renaissance chambara | Ged Carroll culture/design/digital/eastasia/ideas/insights/marketing/socialengineering

gadget

CES trends

Early January means CES in the tech calendar as the media gives its full attention to the consumer electronics sector. With some 2,600 exhibitors there was a lot of news coming out of the event. But I was more interested in some of the more macro trends that you could see from the coverage and [...]

I like: Samsung Galaxy Y DUOS

I currently have two mobile phones, an iPhone 3GS for all that stuff that smart phones do and texting. My second phone is a Samsung B5702 DUOS phone that does my voice calls. Its a great phone with a week long battery life and a space for two SIMs. With the Samsung Galaxy Y DUOS, [...]

Out and about: Mobile Monday London: HTML vs. app

Here are the notes I made from a panel discussion on the benefits of the mobile web versus a native application. Things broadly split down with the technical rationale for the web; applications seems to be much more about what consumers want. There seemed to be an assumption that mobile network access is of a [...]

Samsung building hype through eBay

I got an email from eBay promoting that it was selling 500 Samsung Galaxy tablets at a discount. It was an interesting tactic probably being used as part of a wider campaign to try and get a critical mass of tablets out there and hopefully build a bit of buzz in the face of Apple’s [...]

Augmented adult entertainment (probably NSFW)

It was only a matter of time before someone turned the Kinect into a controller for an adult-themed metaverse called ThriXXX. Its all a bit creepy and sad in my book, though some cyber-futurists will herald it as a further step towards all of us becoming The Lawnmower Man. If it takes off (and I [...]

Expansys’ Most Wanted

Expansys’ Most Wanted, originally uploaded by renaissancechambara. Expansys sent through a marketing email highlighting what they described as ‘Most Wanted Gadgets in 2009′. I must admit only one out of six items made my own personal desire list, but what do I know. What would be your half dozen ‘Most Wanted Gadgets in 2009′? Here’s [...]

iPhone 3GS: no longer O2 exclusive?

Interesting page over on the expansys site which I grabbed just now. They are selling what they describe as an Apple iPhone 3G S (EU, Black 32GB) which is: supplied network-unlocked, i.e. you can use this device with a SIM card from any UK or European GSM network (e.g. Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2, etc.).  It is [...]

iPhone 3GS versus Nokia (its not what you think)

I have been using the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music since February and have had Nokias since Ericsson became SonyEricsson and things went off the deep-end. In the end, I picked up 32GB iPhone 3GS, this is what I have used in my comparison between the iPhone experience and the Nokia experience. I had been resistant [...]

Samsung Windows Mobile has PC-like experience

Windows BSoD, originally uploaded by renaissancechambara. Cellphone companies now have giant demonstrator phones in the window which are basically presentations on a loop. I did have to chuckle when I saw this giant demonstrator phone of a Samsung handset with the distinctive Microsoft Windows blue screen of death on display. I found the strapline on [...]

The netbook is dead, long live the netbook

FastCompany published a good analysis of the netbook phenomena where they argue that the netbook as a growth item is over and has now just become another class of PC. This makes sense and we have seen it with other devices in the past, such as the Palm PDA. I think however that the netbook [...]

iPhone does a Facebook

I was reading the WSJ blogs and came across Andy Jordan’s article on ‘crap apps’ iPhone applications that are the code equivalent of the whoopee cushion or the paper hat that you get in a Christmas cracker. In ‘The Trucker Hats of iPhone Apps’, one of the people interviewed rationalises these applications as ‘…add users [...]

Wii clone in the window of Ryness Lighting & Electrical on High Holborn

Wii clone in the window of Ryness Lighting & Electrical in High Holborn, originally uploaded by renaissancechambara. I was walking to Chancery Lane tube station along High Holborn when I noticed this in the window of Ryness electrical store which caters to the legal and financial institutions round about. I wonder what does a Wii [...]

Disconnected

Hotel room view in Causeway Bay, originally uploaded by renaissancechambara. I arrived in Hong Kong safely thanks to Cathay Pacific, I was more traumatised by my technology than the culture and temperature shock. My Nokia E90 suddenly decided that it has a battery life of half an hour. I thought that I had resolved this [...]

The iPhone’s chubby, less attractive cousin

Palm made its final grasp for relevance earlier today with the launch of a new operating system and device. The Palm Pre looks as if it has been defined by the iPhone. In fact it reminds me of when I was younger and would go out with my friends. I or my friend would find [...]

← Before


Back to Home

renaissance chambara | Ged Carroll - Created by Ged and offered to surfers (or whatever folks do on the 'web now) under a BSD licence. From a technology perspective this site is powered by WordPress and supercharged with caffiene. It looks minimalist, yet aesthetically pleasing thanks to a slightly tweaked version of DePo Skinny Theme designed by the talented Mr Powazek. The site is hosted on a grid service by the clever people at (mt).