Apac News & Articles

Siri has been lauded as one of the iPhone 4S's main selling points. The voice-powered personal assistant can be used for just about anything, although the feature is not exactly popular in some markets, particularly in Asia.

China is the one place where Google doesn't necessarily dominate in terms of search and mobile. But with Android espousing an open platform, companies like Dell and Baidu have developed their own derivative operating system meant for the Chinese market. Will the country's 1 billion users be a reason for other platform owners to worry?

LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, has its sights set on conquering new markets, and has opened an office in Tokyo to support its growing presence in Japan.

Some call it the post-PC era, like former Apple CEO Steve Jobs would. Some claim that the popularity of tablets and smartphones is just a fad, as former Asus Chairman Stan Shih once said. But make no mistake about it: Mobile Internet is on the rise. In fact, IDC says mobile Internet access will overtake wireline access by 2015.

Users in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Etihad-Etisalat Mobily network have reason to rejoice, as the consortium signs a deal with Google for unlimited use of Google services. The service, named Connect Google, will give subscribers access to sites such as Gmail, YouTube, Google+, Google Maps and other services.

When Google (news, site) announced its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, industry watchers wondered about the potential effects on the mobile industry. In particular, Google will, in effect, be competing against its own Android smartphone and tablet licensees. But the market seems to agree that the deal will benefit Android stakeholders, particularly in the Asian region.

Time and again, Google's Android (news, site) is proving itself to be a capable mobile platform, and the market seems to agree. According to recent figures by Canalys, Android has already captured almost 50% of the smartphone market globally in the second quarter of 2011, and is dominant in the Asia Pacific region. But what lies ahead for Android?

The mobile platform wars are heating up. And if it's not one platform outdoing the other in terms of the ecosystem size, it's one platform challenging others in terms of legalities. Amid the flurry of activity, another party wants to join the fray, as China's Alibaba (news, site) unveils its own Aliyun OS mobile operating system.

Mobile and social networking mix well, as evident with how social networking apps are popular among smartphone and tablet users. Taiwanese manufacturer HTC (news, site) has even gone as far as marketing a "Facebook Phone" in the HTC Chacha and HTC Salsa. But in China, the prominent Facebook button has been replaced, instead, with that of Weibo.

The Chinese have a love affair with Apple (news, site), as evident with how their Apple Stores in the country are outselling even the most popular Apple Stores in the US. But in a country that's notorious for producing almost-perfect knockoff gadgets and devices, how has Apple managed to appeal to consumers, given its premium pricing?

China is known for its tight security when it comes to online services and content. Dubbed the "Great Firewall of China," the country's data filters prevent access to any domain or service deemed to potentially contain illegal or subversive content. Computer scientists have, however, found a way to get past China's data filters by embedding censored data within approved traffic.

Microsoft (news, site) has had a successful run with its Windows Mobile platform, particularly in the corporate setting, but then the iPhone and Android rose in popularity and Microsoft found the need to refresh its mobile strategy. Microsoft is banking on the new Windows Phone 7 platform to revitalize its hold on the mobile market, and the much-anticipated second-generation -- codenamed "Mango" -- is about to get its first handset, care of Fujitsu (news, site).

Search is big business in China, with a 470 million-strong Internet userbase. While Google has shied away from servicing China due to strict censoring laws, Microsoft (news, site) has found a partner in the country's biggest search company, Baidu (news, site).

Cloud computing is on the rise. But as organizations get their data and work on the cloud, data jurisdiction can be questionable, especially if data centers are offshore. With this in mind, a potential concern with cloud computing is data sovereignty, and Australian states are debating the issue, particularly with regard to storage of sensitive and private citizen data.

Twitter (news, site) is aggressively expanding into the Japanese market, in particular partnering with mobile networks and portals in the country. Twitter's latest partnership involves adding live feeds in Yahoo! Japan search results. Is Twitter doing this as a means to expand into Asian territories just as certain Asian microblogging services are planning a coup in the English-language market?