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F1 Coverage

Filed Under: Life!, Motorsport, Television by suziperry — Comments Off
January 1, 2013

Recently it was announced that I will be fronting the Formula 1 coverage for the BBC. I must say that I was absolutely thrilled to be asked and all I can hope is that next season will measure up to the epic year that was 2012.

After covering a varied portfolio of sporting events for 13 years, Wimbledon, Athens Olympics, Royal Ascot, London Marathon, Great North Run, the Boat Race and of course MotoGp, Superbike and Speedway, I decided to pursue a different professional route for personal reasons.

I adored working in the sporting arena, particularly Motorsport and I have missed the thrill of working live; in-fact I have felt a little lost without the pit-lane!

So a return to the BBC and indeed to enter the premier class of all Motorsport, F1, was the best Christmas present I have ever received.

I have a huge amount of respect for the BBC Team, those in front and behind the camera. I’ve crossed paths with both DC and EJ on several occasions and I think that if everyone is happy we can make some great telly… I’m also excited to team up with some of TV’s most creative producers again; I have missed them!

However most of all, I’m looking forward to the race action. I will be giving 100% of myself to present the best shows possible and yes, for those who may be wondering about my 2 -  wheeled life, I will have a close eye on that too!

I’m very aware that this is a tough  but incredible job and that I have a huge Jake Humphrey shaped hole to fill. I will be giving it my very best shot and I hope that you will enjoy the continued coverage

Many thanks for all the comments and good luck wishes, they are very much appreciated.  X

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Christmas Gift Guide

Filed Under: Gadgets, Other, Trusted Reviews by suziperry — Comments Off
December 17, 2012

The other night I took part in a debate about Christmas; the expense, the expectation and whether or not Santa exists. To me the last part was obvious, but hey. I guess some folks are just cynics. I bumped into him once on the landing when I was 9, I was slightly confused because firstly it was a little before midnight and secondly he did kind of resemble my mum, but with a beard, I digress.

Anyway, the overriding factor was that technology is adored, flaunted and desired but can wind up making for a super expensive shopping cart. So, I’ve been looking at beloved gadgets for under £100-ish…

I have been a huge fan of the G-form ‘Reactive Protection Technology’ since I was encouraged to drop a bowling ball on my iPad to test out the shock proof case. For the record, my device was unharmed in this experiment. Now, using their 3 layer technique they make cases for iPhones, hopefully for other brands soon, because these little babies are the cats whiskery bits. 90% of impact is absorbed into the shell and just as important, they also look cool. If you’re looking for something more businesslike the Proporter Leather case might tickle your fancy, it has an aluminium lining to add a little ruggedness to its slinky appearance,

I have a penchant for headphones, especially in-ear types (I’m aware that makes me sound odd ;-) So I think they make a top gift. Sneaking into my assigned price bracket are the achingly stylish Atomic Floyd ‘PowerJax’. They offer heart-pumping bass and a gorgeous crisp sound quality, silicone ear-tip seals to block out any irritating ambient noise and…(I love this) they have a Kevlar anti tangle chord! Yes, it works too, no more fiddling with endless knots.

Atomic Floyd PowerJax

For something a little more quirky, have a look at Quarkie.com. I love the cats eyes, yes they are a tad blingy but I have embraced the festive spirit, and the bass sounds great and there is minimal distortion. If you’re more rock and roll than me, there is also a vipers head, honestly!

Quarkie Cats Eye

I’m relieved that Amazon have introduced the Kindle Paperwhite because my fella drives me mad with his extra light he clips onto his regular kindle, its like someone is shining a maglite (the new ML100 is pretty good btw, but the belt loop attachment is way too nerdy, even for me!) into my eyes when we’re reading in bed. The Paperwhite also boasts more pixels for an enhanced reading experience and can store 1100 books.

Kindle Paperwhite

Sporty? Check out Scosche Rhythm. Its an arm band that monitors your pulse and lets you know how many calories have been ousted, how fast and how far you’ve run. It connects to your phone/tablet via Bluetooth and gives you real time feedback. I also like the Fitbit Zip. It tracks your activity via an accelerometer and if you’re brave you can share the info with your friends.
Scosche Rhythm

This is the tip of the iceberg, trust me… happy Christmas shopping!

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Fashion Tech: The sexy and stylish now take tech to heart

Filed Under: Gadgets, Life!, Television, Trusted Reviews by suziperry — Comments Off
September 24, 2012

Suzi PerryApart from sunglasses, watches and ski jackets with built in music control panels, I have never really associated fashion with technology.

During my old gadget TV show I designed a pair of shoes that controlled an MP3 player. Trust me, they wouldn’t have impressed Christian Leboutin – I’m afraid to say they didn’t really impress the marvellous Wayne Hemingway who was judging that day. Recently though it seems that the dah-lings of the fabric world are wrapping themselves in all things gadgetastic and London fashion week was more than just a showcase of style.

The social networks were awash with London Fashion Week comments, blogs and, for the first time, about 70% of the shows were streamed live on YouTube. I have secretly always wanted to be sitting on the front row for the top shows alongside the belles du jour and last week, finally, I was right there. Topshop amassed the largest ever online audience for their live streamed show that played across various platforms to 2 million fashion fiends. I particularly liked their ‘shoot the show’ idea via Facebook, you could click the pieces that took your fancy from the live show then share them with friends, or not, if you didn’t want to end up with the same wardrobe!

Google Glass

The point is that the immersive connected feeling that social networking can provide worked brilliantly across the globe. Arguably Dianne Von Furstenberg got there first by utilising Google Glass to film a first hand POV of her 2013 S/S collection at New York fashion week. All the models and stylists wore the augmented reality shades to capture the behind the scene fun and frolics which was later posted on YouTube, bringing fans closer to the action.

I love it when available technologies are embraced, unlike my dad, who still doesn’t own a mobile phone! I wont be designing any more ill fated shoes, but I’m happy to be a part and on the cutting edge of fashion, even if I’m just an enthusiastic spectator.

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FOOTIE, can’t shake it…

Filed Under: Gadgets, Life!, Other, Television, Trusted Reviews, Uncategorized by suziperry — Comments Off
September 12, 2012

As our extended Spring nears its end, bypassing Summer and going straight to Autumn the world of geeks (probably having not noticed the missed season) rub their texting thumbs with glee in anticipation of new gadget launches. We will be seeing the new Google Nexus Tablet, the world’s first 7” quad-core tablet with Android 4.1 Jellybean … Sony will showcase its 4K UltraHD Projector and of course Apple will have folk clapping and whooping as the iPhone 5 finally hits the streets. 4G has also been a hot topic and will launch for Orange and T-mobile users in September. For the majority of the UK though, it’s called the Football season. Our national sport is back and whether you love or hate our national game it’s hard to get away from it.

I’m a footie lover, a Wolves fan, it’s in my DNA. I’m loyal, passionate and always watch with an optimistic eye. The other eye is always looking for a way to escape this inbuilt addiction, I’m well aware that I’m sometimes watching a bunch of overpaid Wendy’s with ego’s matching the likes of Piers Morgan, Simon Cowell etc  So…is it possible to avoid sports grubby petulant little cousin?

I’m kind of hoping that cycling will continue to grow after the enormous success of the golden boys and girls of the 2012 velodrome and the future BBC Sports Personality of the Year Wiggo for his incredible accolade a la France. With that in mind I was wondering if this is the ultimate two wheeled dream-machine, the One-77 cycle?

Aston Martin One-77 Cycle

It features an ultra-lightweight carbon fibre frame, a super Shimano 20 shift electric gear system and an on board touch screen computer to record cadence and speeds. It’s British too, made by Aston Martin. The only downside is that I would need to be a footballers wife to afford hefty the £25,000 price tag.

Well, it turns out that isn’t a dream-machine, but just a dream.

Fluid Football App

I’ve been playing FluidFootball. It’s a free tactical footie app and a modern day subbuteo. I dare you to download it and not become hooked ! You learn to move the players, cross, pass and strike the ball with help from commentators Richard Keys and Andy Gray (there wasn’t one comment about me being a girl btw ;-) You win coins to open new games, then progress to different cups which cost real cash. Angry what ?

I didn’t do very well getting away from football did I?

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Extreme Olympics anyone?

Filed Under: Life!, Other, Television, Trusted Reviews by suziperry — Comments Off
July 31, 2012

Some sports are mesmerising, no, not for tiny tight panted beach volleyball reasons (though obviously horseguards parade has never been so popular as a venue). I mean the kind of sports that we could never imagine doing ourselves, like base jumping, sky diving and extreme fast-rope abseiling. Recently I was invited to partake in a ‘fast-rope abseil’ off a very tall building, the Shard. Yes, the Shard, the 310m tallest building in Western Europe. To be absolutely honest, at this moment I’m not sure that my new filming schedule will allow it, but that hasn’t stopped me browsing a few sites for possible tech. I mean, imagine that I can do it, it would have to be documented as I would Never EVER do anything like it again!

The Shard
The Shard – and incidentally the view from the TR office – would you want to abseil down that?!

For many years I have utilised the wonderful little Go Pro Hero hd cameras, small enough to mount anywhere, offering broadcast quality hd pictures. We use them a lot for filming because they are reliable and built to withstand the general bumps and bashes equipment receives when being put through its paces. So when my attention was drawn to live streaming their shots, my eyebrow did its best Roger Moore impression.  I couldn’t help but imagine how useful this tool would be to preening adrenaline junkies across the globe wanting to share their great feats.

Go Pro Wi-Fi Bacpac

The GoPro WiFi BacPac is a wireless device that attaches to the back of a GoPro HDHero or HDHero2 camera, and connects to the Remote control via a wireless signal created from the BacPac – you don’t need an internet connection to use the remote control.

After a Firmware Upgrade on the camera, the product should be working, then it requires the app, which I’m assured will be available very soon. This will enable the smart device to become the view finder for the camera and the full controller. So, shots can be streamed live to the device, or better still, the internet as a live feed! I also love the fact that one remote could control up to 50 cameras.

While we are on this subject, I find base jumping utterly beguiling. I’m not sure that crazy antics get any cooler than jumping off stuff and actually flying with the help of just a technical ‘Batman’ style suit. Have a peek at this ‘Vampire4 wing suit’ and imagine yourself in it. A wing suit! How cool is that? I will never, ever skydive, but I must say that I was in total awe of these suits giving ‘superior glide, precise control and high forward speed’ but it raises the question; how much forward speed can one person genuinely need? You have just jumped off a building for goodness sake!

So that takes me back to my jump, can I or can’t I? …that is the question.

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It’s The Socialympics – Are You Ready For The Social Onslaught?

Filed Under: Gadgets, Life!, Other, Television, Uncategorized by suziperry — Comments Off
July 17, 2012

Currently, if you’re not discussing sport you’re not in the ball park. You are the person who turns up to a Trekkie convention dressed as Avon from Blakes 7… you get the drift. When it comes to top tier events, this is it. Wimbledon, Tour de France, Champions League and recently the Euros – where Twitter was bombarded with more than 15,000 messages per second as the final goal rocked the back of the net – sport is now more social and more connected than ever before. Next up, the Olympics, and I for one can’t wait.

It is being deemed the ‘Socialympics’. The stage is set, the technology is capable and we are poised. During the last Olympics Facebook boasted 100million users and Twitter, 6million. This summer the figures total more like 900million and 140million respectively. Globally we will be glued to our TVs, (worth buying a 3D TV for) watching live streaming on the net and apparently some even managed to get tickets to be trackside ;-)

Wenlock and Mandeville

Wherever we are, we can share, capture and post our experience, our moment, our joy, expectation, our memory… because let’s face it, Usain Bolt we ain’t!

Why record a portion of an emotion when you can save the whole thing? I’m talking 360. There is a great new little device called ‘Bubblescope’ about to go to market. It’s an imaging device that you attach to your phone which enables you, in one click, to shoot the entire 360 surrounding as a still or video. No stitching together or multiple shot faff – perfect for THOSE moments – and then using the ‘Bubblepix’ app you can upload your masterpiece and share it with the world. You can find more information at www.bubblepix.com.

BubblePix - Suzi Perry

It’s the simplicity that I like, I don’t want all my shots to be in surround, but the scope twists on and off easily and is small enough to carry in your pocket, something that I will actually do rather than just think is a good idea. Beware if you are ever standing behind me, you may end up in my bubble!

Here are a few apps that you may like to grab in time for the Olympics:

London Olympics Ultimate for Android. Schedules, medal tables, news etc.
2012 Olympic news.  For Windows Phone 7
London 2012: Official join in. For iOS
and live streaming on BBC Sport facebook Apps and Eurosport Player.

Enjoy x

PS, if you’re younger than 40, you may need to google Blakes 7!

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Royal Ascot 2012

Filed Under: Life!, Other, Television, Uncategorized by suziperry — Comments Off
June 21, 2012

One of the most famous sporting and social showpieces in the world is in full swing again. Her Majesty and other members of the Royal family are in attendance each day and the atmosphere is absolutely wonderful in this, the Diamond Jubilee Year. Particularly for the ladies who love the fashion, I’m just adding a few pictures each day. Hope you like them x

A very big thank you to all the lovely dress designers and milliners that very kindly loaned me my Ascot wardrobe.  If you want more information, we have listed the websites for you to take a look at

Amandawakeley.com
Suzannah.com
Antonyprice.com
Pauleka.com
Philiptreacy.co.uk
Janetaylormillinery.com
Stephenjonesmillinery.com
Williamchambers.co.uk
Racheltrevormorgan.com
Corneliajames.com

All pictures taken  by Graeme McAlpine at www.McAlpine.tv

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