New Motorola phone? Looks exciting!

Do you guys remember a lil’ while back when a video featuring a blocky, stack together futuristic idealistic mobile phone started doing the social media rounds?

This one:

If you haven’t seen it, definitely check it out. There are some really smart ideas in there, formed by some people really thinking about how to make the future of tech better.

The phone in the video above is designed by a group called Phonebloks, and it’s a design prototype; it’s not real, yet. Turns out Motorola has been thinking along the same lines as the guys from Phonebloks, and now they’re working together on a project that is super exciting.

The following is from the Motorola Blog, go here to check it out at the sauce.

Goodbye Sticky. Hello Ara.

Over the last six months, our MAKEwithMOTO team took Sticky, a truck wrapped entirely in velcro and filled with rooted, hackable Motorola smartphones and high-end 3D printing equipment, across the country for a series of make-a-thons.

On that trip we saw the first signs of a new, open hardware ecosystem made possible by advances in additive manufacturing and access to the powerful computational capabilities of modern smartphones. These included new devices and applications that we could never have imagined from inside our own labs. Open fuels innovation. See some examples here, here, and here.

After the trip, we asked ourselves, how do we bring the benefits of an open hardware ecosystem to 6 billion people? Meet Ara.

Led by Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group, Project Ara is developing a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. We want to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software: create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, lower the barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation, and substantially compress development timelines.

Our goal is to drive a more thoughtful, expressive, and open relationship between users, developers, and their phones. To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it’s made of, how much it costs, and how long you’ll keep it.

Apple is now the most valuable brand in the universe

Who’s the most valuable company in the world? Who is?! Apple is! We always get Run DMZ in our head when we read that sentence for some reason. So, naturally, now you guys get to have it in your head…

There! Ok, so last week Apple was named the world’s most valuable brand. In the world. Technically, in the universe. Alf got nothing on you, Mr Cook.

We miss Alf.

Back in 2000, a company called Interbrand began compiling a ‘Best Global Brand’ survey of the top 100 brands worldwide. The company that produces that sweet, sweet, black gold, Coca Cola, has been number one every single year.

Until now. BUM BUM BUUUUUUUM

This year, Coca Cola has fallen to the number 3 position and Apple has taken place at the top of the brand castle, thank you very much.

Apple climbed from the number 2 position in 2012, and all the way from the number 8 position in 2011.

According to Interbrand’s report, Apple’s brand value has increased by 28% from last year, sitting at 98.3 Billion. That’s… a lot of apples.

Google, with 93.3 billion, placed 2nd this year, and 5 of the top ten were tech companies, a trend that should only become more clear in the years to come.

Anyone want google glass?

You guys have heard of Google Glass right?

The proposed future of wearable technology that will be the ultimate integration of life and computer?

The thing that has some people up in arms about privacy and we’re all going to become androids aaaaagh?

The thing that you think kind of makes people look a bit silly but you really want to try out anyway?

A wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display? 

Augmented-reality glasses?

This thing?

Yeah, that thing.

Up until now it’s kind of been something you hear about in the press, but don’t realllly see right? If you live in a Tech city, or know someone lucky enough and really into their tech, you might have heard of someone who has one. Or someone whose whose cousin has one.

It’s quite frustrating, actually, no matter what your opinion about the technology involved.

You still want to be able to play with the silly futuristic tech toy that you can’t even play with for who knows how long, especially because you’re a reasonable person right? You wouldn’t have an opinion on something until you’ve actually experienced it, tried it, right?

But Google are in control and it’s just stupid, why do we have to wait for soooo long?

Well, kids, the time of Google Glass in the public domain is getting closer. One person at a time, actually.

Google has begun inviting more people to try Google Glass out. Participants in the Glass Explorer program for early adopters have been sent an email from Google, inviting them to, in turn, invite one friend into the Google Glass Explorer program.

The invitations are limited to people who are U.S. residents, at least 18 years old and able to pick up Glass in San Francisco, New York or Los Angeles.

Around 8000 competition winners are currently taking part in the Google Glass early explorer program, as well as the various tech heads around that are lucky enough to be testing them out.

So…. Time to put your thinking caps on guys. There is the actual possibility in the world right now for you to be able to play with new and supposedly futuristic technology before most of the rest of the world.

A small chance, probably, yes, but still a chance!

All you need to do is to go and find one of the early adapter people, make an amazing impression on them so that they pick you above their family and friends, and hence start using Google Glass. Cake?

Go to it! And soon you too can look like this…

Images courtesy of  cnet.com and turnstylenews.com

The iWatch

Good news for those of us waiting for a brand spanking ( ooh) new Apple product!

Yesterday, Apple’s application to trademark the term ‘iWatch’ in Japan was made public.

iWatch is, of course, the rumored name for the first wearable Apple device and the potentially out of this world Smart Watch. The trademark was applied for on June 3rd this year and is actually the second time that Apple has applied to trademark the name, the first being in Russia in February.

Momentum (and the rumor mill) for this product is building rapidly. Yesterday’s reports come after Bloomberg posted in March this year that according to their sources there were 100 engineers working on the planned smart watch, and after Tim Cook said in May that the wearable device market is one just waiting for innovation. And who better to do it than Apple?

Unlike other Smart Watches currently available (see the wonderful Pebble Watch), the much speculated iWatch will most likely be a stand alone device, with biometric potential that could turn the way we use technology on it’s head.
Suckily, experts agree that we probably won’t see the iWatch until the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2014.

C’mon Tim Cook! We want wearable device innovation, and we want it now! Or soon! Please?

Image courtesy of  Forbes.

WWDC lowdown!

Alright guys, so yesterday was THE BIG DAY!

The four day annual world wide developers conference for Apple began yesterday morning, kicking off at the Mascone Centre in San Francisco at 10am.

As per usual, WWDC began with a perfectly orchestrated keynote speech given by Tim Cook, featuring a few other key Apple guys AND more importantly, featuring some new Apple software and hardware announcements and previews.

DOUBLE RAINBOW EXCITING!

For the first time, the keynote was broadcast live from the Apple website and on Apple TV.

The two hour address was, as expected, super stylishly presented, with multiple media presentations, some jokes, and a few fantastic and even surprising new Apple products and updates.

The top things you should know about that were announced today are:

– The new Mac Pro. Stellar, revolutionary and round.

– iOS 7, the biggest change to iOS since the iPhone came out.

– OS  X Mavericks – the new operating system named after a California beach break.

– New Macbook airs with super extended battery life.

– iTunes Radio – the much talked about radio product that actually sounds better than we expected!

Super double rainbow exciting, right!?

We’ll have even more from WWDC coming up this week!!

Today is Google Day

Today is all about Google!

We realize that there is a lot of things in the world that are all about Google, but today Google had there big meeting thingy ( The 6th Annual Google I/O Developer Conference in San Francisco).

As always, we’re here to tell you all the things you might need to know, and all the things you didn’t even know you needed to know! (About new Google products and updates).

Frankly, it’s a lot of words, so we’ve organized it into bite sized, coffee break readable, lovely little Googly parcels of information.

Enjoy!

1. Google Hangouts (Integrated, multi- platform video & chat product)

2. Google Maps update and iPad App

3. Google Play Music All Access

4. Google Play Game Services

5. Updates and the future of the Google search engine.

The conference continues over the next three days, so we’ll be sure to keep you updated with all the goings on!

Image courtesy of Mashable.