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We’re Living in the Future - Part 2

January 19th, 2010 by Eunielle

Communications.

We communicated, communicate and will communicate, but the only difference between times is a tool or means for communications. From direct conversations to signals like Morse code and to the most significant invention of Bell, the telephone, human beings have strived to have better communication tools and methods than ever. Finally, modern technology has made it come true to talk with and simultaneously see people in different nations through a small device called cellphone. The cellphone now opens a new door to the world of smart phone, as a powerful communication means and an efficient tool for a number of genius applications. Beside the phones, computers and the internet also play a leading role in today’s telecommunications.

Video-Calls and the Internet-Phone

Grandpa, could you imagine video-calls with your cellphone??

Grandpa, could you imagine video-calls with your cellphone??

It was quite complicated to make a video call even in late 1990s. They had to use the special video phone that was equipped with a small camera and a wide screen. However, it’s now very easy and simple if your cellphone comes with a camera in it: just tap a button like a voice call! — Don’t worry, a built-in camera has become the default item for cellphones lately. Additionally, the technology expands to daily gadgets. For example, LG is launching its new TV with HD video call available. Actually the internet has contributed a lot to this because only with its help the development of gadgets with built-in telecommunication tools can come true.

Plus, there’s the internet phone that you can use without worries about heavy bills. The type of phone like the Skype’s is now very common and the quality is amazing — you may not recognize whether one’s using the internet phone or not. However, for the people who don’t have that specially designed phone, there’s still a chance to make an international call via the internet connection. Various internet chatting services are available and messengers like MSN offer video chatting mode. The better is that this technology is being used for many purposes rather than only for daily conversations between friends or family.

Now, you can see and talk with your friend with your cellphone.

Now, you can see and talk with your friend with your cellphone.

While you are away, you can check on your pet at home on the internet.

While you are away, you can check on your pet at home on the internet.

Thanks to the convenient and non-regionally-restraining telecommunication method, doctors can diagnose their patients anywhere with computer, friends living in different cities or countries can discuss the result of football game, those who miss their pets back home can say hello to them. What a wonderful world!! And it’s not over yet. From this, yes, from the innovation in communication media, all the remaining fields have gained new momentum in their own way. All right, see you on the next post about changes in the entertainment!

Happy New Year!!!

January 12th, 2010 by Eunielle
Boxing day is a holiday?!

Boxing day is a holiday?!

A long waiting line of shoppers on Boxing day

A long waiting line of shoppers on Boxing day

The war-like boxing day and shopping-spree season have ended, finally. With tons of season’s greetings, the new year 2010 has begun — yeah, happy new year to you! But don’t forget big up-coming events in February: St. Valentine’s Day and Korean New Year’s Day, Seollal(Lunatic new year’s day). So, save your money for the next sprees. Otherwise, you’ll be broke… LOL.

By the way, did you make your new year’s resolution for 2010? Paprika Lab did! Curious about it? Ok, I’ll tell you what: launching our game successfully in global market! Yes, we’re targeting the whole world for our big project and doing our best everyday to meet the goal. Guess what? You’ll see what it is this year and we all expect it to be a big hit to reward our efforts :)

Stay tuned to see its huge launch together!

+ Coming up the second article of the “We’re Living in the Future” series.

We’re Living in the Future - Part 1

November 19th, 2009 by Eunielle

The year of 2010 is coming up, but the number 2010 still seems quite strange and feels so far away. About 20 years ago, I used to watch TV animation series titled “2020 Wonder Kiddy” — see pics below. At that time, people thought the year 2020 as a far and whole new future even though it was just 30-something years away. I also thought, like characters in the animation, people in 2020 will be like astronauts traveling universe, wearing a big bowl-like helmet-mask to avoid breathing in polluted air and living in cities full of strange buildings and vehicles.

2020 Wonder Kiddy

2020 Wonder Kiddy

A Doctor and an Officer

A Doctor and an Officer

The Princess

The Princess

But now, 2020 being just 10 years away, I don’t think these pictures will come true in a near future. Well, it doesn’t mean that everything does and will remain unchanged. Actually, lots of new devices, media and technologies are appearing these days, day by day, year by year. The difference is we are still human beings just like in the past — what was expected back then are ET-type people walking around with a big, bald head and electronic equipments implanted into their body or skin.

Among the changes we’ve been facing recently, the most significant one is that of media resulted from technological advances. Ranged from communications to learning and entertainment, new media are now playing crucial roles and forming huge markets over the world, boosting new industries. Those were not available in 80s or 90s, and even they couldn’t come up with the ideas for those new ways of living. Over the next 3 parts, starting from the changes in communications media, we will look at all the three fields above - communications, entertainment and education. So, stay tuned! :)

Details Win, When It Comes to Customer Relations

November 4th, 2009 by Eunielle

Being simple is the best approach in the modern world. The thing is, it is not the case for customer relations and a good brand image at least.

Today, I wanna share a pic with you. A man impressed by unexpected kindness of a cosmetic shop has left a favorable note on a web site with strong recommendation. Here is the pic from his post — a hand-written thank-you note from a sales assistant of the shop.

A Hand-Written Thank-you Note

The post can be a good starting point to think about the importance of details we usually miss unconsciously. A glass of soda on the house, a quick note saying “thank you” — even the handwriting is barely readable, a mint with a smiling face printed on after a hours-taking journey on bus and so on can be some of the examples. Those can touch the customers’ emotions and attract an additional glance at your company or products — you know, how difficult to draw one’s attention. Simple and strait-forward policy on customer relations can avoid any misreading or confusion between staff, but there should be flexibility or creativity regarding a surprise factor for customers or clients to emotionally bond with the brand they consume, or at least to make them smile for a while.

Many companies make good products nowadays, but still, the number of those which pay careful attention to even one final detail is comparatively small. For example, when goods of an online shopping mall are packed, some owners are just finishing them up, quickly applying ugly wide tapes on the packaging, while others are adding a short thank-you note for their customers with a specially-made ribbon, perhaps the shop’s name or logo printed on, tied and curled at the end.

Interestingly, as we’re living in this tech-oriented, fact-filled world, our thirst for sharing warmth or a light sense of humor grows. So, when people face this small unexpected joy from others, they tend to talk about it at any possible moment, not to say they love the joy itself. Problems are you never know what details will be happily surprising and perfectly work before you experience one. Mirror yourself and think of what you wanted from other services; that might be the first step for effective customer relations. If you can deliver fine details of your services or work to others, you’ve just made your loyal group by the huge virality of heart-felt impressions.

We’ve Gotten Refreshed!

October 27th, 2009 by Eunielle

Paprika on a trip

We, Paprikans, had a workshop last week; it was more like an excursion, though. Along the west coast of Korea, we enjoyed driving and special treats! Because prawns are the best in this season as well as hickory shad, we took the advantage of coastal area.

One of our crew conducted a session on communication from his former experience in a management consulting firm. It was very meaningful for us to think about “Paprikan Style”. Celebration on newly joining members and a mind-refreshing walk in a special garden, so called an arboretum, gave us a chance to enhance the team spirit.

Now that we’ve all had full energy recharged thanks to the fresh air, great sceneries and inspiring talks, it’s time to breathe the positive atmosphere into our work!

Chemistry: an Essential Key to Integration

October 20th, 2009 by Eunielle

Chemistry of Love

Love chemistry. I’m a bit obsessed with it, so whenever I start seeing somebody, I ask myself, “Is there chemistry between him and me?” And then, I answer myself like this: I don’t have to ask about the chemistry — I should’ve just felt the way! My long-term relationship, therefore, is mostly based on the magical string that I share with the person; some say it’s attraction, some that it’s personality, but I will say it’s chemistry.

Likewise, team chemistry, which can be delivered by group-culture or DNAs of the team, means a lot not only for team-projects or sports but also for a healthy emotional attachment to one’s work or workplace. Not surprisingly, having and sharing organization chemistry is a key to integrate all the members into a group and to lead them to be of loyalty. To put it another way, if you are suffering from a-minute-before-big-fight mood in your workplace, try to find some common interests or hobbies so as to build chemistry together. Of course, chemistry is not the thing that you can make on purpose, but still giving it a shot is always better than just looking at it with your arms folded.

Group Characteristics

So, unlike a conventional job interview, many corporations now include unique questions that show their culture to find out whether there’s chemistry between the candidate and the company. Well, here are my questions for you: “Are you fun? Do you enjoy your life with challenging games and a variety of people?” If your answer is “YES”, you are definitely a PAPRIKAN! LOL

How smart are you?

October 13th, 2009 by Eunielle

Is your cellphone or car smart? What do you think of as a smart phone? How about a smart car?

#1

Not only have human beings been evolving, but IQ of man-made items is getting higher - there’s no doubt if those things were humans, they all would be a member of MENSA, haha.

The number of smart phone users has jumped sharply year after year and cars with high technologies like a distance brake-control system - ITS of Toyota has made it available - are being released eagerly.

customized iPhone

However, if you are not smart enough to understand and control all the functions, the tables will be turned on you! As soon as you give your control up, the device won’t make any difference from conventional ones. What does this mean? - people have made state-of-the-art utilities but the utilities lead a new trend, and, furthermore, if one cannot follow the new trend he or she would be much less likely to succeed in their career or market. At a moment that this happens, a vicious circle begins!!

#2

In accordance with its artifacts, businesses are also employing super clever strategies to stand out in the market. The first step out of the realm of intelligent gadgets has been made by “quick-to-adopt-any-effective-utility” publicity agents. For example, smart phone users are now one of the largest markets to promote a company’s new invention. Accordingly, PR directors are busy twitting or texting short messages on the Internet.

advertising_pr09

Car industry is also not an exception. High-performance braking or accelerating systems are being taken for granted, so the market needs more! They develop and advertise their new systems not only in terms of the performance but in terms of environmental friendliness - reducing “carbon wheelprints”, using biodegradable materials for parts and so on.  Plus, intelligence is a must to be on top of the list. You can name your car “the best car ever” only when it has magical power to foresee traffic lights ahead or to avoid a crash controlling a whole driving system.

#3

Well, the devices themselves seem to be enough to function well. Yet, these smart devices need innovative new platforms or systems to run, which, in turns, stimulates further developments in broader industry. For example, the iPhone boosted a variety of application-wares like our iPhone-based game, HenHouse: Count attack :) Yeah, a new technology brings us a first-shown-in-the-world product, the product brings about a totally unexpected wave, the wave vibrates the public and business, the business starts making money out of it and that sparks another technological development! This is another CIRCLE, not vicious but actually very positive and productive!

Be well prepared before you get fooled by trend-setting technologies - you know, you can make either positive or vicious circle ;)

Money matters? DESIGN matters!

October 5th, 2009 by Eunielle

Last week, I was looking for decent earphones on the internet. At first, I just wanted to buy value-for-money ones, so checked on a popular website like ‘Ebay’. It showed me over one thousand results. Then, I found myself clicking several pages only because of their good looking. That reminded me of a friend of mine, whose buying decision always depends not on the item’s performance but on its design, and led me to search for unique headphones available on the market.

Here are some that grip my mind:

In-ear Headphones from SwarovskiIn-ear Headset from SwarovskiBluetooth Headset from Swarovski

Mu-bot from Segatoys, Japan

Mu-bot from Segatoys, Japan

There are tons of products out there, but only few are leading ones in the market. That’s either because of their cutting-edge function or notably distinct design, or both. Not surprisingly, the latter gets its ground compared to the past times when they consider the price or technical features of goods as the top priority: even if the product boasts its ever striking technology, it will fail to attract the public without appealing look. Consumers today are very picky to choose items to take money out of their pocket – yeah, it was a lot easier in the past for businesses to make a big hit. “What will the next generation’s design for this be like?” the markets are wondering.

Spring Cleaning of Paprika Lab’s Website

May 4th, 2009 by John

We finally got the chance to redo our company website. This time, we wanted to employ a feeling of fresh, green, and eco-friendliness to it. The main page shows some recent highlights in our product line-up as well as few excerpts from this blog. Wooden texture gives a slight dimension to the appearance.

plweb_1

About page contains a general introduction to Paprika Lab and our 4 values that we believe in and base our decisions on. Few pictures on the right shows a glimpse of what it’s like at Paprika Lab.

plweb_2

Our products page shows the list of products that we’ve launched so far and a web link or a download link in case of an app.

plweb_3

Contact page contains the necessary email addresses for communicating with us. On the right sidebar are some images from Google Earth pinpointing our geographical location (not linked on purpose).

plweb_4

Well, we hope you like our new spring looks. :) Cheers!

Guy Kawasaki’s Spamurai - The Art of Marketing on Twitter

April 5th, 2009 by John

Pretty entertaining and informative on how to use twitter for marketing (and spamming) purposes. As long as it’s targeted and annoyance-free, it’s good marketing.