Hyundai-Kia Ties With Microsoft For “In-Vehicle Entertainment” 8 May 2008
Posted by Michael in Branding, Innovation, Korea, News, Products, Services.add a comment
Bill Gates, after meeting with Korean President Lee, announced Microsoft will invest $100M+ in setting up the “Automotive IT Innovation Center” jointly with Hyundai-Kia Motors, the nation’s premier auto company. According to Reuters, the first product under the partnership would be a voice-controlled system linking mobile devices to car stereo systems; Later versions are expected to include multimedia and navigation-related features. In plain English: the US-bound Hyundai and Kia vehicles will soon have Microsoft-powered gadgets and interfaces inside the cars. As evidenced by Ray Ozzie’s “Mesh” plan, Microsoft is working hard on its new corporate vision to provide ubiquitous connected experience across all devices and environments, including the driver’s seat. Meanwhile, BMW has begun offering on-board internet access. Other companies like Nissan and Apple should also be looking at similar opportunities.
[From Web 2.0 Asia]
Taiwan Wants To Build Their Own Brands 15 April 2008
Posted by Michael in Branding, Innovation, Observation, Opinion, Products, Services, Taiwan.add a comment
Huang Der-Ray, director general of the Hsinchu Science Park Administration, said companies in the park had steadily increased spending on research and development from 4 percent of total revenue in previous years to 7 percent in the past three years.
Companies have also begun to focus on innovation and building their own brands. Mediatek, a chip design company that initially focused on optical storage drivers’ chips, has ventured into other areas, including designing chips for wireless communications and high-definition digital televisions. The company is one of the most profitable in the science park and is considered a pioneer in its designs.
Several companies in the science park have focused on research into new technologies, including solar energy. Just in the past two years, more than 15 companies in Hsinchu have invested in solar research, Huang said. One, Gintech Energy, has been successful in designing solar panels, which it sells to power companies around the world.
More companies are also moving toward design instead of just manufacturing. A decade ago, only about 20 or 30 companies in the Hsinchu Science Park were chip design companies, with most being contract manufacturers. Now, there are 80 companies whose focus is IC design, Huang said.
“This is Taiwan’s Silicon Valley,” Huang said. “This park is not just a manufacturing base. It wants to design new products. We are now going toward this direction, creating Taiwan’s own brands.”
Analysts said one of the biggest challenges Taiwan companies faced in developing a global brand is overcoming the label-consciousness of consumers here, who prefer internationally recognized brands rather than domestically designed products. Other than Acer and ASUS, which are laptop brands of Taiwan, few homegrown Taiwan high-tech products are known around the world, unlike in South Korea.
[From the IHT]
Samsung Pushes 3D Plasma TVs 14 April 2008
Posted by Michael in Innovation, Korea, News, Products.add a comment
Electronics powerhouse Samsung recently unveiled a three-dimensional viewing experience that stirred many among the tech-journo crowd witnessing the event. Apparently the content, a Tiger Woods smack, came at them so fast and stunningly real that a ‘fore’ wasn’t heard from behind the goggles. Yes, goggles are still with us but the technology is getting pretty sweet, especially for over-cashed gamers who want nothing but the latest. We’ve seen some high-profile cinematic 3-D this past year, notably U2’s concert, and we’re likely to see Samsung and others bring the experience into the living room.
“After a century and a half of intermittent research, three-dimensional television is so close, you may feel you can reach out and touch it.
Some people watching the demonstration at Samsung’s digital media and telecoms research park in Suwon, an hour south of Seoul, do try to grab the animated images of approaching spacecraft, anthropomorphic cars and blobby aliens. It makes them look even sillier than the oversize goggles they have to wear to get the 3D effect. But the experience is so riveting that none of them cares. “It feels really real,” declares one normally sceptical French technology journalist as he tries on the goggles for a third viewing.
The target early adopters for 3D TV are, anyway, the affluent young men who have redefined cool to include computer games. No longer geeky, this business will be worth $46.5bn (£23.6bn) by 2010, almost half as much as the $104bn filmed-entertainment market, and it’s growing faster. High-end games, like most animated films today, are created using CGI (computer- generated images), and making them 3D is child’s play: you just instruct the computer to calculate each frame from two slightly different angles. The result is an illusion of depth which, whether you’re roaring around Monte Carlo in your F1 Ferrari or quarterbacking the Dallas Cowboys to NFL glory, makes a huge difference to the feel and enjoyment of a game.”
[From The Independent]
Toshiba innovates ‘invitation-only’ mobile phone 22 March 2008
Posted by Michael in Branding, Innovation, Japan, News, Products, Services.add a comment
This set of handsets from Toshiba targets the ultra-luxury segment who want to be seen with the rarest of personal devices. Although Toshiba brought some interesting things together, none are terrifically unique. A high-profile designer, a long wait for exclusivity factor, some concierge services and a hunt-for-it availability. The ‘invitation-only’ is a bit misleading as it is available to people who seek out a special code in a magazine. What could have been more interesting, and perhaps even more lucrative, is to make it truly invitation only.
[From InventorSpot]
Taiwan’s Acer keeps three brands, but should they? 20 March 2008
Posted by Michael in Branding, News, Opinion, Products, Strategy, Taiwan.add a comment
Taiwan PC brand Acer conducted a splashy, first-ever US press conference last week while also announcing the acquisition of Packard Bell. Last year Acer picked up US PC-maker Gateway. Now, with three challenger brands with footholds in different regional markets, Acer is pushing a strategy of supporting all three. Additionally, they announced they would keep the designs relatively the same. Although they certainly reviewed the optional brand strategies extensively, it seems like viable alternative approaches are to: One, make a clear bold investment in building a single, world-class brand leveraging the IP and assets of all the brands or Two: Better addressing design, performance or usage segments using the different three brands. More from PC World.
“Brand China” moving up the quality ladder 20 March 2008
Posted by Michael in Branding, China, Observation, Products, Strategy.add a comment
For nearly two decades China has been the world’s low-cost factory. Although this remains a strong component of the world’s economic dynamic, China is beginning to see that fray at the edges. Energy prices, increasing wages and protectionist posturing from trading partners is putting pressure on certain industries. Especially vulnerable among these are many light industry areas which are seeing new direct investment and existing production moving to even lower-cost markets like Vietnam. This trend will increasingly spread across the production spectrum forcing Chinese manufacturers to move up the quality ladder rather than being a pure quantity/cost play. When they move in this direction it will be an even more tempting opportunity to properly develop and export Chinese brands. More from Xinhua.
Nokia innovates culture with Feng Shui app 14 March 2008
Posted by Michael in China, Culture, News, Products, Services, Telecom.add a comment
Gang Lu points out that Nokia has done a great job innovating a new software set especially for China and Hong Kong. The app helps predict and recommend your feng shui “situation.” Says Lu, “For the unfamiliar, feng shui is the ancient Chinese art of arranging objects and space in an environment in order to achieve balance, harmony and good energy. The software is designed for the Hong Kong market, which is one of the areas where the adherents to feng shui principles are the strongest.” A good example of localizing to make better, more engaging connections.
[From PSFK]
