Taxiwise
Cab Ordering Service ‘Taxiwise’ Has Been Acquired By IKKY, a Likeminded Booking Platform – StartupsHK – it does beg the question, are taxi apps a feature of a larger logistics booking service or a wholly fledged offering in their own right? Taxiwise is a mobile and web taxi booking service for business travelers, foreigners, and expats who do not speak the local language. Which makes me wonder about Taxiwise as by definition it has a really small target audience, many of which are more likely to be using Uber.
Business
The Uber Wars Are Shaping Up to Be Even More Heated in Europe – The Atlantic Cities – I wonder whether this could provoke free trade concerns?
Sony slashes profit forecast – again | RTHK – the Greek tragedy that is Sony rolls on
Consumer behaviour
Strategy Briefing: Mobile Cocooning: How Growing Reliance on Smart Devices is Influencing Consumer Behaviour – Euromonitor International – time to dust off my five year old post on the phenomena of cocooning 2.0
Benjamin Netanyahu’s impassioned rant against smartphone users: ‘You are slaves to your gadgets’ | Washington Post – whilst Mr Netanyahu fails to demonstrate the pragmatism of past Israeli statesmen like Moshe Dayan; you can’t fault him on his criticism of the digital life
Culture
BBC News – Why some English words are controversial in China – mirrors the handwringing in other countries like France
Economics
Asian export growth may have decoupled from western economy | WantChinaTimes – there is also the question of how real western growth actually is…
Legal
How to buy Xiaomi products & identify fake ones? (MI3, Redmi, Power bank) – MIUI General – MIUI Official Community – interesting that Xiaomi having to deal with fake smartphones. Where are the fake Huawei or ZTE handsets? Secondly Xiaomi has some interesting things in place to tell fake and real phones apart. Fake phones are a backhanded complement to the Xiaomi brand
Media
Why China is censoring ‘The Big Bang Theory’ but not ‘Game of Thrones’ | Quartz – most likely explanation
Gerry Conway: The ComiXology Outrage | Comicbook.com – pretty much how I feel about it
Behind The Music (Video): How Important Are Videos to Both Artists and Brands? – with just 5 seconds, product placements in music videos can create 35%+ brand lift—the same 35-60 second placements.
Online
A Eulogy for Twitter – The Atlantic – has Twitter behaviour moved towards more like Chinese consumers on Weibo?
Yahoo’s Default = A Personalized Experience | Yahoo Global Public Policy – Yahoo! fucks over ‘Do Not Track’; screw the consumer we need the cash
Foxconn focuses on social with deal to invest up to $9.6m in microblogging service Mig33 – interesting move. Mig33 is a social network that is big in Iraq and Pakistan focusing on culturally sensitive definition of fun and has struggled with the move to Android. I didn’t realise that Mig33 own Alivenotdead which is big in Chinese music circles for fan engagement
Security
Hacking China’s online games for profit: an interview with a Chinese hacker | Techinasia
Infamous Hacker ‘Weev’ Went On CNBC To Explain The Fascinating Hedge Fund He’s About To Launch
Software
Meet Vhoto: This new iPhone app scans your videos to find amazing still photographs – GeekWire
Taiwan
Japanese strategist says Obama’s power is waning in Asia | WantChinaTimes – Taiwan may not benefit much from US president Barack Obama’s rebalancing strategy in the Asia-Pacific as Obama has less than two years left in office, and that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could be a disaster.
Telecoms
UK phones support US drone strikes | Techeye – I am really surprised that the US Department of Defense trusts a telecoms network full of Huawei gear
Web of no web
Samsung attempts to preempt Apple’s Healthbook launch with a health-focused event of its own in late May | 9to5Mac – let’s hope it’s better designed and adopted than their current native phone apps
Wireless
Share Of iPhone Ownership In The U.S. – Business Insider – Apple seems to have a longer usage of a given handset than other brands