(Credit:
Crave Asia)
Microsoft is ratcheting up the battle against rivals Sony and Nintendo in the hotly contested Asian market, cutting the price of its Xbox 360 between 5 percent and nearly 20 percent in four areas throughout the region.
The price of the 20GB model was cut 17 percent in Taiwan, 10.7 percent in Hong Kong, and 5 percent in South Korea. The steepest reduction was made in Singapore, where that version of the gaming console dropped 19.5 percent and the company cut the price of two other models: The 120GB Elite was reduced 12.5 percent and the Arcade, which has no hard drive, was cut by 13 percent.
At the same time, Sony went in the opposite direction in Singapore and raised prices for its 40GB PlayStation 3 to $394. Nintendo, for its part, said late last week that it had no plans to cut prices on either the Wii console or its DS handheld in any regions.
"This price drop is part of Microsoft's ongoing strategy to bring Xbox's high-definition gaming and entertainment experience to an even wider user base," Microsoft said in a statement. The move follows price reductions up to 28 percent in some European markets last month.
The largest phone company in the U.S. AT&T and Japan's NTT said Tuesday that they joined an international consortium to build a new undersea network underneath the Pacific Ocean.
As more businesses expand internationally, phone companies such as AT&T are trying to diversify their networks to keep up with growing demand. AT&T said it was joining the effort to build the new Trans-Pacific Express network to help stabilize the Internet and its voice services.
AT&T and NTT are the latest members of a consortium formed 15 months ago by Verizon and a handful of Asian carriers including, China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, Korea Telecom and Chungwa Telecom in Taiwan.
The groups is well on its way to getting the network up and running. A China-U.S. route is scheduled to be completed by August 2008 before the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China begin, according to Verizon. And the Japan-China route will be completed in March 2009.
As traffic on the Internet grows and becomes more global, more capacity and redundant routes are needed throughout the world. Just recently, Internet service was disrupted throughout parts of the Middle East and South Asia after three undersea cables were cut. The Trans-Pacific Express was started in late 2006, after an earthquake in Asia disrupted Internet service around the region and highlighted the need for a more stable network.
Telecommunications providers and other big technology companies, such as Google, have been stepping up to the plate to build more international capacity. For example, AT&T is also committed to helping build a separate undersea cable system called the Asia-America Gateway that connects Southeast Asia with North America in addition to joining the Tran-Pacific Express. And in February, Google announced that it would help build an undersea cable to link North America with Asia. The consortium dubbed "Unity," is comprised of Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, KDDI, Pacnet, and Singapore Telecommunications.
Homegrown music talents in the Asia-Pacific region now have a new platform to showcase their latest song creations. The Independent Artists Club Web site launched recently by Nokia aims to promote local artists in the region by allowing them to upload their songs on the Web for music fans around the world to enjoy.
The IAC program will launched in Singapore and Thailand first, before being rolled out over the next six months to selected Asia-Pacific countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Australia, and New Zealand.
With each IAC country launch, selected local artists will initially be invited to upload their tracks. After which the Web site will be open to all artists for song uploading. The Singapore IAC site is expected to open up for the public to upload their songs in mid-December.
Music lovers visiting the IAC Web site can then rate, sample (30-second previews) and download MP3 tracks. The artists best rated for their songs will be listed on Nokia's IAC charts, which will in turn be distributed regularly to the industry. These artists will also be invited to perform at Nokia-sponsored events as well as IAC-related activities.
One of the key unique features of the IAC Web site is that fans can not only access it via PC, they can also surf the site via their handsets. The mobile phone platform, however, allows for only preview streaming and downloading of songs (data charges apply).
According to Lim Wee Khee, senior marketing manager for Nokia Singapore, uploading of songs is currently not available using the phone. She added that the tracks are all Digital Rights Management (DRM)-free and come in the popular MP3 format which is playable on most portable music players.
The only seeming catch for music fans is that you can download only 10 tracks a month for free if you own a Nokia device. Non-Nokia device owners are limited to five downloads per month. There are currently no plans by the Finnish company to charge users for additional downloads, so do choose your songs wisely. Then again, you can always sign up for more than one account.
In line with its Ovi Internet services platform announced earlier this year, Nokia has said it will be rolling out the Nokia Music Store in 2008.
(Source: Crave Asia)
Samsung SGH-E950
(Credit: CNET Networks)If you're a cell phone geek, the annual CommunicAsia cell phone extravaganza is a must on your calendar. Much like 3GSM, which is held every February in Barcelona, ComunicAsia shows off some of the coolest handsets in the world. In fact, it almost makes our U.S. CTIA show look like a third-grade bake sale.
Our colleagues at CNET Asia are on hand in their hometown of Singapore to bring you the hottest sights and sounds form the show floor. Samsung grabbed the spotlight early on with new Ultra Edition phones and several fashion handsets. The Samsung SGH-E950 is one of the most noteworthy new models. It offers a slider design with a metal finish and a touch-sensitive OLED display.
Also at the show, NTT DoCoMo offers a gallery of new models, Sony Ericsson showed the new handsets it unveiled last week, and LG displayed phones based on its sexy Shine. Check out CNET Asia's full coverage for more.
Beijing's subway is a little grimy, the air conditioning is fairly weak, and during rush hours it's like being packed into canned ham.
But it's far superior to the public transportation options in San Francisco and San Jose, the so-called hubs of the tech world.
Unlike in San Francisco, the trains show up on time. Every two to three minutes a new car shows up during rush hours. On a Sunday, you might wait five minutes. It doesn't go everywhere, but the line is being expanded. All the station signs are also in English, and you can get directions in English too.
Public transportation in Asia remains, in my mind, one of the technological wonders of the world. In Japan, the express train ride into town is worth the flight to Tokyo. There's no haggling with the SuperShuttle attendant--you simply buy a $19 ticket and take one of the options leaving every 10 minutes. In town, it takes foreigners about 10 minutes to acclimate to the JR Yamanote line. You see the same thing in South Korea. A cab ride might take 40 minutes, but in a few minutes by train you can get to your destination. Both places also have trains that crisscross the entire city. With global warming increasing, public transportation is going to increase in importance.
Talking on cell phones is also forbidden on public transportation in Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul, something you don't experience in San Francisco. And Americans wonder why we are falling behind.
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