Tag archive: Malaysia

Apple still can't make enough iPad 2s to meet consumer demand in any market, so what's the company doing? Launching the iPad 2 in a dozen new markets this week, and revealing plans to put the Wi-Fi version of the iPad 2 on sale in China beginning May 6. The iPad 2 will go on sale in Japan on Thursday, April 28—the announcement is particularly significant because Japan was originally slated to get the iPad 2 on March 25, but… Read More

Joint venture Garmin-Asus has formally launched the Nuviphone M20, a more compact follow-up to the company's first combined phone/GPS device, the Nuvifone G60. The Nuvifone M20 sports a 2.8-inch touch screen display, a 3 megapixel camera, 4 GB of Flash storage, and (of course) connectivity out the wazoo, including 2G and 2G data service along with 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 wireless networking. However, the M20 also sports something… Read More

China caused an uproar in the international technology community earlier this year by suddenly mandating—then indefinitely suspending—a requirement that all new computers ship with “Green Dam” Internet filtering software pre-installed. The Chinese government said the intent behind Green Dam was to prevent children from accessing violent and pornographic content via the Internet; however, the software was also found… Read More

Asia Pacific Systems (AP Systems, President Jung Ki-ro) held a commencement ceremony for its geostationary satellite mobile service on April 6, in their office building at Gasan-dong, Seoul. The service is the first commercial service in Korea using a geosynchronous high earth orbit satellite. An AP Systems’ satellite phone costs 924,000 won (US$701.30), and using 50 minutes in a month costs 80,000 won (US$60.50), which is the… Read More

Chipmaker Intel has announced it will be shutting down four older manufacturing plants in a move to restructure its operations. The impacted plants are assembly test facilities in Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as wafer production plants in Hillsboro, Oregon, and Santa Clara, California. Intel expects the closures will impact between 5,000 and 6,000 employees, although the company stresses they may not all leave Intel: some may be… Read More

Hard drive maker Western Digital has announced it is laying off some 2,500 employees—or about five percent of its total worldwide workforce—as part of a series of cost-cutting moves designed to bolster the company's bottom lines as the tough economy reduces demand for IT and storage products. The company is also scaling back its revenue forecasts for hard drive sales from $2 to $2.1 billion down to $1.7 to $1.8… Read More

Internet search giant Google has released its 2008 End-of-Year Zeitgeist, noting what was hot worldwide in Internet searches for the year. Unlike search engines like AOL and Yahoo who base their end-of-year summaries mostly on the frequency of terms—hence allowing Britney Spears to rule the search engine listings for years on end—Google bases its Zeitgeist both on frequency and on the novelty of terms. In other words,… Read More

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack for its popular World of Warcraft massively online multiplayer role-playing game will land at North American retailers November 13. Folks in other markets won't have to wait very long to get their hands on the game, though: Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Russia are also scheduled to get the expansion pack the 13th, with Australia, New Zealand,… Read More

China, North Korea, Burma…they’re places where protest has been crushed. But yesterday people demonstrated against Net censorship in virtual locations from those countries.  Organized by the group Reporters Without Borders, the first Online Free Expression Day invited people to create avatars and take part in demonstrations in virtuallocations where protest would not be allowed in the real world.   In a statement RWB said,… Read More

A 1000-page report compiled by Privacy International and the Electronic Privacy Information Center has revealedconcerns about privacy and surveillance during 2007.   The reports fins that privacy protection has “worsened” and that in more societies than ever, surveillance has become“endemic.”   Of the 47 countries ranked, only Greece, which topped the table, had "adequate safeguards against abuse."… Read More

Yahoo has released a beta version of Yahoo Messenger 9 for Windows, the latest edition of its instant messaging software. In addition to a whole new look and feel, the new version adds an inline media player that lets users shape images, maps, and even video from sites like Yahoo Video and YouTube with no extra downloads. Yahoo Messenger 9 features a new look and feel for the all-important contact list, offering both an image-filled… Read More

Reporters Without Frontiers have released their Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007, and it highlights not only the problems with press freedom for traditional journalists around the globe, but also the threat to bloggers.   A number of countries have seen their rankings fall because of the way they’ve restricted or violated the freedom of bloggers. Several countries, like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Egypt, have arrested bloggers… Read More

In a disturbing move, the Malaysian government has said it will invoke anti-terror laws against bloggers who insult Islam or the county’sking.   Although officials claim they’re not trying to stifle free speech on the Internet, the laws allow for a suspect to be detained indefinitely, without trial or charge. Onecommentator has already undergone police questioning following a complaint lodged by Malaysia’s governing party.… Read More

At its annual Nokia Connection event in Singapore, Finland's Nokia, the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones, today announced three new midrange handsets it's hoping will improve the company's appeal to upgrading mobile phone users and customers who want more-powerful features but don't see themselves using a smartphone. Nokia has historically done well with both entry-level phones and its high-end… Read More

A year-long study by the OpenNet Initiative, detailed at a conference in Oxford, England, examined the practices of 41 countries to learn about online government surveillance and censorship. The results? Where five years ago only a handful of states were filtering Internet content, the study found 25 of the countries it examined were engaged in state-mandated filtering and censorship of online content, and the filtering is becoming more… Read More