Last week it was Glasgow*’s turn to host the LG Style Icon contest - this weekend we’re heading to Belfast for the forth shoot. LG will be hosting an open-call photo-shoot at the CastleCourt shopping centre from 10am on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June.

Any budding models in Northern Ireland - now’s your chance to be the face of LG, so don’t miss it!

For more information about the competition, check out the official LG StyleIcon site.

Yesterday Dubai’s plans for a ‘moving’ skyscraper became the talk to the ‘net (unfortunately I was locked in an excel report and Chris was very excited about toast so we kinda missed the boat but we’re catching up now!)

The “Dynamic Tower”, dreamt up by Italian architect David Fisher (who has never built a sky-scraper before), will be the world’s first moving building - Dubai do like their firsts don’t they?

The Dynamic Tower will house 80 apartments that will all spin completely independently of one another.

“It’s the first building that rotates, moves, and changes shape,” Fisher said, at a New York news conference. “This building never looks the same, not once in a lifetime,” he also said “These buildings will open our vision all around, to a new life.”

The Beeb have an interview clip with a great computer animation of David Fisher’s ‘Dynamic Tower’ undulating away and looking generally very cool (what’s with the gratuitous car though?)

It’s in that clip that you discover some eco-thinking has been thrown into the mix too - the building should be energy self-sufficient and Fisher claims the turbines would produce enough electricity to power the entire building and even feed extra power back into the grid!
Whether the building can live up to that boast or not, it’s very impressive because it’s the turbines that make the tower move - there are a total 79 giant wind turbines, one located between each floor, which all connect up to the central column that the apartments will all circle. At voice command, if that wasn’t enough!

It’s projected that the apartments will take between one and three hours to make a complete rotation (much to the relief of anyone planning to eat dinner inside one I imagine!) and will cost from $3.7m to $36m.

According to Associated Press:

movement isn’t the only unique feature about this building - Designers say they plan to build it all in a factory in Italy. When its complete, they’ll ship the structure to Dubai, where they hope it will be ready for offices and residents by 2010.

Another hugely exciting and ambitious, green but also dynamic building to watch on the ever growing skyline of Dubai - now I just have to find $3.7m in the next 2 years…

Toast rarely makes it into the headlines - a mundane yet underrated aspect of life, it largely goes unnoticed and uncelebrated. Until now, that is. Yesterday Simon over at Digital Lifestyles went over to the RCA to meet Freddie Yauner, inventor of a CO2-powered supertoaster, who broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s highest-popping toaster - an impressive 2.6m. Simon took along his LG Viewty and so managed to capture the toaster’s awesome popping power at 120fps - check out the video below:

The slices of toast quite clearly manage to go well above 2.6m, and in fact could well be in orbit around the Earth by now, so do keep an eye out for them!

Over at Product Reviews Peter discusses the possibility of holographic mobile phones in a few years (complete with excellent geeky homage to Star Wars), but Peter worries that as cool as such an addition might be, it might not be so useful:

I am not totally sold on the whole holographic handset, I do understand that for future phones we all want to see some really cool features. I do worry though that the Holographic handset is one feature too far, I do not think that I would have any use for such a feature, but then again I am only one person.

I don’t quite agree - just because we can’t think of anything right now doesn’t mean we won’t find uses in the future. I’m sure the first people who put cameras in phones were treated with a certain amount of scepticism yet cameraphones have transformed how we both consume and make media - think of all the news being broken on blogs and moblogs with cameraphones. While a lot of the use of cameras is just for leisure - fun pics and snaps - it still has its serious uses, and I’m sure holograms are the same; we might not be able to predict their uses but once they come along we’ll wonder how we ever got on without them.

It’s just a matter of time - and as for them being around in two years - I think it might take a bit longer; and in any case the current trends are in touchscreen, mobile internet and handset deign, none of which really tie in with holograms very well. But there may well be a day when it comes so I’m not ruling anything out…

As the partner of a cycling-commuter, I’m often subject to lectures on why I should get on my bike - save money, better for environment (and my thighs - he didn’t say that, he likes his knees too much), faster than the bus, etc… So I was well aware that last week was Bike Week (and also Van Week according to an advert I saw.. Nice mix, perhaps make it bendy bus week too for 2009 to get the full London flavour..?) and it seems to have given some companies ideas or perhaps they were just slightly behind the trend - PSKF today informed me that Ikea are planning to offer cycle trailer rentals at stores to the 20% of customers who come by bike and might not be able to carry that fold-away sofa/bedroom suite home.

I salute anyone brave enough to attempt furniture deliveries on a cycle and also Ikea for having looked into that area!

Then, TopShop launched their ‘Green Week’ today with a ‘what to wear on your bike’ video -

All the efforts of campaigns such as those mentioned above are now starting to sway me - there is also a Dept of Transport Cycle to Work Scheme to save enough more of your pennies. I think I may stay off the main roads until the bendy buses are gone however - I think the odds are more to my liking when the biggest thing on the road isn’t quite that big… Of course by then I’ll have missed the sunshine and the chance to get that bikini body the magazines are so crazed for. (not mine specifically)
Hmm.. Perhaps I can spend my way to confidence - get some traffic stopping style to get me through the commute safely? Might make the roads more dangerous for the rest of you though…

Sorry!

Last week it was Bluewater’s turn to host the LG Style Icon contest - this weekend we’re heading to Glasgow for the third shoot. Also LG will be hosting an open-call photo-shoot at the CastleCourt shopping centre next week (Saturday June 28 and Sunday June 29) from 10am.

For more information about the competition, check out LGStyleIcon.com.

Following the Unlimited Drinks last week there’s a nice roundup on the SMS Text News podcast and Helen & I get a shout-out from the boys - thank you Ben & James for your kind words about us, we hope we continue to impress in future! There’s also lots of other interesting stuff, including the Mobile Web 2.0 Summit’s blog, and details of the forthcoming Mobile Geeks of London event which I’ll be attending, so if you’re going too then see you there!

A fascinating article from the New York Times about “The Web Time Forgot“, about how a Belgian scientist, Paul Otlet, dreamt up the Internet before the first electronic computer had even been invented:

In 1934, Otlet sketched out plans for a global network of computers (or “electric telescopes,” as he called them) that would allow people to search and browse through millions of interlinked documents, images, audio and video files. He described how people would use the devices to send messages to one another, share files and even congregate in online social networks. He called the whole thing a “réseau,” which might be translated as “network” — or arguably, “web.”

Predicting technology is a perilous thing - remember the famous (and possibly apocyphal) quote from IBM President Thomas Watson, who said “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers“. Yet here Otlet is a rare example of someone getting it right - he started his own index-card library aimed at being the repository of the world’s knowledge without limit (very Wikipedia-like) and even had his own version of a search engine, although limited by the technology of the time: people had to post their requests in (which reminds me of this Google circa 1960 joke).

Best of all, he even proposed the one use of the Internet which outstrips all the others today - helping people keep in touch, whether it be by social networks, messaging or working together:

While he very likely would have been flummoxed by the anything-goes environment of Facebook or MySpace, Otlet saw some of the more productive aspects of social networking — the ability to trade messages, participate in discussions and work together to collect and organize documents.

Sadly, the Second World War brought an end to Otlet’s work and a lot of his works were destroyed during the conflict. Today only a small museum, the Mundaneum in Mons, Belgium, stands in testament to his vision, and as the report says, they don’t get many visitors. Which is a shame, it’s so rare to see someone get technological predictions so right. If you ever do find yourself in the vicinity of Mons do go and check it out - and report back here what it’s like.

I was pleased to discover on Friday that the Lates festival has returned to London for the summer. Now if only I can get my GP opening for the same hours I can fix my culture withdrawal and my hayfever woes in one fell swoop!

I have to admit though, that right now the only thing I’m excited about is Hair Hats, which One Part Truth brought to my attention this morning:

Incredible, aren’t they? If I were going to Royal Ascot this week I’d love to wear a horse themed hairhat! Unfortunately I have no idea whether you can buy them or how/when/why they were made or even if they are actual hats or sculptures made with the models’ own hair, but you can see more of Nagi Noda’s unique work here.

It’s Friday so here’s our weekly video. They say never work with children or animals - but in this case they’re wrong. Loki the husky couldn’t have behaved better as she performed brilliantly for the camera, while we took some slow-motion footage of her to demonstrate the LG Secret’s 120fps video camera. Check it out:

As I mentioned earlier in the week, over the next couple of months LG are running a series of roadshows all over the country as part of the LG Style icon competition, a UK-wide search for the start of a forthcoming LG advertising campaign. The first was held in Reading last weekend (pictured above) and the next will be held over the forthcoming weekend (June 14 & 15) at Bluewater in Kent. So if you fancy, why not head there and who knows, you could be the face of LG this autumn!

For more information about the competition, check out LGStyleIcon.com.

I passed Topshop’s Oxford St branch the other night and was impressed by their new window display - featuring a mannequin in front of a mirror taking a self-portrait. I was a tad annoyed that I’d run the battery down on my Secret demoing it at the SMS drinks (read: playing darts and fishing!) so was unable to get a photo of it - has anyone got one?
Anyway, this is postworthy because when I checked my feeds today I realised the window display was just the tip of the iceberg!

Topshop have recreated the ‘Newton Machine’ in their Oxford Circus branch this week, before it jets off on a mini UK tour. Always in the know, Susie at Style Bubble went down to investigate/road test the machine before it opened to the public and posed for the gallery while she was there. As usual she looks lovely:

Staged in a bespoke photographic studio in Topshop Oxford Circus, Manchester and Dublin we will showcase Helmut Newton’s most treasured piece of photographic equipment. Working with the Helmut Newton Estate, Topshop will help bring this original 70’s photographic concept into the modern day by recreating the Helmut Newton Photo Machine instore for customers to create their own fashion moment. You can be a photographer, model and stylist, all in one. Simply walk in, pose and press a button

It’s an original and interesting idea and it’s great to see TopShop doing something like this.

For more go to the dedicated TopShop site which, in addition to the gallery has some tips from Helmut Newton’s assistant, Philippe Serieys, and more information on the great man himself.

Last night Helen & I had the pleasure of attending “Unlimited Drinks London“, one of the foremost social events for mobile professionals in the UK, organised by the tirelessly enthusiastic Ewan of SMSTextNews. We met plenty of interesting people, from tech bloggers such as James Whatley and David Stone, to the guys from travel journal startup Mapness, and had chats about everything from the future of LG’s phones to whether Twitter or Jaiku was better. For those of you who missed it, there should be some photos and video of the event coming later today.

Those of you who we met there and are checking this blog out for the first time - hello, it was nice meeting you, and we hope you stay - do also check out us on Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Finally, we also held a little prize draw for everyone who dropped their business card off at the event, and our congratulations go to Claire Jones and Stephen Wadeley who both won brand new LG KF600s to take home with them, and we hope they have a lot of fun with them!

Today we’re pleased to announce the new LG Style Icon competition, a UK-wide search for the start of a forthcoming LG advertising campaign. We’ve long been pioneering in style, as most recently personified by the new phone in our Black Label series, the LG Secret, and this competition offers any aspiring models among you the chance to star for LG this coming autumn.

A nationwide roadshow, running from Reading to Glasgow, Belfast to Bluewater, will visit ten regions around the country, hosting open call-castings where members of the public can strut their stuff - the funkier and more original, the better - and have their photographs entered into the competition. The top five for each region will be decided by a public vote, and the winners for each region will be selected by an LG panel.

The ten regional winners will get star treatment, including a five-star VIP weekend in London and a professional photo-shoot for their billboard ad. One male and one female will be selected by Andrew Tucker, the fashion journalist and London Fashion Week talent scout, to become the style icon for a future campaign, with the winners to be announced in September.

For more details of where the roadshow is visiting your region visit LGstyleicon.com. If you can’t make the roadshows but still want to want the chance to win you can upload your own photo to the website. Good luck to everyone who enters, and if any of you are the winners then remember to bear us in mind in your thank-you speech!

It’s Friday, so it’s time for another LG Blog video! This time it was my turn and I had a look at one of the most fun aspects of the LG Secret, which is the M-Toy functionality. The M-Toy takes advantages of the phone’s accelerometers (also used to auto-rotate the screen and make the camera easier to use). Check out how I get on playing darts (not very successfully) and the fishing (where I’m like a pro):

For more videos like this be sure to subscribe to the LG Blog YouTube channel where Helen & I put the phone through its paces.

With yesterday being a lovely day I went out for a stroll at lunch and took some photos with the LG Secret, which you can enjoy over at our brand new LG Blog Flickr photostream. They came out pretty well - I even mucked about a bit with some of the camera’s settings including macro (the bluebells) and the colour filter (as seen by the sepia houses). Check them out below and be sure to look at the whole set.

Be sure to add us as a friend on Flickr and if you are the lucky owner of a new LG Secret (which are out this week in all good mobile & electronics stores) then why not join the official LG Secret group on Flickr to show off your cameraphone photos?

Flickr’s not the only thing we’ve been playing with recently; there’s also our LG Blog YouTube channel where we’ve been bringing video presentations of the latest LG stuff and more to come. We also now have an LG Blog Twitter stream as well which will feature not just stuff about posts but also what we’re up to lately at LG Blog Towers; if you have a Twitter account too then follow us (and we’ll follow you too).

We’re in the running for - along with some very respectable competition including Steve Clayton, Microsoft Exchange’s You had me at EHLO and ComputerWeekly’s editors blog among others.

It’s wonderful timing as now we have an excuse to celebrate at SMS Text’s Unlimited Drinks do next week ( I’m sure some would suggest unlimited drinks could be a reason enough in itself) perhaps we’ll see you there?

The final shortlist is out in July and all support is appreciated, so if you have the time - and think that we are worthy! - then why not nominate us as well to give us the best possible chance?

Nominate me in Company Blogs

Via Coolest Gadgets comes these rather excellent Coke Can Sculptures of famous UK landmarks (and by UK they don’t just mean London, which is a nice touch). They also have a great green message, of reusing & recycling spent materials into something new:

The Big Ben is nice but I prefer the Birmingham Bull (above, in between the real thing and a curious passer-by) - creating buildings or other geometric forms is easier to do with cans than to create something organic and flowing: that takes real skill and an artistic flair. Hats off to sculptor Pamina Stewart for her work.

This isn’t the first time people have used drinks cans as inspiration for art - there’s also the Red Bull Art of Can project, and on a more whimsical note, the Crushed Can project blog, which is also worth checking out.

It’s a grey Monday and everyone’s wishing there were more bank holidays to be had. So, to cheer you up, have a gander at the new LG Secret advert, coming to a UK TV screen near you later this week: