An Audio welcome to London

As promised, here is a sample of the Sixty Minute City. This is the part of the first chapter - an introduction to London for the first timer. 

You've got to admit that it is a very different sound to our original walks and tours, for better or for worse you decide...



Get Strolling...

Our new 60 Minute City

Some time ago I mentioned a new product called the Sixty Minute City. The good news is that that we have now finished this particular audio gem and are ready for its distribution. And in order to whet your appetite, we have included a brief audio explanation of what exactly it is. If you like what you hear visit our website and you'll be able to get hold of the full product.

Happy listening...




and in the meantime StrollOn...

Dealing with the Credit Crunch

From the minute I first heard the term "credit crunch" I was concerned that it would come to irritate more than depress me. Because there is nothing that anyone of us mere mortals can do about it other than carrying on as we did before. We must not lose faith in the markets and we must not scrimp and save. If this is a recession that we are facing then we need to spend our way out of it. And if we are unable to have confidence in the money men and MPs that govern our economy then we must at least have confidence in ourselves and our collective ability to survive what a credit crunch may throw at us.

So it all comes down to confidence and spending for the ordinary British and global citizen. We need to keep up both and we shall be alright in time. But what about during the interim, in the meantime? Should we need to cut down on the odd luxury what is it likely to be? After all the great British public have a penchant for luxury goods. We like to spoil and pamper ourselves and, when recently asked, a fair percentage of the population responded that the last luxury that they would be prepared to sacrifice during hard times would be holidaying and travel abroad.

And looking at the economics of it all, I can see no reason why this should not continue to be the case. Finally, after months of increases in fuel prices (that has ensured the fate of XL and Eos) it looks like the balance is being redressed. Fuel prices are beginning to drop again, meaning that airlines are able to operate at an affordable rate again. And I'm not just talking about the likes of Easy Jet and Ryan Air, I'm also referring to airlines such as British Airways. I recently booked a return flight to Istanbul with BA and it cost me no more than £200. I happen to think that this is exceptional value. Now couple that with 4 nights in a decent hotel in the centre of the Historic Quarter and I was required to pay a measly £286 in total.

With dropping fuel prices, an innate desire to holiday and a government keen for us to spend it would appear that the city break lives on. Certainly it is a quick and easy way to escape all the hype and negative publicity at home and, as long as the likes of Lastminte can afford to give away extended weekends to exotic European outposts such as Istanbul for under £300, we should all be looking to take advantage of the current situation. I can't help but feel that my early concerns were ill founded; that this credit crunch needn't be such a bad thing.

It is only when you get to your destination that you may have to slightly alter your holiday spending habits, and this is where StrollOn will be soon be able to help in more ways than you may think...

...in the meantime, StrollOn.

Paris, rain and compliments

Although England's weather is the butt of many a foreign joke - along with our food, teeth and football team - what few realise or care to acknowledge is the fact that there is, in fact, less annual rainfall in London than there is in Paris. No wonder this is the capital of romance: as it pours outside for the 38th day on the trot what else is there to do other than try your luck with the ladies, trawling from cafe to cafe with a gauloises cigarette clinging desperately on to your lower lip, shrugging this way and grunting that.

And so it was with little surprise that, when I woke up on Friday morning, having arrived late on Thursday night, I opened the curtain to a rain splattered window, framing a grey sky. But being one of a group of 8 englishmen, we wrapped up warm and headed outside to be greeted by the mad dogs. We set off from the seizieme arrondissement and soon arrived near our destination of the Eiffel Tower - one of our number had never visited it before(?). A short stroll along the river from the metro station and there we were, staring up at this giant A-Frame.

Since the rest of us had been up to the top before, when the world was a better place and the price of a lift to the top was considerably less, there was no way that we were going to repeat the experience, even with an Eiffel virgin present. There was, therefore, a lot of foot shuffling and light social interaction as we all looked up at the top thinking (almost all of us) why are we here AGAIN?

Then it hit me. I have some of the most cynical friends on God's earth. Few, if any of them, have ever supported the idea of an audio city guide, smiling with a glazed condescension as I attempt to sell them the concept in time for their next visit to Amsterdam. But here we were, cynical or not, looking up at the Eiffel Tower feeling nothing but resentment, resentment that we were seeing something for the 3rd or 4th time and that we would leave this time with nothing.

But it did not have to be this way. We could leave with something: knowledge, understanding and appreciation as well as a random fact or two. Recently we (at StrollOn) have been developing our "Hotspots". The thinking behind them is that you download them (between 10 and 15 per city) onto your ipod before you head for a city and then listen to the content as and when you encounter each individual sight and attraction - we do not set you a prescribed route or walk. So I brought out my ipod, extricated myself from the group and started to listen to the track about the Eiffel Tower.

Within a minute or so I was sharing an ear piece with the virgin. Five minutes later and my ipod was in the hands of two new listeners. This was just the beginning. We passed a few more of the sights and, as people became familiar with the routine, they would shout out the name and we would see whether it was covered. If it was, 15 minutes later, after everyone had had a listen, we would move on, out of the rain. Now, bearing in mind that honesty is the best policy, I must confess that I was pushing the product. A lot. And all day. As a went to bed that night I wondered whether this was a one off. Tomorrow it would be forgotten about unless I pushed it equally if not more forcibly...

On Sunday we headed off to Notre Dame, not for mass I must confess (but not in confession) but to climb to the top. The queue for the climb was long so we decided to have a snoop around inside, to see whether this had anything on Canterbury, Yorkminster or Durham (and no is the answer). After 10 minutes upsetting the apple cart as I shuffled around the apse contra-flow I headed outside. To perhaps the most life affirming moment of recent months: a dour yorkshireman sitting in the middle of the square looking up at the two towers and taking in the building's many sculptures and wall reliefs, ipod in hand, ear plugs in ears. Rumbled, he defended himself saying, "this is the best idea ever".

The Hotspot had caught on...

StrollOn.

StrollOn to Paris

Why am I so upset? No, it's not because I am about to head off to the Capital of Romance armed with a beret and baguette, but it is because I am about to spend a weekend in Paris without being able to trial our new Sixty Minute City.

Whilst we have now finished producing this new audio guide for London, Prague and Amsterdam, at StrollOn we have had a few issues with the timing of Paris. So I will have to satisfy myself with our free Hotpots and Sixty Minute Stroll.

Being the only one of the team to have only ever tried our products in London this represents a big moment for me. Not only am I going to use an audio guide abroad, but it will be a StrollOn one and it will, perhaps most importantly, be the first time in my life that I will have been able to mix business with pleasure.

So the pressure is on, my expectations are high and I do not expect to be left disappointed. We have not heard from any disenchanted customers to date, but I have nonetheless formulated a back up plan, which includes a bicycle helmet, a tour guide and great balance: it's time to meet monsieur et madame segway...

Until I return, StrollOn...

StrollOn, ipods and Aeroplanes

Big News. Or at least it was on 14th November 2006 when Tony Smith at Register Hardware reported that 6 major airlines had agreed to fit their passengers’ seats with ipod docks. The docks and connectors (enabling each ipod access to the in-fligt entertainment system) were to be added mid 2007.

The results of this proposed exercise were that the passenger would be able to keep their ipods powered up on long journeys, as well as play ipod-stored content (including video content) on seat-back screens. Apple’s partner in crime was announced as being Panasonic Avionics, a company that specialises in in-flight entertainment and communications systems.

According to Tony Smith and confirmed by Darren Cronian on 15th November 2006 at Travel-Rants.com the six carriers were Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United.

Whilst this all appeared to be very exciting, it was not exactly clear for whom: Apple, the Airlines or the passenger? Whilst the deal was clearly beneficial to both of the former, neither Apple nor any of the Airlines were so kind as to clarify which class of traveller would get ipod connectivity, leaving Smith to suspect that “it’ll be those whose seats command higher ticket prices to start off with”.

Travis Hudson at Gizmodo asked what this meant for the passenger. The main answer was that this would be a more enjoyable flying experience as you can listen to and watch your ipod content knowing that it won’t run out of batteries. According to Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Vice-President of Worldwide Product Marketing, "there is no better traveling companion than an iPod.”

Whilst we at StrollOn completely agree, Greg, the point is at what extra cost? How much was this development going to cost passengers. As Travis Hudson says, “as long as it doesn’t increase the price of an airline ticket from an arm, to an arm and a leg” then we should all be happy with this development.

Just as a few people we beginning to get more excited about both the idea and the possibility of any associated price rise, PC World’s Jonny Evans uncovered evidence suggesting that the concept was not yet quite to everyone’s liking. Air France and KLM (representing France and Holland respectively – perhaps two of the world’s more stubborn nations) denied that definitive plans existed, claiming: “it is way too early to confirm any such details”. KLM went further, declaring that Apple’s claims were “premature” to the extent that “at this point in time we have absolutely no intention of introducing it on board”.

And what of Apple’s response? To put out the flames, the corporation brought in Tom Neumayr, who was positive about the chances of success having put the above issue down to “miscommunication”. He went on to draw attention to the other carriers and the fact that they had not yet denied anything, before mentioning that Apple expected more deals of this nature.

But this was all in 2006. What is the situation now, or has the concept died in its infancy?

Fast forward to 2008 and there have been some serious developments, according to an article on Opodo, 16th may 2008. Singapore Airlines have got in on the act, launching flights on 15th May between Singapore and Newark, offering iPhone and ipod connectivity via its KrisWorld entertainment system. At this stage it can only be used by those on the carrier’s all-business class flights between the two destinations and will be available on similar flights to LA come August.

Yap Kim Wah of Singapore Airlines observed that “this is yet another example of our philosophy of creating customer satisfaction by providing an enhanced sense of choice and control”. I look forward to what customers have to say about the experience, but admit that there is quite some reason to be positive at this stage. Especially when you read the particulars, as per Pocket Lint:

• Each seat will feature a 15.4 inch widescreen LCD screen, active noise-cancellation headphones and support for USB thumb drives so that the user can view holiday snaps with photo viewer or watch videos on media player.

• Any instructions over the intercom will temporarily freeze the system. The airline is not allowing use of the iPhone as a wireless communications device – it is only operable via the integrated in flight system, which charges the ipod at the same time.

Most recently, on 24th July, DealChecker.co.uk unearthed some more interesting developments. Having been one of the original six to supposedly agree to the deal over 2 years ago, United has become the first US airline to introduce ipod and iphone connectivity. But it was not midway through 2007. Clearly and unsurprisingly this has been a time consuming and expensive development.

On United, the service is aimed primarily at transatlantic routes at this stage, with the first flight offering the service flying from Washington DC to Zurich. It is reported that the airline does intend to refit its entire international fleet of wide-bod aircraft by 2010, suggesting that ipod and iphone connectivity will be available for everyone.

For now, it is clear that this “development will allow passengers in first and business class seats to play content from their devices” (Justtheflight.com). Well come on businessmen and women, roll up and download our new Sixty Minute City. We made it with you in mind and now you have the perfect opportunity to listen to the content and land at you destination informed and in control.

Come on, StrollOn...

Big News

And finally we StrollOn is approaching where we feel you, the user, want us to be. After a few months in production we are about to release our free city overviews. We have produced ones for London, Paris, Prague and Amsterdam and we are about to have all of them downloadable from our website.

These audio guides are about 20 minutes in length and divided into bitesize chapters, covering the History and culture of the city, where to eat, nightlife, pleasure and pastimes, what to do in an emergency, how to get around, money and shopping as well as detailed what you have to do before you leave. A lot of this information will be used in the introductory section of our next product, the "Sixty Minute City" which is still in production. As a result we would love you to download the free city overview and give us some feedback. Or another way of helping would be to fill in our questionnaire:

Click Here to take survey

It only takes about 5 minutes and it will help us in fine tuning both this product as well as the Sixty Minute City. So keep your wallet in your pocket and give it a go - something that you can do when sitting vacantly at your computer - and talk to us. It is ,after all, what we are all about.

until then, StrollOn...