Apple's Phil Schiller paints pragmatic cloud future to JP media (and warns Google): "customers not looking for web-based computers"

In an exclusive interview to Japanese media a few hours ago, Philip Schiller - SVP of worldwide product marketing at Apple - warned that "customers are not looking for web display-driven computers".

Firing a shot across the bow to Google's all-encompassing cloud-based OS strategy, and making sure that Asian markets are listening, he predicts a more pragmatic approach to cloud computing with a growing distinction between cloud-friendly software, and other software that isn't and that will remain local.

"Lots of software and data, such as games, movies, and pictures, don't work well in the cloud [...][In the future,] high-performance computers loaded with software and browsers that are easily usable by the cloud will become mainstream".

(see the original Japanese article here).

Japan prime minister Hatoyama starts own twitter account on Jan 1st, starts tweeting few hours ago

The Japanese prime minister has just started his own twitter account, according to offbeat Japanese blogger Vocaloid (see post here, JP only). See also the PM's first tweets at @hatoyamayukio...

#1 Jpn mobile carrier Docomo now lead shareholder in #1 Korean carrier KT, mull common mobile future

After a largely unsuccessful foray into licensing its mobile internet technology i-Mode into Europe in the early 00s, and a number of minor deals with emerging market carriers, the leading Japanese mobile phone carrier NTT Docomo has upped its shareholding in the leading Korean carrier KT from 2.2% to 5% by switching its convertible bonds into common stock.

Now the largest shareholder of KT (after the Korean Pension Fund, Korea's largest govt-sponsored institutional investor), Docomo execs will join KT execs to form a new board/committee to oversee the adoption of a common mobile handset sourcing plan and common investment strategies into 3rd party carriers worldwide.

(for the original article in Japanese from the Nikkei, see here)

Cool x-disciplinary approach to replicating biological visual recognition systems using computer systems!

See the inspiring and witty video posted by the Rowland Institute at Harvard:
(from their recent paper A High-Throughput Approach To Discovering Good Forms of Biologically-Inspired Visual Representation, orig. RT smartplanet.com)

hilarious promotion video for world's strongest beer

Very cool product at 32% vol(!), hilarious promotion, recommended all round! (...and now to get myself a case of this stuff)

Tactical Nuclear Penguin from BrewDog on Vimeo.

Very cool camerawork and visual effects by Reza Dolatabadi

Via my good friend "bahbah moshallah" Sepas! I really like the camera work here. It's not perfect, but genius is peeking out from quite a few frames here... enjoy!

Click here to view in full-screen HD mode (recommended).

Octo-Dancing from Reza Dolatabadi on Vimeo.

FT: China announces $10bn more loans to Africa

This reinforces my hypothesis posted on this blog (towards the end of the article) two weeks ago:

China's recent resource grab over the last few years in Africa is basically covering for emerging market debt expansion denoted in Chinese Yuan. So Japan takes the debt market in Asia, China in Africa.

China now further buttresses its mid-to-long-term financial/currency, geopolitical and energy security with its Africa debt portfolio. More after the link.