Spitting Lyrics

Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela in ‘Long Walk to...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:49:00 -0400

Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela in ‘Long Walk to Freedom.’

DC Comics v Marvel: Who's rules at the box-office

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 09:45:00 -0400

Break down of box-office figures provided by The Economist, highlighting the rise and popularity of superhero films from both DC and Marvel.

Photo

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:47:08 -0400

Google unveils new How-To video for Glass

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:57:15 -0400

Apple Celebrates 'A Decade of iTunes'

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:29:00 -0400

Apple celebrates its 10 year anniversary of iTunes with a smart interactive digital timeline containing milestones and landmark announcements.

It’s incredible to believe that its almost 10 years since its launch. You literally have to rack your brains to remember how we all used to consume music and media.

You can check out the timeline by clicking on the below image.

The new redesigned Spotify logo

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:50:00 -0400

The new redesigned Spotify logo

Personal Company Branding asamshah.com

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:36:00 -0400

Personal Company Branding

asamshah.com

#9 - Five Things From This Week

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:13:00 -0500

Friday 8th March

Its the first week of March and I’ve already broken my New Years promise - not good. I failed to do a blog post last Friday and the funny things is, I didn’t even realise till this morning that I had.

Things are going pretty well, work wise, at the moment. I’m branching out on my own which means I’m flat out busy constantly. It’s taxing but fun at the same time. That being said, there’s no excuse for not fulfilling my blogging obligation and I apologise to those that were looking out for it.

Ok, enough grovelling. Back to business.

A week which saw Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez pass away, Manchester United cry foul after being knocked out by Real Madrid and Justin Bieber in being a bellend shocker.

Amazon’s Social Screw-up

Offensive t-shirts to women were found on Amazon.co.uk causing outrage on Twitter. The popular slogan ‘Keep Calm and..’ were used in creating disgraceful and offensive slogans such as “Keep Calm and Rape A Lot” and “Keep Calm and Hit Her.”

Selling at £15 a pop, the tees were taken off the site immediately and Solid Gold Bombs - the company behind the shirts disabled their social feeds on Twitter and Facebook, as well as issuing an apology stating

“No words can express how I feel about what has occurred and in no way do I condone or promote this serious issue,”

Awkward.

Twitter kills TweetDeck apps, focuses on web

TweetDeck apps for smartphones will soon be no longer available after Twitter decided to kill the versions and focus its efforts on browser based apps instead.

According to its recent blog post, TweetDeck AIR, TweetDeck for Android and TweetDeck for iPhone will all be removed from their stores in May and will completely stop working after that.

Apps for Mac and PC’s will continue to live on, however latest updates and new features will first feature on browser based apps first.

Redesign Redesign Redesign

Social platforms are renovating and redecorating and three major redesigns were in full effect. I decided to lump them all in one section, so lets take a look:

Vimeo

At the smaller end of the spectrum without much buzz, video platform Vimeo decided to give its member profiles a fresh new look. A larger profile image located on the left gives more focus to videos, which are presented as big tiles. It’s a pleasant change. You can find more about the changes here.

Google+

Now come the big two - Google+ drew first blood by releasing a slew of new features which include a new tab for Local reviews, an easier way to edit your ‘About’ info which is now cased in big individual tiles and humongous cover photos up to 2120px by 1192px. Not a major fan of the massive cover photos, personally, as they can be a bit distracting, but Sara McKinley states it was a feature that was desired by many. So there you are.

More details are here.

Facebook

Last but not least, Mark Zuckerberg launched a less cluttered, new look version of Facebook’s News Feed, which many are saying resembles a lot like Google+.

In a keynote on Thursday 7th, the redesigned version sports a similar look to that of the iPad app, in a move that looks to unify both the web based app and device apps. Larger posts, specific feeds and a cleaner look. All good so far.

This is the biggest redesign from Facebook since September 2011, baring a few tweaks and it looks like its a change that’s going to be welcomed by the majority. I, for one, like what I’ve seen so far.

You can sign up to be one of the first ones to get access to the new look. Join the waiting list here.

Spotify comes to the web

Music streaming service Spotify has opened its beta browser based app to UK users for the first time, in a bid to rival popular web-based apps like Last.fm, Rdio and the new Myspace.

Launching a web-based app makes perfect sense. Its just a surprise why its taken them so long.

The layout is identical to what you are familiar with. To access it, just visit play.spotify.com and punch in your details.

A full release of the service will be rolled out this year.

Brilliant use of QR Codes

Remember QR codes? Yeah neither do I. They died even before they could take off. Even though the idea behind them was novel, it wasn’t enough for peeps to get to grips with it.

However, Berge Tattoo, a popular Turkish tattoo parlour decided the use QR codes to find itself a new tattoo artist. Created by agency Buro, artists interested in applying needed to demonstrate their artistry by completing a QR code which was advertsied in a local paper. Once completed successfully, the code itself was used to access the application form.

Ace.

(Tip: FastCreate.com)

Go + Play Wireless by Harman Kardon Harmon Kardon have just...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:49:00 -0500

Go + Play Wireless by Harman Kardon

Harmon Kardon have just announced the release of its new music player the Go+ Play Wireless which enables you to stream audio from any bluetooth or iOS device.

Features Include:

• Bluetooth-enabled

• HARMAN TrueStream technology

• Sleek, modern industrial design

• Intelligent equalization (EQ) technology

• Two Atlas woofers and two Ridge tweeters

• Bi-amplification

• Battery and AC power modes

• USB charging port

• Touch-control technology

• 1/8” (3.5mm) stereo input jack

• Free Harman Kardon Remote App

• Compatible with Apple iPad mini and iPhone 5

Full review coming up shortly

Working on a new logo redesign. Rebranding well and truly on the...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 17:27:25 -0500

Working on a new logo redesign. Rebranding well and truly on the way.

#7 - Five Cool Things From This Week

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:46:00 -0500

Friday 22nd February

A week which saw Oscar Pistorius, the Pope and The Brit Awards all dominate the news.

You should know the drill by now, it’s Friday and here’s what went down this week.

Goal Line Technology

FIFA finally gave the go-ahead to implement goal-line technology in competitive matches.

After undergoing successful trials, football’s governing body is accepting bids from companies to provide the system with Hawk-eye leading the pack.

It will be used in the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, but Premier League bosses are considering introducing it as early as the beginning of next season.

Either way, it’s about bloody time.

Sony unveil PlayStation 4

In what could be described as the most mind-numbingly boring keynote of all time, Sony launched the much-anticipated PS4 - without even showing the console.

The specs are pretty impressive and it looks as if they seem to be targeting the PC gamers to bring them over to the dark side.

But then, in a rather perplexing move, the new controller pad was introduced, but no sign of the actual console, which was what everyone was waiting for. Maybe the prototype isn’t finished yet, maybe pricing is yet to be finalised, there could be a number of reasons. If that is the case, then why didn’t they wait until it was? Instead, the keynote resulted in game trailer after game trailer, much to the annoyance of everyone.

Until then, we wait…

Google Chromebook Pixel

Google launched its premium laptop - the Chromebook Pixel, in a move to rival the other big hitters. It’s a move Google needed to make, creating a state-of-art laptop which could be used as a main machine.

Having briefly used a Chromebook before, I can say its actually very intuitive and easy to use and the new Pixel model will definitely enjoy success from critics and consumers.

Boasting a touchscreen pixel resolution higher than that of the the new Macbook Retina, its coated with a slick aluminium body and its most certainly easy on the eyes.

The downside is surely the price: starting at £1,049, it will turn off many a user who might’ve considered purchasing it.

Project Glass

Sticking with Google, Project Glass is in the news again after a new video showcasing the futuristic specs was unveiled. Titled ‘How it Feels’, Google is really capitalising this new venture with clever marketing as it gets ready for launch. More details about Glass have been released and how you can get your hands on them.

All you need to do is tell Google what you would do if you had ‘Glass.’ Post your thoughts on Twitter or Google+ in 150 characters with the hashtag #ifihadglass. Its only available for those living in US yet and you need to be 18 years or over to take part.

More details about Project Glass can be found here

Side by Side with Keanu Reeves

Matrix star Keanu Reeves was in England this week promoting his latest offering Side by Side. Not an action packed Hollywood blockbuster, but a really interesting documentary which takes a look at filmmaking processes and asks whether digital can really replace film.

It contains contributions from leading filmmakers including George Lucas, James Cameron, Martin Scorcese, Chris Nolan, Steven Soderbergh, Danny Boyle, David Fincher, plus many more.

As far as documentaries go, this is one of the better ones. KR does a good job in letting the directors have their say without batting for any side. It doesn’t drag in anyway and instead, you come out with a more inquisitive examination of the future of film with the rise of technology in today’s digital landscape.

If you are a film buff like me or are interested in DSLR filmmaking then you really should check it out.

Below is a clip from the film. I love how Robert Rodriguez referes to George Lucas as Obi Wan!

Twitter Concept Redesign Recently, a stunning new concept...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 15:21:00 -0500

Twitter Concept Redesign

Recently, a stunning new concept mock-up redesign of Facebook by Aussie designer Fred Nerby captured the imagination of residents of the internet. Its sheer creativity and application wowed and dazzled us all and how we wished the social network would and could look like that.

Following in the footsteps of Nerby is Bulgarian designer Zsolt Hutvagner, who has developed a new redesign of the other popular social platform - Twitter.

While the mock-up looks ambitious in its approach, it follows a similar design ethos of what we’ve seen previously - clean lines, flat surfaces and minimalism.

While this works in Nerby’s Facebook concept, I think it’s difficult to pull off for Twitter and I don’t think it works quite as well.

Take a look, tell me what you think….?

Re-Vision by Form & Co. Design cats Form & Co. have...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 08:36:00 -0500

Re-Vision by Form & Co.

Design cats Form & Co. have created these stunning minimalist iconic postcards of comic-book heroes and iconic figures. Talking about the concept, the group state:

Re-Vision is an exercise in style and synthesis of different cultural icons. It is a series of portraits of the most representative of the world of comics, movies, television, sports and music.

You can take a look at the rest of their awesome collection here

#5 - Five Cool Things From This Week

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:49:00 -0500

8th February 2013

It’s Friday and here’s what went down this week. If you want to check out previous posts of Five Things, just click here

Beyoncé Rocks SuperBowl 2013

The weekend began with the supposed ‘greatest show on earth’ - Superbowl 2013. I think we all know that it isn’t and the greatest sporting event is the Champions League final! But I digress - the Ravens edged the 49ers in a thriller.

Despite the game boasting two of the most spectacular touchdowns in SuperBowl history, the event was best known for Beyoncé’s exhilarating half-time performance. It doesn’t bode well for the game when a pop star steals the limelight from the players.

Check out her performance here.

Playstation 4 is Coming

Sony released a teaser trailer of the soon to be released PlayStation 4. An event on February 20th will be the date when Sony showcase the new games console and I, for one, can’t wait.

I’ve always seen the PS3 as more than just a games console. I think it is packed with truly impressive functionality which not many people utilise enough. I personally use it as my main entertainment system and sold my Apple TV because it. Therefore I was happy to learn the new console will continue to contain these features. Engadget reports that Sony is going to push the new console as a home entertainment “nerve center,” with a focus on the hardware’s ability to connect and share to mobile devices.

The internet is awash with fake mockups and specs and its difficult to establish whether they are genuine or not. Although, it is believed the price could be around the £270 mark.

February 20th - date for the diary.

Liberty Global to Snap up Virgin Media

US cable group Liberty Global have agreed to buy Virgin Media in a cash and stock deal for approx. £15 billion.

Virgin is the UK’s second biggest pay-tv service after BSkyB and the deal looks set to create the world’s largest broadband company, with 25 million customers in 14 countries.

Virgin founder Richard Branson had this to say:

“This deal is good news for the company, its customers and our people.

“Together, Liberty Global and Virgin Media are in a great position to shake up the industry and bring the full power of digital technology to UK consumers.”

As a Virgin customer, I’m interested to see how this will play out.

Beckham’s New Bodywear Ad for H&M

Clothing brand H&M released the new commercial starring David Beckham to showcase its new Bodywear collection.

The ad, directed by Lock Stock and Sherlock Holmes filmmaker Guy Ritchie, sees Goldenballs strutting around LA in just his underwear, much to the enjoyment of women everywhere.

I don’t know why but every time I see DB in his drawers, it reminds me of this scene from Fight Club - “Is this what a man looks like?”

You can check out the ad and the behind the scenes footage here

Mailbox App Finally Launches

The much-hyped email app for iOS, Mailbox, finally released but users were still unable to gain access to it.

The demand for the app has been unprecedented and in order to cope with customer expectations, Mailbox decided to allow users to reserve a spot once the app has been downloaded. It’s brilliant PR as anticipation builds but by the same taken, truly infuriating - enough for peeps to forget about it.

My two cents: I don’t really get the big deal surrounding Mailbox. Sure it looks nice and works well. It’s gotten positive reviews across the board but I don’t think its a major improvement to the GMail app by Google.

Im currently number 259,332 on the waiting list…(sigh)

Natural Born Goalscorers Design company Knight Studios created...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 07:20:00 -0500

Natural Born Goalscorers

Design company Knight Studios created these stunning infographic banners for Adidas Football, which displays player data (supplied by OPTA) visualised against an action image of each forward.

What YouTube's Redesign Means For Brands

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 07:31:00 -0500

Google announced a new redesign layout for Youtube channels, yesterday, much to the annoyance of video bloggers everywhere.

The Youtube community took to Twitter and Disqus to voice their concern and some even began a petition to stop this from happening.

The new design is currently in limited beta only, but Google have said it will be available for everyone very soon. Whether they will enable an option to opt out of using it remains to be seen.

The design boasts the look and feel to that of Google+. Its minimalist approach towards design has been implemented here and it’s consistent with the rest of the site.

There are two new features: Channel Art and Channel Trailer

Channel Art

Enables you to create and upload a banner (much like Google+) but with the option to add links to your website and other social networks.

Channel Trailer

Allows you to create a quick trailer that will only appear to viewers who aren’t already subscribed to your channel. A neat little feature.

Food video bloggers (I hate the word: Vloggers) ‘SORTED’ were given early access to the new layout, which you can see here.

The new layout will be a welcome addition for small brands and start-ups, who were previously paralysed by Youtube’s limited customisation options, which were only available to members of Youtube’s Partner Program. This gives them the flexibility to curate, customise and bespoke their channel on an even keel, adding extra impetus to its online presence.

However, for bigger brands and the predominant community members of Youtube - it’s a true pain in the arse.

Youtuber’s pride themselves on their channels - its a badge of honour, its what makes them different and stand out from the rest. Taking away the option to design its own channels means that level of creativity and individuality is no longer possible. It was no surprise that the announcement was met by anger. The new design isn’t that much of an improvement to the current layout and even though it unifies the rest of the site, it has lost (or will lose) the essence, personality and charm of millions of channels.

Aesthetically speaking, the layout resembles Google+, but integration with the social network also appears to be missing. You still will not be able to integrate with Google+ pages - a glaring omission.

Other channels access to the new layout are: iJustine, DeStorm, EpicMealTime, MysteryGuitarMan, LOUD and Geek & Sundry.

Brazil launches home and away kit for 2013 Nike officially...

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 09:26:00 -0500

Brazil launches home and away kit for 2013

Nike officially unveiled its 2013 home and away strip for Brazil. Neymar was the star attraction as he showcased the new gear and also launched ‘Batalha das Quadras’ (Battle of the Court) in Rio de Janeiro, a competition for young players who play small-sided football to put their skills to the test and celebrate the game.

The event was marked to celebrate Brazil’s footballing legacy and diverse heritage. Neymar was joined by veteran legend Ronaldo to kick off the competition where an estimated 4,000 young footballers have signed up to take part.

Week #4 - Five Cool Things From This Week

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:31:00 -0500

1st February 2013

It’s the beginning of February, it’s Friday and here’s what went down this week.

Blackberry Rebranded

Blackberry was the centre of focus this week with the announcement of two new handsets. The Z10 and the Q10 are the two new models which the Canadian outfit are pinning their hopes on to bring them back from obscurity.

As well as new hardware, there was a change in software as well. The Blackberry OS previously known as RIM, will now be rebranded as just Blackberry and version 10 will also run Android apps.

All good so far. But here comes the weird stuff…

In a some-what bizarre move, Grammy-Award winner Alicia Keys was officially announced as its ‘Creative Director’, in a bid to make the brand more urban, maybe? Head-scratcher, if you ask me.

Yet more weirdness was to follow as the company’s European MD Stephen Bates went BBC Radio 5 Live to talk to the rather obnoxious Nicky Campbell. What followed was a truly awkward experience, as Bates refused to address any question put forward to him regarding the iPhone.

Facebook Beats Q4 Financial Results Predictions

You can just imagine Zuckerberg sticking his middle finger to Wall Street after Facebook beat analyst predictions by a whisker. The figures looked impressive enough but it also unveiled a few new milestones:

Facebook has now passed 1.06 billion monthly active users and a whopping 680 billion of active users for mobile.

This is quite telling but also kinda confusing at Zuckerberg’s reluctance to focus his energy on mobile, especially as over 64% of Facebook’s total user base access the site on mobile devices. The only changes we’ve seen from a users perspective, are those ugly 888.com poker ads featuring Shane Warne. It looks likely that mobile will shape the future for Facebook, so a change in strategy is most certainly needed.

Disney present’s Paperman

We are quite accustomed to seeing Pixar Short’s before the main feature, any time we see a new release from them, but Disney Animation decided to use social media to showcase its new talent and uploaded a brand new animation called Paperman on YouTube.

It introduces, what Disney says is ‘a groundbreaking technique that seamlessly merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques’ to create a stunning piece of animation.

The 6 minute long black and white feature has been directed by first time filmmaker John Kahrs and it follows the story of a man, who after a chance meeting with a beautiful woman, is convinced that this is the girl of his dreams and sets out to woo her by any means possible i.e a stack of papers in his office.

Beautifully conceived and executed - this is Paperman

HMV Sacked Staff Hijacks Twitter

Following the demise of HMV, one employee manning the defunct retailers Twitter feed, decided to use the platform to live tweet his or her thoughts to its 60-odd thousand followers.

In a spectacular social faux pas, the young soldier broke rank and began sounding off at the injustice of being laid off as well the 60 other staff members who also got their marching orders.

HMV quickly decided to delete the messages but the damage was already done. Take a look:

The Transfer Deadline Day Massacre

Yes, its the day when sanity takes a backseat and stupidity takes to the stage. Transfer deadline day is becoming a national treasure with a couple of individuals guaranteed to make an appearance. Wheeler-dealer ’Arry Redknapp in the car park and Jim White in the Sky Sports studio.

In what turned out to be the most bizarre (and funniest) saga seen yet, WBA’s Peter Odemwingie decided to trek all the way to West London to personally finalise a deal with bottom side QPR. Not only did WBA not give permission for him to speak to QPR, Redknapp (who’s basically interested in signing any Tom, Dick and Harry) wasn’t even interested in him. Odemwingie is still a WBA employee and went back with his tail between his legs.

In other news: David Beckham joined PSG for five months and will play for free. His salary will be donated to a French charity. There isn’t anyone who works up a crowd like Beckham.

Facebook & Cinemagram both introduce Video capability with iOS updates

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:39:00 -0500

Following the release of Twitter’s new video app Vine, its nearest competitor Cinemagram has updated its iOS app by introducing a new feature called ‘Shorts’, the company have announced.

Shorts enables you to create customisable quick videos by selecting 2 or 3 new cines in the order you want to appear them in. Hit process and you’re good to go.

The new feature is very similar to, if not identical, to Vine, but it boasts a slicker UI and is less buggy than its predecessor.

It seems video capability is the new killer feature that everyone wants to capitalise on. As well as the two mentioned above, Facebook have also updated its iOS app by releasing a few new features, which include the ability to record voice and video right within the app, as reported by TNW.

The app’s nearby tab has also been redesigned.

It should be interesting how users take to it and whether they will be as popular as photo apps such as Instagram and EyeEm

Both Facebook and Cinemagram are available for download right now.

Us folk part of the Tumblr community know the best thing about...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 05:27:00 -0500

Us folk part of the Tumblr community know the best thing about Tumblr is how easy it is to use. But those new to the platform might be a bit overwhelmed by it all, especially if they are changing or migrating from a standard CMS or blogging platform such as Wordpress.

If you fall into that category and need some assistance in setting up your first Tumblog, here’s a step-by-step guide of how to get started for newbie’s.

You should also check out these Quora Tumblr FAQ’s. Some great answers and insights by advocate’s and aficionado’s.