As part of the RE:THINK gallery space at the National Maritime Museum, Gooii were commissioned to design and build a touchscreen interactive kiosk, to give visitors the chance to explore the Museum’s collections and to help augment the museum’s data.

‘Search Collections’ offers both search and browse options, allowing visitors to follow their interests and discover objects within the museum’s rich and vast collections which have engaged visitors from all over the world. This was achieved using a combination of PHP & JavaScript, to query Solr data and present it to visitors.

‘Collections Tagger’ asks visitors simple questions about objects from the collections, for example “How does this make you feel?”. Answers, provided via a bespoke multilingual keyboard, are then used as tags by the system and used to augment the main collections online data. Visitors can log in using an existing collections online website account, or create one whilst in the gallery, which allows them to see their tagging score. The system was developed using PHP & JavaScript and uses couchDB for storage and synchronisation with the main collections website.

How would Gary Busey describe Apple? Advanced, Phone, People, Love, Excellence.? Hmm maybe not. But there is no denying that when it comes to innovative technology Apple lead the way, but are Apple currently playing ketchup [SIC]? Possibly, the one area Apple has received ridicule in is the size of its definition, which is most certainly not a show’er, while Samsung release Android devices so big they’ll soon be replacing our 40″ TVs.

Apple’s response is of course the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with the latter boasting a pocket busting, trouser stretching, 5.5″ 1080p screen. But is bigger always better? With the release of the iPhone 6 tomorrow (19th September) it won’t be long until we find out, assuming there’s enough stock to go around, of course. And for those not upgrading you’re in luck, iOS 8 is released today. Hoorah! Apple are claiming it’s the “biggest iOS release ever” so if anything’s for sure it’s that Apple believe, without a doubt, that size definitely does matter.

Click here to find out more about the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Gooii are proud to support SALVE International, a British and Ugandan based charity working to get children off the streets in Uganda. Their ethos is “Support And Love Via Education”.

S.A.L.V.E. works with children on the streets so they have the opportunity to leave their difficult pasts behind them and move forward, towards a brighter future. They offer these children a chance to be resettled with their relatives or in another loving home environment, providing them with access to support, counselling and an all-round education.

Gooii have sponsored Hassan for several years, he’s now graduated from high school and is living independently, whilst studying to be a mechanic. We’re all very proud of his achievements and still continue support him in his transition into adulthood. Well done Hassan! If you would like to help change the life of a street child please contact SALVE who would welcome your support.

Dragon-i Toys provides innovative products to the top toy retailers around the world. Our brief was to update their existing site with a new look and feel, whilst retaining all of the functionality of the existing WordPress based website. New features include a new design, more prominent links to social networks, an updated carousel and the homepage highlight ‘Crazy Dave’s Videos!’. All product graphics on the live site are created by the client and uploaded using the customised WordPress Content Management System.

To view the new Dragon-i Toys website please visit: dragon-itoys.com
_{Please note: The site is hosted in China and may run a little slower outside of this territory}

Not content with tying in your iPhone and iPad with iTunes and AirPlay? Good news! Apple have just announced CarPlay, allowing you to sync your iDevice with your 3rd most expensive asset (behind your house and kids). With CarPlay you’ll be able to make calls, use Maps (I wonder if that’ll include Google Maps?), listen to music and messages using either the car’s inbuilt system or Siri. Hopefully Siri’s requirement to access the net won’t be a barrier to using voice control, or munch all your data on the M1.

CarPlay will be available in 2014 in cars from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benx, Volvo, BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota Motor Corp. CarPlay will be compatible with iOS 7 and Lightning-enabled iPhones, which suggests a docking system and no iPad compatibility, which is a shame as I can see the iPad Mini working rather well with this.

View Apple’s press release for more info on CarPlay.

From the University of Cambridge Museums 
Two Temple Place and running London from 31 January to 27 April 2014, Discoveries is the first major exhibition to bring together the fascinating collections from all eight University of Cambridge Museums and this responsive website has been designed by Gooii to support the exhibition.

The exhibition challenges and responds to the very notion of ‘discovery’, displaying objects that span millennia; from artworks to scientific artefacts, historic instruments to rare zoological specimens. It is about imagination and knowledge, the pleasures of looking and the power of objects to generate wonder as well as new ideas.

To view the site for this exciting new exhibition please visit: www.museums.cam.ac.uk/discoveries

2014 is barely underway and we’ve already got some great apps and websites in development. We are currently producing projects for Royal Armouries, Royal Museums Greenwich, The Historical Association, Racing Profits Guides, Staffordshire Council, East of England Broadband Network (E2BN), Museum of London, Norfolk Museums Service, Dragon-i Toys and the University of Cambridge (supported by NESTA, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and Arts Council England). Add to this the work we’re doing for other companies, including various blue chip clients, and it’s shaping up to be a very busy and exciting year.

For a preview of the CultureFinder mobile app please visit: culturefinder.org.uk

To all our clients, suppliers and associates may we take this opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas! We’ve had a great year that has seen a wealth of new clients, as well an explosion in the app development side of our business. Thanks also to the loyal support of all our clients and we look forward to working with you again, in what’s already shaping up to be a fantastic 2014!

A reminder of our Christmas closing times, we’ll be shut from December 24th until we return on January 6th. During that period if you need to contact us please email [email protected] and we’ll be in touch at the earliest opportunity.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Learn to read and rhyme using this fun and exciting new app!

The Fab-Phonics’ adventures continue in ‘Rap and Tap’, staring Skids a super-cool dancer who can move things with his mind! Containing a selection of rhyming raps with colourful animations and sounds, The Fab-Phonics ‘Rap and Tap’ is designed to help teach young children to read. It’s fun, easy-to-use and focuses on building fluency in reading and rhyming simple three letter consonant, vowel, consonant words.

The app can also be used to help teach English as a foreign language, or as a tool for adults learning to read.

The Fab-Phonics ‘Rap and Tap’ is available now and is free for both the iPhone and iPad.

It was fun. It was itchy. It was hairy. But more importantly, by taking part in Movember we helped raise £625 and awareness for men’s health issues, including prostate and testicular cancer. Thanks to all our friends and families who supported us this past month and a big well done to everyone who took part, you helped make the funny looks and Village People comparisons well worth while.

If you’d like to donate to Movember you can still do so at: moteam.co/the-gooii-mooii