Taiwan’s Policy to Promote e-Books
Posted on | February 2, 2010 | No Comments
The Office to Promote the Digital Content Industry, an agency that helps develop an industry worth tens of billions of US dollars, was unveiled on September 29, 2009. The establishment of this agency is testimony to Taiwan’s intention to develop its e-book industry. Xu Qing-qi, Director of the Office to Promote the Digital Content Industry responsible for the development of the digital content industry, and Vice President of the Institute for Information Industry, notes the government plans to invest NT$2.134 billion over five years to develop Taiwan’s digital content industry, with the aim of establishing 2-3 Chinese-language e-book content exchange centers by 2013. Read more
Mobility Value: The Supermarket Checkout
Posted on | January 29, 2010 | No Comments
Sometimes mobile or wireless service experts get baffled why users don’t take up their killer-application. Value creation in mobile services is rarely related to their actual cost. Tourists can pay more in roaming charges than their entire touristic expenditure for an average stay; managing parking through advanced mobile services is rationalised down to a (high margin) mobile payment transaction.
In today’s mobility industry, users are expected to pay per kilobyte and not for their gain in efficiency, productivity, pleasure or other gains provided by a service.
If we compare this to a supermarket Check-out, we may arrive at the value-proposition shown above. Would you enter a shop in which you pay for a) the time you spent in the shop, b) the width of the corridors (bandwidth), c) the volume of the goods you bought, and d) 10% just for the pleasure of payment (billing fees)?
Media X at Stanford University: the Ubiquitous Virtual Relationship
Posted on | January 29, 2010 | No Comments
Narrated by: Chuck House
Media X focuses primarily on the influence of science communication and the humanities mainly through research projects sponsored by corporate members or partners, as well as through workshops and seminars. Our teams discuss with these members or partners, select research subjects, and publish research results. We collaborate with these firms in conducting forward-thinking research projects. Read more
Mobile Penetration in Africa
Posted on | January 13, 2010 | No Comments
While reading the Guardian’s digital content blog this morning, I stumbled across the image above in an article about the use of mobile phones in journalism in Africa. To me, this image is both poignant and alarming—-in a country in which there is only 25% electricity penetration, there is already 37% mobile penetration. On a very obvious level, this suggests that powering up mobile phones on the continent can be a challenge and is a real space for innovation in battery supply, etc. However, on a more profound level, it’s an indication that mobile systems will continue to leapfrog other first generation infrastructures.
Living Labs Global Award Shortlist
Posted on | January 12, 2010 | No Comments
The Living Labs Global Team is pleased to announce finalists for the Showcase Award. More than 310 entries have been received for the Award, and dedicated jury panels have worked day and night to review the many Showcases for each City Category. Read more
Copenhagen Layer
Posted on | January 12, 2010 | No Comments
Are you curious about the air quality around you? Would you like to know if you’re walking through a pollution hotspot during your commute or on a leisurely urban stroll? Now, in Copenhagen, you can almost do just that. Read more
Urban Policy and City-identities, Hamburg
Posted on | January 11, 2010 | No Comments
Here’s an interesting think-piece discussing the city of Hamburg’s regeneration, gentrification and urban policy initiatives over the last couple of decades and its struggle to accommodate divergent groups of stakeholders, especially the creative class. Read more
Environmental Scientists partnering with the CIA
Posted on | January 11, 2010 | No Comments
In the U.S., the CIA is partnering with environmental scientists to monitor global climate change. Using the agency’s satellites and classified sensors to gather images and data in remote locations, the CIA will then share this reconnaissance information with a select group of scientists.
This is a novel way to make use of established information channels. Check out the full article here.
Zap Mobile Commerce in Africa
Posted on | January 8, 2010 | No Comments
The mobile commerce solution, ‘Zap’, will now be available in the African nations of Niger, Sierra Leone and Malawi, an expansion from a successful rollout of the service in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda earlier last year; with this most recent launch, the service will now serve 150 million people in six countries on the continent making Zain (the service’s telecommunications provider) the largest mobile commerce operator in the world with respect to geographic coverage, enabled customers and service functionalities. Read more
Considering the Size of Sensors
Posted on | January 8, 2010 | No Comments
Smaller than a penny, this sensor from OmniVision is capable of capturing 14.6-megapixel images and 60-frames-per-second HD video.
As the size of sensors continue to shrink, we can expect mobile phones to increasingly become a one stop shop for all our gadget needs.
keep looking »Living Labs Global Channel
