James Farrell

James Farrell is the former editor-in-chief of Chiang Mai CityNews, where he wrote and managed daily news, features, op-eds and blogs on a diverse range of topics. Prior to this, in the same city of Northern Thailand where he lives, he was the longstanding deputy editor of the monthly magazine Citylife. He has written on culture, politics, travel, tech, business, human rights, for local, national, and international news services and magazines. He has a keen interest in the role technology is playing in the transformation of society, culture and politics, especially in developing nations. This is reflected in his not-so-successful first novel.

Latest from James Farrell

Microsoft smartwatch bets on 2-day battery life as speculation, rivals circle

Microsoft Corp. is gearing up to launch its smartwatch in a matter of weeks, according to a recent Forbes report. Not only will the device connect to your smartphone – Microsoft’s own Windows phones, Google Inc.’s Android phones and Apple Inc.’s iPhone, but it will act as a fitness tracker. The smartwatch will measure users’ heart rates throughout ...

Xbox One outselling Playstation 4 with its free games strategy?

In a bid to attract customers before the holidays and solidify a recent Xbox One sales boom that won’t go unnoticed by rivals, Microsoft Corp. is giving away two different special editions of the game Assassin’s Creed: Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, when purchasing the new Xbox One, with or without Kinect ...

How to alienate women (and karma): Microsoft CEO’s sexist comment spotlights industry inequality

Following Microsoft Corp. Satya Nadella’s comment at last week’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference, that women shouldn’t sweat it if there is vast inequality of man-to-woman pay scales within the tech industry because “karma” will put things right, a media furor lambasting Nadella has taken place. The comment that sparked the controversy – following ...

Should Facebook cave to the growing need for online anonymity?

Considering the avalanche of customers choosing anonymous mobile chat apps these days, from WhisperText, LLC to Yik Yak, Inc., it may not come as a shock to hear that Facebook, Inc. plans to offer its users something similar in the way of anonymous interaction. A report in the New York Times revealed that the public could ...

Lookout’s big in Japan, where smartphone users will pay $275 to protect data

One in five Japanese smartphone owners have lost or misplaced their phone, according to a recent study by Lookout Inc. The mobile security provider also said that half of smartphone owners in Japan would be willing to pay up to $275 just to recover the data from a lost or stolen mobile device. Forbes reported that Lookout ...

The cloud is the future of television: new DVR Comcast service moves into San Francisco

Spreading cloud-connected television across the U.S., Comcast’s X1 DVR with Cloud Technology is now available to customers in the San Francisco Bay Area, joining Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Houston and Washington D.C. The new service allows users to record their favourite shows and movies in the cloud, and subsequently stream those recordings to their ...