In less than a month, Schmidt will return as a full-time owner in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Schmidt announced Tuesday that he has acquired the assets of the FAZZT Race Team, which debuted in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2010 with Canadian Alex Tagliani and will enter the team’s No. 77 Honda-powered Dallara in 2011 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports with Tagliani as the driver.

“This is a fantastic time for me, my family and everyone at Sam Schmidt Motorsports,” said Schmidt from his Indianapolis race shop. “Though we competed in the IndyCar Series in 2001 and 2002, I can now admit we were naive in our understanding of what it took to be successful at the top level of open-wheel racing in the United States. Ten years later, I have a much better understanding of what it takes to go Indy car racing.”

In addition to acquiring the cars and equipment, Sam Schmidt Motorsports will retain FAZZT employees for continuity into the 2011 season. SSM will retain the full sponsor support from Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) in the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg March 27.

“Our support for Alex (Tagliani) will transition with him to Sam Schmidt Motorsports,” said Joe Atkins, chairman of Bowers & Wilkins. “We are excited about this new relationship and look forward to supporting Sam and the team in any way we can.”

Schmidt stressed that acquiring the FAZZT assets and an additional IZOD IndyCar Series program will not detract from his team’s existing plans for 2011. His team has already announced plans to field a car for Jay Howard at Indianapolis and Wade Cunningham for three other IZOD IndyCar Series events.

“We have worked hard to accomplish what we have in the Firestone Indy Lights series and, most importantly, we have built a team around a group of great individuals,” Schmidt said. “That, combined with the excellent talent base at FAZZT Racing, should create a powerful combination. This in no way will interrupt our plans to compete strongly for the Indy Lights championship, and we all look forward to the challenge of being equally as competitive in the IZOD IndyCar Series.”

In the upcoming weeks, Schmidt will have additional announcements regarding the 2011 season, including detailed plans for his team’s effort at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May.

1.Performance of the devices: The companies can brag a lot about their products when these are launched. Everyone will highlight what are the main features, how are all these different and what type of performance is given by these. But, it is the independent reviewers who can actually tell the shortcomings of the same. Features may be there but their actual performance needs to be ascertained by the people who want to buy these. Independent reviews of the same help immensely in this regard.

2.Features of the devices and their limitations: the critical reviews about the devices are helpful not only for the prospective buyers of these products but also for the companies who make these. The reputed companies like Bowers & Wilkins or Samsung or Sanyo do value the reviews of these products which are a guide to them to make the better products with better performance levels. So, it is not the pre-launch market research but also the post launch reviews of the products which are helpful providing the inputs for making the better products.

3.Comparisons of the different products from the different manufacturers: You can also refer to the comparison of the video cameras of Samsung and Sanyo. These product comparisons help in the aiding the buying decision of the consumers.

4.The ideal situations and conditions under which the same are to be used. This is yet another advantage of reading through these reviews that you can know what all accessories are required for the top level performance of the devices.

5.Hot deals: If you want to buy Video_Cameras, the reviews site will feature some of the hottest deals which can be taken advantage of. The sellers of these products might use the same resources to sell these at attractive prices. So, you can make the most of these deals in term of prices.

6.Informative articles: For some of the products, the information on how to use them might be included in the form of text or video tutorials. These articles provide valuable insight to the readers into the technology being used.

There are a number of these reviews online which can be referred to. However, care shall be taken to refer to those sites only who are really authentic and provide true and genuine assessment of the product.

The design is based on the nautilus shell which in itself presents one of the finest examples of a logarithmic spiral. B&W took advantage of this exquisite natural design and used it in creating a speaker that doesn’t only look good, but sounds even better.

Tech it or leave it 

When Bowers & Wilkins unveiled its original Zeppelin iPod dock in 2008, one look told us it was going to be special. Now B&W have gone and done it all over again with the Zeppelin Air.

culled from www.esquire.co.uk

Zeppelin Air: Novo poglavlje kućne zabave | Foto: Bowers & Wilkins

Ove godine će verovatno izaći gomila sprava kompatibilnih sa Apple-ovim sistemom AirPlay za bežični prenos signala do zvučnika po čitavoj kući. Bowers&Wilkins, kao Apple-ov partner na projektu, ima tu čast da otvori novo polje u audio tehnologiji. Njihov Zeppelin Air ne samo da strimuje muziku sa iPad-a, iPhone-a ili iTunes-a nego je još poboljšava dubokim basovima i dodatno pojačanim zvukom. Biće pušten u prodaju od marta.

Cena: Još nije određena

hey’re called the P5 Headphones from Bowers & Wilkins. You’re probably familiar with their goods.  The P5 is no different. It’s ultra-lux, sounds good, and has a built-in mic/volume control for the iPhone!  There’s so much you can say about headphones. No matter what a manufacture does, there are a few pre-reqs that separate a good pair from an excellent one. Does the company have a history in audio? Yes, B&W are known the world over for their audio equipment. Up until recently, they mostly catered to the audiophiles but the good thing is consumers like us reap the rewards – rich audio for a fraction of the cost. The build quality is excellent and everything moves with just the right amount of tension – a hallmark of superior craftsmanship. It’s luxurious without being tacky or forced – simply effortless and even from afar, the design stands out among a sea of brand names. The sound is vibrant and you can really hear the difference with lossless audio. B&W calls it “natural sound.” The range is superb. Highs, lows, mids – all sound clear and intelligible. We love the way the ear pads are designed. They kinda cocoon your ears to provide noise isolation. No software based wizardry here, just really good industrial design. The iPhone and iPod compatible built-in mic/volume control is a boon. The design is pretty much a clone of what comes packed with the Apple branded earbuds but worlds apart in terms of audio reproduction. You can even hear the difference when making phone calls. B&W always nails it when it comes to providing a luxury audio experience without having to sell a kidney to pay for it. At $299, the P5’s are comparable with other higher end headphones in the market but small features like New Zealand leather and full iPhone/iPod compatibility make it a smart buy anyone looking to experience hi-fi audio on the go. Hear sound the way it was meant to be and look chic while doing it too. To have more information just visit the links below.

www.bowers-wilkins.com

www.native.com

I ask myself, how can I be a stay-at-home-wife and have SO MANY things to do?? I don’t have the answer in case you’re wondering. In any case, I’m glad as I have lots of things to keep me occupied.

What has happened since I last wrote? Oh, it’s stale news by now, but I PASSED MY DRIVING EXAM! I have an Italian driving license now, and I can drive legally throughout the E.U. The test itself was rather anti-climatic. My examiner was a woman, which I thought spelt doom, as I’ve always felt that women are more observant and strict where everything is concerned. My driving teacher sat on the passenger seat beside me, and the examiner sat at the back. The teacher and the examiner were gossipping about some other person, and occasionally she would softly say “svolta adestra, svolta sinistra” (turn right, turn left). I had to strain my ears to hear her. Before the exam, my teacher told me that the examiners normally ask students to carry out more right turns than left turns, but oh-boy, my examiner made me do many left turns at the traffic light. If you are wondering, left turns at traffic lights are not the same as in Malaysia.

Picture credits to zizio.it

This is how it works. You see, in the image above, Vehicle B and Vehicle P have got the traffic lights green on their sides. Vehicle L and Vehicle D have got the red lights. The thing is, in Malaysia, let’s say P has a green light to turn right, B will NOT be able to turn left. It’s different here. The vehicle who has the right side free has precedence. As such, P goes first and then B even though BOTH of them have green lights. This isn’t so scary. The scariest bit is if P wants to go straight and B wants to turn left. Ugh, the first time the hubs did this maneuver, I swear I screamed and closed my eyes >___< The right way to do this is for B to move forward to the middle of the junction and wait for P to pass before continuing to turn left. And no, B cannot remain at its spot while waiting for P to go straight ahead; B must wait in the middle of the junction. Scary shit I tell you. My heart still thumps like crazy whenever I do this It’s ultra scary especially when the roads are narrow, and you wait in the middle of the road thinking the oncoming car is gonna bang right into you coz the road is so narrow. Ok, enough about this already, I bet you’re confused

And if you thought I passed coz my examiner was chummy with my driving teacher, well you thought wrong! The student after me flunked coz, get this, he was being too careful and driving too slow! *wipes beads of sweat off forehead*

So there, another adventure in Italy completed. I spent close to EUR1k for this; lessons, tests, taxes and what not. Tsk tsk.

What else is new? Ah yes, the hubs made his first splurge in my X years of knowing him.  He bought two Bowers&Wilkins 683 speakers for the house. These two speakers can buy me 3 Kitchen Aid mixers. And it’s not even including the CD player and amplifier that are yet to come. I ain’t complaining coz he has agreed to get me my Kitchen Aid! Yippiedeedoo! My awesome friend from the US, Tony, helped me purchase some Kitchen Aid attachments from Amazon US as those items ship only within the US. So now, I’ve got the attachments but not the mixer. LOL. Talk about being kiasu. Once we sort out the paypal issue with the bank (some silly regulation), I’m getting the mixer of my dreams. I can now die cook in peace

Oh, Whimsicaljottings also had its 1.5 seconds of “fame” in The Star, a Malaysian daily. Click here to read it.

I have been cooking up a storm and we’ve been entertaining quite a bit, so there are quite a number of pics and recipes which are yet to come. Argh, and I haven’t even posted up my Barcelona pics (like anyone even remembers ). Stick around, they will be up! Better late than never as I always say

Today we continue our HiFi stereo build with the most important component, speakers. You can get away with having a crappy record player, you can get away with having a crappy deck. Hell you can even get away with having a sub par amp, but you shouldn’t skimp on speakers. If you love music like I do you know that it was never meant to be heard through that fancy Bose dock or your in ear headphones. These are sad representations of what the artist intended(in most cases I can’t speak for Kesha) and should you find yourself listening to your favorite song solely one small, impotent speakers, I pity you. Step your game up and purchase some nice bookshelf speakers like the Bowers & Wilkins CM1. Sure they’ll cost you $500 a piece but you’re making a very worthwhile investment. The CM1 features aluminum tweeters and a bass/midrange cone made of woven kevlar(yeh the bulletproof vest stuff). Tomorrow we’ll be moving onto the component that will make these speakers truly worth the investment, the quality amplifier. Be sure to check out more about the CM1 right here.

Cheers

Sometime last year this nice lady from Bowers & Wilkins got in touch with us about creating a playlist for their high end audiophile clientele. While we don’t consider ourselves an audiophile label (Niela Miller anyone?), we certainly do fit into their high-end model. In this world of ear buds and computer speakers, we like the idea of keeping company with an organization making audio gear meant for a less casual listening experience. Those CM9s would look great in your living room, no?

Features

• iPod touch & iPhone compatibility
• USB syncing
• PC speaker mode
• 3.5mm aux in
• MSRP of $399.95

Pros

• Sounds great
• Can charge and sync iPod/iPhone
• Classic B&W look

Cons

• Likes to become unresponsive after syncing
• Limited on-device controls
• Top shelve is a dust and fingerprint magnet

The very first thing I noticed when I took this speaker dock out of the box was that this boy is sexy. Me like. But then again it’s a Bowers & Wilkins product so it better look the part. The iPod touch almost floats above the the concave chrome shelf and can be rotated into landscape mode for Cover Flow.

Even the small remote is classy and functional. It has basic playback controls along with a power button and input switch. The Zeppelin mini itself only has a power button and volume control. It really should have an input button as well. The moral here is don’t lose the tiny remote

Just like the original Zeppelin, this speaker dock is the best in its class. I put it up against the similarly-priced Bose SoundDock Portable and Altec Lansing systems and it clearly had better highs and lows. B&W put the good stuff in this little dock.

Actually the sound is pretty good for such a small package. Base comes through nice and full while the highs are crisp. It helps the rear-facing port if the speaker dock is placed in a corner or in front of a wall. But even when placed in the middle of a table, it delivers the goods.

The Zeppelin mini is nearly flawless until iTunes is involved.

This speaker dock is one of the few that can actually sync an iDevice and play back media via a type-A to type-B USB cable. It sounds great on the spec sheet, but syncing an iPod/iPhone often causes the speaker dock to freeze up and become unresponsive. Even when if iTunes is closed and the iPod is removed, most of the time the Zeppelin mini will need to be power cycled.

If iTunes doesn’t see the iPod though, everything works as advertised. You can easily switch the audio on the Zeppelin mini between playing back the iPod or media off the computer. But as soon as the iPod pops up in iTunes, everything goes to hell.

Conclusion

I’m torn here. I love the B&W Zeppelin mini’s sound and look. I’m even fine with the $400 price tag considering those two factors, but it just doesn’t work well when you try to sync your iDevice. Maybe the function would work better on a Mac than my Windows 7 machine or it’s something that can be resolved with an iTunes update. But I could see myself wanting to throw this thing into a wall if it was my main iPod syncing dock.

My advice here is to proceed with caution. Obviously the $400 price will turn a lot of people off anyway, but if it doesn’t faze you, buy the dock from a retailer with a good return policy. If it works for you or you don’t mind pulling the power cable after syncing your iPhone, keep it. If you get the urge to smash it like I did a few minutes ago, return it. But keep in mind that at least it sounds great, which is the most important factor when buying an iPod speaker dock anyway.

The 2010 Jaguar XJL Supercharged Neiman Marcus Edition, $105,000.

The Neiman Marcus Christmas Book just arrived and I’m vaguely irked that I may already be too late for the 2010 Jaguar XJL Supercharged Neiman Marcus Edition. Only 50 of the $105,000 cars exist and interested buyers were supposed to call in to reserve theirs starting at noon Oct. 16. That was almost a month ago! Dare I even hope that I still have a chance to buy one? I could really use those massaging front seats, that custom butter-soft navy and ivory leather interior, sweet illuminated tread plates and a Bowers & Wilkins 1,200-watt sound system.

If I did miss out, I suppose I could console myself with the His and Hers ICON A5 Sports Aircraft. The $250,000 package includes pilot training

ICON A5 Sports Aircraft.

for two and a trailer for the craft, which flies under 10,000 feet (above birds, but below jets) and can take off and land on water or the ground. That sure does making commuting as easy as it is by convertible or speed boat. Wait, what’s this? Production hasn’t even begun so this gift won’t be available until late 2011. Look, waiting is nice for others but I’m not into delayed gratification. Next!

I must admit I’ve had my eye on this one, the Algonquin Round Table Experience. For just $200,000 (the money goes to a charity), a guest and I can have dinner and conversation with literati who could include writer Malcolm Gladwell, professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (I hope they remember what kind of beer he likes), actor John Lithgow, newsman George Stephanopoulos and scribe Delia Ephron. The event will take place at Manhattan’s Algonquin Hotel sometime before June 2010. Hang on a sec. My plane won’t be ready by then. Darling, I don’t fly commercial. What else can I buy?

There’s a $12,000 chandelier made out of plastic soda bottles rescued from a landfill. Nice. The world’s fastest electric motorcycle, not bad at $73,000. A super-cool custom Martin acoustic guitar for $12,000

Martin acoustic guitar.

(includes the case!). This one sounds fun: a “wine and art experience” where for $20,000 my guest and I can learn wine-making and create our own blends and then tour the vintner’s contemporary art collection. Oh hang on, contemporary? I’m more of a French Impressionist aficionado. Never mind.

Well I’m not going to fret. There are plenty of things I can still select from the catalog. I’m partial to the Chanel pumps ($850), Kooba shoulder bag ($595), diamond and green amethyst earrings ($2,980) and the Marchesa Couture evening dress ($3,795).

One item I will most definitely not be purchasing is the Gucci scarf. The Italian wool wrap is absolutely covered with that GG interlocking logo. That means people can guess how much you paid ($250) for your little slice of warmth and such an ostentatious display of wealth is positively gauche. Do people have no sense of decorum these days? It’s enough to make you wish for a return to the simpler times, when a big feast and a few trinkets were all that was needed to make a holiday joyous. Hey, you know what would make that simple celebration unquestionably divine? Waterford jewel-colored flutes. At $115 each, you really can’t go wrong.

The success of the iPod and portable music players in general has meant that many have abandoned the idea of what we’d would consider a typical stereo or HiFi setup,  however almost every speaker dock I’ve every taken to time to listen to is a compromise of size and sound quality.  Some are frankly rubbish.

Wandering through my local John Lewis yesterday I clapped my eyes on a Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin for the first time and I had to stop and take a closer gander.  It’s a stunner.  It’s bigger than you might think too and a not insubstantial 16Ibs in weight.  And the sound is as you’d expect from B&W…

There is only one small issue though and that’s the price.  A credit card frightening £399.  But you know what…an object like this speaks to the heart as much as the head and is for me at least sums up what Donald Norman called Emotional Design. 

Shouldn’t all the things we live with be as much about the head as the heart?