Burning Man is over for another year and all the wonderful pictures taken this year are gradually surfacing across the internet. We’ve gathered a few of our favourites, plus some videos.
The Burning Man Project takes place in the middle of the Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, USA. For 7 days, Black Rock City is a place of community, art, self-expression and self-reliance. Participants at this festival enjoy a transformative experience unlike any other on the planet. The night that they ‘burn the man’ is akin to a New year’s Eve celebration.
The event runs almost entirely from social capital. Art projects are mostly crowd-sourced, music stages are self-funded and all the performers and visitors volunteer their time and give away free stuff to everybody – the gift economy. Of course the organisation behind the event BMOrg (Burning Man Organization) does a huge amount of work to set up the city which becomes home to 70,000 people for a week.
Below: The Candymen – visitors from the Bay Area, San Fransico, contributing to the “gift economy” by handing out sweets.
This year there were plenty of climbable art projects including a huge Xenomorph alien queen fortress, a metal spinning globe and a massive tower with a globe on top that required basic rock-climbing skills to reach the top.
The most talked about art was undoubtedly the Embrace Art Structure. Both of the human structures had passage ways and windows and you could climb to the top. The male had a heart with gears (showing logic) and the female had lightbulbs inside her heart (showing creativity).
The electronic music stages were filled with some great talent including Skrillex, Major Lazer, Above & Beyond, Robot Heart and many more.
The fireworks at Burning Man are some of the best in the world and this year an art piece called Nuclear Dream was detonated. The huge mushroom cloud explosion was heard across the whole playa. Take a look at the video below.
The clip was directed by Robert Hales and written by both Hales and White. According to the press release the whole video was “conceptualized, produced and shot within a 24-hour period,” and filmed in 6 hours at the historic Cruise Room at the Oxford Hotel in Denver.
With a slick new haircut and a classic blue suit, the dapper-looking singer sits alone at a bar fidgeting with a drink (“It’s not enough that I love you / There’s all these things I have to prove to you”). He sings about his frustrations of feeling like a ghost and wondering why he can’t be loved back. He tries to avoid eye contact with the mysterious female that appears throughout the clip. Only the jukebox and an old-school microphone provide some solace for the troubled rocker.
The song comes from White’s chart-topping album Lazaretto, released in June this year on his Third Man Records label through Columbia. The album shot straight to Nº1 on the Billboard 200, selling 138,000 copies its first week, of which 40,000 were vinyl – the biggest selling record since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking record sales in 1991.
Jack White is currently on tour in North America and is heading to Europe and the UK in November.
SHOWTIME! We continue our series of ‘In Performance at the White House’ – a series of concerts created to showcase the rich fabric of American culture in the exclusive setting of the nation’s most famous home. To see last weeks post, Motown Sound, click here.
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Paul McCartney – The Gerswhin Prize for Popular Song 2010
“In Performance at the White House: Paul McCartney” is a PBS music special taped in the East Room of the White House. President and Mrs. Obama hosted the concert in honor of musician Sir Paul McCartney’s receipt of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The evening included performances by McCartney himself and Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Jonas Brothers, Herbie Hancock, Corinne Bailey Rae, Dave Grohl, Faith Hill, Emmylou Harris, Lang Lang and Jack White, with remarks by Jerry Seinfeld. President Obama presented the Gershwin Prize to Paul McCartney during the event.
Paul McCartney wrote his first song at the age of 14 and since then he has always dreamed and dared to be different. As the writer of the Beatles’ greatest songs, he basically changed the world of music. Since The Beatles he has continued to push the boundaries of music, first as a solo artist, then with the band Wings and now as a solo artist again. Paul has spent most of the last few years performing to sold out concerts all over the world.
President Obama said: “It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly half a century since four lads from Liverpool landed on our shores and changed everything overnight.”
McCartney commented in an interview with the AP: “One of the highs was singing ‘Ebony and Ivory’ with Stevie because we’d never done it live together, so that was great. To sing it live together for the very first time with the first black president there, it suddenly gave a great significance to the song….To sing it with Stevie in front of President Obama was very emotional.”
When accepting the award, McCartney said: “This is such a fantastic evening for me. I mean, getting this prize would just be good enough, but getting it from this President…” which resulted in cheers and applause from the audience.
Download these shows and add them to your music library
This is part of a 10-week series that we will be running on our blog, with the music videos conveniently separated into individual performances so that you can save and download your favourite artists, or the whole show if your prefer. Creation 5’s YouTube feature lets you download videos so you can watch offline when you’re travelling and enjoy great music on-the-go. Don’t forget that you can download Creation 5’s YouTube In-app purchase absolutely FREE, which normally costs €4.49 ($4.99), as we currently have a promotion running in celebration of hitting 450,000 downloads on the App Store!
01 Paul McCartney – Got to Get You Into My Life 02 Stevie Wonder – We Can Work It Out 03 Jonas Brothers – Drive My Car 04 Jerry Seinfeld comedy routine 05 Jack White – Mother Nature’s Son 06 Faith Hill – The Long and Winding Road 07 Corinne Bailey Rae & Herbie Hancock – Blackbird 08 Elvis Costello – Penny Lane 09 Emmylou Harris – For No One 10 Lang Lang – Celebration (instrumental from Standing Stone) 11 Dave Grohl – Band on the Run 12 Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder – Ebony and Ivory 13 President Obama’s dedication speech 14 Paul McCartney – Michelle 15 Paul McCartney – Eleanor Rigby 16 Paul McCartney – Let It Be 17 Paul McCartney – Hey Jude
Calvin Harris and soul-singer John Newman have finally released the music video for their killer track Blame where they’re surrounded by lingerie-clad women…It’s tough at the top you know…
Directed by Emil Nava the video opens with the boys at their respective mansions giving the cold shoulder to girls they have just spent the night with. The ending is completely bizarre – the girls dive into water – sinks, ice-buckets, hot tubs – and are all teleported to the same pool miles away. Anyway, without trying to understand it, the visual is beautifully put together and compliments the song perfectly. Although trying to blame it ‘on the night’, instead of the fact that they are such players is questionable… 🙂
Following the song’s worldwide premier last week, it is currently leading the race to the Nº1 spot on the UK charts. If nothing changes from now until Sunday it will be Calvin Harris’s 5th UK Nº1 – I’m Not Alone (2009), Sweet Nothing (2012), Under Control (2013) and Summer (2014).
The track already hit the Nº1 spot on Spotify’s Global Chart – within 3 days of being released, making it the fastest-ever climber to the top.
Blame is the second cut to be taken from Harris’s upcoming new album, following the previous chart topper Summer.
How exactly is one to introduce a veritable institution in modern music? The critically acclaimed underground legend Sasu Ripatti has been at the forefront of so many genres and sub-genres of electronic production as to defy expectation. Over the years after his breakout release (Vocalcity, composed under the moniker Luomo when he was only 25, remains an oft referenced landmark in house music), Ripatti has only gone from strength to strength, mastering house, techno, dub, experimental, ambient, jazz (he’s originally a percussionist) and whatever else he chooses to dabble in – he’s a polyglot with the Midas touch. It’s impossible to condense Sasu Ripatti’s output into this space, so to find out more about the artist, read his biography here.
In this revealing interview, the reclusive genius (he lives in near isolation on an island near the Arctic Circle) behind the many monikers speaks out.
You’ve been putting out music under a different name for nearly every sub-genre you experiment with. Why choose to do this when output from a single pseudonym can be far more recognizable to listeners? Don’t you want a familiarity to exist? First off, I’m really not about being recognizable or having a brand or any such thing. Overall, it just feels right to give differing names to different projects or concepts. I like to produce and be involved with lots of different kinds of music, and they don’t always go hand in hand. To me, it wouldn’t make sense to put out the material I do as Delay and as Luomo under the same alias, it would be rather confusing for people. What really matters, actually, is that it doesn’t feel right to me. I’m all for confusing people, after all. Often people are only aware of a certain strain of my music, or like a specific project.
Not only do you perform and record as a percussionist in the Moritz von Oswald trio (headed by Moritz von Oswald, one of the fathers of 90s techno), but you also have your own experimental jazz quartet. This is, of course, besides your electronic output as Luomo, Conoco or Sistol – not to mention Vladislav Delay. That’s a mammoth oeuvre. How do you manage it all? From my perspective it’s the other way around. Had I only been making experimental ambient music for the past ten years, for example, I’d need professional help. I can’t imagine restricting myself like that. Again and again I come back to the analogy of food. There’s no way I would eat any food for more than a week in a row, no matter how good. And the same goes for my favourite albums: there’s a limit after which (the music) just doesn’t work anymore, you need variety. Making music is exactly the same thing. There’s a whole world out there, why would I stick to one genre? It makes no sense to me. But this also means that you can’t keep doing everything all the time. I’m not working on Luomo/ Conoco/ Sistol nowadays, and I recently stopped playing with the Moritz von Oswald trio as well – it’s time to move on and do other things. There are other collaborations and projects to look forward to. I don’t like to get stuck on a particular thing and, more often than not, things eventually tend to slow down creatively. It’s hard to bring new fire into a project sometimes. In the end, it’s just waveforms that you try to create emotions with. This tempo or that tempo, this mood or that… I’m rather omnivorous.
In 2011, Animal Collective invited you to perform at the All Tomorrow’s Parties that they curated. How was the experience? It was one of my better shows for sure. A dedicated audience and a massive high quality PA – what more could one ask for? I also enjoyed seeing some bands that I had no idea existed, trendy indie stuff and acts I wasn’t very familiar with.
Vocalcity is my personal favourite Sasu Ripatti album – like all your best work, none of the cinematic tracks dips below ten minutes in length. Do you believe longer, free-flowing compositions afford the artist greater scope? It’s not that simple. I often seem to just need time to build things, and I don’t really work well with the ‘three minutes thirty seconds’ format (even when it’s something relatively pop-like, such as Luomo). I’m in no rush, I don’t need to shorten tracks for any practical reasons, and I like to take my time. Lots of the music I’m influenced by is also lengthy and developing in structure, although I do enjoy some mainstream forms of music that clock in at 3:30 each and every time – no surprises there. It’s difficult for me personally to make short tracks, let’s put it like that. There’s always too much to say, too much to put into a very short format; but I never try to extend tracks intentionally to make them long. I’ve done smaller pieces, and some of them are my favourites. I have, slowly, also perhaps become slightly better at arranging and composing and need less time to say what I want to say musically.
Where did the ideas for Luomo and Vocalcity come from? What propelled you to try to inject emotion and warmth to the niche sub-genre of micro-house at such a young age? Did it not daunt you, a task that would daunt even a far more experienced and mature artist? I didn’t care at all, to be honest. I had no idea what house music was, never mind micro-house… it was one of the least interesting forms I could ever imagine listening to. I really hadn’t even heard any actual house music, just the cheap commercial stuff off the radio. For me it was never about house music: it was about pop music. I never wanted to start a band for my pop or vocal music. Electronic backing, however, suits me well when I choose to write pop with vocals. It’s just a vehicle. Back then I was doing lots of ambient stuff and getting a little bored of it. I was garnering attention for said ambient stuff, and the labels attached to me bothered me to the extent that I decided to do something totally different. I had made strange electronica for years on end and I think I had a little breakdown or something. I knew a jazz singer from the time I was heavily into the jazz scene and used to play drums. I asked her and a keyboard player to join me. I just got on with it without much planning or thought. I remember the time I sent the first tracks to the label that released Luomo. They said there weren’t enough kick-drums… I remember I tried putting them in – and that’s the house thing I guess. It was a hard period in my life, personally. I was quite a mess and it was somehow therapeutic to write those lyrics and make emotional music.
What are your favourite places in the world to perform at, and why? I have noticed I’m changing in this respect. It’s partly due to having moved to a remote location (an island in the Baltic Sea, near the Arctic Circle) which makes traveling rather challenging, but beyond that I have realized more and more that my main interest lies in the studio rather than in playing concerts. Don’t get me wrong, I like to play some good shows (and still do every now and then) – but the fact is also that not every show is a good one, and often unrelated to what you’re producing. Those tend to kill me every time a little bit. Anyway, Tokyo and Kyoto are probably my favourite places followed by random smatterings everywhere. If it’s more dance-oriented music it’s often better the more south you go; for experimental stuff it’s often places where conditions are harsher, or at least less sunny. Still, these are stereotypes and they often fall short. Shows in Japan usually don’t fail, though. People are very considerate and interested in what you’re doing, there’s a certain dedication in Japan that’s more of a norm there than the random, surprise adulation you get elsewhere.
You’re a Pitchfork darling, and arguably one of the most respected producers in the world today. What are your own inspirations? And what new talent have you heard that impresses you? Am I a Pitchfork darling? I think they’ve routinely ignored everything I have done for years. I’m just not trendy enough. My own inspirations are rather varied. Obviously there’s music, which has been a part of my life non-stop ever since I was a child. My first memories are almost all connected to music or other creative media. Music in its many forms still inspires me: mainly older jazz, Jamaican, world music, hip-hop, classical. But I must say I’m connecting less and less with most of the music being made today, compared to some music I’ve truly been inspired by in the past. I still look for new stuff, but maybe less than I used to. It’s just that there’s so much, and not all of it is good. My time is limited. The music I listen to is therapeutic above all. I easily spend 10 to 12 hours in the studio every day, listening to stuff I’m working on. After that I really don’t want to challenge my ears, I want to do the opposite. More often than not it’s something like Bill Evans trio or Chet Baker or I-Roy or some entertaining hip-hop, maybe some solo piano music. Not the latest electronic assault, though; it’s too much. I must add that I generally just don’t like the sound of most music made in the past few years. I’m not contesting its musicality – just what it sounds like. I mean it’s fucking loud, and it’s over-processed, -produced, and pushed to its limits – often, nowadays, with cheap digital gear by people who don’t know much about the technical side of things… about the art of recording. There’s not much room for my own creativity to play around there because there’s no space. The music I love always has plenty of room to hang around and add your self to. Books have also been quite an inspiration, since my both parents are/were authors. Movies to some extent. Food and cooking to a much greater extent. I cook almost every day. My daughter is arguably the biggest inspiration of them all. I’m inspired by interesting people, from farmers and fishermen to artists and criminals and everything in between. I’m inspired by travel, what I see and learn and notice. There’s so much inspiration around, it just flows in…
Vladislav Delay is possibly your most famous and prolific project. Is there an especial stylistic attachment you have to it over your other work? Somewhat. It’s more of my own thing than anything else I’ve done. Delay’s music is more expressive and true to my self, to the point that I don’t have to work all that much on this project as compared to the sportsman-like feeling I sometimes get when I’m making vocal or club music. There’s no intention or trying, I just let it go where it wants to.
Despite the incredible adulation and critical acclaim most of you projects have received, you have, somehow, remained reluctant to toy with mainstream success. Was it a conscious choice to remain an underground artist? Yes.
The eagerly-anticipated trailer for I am Ali is here! The film promises to deliver a never-seen-before look at the iconic fighter, a personal and intimate look at the man behind the legend, told from the inside.
From the producers of the award-winning Searching for the Sugarman this documentary is a really personal and up-close look at Muhammad Ali. The story is told through exclusive access to Ali’s personal archive of ‘audio journals’ combined with intimate interviews from his inner circle of family and friends – his children, ex-wife, brother, plus legends form the boxing community like Mike Tyson, George Foreman and Gene Kilroy.
Executive producer John Battsek comments: “It’s a film built around phone conversations that Ali recorded for many years with his family. That’s the spine of the film. It’s a very personal perspective on Ali, from Ali – in a way – through a 20-year period of his life when he was still fighting,” he told Screen Daily.
Directed by Clare Lewins and produced by Clare Lewins, George Chignell and Greg Hobden this intimate portrait tells the story of Cassius Clay’s transformation into a living legend. It arrives in theatres and on demand on October 10, 2014.
With 3 singles in the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, a slot opening the MTV Video Music Awards 2014, and millions of fans watching her every move, Ariana Grande has made her transition from a Nickelodeon tween star to a promising global superstar look so effortless.
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Stepping away from her PG debut album “Yours Truly”, Ariana’s sophomore album “My Everything” has taken a big leap towards the EDM dance world and has turned her into a full-rounded and versatile dance artist, pop star, soul artist, as she continues to show off her greatest weapon – her angelic voice with an outstanding vocal range.
What’s more, Ariana has given us a little glimpse of her wild side, singing lyrics such as: “Picture me and you making/ Making sweet love/ Baby, give it to me”.
While her singles “Problem” and “Break Free” are energetic bangerz, and Ariana’s more melodious solo songs “One Last Time” and “Why Try” are flawlessly delivered like a pop diva should, her various collaborations, one could say, are hit-or-miss. Ariana brilliantly shows off her ability to team up with her antitheses, The Weeknd, in “Love Me Harder”, yet her track “Be My Baby” (ft. Cashmere Cat) is lost among the others. She could have also held back on the twerkable beats and A$AP Ferg’s appearance in “Hands on Me”, but it works (kind of).
All in all, Ariana has proven herself in her second No1 album in less than a year, “My Everything”. She sure knows how to get a room moving and she sure can make our hearts soar. According to Rolling Stone “she already is a major force”. The future shines bright for the 21-year old pop diva.
The intro to Ariana Grande’s sophomore album “My Everything” is an eighty second welcome to her fans, a reminder to everyone that her voice is still a sensation. Her lyrics “I’ll give you all I have and nothing less, I promise” is either a conversation the young diva is having with a specific person or a message to her fans that her latest album will not be disappointing. Let’s see what we’re in for…
If you don’t know this song by now then, I’m afraid to tell you, you’ve pretty much been living under a rock this summer. “Problem” ft. Iggy Azalea is the lead single on Ariana Grande’s album and it’s been topping the charts at No2, giving Grande her highest-charting single yet and bridging the gap between her debut album “Yours Truly” and her sophomore album “My Everything”. With downloads skyrocketing past the millions and over 185,000,000 views on YouTube, Grande has created a lot of hype with her triumphant “hip-pop mix of sassy brass, sharp clicks and celestial vocals”. While Grande stays true to her PG fan base, Azalea’s badass appearance on the mix sure adds a little bit of edge to Ariana’s virginal image and pop-angelic sound (let’s not forget her signature fluttering eyelashes).
Although “One Last Time” heavily sounds like Loreen’s 2012 Eurovision “Euphoria” anthem, Grande’s transition from R&B into light pop EDM demonstrates her coming-of-age and ambition on “My Everything”. Her lyrics “I know/ That you got everything/ But I got nothing here without you” convey the story of a young lady tormented with guilt, begging “one last time/ I need to be the one that takes you home/ One last time/ I promise that after that I’ll let you go” in the chorus. Setting aside her humiliation, she gathers up a sense of hope, above the bashing drums and three-note synth line.
Co-written and co-produced by One Republic’s Ryan Tedder and Benny Banco, who have a ridiculous amount of hits to their names, expectations were high when it came to “Why Try”. With it’s thunderous mid-tempo melody, great vocal power, militant drum rolls and a lot of catchy “na-na-na” hooks, Ariana made the hit production her own, with a jaw-dropping finale, shedding light on the pop-diva’s natural vocal abilities.
Some may call “Break Free” an easy chart hit, others may call it a very good pop song. Produced by EDM whiz, DJ Zedd, Ariana’s second single is the complete opposite of “Problem”. According to Jason Lipshutz from Billboard, the single “possesses a laser focus, with Zedd’s outlandish electronica serving as an icy platform of Grande’s towering hooks and forced rhymes”. He refers to it as “an underrated, enthralling dance single”. Indeed, “Break Free” is pretty damn catchy and is by far one of the most memorable tracks on Grande’s album. Also, the music video is quite out there, with aliens and lasers and rockets being fired from boobs. Ariana explains: “I never thought I’d do an EDM song, but that was an eye-opening experience, and now all I want to do is dance”! Overall, the track is like a huge balloon filled with lots of confetti! It’s fun!
“Best Mistake” takes the tempo down a notch in a moody ballad that grows on you the more you listen to it. Big Sean’s guest vocals voice an emotional confession between two lovers who are trying to make their minds up about the future of their relationship – a topic that has led to rumours that the pair is dating. Ariana sings with a deep and intimate vocal tone: “If the water dries up, and the moon stops shining/ Stars fall, and the world goes blind/ Boy, you know I’ll be saving my love for you, for you”. The song is yet another on Ariana’s album “My Everything” to reach No1 on Billboard. From EDM/electronica to pop ballads, the diva sure has us grasped tightly in the palm of her hand.
“Be My Baby” is a solid track on which Ariana’s vocals resemble Mariah Careys pipes. There isn’t much to add to that, except that it makes the next track on the album stand out…
Grande seems totally in her comfort zone as she sings about a scorned lover in “Break Your Heart Right Back”. Yet Grande picks an unusual subject matter to sing about over an upbeat brassy beat. The song is about a guy leaving a girl for another guy. Diana Ross’ iconic track “I’m Coming Out” is appropriately sampled and embedded into the song. Ariana explains “It’s one of my favourites on the album and it’s really funny because I believe it has happened to me. I’m not 100 percent positive but I’m 99.9 per cent positive … I would rather he cheats on me with a guy than with a girl any day! If I found out my boyfriend was gay, I would be like ‘OK!’ I’d be so relieved.”
Two people from different musical worlds come together in a collaboration that works deliciously. The track perfectly slots itself under the label “mid-tempo R&B banger”. Its pulsating moody electro-R&B beats and lyrics that croon “can you feel the pressure beneath your hips/ I’ll make you feel like the first time”, the song sure is the spiciest on the album. We love this one!
Co-written by Harry Styles, specifically for Ariana, “A Little Bit of Your Heart” is a heartfelt piano ballad, with lyrics that sing: “I’m a fool for you”, “Just a little bit of your heart is all I want” and “I’m not your only, but at least I’m one”. The soft harmonies that blend in to Ariana’s perfect high notes in the final chorus add to the emotional state of the track. It’s a sweet tune, but not the strongest on the album.
In “Hands on Me” we uncover Ariana’s slightly more naughty side. “Shirt off, high heels on/ Might be a little but I like that long, yeah/ Don’t let these eyes fool ya/ I can take it, hold nothing back, give it to me… Put your hands on me” she insists (alright then, Ariana!). The track kind of sounds like a mashup of Rihannah’s track “Cockiness” and Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy”, with frantic hip-hop beats. A$AP Ferg’s rap addition is a playful contribution to Ariana’s “twerkable verses”. It sure is the perfect way to say goodbye to Ariana’s Nickelodeon phase. If Miley did it and got away with it (sort of), then Ari surely can and with perhaps a little more class.
Ariana closes the album on more sober and emotional note. She sings “he wasn’t my everything ‘til we were nothing” as her vocals glide melodiously and effortlessly over her piano-based track.
The bonus edition features three more tracks, including the explosive “Bang Bang” with Jessie J & Iggy Azzalea – this decades’ version of “Lady Marmalade”- as well as “Only 1” – a “short, snappy and sumptuous” track – and finally, “You Don’t Know Me” – Ari’s very first anti-fame rant.
Elusive house producer Mario Basanov aka Ten Walls climbs a massive 181 places to Nº 3 on the UK charts with Walking with Elephants. The new music video, released a week ago, is completely mesmerising and utterly magnificent.
The track was originally released on an EP earlier this year and all summer long has been very successful in clubs across Europe. Now, with the release of the track and a new awesome music video the song just might make it to number one in the UK. #TenWallsForNumber1
The surreal music video, directed by Nez, best known for his work with Rudimental, Disclosure and M.I.A. was filmed in the UK in Dungeoness, Kent and the footage was captured on land and air. The whole visual is completely arresting right from the start. Then, about halfway through, it becomes even more amazing when costumed men start leaping like dolphins through the waves. This is the new sport of Flyboarding – but with all the gear required to make this happen – jetpacks attached to the flyboarders’ feet, the jet-skis and tube that pull them, all rendered invisible in the video.
The talent of Ten Walls seems to be in providing you with a truly new experience. So many DJs are using this song in their sets, it has a perfectly balanced build up and the timing of the break is perfection. There is plenty of hype around Ten Walls and tracks like this prove it is all justified.
Walking With Elephants was officially released on September 7 via Ten Walls’ own label, Boso.
Check out the new trailer for The Boy Next Door starring Jennifer Lopez as a high school teacher having an affair with one of her students. Big mistake. It reminds us of Michael Douglas’s 1987 film Fatal Attraction. It’s a bit creepy.
Jennifer Lopez plays a high school teacher and mother of a young son who finds out that her husband is cheating on her. Noah, the boy who just moved in next door, played by Ryan Guzman, pays her one compliment and so starts a run of many flirtatious exchanges. Noah can’t get enough of her and soon they have a passionate affair. He becomes obsessed and slowly starts to ruin her life, from email hacking to manipulating her son.
Moral of the story? Be careful who you get into bed with.
Yesterday during a keynote presentation in Cupertino, California, Apple unveiled the iPhone 6, the iPhone 6 Plus and the Apple Watch. It was quite a presentation. It’s the biggest advance in the history of iPhone and the most desirable wearable we’ve ever, ever seen.
Size and Display
The screen on the iPhone 6 is 4.7 inches in size, with 1334 x 750 resolution, which is basically equivalent to a 720p Android phone. The iPhone 6 Plus, which uses an even bigger Full HD, 1080p with 5.5-inch screen. The iPhone 6 isn’t just bigger than the 5s it’s way better. It has a smooth metal surface that seamlessly meets with the gorgeous Retina HD display. Both models are IPS and feature improved colour reproduction.
The iPhone 6 although a bigger handset is not huge at all, sizing in at just 6.9mm thick. The iPhone 6 Plus is slightly bigger, measuring 7.1mm thick.
Processor
The chip inside is a brand new A8 processor which Apple says is up to 50x faster than the original iPhone. The motion coprocessor is also updated with a new M8 unit to sit alongside the A8 which measures your steps, movement and even elevation. Nike will update its running app to track how high and low you are running.
Battery Life
Battery life is hugely improved – see the stats below. The iPhone 6 Plus scores here with a significantly longer battery life than its smaller sibling – perhaps because it can hold a bigger battery.
Camera
8-megapixel sensor, a true tone flash and an even faster aperture.
Apple has introduced something called ‘Focus Pixels’ that allow the handset to use ‘phase detection auto focus’ which basically means a two-times increase in speed over the older-generation iPhone.
Face detection is improved for focusing, it uses digital image stabilization, and optical image stabilization which will make it even better at capturing photos in low light.
Slow motion is also improved, doubling from 120 fps to a full 240 fps. Time lapse video is also built into iOS 8 (hooray!), and continuous autofocus is now possible using the new iSight sensor, while shooting video.
Connectivity
iPhone 6 has faster LTE download speeds and supports more LTE bands than any other smartphone so you can roam in more places. When you’re connected to Wi-fi you’ll get up to 3x faster speeds.
We are delighted to hear that Wi-Fi calling has been built in and very conveniently the phone will seamlessly switch between 4G and Wi-Fi wherever possible, so that you get the best call quality. You won’t know it’s happening either.
Apple Pay
This will change how we pay for things forever. Contactless payment technology is here. No more searching for your wallet, no more stressing over finding the right card. No more swiping and waiting – it all happens with a single touch. It’s quick (seconds), easy (all the info is in your phone) and really secure. To pay, all you do is hold your iPhone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID. That’s it…! You don’t even have to look at the screen to know your payment has been made – a subtle vibration and beep lets you know. And if you ever lose your phone you just use Find My iPhone to quickly put your device in Lost Mode so that nothing is accessible, or you can choose to wipe the device clean.
iOS 8
The world’s most advanced operating system has made a huge leap as well. It’s really, really smart. You can now do things you could only imagine before, like using Siri to control the devices in your home or using your health and fitness app to contact your doctor. Here’s a brief list of what’s new: • Add voice or video to any message • See a clear picture of your health from a dashboard that’s updated daily • The keyboard has just got really smart, typing is way easier, with contextually appropriate suggestions based on who you are typing to and in what app. • All your favourite people can access your favourite things – family sharing on iTunes for up to 6 family members • Introducing iCloud Drive for any kind of file on all of your devices • Smarter notifications – act on notifications without leaving the app you are in • Search also got smarter – it now looks beyond your device and considers context and location to give you the most accurate results
Both models are available in gold, silver and space grey starting from $199.
There is so much to say about this new wearable. To start with, it’s the hottest thing we’ve ever laid eyes on. Before the presentation yesterday in California, not one of the Creation Team were particularly interested in the Apple Watch. After the presentation we were already deciding which one we were going to have. Impressed is an understatement. The only bad thing about it is we have to wait till early 2015 before we can get our hands on one.
First off – it’s gorgeous. Rolex eat your heart out. This is a highly desirable watch. It might be “just a gadget” but its so intimate and personal that it has entered it’s own category. It represents a new chapter in the relationship people have with technology. As Apple say “It’s the most personal product we’ve ever made, because it’s the first one designed to be worn”.
Made for Everyone
A device you wear, by definition has to be vastly different than one you carry around. The Apple Watch is available in three distinctive collections:
Apple Watch – Stainless steel or space black stainless steel cases. Sapphire crystal. A range of stylish bands.
Apple Watch Sport – Anodized aluminum cases in silver or space gray. Strengthened Ion-X glass. Colorful, durable bands.
Apple Watch Edition – 18-karat gold cases in yellow or rose. Sapphire crystal. Exquisitely crafted bands and closures.
Powerful technology
The Apple Watch is basically a remarkable feat of engineering. The crown (or dial/wheel as some people call it) is a standard feature on watches. The Apple Watch has a Digital Crown, which is a multifunctional input device that lets you zoom, scroll, and select without covering the screen with your fingers. It’s as integral to Apple Watch as the the mouse is to Mac. The Home screen lets you quickly find your favorite apps and the force-sensitive Retina display puts more functionality at your fingertip.
Precisely perfect
Keeping accurate time is pretty important for a timepiece. Apple Watch uses multiple technologies to keep time within 50 milliseconds of the definitive global time standard. It automatically adjusts to the local time when you travel and presents time in a more meaningful, personal context by sending you notifications and alerts relevant to your life and schedule.
We were blown away by notifications – you feel pressue, like a gentle tap, on your wrist (incoming notification) so you raise your wrist to see what it is – as you raise your wrist the screen lights up to show you the notification, which you can act on or dismiss/delay.
Health and Fitness Companion
Apple Watch delivers a complete picture of your all-day physical activity. The three rings of the Activity app show your progress at a glance, helping you to sit less, move more, and get some exercise. You know how many calories you’ve burned and how active you’ve been – at a glance. There’s also a separate Workout app for dedicated fitness sessions. Over time, Apple Watch will suggest personalized daily fitness goals and encourage you to achieve them.
Unless you actually see it working you won’t believe how amazing it is. Check out the video!
