December 2011
3 posts
Is Nokia following the Apple steps?
I still remember it was around 98, when Nokia was the cool phone, the one you need to have. It was (if I’m not mistaken) the first to go without antenna and came out with sleek plastic color designs that can be customized. It used to be a great product, a great phone that everyone loves. I think these days it may need to focus on low to middle market as “how the mighty have...
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iPhone 4S launched in KL
Well after months of waiting iPhone 4S has finally arrived in Kuala Lumpur today, so I went to check it out today at the first outlet available. Currently you can only pick it up at Maxis KLCC, I think (and I only am guessing) they have reserved iPhone 4S for people that has pre-registered at their website weeks ago.I have to say, I was expecting a bit more excitement (something like a long queue...
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Zynga, North or South?
Zynga, has been getting the PR spotlight in tech, gaming, Internet or social media industry for the last couple of weeks. Biggest headline or pressure to launch USD $1 billion IPO offering, largest since 2004 of Google.First, Zynga has discovered a niche market of ‘freemium’ business model, it can strike a balance between getting cash from its players (although the margin is low) or it...
October 2011
2 posts
The World Mourns for Jobs
Yesterday the world lost an innovator and a dear friend. Someone that has inspired me and hopefully the rest of the world. He works tirelessly and shows what a love on what you do, could change the world. He has not only revolutionize his company, but also created opportunities for others outside and globally. Donald Trump once said “as long as you’re thinking, think BIG”. I...
Malaysia Internet Landscape
See the full gallery on Posterous Posted via email from Adhi Goen - Digital Addicts | Comment »
September 2011
1 post
August 2011
1 post
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Group Buying Deals in Malaysia
My apology for not updating the blog for some time, my current project takes up my time than I liked.For the past 3 months, I’ve observed the rise of Group Buying deal in Malaysia and it is quite amazing, I believe by now there are at least more than 100-200 companies with similar concepts. Here are several I’ve encountered and know of so far: - Everyday, that was recently acquired by...
July 2011
1 post
Langham Accommodation Booking Engine
Langham is the latest hotel to join the Facebook + Hotels craze, great to see their initiatives on integrating their booking engine. Be interested to see how far their social media will travel, hopefully better turnout on content this time. Check-out their Facebook page here. See the full gallery on Posterous Posted via email from Adhi Goen - Digital Addicts | Comment » ...
June 2011
1 post
Foursquare iPhone App Update
Foursquare recently reached 100 million users worldwide, although it is still very tiny in Malaysia like 0.1% and its not a very active at the moment. Although I am seeing more deals coming online, would be interesting to see the redemption of the offer, of course some of the offer are just way to hard or simply not attractive enough.The layout of the updated Foursquare iPhone app is just updated...
May 2011
1 post
From the Big J, to eL
“Tempus Fugit”, without realizing I’ve opened another chapter in my life. I’ve been told, heard and read that in life not everything goes according to the plan - one door shuts, another window opens. I grabbed that window of opportunity and took a bold move from the Jing (Beijing), down to L (KL - Kuala Lumpur). The weather is expected hot with high humidity and I arrived...
April 2011
1 post
3 tags
Jing since 1997... this is my story
“Beijing… a city full of tradition, tradition…” was the opening line by my good friend, during my days with InterContinental. This will probably be my last blog entry… from Beijing. I haven’t given this moment much thought, but 12 years… “Don’t they go by in a blink?”I still remember when I first arrive, Beijing was a city like no others...
March 2011
10 posts
6 tags
More China Groupon Ads
If you are in China recently, you’ll see a lot more of Groupon ads from different websites. Its just blanketing the whole city, on every channel you can imagine - banner ads, bus, TV, posters and so on. According to Gang Lu, China tech Internet expert the Groupon industry in China is spending millions and millions or RMB to promote their service superiority.Direct quote from Technode, below...
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Sina Weibo App - Weico
Since I started my Sina Weibo, its been quite a ride, I guess its geographic circumstances… but everyone I met here in Beijing has a weibo account and instead of asking my mobile number or email, they asked for my weibo ID.Thanks to my good pal Foniz, which has been cruising on weibo for a lot longer than I do. He shared with me this really cool weibo app - Weico and I have to say after...
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Flipboard from Sina Weibo
I guess social network concepts and mobiles are not the only one copied in China, but also iTunes app. Check-out this one SinaMag, which is very very similar to Flipboard. It streams content only from Sina Weibo right now, maybe in the future they can combine it with Kaixin001, Renren or other Weibo channels. The app also has several magazines available for reading, but very limited at the moment....
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China All-out Groupon Wars
Groupon after somewhat rough entry into China market (contradicting Tibet advertisement, hiring first time laowai as their China boss and launching the site without the partners consent), finally launched their Chinese website in conjunction with Tencent. It’s funny, in marketing there is one part where it is said (and proven) that once you have found a unique niche business, be careful of...
6 tags
Got my Sina Weibo Account Verified
And voila on my fourth day of cruising around the Sina Weibo, I’ve got my account verified. In case you come across http://t.sina.com.cn/adhigoen it is really me :)How’s that for speed? I’ve been using Twitter almost two years now, I guess I need to wait another couple more years or become a celebrity to get my account verified. Getting your account verified is relatively easy,...
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A Review of Why Sina Weibo is Awesome
After a very long struggle I’ve finally give in to the awesomeness of Weibo and finally opened my account - http://t.sina.com.cn/adhigoen.Here is a list on top of my own why I think it is not a direct Twitter clone, but a better one:First off, Sina has always been a strong news website that has similar concept like Yahoo!.Obviously their years of success in China results in a lot of...
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Sina Microblog iPad App Review
Sina Microblog has been on the offensive move, within a year they have achieved more than what Twitter can. Currently Twitter features over 200 million users, but Sina Microblog reached 100 million just in a year. This year they announced two service - direct video uploading and voicemail for sending tweets, as well as Sina LBS or geo-location check-in service directly via their native app (plus...
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Flexamail, Access Social Network from Your...
After Egypt incident, Flexamail kicks in as a service provider that allows people to access their favorite social network directly from email. Their API access your Facebook or Twitter and can pull recent updates or tweets. Although you do need to find a way to authorize the accounts first before you can do this, I’ve tested it and it’s pretty handy. Once you’ve set it, its not...
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Little Keywords Modification, Impacts Your Search...
Couple months back I experimented on our company website, moving around keywords in the web page title, meta description and body tags to include consistent keywords related to our business. The results was quite surprising, if you go on Google and search on “PR Agency in… Beijing or Shanghai” we’ll come up in the first page, while our Hong Kong and Singapore office comes...
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Facebook Just Getting Started
It’s March 2nd, 13 more days to the 15th and Facebook is still here, hopefully it’ll stay that way. Earlier this year a news or rather rumors from an unverified website or source almost shook the world of social media. An unconfirmed press release was sent out in the name of “Facebook” with a statement from Mark himself that he will shut Facebook down in March. Turns out...
February 2011
37 posts
3 tags
Wanderfly, I want to #travel to...
I was very impressed with Wanderfly, although it is still in beta. I think it will have a bright future ahead.Here is why I like it: You can enter your budget for traveling, when and where you are departing from. You can select the mood you are interested in - outdoor adventure, beach, snow, etc. It will provide for you short intro of the destination, photos, map twitter feed on the destination,...
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Linkedin Share Network Map
Looks like Linkedin has been busy, with their latest Linkedin Maps and Linkedin Swarm.Linkedin Maps shows how you are well connected to the people in your network and how they connect to each other, not only that you get to identify which contacts you want to expand next. You also get to tag in colors your network contacts, whether by industry, profession, groups, etc. Accessing this is easy and...
6 tags
Google Approach Travel Industry, Reshaping the...
After reading this article by Daniel A. Crane - Let’s Calm Down On The Google-ITA Deal, I started to look again on Google move onto the travel market. Last year Google Map launched an upgrade in UK, which enables people to search hotel booking date directly on the map website, it also compares several sites at once per hotel listing. It looks like the service now have started to expand to other...
6 tags
Twitter Native App for Mac
I was intrigued by this app since Twitter announced it on their official blog.The app overall looks is strikingly similar to Tweetie (I don’t imagine this will do well for their app sales), you got the bar on the left hand side The differences are:App is free (hooray to that).You can add multiple accounts.You can set photo hosting like TwitPic, Posterous, etc.Photo services immediately load...
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Magnt Update
Magntize just announced their 2.0 upgrades.For starter the name has been changed from Magntize to Magnt, shorter easy to remember.Price has gone down as cheap as your cup of coffee per month hosting.Analytics for your online business card, you can look at your weekly traffic, top website referrers and search terms.New themes and designs. Why online business card, have you ever seen someone that...
Google welcomes Yahoo Delicious ((tag: yahoo,...
It seems the sage continues on Yahoo abandoning Delicious and intend to sell it off, since then many bookmarking other bookmark tool has open their hands for Delicious refugee to save their favorite bookmark. You can go and import your bookmark here and also use add-ons like GMark that is as easy as using native add-ons of Delicious.Mashable covers the details on Delicious import to...
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Ritz-Carlton Many Faces on Twitter
Has anyone noticed the faces of Ritz-Carltons on Twitter lately? I remember couple years ago, when Ritz launched their in 2009 Twitter accounts there were only three - their CEO, Ritz-Carlton to represent PR and CSR for their community.Today they have many faces active on Twitter, engaging not only media, but also travelers. Check them out, also did a Klout scores:@SimonFCooper - Simon F Cooper,...
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TripAdvisor 2011 The Best Hotels
Categories are Top 25 of the world, United States, Europe, Japan, India, China and Hong Kong/Macao/Taiwan. For category wise it is top 10 of Bargain, All-inclusive, Romance, B&B/Inns, Luxury, Relaxation/Spa, Trendiest, Best Service (categorized per area) and Europe favorite hotels.I don’t know exactly how this list is pulled, but I believe its based on readers hotel review and if the...
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Dianping Enters China Tuangou
Joining the latest China Groupon craze is Dianping, Dianping is pretty much similar to ZAGAT which has started earlier and has worked closely with restaurants. This gives Dianping an advantage of having already a strong network, not considering they have large diners database, solid reviews, editorial team for support and restaurant advertisers.I do believe Dianping Tuangou or Groupon will be a...
8 tags
Dianping LBS Review
Couple months ago I did a simple note on Dianping LBS service for iPhone, I finally got a chance to try it out.As Dianping large user base and directory are based on restaurants, naturally good eats are the main search that you can look via your GPS near you or via the map. Checking in is easy, you can also give a quick review 1-5 star rating on the atmosphere, food or service. You can also check...
4 tags
Mac App Store
I finally got the chance to update my Mac OS X and install the Mac App Store.Quick overview:Looks a lot like iPhone and iPad App Store.Main page is layout like iTunes, you get the featured apps, new comers or top grossing, etc.Each app gets their own page, with developers, screenshot and user ratings.You will need an Apple ID like the usual.Download is easy and instant. Overall its pretty easy and...
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JiePang Meets Foursquare and Instagram
JiePang has just recently upgraded their mobile apps, I felt its more like JiePang meets Foursquare with their latest photo taking capability, plus Instagram effects on applying different filters. I noted the capability of searching a deal base on your closest location, as well as groupon type of offers. You can also see the weekly and overall leaderboard scores. The also provides HTML5 version...
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Disney Promotes Tron on Youku
After my last blog post on Youku launching online store, looks like Disney decided to boost its online presence and tap into China online video user. Below an image of Tron promoted on Youku dedicated page, you can watch trailer, play the game and download wallpapers. There isn’t any online paid cinema feature like the others, but I suspect it will come soon.I am seeing that a lot other tv...
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Disney Promotes Tron on Youku
After my last blog post on Youku launching online store, looks like Disney decided to boost its online presence and tap into China online video user Below an image of Tron promoted on Youku dedicated page, you can watch trailer, play the game and download wallpapers. There isn’t any online paid cinema feature like the others, but I suspect it will come soon. I am seeing that a lot other tv...
5 tags
Disney Promotes Tron on Youku
After my last blog post on Youku launching online store, looks like Disney decided to boost its online presence and tap into China online video user Below an image of Tron promoted on Youku dedicated page, you can watch trailer, play the game and download wallpapers. There isn’t any online paid cinema feature like the others, but I suspect it will come soon. I am seeing that a lot other tv...
5 tags
Hotel Websites Integrates TripAdvisor Reviews
Last year Accor started the program of integrating TripAdvisor, one of the most important and probably largest hotel review social network into their website.I just noticed that more and more hotels are integrating it into their website, good or bad they are what they are.Here are just some hotels I was able to found that integrates TripAdvisor into their website, but please share with me if you...
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Youku Launches Online Video Store
It looks like Youku has found itself a second wind, paid movie, just noticed this couple days ago.In the past you can watch any new or old big-screen movie on Youku for free, typically it is from a user that obtain the pirated content and uploaded it. But since Youku gone IPO all of these contents were erased.Youku now launches their latest feature and possibly a new source of revenue - Youku...
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Linkedin Swarm Shows Trending Data
After Linkedin Maps announcement, Linkedin brought in a very cool tag cloud keywords called the Linkedin Swarm. No login or anything necessary.According to the blog, Linkedin Swarm purpose is to visualize the massive “human data” generated by 85 million of their members.The key phrase or keywords randomly shows top companies, job titles, industry, popular search and others visualized...
5 tags
Linkedin Swarm Shows Trending Data
After Linkedin Maps announcement, Linkedin brought in a very cool tag cloud keywords called the Linkedin Swarm. No login or anything necessary.According to the blog, Linkedin Swarm purpose is to visualize the massive “human data” generated by 85 million of their members.The key phrase or keywords randomly shows top companies, job titles, industry, popular search and others visualized...
Snapshots around #SMWHK
7 tags
Facebook Fan Page 2.0, Socially Friendly
Last Friday - 11 Feb 2011, Facebook announced new fan page upgrades will start to roll-out, as usual Facebook has been really busy rolling out more new services. Here are just some of the new FB Fan Page 2.0 features on the surface:First thing, the business page now looks more social friendly, instead of looking like a business now it looks like a friend. So you might as well be friend with the...
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Facebook Combats Wall Spam Posting
Don’t you hate it when people litter on your Facebook page’s wall?Luckily Facebook has stepped up in combatting spam, for page admin you’ll now notice a grey color on some of your spam post from your fans (see below for several sample of the color highlight, which makes admin life easier in combatting spammer). You can now easily remove post, this is helpful for page with lots of...
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SMWHK Day 2: Navigating China Social Media Space
I just came back from Hong Kong, attending 1 day of Social Media Week which originated in the US and being brought down to Asia for the first time. One of the event I co-organize is China Social Media which I have to say generated a lot of interest. Aside from highlight of growth potential, people were also asking if any of China major player of SNS like Renren or Sina would go International, so...