Hue

Who doesn’t want these lightbulbs? Perfect for setting the mood.

http://www.meethue.com/en-US

 

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Coin

Great idea. Solves a real problem. Disruptive thinking. Beautiful website.

https://onlycoin.com/

 

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Dollar Shave Club

Great Idea. Great Video.  Fantastic Business Model. Very Disruptive.

http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/

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E-Commerce in China

Now a days if your business has website you are selling to the whole world. That said you should be planing your e-commerce strategy into China.

In case your still doubting the size of the Chinese market…BCG forecasts there’ll be 280 million(the population of the US) affluent consumers in China with a disposable income of $20K to $1m, by 2020.¹ Thats a lot of people. The majority of Chinese live in 200+ secondary cities(with 1 million + people in each). However, many of these cities lack a large verity of foreign retail stores. So where do these people shop?…

Online.

Single’s Day, Nov 11, or ‘11,11’ 2012, saw China’s online retailers slash prices by up to 70%, drawing  shoppers in their droves.  On China’s TMall and Taobao alone, Chinese filled their carts with $3 billion of goods in 24 hours, eclipsing the $1.25 billion record US retailers did on Cyber Monday.²   And thats just the start of things.

We estimate that by 2020, as 15 to 20 percent annual growth rates (before inflation) continue, e-tailing could generate $420 billion to $650 billion in sales, and China’s market will equal that of the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France combined today.³

When everything is said and done, deciding on how to move into the Chinese market really depends on a lot of factors, but certainly e-tailing in China is something that can not be overlooked.

 

 

¹  ³ http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/Asia-Pacific/China%20e-tailing
² http://www.searchenginejournal.com/sell-online-in-china/51958/
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Martin Jacques: Understanding the rise of China

This is an excellent video about the rise of China.

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Nanjing, China



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In China it Pays (Literally) to Follow People on Twitter/Weibo

Your new car is made in China!

“Billionaire and philanthropist Chen Guangbiao stands on the roof of a new car he bought in the eastern city of Nanjing yesterday. Chen spent about 5 million yuan (US$794,252) in purchasing new cars, all Chinese brands, for the 43 owners of Japanese cars that were damaged last month during nationwide anti-Japan anger fueled by Japan’s “purchase” of the Diaoyu Islands from a so-called private owner. The 43 are all followers of Chen’s microblog on Weibo. Chen, well known for his flamboyance and high-profile charity activities, has more than 3.5 million followers on the social networking website.”

Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/nsp/National/2012/10/11/Your%2Bnew%2Bcar%2Bis%2Bmade%2Bin%2BChina/

 

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National Day of the People’s Republic of China

National Day of the People’s Republic of China (October 1st 2012) Nanjing Road, Shanghai China

National Day is considered one of Chinas “Great Migrations”… you may be able to tell why:)

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Interactive Transparent Display – Coming to iPhone 5?

Ok so there has been a lot of talk about the iPhone 5. One of the features that has been rumored is an “iclear retina display” (essentially an interactive glass phone). If you havent seen this video, check it out.

Props to Dakota Adney for making a sweet concept video. Apparently, he is 17 years old and clearly has some great editing skills.

 The youtube description states:

Clearly amazing. The quad-core A5 chip delivers even more power. The laser projection keyboard liberates your thumbs. The new iClear Retina display presents sharp graphics and stunning images.

 

iOS 6 will take your iPhone experience in an entirely new direction. And if there’s anything else you need, just ask Siri.

 

Wait! Dont get too excited. Lets back up a little. Is this interactive transparent display possible and how likely are we to see the “iclear retina display” in the iPhone 5?

 At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung’s Transparent Window got a lot of attention (and for good reason).  Not to mention, the Smart Window won the Innovation Award of CES-2012. Check it out below. It is amazing!

To add some perspective, The Transparent Smart Window will not be available until the end of 2012 (if all goes to plan). Never the less, interactive transparent display has been proven possible. Woop Woop!
Samsung and Apple are at war with each other. Patents are not the only thing they are battling over. Jordan Crook, from TechCrunch reports Apple and Samsung “combined, took home 55 percent of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2012. More importantly, they’re walking away with 90 percent of the market’s profits.” You better believe both companies are looking to take their mobile products to the next level. Samsung is developing interactive transparent display devices, I’m positive Apple is too.

The closest “iclear retina display” mobile device seen is still a prototype.  It was developed by Japanese wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo and Fujitsu. Below they show off a transparent dual-sided OLED touch screen smartphone prototype device at the 2012 Wireless Japan expo.

Its cool… but not as cool as Adneys’ ”iclear retina display” in the iPhone 5. The NTT DoCoMo and Fujitsu prototype is pretty amazing though – an impressive feat, to say the least. History also shows us that in 2010 Sony took a shot at the mobile transparent display with their Xperia Pureness… and lets just say it didn’t take off.

Looking at the current state of mobile interactive transparent display devices and taking into consideration Apples OCD for perfection (there is nothing wrong with that) it is unlikely we will see the “iclear retina display” in the iPhone 5 coming out this fall… In the foreseeable future, most definitely.

Dont be disappointed. The future looks bright, take a look at the Samsung video below.

A flexible mobile device is the most likely feature to hit mass production this year. The interactive transparent display still needs improvement before we see Apple build it into its iPhone. As for the 3D holograms you saw, thats many years off…

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Teaching Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries

Throughout my studies at Clark University and American University, it has become apparent that foreign aid has had mixed effects on “lifting” counties out of poverty and/or into economic development. Many times foreign aid doesnt reach the people it is meant for due to corruption, greed, and/or inefficient distribution models. Not to mention, many countries have become relient on foreign aid and expect it year after year…  I realize there are exceptions and I am not suggesting foreign aid is a complete waste of time/money. However, foreign aid (a top down approach) must be complemented with a “bottom up” approach to lift a country out of poverty and into sustainable economic development.

Entrepreneurship is rarely taught in developing countries. While this may be obvious, it is a big problem. Entrepreneurs are economic drivers. Entrepreneurship skills should be taught along side of reading and writing. In a country where many social/economic problems lay… the solution is in economics. To produce economics of scale people need to be taught the basics of building a business. If we take the principles and lessons we have learned from capitalism and the free market and apply them to social change. We can attack global problems and accomplish the same types of individual goals we had set forth in a capitalistic market but in a social way. Giving people these tools will lift the society as a whole over time and solve global problems.

Taking an individual approach to lifting a county out of poverty and into economic development will take time. Most likely a long time :) That is why teaching entrepreneurship must be complemented with foreign aid. Suppling aid to a country from the top down while teaching the basic skills of entrepreneurship on the ground floor, will lift a country out of poverty and into sustainable long term social/economic growth.

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