Category Archives: Apple

Chinese IME: From iPhone to laptop

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Via Blogos, I was fascinated to read that the new Mac Snow Leopard OS features a Chinese input method editor (IME) that allows users to input characters via track pad.

Here’s a video of it in action (with some rather odd musical accompaniment):

What’s particularly interesting is that this IME began on the iPhone.

Here is a screen grab of the Chinese IME on my iPhone — and my sad attempt at inputting a character:

iphone_chinese

It’s interesting to see innovations migrating from phone to PC, certainly a sign of things to come.

The Twitter Domain Rush: Don’t Get “Twit-jacked”

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My previous post on Twitter got me thinking about what other companies had registered language-specific domains for their Twitter accounts.

Turns out, most companies haven’t even registered Twitter accounts for their primary brands.

Like who?

Apple, for one.

Here we have someone who apparently likes apples but isn’t Apple:

twitter_apple

It appear that Microsoft reserved its account early on, though nothing is there. Microsoft does have about a dozen Twitter accounts that do include content.

twitter_msft

Coke — someone who drinks Coke, but not the company.

twitter_coke

While Pepsi does have a Twitter account.

twitter_pepsi

The Wall Street Journal has an article out about this domain name rush.

So many questions come to mind:

  • Will Twitter enforce trademarks for valid holders? Usually, the WIPO does this with domain names, but this isn’t actually a domain name in the traditional sense.
  • What percentage of the millions of new Twitter accounts being registered every day simply squatters hoping to make a quick buck? That is, how much of Twitter’s growth actual growth?
  • And what about third-party domain marketplaces — will we see them emerge? Or will Twitter start its own marketplace?

In the meantime, if you’re thinking about reserving a Twitter domain, do it now before getting Twit-jacked…

Per capita, Netherlands is the world’s ccTLD leader

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The Netherlands, a country with just 16 million people, accounts for more than 3 million ccTLDs.

That’s an impressive ratio of people to domains — one ccTLD per 5.3 people — and it the highest ratio of any country with more than five million residents.

Germany comes in a close second, with a ratio of roughly one ccTLD per 6.5 people.

Granted, many of the owners of these .nl domains are not Dutch. Rather, they are multinational companies like FedEx and Apple.

But even if you take this into account, the Dutch registry SIDO claims that the Netherlands still has the highest density of domains, roughly 28 .NL domains per 1,000 people — a still impressive ratio.

Why is this I wonder?

An iPhone app for lost souls

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About six months ago, I began toying with the idea of biking to work. Driving from Seattle to Redmond is a minor nightmare because of traffic over the bridge. And I know there are people who bike all the time, so I figured I could do the same.

Big mistake.

On a Saturday afternoon one November, I decided to bike over to my office and then back again to figure out the route. I figured I was smart in planning ahead.

But I got a late start, a really late start, and by the time I got to Redmond it was dark. I was freezing, dehydrated, exhausted. And my wife had expected me home an hour ago.

I called her and told her I’d be a “little” late. She offered to come pick me up even though she had no idea where I was and, for the most part, neither did I. I hadn’t actually made it my office — that would have taken another half hour.

So I swallowed what little pride I had left and asked her to come get me. Now, there was just one problem with this situation — she didn’t know where I was. I had my iPhone so I was able to talk her over the bridge and eventually to the gas station where I was making myself home. But it wasn’t a pleasant experience, to put it mildly, and one she will never let me forget.

If I had only had the iPhone app that my brother just developed, things would have gone quite a bit more smoothly. The app allows you to email your current location to someone else so they can map out how to get to you. Simple. Easy. I’ll be sure to have it with me the next time to try biking to work…

y-location

You can download here.