Google's "iPad" not standing idle

The tablet running Google Chrome OS would also include a virtual keyboard at the bottom of the screen or a keyboard that could be opened in a separate window that could be placed in different areas of the screen. Applications would be placed at the bottom edge of the screen and could be opened with an upward dragging motion.


I like the fact that the applications are at the bottom edge? So that it will not block us from what we are doing and prevent us from accidentally clicking on it.

Also, the tablet can run various applications at the same time.


Apparently Apple seems to be having difficulty doing that right now and worse still, they do not have flash.


Flash is like the epitome of videos. Without it, we simply will get frustrated when we see that stupid plug-in sign which forbid us from viewing what we want to see!

Google has mentioned that they are most probably going to outsource the hardware portion like how they outsourced the manufacturing of Nexus One (Google's new phone that runs on Android) to HTC.

And HTC, being a renowned brand has of course not failed Google by producing one of the most successful phone on its first try ever!

As you can see, outsourcing sometimes is not just about sourcing for the cheapest deal.

Today, we are not just talking about price compteition, we are very much infatuated with the amount of value we get in return for our money now.

If you can find us the best deal and gurantee us that it is going to be awesome. I'm 110% sure that everyone out there will not mind paying 10% more than the usual market price.

Afterall, we are afraid to pay more than the market price only because of one simple reason.

That is we are skeptical about the touted functionality of the product per se.

They always go on and on and on, blabbering about how coveted their product is but when you bought it, you realised that it just isn't as great as they say.

Though price, ease of use and hardware functionality will certainly be important factors in who wins the tablet battle, the most important determinant of who comes out on top may be the variety and quality of applications available for the devices.


In the end, it won't be about the most apps but the best apps, Krajicek argued.


I think it makes alot of sense?


For me, I feel that what's the point of iPhone having like tens of thousands of applications?

At the end of the day, you are just obfurscating the really great ones from the public. They are not going to be able to filter out the best ones that Apple has because not all of us like so techy-savvy you see.


Furthermore, there are way, way too many choices already. Almost too many for us to browse through. Humans like choices but if you offer them too many choices, they will take an extra long time than expected. In the end, they just will leave the shop without buying anything. Because they are so confused!


We just want something great, not just good. The bad ones should be removed constantly.


You know? Great companies are great because they diversify along their hedgehog concept. Once you go haywire and start deviating from it, you will soon see the demise of your organisation.


Right now, I see that Apple is pretty complacent already as they came up with something called an iPad that is not the least impressive to me.


Perhaps, it's time for Apple to take a backseat and start to ruminate over how they can revolutionize iPod instead!

Credits -cnn, -npu, -mattcutts

SMRT card

Newsflash


Do you still have your NETS receipt worth $88 or more?


If you do, head down to Chinatown, not the MRT, it's somewhere the the food center and the "Geitai" stage and you will see an extremely long queue.


What are they queueing for?


Well, you can exchange your NETS receipt of $88 or more for an SMRT New Year card with a $5 deposit inside.

This means that whenever you top up, you can use the card immediately without having to pay any deposit or whatsoever.


Great deal isn't it?


Well, if you are interested, head down to Chinatown but avoid the weekends because the queue is mad long!

3D Effects

These pictures below seriously freaked me out and they chronically give me the vibes. I have this phobia of them because it makes me feel as if I'm tumbling down.

Then again, I guess they are extremely effective when it comes to the application of advertising.

In advertising, it is all about building a uniform form of consistency throughout the board, that is to have an enticing core story that traps the consumers in your imaginery world. Dissonance will only cause internal conflict among your marketing tools.

When it comes to trade shows, people promoting fertilisers are able to dress in Doctor coats to promote the fertilisers, as medicine to the land, to the farmers.

But how often are trade shows conducted? They can be extravagant and comes at an exorbitant price too.

Conversely, if you were to apply the theory of open public, we can use the 3D pictures below.

Wow, Mountain Dew with Transformers!

Even robots chose them as their fuel

Talking about sci-fi 3D movies? There you have it!

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What other better way to promote Heineken than this ?

Look at the amount of attention it attracts everyday? The point is, you have completely achieved your aim, that is to build immense awareness and exposure to your product. More important, to let people have a time of their life with your products.


They get so close to your products that they even want to take a picture with it. When they do, more people want to do so too because these products are classified in the "COOL" category.


Then people post these pictures on their facebook and respective social networks and the word of mouth spreads again.


More and more people begin to take notice of these pictures and they remember them. It becomes indelible.


In conclusion, you are not only giving them a picture but you are bringing them on a whole new experience with your product, which entices even more to join in the fun!

Credits -gpgt

Google's Mobile Ad

The Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant's revenue rose 17% to $6.7 billion. Excluding advertising sales that Google shares with partners, a figure also known as traffic acquisition costs, the company reported sales of $4.95 billion, which beat analysts' forecast of $4.92 billion.



Advertisers paid 5% more per click on ads served on Google's Web site in the fourth quarter than they did a year ago.
 
Google's mobile business has been a "pretty clear success at this point," Schmidt said. He called Google's investments in mobile "clearly the right ones," predicting that in the coming years, most consumers will be accessing the Internet on phones, not on PCs.
 
 

 
First and foremost, congratulations to Google on its triumphant win with much exultation from its staff again. I'm pretty sure that working in Google allows you to fully immerse in the vissicitudes of life. It is not really true that they are enjoying life half the time you know? These people are working their ass off everyday just by trying to think of new strategies to obliterate Yahoo! and Microsoft and even Apple now.
 
 
Their appetite is getting bigger and they want more market share than ever before, not just in the advertising industry, but in the phone, cloud computing and applications industry.
 
 
So guys, do them a favour, set your homepage as Google.com and start searching away. I'm not really an advocate of Google though hahahaha!!! Just that I find that their search engine is one of the best around.
 
 

 
Okay, let's move on, as I was saying Google has been trying to tap into the mobile phone industry lately with its latest foray into Nexus One. Much has been said already and we all know that it is not going to hurt iPhone's market share by a huge degree but nonetheless, it has been affirmed as one of the best Android phone ever.
 
 
I'm sure Google is not going to stop here since it has embarked on such a great start.
 
 
This could very well be a great pedestal for Google to climb from as it promotes more mobile ads clicks.
 
 

 
Nowadays, youngsters are very much into the Data Plan schemes and Wi-fi services on their phones. The majority of them are starting to sign up for packages that allow you to surf on your phone. One of the example will be iPhone's famous 12GB data plan which allows to surf like no one's business.
 
 
So what has caused this paradigm shift? Why are people not surfing on their portable laptop and on Wi-Fi anymore?
 
 
Well, personally, I believe that a phone is so much smaller than a laptop and we are perambulating around all the time these days. We do not even sit in our offices for more than a few hours anymore. Instead, we walk to our colleagues and then we go downstairs for a drink and then we go out to meet our clients and then we have a flight to catch and then we need to constantly check our email but we can't possibly open our laptop as we are moving.
 
So, the solution: sign up for a data plan.
 
 

 
Phones are offering data plans in collaboration with the telecommunication giants to help people check their emails at ease, facebook status and twitter while they are on the move. You see wedding couples twittering that they are getting married in 5 minutes time these days and its all over the news.
 
 

 
It is still in its nascent stage right now of course but Google might just acquire Twitter soon enough and there will be a massive social network outbreak and all the ads will be plastered all over these social networks.
 
 
Then, teenagers will start shopping while they tweet or network and they will start to recommend the so-and-so places to shop.
 
 
This idea will definitely proliferate in no time, say 3 years or maybe even lesser I feel, perhaps 2 years even.
 
 
In no time, you will see yourself surfing away on your phone constantly sourcing for the best deals and the latest facebook status messages.
 
 
So, be prepared, as Google will ride on this wave and leech on your new found love, mobile advertisements!
 
 
 
Credits -economist, -google, -staffjournalistslike, -uh, -slashgear

Plan your day at The Cathay shopping mall

A world on its own

A dream to enter

A fantasy to indulge in

Presenting to you, The Cathay !!!

Just look at its brobdingnagian size, it's really wide isn't it?

The architecture is in fact intriguing, if you look carefully, you will see alot of panels rather than brick walls.

They literally expose the entire building to the world.

You can actually glance through the happenings in that building.

If you have no idea where exactly is The Cathay located, fear not!

Just refer to the map above. I will suggest that the easiest way is to take the MRT to Dhoby Ghaut station, exit the MRT and come out and you should be able to see the Plaza Singapura building.

From the entrance, head all the way right, pass by Starbucks then Sakae Sushi and you can continue walking all the way right and you should see the incandescent building named The Cathay.

I will advice you guys to go there at night.

Look at how happening this place is at night!

All the lightings and stuff.

Blue lights glowing and there are actually a plethora of people walking all over the place but at the same time it's not so crowded!

There are an abundance amount of shops in there.

You can drop by the Gramophone if you want to listen some music or catch up on some of the latest hits, it's really big and the staff there are really friendly.

You should have no problem finding the CD you covet.

But before anything, it is of course important to eat first right?

Yep that's right, Billy Bombers, it will blow you away with its well known milk shake

I swear it's really worth a try.

So good!

Yep, that's me!

Presenting to you a plate of Western meal

Salivating already aren't you?

But if you think Billy Bombers is way too exorbitant, you can always head up and try out the Astons

The surrounding is cool but the queue is really long so you had better go there early or you will queue until your legs break and fall apart.

That's me and my friends below.

We really waited for the damn long but the wait is worth it because the food is good and cheap :)

Head down to the Ben & Jerry's if you need some dessert!

Okay, I'm sure you guys know that there's a Ben & Jerry's shop at the Cathay right?

It's at #02-12/14 anyway.

Well, just a little interesting fact about Ben & Jerry's. I'm sure you've notice by now that they are consistently churning out new flavours all the time right?

But why do the number of flavours remain more or less moribund?

Well, that's because they send the lousiest flavours of the week into the Graveyard, yes, literally graveyard. And they are kept them in memory.

I was thinking, wouldn't it be really cool if consumers are allowed to vote every week as to which flavours they wish to bring back alive?

But, this outlet is especially unique. Synonymous with the one at Dempsey's road, Ben & Jerry's ice cream is married to the melifluous music played by the band. Some of the them are hard-rock.

It's really dreamy to just sit back and relax on the couch they provide and appreciate the music while you lick the ice-cream bit by bit off the cone.

You will really feel pretty pampered because it feels like home where you just lay back and watch a live band playing in front of you.

Really a luxury!

If you had enough of the music and wish to chat, you can walk out where they have tables outside too. At the same time, you can look up and down and you can actually see people. Quite scary initially but kinda cool after a while!

Of course, after you are done eating and chatting and blah blah blah, you can always head towards E2Max on Level 4.

If you haven't already realise, it's actually the largest and latest e-gaming haven.

The arenas are specially modified so as to promote a healthy yet competitive e-gaming environment.

They offer a panoply of games ranging from your favourite Dota World of Warcraft III, Left 4 Dead 2 to Maplestory and of course there are alot more.

It will be really awesome to play a 5v5 Dota game there where you pit against each other. The environment there is really friendly, you can simply walk around and request for matches against one another even if you do not know each other at all!

Also, what could be even more awesome than a macabre death and disgusting zombies slapping you all the time?

Join Left 4 Dead 2 for a game of shrieking and screaming, do introduce your girlfriends to the game and you will enjoy the game twice as much!


Join The Cathay Facebook page (www.facebook.com/thecathay) to get updated with latest promos, events, contests & giveaways!

Credits -blogspot, -metblogs, -cathay, -horn, -wikimedia, -thepicturehouse, -blogspot, -

2am Desert Bar

Located in the hip of dining enclave of Holland Village, 2am:desertbar is just 10 minutes from the central business district.

You are actually allowed to launch your event there if you want to.

Your private event will be treated with utmost care.

From customized menus themed to suit your event, to elegant pastry showpieces and party favours, we ensure the details are well taken of.

From cocktail parties to unique private dining events and cooking classes, the versatility of the 2am:desertbar space is endless.

Let's take a look at the inside.

It's really classy and spacious in fact.

Look at those comfy chairs over there!

They are really nice and awesome and you can stretch your legs all the way out.

After a hard day at work, you can hop by and lie on one of these chairs and all your troubles will be gone.

Cheesecake Espuma

My order

The only description here because I did not really taste the rest.

Well as you can see, there's strawberry and I bet it is of top-notch quality because it melts in your mouth.

Also, the crisps as you can see splattered all around, they actually sizzle in your mouth, like fireworks.

You can feel your teeths being attacked by these small little crisps as they explode within your mouth with a tinge of sourness.

Eating this dessert was like having a battle in France, fierce yet romantic.

Definitely worth a try!

Chocolate Tart Paired with Blood Orange Sorbet

I thought this look like the milky way, the galaxy.

Where you see orbits and orbits and that's Saturn!

Masala Chai Chocolate

DO not be beguiled by the picture above.

It is not as saccharine as you think it is.

It is de facto pretty spicy but it will test your taste buds and tingle it.

Not a very nice feeling though~

Tiramisu with Kahlua Jelly & Expresso Ice Cream

Yes, this looks extremely sinful but it's drop-dead delicious!

The Expresso Ice Cream can keep you awake all night though.

Toffee Pudding

Twix

Okay, that's the end to the post on the very delicious dessert.

But that's not all because I have a final conclusion to make.

If you guys have not already realise, the desserts are exorbitantly priced.

Each dish can come up to around $14++.

On top of that, you will usually pair it with a glass of wine which they recommend and that can easily bring your bill to $50 in total.

For me, I will not return to this place because I think that the prices are way off the chart and the quality of the dessert is high but definitely not worth it!

Credits -2amdessertbar, -glitzy

Highlights of Apple's new tablet

Presenting to you ! *** DRUM ROLLING ****

THE APPLE TABLET. iPad

The tablet, which comes with a virtual keyboard, is designed to be shared by multiple family members to read news, check e-mail and leave messages for one another with virtual sticky notes.

OMG I CAN LEAVE A MESSAGE FOR MY MUM? AND THERE'S ACTUALLY A VIRTUAL KEYBOARD? I wonder if it is going to be like that of Avatar's! I will buy one if it really is.


Apple has been working on face-recognition software that would tell the machine who is using it, but that technology might not be ready for primetime.

Oh my goodness, face recognition? Is it like those spy kids show? Whereby they will scan your face before you are permitted to access the database that belongs to you? This makes the tablet a spy gadget!

Apple is asking publishers — including the New York Times (NYT), Conde Nast and HarperCollins (NWS) — to work with them to find new ways of presenting and selling content from books, newspapers and magazines.

Read like there's no tomorrow. Know like a genius. Tell like a storyteller.

The company has also been talking to CBS (CBS) and Disney (DIS) about setting up monthly subscription services, but Hollywood is resisting Apple's plan to offer a "best of TV" service consisting of four to six shows from each channel.

Woooots, I think we can actually watch TV on this tablet as well.

Apple is working with videogame publisher Electronic Arts (ERTS) to show off the tablet's potential as a game machine.

I can only imagine what it's like to play Starcraft II on the Apple tablet with a virtual keyboard. Is it for real?


To lead its development of electronic textbooks, Apple has hired Tracy Augustine, a former executive at Pearson Education.
 
Kids, time to study, stop playing your games and surfing the net. Mums can be rest assured that their kids will still be able to keep up with their school work. So thoughtful although I don't the kids will give a shit about schoolwork when they are on the tablet.
 
 
I feel like getting an Apple tablet now myself!!! Can't resist the temptation anymore!!!!
 
How about you? Leave your comments on my tagboard !
 
Credits -cnn, -bustedcranium, -latestlaptopreview, -mikearauz, -shanegfowler, -thegamereviews

Fastfood Conundrum

Dennis Lombardi, executive vice-president at WD Partners noted that the category has "some of the lowest price points and a high value perception [but is] not absolutely resilient, nor immune" to economic conditions.

On the plus side, profits have been holding up better than sales, largely due to the help of a weak dollar which helps international operations and the impact of lower commodity prices as worldwide demand for everything from potatoes to cheese slows. Labor costs are also down with the current buyers' market for jobs.

All of you should take note of the above mentioned point. More often than not in today's economy, we are talking about exchange rate and taxes as they are the salient factors that actually have an impinge on the profits and revenues of the companies. While you might be making huge sales overseas, you will not be drawing alot of money back to the home country if your currency is extremely strong as this makes other currencies weak.


Another interesting point to note is that research has shown that people are more into food that comes fast to them right now and that they do not have to queue for more than 5 minutes.


However, there seems to be a proliferation of product differentiation right now among the fastfood restaurants as they compete to see who is able to come up with better menus and new burgers.

With increasing variety, it will just take a longer time to prepare each unique orders. Fastfood restaurants thrive on the fact that they have a standard number of choices that the people inside the kitchen can predict. For instance, McChickens and Big Macs are the top choices so they are naturally well-trained in preparing them at lightning speed.


However, if you were to introduce more products, it will be hard for the people in the kitchen to fathom what choices the consumers are going to make.

In addition to that, the consumers will now take an even longer time to decide what they want at the counter, leaving the people behind waiting impatiently.


All in all, the fastfood restaurants have to be mindful about their strategy on product differentiation. While it is helpful to offer the consumers more choices, it is definitely imperile to make them wait for a longer period of time at the queue.
 
Credits -marketwatch, -alliedow, -hubimg, -dubaiinternetmarketing, -jamin

Burberry Sale at Expo 4-7 February 2010

4 to 7 February 2010

Burberry Sale


The Burberry Sale is finally here, they are having their FIRST ever warehouse sales so this is a dream come true for those fashion-lovers.


Expect a total sales of up to 80%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


There is no other better time than to fill yourself up with Burberry clothes and accessories.


Furthermore, it's Chinese New Year season now so there is more than enough reasons for you to splurge on yourself!


It is a dream to don on Burberry clothes during any time of the year.


It is almost fanatical to whip out your burberry wallet when you make your payment.


It is too professional and awe-inspiring to be carrying a burberry working bag on your hand as you move around.


Up to 30% off special merchandise

Up to 80% off products listed below


Products Offered:

Handbags
Menswear


Womenswear

Leather Goods

Shoes

Childrenwear


Accessories

As a caveat, remember to bring loads and loads of cash because the cash queue is way, way shorter. Trust me I have been to too many warehouse sales. The credit cards queue will take as long as 1.5 hours so I suggest that you draw out all your money the night before and splurge like no one business's there.


It will be opened from 10:30am to 10:00pm so I suggest that for people who are willing to take leaves, you guys should reach there by latest 10:00am or the queue will be extremely long.


Bear in mind, they don't let everyone in! When there are too many people, you will just have to wait outside until some people leaves.

It's really sad to see people leaving with all the goodies you wanted. Really saddening T.T


So go there early. No harm anyway! Singaporeans are kiasu anyway!


Location : Conference Hall GHJ (Between Hall 2 & 3)
                Singapore Expo
                1 Expo Drive #01-01
                Singapore 486150


I'm sure by now you guys must be thinking, "What the fuck? Where the hell is Conference hall GHJ man? I've only heard of Hall 1,2,3, etc."


Fear not because you have just been to the most comprehensive blog ever.


I have found the map and kindly drawn out the route from the Expo MRT straight into the Conference Hall by using a red thick line.


The red star signifies your destination! You can thank me later! Hehe

Yep, so that's the end to the guide to this year's Burberry Sale, you have to go there okay or you will regret for the rest of your life!!!


P.S. I will like to offer a business purchase strategy: Go on the 2nd day if possible because the 1st day offer great stuff but they are too expensive with little discounts.


On the 3rd day, the discounts will be crazy but the goods left are crazily-boring too. Hence, I suggest that you go on the 2nd day, the price will be reasonable and you will most likely get what you wish for!


Make a wish now!



Be there or be square!


Credits -shoppingsales, -wordpress, -businessoffashion, -burberry, -blogspot

Mummy

Happy Birthday to my Dear Mummy !!!

31st January 2010.

Thank God I still remember :)))

Thank you for helping me to pull my blanket over me when I'm cold at night! Even though I'm a big boy now.

Thank you for charging my phone when I always forget to.

Thank you for washing and packing my army clothings for me all the time. That had saved me a hell lot of time and I hate to book in so packing the clothes would have been more disastrous.

Thank you for preparing my breakfast when I wake up late.

Thank you giving me so much money when I needed to new stuff.

Thank you for buying me so many great stuff and paying for my education!

Thank you so very very much T.T

You are the best mummy ever!

Legos

Lego lost its way in 1998 and 2004 when they started to make devastating loss. Rather than just resorting to outsourcing and retrenchments, its CEO had an apt strategy.


He simplified the management structure, sold off the Lego theme parks for some $500 million and generally washed his hands as much as possible of some of the distracting Lego lifestyle fodder -- watches, clothing, dolls. Its legos star wars collection was pretty much a huge success !


This is the classic example underscoring the point that it is best to stick to the knitting in business. Never do the business that you do not understand even if it seems extremely enticing and lucrative. By giving in to your avaricious behavior will get you nowhere but square 1.

Much of the previous diversification was stopped and the company set about re- familiarizing itself with its core products.

Legos start to construct a core story around its products once again, that is to allow the kids to familiarize themselves with the adults through construction.

"There's a basic need in children to put their hands on and construct things and Lego works because it's a challenge that also appeals to your creativity," said Jan Christensen, a communications manager at Lego, in Billund. "That's appealing and has been for more than fifty years."


Much encomiums have been showered on kids over the past few years, as being one of the most creative human beings in the world. Having a tebula rasa allows to see things from a fresh new perspectives that no adults can ever imagine. They question every single assumptions we made and compelled us to revisit some of the postulations we have about various issues in lives.

Legos crystallise the creative juices in the bombastic mind of the kids. They just keep building and building without stopping. Each time they construct something, it is fresh and out of the box. Adults are definitely comfortable with Legos since it brings out the genius in their child rather than being abetted to the purchasing of stultifying toys that kids are often infatuated with, for example, Barbie dolls. No offence here!

Credits -marketwatch, -funny-potato, -actionfigureinsider, -photobucket, -4.bp