We headed out to the Nürburgring shortly after, which really was just around the corner. Next thing we knew, we were standing right in one of the team pits, mechanics and technicians all just a few steps away, running around hectically to get their cars in and out. Tires were changed, cars were refilled all just before us. Petrol (and Diesel) smells everywhere around us, we saw slightly damaged cars and race cars of all sorts and ages. wow. Needless to say, my head was turning left and right all the time, as there was so much to see. After the qualification runs, all the teams brought their cars into the pits and got them ready for the races. This gave us enough time to walk around all the pits, get a closer look at the race teams and their cars. The range of race cars reached from some crazy Audi R8′s, Mercedes SLS to Porsches, some old BMW’s, down to some small (but very loud) Renault Clio’s. Of course we also had a closer look at the Peugeot RCZ Nokia team, who were also very busy and prepared for the race.

Since we had some time left, Dani and I left Iain at the track and headed up to the Nürburgring Arena, a shopping mall-like area inside the tribunes at the track. Besides from some refreshment and food stores, there were also a ton of car-merch stores. First store i saw, was Nissan, and what can i say, I found my old love again. Standing in the corner, was a very nice, dark blue Nissan GT-R. Exactly like the one I drove some months ago! Dani posed on the glass floor, that revealed the GT-R currently being one of the fastest production cars, that went around the Nürburgring! One of the next stores said “Aston Martin”, inside we found an Aston Martin V12 Vantage!!  It was only 11 o clock at this time, and i already saw more sportscars than I did before, in my whole life. How dare you Ferrari, for having a shop at the Nürburgring.. and no car in it!?!

*Thanks Dani, for taking those photos!

We decided to head back to the track to catch the start of the official race, which we managed to do just in time. After the start, we headed out to Giulia, an italian restaurant, around 10km away from the Ring. As we exited the car, we realized we were still right next to the track, which just showed us how big the Nürburgring really is. We had an excellent lunch buffet at Giulia, with probably the best Lasagne i had in my whole life. seriously great stuff, and the owner of the restaurant was a full blown italian lady too! After some heavy rainfalls we headed out to our first viewpoint next to the track, which offered some great race action.

*photos courtesy of Iain!

In the course of the afternoon, we headed out to 3 different viewpoints, around the whole track, which gave us a great opportunity to see more of the track. We returned back to the start/finish line just in time for the finish of the 6 hour race, which overall one of the crazy R8s won. The Peugeot RCZ Nokia Team finished first and third in their class, another huge success for the team. We’ve been told this wasn’t their only success, as the team leads their class! We headed out to the paddocks, to have a drink and celebrate with the team drivers! After a short speech, we had the opportunity to talk to them and get to know more about the cars etc. Great stuff! Despite “only” having the Nokia N8 with me, i was once more blown away by how superb it performed. Sure, the light conditions were just great and all, but it demonstrated why it is the undisputed king of camera phones!

After a well needed break in the hotel room, we have kindly been invited to a local restaurant called Pistenklause – which turned out to be a famous restaurant amongst the Nürburgring cracks. The restaurant had racing written all over it, with memoribilia from racing drivers like Ayrton Senna, Mikka Häkkinen or Niki Lauda! The menu contained a plethora of meat in all different shapes, forms and colors, a match made in heaven so to speak! I’ve been strongly advised by Kee, to check out the “Steak from the hot stone”. Curious about it, I ditched my previous choice and ordered an argentinian filet steak from the hot stone. What came about 15 minutes later, was something I’ve never seen before: A raw piece of meat, placed on an incredibly hot stone! Turned out, you have to roast your steak on the hot stone yourself, until it’s exactly like you want it to be: raw and bloody, or like in my case, well done! Side dishes have been served next to it. This was a one of a kind (and incredibly delicious) experience for me, and I highly advise everyone – if you’re near the Nürburgring, check out this incredible treat! Luckily, Jan was one of the lucky Nokia guys who already sports a Nokia N9, which we also got in our hands once again. (You like that Iain, don’t you? ) I cannot tell you how much I like this phone! Later in the evening, the Peugeot team arrived, with their trophy in hand! A great moment for them, with a nice standing ovation from us all! We got our hands on the trophy too, however, i wasn’t allowed to take it home with me as Souvenir

Stuffed with dessert and this great piece of meat, we returned back home to our hotel, for a good night sleep in order to get ready for sunday. Without saying too much, rest assured that sunday was the best of the three days, with a once in a lifetime experience for all of us! Check back soon for the last day of the Peugeot RCZ Nokia Driving Experience at the Nürburgring!

I have been invited by Suria from Nokia about a month before the trip, asking if I’d be interested in a “car/race-related event at the Nürburgring”. Being a long time car enthusiast, my answer was an immediate YES! Little details have been known until about a week before the trip, and what I read got me excited, to say the least. Hanging out with a race team, having full access to the pits and crew areas, and even drive a car around the “Ring” ourselves. I was pumped..

Day 1 – Friday

Packed, ready, go. My journey started on Friday, Aug. 26th with my trip to the airport, which takes me about 90 minutes from home. Vienna has their own “City Airport Train”, starting literally in the middle of Vienna, bringing you to the airport in around 15 minutes. What is really handy: I have been able to check in my bags for the flight already, in Vienna. The luggage will be transfered to the airport, leaving you with just your hand luggage. All in all, a very trouble-free experience. After a snack at the airport, i proceeded to the security checks, until i finally got to my plane, a Germanwings flight. It was an extremely hot day in Vienna, with around 34°C when my plane started and cloud-free sky. This was very impressive, as I have been able to see all the way to the ground while flying. Unfortunately the weather didn’t stay as nice, as the temperatures have almost cut to half in Cologne, my destination. The last 15 minutes have been a bit rough, but all in all a good flight, and nice service by the crew.

A short flight later, about 1h 15mins long, we landed in Cologne, being greeted by grey skies and rain. I met Dani shortly after, her plane was only arriving 10 minutes after mine. Since i wasn’t able to secure a rental car for ourselves (thanks to my credit card being blocked), we decided to hang out at the airport, waiting for Iain arriving from Scotland. Starbucks, Burger King, and even an awesome Haribo store. You name it, they had it. Iain arrived at 9.20pm and after everything was sorted, we went on the search for our rental car, a Golf GTD. (nice one!)

The drive to our hotel was a rather tricky one, as it was dark, rainy and partly even foggy. Iain drove like a champ though, and we arrived at the hotel late in the evening. The parking garage of the Hotel, Lindner Congress + Rennsport Hotel, was the first big WOW moment of the weekend. When the first thing you notice, is a green Porsche GT3 RS, and a spectacular Carrera GT, you know you’re in the right spot. That is besides the Ferrari Testarossa, Audi R8 etc. I tried hard to get my bed positioned down in the parking garage, but well, they just didn’t let me

Jan Bonnevier, Kee Cheng and Jan’s dad welcomed us to the Hotel, and after the check-in we found ourselves in the lobby, having a drink with the drivers, and some very nice discussions about Nokia. A great ending to a long day, and just the start of good things to come!

Check out the full gallery after the break and on Flickr – enjoy and share!

The Nürburgring – Nordschleife

It is the mekka for every car enthusiast, heaven for some, hell for those without control. 22 kilometres of high-speed straights, tricky bends, blind parts, and of course famous locations like the banked bend called Carousel, or the Airport, where cars could almost completely leave the ground jumping. It’s a wild ride, as i would find out on Sunday. If you love cars, you have to be there at least once in your life!

The Weekend

Peugeot has teamed up with Nokia, to take part in the VLN racing series. The VLN, properly the Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring (Association of Nürburgring Endurance Cup Organisers) is an organisation of motorsport clubs of which each hosts one event of a ten-race series held on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the “VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring” (VLN Endurance Racing Championship Nürburgring). Participants of VLN races range from amateurs in small road legal cars with rollcages and harnesses to professional factory teams racing ex-DTM cars, or Porsche 996 GT3 RSR as in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and similar races. The VLN series is closely associated with the 24 Hours Nürburgring, as it has similar rules (mostly), and mainly the same participants. Find out more about the race series here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veranstaltergemeinschaft_Langstreckenpokal_N%C3%BCrburgring

The Cars

The Peugeot RCZ, a very sporty, cool looking car was beefed up to 200hp in the race version, powered by a 2.0ltr HDi FAP engine and features all the race goodies, like a roll cage, slick tires and more. The Team, a very good mix of veterans, and young up-and-comers has had an incredible successfull season thus far, and well.. it wasn’t the last great race for them, as you will read later on!

The (Nokia) Bloggers

Dani Adassa: I have met Dani at some of the other Nokia events I’ve been to, and she’s always great fun. Female geeks are a rare breed, and Dani represents them with great passion. Dani blogs over at http://dani2xll.com/ and of course http://dailymobile.se/
Iain Wallace: I have met Iain last year at Nokia World, and of course via Twitter. I’ve got to know Iain a lot better this weekend, and he turned out to be a very smart, intelligent guy. Iain blogs at http://doitdifferent.wordpress.com/, a nice little blog, full with useful how-to’s and workarounds! How to upload pictures from a Nokia N8 to an iPad wirelessly? Iain shows you

We were accompanied by Kee Cheng and Jan Bonnevier, both working at Nokia, and Jan’s father. They took very very good care of us, as usual at Nokia’s unique events and I can’t thank them enough for having me! Also with us, was a bunch of Peugeot- und Automobile bloggers from France, who also were invited by Peugeot! All in all, a great bunch of people and fun to hang out with!

But enough with the facts already, check back here this weekend to find out what happened, in my Nürburgring diary!!

Da ich hier auf dem Thoughts from Hell Blog ohnehin in sehr unregelmässigen Abständen poste, und alle meine Tech Posts in englischer Sprache auf www.fonearena.com/blog zu finden sind, kann ich doch meinen Recap-Post genau so gut hier machen, und das noch dazu auf Deutsch! Ha!

Anyways, ich möchte hier zuerst mal meine Liebe zu Nokia Österreich bekunden. Einer der Gründe warum Nokia immer einen Platz im Geek-Herzen hatte, ist der toller Support gegenüber Bloggern wie mir. Klar, wir reinen Mobile-Blogger sind in good ol’ Austria rar gesät, trotzdem ist es schön dass Nokia Österreich uns immer wieder gerne unter die Arme greift. Am Donnerstag war es wieder einmal soweit, Nokia Österreich hat die üblichen Verdächtigen wie Roman von S60inside, meinen guten Freund Markus von der Wiener Softwarefirma Calista, mich selbst, und einige andere Blogger und Software-Entwickler (in Fachkreisen auch Developer genannt) nach Wien eingeladen um uns beim Nokia Deep Dive eine Vorschau auf das demnächst kommende Symbian Anna zu geben, und uns unsere technikgeilen Finger auf die neu vorgestellten Smartphones Nokia X7 und E6 legen zu lassen!

(Alle Fotos hier auf dieser Seite und noch viele mehr, auch von den neuen Geräten gibt es im Grossformat in meinem Flickr-Set: Nokia Deep Dive)

Gesagt, getan, und nachdem ich wie erwartet NICHT pünktlich von der Arbeit weg kam, schaffte ich es trotzdem noch rechtzeitig zum Justizcafé. Und wow, was für eine Location. Schlechtes Wetter hin oder her, der Anblick aus dem riesigen Fenster war atemberaubend. Super Auswahl!

Mit Dank geborgt bei Roman von S60inside!

Versorgt mit Getränk und in optimaler Sitzposition platziert, wurden wir auch schon von Judith Haberlehner begrüsst. Country Manager Martin-Hannes Giesswein trat als Erster von drei Präsentatoren vor uns und erklärte uns anschaulich die Geschichte von Nokia. Sehr nett gemacht, wie ich fand. Gummistiefel, TV-Geräte, Autoreifen (die noch immer unter dem Namen Nokian zu haben sind), Nokia hat wirklich eine bewegte 136-jährige Geschichte hinter sich. In der Gegenwart angekommen, sehen wir uns aber bei Smartphones, Mobiltelefonen und Services.

Auch hier wurde noch einmal klar gemacht: Serie 40 bleibt weiterhin Bestandteil der Einsteigerklasse (und hat auch ein gutes Recht dazu, schon die Touch + Type Geräte probiert?), Symbian wird zwar auslaufen, ist aber noch weit entfernt von dem ,von den Medien verbreiteten Blödsinn, tot zu sein. Meego kommt, wird aber wohl leider nicht mehr als eine Studie bleiben, der Fokus liegt aber auf Windows Phone. Kurz dazu: Ja, auch ich hätte gern Nokia’s brilliante Hardware mit Android gesehen. Was ich aber nicht brauchen kann, ist Google Maps statt Ovi Maps zB. Alles in Allem bin ich WP auf Nokia positiv gestimmt, vor allem weil es Nokia die nötige Frische verleihen wird. Ich mag WP wirklich sehr, allerdings fehlen Ihm noch ein paar lebenswichtige Features, allem voran eine saubere Multitasking-Lösung und Apps, Apps, Apps!

Product Marketing Manager Christoph Mahr war danach an der Reihe, und machte uns mit der Vorstellung der neuen Geräte den Mund wässrig.

Nokia E6: Das Nokia E6 ist ganz klar als der Nachfolger der legendären E71/E72 Reihe konzipiert, und diesen Job führt es eindrucksvoll fort. In gewohnt sensationeller Verarbeitung bringt das Nokia E6 eine vollwertige Portrait-QWERTZ Tastatur mit sich, welche das Tippen von Mails und SMS leicht von der Hand gehen lässt. Eine der wichtigsten Neuerungen des Nokia E6 ist die Integration eines Touchscreens. Der Landscape LCD Screen ist 2,46″ gross, aufgelöst wird erstmals in VGA (640 x 480 Pixel). Dies entspricht einer Pixeldichte von 326 ppi – nicht dass ich vorher was mit so einem Wert anzufangen wusste – und es macht sich bemerkbar. Alles auf diesem Bildschirm kommt gestochen scharf, es macht wirklich sehr viel Spass darauf zu arbeiten. Symbian Anna, die nächste Ausbaustufe von Symbian^3, wird auf dem E6 serienmässig vorhanden sein. Erste Eindrücke wussten zu gefallen, alles reagierte sehr viel flotter, obwohl die Innereien gleichauf mit den derzeit erhältlichen Symbian^3 Smartphones ist. Bilder geschossen wird hier in 8MP, allerdings mit dem verhassten Full Fokus System. Zu deutsch, ohne Autofokus. Und obwohl diese Full Fokus Technik Ihre Vorteile hat (schnelleres Auslösen, sehr gute Bilder bei wenig Licht – danke Peter Leitl :p), bin und bleibe ich ein Fan von Autofokus. Vor allem auch deswegen, weil ich einfach nicht verstehe, warum Nokia etwas zu reparieren versucht, dass nie Probleme gemacht hat. Wie dem auch sei, Fazit: Das Nokia E6 wird für mich ein fixer Kauf. E72 mit Symbian^3 und besserem Display, da kann nix schief gehn!

Nokia X7: Eines gleich vorweg! Das Nokia X7 hat NICHT 4 Lautsprecher! (Hallo Standard.at!) 2 Stück genügen auch, diese allerdings sehr gut. “Extreme Entertainment” ist die Tagline für den X-Fighter, und es weiss durchaus zu gefallen. Zwar finden sich bei Symbian^3 keine Unterschiede zu den bisherigen Geräten, was das X-Series Naming als extremes Entertainment erscheinen lassen könnte, das ist allerdings keine schlechte Sache – kann man doch auf ALLEN Symbian^3 Geräten zB ohne Konvertierung 720p .mkv-Files abspielen! Auch das Nokia X7 punktet bei der Hardware. Das Gerät ist wie schon seine Vorgänger aus solidem Aluminium, und liegt mit seiner abgerundeten Rückseite sehr gut in der Hand Die Rundung lässt das Gerät an den Kanten sehr dünn werden, was mir auf jeden Fall sehr gefällt. Das 4″ AMOLED (aber nicht CBD) Display löst in der altbekannten 640 x 360 Pixel Auflösung auf, auch die Kamera ist mit 8MP Full Fokus wie bei Nokia E7 und C7. Den Unterschied macht hier das Design, welches in einem sehr futuristischen Look überzeugen kann. Einziger Kritikpunkt wäre für mich der 1200mAh Akku .. Da wäre doch ein wenig mehr gegangen, oder? Beide Geräte und auch das Symbian Anna Update werden in den kommenden Monaten den Weg in die Regale finden.

Symbian Anna: Die nächste Ausbaustufe von Symbian^3 nennt sich also Symbian Anna, vorher auch als PR2 bekannt. Und obwohl es hier sicher Nörgler geben wird, dass keine bahnbrechenden neuen Features an Bord sind, muss wohl klar sein dass man nicht immer alles auf einmal haben kann. Optisch vor allem durch die neuen Icons auffallend, bringt die nette Anna unter anderem das so sehnsüchtig erwartete Portrait-QWERTZ Keyboard mit geteiltem Bildschirm (man sieht also was sich unter der Tastatur tut), was uns wohl auch endlich die Portrait Version von Swype bringen wird! Warum solche Sachen nicht schon zum Start von Symbian^3 an Bord waren, weiss leider niemand. Der Browser wurde überarbeitet und mit einer Geschwindigkeitsspritze versehen, die Foto Galerie App wurde verbessert, der Wechsel zwischen den Homescreens passiert jetzt flüssig (also “dem Finger folgend”) und nicht per sturem Wechsel wie zuvor. Auch gern gesehen: Die neue Portrait-QWERTZ Tastatur ist auch in der Kontakte App verfügbar, die riesigen Buchstaben bei der Kontaktsuche sind also Gott sei Dank Geschichte. Generell fühlt sich das Mädel wie ein Feinschliff an, grössere Feature-Updates werden mit den nächsten Versionen folgen. Auch konnte ich Symbian Anna auf einem Nokia N8 sehen, und ich kann euch beruhigen, trotz der Neuerungen fühlte sich das N8 fühlbar schneller an. Bitte bald bringen!!

Christoph Mahr machte dann Platz für Alexander Lamatsch, Service and Sales Manager, welcher dem anwesenden Publikum Fakten und Zahlen rund um die derzeitige Apps- und Ovi-Store Situation präsentierte. Ja, Symbian wird mit der Zeit “verschwinden”, trotzdem werden die derzeitigen Developer und alle die es noch werden wollen, tatkräftig unterstützt. Auch das bereits angekündigte Ziel von weiteren 150 Millionen verkauften Smartphones wurde noch einmal unterstrichen, ein Ziel welches für mich absolut erreichbar scheint. Sehr gut gefallen hat mir auch der “Qt is alive and well” Slide, einen Fakt den ich nur bestätigen kann. Wer sich davon überzeugen will, teste bitte eine der bereits erhältlichen, in Qt geschriebenen Apps aus dem Ovi Store.

Nach einigen abschliessenden Worten von Judith Haberlehner, ging es dann ans “Habern” .. (okay, der war schlecht) also Essen mit leckeren Mini-Schnitzerl und Smalltalk mit den anwesenden Gästen und Nokia Mitarbeitern. Das alles in gewohnt gemütlicher Atmosphäre, welches mitunter auch einer der Gründe ist, warum ich immer wieder gerne auf Nokia Veranstaltungen anwesend bin. Auch hatten wir die Gelegenheit, die neu vorgestellten Geräte anzutesten, bzw. Herrn Mahr mit Fragen zu löchern, die er alle gerne beantwortete. Eine sehr nette Idee war das riesige Nokia E7, auf dem es einen Angry Birds Wettbewerb gab – alle spielten das selbe Level, derjenige mit dem höchsten Score durfte die Veranstaltung zwar nicht mit einer der anwesenden Anna’s, dafür aber mit einem nagelneuen Nokia E7 verlassen! Der Gewinner des Events war sicher gedopt, der Highscore war echt unerreichbar!

Wie gewohnt, ein sehr sehr netter Abend von Nokia Österreich. Gute Atmosphäre, nette Gespräche mit netten Leuten und natürlich Anna! Jederzeit gerne wieder!

Alle Fotos hier auf dieser Seite und noch viele mehr, auch von den neuen Geräten gibt es im Grossformat in meinem Flickr-Set: Nokia Deep Dive

Fotos von Markus Gassenbauer: Nokia Deep Dive von 3dmg

Recap Post von Roman Schweigler: Rückblick Nokia Deep Dive Event von Nokia Österreich

• Throughout the Day, People have settled down on the official Hashtag #NokiaMeet. Follow this hashtag for all updates on Monday, 13th.
• My buddy @ClintonJeff has created a Twitter List with all People attending the Meetup, which you can find here!
• And last but not least, i have created a Flickr Group for Nokia World 2010, where everyone is invited to join, no matter if you attend or not. See what we see as we give you updates as they happen.

So this is it, feel free to join us, even if its only virtually!

So if you can’t make it to Nokia World, but are in or around london at the time, make sure to drop by and say hello. have a relaxed chat with us about tech, phones, or just say hello! There are a ton of bloggers on the Micky’s list already, so if you wanna have a great evening with Micky, Dan from World of Nokia, Rafe of AAS, Nirave or myself, pop over to NokiaDNA for all details, times and more!

The Goal is that Nokia Austria teams up with me to bring some exclusive live Coverage, as well as Pictures, Videos and more, in return for the Ticket. Additionally i will cover everything thats going on at Nokia World for Fone Arena readers, so whatever is going on, you will read/see it at www.fonearena.com first.

Nokia World 2010 is shaping up to be the first thing of many to come, in Nokias plan to get revenge. Nokia knew that they messed up in the past, big time. faulty hardware, buggy software and lots of stupid decisions. they have lost a lot of space to the competition, mostly Android and Apple in my opinion, and with that in mind, Nokia will fight back, full steam ahead. I am pumped and excited to see what they have in store for us!

My Trip started on Jan. 7th, not exactly the best Time to start this, considering the heavy Snowchaos in and around London. Since all was booked, and i had Sunday left if anything goes wrong with my Flight back home from the UK, i decided to start off anyways. The Flight from the Vienna Airport at 13.15 went very smooth and without any problems or delays. 2 hours later, i stepped foot on UK ground and was immediately greeted with blistering, cold weather. Covent Garden, the underground station i had to go, was directly on the Picadilly Line, the underground train that comes from Heathrow Airport. Arrived at Covent Garden and, surprise surprise, i had no idea where to go now. No sign of the Travellodge Hotel i booked my Room in, but that was figured out quite easy, with the help of some friendly UK people – to whoever you are: thanks! Checked in the hotel and waited for Dan Carter to arrive, who decided to go to the WOM World Towers first, thanks dan! lol (joking of course)

WOM World Meetup

This little get together was organized in the weeks before my arrival in London, in order to have a relaxed Evening with like-minded tech heads from all over the blogosphere, with some nice chats, free drinks and foods, thankfully provided by the GREAT People of WOM World Nokia. It was very special for me this Time, as i was about to meet some People again, who i had the Honour to meet in Vegas back in 2007 at the CES event! That’s right, in addition to Dan Carter, i also met Jay Montano again (Jay writes on My Nokia Blog and brought this awesome N900 Cake with him – that thing was epic), Frank Grindrod, Donna Suffling and Director of 1000 Heads, Mike Davison! That was an awesome Rollercoaster Ride of Feelings, its been 3 Years on this Day that we all met and talking to those People again has been amazing.

In addition to the Guys above, i had the honour to meet Chris Stobbs, with whom i had a very nice Conversation about our blogging styles (thanks again for the mention in your recap post at NomadsNirvana – Mobile Info), dani2xll (who writes on her own blog and daily mobile), the ever entertaining Nirave (writing on Mobile-Users) plus my good Friends Tom Hall, Katie Bunting and Lydia Millet, who also work for WOM World Nokia. In Addition to those Guys, who i already “knew”, i had the Pleasure to meet some new Guys, in Paul, Chris, Joel (and probably some more, if i forgot you, SORRY!)

Another Personality i had the Honour to meet at this meet-up has been James Whatley. In case you’ve been sleeping at the other side of the Moon so far, James writes on the really mobile project, as well as his own happy place, and is the newest Member of the 1000heads family. good catch there, guys!  Mr. Whatley proved as one hell of a nice Guy, it was fun having a few words with him, as it was with all the others.

The whole meet-up was a big success, with free drinks with nice people, hot pizzas, some pac-man games, a N900 that saved the big-screen premiere of the n97-mini marichi videos and some drinks in the bar near us. We were accompanied by Mike and Donna on our Way back to the Hotel, which was a very nice treat from them! We arrived pretty late at the Hotel and i was completely tired of the whole Day so i was pretty happy to close my Eyes for the Night, with big Plans for the following day!

Day 2 – Store Invasions, an edible Review and Sightseeing!

Day 2 started delicious, i had my very first english breakfast. baked beans, scrambled eggs,sausage and much more. full stomache and big plans ahead, me and dan started our walk back to WOM World Headquarters to pick up my Cap which i forgot at the meet-up. We decided to come back again later on and started straight off to Regents Street, to have a look at the Nokia Flagship Store there, which is supposed to close next month. I felt right at home, immediately getting my Hands on some of the latest Devices in there, including N97mini, N86 8MP, Booklet 3G, X6, as well as some E-Series Goodies like the E52, E72 and E55. (a little impressions report coming soon on them).

We also saw an incredibly expensive Galore of Nokia 8800 Phones, namely the 8800 black with diamonds, gold version, carbon version and the saphire one. Me and Dan were drooling all over, but decided to leave the beauty in order to experience functionality in the Maemo Lounge, which was a very nicely done Information Place for the Nokia N900 with Lots of Screens showing different Videos.

Right across the Street we decided to invade the Apple Store as well. And as much as i’m a Nokia Fan, i have to admit that the whole Appearance of the Apple Store was nicely done. A Ton of Apple gadgets ready to get your Hands on. The 2-storied Store with the big Apple Signs in its Windows was packed – and i mean packed. It was hard sometimes to get your Hands on some of the Toys at the Tables, because so many People were waiting to try them. The sad part about is, that there weren’t much more than 5 People at once in the Nokia Store at the opposite Side.

While i’m still not really interested in getting an iPhone, i must say that the Macbooks, or lets better say, the Mac OS has really attracted me. it’s so nice to use and it’s built in Applications put Windows to shame, by far. As for my next laptop choice, i think that’s almost clear now. A million of different speakers, bags, earphones and whatnot for the iphone, the helpdesk called “genius bar”, live tutorials from the apple staff and lots more gave a really good impression in their Store. Hats off, Apple.

Its a Shame how people forget their previous Lifes, right dan?!

After we have left the Apple Store, Dan picked up a T-Mobile UK Simcard with unlimited Data Usage for the rest of the trip. finally able to twitpic again without worrying about a gianormous Phone Bill, we dan and i decided to travel to the world-famous Madame Tussauds Museum of Wax Figures. This has been one of the things i really wanted to do on my next Trip to london and it was a blast. Being tricked right at the beginning by a wax-figure that looked like a photographer that was constantly shooting pics of Will Smith and some more nice treats, we had lots of fun. Nearly every major Moviestar, Politicians, Musicstar and much more have been there, and yes, they all looked very real, scary sometimes! At last i have been tricked again by a “Statue” that appeared to be real, when i was trying to picture with him and myself. That was a good laugh, while i walked away embarrassed

After the Blast that was Madame Tussauds, we returned to the Bar from the Day before, in order to have Lunch with Katie, Lids and Donna from WOM World. (Thanks a lot guys!) My Chickenburger was a tasty Way to fill my Stomache, but we were told to save our Dessert for later, as the Girls had another Surprise for us. The Surprise was another tasty one – we both were invited to do a.. well, let’s say different Way to express our Opinions about the Nokia N900, Blackberry and Apple. Different? Well, watch the Video and judge yourself, all i can say is, this was the best Way EVER to do a Review!!

As you can imagine, that was a whole Lot of Fun! Next up, was a bus sightseeing tour, for which we’ve bought the Ticket earlier this Day. The Roof of the Bus was partly opened, so as you can image, it was a pretty cold, but good Experience, being on the Road and watching almost all the Sights London had to offer. On our 2h long tour we saw good old Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the first ever Hardrock Cafe and so much more. Unfortunately the sun went down early again, so i couldnt take much more Pictures but the few i made can give you a great Idea of what went down on our Sightseeing Bus Tour!

We went for a little souvenir shopping to end this unforgiving cold Evening before walking back to the Hotel. The Evening saw me fullfilling my last “Task” for this Mission: Trying fish & chips! I missed doing this on the Ovi good things trip, so we decided to have Dinner in the Hotel that night and i decided to finally give it a try – and it was well worth it, good stuff! After some unsuccessfull Attempts to upload Pictures, i decided to perform some Shuteye early, in order to be fresh for the next Day.

After another great breakfast, all that was left was packing, go to the utrain station again and hope for some good weather for my flight back home. I must say i was extremely lucky, as my flight was right at time – as opposed to the more than 50 flights that were cancelled later this afternoon. I landed very smooth back home in Austria, my head filled with some great Memories of the whole trip and the Meetup.

First, a big THANK YOU goes out do Dan Carter, for spending the whole Time with me, and come along with me on to all the Sights we saw. Second, an another big THANK YOU goes out to the whole WOM World Team for making this Trip so special and giving me the Opportunity to meet some old and new Friends on this great meet-up. I surely had a blast there and i would absolutely love to do it again. Third, a special thanks goes out to Chris Stobbs, with whom i had this brilliant conversation about our blogging styles and for the sharing of our opinions on Nokia. I have the upmost respect for guys like you, who are not afraid to speak their mind and tell people what they think – straight in their face . and of course, last but not least, a big thanks and hello to everyone who attended the WOM World meet-up thursday night. it was fun seeing you all in person, have fun with you, talk about Nokia and just having a good Time side by side with like-minded personalities from the blogosphere. it was an honour to meet you and as i said, i would love to do it again sometime! – oh and by the way James, we’re going to cook this chocolate chili soon!

As usual, i have prepared a Flickr Set with a Ton of Pictures from my Trip to London, check it out by clicking the Flickr Logo! In case you attended the meet-up and want some of that pictures full size, let me know and i get back to you!

And also, if you want to read some more opinions on the meet-up, my Friends have each put up a nice Article with Lots of more Pictures from the actual Meetup:

• WomWorldNokia WWNMeet – by dani2xll
• WWN Meetup: The Aftermath – by Nirave
• WomWorld/Nokia Meet-up was awesome – by Chris Stobbs
• WOMWorldNokia Meetup – by Jay Montano

I have recently posted all the Details about my upcoming 3 Day London Trip right here on my Blog, in case you wanna meet me and my Friend Dan Carter from World of Nokia and most recently Android Today!

And now here comes the cool Part, my Friends from WOM World Nokia have just announced that there will be a WOM World Nokia Meetup right in their Headquarters this Thursday evening, starting from 18.30! Cool Thing, i like it and i’m sure as hell will be there, so if you wanna sit down, have a drink with me and Dan and chat about everything Nokia, head over to WOM World’s Meet-up Post and let them know you’re coming!!