethan Hunt’s surname reflects his elusive nature. In Knight and Day, he’s a high-level spook who’s built an untraceable life on a private island. And in last year’s Jack Reacher, he’s a man without a country, an American citizen who’s barely set foot on the nation’s soil: “blood military,†he’s called. Jack Reacher has “no driver’s license, current or expired, no residence, current or former, no credit cards, no credit history, no P.O. Box, cell phone, email.†By the standards of his home country, he doesn’t exist.
I came across this piece after reading Tyler Cowen’s review of Oblivion where he mentions the parallels between the film’s plot and the star’s chosen religion. Someone in the comments of that post mentioned that Slate had seen it too and also goes into a bit more detail with its analysis. There be spoilers here, but it’s still a darn good read.
For what it’s worth, I loved Oblivion (and really don’t know enough about Scientology to spot any references); it’s a great sci-fi flick and well worth watching.
5. Floating in Space
The story of ‘SuitSat-1’, aka ‘Mr Smith’, the sensor-filled spacesuit that was hurled from the International Space Station back in 2006, is one of the best things I’ve read this week.
You can close the tab now, we’re done here.
Oh my god, let’s DO THIS.
They’re here, and they look awesome. The newest and weirdest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (yes, this is what ties into that post-credits sequence in Thor: The Dark World) and it looks AMAZING.
BRING. IT. ON.
Sidenote: I still can’t get over how awesome Karen Gillan looks. The former Amy Pond is almost completely unrecognisable –
UPDATED: The poster has been dropped too, YOU’RE WELCOME.
(click for big version)
UPDATE: Chromecast is now on sale in the UK and at £30, it’s a steal.
– Original Review –
I bought a Chromecast.
Image via The Verge
It’s like a USB dongle but with an HDMI port on the end [instead of a USB bit] which plugs into your TV and you can broadcast stuff to it, from Chrome. Chromecast, geddit?
Anyway, I’ve been umming and ah-ing about getting one for a good while now. When they were first announced, back in July 2013, I thought it was ace but I couldn’t really put my finger on why I’d need one. A few months later, in November, when I visited the ‘Google House‘, I spotted it again. And again my interest was piqued. This time I came so very close to purchasing one, and a good friend of mine even offered to send me one from the States.
Shipping fees happened, life happened… stuff happened.
Long story short, fast forward to February and I ended up picking one up off ebay for the grand total of £32.49, and I still didn’t know why I needed one.
If you read the feature list for Chromecast you can see that it supports a number of [mainly USA-based] media services. Out of those relevant to my market (the UK) you can see that it does Netflix. But I already have Netflix, on my PS4, my Xbox 360, and as an app built into my TV. Chromecast also does Youtube, but I have a YouTube app available to me in the same ways listed above. There is a third feature that’s available too, but this one’s the clincher: screen mirroring from Chrome.
With the installation of one simple Chrome extension, sharing your browser to the TV is again, one click away. Which means any video, not just YouTube or Netflix, any video can play on the big screen. Tonight, for example, I wanted to watch the amazing hour long interview with Bill Murray that had been doing the rounds. I really wanted to watch it on my TV, but it was on Hulu. For some reason, this normally-restricted-to-the-US piece of content was available to watch in my browser so I opened a new tab, casted to my TV, and carried on internetting.
It really is a great interview, you should watch it.
Ever since getting my Chromecast I’ve used it pretty much every day. This isn’t about features and services, this is simply about ease of use/access. For the 2-screen generation, browsing the web and watching TV at the same time go hand in hand. When that awesome video appears in your stream limiting content to a small-to-tiny screen is rubbish.
If you want to watch it, nay, share it properly and it’s literally one click, and your content appears on the TV. Easy as.
Chromecast is awesome.
UPDATE: For those of you uncomfortable with importing a US version (in case of any future region locking), rumours are afoot that Chromcast will be formally launching in the UK early next month. The UK version is available NOW.
whatleydude.com 