2nd Content Malaysia gathering

Here comes the second Content Malaysia gathering(this was the first one & photos).
It will take place tomorrow, details:

Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Time: 3:15pm - 6:00pm
Location: Centro @ KL Sentral

What's going to happen there?
There will be a registration point for Maxis 1Store at this week's Content Malaysia gathering. In other words, no need to spend time submitting online. Just bring all relevant documnents to the event and we will get you started as a Maxis Developer.

Please help spread the word to developers!

Also "This time we will be focusing on the Mobile World Congress as well as the influx of developer platforms. How should one go about selecting which platform to develop an application?"

Come and discuss the Mobile World Congress and what it means to developers. -What are thoughts on Windows Phone 7, Symbian 3 and Bada operating systems? -What do you think of all the phones that were launched at MWC? -What else did you like about MWC?

If you develop contents, make sure you be there! RSVP on Facebook now...

Content Malaysia is organised by Mobile World and it is made possible by a collaboration with Maxis.

Celcom and Friendster in talks

Celcom is in talks with Friendster to bring the social networking service to Celcom's mobile subscribers.

I have no details regarding the deal, but it should be announced within the next few weeks, maybe a month. Those who don't know, Friendster has been acquired by Malaysian-based MOL Global last month.

The first Malaysian App Store- Maxis 1Store

The Maxis 1Store was launched in June 2009, an application store for mobile developers to promote their apps to Maxis users.

However it was not really "open" at that time as it was focused more in promoting the winning entries from the Mobile Content Challenge(MCC) 2009. Plus in my opinion, Maxis 1Store did not really made any huge impact on the mobile industry.

Till recently, Maxis has taken big steps by opening up the 1Store to virtually any mobile developers around the world. As for now, the operator only accepts applications based on the Java and Symbian platform with plans to support Android and Blackberry platforms in the future. Read more here.

However, something very IMPORTANT was missing from the Maxis 1Store website. The revenue sharing details was not disclosed. Its a mistake for not disclosing it as revenue sharing is key to everything for a mobile developer. I can develop and sell millions of app, but if Maxis is taking more money than me, from my apps, what is the point of doing it?

Secondly, Maxis is limiting themself to their own customers when they can always sell those apps to Celcom, DiGi or U Mobile subscribers, that's the the power of an app store! At least this is a good start for Maxis and I hope to see more out of it.

If you develop Java or Symbian apps, check out http://www.1store.com.my/

8TV Mobile Site

Media Prima via its "New Media" team(ALT Media) will be launching a mobile site for its TV station- 8TV, later today.

Point your mobile browser to mobile.8tv.com.my and watch 10 8TV most popular content(Mandarin News, Blogger Boy, 8 Style...) on your mobile phone. The content is free and you are recommended to subscribe to a data plan, unless they(ALT Media) announce it with a customised data plan(later today).

It works on any phones, Symbian, Windows Mobile and even the iPhone as long as it plays Youtube. The best thing is if it is unable to stream it, you will be given the option to download the content to your phone.

The only thing I am hoping is to see the telcos offer unlimited streaming packages specifically targeted to this service, this will drive usage of using mobile data on the phone.

ALT Media might also offer a Video News Alert service(something like sms news alert but this service includes link to the news video) and a mobile download site- http://mobsta.my/(You should check out this site- language classes & more)

Congratulation Media Prima, you developed the mobile sites without any help from the telcos, great work! Let's see how the telcos response to this media giant.

Visit the Mobile World website for official story later today or tomorrow.

Mobile Internet: Speed vs Connectivity

How many of you uses mobile internet on your mobile phone? If you do then which will you prefer, do you want connectivity or speed?

When I say connectivity, I mean any type of mobile connection starting from GPRS up to HSDPA regardless of the mobile technology as long as you have a mobile connection on your phone.

As for speed, I am talking about 3G, HSDPA and above.

Personally, when it comes to mobile phone, I will prefer connectivity even if its GPRS. As long as I could check my email(not download emails), MSN on the phone and do some very light surfing on the phone(wap sites), and that's enough for me.

Looking back at the telco's mobile broadband offering, everything is catered to speed but not connectivity. There are unlimited packages for EDGE(DiGi), 3G and HSDPA but no packages that are GPRS-based.

In my opinion, GPRS only data packages could cost less than RM30 a month looking at DiGi's secondary unlimited EDGE package at RM33. So why not offer a GPRS only data package?

GPRS does not offer high speed mobile connection but it could drive the adoption of mobile application on mobile phones, at least it is a start for first time users as they could upgrade to 3G when they demand more speed. On top of that GPRS is available almost everywhere, as long as you have a mobile signal.

It is also a new revenue for mobile operators as their GPRS and EDGE network will be underutilised as more subscribers move to the 3G and HSDPA network(as the coverage expands) and most of them are doing it because they require mobile broadband.

It is time for a cheap mobile connectivity, not expensive high speed mobile broadband packages for those who want cheap connectivity on their mobile phone.

Mobile Telecom Predictions for 2009

I know this post is extremely late and there has been lots of email since January about this. I apologize for that as I never had the time to write my predictions for 2009.

Here's a very short list on what to look out for in the local telecom industry this year:

Aggressive 3G services

I know that everyone has been saying that it is a year for 3G since it was launched like back in 2005(Celcom in May, Maxis in July and U Mobile in March, 2008). The reality is, 3G has a goal when it was introduced and I don't see that goal being achieved in Malaysia, yet.

3G was created to to offer high speed broadband services on the mobile phone. But till now, I don't see many people out there who are using 3G services and applications on their 3G phone. The only thing that the mobile operators could pride them self on 3G is the wireless broadband services that they are offering, an alternative broadband service to your fixed broadband service.

I am not going to talk about this further, but I hope to see more 3G service for mobile phones this year, such as services that make use of video call, maps/navigation services on phone, enhanced location based services, better online mobile payment, shopping services, music streaming, social networking and thousands of other services when you look at i-mode.

I know that most of these services are available, but I hope to see it coming from our very own telcos and more than 500 content developers in Malaysia out there.

World Economy: Impact on the Local Telecom Industry

I predict that the current world economy situation will have no impact on our local telecom industry. I don't see any reason why people will not SMS or talk less on their phone. That being said, however, people might not change phone as frequent as they did during the previous years.

In general, they should be no impact on our local mobile operators unless they have any business relationship with US-based companies.

WiMAX Heats Up

I have high hopes on P1 to drive the WiMAX and broadband adoption in Malaysia. You will see more WiMAX coverage areas as P1 expands their wireless coverage. On top of this, P1 will be launching their USB modem(MIMO supported) by Q3 this year(about June) and their new fixed WiMAX modem with VoIP support, replacing the current DS 300 model.

P1 does not seem to only focus on providing broadband service but also on content as well. Expect to see more content and services from Ruumz, an online social networking site created by Green Packet, the parent company of P1.

As for the other WiMAX players, personally, I don't expect and don't see much development from them although I must say that I do have a little hope for Asia Space since they are working on Digital Media Broadcasting (DMB) services. It is really interesting to see them trialling the service but I doubt that they could take it further since it involves a lot of investment while they are trying hard to expand their WiMAX coverage.

Asia Space DMB Receiver

It will also be great to see YTL e-Solutions to meet their own deadline this year but personally, I doubt it.

IPTV Services

Well, it is true that IPTV has nothing to do with mobile telecom. The reason I am talking about this is because it could drive the adoption of broadband services in this country. I like what Malaysian based-Syqic has to offer and their partnership with Hypp.TV. I believe that that they are working on a mobile IPTV application. Although they don't have high hopes on it, I hope to see them launching it with a mobile operator later this year.

Other local technology companies working on IPTV services includes MOL, TM , TIME, REDtone, WorldIP.TV and more.

Hope on MVNOs

I have not seen any serious impact from the current MVNOs players yet. When I last spoke to Jason Lo, the CEO of Tune Talk, he said that Tune Talk will be launching the services later this year. I am still trying to get more details about Celcom's investment on Tune Talk.

Another MVNO player appears to have some new developments too. Sumitomo Corporation of Japan has invested RM30 million in Merchantrade Asia Sdn Bhd. And why would a Japanese company do so, especially during the recession period?

As of January 2009, Merchantrade appears to have over 94,000 active subscribers and this is something positive. Hope to hear more about them this year.

Don't know whether if you still remember Happy, looks like Happy makes you sad afterall.

HSBB to Become Reality

As scheduled, TM should be rolling out the High Speed Broadband (HSBB) for wholesale on second quarter and for retail in the fourth quarter this year.

Speed should be starting from 10Mbps to 100 Mbps for residential customers and up to 1Gbps for businesses for high economic impact areas delivered via fibre optic infrastructure.

More Choices on Mobile Broadband

There has been many talks about 3G/LTE technology competing with WiMAX. I predict there will be more competition in the mobile broadband market once P1 launches their USB Modem. At the moment, only Asia Space offers a WiMAX USB modem, but it has limited coverage areas.

If the signs are right, I see that Celcom Broadband will be focusing more on their 3G broadband offering this year while Maxis Broadband could be coming up with more content and services. Competition between the 3G players will also heat up with DiGi 3G coming into the picture, however, DiGi needs to be aggressive in expanding their 3G coverage this year.

I don't have any predictions for U Mobile as for now. I believe there will be not much impact from U Mobile on the local mobile industry this year, unless if they are able to offer more broadband packages, expand their 3G coverage areas and also launch their much awaited DVB-H services.

NetBook is the Killer Mobile Device

I expect to see more Netbook offerings this year to complement the mobile broadband services. The attractive offerings should be coming from the mobile operators and also the WiMAX operators. If things goes as plan, there should be WiMAX-powered notebook/netbook devices sometime this year.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with Maxis Broadband is a good bundle but I hope to see something more attractive with complete wireless broadband service(Maxis Broadband is included for the first 6 months only). Also expect to see some attractive netbook offerings from Celcom within the next few weeks.


P/s: If you think I have missed something, kindly post a comment.

Questions: Mobile Contents in Malaysia

Dear readers,

I am writing an article about mobile contents/applications in Malaysia to be featured in Mobile World.

Below are some questions that I hope you can help me answer from a mobile user perspective:

1. Do you use mobile content? If yes, what type of content or applications on your phone?
2. What type of mobile contents do you expect to see? What is missing in Malaysia?
3. How much (maximum) are you willing to pay for such content (Refer Q3)?
4. Do you use non-local applications such as Google Maps or Yahoo Go? If yes, are you satisfied with the data chargers? If no, why you don't use such applications?
5. What can be done to improve our local mobile content? What is your opinion?

If you are reading this, I will appreciate if you could reply these questions(before this Wednesday, Feb 18 2008) and email it to me (malaysianwireless@gmail.com).

Please include your full name and occupation in the email. A high resolution picture of yourself is recommended(its ok if you don't have one).

Hope to hear from you as soon as possible, selected comment will be featured on the magazine.

I welcome your support, thanks.

WiMAX coming to Penang? (Update1)

As I have reported previously, now there are over 7 locations in Penang that is covered by WiMAX !!!

The WiMAX trial run service will be available at five sites covering a major part of George Town, including Komtar, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Lebuh Macallum/Magazine Road, Gottlieb Road, Perak Road/Burma Road bordering upper Jelutong, Bukit Tengah and Bukit Mertajam.

So far, Packet One has over 4,000 pre-registered users in Penang waiting for the WiMAX service to be available.

Packet One is in the midst of applying for additional seven sites to be included in the trial run schedule by the end of March.

P1 has planned for a total of 28 sites, each supporting about 2,000 users, which will cover about 70% of Penang over a 18-months period and supported by free WiFi.

The Penang Goverment is also working on local content developtment which is expected to be announced soon.

Note that Wireless@Penang is consist of two projects:

• Penang free WiFi
• WiMAX@Penang
  

The mega-launch of the WiMAX@Penang is expected to be in March 2009.

Read the official story here.

Ruumz Launched

Remember when I first talked about Packet One's social networking site about 5 months back? Well the Malaysian based social networking site is now launched.

Here's some of the pictures taken at the Ruumz launch party, last Thursday (15, January 2009) @ Mist Club, Bangsar.

Ruumz Logo
James Chong, Chief Executive, ruumzNation Sdn Bhd
The Team behind Ruumz
Advertlets Bloggers
Some pretty girls(ruumate) snapping our pictures and posting it here
And the night goes on

If you are on Ruumz, add me- scamboy.ruumz.com

Enjoy unlimited 1 month free music download at MusicRuum, normal music download charges applies(up to RM2) with DRM protected.

Packet One Social Networking site- Ruumz

For those of you who did not know, I asked Michael Lai about Ruums few months back when I interviewed him in this video.

Ruumz is expected to launch by the end of this year, which is like 4 months from now. Here's what you get to know when you read Telco Talk Malaysia- Ruumz

Ruumz is a social networking site from Packet One. Based on the current website that is being built right now, it is expected to offer photo, music downloads, mobile downloads, videos, movies, radios and personalized page.

As for now- http://www.ruumz.com is registered under Packet One Networks Sdn. Bhd and the domain will expire in January 2009. The site was created in January 2007 and updated in April 2008. In other words, Green Packet has been working on this project for some time. See here.

At this moment, Ruumz is on invitation basis only and it is in Beta.

I am exited too see what Ruumz could do when it is launched. Finally, Malaysia could have a proper social networking site that could match the top ones in the world.


http://www.ruumz.com/