Hasta La Gadget!

A report commissioned by the World Bank’s infoDev unit has cast fresh light on one of the more fascinating aspects of our brave new interconnected world: the virtual economy. The “third-party gaming services industry” — where wealthy but impatient players have someone else grind away at online games for them in exchange for monetary reward — is one of the focal points of the study, chiefly owing to it having generated revenues in the region of $3 billion in 2009 and now serving as the primary source of income for an estimated 100,000 young folks, primarily in countries like China and Vietnam. What’s encouraging about these findings is that most of the revenue from such transactions ends up in the country where the virtual value is produced, which contrasts starkly with some of the more traditional international markets, such as that for coffee beans, where the study estimates only $5.5 billion of the $70 billion annual market value ever makes it back to the producing country. The research also takes an intriguing look at the emerging phenomenon of microwork, which consists of having unskilled workers doing the web’s version of menial work — checking images, transcribing bits of text, bumping up Facebook Likes (naughty!), etc. — and could also lead to more employment opportunities for people in poorer nations. To get better acquainted with the details, check the links below or click past the break.

Continue reading World Bank report finds selling virtual goods in games more profitable than ‘real’ economy

World Bank report finds selling virtual goods in games more profitable than ‘real’ economy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 04:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink BBC  |  infoDev (PDF), Virtual Economy Research Network  | Email this | Comments

In life as in death, it seems, getting your hands on an iPad 2 is no easy feat. Reuters is reporting today that paper replicas of the tablet are selling out in parts of Asia, as revelers prepare to set the things ablaze during China’s Qingming festival Tuesday. As is tradition, paper versions of money, clothing, and, yes, consumer electronics are burned as offerings to the dead, and this year Apple’s latest slate is apparently all the rage for expired techies — one shopkeeper in Malaysia said his stock of 300 paper iPad 2s sold out quickly, leaving him unable to meet demand. Sounds strangely familiar, doesn’t it?

China’s dead affected by iPad 2 shortages of a different sort originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Switched  |  Reuters  | Email this | Comments

Looking for your fibrous dose of gadget leak? Look no further than China which has, again and again, outed several spy shots of what appears to be the Xperia X10 Mini Pro’s successor. Dubbed the SK17i and codenamed “Mango,” this time we’re looking at some proof of Android 2.3 on this little Sony Ericsson slider, along with a homescreen UI not dissimilar to that of the X10 Mini and X8 series. Other than that, we’re not seeing anything new here, though we can’t help but wonder if the unused Xperia Duo trademark has finally found its rightful owner — you know, maybe Duo as in a two-part slider phone? As always, only time will tell.

[Thanks, @Tehpriest]

Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro successor spotted as SK17i, sports Gingerbread originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phandroid  |  IT168  | Email this | Comments

So, here’s the scene. You’re out at [insert city center here], completely neglecting any and all work duties, throwing Molotov cocktails at the building of the State you’ve grown to hate. It’s a protest in every sense of the word, and you’re rallying the troops via Twitter and Facebook. It’s actually not an uncommon painting these days, and while America’s not into promoting violence, it is into keeping the personal information of democracy activists secure. According to a fresh Reuters report, the US State Department is currently developing a software-based “panic button” that would wipe a phone’s address book and beam out emergency alerts to fellow protesters if they were apprehended. The goal here is to protect the privacy of those captured while promoting their best interests, and to let others know that trouble is brewing. There’s no clear indication of the status here, but something tells us that it’d be useful yesterday for a certain region of the globe.

America’s ‘panic button’ to wipe phones of democracy activists, perturb repressive governments originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 23:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember the second-gen Apple Peel 520 we saw back in January? Yep, Yosion has now confirmed that this familiar-looking adapter will be available in China on March 28th, which happens to be this coming Monday. Like its predecessor, this new sleeve lets you send texts and make regular phone calls on a jailbroken iPod touch (including the latest FaceTime-loving model), but now Yosion’s also thrown in GPRS data connectivity along with some extra battery juice, all for the price of just ¥520 ($79) for pre-orderers and possibly around ¥598 ($90) when it’s out. Frankly, this isn’t a bad value proposition for those already clinging onto an iPod touch — just make sure El Jobs doesn’t catch you holding this Peel.

Yosion’s second-gen Apple Peel 520 arriving on March 28th, ready to cellularize your iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Yosion  | Email this | Comments