apple ipad now available for pre-order

If you’re living in the US, you can now pre-order the iPad, the latest wonder gadget from Apple, from the US Apple Store. The Wi-Fi version (16, 32 and 64 GB) is available from $499 to $699, while the Wi-Fi + 3G model (16, 32 and 64 GB) is available from $629 to $829. Wi-fi version orders will be sent out from April 3, while the 3G version from late April.

I do think the iPad is perfect for me when I’m travelling as it’s much lighter than a Mac laptop and doesn’t take too much weight and space in my handcarry. All the essential functions I would need while on a trip – like checking and writing emails, tweeting, surfing blogs and connecting on Facebook, as well as watching movies and reading a “book” – are available on the iPad so I’m seriously considering one. And I think the iPad Case is smart, too.

No launch date has been announced yet for the Norwegian market.

show h&m your fresh blue style!

After the success of The Art of the Trench by Burberry, Swedish fast fashion empire H&M (that’s Hennes & Mauritz for us in Scandinavia) now jumps in the bandwagon of social media and invites its customers to upload photos of themselves wearing at least one H&M item and two or more blue pieces to be featured in its online campaign “The Blues.” This is a collaboration with lookbook.nu and will run until March 17, 2010.

At H&M, blue is a key color for Spring 2010. We want to see your freshest blue style wearing your favorite H&M items!

Starting February 25, H&M stylists will choose five looks twice per week to be featured on their online campaign “The Blues.” All winners will also receive a 100 EURO (about $140 USD) gift certificate redeemable at any H&M!

To enter the contest, all you have to do is submit a look of you wearing one or more pieces of H&M and two or more blue pieces. We are looking for H&M looks in which blue is the dominant color that “pops.” Only one H&M item is necessary to qualify, but the more, the better! Don’t forget to tag what H&M piece(s) you are wearing when you’re done.

A 100-euro gift certificate and getting featured on the H&M website alongside top models Tyson Ballou and Daria Werbowy, now that sounds like a good prize to me!

his name is didrik

And he’s going to the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest to represent Norway.

Pretty boy Didrik Solli-Tangen, 22, was virtually a nobody before the whole Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix wheel set in motion four weeks ago. In the Norwegian press articles leading to his semi-final win two weeks ago, he was referred to as Alexander Rybak’s (Melodi Grand Prix and Eurovision Song Contest 2009 winner) friend. Now, the young opera singer and current music student has stepped out of the shadow and sang his heart out to win MGP this year with “My Heart is Yours.”

Watching the show live at Oslo Spektrum last night, it was very clear that he’s the big favourite to win the entire thing. After hearing him sing live for the first time last night, I felt there was that magical something that made me go cliche and say, a star is born. And true enough, his brilliance made him stand out from the competition – from world-renowned group A1 (finishing at a respectable second place) to more established Norwegian artists. I, myself, was bewildered and spent a good amount of SMS money to send him through and win.

Now, I can’t be more excited to watch him bedazzle the whole of Europe in May as all eyes are in Oslo and at Telenor Arena, where I’ll be for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest! Wouldn’t it be cooler if he was to wear this outfit instead? :-p

Didrik Solli-Tangen, “My Heart is Yours”

Melodi Grand Prix 2010 Winner

Photo credits: NRK

one night with obama

Tonight I got to see Barack Obama!

The American president is in Oslo for one night only to receive his Nobel Peace Prize. The award is given every year in the Norwegian capital. An event like this certainly creates excitement over the city and not one to miss it, Knut and I headed to the Grand Hotel to witness Barack and Michelle Obama greet the crowd from the balcony. For more than two minutes, they stood there and waved to a 10,00015,000-strong crowd. Imagine being in the same square kilometer as the First Couple. Surreal.

On the way to dinner at a French restaurant, we spotted CNN’s Jonathan Mann reporting from Karl Johan, the capital’s main street. That’s world news broadcast in the making right there!

What a historic night.

eurovision 2010 theme art and slogan revealed

Long time readers of my blog would know that I’m a huge fan of the Eurovision Song Contest – that annual musical extravaganza wrapped in glitter, glamour and grandeur where nations and artists across Europe come together and compete to bring home the victory. Next year, it will be extra exciting as the the contest will be held in Oslo, Norway! In the lead up to the ESC 2010, the organizers revealed yesterday next year’s theme art and slogan – SHARE THE MOMENT, created by the award-winning Norwegian design firms Gosu, Handverk and Snøhetta.

About the concept:

More than a hundred million people are watching the same show at the same time, in millions of living rooms. They rejoice with the winner and weep with the losers, investing a wide specter of emotions in the show. Imagine Europe by night, seen from high above. All you can see is the light from all the cities, towns and villages. This is Europe, as a whole – with no visual borders between nations, cultures or groups of people. Now, imagine these flocks of lights not only representing different groups of people, but they show how big and magical a moment can be when we all participate and come together. We lift those lights, we make them elevate and fly, we gather them and make them come together in giant flocks of light spheres which merge, dance and play. It is a magnificent display of thousands, millions of individual elements coming together and participating and sharing the moment. The overall visual identity of ESC 2010 in Oslo are these light spheres, operating in different manners. They spread out to form our slogan, they come together in huge, colorful flocks, they race through the night, they float together in patterns.

The flocks of light spheres are developed also with other types of media and expressions in mind. They are easy to reproduce for usage outside the print and screen media, they can take different sizes and they can easily be put together as flocks in different shapes, or used individually.

Only a few more months to go! I’m so excited.

Concept text and images taken from Gosu Design.