Thursday. 29 October. 2009. 5:32 pm
Spotlight on HTC on the eve of their Tattoo launch in Hong Kong.
HTC launched the new Tattoo phone in Hong Kong today (full coverage tomorrow), and Neonpunch.com had a chance to sit down with HTC Country Manager Mr. Terry Chung to talk to him about the Tattoo, what’s coming up for HTC and Android 2.0:
Why a new HTC Android phone so soon after the launch of the Hero?
The Hero has been in the market for 2 months and we think the Android platform is very popular and accepted by the Hong Kong market so that is why we have launched a new handset into the market, which is centered at a different market and the price point is different as well. Tattoo is the first Android phone that is under HK$3,000.
What market are you going after with the Tattoo?
I think the young and stylish people. As you can see it has a user-define casing, and for the young generation who likes the social network device for using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube its a great device for them. The Hero has more business functions while the Tattoo is designed and priced purely with the new generation in mind.
I understand you can re-skin the Tattoo anyway you like?
We have a promotion with Garskin.com in Singapore, you can upload your personal design and within 1 month they will send that new skin to you. It’s free in Hong Kong to the first group of people who buy the Tattoo but you can use their service anytime.
With so much hype and buzz, how is the uptake of the Hero so far in Hong Kong?
Since we launched for 2 months, every week we are facing a supply shortage. Its really out of our plan and expectation that it can be so popular. So there are a few key reasons that it can be so popular in HK market: HTC Sense is more friendly and also the Android Market can also provide all kinds of applications.
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Tuesday. 13 October. 2009. 10:17 am
Digital entrepreneur Leon Ho talks digital photography on the iPhone.
Leon Ho is one of the leading digital entrepreneurs in Hong Kong. As the CEO and Founder of Stepcase.com he runs a very popular productivity blog called Lifehack.org, he is also an iPhone application developer who has recently launched an updated version of what is probably the most successful iPhone app created by a Hong Kong developer: Darkroom. We sat down with Leon to give him the Neonpunch Punch-Up:
Why did you create Darkroom?
When iPhone came out with the iPhone 2G, I started taking pictures with the camera and noticed that many of my shots, usually in low light, came out blurry. As a result, I sought a solution, Darkroom was created out of iPhone’s camera inability to take pictures in low light. In addition, the iPhone is a light mobile device, hence a problem exists with the camera moving when you press the shutter button, often times resulting in blurry pictures.
How does Darkroom work?
Darkroom uses iPhone’s accelerometer feature for our steady mode. Darkroom has two versions, Standard (free) and Premium ($0.99). The difference between the two are features included in them. Darkroom Standard is offered with only the standard pre-set steady mode. Darkroom Premium includes a customizable steady mode that allows you to increase/decrease the sensitivity of the accelerometer, full-screen shutter mode and timer mode.
The standard version of Darkroom received over 800,000 unique downloads worldwide.
What kind of enhancements did you add in this new updated version?
The enhancement for the released version v2.3 was minimal. Our goal was to update it to be compatible with the current iPhone OS 3.1. We also optimized the memory. Do note that OS 3.0 is not supported. There’s a short history of the issue we had with Apple’s approval team documented in our Stepcase blog, if you are interested.
We have rewritten Darkroom completely in v3.0, with a new attractive interfaces, performance gains, and ability to upload your files to the Internet. The new version has been submitted to Apple for review.
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Tuesday. 6 October. 2009. 10:12 am
Q&A with the brains behind the webshow Lumina.
With web video being the way to watch TV these days, it’s not too long when shows and movies get launched online to reach the largest audience. Hong Kong’s Jennifer Thyme of RockGinger.com has started the charge with her bi-lingual web series Lumina. We were able to catch the writer/director/producer and gave her the Neonpunch Punch-Up.
You can also see Jennifer and the cast of Lumina in person tomorrow night at the monthly Web 2.0 social mixer meet-up Web Wednesday.
What is Lumina?
LUMINA is a nine part fantasy thriller web series starring JuJu Chan, Michael Chan and Vince Matthew Chung, and is free to view on www.luminaseries.com. The story centers around a lonely young Hong Kong woman who meets a mysterious prince in a mirror – it’s a modern twist on a classic fairytale, and with any good fable, nothing is as it seems. I am the writer, director and producer of LUMINA – and as with any small business, the one who handles everything that comes our way! It’s been a fantastic learning process, and I’ve met so many great people over the last year. As a result of my work on LUMINA, I’m working on another three feature films in the upcoming year (producing two, directing one.) And I’m hoping to secure funding for LUMINA season two while I’m at it!
I have a background in finance and law, but last year, I decided to revitalise a childhood dream – filmmaking. I wanted to apply my unique work experience to create a sensible small business approach to film finance, which traditionally is rather murky, to say the least. I also was an avid MMORPG player (Final Fantasy XI) and I wanted to blend some element of that into my work as well.
What are some of your personal favorite webshows?
- Wong Fu Productions: Wong Fu is an endearing trio of “nice” Asian American guys who make touching, heartfelt videos. They take cuteness to the next level. My all-time favorite from Wong Fu is “The Spare” which was shot in one day in Hong Kong.
- condition:human: I’m a big cyberpunk fan, so seeing this micro-budget Bladerunner-esque series was a real treat.
- Karma Kula: I love action, and this live action martial arts series was made by the Ninjai Gang, a group of stuntpeople, on their free time; they also made the animated series The Little Ninjai. Amazing stuff!
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Tuesday. 29 September. 2009. 10:35 am
The lowdown with the hip Hong Kong e-Tailer and gadget distributor.
You might know about Hong Kong e-retailer 100milligrams.com, but you’ve definitely seen the tech products that parent company Street Value distribute all over Hong Kong. We had a chance to catch up with Managing Director Justin Sandery for the first installment of our newest weekly feature: 5 Question Punch-Out – fast and furious questions about 100milligrams.com and Justin’s Hong Kong gadget life:
What is 100milligrams.com?
100milligrams is HK’s only on-line store for the coolest new fashion and lifestyle youth consumer electronics brands including Skullcandy, Zumreed, X-mini and many more.
How did you start it up and why
As a marketing/distribution company we wanted to understand consumers and global trends better and so we decided to create a retail environment to showcase our great brands. We thought about a physical shop but the rents are so high in HK we decided to go online first and give the HK consumers a fun retail space for browsing and purchasing our exclusive brands.
We started by asking a friend to build our first site on the cheap. We went live in a couple of months with a handful of products. As we had no experience online, nothing worked and the graphics were ugly. It was very amateur but we learned very quickly and 18 months later things are rockin’ along.
What is your best selling product in Hong Kong?
X-mini II – these babies rock.
What are some of the gadgets you use daily?
- New X-mini Max II Portable Speaker: Phenomenal sound, 12hours battery life.
- Skullcandy: New FMJ (yellow) best sounding and looking iPhone earphone on the market.
- Stylophone Beatbox: Rockin beats and record loop sampler makes me feel musically gifted and everyone around me irritated.
- iPhone: I hate mine, maybe if I get a Blackberry for Christmas that might be my favourite.
Where do you personally shop for gadgets and gear in HK?
DG lifestyle store, Ultimate, JC shop
These shops have sophistication and quality products so they stand out over the plethora of cheap electronics shops in HK. A gadget has to perform its function intuitively without complicating the task and the simpler it makes the task the better.
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