The most noticeable aspect of the X10 mini is that it is, in fact, hard to notice. Not due to a lack of style, but rather because of it’s remarkably small size. The first glance comment from all onlookers is, “Where is the rest of it”? It’s tiny. I would even go as far as to say the X10 mini would be the perfect accessory for those skinny jeans with its sleek design and measuring a mere 83mm long and 50 mm wide in size.
With a 2.55” scratch resistant touch-screen dominating the face of the device, it quickly becomes apparent that this phone is not to be underestimated. With almost perfect touch-screen sensitivity, scrolling from top down, left to right, one can traverse the extensive range of apps and widgets available. In addition to this, the phone has built-in YouTube, TrackID music recognition, FM Radio, Facebook, Gmail, Gtalk, Google Search, Maps, not to mention a digital compass driven with GPS navigation, Calendar/Organiser and document viewer functionality.
Sony Ericsson has also included its Timescape UI as a complete integration tool to sync your SMSes, Twitter/Facebook notifications into a vertical scrolling interface.
I realise the next bit is not so important but is just a clear sign that the interface was well thought out. The alarm application is simple with all the functionality you require. Multiple alarms can be set with definable tones and a really nice snooze turn off slider.
The rounded back of the device allows it to fit cradled in your palm with the 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and VGA video recording sitting in the middle. The camera can produce some decent photos with a maximum image resolution of 2592 x 1936 pixels.
Sony Ericsson has also gone out of its way to enhance the relationship the user has with his/her phone. Along with the phone, you receive more covers than a Led Zeppelin tribute band. You can literally dress your phone to meet any occasion and although I mainly stuck with the matt black, I know people who would take full advantage of the Gold, Pearl White, Black, Pink, Lime, Red, and Silver coloured covers included.
The initial battery life on the phone is less than a day long, which is not completely unexpected in light of the smart phone aspect. However, over time and after a number of charges, the battery life seemed to extend to two, even three days, without me needing to reduce the processing load. But take note that the battery is not user-removable and if faulty, would need to be professionally replaced. On the positive side, this does mean you can replace the SIM card without the hassle of removing the battery.
I can honestly say I would recommend this phone to my family and friends. I would suggest they first look at the XPERIA X10 or X10 mini Pro with slide-out keyboard, as the lack of qwerty keyboard can be a nuisance but not a deal breaker in my opinion. Both are slightly larger but made to suit different needs.

Above the line (ATL), Below the line (BTL), and Through the Line (TTL), in organizational business and marketing communications, are advertising techniques.

In a nutshell, while ATL promotions are tailored for a mass audience, BTL promotions are targeted at individuals according to their needs or preferences. While ATL promotions can establish brand identity, BTL can actually lead to a sale. ATL promotions are also difficult to measure well, while BTL promotions are highly measurable, giving marketers valuable insights into their return-on-investment.

Promotional activities carried out through mass media, such as television, radio and newspaper, are classed as “above the line” promotion. “Below the line” promotion refers to forms of non-media communication or advertising, and has become increasingly important in the communications mix of many companies, not only those involved in fast moving consumer goods, but also for industrial goods.

“Through the line” refers to an advertising strategy involving both above and below the line communications in which one form of advertising points the target to another form of advertising thereby crossing the “line”.

Above the line sales promotion

ATL is a type of advertising through media such as television, cinema, radio, print, web banners and web search engines to promote brands. This type of communication is conventional in nature and is considered impersonal to customers. It differs from BTL advertising, which uses unconventional brand-building strategies, such as direct mail and printed media (and usually involves no motion graphics). It is much more effective when the target group is very large and difficult to define.

The term comes from top business managers and involves the way in which Procter & Gamble, one of the world’s biggest advertising clients, was charged for its media in the 1950s and 1960s. Advertising agencies made so much commission from booking media for clients that the creative generation and actual production costs of making TV ads was free  hence above the line. Everything else they paid for and was therefore below the line.  Since then, models have changed and clients are no longer charged for their media in that way.

The line

Used loosely, ATL still means mass media. However the media landscape has shifted so dramatically that advertisers have reconsidered the definitions of mass media.

For some marketers the “line” divides the realm of “Awareness or Attention focused marketing” and that of “Interest + Desire focused marketing”. Since audience numbers in the Interest and Desire phase of the AIDA sales model narrow down to a fraction of the Awareness audience, the line could be drawn right below the awareness set of activities.

Loosely put, everything done prior to a customer’s actual entry into a retail outlet is ATL for these retailers, as they define shop-floor activities as the true BTL set of activities which decide on which brand sells eventually.

Below the line sales promotion

BTL sales promotion is an immediate or delayed incentive to purchase, expressed in cash or in kind, and having short duration. It is efficient and cost-effective for targeting a limited and specific group. It uses less conventional methods than the usual ATL channels of advertising, typically focusing on direct means of communication, most commonly direct mail and e-mail, often using highly targeted lists of names to maximize response rates. BTL services may include those for which a fee is agreed upon and charged up front.

BTL is a common technique used for “touch and feel” products (consumer items where the customer will rely on immediate information rather than previously researched items). BTL techniques ensures recall of the brand while at the same time highlighting the features of the product.

Another BTL technique involves sales personnel deployed at retail stores near targeted products. This technique may be used to generate trials of newly launched products.

Through the line

More recently, agencies and clients have switched to an “Integrated Communication Approach”, or “through the line” approach. TTL is a neologism describing an existing process, according to Altaf Jasnaik, Corporate Communications and Branding Manager at Sharp Middle East & Africa. In the TTL approach, a mix of ATL and BTL are used to integrate a marketer’s efforts and optimize returns from these separate investments.

Recently  the TTL approach has shifted its emphasis more towards BTL. The idea remains to optimize the return on marketing budget spent by focusing one’s energy on winning smaller yet more crucial BTL battles than ATL wars with well-funded competition. According to EBS Worldwide, mainstream mass broadcast marketing is increasingly being viewed as uneconomical, in terms of return on investment, which is where BTL marketing fits in.

Recently returned from their first and extremely successful tour to Germany, SA favourites, 7^th Son, will continue their efforts on the road with a series of national dates. Set to return to Germany in May, this tour will prove to be a welcome experience for local fans and one not to be missed.

The show and tour is a home coming celebration for 7^th Son and they will be sharing their fresh experiences, energy, unbridled party personality and the stage with JHB based label mates Heroes Wear Red.

Tour Dates

Thursday 15^th April: CCHQ (Germiston)

Friday       16^th April: Cool Running’s (Victory Park)

Saturday 17^th April: Cool Running’s (Four Ways)

For further information: gavin@musketeer.co.za

NEW YORK, NY – April tk, 2010 – FIFA and Sony Music Entertainment today announced that “Time for Africa,” a collaboration between global superstar Shakira and critically acclaimed South African music group Freshlyground, has been chosen as the Official Anthem of the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

The track will be delivered to radio around the world during the week of April 19, 2010, and will be available for download through digital retail outlets on April 26, 2010.

Shakira and Freshlyground will perform the song live on June 10 at the official FIFA pre-tournament concert at Soweto Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as before the start of the World Cup final in Johannesburg on July 11, 2010.

The video for “Time for Africa” will be available in standard definition as well as in 3D. The 3D version of the video will be offered in support of FIFA and Sony Corporation’s slate of 3D programming around the FIFA World Cup, which will include 25 World Cup matches that will be filmed and broadcast in 3D.

Reaffirming its leading position at the forefront of the emerging 3D market, Sony is the key technological enabler of this new viewing experience and enhances the excitement of football fans, either watching a football match live in the stadium or enjoying a new 3D experience through 3D TV channels or at public viewing events around the world. [NOTE: Please clarify preferred 3D language]

“The spirit of global competition that surrounds the FIFA World Cup is both thrilling and inspiring. Shakira and Freshlyground’s ‘Time for Africa’ perfectly captures these emotions and offers football fans around the world the ideal theme song to accompany the experience of rooting for their favorite team this summer,” said tk Sony Music Entertainment. “We are delighted to be working with FIFA, as well as with the host country South Africa, on the musical companion for this celebrated event.”

“Time For Africa” will be among the songs featured on “Listen Up: The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Album™,” which will be released by Sony Music Entertainment in the weeks preceding the event, which begins June 11, 2010.

“Listen Up: The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Album™,” will feature creative collaborations between local African and international artists. It also will include the official song of the official event mascot Zakumi.

Discussions are underway with a range of other superstar artists about their participation in this World Cup album.

All of Sony Music’s net profits are being donated to Africa-related charities [Please clarify] and all of FIFA’s net profits being donated to the Official Campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ “20 Centres for 2010″ which will create 20 Football for Hope Centres for education, public health and football in disadvantaged communities across Africa.

Over the course of her career, Grammy winner Shakira has sold close to fifty million albums. Her collaborations with such stars as Beyonce and Alejandro Sanz have helped keep her audience expanding continually. She is the only artist from South America to have a Number One song in the US, and her performance was a highlight of the concert celebrating President Obama’s inauguration. She has four of the twenty top-selling hits of the decade, more than any other artist—and that includes 2006′s unforgettable “Hips Don’t Lie,” the biggest-selling single of the 21st Century, which reached the Number One spot in an astonishing 55 countries.

One of the few truly global superstars of our time, Shakira is extending her reach with her eighth studio album, SHE WOLF. The daring, innovative project is the long-awaited follow-up to 2005′s groundbreaking one-two punch comprised of Fijacion Oral, Volume 1 and Oral Fixation, Volume 2, a pair of albums which combined to sell over 12 million copies worldwide and secured the young Colombian-born singer’s place among pop music royalty.

Co-writing and producing this album, Shakira worked with a diverse range of superstar producers and songwriters—most notably, Pharrell Williams and the Neptunes, but also Wyclef Jean, Timbaland and John Hill —she has created an irresistible set of deceptively rich, club-ready tracks.

This sense of artistic exploration is no surprise coming from a woman who began writing songs at the age of eight, learned to speak English by studying the work of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Walt Whitman, and took history classes at UCLA during her break between albums. The compassionate side of Shakira is most obvious in the remarkable work of her Pies Descalzos (Barefoot) Foundation, which she started at the age of 18 and has now opened it’s fifth school. The foundation currently provides education and nutrition to over six thousand impoverished children in Colombia and is working to expand its work to other countries.

Shakira has also become a leading advocate for universal education, speaking to world leaders on the topic and advocating policy change to governments around the world.

Renowned for her power and presence as a live performer, Shakira is gearing up for the release of a Spanish language album in the coming months, and a world tour in 2010.

Born in 2002 out of the cultural hotbed that is Cape Town South Africa, Freshlyground have become the musical voice of a nation’s adolescent democracy. Featuring members of different ethnicities from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe their diverse backgrounds have allowed them to weave a musical magic that is highly infectious and undeniably groovy.

Beginning with the release of Jika Jika in 2003 Freshlyground have carved out a massive following both in South Africa and around the world. Their music – a fusion of rock, jazz and Afro-pop – has proven time and time again to be a favourite amongst all audiences from young children to their grandparents. The skill and joy with which it is delivered have made them perpetual crossover favourites.

Nomvula, their multi-platinum 2004 release, broke new ground for South African pop acts. Its first single – Doo Be Doo – was the most played song in South Africa in 2005. With four hit singles following it, Nomvula propelled the band to heights few reach. It has taken them to stages and festivals around Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. With 2007’s Ma Cheri the band cemented their status as one of the finest acts to have ever come out of Southern Africa. They have won numerous awards including 4 South African Music Awards, 4 Metro FM Awards and an MTV Europe Music Award for “Best African Act” -a first for any SA musician.

Freshlyground have not forgotten their roots in the gritty reality of Sub-Saharan Africa where so many suffer. They have been supporters of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation since playing a fund raising concert for the Foundation in 2005.

Freshlyground are currently working on their fourth studio album, due for release in South Africa in May 2010. During the course of the year they will be touring extensively throughout South Africa as well as Europe, the US and Asia. Expect “the most important South African act of the 21st century” to continue winning the hearts of fans and packing venues all over the world.

Sony Music Entertainment is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Corp., an Official Partner of the FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa™.

About Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music Entertainment is a global recorded music company with a roster of current artists that includes a broad array of both local artists and international superstars. The company boasts a vast catalog that comprises some of the most important recordings in history. It is home to premier record labels representing music from every genre, including American Recordings, Arista Nashville, Arista Records, Aware, Battery Records, Beach Street Records, Black Seal, BNA Records, Cinematic, Columbia Nashville, Columbia Records, Epic Records, Essential Records, Flicker Records, Fo-Yo Soul, GospoCentric, Hitz Committee Entertainment, J Records, Jive Records, LaFace Records, Legacy Recordings, Masterworks, Polo Grounds, RCA Records, RCA Nashville, RCA Red Seal, RCA Victor, Reunion Records, Slightly Dangerous, Sony Classical, Sony Music Latin, Star Time International, Verity Records, and Volcano Entertainment. Sony Music Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.

About FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association is the world governing body of football, comprising 208 football associations grouped into six confederations. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, FIFA’s activities extend far beyond its broad spectrum of international competitions headed by the FIFA World Cup™. FIFA provides material, financial and promotional means to develop the game around the world, and offers underprivileged communities support through the Football for Hope movement. For the Game. For the World.

For more information on FIFA and its competitions, especially the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, please visit the official website at www.FIFA.com.

Press Contact:

Brian Garrity

Sony Music Entertainment

212-833-5891

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Nibs van der Spuy Releases “A House Across The River”

World renowned singer-songwriter, Nibs van der Spuy, will this week be releasing his sixth solo album entitled “A House Across The River”.

“A House Across The River” is arguably Van der Spuy’s best work to date. On this, the follow up album to his internationally critically acclaimed “A Bird In The Hand” (2008) and “Beautiful Feet” (2006), Van der Spuy experiments with new sounds and jams with a group of talented, yet-to-be-unventured by Van der Spuy, musicians as well as some old friends including Piers Faccini, Guy Buttery and Farryl Purkiss. On this record Van Der Spuy takes his sound to a new level experimenting with the sounds of cuatro and electric guitar (surprisingly for the first time). The result is a strong album from a man who is constantly growing as an artist. The album also includes honest interpretations of the Allman Brothers’ “Little Martha” and the rare unreleased Tim Buckley track “Cripples Cry”.

It would be modest to say that Nibs van der Spuy is an unsung hero and an acoustic guitar legend of Southern Africa. Nibs van der Spuy’s spellbinding acoustic guitar style was first taken notice of with his band Landscape Prayers between 1993 – 2003. His diversity as a songwriter, singer and finger stylist, reached a broader audience with the release of his solo albums; ‘Lines on my face’(1999) and ‘Flower in the rain’(2002). Both these acoustic gems were nominated in the best instrumental category at the South African Music Awards. “A Bird in the Hand” (2008) followed his internationally critically acclaimed, “Beautiful Feet” (2006). Van der Spuy was once described by Johana Seban, of Les Inrocks (FRANCE), as having the soft disturbing ghost of Nick Drake in his guitar playing, melodies and especially voice tone. Van der Spuy’s music is a unique hybrid of folk, baroque, Indian and world music.

Catch Nibs van der Spuy at the following venues:-

• April 29 – Album launch (DBN) – St Clements
• April 30 – Roseway (Waldorf)
• May 5 – Villa Pascal (Durbanville)
• May 6 – Alliance Francaises (CT)
• May 7 – Dorp Straat Theatre (CT)
• May 8 – Cottage Club (CT)
• May 12 – Tanz Cafe (JHB) w/ Laurie Levine
• May 23 – Steak & Ale (PTA)
• May 15 – Zini Festival
• May 20 – Uptown Theatre (PE)
• May 21 – PE Folk Club
• May 22 – Musos – (EL)
• May 27 – Casa Gresse (Empangeni)
• May 28 – Vagabond Cafe
• May 29 – Clifton
• June 29 – July 3 – Grahamstown Festival
• July 8 – Mr Price Pro

Nibs van der Spuy – A House Across The River

1. A House Across The River

2. Once I Climbed A Lion Mountain

3. Trambicosa

4. My Little Singing Bird

5. Nieu Bethesda

6. Homeward Bound

7. Little Martha

8. Topper

9. Cripples Cry

10. Written On A Star

11. Apple Tree Wick

Ends

_____________________________________________________________________

For more information and interview opportunities contact

Brett Schewitz

brett@sheer.co.za

+2711 438 7000

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