The legendary British fashion designer Lee McQueen of Alexander McQueen and McQ

The devastating news that 40-year-old, British fashion designer, Lee McQueen of Alexander McQueen, had been found dead at his luxury flat in Mayfair, central London, hit early today and sent a gloomy, mournful cloud over the fashion world.

The web filled with information about the fallen legend from all direction.  Pictures came next and it was particularly hard to escape the agony that was written across the face of a man with blond hair who was said to be McQueen’s boyfriend.

The doleful tears both outside his London flat and at his headquarters in Farringdon conveyed the deep feeling of emptiness and pain and loss.

McQueen had been under great strain from the death of his mother, Joyce, just days ago (Feb. 2) and was said to have been taking it very badly.  Style.com’s Tim Blank’s writes:

“It’s awful to imagine him trying—and failing—to cope, and one can only hope that, if he was looking for peace, he found it.”

The boys at JAWKSTRAP, like many, are simply devastated and in deep thought.  We can’t describe the mark Alexander McQueen left on us and surely the world. We just can’t. But Tim Blanks took the time to compose a beautiful write up and we think it best to direct you there.

Alexander McQueen – RIP by Style.com’s Tim Blanks

Above: The iPad which we left in color; a rarity not often seen on the black-and-white-laden JAWKSTRAP

So it’s here (not that we didn’t know it was coming).  And despite it’s title, it doesn’t have Maxi or wings.

With less-than-stellar naming skills, California’s local fruit vendor introduced the iPad, yesterday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.  As indicated by perky hatred for it’s handle and the sheer and overall disappointment, the tech community began it’s love/hate bash and everyone else followed by issuing neat, hashtagged 140 character (or less) tweets that chirped like sarcasm on a rainy day.

We think it’s safe to say the iPad didn’t generate quite the reaction we’re sure the design mavens in Cupertino had intended.  We’ve already started seeing less-than-savvy posts on how undeniably, ridiculously, devastatingly hilarious it would be for Russian street hookers to start rushing in to American WalMarts demanding they be sold an iPad to plug up their heavy Slavic flows.  More on that, never.

If we had to aggregate all the features and sum up the iPad in one word, it would be, potential.

This “magical” mobile device has massive potential, in fact, it may have too much “potential” and not enough “possible”.

Everyone who hasn’t been completely blinded by it’s beauty (and it’s really quite beautiful) has been clever enough to see how much of a miss Apple’s version of a netbook just really is.

To begin, the iPad is using the iPhone OS which, we must say, is the greatest smartphone OS…when left on a smartphone.  However, this gripe only pales in comparison when you realize the big glossy thing stomachs no multitasking which was painful on the iPhone but a downright sin on the iPad.

Someone needs to email the queens at Apple and let them know they can’t bill the iPad as a device that’s a step down from a full fledged laptop yet a step up from a netbook but will burp, bark, bite, and boo if you try to make it run more than one app at a time.  The boys need to be able to stream Pandora while browsing through the latest collection of aussieBum undies and tweeting their hearts out.  It’s a must!

One app per time seems like teasing and we don’t like to be teased when we invest our hard earned coins into the number one mobile devices company in the world.

Next, the iPad has no Flash. Again, painful on the iPhone but a sin on the iPad.  How do they expect us to watch Christopher Gorham, or Zachary Quinto, or Mark Salling, or Mario Lopez, or Ian Somerhalder, or Joel McHale, or Eric Mabius, or Mehcad Brooks, or Tom Welling, or Chace Crawford, or Nick Zano, or Enver Gjokaj, or Taye Diggs, or Matthew Bomer, or Justin Hartley, or Tahmoh Penikett, or Jonathan Waud, or the many other come-hard-jerk-wet men of TV and playing on Hulu without bloody Flash?

Lastly (at least for now), where is the flipping camera? Indicated not only in the newly-released iPhone SDK 3.2 (via MacRumors) but also within Grindr, is the ability to take photos within the app. It’ll be a mystery how any one can do this if there’s no iSight atop this fancy unit; which begs the question…

Why make iPhone apps backwards compatible with the iPad if the iPad can’t do “everything” the iPhone can; like take in-app pics?

So in conclusion; it’s thin, it’s light, it’s gorg’, it’s fast…blazing fast.  And yet, you can do almost no more with it than you could on your iPhone on a really good day.

It really is a remarkable device but we can’t help beating ourselves over the heads, grappling with how Apple could’ve possibly presented such a major fail.

We really want one…bad.  But lack of multitasking and Flash are pretty much deal breakers if they don’t make it into iPads that will soon begin shipping and judging by the what we’re hearing, the rest of the community agrees.

And while we haven’t yet reached a point where big tech companies can send out an update that wills your mobile devices to grow new apparatuses like cameras for your naughty usage, 2 of 3 can be fixed via an OS update.

Apple, listen.

Final touches being put on outside the San Francisco Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater where the event is taking place.

Excitement? We think so. The Apple Media Event is today and the boys are buzzing with delight and trying to keep their perfectly shaped asses planted firmly in their seats.

As many can’t be in San Francisco today–like Stephen Fry (via this tweet)–there are several places they can get a live blog fix.  Enjoy the closest thing to being present + Steve Jobs and more iPorn for your Grindr-based collection on Engadget, Gizmodo, MacRumors, CNET, The Apple Blog, Apple Insider, and Wired.

We’ll be back with the write up after lunch with Steve!

Above: The Apple Store Upper West Side on Broadway in New York City and the future headquarters of JAWKSTRAP.

Boys, it’s time to put on your good underwear and get pretty and all dolled up because the Apple Media event is only days away.  As if you could pay for this type of brouhaha and verbal gyration, the tech world has been abuzz with rumors and speculation surrounding Apple’s latest and greatest secret new toys.

Fixed on the geek’s list and hopefully soon up for grabs are two new gossip-inducing iGems.

iSlate

This top secret mobile device, would be positioned to redefine print media as we know it; much the same way iTunes did for music and the iPhone did for mobility.

Besides, who doesn’t want a 10-inch mobile version of Grindr as they flick back and forth through Numéro Magazine on the way home from work?

We would also like to point out how seriously we dislike the name “iSlate” and favor “The Apple Canvas” which one clever Mac Rumors forum member thought up.  Canvas, FTW!

iPhone 4G

So maybe not 4G but a steady topic on the geek’s list is an all new iPhone and more specifically, one that runs on the ever reliable but terribly outdated CDMA Verizon.  Also, it seems clear that it makes no difference that AT&T is a better overall company than Verizon.  People want it now and want it everywhere and it shows.

iPhone users are hanging by a thread, waiting impatiently to slap the white off AT&T’s teeth and drop kick their “Rollover Minutes” to bask in the ambience of  ”Verizon does.”

Clearly connectivity is king.  And take no notice of us, but we sure did find it interesting that AT&T has stopped all -IN-YOUR-FACE advertising, marketing, and overall “pushing” of their flagship mobile phone on their website.  Perhaps we have reached the end of multi-year exclusivity?  Just a thought.  VZW, FTW!

Join us for pink lemonade and our continued coverage of Apple’s Media Event.

Oh, and…don’t forget your JAWKSTRAP.

Above: The rear of the VW New Compact Coupe Hybrid Concept that may appear this Spring with the 6th generation Jetta.

Finally the coupe is here!  We’ve maintained a long-time love affair with Volkswagen and this release really excites us.

As if the design mavens at Volkswagen Headquarters in Wolfsburg Germany have been sneaking into our rooms at night, monitoring our prayers and meditations, and suddenly deciding to act upon our wishes, Volkswagen released the New Compact Coupe Hybrid–a concept boasting itself as a fuel efficient four-seater sports coupe–at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show.  NCC Porn after the jump.

The NCC is quite attractive and and in the nicest way possible, resembles a poor mans Audi, which, we must add, won’t stop us or anyone else from remortgaging the house to get one.

This slice of devious VW pie unmistakably takes it’s design cues from it’s older brother, the CC, and it’s first cousin, the Audi A5.

This makes the NCC feel rooted in elegance, premium luxury, and high efficiency but at a price that allows you to have your cake and eat it too.

Volkswagen is committed to investigating new fuel alternatives and arriving at new methods that combine sizzling performance with outstanding fuel economy and the NCC is happily a large step in that direction.

We have to add that we were a bit surprised that when given the opportunity to showcase a hybrid, Volkswagen chose to go with petrol over their much championed diesel.  Perhaps there is good reason that we are simply too gay to understand.

The German automaker has remained loyal to the hatchback and there has not been a true 2-door boot and bonnet Vee Dub coupe for generations and generations.  Golfs and GTIs are wonderful cars and represent properly done hatchbacks but we’ve always had a warm spot for handsomely equipped coupes and had dreamed of one day owning one with the shiny chrome-laden letters V and W suctioned to every accepting surface.

So we’d be lying if we said we didn’t jump up and down and kick our feet with enthusiasm like a horny girlfriend who just received word her well-hung man was being let out a month early for good behavior.

Noteworthy is the amazing drivetrain which combines seven-speed, dual-clutch auto-manual DSG transmission powered by a 148hp, 1.4-litre TSI petrol engine and a 27hp electric motor powered by a 1.1kWh lithium-ion battery.  Now despite their appearance, these numbers do not represent someone’s fake stats from a Craigslist ad in the M4M section, but rather define this auto’s performance and gives this intrinsically sexy coupe a top speed of 141mph with 0-62mph acceleration in just over 8 seconds and a combined fuel consumption of 67.2mpg with CO2 emissions of 98g/km.

That means it’s a bloody fast and highly fuel efficient means of brilliant transport for you who are sweet, gay, and car-illiterate.

Also surrounding itself in a lot of brouhaha is the fact that the NCC is a remarkably faithful preview of what the forthcoming and soon to be produced 2011 6th generation Volkswagen Jetta will look like.

Volkswagen–who according to figures published by automotive industry analysts Global Insight in November 2009, is the largest automobile maker in the world by vehicle production–has been very secretive about the new Jetta but we’re sure it’ll be stellar.

We’re hopeful that Volkswagen will produce the NCC along with the new 6th generation Jetta this Spring because we, along with the rest of the gay boys, will have our dolla billz and our coinz in hand and will be lined up outside the nearest dealership to get one.

NCC Porn

 

Above: The much anticipated and possibly overly hyped Nexus One Android phone from Mountain View California-based Google

The Google Phone, now known as the Nexus One, drew some serious buzz and more pre-launch hype than a new Madea Goes to Jail movie at cookout on Sunday.  Many people have dubbed this “superphone” the and all and be all but we beg to differ.  iPhone killer?  We think not.  The Nexus One is a serious piece of great tech but without the finesse and refinement the iPhone enjoys in almost every aspect, we can hardly award the Google phone the title of “iPhone killer”, and much of the geekosystem agrees.

There was a certain ooh and aah when the iPhone was announced.  A united feeling that something excessively monumental just took place.

The Nexus One doesn’t have that.  But then again, maybe it doesn’t need to.  Maybe it has something greater to offer than the wild band of ugly and swollen Google Gadget followers who have nothing better to do than shit on the iPhone.

Let’s delve further.

Design

The handset is sleek the body is comprised of what appears to be two interlocking pieces; a main, dark gray housing coated in a soft-touch treatment like a rubber Incase shell (we like this) which is intersected and wrapped by a lighter gray, smooth, almost metallic band.  The overall effect is fluid, beautiful, and understandably Google.  It’s safe to say this is HTC’s best looking mobile phone to date.

Front

Besides the requisite power and volume rocker buttons, there are five “buttons” on the face: one trackball and four haptic-based touch buttons.  It pains us to admit that the trackball is ridiculously useless.  There is literally nothing in the OS that requires it and the only thing you’ll be using it for are the color-based notifications informing you that you have a new email, text message or missed call.  A nifty feature if you don’t feel like having to turn on the screen but one that still doesn’t excuse the pointless Sidekick-like ball.

The verdict is not much better for the four touch buttons–back, menu, home, and search.  The target areas seem to be to high causing you to accidentally tap them when composing an email or miss them when tapping too low.  These buttons seem more concerned with providing haptic feedback than they are with actually registering your taps.

Back

Around the back you will find the generous 5-megapixel camera and LED flash.  As much as having the number 5 and megapixel in the same sentence makes you feel like dancing around the Costco parking lot because you were able to get the same sample twice, the design is a bit awkward and strangely pronounced with the camera protruding outward like a grown man’s outie belly button.  While this may seem like no biggie, this interruption in the smooth surface of the rear is just enough to either scratch surfaces that the handset is placed on or scratch the lens itself.  More on the camera later.

Screen

The Nexus One incorporates a 400 x 800 AMOLED glass capacitive touchscreen and it’s gorgeous.  Everything on the display is rich and colors pop to the point that it makes competing phones like the iPhone 3GS and the Droid look washed out and pathetic.  However, if you plan to use your Nexus One while you sunbathe and become sun kist under any sort of bright light or daytime conditions, you can forget it.  The best reaction to using the handset in well lit circumstances was “manageable” which is hardly a term that should be applied to a phone like this.

Software

Equally, if not more important than hardware, is software.  For the most part Android is an open and progressive platform but we think Apple has this in the bag.  Between the iPhone’s slick and intuitive UI and the App Store, we can’t see people clamoring to start playing web-based copy Bejeweled 2 on a Nexus One.  That’s not to say that an Android-powered device couldn’t pose some serious competition to Apple in future.

Mulitouch

There is none.  Not if you live in the U.S. at least.  We consider this a fail.  No device of this caliber should lack such an important piece of innovation.  There is nothing more we can say.

Keyboard

The Google Keyboard app has been getting less than stellar reviews.  Naturally it’s direct comparative is the iPhone’s multitouch keyboard which is widely successful and a number one on our list of mobile keyboards, period.  Interestingly enough, you can download a [better] keyboard if you are unhappy with the one that ships.  We recommend you do so.

Camera

The camera is a nice addition to the device boasting 5-megapixels and an LED flash.  This gives the Nexus One an advantage and allows it to take sharp and detailed images.  If the best camera is the one you have with you then you will be glad your brought this.

Phone

As a phone, the Nexus One isn’t dramatically different than most mobile devices you’ve probably used.  In terms of call quality and volume, it’s certainly on par with it’s peers, providing a loud, reasonably clean talking experience, though it doesn’t touch the Droid in terms of call clarity and evenness and this is thanks, mostly to Verizon.

Final Thoughts

Kudos to Google for launching this device and sending everyone back to the board in a good old game of friendly competition.  This little piece of tech is a good first step for Google and despite our strong words, we like the Nexus One.  It’s a great mobile device with a few flaws and kinks that would be barely noticeable if there were no such thing as the iPhone.

Our friends at Homotography notes Volkswagen gets shockingly kinky in these Chinese ads for the famous VW GTI.  We’ve never been opposed to bit of kink and even if these ads–the brainchild of BIG Advertising: Beijing, China–don’t sell many GTIs, we’re glad for the out-of-the-box and in your face marketing.  Here’s one more for the road!  Cheers!

Above: outlandishly costumed Lady Gaga, former Upper East Side prep schooler turned megastar, gay idol and now, business model.

Who knew if tech startups wanted a leg up, they’d be taking strategy tips from the Queen of Ooh la la. Those in the know say that the key to success is in 5 steps emulated by Gaga.  This is going to be BIG tells us how, below.

1) Be remarkable. People forget what that word actually means—to Two words: bubble dress.  It’s so outlandish that you can’t help but notice.  “Is she really wearing… a bubble dress?”  You want to force your users to stop for a moment and actually take note of something you did for them.  “Was it really that easy?”  “How did they figure that out?”  You want them to turn to the next person and say “Hey, check this out.”  I think too often people add “share on Twitter” buttons to their apps without first adding something that people would actually want to share.  What is it about your service that will make people stop and notice?

2) Repeat the message as often as possible: “Pa-pa-pa-Poker Face”, “Ra-ma ra ma-ma”, “Papa-paparazzi”, “Let’s play a love game, play a love game”…   Many of Gaga’s lyrics and sounds are repeated one right after another—simple, but memorable when listened to over and over again.  Figuring out what your simple message is and repeating it across your site, your marketing copy, PR, and in business development meetings is a way to build brand awareness and clarity.  Too often, I hear from startups all the things they could possibly be instead of hearing the one simple thing they want to be, over and over again.   Your audience looks at a million brand messages a day and to cut through, you can’t be a different thing everytime someone experiences you—or worse yet, everything to everyone.  Sometimes, broken records aren’t so bad.

3) Be relentless. Startups, like a lot of music acts, are often one hit wonders.  They make a big splash upon launch, everyone fusses over them, and then they have no follow up.  They quickly lose momentum.  On the other hand, just when one Lady Gaga song starts losing steam—BOOM—here comes another tune that you just can’t get out of your head, seemingly once every couple of months.  Startups need to do this more with both their product and their public relations strategy.  You might be the new new thing now, but what’s going to be your next hit?  A big business development deal?  A killer new feature?  Rarely are startups ever made on their launch, and neither are lasting music careers.  You can’t ever rest on your laurels in either game.  Always be raising the bar.

4) Create something bigger than just the individual. At some point, you go from two developers in an apartment to a real company—and things take on a life of its own that is over and above the individual identities of the founders.  Lady Gaga did this by creating a persona separate from her real self.  I’m pretty sure her family still calls her Stefani, but Gaga has become larger than life.  For a startup, this happens when a company actually starts to act like a real company—getting outside board members to regularly report to, taking strategy and process seriously, maintaining consistent corporate identities.  It also means delegation of duty and responsibility, adherence of procedure.  The earlier the founders of a company act like they’ve created something bigger than themselves, the sooner they actually get there.

5) Respect success. Lady Gaga has clearly been influenced by Madonna, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, and others—and she seamlessly and subtlety incorporates little homages to these superstars into her performance.  On the other hand, some stars pick fights with those who have come before them or portray themselves as a replacement instead of recognizing that there’s a reason why others are successful, even if they aren’t always the most innovative.  This is something I wish more startups would do—see what’s working for other companies way more successful than you are and adopt well executed strategies used by others.  Too many times I ask a company about some feature or strategy that the industry leader has, and the startup is quick to dismiss it.  They mistake different for new and better.  It’s as if they think I won’t be interested in an investment unless they’re going to crush the leader feature by feature with a whole new approach.  If you can’t recognize greatness, and build off of it, then you’re going to be unlikely to be great on your own.

Above: The masturbation-inducing superman, superdad, supermodel (as put by AKA William) Jonathan Waud for Ristefsky Macheda Underwear an Australian-based  underwear and beachwear design house.

We’ve heard of him and we know you have too but we couldn’t resist showing him off like a newly waxed sports car.  And we’d be lying if we said we weren’t eager to stuff these images away on our hard disk drives.  More photos and a making of video after the jump.

 

Jonathan Waud for RM – Making of

Above, male models from the Dior Homme Fall Winter 2004 Campaign that is now apart of the JAWKSTRAP “Borrowed Not Stolen Dynamic Images Campaign”

Thanks for reading JAWKSTRAP.  Since we can’t help gushing about this blog, let us tell you a little about what it is.

JAWKSTRAP, also indicated by a nifty yet simple keystroke-generated icon: j{s}, is an online hangout filled with verbal insanity from a group of trendy geek friends and their followers.  It’s a social playground for the modern and the progressive.

It’s no secret we like pretty boys but aside from lusting after the young and gorgeous, you’ll find well written, highly entertaining material covering new perspectives in architecture, cars, design, fashion, technology, and cheap nonsense only we can find.

We try to mix serious information with a bit of hilarity and down right crude and vulgar behavior.

We find that it’s best to fuse a Dior Homme skinny tie with an iPhone loading Grindr in one hand and the stearing wheel of a Volkswagen Golf in the other.

We’re political but never correct.  If we had a rating, it would be NR. If we had a location, it would be Washington DC.  And despite beliefs on gays being loud and bright, if we had a color it would be black.

We are a neatly packaged, multi-networked, editorial style publication.  Our posts are divided into categories and if you’d like to, you can read their descriptions by clicking below.

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Enjoy, and don’t forget your jawkstrap!

Cheers!