Beijing...again

Greetings from Beijing, China! This week I'm at AMD's China headquarters, meeting with various sales and marketing groups. In addition, I'm meeting with several of the country's leading game and multimedia developers.

The crazy thing that I'm amazed at, is the size of some of these companies. That, and the unreal number of customers that they have. Before you say "Hey, dummy, remember that China is a nation of over 1 billion people", check this out: The largest game company in China is "Shanda". They make mostly online multiplayer games. They currently have almost 700 million registered users. Incredible. Of that, only about 100 million customers are actually playing online games on a regular basis. Only 100 million ; )

One meeting today was actually a lot of fun. The meeting actually involved me playing golf. Not the golf that you might be thinking of. We were working with a company that has developed an advanced "golf simulator". Basically, it involves a computer that projects images of a real golf course onto giant screens. You use actual clubs and real golf balls. The system has two high-speed cameras that analyze your swing and the speed/trajectory of the ball, after you hit it.

I swear that my swing looks better in the daylight ; )

While there have been "golf simulators" before, not too many have 3 screens and the detail of the golf courses that this one had. We're looking at improving the graphics even further, and helping the developer "tweak" the software to make it even more accurate.

You drive for show...but put for dough...

I ended up beating my boss on a hold from a golf course in Abu Dahbi ; ) Not bad, for not picking up a golf club in over 6 years. It kind of made me want to play golf again. We'll see.

After playing around with this technology, I was reminded that parts of China haven't really changed much in hundreds of years:

Just in case you didn't know...it's a toilet ; )

Tomorrow is another round of presentations and meetings with folks around Beijing. I'm still fighting jet lag, but the iPad helps, as I just start a puzzle game when I'm getting sleepy - my brain just needs a little exercise, that's all ; )