Earlier this week it was announced LG has signed an agreement to become a Global Partner and Technology Partner of Formula 1™. The agreement starts in January 2009, LG Electronics’ CMO Dermot Boden said “Formula One represents the absolute peak of technological innovation and style, which is also our vision for the LG Electronics brand. We feel the excitement and electricity of F1 is unmatched by any sport, and we feel the same passion and energy here at LG.”

Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula One Group was also excited:

“LG is a leader in its field, it pioneers cutting edge technology, delivering innovation and excellence in a stylish package, which is what Formula 1 is about too”
“We have so much in common, I am very excited to begin our association and look forward to the technology solutions they can bring to us also.”

As the Official Data Processor of Formula 1™ the LG logo will be featured on the official live timing service at Formula One events and in the associated timing and data TV graphics. They will also enjoy a comprehensive package of premium marketing rights worldwide in association with the Formula 1™ brand. Pocket Lint are already preparing for an onslaught of F1-related mobile phones. Thanks for the suggestion guys!

[Update]
We now have some footage from the press conference on our YouTube channel:

Seems Taoist Philosopher Lao-tzu (quoted in the title) was really on to something - Today I rediscovered Worn Again, an ethical brand from the Sustainable lifestyle charity Anti-Apathy. Worn again is a shoe (mainly trainers) and bag collection made entirely from recycled materials more often viewed as rubbish such as seatbelts, leather car seats, bicycle tyres, recycled rubber, other shoes and binned textiles, including parachute silk.

All shoes, including Worn Again, are 100% recyclable. If you’ve come to the end of the road with your Worn Agains, please donate them to your local charity shop, or find out your nearest European Recycling Company (ERC) drop off point. They take all footwear, in any condition. The aim of ERC and of Worn Again is to prevent shoes ending up in rubbish dumps or being incinerated when there is still useful life in them.

They’re now also producing a ‘Virgin’ range, in partnership with Virgin Atlantic -

WORN AGAIN VIRGIN is a unique range of bags made out of old Virgin Atlantic seat covers and other ingredients, including car seat belts, post-Glastonbury tents and bicycle inner tubes.
Worn Again is working with Virgin Atlantic to meet its goal to halve the waste it sends to landfill by 50% by 2012.

At £60 the bags aren’t cheap but they’re each unique and handmade and it’s definitely a recycling effort we can support. Unfortunately they don’t seem to do any boots but I shall be adding them to my watch list in case they come up with an inventive way to help me get through a soggy London winter without resorting to buying leather or wearing my wellies to work!

Just a quick post to give a shout out to the guys at Mobile Industry Review (& the blog formerly known as SMS Text News) for their Christmas Present campaign.

It’s a ‘Donate and Win’ prize draw to win gadgets, mobiles and other goodies. All you have to do is donate at least £5($10) to on of Mobile Industry Review’s chosen charities - Childline or the UN Foundation

As they explain:

Each donation of £5 / $10 gets you one chance to win a prize from the list - you can donate as much as you like. Individuals and companies can participate and we’ll publish your name if you share your details with us.

It’s a great idea and we applaud their effects - even if you don’t win you’ll have that lovely warm feeling of having done some good to keep you snug on the way home.

Get involved here. The draw is on the 10th December, good luck if you are donating!

Last Tuesday I attended the European launch party for the new Prada handset by LG. It was a real learning experience for me - as well as a good chance to window shop, indoors, with wine! Some days I really love my job! - after being introduced to the funky and stylish Prada Link watch (you can find out more about that here) I discovered Fallen Shadows. Fallen Shadows is the second animated short created by PRADA and the latest episode is dedicated to the new PRADA phone by LG. You can see part one - with music by Antony and the Johnsons - on fashionologie’s YouTube Channel.

The animation, created by director James Lima and animation company Shanghai POP, experiments with state-of-the-art technology. This film is the first to use the digital technology of motion capture and cyber scanning – essentially an enormous 3D photocopying machine that scans and records a whole body to obtain a fully animated character:

Fallen Shadows will also to be part of the new multimedia content on the phone. There is also a lot of free-to-download content available on the official PradaPhonebyLG site.

On Tuesday we were invited to attend the European launch event for the second Prada phone by LG at the Prada store on Old Bond Street. It was a suitably stylish occasion, as I’m sure you can imagine.

The latest edition of the PRADA Phone by LG (LG KF900) offers a collection of technical upgrades and a slide out qwerty keyboard as well as a 5mp camera phone. To learn more about it check out our introduction post.

I’ve since learnt that there are some unique content displays included on this handset, such as the PRADA Fall/Winter 2008 Lookbook, new PRADA animation films dedicated to the PRADA Phone by LG, and wallpapers illustrating principal themes from PRADA’s annual design collections dating back to 2001!

LG and PRADA had another stunning offering up their sleeves, the ‘Prada Link’ (AKA the LG-LBA-T950). Set to be released with the new handset, this sleek and elegant digital watch is also a nifty Bluetooth device that can remotely monitor phone calls as well as read full SMS text messages and - most appealing to me - receive alarm notifications, all without having to fish the phone from your bag or pocket! The timepiece is made with a full metal body and tempered glass with leather strap. Fashionable and practical, I’m definitely a fan!

For further information on the handset or the Prada Link, please visit the Prada phone by LG site. The handset will be available by the end of November, limited edition sets of both the handset and Link watch will also be available.

Someone just emailed this to me:

Kudos to all involved, it must’ve taken ages getting everything set out just right!

Apparently the daring cyclist is Jaron Albertin. The video was made by an agency called Drago5 (I think they may mean Droga5), the song is ‘Prisoner of Society’ by The Living End.

Found via Fubiz

In the latest of our videos featuring our top TV trainer Edd Dale (previously - the LG4000 and the PG7000) we look at another new Plasma out this year from LG, the PG6900. The PG6900 is LG’s plasma with a built-in Freeview recorder. It has all the top quality features of an LG plasma, including a frameless screen, 100Hz screen for dynamic scenes, ClearVoice technology and invisible speakers. But as well as that, it has a Freeview+ recorder, with 160GB capacity (which equates to approximately 86 hours recording time at standard quality). Here’s Edd introducing the PG6900 and a how-to to get the most out of it:

In case you haven’t seen the new LG Renoir TV advert, then be sure to check it out on YouTube. It depicts how the Renoir incorporates a 8MB camera, mp3 and DivX player with Dolby Mobile, touchscreen with Wi-Fi & 3G connectivity, all in one slim compact package… and with the aid of a giant crusher (what better way possible?). Enjoy:

Just a brief post to advise you that Monkey: Journey to the West, the new opera conceived by Chen Shi-Zheng - but mostly known for being composed by Damon Albarn with Visual Concept and Animation by Jamie Hewlett - is brilliant and if you’re that you really should go and see it if you can. There weren’t many photos in the programme and I wasn’t allowed to use my cameraphone during the show but the set and costume designs are gorgeous and worthy of note, although I would imagine they’re often overshadowed by the incredible acrobatics, martial arts and contortions going on throughout the show - oh and singing, dancing, not to mention animation and dazzling video projections and a live orchestra. It was dazzling and I thoroughly recommend it.

Here are a couple of other people’s photos to prove my point:

And if you’re still not sure, here’s a trailer too:

Have a good weekend!

The other day I featured the LG4000 LCD TV and a product video with the excellent Edd talking about it and its features. Edd’s just as knowledgeable about plasmas as he is about LCDs, and so today he’s here to present LG’s top-of-the-line Plasma, the PG7000. It comes in 50″ and 60″ versions, featuring superb quality picture suited for films and sport, at 100Hz with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The sound from the invisible speakers, tuned by Mark Levinson and enhanced by LG’s ClearVoice technology. And round the back it also offers top quality connectivity, including both USB 2.0 and Bluetooth as well. Finally, don’t forget the gorgeous design with the single layer of frameless glass. Here’s Edd to tell you more:

If you’re interested then check out the PG7000 on the main LG website, and if you have any thoughts or comments then share them with us below.

So Comme des Garcons‘ collection for H & M launched at the Oxford Circus branch this morning. I can only imagine the bloodshed..! Brave Susie at Style Bubble decided to take one for the team and head down their to make a video report of proceedings, hoping that she’d avoid injury if she was too busy filming to get drawn into the various tug-of-war battles for items.

Personally I always appreciate high street brands collaborating with big designers to give those of us who have to be strict with our budgets (- who doesn’t right now?) the chance to get a piece of the design action. However I’ve never actually braved the crowds to purchase anything, always too disorganised to plan ahead for a launch and slightly nervous from the stories I’ve heard.
Having been bombarded with ads in the free papers yesterday this particular combination has stuck in my mind a bit and it got me thinking about H&Ms other collaborations. They seem to either be very fashion savvy or incredibly lucky - having chosen to work with designers who aren’t necessarily household names at the time - Viktor & Rolf in 2006 and Comme’s is hardly a headline grabber in the same way Lily Allen or Kate Moss would be.. Of course they don’t always go for the more obscure choice - last year’s collection was with Roberto Cavalli and previously Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld have provided instant sell-out successes.

From what I’ve seen of this new collection I have a feeling it will be joining the list of successes but, perhaps selfishly, I hope it’s not so successful I completely miss out - as I did with all of the aforementioned collections! - may the shopping fairies smile on me and grant me a jacket in my size when I do make it down there!

More info on the collaboration at Telegraph Fashion and images on Nitrolicious

Continuing our popular series of TV introductions and tutorials, here’s Edd, one of our top product trainers, talking you through the LG4000 LCD television. The LG4000 is LG’s HD Ready LCD TV with integrated DVD. Edd talks about the TV’s design, sound quality and invisible speaker, as well as its environmentally-friendly power saving and his thoughts on LCD v. Plasma.

We hope you enjoy the video and if your appetite is whetted, be sure to check out both the LG4000 on the main LG website for more information.

If you’re interested in just what the new LG Renoir can do, be sure to check out the new LG Renoir microsite at renoir.lgmobile.com. Just pick you country and the site will show you “everything at your fingertips” and how the multitalented Renoir can help you both create and enjoy.

Your guide is Stefan (above) - an artist, model, actor and musician - and he can take you through the Renoir’s many talents. The sit is split into several “Sight” shows off the phone’s 8MP camera, “Sound” demonstrates the Dolby-enhanced sound experience, and “Touch” the full touchscreen that helps you make the most of your media. As well as that there’s the full low-down on all the phone’s features which you can browse through at your own leisure.

So if you want to know more, give renoir.lgmobile.com a look and if you have an opinion on the site then why not let us know in the comments?

One of the biggest technlogical stirs this week was the “holograms” featured on CNN’s US Election coverage. Alas, it turned out they weren’t quite xactly holograms. As Coolest Gadgets notes:

As well he should. You see, will.i.am is not an actual hologram, but a special effect. Technology from SportVu and Vizrt shot the footage of will.i.am live with 35 high definition cameras in a ring. These cameras captured the subject in a 3-D realtime setting, and then synced with the cameras at CNN studio.

As you can see, the effect went off without a technological hitch with perfect panning shots, but is not really a hologram. It is more of an adaptation of the “bullet-time” technology used in The Matrix.

So it’s a more fancy version of bluescreen technology so beloved of weathermen for generations past. But let’s not be too disparaging - it is really cool - flawlessly panning round the “hologram”, it did really look like 3D thanks to all those HD cameras.

Will we ever get true holograms in the TV studio? It would certainly have advantages - no more expensive jetting of stars and politicians round the world - they could do it all from the comfort of their living room. And it could of course work both ways - dangerous reporting from wars or natural disasters could become a thing of the past as reporters are just sent virtually.

And if 3D holograms in the studio can become a reality, then what about on your screen at home? TechDigest last year reported on a possible holographic TV (complete with thankfully virtual velociraptors) and boffins in Japan reckon we could have 3D TV by 2020. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time - but would it be a good thing? If those velociraptors are a little too real-looking, don’t we further blend fiction and reality? Might it not be a good thing to keep a fine divide between what is in front of us and what is just being beamed in? As the two become indisinguishable we may have some awkward questions to ask.

Coming back to the the present, take a look at what can be done now. The CNN ‘holograms’ proved perhaps to be a bit too futuristic CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who gets his Star Wars and Star Trek confused - perhaps another sign we’re progressing a bit too fast:

Getting a new mobile phone should bring with it plenty of joy and general feelings of awesomeness - but there’s also the sad goodbye we have to make to our old handset. If it’s in good condition, you can always reuse it as a spare, or pass it on to a relative or friend - but we’re not always able to make that choice. So when we’re done with a handset (18m last year) we all too often just throw them away. Only 20% of phones were recycled last year, which means the rest are now cluttering landfills, or gathering dust in the bottom of our drawers.

Luckily mobile recycling is on the rise and there are now a range of schemes to help your pocket as well as the environment. The Guardian reports on a new service that has just launched:

The Coolafone website converts old phones into “coolacredits” which can then be exchanged for e-vouchers which can be redeemed with a range of “Coolapartners” including boutique hotels, food companies and magazine publishers. Donators can also choose to have money given to charity.

And it’s not the only one out there - especially if you’d like a charity to benefit:

An alternative to profiting yourself from recycling an old handset is to pass on any value to a good cause. Many charities, both large and small, have teamed up with specialist processing organisations such as Greener Solutions (greenersolutions.co.uk) and the Recycling Appeal (recyclingappeal.com) to collect old mobiles for refurbishment or recycling.

Recycling or refurbishing - either way, we win. Recycling is great for two reasons - firstly it mean the valuable chemicals and metals inside your phone can be put to good use again, making future mobiles cheaper and greener to produce. Secondly it means that they won’t ever contaminate the environment - while your phone may safely contain them now, that might not be the case in 100 years time if in landfill.

If a phone can be refurbished, where does it go? Often it goes to people in the developing world - giving them a chance to use a technology that would be otherwise inaccessible to the majority of the local population. And with that comes opportunities to connect, grow your business, stay in touch with loved ones or many of the other possibilities.

So the next time you have to replace or discard your mobile, don’t just throw it away - there are plenty of ways to pass it on to others or dispose of it safely and responsibly, and you might even pocket a bit yourself while you’re at it!

Maybe you want to celebrate with Obama (not literally, of course), or retitalise yourself instead of a disco nap before a big night out. Or perhaps, like the ThinkGeek team, you just want to reduce the risks of painful early morning showers, in any case the LED Shower Light might be just what you’re after - or never realised you needed but now have to have!

The LED Shower Light is a brilliant idea. It installs to a standard shower pipe in mere minutes. When you turn the shower on, the water powers a turbine and the LED Shower Light…well, lights up! Blue let’s you know the water is chilly. When the water warms up to 89° F (32° C), the light changes to red. Now you can step in and not freeze your giblets off. And you don’t even need to turn on the light now, because your whole shower glows. It makes for a much nicer morning, trust us.

They’re so taken with the idea they also do a version for your taps!

If you’re now disappointed because I lead you to expect something more programmable or varied, then this (MUCH) more expensive version might be what you’re after:

The Rio “provides a spectrum of stunning colour effects with 96 LED lights programmable by a key pad.”

Much more of a disco for the bathroom but it does require mains power so there is a price to pay. I’m trying to think of a pithy one-liner involving your right to party but I can’t make it work.. Must be too early, maybe I need a shower..?

Sticking close to the highly successful design of the original, the new Prada phone has a hidden secret. An ultra-thin keyboard slides from under the handset.

The original Prada phone made history as the first full touch-screen phone to reach the market. With all the characteristics of the most digitally enhanced phones it was also a powerful aesthetic pioneer and was hugely popular with over 1 million handsets sold.

The unique QWERTY keyboard available with the new telephone is designed for maximum ease of use. The metallic silver keyboard compliments the slick aesthetic and with the additional on-screen, call and hang-up buttons gives fresh tactility to the original phone’s minimal design.

Other new/improved features include 3G compatibility with video calling, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, a 5 mega pixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach certified lens, full HTML browser and Wi-Fi accessibility.

The handset will be available with a starting price of 600 Euros though major mobile dealerships in Italy, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Netherlands before Christmas - maybe you should get writing to Santa now..?