Would you consider buying an e-reader? Most of the people I know are allergic to it, as many people’s hue and cry is that these latest gizmos serve predominantly one function and that if it does have Internet access, it’s fairly on a limited scale. Why, people also ask, would you buy one devoted primarily to reading when you could get a netbook, which can also function as a computer?
Now, tech media is saying that Apple can prove to be the game changer, and change people’s mindset about the e-reader if Apple can come up with a hybrid of some sort: An Apple tablet that is like a bigger iPod touch, the better to showcase its many apps and iTunes, with the convenience and functionality of a tablet notebook and the ease of navigating the Internet with–hold your breath–3G.
It would be nifty if can serve as a notebook (and therefore stand on different angles) with a detachable keyboard for those who prefer to type on it.
Let’s see if the rumor mill is true by end of January.
“Chinese designer Daizi Zheng has created a conceptual mobile phone for Finnish brand Nokia that could be powered by sugary drinks. Zheng proposes that the phone could run on a battery that uses enzymes to generate electricity from carbohydrates.”
This is a client project for designing an eco friendly phone for Nokia. Zheng quotes “Throughout my research, I found that using a phone battery as a power source is very expensive, consumes valuable resources on manufacturing, presents a disposal problem and is harmful to the environment. The concept is using a bio battery to replace the traditional battery to create a pollution free environment.”
The first Filipino-American jazz festival held in New York for the first time last Dec. 11 took so many New Yorkers by surprise. Here’s a jazz review of the concert.
Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino boxing superstar, appeared on the cover of Time Magazine Asia last weekend. The cover reads, “The Great Hope: Why Manny Pacquiao is more than just the world’s best boxer.”
The most popular Filipino would certainly make a fine product endorser for the Asian American market or multicultural market. He is just as popular with the Hispanic community, having won against the top Mexican fighters. Many say he could have been as popular as Muhammad Ali if boxing was on primetime TV and not in pay-per-view cable.
Manny joins the other boxing greats on Time Mag’s cover. These are Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali.
Currently, Pacquiao is set to fight Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in an attempt at a world record of seven world titles. This event, “Firepower” is set on November 14 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. A week-long documentary of his upcoming fight is set this week on HBO.
On Oct. 16, Admerasia celebrated Diwali, a Hindu festival of lights celebrated from October to November, with South Asian sweets and snacks served to the staff.
Admerasia staffers were trying to get their caffeine fix early Friday morning when, lo and behold, a hunchback appeared, eliciting squeals and screams as it limped around the office injecting (or more like squirting) “flu juice” (chocolate drink) into happily obliging mouths. The staff came with great costumes, but Admerasia co-founder Jeff Lin was in character when he had his costume on as Dr. Swine Flu, a big plus that made him the runaway winner in the office Halloween costume contest. He is shown here in his subdued moment before he started wreaking havoc again.
Metro New York published what appears to be a misrepresented image in its story, “Chinese letters reform explodes” on Oct. 21, quoting from another news source, RelaxNews.
The story was referred to us by Admerasia’s Yu-jin Lee.
“From the angle of the photograph, it appears that the Chinese letters were taken from a window, ” observed colleague Kaipo Leung. For that reason, the Chinese letters are inverted and incorrect.
The story delves on Chinese language reform, about simplifying a few dozen ideograms, without giving a point of reference for the word. Merriam Webster defines ideogram as a picture or symbol used in a system of writing to represent a thing or an idea but not a particular word or phrase for it.
In the second paragraph of the story, there are proposals to change 44 characters by “the government.” However, it did not point out which government it is referring to, leaving that hanging and for us to answer for ourselves, according to creative director Tuan-pu Wang.
Metro New York has not yet returned our phone call or responded to our email letter.
Yu-jin Lee, our colleague at Admerasia, passed on this piece of great news about the South Korean girl band, Wonder Girls.
According to Channel News Asia in Singapore, the Wonder Girls recently became the first ever Korean group to enter the rotation playlists of some of the top radio stations in the United States, according to reports on Oct.20.
The band’s agency JYP Entertainment reportedly added that the Wonder Girls’ US debut single “Nobody” has made its way into the rotation playlists of 18 out of 167 “Top40 Radio Stations” located across major US cities.
The band, which consists of five members aged 17 to 21, shot to fame in late 2007 with the hit single “Tell Me,” and went on to conquer parts of Asia.
The five-piece ensemble, known for their catchy tunes and sultry dance moves, reportedly made their presence felt in the West when it released “Nobody” in America in June, and performed as the opening act for all 53 Jonas Brothers concerts.
A couple of months back I announced the existence of Google Wave (read it here) and how it can possibly be used as a communication and collaboration tool with clients. Well, wait no further… Today, Google has invited 100,000 lucky users for Wave beta testing; each invitee can invite a limited number of people joining them in creating waves. Unfortunately, I am not one of those lucky few who received an invite, yet.
If you’re a Wave user, I WILL become your best friend IF you would kindly extend me an invite. Email: jiel(at)admerasia.com =)
Yesterday, I was approached by a co-worker requesting for a solution that pretty much sums up what Google Wave is offering; a way to communicate from a single point of access without additional server setups. Unfortunately, I had to tell him I don’t have anything and firmly instructed him to stick with prehistoric emails and IM chats. Harsh I know, but we all have to work with what our technology gods had given us. For now at least…
I understand that this news may not be “Asian-American-” or “advertising-” related but I feel it may be a significant step that can possibly change the way we communicate with clients, vendors, advertisers, coordinating events as well as internal communication. The best part of this is you can access this platform from anywhere in the world as long as you have internet access, a.k.a. Cloud Computing.
Another cool offering by Google is Fast Flip, an online news aggregator that “mimics” the experience of flipping the pages of a magazine or newspaper.
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