My first phone was a Ericsson GF788 (what a stunning name for a phone !). Time and tech has moved on a fair bit since then as I found out with the new Sony Ericsson W995. The new W995 is not just a Walkman phone but also a decent Cyber-shot type camera, portable GPS unit, internet browser and video player to name but a few. Ok so its not an iPhone killer but then again the battery lasts for more than a minute, you don’t need to sell your children to get one, and it does a great job of handling phone calls and keeping reception, which is after all what phones are for. Sony Ericsson has done a grand job here, probably the best non-smart phone on the market in my mind. Have a look at the pictures above to see the phone and some of the photos I took with the 8.1mp camera, pretty stunning. The W995 also comes with a great set of headphones and a 3.5mm jack. Shortcut keys for media, camera and Walkman functions are all ergonomically placed. The battery lasts at least 3 days even with heavy call/music use (Tip: Turn the screen brightness to minimum if you have a SE phone and the battery lasts a lot longer). From getting the phone out the box, to copying all my contacts across, took under 5 minutes with the software and cables provided with the phone. The software works with iSync for Mac and has a custom programme for PC users.(If you have an existing SE phone you can just copy all your contacts across via Bluetooth, from the contacts advanced options menu) Loves: 8 Gig memory included, Camera, Phone size / durability, Walkman sound, Battery life, screen size and ease of use, Wi-Fi Dislikes: Cant play more video file formats yet, camera lens not protected, I don’t own one yet. Hot as: Hades   Key Features:

• Brushed metal body parts
• Quad-band GSM, dual-band HSDPA
• 2.6" 256K-colour TFT display of QVGA resolution
• 8.1 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, face detection
• WQVGA video recording at 30fps
• Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality
• Wi-Fi with DLNA support
• Bluetooth (with A2DP) and USB v2.0
• Accelerometer sensor
• 118MB of internal memory and M2 memory expansion (8GB card included)
• Stereo speakers
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Kickstand
• Walkman 4.0 music player with Shake control and SensMe
• FM radio with RDS
• Multi-tasking support
• Smart dialling
• Comfortable keypad, nice sliding mechanism

(Just a quick one, Sony Ericsson sent me the phone for review. This post is not paid for etc etc)

Love this little spot for Sprint’s new MiFi device. Its a neat little pocket friendly size gadget that takes a 3G signal and turns it into a mini WiFi transmitter allowing up to 5 people within a 30ft area to log on and surf the web. Great little devise, to read more on it click here. (Ad credit goes to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners)

Not sure how I missed this one but thanks to the fabulous guys and girls at Cherryflava I can now share it with you. Sony Ericsson have been proud sponsors of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) since 2005 and have held several fantastic unique tennis PR stunts around the world.

This latest stunt involved them taking over the longest street in Canada (Yonge Street in Toronto) for an impromptu flash mob style game of tennis. The event was to celebrate the start of the Rogers Cup and saw two of the brightest stars of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic play against each other on the street.

Previous stunts have seen Sony Ericsson plan WTA tennis PR events on car rooftops in Miami, in a metro station in Madrid, and on a desert island in the Arabian Sea in Doha.

On another note, thanks to Sony Ericsson I have been using a new W995 for the last week or so and I must say it has to be the best non smart phone around (Think, WiFi, 8mp camera, GPS, Walkman phone etc etc, will write up more later).

To see how it all went down check out the video below.

Really enjoyed these spots for Windows Live Photo Gallery. In this ad we see a 7 year old vs a 70 year old in a timed contest to see who can perform a photo stitch and print it the fastest. Great work from Crispin Porter + Bogusky. You can also see an 8 year old vs an 80 year old and even a  9 year old vs a 90 year old. They also have some fun “I’m a PC” spots from little peeps aged 4, 5, 7 and 8 (Just click on the links to view the other ads). Click on this link to get Windows Live Photo Gallery for yourself, its free. I’m a PC too by the way.

To help get the word out for Sony Bravia TV’s latest promotion, TBWA London managed to enlist the help of the one and only Alice Cooper. The spot also features Coopers 80’s manager Jared Levy and his roadie Lloyd talking about trashing TV sets out of hotel windows etc etc. The promo is available in the UK and offers up to £150 off any new Sony Bravia TV if you trade in your old TV.

Very funny work from Saatchi & Saatchi, Auckland for Skof crisps in New Zealand. The campaign is called Borderline Talent. So far the website set up for people to enter their own borderline talent videos has received 34 entries and just over 1000 votes for the various videos entered. Its still early days so I hope they get more submissions. The winner walks away with $5000 cash a Skof vending machine stocked for a year.

To enter your submissions visit the Skof Website here.

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Love this new spot by Young & Rubicam for Argentinean brand Quilmes beer. The ad features two guys on a night out that start to realise they are in a beer commercial with fun consequences.

At Huddlemind we are launching the first in a series of courses that we will run each month from now on called Huddles. The idea behind them is to make each course themed, interactive, unique and most of all incredibly useful to you. The first of these courses is entitled “Word of Mouse”, and is all about how to successfully tell your brand / product story online. Over the last few years I have learned a lot through the campaigns I have run or helped out on, some did well, others not so well, and a few have been epic wins. I would like to share with you 5 things I have found help the most with Word of Mouse marketing.  

  The first Huddle is taking place in Cape Town on the 11th of September. To find out more click here. For booking enquiries Email Sandy@huddlemind.com or call us on +27 21 433 0886

  I have been waiting for this announcement for some time. Sony’s PS3 sales have almost continuously struggled to keep up with the likes of Microsoft’s Xbox360 (my personal favourite) and the Nintendo Wii since launch. Much of this has to do with pricing and the fact that the PS3 original is larger than some peoples televisions / living rooms / houses, etc etc. Well fear no more, as Sony have just announced at the GamesCom stage in Cologne that the new PS3 Slim will be released at the beginning of September. According to to CEO Jack Tretton the price will go down to $299 from today (or €299, £249, and ¥29,980 elsewhere). The new PS3 slim is 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter and uses 34 percent less power. It now will come as standard with a 120GB hard drive, as well as the usual Blu-ray drive, HDMI 1080p output, and a DualShock3 controller. Engadget have a nice review of first impressions and unboxing, just click here to check it out. To view the short full announcement from the SCEA President and CEO Jack Tretton, Click here.

Pretty awesome new U.S Cellular spot done by Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco. Great use of huge spotlights and shadow hand puppets. According to the very knowledgeable chaps at AdFreak they also have a second spot, currently in post-production (Click to view) featuring giant blow up octopus, whales and jelly fish amongst others, all roaming through the city streets. (Cant believe you have to pay to receive phone calls and texts in the USA ! Nutters)

Loved this new ad for the new VW Golf 6. Have often heard people talking about cars saying this or that is “like a golf” etc. Great work from DDB London, like most Golf ads its a grand job.

Great creative music video called Heatless from The Fray. The video is an acoustic cover of the original Kanye West song. Great production work from Partizan, the music video was directed by Hiro Murai. To listen to The Fray’s Radio 1 live lounge version just click here.