It's Google who gets the resumes

These are the numbers. Google posts 50 job openings on their webpage in China and in around 5 hours, they received 1,000 applications. It is happening in a country, in a landscape, where only the best employers receive such numbers and it is a great success for the company. Sure, this is quantitative and no one knows how good those applicants, but for sure, it is easier to find a good candidate amongst a lot of resumes compared to just a few.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Blogging or dogging? Another one on jargon

Just because I blog and you, who reads this blog, also blogs, your dog blogs, and your cat started yesterday while the goldfish considers it and just because Technorati reports every now and then that blogging is changing the world - it doesn't need to be in such a way. It is our perception, those that blog, that blogging changes the world.

May be it actually does, but then, the majority of the world still doesn't understand what is happening in the blogging world. The simple person on the road (if such one actually exists) is still confused by tech jargon. "90% of people do not know what podcasting means and seven in 10 people did not know what a blog is." Okay - well, the study was conducted with Focus Groups (since when can we derive quantitative numbers from focus groups) and amongst taxi drivers, pub landlords, beauticians and hairdressers. This is also the group which is not necessarily likely to blog - at least not while they work. I guess I would be worried if the taxi driver is blogging, or my hair dresser, while they cut my hair!

Just in case you are interested. Here is a list of the words which are the least understood:

1. Flashmobbing 9%
2. Podcasting 12%
3. Metrosexual 22%
4. Blogging 28%
5. Dogging 39%
6. Chav 49%
7. Happy Slapping 56%
8. Broadband 88%

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Sony's fantastic turnaround plan

Sony was in deep trouble a while ago, culminating in a shock event - and then I hoped that they would do something right. They did - by getting a new CEO. A method that many, many companies do when they are in trouble for a long time. In Japan, that is something worthwhile to comment about. First, it was the first Western CEO (as if this is something special - well, it is for Japan), then, that they actually replace someone from Senior Management. So it gave hope to a turnaround of this once great company.

Well, Japan is special, since lifelong employment is still something like a guarantee, even after Ghosn of Nissan took hold and turned that company around successfully.

It is good to revamp a company, shake it up, and even retrench employees. For them, it might be bitter, but many times, it gives the opportunity for a new start. Still, I wonder why a CEO always looks at employee numbers first? Stinger announced the turnaround plan with great euphoria, but then, well, he doesn't really deliver. The "biggest part of the plan is a planned cut of 10,000 jobs worldwide, or 6.7% of its current 150,000 global workforce; 4,000 in Japan and 6,000 from overseas by the end of fiscal 2007. " How pathetic is this? Doesn't he know that each time he retrenches, a company experiences a culture shock? That it is easier to get over with it, do a deep cut (if required) and then really work the magic?

Well, let's see the rest: "Stringer said the reductions will eliminate a "significant redundancy" in operations. He will close down 11 manufacturing bases, slash 15 unprofitable business categories and reduce the number of product models by 20%. The 15 categories, which are all from the electronics division, have been decided, but will not be disclosed yet. 20% of existing product models will disappear."

So good bye to products and plants (which is probably summarised in the numbers up there already). I wonder what will follow. May be I just wonder because really, I don't really believe in retrenchments. Just remember, there was a time you wanted to hire that one person that you fire now. Why didn't you, as company, didn't upgrade the person's skill, when you had the time?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

After Internet regulations, now SMS regulations in China

Just in the beginning of this week, I wrote about the introduction of regulations regarding Internet content in China, which already followed tightened media controls. Now, to top this up, the Chinese Government continues to become a best practice example in blocking content and information across a country.

"Telecom Administration Bureau under the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), revealed that "Relations of SMS Communication Service Management" (Regulations), China's first set of SMS regulations, will be officially published recently." This means that "those who distribute obscene and eroticism information with SMS via cell phones will have to bear legal liability."

I wonder where the political content is - is it possible to send SMS regarding democracy, or Taiwan? Just kidding, okay!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Segregating mobile and non-mobile sections in restaurants

Something is brewing in the mobile world. As the number of mobile phone owners keeps increasing, so does the request for more etiquette and, well, just normal behaviour - don't bug those people around you with annoying ringtones, or by talking overly loud - simply spoken, be less rude.

Textually now runs the article that some restaurants have started to segregate mobile phone section from non-mobile phone sections. So far, mobile phone users get a limited space, a room on their own to conduct their conversation, but it is a start. As I said - something is brewing in the mobile world.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Tech terms confuse employees and consumers

Plenty of new words regarding technology confuse the normal citizen on the road, not only the employee. Of course, there must be some targetting and as such, the story targets the employees. Those poor employees are once bullied by the press, this time, that they waste valuable time deciphering what a technical term means.

The recruiter who conducted the survey, which questioned 1,500 workers, says effective technology professionals "understand the need to tailor their levels of jargon".

Well, there might be some truth because just a few days earlier, research firm Harris International found it out the hard way for their clients. "a new survey from market researchers Harris Interactive suggests the average consumer doesn't know his VoIP from his elbow. The poll, commissioned by Verizon, found that out of 1,006 American adults, 20 percent believed VoIP was a hybrid automobile from Europe and 10 percent thought it was a low-carbohydrate vodka. Respondents were offered those choices in addition to the real definition of VoIP. Overall, 87 percent got the answer wrong."

So, sure, it is easy to confuse the consumer. But honestly, wouldn't it make more sense to take the tech jargon out and connect with the consumer?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Better camera phones

If a rock band is able to produce the video for their newest music album with a mobile phone, technology really has come a long way.

Rock band the Presidents of the United States of America is just doing that. "The video for the track "Some Postman," culled from the band's last studio album, "Love Everybody," was filmed in Seattle in just one day using a variety of Sony-Ericsson mobile video phones."

(By Asia Business Consulting)

When do you know that your control is enough?

China introduced new regulations to widen its control over the Internet. Sure, China's Internet population is expanding rapidly - the country now "has more than 100 million internet users and is the world's second largest user after the United States, which has 135 million."

But hey - there are already 50,000 agents doing their job, and there is the cooperation from multinational firms - what more do you expect? I guess the fear that nude chatters topple the country is still prevalent. Or does the fear relate to potential unrest due to widening income gaps? This could be one possibility that let China to continue its grip.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Train your employees to be less rude on the phone

It is clear that, since more and more people are mobile, they also use their mobile phones to stay in touch with customers or connect with their colleagues. Moreover, employees also use their mobile phones instead of the fixed line to undertake calls when they are in the office.

However, the thing is that people frequently behave differently on their mobile phone than on the "official" fixed line that is in their business. Sadly, this apparently results in some bad business conduct. "A study showed most people had poor mobile phone etiquette and ignored the effect it had on colleagues."

So I wonder, how much business is lost because you just forget that a call to your mobile phone is not necessarily from your best buddy, but from your key account contact. Or that it is better to pick up that call, because it could be your next contract, instead of letting it ring to finish your lunch, which can be annoying anyway.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Credit card functions in mobile phones - a dream come through?

In Malaysia, a company called Mobile Money International Sdn Bhd has developed a mobile or virtual credit card concept. With this "Consumers can make payments at the counter by giving to the merchant a number provided to them in their mobile phones.

“For remote payments, payment requests with details will be relayed to the consumer through the phone. A buyer merely has to reply with the PIN to make the payment,” according to their Managing Director.

Overall, a concept that many foresaw since the event of the Internet and the improvement if mobile phones. If it is possible will be seen, of course, but then, it is not a world's first. As far as I remember (but I might be wrong), a similar concept is in use in Japan, with DoCoMo.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

All we are saying is give us better batteries

This is interesting. According to a new study, mobile phone users and those operating with a converged device (PDA Phone, for example) want to have longer lasting batteries that allow the user to use the many applications available.

2 days of lasting batteries - that is all that mobile users want. "Over 75 percent of mobile phone and PDA users in the United States rate 'two-days of battery life during active use' as the most important feature of an ideal converged device of the future." Complimenting this are other features: "the next most important features to U.S. users were high resolution camera and video camera (50 percent of respondents), the availability of full versions of Microsoft Office applications on the device (42 percent), and a device with 20 Gigabytes of memory (41 percent)."

Especially the 41 GB is amazing because it indicates the interest of users to do so much more with their mobile phone. Music playing, movies and so on - basically more content, right? May be they get used to the small screen, but once again, handset makers are behind the market in meeting consumer's needs - because: isn't a great battery one of the basic ingredients that a company needs to have to enter the mobile phone market?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Shall we jail those parents?

While there is no scientific link between video games and violence, it makes sense to impose some restrictions, or age-rating classifications, on very violent games. Or, even better, to give parents the power to decide what is good for their children and what not. Even so, kids nowadays are frequently way ahead of their parents in many of these issues.

Anyway, over in New Zealand, it has been found that "parents are supplying restricted or banned computer games to their teenage children." It might be that these children are just bugging their parents until parents give in, or that parents believe they know better. Of those students interviewed "62 per cent had played at least one restricted or banned game."

What is a bit tougher to understand is the reaction of Chief Censor Bill Hastings, working in the Classification Office. He saw it as an offense to his professional well-being, stating that his office would not ban or restrict games lightly. He continued to state that "parents who allow their underage children to play restricted games are breaking the law and doing their children a disservice." Shall we just jail those renegade parents then?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

You're fired - now as ringtone on mobile phones

Can it be that some people like Donald Trump and his Apprentice so much that they actually download his phrases on their mobile phone? Available are, amongst others: "Why not answer your phone, you could be missing out on some really big business" and "You're getting a phone call and believe me it better be important. I have no time for small talk and neither do you."

Interesting gimmick and sure to erect attention when you stand in the queue in the supermarket and Donald starts scolding you - as long as he doesn't fire you.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Improving financial online transactions

There is always a risk in conducting Internet or online banking activities, and this is the point where the Korean government wants to do some preventive moves.

Korea, always on the move regarding web-enabled facilities, already witnesses an astonishing 75% of financial transactions conducted over cyberspace. They basically plan "to adopt a strengthened personal identity authentication system for Internet banking called the one-time password (OTP) formula."

"OTP verification refers to a security system that requires a new password every time a user authenticates himself, thus protecting against an intruder attempting to use an intercepted password."

Great move! The question is - how smart are "the bad guys" in order to get their own access?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Grokster to sell out?

"Grokster is in talks to be acquired by Mashboxx LLC, which is attempting to establish a legal peer-to-peer music company."

This was somewhat clear after the music industry put pressure on the company and is a common strategy - think Napster. The result? Well, eDonkey took over from Grokster already and 1,000 new file sharing applications will bloom, when Grokster sells out.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Those employees cannot be trusted

It is not only the Internet that cannot be trusted, it also is the employee. Time and time again, studies are brought up that show that employees do stupid things that bring down a company's website, or their entire network.

Sure, these employees to engage in risky behaviour because they feel protected. Protected by their own IT Department that they then challenge with behaviour that threatens all these security installations.

"In a survey that polled some 1,200 employees in the U.S., Germany and Japan, 39 percent believed that I.T. could prevent them from falling prey to threats like spyware and phishing. This belief prompted many of them to admit risky online behavior. Of those who admitted to such activity, 63 percent said that they do so because they feel they are protected by security software installed on their computers by their employers."

However, what I always wonder is, why those studies are initiated by companies that just incidentally also provide the software to protect the companies? In this case Trend Micro, but exchange the name to anything you want - Symantecs or MacAfee. May be it is really that they want to sell some more of their programs and thus, quickly commission a study that shows that those employees commit corporate suicide? Or may be, instead of relying on those software programmes, these employees need to understand that their behaviour is risky and that they should take care in a way they usuallly take care in their "normal life" - if they don't incidentally hate their bosses?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Something about music phones

Clearly, the mobile industry is still waiting for the enlightenment on the next or the first big application that is driving their business to the next level and substitutes or enhances the current main application, which is texting.

It is clear that in many markets, mobile phone users still prefer simplicity over technology and only use the basic functions on a phone.

Currently, a lot is pinned onto music on the phones and possibly even direct music downloads - a move that has been initiated pretty much by Motorola and Apple in the "Western World" who put iTunes onto the phone.

Japan is an example of a country, where music is already a runner. "The revenue from the music sold over mobile phones -- from simple ringtones to full songs -- accounts for about 20% of Japan's total music market," estimated to grow to US$449 million in 2005. Not much considering the total telecommunications market size in Asia, but at least a start. The basic assumption in this offering is that a phone user wants access to a song here and now, anytime, anywhere. And that is the challenge, because, downloads onto a phone are more time intensive, and thus, more expensive. "Certainly, most consumers accustomed to paying 99 cents to download a song to their PC for use on their iPod aren't likely to want to pay double or triple that to download to their phones, despite the instant gratification. A Yankee Group survey in 2004 found that Internet users' likelihood of downloading music from a licensed service declined 58% if prices were raised from 99 cents to US$1.49" This happens when consumers are trained to react to price instead of value!

People are also used to carry along their MP3 players and might initially use the phone as a substituting player. Especially, when they actually don't want to have additional gadgets anymore. So it is a challenge for mobile music, but then, it is a challenge for 3G, MMS and everything else. Over time, people will get used to a new feature on the phone and one day, with larger capacity on the phones and more competitive pricing, we will have a fully equipped PDA, mobile phone or whatever, that we slug around with us. It is a matter of timing, strategising and taking the space available, just like everything!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Celebration time: Global mobiles top 2 billion

This is good news for many companies involved in the industry. The number of mobile phone subscribers in the world has surpassed the 2 billion with growth now driven from emerging markets such as China, India, Eastern Europe, Latin America and even Africa.

Nokia estimates that the numbers of subscribers will hit 3 billion by 2010. By then, or probably even earlier, the first of those emerging markets will reach saturation. What else will be there that is different from now?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Baidu - the legal troubles continue

Baidu's main competitive advantage was its offering of free downloads. However, it was clear that the moment the company is publicly listed, especially in the US, its legal problems would accelerate. And boy, yeah, the big boys of the music industry have started to shoot pretty heavily. Its "Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp., EMI Group Plc and Universal Music Group" that initiated the lawsuite against Baidu. And so, here goes Baidu's competitive advantage - Bloomberg writes correctly that restrictions on Baidu's services would make it more difficult for the Beijing-based company to maintain its lead in China over Google Inc.

Following the news, Baidu's shares plunged 28% on September 14. Here we go with the end of a dream.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

The Internet corrupts the youth

We all know that dangers lurk just next corner on the bad, bad Internet. This is the reason why China, as a country concerned with the well-being of its citizens and the economy, is monitoring everything on the web very closely. I mean, otherwise, nude webchats might just topple the country's government, right?

This is also the reason why the Chinese government is pretty imaginative in treating Internet addiction - and now initiates training courses to keep the youth on track. "is why the Beijing Municipal Youth League has made a documentary, in which it is illustrated the right way to use the Internet.

“Internet Teenagers” teaches the Chinese teenagers not to look on the Internet for relaxation, entertainment or friends, but to seek these goals in the real world." Now we know how to prepare for the onslaught of the growing web.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Red Herring 100 Asia list

Is it "listing and ranking time" again? The last time I wrote about a ranked list was in February and April this year, I think.

Red Herring, an American business technology and innovation magazine, has published its first "Red Herring 100 Asia list" which recognizes budding companies in the Asian market in the fields of consumer electronics, IT, wireless, communications services, media and biotechnology.

The list features "Asia's Top 100 Technology Companies", out of which 12 are Indian companies, increasingly hitting it big on the global tech scenario. The other trailblazers "getting there" are essentially from Russia, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand etc.

Those rankings are good for companies, if it is based on sound methodology - and I don't doubt Red Herring - because it allows market followers to understand the gap they need to cross to reach the best of the best. However, it is also crucial not to focus too much on best practices only, but also to create your own markets and become an innovator in your own terms. I believe that Asian companies are able to shake the global business boat and congratulate those winners in the list.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Malaysians to help pick astronaut

Malaysia is planning to send one of its own to space and thus initiated a space development programme. The response from the public was huge and encouraging, a sign that this country is really ambitious.

All is fine so far, but from here onwards it gets a bit complicated. Apparently, the science minister plans that members of the public will be able to choose the country's first astronaut from a shortlist and vote by text message. This sounds like reality shows enter the ream of politics and science.

Participation and democracy is all good, but please ensure that quality of the astronaut is ensured. If the public votes for beauty and not for quality, well, then I don't know.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

I simply don't know

With all the talks about 3G, CDMA, faster internet, VoIP, broadband, and so on, people get confused, for sure. It is like coming to a new country or working in a new company.

It is lingo, not understandable by those who are not very familiar with this terminology. As a company, you need to understand how the consumer thinks, and not create a language that actually puts a barrier between you and the consumer. A survey in Australia by IDC has now found that that Australians are clueless about 3G mobile technology, even so it has been around in Australia for the past 2 years.

Only in Australia? I guess it is a global phenomena. And I believe that only when language gets easier and people start to understand, 3G and related content will become more widespread.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Mobile industry not practicing what they preach

The mobile industry is not practicing what they are preaching. I cannot come to any other conclusion.

New research found that "a quarter of all respondents did not download content in the last month despite almost half owning 3G handsets, while 14% said they have never downloaded content.

53% of respondents last downloaded content over a week ago."

Isn't this amazing? This comes with all the hype that surrounds mobile phones and the attempts of the industry to push for content usage by their subscriber. But then, no wonder it actually fails, since, well, how convincing can you be if you don't practice what you preach.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

People want breaking news, not archives on their mobile phone

Clearly, the media landscape is shifting, and more and more people prefer to access newspapers and other documents online, at least to be able to skim through the headlines.

The next barrier to this could be the access to breaking news on your mobile phone, a service that has been offered plenty of times around the globe. And, don't we have to admit that it is smart market intelligence to know that users surely want actual breaking news report and not something that looks, or feels stale already. Right?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Versos makes Skype useless

Just days after eBay purchased Skype for quite a lot of money Versos Technologies launches a software that allows to block ... Skype, amongst others.

This will be helpful for countries such as China, where moves against Skype are in place already but surely disappoints eBay and dashes some hopes on their side.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Caring, polite phone

Whatever the government says, whatever the police is trying to implement, mobile phone users just won’t stop chatting on the phone while driving. This seems to be a fact of life. Motorola, on the innovation roll after their recent introduction of the iTune phone, now introduces a new phone that politely assists drivers in their driving abilities.

It detects the driving style of the driver and assumes current driving conditions. “If the car is cruising on the highway, the only calls that are accepted are those from a pre-programmed phone book list — the ones the user wants to go through. All other incoming calls are routed to voice mail.

If the telephone detects the driver is frequently braking and moving the steering wheel — an indication of complex driving conditions — all calls are routed to voice mail. It will retrieve those on the driving list when the driving situation clears.” Interestingly, the phone calls 911 or a loved one, when the air bag is deployed and informs police about the accident and location.

A truly caring mobile phone, more so than a phone that simply changes colour.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Request civil documents via mobile phones

To reduce the paper usage, South Korean "mobile phone users can request civil documents using their handsets." This is a nice way to reduce paper usage, however, didn't we think originally that personal computers would do this - but this never turned out right?

The ministry will also start sending text messages about civil affairs and announcements to mobile phones and other portable communication devices.

This appears to become a trend amongst governments - Australia intends to increase the number of military recruits by bombaring potential soldiers, and now Korea. Korea's intention to reduce paper is commendable, but then, aren't both governments legalising official spam?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Mobile content growing in Japan

Earlier this year, I wrote that some people confuse the name of their mobile operator with the mobile brand they are carrying. It is a similar issue with those companies that provide the content to the mobile phone. Here, it might be even more difficult, because they are operating in the background, or don't have the place or chance to display their logo, even so this is changing, probably forced onto the carriers by market forces.

The mobile phone content market is growing in Japan, thus opposing the trend in other parts of the world, where most users still prefer simple services.

"According to NTT Resonant, which operates the Goo portal, there are 400 million to 500 million searchable Japanese-language Web pages, compared with 60 million mobile Web pages. Including carriers' pages, the cell phone total goes up to an estimated 100 million.

The growth in mobile Web pages accelerated in late 2003, analysts say, when KDDI, the second-largest carrier in Japan, introduced a flat-rate plan for mobile data transfers." The sad piece, for some, is that portal operators are beefing up their mobile sites to capture an anticipated explosion in the mobile advertising market - which means, that mobile spam becomes more prevalent as well.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

eBay's and Skype - a reasonable marriage?

eBay has now decided that the acquisition of Skype for US$2.6 billion of which US$1.3 billion is cash, with the remainder eBay shares. This is fine and I am happy for Skype to have found a marriage partner.

Still, I just cannot see the synergies between eBay and Skype. The respective VoIP market gets crowded, with the big boys Yahoo, Google and MSN offering the same or similar services for free as well. In addition, Skype's potential in China has been narrowed to zero, after recent actions in that market. This means, that one of the fastest and most important markets is currently not available. One rational to purchase Skype would have been the possibility for sellers and buyers on eBay to negotiate with each other. But I wonder, how many would take the opportunity, considering the fact that millions and billions of transactions took place without the availability of Skype. So so far, I just don't get it! Anyone care to enlighten me?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Palm Source is gone. What about the Palm OS?

The story of Palm is reminding me so much of Netscape. Netscape was market leader in the Internet browser market and everybody laughed at the Internet Explorer. Palm was the market leader in the PDA market, enticing everybody with the ease of how to work the operating system.

Nobody thought that Microsoft would be able to enter and sustain in the market. At best, their first attempts were pathetic. But Microsoft is an amazing company that keeps coming back with better and better versions.

To survive the onslaught of competitors in the PDA market, Palm split itself into two, a couple of years ago. PalmSource was created as a company that would focus on the development of great and appealing software.

It wasn't suppose to be. "Access, a company based in Tokyo, which makes NetFront browser, and PalmSource, provider of Palm OS, have signed a definitive agreement for ACCESS to acquire PalmSource in an all-cash transaction." With all the major competitors gaining market share on PalmSource - is it still worth the US$324 million paid for? And with PalmSource gone, what happens to the OS? Will the next Palm Product run on Windows?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Youth want better TV reporting

Most media tries to ramp up their ratings by producing stories full of gore, blood and violence. It is the general belief that this is what drives coverage, growth, more penetration and success. Is this true? Not necessarily.

In Taiwan, "young Internet users think that unprofessional reporters are one of the biggest problems with TV news reporting" with "many TV reporters who appear on variety shows overstep their professional boundaries with paparazzi-style reporting." "Exaggeration, strong political interference and violence listed as the primary flaws in TV reporting."

Clearly, the youth, whoever belongs to it, is more critical and knows where to get information that they prefer. And those, that don't adopt to the audience's new rules lose out, since those that especially use the net know their way around and access the content that furthers their informational requirements. And all the blood in traditional reporting won't help much to stem the decline.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Jail sentence for file sharer in Taiwan

A couple of months ago, I was happy to write about file-sharing in Taiwan and the position of a Taiwan court that judged in favour of file-sharing software maker Ezpeer.com. Things appear to have changed dramatically.

"Three executives of Kuro, Taiwan 's largest music file-swapping Internet site, were each sentenced to two to three years in jail" plus some monetary penalty. "In the decision handed down yesterday by the Taipei Shilin District Court, the judges found that Kuro had violated copyright law in offering its members programs to download MP3 music."

That's a heavy one, I believe.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

China blocks Skype web phone service

This was bound to come. Skype is not only threatening incumbent fixed-line and mobile phone companies through their free Internet telephony. Additionally, they are somewhat uncontrollable, since it is easy to link up with anybody who also has Skype installed on their computer. What country comes to mind when you think about control? China.

Now, "local arm of China Telecom, the country's biggest fixed-line telecommunications operator, has moved to block access to a computer-to-telephone call service offered internationally by Skype", even so "Beijing has tolerated computer-to-computer internet telephony while seeking to limit VoIP services that more directly challenge the fixed-line operators."

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Broadband - that's the right speed

Current broadband connection speed in Korea is 10 Mbps which is fast in comparison to many other countries. This is one of the reasons that EBay's Meg called the country a testbed for broadband and why it is expected that Korea will overtake the US in digital supremacy. Korea's aim is to increase Internet speed by 50 times by 2010, and the country just did a major step into the direction. "Powercomm has ventured into Korea¡¯s broadband market by launching this month a blazingly fast Internet service with a speed of 100 megabits per second (Mbps)." To illuminate: this means that a two-hour high-definition video file in less than 5 minutes. While the speed decreases to 70 MPS when the broadband pipe is used by many surfers at once, this is still fast!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Religious virus

By now, everybody should know that surfing porn pages exposes the Internet user to spyware or viruses.

Now, a new version with a religious inclination came into play. "Users visiting Internet porn sites got more than they bargained for recently when a virus-like program displayed verses from the Koran warning porn-surfers that "Allah knows how ye move about and how ye dwell in your homes."

So porn surfer beware - you might get more than you intended to.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Now it is EBay that is talking to Skype

It is interesting how the ball rolls. First, there was Google, who was said to be interested in Skype, but they recently released their own voice ability.

Next in the ring was News Corp, however, this deal also fizzled out and the same happened to Yahoo. Now, EBay shows up as a potential partner and even so Skype has hardly any profit, the deal has been estimated to be worth as much as US$3 billion.

A deal surrounding skype seems close, since the major players are now gone. Who could come if the deal with EBay doesn't work out, who would be left? Amazon.com? Hardly a fit. If EBay doesn't work out, may be Skype's days are numbered, since competitors start flooding into the market already.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Yahoo obeyed the law to turn journalist in

It is tough to operate according to local laws, rules and regulations if you are in a void. How to act in such cases? Yahoo said that it was only following Chinese law when it provided evidence that helped land a local journalist a 10-year jail sentence. "The incriminating e-mail, sent April 20, 2004, contained information regarding a Chinese government warning for its commissars, urging them to be vigilant ahead of the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and to watch out for dissident activity."

I partially understand their action, but then, where is your social responsibility? When a company enters China, it knows that rules are made and executed differently. Still, there is something like human rights - and I strongly believe that human rights don't differ across the globe. Human rights are global and should not be bend. Otherwise, we would still have sweatshops that sprinkled the landscape not too long ago. With people increasingly aware of such violations and tools like the Internet that help to make them publicly available at a fast speed, human rights abuses will hopefully cease to exist in the nearer future.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Mobile portability - a possibility in Malaysia?

It is the greatest for any company to be able to lock their customers into their service. Locking in means that a customer can only move to a different service with great pain, a new learning process and everything. That is the reason why apple, for example, languishes at their 5% market share. Because users of Microsoft don't want to switch - it is not that they love Microsoft, but it is the inconvenience to switch.

A switch in the mobile communications market would mean that someone can change the provider without losing the mobile number. Many if not most mobile phone users don't want to switch, because that would imply tremendous burdens. Companies would have to inform their suppliers, and customers about a new number. Similar, a private user could lose touch with friends and acquaintances.

Once a switch is possible, it puts the burden to keep a customer on the company. A company needs to deliver. With value added services, with delighting the customer and so on - easing the billing procedures, avoiding drop-outs and you know what. So it is good for the customer.

Malaysia is just now starting to consider the move, and, yes, it would be a great move.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

It's always about humans

Technological failures happen because humans are bound to forget or fail to follow certain procedures and rules. This is the premise of technology, and it doesn't make sense to point fingers to technology, when in fact, humans are the ones responsible. That's why it is so scare when there is news that confidential data - personal data or those things that are better off the web for real security reasons) has been leaked - onto the web, or onto a CD-Rom (I should underline public data to differentiate this story from the previous).

In India, police arrested a call centre worker for alleged theft of personal customer information that the firm was handling for its clients - the worker was caught copying data onto a compact disc.

I wonder if now once again, the finger pointing starts to claim that outsourcing is the culprit behind the theft, and not a worker, who did something wrong. He would have done the same in a bank or wherever there is opportunity, and he didn't do it just because he worked in a call center.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Governments say Google Earth poses security risks

Google's favourite new feature, Google Earth, is in hot soup as more and more governments across the globe slam the service as a tool useful for terrorists planning attacks.

Thailand, Korea, Holland, and Australia are some of the criticising countries and are of the opinion that tourist attractions are sufficient to serve the purpose of information. But while the intention of the government is positive, it doesn't make sense to slam Google.

Authorities would have to shut down access to the other commercial suppliers of rival mapping programs while they're at it - space exploration stations and others, just to mention one. And having the access to Google Earth really doesn't determine the decision of terrorists to plan or target their objects. They look for a target first and Google Earth might be one tool they use along the way. It is probably not the other way round, that terrorists first check Google Earth and decide on their information available where to stake an attack. As bad as it sounds, that is probably not the way terrorists work.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Did Yahoo give information to Chinese government about critical journalist?

Everybody should have an idea about the policy that the Chinese authorities implement against those in their population that don't necessarily fall in line.

Now, Yahoo has been accused of assisting the government by giving "information that helped track down a journalist who wrote an e-mail about press restrictions." If true, this would be a sad day for press freedom.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Is there a market for mobile content?

It is always a game of opinion. Just when studies indicated that users only want to have simple services, other studies come out to state that there is a market for content. "Consumer demand for mobile downloads is set to triple in the next 12 months", is proudly announced by LogicaCMG, a market research firm. "Ring tones, games and music are the three most popular downloads in the global content marketplace, a trend set to continue with news and sports also gaining a keen audience in Europe.

The market for downloading video and movie clips also showed promise, with more than 10 per cent of mobile phone users worldwide expecting to download such content within 12 months. This number rises to 25 per cent in Asia Pacific, with one in ten also expecting to be downloading full feature films to their mobiles by this time next year."

The study also seems to indicate that users need more education about the ability of their handsets to accept content, and this is clearly a major handicap. The question would be: How can I grow a business, if my consumers or users don't know about the way to go about it? This then is also the challenge to the study, because this finding shows market limitations. But let's be clear about it - the market is growing, by heaps and leaps. It is just a matter of reaching the tipping point, because the future points to conversion.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Smoking and the mobile phones

It is said that mobile phones cause a lot of things nowadays, but that they assist in reducing smoking amongst teens must be a new one. It has now been correlated, over in Japan.

Clearly, teenagers in Japan use their mobile phones very differently than those teenagers in other countries, so a generalisation is not necessarily possible. However, authorities say that there is a high chance phone bills are weighing on the money they spend on cigarettes. So this means that they, the teens, are so active on the phone with all the offered services that cost the teenagers the pocket money. Subsequently, they reduce smoking. Makes sense - it is about choice, and is in line with the recent thinking that mobile phones compete against the fashion industry as well.

It could easily be said that there might be group pressure to reduce smoking as well, however, Japan is a country, where smoking is still pretty much prevelant, even so the cigarette industry fights back, providing free cigarettes to lunchtime diners and parking luxurious Airstream buses, decked out like living rooms, outside buildings were smokers congregate.

So, may be there is a relation between a declining smoking incidence and the usage of mobile phones.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

China, India and the US - the race for oil

It is clear that three countries, China, India and the US, will dominate the world for much of the 21st century, probably also joined by Brazil in a short while.

But what does it mean, to the rest of the world? Think thirst for oil, think dwindling resources, think rising prices, more poverty and may be war for resources. May be I am pessimistic here, and there is the hope that rising prices of traditional energy resources give way to sustained growth of alternative resources, but if not, what will happen? Is it enough to say that the world needs to adjust to the Chinese and Indian growth?

"Both of Asia's rising powers desperately need energy. China today imports roughly half its oil. Consumption rose by 15% last year and is forecast to jump by an additional 9% this year. By 2025, China will burn through 14.2 million barrels a day, double this year's level, the U.S. Energy Dept. predicts. India's oil imports are expected to rise to some 5 million barrels a day by 2020, from around 1.4 million barrels at present."

Simultaneously, the powers to be position themselves. CNOOC's plan to enter the US via an acquisition was smart, even so it failed. But there is more and the world is becoming a smaller place: "The Chinese are gaining ground in Russia. Last December both New Delhi and Beijing negotiated with Moscow as it sought financing for its $9 billion renationalization of Yuganskneftegaz, the core production subsidiary of the troubled oil major Yukos. Although neither Asian rival walked away with equity in the Russian company, the Chinese ended up lending the Russians $6 billion in return for guaranteed oil supplies at a bargain price. And in Angola last year, China Petrochemical Corp. (better known as SINOPEC) beat ONGC in bidding for an oil exploration block being sold by Shell Oil Co." This is just a short extract - read more in the article that I link to. It is exciting, and a bit scary!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Surfing the web at work

I mentioned it frequently, and here is another supporting study. It is not negative to surf for private purposes at work.

People are working overtime already anyway, and even work during their well-earned leave!

And clearly, while it can count as loss for a company whose workers surf, workers simply surf because they are also putting in more hours on the job. So surfing the web is good because people helps to "cool your heels".

(By Asia Business Consulting)

I want a simple mobile phone

At least in the US, people don't go for phones with too many functions, which follows recent news that they don't like too many gadgets either. It is, still, the good old normal that drives the growth of the mobile phones, namely people just want to talk on the phone.

It surely is different in Asia - countries here are frequently seen as testbed for new innovations that then can be rolled out to - where actually? So the big question is if people in Europe or the US would buy an ITune mobile from Motorola. They might do in Asia, so! Here, at least, records are broken in the voting of Idols via SMS.

Healthcare and the Internet

In Singapore, "an Internet portal is being set up that will allow information sharing among healthcare professionals and institutions in Singapore. This includes access to the electronic medical record of all patients under their charge."

A similar trend is happening in the US. "In Central New Jersey, some doctor's offices and hospitals have already made the transition, tossing heaps of medical records into storage in favor of managing patients' charts electronically. The idea is to centralize people's medical records to provide instant access to physicians, pharmacies, hospitals and the patients themselves."

It provides cost savings to the doctor, and this, in turn, might lower the costs for the patient.

The greatest concern? Data security, of course, and privacy issues.

This is a great first step, but still, it excludes the choice for the patient. I believe it would be a great step for a patient to be able to track the record of hospitals, before checking in. As a hospital in the UK is doing. "A top London hospital has become the first in the UK to publish figures on the number of people who die while undergoing treatment there."

Now that is called choice provision!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

China threatened by nude Web chats

Is that really the case? Is the health and morality of a country threatened just because their citizens talk online with no clothes on?

"80 per cent of the people involved were single men aged between 25 and 35 who had more than just time on their hands. They lacked steady jobs and therefore were the types who would do that sort of thing."

So here we have the classification. Does this mean, if you have no time, you leave your clothes on? Or once you are above the relevant age group? Didn't the Chinese authorities just called for energy saving? May be the people took off their clothes because it got too hot in their rooms (for whatever reason?). Well, after television session, where viewers talked somewhat freely about their sexual behaviour, I don't think that it is a problem to talk naked on the web. What do you think?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Robot dogs don't bark - they command

Technology makes it possible. "Scientists have created a robotic dog that tells you when it's time for your daily walk."

"Asked "How am I?" the robot would either jump excitedly, play funky music and flash colored lights, or flop down and play a dirge, according to whether its owner has followed his or her diet."

This means that the owner is happy with the dog, if the owner followed the diet. I wonder what happens if he didn't? Will the robot dog be locked out of the room? Let's just hope that the general peception of the dog being man's bet friend won't change too drastically, considering that obesity is a growing issue around the world.

(By Asia Business Consulting)