Broadband pays

New research released by Ericsson, Arthur D. Little and Chalmers University of Technology today shows that doubling a country's broadband speed boosts its GDP by 0.3%, and that the benefits accrue with subsequent doublings.

What does with mean for Australia with its trillion dollar econonmy ($1039B in 2009, $925B in 2010)? According to Measurement Lab, the median download speed in Australia is a mere 4.23Mbps. This means that Australia could double its broadband speeds four times (4 -> 8 -> 16 -> 32 -> 64Mbps) and still be under the 100Mbps download speeds that the National Broadband Network (NBN) will deliver. Such a 16-fold increase in broadband speeds would amount to ~1.2% of GDP growth stimulus, or ~$12B per year. If so, the $43B NBN would pay for itself in under 4 years. Even a modest 0.5% increase in GDP (~$5B/year) would pay for it within a decade.

For those of you still wondering what we're going to do with all that bandwidth, take a look at this chart plotting TV image resolution by year.

This shows the evolution from the original 405 line system in 1936 to 1080p in 2004, a 10-fold increase in image size from 0.2 Megapixels to 2 Megapixels (data here).  What's interesting is that the real action has happened in the last decade, with the advent of high definition (HD) TV, first 720p and more recently 1080p. Further, the TV/video industry is hardly about to stop innovating any time soon; the next standard, is likely to be so-called "4K" with whopping 12 Megapixel images!

And video will be just one of many applications that benefit from faster broadband.

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Champagne for breakfast

This morning the Blogger engineering team in the Sydney office helped launch what we consider to be a major evolution in how people consume blogs -- Dynamic Views in Blogger. Here in Sydney we cracked open bottles of champagne to go with our avocado on toast.

This launch grew out of a 20% time project that was started earlier this year. I was relatively new to Google, and I didn’t really understand how 20% time was supposed to work -- as in, I didn’t realise that all I needed to get my manager’s OK for a 20% time project was a reasonably promising idea. So one day in February I went to my manager with a working prototype of a new way to view blog content, using the latest web technologies like AJAX, CSS3, and HTML5. Seven weeks later we launched five new “dynamic templates” as a preview for blog owners to try out...and now six months after that we’re pushing the button on a full launch of 7 new “Dynamic Views”.

Blogs were the darlings of the web world back in the early 2000s, but let’s be honest -- their sex appeal was overshadowed in the last few years by newer forms of content, like video and interactive apps. I thought this was a real shame. Why should powerful words and images get left behind, innocent victims of technology evolution and user preferences for more dynamic content? In short, I knew that blogs could be so much more.

We were also hearing that authors wanted their readers to be able to better engage with and “experience” their content. For example, clicking the “next” button to scan through additional pages of posts just isn’t conducive to casual browsing and discovery. Old posts, no matter how good, were often buried forever. And things were getting sloooow. I thought: we can do better.

And I think we have. With the designs released today, blogs load 40% faster and old blogs have become new again.

Posted by Antin Harasymiv, Software Engineer, Blogger.

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Trying on the new Dynamic Views from Blogger

As you may have noticed, the Google Australia blog looks a lot different today. That’s because we—along with a few other Google blogs—are trying out a new set of Blogger templates called Dynamic Views.

Launched today, Dynamic Views is a unique browsing experience that makes it easier and faster for readers to explore blogs in interactive ways. We’re using the Magazine view, but you can also preview this blog in any of the other six new views by using the view selection bar at the top left of the screen.



We’re eager to hear what you think about the new Dynamic Views. You can submit feedback using the “Send feedback” link on the bottom right of this page, or just send us some email.

If you like what you see here, and we hope you do, we encourage you to try out the new look(s) on your own blog—read the Blogger Buzz post for more info.

Posted by Kate Mason, Consumer Communications Manager for AU/NZ

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Dynamic Views: seven new ways to share your blog with the world

As we said a few weeks ago when we launched a completely rebuilt, streamlined authoring and editing experience, we’re in the process of bringing you a much improved and modernized Blogger. The next phase of these updates starts today with seven new ways to display your blog, called Dynamic Views.

Built with the latest in web technology (AJAX, HTML5 and CSS3), Dynamic Views is a unique browsing experience that will inspire your readers to explore your blog in new ways. The interactive layouts make it easier for readers to enjoy and discover your posts, loading 40 percent faster than traditional templates and bringing older entries to the surface so they seem fresh again.

Dynamic Views is much more than just new templates. With just a couple clicks, you’ll get infinite scrolling (say goodbye to the “Older posts” link), images that load as you browse, integrated search, sorting by date, label and author, lightbox-style posts for easy viewing, keyboard shortcuts for quickly flipping through posts, and one-click sharing to Google+ and other social sites on every post.

No two blogs are the same, so you can choose from seven different views that display text and photos differently. For example, if you have lots of photos on your blog, you may prefer Flipcard or Snapshot. If your blog is more text-heavy, then Classic, Sidebar (what you’re seeing now on Blogger Buzz) or Timeslide may be preferable. Here’s a quick description of each of the new views, along with links to some of our favorite blogs where you can check each of them out in action.

• Classic (Gmail): A modern twist on a traditional template, with infinite scrolling and images that load as you go
• Flipcard (M loves M) - Your photos are tiled across the page and flip to reveal the post title
• Magazine (Advanced Style) - A clean, elegant editorial style layout 
• Mosaic (Crosby’s Kitchen) - A mosaic mix of different sized images and text
• Sidebar (Blogger Buzz Blog) - An email inbox-like view with a reading page for quick scrolling and browsing
• Snapshot (Canelle et Vanille) - An interactive pinboard of your posts 
• Timeslide (The Bleary-Eyed Father) - A horizontal view of your posts by time period

Enter the name of your favorite Blogger blog below and click Preview to check it out with Dynamic Views.
.blogspot.com

Adding a Dynamic View to your blog is as easy as changing your template. Log in to Blogger, click on the Template tab on your dashboard, and select whichever view you want to set as your default. Note that readers can still choose to navigate your blog in a different view by selecting from the pulldown in the upper left of the screen.

If you want to add your own touch to any of these new views, you can upload a header image and customize the background colors. We’ll be adding more ways to customize Dynamic Views in the coming weeks.

We hope you enjoy the latest update to Blogger, and that, as always, you tell us what you think by completing this short survey.

Note: In addition to Blogger Buzz, several other official Google blogs will be featuring Dynamic Views through the weeks and months ahead, including the Gmail Blog, Google Voice Blog, and Docs Blog. We’re excited to bring Dynamic Views into the fold and we'll be looking at how to incorporate this new technology across Google’s blog network in the long term.

Update: Dynamic Views are now customizable! Add a custom header, change the background, colors, fonts, and more.

Posted by Antin Harasymiv, Software Engineer

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Tips for New Bloggers

Editor’s Note: Rebecca is one of the bloggers we’ve featured on Blogs of Note. After she was Noted, Rebecca received many new followers and emails asking her about her tips for blogging, so she’s graciously written up this blog post for anyone looking for tips on how to get started. 

Hi everyone! I'm Rebecca Brown, a blogger and personal stylist in the Seattle area. When I started my blog nearly 2 years ago, it was to document my attempt to wear a different dress for every day of December (sounds super interesting, right? It proves you can write a blog about anything).

I had no idea that a blog about my clothing choices would grow and become such a fun hobby! And even though I’ve been blogging for a little while, I still feel like I have so much to learn, which is what keeps blogging interesting! So, while I'm definitely far from being an expert, here are a few things that have worked for me:

1) Find a community of bloggers with similar interests. Do you like to write about video games, fashion, cooking? There are lots of great blogs on those topics already. A quick Google search for “fashion blogs” helped me round out my reading list. I always check out the blog rolls of people whose blogs I enjoy, and I also visit the blogs of folks who comment on my blog. Bottom line: interact with bloggers whose blogs you enjoy. You'll learn so much, I promise. This leads me to my next point...

2) Leave insightful comments on blogs that you enjoy - especially blogs that are in the same niche as you. Instead of just saying, "hey, nice blog, follow me please”, call out something specific that you liked about the post. Pure "followback" requests don’t really make people want to follow you.

3) Don't underestimate the importance of good pictures on your posts. The basics: Use a tripod or get a friend to photograph you if the pictures are of you. Take pictures outdoors if possible because natural light always makes pictures look better. Use post-processing (I use Picnik) to adjust the exposure, add effects, and crop to keep the focus on what you want. You don’t need a fancy camera - I use my cell phone most of the time! I wrote about this in more depth here.

4) Think about quality, rather than quantity of posts. Readers would rather see an insightful (and spell-checked!) post with original content and good pictures 2-4 times a week than hastily-written thoughts on a daily basis. Most avid blog readers follow so many blogs that if you post too often, and especially if your posts aren't high quality, you'll get passed over in favor of the other blogs on their blogroll. Plus, a great, high-quality post can continue to get you traffic for a few days - don't truncate its effectiveness by posting again the very next day.

5) Schedule your posts. I typically have a chunk of time on the weekend where I can plan out and write my 2-4 posts for the week, or at least get a rough draft in place. Blogger allows you to schedule your posts and they will automatically publish at the date/time you specify. I typically set my posts to publish around 2am to capture folks in other time zones.

6) Lastly, don't apologize for not posting more often. A blog is a fun hobby - but once you start feeling beholden to it, it stops being fun! Plus, your readers will likely not notice if you don't post for a week unless you write a post about how sorry you are for not posting!

There are so many great resources out there for bloggers looking to hone their craft. Here are a few of my favorites: - 10 Things About Your Blog That Drive Me Crazy (via B at Beautifully Invisible) - Don't Be A Savage Blogger (Jamillah via Beautifully Invisible): - Build a Better Blog (via Vahni at Grit and Glamour).

I hope these tips are helpful! Blogging has been such a great part of my life - allowing me to express myself, build a community and make lifelong friends. And the great thing about it is that nearly anyone can do it. So have fun with it, don’t take yourself too seriously, and you’ll be a great blogger in no time!

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Google+: 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99... 100.

This is a cross-post from the Official Google Blog.

The Google+ project has been in field trial for just under 90 days, and in that time we’ve made 91 different improvements (many of which are posted here). Google+ is still in its infancy, of course, but we’re more excited than ever to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. Today we’re releasing nine more features that get us that much closer.

+Hangouts: more places, more people, more to do

Hangouts uses live video to bring people together, face-to-face-to-face. And from day one, the community has shaped and stretched the feature in amazing ways—from cooking classes to game shows to music concerts. We're determined to keep this momentum going, and to keep providing new ways to communicate in-person, so we hope you enjoy this week’s round of Hangouts improvements.

92. Hangouts on your phone
In life we connect with others in all sorts of places, at all different times. And the connections you make unexpectedly are often the ones you remember the most. We think Hangouts should keep pace with how you socialise in the real-world, so today we’re launching it on the one device that's always by your side: your mobile phone. To get started, simply find an active hangout in the Stream, and tap “Join”:

Hangouts on your phone: Stream View (left), Green Room (center), Portrait Mode (right)

Hangouts currently supports Android 2.3+ devices with front-facing cameras (and iOS support is coming soon). The new mobile app is rolling out to Android Market today, so you can start hanging out at any time, from just about anywhere.

93. Hangouts On Air
Google+ users already use Hangouts to create intimate onscreen experiences—with family members, prayer groups, even people with certain medical conditions. But sometimes you want to speak to a large audience, or alternatively, view as a spectator. In these cases a public broadcast is what’s needed, so today we’re introducing Hangouts On Air.

The setup is simple enough: just start a normal hangout, and you’ll have the option to broadcast and record your session. Once you’re “On Air,” up to nine others can join your hangout (as usual), and anyone can watch your live broadcast:

Hangouts On Air: Stream View (left), Full-screen Mode (right)

We’re starting with a limited number of broadcasters, but any member of the Google+ community can tune in. In fact: we’ll be hosting our very first On Air hangout with will.i.am on Wednesday night, September 21. For more information visit will.i.am’s or my profile on Google+.

94, 95, 96, 97. Hangouts with extras
Spending time together goes hand in hand with actually doing things together. Dinner with family can easily turn into movie night at the local theater, for instance. And running into old friends can inspire anything from photo sharing to vacation planning. Hangouts has always included a basic set of in-room actions (like group chat and co-viewing of YouTube videos), but we want to make it easier to do a lot more. That’s why we’re previewing some extras, including:

• Screensharing: for when you want to show off your vacation photos, your high score, your lesson plan or whatever else is on your screen
• Sketchpad: for when you want to draw, doodle, or just scribble together
• Google Docs: for when you want to write, plan or present something with others
• Named Hangouts: for when you want to join or create a public hangout about a certain topic (like fashion or music or sports...)

Hangouts with extras: Screensharing (left), Sketchpad (right)

Hangouts with extras: Docs (left), Named Hangouts (right)

The extras are still under construction, but we wanted to preview these features and get your feedback sooner versus later. So start a hangout, click “Try Hangouts with extras” in the green room, and let us know what you think.

98. Hangouts APIs
If field trial has taught us anything about Hangouts, it’s that the community is overflowing with creative individuals. So in the wake of last week’s Google+ API launch, we’re also releasing a basic set of Hangouts APIs. If you're a developer who wants to build new kinds of apps and games (and who-knows-what-else), then you can find more details on the Google+ platform blog.

+Search: find the people and posts you care about

99. Search in Google+
You’ve been asking for it, and we’ve been busy building it, so today we’re bringing Google’s search expertise to Google+. Just type what you’re looking for into the Google+ search box, and we’ll return relevant people and posts, as well as popular content from around the web.

If you’re into photography, for example, then you’ll see other enthusiasts and lots of great pictures. If you care more about cooking, then you’ll see other chefs and food from around the globe. In all cases, Google+ search results include items that only you can see, so family updates are just as easy to find as international news.

Search in Google+: photography (left), cooking (right)

With more than 1 billion items shared and received every day, we’re excited to see how search will connect people through their posts on Google+.

+Everyone

100. Anyone can sign up for Google+—no invitation required.
For the past 12 weeks we’ve been in field trial, and during that time we’ve listened and learned a great deal. We’re nowhere near done, but with the improvements we’ve made so far we’re ready to move from field trial to beta, and introduce our 100th feature: open signups. This way anyone can visit google.com/+, join the project and connect with the people they care about.

Over the next day we'll be rolling out all of these features globally. In the meantime, you can check out what's next in Google+.

Posted by Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President of Engineering

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Creative Australia is online

Today, any Australian with a little motivation can create content and upload it for global distribution. For the first time in history, we all have a global broadcast platform at our fingertips: the internet.

The ability to broadcast ourselves, as individuals, was far, far out of reach for most of us for a long time. But today is a very different reality. So have you ever wondered what Aussies are doing, now that the tools of content production and distribution are in their hands? We have. So we got together with others in the digital space to take a look at just that.

Together with ninemsn, Yahoo!7, AIMIA, the Games Developers Association of Australia and the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, we identified some examples of creative Australians producing great content for online distribution. This showreel includes just some of them like video blogger Natalie Tran, Christiaan Van Vuuren (better known to the YouTube audience as “The Fully Sick Rapper”) and like Keith Loutit’s time-lapse work.

Digital platforms are witnessing an incredible growth in the number of talented Australians producing content. Together, they are getting Australian stories out to Aussies and the world.

Posted by Ishtar Vij, Policy Counsel, Google Australia

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