Consumer Centric: Fashion Trade Show Rooms branches out

We said previously that the organizers of Tokyo fashion trade show Rooms have a number of antennas out, and they definitely are picking up a few different trend waves. Here is another example: Rooms Link Shibuya Triangle.

rooms fashion omotesando 1

For the duration of the three-day invitation-only event, Rooms is holding collaboration events for the general public at two well-known retail spaces, Omotesando Hills and Parco department store in Shibuya. This is the first time that the trade show has directly appealed to consumers, following a general trend towards giving the (purchasing) public a taste of traditionally closed industry-only events.

rooms fashion omotesando 2

At Omotesando Hills the collaboration took the form of wall panels from artist Ryoono (who is also exhibiting at Rooms) as well as an exhibit with items from the exhibition.

japan rooms fashion parco 2

Meanwhile Parco, under the theme “Pair Look,” has a number of special edition branded “his and hers” products on display in the 6th floor Parco Factory.

There is also a neat display at the entrance of photos of couples from years past (taken as actually street shots for Parco’s culture magazine Across). Each of the life-sized portraits has a mirror for a face allowing shoppers to imagine what they may have looked like in, say, 1984.

japan rooms fashion parco 3

Trend Potential
Rooms Link Shibuya Triangle represents a real shift in the fashion industry’s attitude towards guarding its exclusivity and giving in to consumer demand. The Trendpool explores other consumer-centric industry trends from fashion to crowdsourced FMCG.

MSI unveils new X-Slim models ahead of CeBIT

MSI unveils new X-Slim models ahead of CeBIT

We certainly aren’t tired of the X-Slim 320 laptop from MSI, with its Air-like form-factor in less expensive and slightly more practical packaging — it’s still many moons away from release, after all. Despite that, MSI felt the need to announce two new models to round out the still unreleased lineup: the 13.4-inch X340 and 15.6-inch X600. We don’t know much about these two yet except that the X340 is slated be priced somewhere in the (wide) range of $699-$999 in the US, that both offer HDMI in addition to VGA output, both are Centrino 2-based, and that the X600 even has an eSATA port on top of its two USBs. We’ll surely be seeing a lot more of this pair (plus the X320 as well) at CeBIT in just a few weeks, and are hoping that MSI will go ahead and maybe release one before introducing any more.

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MSI unveils new X-Slim models ahead of CeBIT originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Eee PC T91 sits down for photo shoot, early critique

Much like the S101, the T91 isn’t exactly “Eee PC” material. Sure, it’s small and ASUS-branded, but design wise, it’s a pretty bold departure. bit-tech was able to sit down and take an early look at the Eee PC T91 convertible tablet, and while the machine is still a few months out from release, it seems that you can curb your enthusiasm in the meanwhile. Critics found the touchpad to be a hair less awesome than those on other Eee PCs, the lack of multitouch to be a real bummer and the uncanny ability of the LCD to attract fingerprints as just plain annoying. Of course, their unit was still subject to alterations, so the crew isn’t completely giving up hope that things won’t improve by launch day. In fact, it noted that the inclusion of a DVB-T tuner, WWAN support and GPS functionality were very nice touches, but it still maintained that a standard netbook would likely suit you best unless you’re just head over heels for touching.

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ASUS Eee PC T91 sits down for photo shoot, early critique originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobile Culture: Gashapon marketing with straps

Recently, women’s undergarment maker Peach John started offering a line of gashapon capsules containing their own branded items. These miniature mobile phone “straps” attach to the hole on a mobile phone for decoration and can be found on just about anyone’s handset these days.

peach john underwear gatchapon

Below is a video introduction to the Peach John shop in Shibuya 109.

Peach John’s straps are available in machines in their shops, but if you go to just about any shopping center or toy shop you can find row upon row of gashapon machines that dispense everything from miniature anime characters to collectible items on just about any topic. Many of these machines are selling branded items, typically miniature versions of the real product, that can be attached to handsets. Below are four examples (out of many) that we saw recently representing Mister Donut, Lotte Gum, AU mobile (mini handsets!), and Gatsby hair gel.

gachapon marketing m

While brands often give away mobile phone straps as promotions, these cost money (from $1 – $5) and still manage to sell out. This is where Japan’s deep consumer and mobile phone cultures collide in a fun way.

Trend Potential
Mobile phone culture runs deep in Japan, and accessorizing the devices is particularly important for users regardless of age. The Mobile Trendpool features the rest of this report and many other similar marketing and mobile trends.

Via Danny Choo and Gyao.

T-Mobile USA goes live with $50 unlimited voice plans in San Francisco

We heard that T-Mobile USA was looking to dabble in the low-end arena with $50 unlimited voice plans, and sure enough, the carrier has gone live with ’em in the City by the Bay. In a surprise move aimed to rival similar plans from lesser known providers such as Boost Mobile, T-Mob is offering “loyal customers” the option to move to a $50 flat-rate calling plan. In order to get the offer, you must be located in San Francisco (for now, anyway), have been a subscriber in good standing for at least 22 months and want to save a few bucks on your mobile calling. It’s stated that stores in the SF area are actively promoting the new plan, which should be fairly successful given that users won’t have to extend their current contracts in order to switch. Toss in unlimited texting, data and Everlasting Gobstoppers, and we’re sold.

[Image courtesy of Bicycle-Heaven]

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T-Mobile USA goes live with $50 unlimited voice plans in San Francisco originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Which BitTorrent Is The Best One For You?

This article was written on February 01, 2006 by CyberNet.

Which BitTorrent Is The Best One For You?

It is always difficult to determine which BitTorrent client to use. You start to compare features from each of their respective sites but then you know each one is biased. So you download one of them and think “wow, this one is nice, I think I’ll stick with it”, so you never try any others. Some people are fans of µTorrent because of its compact size and well rounded features. Others swear by Azureus or BitTorrent because of their extensive features and high transfer speeds. Well, I won’t go through all of the comparisons for the many clients here because WebMonkey has already done a wonderful job of it. Just follow the link below and they will give you their opinions on what they think is great and what they don’t like about the different clients.

Review Source: WebMonkey

Copyright © 2009 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

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Staccato CEO says UWB still has more to give

Staccato Communications has been a big fan of this whole wireless USB thing for years now, and while it seems that most of the industry has presumed ultra-wideband as dead and gone, the aforesaid company is still firmly supportive. The company’s CEO has issued an absurdly long letter in response to the death knell reports that flowed after UWB mainstay TZero decided to fold, and while we could go on and on about his deepest, darkest feelings on the matter, here’s what really counts. The bigwig has suggested that UWB is still far from dead, and in fact, it’s just now shaping up to grow. He promises that 2009 has big things in store for the format, and evidently, those “big things” will breath “new life” into the flagging protocol. We’re still pretty skeptical that UWB will break out within the next 10 months or so, but we suppose we’ve seen crazier things come together.

[Via Slashdot]

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Staccato CEO says UWB still has more to give originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 04:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UMID M1 gets official, handled on video

We never in our wildest dreams imagined UMID would be the one to blur the line between netbooks and MIDs, but sure enough, it has. The all too elusive mbook (or M1, as it were) has reserved itself a spot on the web, and moreover, we’ve finally found ourselves a video of this fellow in action. We’re still believing a 4.8-inch screen is just too small for the Atom inside to be fully appreciated, but maybe our goliath fingers and awful eyesight aren’t indicative of the majority.

[Via PMP Today]

Read – Official website
Read – Hands-on video

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UMID M1 gets official, handled on video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 02:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Disk ][ enclosure used to house Mac mini, enhance lives

We’re still debating whether or not a new Mac mini really is just around the bend, but one thing’s for sure — this version is the gnarliest we’ve ever seen of the current iteration. In an exercise that will undoubtedly go down as one of the most incredible Apple mods of all time (okay, so we only partly believe that), Sir Charles Mangin has managed to squeeze a Mac mini into a ridiculously old disk ][ enclosure. Best of all, he even managed to align the single slot with the DVD drive in the mini, giving it a totally seamless look from the outside. We know, this will only serve to drive the secondhand prices of disk ][ cases through the roof, but at least you’ve found a new reason to love the mini that has served you so well for so long, right?

[Via technabob]

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Apple Disk ][ enclosure used to house Mac mini, enhance lives originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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P G Simple Mobile Payment Solution

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