the(new)mediaslut

Some Mac users have already commented that they loved this new ad from Microsoft. 

Compare this to the “WOW” ad Microsoft used to launch Windows Vista.

What took Microsoft so long? 

No, the SG government didn’t censor Mr Brown’s Muxtape.

It was the RIAA.

Wrote Cnet.com,

Free music mixtape service Muxtape has temporarily been shut down due to pressure from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). There’s not much more information about downtime besides a small note on the front page of Muxtape.com saying that “Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA.”

At 1.30pm today, Google will be announcing its latest innovation to SG journalist via videoconferencing with a senior executive from Google’s worldwide headquarters.

This will be followed a hands-on demo conducted by a local Product Manager.

This latest innovation is said to be the Google browser, Google Chrome.

With Google going into the browser, will we see a a new browser war of Google vs Microsoft, Chrome vs IE?

What will happen to Firefox who reportedly earned USD60million in 2006 from the Google search box alone?

A blogger at Techgoondu has found a pen at Comex 08 which could be a godsend for journalists.

Comex 08 is currently held at the Singapore Suntec Convention Center till this Sunday.

Wrote Gin Lee,

This is a really cool gadget. it’s a pen with a built in mic and recorder. As you take notes, you are also recording what the speaker is saying.

Now every word that you type is bookmarked to the corresponding portion of the recording, think of it like every word you write is an automatic bookmark.

So if you want to jump to line 3 of your notes to hear what the professor is saying about macroeconomics, just click your pen on that third line and the corresponding recording will playback.

There are loads of other cool stuff you can do, like drawing a set of piano keys and then playing a tune usinig Do Re Mi, getting the pen to do calculations for you and even translating a foreign language. It’s hard to describe this $265 device - best you check it out for yourself.

Tagging has gone to the devices.

Check out the Comdex 08 updates at www.techgoondu.com.

This week has been a pretty torrid week for Smartbrain when it comes to his love/hate relationship with the spawn of the devil, sorry, cute PR consultants, who vie for his attention, but often not in the way they should.

Early this week, an anonymous PR company, hereafter known as H contacted Smartbrain asking him to do a freelance job for one of their clients, client R. Smartbrain ignored the email as the last time he did the job for R, he was not paid any of the five hundred pounds promised. Plus, the job was far from amicable as R-R was, how shall one put it, very slow to respond to email for the months leading up to the deadline and then suddenly very, very demanding when they noticed that the deadline for the story was imminent.

Also this week, H managed to really upset Smartbrain (well, their other half did - all annoying PR companies have another hat to wear when they need to avoid “conflicts of interest” on paper) when they insisted on a one on one interview with their client.

Smartbrain declined the one on one, saying that he would prefer the general session later that day alongside the other journos. The saccharine sweet PR called his phone (note to self, change number and keep it secret) and insisted it was special and worth Smartbrain getting up at the crack of dawn for an early morning interview.

“It’s not that bad, high fuel costs mean that traffic is much less clogged up these days,” the sweet voice of the devil said, reassuringly.

The last time PR H did this was for a certain IT company, known anonymously as “the Evil Empire” (wonder who they could be?) which had a very interesting topic, mice, which obviously demanded a one on one interview arrangement.

It was an evening interview and Smartbrain got there early, in time for the last 10 minutes of the general press conference and Q&A. After firing off a few pointed questions to the acolytes of the Evil Empire, he was led off to the one on one where his questions were rebutted with the comment, “If you weren’t late you would have heard that….” from an annoyed spokesperson who was under the impression that Smartbrain was late for the previous session rather than early for his.

“I was not late. I was told to be here at 4.30 by H,” he replied.

Next Wednesday, Smartbrain hopes that their client, a certain chip company that is being sued left right and centre on anti-trust grounds known only as I corporation, had better have something that’s worth it or Smartbrain will unveil who this PR H is on this blog.

Next episode: Company O and how they told their client Smartbrain was going to Delhi without telling Smartbrain, or his editor.