China :: Technology

Star Wars: The Old Republic , the latest MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Game) from BioWare & Electronic Arts, already has a million registered users, and momentum seems to be picking up a week after the games launch. True, the million users figure was published on December 23, just three days after launch, and it includes users who have pre-ordered the game. Now, however, Electronic Arts has published a new set of milestones which tell us more about how users are actually interacting with the game. According to EA , the gamers have already spent over 60 million hours! playing the game, completed 260 million quests, and killed over 3 billion NPCs (non-player characters). While EAs press release refers to the SWTOR community as rabid, wed wait a little longer before declaring the game a success. Weve seen similar early success from MMO titles such as Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures , only to see interest wane after a couple of months. Still, if these early numb...

China is a remarkable place, where else would we find a choir of old folk serenading their kids with a Lady Gaga rendition? Thankfully, the video strangeness doesnt end there, as Advertising @ China Smack has a round-up of the top ten weird and wonderful offerings from Chinas world of advertising in 2011. If you have a penchant for the brilliant and quirky, you should go over and take a look now . Our favourite is without a doubt this KFC advert that uses a Barack Obama lookalike to promote a new fillet fish soft roll in Hong Kong. Unsurprisingly, it was pulled days after first airing, butthe guys at China Smack have immortalised it online. Wonderful. An honourable mention must go to this incredible effort from Ariel, after the company built a giant t-shirt for passers by to spray with dirt and then clean off using a Nintendo Wii remote.

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has spoken about how he believes technology can change the world by bringing greater information, transparency and values to Internet users across the planet. Speaking at The Economic Club event in Washington, broadcast by C-Span , Schmidt opened by stating that technology, and the Internet in particular, is an enabler that can help people push themselves forward: All of us would agree that people can search for their dreams, they should be able toarchivewhat they really want. Government and citizens Schmidt spoke of the emergence of two rival systems which are being brought together by the Internet: offline institutions such as government, politics and law and cyberspace. They are getting into conflict in some governments and places, as technology is empowering people in ways they have never been empowered before. You can think of this as a community of citizens and a community ofgovernments. As technology develops and time passes, Schmidt beli...

Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo is planning to make a move into mobile chipsets, with the carrier said to be close to sealing a joint venture with Samsung, Panasonic, Fujitsu and NEC, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal . Rumours originally arose in September but, this time around, sources have provided more specific details. Talks between partners are said to be close to completion, with DoCoMo set to take a majority stake in the venture to develop mobile chipsets, which is slated to be set up by March 2012. The move will be a significant one, as it will offer Samsung which has seen record sales in 2011 a new option for the chipsets to, as sources claim, reduce dependence on Qualcomm. Currently the Korean maker uses a range of suppliers, but chiefly Qualcomm, whose licensing charges have been the subject of litigation and controversy in the past. When the joint venture is up and running, Samsung, Panasonic (which is planning a smartphone comeback ) and others, will be a...

Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, has made it clear that Nintendo will never develop games for third-party platforms, including iOS and Android.This was announced after investors called for Nintendo torelease titles like Mario on mobile phones.Nintendo is betting on a handheld gaming system,while mobile gaming continues to move to the phone. Expanding original games to popular platforms makes sense in some ways.As our own Martin Bryant explains , he never plays his DS anymore, finding that Apples iOS is a much more exciting, flexible platform. Its games are more easily accessible, too. Other problems, including the chore ofcarrying around multiple devices and game cartridges, make a dedicated mobile gaming system impractical. And even as 3DS sales begin to improve , Nintendos stock price is still down . iOS and Android Will Hurt Nintendo If Nintendo ever moves to iOS, it face problems, however. Sure, software sales would be high, but dually releasing titles via Nintendo and Apple wou...

The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark . If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here . Name: Never Liked it Anyway Quick Pitch: A marketplace for unwanted items left over after a relationship break up. Genius Idea: Connecting the sentimental with the practical Weve all experienced it a romantic break up usually leaves you with a bunch of stuff that first makes you cry, then makes you angry, and after a while you just want to get rid of it all. Enter Never Liked it Anyway, a simple marketplace that gives users a way to get rid of the stuff they no longer need, usually at a discounted break up price. It could be a good bargain for someone hunting for good deals, too; one item, for example, is a $70 leather jacket, now sold for mere $15. Bella, the websites owner, claims she did not receive any funding, and doesnt come from a coding background. Instead, she chose a ...

The fifth installment in the annual United State of Pop mashup series from Jordan Roseman a laptop-based DJ better known as DJ Earworm just popped up on YouTube . The mashup, World Go Boom, combines 25 of the years most-successful pop songs from artists such as Adele, Britney Spears, Foster the People, Lady Gaga, LMFAO, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. Roseman used music software Ableton Live to arrange the tracks into one seamless montage. 2011 gave us songs of regret and anger, p! ride and perseverance, and lots of fire. When someones taken everything from you, what do you do? WORLD GO BOOM. Roseman wrote in a blog post describing the mashup. SEE ALSO: Mashables Cover Song Face-Off Competition The four other United State of Pop mashups from 2007 to 2010 have attracted more than 68 million views on YouTube, with the 2009 one, Blame It on the Pop, going the most viral with 40 million hits. Listen to World Go Boom and DJ Earworms mashups from previous years below. Which one is y...