It’s also worth noting that Japan has added 500,000 users and Korea 347,000 users in the past month – Japan has the highest growth rate (8.01%) of the top 25 countries – so we also expect to see the social media landscape changing rapidly in both these markets in 2012.

Facebook Asia – January 2012 (as quoted from Socialbakers.com).

]]> http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/2012/01/india-now-worlds-second-largest-facebook-country/feed/ 1 http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/2011/09/digerati-insights-into-china-india-japan-and-beyond/ http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/2011/09/digerati-insights-into-china-india-japan-and-beyond/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 10:54:11 +0000 Barney Loehnis http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/?p=4341 China

Why is Twitter launching a Chinese language option?
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_to_launch_chinese_language_function_this_w.php
Some have speculated that Twitter is going after countries outside of China where Chinese is used in some capacity such like Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong with these new options.  However, it is hard to believe that Twitter doesn’t have any designs on the estimated 485 million Internet and mobile Web users in China.

Google launches group-buying aggregator in China
http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/09/13/google-taps-into-chinas-huge-group-buying-market-with-new-aggregator-google-shihui/
Google has launched a new aggregator service called Google Shihui that collates and catalogs deals in order to take advantage of the huge amount of group buying sites (over 4,000) that have and continue to pop up in China. 

Jiepang check-ins reveal favorite brands, foods, and movies in China
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/09/13/jiepang-brands-foods-movies/
Here’s a great infographic that traces the activity of those using Jiepang’s check-in service in China. The results were surprisingly Western. Favorite brands were revealed to be Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King, Doraemon (the Japanese cartoon), and Earth Hour. Movies were topped by Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and Kung Fu Panda 2. Finally, food patterns showed that users tended to eat fast food in the morning before heading to street food stalls in the evening.

Chinese innovation – paper tiger or king of the hill?
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/14/chinese-innovation-%E2%80%93-paper-tiger-or-king-of-the-hill/?hpt=hp_c2
There are two divergent views when it comes to the topic of innovation in China. One the one hand, you have those who are openly dismissive of China’s chance to be a leader in innovation. On the other China is being championed as leading the world into another Renaissance. The real situation is likely somewhere between these two opinions, as both arguments contain insight and omissions. 

Digital Naturalism – innovation Vs imitation Vs mutation
http://www.slideshare.net/plus8star/digital-naturalism  
This presentation from Ben Joffe of +eight* gives an interesting perspective on Chinese innovation. He starts by observing how frequently the same XYZ has been “invented” at different points in time in different place around the world: the printing press, the telegraph, even the bloody tablet. Ben Joffe is an acute observer of how the East differs to the West differs to the East, and is well worth following.

Spotlight On India

Google’s Internet Bus helps 1.5 million experience the Internet for the first time in India
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/09/12/google-internet-bus-india/
Google’s Internet Bus project started as early as 2009, and has so far covered over 43,000 kilometers traveling to different parts of India. Google India claims that its Internet bus has touched more than 5.6 million people across 120 towns in India. Out of the 5.6 million people, 1.5 million of them have actually gone online for the very first time.

In India, online retailers take a new tack
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/business/with-no-amazon-as-a-rival-flipkart-moves-fast-in-india.html?_r=1&hpw
While Amazon will deliver to India for a hefty shipping fee (and long wait), India has, up until now, been a prime ground for more innovative (and local) ecommerce solutions. Enter FlipKart.com, which delivers books, phones and other items in as little as 24 hours at no extra cost. Like some Chinese ecommerce outfits, buyers do not pay until the product is delivered to their door. This bypasses some of the stress consumers have concerning trusting the postal service and vendor.

Twitter now in Hindi
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/internet/Twitter-now-in-Hindi/articleshow/9988958.cms
Twitter has launched a Hindi interface for its service. Users can now choose to read instructions on the micro-blogging site in Hindi. Twitter has been working with Hindi speaking volunteers over the past month to test the new options. A similar drive is being undertaken by Twitter’s Translation Center to translate its pages into 16 other languages, including simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Malay and Filipino.

Other Asia

Facebook is Asia’s fourth largest nation
http://www.thomascrampton.com/featured/facebook-now-asias-4th-biggest-nation/  
The fact that Facebook’s worldwide user base would make it the world’s third largest nation is an oft-quoted statistic. However, these charts reveal that only China, India and Indonesia are bigger Facebook’s 179 million Asian user-base.
(Thanks to Thomas Crampton for the link/content)

Japan’s smartphone gaming to grow 30-fold by 2015
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/09/15/japan-smartphone-gaming-2015/
A new report forecasts 30-fold market growth from 2010 to 2015. This is an increase from approximately US$110 million in 2010 to $3.3 billion in 2015.

Despite rising cost of living, Vietnamese smartphone adoption rate shows no signs of slowing
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/09/13/rising-costs-of-living-not-stopping-the-vietnamese-from-buying-the-latest-smartphones/
Vietnam’s love of smartphones shows no signs of slowing despite the climbing inflation rates and increased costs that have hurt other industries in the nation. Vietnam saw a giant 73 percent increase in smartphone sales this year (to date), which is the prime driver behind a 27 percent increase in overall mobile device sales.

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Spotlight on Malaysia – Education and crime in Malaysian tech focus

Other Asia – Updated Internet stats from all over Asia

China

China Mobile makes far more money than Unicom and Telecom

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/08/25/china-mobile-makes-way-way-more-money-than-unicom-and-telecom/

In the past year, China Mobile made 61 billion RMB (about US$9.6 billion) in profits alone. For the first half of 2011, China Mobile’s profits were six times more than China Telecom’s, and twenty-four times more than China Unicom’s.

China tops US to become largest PC market

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14639021

China passed the US in PC shipments in the second quarter of 2011, marking the first time the Asian nation has done so. 18.5 million units were shipped in China during the quarter versus 17.7 million in the United States. The US is still expected to remain the largest PC market for the year of 2011 but will probably relinquish the throne to China at the end of 2012.

 Microsoft forms cloud-computing partnership in China

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2011/08/23/microsoft-forms-cloud-computing-partnership-in-china/

Microsoft has announced a new joint-venture in Beijing which will, “develop, market and sell solutions for the booming cloud-computing market in China.”

Their partner is China Standard Software, a Shanghai-based R&D company.

(Thanks to Pete Mitchell for the link)

Chinese TV alludes to US website attacks

http://allthingsd.com/20110825/chinese-state-tv-alludes-to-u-s-website-attacks/

Chinese state television has broadcast footage of what two experts on the Chinese military say appears to be a military institute demonstrating software designed to attack websites in the U.S. The evidence is far from concrete, however some experts believe it to be an example of an official source contradicting China’a repeated assertions that it doesn’t engage in cyberattacks.

Spotlight on Malaysia

Social media helps find lost student in Malaysia

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/world/asia/22iht-search22.html?_r=1&ref=technology

The hunt for a lost student in Malaysia spread from email to Facebook to a Twitter hashtag and eventually resulted in his safe return home. Malaysians connected with the student’s family in the US and organized to gather information of his whereabouts.

Government donates computers to pondok schools

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=609979

The government is helping some of the poorest schools in Malaysia move into the digital age by giving them computer equipment. At the prompting of ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan, the Malaysian government will give the equipment to five schools in Southern Malaysia. “Pondok” is the word for hut schools.

Cyber casinos busted in Malaysia

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Crime/Story/A1Story20110819-295158.html

The Malaysian police have been cracking down on an epidemic of corrupt cyber-casinos in the country in recent years, and this week arrested three more suspects in the city of Georgetown. The police have conducted 286 raids since 2009 on illegal gambling centers in the North-East District of Penang and confiscated 4,135 computers and gambling devices worth about RM6mil (2 million USD).

Other Asia

Asia’s Internet by the numbers

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/08/24/asias-internet-by-the-numbers/

Check out these great interactive graphs concerning the Internet in Asia. Great statistics include: 52.2% of Asia’s Internet users are in China (with India, Japan, and Indonesia combined making up 25%); South Korea has the highest Internet penetration with 81% (followed by Brunei(?!), Japan, and Singapore); and Indonesia, India, and the Philippines lead the continent in the number of Facebook members.

 New statistics show that blogs are big in Japan

http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/8/Japan_Internet_Users_Spend_Most_Time_on_Blogs_Worldwide

The average blog reader in Japan spends a whopping 62.6 minutes a month reading blogs (on the bog?). This makes it the number one country in the world in terms of blog engagement. Traffic to blogs is continuing to rise in the country as well, quieting murmurs that microblogging is making traditional blogging obsolete.

Social media in India (Infographic)

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/08/24/infographic-social-media-in-india/

India is a social media powerhouse. They are the third largest Facebook country in the world (behind the USA and Indonesia) with 31 million users. 100 million people are online in India, with 20 million of those coming online daily.

Help write this newsletter (please!) – If you see anything interesting send it to me at:

Barney.loehnis@ogilvy.com (@barneylo) & Michael.mcclelland@ogilvy.com

Richard Clarke: China is planting digital bombs throughout the US powergrid

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-06/richard-clarke-china-laying-digital-bombs-across-us

Clarke worked in various high-level security roles for every president from Reagan to G.W. Bush, leaving the White House in 2003 with the title Special Advisor to the President on cybersecurity. He argues that China-backed hackers are systematically attacking America and meeting no resistance when they do so. Google, he says, has been brave enough to stand up and admit it when its networks have been breached. But other companies, usually out of fear of being labeled “not secure,” haven’t done so.

China is the number one word on the mind of every global brand CEO this year

http://fashionscollective.com/FashionAndLuxury/06/the-china-connection/

China Connect, said to be “Europe’s first ever Chinese marketing and internet event,” took place in Paris June 16^th and 17^th. Topics such as Chinese Consumers, Mobile, E-Commerce, Social Media, Location-Based Marketing, and Television were discussed. Many interesting insights were shared: China is experiencing a wine boom; online marketing will surpass TV marketing by 2013 in China; Jiepang, China’s Foursquare, now reaches 1,000,000 total users; 60% of mobile users in China are under 29 yrs old; every Chinese star has a digital agent to contact to negotiate sponsored tweets; and since 2007 the trade volume of online shopping in China has been growing by 100% per year;

(Thanks to Jean-Marc Thomas for the link)

Major Chinese websites go red for Communist Party of China’s 90^th anniversary

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/29/china-websites-go-red/

July 1st is the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and a number of China’s major websites and web portals are ‘going red’ in celebration, with specially-created front-page themes showing national flags and the traditional Commnunist insignia. The sites include video-sharing site Youku.com, and web portals Netease and Sina.com.cn,

Baidu’s Android-based Mobile OS coming by the end of the year?

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/28/rumor-baidu%E2%80%99s-android-based-mobileos-coming-by-end-of-year/

Rumour has it that Baidu, is developing its own Android-based Mobile OS called Qiushi, which will be released by year-end with hopes of dominating the Chinese market by going extremely local.

Tudou shifts strategy away from licensed TV shows and movies

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/28/tudou-licensed-content-strategy/

Tudou.com will stop trying to compete on increasingly pricey licensed/copyrighted movies and TV shows, and will instead focus on two kinds of ‘self-produced’ content: high budget original content and low budget user-generated entertainment content. This also differentiates Tudou from competitors like Youku and Qiyi, which remain focused on existing content.

(Thanks to Pete Mitchell for the links)

SARFT to investigate news content on online video sites

http://www.marbridgeconsulting.com/marbridgedaily/2011-06-28/article/47343/sarft_to_investigate_news_content_on_online_video_sites

China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) recently issued a notice that it plans to strengthen oversight into online news broadcasts and other audiovisual programs. The notice, which announced upcoming investigations into Internet firms, aimed in particular at those which produce their own news content.

Other Asia

Sina Weibo signs partner for Japan expansion

http://www.marbridgeconsulting.com/marbridgedaily/2011-06-28/article/47349/sina_weibo_signs_local_partner_for_japan_expansion

Find Japan has announced that it will partner with  Sina on the expansion of Sina’s Weibo microblogging product into the Japanese market.

India set for mobile shift

http://www.warc.com/News/Default.aspx?ID=28401

Consumers in India are adopting increasingly diverse habits on their mobile phones. A new survey suggests that wireless devices are moving beyond simply being used for voice calls, becoming “infotainment” channels instead. Because of the increased multifunctionality of mobile in India, traffic levels could expand 300 times over by 2025. Also, the worth of value-added services might hit $4 billion in 2013.

(Thanks to Vednarayan Sirdeshpande for the link)

Korean teens top tests of digital literary skill

15-year old students from sixteen countries have had their digital literacy put to the test, and Korean kids came out on top – displaying that they possess the most adeptness at using the Internet productively for school work and research. Interestingly, girls performed better than boys in every economy, but the difference was less marked than in print reading: girls scored an average of 24 points more, compared to a difference of 39 points in print. Following Korea were New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong China, and Iceland.

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/29/korean-teens-top-tests-of-digital-literacy-skills/

The top ten brands in Southeast Asia

http://www.campaignsingapore.sg/Article/262093,asias-top-1000-brands-report-global-versus-local-in-singapore.aspx

The Top 1000 Asia Pacific Brands report is a proprietary survey co-produced by Campaign and research firm, TNS. It named the top ten brands in SE Asia as follows: 1. Sony, 2. Apple, 3. Samsung, 4. NTUC FairPrice, 5. Canon, 6. Panasonic, 7. Maggi, 8. Hewlett-Packard, 9. LG, and 10. Singapore Airlines.

Tencent tests microblog translation tool, opening door for Chinese sites to adopt English

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/22/tencent-tests-microblog-translation-tool-paves-way-for-chinese-sites-to-adopt-english/

Chinese Internet giant Tencent has recently partnered with Kingsoft, maker of the machine translation product PowerWord, and Youdao, Netease’s online dictionary, to bridge the language gap among users of its microblogging platform by developing a microblog translation tool. The technology will be responsible for automatic translations to and from English, while Youdao will offer translations for Japanese and Korean. In addition to these two, Tencent is reportedly in talks with several other major translation companies to bring other languages into its microblogging platform.

Cartier joins other luxury brands by getting a Youku channel

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/21/cartier-lv-youku-video-channel/

Cartier has launched a branded channel on Youku.com, China’s biggest video-sharing site. It joins six other upscale brands – Louis Vuitton, Dior, Burberry, Gucci, Omega, and Mido – in opting to engage with Chinese consumers via Youku as a part of their social media strategy in the country.

Apps in Asia – China huge, Japan most expensive

http://mashable.com/2011/06/22/china-app-store-market-study/

China is now the second largest iOS apprket in the world (after the USA). Japan accounts for most of the revenue in Asia, as Japan is the most expensive in the region. The study also found that the majority of popular iPhone apps in Asia are only popular in Asia. This is especially true in China, South Korea and Japan. In countries such as India and Indonesia, app localization is less important.

Other Asia

Consumers in Southeast Asia bought over 260,000 tablets in the first quarter of this year

http://www.gfkrt.com/asia/news_events/news/news_single/008189/index.en.html

261,000 tablets spanning almost ten brands were sold across seven Southeast Asian markets* from January to April this year. Tablets operating on the Android operating system (OS) has been rising in prevalence and is today the most popular platform embraced by users. In April, almost half of all tablets (46%) purchased by consumers was an Android compared to five months before, in November, where the proportion was only slightly just over one out of ten (13%).

Taiwan-based chip developer reveals Amazon’s plans to release tablet PCs in September

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110621PD222.html

Amazon adopts processors developed by Texas Instruments, with Taiwan-based Wintek to supply touch panels, ILI Technology to supply LCD driver ICs and Quanta Computer responsible for assembly, the sources indicated. Monthly shipments are expected to be nearly a million units. The autumn launch will allow Amazon to target Thanksgiving and Christmas shoppers in key markets.

The problem with Facebook in Japan

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/20/problem-with-facebook-in-japan/

In a survey of Facebook users in Japan, all participants agreed that Facebook is less secure, has a more complicated user interface, and is definitely not popular compared with Mixi. Many also had issues with Facebook’s real name policy. Participants also pointed out the Facebook goes against the traditioncal Japanese values of harmony and also is too literal for the very escapism and fiction-frenzied culture of Japan.

Tsutenkaku Tower to get LED lights

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110622f1.html

Hitachi will replace most neon lights for its advertisements on Osaka’s signature Tsutenkaku Tower with light-emitting diodes in a bid to cut electricity consumption by half and contribute to nationwide energy-saving efforts.

Southeast Asia to ship over 100 million smartphones this year

http://www.zdnetasia.com/sea-to-ship-100m-phones-this-year-62300828.htm

106 million mobile phones are expected to be shipped across Southeast Asia this year, marking a 19 percent increase from 90 million units last year. The number will increase to 163 million by 2015 at a compound annual growth rate of 39 percent. This region encompasses Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

South Korea – eCommerce Cannes winner for Tesco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPM4Ui6Sjfk

Sina Weibo launches a user data center as a potential revenue source
http://techrice.com/2011/06/15/sina-weibo-launches-user-data-center-a-potential-source-of-revenue-infographic/
Sina Weibo is offering their 140 million users tools to track and monitor their own Weibo accounts through data.weibo.com. The site allows users to monitor their own accounts on a weekly basis in five categories: influencer rating, followers, people followed, weekly top weibo, and top trending topics.

Renren to issue social credit card
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/15/renren-partners-with-china-merchants-bank-to-issue-credit-card-with-social-features/
Renren has just announced its partnership with one of China’s leading commercial banks, China Merchants Bank, to create a co-branded Renren CMB credit card that takes advantage of the social network’s features.
This credit card program takes advantage of social, location, and mobile services, where credit card holders will be able to “check in” from their current locations to receive promotional information from any of the ten thousand Merchants Bank merchant partners who happen to be located within the vicinity.

China: Truth, rumors, and a basket of fruit
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2011/06/truth-rumors-and-fruit-baskets.html
China has been awash with rumours and uprisings in recent months. Part of this is due to access to the Internet. Though sites are censored and rumours are eventually erased from the public forum, authorities are still struggling to balance the release of information and public opinion.

Yahoo/Alibaba/Alipay/Jack Ma/Carol Bratz: What happened an what it really means
http://www.chinalawblog.com/2011/06/yahoo_alibaba_alipay_jack_ma_and_what_really_happened_and_what_it_means.html
Yahoo owns a part of Alibaba, which owned Alipay, the online payment business. According to Chinese law, this means it cannot be foreign owned. Yahoo alleges it just recently learned that Alibaba had transferred ownership of Alipay to a fully domestic Chinese entity. Alibaba is saying it did that so as to bring Alipay in line with the laws prohibiting foreign ownership of an online payment company.

Chinese E-Commerce Giant Taobao Splits Itself Up
http://www.businessinsider.com/taobao-split-jack-ma-2011-6?
Taobao, the biggest commerce site in China, is splitting itself up into three sites and entities. Taobao is often referred to as the “eBay of China” but it’s a much broader e-commerce platform and the split reflects that. Now there will be Taobao itself, a consumer-to-consumer marketplace (i.e. like eBay), Taobao Mall, a business-to-consumer marketplace (i.e. businesses open storefront on Taobao Mall to sell to consumers) and eTao, a shopping search engine. Despite the split, still no IPO of Taobao, on the horizon.

Chinese now spend 41% of their online time on social networks
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/13/chinese-now-spend-41-of-their-time-online-on-social-networks-in-lieu-of-news-sites/
A new report reveals that the Chinese now spend 41% of their time online on social networks, which indicates a major shift in how Chinese netizens are no longer purely consumers of web content, but are now more open to communicate, share, and engage online as well.
(Thanks to Sascha Engel for the link)

Chinese Secretly Copy Austrian UNESCO Town
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,768754,00.html
Residents of the Austrian mountain town of Hallstatt, population 800, are scandalized. A Chinese firm has plans to replicate the village — including its famous lake — in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, Austrian media reported this week.

Other Asia

Ebay, Yahoo, Google, Nokia, and Skype announce Asia Internet Coalition
http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/260505,ebay-yahoo-google-nokia-and-skype-launch-asia-internet-coalition.aspx
Ebay, Yahoo, Google, Nokia and Skype have joined forces to launch a new industry association, The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), which aims to promote understanding and resolution of Internet policy issues in the Asia-Pacific region.

Village in India named after a Groupon clone
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/15/village-in-india-named-after-a-groupon-clone
An Indian Groupon clone has adopted a village called Shiv Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, India, and renamed it to Snapdeal.com Nagar. The one-year-old online group-buying start-up will develop the village’s infrastructure, including installation of water pumps and support of the local school and hospital.

Taiwanese newspaper pre-announces iPad3
http://allthingsd.com/20110614/taiwan-newspaper-pre-announces-7-inch-ipad-3/
Taiwan’s Economic Daily, which correctly predicted some of the specs of the original iPad well ahead of its debut, has stated that Apple has another iPad in the works and intends to launch it before the end of the year. Rumour states that it will have a 7-inch touchscreen with an image resolution five to six times greater than the iPad2.

Malaysia braces for cyber-attacks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110615/tc_afp/malaysiaturkeytechnologyinternethacking
Malaysian officials are bracing for hacker attacks on government websites by a group which sabotaged Turkish sites last week to protest against Internet censorship. Internet activists Anonymous warned on a website that they would target Malaysia’s government portal www.Malaysia.gov.my.

Singapore promotes healthy eating with apps
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/10/singapore-promotes-healthy-eating-through-iphone-app/
To promote healthy eating, Singapore’s Health Promotion Board recently launched ‘Healthy Chef,’ an iPhone app that provides healthy cooking recipes for Singaporeans. The app provides over 70 recipes created by renowned chefs in Singapore with choices over Chinese, Malay, Indian or Western cuisines. A user can search for recipes based on calorie level and save them within their shopping list for future reference.
(Thanks to June Saowanee for the link)

China

Microblog saves desperate melon farmer
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2011-06/07/content_22728263.htm
A farmer in China turned to Weibo.com to voice his frustrations about a lack of sales following stories of exploding melons (due to growth chemicals). He said, “The reports of bursting watermelons have brought a miserable life for us. We have tens of thousands of jin (one jin equals half a kilogram) of watermelons waiting to get rotten in the farmlands.” Seven hours after his first post, Fu said in a new post that his melons were almost sold out, but his neighbors were also in need of help.

China’s Sina to launch English microblogging site
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/TechandScience/Story/STIStory_677126.html
Sina has announced plans to start an English version of its hugely popular microblogging site by the end of the year. It will pursue this venture with foreign partners. There is some speculation that Facebook could possibly partner with the Chinese giant.

Sina Weibo – competition for Twitter?
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/06/08/sina-weibo-competition-for-twitter/?mod=WSJBlog
While Sina’s English site could be a viable competitor for Twitter, Sina appears likely to police user posts on the English version of Weibo just as it does on the Chinese version, where it filters messages for sensitive content to comply with Chinese regulations.

Chinese “cyber attacks” – are they fallacies?
http://the-diplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2011/06/07/china-cyber-attack-fallacies/
Reports surfaced last week saying that China was behind a hacking campaign. The proof to support the headline was that Chinese IP addresses were involved. What both Google and Siobhan Gorman, who reported on the story for the Wall Street Journal (which we featured in Digerati last week), failed to disclose was that other countries IP addresses were used as well, including South Korea and the United States.

China’s global reach (map)
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/07/136930746/chinas-global-reach
A fantastic resource for tracing China’s foreign investments. Between 2005 and 2010, China invested more than $319 billion overseas, funding projects in energy, agriculture, finance and more. The top countries that China invested in were Australiua ($33.9 billion), the USA ($28.1 billion), Nigeria ($15.4 billion), Iran ($15.1 billion), and Brazil ($14.9 billion).

China increases Internet control, takes down hundreds of websites
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/08/china-increases-internet-control-takes-down-hundreds-of-websites/
Under the new controls, more than 700 pornographic and copyright infringing websites have been shut down. Individuals have also been banned from registering domain names ending in .cn, which is now now limited to registered businesses in China.
(Thanks to Pete Mitchell for the link)

Other Asia

Korea’s Got Talent – a Korean orphan stuns the audience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BewknNW2b8Y
Sung-bong Choi, a Korean laborer who grew up as a homeless orphan, supporting himself in the streets by selling gum and beverages, stunned the audience of Korea’s Got Talent with his trained tenor singing voice.

More Korean talent – Lip-synching, badminton-strumming schoolgirls!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaNj-3cwB38&feature=share
In addition to showcasing fine lip-synching talents, these girls use bushy eyebrows and facial hair to entertain Korea (and YouTube) with hilariously over the top performing.

Media offices receive mysterious coffins in the mail; advertiser arrested
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/06/indonesia-mystery-coffins-advertising/
The sender of these coffins was listed as “Rest In Peace Soon”. Police have raided the sender’s address and found it to be the offices of Buzz & Co., an advertising agency. The company’s CEO, Sumardy Ma, was subsequently arrested. He explained that the coffin delivery was a marketing strategy to launch a book entitled “Rest In Peace Advertising, The Power Of Word Of Mouth Marketing.”

Chunghwa Telecom sets foot in mobile advertising biz
http://news.cens.com/cens/html/en/news/news_inner_36550.html
Chunghwa Telecom recently announced that its online software-download store, Hami Apps, has set up mobile-advertising operation named In-App Advertisement, becoming Taiwan`s first telecom carrier to enter the subcategory of mobile marketing.

Sofitel in Bangkok to unveil Apple-based digital hotel entertainment

http://www.psfk.com/2011/06/apple-based-digital-hotel-entertainment-at-the-sofitel-so-bangkok.html

Each of the hotel’s rooms will be equipped with an Apple Mac mini, which will function as a multimedia center, offering guests digital TV, radio channels, movies, music library, DVD and CD player, and the ability to play your personal iPod, iPhone and iPad

Mobile

Mobile payments to reach $50 billion by 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/mobile-phone-payments-to-reach-50-billion-by-2014-report-says.html
Consumers worldwide will spend about $50 billion using their mobile phones through a technology called near field communications by 2014 as the payment method gains popularity. North America and Western Europe will account for 50 percent of the total spending, surpassing the Asian market (which is still dominated by Japan).

The Social Web

Top ten luxury brands with highest Facebook IQ
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/06/06/what-are-the-top-10-luxury-brands-on-facebook-with-the-highest-facebook-iq/
The top ten are: BMW, Clinique, Audi, Lexus, Bare Escentuals, Benefit, Bobbi Brown, Johnny Walker, Belvedere, and Tory Burch. They were ranked on: size and velocity, programming, engagement, and integration.

100 examples of corporate social media policies
http://www.kokasexton.com/word/100-examples-of-corporate-social-media-policies/
Check out the ways in which companies such as BBC, GM, FedEx, ESPN, IBM, and more treat social media in the work place. This contains great examples from companies of nearly every discipline and would be an excellent resource for any client hoping to write a social media policy.

Creative

Perrier: The more you watch, the hotter it gets (Ogilvy)
http://www.youtube.com/perrier

Ogilvy Singapore celebrates quitters with anit-smoking drive
http://www.campaignsingapore.sg/Video/259924,ogilvy-singapore-celebrates-quitters-in-anti-smoking-drive.aspx

Dove’s Digital Body Language (Ogilvy)
http://apps.facebook.com/dovebodylanguage/

McDonalds’ McFriends
http://vimeo.com/20306234
(Thanks to Sascha Engel for the link)

Nike SB: Support Your Local
http://www.psfk.com/2011/06/nike-sbs-support-your-local-2011-video.html

Hong Kong Death: Clean Air Flash Mob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz0zQcpzj38

Social media sandals – a “step” too far?
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/twitter-inspired-innovation

Augmented reality – String ‘Wonderment’
http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2011/06/augmented-reality-string%E2%84%A2-wonderment/

And Finally…

The World’s Most Exclusive Website
http://theworldsmostexclusivewebsite.com/index.php?e=v
This site allows levels of access based on how many Twitter followers a user has. To enter “Room 1,” you need to be a “verified” Twitter user. To enter Room 2, you need to have at least 5,000 followers., and so on. Most users won’t even be able to get through the front door and will be re-directed to the Olive Garden website.
(Thanks to Soohan Han for the link)

If you don’t make it in based on your following, see what is inside here: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-most-exclusive-website

This week we decipher a series of terms from China’s bureau of riddles: financial spin masters describe the current internet bloated IPO valuations as a “good bubble”; cryptic shenanigans with China’s three mobile operators under scrutiny in an affair over RMB350m of “illegal” money; Xinhua hits back at Google’s “chimerical complaints” of cyberattacks emanating from Jinan, China.

China

China embraces its inner tech bubble

http://blogs.forbes.com/ericjackson/2011/05/31/china-embraces-its-inner-tech-bubble/

Tech industry leaders in China seem to agree that a “bubble” is currently underway in their country. Rather than dread the inevitable fall, however, the executives are focused on the golden age of development that they are currently in. As one leader said, “We’re in the midst of a bubble but a good bubble.  It’s going to create a flight to quality.  The bad companies will lose momentum or die. The market will shrink to a small base of companies.” Soon investors will stop and companies will go under, but the industry as a whole (in China) is focused on the positive.

Western view: Chinese hackers use fake Gmail site to steal activist data

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/01/google-hacking-chinese-attack-gmail

Google has revealed that it had been the target of a phishing campaign seemingly originating in Jinan, a mid-sized Chinese city (six million) known mostly for exports, [72 fresh springs, its muslim population and its status as the IT capital of China twinned with Bangalore, India]. It was aimed at gaining access to the accounts of senior officials in the U.S., Korea and other governments, as well as those of Chinese activists.

China view: “Google’s Chimerical Complaints”… against local chefs making cider-snacks cyberattacks

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-06/02/c_13907875.htm

It was the second time that Google arbitrarily pointed its finger at China. Last year, Google groundlessly accused the Chinese government of supporting hacker attack against it and pushed China to abandon legal regulations on the Internet by threatening to withdraw from the Chinese market. The chimerical complaints by Google have become obstacles for enhancing global trust between stakeholders in cyberspace. However, it was too imprudent for the online giant to lash out at others without solid proof to support its accusation. Last year, Google invited the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), a spy agency, to help with its inquiry into cyberattacks against it… they traced the attackers to computers at Chinese Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School.. The report amused many Chinese at that time since Lanxiang Vocational School enjoys a good fame at training chefs for local restaurants. It is really hard for people with common sense to understand.

Ma might bite Yahoo – Alibaba Group CEO Jack Ma on the Alipay affair, Yahoo and loving employees (video and transcript)

http://allthingsd.com/20110601/alibaba-group-ceo-jack-ma-live-at-d9/

Jack Ma reveals several insights in this interview, including his thoughts on employee training (which he feels should all be done internally), cultural trends in China (customs, people, and government) and business trends in China (mobile, gaming, and search), and Yahoo (which he’d love to buy some day).

New Sina Weibo profiles leak reveals vitual goods, eCommerce integration

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/02/new-sina-weibo-profiles-leak-reveals-virtual-goods-ecommerce-integration

A leaked screenshot caught reveals more details on what seems to be Sina’s new “QWeibo” profiles, which feature virtual goods and eCommerce integration. Sina has been adding features to the Weibo platform in an attempt to turn it into a complete social network experience instead of simply being a microblogging platform.

10 reasons why China is different

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/roach5/English

This report singles out strategy, commitment, delivery, saving, rural-urban migration 316 million Chinese are expected to move from rural to urban China over the next 20 years), consumption, services, foreign direct investment (China is a magnet for the investment of multinational technology companies), education (1.5 million engineers and scientists graduate in China every year), and innovation (China’s aggressive pursuit of patents and new technologies is what sets it apart) as the main differentiator between China and other nations.

China’s seizure of China Mobile leads to wider corruption probe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-01/china-s-seizure-of-china-mobile-executive-leads-to-wider-corruption-probe.html

All three of China’s major mobile carriers (China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom) are now under investigation following the arrest of a China Mobile executive in March. The investigation is a probe of more than 60 people that may involve 350 million yuan of “illegal money”.

Other Asia

Indonesian president responds to defamation in social media

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/01/indonesian-president-defamation-social-media/

The Indonesian government has been facing criticism on social media platforms like Twitter, blogs, in text messages recently. Last week the political world in Indonesia was turned upside-down by the emergence of a specific SMS text containing allegations of corruption against the nation’s government. The SMS spread far enough for the president to comment on it, saying, “I think with the development of information technologies — such as SMS, Twitter, websites, and Blackberry — as well as all types of online media can improve our lives in this nation. But, for those who are not knights, those who use (these media) for character assassination or verbal abuse. That is freedom of speech, [but] when it comes to defamation then it must be accounted for.”

Malaysian to tweet apology 100 times in Twitter defamation case

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/02/malaysian-tweet-apology-defamation

A Malaysian social activist will apologise 100 times on Twitter in an unusual settlement with a magazine publisher in a defamation case. The penalty has sparked debate among internet users about the pitfalls of social media in Malaysia, where authorities have warned people to be more cautious about what they write on blogs, Facebook and Twitter.Fahmi Fadzil, an opposition politician’s aide and respected commentator on social issues, claimed on Twitter in January that his pregnant friend had been poorly treated by her employers at a magazine run by BluInc Media.

Vodafone India sues customer for defamatory Facebook statuses

http://thenextweb.com/in/2011/06/01/vodafone-india-sues-customer-for-posting-defamatory-facebook-statuses/

Vodafone India has sent in a legal notice to a man who has complained about its services on Facebook, asking him to take down the ‘defamatory’ posts. This case is interesting because if the court gives an injunction, it could become a precedent for other popular brands to start sending legal notices against other microbloggers.

Playstation Network coming back online everywhere except Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/31/us-sony-network-idUSTRE74U07A20110531

Following the closure of the service after information was stolen from 77 million accounts, Sony has announced that it will re-launch the service in every market except for Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Sony has declined to comment as to why they are excluding these countries. Around 10% of the affected PSN users are in these countries. Sony has hinted, however, that services will return to these Asian nations only a few days after the others.

The Social Web

Zynga to launch new game – “Empires and Allies” in Indonesian, Chinese, Malay, and Korean

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/zynga-launch-new-game-empires-193468

Social gaming developer Zynga has announced the global launch of Empires & Allies, its first strategy combat game – a release “that includes more social features than any of its other games.” It is debuting in 12 languages, including Indonesian, Traditional Chinese and, for the first time, Malay and Korean. Zynga has more than 250 million monthly active users and is the developer of games such as CityVille, FarmVille, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars and Cafe World.

Facebook close to 700 million users

http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/171-facebook-is-globally-closing-in-to-700-million-users/

The top country (in terms of growth) in the last month was Brazil, which added 1.9 million new users. The rest of the top ten included Indonesia (up 1.5 million), the Philippines (up 1.3 million), and India (up 0.9 million).

Mobile

Intel Ultrabooks are front and center at Taiwan IT expo (Computex 2011)

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/computex-2011-intel-unveils-ultrabook-talks-medfield-tablets/6004

The first ultrabooks, which will be available later this year, will be based on Intel’s second-generation Core processors, measure less than 0.8 inches thick and cost less than $1,000 US. The size, performance and features of these ultrabooks will evolve over the next two to three years as Intel introduces new processor technology.

Location-based marketing hits Colombo

http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/2011/06/location-based-marketing-hits-colombo/

Marketers are beginning to use location-based marketing in the Sri-Lankan capital. They are mainly targeting the “New Urban Middle Class” – a new, small social category. Smartphones aren’t nearly as prevalent as feature phones in Sri Lanka, so ambitions are still tempered.

(Thanks to Asia Digital Map)

Long Reads

Bigerati: May’s most explosive stats

http://www.slideshare.net/OgilvyAsia/bigerati-ogilvy-asia-pacific/

Digital Life: today and tomorrow 7mins state of the world overview

http://youtu.be/iG8KaWxr2gs

Creative

Turkcell Twitter campaign

http://www.simplyzesty.com/twitter/brilliant-twitter-campaign-case-study/

(Thanks to Supavadee Tantiyanon for the link)

LG Loves Indonesia

https://www.facebook.com/LGLovesIndonesia

(Thanks to Dhanushree Sant for the link)

Kitty and Lala: Chinese bloggers take center stage as Intel unveils global campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFbUbAWbB-s & http://www.campaignbrief.com/asia/2011/06/chinese-bloggers-take-centre-s.html

& Finally…

Take a minute to focus on yourself with these social media visualization tools…

Intel’s Museum of Me

http://www.intel.com/museumofme/r/index.htm

Link this to your Facebook account and embark on a tour of your Facebook world, complete with exhibits showcasing your photos, friends, and statuses.

(Thanks to Alexandra Mecklenburg for the link)

The Social List

http://www.the-social-list.com/

See your “worth” on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Foursquare

China – Facebook reaches deal with Baidu

The Social Web – A map of the world’s social networks

The New New Thing – “The Future of Real-Time”

Long Reads – Spotlight on women in commerce and gaming

Creative – Extra Time from Durex in Thailand

& Finally – Cloud girlfriend!

Spotlight on India

ESPN’s Cricinfo scores record global traffic during Cricket World Cup

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/espncricinfo-scores-record-global-traffic-during-wc/646059.html

Here are some mind blowing statistics from the recent tournament, proving what a force mobile is already on the subcontinent. Fans consumed more content from ESPNcricinfo online and on mobile device than ever before, shattering all previous records logged by the website. At its peak during the India-Pakistan semifinal match, ESPNcricinfo’s share of ESPN’s total global audience was 36.1 percent online and 63.6 percent on the mobile Web, the most of any other ESPN digital platform that day. Their mobile website alone recorded more than 45 million page views, accounting for 45 percent of all page views logged during the final between India and Sri Lanka at Mumbai on April 2. It also set one-day records on March 30, logging more than 1.9 million visitors and 52.4 million page views, up 2,166 percent compared to the daily average for all of 2010, a record year for the site. ESPNcricinfo, across all digital platforms, logged 1.8 billion page views and 4.43 billion total minutes during that during the 43 day event.

Mobile broadband expected to expand further in India

http://www.outsourcery.co.uk/news/?story=mobile-broadband-set-to-expand-further-in-india&id=2385

Businesses in India may look at using the advantages of mobile broadband after the government and several groups agreed to help connect people through the medium. It is set to boom across India in the coming years after two leading organizations said that they will help develop growth in the technology.

The World Economic Forum claims that India and China are closing the tech gap

http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/04/12/china-india-closing-tech-gap-says-world-economic-forum/

Information and communication technologies are still most effectively used in industrialized countries, where the ready availability of the Internet, computers, mobile and fix-line phones help economies to grow, but countries such as China and India are catching up fast, according to The WEF’s 10th Global Information Technology Report. The report also states that Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, the U.S. and Taiwan, topped the list of 138 countries.

China

Facebook reaches deal for China site with Baidu

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-11/facebook-reaches-deal-for-china-site-with-baidu-sohu-com-says.html

Facebook has signed an agreement with Baidu to set up a social-networking website in China. It is speculated that the China website won’t be integrated with Facebook’s international service.

Four things Groupon’s Andrew Mason needs to learn from Mark Zuckerberg

http://blogs.forbes.com/ericjackson/2011/04/11/what-groupons-andrew-mason-needs-to-learn-from-mark-zuckerberg/

Forbes instructs Groupon to take a page out of Facebook’s book (pun intended). Their four tips are: to identify what is and is not important, to not delegate what is important, to not try to be funny when you’re not, and to show respect for others.

(Thanks to Chris Reitermann for the link)

Interview with Baidu’s Kaiser Kuo (video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LydH9h3LL4Q

Kuo , director of international communications of Baidu, claims that Baidu’s social plans go beyond their announced partnership with Facebook. He says there are ample opportunities for search and social media to work together and create better value for both users and advertisers. According to Kuo, social media – along with Baidu’s products in search, community and mobile – have created a search-centered ecosystem that captures users’ media time.

China’s online gaming market surges; set to top $8 billion by 2014

http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/12/chinas-online-game-market-surges-set-to-top-8-billion-by-2014/

China is is rapidly becoming the world’s leader in the online games market. According to a new study, the online games market in China will exceed $8 billion by 2014. The report predicts that China will make up a quarter of the industry’s total global sales by 2014, with the U.S. falling to 22 percent.

China’s luxury consumers grow up

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/04/chinas_luxury_consumers_grow_u.html

The Chinese market for luxury products has been booming recently. In 2010, sales across categories such as jewelry, leather goods, and upmarket ready-to-wear clothing rose by 20% to reach $12.4 billion. By 2015, luxury goods sales will touch $27 billion, around 20% of global sales, making China the world’s largest luxury market. That’s not to say that marketers do not still face challenges in China’s luxury world. Chinese consumers are increasingly favoring subtlety in their luxury purchases. Also, given the piracy problem in the country, relying that a product is authentic is more important than ever.

Mysterious deaths, famous prostitutes, big fires, and an important anniversary. – see what’s “trending” every day in China

http://www.theworldofchinese.com/culture/daily-trending-topics.html

The top Baidu search terms and Sina Weibo trending topics, reported every day with pinyin, English summaries of the stories, and photos/videos where applicable.

The Social Web

Map of the world’s social networks (Infographic)

http://www.penn-olson.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/social-network-map.jpg

The New New Thing

PSFK’s “Future of Real-Time”

http://www.psfk.com/future-of-real-time

PSFK’s researchers have identified key trends that are emerging around the capture and transmission of real-time information streams. These trends include human sensor networks, personal census, social sentiment, instant texting, mobile communities, instant mapping, context cartography, timeline narratives, intelligent infrastructure, networking nature, and the democracy of data.

Google sets its sights on Duolingo – which encourages people to learn new languages

http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/12/duolingo/

It is estimated that there are over 1 billion people learning a foreign language. So, a team at a Carnegie Mellon University is developing Duolingo, which will be a 100% free language learning site in which people learn by helping to translate the Web. That is, they learn by doing. Google already has plans to invest/acquire the site.

Long Reads

Women dominate the global marketplace – here are five keys to reaching them

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663594/the-whole-her

Women control 65 percent of global spending and more than 80 percent of U.S. spending. By 2014, the World Bank predicts that the global income of women will grow by more than $5 trillion. In both emerging markets and developed nations, women’s power of influence extends well beyond the traditional roles of family and education to government, business, and the environment. This report includes tips for appealing to the female consumer.

Women in games – the history of women and video gaming

http://asia.gamespot.com/features/6308305/index.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=picks&tag=picks%3Bstory%3B3

A brief history of women in storytelling transitions into an examination of what it will take to make games appeal more to female audiences. The general consensus is that the game-development world, which is very male-dominated,  needs to hire more women in creative and business roles in order to start appealing to women and girls.

Creative

OgilvyOne Bangkok: The Pizza Company Mobile Ordering App!

http://www.pizza.co.th/#/promotion?cmd=3&pdid=67

Burberry to join China’s digital revolution with fashion bash

http://www.jingdaily.com/en/luxury/burberry-to-join-chinas-digital-revolution-with-beijing-fashion-bash/

(Thanks to Supavadee Tantiyanon for the links)

Censorsh*t – an innovative play on Thailand’s censorship policy

http://asiancorrespondent.com/52276/interview-with-the-thai-student-behind-hit-censorsht-video/

Durex – the third ref plugs Extra Time

http://mediacafe.com.au/CustomContentRetrieve.aspx?ID=820654

And Finally…

Cloud girlfriend – design your perfect girlfriend on social media – sign up now!

http://cloudgirlfriend.com/

To contribute, contact: Barney.loehnis@ogilvy.com (@barneylo) & Michael.mcclelland@ogilvy.com