Apple iPad: How does it rate as an e-book reader?
Jan 28, 2010 13:59
For me, the purpose of buying the Apple iPad would be to use it as an e-book reader. The Amazon Kindle is not available for us nice people in Malaysia, and you are restricted to buying books through the Amazon.com bookstore.
Read more »
What Malaysians like to talk about online
Jan 21, 2010 13:30
It is a fact that people gossip. Have you ever wondered what people talk about behind closed doors? Do they talk about you? Does your wife rant about you on her blog, and does your teenager praise you in his Facebook note?
According to the Malaysian Digital Brand Index by Edelman Asia Pacific, these are the top 10 names on every Malaysian's lips, at least when they're online.
Read more »
How not to sound like a dinosaur
Jan 21, 2010 00:04
I'm sure you've heard that geek is the new cool. Have you also heard the phrase, "fake it till you make it"? If you're not a geek, here are at least two things you can do to not sound old among the uber cool.
Memorize your geek terminology.
A friend was trying to hook her laptop to a projector the other day when she said: "Oh! My laptop doesn't have the hole for the projector cable!"
Read more »
So what's Nokia been up to, hmmm?
Jan 13, 2010 13:46
Over here in the big cities, we've been comparing iPhones, BlackBerrys, HTCs, and now the Google Nexus One so often, we seem to have forgotten that Nokia is still the largest mobile phone company on the planet.
Wouldn't you like to know what Nokia's been up to? At the Consumer Electronic Show 2010 in Las Vegas, Nokia distanced itself from the glitz and glamor of the neon city to talk about technology in our neck of the woods--Third World countries where people don't discuss which touchscreen is more intuitive and instead look for phones with:
- Multiple address books because a single phone is shared among several people
- Built-in flashlight because the people who use the phone live in places where electricity is unavailable, scarce or unreliable ;
- Dust-resistant keypad because these phones are expected to be used in harsh environments
These requests may sound strange to us citydwellers, but it makes sense to those in developing nations. And it makes sense for a mobile phone company to care about this market segment because it is a pretty large chunk of a very delicious pie.
According to Nokia, in China alone, more than 7 million people gain access to the Internet for the first time each month, and mostly through mobile devices.
If Nokia could use its mobile devices to help them solve the problems that these people face in their daily life, the Finnish company can only win in this segment.
For example, banks are not that easily accessible for people in many parts of the world. While there are nearly 4.6 billion mobile phone subscriptions in the world today, there are only about 1.6 billion bank accounts. So how can a mother save for her children's schooling when she doesn't have a secure place to store her money and there's always someone looking for a handout?
Answer: Nokia Money
And how can a farmer in a rural area know the market price of his onions in the big city?
Answer: Nokia Life Tools
I cannot vouch if these tools are genuinely practical or if there's plenty of room for improvement, but it's certainly encouraging to know that these are being developed. I do think we can get too absorbed in the latest tech toys without thinking how these can be tech tools for people who live near or below the poverty line.
P.S. Should you wish to develop such tools, too, take part in the Growth Economy Venture Challenge and you may even win US$1 million in investment seed money for your own tool.
Which is more green, the Nexus One or the iPhone 3GS?
Jan 7, 2010 14:07
The Nexus One was launched with much anticipation, but the event itself was a simple affair. Although I wasn't there myself, I'm pretty sure the event did less harm than the launch event of the iPhone 3GS some time ago.
Read more »


