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By invitation of the Motos Scooters Club des Falaises - the local branch of the Vespa Club de France - and together with the Classic Car Club Normandy we got a top spot at the quay in QuilleBeuf to park our cars.

Arriving very early in the morning, we got ourselves installed ahead of the huge crowd that struggled to find a free patch of grass near the river bank to watch the ships go by, have a glass of cider wine and stroll by the motorcycles, oldtimers… and Bluetooth cars. It was a lovely day and the atmosphere was cheery, the ships were stately, the oldtimers plucky (both the cars and the foursome playing cards at a picnic table next to us) and our enjoyment very, very, véritable.

So, after a bit of preparation, it seems we’re in good shape for the festivities around the French National Holiday. Taking an elegant convoy of cars to the beautiful region of Normandy when large crowds gather for the Sail Armada on the river Seine is definitely a winning tactic. If they weren’t looking at the boats, the folks in Rouen were certainly looking at us.

Created in 1989 and held in Rouen every four or five years since, the ten-day Armada is a festival for the finest sailing ships in the world. Attracting literally millions of people, it is one of the largest international events in the world. In the days leading up to the 14th of July, many people already come to take a look at the majestic ships that are lying in the inland port of Rouen. There is music (Iggy Pop seems to be everywhere these days), there are markets, there are of course fireworks and there is - after all, this is France - lots of food and drink. And then there’s us.

Doors, steering wheel, gasoline, check!

2000 Watts sound system and subwoofer, check!

Roof, check!

Crazy driver, check!

Mudtrail, check!

This car is officially ready… Landcruisers can eat our mud.

What better idea to get noticed than driving around in a flashy car? Well… driving around in three flashy cars! Beside our trusted Lotus, we took the Parrot MG out of the stable and added to that a Landrover Lightweight. Greasemonkey had to work until the last moment, and then some, to get the old boy (born in 1980) in shape for the trip.

Although, in shape? With a maximum speed of 80 km/h, it’s not exactly a bullet on the road… more like a boulder. But it does get you noticed. And when an Aberdeen-Le Mans classics race passes by, you get quite a few nods (’one of us’) and consenting salutes from old Jags and Bentleys. Cool. Pity about the weather though, it was raining cats and dogs all day… glad to be inside now in front of a glass of cider wine, the local specialty.

While driving around in Geneva, I became the living proof that - when talking about telephone calls and music - Sony Ericsson makes sure you are connected wherever you are in whichever way you want. Headsets, handsfree carkits, stereo headsets, audio dongles, fm transmitters, audio speakers and phones with shake control ensure that you can make calls safely and comfortably and that there is no place on earth where you cannot listen to your music.
I have been listening to Chet Baker at the shore of Lake Geneva today and calling my dad from a traffic jam (Dad! Coool cars!).

I’ll be streaming Chet again tomorrow morning via the Music Receiver audio dongle on the dodgy old Denon amplifier in the apartment here and knowing who’s calling me then before I have my phone out of my pocket. The future is now, and it is wireless. It also still has traffic jams, but they’re a bit easier to tolerate now

A lot more pictures can be found on Heliade’s picture site here.

I did my first official TV interview today (I think). It was internet TV from New York… or was it Canada? Anyway, internet-tv still counts. As you can see, there are worse things than being interviewed in our Lotus Eliseabout cool gadgets by a sassy tv-show host. I hope the message - that there are much more interesting Bluetooth applications for cars than one may think - got across.
Right after this interview, the funniest thing happened. I drove to the end of the avenue to make a (legal) U-turn, right where the Guardia Urbana police station is. A cop pulled me over, and I instinctively checked my safety belt (check!), headset (forbidden in Spain!!) and ‘I Hate Pigs’ t-shirt (left at home). To my surprise, officer Antonio asked me if he could have his picture taken behind the steering wheel. While his fellow traffic officers huddled around the car, the policeman slipped into the driver’s seat to have the snapshot taken. When I got back into the car, they asked the obvious questions about break horsepower, engine and top speed. However , when I was about to leave he and some of his colleagues blocked the complete road. ‘You show us now how fast the car accelerate!’
For a moment there, I expected the old candid camera trick. And the moment after that, I was sure this was a local trick to confiscate cool cars. But then I just hit the pedal and with the roar of a million smoker’s coughs, I bulleted away down the street. I guess I love my job.

I object! My colleague Heliade flew out to Vegas - Vegas, Baby! Vegas! - for CES… and I don’t get to go! What the…!? I wanna go too, I want to complain too about the flight and the jetlag and the long walks through endless halls and the traffic jams and the crappy food and the lousy parties and the ugly people. Awww man!!!

(image courtesy of tomneil04)

now playing: Karma to Burn - Twenty

Maybe pregnant / or on drugs / on welfare
on top of the world / the honor roll / parole
reruns / in the Dodgers / backs of milk cartons,
on stakes in the middle of corn fields /
on covers of future history books
on old lady’s mantles / walkin’ on water / nailed on crosses
(RV, Faith No More, 1992)

Well, none of the above, I can tell you. But blogging definitely went on the backburner for the last couple of months. Not specifically for a lack of inspiration but mostly because September-October is a very hectic period in companies’ communications programs. So, where have I been then?… Unplugging of course!

One of the things I did, was to explain/visualise a testing event for engineers behind closed doors… The Bluetooth SIG UnPlugFest. Three times per year, the Bluetooth SIG organizes an UnPlugFest, where engineers of member companies (Intel, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Parrot,…) come to test their products and prototypes against each other. This time, it took place in a hotel in Brussels, ideal for us to do something around it. Yes, it was pretty geeky, with a sea of blinking leds, naked motherboards, oscilloscopes and whole nest of powerplugs. But the idea behind the event and the enthusiasm of the participants was great to capture.

Because they test prototypes, confidentiality is a very big issue for everyone at the UnPlugFest. Marketing or sales people are not allowed, it is the territory of the engineers. So it took a little bit of lobbying and subtle explanation to get access to the event. Naturally, I had nothing to gain by disclosing anything about future products present there. And even if I wanted to, being the complete opposite of an engineer (an ungineer), I saw nothing that even resembled a cool Bluetooth product (most of the stuff is tested on laptop platforms anyway).

So, what did I do? See for yourself in this 5 minute testimonial video. It’s not spectacular, but it does show how much trouble these engineers go through to make their products work with each other. That’s pretty impressive if you know that the companies they work for are direct competitors. Kudos to these guys, because they make us swear less and less at our phones, headsets, car kits and each other.

Fatigue has struck hard amongst our troops. Long days at CeBIT followed by very pleasant dinners with colleagues and clients make our nights short and our eyelids heavy. A tradeshow is a bizarre mix of work and pleasure. Boring spells during which we are nothing but a peripheral of a good-looking Lotus Elise, polishing away greasy fingers and directing a queue of people who want their picture taken in the car. But on other moments, we get interesting questions about Parrot products and we hear thought-provoking views on Bluetooth wireless technology. This was especially true for the first two days, when we were able to introduce the brand-spanking new 2.1 + EDR specification of Bluetooth wireless technology. With the help of a couple of prototypes, Anders Edlund of the Bluetooth SIG could show how 2.1 will make the pairing process a whole lot easier (including the use of Near Field Communication). Beside that, power consumption is reduced, up to five times less than it is now. Sweet. (picture below: Anders talking to Guy Kindermans from DataNews)

The weekend at CeBIT is a bit different. Moms and dads with their sons and daughters and their ponies and hamsters and their sister’s niece’s neighbour’s mistress’s cleaning lady, scouring the showgrounds for free stuff. I’d rather have fifteen non-believers at our booth firing at will at Bluetooth wireless technology, than a constant stream of folks who tell you a yellow car is geil. But, it’s part of CeBIT, and a consultant’s gotta do what a consultant’s gotta do. (Below: Parrot DJ Dasha Rush in between wireless DJ Battles)

For entertainment, there is a neverending string of afterparties in the halls, but there is also the Münchener Bierhalle. Famous among CeBIT diehards, dreaded by people who have trouble holding their liquor and loved by us and our clients, who get the chance to get acquainted with each other in a different setting on a different topic The hall is filled night after night with 2000 business people, drinking one-litre mugs and eating dishes from the robust German cuisine. Swedish people may come across as cool and composed, but they know how to make some exuberant fun when they are together, silly hats included.

Fascinating folks, those Swedes. Pity they always leave so early. :-b Everyone left a bit inebriated by the end of the night, but not enough to be punished for it the day after. Mate es tallen spele goet, it says in a medieval Flemish play. I concur.