This Restaurant is quite old now but as interactive dining tables still haven't quite taken  the world by storm it’s worth mentioning, if only as a cautionary tale on the limits of touch technology when the strategy is not fully considered.

For example Jay Rayner from The Observer recently visited the Asian fusion restaurant and noted that when it came to ordering the bill a message was beamed on to the table saying "Once you request the bill no one in your group can order any more items." As Jay quite rightly said “They really should teach that computer some manners.”

Inamo’s  less than stellar rise to the top of the Restaurant market since its opening in March 2009, seems to lie in its’ inability to realise one of the fundamental truths of technology which is that it can only take you so far without the universal principles of good customer service!

www.inamo-restaurant.com

When on the move, the iPhone has some handy Apps for finding places in relation to your current location. Here are a few I have been using...

AroundMe

AroundMe is an app that lets you find information out about your current location. You can find your nearest Petrol Station, Supermarket, Pub, Bank etc. You search via categories, then it returns a list of places with their distance from where you are. You can then view the location on a map and view the route there. Plus a nice feature is if you simply turn the phone sideways, you can literally spin around on the spot and it will show you the exact direction it is from where you are standing, so you know you are heading in the right direction. Great for finding stuff on the move! Oh and it’s FREE. Brilliant.

Vouchercloud

Vouchercloud is another App that is similar to AroundMe, but shows you current Voucher and Deals close to you. Categories include Food, Days Out and Retail stores among others. So I can see that I can get 50% of Tapas at La Tasca, or BillaBong has a 10% discount on some of their items at the moment. You can subscribe to get bigger discounts, but a lot of the offers are free to use.

Google Earth

The iPhone comes with Google Maps as standard, but the Google Earth App is also free to download and is a bit more snazzy for finding photos and information about areas of the world. Download it now!

Know of any other useful Apps? - leave some comments below...

Virtual lives, virtual worlds and now virtual baking!

This is a great campaign from sugar company Tate and Lyle to showcase their fair-trade products and get consumers to engage with their products.

The website lets you create your very own cake using ingredients like Tate and Lyle Fair Trade cocoa or icing and after baking (yes you get to see it bake!) and decorating your culinary masterpiece, you can email it to friends or share it on Facebook before entering it to win tea at The Ritz.

Why not start Baking now!

www.tasteandsmile.co.uk

Interdirect would like to thank everyone for entering the Christmas Fireplace competition and making it such a roaring success. After much deliberation the judges finally decided to award the delectable prize, a Fortnum & Mason hamper, full of scrumptious goodies, to Carys Underwood from Destination MK. Congratulations Carys from all the team  here at Interdirect!

Take a look at Carys’ winning Christmas Fireplace...

Take a look at the other entries in our Christmas Fireplace 2009 Gallery...