Tech innovations that improve our quality of life

Facebook

Since its launch in February 2004, Facebook has connected its users with their acquaintances. As the world's No. 1 social networking service (SNS) website, it currently has more than 400 million active users worldwide, and offers more than 5,000 features. It is the world's second-most visited website after Google.com, and was named the world's most innovative company of 2009 by Fast Company.

Facebook's clones in China attract more than one-third of the country's netizens. Fervor in SNS games has become a much-talked about social phenomenon.

Google

Besides being the world's most used search engine, Google also hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products.

A Google fan's day can be illustrated as follows: he starts the day with an alarm clock on Nexus One. He reads news on Google Reader, surfs the Internet through Google Chrome, and communicates with colleagues on Gmail and Gtalk. He arranges his schedule on Google Calendar, and checks for a date restaurant on Google Map. At the end of the day, he shares his photos on Picasa and enjoys some funny video clips on YouTube.

Google is BrandZ's most powerful brand in the world, and its unofficial slogan is, "Don't be evil."

Blog

Blogs began to prevail in China around 2005, when the country's portal website Sina.com heavily promoted celebrities' blogs on its website.

They offer platforms for individual voices and freedom of expression.

Blogs track changes in Chinese society, highlight the wisdom of the grassroots, and promotes the openness of society.

Portable storage devices

The USB flash disks and the portable hard drives have helped free people from piles of documents.

Massive data transmission becomes a matter of a blink.

Photoshop

As the flagship product of Adobe Systems, Adobe Photoshop is a leading graphics editing program, and has just celebrated its 20th anniversary on Feb 20, 2010.

It has been described as "an industry standard for graphics professionals," and is available in 27 languages.

The software amplifies the way people see the world, and as a US writer has it, "With a little work, you have more than a photo: You have a moment captured just as you see it."