The past few months have brought much speculation about the name, with rumours of Lemon Meringue Pie, Lemonade, Licorice and more.

As we now know, Android L is now officially known as Lollypop.

Giovannio Calabrese, creator of the Andriod sculptures for the Google HQ Android lawn, was very tight-lipped about this project, but has been teasing us since early October on his Google+ account.

From announcing his travel to Google HQ for a fresh coat of paint for the previous sculptures to going gaga about Licorice all over his Google+ page, he even called out volunteers for his ‘secret surprise project’.

On 15 October, spectators gathered from all over to be at Google HQ, receiving free lollipops to celebrate the sculpture and launch of the new operating system.

Official Video from Android’s YouTube channel.

Yours in Sweet Surprise,
Brio Team.

She calls clicking a “public act” that each of us can choose to do or not do to somehow shape what information gets the attention and form the media landscape. She says “Everything we blog, everything we tweet, and everything we click is a public act of making media”, drawing to the point that the Media is no longer controlled by a few powerful elites but by everybody; We are the editors.

In this digital age where everybody gets access to the web, people can choose to be a passive or an assertive contributor. It’s now up to you decide what action you want to take.

Think before you click,
Brio Team

Benchmarking allows Analytics users to compare data with other companies, under the same industry, that shares their data. There are over 1600 industries to choose from in the Benchmarking menu and the report can be further filtered.

Unfortunately it’s not automatically available and you do need to activate it because it affects your privacy settings. Check out the  steps here to enable Benchmarking in your account.

Reports

Reports are found under the “Audience” section of the Google Analytics reporting interface.
(Go to Audience > Benchmarking)

You are able to run reports by Channel, Location and Device and benchmark your website against its industry vertical, size by daily visits and geographic location with the six standard metrics to compare.

Whilst Benchmarking isn’t new to Google (it was an original feature that was removed in 2011 in lieu of a direct email), this is only the beginning of the latest Benchmarking tool. Google will be introducing additional capabilities on this feature soon and we are so excited to see what they will come up with.

Yours in analytics,
Brio Team

While most of these social networking channels still maintain their top rank in the game, a new social networking site called Ello has been gaining some buzz recently.

Say hello to Ello!

Unlike most social networking sites that sell ads or user information to third party advertisers, Ello boasts as being completely ad-free with a strict ‘no-ad and no-data-mining’ policy. Better still, they give you the opportunity to opt out in sharing any information if requested.

Seems interesting right? But one has to wonder how the site will support itself in lieu of advertisers.

Ello’s answer to this is providing special features through a user pays system. As special features are introduced, users can add it to their account by paying a small fee which is then activated on their account forever.

This approach seemed odd to me at first, but when I though about it, it’s kind of like paying for an upgrade, or like buying another accessory to your camera like a lens that has a different function.

The way to join this social network is by invitation; you just need to go to their website, enter your email to request an invite and then wait for their response.

With this out of the box structure and security promise, can this social network rise against other social media giants out there? Only time will tell.

Yours in social networking,
Brio Team

Among all the submissions that they have received, 40 were picked as semi finalists in July this  year. By mid August, these semi finalists were whittled down to a final 10 entrants, including concepts for wearable cameras, low cost bionics and a bionic mattress.

The finalist will be pitching their Ideas on front of a panel of judges on November 2, 2014 and the winner will be announced on November 11, 2014.

Make it Wearable is a part of The Creators Project, an initiative that encourages and fosters creative expression, pushing the boundaries of design and technology to find new and innovative opportunities for how and why we use tech in the future.

Yours in Wearable Technology,
Brio Team

Finalists:

BABYBE – Emotional Prosthetics
Team
Raphael PM Lang (Captain)
Member:
Camilo Anabalon

First V1sion – Player Perspective
Team
Jose Ildefonso (Captian)
Members:
Angeliki Terezaki
Roger Antunez
Anastasia Pistofidou

Nixie – Flyable & Wearable Camera
Team
Christoph Kohstall (Captain)
Members:
Jelena Jovanovic
Michael Niedermayr

vumbl – Sports and Activity Necklace
Team
Tom Shrive (Captain)
Members:
James Price
Mark Siddorn
Samuel Tassell

Open Bionics – Low-Cost Robotic Hand
Team
Joel Gibbard (Captain)
Member:
Sammy Payne

Wristify – Cooling or Warming Refresh
Team
Matthew Smith (Captain)
Members:
Sam Shames
Megha Jain
David Cohen-Tanugi

Snowcookie – Skiing 6th Sense
Team
Martin Kawalski (Captain)
Members:
Zbigniew Nawrat
Piotr Lukasik
Ewa Waliczek

BabyGuard – Smart Healthcare
Team
Xiaoshan Huang (Captain)
Members:
Shuai Ye
Chen Guo

ProGlove – Production Tool
Team
Paul Günther (Captain)
Members:
Jonas Girardet
Thomas Kirchner
Alexander Grots

BLOCKS – Snapable Platform
Team
Serge Vasylechko (Captain)
Members:
Hakeem Javaid
Omer Al Fakir

Fans scurried their way through stores to claim “first to try”, “first to buy” or “first to have” the newest iPhone in the market.

What is it that made us really excited with the release of iPhone6?
Well, let’s have a recap shall we?

From our August Phablet Race post, we looked at some of the rumours and expectations for the new iPhone. Now that it’s released, let’s see if rumours are true or if they misled us.

 Rumoured Release Date: Probably September 9
The release did in fact happen on it’s set day, September 9, 2014.

 Cost: starts at around AU$1006|$944
A source we found say that the pricing are as follows:
16GB – AU$869
64GB – AU$999
128GB – AU$1129
Being only $7 out from the mid-range option is pretty close and a good indicator.

The target sale date in Australia is September 19, but pre-orders are open from the 12th. Here’s what the launch told us about the new iPhone.

 What to expect: major revisions, including design
Apple definitely delivered because it’s bigger and definitely better.

Dimension:
iPhone6: 138.1x67x6.9
iPhone6 Plus: 158.1×77.8×7.1
To make the device bigger without the having the uncomfortable feeling when you use it, they have made a noticeable revision on the design making the sides rounded for a smooth handling and looking a lot more slick.

Display:
iPhone6: 4.7 inches
iPhone6 Plus: 5.5 inches
Both using Retina HD Display

To compare to the current iPhone 5S, its display is 4 inches, with the iPad Mini being 7.9 inches.

 Coolest Rumour: addition of NFC
We are giving a soft check on this as well, as this functionality is not yet available and will be coming in this October.

But that doesn’t mean we can leave this off, this makes us all the more excited as this will change the way on how we do transactions. Apple Pay is a technology that provides a security feature built in you device so you can use your iPhone to pay in a hassle free way.

Apple has maintained the cool feature of iPhone6’s predecessors, improved other features and introduces other features. What to say what they’re going to do next. Only time will tell.

Even if you don’t plan on picking up the iPhone6 straight away, don’t forget to download the new iOS 8, available from September 17.

Yours in current trends,
Brio Team

Since its launch in 1989, 40% of the world is now using the World Wide Web, allowing us to enjoy unlimited access to lots of freely available open data and connectivity. It is a conduit for free speech and connectivity, opening new possibilities for personal and professional gain.

“We love the fact that the Web is open, it allows us to talk, anybody can talk to anybody. It doesn’t matter who we are.”
-Tim Bernes-Lee

He also made sure to remind us about surveillance and security, that there may be people out there that might use and abuse these data.

“We can’t just use the Web; we have to worry about the underlying infrastructure of the whole thing. Is it in fact of a quality that we need?”
-Tim Bernes-Lee

Now with Web in it’s 25th year, Mr. Bernes-Lee invites us to think about what type of Web we want.

Go to www.webat25.org to find out more.

Yours in the Power of Web,
Brio Team

I was reading updates from TechRadar the other day and rumours are rife about the release date of the new Phablets from Apple (iPhone6) and Samsung (Samsung Galaxy Note 4).

iOS and Android fans alike, we are excited for the first glimpse of these new gadgets and how they will differ from their predecessors.

Juicy Tidbits

On iPhone6

Rumoured Release Date: probably September 9
Cost: starts at around AU$1006 / $944
What to expect: major revisions, including design.
Coolest Rumour: addition of NFC

On Samsung Galaxy Note 4

Rumoured Release Date: probably September 3
Cost: starts at around $800
What to expect: Samsung’s 4th generation Phablet.
Coolest Rumour: flexible display (three-sided screen)

Yours in mobile trend,
Brio team