This week marks the 2013 edition of the London Coffee Festival. Coinciding with National Coffee Week, London Coffee Festival will be held once again at the Old Truman Brewery near Brick Lane in Shoreditch, London. For three days, coffee snobs from around the world will be descending to sample coffee, attend or watch the UK Barista Championship, learn the art of brewing artisan coffee and take part in many other caffeine related fun. Inside, the festival will be divided into zones, including a pop up coffee shop in 'Soho', a food court in 'Shoreditch' and picnic area in 'Hyde Park'.
Tickets for each session costs from £12.50 on the door with discounts for online booking. Best of all, while you learn to appreciate specialty coffee, 50% of ticket sales will go towards Project Waterfall, a charity which aims to provide safe drinking water and sanitation in coffee producing counties in Africa.
Sony officially launched the Android-powered Xperia Z on Tuesday at a launch event in Victoria House, London. The event was designed to showcase the Xperia Z's unique feature, and included a ball pit where guests could jump into. Guests can then use the Xperia Z to test out its burst mode ability, which can capture up to 999 9MP image in just over a minute. Impressive? I thought so. If you have an active kid, or an active lifestyle, this may just be the phone for you.
In addition to the Xperia Z, guests were also shown the new Xperia SP, L and Tablet Z, which I had a brief hands-on with. The highlight of the evening were the combination of an art/tech installation and music performance by French DJ Madeon (who at 18 years old, is probably just about legal enough to attend himself!). As if to highlight their Skynet ambition, Sony had two robotic arms installed and made to pour paint over an installation. Combined with a brilliant lighting and laser effects, I thought it was a rather electrifying and vivid display of (loud) music, visual art and technology coming together.
Yesterday evening Nokia hosted a Lumia #Switch Party at the Flat Iron Square in Southwark. The event celebrated the launch of the Lumia 920 and 820 Windows Phone 8 smartphones, and is a sequal to last year's mind blowing '4D' projection performance at the Millbank Tower in London.
That one
So how could Nokia and deadmau5 top last year's crazy display? Well they didn't, but then again, they didn't exactly have to. As this year's performance location was kept secret (the event was exclusive to Nokia staffs, competition winners and a few guests), it was billed as a more intimate event. The rather heavy handed approach by security did annoy us a little bit (the event was oversubscribed) and it didn't help that no one knew exactly where they should be facing so everyone just pushed forward towards the Shard.
Sure, the effects did not blow our mind like last year's, but the music at least did. Using the surrounding buildings around Flat Iron Square as props and special effects for the gig, deadmau5's cracking performance matches the area perfectly. Props to Nokia for the invite and deadmau5 for an entertaining, if chilly, night.
Yesterday I attended a media summit hosted by Nokia at The Trafalgar in London. As you know, Nokia is currently undergoing one of its biggest challenge in the mobile industry. They have recently lost the title of world largest mobile phone vendor to Samsung, and has even seen their market cap fallen below that of HTC. Many arm chair analysts has already written off the beleaguered Finnish company.
Nokia's issues aren't confined to analysts, but more importantly with customers, the media and retailers, and also internal staff. So how is Nokia attempting to win the hearts and minds of potential customers? They outlined a few commitments. On the media front, Nokia UK will be moving to a new HQ in London so that they will be 'closer to us', as they so aptly put it. They have trained most of their staff for the Lumia to gauge their advocacy.
I have been looking forward to Nokia World 2011 ever since the end of Nokia World 2010, particularly more so after the huge bombshell in February. You know, the one where Nokia ditched Symbian and go all Redmond. Well, it pleases me to say that I have finally received an email last week confirming my registration to this year's event at London ExCel on 26 and 27 October. :D
As we have been told many times, this year is a transition period for Nokia. They have announced (and practically killed off) a single Meego device, spinned off their development of Symbian to Accenture, placed more emphasis on Series 40 as a long-term replacement to Symbian and committed to Windows Phone 7 ecosystem as their primary smartphone strategy. Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft's unique take on mobile OS with a new grid-less based GUI. When I the OS last year I cautioned against the lack of features expected from a modern smartphone. I was however very impressed by the UI and UX and noted that given time, Microsoft can turn Windows Phone 7 into a compelling OS for both power and mainstream users. And with the upcoming Mango update, it seems Microsoft has succeeded. The only question is convincing smartphone users to ditch their Androids and iPhones for one.
Nokia World this year doesn't look to be as massive in scale as last year's, but it is still early days to know what to expect. What is probably true is that the event will definitely be a very Windows Phone 7 focused event. We can expect Nokia to announce their first ever Windows Phone 7 smartphone, the already leaked Nokia codenamed Sea Ray device, and probably a couple more other devices, including none-Windows Phone phones with enhanced Microsoft applications.
Follow me on @jonchoo and the #NokiaWorld hashtag for updates.
Yesterday I attended the press launch of a new Discovery Channel series Alone in the Wild at the swish One Marylebone London, a venue that serves great canapes I should add. The six-part series will follow eight celebrities surviving in the wild. Sounds familiar? Well it should - this is the sort of reality TV isn't new.
Except it sort of is.
With Alone in the Wild, each participants are left completely alone. And when Discovery Channel meant alone, they don't mean fake alone like the Bear Grylls's Man vs Wild series where he often misleads viewers into thinking he is alone stranded on an island when in fact he has a whole camera crew with him and retires to a 'basecamp' every so often. No, in Alone in the Wild, Discovery Channel stresses that each of the personalities were left completely alone with their own camera equipments to film themselves.
Six episodes will be shown from 5 October:
Episode 1: Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff, the former captain to England's Cricket team, who was left alone in Botswana. Here he encountered a herd of elephants and received a nocurnal visit that terrified him.
Episode 2: Jason Gardiner, judge of Dancing on Ice and Strictly Dance Fever, was also left to fend on for himself on Belize for six nights. No luck catching fishes, he almost gave up after three days but a rainbow soon changed his mind.
Episode 3: Comedian Joe Pasquale, who is no stranger to the wild. He was winner of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here after all. In this series, Joe was sent to a wet Guyana where he lost three toenails and vowed not to kill anything with a face.
Episode 4: Amy Williams, the first British Winter Olympics individual gold medalist in 30 years, was paired up with Tanya Streeter, a world record holder in free diving (at a depth of 160 metres), were also sent to Botswana where they spent three days in separate camps.
Episode 5: Two tough guys were paired up at Guyana. Donal Macintyre, an investigagive journalists, and Chris Ryan, a retired SAS who once walked nearly 200 miles to escape Iraq in 1991. One had a lucky escape from a tree.
Episode 6: Aron Ralston, a mountain climber and the subject of Danny Boyle's well received 127 Hours film. In 2003 Aron was forced to amputate his right arm with a dull knife in order to free himself from a boulder. He was left marooned on Belize, a deserted island, for... you guessed it - 127 hours. Homesick, he starts to dwell on the 127 hours he spent trapped in Utah and even began to talk to coconuts.
I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to watching Aron Ralston doing his best Tom Hank's impression.
On Wednesday I was invited to Sony Ericsson's XPERIA Party at the swanky and glamorous Aqua Nueva roof terrace in Soho London. This was the same venue where I stalked Pamela Anderson for her autograph almost a year ago.
The purpose of the event was to showcase two new Sony Ericsson products - the recently launched XPERIA ray, a slim but powerful Android smartphone for those who has no interest on the current supersized smartphones; and the recently announced XPERIA arc S - which itself is a refresh of the rather excellent XPERIA Arc.
We were also shown a demo of the latest Android 2.3.4 update by Sony Ericsson, which introduces 3D sweep panorama ability - a feature that intrigued me because Sony Ericsson has no smartphones with two camera modules. Curious to see what I thought about it? Read my thoughts on how well it works here.
For the evening, Sony Ericsson commissioned two artists to entertain us. The first I can't remember who it was (apologies, I probably should but I am not a fan of R&B) and the second was Dynamo the Magician, who I have to admit I have never heard of him. Well apparently he is quite a popular magician who recently 'walked' the Thames in London.
I was chastised by Nick (of the Average Gamer)'s cool mum for being so ignorant. I have an excuse, my interest with magician sort of ebbed away ever since I saw David Copperfield when I was twelve - and to me nothing can ever top David Copperfield, hence my disinterest with modern magicians like Derren Brown and David Blaine. Still Dynamo was rather good and I was impressed by his card tricks.
I had a good night with many fellow mobile tech bloggers/journalists. Thanks to Sony Ericsson UK and Brando World for the invite.
On Wednesday I was invited to a Aloft VIP party at The Vinyl Factory in Soho, London. The location was tricky to find as it was tucked away inside a record store, the Phonica Records on Poland Street, but thankfully some forward thinking helped.
The event/party was an early launch celebration of the Aloft hotel brand by Starwood due to open near the ExCel London exhibition centre later this year. In addition to celebrating Aloft's entry into the UK hotel market with Aloft London ExCel, they have also collaborated with Live Nation and Music Dealers to showcase some emerging unsigned British music talent.
According to Aloft, the event is aimed to highlight the sort of brand Aloft is aiming to become - in that it would be hip, modern and contemporary - hence the location and atmosphere of the party. Which is weird, as the hotel would be built in the London Borough of Newham. Still they have their reasons for building the new hotel there. Due to its proximity to some of East London's Olympic venues, as well as ExCel London, Aloft will surely acquire plenty of business, especially if they have a wicked party venue.
Still I can't help wonder if they should be targeting the hip and trendy part of London, like Soho and Shoreditch instead. But hei, what do I know about hotels? ;) On the other hand Starwood has recently brought their W boutique brand of hotels to London. The recently launched W in Leicester Square on the former grounds of the Swiss Centre building was the first.
The artists featured on the evening were Jay James Picton, Bones and Tiger Love, who recently supported Yelle. I have never heard of any of these artists prior to the invite. I have to say, from an outsider of the industry but a music lover, that all three have potential. I enjoyed Jay James Picton's opening set of modern soul music. The Indie Rock Camden-based Bones played a highly energetic set until some of the guests started dancing. Finally Tiger Love, also based in London, closed the evening with their brand of electro psychedelic rock. Check out their Under Control music video below. I certainly hope they get signed soon.
HTC are holding a press event in London on 12 April. That's tomorrow. Nokia will also be holding a press event tomorrow, concerning Symbian. Do you know where I am going with this? Yes, Nokia is getting even with HTC for Nokia World 2010.
Just a reminder. At last year's Nokia World 2010, HTC and Nokia had a funny and very public spat in front of the world's technology press. Basically HTC sent a couple of coaches to Nokia World in order to ferry journalists to Central London for the HTC London press conference. In retaliation Nokia sent a couple of employees to 'picket' the event with Ovi Maps balloons and handing out Nokia lunch boxes with Ham, Tomato and Cheese sandwiches to the press outside.
So what will Nokia announce? Well I suspect (or hope) we will see a full preview of the long awaited revamped of Symbian UI. We will also see new device announcement in the form of a new E-series flagship, the E6 which replaces the successful E72, and X7.
In any case I will be at the HTC event. Expect a new Android flagship smartphone filled with features we do not need to be revealed. Follow my twitter stream for updates from the press conference.
Last week Sony Ericsson launched their latest salvo of Xperia smartphones. The Xperia Play went on sale in the UK on Friday, while the Arc a couple of days before. If you have read my impression of the Xperia Play, you will know that the Xperia Play is a PlayStation certified Android phone that has an integrated gaming pad and access to PlayStation Suite. Android games optimised for the Xperia Play as well as old PlayStation classics will be available on the market.
As part of the launch Sony Ericsson set up a pop up gaming room at the Old Sorting Office, New Oxford Street in Central London, where the public was able to go hands on with the Xperia Play. The warehouse was transformed into a video gaming scene set in the Far East (Vietnam), decorated with props that are lifted out of gaming scenes such as a helicopter, sport car, rocket launcher and a crashed car. Sony Ericsson reps were dotted around the venue and were ever so helpful when demoing the devices to guests. A competition to win a Xperia Play was also held for guests checking in via Foursquare.
In the evening the warehouse was transformed into a party venue. All the props remained, but the area was now cordoned off to the public. VIP guests were then treated with (very) loud music, free drinks, hawker-style Chinese chow mein noodles and a free gig by a certain Tinchy Stryder.
Today is International Pillow Fight Day 2011. As I write this, various pillow fight flash mob has happened or are happening in cities around the world from Hong Kong, Lisbon, Paris, Cape Town to New York. The London event happened today at 3pm at Trafalgar Square where several hundred participants pounded each other for almost an hour. It was incredibly fun and full of energy, with people from all walks of life participating. Many has vowed to make it for next year's International Pillow Fight Day 2012 - to be held on 7 April 2012.
Update:
I have just been informed that the 'Fight for Japan' pillowcases you see in the pictures I posted below were designed by Quick & Shirty. The pillowcases were sold at the Pillow Fight day in London. In fact you can buy t-shirts and other merchandises with the design on it, with all proceeds going towards the Japan Red Cross.
Here's a short video clip I recorded while in the middle of the pillow fight action:
Yesterday evening me and some friends from #LeStudio52 braved the winter cold to watch the "Vienna: Now or Never Night" six minutes short film in Central London. The 3D film was composed of waltz dancers, an orchestra conductor guiding musical notes in and out of the building, fairy cakes, people dancing at a club and Christmas tree with snow. It was beamed entirely onto the Edwardian-era Imagination building on Store Street, via six video projectors.
About a week ago I was invited to the Stella Artois World Draught Master at Old Billingsgate in London. The event was the 14th edition of the competition, with 25 bartenders from across the world competing for the title of World Draught Master. It was hosted by none other than Mark Dolan of Channel 4's Balls of Steel, previously seen hosting the Mobile Choice Consumers Award the week before!
There is a nine step ritual in pouring a Stella Artois beer, and the competition is based on whoever can pour the best pint based on those ritual. I've previously blogged about it at another event where I was given in a schooling in such rituals. A video of the contestants doing what they do best is available here. I will try to upload more later on.
After three elimination of un'X-Factor'ish rounds, the judges decided that Chris Myers of the USA was best at making your beer tastes good. He won an undisclosed cash prize and will serve as an ambassador for Stella Artois in a world tour.
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Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft's unique take on mobile OS with a new grid-less based GUI. When I the OS last year I cautioned against the lack of features expected from a modern smartphone. I was however very impressed by the UI and UX and noted that given time, Microsoft can turn Windows Phone 7 into a compelling OS for both power and mainstream users. And with the upcoming Mango update, it seems Microsoft has succeeded. The only question is convincing smartphone users to ditch their Androids and iPhones for one.
About a week ago I was invited to the Stella Artois World Draught Master at Old Billingsgate in London. The event was the 14th edition of the competition, with 25 bartenders from across the world competing for the title of World Draught Master. It was hosted by none other than Mark Dolan of Channel 4's Balls of Steel, previously seen hosting the Mobile Choice Consumers Award the week before!
