we began the year with one of u+a's favourites, milanese designer/artist jacopo foggini, whose designs graced the stage when pavorotti performed at the torino olympics. next we visited the newly formed monsoon valley winery in thailand, soon to be open to the public in little known hua hin, and talked about "modern asian tribes" with thai fashion designers, greyhound. then back to milan to film "everything designers" ciboh, who have just opened their multi-functional space "milano ciboh". other short films, too many to mention, can be found at www.ua.tv.

this year's "u+a design awards" have been given to little wonder for their ingenious bath design "floating in the sea, in a hammock in the trees" and nokia's stunning and very functional 7380. "hotel of the year" goes to tokyo's ultra chic claska, which focusses on u+a details: food, drink, fashion, design, art and music, and is situated in naka-meguro, a relatively underpopulated neighbourhood within the ultimate urban jungle. "u+a's car of the year" is lexus' style-and-eco-conscious, biodiesel, sports sedan IS 220d, which served us well touring in and around car-centric los angeles.

apple's new, matchbox-sized iPod shuffle is the latest u+a design award winner and we're very much looking forward to apple's upcoming iPhone and iTV in early 2007. currently, u+a films play on other mobile phones and video iPods. we plan to have our videos playing in near dvd quality on both the iPhone as well as widescreen tvs in the very near future.

we welcome your input - there is definitely a "you" in u+a. through the many suggestions we receive from viewers we get to know your tastes and interests. we understand, like u+a, you place a high value on independent perspectives, insider experiences and global mobility. we hope you find, as we do, that u+a is like having great friends everywhere, offering ideas and inspirations from around the world.

best wishes,
james culham, creative director
eliza lee, executive producer