Banning mobile phones in schools

It is easier to ban than to educate. The only challenge remaining is the need to enforce a ban, but this is not the responsibility of those issuing the guidelines to ban.

In Malaysia, "the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) is in favour of the call by a consumer group to ban the use of cellphones in schools by students under 12 years old.

Why? The reason given was that the devices can interrupt lessons or may be a distraction in class.

Even nicer is the comment by Perak Consumer Affairs Committee chairman, Datuk G. Rajoo who says that "“the evils of the cellphone far outweighs its benefits” and that the students were sending SMSes (short message service) and downloading “unsuitable” photographs instead of paying attention in class."

So, instead of integrating the correct usage of mobile phones into the curriculum - i.e.; how to answer a mobile phone politely, the future of mobile phones and possible innovation, what not to do with a mobile phone or just explaining tech terms, let's just ban it. But please, don't complain that the young users are not tech savvy and that the country is not able to compete against the giants.

Okay, one might say that this can be included when kids are older, but isn't the young age the age when learning is easiest?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Bundeskanzlerin Merkel

Everybody who learns German knows it is a dread to learn the difference of the writing for male and female. Mostly, the female nouns is identified by adding an "in" to the noun. And a "-man" in a word becomes "woman". As such, it would be Chairwoman instead of Chairman. this just to illustrate the challenge that the German government faced when Angela Merkel was elected Bundeskanzler - in - Chancellor, so to speak. Each chancellor has his/ her own webpage, and since she is the first femal chancellor to lead Germany, well, there was no reserved webpage for her. And the one with the "-in" was registered in 1998 - lucky, the owner gave it up willingly.

So now Angela Merkel has her own webpage - and can be found at "http://www.bundeskanzlerin.de". Remember, it is the one with the "in".

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Cyberhugs - the way to go for busy parents

This can only come from Singapore, a country, that is plagued by low birthrates, as the parents rather embark on career planning over family planning.

Here scientists look for ways to transmit a sense of touch over the Internet. To do so, they developed a vibration jacket for chicken and plan to expand the tool as pyjama for children.

This pyjama suit "would use the Internet to adjust changes in pressure and temperature to simulate the feeling of being hugged. Parents wearing a similar suit could be "hugged" back by their children."

I rather prefer the real thing, honestly.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Mobile phones to beat poverty

It is clear that access to technology, applied correctly, assists a vast majority of poorer population to gain entry to markets, establish presence and heave themselves out of poverty. Mobile phones are a simple tool to assist the population to communicate and communication is the first step to enter markets.

"The mobile phone has spread throughout much of the developing world more quickly and deeply than any previous technology-based product – not least traditional fixed-line phones. This has been helped by the fact that rolling out a mobile phone network is far cheaper than building a fixed-line system. In Morocco in 1995, for example, after decades of investing in the telephone infrastructure, there were only four fixed lines per 100 inhabitants. In 2003, there were still four fixed line subscribers per 100 Moroccans, but there were also 24 mobile phone subscribers per 100 – up from zero in 1995, according to a recent study by the London Business School for Vodafone, the British global mobile phone giant. In the same period, mobile phone penetration has risen from 0 to 36 per cent in Albania, 0 to 30 per cent in Paraguay, 0 to 21 per cent in China and 0 to 9 per cent in India."

And, to show more numbers: "Already, these mobile phones seem to be generating big economic benefits, according to the London Business School study, which looked at 92 countries, rich and poor, between 1980 and 2003. Overall, says the study, in a typical developing country, a rise of 10 mobile phones per 100 people boosts the rate of growth of GDP by 0.6 percentage points a year. That may not seem much, but compounded over a few years it can add up to a big increase in living standards. Those developing countries that have higher levels of mobile phone penetration may become the success stories of the coming decade. For instance, notes the study, the Philippines had 27 mobile phones per 100 people in 2003, compared with Indonesia’s nine. If that gap remains, the Philippines could expect its GDP to grow by one percentage point a year faster than that of Indonesia."

This is dramatic and worthwhile the support from all over the world!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Obtaining visa online

Another story from Malaysia, but this time, something positive.

"Foreigners in any part of the world can obtain a visa to enter Malaysia from the comfort of their homes from February 2006. All they have to do is go online to submit an application and wait 24 hours for an answer."

Besides the immigration department, this process also involves tour agencies.

A great chance to capture data and channel resources. Since this process allows instant monitoring of inflow of people to Malaysia the country can identify successful strategies in attracting foreigners, and subsequently finetune and strengthen its promotional activities.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

SMS to the rescue

Another news of technology savvyness of Malaysia. I received an SMS yesterday evening, describing a kidnap case in Puchong - a city close to Kuala Lumpur. The message stated that a child had been kidnapped during a car robbery, provided the number of the car and asked for help.

Today, the New Straits Times reports about the case. Apparently, the car was stolen and the thieves didn't realise that the child, a 7 year old girl, was still in the car. The parents sent a few SMS to friends, giving the make of the car, its registration number and their handphone number.

Through this , the avalanche of SMS must have started, as more and more people received the text, over the next couple of hours.

The car hasn't been found, and the thieves discovered the girl and released her. However, the message is the same as it has been yesterday in the case of the mistreat of a Chinese national in a Malaysian prison - technology enables a faster response and more transparency.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Camera phone captured mistreat in the act

Malaysia is in uproar about a video clip showing a naked Chinese national apparently abused in a prison in the country. The video shows a woman forced to strip in front of another woman in police uniform.

The video was captured via camera phone and now makes its rounds through cyberspace. Politicians are shocked and pictures of it made it to the frontpage of all major newspapers. Investigations are under way.

This comes at a time when visitor numbers from China to Malaysia are dropping dramatically and the country is asking itself for reasons of this. It has been assumed that the treatment of Chinese tourists has not always been welcoming.

This revelations are positive aspects of new technology, of course, even so it is not quite clear if this "discovery" was accidentally leaked. It reminds me of the "doggie woman" in Korea. Her pictures were taken after she refused to clean up after her dog messed up the train. The story also circulated through cyberspace. Her identity was revealed, finally, and apparently, she faced a lot of problems in her real life thereafter.

So for the sake of the Chinese national shown in the Malaysian case, I believe it is better not to circulate the video, should you receive it!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Mobile phone advertising? Oh goodness!

Who hasn't got one of those SMS on his or her mobile phone, advertising some strange service? I am talking about advertising via SMS or texting and I call it nothing else but spamming in all its new and old versions.

I am already annoyed enough with online advertisments and pop-ups, also there might be a trend to the better here (not always).

Companies are more cautious in approaching consumers via their mobile phones but they try to get to them. Ways to convince a consumer is voluntary sign-ups but still, things might go out of hand quickly. Will we have mobile spam filter soon? Looking at how badly those work in the Internet, I prefer to put a stop to mobile advertising first. Because, seriously, I don't believe that companies are close enough to understand consumers to really create text ads that entice consumers to actually like their ads. for me, when I get a text ad, the company is out from my consideration set. Thank you!!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Wroom - wroooooom: Asia VoIP set for rapid growth

A new research has found that "Internet telephony in Asia will triple to total almost 500 billion call minutes by 2009 and prices will fall."

The basis for the growth is good, with major players moving into the market. eBay's purchase of Skype might just be one indicator, but we also find Yahoo active in Japan, and the article mentions the Hong Kong Broadband Network as well.

Clearly, Asia is far ahead of the rest of the world in VoIP, and this further indication is clearly a signal to other players to get ready for more. However, what could also be the case is the usual overpromising and the "trying-to-push-it-to-the-consumer-move", that is so frequently taking place when new services fail to take off.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Skype develops in China

Okay, I had a couple of news regarding Skype in China recently, but it seems that the company is rolling out some of its plans in the "motherland".

First, its CEO is not too negative about Verso Technologies effort to sell anti-Skype filtering technology to the Chinese government and states, that Skype actually has some good relation with the authorities.

But the best part for Skype is actually that they are in discussion with Chinese telecom companies to link up their service with each other. This, of course, would make them powerful, considering the growing number of Chinese Internet users. Thus, expect of its computer-to-telephone call service in the world’s most populous telecoms market.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Giving away music

That is a nice way of showing gratitude. "A little-known Scottish band is reaping financial rewards after one of its instrumentals was used in a series of American TV adverts."

Apparently, they made enough money to live of the song for the last 5 years. And enough to give their currently produced music away for free - as a download from the Internet. I wonder what the recording industry has to say to this!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Mobile phone sales still increasing

Despite a tiny warning earlier on this side that penetration of mobile phones amongst the population is nearing saturation in many markets, well, handset sales still grow rapidlu, now driven by replacement of older models.

"Handset sales hit 205 million, said research firm Gartner, which forecast total sales of 810 million for 2005.

Nokia continues to lead the market with a 32% share, but Motorola saw a big boost in sales as it sold 12 million of its Razr phones.

Sales grew more slowly than the 26% seen in the same period of 2004 - but surged over 40% in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America."

But clearly, it is not going to get easier for handset producers that see increasing competition not only from other, smaller brands, but also from other markets competing for their client's pocket.


(By Asia Business Consulting)

Smell your boyfriend on the phone

Of course, it is also possible to smell your girlfriend or, better, to buy a ringtone that smells and allows you to associate your loved one or anybody else with a special ringtone.

Got it? Only possible in Japan. "Hangs it (the accessory) on a strap of a cellular phone, and faint odor opens at every telephone and arrival of the mail of an email for five seconds." Hm - does it really work with an incoming call from your loved one? Or is just anybody smelling?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Countries leading in mobile subscription

There are about 2 billion mobile users around the world, and now, we have a list of countries' penetration updated to the end of 2004. So to be accurate, you need to add on some numbers or percent.

China has 337 million subscribers, or is the world's largest mobile phone market - however, penetration is still low with 26%

Leading is Italy (109%), Britain (103%), Taiwan (100%), Spain (94%), Germany (86%), South Korea (76%) and France (76%). The US follows with 62%, and Japan has reached 72%.

And I always thought Asia was ahead.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Creating Internet of 'Things'

Wow, great article from the International Herald Tribune. This time, it writes about the future of the Internet and how things that are small become tagged in the sense that they know where we are. Where we are, what we do, and who we are. George Orwell says Hello.

The ITU has published a related story and one example mentioned in the article sticks out: Think of a doorknob, a very smart one. "When you approach the door and you' re carrying groceries, it opens and lets you in. The doorknob is so smart, it can let the dog out but it won't let six dogs back in."

Okay, those dreams existed since the beginning of the Internet, but with the advances of the Internet and its integration into our life, well, may be, they become reality. Really, don't you believe it?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Gandalf to speed up Internet access

Gandalf? Lord of the Rings? Not really, but may be magic, nevertheless.

Countries and politicians outside of Europe, listen.

Gandalf - short for Gbit/s Access Network using remote Delivery opticAL Feeder - is a project for a European networking project.

"Its goal is to carry data at speeds up to a thousand times faster than with existing DSL technology and a hundred times faster than Wi-Fi networks."

Imagine the beauty, imagine the market disruption.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Doggies calling home

Well, why not? Have a special collar for your doggy. When it is lost, the finder can use a gadget in the collar to plug into the mobile phone and Lassy will be able to call home.

Cute, right? First we had a smell-ringtone, now a special collar for dogs.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

How good is a cheap laptop for the "Rest of the world"?

Clearly, connectivity is important to move the poorest out of their bracket and into the economic mainstream. There are enough examples to showcase this success.

Now MIT has unveiled its US$100 hand-cranked laptop computer and nothing wrong with this. The goal to to provide the machines free of charge to children in poor countries who cannot afford computers of their own. But please don't forget that the computers are not the most advanced ones and this can also be a major turn-off for many in developing countries who might see this as a bread crumb only.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

The Chinese Internet user is male

It is always interesting to see the profile of someone who is using the Internet.

Here, the IHT quotes from a report prepared by the Chinese Academy of Social Science in Beijing that researched Internet users in 5 Chinese cities.

Hence, a "typical Chinese Internet user is a young male who prefers instant messaging to e-mail, rarely makes online purchases and favours news, music and games sites."

Interesting, isn't it? Nothing about porn or sex, or those who abuse the Internet, as frequently seen through the eyes of the Chinese government.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

R&D a way to win

Samsung announced that they will spend US$6.9 billion on R&D this year and increase its annual allocations gradually to crest at US$10.8 billion in 2010.

Korea’s largest conglomerate also said that it will hire 30,000 researchers and engineers during the period to compete with top hi-tech global firms, such as Microsoft, IBM, Matsushita Electronics and Nokia - as such, these are seen as their main competitors. Interestingly, there is no mentioning of Sony or Motorola - are these the beaten boys already?

For me, this is a sure way to win in the market place and will assure the company's place amongst top players.


(By Asia Business Consulting)

Hong Kong BitTorrent User Jailed

This was to come after Grokster was said to have closed down, a file sharer being jailed in Taiwan and attention being focused on BitTorrent.

In Hong Kong, a 38-year-old, unemployed man, to three months of imprisonment, on charges of using an Internet file sharing system to make three Hollywood movies available to others for free download. Sadly enough, the music industry doesn't understand the change of business environments and the movie industry is rushing to do the same mistake.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Google, Yahoo unveil cell phone services

The handset market is getting interesting with Google and Yahoo rolling out services to provide features similar to computers on mobile phones.

"SBC executives said the SBC-Yahoo phone, which will be manufactured by Nokia Corp, is expected to be available early next year and will cost 200-300 usd, The Journal said.

"Google is tailoring some of its services for use on wireless devices and starting today users of more than 100 types of mobile phones can access Google's map database."

The question is the uptake by consumers, however, I can foresee that Google Maps could be quite a demanded service - however, how will governments react to this kind of offering is another question.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Check the account number

I surely hope that this is not the common practice in other countries and their financial institutions, besides in South Africa.

Here, a bank said that they cannot be held liable for wrong transfers if the customers failed to state the correct number. I mean, okay, a customer should know the account number they are transfering money to, however, there is also the problem with bad handwriting or a wrong interpretation of a nicely written number, or a left out number.

Apparently, an online banking customer has complained that money was wrongly paid to a beneficiary after he had entered eight digits instead of nine for an account number. A spokesman responded to the complain that banks cannot be expected to cross-reference names and numbers as they would have to access each other's client records.

Whatever it is I hope for the customer that the mistake was undone.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

MVNO in Malaysia

Competition is good for business, and new market players tend to stir up even a consolidated market. Thus, I evaluate the emergence of MVNO's with Asia Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Asia Telecoms) and MCAT Gen Sdn Bhd in Malaysia positively. MVNOs are telecom players that ride on top of existing networks, and or rent lease their required space from existing telecommunication companies.

The most successful MVNOs happen to be Virgin Mobile in the UK, however, a related launch in Singapore failed a couple of years ago.

A successful MVNO is frequently characterised by targeting niche markets with aggressive promotions accompanied by great customer service - something that is missed in Malaysia.

Growth, however, is a major challenge because if they grow, their requirement for bandwidth competes with the requirement for bandwidth from the incumbent. Thus, their roads will cross in the future, similar to what happened in the UK with Virgin Mobile, when they conflicted with their mothership, which, I think, was... can anyone help? I think it was a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, but I am currently lost for the name.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Exposed on the net

Nobody likes to be exposed on the net for things that are not that "clean", so to speak. In Malaysia, however it is frequently the government that pushes the button and exposes those that are not doing good enough for the public.

There are plenty of cases where property developers don't live up to their promises, and cash in the advance payment from buyers but fail to complete the projects. Cases, that than causes harm to consumers, and drag on for years in court.

Now, "anyone wishing to check out a particular developer can do so by simply logging on to the Housing and Local Government Ministry’s website – http://www.kpkt.gov.my. "

The website contains postings on offences committed by errant developers and court charges brought against them.

A good move - let's just see if the posting will be updated regularly and, more important, if there is enough promotion for the website to alert the public to these non-developers.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

China's mobile growth dreams

There are quite a lot of mobile phones in China, or, to be exact, about 376 million at the end of September 2005 - equivalent 18.75% of global total. This is expected to grow to 380 million by end 2005, and to 600 million by 2010. Great potential for mobile phone handset makers.

"China has also seen fast income growth in the mobile telecommunications market, with annual revenue from market operation services reaching US$30.86 billion dollars, a year-on-year increase of more than 20 percent.

Mobile phone sales reached US$12 billion yuan, an increase of 30 percent over the previous year.

It is estimated that the mobile telecommunications market will contribute US$61 billion to China's total GDP for 2005, or eight percent to 10 percent of the national total."

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Flip-flopping Samsung

Last week, Samsung proclaimed its interest to enter the online music business in a move to compete against Apple's ITunes.

Now, they flip-flop back. Their President of Digital Media Business said that they are not at all interested in the music service. Could it be that their commercial business interest - they are selling their flash memory cards to Apple took over?

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Nude Brits shop while drunk

What are you doing when you are drunk? Honestly? I think I rather not go online and surf to buy.
Apparently, that is what other nations are doing - at least those who are not going to chat naked.

The survey conducted found out that people behave differently when in the comfort of their own homes and 'hidden' behind the anonymity afforded by the internet. Really? I didn't know that! It also advised marketers to take this finding into consideration when planning their promotional campaigns - does this mean, that there is a new segment emerging? The nude web surfer as a new target group? Really, major findings.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Buying books by the pages

How often is it that you are going to bookshop to buy a whole book at a expensive price when actually, you only need a couple of pages or one or two chapters. Now, the offer is at hand.

Amazon.com, always worth a comment in a blog describing changes in business environment, and competitor Random House announced separate plans to sell digital book access by the page.

The book publishing industry won't be happy, but who can stop a train when it is driven by a company that frequently disrupts markets.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Samsung's music store

MP3 sales is one of the areas where Samsung lags behind Apple's IPod and Sony's player. This in contrast to their ambition or obsession to gain a world's first title.

Will this change? Not sure, but here in Asia, Samsung's efforts to gain market share gained new momentum. The company launched a music downloads store to complement its own range of MP3 players. This is a natural move since Apple is not that strong across Asia, and considering the emerging Asia century, well, this might be the way to unseat the rival. Will they succeed? Only if their offering is taken on by consumers and beats Apple's design and easy of usage.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Language changes with time

It is not that long ago that language in its current form was somewhat understable universally. If you want to take a test, just try to understand English written during the Middle Ages, Shakespeare or even something newer. It can be tough, when you don't have the patience and experience. This is to say that language is a living thing, not something that has been put into stone.

I strongly believe that technology changes not only culture or cultural values but language or communication as well.

Now, a "Cambridge University study has found that text messaging has boosted the ability of teenagers to write. The study found that "today's teenagers are using far more complex sentence structures, a wider vocabulary and a more accurate use of capital letters, punctuation and spelling. That's the good news. The bad news is that they're also "ten times more likely to use non-standard English in written exams than in 1980, using colloquial words, informal phrases and text-messaging shorthand - such as m8 for 'mate', 2 instead of 'too' and u for 'you'."

Is that a problem? Not if you consider this as an evolutionary trend.

It is up to you to decide if you want to perceive these changes as positive or negative. But whatever you decide, things are changing anyway.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Microsoft's Windows leaving Korea?

Microsoft has been battled before in legal courts but mostly came out relatively unscathed.

Now, it looks as if their patience is running thin. Similar to other lawsuits around the world, the company's competitive practices have been under investigation by the Korean Fair Trade Commission, which is looking into the company's inclusion into Windows of streaming media and instant messenger technology.

In response, Microsoft says that the invetigation could lead "to the withdrawal of Windows from the country, or to delays in introducing new versions of the operating system there."

Talk about market power!

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Wasting time with email

If I would put together all the time apparently wasted by employees browsing their personal e-mail, charging their mobile phones, surfing for free to Amazon.com or whatever, I would probably find out that many employees work more than their dues.

Now we have those employees that complain that they waste a lot of time trying to decipher e-mails. True - a lot is just gibberish, but then, may be you opened the spam box instead of the mail from your colleague - at least you opened it. But at least, your employer cannot fire you (yet) for badly written e-mails. Just kidding.

(By Asia Business Consulting)

Communication in the new age

I still cannot believe that survey companies come up with such findings and that reporters actually write about it.

Here we have the findings that says that "nearly a third of people say their relationships have suffered because their use of digital technology means they 'talk less'. And 90 per cent of people surveyed say they feel that email, text messages and instant messaging has made communication with friends and family less personal."

Sure, the Internet changes the way we use to communicate but a statement like the one above just doesn't get the fact that the Internet and all related tools is a different way of communicating, in fact, is widening the scope of your communication. And to meet the needs of those that feel it is less personal, well, there is VoIP, right, like Skype. Which would all those in need of a more personal touch to at least get audible satisfaction. What is missing? A computer that hugs the user.

(By Asia Business Consulting)