Archive for June 2004

PSFK is a collaborative and dedicated trend site reporting observations and sifting through all the other trend news just for little old you. This week we’ve posted a number of articles about the fusion of brands with technology lightly sprinkled with some urban art and fashion.

KEY PSFK FEATURES YOU SHOULD READ THIS WEEK

Vans of New York by Piers Fawkes

TOP STORIES YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK

iCar Mini
Gmail
Fashion Off The Boil For You Too?
Portable USB Flash Drives

Enjoy and have a great week!

These small devices that slide into the USB port of your PC were first used by techies to help them transfer data from PC to PC or as a security key but with a capacity of up to 1GB and a size small enough to slip into your pocket or clip to your key-ring their use and application is spiraling. Everywhere people are using them: soccer moms keep the snaps of their kitted out juniors on their drives, advertising execs dash to their client’s office with just a USB Flash Drive to knock their clients socks off with the next proposed campaign (all in sound and moving image)! No more burning of CDs or DVDs just drag and drop onto the drive you slip into your PC or Mac port.

Their popularity seems destined to grow. It’s not just about their memory size (although Sony are releasing their USB Pocket Bit Pro disk drive with 2GB) but also the fact that they can be used in other fields. Transcend has a USB Drive with a built in camera that will surely challenge the low-end digital sharp-shooters. Dell is looking to make their version Bluetooth enabled and other companies are turning them into instant WiFi adaptors.

Probably the greatest immediate impact of these drives will be on music. Their simplicity allows them to become the most portable of music-file players (Creative Labs have even released a USB Flash Drive specifically for MP3s). Downloadable music company eMusic has take the concept even further: Rock concert goers can now stop off at a special kiosk on their way out after the show and download the show they just heard!

Rocking!

Bored of all the old songs they play on the radio whilst you drive? Now play all your favourite old songs in your BMW or Mini Cooper.

Apple has just announced the first iPod/Car tie in with BMW. Using a jack to your existing iPod and buttons on your steering wheel you can sit in traffic and listen to all 10,000 of your favourite old tunes by the time you get home.

http://ipodyourbmw.com/

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The guys at Agenda Inc must have been sitting with their feet up for the last 6 months listening to the radio: they’ve just released their Brandstand report for the first half of this year that analyzes the name-dropping of brands in Top 20 US songs; and therefore youth conciousness. They report that auto brands that were prevelant last year have taken a drop in number of mentions. 2004 sees fashion brands such as Jimmy Choo and Levis Strauss sung or rapped about.

The most popular brands? Cadillac and Hennessy. An interesting combination to put your feet up on the dashboard and listen to the radio with.

Agenda Inc 2004 Brandstand Report Part 1 (2MB PDF)

In New York gone are the days of subway cars with their great splashes of urban expression. So what does the street artist do when they tire of scribbling, spraying and plastering their work on semi-derelict buildings? They move onto something far more visible and mobile.

Click here for a photo spread of Vans Of New York. (1MB PDF)

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If you haven’t heard about Google’s new email service where have you been? A free gigabyte of storage; searching instead of filing; and messages displayed in context as conversations are all key features of the new service called Gmail but what’s really making a buzz is the exclusivity of it.

Like Google’s social-networking service Orkut, the service is currently invite only and those invites are currently few and far between. Although still in Beta, Google really has made a viral buzz about this service - I mean, who cares if you have a Hotmail or Yahoo email address? But a Gmail address, today, gives you mucho web credibility!

Some critics have attacked Google’s advertising policy on the site. Google has used its AdSense technology to display relevant ads beside each email. Their system scans the content and places ads applicable to the content (e.g. if you get sent an email from a friend about whale watching in San Diego you might get an ad about whale-watching serivces in the San Diego area in the ad area). Google sees nothing wrong in this although others are concerned that the sophisticated behaviour of the advertising is Big Brotheresque and even may spook potential users away.

FREE GMAIL ACCOUNT

(and Orkut Invitation)

Yours truly is a gmail user! AND! Gmail are letting Beta users invite other users. Subscribe to PSFK’s regular newsletter in the box below and I’ll invite the 250th subscriber when the next round of invites are ready! I’ll also invite every subscriber to Orkut too!

A few sightings of this rare trend has forced us to stop giggling and make a note of growing fashion occurrence of couples wearing identical boiler suits. First spotted on the subway somewhere deep in Brooklyn then in south Chelsea this kit may be soon an urban must have.

The use of boiler suits is not something new. They’ve been seen on the catwalks and earlier this year everyone had to dress in white boiler suits for the launch party of new Williamsburg superclub, Volume. However, this look has been seen in baby blue crushed-velvet, raw denim and even black leather and appears to be worn by rather aggressive men and their compliant lady friends. The detail includes matching basketball shirts worn beneath, matching sneakers and baseball caps.

Will we see the Beckhams in a matching set when they announce their departure from Madrid this August?

This week has seen the relaunch of PSFK as a dedicated trend site reporting observations and sifting through all the other trend news just for little old you.

KEY PSFK FEATURES YOU SHOULD READ THIS WEEK

British Fashion Brands to Watch by Simon King

TOP STORIES YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK

Trends In Cars : Above Your Station?
McDonalds Announce Move Away From Advertising
Between black and white there’s only GREY
Minimalist Trade Show Trend Expands to Paris Fashion Week
iPOD’s European Launch
Coney Island Make Over
48 Hour Film People

Enjoy and have a great week!

Just when companies like Toyota are launching youth orientated brands like Scion using ‘under the radar’ activity like DJ parties, graffiti expos and offering customization; it looks like trend setters have gone in another direction for their auto choice: When you next stumble out of your apartment on the way to work and notice that someone’s folks must be in town because a crappy old car from god-knows-when and god-knows-where is parked outside - think again.

Station Wagons from the 70s and 80s are the must have car: as long as it has wood panelling. These solid family and car pool favorites are the perfect alternative to those troubled with the thought (or cost) of the SUV. And even if you do really long for an SUV there still is a fashionable alternative: hipsters have been spotted in 80s 4×4s; of course with wood panelling and some nice chrome bumpers too.

Select your choice here: www.stationwagon.com

So with all this retro-to-be-cool the question is - will we be seeing a nice Formica effect on the 2006 Ford Escort?