Words & Photos by: Yu-Ming Wu

About a month ago the Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board sent a surprising email asking us whether we wanted to visit Amsterdam. That was pretty much an easy yes and for the icing, they also included an invitation to visit Valencia, Spain (more on that later). So after a trying to clear our schedule was finally able to leave for Amsterdam the day before the US Thanksgiving holiday. The Board created a simple three day itinerary for a tasting of Amsterdam with ample free time for self exploration. Continue reading for a look at my 72 hours in Amsterdam.

Though the MISSONI x CONVERSE Auckland Racer garnered much of the attention during Milan Fashion Week last month, the Italian luxury label will still include the Chuck Taylor All Star as its indispensable design medium next season. A notable alteration to the new addition will be its color palette, a variation of grey and black in the otherwise familiar MISSONI weave pattern. The darker tone is to coordinate with the rest of MISSONI Fall/Winter 2011 Collection, though there is still a dash of flair in the form of royal blue leather tongue and CONVERSE emblem. No confirmation on exact date of release at this time. via: Contemporary Standard

With the month of April winding down to its final week, Jordan Brand showcased the last of this month’s colorways for Air Jordan 2011. Billed as the franchise’s most versatile shoes”, the Air Jordan 2011 allows wearer to switch out its insole accordingly. The ability to “individualized” goes a step further with its hand finished patina leather upper. Its slight variation of finishes create an one-of-the-kind appearance for each pair. Now add-on the 3 new colorways, the possibilities are endless, from its Ultraman-like varsity red/wolf grey-medium grey to the this newest “hot color”, smooth tech grey/black-orion blue-chlorine blue colorway. For those looking for some familiarity, there is the black/neo-lime color combo. All are scheduled to drop on the last Saturday of the month, April 30th, at all Jordan Brand retailers.

Style: 436771-600
Color: Varsity Red/Wolf Grey-Medium Grey

Style: 436771-004
Color: Tech Grey/Black-Orion Blue-Chlorine Blue

Style: 436771-003
Color: Black/Neo-Lime

Release Date: April 30th, 2011 (Saturday)

I’ve been actively using the BlackBerry PlayBook since receiving an early unit after the Blackberry Playbook NY Launch Party last week. The unit along with the software are both currently in Beta, but all should be finalized once the new tablet enters the market tomorrow (there’s a pretty intelligent updater built in). And so, this isn’t much of a hands-on or review but just a few first impressions after a weekend with the unit. Just as a note, I’ve only had hands on experience with the first generation iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. In comparison, each of the mentioned units have their pros and cons.  But for now with PlayBook as the new player to the market, there will definitely be a few extra cons. Most obvious is the new App World with just over 3000 apps but there are a few good pre-installed ones: YouTube, Kobo Books, Bing Maps, Word To Go, Sheet To Go, and Slideshow To Go. BlackBerry Bridge is an app for both the Playbook and Blackberry Phones with OS 5 and OS 6, this app would sync your BlackBerry Phone’s Mail, Calendar, Contacts and Notes with the PlayBook. Unfortunately, there are no native apps currently for mail, calendar, or contacts until later this Summer. In addition, Bridge will tether Blackberry Playbook to Phone, thus using the Phone’s data connection to the Internet. This is an app I have not yet tried since it’s not yet available, I have been told it will be available Tuesday morning.

The main app I’ve been using thus far is the web browser and it is the best tablet-based browser I’ve used up to date. The BlackBerry PlayBook browser gives you the full web experience with Flash, Java and other intricate web technologies that make up a good portion of the current World Wide Web. It even does a decent job of handling HTML5, like browsing the new Nike Better World website. For those who think the iPad 1 or 2 are too big, the BlackBerry PlayBook is ‘near’ pocket size and just a tad bigger then the Samsung Galaxy Tab, it fits into a jacket pocket but not your back pocket. It also packs a mean punch in the small package with a 8 hour battery life and quite a bit of processing power allow most apps I’ve tried to run fairly smoothly. Check out a few photos of the unpacking below and a few size comparison photos and look out for the BlackBerry Bridge hands on tomorrow.

I can say I’m almost a T-Mobile Sidekick OG, I did not own the original black and white or color Sidekick 1st generation but I fell in love with Sidekick II once I discovered it. It was the first affordable semi-smart phone with an affordable data plan. At the time, Microsoft, Plam, RIM and a few others put out their smartphone devices but for the most part, they were expensive, had buggy software or were too business minded for the generation growing up on AOL, AIM, and the beginnings of social media and the blogosphere. The Sidekick II and its simple operating system gave a whole generation an easy to use device with an always-on data connection making it a popular choice for those who preferred text messaging or chatting on AIM over talking on the phone. When Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007, that same generation now had a shiny new popular option and over the past four years, Google introduced their Android OS, Microsoft introduced Windows 7 while a good chuck who preferred messaging moved onto the Blackberry platform. Earlier in the year when I learned that the original cloud services to the DangerOS Sidekicks will end on May 31st, 2011 I thought the Sidekick will be laid to rest.

But T-Mobile had a surprise up it’s sleeves, they’ve redeveloped the Sidekick brand with a new hardware partner, Samsung, and a new operating system partner, Android. Keeping to the original form-factor, pop-tilt to open screen and a QWERTY keyboard, the reinvented T-Mobile Sidekick 4G is packing a few punches as it enters the smartphone market on April 20th, 2011. Take a look below for my hands on with the Sidekick 4G.

The story of how the Chinese Zodiacs came to be is part folklore and part fortune telling. It was said that the Emperor invited 13 animals to his banquet, a race ensued that ended with the rat as the winner. For the 2011, or the Year of the Rabbit, Nike Sportswear created its 10th Chinese Zodiac theme footwear, as commemorative edition for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

The first time that Nike Tennis Classic as the base for a Chinese Zodiac Series, the Year of the Rabbit Edition comes in 2 different variants, for men and women. An all white leather with red “2011″ letterings on its tongue tab, a representation of a white rabbit and its red eyes.  The women’s version comes with a large red metallic Swoosh and heel tab while dashing acrooss the men’s version will be a metallic gold one instead, both colors of fortune and luck in the Chinese believe.  A rabbit leaping icon is adorned on the inner sockliner.  As with most Chinese Zodiacs Collection, the Nike Sportswear Tennis Classic – Year of the Rabbit will only be available at Nike Sportswear retailers in Greater China and Hong Kong.

Nike Sportswear Tennis Classic – Year of the Rabbit
Style: 438959-100
Color: White/Metallic Gold-Sport Red

Nike Sportswear Tennis Classic – WMN Year of the Rabbit
Style: 327494-100
Color: White/Sport Red-Metallic Gold

In terms of jumping on the touch screen market, HP was one of the first end-product makers to jump on board the new technology. In fact, more than two years ago, they were the first to market a touch-based all-in-one PC. As such, given that HP has had a head start in dealing with the touch screen PC market, it has managed to refine the TouchSmart 600 based on real market feed back. Especially now that Windows 7 is available, the new operating system also helps to bring in more compelling and entertaining features for the multi-touch market.

As previewed on Freshness Live, a package has landed in the Freshness office from Sony via American Pop. The package in question, unwraps to unveil the Giiq headphone from Sony’s new line of headphones, the PIIQ. A little quick background recap on the PIIQ, the new line of headphones sets out to bridge the gap between style and function, and is targeted towards the younger, more active crowd. For instance, the PIIQ line-up would be perfect for the one who keeps pushing on his deck out in the sun, and needs his music to keep up with his tricks.

Something fun happened at adidas Originals recently that makes online shopping, or “window shopping” (pun intended) so much more informative, accessible and addicting.

adidas Originals has integrated Facebook (enabled by Facebook Connect, which is a set of APIs for developers to bring connections and identity everywhere online to create more engaging user experiences) into its products page on the adidas Originals site! Before you shake your head and go “So what? Everyone has been doing Facebook pages and integration”, hear this out– adidas didn’t just enable share via: Facebook (although that option is available and has been around for a while now), but it taps into Facebook as if the most popular social media site is Yelp quite extensively.

Confused? Simply put, one can view Facebook comments and reviews from fellow adidas Originals fans about a specific product. Hence, while you are looking at the new electric blue Superstar Lo from the Augmented Reality pack, not only can you look at pictures of the shoes, zoom in and zoom out as you like, you can also read reviews from adidas Originals Facebook fans or users who have something to say about the product. So, the new Facebook function on the products page seems more like a reverse integration of the norms (instead of just having Facebook pages that link back to the main site, information flows the other way around), bringing the world of social media marketing a fresh function and perspective.

With the newly integrated Facebook system, when we browse over to the S.W. – Luke Skywalker kicks, we found out that one of the fan’s boyfriend/girlfriend have those shoes and he/she “looks really good” in them, and we also received blessings of The Force. When reading the comments, if something triggers your online socializing fancy, you can comment right back without having to open a new tab for Facebook, go through the trouble of loading the adidas Originals page, then locate the product and comment there.

The Facebook integration is quite simple in concept, but it is refreshing and it does open up new doors of interaction–which by the laws of marketing, will build a loyal fan base. Think about it, instead of simply clicking through pages of products, now you have spent time thinking about them, commenting and interacting with other people over these. You have invested time and energy into a new relationship with the brand and product, and it just makes things that much more intriguing.

adidas Originals has been performing spectacularly with some of the most innovative online interactive campaigns (the newly launched Augmented Reality Adidas Neighborhood being the epitome of the brand’s hi-tech venture). Even though the Facebook integration seems like a smaller step in comparison, it is quite clear that adidas Originals is advancing through the web and garnering a loyal fan base by providing opportunities of interaction through fresh concepts and cutting edge tools. Take sometime and peruse through the new product catalogue, get distracted at work, and check out what people have to say so you too can be an informed consumer (or just a nosy commentator if you wish!)