Book Review- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Given my obsession with Steve Jobs, I think it would be shocking for any frequent reader of this blog if I didn't put my life on hold and rush out to go buy and subsequently read this biography. While I downloaded this book and read it on my Kindle (yes I know... but my eyes hurt after reading on the iPad too long), my life had virtually come to a standstill while I devoured every page of this book and read about one of the most revered men in business (in case you're wondering, I finished the book in 4 days flat!). Not big into technology and wondering whether you will enjoy this book as much as I did? A friend tweeted me the exact same question earlier today and my answer to her was that to enjoy any book, especially a biography, one needs to have an interest in the subject matter being written about. Having said that, any business student, entrepreneur or person interested in reading about businesses MUST read this book. Any person interested in technology, the history of technology or in the media business MUST read this book. Any creative person wanting to learn more about the business aspect of creativity, any artist wanting to get their creative juices flowing, any person interested in the dichotomy of spirituality and making money MUST read this book. And of course, people interested remotely interested in understanding about the world we live in today with even a faint curiosity on technological advances and how they came about to be, MUST read this book.
While it is at it's core definitely a business book and is a book about a businessman, I believe it's also a great insight into the minds of one of the most influential people of our times and a lot of people will enjoy reading it, as long as they do remember that it is a book about a businessman.  One that may have changed the world and left a mark on it forever, but this isn't a book about spirituality or values or an extended version of his Stanford commencement speech. It's not a feel-good book and I think a lot of people who don't know much about him might think that's exactly what it is- a guide to how to be inspiring and creative and successful and world-altering just like him. Again, this is a book about a businessman and a ruthless one that too and it's a true picture about the story of his life.. so definitely keep that in mind before picking it up.

While I'd followed Jobs' career and believed I'd read almost every article on him ever published, a lot in the book came as a complete surprise. While his temper was legendary, I didn't realize that he was cold and distant even with his family, and had very few scruples even when dealing with close friends. Also the amount of times they refer to Jobs' crying in the book really makes me believe he was bipolar or had some sort of personality disorder- Isaacson touches on him having a narcissist disorder, but that thought is never really explored. While I absolutely love Jobs' and love his contribution to the world, I was shocked while reading the first half of the book as to how little I actually liked the man I was reading about. I do believe his failures in his life may have humbled him a tiny bit which is why the reader goes from thinking he's an asshole to being fascinated with finding out where he got his ideas from about the various products he launched, and the thought process and meticulous attention to detail he gave. While you may finish the book still not loving him, you put down the book having a lot of respect for him and really, really loving his company, Apple.

Overall the book was quite fast paced, is PACKED with anecdotes- ever wondered why he switched to wearing his standard uniform of mock-turtlenecks with Levi's jeans? Wonder which was conceived first- the chicken or the egg (the iPhone or the iPad)? What the series of events were that brought him back into Apple? What his relationship with Woz was like? How Apple will survive after he's gone? What new products he may have conceived of that have still not been launched? The answers to all that and more are in the book, and are absolutely fascinating to read. You get to read about a note he wrote to his wife on their 20th anniversary, or what Bill Gates and Jobs' spoke about when Gates visited him out of the blue one evening a few months before he passed away. You read about his relationship with each of his children and how he went about finding his biological parents and his relationship with his daughter that he abandoned in his younger days. It's all there, and it all makes for a riveting tale.
 The book also managed to do something few non-fiction books are ever able to do- make me laugh out loud, and make me cry. There were a few moments of tears, and there were few outright sobs, but then again I absolutely love Jobs so maybe someone with less of an attachment to him might not go through that.. but for sure, there will be quite a few misty eyed moments. Overall, I cannot recommend this book enough and think a lot of people who begin to read it will, like me, not be able to put it down!
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"Cheat Days" and why they work!

As any serial dieter will tell you, "cheat days" are the most treasured and looked-forward-to part of the diet plan! I've been on possibly every single diet imaginable and only over the past year and half have tried the Dukan, Lively (the food delivery system based in Dubai), the food intolerance related meal plan , all with varying successes and with one thing in common- I eventually got tired and got off them. Some of them offer you a "cheat day" as part of the diet, and for some it's a complete no-no. For example, while I was on my food intolerance diet, I could have a cheat meal once a week, and that too consisted of things that I wasn't allowed to have the entire week and wasn't intolerant too- which basically meant a meal with rice and gluten free chocolate. When I was on "Lively" I didn't have a cheat day or meal, but on "Right Bite" (another food delivery service that I'd tried a few years back) I was allowed one every week. Mind you each of these diet plans have worked for MANY people out there, and I'm not knocking them at all!! I just met a friend 2 days back who looked gorgeous after having lost 20 kilos on the Dukan diet, so it obviously really worked for her... I'm merely sharing my personal experience.
There are some dieters who like "cheating" a little bit every day and will eat a cookie or a piece of chocolate or two, but are very conscious of the calories they consume and continue to lose weight. There are some, like me, who like to abstain and would much rather have a strict diet plan during the week with a meal or day where I'm allowed to indulge, before I get back on track. It gives me something to work towards and I look at it as being a reward for sticking through the diet strictly. I've always noticed I'm much more likely to continue longer with a diet that allows me that space to maneuver than those that tell me I can't have bread till eternity.
When I started training with Amir a few months ago, he said to me it was very important I get on his food plan as it would be imperative to me seeing any results while training with him. With emailed it to me and mentioned he encouraged cheat days but I'd only get one after 4 weeks, then one after 3, then after 2, before they become weekly events and I figured it wouldn't be too bad and got on my diet. The diet is VERY strict and the first 4 weeks on it were brutal and the cheat day seemed like a very pretty nutella-glazed light at the end of a very long, hungry tunnel! I was shocked when Amir explained to me what he expected my cheat day to be like. There was no, "eat what you want but make sure it's in moderation" speeches given! It was more of a "if you can't eat anything and everything in sight then there's something wrong!" "WHAT?!" I hear you say? Trust me, that's exactly what my reaction was too.
Cheat days help you stay motivated and that is usually how they are used in traditional diet plans that allow one. My diet plan of a cheat day following a 4-3-2-1 sequence ensured that it was affecting my body in a positive way, and wasn't just extra calories that would find it's way straight to my hips. I started noticing that my size dropped after every such day and I couldn't help but recognize that what Amir was saying was actually right- that a cheat day is almost as important to my weight loss as the diet itself. How does my cheat day now differ from the ones I used to have before? Amir prefers it that I eat stuff that has a higher fat content and I'm not worried that the "damage" I do on that one day will negate everything I do on the other 6 days, as I know it's quite the opposite. After I came back from New York for example, I got one after dieting for 3 weeks and he warned me to be honest with him and tell him if I "crashed" in the afternoon or early evening (and by that I mean was unable to eat anymore), as it meant my metabolism wasn't in peak condition yet. There are other telling signs he had asked me to look out for, the main one being that you tend to sweat a lot on that day as your body is working hard to turn the excess food into fuel. Another one that I noticed myself was that previously even a larger than normal dinner would have me wake up the next morning not being able to eat a morsel till evening as I was stuffed from my meal the night before. Now, I marvel at the fact that I wake up the morning after my cheat meal ravenously hungry and I realize that my body is in high gear having burnt off all the food. And as I mentioned before, the best proof of the pudding is in it's eating, and the fact that I'm losing size obviously means I must be doing something right!
So while I'm unable to share my diet plan with you guys I suggest you guys optimize your metabolism by following the 4-3-2-1 system and marvel at what it does to your body! Worst case scenario? You'll lose some serious weight!
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Please do check out Amir's very interesting blog at The Body Axiom
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First iPhone 4S review in Dubai!!

So yes, the iPhone 4S is finally out, and being a gadget lover I just figured that everyone knew about the phone and everything it entailed till my friend Nadia told me the other day she saw a video of what the iPhone 5 could do. "Erm," I said to her, "there is no iPhone 5??" "But I saw a video of the laser keypad that the guy used to type on his desk!" she insisted. "My Lebanese hairdresser downstairs showed it to me!" Oh dear. For those who still haven't heard, the iPhone 5 does not exist yet and the video circulating is a concept video of what some guy wishes the phone would be like! Now that I've got that sorted, let me tell you more about the iPhone 4S.

 

The new phone looks pretty identical to iPhone 4 and I have not been able to tell any differences between the two. Apparently there is a bit of difference in weight and thickness, but both are quite marginal and none that I've been able to detect. I've had the phone for 2 days now and I'm really impressed with it! As I'd already upgraded my iPhone 4 to a white device, I don't really have the thrill of feeling like I have a new phone as it looks identical to my previous one. A huge difference is that my new one is 64GB which means a lot more music for me to carry around! 

The main difference between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S is the camera and of course, Siri, the voice operated personal assistant that is ONLY available on the 4S and not the 4. The new iOS5 is pretty fantastic and fixes a lot of problems that I used to have with the old device like pop up notifications that were ridiculously annoying. That has now been fixed and makes the phone a lot simpler to use. The new iOS (which is the operating system of the device.. or in even simpler terms, the base software that the phone runs) can be installed on the 4S so a lot of people might choose to just use that on their iPhone 4's and might choose not to upgrade. 

The iOS5 has the new iMessage app that allows people from Mac devices to be able to message each other for free. Upon it's announcement a lot of people figured that it would be a competitor to BBM or Whatsapp and it's a question quite a few people have been asking me the past few days. Honestly upon receiving my new phone (I had chosen to not download iOS5 on my old phone till I received the 4S) I was searching for the iMessage app and was wondering why I didn't have it. It's only upon a quick google search that I realized that it only worked until after I sent a friend a message did it let me know that the message had been sent and received via the app and therefor SMS rates would not apply. I don't quite understand why Apple decided to do that and not show the user which of their friends had that application on their phone. Overall, while it worked flawlessly, I just wish it worked a little.. well.. more like BBM or Whatsapp.

Ok back to the 4S device itself. I don't have any pictures on the camera yet to be able to demonstrate the picture quality and I will upload some soon. In the meantime, I've done a video review to show you a bit of what Siri functions like and to show you guys the actual device. Hope you like the video! I ran off in the middle to meet my friend for coffee hence the break. Also, the video was shot using my iPhone4 and edited on that phone before loading it up, so I do apologize about the lack of editing and the shakiness. The 4S has image stabilization by the way, so if I use my new device to shoot the iPhone 5 next year, hopefully I won't have the same issues!

So yes, Siri is a complete hoot and my friend and I have had hours of fun playing with her over the past few days. Nadia is convinced that poor Siri is just going to spontaneously combust due to our stupid questions and constant chatter with it! Anyhow, I haven't had any problems as such with the phone but today it did give me the wrong caller ID with it showing somebody's name and somebody completely different calling... Maybe Siri is getting back at me playing pranks? Who knows! I will update this post if that continues or if it was just a one off situation. Overall, the phone is great and since I'd managed my expectations on what the phone was and wasn't, I was quite pleased with it. Whether it is worth the upgrade over the iPhone 4 is entirely your call, whereas for me it was a no-brainer.

I decided to play some more with Siri and show her off to you guys, so check out the video below to be truly impressed. Additionally, here's a great post I found online on all the things Siri can respond to. But sadly enough, the thing I enjoy most is swearing at her... And yes, she comes up with different responses each time, which is why I continue! :) 

And if you're wondering how one can pass hours chatting with Siri, watch me and Nadia in all our silliness below! We tried convincing her that she was a boy (apparently Siri is genderless) and that her name was really Sebastian. I had another video with us going all out and asking her all sorts of random questions, but I deleted that one by mistake. Just as well!!! Skip the video unless you really have nothing to do (don't tell me I didn't warn you)...

Hope you enjoyed the review. For those upgrading from a 3GS or from another platform, check out my review of the iPhone 4 here which shows off FaceTime and  talks about the phone in general. 

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The iPhone 4S will be available in Jumbo stores very, very soon!

Essa @ Soiree!

In the past I've covered my dear friend, Mariya Kassam's store Soiree and its' events a few times, like for example the Umar Sayeed fashion show or the more recent Umar Sayeed Sadequain collection at DFW. I don't really like covering events though as a) I rarely go to any, b) there are a lot of other great blogs out there who do the job a lot better, and most importantly, c) once you cover one friends' event, you'll be expected to cover everyone's, whether you're in attendance or not. My friends know better now than to ask or to expect a post from me on their event... unless of course it's ultra fabulous and I would do a post regardless. The last week saw two such great events take place in the UAE.. One was a dinner with Carolina Herrera in Abu Dhabi (which will be my next post), and the other was Soiree's third anniversary which also saw the launch of the freshly designed boutique and the introduction of a new partnership with the fabulous designer Essa!!

Fans of the boutique Sauce would be very familiar with Essa's designs and I dare say he is one of the most popular local designers in the UAE. He's known for his funky take on classic Arabic attire, or the reverse, using "ghutra" fabric in some very quirky tops and dresses. Though born in the UAE, Essa's parents are of Indian origin, and so it was only natural for him to take his design expertise and launch his first Transnational collection... and it was just a natural fit for him to partner with Soiree to do just that. It was the first time I met the designer and although I've seen his pieces all over the place, I'd never actually owned any of them myself... I fell in love on both counts! Not only is he an absolute darling who is so full of life and energy (and one of the funniest people I've met in a long time), he is also such a fabulous designer and his creations are crazy whacky, and just SO much fun! While the store was absolutely packed and I didn't get to take too many pictures, here are some of my favourites that I snapped up. If you want some really funky, different pieces for Diwali and want to be the talk of the party (in a good way that is!) definitely check out his work, selling exclusively at Soiree.

The pictures were taken on my iPhone so you can't really tell these are NEON colours in the outfit! A very trendy take on a classic look

This is my favourite piece of the collection! I couldn't snap a picture of it properly, but it's gorgeous baby pink, elasticated at the waist with a full sequins inner skirt that shows through the bottom.

I fell in love with the prints on the kaftans! Here's the man himself holding the one I bought

There were many floor length flowy more traditional outfits as well... I loved this one on the mannequin 

Here's Mariya with Essa!

The event was organized by the fabulous Image Nation, and you can check out Red Velvet Nation's coverage of the event here to see what all the fashionistas at the event had on!
Also do go "like" Soiree's facebook page to be up to date on all the events of the store, here
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Why Steve Jobs' Death will have forever changed my Life

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life"... Famous words from what will go down in history as one of the most famous and inspiring speeches ever given.
I've already written my tribute to Steve Jobs that was published in the Gulf News, but while the world seems to have moved on and Indians everywhere are today mourning the death of music legend Jagjit Singh, Jobs' demise has affected me more than I thought possible. Every once in a while you get a wake up call that makes you examine your life and ask yourself what you want from it... Jobs' demise has done just that for me. It's made me ask myself whose life it is I am leading and what I want my legacy to be. You got all of that from the death of a person you've never even met? you may ask. Yes, I realize how cliche and almost tragic it sounds. As mentioned in my article, Jobs counted as one of the two men I'd always wanted to meet in my life. The irony keeps hitting me... he achieved all his dreams he possibly could in the short 56 years that he walked this earth. I didn't even try to realize my dream of meeting him.

Yes while Jobs was someone I'd never met I won't say it is completely a coincidence for me to be feeling this way considering my own Father passed away at the age of 56. In my article I wrote about a type of man whose DNA is predisposed for success and who doesn't quite fear the feeling of failure. Not to say they never experience it.. it's just that they understand that success is a journey and that you may run into a few ditches and potholes on the way to get to your final destination.. meanwhile knowing full well that they're on the path and are doing something to get there. My Late Father was often asked where he got the idea to name his company "Jumbo" and he'd tell the story of how he came to Dubai with a few hundred dollars in his bank account with a dream in his heart to build something great. He didn't know what it is he wanted to do, but he knew he wanted it to be the size of the Air India Jumbo jet that carried him. Now let me quickly clarify to fans of the "iCon" here, by no means am I trying to compare the two! I am merely drawing parallels between my two personal idols, and what they represent to me.

Incidentally, my Father was not really a fan of Apple products, and in one of my earliest blog posts, I've talked about his reluctance to buy me one of my first computers ever- An Apple PowerPC. To convince him I decided to try my hand at Photoshop to demonstrate to him what this fantastic little machine could do. Back then, using Photoshop and Freehand easily pretty much meant using a Mac to do it! A lot of convincing went into it, and I used a Mac to create this- My own "Think Different" ad!

And yes, at the end I was the owner of what was to be a never ending love affair- my very first Apple product! But I digress...

I wonder back to the past 11 years of my life since the year I graduated in 2000, and I wonder where the time has flown by. Jobs' death has probably had the complete opposite effect of what my Father's had on me, as while one made me try to figure out how I would survive the day in front of me trying to deal with an insurmountable loss, the other has me thinking about my future and what I want my legacy to be when I die. Over the past 11 years I've applied for an MFA in Creative Writing in New York twice, only to be wait listed twice and for me to have not been able to go. A novel that I started to work on two years back has been saved on my desktop screen and stares back at me each time I work on my computer, it's 3 incomplete chapters taunting me and begging for some attention. I always say I have a "no regrets policy" in life, but I have a feeling that if I don't give some serious thinking to what it is I was sent on God's green earth to do, that policy may soon change... and that is not how I want to live the rest of my life. (I always say that the worst thing somebody can be is stupid.. and the worst thing someone can have is regret.)

Having said that, one of my favourite quotes is from Paulo Coelho's books, The Alchemist - "Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You've got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense." I've always believed that to be so true for my life as I find everything comes a full circle and at the end, makes complete sense. It seems Jobs' believed in the same philosophy in life and talks about it greatly in his Stanford commencement speech and refers to it as "connecting the dots."But to find that clarity and come that full circle, one has to keep up with their end of the deal and do what they love- and it is that action of doing  that most people forget about.

I hope I've got you guys thinking if even for a moment about what it is you want to do with the rest of your life and what legacy it is you want to ultimately leave behind. If you want some food for thought, I URGE you to watch Steve Jobs Stanford commencement speech if you haven't already. If you have in the past, but haven't seen it recently, I think you will benefit greatly from watching it again. Knowing that the man in the video is no more and knowing the type of respect and idolization he received upon his death, only makes his words so much important to pay heed to.

Of all the amazing stories I've heard about Jobs (and if you search the internet, especially over the past few days, you'll find a countless number of them) is one that shows him at his most human. In a moving tribute, his friend Stephen Wolfram writes about visiting Steve at his NeXT offices-

I used to see Steve Jobs with some regularity in those days. One time I went to see him in NeXT’s swank new offices in Redwood City. I particularly wanted to talk to him about Mathematica as a computer language. He always preferred user interfaces to languages, but he was trying to be helpful. The conversation was going on, but he said he couldn’t go to dinner, and actually he was quite distracted, because he was going out on a date that evening—and he hadn’t been on a date for a long time. He explained that he’d just met the woman he was seeing a few days earlier, and was very nervous about his date. The Steve Jobs—so confident as a businessman and technologist—had melted away, and he was asking me—hardly a noted known authority on such things—about his date.
As it turned out, the date apparently worked out—and within 18 months the woman he met became his wife, and remained so until the end.

Here's to living a full life, leaving a great legacy, and finding your true love....
Thank You Mr Jobs for making me realize all 3 are possible... and that too in one lifetime!
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My tribute to Steve Jobs...

As carried by Gulf News today, on Page 44.

                                              Jobs, an action man driven by dreams
In our generation there are a few key moments and events that people will always remember where they were when they received news of a certain, usually tragic, event. News of Princess Diana's death and of the Twin Towers being hit are the two most obvious, and I dare say a lot of people will remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the demise of Steve Jobs.
My moment came when I was woken up by a text message by someone requesting a quote on Steve Jobs urgently for Gulf News. "In what respect?" I wrote back. Surely, I thought still half asleep, they meant they needed my reaction to the iPhone 4S that had made news just the day before. "Steve Jobs passed away and we need your reaction urgently please!" came the response.
Unfortunately, drafting a quote with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, trying to convey in a few words what this man whom I'd never met but yet had been such a guiding force in my life, is how I'll always remember the moment.
Logging on to Facebook and Twitter, I found a lot of others feeling the exact same sentiment. Almost everyone's status updates were about Jobs and the pages were littered with his quotes, especially the one from his famous commencement speech given at Stanford University. Many had changed their profile pictures and everyone spoke of him in the same way with the words "Creative genius", "game changer" and "Visionary" being thrown about a lot.
Cultural icon
Steve Jobs counted as one of the two people in the world I'd most have loved to meet (prolific writer Vikram Seth is the other). Moreover, as known to everyone who knows me, I'm a die-hard Apple fan and was a closeted one for many years before our business relationship with them became official. But yet, while Apple WAS Steve Jobs, to say that Steve Jobs was Apple will be totally missing the point about why a lot of people met the news of his passing with tears in their eyes. What makes the man one of the few (and quite possibly the only) businessmen in history to be looked upon as a cultural icon has, in my opinion, very little to do with Apple at all — it is about what Steve himself represents.
He single-handedly revolutionised not only the computing and animation industry, but gaming, music, the TV and movie industry, and with the iPad, set his eyes on the publishing world. I believe that there is a certain type of man out there for whom success is predisposed in their DNA as failure for them is just not an option.
I believe Jobs would have been a game changer in whatever he decided to do — luckily for us, it was technology innovation that most captured his interest.
Jobs used the slogan ‘Think Different' on Apple ads in the ‘90s, and I believe it was more his personal mantra that he incorporated in all aspects of his life, and continued to do so long after the company ditched the slogan. But to make him sound like a superhuman cartoon figure is also unfair, as Jobs was also quite the tough task master and I dare say we're going to see lots of stories and books over the next few months that claim to expose his darker side. His tyrannical demeanour with his staff is legendary, as was his short temper and sometimes outright arrogance. His Mercedes Benz without plates, usually parked in a handicap parking spot points to a man who also didn't think it important to bother with trivial things like laws. Or clothes apparently, as his now iconic Issey Miyake mock turtleneck, Levi's jeans and New Balance sneakers combo proves. But this Plutonic figure had little regard for the way others viewed him, and truly lived life on his own terms.
The singular most important reason that I've always idolised Steve Jobs is because, for me, he represents, no personifies, an idea that dreams do come true — his life is testament to that. He taught the world with his actions, not just with words, that one man can make a difference. Showed us that while sometimes plans go awry, we have to have faith and know that in the end, if we remain true to ourselves, things will work out OK — or as he put it, the "dots will connect". He was the embodiment of an idea of how a lot of us wish we could be — supremely intelligent, passionately focused with an incredible zest for life and living. No, Steve Jobs was not just Apple... He was so much more.
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To find the article on the Gulf News Website, click here

iPhone 4S and all other Apple announcements...

Wow.. So Tim Cook took the stage for the first time ever as CEO of Apple and delivered the Keynote speech for the "Lets talk iPhone" event taking place today. The iPhone has, as he announced, seen a year on year increase of a whopping 125%!!! Wowza! Well it's still only 5% of the mobile phone market, so there is lots of room to grow.
iOS 5 updates again-
-The new Operating System will have iMessage, which will allow messages to be sent between 2 iOS devices.
-Reminders are location based reminders that will clue you in to do certain tasks in certain areas as well as added Twitter integration all over the OS.
-Newsstand allows for periodicals to be downloaded straight on to the device in the background
- The Apple Camera will now have in-app editing
iOS5 will be available for free on October 12th!

image courtesy of gdgt

"Find my friends" allow me to track the location of family and friends on my iPhone. Cool and all, but I REALLY don't want my family or my friends knowing where the hell I am!!! That's like my worst nightmare come true!!

iTunes Match: Allows iTunes to match your current library in the cloud. Cool feature. Available "end of October" for $24.99

Updates on 2 iPods-

Some very cool clock faces that now officially lets the iPod Nano be used as a watch! It also has bigger icons and now built in support for Nike+
The iPod Touch is also available in White now and here are the prices for all of them-

And now... The iPhone 4S!! That's right guys, there is no iPhone 5.
- The iPhone 4S will have the A5 chip and will be 7 TIMES FASTER than the iPhone 4! That's nuts!
- Increased battery life with 8 hours of talk time in 3G.  Damn now I can't even lie and say that my phone died which is why people couldn't reach me with the "Find my Friend" feature (yes, I'm still emotionally scarred by that)
- Has some new system that allows for antenna switch to download and receive
-Download speeds that are twice as fast as the iPhone 4
- Now both CDMA and GSM!!!
- The camera looks amazing!! It has an 8 megapixel camera!! 30 percent more sharpness in image quality
- Records 1080p HD video recording.

And as I had predicted on Twitter earlier today, "Assistant" was the show stopper at the announcement today. The idea behind it being that you can TALK to your iPhone and have it talk back to you. Asking it whether you will need the umbrella today, what time it is in Paris, and what Greek restaurants are around Palo Alto will all have it speak back responses, and show you appropriate data matching with your question. I can't WAIT to see the video of the event to just see how well this actually works on the live demo on stage.
- If you receive a message while driving, just hold down the button on the headset and say "read my message" and Siri (the software) does so
- You can ask Siri how many days are left until Christmas and she replies
- Set up a wake up call
- Look up stock and weather data
And of course, here is the catch- Siri will only work on iPhone 4S and will need data connection to work
When asked, "Who are You?" Siri responds, "I am your humble Personal Assistant." Ha! Cute.

And although this doesn't quite apply to us, for those in America the above is what the pricing of the iPhone 4S will look like. It will be available in the US on all the big carriers as Sprint is now included as well.
And as Apple Japan had already confirmed to us, the iPhone 4S will be available on October 14th in 7 countries including the US, 22 more countries on October 28th, and 70 countries by the end of the year.
And no, the UAE didn't make the list of those 22 countries, hence, as of now, no fixed date is known for it's availability... YET.
Watch this space.
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iPhone 4S confirmed?? No iPhone 5?

Ok guys, I'm waiting for the Apple announcements to kick off and am glued to my computer waiting for the Apple iPhone event to start. The reason I'm telling you guys this now, is that I'm probably not going to be able to write coherent sentences once the event actually begins. I'll be one of those sweaty dorks sitting hunchbacked over my laptop, hitting refresh like a crazy person even though I've got autorefresh switched on on the multiple websites open and yes I know refreshing the damn site isn't going to make a difference and is akin to hitting the floor number repeatedly in an elevator but I want to keep refreshing it ok?? Wow, I think I'm going loopy already.
Well the event hasn't even started and it looks like Apple Japan's online Ginza store has let the cat out of the bag and has announced a 14th October launch date for what seems to be the Apple iPhone 4S. And that's ONLY 4S, as in there is no iPhone 5 at all. That's unless it's Jobs' "One More thing"... oh wait, there is no Steve Jobs either.

Ok the event is almost about to start.. let's hope there is an actual iPhone 5 that shows up or else I'm going to be pissed. Real pissed!! Check back in for a post on what goes down during the event as soon as it's over! Oh and sorry for the language! And all the exclamation points!!
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Best Cut and Colour in NYC!

So I'm still trying to play catch up with all my New York posts that I want to do, so I'll continue on the theme of beauty after my last post on NYC's best facialist which hopefully you guys found helpful. I'll move on to the best stylist for cut and colour in NY. You may remember my post from last year where I'd talked about my visit to Frederic Fekkai for my regular cut/colour routine. I'd been visiting Mia for.. well, forever, and Jeffrey for a few years as well. They're both amazing and I absolutely love them! Since I was to be in the city for 2 months this year, I decided to get my hair done right when I came and right before I left. I went in for a cut (unfortunately Mia wasn't in town so they suggested someone who had trained under her.. I believe the girl's name was Nicole) and a few days later, went back in for my colour. While I was in NY though, I was reading through one of my favourite beauty blogs that I've mentioned before, Into The Gloss and somebody there mentioned that they get their colour and cut done by a guy called Harry Josh, who apparently is also the only person Gisele Bundchen ever trusts with her hair. So I'm thinking, yes I absolutely LOVE the guys at Fekkai and have sworn my allegiance to them for years now, but after all, this is GISELLE we're talking about! Who doesn't want to replicate those perfect, flowy, gorgeous waves she has?! I did some research on him and he genuinely seemed to be very, very good with both cut and colour, and hadn't just gotten lucky with one celeb client. Ok so before you think, we know who she went to, let's stop reading here, the story isn't over yet. I emailed his assistant a few weeks before I left to book with him, and just as I thought he might be, he was completely booked out till after I left for Dubai. Luckily for me, his assistant Blake was not only super prompt at responding but was super nice and asked if I wanted him to give me the names of people Harry recommends to clients he isn't able to see himself. Since I'd decided to stray from my usual course anyway, I requested him for the names and booked myself in for colour with Amy Huson and for a cut with Ryan Cotton at the Marie Robinson Salon in NYC.
Let me pause here and tell you guys that before booking yourself in with ANY celebrity hair or skin person, I can't stress how important it is for you to do research on them and see that YOU gel well with their style. John Sahag is a very celebrity hair stylist in NYC who is known for his dry, choppy razor cut look that's very "in" but not very "me". Rita Hazan is also a colourist who is touted as being the best in NY and does Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Simpson amongst other celebrities. I've seen her work and I think if I wanted super light chunky highlights in my hair that start from the root of my head, I'd get it done from any Lebanese hairstylist in Dubai for one tenth the price.
Also if the stylist is based in the US, you probably will have places where you can check on reviews on the temperament of the stylist which is just as important as their styling abilities, if not more. If the person is known for having a bad attitude and not bothering with their non-celeb clients, trust me, they'll do a botch up job and you won't be happy. So anyhow, I did the necessary googling on Amy and Ryan before booking with them and was happy with what I read.

Amy Huson

 I was more worried with the colour than the cut as I knew I wanted to keep my hair long, and wanted a few natural looking highlights towards the ends of my hair rather than the root. Amy understand what I wanted and was really very good at giving me the colour I wanted. Technique-wise she was just as good as Jeffrey from Fekkai, whom I still think is AMAZING, but what made me like her that slight bit more was her ability to not only incorporate what I wanted now, but understand that I would have issues keeping up a high maintenance colour later and work around it and the colour she gave me was exactly what I wanted. Before I left the salon, she handed me a piece of paper with the colour that I should request back in Dubai to get my roots done, as well as the type of toner I should request the colourist here to use so as to not make my chocolate highlights go reddish. Again, I really appreciated the attention to detail and about her caring how the colour didn't only look as I walked out of the salon, but how it wore in the future.

Ryan Cotton

Since I'd had a cut only a month and a half prior and a really good one that too, I wasn't really going in expecting Ryan to transform my look.. I was more curious and figured since I was there, I might as well get a trim. Surprisingly enough, it was the cut I received that absolutely blew me away! I went in requesting not too many layers as I hated scraggly ends, not too much taken off as I was trying to grow my hair, not too much happening in the front as a short fringe would completely frizz out.. I'm amazed he wanted to cut my hair after that at all. But cut, he did. Not only do I now have one of the best cuts I've ever received in my life, it's easy to maintain and looks great either straight or with a few waves in it. He gave me a few slight layers just around my face to frame it, which thanks to the colour I got from Amy, lights up when my hair touches light. Again, I don't like obvious streaks in the hair neither can most people really tell I've done too much to it, although I've gotten quite a few compliments on my cut and/or my hair since I've been back. My middle sister even went to the extent of saying I should send send over a present to Ryan for my cut since it was was so fabulous! Since she herself frequents the chair of uberstylist Rossano Ferretti, she'd know a thing or two about recognizing a good cut if she saw it, so that in itself was a great compliment to receive.
I really couldn't be happier with my hair right now and I cannot recommend them both enough! Which obviously leaves me with a dilemma of seeing Harry Josh the next time I'm in New York. Till then, the duo of Amy Huson and Ryan Cotton remain my picks for the go-to people for the best colour and cut in NYC!

A pic I took after my salon visit. My hair looks MUCH lighter here since it has direct light hitting it in the bathroom!

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For more information about Amy, click here
For more information about Ryan, click here and here

Best Facial in NYC: Mamie's Skin Care

When you have problematic and sensitive skin like I do, it's always a task to find a good facialist who can give your face a thorough cleansing and not make you break out while you're at it. And since NYC has some of the best spas in the world, I always try to get a good facial while I'm there. I was a huge fan of the Triple Oxygen Facial at the Bliss Spa in New York.. in fact, I was a huge fan of the spa in general and all their treatments. Last year when I visited though, I noticed that the spa desperately needed a facelift and that had gone too commercial and mainstream. The facial as well left my skin looking red and blotchy and I decided to do some research about finding a new and better place the next time I visited. Turns out I didn't have to, as my best friend Payal found Mamie for me!

Sorry about the random title showing up.. it's the only larger picture of her I could find!

Payal has sensitive skin just like I do, and found Mamie after doing a bit of research and went to her for a facial, not really expecting too much. Turns out, she was blown away by not only the treatment, but the attention and advice she received, and I don't know if I mentioned it in my birthday post from Paris but Payal wanted for a facial with Mamie to be part of my birthday present too- that's how much she loved her new discovery! I did some independent research on my own and was quite impressed with what I read about her. She obviously had gathered a lot of press because of all the celebrities she frequently treated, but I also appreciated that random people had posted reviews about her and how incredible and thorough she was on their skin and how warm and inviting she was in person, which made me really look forward to checking her out.
I finally made my way to her a few weeks before I was to leave NYC as I wanted to have nice glowing skin before I headed back to Dubai. Her center is tucked away in a building a few blocks away from where I was, and I was quite surprised to see how homely the atmosphere was. The place is tiny and the waiting area is lined with pictures of her clients... not celebrity mugshots and signed autographs,  but wedding pictures and random photographs of people of whom some you recognize and some you don't. Mamie herself couldn't have been more lovely and while I expected to be sleeping through my facial, I was so happy to have her chatty, giving me skin care tips and advice, dispelling skin myths as well as a bit of Hollywood gossip thrown in. The facial lasted much longer than I expected, and she poked and prodded and squeezed and pampered every bit of my face, and then to cool the redness down, actually wheeled in a tank of oxygen herself to use it at the end to calm my skin down. Not only did I walk out of there with glowing, dewy skin, but I had a face with no redness in it AT ALL... which for a person with rosacea is very rare even on a good day!
While I knew I was in love while I walked out of her clinic that day, what I really loved is her passion and sincerity for her work. She does not push her products on you at all, and will recommend stuff only if you ask her to. A lot of the skincare she also recommended she didn't even sell, and for example, she told me to treat the dry skin on my body using pharmacy bought Eurcerin. I needed to pick up a serum that they didn't have in stock the day I went in for my facial, and a few days before I left New York, I went back in to pick it up. I had a few questions about whether it would clog my skin, etc, and since Mamie was free at that time, she came out to personally answer my queries. She noticed a few breakouts on my chin and asked if I had time and took me in to have a look, after which she gave me a mini facial clearing out all the clogged pores. Almost 45 minutes later I emerged with my skin glowing and I was super happy and headed over to the receptionist to pay for the treatment. The lady looked at me confused and said it was for free.. it was only when I refused to leave without paying something did she go in and talk to Mamie and charged me a nominal fee. And no, she didn't know I was a blogger or would be doing any sort of review on her.. she just wanted to help some random girl from Dubai who was visiting New York whom she probably assumes she'll never see again.
If you are in New York or ever going to visit and want to get a great facial while you're there, I literally cannot recommend Mamie enough. I think she truly is one of the best in the world, and it really is no wonder that celebs like Sophie Dahl have in many an interview sworn by Mamie and credit her with their porcelain complexions!

Pictures and press of Mamie with some of her celebrity clients. Taken from Mamie's website found here

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