iPod to iPhone

Apple is using iPod Touch to build a loyal relationship with the underage teens now. The main reason is to recruit them into the iPhone market when they grow into gorgeous adults who are fit to hold the style icon, iPhone.

The best analogy is the Macdonald's Happy Meal whereby kids become so infatuated with Mcdonalds that they still continue to buy the main course even after they are 50 years old.

Such a simple analogy but I think it encapsulates what Apple is trying to do completely. I need to take a minute to drink this idea in myself too.

I mean it's so flagrant but many did see this lead at all.

So why did Apple shift their focus from iPhone back to iPod Touch back again?

1 simple reason : iPhone is actually a short term strategy to increase their market share.

The iPod is de facto the main product of Apple. It emanates from a user of theirs who make a reckless suggestion to Steve Jobs and then the iPod came into life holding up to more than 60% of Apple's revenue since then.

The idea that iPod touch users will soon get a iPhone when they grow old is so fanatical. Almost like a core story, a growing up cycle where you study in school when you are young and you go to work when you are old.

That story seems to be applicable to almost everyone but yet it becomes so alive and refreshing when applied to Apple.

Personally, I feel that for the transition, from the usage of the iPod touch to the purchasing of a iPhone, to be smooth and successful, Apple has to promote this idea rigorously and consistently. For example, you have to tell us when should we start to get an iPhone, many kids are afraid of the inability to handle such a complex tool like iPhone. Transitions are always tough even though they are cool.

Apple will have to lend the kids a helping hand, making sure they don't fall and be traumatised. If the transition fails, and the word-of-mouth gets out, more and more kids will be even more skeptical about the transition and they start to stay away from iPhone then on. Chet Holmes' idea of a core story will be super effective in this case.

Therefore, Apple has to add a lot of focus into this transition and not be overly-complacent just because it is an incandescent evolutionary stratey.

Credit -cnnmoney, -scomputing

Michelin

I got a something to confess.

This is my 200th post !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers, woots!


This blog has really come a long way and it has been all thanks to you guys out there who are still reading this random blog of mine!


Since this is my 200th post, I have prepared a surprise for you guys.


I will like to share with you guys some of the top-notch food prepared by someone.


You guys might be wondering, what's new?


Unbeknownst to you all, this time round, the pictures of the food belong to one of my readers.

His name is Justin Foo, currently studying in Le Cordon bleu at Ottawa under Chef Gille Penot. He has magnanimously allowed me to use the pictures he has taken here.

He has a blog at http://lecahierdejustin.blogspot.com/


 Thank you Justin once again. So, you guys had better appreciate my hard work in getting them !!! Oops, don't worry, I'm not scolding you guys haha.


Okay, without further ado, let's get rolling with the panoply of food he has prepared in the past.

Pan-fried Duck Breast

The duck breast look extremely succulent and juicy.

The color of it looks so extremely fresh as well.

Come to think of it, this dish looks like the advertisement whereby they teach you that one day, you need 2 servings of vegetable and fruits.

I can take any number of servings of this anytime man!

Roast Pork

Simple but delectable don't you think?

How about some sauce please?

Steak au poivre

Look at the enormous portion, as compared to those punitive steak at those restaurants.

Who knows this might actually be near the standards at Morton's Steakhouse?

Oriental Orange Chicken

The sauce trickled around the chicken must be someone's saliva.

How could anyone resist this !!!

Mustard Encrusted Salmon

This dish looks very appealing and colourful.

And for sure, it looks extremely costly.

Just look at it's side view.

Gorgeous!!!

And if you think that's all, you are WRONG, VERY WRONG.

What about the desserts?

Tiramisu.

This dessert fetches for $14 at 2am Dessert Bar.

Cheesecake topped with Alcohol Chocolate Truffle

Heart-shaped cheesecake. You can win over any loved ones you like in an instant!

Mango Yoghurt Cake

I will take yoghurt anytime from now onwards!

Where else can you find something so healthy and delicious?

 Sad to say, this is the finale.

Hazelnut Chocolate mousse.

Look at the strawberries on the top of the cake.

So creatively-chopped into slices

And what's more sinful is those ferror rocher on top.

Killer-dessert that will force you to run on the treadmill until you DIE!!!

Before I end this post, let me provide you guys with a brevity on Chef Gille Penot.

One look at how he cuts the onion and you know he's a TOP-NOTCH CHEF.

Indeed you guys are not wrong a single bit! He has a lot of Michelin chefs under him and he cooks for Casino Montreal!

Just look at its brobdingnagian size and its intriguing architecture.

Who do you think are allowed to work here?

Of course the best of the best !!!

I'm sorry but you guys will not be able to see some of his masterpieces yet.

So stay tune guys, for more pictures of his masterpieces as he embarked on his journey at Le Cordon Bleu in search of palatial culinary skills. He's merely into his 3rd week there out of a total of 11 months.

That is why I'm sure you guys will die from hunger just by reading from now onwards.

Bye Bye for now ~ ~ ~

Credits -Montreallimocoach, -justin

Top 3 Companies Google might want to acquire

Twitter

This is a social networking website that has more than 60 million visitors a day. Research has clearly shown that people on social networking websites spend way longer time on the web as compared to normal surfers. Theoretically, if you spend longer time on the web, you will naturally be exposed to more advertisements and there is a higher chances that you will click on them too!


Although Twitter is currently not interested in any money-making plan or advertising, Google has definitely make use of Twitter.

Why?

1. Twitter provides the hottest updates and answers that Google fans need. In the future, when you type a query on your wall, you will get hundreds of replies immediately. That's even faster than facebook!

2. There's a gamut of users present which Google is targetting; ranging from kids to elderly. This is in line with Google's aim.

Yelp

Yelp is actually an online website that reviews the attractions in the cities, the notable restaurants, museums and leisure places which people are currently interested in.


As you might conclude, this is actually a great opportunity for Google because the 65.4% of its market share in the advertising industry will definitely be boosted by this website. The great companies will flock in to advertise their companies on this website because they believe that Google has sufficient clout to influence all its fans to use this website to search for reliable fun and attractions.


Based on trust, Yelp will definitely grow to be more extensive and reliable in the long run with Google. That way, Google will naturally have a panoply of business partners which will be extremely beneficial to its network-building.


Yandex

This is a company I highly recommend Google to acquire. In fact, they should be compelled to gobble it up!


Yandex is actually the "Google of Russia", as we all know, its market share in advertising in Russia is way beyond that of Google's.


Reason being: It has mastered the complex language of Russia. Some of the most peculiar phrases and searches are beautifully encapsulated by the search engine per se.


When it comes to language, it is almost synonymous to culture. Different natives speak differently. Singaporeans have their Singlish and naturally, other countries have their own idiosyncratic ways of expressing themselves.


Some people write differently, some people express differently, some people speak differently.


Everyone is different so to speak.


It will take Google years of research to capture the essence of the Russian language. On top of that, they will probably need to immerse themselves in the culture of Russia for a few decades if they want to truly understand Russia.

If there was an analogy for this, I will say that it is like Jake in Avatar learning about the intricate culture of the Na'vi! And mind you, it does not take a mere 3 months!

Credit -cnn, -ideachampions, -crunchbase, -fasthorseinc, -m.blog

Energy

Exxon Mobil says the world will require trillions of dollars in investment in energy infrastructure to meet an expected 35% increase in demand between 2005 and 2030, according to the oil giant's annual Outlook for Energy report released on Tuesday.

Exxon Mobil said oil, natural gas and coal will continue to meet most of the world's needs, "because no other energy source can match their availability, versatility, affordability and scale."



The fastest-growing of these fuels will be natural gas, "reflecting its abundance, versatility and economic advantages as an efficient, clean-burning fuel for power generation," Exxon Mobil said.

Among this year's findings, Exxon Mobil said wind, solar, and biofuels will grow by about 10% a year through 2030 to comprise a 2.5% share of total energy by 2030. Exxon raised its forecast for alternative energy from a year ago, when it predicted 2.1% of global energy will come from non-fossil fuels by 2030. In 2007, it forecast 1.8% of global consumption from alternative energy by 2030.
 
 
Credit -marketwatch, -buttonssound, -topnews

Spirits

I like the clean serenity of this Japanese street.

Bloated Eiffel Tower sheltering miniscule humans

How tall can skyscrapers go?

The augmented reality of secluded grounds

This is precisely why I hate to go to the kitchen at night

Credits -photoholic, -vooz, -flickr

America's Next Top MENU

Hello to you all.

Here is yet another culinary post prepared by Samuel!

It's inspired by Tyra Banks, America's Next Top Model.

Wanna be on top ?

Let's begin with the appetizers shall we?

Healthy juicy lettuce that you can eat them alone without any other sauces.

Really high quality! Crunch Crunch*

As you all might have guessed, we were preparing caesar salad, it was really good.

Definitely better than most restaurants I must say.

Why go to those lousy restaurants and pay $8 for a plate of salad when you can prepare it at home by yourself?

Look at the picture above again, doesn't it look extremely healthy and appetizing?

As expected of an appetizer right?

Okay, let's move on.

Haha sorry, this is not food. But I find Dominic's shirt pretty cute.

So many superheroes.

I'm not too sure what is he pointing at but maybe he's telling Zhi Qi about superman above?

The soup inside is delicious but I won't show you what's inside.

It's up to your imagination!

Acting sexy again

This is extremely fruity. For those that wants to have a simple meal with a light liquor, you can try this!

Velvety and smooth, light-hearted too!

Fish and chip.

The sauce is almost too hard to taste.

I have no idea what's inside.

Samuel refuses to tell us but I won't probe too but all in all, it was saccharine.

American's burger with top truffle oil.

The top truffle oil was a gift from Samuel's friend and he treated us to it.

Thanks a lot !

It was really good! I can't wait to gobble it up

....

I'm speechless

I'm the new secretary for the chef.

$10 an hour

This was the home-made apple crumble Samuel was making.

Doesn't the colour look gorgeous?

It was exceptionally crunchy as well.

The texture was just nice and it was not too sweet too.

Yummy-licious

Coffee liquor.

Potent~~~

Cheers!!!!!!!!

Thank you for reading this long post!

Hope you enjoyed it!

Till then !

McDonald's Saga

"McDonald's apologized to Singapore Friday and brought a pig back to its toy menu, after a decision to leave the animal out of its Chinese zodiac collection upset many in the predominantly ethnic Chinese nation."

I saw this headline on Yahoo! News yesterday. Initially the first thought that came to my mind was, what's this about?


And to my dismay, it was actually a move by Mcdonald's in an attempt to not offend the Muslim in Singapore. Well, first and foremost, I must applaud Mcdonald's for being so considerate. Once again, they have proven to be extremely sensitive to the customers' needs.


However, I must say that it is just a toy and full stop. If Mcdonald's is condemned for selling a pig toy, then Toy'R us would have been shut down long ago.


Enlightenment: Muslims usually criticise the Chinese for their abysmal ignorance for saying that they treat the pigs like God. No, they don't and in actual fact, pigs are on no grounds a sacred animal to them either.

Muslims' abstention from pork eating is in adherence to the Qur'anic Law which states:


" Forbidden to you for (food) are: dead meat, blood and the flesh of the swine and that which hath been invoked the name other than Allah. "


Holy Qur'an 5:4


Personally, I believe that this is an insult to the Muslims. You are respecting their religion but in the complete wrong way. They are not allowed to eat pork but who said they can't play with pig toys? You mean they can't go to the pig farm or zoos just because they are pigs around?


Such an unconscionable move is actually approved beforehand? No wonder the dismal planning team is reviled at by the public.

By making that sort of ludicrous move, Mcdonald's has just shot themselves in the foot. I'm surprised that none of the Muslims have actually stepped out and castigate Mcdonald's for that radical move.


Also, if they think that they have so-called respected the Muslim by doing so, are they de facto disrespecting the chinese then? To us, the 12 Zodiac signs are the 12 Gods that we respect. By removing one of them, are they actually disrespecting our religion and tradition now? Worst of all, Muslims never once said they can't play with pig toys!


As they say, if you are smart, just stop there, do not attempt to go the extra mile and end up being the smart alec.



Credits -yahoo, -stomp, 1.bp, -scrapetv