Restaurant Review- The Ivy at the Emirates Towers in Dubai

If you like trying different restaurants and if you follow the constant influx of "the" place to see and be seen in Dubai, you must have definitely heard about the opening of The Ivy. If you haven't, the restaurant has opened up at the Emirates Towers at where Scarlett's used to once be. Everywhere on Twitter and Facebook I had friends posting up pictures of the restaurant saying how delicious the food was and how they couldn't wait to go back, etc. I was quite curious to see how it was, and since I owed my friend Jimmy a birthday lunch, I took him and another common friend over to this new chic restaurant to give it a spin.
Since my female friend and I were counting calories, we ordered the smoked salmon as well as the Yellow Tail Sashimi to share, while Jimmy went for the Caesars Salad. Here are some pics of what the food looked like-

 

As you can see, the portion sizes are quite generous! For the main course my female friend had fish (i think it was the Dover sole that she ordered) while I had the Thai-baked sea bass with fragrant rice. Thr birthday boy had the lamb shank curry with saffron flavoured rice. Here are the images of our main courses-

As you can tell, the food looked quite interesting and really, really tempting. The presentation was great and everything was fine.... but (there's always a but isn't there!)... the food really didn't blow me away. Yes, The Ivy is a chic restaurant-of-the-moment and yes people have been raving about the food, but whatever we had really didn't knock our socks off. Jimmy who ordered regularly off the menu without any dietary restrictions thought the food was ok and my other friend and I thought it was, well, meh. I guess if you ordered some of the more of the more calorific meals, maybe they would taste better? The thing is, I can easily go to ET Sushi next door or to La Petite Maison five minutes away to get some fabulous food that is less in calories and tastes SOOO much better than The Ivy meal I had. While smoked salmon is nice and all, I'd much rather have LPM's crab and lobster salad or the lentil salad to start with. My sea bass wasn't bad, but it really wasn't wow either and I definitely have had better fish.

Having said that, the food I believe is only half of the story. You can have amazing food but with bad service an entire mood of the meal could be completely ruined. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I'd gotten such great service in Dubai! The staff was friendly and smiling and extremely attentive, and I don't think it was just because my friend knew our server from before. My friend had tweeted about looking forward to me taking him for his birthday meal there and another friend had alerted one of the hosts who was on twitter that we'd be coming who had in turn tweeted back that she was looking forward to seeing us, etc. We'd forgotten all about it, till Jimmy's desert (he'd also tweeted that he wanted the creme brulee) came out with a birthday message on the plate!

I'm sure I'll be back at The Ivy a lot and I'm sure it will be a very popular hangout for the next few months till something more exciting pops up. I don't think it will be the runaway success LPM has been simply because I really don't think the food is comparable. Would I however suggest you to go there and make up your own mind? Yes I would! Because the service was so bad, I almost feel bad giving it a bad review, and before writing this I thought it was quite unfair for me to judge a restaurant that I visit while on a diet. But then again, a lot of people these days are opting for healthier dishes which restaurants are increasingly conscious about. I know my favourites all have their healthy options as well as deliciously divine sinful ones so maybe it isn't asking for too much for a restaurant to have both. Anyhow, I'm sure I'll be back at The Ivy very soon but alas, not for the food. I just hope the service will be just as good even after they read this review!
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You can reach the restaurant at (04) 3158767 for reservations and questions.
You can also check out pictures of the restaurant and their complete menu on their website here 
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Have teeth.. Will Smile!!

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have some idea of what I'm going to talk about. For those who don't, this Wednesday I had a dreaded dentist appointment to fix a filling I'd been putting off for a year. While there, my dentist decided to gently coax me into another procedure he'd been trying to get me to do for the past year I'd been avoiding him- he wanted to fix my gummy smile. For those who don't know what a gummy smile is, it's when a person smiles and their top gums show more than their teeth. Now while that doesn't really sound like the biggest deal, it can actually be quite a pain for those who are in possession of this curious problem as it can ruin many a photograph! All my "nice" photographs are those carefully posed ones which along with getting the right angle, lighting, position, etc, hide along with any shadow of a double chin, the unsightly pink gums in my mouth. You know happy pictures of people laughing that are captured without them knowing the camera is upon them? There isn't a single one of me out there. Again, if you follow me in Twitter you may have seen the perfectly Photoshopped pictures of me that I use as my profile pic that were shot by the genius photographer Vikram Bawa in India a while back. It isn't a coincidence that you might see them change with different outfits and different poses, but with one thing remaining constant- my mouth tightly shut into a smile. While taking the photographs he'd wanted me to relax and tried to do so by talking to me, only to realize any pictures of me talking, or worse yet, laughing, would be completely unusable. Don't get me wrong, I don't have bad teeth... in fact, I don't have a single tooth out of place! It's just the gum factor that's gotten to me for all these years!
So back to Wednesday. I had done a bit of research on what I thought the procedure would entail and I had visions of a full fledged surgery. "It'll take 10 minutes and won't hurt a bit!" the Doc promised. "Am I really that vain to go ahead and do something as drastic as this?" I thought fleetingly to myself. Honestly, before I had the time to even properly answer that question, he was standing over me, syringe in hand, ready to numb my gums to start the procedure before I could change my mind.. or apparently even make it up. My Dentist you see has been bumping into me in social occasions and noticed how I'd always get shy and as a reflex action, covered my mouth with my hands every time I laughed or smiled wide. "Do the procedure, it'll change your face!" he promised me each time. An hour later, I was out of the clinic, my filling in place with a new smile to take home. I smiled to my Mother and asked her if she noticed anything different and she yelled, "I told you to not get your teeth whitened! It ruins the enamel and weakens the teeth!" Errr.. try again Mom! The next day in the office her Secretary who has been with us for a few decades noticed, "You've got your teeth cleaning done? Whitening? You've done something," she said. The difference is ever so slight that not many people can tell unless I point it out to them. All in all, it really did take approximately 15 minutes to do, and the Doc was right... it didn't really hurt. Since then my gums have just been a little sore and reactive to hot and spicy foods, but I can tell it's getting better and hopefully I should be fine by tomorrow. If you or a family member have a gummy smile or any issue with your teeth in general, I can't urge you enough to go fix it! Being able to be comfortable with yourself, especially your smile, is SO important! And then of course, you'll just have to work on finding something to always smile about! Unless you're him...

Image taken from here

 For those interested, my procedure was done by Dr. Anand Shenoy who is located in Satwa and whom I cannot recommend enough! He helped save a tooth of mine last year that needed a root canal (as it had been messed up by another Dentist) and I finally went to him after hearing rave reviews from a few friends as well as my older sister. While dentists in Dubai seem to be worried more about polishing up their own wallet rather than your teeth, I found him to be very conscious of not doing more than necessary. If you're looking for a good Dentist, definitely do give him a shot.
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H&M-Versace collaboration announced!

Over the past few weeks there has been a buzz in the air about who would be the next designer of the moment to be collaboration with H&M. If you remember the Lanvin-H&M collaboration that happened a few months back, you'll remember the kind of manic fanfare that revolves around these tie-ups! Therefor there was much speculation about WHO the designer would be and finally it was announced that it is Donatella Versace who will be lending her creative ideas to the retail giant!
This is HUGE! Especially since the designer had gone on record in 2008 saying she didn't believe in diffusion lines and that, "a Versace line in H&M would confuse the brand."
Here is the video announcing the tie-up-

Book Review of "The Snowman"

When a book's title advertises that the author is "the next Stieg Larsson" you don't really bother to read the back flap to see what the book is about.. you just pick it up and move along. Given that I'd already heard about the book from a friend of mine who loves to read (and write.. I've posted about her own blog here) and highly recommended the book, it made my decision only that much easier. I got through James Patterson's "10th Anniversary" in around 2 days (which I haven't reviewed yet) and started on Jo Nesbo's book and couldn't wait for another fast paced thriller to have me completely absorbed.

So let me tell you a little bit of of the story- A little boy wakes up to find his mother missing with no clues relating to her disappearance expect for a snowman in the garden with his Mother's scarf wrapped around it's neck. Spooky stuff eh? And the rest of the book does not disappoint! The story revolves around detective Harry Hole who puts pieces of the puzzle together to figure out what on earth is going on. To figure that out for yourself, you're going to have to read the book. Get ready for unexpected plot twists and a whole lot of turn arounds in the story line. The book in fact is the 7th to be published in the Harry Hole series and only the 5th by the Norwegian authour to be translated into English.

So yes, the book is intriguing and interesting and absorbing, and yes you'll have enough to keep you on your toes. But to compare this book with any  of the Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, etc) is quite premature and inaccurate. Larsson is a brilliant storyteller whose story lines are backed up with incredibly real characters and an astounding level of research that shows through every page in his books. The Snowman is a great read, but be sure to manage your expectations while going in, or you MIGHT just be disappointed by comparing the two authors. Dive in without any expectations (or better yet, not knowing who Stieg Larsson is) and you might have found yourself the perfect summer read you were looking for.. albeit one that might end too soon 'coz you couldn't put it down. Consider this- the book has sold around 2 Million copies in Norway, which to put into perspective, has a population of 5 Million. Surely the fans are raving about something?
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NEW Bootiful Corner- Featuring Ayesha Depala

I recently was reading this absolutely FABULOUS blog that I'm in love with called Into the Gloss which gave amazing beauty and make up tips from the most fashionable people in the US, often giving their readers a peak into their make up cases and vanity tables to showcase the products they used. If you're a make up and product junkie, you'll soon get SUPER hooked onto the blog and just won't be able to get enough! It got me wondering about a new segment for my blog though, and about people I know whom I'd personally love to receive tips from about their face products or favourite make up brands, or even to get a sneak peak into their little black book to find out who does their hair colour or gives them that perfect haircut. The most obvious person for me to feature for my first post was the gorgeous Ayesha Depala. I'd gush about her and explain why, but really after looking at this picture is there really any need?? I didn't think so.
Yes she is a fashion designer and yes she's always so well dressed and put together, but you can't deny that had she not had that flawless olive skin and impossibly high cheekbones to match, she wouldn't be the perfect model for her own clothes as she is today!
I asked Ayesha to share her beauty secrets with me which she most readily did and mentioned that she herself is quite the product junkie and loves trying out different brands, so I'm sure she's gone through quite a few to reach the final list as it stands today. Thanks Ayesha for sharing with me and my readers!

What are the bath/shower products that you use- 

Bath- La mer The body refiner, Molton brown body Naranji body wash and hand wash,clarisonic face brush,Jo Malone red roses Bath Oil.

Kiehls  creme De corps Body moisturiser and  creme De la The body moisturiser.

What is your daily beauty routine- brand of cleanser/toner/moisturizer or any home made remedies... What are your fave scents!

Cleanser-dermalogica microfoliant,Kiehls deep action exfoliating cleanser,Kiehls vit C serum,Creme de la mer moisturiser.

Creme De La Mer the concentrate,Obagi system for when my skin is need of TLC.Shu Umeura make up remover face oil.

Perfume- Van cleef- Gardenia Petale , Carnal flower and Lys Mediteranee both From Frederic Malle.I love Jasmine and Tuberose but these three are my all time favourites.

 

What does your daily make up routine entail? 

Lancome Teint Miracle foundation.Bobbi Brown concealor.Gueirlan bronzer,Bobbi Shimmer brick,

 

Favourite Hair Products!

Hair- Shampoo- Kerastase Oleo Relax shampoo and conditioner ,Sebastian potion 9,Sebastian Trillaint and Halo Mist for shine.

Give us a peak into your Little Black book please!

Cut- Robert at  Media Rotana  ,Colour Maria Dowling,Facials at La Mer Bloomingdales and Dermalogica clensing facial at sisters,Hot stone massage at Sensasia.Bikram Yoga at Club Stretch.

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Hope you guys found this new segment useful.. Do let me know if you have any questions (for Ayesha or me) or have any comments.

Also if you haven't already, do check out Ayesha's hubby's blog for all things fashionable at Red Velvet Nation

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Inspired blogging!

(Image taken from gapingvoid.com)

If any of you blog you'll know that bloggers go through periods of inspiration and moments of exasperation! After I finished a year for Kiran's Corner, my waves seem to be coming in the form of small ripples- small bouts of small and frequent mood swings. The question that plagues me as well as most bloggers- what on EARTH should I write about today? Sometimes I'm sure you can tell I'm truly as excited about the subject matter as I sound... and well, sometimes I'm sure you can tell I'm just trying to dig up stuff so as to not lose my followers. Anyhow, I'm rambling today as recently two friends of mine, Amreeta and Dia, two fabulous sisters who live in London and Lagos respectively, started up blogs of their own. They're both extremely intelligent and have distinct voices and are blogging about their daily lives, thoughts and random things that catch their eye. Dia is a new mother and writes about the wonders of having a child and everything that comes along with it, and the non-wonders of surviving life in Nigeria. Amreeta is a fellow Aries and a girl after my own heart.. she for me personifies dry British humour and every time I see a funny English film or TV show or read a Ben Elton book that makes me laugh out loud, I think of her. If you follow me on Facebook, you'll notice our banter and maybe understand what I mean. She also (like me) wants to be a writer but (like me) probably doesn't have the patience to see it through, so I actually gave her a slight nudge into the blogging world. 

They've literally JUST started up their blogs and I've only been able to read a couple of posts of theirs, squished on my blackberry screen while I've been traveling, and I can already say I'm truly hooked. When friends of mine used to read my blog they were sometimes often honest enough to tell me that they couldn't quite tell whether they enjoyed it because they knew me and could visualize me speaking a lot of what I'd written, or whether it was because it was good stuff. Now that I have a lot more unknown followers than my friends who read my blog, hopefully it's the latter that has them coming back. I'm kind of going through that phase with my two friends- where I love to read their posts, but I know it's not because of sheer boredom or a sense of duty, it's because I marvel about the random stuff they're writing about that I just wouldn't have otherwise known about them! The other day Amreeta wrote about her frizzy hair problems (yet another trait we share) and about how she's combatted it by going shampoo free! It was informative, well written and something I had NO clue about! (And while it may sound gross or confusing, I can promise you she isn't weird or surviving with questionable hygiene problems- read her post here) More than anything, reading these two girls post about their lives has seriously got me thinking about the way I blog. I sometimes hold back because I'm scared of giving away too much information or wonder to myself, "Who on earth will want to read about this?!" but looking forward to what my friends write about makes me wonder whether it'll be such a bad thing for me to share some of my life with my readers? Write down some of MY random thoughts than feel like I need to report or bring some news or review a product, place or service. These girls have inspired me to maybe blog more and share more, and it's so funny to hear them comment that they're surprised anyone wants to read anything they have to write about at all. Dia and Amreeta, I do!! And don't worry girls, when you worry about feeling like you'll run out of things to say, know that a year and a bit down the line, I worry about the same every day!

Read Dia's Blog, Dia's Days here and follow her on twitter on @diadadlani

Check out her sister Amreeta's blog here and follow her on twitter on @nectar1269

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Singapore Exclusive!

Greetings from Singapore! I'm here for a couple of days for a bit of work with my Mother and will be back in Dubai by the end of the week. I'm trying to snap up a few pictures for you guys while I'm out and about but it's virtually impossible for me to have long posts for you guys while I'm away as I'm pretty much out of my room the entire time. I'm going to have a post prepared for you on bits of the sights and sounds of Singapore with a collection of photographs and videos that I've taken and another post doing a hotel review (I'm staying at the gorgeous Ritz Carlton). For now, I'll just leave with you this picture of a Chanel jacket I took at the store in Takashimaya earlier today. I guess the store is new and therefor to promote it they had a gorgeous jacket that was exclusive to Singapore. However nice it looks in the picture, it looks at least ten times nicer in person.. alas, with a really nice price tag (or rather not so nice, depending on who you're asking) to match! While I've collected quite a few Chanel jackets over the years, this one came in at approximately over 12,000 USD which is almost twice a regular one! Thanks, but I think I'll stare at the picture instead. Also a friend earlier today mentioned that a shoe that she liked back at the Chanel store in Dubai was 200 USD (approximately 800 Dhs) more expensive in Singapore!!! That's CRAZY! If any of my readers have a Singapore-Dubai connection and can throw some light on pricing for designer stuff, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say... especially on watches, as I'm thinking of buying myself one while here :)

Anyhow, back to the jacket... Isn't it gorgeous?!

My review of the Blackberry Playbook in Dubai

My review of the iPhone 4 and the iPad were probably 2 of my most popular posts on my blog last year, and this year when I got my iPad2, I figured it was so similar to the original iPad that I didn't even bother posting on it. I was eager to get my hands on the Blackberry Playbook but knew of quite a few people in Dubai who'd already managed to get their hands on one from other countries so didn't quite think people would be that curious to see what I had to say about the product... that is, till I got my piece to review. I hooked it up with my Blackberry phone (more on that later) and in a few minutes, I was good to go! I got on my BBM (Blackberry Messenger) on the Playbook and changed my status to "On the Playbook" and within MINUTES got bombarded my messages asking what I thought of the device, whether I liked it and most importantly, whether it deserved to be bought or not. "Wait for the review"I said in response to the queries and for the past week, have been playing with the Playbook, gearing up this review.

I'm going to go first with the assumption that you've heard very little about the Playbook, or not at all, and will get into this review that way rather than trying to dispel the rumours that surround the device. The Playbook is a small and cute device which is a lot smaller than the Apple iPad. I turned on my device (which is a prototype and on loan to me) and saw the basic apps I would expect like Browser, Pictures, Music, Camera, YouTube, etc, and a few others that I didn't expect like Video Chat, Word To Go (as well as Sheet and Slideshow To Go), Slacker Radio, Twitter and a few others. Ok, you're thinking, this is a Blackberry Device, let's talk about Email and BBM. Here is where I assume you've heard nothing of the device- Unless you're using Email on your Browser (like Gmail for example) the Blackberry Playbook does NOT allow for Push Email coming directly onto your device, neither does it support BBM... UNLESS you own a Blackberry Phone that the device is hooked up to via an App called "Blackberry Bridge." There are a few reasons why RIM have chosen to set up their Tablet this way and I'm guessing Security is probably on the top of that list! A lot of companies will choose to let their executives have the PlayBook and not have to worry about security on yet another device, as email hooks up flawlessly on the Tablet given that it is in the connectivity range of your phone. Leave your phone in the other room? Your Tablet can't hook up to it and you can say Bye to your email connectivity too. The good news? Lose your Playbook and nobody else can connect to your email without your phone or your contact list on BBM. This has lead to nasty rumours about the Playbook being useless to those without a BB phone. There is a very interesting article that I'd read when I was researching the device that does a fabulous job of dispelling this myth that can be found here which I urge you to read. It does a fab job of explaining exactly WHY lack of email connectivity is really not such a big deal! The Playbook does come with WiFi and it's performance on that is great. Another reason that makes the Blackberry such a popular device with Executives is the Global Roaming packages that are available with all the BB Service providers world over. I haven't tried this (I'm leaving town tomorrow but unfortunately the Playbook was only on loan to me for a week) but I do believe that a huge advantage of using the Playbook if you already own a BB phone is the ability to hook it up and be able to surf on it while traveling. Yes the iPad has 3G, but I really don't know anyone crazy enough to try to use the 3G and pay crazy roaming rates while out of the country.. do you? I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure the Playbook allows for that connectivity at no extra charge.

So you're thinking of getting the Playbook and want to know the pros and cons of the actual device. The keyboard is very quick and responsive and I actually probably like it better than the iPad keyboard. Maybe it's because the device is smaller and thus easier to type on.. I'm not too sure.
Also the advantages it has over the iPad.. it has Flash! It handles Flash heavy websites with ease and also does Multitasking very well. I think the poor device has received a lot of flak for what it CAN'T do that very little focus is put on what it CAN. Ok instead of trying to explain a lot of the stuff to you, I figured I'd just do a very short video review and show you guys the basics of running the device-


Hope you liked it and it helped give you an idea of what the Playbook is like! I'm holing the device and filming on my iPhone which is kinda hard, and it's 11 at night and I'm in my room which is dark so please excuse the light overhead! I'm leaving town early tomorrow and need to send the Playbook back so am trying my best to show you as much of the device before I go. I actually do love it and wish I was able to travel with it to see how it handles, but hopefully after it launches I can get my own and take it for a full spin.
Let me know if you have any more questions. Ooh and do let me know if you enjoy my video review as I can then start doing some more of them too!
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Introducing the PSP Vita!!

So you may have probably heard that a new PSP (PlayStation Portable- the handheld gaming device from Sony) has been announced and people were, for a while, calling it an NGP and you didn't quite know whether it was out yet, what the difference was between the current one and the new version and most importantly, whether it's worth buying (yourself or your kids) one especially with so many other gaming consoles out in the market. Nintendo has the 3D portable console that they say does 3D without glasses and then there is the whole Xbox vs PS3 vs Wii thing going on.. and you're probably wondering whether you even need a console especially when "Angry Birds" keeps you entertained on your phone for HOURS.
Well, the NGP is finally now called the "PSP Vita" and instead of it just being a concept, the PlayStation boys allowed the press to touch, feel and play with the device at the E3 gaming expo in LA yesterday. The device was announced back in January so if you are confused of whether this is yet another device launch, it isn't... it's just been now given an official name and will have official reviews once the tech writers and bloggers and done playing with it.
Instead of making you read a lot of stuff about the features of the device, I think it might be more interesting for you guys to check out the video that gives you an idea of what this baby can do-


If you're not drooling yet and think this video just shows of clever angles and is an example of great marketing, let's see what the press has to say-
Gizmodo says that "the five-inch, 960x544 OLED display screen is uh-mazing. Super duper rich. And clear" It also goes on to say, "the claims of their amazingness and how they touch your eyeballs in special ways are not hyperbole, for the most part. It's easily a generation or two ahead of anything on iOS, and like half a gen or so ahead of most of the 3DS stuff I've played."
(Read the rest of the review here)


Engadget said in it's hands on review, "and how about the dual analog sticks? We're glad you asked -- they completely blow away the original PSP's analog nub, and we don't think first-person combat (or most any PS3 port) will be much of an issue"
(Read the rest of the review here)

USA Today started off the review with the line, "One word comes to mind when seeing the PlayStation Vita and some of its titles: gorgeous."
(Read the rest of the review here)


CNet summed up their time spent with the device with this to say- "From my time with the Vita, I was surprised at how crisp and large the screen was, how good the analog sticks felt (they're actual sticks as opposed to the PSP's stiff pad), and how lightweight the unit was to hold, although that's probably more because these dev units don't have batteries inside. Having all the control schemes and inputs that the PS Vita contains seems daunting, but the games I looked at did a decent job of picking the tools available and offering a variety of experiences. It still remains to be seen whether first-time players will be intimidated by all the buttons and touch panels, or feel liberated."

(Read the rest of the review here)

Since I haven't seen the device personally nor have I held it or played with it, I thought I'd give you a summation as to what the most popular gadget reviewers had to say. There is a lot of hype about this device and after all these amazing reviews, people are bound to be excited about its launch, that happens to be right at the end of the year, in time for the holiday sales. One complaint that I know users were posting about on the blog (just so you don't think I'm posting all the good stuff!) is that the people in the US were upset that PlayStation had chosen AT&T as their wireless carrier for the 3G version of the device, especially since the XPeria Go (the Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone) is on Verizon in the US. If you don't live in the States or don't really care about a 3G version of the Vita, this doesn't really apply to you. 

I can't WAIT to hold this device in my hands! I'll keep you posted as to when it's close to launching in the UAE and will be sure to snag a demo unit to give you guys a full review closer to time!

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Apple OS5 and what all the buzz is about!

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Whether you're an Apple fanboy/girl (Fanperson??), it's possibly quite difficult that you would have missed all the buzz around the WWDC keynote speech that took place yesterday. You would have over the past 24 hours seen or heard words like OS5, iCloud and OS X Lion being thrown around with much excitement and maybe you're a little bit lost as to what they're talking about. I'm going to help simplify one of the topics for you right now, which out of all the things launched at WWDC yesterday is the most exciting for me- OS 5.
OS 5 refers to the 5th generation of Operating System (OS) for the iPhone and the iPad. People were hoping for a 5th generation iPhone to be released as well, but as I'd posted a few days back, Apple squashed those rumors with a press release on what would be announced.. and an iPhone just didn't figure amongst them. However as the saying goes, hope springs eternal and a lot of people, yours truly included, was hoping for a Knight in shining armor to ride out onto the stage on a pink unicorn holding a snazzy iPhone 5 in hand. Unfortunately, while we didn't get that, we got a taste of what the next Operating System for both devices would entail, and that was excitement enough for most people to handle. So if you own and iPad and/or an iPhone and/or iPod Touch, or ever thought of owning one, you're going to want to read on....
- So you own a Blackberry and would laugh at the poor schmucks with an iPhone who had to rely on the unreliable Whatsapp to be able to communicate with each other? Apple yesterday took on BBM head on with iMessage- a BBM like messenger system that allows you to communicate with other Apple devices, and is the feature I'm most eager to try out! It's better than BBM as in you can communicate with people on whatever iOS device they're using! You can see delivered and read messages and like BBM, even see when the other person is responding to your messages. You can send photos, videos and even do group chats.. again, just like BBM. I see a lot of users now considering to switch over to iPhones with this!
- "PC-Free" is another major feature that was announced yesterday. If you've ever bought an iPad or iPhone you'll know how annoying it is to have to connect with a computer to be able to get your phone activated and get all your data on the phone. Apple has changed this around so that you'll be able to activate your device right out of the box and be able to do most of the changes, including syncing your entire phone, without needing any cables required! New software downloads will also be done OTA (over the air) so that you really won't need a laptop to be able to seamlessly use your phone. I use Google contacts to sync my iPhone and Blackberry (as I use two devices at once) and I'm so happy that Apple has come out with a way for me to not have to go back and sync each of my devices to change a phone number of a contact for example! While I'll still be using Google Contacts (as it lets me switch between different platforms whether it be Android, iOS or Windows Phone 7) I'll still be using this to sync stuff between my iPad and iPhone.
- Notifications- Here Apple borrowed (read: STOLE) a page out of Android's book by incorporating a notification system very similar to that on Android devices. Gone (Thank GOD!) are annoying pop up boxes that allow everyone near your phone to be able to glance at your SMS's and emails and see what's being said, or worse, interrupt your Angry Birds session! Now, the notifications will show up on the top of the screen and just like on an Android device, you'll be able to swipe it down to see who your missed calls and texts. Another cool feature is that these notifications all show up on your Home screen if you're not using your phone, and all you have to do is swipe on the particular notification to open the App that deals with that particular notification. Have a Facebook Message you received while you're away? Swiping that particular notification with open up the Facebook App for you! Now is that cool or what?

(Image taken from Engadget.com)
- Twitter integration- Like to tweet? Now you can send a picture to Twitter right from your Camera App or a photoshopped one right out of your Photo roll. Similarly, Twitter integration is done throughout the phone for those obsessed with Tweeting. (Speaking of which, I hope you guys are following me?)
- Newstand is another very cool feature that I can't wait to test out, and is one that I think is "borrowed" from the Kindle. If you subscribe to any newspaper or magazine on the Kindle, it syncs wirelessly and automatically onto your device. Newsstand is a standalone app which will be there on iOS5 that allows for the same thing- all your periodicals in one place that get downloaded while you are sleeping.

There are a whole boatload of other features that Apple have included in this OS. Other notable ones are a special "Reminders" app to remind you to head to the gym or read "Kiran's Corner" (just saying!)
There is a new Camera and Photos app and you can now "pinch to zoom" your camera and have it finally work (I know I instinctively have been trying to do that for a while now!) and now you can finally use your volume up button to take pictures (another one that I've been trying to do!). Also if you want to take a picture in a hurry but are tired of turning on the phone, entering your password if you have one, then ignoring all the notification pop-ups only THEN to be able to click on the camera app, Apple's changed all that with allowing camera to be operated on start up. There is a new Safari with tabs for easier syncing. Their is a dictionary for those who can't sepll, (Trying to be funny here.. just go with it!) a new Mail app, new gestures that let you do cool stuff.... basically iOS5 is PACKED with features you might have seen your buds on Android or Blackberry use and hoped that Apple would get its act together and incorporate. They've managed to fill all those gaps and then some!!

Hope you found this post useful.. was aiming to give you guys a more simplistic version as I'm sure the hardcore techies will be following the gadget blogs. I'll try to post another one soon on iCloud to explain what's going on there, but in the meantime do leave me any Questions that you may need clarified on this front!
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Why I'm waiting for Tom Ford to turn 85...

He needs to publish a book NOW! I think he's SO fabulous and is not only such a brilliant designer, but a great case study in marketing. It's such a pleasure to read or watch interviews by either him or Carine Roitfeld as they are such creative spirits that are both driven by an internal spirit that is about SO much more than success or money.
Tom Ford has received a lot of flak recently for not allowing the media and bloggers to cover his fashion shows as he doesn't want the clothes to lose their thrill factor (and of course be copied to death) before they're actually produced. I also read in an interview of his that while he was fine being addressed as "Tom" earlier, he now likes to be called, "Mr Ford." Some people may call him arrogant but I just think he deserves to be! There are so many people in this world who are arrogant without any reason but just because they're pretty or happen to be born/married into wealth or even worse, for no reason except they think it makes them look cool or appear desirable, that I think someone who actually HAS accomplished a lot in life can go ahead and love themselves to the point of pompousness! Tom Ford is one of those people. Oh and not allowing media into his shows- again, fabulous marketing! I recently saw a pair of snake printed trousers on someone and thought, "ooh I recognize those Zara pants".. till I read that they were Stella McCartney. It's not like Tom Ford's clothes won't be copied, but at least it will have received adequate attention as being designed by HIM before it gets reproduced.
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Museum of Me

An Intel site really blew me away today! It is a promotion for their i5 processors, but I really don't know how the two relate at all. It accesses your Facebook information and in a few minutes creates what it calls, "The Museum of Me" which integrates all your info on Facebook including pictures, words you use most often as well as pictures of your friends and sets it up into a Museum-y type format.
I'm doing a crap job at explaining it, but trust me, it's really cool. To check out what your museum would look like, click here or watch the video below of what the Kiran Chhabria museum looks like! Since I couldn't save the video, I've taken it with my video camera facing my laptop so if you see any shadows or blurriness, that's why. I think it's just so SO well done!

Upcoming Apple Products

As WWDC 2011 inches closer, Apple announced a couple of things that they would be launching on the 6th of June, when Steve Jobs takes time out of his hiatus to return to Apple and give the keynote address. In spite of recent speculation that had all but confirmed that Apple would NOT be announcing an iPhone 5, I can't help but be bummed by that. Yes, for those who haven't been following tech news, there will be no new iPhone 5 for you to look forward to getting, so those who have their iPhone 3G's and 3GS's, go out and buy yourself the 4 now as there is no word on when the next generation phone will be launched. My guess is this is a direct result of the situation in Japan which caused a slow down in production for  a lot of consumer electronics and IT companies world over, and though Apple is not a Japanese company, it would have bought a lot of parts and components for it's products from there.

Back to announcements- what WILL be announced is iCloud, Apple's new music streaming device. Over the past week, Amazon.com has been rumoured to lose close to 3.5 Million USD for selling Lady Gaga's new album, "Born this Way" for only 99 cents, the idea being to promote it's own cloud based music software. Apple, not one for being left behind, will no doubt take on Amazon head to head and announce something new for it's devices, and probably add some bells and whistles to it's seriously lagging MobileMe platform. The press release also confirmed sneak peaks for the Mac OS X Lion as well as the iPad and iPhone's operating system, OS 5.
For those who are used to following Apple news, it will be surprising to note that the company decided to issue a press release at all. It is not like them to give away any news about any of their upcoming products, unless of course, they don't really have any to show off. I think this was done deliberately to manage fan expectation as well as take care of that ever volatile stock market that sends APPL stock into a tizzy right around the time of announcements. Smart move.. I just wish I had an iPhone 5 to impatiently look forward to.
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