Here’s a gander at actress Celina Jaitley posing with an strategically-placed iPod on the cover of this month’s India edition of “Stuff.”
The former Miss India has appeared in about 18 Bollywood productions and has a forthcoming flick called “Showman” where she plays a half-Indian half English pole dancer.
Via One India
This wouldn’t be the most practical way to display your CDs, but it might appeal to some Apple enthusiasts. Chinese designer Li Jianye took inspiration from Apple’s Cover Flow function for browsing music, more views on his blog.
Via Geeky Gadgets
Toronto police have posted a security cam video of a $20,000 (about $16,000 USD) iPhone heist on YouTube in hopes of identifying the criminals.
Two armed robbers made a mid-morning visit to a cell phone store on November 1 2008, forcing staff to fill garbage bags with iPhones.
The first suspect is described as male, black, about 25 years old, around five foot nine with a slim build and wearing a dark green cloth jacket with some fur trim around the hood.
The second suspect is about the same age, height and sex, with a medium build. He was wearing dark clothing and had a white cloth covering his face.
In the YouTube video narrated by the investigating detective, you can sort of make out the iPhone boxes at one point when one of the staffers drops them on the floor as a gun is pressed into his back.
Anyone with information is asked to call the hold-up squad at 416-808-7350, or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or use the website 222tips.com.
Via Toronto Star
Men’s fashion shows are keeping things busy and taxis scarce in Milan this week. Designers are dealing with the luxe hangover with new sober designs; Bottega Veneta wants to move its expensive leather goods by putting the focus on how useful they are for toting small electronics.
IHT fashion scribe Suzie Menkes writes:
“Designer Tomas Maier took pains to explain the functionality of iPod-friendly bags. A projection would have helped to convey the details.”
It’s hard to imagine perpetually broody models opening up the bags like the one above on the runway to show the handy-dandy iPod pockets “Price is Right” style, but as Menkes later notes, if you believe in the quality of the Italian fashion house known for its woven leathers, you’ll just have to take thier word for it.
Barack Obama is a Mac. At least that’s how the NYT described his style, approach, manner — naming rival Hillary Clinton a PC about a year ago.
The soon-to-be 44th president of the United States, who addresses citizens via YouTube and Twitter, is also a Mac user who has been spotted flashing an iPhone, keeps up with his family via iChat, whose “O” logo was designed on a Mac and whose campaign was powered by MacBooks.
Obama has said they’ll have to pry the Blackberry out of his hands and, in addition to the more obvious firsts, may be the first president to put a lap top in the Oval Office. (It would give him something in common with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, who has been photographed doing official business on his MacBook.)
Do you want to see a Mac on the desk of the Oval Office or is the choice of First Laptop a non-issue?
This Apple keyboard concept has an induction charge and sync on the right hand side for an iPhone or iPod and six programable OLED keys much like the Optimus Maximus Aux keyboard.
The mock-ad lists the price as $79. Worth the price for going wireless?
Via Textually
This prototype bedside lamp with an iPod dock and speaker has simple curve design, it’s exactly the kind of thing that is yes, useful, but that you could buy just for the looks.
Props to designer Sang-Hoon Lee, hope to give more details soon.
Via Yanko Design
A little more interesting than your usual hodgepodge of stickers, these black die cut vinyl decals fit on 13″, 15″ and 17″ laptop covers.
Giving your MacBook a little animal appeal, there’s a version with a cat fishing for a goldfish, or a squirrel munching on your Apple logo.
Made by a Milwaukee corporate designer by day who lists his favorite materials as vinyl and a 15-inch MacBook Pro…
$11 on Etsy
Soccer fans can keep up with Champion’s League games and Italy’s Serie A games on their iPhones thanks to a free web app developed in cooperation with Sky.
Stats, line-ups, photos and play-by-plays (for the moment, in Italian only) are available at https://i.sky.it/
The web app was developed by CEFRIEL, an ICT research hub for three Milan Universities, with a special eye to Apple-friendly design. One example: a list of team members can be rotated horizontally to a soccer field view which shows the positions they play.
A lot of men here in Italy used to walk around with transistor radios on Sundays listening to soccer games. Of late, these have been replaced by videophone services that allow fans ignore wives and friends while having a stroll. Although it would’ve been nice to be able to watch the games live, this lets sports fans keep on top of the score without ruining conversation over Sunday lunch.
Via Alfonso Fuggetta
U.S. News & World Report named the “Get A Mac” campaign one of the best marketing jobs in recent times, putting it up there 13 killer campaigns including “What happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas” and “Will it Blend?”
Here’s why:
Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign, which launched in 2006, puts the hip, easygoing Mac against the hapless, problem-prone PC. “The message of these ads is clear,” says communications professor Stephen Marshall, author of Television Advertising That Works.
“Every one of them says, ‘Don’t be this guy.’ You don’t want to be the PC.” The TV ads also appeared online, and the company released a series of web-only ads to capitalize on consumer interest in the characters. People got the message–Mac’s market share grew by 42 percent.
Lesson: Create engaging characters in your online video to help grow an audience that’s receptive to your brand.
Interesting to see some praise outside the community, since the campaign has won several awards but hasn’t always been loved by ad critics.
Via US News
Apple products are a natural for high falutin’ teen drama “Gossip Girl,” where just about everything the upper East Siders use has a recognizable brand name.
Gossip Girl, however, is sponsored by Verizon. To keep them happy, producers artfully block the Apple logos from getting into shots, but as a result Apple’s presence is almost more consipicous than it would be otherwise. The shot on the left reminds me of the trick directors use to hide pregnant actesses by placing plants and furniture to hit just mid-tummy.
A nice slide show non-Apple Apple product placement on Gossip Girl at Geek Sugar settles an ongoing argument I’ve been having with a friend over whether Dan’s laptop is a Mac or not…
Photos courtesy of The CW
Funnyman Jim Carrey keeps his love alive with wife, former playmate and comedian Jenny McCarthy, by dancing for her on iChat.
McCarthy tells OK magazine (with much enthusiasm!) that she and her Yes Man text and use iChat to keep in touch while he’s on the set.
Jenny says she and Jim also use a web cam from time to time.
“I haven’t done any dancing, but I make him do that!” she says. “It’s nice! With the iChat, we’re always afraid that there’s a third party watching! We’re a little bit careful, but it’s a great way to have that face connection!”
She also confesses that between the two of them there’s not much ha ha-ing around the house. Somehow I find that hard to believe, especially if he’s shaking his groove thing for her regularly.
Via OK
Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab has an interesting series on changing journalism, both in terms of what the digital backpack journalist uses and how they use it.
NBC news journalist Mara Schiavocampo opened up her 30-pound reporter’s backpack (a custom job with wheels) for them in a two-part interview about her work.
In addition to the newsroom standard issue Sony HVR-V1U HDV camcorder and a bunch of other expensive stuff, she uses an Apple MacBook Pro (in the image above), edits with Final Cut Pro and totes an extra MacBook battery for staying power.
The Motown label is celebrating half a century of hits with a free podcast series on iTunes.
Dubbed “mo-casts,” they’re behind-the scenes interviews with pop greats including Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations and the Four Tops.
The first 15 episodes include the Anatomy of a Hit: “Love Hangover,” Stevie Wonder in a rare archive interview and hip-hop artist Q-tip on his favorite Motown hits.
Ah, the dead mighty mouse. Who hasn’t been there once or twice?
This pic made me smile, my last Apple mouse had too many trackball issues and I’ve used no-name one ever since…
Photo used under Creative Commons license, thanks to riddle on Flickr, who also tagged the photo of the deceased mouse “fifty bucks on a rope.”
Crime is ugly. But it’s hard not to crack a smile at an enterprising thief who bought iPods, then returned the packages weighted down with rocks.
The thief took the empty Apple boxes back and exchanged them for four Zunes at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Nebraska.
Police believe the culprit used heat to reseal the plastic packaging. The iPods were put back on shelves, a customer who bought the iPod box without the MP3 device alerted the store.
Authorities warned that other stores in the area may have been hit by the same bait-and-switch scam.
Photo used under Creative Commons license, thanks to Dan Taylor on Flickr
Comedian Amy Sedaris narrates a three-part PBS series called “Make ’em Laugh” that debuts Jan. 14.
Her companion web video about online comedy provides more than a few chuckles and a nice Apple reference:
“I got a computer maybe four years ago because I have a rabbit and the rabbit got sick. It was too late to call the House Rabbit Society, so I thought I better get a computer because the next time she gets sick, I’ll be able to go on Ether Bunny and find out what’s going on.”
“Then I got iChat because I can just hold my rabbit up, call the House Rabbit Society and say, “Do you see this scab? What does it mean?” And then they can see it. See, I’m getting there.”
You can catch her 30-minute video on “Teh Internets” (sic) online, but put your headphones on — it rightly warns, “The following video contains mature content. Or immature content, depending on how you look at it. But it is not for kids.”
Via After Ellen
iPhones sold on the black market in Bangkok cost about $800, about eight times the U.S. retail price and over twice the average Thai’s monthly salary, a price people are willing to pay to carry around what one local tech reporter calls the Louis Vuitton of status phones.
Thailand is on Apple’s “coming soon” list for legit iPhones but correspondent Patrick Winn, who poked around the stalls at a Thai tech market for Global Post, says that in a country where about 70% of people have cell phones, not everyone is willing to wait.
Legit iPhones will contend with an existing iPhone black market, which for years has thrived in the vacuum and given rise to a network of smugglers and code breakers.
“The iPhones move fast, ” a vendor told Winn. “It’s hip. It’s sharp.”
Though the underground phones are exorbitantly priced the profit margin isn’t what attracts underground vendors. It’s the turnover that makes them worth smuggling and worth selling.
Image courtesy Global Post, full story here.
Recently-released movie “Bride Wars” stars Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway squaring off as two BFFs who stage competing weddings on the same day at New York’s Plaza Hotel.
Candice Bergen, who plays the wedding planner caught between the pair of bridezillas, is shown in the trailer using Macs in a couple of shots.
Early reviews warn “Bridal Wars” isn’t worth the 90-minute commitment, citing, among other things, the onslaught of product placement.
A lot of leading lights in popular music went to public schools in the windy city: Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls, Bo Diddley, Curtis Mayfield, Quincy Jones and Nat “King” Cole.
54 of these Chicago-themed tracks are on an iMix playlist on iTunes. The playlist was the brainchild of Brad Harbaugh, who runs the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) alumni website. Struck by the number of famous musicians when he was going through the alumni’s honor roll, he drew up a list of Chicago’s best.
CPS doesn’t profit directly from the sale of the $0.99USD tracks, but it is a nice way to promote schools and a cool idea for Chicago lovers in general. You can also see a list of the tracks, as well as exactly where the artists went to school in Chicago and when, on the alumni site.
There are a few unexpected tracks on the Chicago playlist like “A Boy Named Sue” by Shel Silverstein, “City of New Orleans” by Steve Goodman and “Rawhide” by Frankie Laine alongside the Jones’ theme to TV show “Sanford and Son,” “Change Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke and “Chuck E’s in Love” by Rickie Lee Jones.
On the downside, some alums whose lyrics were too deemed too explicit like Rhymefest and DaBrat were kept off the playlist.
More than just hot air, the idea is that music is an important part of the curriculum at Chicago public schools. Students from 50 high schools perform in a solo and ensemble concerts every spring at various high schools and elementary schools. The program, in its 84th year, is said to be the longest-running public-school concert series in the country.
The Chicago playlist is also a work in progress — if you know for sure what school Lupe Fiasco went to, let them know.
A nice idea for a “retired” Mac: new life as clocks.
Here are two versions using the side panel and front cover of a G4, which sort of looks like a giant Swatch but has an operating CD drive door and zip drive opening.
The creator is a guy (handle: pixelthis) with a fondness for all things Apple who has been taking things apart since the day he could walk and occasionally putting them back together.
These Mac clocks run about $60 each, available on Etsy.
His other clocks made from computer hard drives, bike wheels and bike gears are also worth a gander.
Some Nebraska state senators will go back to work with new MacBook Airs.
The government paid a discount price of $1,524 each for 70 laptops (49 of them go to lawmakers, the rest to staff), causing some to complain about expenses for “designer” computers:
Senator Tony Fulton of Lincoln questioned the purchase saying the Legislature could have managed with less than “designer laptops,” particularly during these tough economic times, according to the Omaha World Herald (The story didn’t specify which model was purchased.)
The state might have been able to buy laptops for $400 to $500 each, said Fulton, an engineer. “The decision was made with proper authority, and I’ll accept it,” he said, “but I don’t like it.”
A handful of other laptop models, in prices ranging from $1,100 to $2,200 were reviewed before deciding for the MacBook Airs. The Macs replace four-year-old Fujitsu Lifebook laptops.
In this Monday night CBS sitcom about what happens when a pair of physics geeks meet the beauty next door, Apple products crop up first, as far as I can tell, for use by the distressed.
In the third episode of the first season (Big Bang is now in its second season) roommates Leonard and Sheldon are playing a MMORPG with friends. Though all the computers are covered with stickers, it looks like the only Mac user is Raj, another university researcher who is so flustered by Penny, the blond neighbor, that he is always mute in her presence.
At Manhattan’s $12 million new marriage bureau, one of the improvements to make civil weddings a little less no-frills is are in-house iPod docks.
A description of the first couple to get hitched during a press preview there describes them tying the knot to the strains of Vivaldi from an iPod.
In the old set-up in Room 257, the sound of wedding bells only rang out if the bride or groom remembered to bring their own speakers.
Sold in a package made to look like a candy bar, this brown silicone case wraps your iPhone 3G in yummy goodness, though it does bloat the sleek line of the device.
The fatten-up might make a high-tech phone look slightly tired, though it does bring to mind Wired co-founder-cum-chocolatier Louis Rossetto.
About $25 at online store USB fever.
Via Gadget Dose
