380 Articles for '전체'
- 2008/01/15 Thinkfree won't go anywhere - at least for now
- 2008/01/11 Mobile coupon gaining popularity in Korea (1)
- 2008/01/10 A good look into the Chinese internet market (1)
- 2008/01/10 How much is your idea?
- 2008/01/10 Baidu getting ready to launch in Japan (6)
- 2008/01/09 Bae Yong Joon phone to be launched in Japan (1)
- 2008/01/08 Go Qbox Go (2)
- 2008/01/04 '08 wishlist #1: To help Korean ventures gain more global visibility (7)
- 2007/12/15 An open letter to Asia's web industry people - What do you think about AsiaWeb 2008? (17)
- 2007/12/14 Meconomy from Danny Kim
But I don't think Thinkfree is going down anytime soon. Here's why:
1. The company simply has the best online office tool out there. Read the comments on the TC article, and most people seem to agree that in terms of the sheer product quality, Thinkfree is leading the pack. Some criticize the fact that Thinkfree is based on a rather arcaine Java applet technologies, but customers don't care if it's Ajax or Applet - as long as the service delivers.
2. Thinkfree in terms of customer adoption, but we're only talking about the so-called "B2C" market here, i.e. individual web users. If the "B2B" market is included as well, we'd be talking about a very different picture. For example, Naver (Korea's #1 portal) will soon launch "Naver office", a re-branded service of Thinkfree Online. Once Naver Office goes up (now it's in closed beta), Thinkfree will easily add millions to its user base. I don't know how the revenue structure has been set up between Thinkfree and Naver, but Naver Office will certainly be a boon to Thinkfree.
3. The owner of Thinkfree, Haansoft, is an engineering powerhouse and has extensive experience with (offline) office applications. They know what they are doing with Thinkfree.
Sean Cho of Thinkfree commented on the TC article, basically saying they are shifting to focus more on corporate customers, both in the US and in Korea. I'm not seeing glittering signs Thinkfree is going into deadpool, at least for now.
TAG ThinkFree
Chosun Ilbo reports that in Korean market, mobile coupon is seeing increased use among young users. This is an encouraging sign, with the mobile internet service business in general being stagnant.
Users present mobile coupon (which normally includes a barcode, as shown above - many shops in Korea has m-coupon barcode readers) to get discounts, or they can also forward their coupons to friends as a gift. While SMS ads are being recognized as "spams", mobile coupons are being even "welcomed" by many consumers, the article says.
SK Telecom's mobile coupon service, dubbed "Gifti-con", saw an year-over-year growth of 700% from 2006 to 2007.
Users present mobile coupon (which normally includes a barcode, as shown above - many shops in Korea has m-coupon barcode readers) to get discounts, or they can also forward their coupons to friends as a gift. While SMS ads are being recognized as "spams", mobile coupons are being even "welcomed" by many consumers, the article says.
SK Telecom's mobile coupon service, dubbed "Gifti-con", saw an year-over-year growth of 700% from 2006 to 2007.
Below is the sample version of "Inside QQ", an excellent report on China's internet service market (with particular focus on QQ service) from my friend Benjamin Joffe et al. The original version can be found on Plus 8 star website.
A major Korean TV channel, SBS, aired an interesting TV program called "Idea - How much?" the other day.
The TV show is basically an idea auction. Contestants pitch their business idea and tens of CEOs in the panel buy the idea in an instant auction.
Among several ideas pitched during the show, what was bought at the highest price was the idea to turn PC screen savers into online streaming video. The idea was purchased at KRW 700m (roughly US$ 750k). Not a bad return for a single guy.
PC screen savers normally display flying Windows logos or other boring stuff. The person came up with an idea to turn these boring screen savers into online video streaming service - when your PC goes into sleep mode, your PC computer monitor plays streaming video, such as update news or movie trailers, instead of flying Windows logo.
Actually, it was more than just an idea - the person actually turned his idea into a product after years of research and now has 5 million users, he claims. If that's true, US$ 750k might be just about the right price.
The TV show is basically an idea auction. Contestants pitch their business idea and tens of CEOs in the panel buy the idea in an instant auction.
Among several ideas pitched during the show, what was bought at the highest price was the idea to turn PC screen savers into online streaming video. The idea was purchased at KRW 700m (roughly US$ 750k). Not a bad return for a single guy.
PC screen savers normally display flying Windows logos or other boring stuff. The person came up with an idea to turn these boring screen savers into online video streaming service - when your PC goes into sleep mode, your PC computer monitor plays streaming video, such as update news or movie trailers, instead of flying Windows logo.
Actually, it was more than just an idea - the person actually turned his idea into a product after years of research and now has 5 million users, he claims. If that's true, US$ 750k might be just about the right price.
TAG How much, idea
China's Baidu is poised to launch officially in Japan on Jan 23.
Will 2008 see Asian search giants - Baidu, Naver, Yahoo Japan - battle it out, with the first battlefield being the Japanese market? (Here's a previous short take on Naver's new Japan office.)
But what exactly is Baidu's strategy and competitive edge over incumbents in Japan, most notably Yahoo Japan? What's their unfair advantage? Can anyone shed some light on this?
Will 2008 see Asian search giants - Baidu, Naver, Yahoo Japan - battle it out, with the first battlefield being the Japanese market? (Here's a previous short take on Naver's new Japan office.)
But what exactly is Baidu's strategy and competitive edge over incumbents in Japan, most notably Yahoo Japan? What's their unfair advantage? Can anyone shed some light on this?
Key East, an entertainment company managing a famous Korean actor Bae Yong Joon, said the company will launch "Bae Yong Joon phone" in Japan, in partnership with Softbank Mobile. The phone will feature some embedded photos of the actor, Key East said through Korean Chosun Ilbo.
I think what they should have embedded in the phone is not Bae's photos, which can easily be obtained elsewhere on the web, but a factory-configured auto-dial to Bae's private number.
I think what they should have embedded in the phone is not Bae's photos, which can easily be obtained elsewhere on the web, but a factory-configured auto-dial to Bae's private number.
TAG Bae Yong Joon
Qbox, again, is a game-changing online music discovery service. Most people today consume their music in digital format, which means music files sit in servers as much as they do on local hard drives.
Qbox lets you look up all songs publicly available on internet servers, e.g. what users publicly put on their Myspace and Youtube pages. The result is a free internet jukebox with almost endless volume of music library. Qbox also has other features, such as "music markup" tool that allows user to tag music file more specifically so that it can be indexed by search engines better. For details, see my previous post.
If you reside in the US, you can access qbox.com (it will redirect you to us.qbox.com) and take the service for a spin - other regions will have to wait a bit more, Ian says.
They are ready to go public beta. Their key to success, in my opinion, will be "Myspace marketing", or how to increase service awareness among Myspace users. The door to funding is still wide open, Ian says.
I don't have any affiliations to this company/service but I see Qbox clearly has potential to become a hit, arguably more so than MusicShake - a Techcrunch 40 wunderkid and another great service.
TAG music, qbox
'08 wishlist #1: To help Korean ventures gain more global visibility
Other | 2008/01/04 16:23 | Web 2.0 Asia
Sorry about the recent blog silence - a lame old excuse of "I've been busy" applies here again. Turns out, my partner Chester has been sick (pneumonia) and I had to do all housework around here.
To give some fresh air to my blog, I changed the theme (as Angus points out, the beautiful background is indeed Hong Kong). I also put up a new profile image - Yes, I'm not a girl and the image is fake, but hey, we all know a cute Korean actress is more eye-pleasing than a middle aged man with thinning hairs.
My key mission for this blog in 2008 will be to help Korean web companies become more visible in global market. I will try to meet more people from Korean web industry and relay their insights through this blog. I will also try carrying my digital camera around for some photowalking whenever possible.
In 2008, I will also try putting the idea of pan-Asian web conference into action. Upon my previous post, many people said encouraging things about the idea. The challenge is, I'm a blog business guy, not a conference business guy, so I'll have to seek major help here.
P.S. I'm already (nearly) finished with one of my other 08 wishes - a complete Mac transition.
To give some fresh air to my blog, I changed the theme (as Angus points out, the beautiful background is indeed Hong Kong). I also put up a new profile image - Yes, I'm not a girl and the image is fake, but hey, we all know a cute Korean actress is more eye-pleasing than a middle aged man with thinning hairs.
My key mission for this blog in 2008 will be to help Korean web companies become more visible in global market. I will try to meet more people from Korean web industry and relay their insights through this blog. I will also try carrying my digital camera around for some photowalking whenever possible.
In 2008, I will also try putting the idea of pan-Asian web conference into action. Upon my previous post, many people said encouraging things about the idea. The challenge is, I'm a blog business guy, not a conference business guy, so I'll have to seek major help here.
P.S. I'm already (nearly) finished with one of my other 08 wishes - a complete Mac transition.
An open letter to Asia's web industry people - What do you think about AsiaWeb 2008?
Web 2.0 | 2007/12/15 16:43 | Web 2.0 Asia
Given the number of private emails I'm getting through this blog, I know this blog is being followed by quite a few bloggers/web professionals in Asia. So hereby I'm attaching an open letter to all Asian web professionals.
This open letter is about my longtime wish that there will be a pan-Asian web conference, where web professionals in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong... you name it... are participaing together.
I know some Asian countries have had their own good web conferences with international flair, such as recent Web 2.0 Expo in Tokyo, China Foo Camp, and what Angus Lau (a frequent commenter on this blog) is pulling off in HK, etc.
But I don't think I've seen many "pan-Asian" web conferences so far. So I think we could imagine a conference where things like these are happening...
- Keynote speeches being made by well-known tech entrepreneurs in China, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hongkong, Taiwan, etc. as well as a host of internationally renowned speakers.
- An international launchpad where new ventures in Asia can showcase their newest products (Think Techcrunch 40 or the Demo). English translation will be provided - we all know English-speaking skills and product-development skills are two different sets of skills. VCs are more than welcome to join.
- Panel discussion between professionals from different countries where different web cultures and business environments can be compared, perhaps in search of some universal success strategies across the Asian web industry.
There should of course be tons of challenges - language barrier for starters. But I don't think those cannot be overcome at all. For example, hiring bunch of interpreters doesn't cost in the order of millions, does it? We can always turn to volunteers as well.
I might go on, but before going further I'd like to make sure if I'm on a right track or not. Do you think it's time Asia saw a pan-Asian web industry conference? Or do you think such event will have far more challenges than advantages and therefore won't make sense?
This open letter is about my longtime wish that there will be a pan-Asian web conference, where web professionals in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong... you name it... are participaing together.
I know some Asian countries have had their own good web conferences with international flair, such as recent Web 2.0 Expo in Tokyo, China Foo Camp, and what Angus Lau (a frequent commenter on this blog) is pulling off in HK, etc.
But I don't think I've seen many "pan-Asian" web conferences so far. So I think we could imagine a conference where things like these are happening...
- Keynote speeches being made by well-known tech entrepreneurs in China, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hongkong, Taiwan, etc. as well as a host of internationally renowned speakers.
- An international launchpad where new ventures in Asia can showcase their newest products (Think Techcrunch 40 or the Demo). English translation will be provided - we all know English-speaking skills and product-development skills are two different sets of skills. VCs are more than welcome to join.
- Panel discussion between professionals from different countries where different web cultures and business environments can be compared, perhaps in search of some universal success strategies across the Asian web industry.
There should of course be tons of challenges - language barrier for starters. But I don't think those cannot be overcome at all. For example, hiring bunch of interpreters doesn't cost in the order of millions, does it? We can always turn to volunteers as well.
I might go on, but before going further I'd like to make sure if I'm on a right track or not. Do you think it's time Asia saw a pan-Asian web industry conference? Or do you think such event will have far more challenges than advantages and therefore won't make sense?
TAG Asia, web conference
Now he's ready to add another item to his "Authored by Danny" list - a book. The book's title will be "Meconomy" - what a catchy name. On the book, he'll talk about the new web and its influence over the economy. The book will be published in Korean. I wanted to write a reference for the book but I've given the honor to my partner Chester.
Now that Taewoo's done with his book project, he'll soon break out of the radio silence. Expect lots more action from TechnoKimchi.
