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February 28, 2006
FIAT Cars: making state-of-the-art technology accessible to everyone
Fiat Palio
Fiat cars are recognized for their fresh and lively style, for their all-Italian design and because they offer more tangible responses to customers.
Since the beginning "innovation and emotion" have been the most genuine roots of the Fiat tradition. with their cars, Fiat tries to make state-of-the-art technology accessible to everyone, offering "intelligent solutions" on all the models to simplify and improve life.
Fiat Idea has new style details, new exterior colours and various stylistic improvements on the inside, expressing in a natural manner elegance and versatility, practicality and style.
Its elegant profile has been made even more impressive by the shiny new columns, moulding with chrome inserts and the wheel arches that testify to a lively personality, which is also further enhanced by the new colours. The new front has a chrome radiator grille, bumpers in body colour, and new-design lights.
On the inside, the dashboard, with an ergonomic design, adds to the elegance of the interiors with colours ranging from black, to dark grey and satin finish chrome: a new look with a added touch of class afforded by the exclusive fabrics and colours.
FIAT Panda passes the 500,000 mark
The Fiat Panda has just passed the milestone of 500,000 units manufactured.
Two years after its market launch, the Fiat Panda passed this ambitious milestone with a car that was ordered in Italy, with the Emotion outfit, a 1.3 Multijet engine and sparkling light blue paintwork.
The Panda is built in the Polish plant of Tychy, and destined primarily to the European markets, but it is also sold in countries like Malaysia, Taiwan and Martinique, and there are also 1,831 Pandas on the streets of Japan.
And it was a Japanese customer who ordered Fiat Panda no. 499,999, a Climbing 4x4, with Titian Red paintwork, while no. 500,001 remained in Poland, a Panda Active with yellow bodywork.
The Panda is the second best selling car in Italy, behind the Fiat Punto. Since it was launched, it has climbed rapidly up reaching first place in the Italian and European top ten.
This commercial success has been confirmed by 18 prizes awarded by the international trade press, including the prestigious “Car of the Year 2004” title.
Here is how FIAT describes this model:
FIAT Panda is all new, except for its unique personality.
Big on content, but small when it comes to finding a parking space in the city.
Sturdy and ready for everything.
So easy, it’s a pleasure.
With a front section as distinctive as that of a SUV, Panda has the streamlined sides of a sedan, with high arching windows and a third glass pane that adds a unique stylistic element.
Styling details include the grille, with two huge chromed headlamps, and the bumper with air intakes that convey an impression of dynamism and sturdiness. The high, square cut rear is characterised by long, vertically-oriented light clusters, which underscore the spaciousness and practical mindset of New Panda.
The interior features original pastel coloured fabrics that are pleasurable to the touch.
Discover Fiat Panda through its images and smart solutions, all of them conceived to make your life easier!
Panda Alessi Innovative and with an unmistakable style, the Panda Alessi is the result of the collaboration with Alessi, synonymous with Italian design and famous around the world.
The Panda Alessi is two-tone: a white polypropylene strip wraps all around the bottom part of the car, combining perfectly with each of the three exclusive body colours - black, green and orange. The hub caps, luminous rear antenna and third brake light in coloured, transparent glass are just some of the stylistic elements proposed by Stefano Giovannoni for Alessi. On the inside, there is a new dashboard colour, screen printed instrumentation, and new seat fabric and colour, while the tunnel unit, with its original accordion-type CD-holder, and the mobile phone holder have been completely redesigned.
Panda Alessi, now marketed only on the Italian market, will soon be available Europe-wide.
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 6:28 AM | View the original post
February 22, 2006
UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON SPRING/SUMMER 2006 CHILDREN
CHILDREN
Radiant, dazzling and colourful. This is the look of the spring-summer 2006 collection for United Colors of Benetton children.
A kaleidoscopic carousel of traditional children’s styles imbued with fresh creativity to give a new look to all the lines. Accents that make the difference and create an attractively different style for children:
- an abundance of ornamentation: rhinestones, embroidery and jewelled decorations for her; elegant patchwork appliqués for him;
- floral prints for her and multi-coloured overwear for him;
- stripes galore for girls, T-shirts aplenty for boys;
- denim for everyone, from fashionably chic to distressed;
- the season’s must-haves: a gypsy tunic for her, cargo pants for him;
- pretty skirts with matching sandals and, for boys, sports-fan knits.
Girls
Navy, for mini guests lounging on a yacht. White and dark blue with traces of coral and bright grass-green. Sailor trousers and mini sundresses; sweaters with all kinds of stripes and T-shirts with embroidery and Swarovski crystals; little stretch denim dresses and yachtsmen’s lawn blazers.
Etnico talks about flowers, paisley, sparkling embroidery, pastel and bright coloured flounces mixed with beige. T-shirts over gipsy skirts, embroidered jeans with tunics straight from the 70s, boys’ blazers decorated with little-girl romantic touches.
Cutie Girl, deliciously feminine in candy shades; floral trousers and short jackets; hyper-decorated T-shirts; trompe l’oeil double panels with shiny crystals and glitter prints; figure-hugging minis and Capri pants.
Gipsy Surf, a tropical sea with gipsy digressions. Luminous, midday-sun colours mixed at discretion. Rainbow stripes for sweaters, vests and knitted slip dresses; Hawaiian prints for T-shirts to wear over minis and army-look trousers with loads of beach accessories.
Skate Girl, for fresh city rappers. Basic colours are mixed – apparently casually – with strong or acid shades. Vests and T-shirts to wear in layers; light sweaters decorated with mega prints and script motifs; the baggiest trousers of all with an elasticated waist; and minis, including a vaguely Charleston version with big pleats.
Boys
Soft City, the perfect look for the little city slicker: pastel tops, basic pale bottoms. Clean graphics for polo shirts and sweaters; yarn-dyed shirts and textured cotton blazers. Sweaters, T-shirts and shirts worn one on top of the other creating bright colour matches.
Marine. Sailor, ahoy! Bomber jackets, sweatshirts, short jackets, multi-pocket and multi-zip trousers in classic sea colours with added gold-yellow and grass green. Appliquéd decorations, yacht-club script motifs and de rigueur stripes keep us firmly in-theme.
Spring Campus, dominated by pale blue and baby blue. Lots of washed, treated, sewn and re-sewn denim; shirts and loose shirts with yarn-dyed or appliquéd stripes; shirts and Bermudas in classic checks. Over these go short jackets, figure-hugging jackets, patchwork-constructed sweatshirts full of vintage script motifs.
Color Stripes, in other words a softer, appealing army look. Bottoms include multi-accessoried camouflage or cargo pants worn with sweatshirts in ice-cream colours, cartoon-print T-shirts or brightly-coloured shirts.
Spring Hockey, hard play, easy comfort. Fabric or denim tracksuit-style trousers in oversize proportions worn under closed or zipped sweatshirts and sweaters with hockey graphics. Striking contrasts of deep and worn colours.
Summer Basket, unusual pastel tones are out on the court for a striking theme. Striped or check drill Bermudas worn with "sweet" strawberry, pistachio and sky blue T-shirts worn in layers. Racing team script motifs and graphics in soft colours and big sizes.
NEW BORN
A romantic mood; unusual, pretty denim; offbeat stripes; and a sporty trend are the main ingredients of this collection for babies. Still in nappies but already in the latest fashions, United Colors of Benetton babies are never banal and dare to be different in little kids’ outfits.
Layette, in other words, classic basic pale blue, pale pink and lime with "delightful" details: braid trims, embroidered mascots, tiny stripes, tablecloth checks. All in cool, comfortable cotton.
Marine Girl is white, red and blue with pink and light blue touches. Sailor trousers in denim and other fabrics, light windcheater sweatshirts, white-and-blue horizontal-striped "cruise" dresses and T-shirts worthy of a deep-sea fishergirl. Marine Boy adds cornflower blue and medlar to white and uses stripes in all sizes, going in all directions, as the main decorative element for sweaters, shorts and shoes. The very skipper-like polo shirts with a white collar are particularly appealing.
Soft Girl reveals a romantic side: little crushed-cotton flouncy, patchwork dresses with pink flowers, mauve twinsets with pastel embroidery, "tennis" outfits with appliqué flowers, open-work or all-over-printed T-shirts, embroidered stretch poplin cropped pants. Soft Boy mixes white, pale blue and yellow-orange. Ultra-treated, multi-pocketed denim to wear all the time with knitted-sleeve sweatshirts and light cotton vests; seersucker salopettes.
Tonic Girl for pastel-shaded gym maniacs. Short, pleated skirts matched with single-shoulder tops with Lurex stripes; sweatshirts; T-shirts with appliqués and embroidery; multi-stripe zipped cardigans; ripped, windowpane check jeans with floral sashes. Tonic Boy is sportswear in strong colours: yellow, green and cornflower blue. Cotton cropped pants that can be shortened; numbered waistcoats; denim bomber jackets and sweatshirts with a removable hood; layerable T-shirts; playsuits with bands, inlays, overstitching, badges and embroidery that would even make dad envious.
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 10:34 AM | View the original post
UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON SPRING/SUMMER 2006 MEN’S COLLECTION
MEN’S COLLECTION
United Colors of Benetton’s collections for men are becoming more and more fashion-conscious. The Spring Summer 2006 raises the bar of male elegance: easy and breezy young styles permeated with a very special allure.
UP STREET, destructured elegance with casual hints. Chiefly white and beige, with pink, pale blue and grey for shirts. Close-fitting lines made supremely wearable through the use of soft, floppy fabrics: plain-coloured linen, cotton or gabardine, pinstripes or Prince of Wales check. Suits with tailored two-button jackets, and separates with easy-wear blazers. Shirt-jackets with patch pockets and crisp, straight trousers, or jeans with a moderately worn look. Yarn-dyed shirts; simple pastel knitwear in light wool or cotton jersey.
SPRING FORWARD, urban theme based on treated cotton and denim. The mood is casual but charming; basic, slim-fit trousers are worn with feather-light cotton yarn in strawberry, mint, plum, sunny yellow. The same colours are used for vintage blazers and thin-striped, yarn-dyed shirts.
TRAINING CAMP, a casual theme with army touches seen in the colour palette and minimum details "according to regulations": cotton or denim soft, multi-pocket trousers; T-shirts with in-theme script motifs. The rest is pacific and pacifist: light cotton windcheaters, light hooded sweatshirts, loose shirts with pale-coloured stripes and tiny checks, shirt-collar blazers of heavy cotton. A range of base-camp greens and beiges mixed with pink, fuchsia and purple.
CARIBBEAN LOVE, a leisurely, almost nautical atmosphere. Hawaiian script motifs on T-shirts worn at least two together in bright and soft shades: pink and fuchsia, aqua and turquoise, orange and apricot, bright yellow and lime. Soft, slightly baggy trousers of light, faded denim are worn with floral or check shirts and even with classic-cut blazers that are, however, made of jersey. Long shorts that hover somewhere between pedal pushers and Bermudas, with large pockets and a low waist.
ACCESSORIES AND FOOTWEAR
Accessories in pole position in the race to create a United Colors of Benetton total look. Practical or decorative complementary articles whose creative content, dynamism and sense of humour give greater breadth to distinctive style codes.
The top bag style for him is a flat, canvas or nylon shoulder bag with leather details in army colours. For those with a lot of baggage, there are extra-long canvas backpacks with studs and pockets. World travellers use unisex luggage: gathered, branded nylon or in soft and rigid leather in brilliant colours. Anti-impact design for the work/travel range; textured nylon in black and acid tones.
And on the feet? Sneakers, the timeless classic, and cross-over leather sandals with a colonial feel. Also, moccasins in unusual pastel shades.
Baseball caps in all colours; panamas worthy of a dandy; belts of leather decorated with nautical knots, or patchwork ribbons or engraved leather. These complete the range of men’s accessories, not forgetting the ties in plain colours or jacquard or with tiny embroidery in clear candy colours.
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 10:20 AM | View the original post
UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON SPRING/SUMMER 2006 WOMEN’S COLLECTION
WOMEN’S COLLECTION
This collection talks about a breezy charm, a kind of feminine glamour caressed with fashion touches, capable of unusual matching and of young ideas that make the United Colors of Benetton style very personal, unique and, above all, unmistakeable.
UPPER EAST SIDE, urban spring mood in skimpy proportions. Slender figures in white, indigo, bilberry and cyclamen. Strong combinations with measure and good taste. Overwear falls longer over the hips and tightens at the waist; cigarette pants cling without constricting; knee-length Bermudas take a leading role and pencil skirts give a soft touch to the overall look. Over these go minimal knits: buttoned, low-cut, layered; fresh and chic striped blouses. Matt fabrics, or with iridescent effects, give touches of elegance.
BEVERLY HILLS, strictly reserved for the young. The accent’s on denim in various weights: tamed, treated, battered and shaped into innovative styles – from the jacket with an off-the-shoulder neckline to the slip dress. Visible zips, ribbing, overstitching, cuts and darning add "real life" details. Trousers are jeans, including coloured jeans in brilliant or faded tones, the same tones found on cotton T-shirts and vests, basic little cardigans of ultra-light wool or lace-stitch sheer shrugs. Dashes of Lurex and sequins here and there.
NATURAL GIRL, the army look is revamped and the usual greens – from camouflage to acid – mix with dark or pale blue, turquoise and lime. Heavy fabrics – canvas, cotton, gabardine – redesign the proportions of trousers – baggy with measure – of overwear – soft and feminine – and of bias-cut and asymmetric skirts.
NEO ROMANTIC, details borrowed from grandma’s trousseau for today’s styles. Pedal pushers with pirate-look button turn-ups, blazers with flounces instead of lapels, blouses ribbed with tiny frills, open-work waistcoats, denim skirts with broderie anglaise hem trims, pleated linen skirts with floral motifs, lingerie-cotton skirts, long gauze gypsy skirts that swirl around the ankles. All in white, cream, lilac, blue-mauve and mauve.
ETHNIC STONES, where details make the mood. Oriental silk, coloured embroidery, shimmering Indian beads, tinkling belts. Colours are bright – purple, turquoise, saffron, apricot – lines are sinuous and clingy. Jeans can even be of faded denim as long as they’re worn with a sheer voile tunic, or a top or tunic with Moroccan embroidery.
DESERT ROSE, in other words, urban chic in high summer. Shell beige, sand grey, angel pink, chocolate brown and date with sophisticated lacquer-red touches. Charming colours interpreted in linen, cotton, satin, muslin and tulle. Skirts with vertical stripes or geometric prints or in plain colours trimmed with lace. Roomy linen trousers and simple pedal pushers with turn-ups are worn with lace-stitch cardigans, severe safari jackets, romantic loose blouses, tiny jackets. A prim and proper air with a few caprices.
ACCESSORIES AND FOOTWEAR
Accessories in pole position in the race to create a United Colors of Benetton total look. Practical or decorative complementary articles whose creative content, dynamism and sense of humour give greater breadth to distinctive style codes.
Women’s collection
Nylon is the material-of-the-moment for bags in Spring-Summer 2006: soft, fluid, rigid, gathered but always branded, in keeping with the fashion for putting logos where they can be instantly seen and immediately recognised. Backpacks, box bags, shoulder bags and mini bags complete with hats and sneakers in pale pastels; leather handles and details.
Alternatively, there’s smooth nylon in va-va-voom colours or in a patchwork with genuine leather, or printed with chintz flowers. The season begs for canvas, linen and cotton decorated with sequins, floral appliqués, geometric window-pane checks, with crochet or pillow lace. It also requires super-decorated shirt fabric, prim and proper denim, rip-stop fabric with an army feel in regulation green or a floral pattern. Fifties’ straw mixed with bamboo or raw for picnic-style box bags; jute is embroidered with silk. Then, of course, there’s leather, best of all if it’s plaited, combined in a patchwork with sahari silk, embellished with charms appliqué embroidery, natural stones.
Closed shoes in pastel colours range from foot-hugging moccasins to branded-nylon ballerinas, from open-sided shoes to broderie anglaise courts including a flat-heeled version. For the summer there are high-heeled sandals with criss-cross laces at the back; leather or fabric flip-flops; Thirties-style cord wedges with split-leather uppers. Fabric flip-flops for the beach and wooden sandals, the season’s new must-have, including a high-heeled version.
Different combinations, assemblies, double lacing, embroidery, decorative buckles, leather belts in various widths. Complex weaves, colour schemes and gathering for the scarves which can also be used as shawls or sashes. In addition to grosgrain or crocheted cotton cloches, headwear includes the wide-brimmed straw hat typical of rice weeders.
Ethnic jewellery of horn, glass and metal around the neck and arms, and enamelled charms tinkle and twinkle everywhere.
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 1:10 AM | View the original post
February 21, 2006
Siemens to showcase the trends from the mobile world of tomorrow 3GSM World Congress 2006
Mobile TV
DVB-H stands for Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds and is based on DVB-T, the digital terrestrial transmission standard that has already been launched in some regions of Germany and is replacing analog television. So it’s possible for viewer to participate interactively in the tv-program. They can, for example, hold a vote on “The goal of the month”. Besides you don’t miss any live sport event, for example the Olympic Games 2006 in Turin.
Barcelona, Feb 9, 2006: Watching television on a mobile, playing high-resolution multi-player games, making mobile phone calls while simultaneously transferring files or videos over the wireless network: On some 400 square meters of exhibition floor space at the 3GSM World Congress 2006 in Barcelona, the Siemens Communications Group will be showing how mobile communication technology is going to be changing our leisure and working worlds in the years to come.
This year’s highlights will include a live demonstration of mobile television over DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld) as well as new IP-based mobile applications. In addition, Siemens will also be showcasing new services and products for the wireless networks of the coming years. On display at Booth A08 in Hall 8 at the Fira Fairgrounds and in a truck outside of Hall 8 will be innovations for operators, enterprises and consumers.
Live on the fairgrounds: Watching TV on a mobile while out and about
In Barcelona, Siemens will be providing coverage for the entire Fira Fairgrounds with DVB-H, the digital video broadcast technology for handhelds. Special DVB-H devices will enable visitors to the tradeshow to receive 16 different television programs live, including music channel MTV, news networks CNN and BBC World, as well as coverage of the Olympic Winter Games in Turin from Rai Olimpics Torino. In addition, Siemens will be providing live demonstrations of how the process works – from the TV camera right through to the image on the DVB-H device – in a special TV studio at the booth. Moreover, visitors to the show will also be able to use the Siemens solution to participate interactively in the TV program and to use a wireless backchannel to cast their votes for the “goal of the month,” for example. To do that, the user clicks on the touchscreen of his or her DVB-H device to send a text message (SMS) to the mobile operator, who then displays the results of the voting on the screen. The mobile broadcasting system from Siemens is the world’s first solution to operate with DVB-H devices from a variety of leading manufacturers.
“Call and Share” – IMS turns voice services into multimedia communication
In connection with IMS (IP-based Multimedia Subsystem), Siemens will be showing “Call and Share” applications that enable the operator to pump up the volume of data traffic over the wireless network, e.g. with Videosharing. This service enables the subscriber to shoot a video during a telephone call and immediately send it to the person at the other end. This application will be of interest to real estate agents, for example, who want to provide a client with an initial impression of a property while they are still on the phone.
Whiteboarding, which can provide driving or walking directions for a stranger in a city, for example, works in a similar manner: A second person uses a laptop or mobile phone to display a map of the city and then draws in the route. The stranger is linked with this second person via the mobile network and receives the visualized driving or walking directions on his or her mobile. “Call and Share” also works together with Push and Talk (PaT), the walkie-talkie solution from Siemens that supports the open standards of the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and can therefore interact seamlessly with handsets from a wide variety of manufacturers.
Together with partners from the IMS Developer Program, Siemens will be showcasing further IMS applications, including “Team Work,” a Java-based application for sharing information among a defined group of subscribers, such as the employees in a department or the members of a family, even if they have different end-user devices, as well as “MeetMee” – a wireless application for networking with friends.
Live demo: Flexible wireless rate modification
To afford fast and flexible modification of the rates for mobile services, Siemens will be demonstrating the latest version of charge@once live at the booth. This charging solution captures and consolidates usage data in realtime, thus enabling bonus programs or individual rate models, for example.
New technologies: The Next Generation wireless network
The growing volume of data traffic stemming from new mobile services like videosharing, music downloads or online gaming necessitate even faster and more powerful switches and radio networks. At the 3GSM World Congress, Siemens will be showing its products and innovations for evolving wireless networks through to the year 2012.
One of these innovations, from the GSM world, is eBSC – the most powerful and advanced controller for GSM base stations on the market today. Operators can use it to control their radio resources in the network more efficiently and cost-effectively. Also premiering at the tradeshow will be the new Radio Network Controller (RNC). Analogously to eBSC, W-CDMA operators can use it to more efficiently control their 3G radio resources. Plus the Multi-Standard Network Controller, a combination of eBSC and RNC that can be used to control both 2G and 3G networks. The resulting reduction in administration and resource expenses leads to significant cost savings. In addition, Siemens will also be demonstrating new components from the W-CDMA product family that afford simple upgrading of GSM base stations to 3G, for example, or improve W-CDMA network coverage inside buildings. The highlight will be a simulation that shows how intelligent network technology will be changing the face of mobile communication through to the year 2012.
High-speed wireless access technologies: HSDPA and 450 MHz FLASH-OFDM
Live at the tradeshow for the first time, Siemens will be demonstrating how data can be transferred from the Internet to commercial W-CDMA end-user devices at a speed of 3.6 megabits per second via High Speed Downlink Packet Access, or HSDPAfor short. The Internet turbos for wireless technology that will be demonstrated will also include 450 MHz FLASH-OFDM (Fast Low-latency Access with Seamless Handoff – Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), which currently offers transfer rates of 2.7 megabits per second in commercial operation.
Seamless cross-network communication
Siemens will be using the IMS@vantage IP platform to demonstrate seamless interplay between GSM networks and WLAN hotspots (handover) as well as between various operator networks (roaming). This fixed-mobile convergence solution will be of interest to both wireline and wireless operators.
A mobile solution for enterprises
At the 3GSM World Congress 2006, Siemens will also be showcasing Mobile Centrex – a virtual PABX for enterprises of all sizes. This solution offers the advantage of eliminating the entire PABX infrastructure from an enterprise and providing all of its functionalities over an operator network. Within the context of Fixed Mobile Substitution, mobile operators can now integrate an enterprise’s wireline users, in addition to its wireless subscribers, into the communication system without restriction via Mobile Centrex. This also makes the services provided within the enterprise, e.g. conference calls or partner rings, available to all parties. Enterprises can cut their costs with Mobile Centrex, because they no longer have to maintain a network of their own, and mobile operators can use high-level services to attract new customer groups.
Services and security for wireless and wireline networks
With „Music2You“ the Carrier Services Division will be showcasing the world’s first convergent wireline/wireless solution for downloading music tracks. With this solution, music lovers can listen to the latest songs “over the air” on their mobile handsets and, if they are interested, then download the full-track titles to their mobile handsets, PCs or set-top boxes. Siemens is playing a pioneering role in the fast-growing music download market: The company was the first to develop a convergent music service that operates over the Internet, wireless and wireline networks. As a white label provider, Siemens Communications operates several of Europe’s largest Internet and mobile user portals. “Music2You,” for example, serves as the platform for the successful “musicload” Internet service from T-Online, which has blossomed into the largest digital Internet music offering in Germany. In addition to this solution, the Carrier Services Division will also be showing Services that are specially matched to the needs of operators with heterogeneous networks. These include consulting, planning, implementation, maintenance, training and operation of all communication networks, as well as services that that safeguard against both attacks as well as bottlenecks or even outages. Siemens will be using the example of soccer stadiums to demonstrate its cost-effective Security Solutions for carriers.
Siemens Communications
The Siemens Communications Group is one of the largest players in the global telecommunications industry. The company offers a full-line portfolio of innovative solutions for voice and data communication. Its comprehensive offerings range from devices right through to complex network infrastructures and services for wireless, fixed and enterprise networks. It is the largest Group within the Siemens organization and operates in more than 160 countries around the world. In fiscal 2005 (September 30), its 54,500-strong workforce posted sales of over 13 billion euros.
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 7:00 AM | View the original post
