As I exited the Taipei City Hall metro station, two beautiful Taiwanese girls in short shorts and skimpy tank tops approached me. The ice-cold shower of reality hit me two seconds later when I found that they were trying to sell me something. D’oh.
But my interest was rekindled when I discovered that something is WeChat (or 微信 in Chinese), the mobile chat app that we at TechRice have predicted as the China tech story of 2012.
Now the story has moved beyond China.
The 2011 IDEAS show is coming to Taipei on July 27 and features keynotes, hot startups, and global investors.
The highlight of the event is the 6-minute demos by the startup teams. This year, aside from the usual honor that accompanies winning the judges favor, prizes awarded by Asus WebStorage and Intel will also be given to those teams which can stand the pressure and prove their worth. For the full event program, please refer to the website at: http://ideashow.web20.org.tw/
iPeen (愛評網) is a Taiwanese startup that collates reviews of restaurants, cafes and bars and offers coupons for members. Taiwan has an intense foodie culture: even the hottest restaurants can quickly tumble against an onslaught of new innovators. And similar to Yelp or Dianping, iPeen.com.tw is a platform to help restaurateurs and foodies connect.
In a free market, Facebook would have become China’s leading real-relationship social network. It’s distinctly possible that in 2 years the entire world will be connected on Facebook, without China.
