Technology

Red 5’s Immerse Headset brings Virtual Reality Home

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Virtual Reality – it’s something that we have all heard of, but not many of us have actually tried it. Sure we’ve seen plenty of rich kids on the internet wearing giant goggles but all we see is their reaction to it. “Look at that up there” and “oh god what is that” or “wow this is amazing!” all of which still leaves us clueless as to what actually goes on in those comically sized specs. Well, now it’s your chance to get in on the VR action without breaking the bank.

The Immerse Virtual Reality Headset allows you to step away from the mundanity of your own life and enter an entire new world from the comfort of your own living room, bedroom or bathroom if you really wanted. Watch 3D movies, dive into a virtual world and play simulated games all on this one device. The headset is so easy to use, even your granddad could do it. Simply open up one of the many free or paid for apps from the app store, place your phone into the adjustable grip and put on the headset. You are no longer on the three hour train ride, you are now in a town overrun by dinosaurs, driving a rally car or enjoying an adrenaline infused rollercoaster ride.

Because it has 360° content which uses the gyroscope in your phone to know when your head is moving, you can look up, down and all around to really get to grips with your new surroundings. An adjustable head straps allows you to fit it perfectly to your noggin and you can adjust the lens to get the best view of your new digital world.

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Entertainment

Biggest Beer Festival ever as Grasmere Guzzler Welcomes 5000

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Biggest beer festival ever as Grasmere Guzzler welcomes 5000!

The Lakeland village of Grasmere has held its most successful beer festival ever, with more than 5000 visitors attending the 9th annual ‘Grasmere Guzzler’ event. Held from 4-6 September in the grounds of Dale Lodge Hotel and Tweedies Bar, the weekend’s record numbers saw a 25% increase in visitors on last year, with sunny weather across three days attracting the crowds.

More than 100 craft ales and world ciders were on offer from the likes of Hawkshead Brewery, Allendale Brewery, Magic Rock Brewing, Fyne Ales, Tiny Rebel and Hardknott. 30 musical acts performed across the weekend with John Dawes, Jack and Paddy, Molly Warburton, Scrogan’s Run, King Ider, Jabba the Funk, Olivia Fearn and Sad Eyed Puffins keeping visitors entertained. On Saturday, families enjoyed free face-painting and the talents of local story teller, Taffy Thomas, with many visitors having attended past ‘Grasmere Guzzler’ events.

The ‘Grasmere Guzzler’ beer festival started in 2006, offering 8 craft ales and receiving just 100 visitors, so the increase in numbers is very encouraging, as Tweedies’ director, Alex Goodall explains:

“We are absolutely delighted by the success of this year’s ‘Grasmere Guzzler’ beer festival and are stunned by the sheer volume of visitors” he said. “Many attendees were repeat customers, some of whom have attended every year and we’ve already taken bookings in the hotel for next year’s festival from 2-4 September – our 10th anniversary. With such an increase in visitors and the sun shining all weekend, we have much to live up to in 2016!”

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Food & Drink

More Than Meat Launches

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Revolutionary food brand, More Than Meat, has launched in the UK.
The range, which includes burgers, sausages and casseroles, uses a blend of plant-proteins and wholefoods to make tasty meals and snacks. The foods are high-protein & zero-cholesterol. They contain no added fats, no eggs, no dairy and no meat.

More Than Meat was founded by Barry Honeycombe, a London based, former Silicon Valley Software Executive and follower of a whole food, plant-based diet.

He started the brand to help others make the same positive change to a meat-reducer lifestyle. Also, to tap into the growing market of ‘meat reducers’, vegetarians and vegans in the UK, looking for healthy, convenience foods that are not high in fat, salt and sugar.

According to Mintel, the UK’s ‘Meat-Free’ market is valued at £607m. More than 38% of Britons have bought vegetarian or meat-free food.*
Moreover, there are at least 1.2m vegetarians in the UK**, while 25% of the British public have cut back on meat in the last year; 34% are willing to consider eating less meat.***
The entire range is hand-made by a team that care passionately about taste and quality. Working in a kitchen environment, they blend ingredients that are wholesome and natural. Taste, flavour and quality are the top priorities.
More than Meat is already building a network of stockists and year 1 sales will exceed expectations. In year 2 the company expects to double its turnover.

In addition to the existing range, the brand is introducing two new burgers – A Jerk Burger and a Great BRITish burger.

Other products are also in development and the company has plans to create product lines of salad dressings and vegan cheeses. It is also eyeing international expansion.

Mr Honeycombe creates all of the products himself. He has a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition and has learned a lot from plant-based trends in the U.S.

“There is a huge opportunity in the UK for quality, ingredient led, tasty food that caters to the growing number of people who want to reduce their intake of meat.

Our absolute focus is on flavour and we consistently have great feedback from our customers. For example, we use creamy cannellini beans in our Classic More Than Meat burgers; fresh, whole apples in our More Than Meat Smoked Apple & Sage Sausage Rolls, and root vegetables and butter beans in our More Than Meat veg “Lamb” casserole. Taste and quality is what sets us apart”.

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Entertainment

Pitch Perfect 2 arrives on DVD & Blu-ray next week – Is it worth watching?

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The sequel to the smash hit musical-comedy Pitch Perfect arrives on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK next week. But is it worth watching? Top 10 Films editor Daniel Stephens thinks those that enjoyed the entertaining original will love the sequel.

In his recent review, he said: “In some respects, the film is an exercise in box ticking. The song mash-ups are present, relevant, up to date and competently shoehorned into the story; there’s teen angst, crises of identity, dreams made-broken-and-made-again, a bit of romance, a giant climax, and Rebel Wilson saying crude things. But that’s no bad thing. Indeed, Pitch Perfect 2 gives its target audience exactly what they want in a sequel and the success of that is by maintaining the status quo.

You can read the full Top 10 Films review here.

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Food & Drink

The Famous Grouse Reveals New Look Smoky Black

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The UK’s number one selling Scotch whisky, The Famous Grouse, distributed by Maxxium UK, has announced its premium expression, The Black Grouse, will undergo a full rebrand and is to be relaunched as The Famous Grouse Smoky Black.

The new name and premiumised packaging will ensure a consistent look and feel across the brand’s core portfolio which includes The Famous Grouse and The Famous Grouse Mellow Gold. It will also capitalise on the growth in premium blended whisky and help to challenge perceptions around Blended Scotch.

The Famous Grouse Smoky Black delivers the same distinctive rich and smoky flavour as The Black Grouse, achieved by introducing more peated malts into the blend. This includes a rare peated version of The Glenturret Single Malt whisky, which has been carefully handcrafted using traditional methods at Scotland’s oldest working distillery – the Glenturret Distillery in Perthshire.

The Famous Grouse Smoky Black features the brand’s new look bottle shape finished with a tinted glass to convey the smokiness of the whisky it contains. The bottle features a more premium closure with a flash of red on the cap to echo the black grouse bird’s distinctive red wattle. A new drawing of the black grouse bird with a metallic finish stands proudly at the heart of the label.

Johna Penman, Marketing Controller at Maxxium UK, said:

“We are excited to reveal the new look for The Famous Grouse Smoky Black which completes the new core range within The Famous Grouse portfolio. We have invested significantly in the development plan which is designed to enhance the brand’s premium credentials and capitalise on the consumer demand for premium packaging.”

Gordon Motion, Master Blender described the premium blend:

“The Famous Grouse Smoky Black has been blended to deliver the same flavour profile our consumers enjoyed in The Black Grouse, enhanced with the exceptional peated Glenturret Single Malt.”

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Food & Drink

British Inventor Behind Futuristic Powdered Food Announces European Expansion

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The nutritionally-complete powdered food product, Huel, is now available for those placing orders from France and Germany, as the company has announced it has expanded to cater for European demand. The product was invented and launched to the British market by entrepreneur Julian Hearn in June of this year, growing substantially to quickly find that a substantial number of enquiries were originating from countries outside of the UK.

It has been announced that a futuristic British wonder food, which delivers 100% of the government-recommended nutrition to fuel a human body without any meat, dairy or added sugar and all in powder form, has expanded to satisfy demand in European territories.

The powdered food product met with an expected amount of scepticism from the media during its launch in June. Having sold out three times in the first month of trading, however, Julian Hearn and his team realised that the demand was certainly there. As the online community grew, based on social media interactions and engagement on the Huel website’s forum, Julian found that more and more enquiries were coming from countries overseas, where people were keen to try the powdered food product.

The expansion will see Huel deliver product to satisfy orders from France and Germany, with sights set on expanding to incorporate further EU countries soon after.

Julian Hearn, Founder of Huel, commented:

“We have had great success here on our home turf and Britons have welcomed the product with open arms. As strange as it might seem at first, we live busy lives and don’t always want to skip meals or grab junk food on the go; the public have been keen to try out our solution to this. We have also had some incredible success stories, as people’s lives and bodies are transformed by their new, healthier diet.”

He continued:

“Although we don’t want to get carried away and grow too quickly, we also can’t ignore the enquiries which have been flooding in from all around Europe. We are going to take things steady, but it’s important to satisfy the demand and ensure that as many people who want to get on board with Huel as possible get the chance to. We are really looking forward to seeing how the French and German population welcome Huel and whether they are as adventurous and open-mined as the Brits have been!”

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Entertainment

Christopher Nolan will be Joined by Virtual Reality Maestro Chris Milk at LFF Industry Talk

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Alongside Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan will be virtual reality maestro Chris Milk as well as writer, director, visual artist and vocalist Laurie Anderson and filmmaker and artist Guy Maddin for a discussion on the future of film at the London Film Festival on 9th October.

For the latest information about the BFI London Film Festival check out Top 10 Films.

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Food & Drink

Matthew Algie to Showcase its New Products Talents at Lunch

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Leading independent coffee roaster, Matthew Algie, will once again be exhibiting at Lunch! – the food-to-go industry trade show.

Matthew Algie is a well-established coffee shop authority, supplying coffee, machines, training and industry insight to thousands of operators across the UK and Ireland.

Among the coffees available to sample will be Matthew Algie’s latest hand-roasted microlots, Ruby’s Red Quartet and Crafty Little Number 3.0.

The stand will also be exhibiting products from the latest Autumn/Winter Espresso Warehouse catalogue, including a selection of new winter drinks, such as the classic Hot Chocolate Orange and super trendy Salted Caramel Latte.  New loose leaf teas from the award-winning Suki range, such as Goji Berry and Pomegranate, Cocoa Tea and Oolong Orange Blossom, will also be brewed up for visitors to sample. In addition, tasty snacks from Wooden Spoon, Cambrook Nuts, Propercorn popcorn and Broderick’s will all be available, along with a wide range of barista tools and essentials.

Meanwhile, for those looking for insider tips, a team of coffee specialists from Matthew Algie will be on hand to talk about everything from coffee trends and menu development to selecting the perfect machine and getting the most from staff training.

Andrew Jack, Head of Marketing at Matthew Algie, commented:

“We are constantly looking at new ways in which we can help boost our customers’ businesses. From inspiring drinks recipes to delicious snacks to essential barista tools, our products allow businesses to create the perfect offering all year round.  Our fantastic new range of products tap into key consumer trends, designed to help operators improve margins, and we look forward to sharing these with Lunch! visitors.”

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