HTC One Media Launch, Studio Lounge:

Last week I was invited as part of Malaysia’s Hottest Bloggers to witness the media launch of the HTC’s newest smartphone, the HTC One. This nifty gadget is packed with some really unusual and interesting features, making HTC One one of the most anticipated phones in the market.

Crafted with a distinct zero-gap aluminium unibody, the new HTC One introduces HTC BlinkFeed™, HTC Zoe™, and HTC BoomSound™, key new HTC Sense® innovations that reinvent the mobile experience and set a new standard for smartphones. Now let’s have a look at this rather sexy smartphone.

HTC Blinkfeed is a revolutionised personal live stream right on the home screen. It can combine all the relevant information you are interested in such as social updates, entertainment, news etc so that you won’t have to go to separate apps such as Facebook, Twitter, or your Internet explorer app.

HTC Zoe is probably the most impressive feature on this smartphone, at least to me. It refers to the HTC UltraPixel Camera and gives you the ability to shoot high-res photos in three-second snippets. The photos/videos are displayed in a unique way to bring your gallery to life. It automatically creates integrated highlight film set to music with professionally designed cuts, transitions and effects. These highlight videos can even be set to different themes and easily shared on social networks/emails. Most amazingly you could edit the pictures the way you never could before, as you now have 3 seconds worth of frame to choose from and can switch parts of the photos with the particular frame you want. Blinked when photo was taken? No worries, you can select the image from another frame so now your eyes are open again!

HTC BoomSound is another feature that’s perfect for people who loves music. With front-facing stereo speakers and a dedicated amplifier, you’ll be able to enjoy rich, authentic sound whether you’re listening to your favourite song, watching a YouTube video or playing a game. It also captures high quality audio that’s good enough for HD video footage.

I don’t watch TV so this doesn’t excite me too much, but HTC Sense TV transform the HTC One into a program guide and remote control for most TVs. Now that’s perfect if you are the type who also browse your phone while being a couch potato.

The new HTC One with attractive rate plans are offered by Celcom, DiGi, U Mobile, Maxis, and all SenQ chain stores from early May.

HTC authorised retailers’ availability for the new HTC One will be The new HTC One is priced at RM2,299 (for 32GB storage) and RM2,499 (for 64GB storage) in both colours, Stealth Black and Glacial Silver.

For more information and specs, check out their official website or their Facebook page. Here’s a brief video about the HTC One too.

Photo credit: Tim Chew

Belvedere Vodka Presents: Passion for Fashion, Buttery Factory:

Passion for Fashion was first launched in 2009 by JM productions. This event specialises in bringing all professionals from the fashion and film industry together for a glamorous night of networking and fun. It’s one of the most sought after fashion events with international appeal. I’ve missed out the event last year so was glad to get the invitation via Malaysia’s Hottest Bloggers.

I must have been the last of KL party people to set foot in Butter Factory, and I was impressed with the efforts they put into the interior design. As Belvedere Vodka was the alcohol sponsor of the night, there were also balloons spelling out Belvedere placed all over the VIP area.

Though it appeared that I have arrived probably 2 hours too early, as you can see there are areas empty and tables unclaimed. But I can tell you that it was packed to the brim when everyone finally arrived.

This was a fashion event so of course, a catwalk was setup and 2 designers were showcased: Lexi Lyla by Dawn Yang and LuveLuxe by Hui Jean. The catwalk was actually downstairs so in the midst of mingling with people I had missed the fashion show. No matter, I can still look at the beautiful photos capture by all the photographers at the event.

It was so packed all our girls are scattered around the place and got a little hard to move around too at one point. So I found someone comfortable and stayed.

I don’t think I have mentioned it here, but I have yet another new band (along with my original band and the jazz band) and the gentlemen above are the great musicians with me. This band is all about classic rock and blues. We had our debut gig not long ago at Saloon Bar Solaris Mont Kiara and looking forward to more gigs in the near future.

Also bumped into Yew Han, lead singer/keyboadist of an awesome local cover band Mad Sally.

And finally, one with Josiah (in his 50 shades of grey suit), the man behind JM productions. The other lady in the photo is Lakshmi, Yew Han’s wife who’s also an Anchor/Reporter at one of the Astro channels. By this time I’ve had one too many vodka/cranberry mix and decided to head home early.

To the team of JM productions and G Global Media, well done for putting together such an unique event. To the next Passion for Fashion

Photo credit: Andy Kho