Intel comes to the rescue with laptops based on Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology for the Chris Moyles BBC Radio One Red Nose Rally team
On Wednesday March 9th 2005 BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles and his Breakfast Show team stopped at Intel in Swindon as part of a week-long nationwide ‘Red Nose Rally’ to raise bucketloads of cash for Comic Relief.
The Radio 1 rally team were an unusual sight, driving from John O’Groats in Scotland to Lands End, England in the A-Team Van, the Starsky & Hutch 1976 Ford Gran Torino, the General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard, K.I.T.T. from Knightrider and Moyles’ own ‘Truck of Luck’ – a 60-foot articulated lorry containing prizes the team had collected along the way. The production team
followed the entourage in a tour bus, where they produced the radio programme and kept the website up-to-date with pictures and news feeds from the tour on their travels.
Using laptops to make life-on-the-road more bearable
Those in the BBC Radio One tour bus were equipped with three Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology-based notebook PCs so they could use Internet hotspots along the way, including locations in Inverness and Cardiff, to keep in touch with friends, relatives and other DJs back at the studio, get the latest updates on travel and weather conditions, check fundraising
totals on the Radio 1 website, and also record and send real-time footage for broadcast.+.
Stopping at 20 locations from John O’Groats to Land’s End and then back to London, it was vital for the Radio 1 team to use laptops with multimedia and integrated wireless LAN capability to keep abreast of the latest news and Comic Relief updates.
The Intel-based laptops were used to get the show on the road, and enabled the Radio 1 team to turn the production truck into a mobile office, editing the show’s montages and emailing the rest of the team in London whilst on the move. Radio 1 said, “We are very grateful for the Intel donation of the laptops which have been really helpful during life on the road.”
On board the truck, the slim, light laptops took up minimum room and had the high performance to run editing and recording applications to help the production team send sound and video clips to the studio. Great battery life was also key, reducing the frequency of laptops being recharged in between stops.+.
A warm and charitable reception at Intel Swindon
When the team rolled into Intel Swindon they were greeted by around 200 Intel employees, their relatives, local schoolchildren and… a giant trampoline. Intel challenged the Radio 1 crew to some red nose fun, which saw their efforts rewarded with funds for Comic Relief. The tasks included Moyles trying to ride Intel’s surfboard simulator, Comedy Dave literally demonstrating mobile technology by downloading content onto an Intel® Centrino™-mobile technology based laptop whilst bouncing on the trampoline and the whole team trying to pluck Intel Centrino tokens from trees around the grounds within one minute+.. Intel also donated an Intel Centrino mobile technology-based laptop to the ‘Truck of Luck’, along with the monetary value of the laptop for Comic Relief.
“There’s been a great buzz at Intel Swindon today with the Radio 1 crew in their celebrity cars,” said Chris Hogg, Head of Marketing, Intel UK. “We’ve raised a huge amount of cash for a fantastic cause by working with our employees and the local community in the true spirit of the ‘Red Nose Rally’. There’s also been a lot of excitement with word getting around that the Radio 1 team are using Intel Centrino mobile technology-based laptops.”
Exciting facts about mobile computing in the UK
Did you know that there are now almost 10,000 public wireless internet hotspots in the UK that Chris Moyles and his team could have used? Mobile computers are hugely popular with more and more people using them every day.
In fact, there are tens of thousands of public wireless internet hotspots worldwide, including unusual locations in the UK such as the catwalk at last Autumn’s London Fashion Week and some top Premiership football clubs. More far-flung places where people can surf the internet without wires are Cannes beach and a panda playground in China.
All kinds of people now want to show just how exciting mobile computing can be. Since the launch of Intel Centrino mobile technology in March 2003, Intel has worked with…
· SpeedDater.co.uk to organise a ‘speed dating with a difference’ night for girls and guys all over the country to use laptops to meet people they usually wouldn’t get the chance to
· International fashion designer Roland Mouret to design three limited edition luxury “laptop skins”, transforming laptops into stylish objects of desire and technology that’s natural, stylish and personal
· Acclaimed pro surfer Duncan Scott to launch the world’s first ever surfboard with built-in wireless laptop, allowing surfers to check their emails, surf the web, and even record footage of themselves catching the best waves
· Fashion designer Julien Macdonald to create an exclusive laptop bag design in white, fuchsia and black, celebrating the growing role that technology plays in women’s lives
The use of laptops by the Radio 1 team is the latest example of how Intel’s mobile technology can touch people’s lives, so watch this space for the next instalment of the wireless revolution!
