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Tag: asia

  • YTL launches 4G LTE data, VoLTE services

    YTL launches 4G LTE data, VoLTE services

    YTL Communications in Malaysia has deployed Elitecore’s Revenue and Customer Management (RCM) Platform to roll out its 4G LTE high speed data & VoLTE services.

    The platform will enable the operator to roll out new business models like, HD Voice (VoLTE), Enterprise LTE and LTE Roaming, in addition to the Double Double buckets, one for wireless broadband and another for mobile internet, VoLTE and data services bundled with devices.

    YTL Communications said it is the only operator in Asia Pacific to commercially launch nationwide Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services.

    Elitecore’s NFV ready and Virtualized platform comprises of integrated policy and charging, 3GPP AAA, convergent billing, fulfillment, mobile self-care catering to voice, data and VAS services supporting multiple networks such as LTE, Wi-Fi and Wimax.

    “Elitecore’s product roadmap alignment with YTL’s business vision and proven experience in convergent billing and integrated policy and charging supports our growth strategy and helped us migrate from our legacy billing and operational support systems,” said Ali Tabassi, COO of YTL Communications. “The platform offers high agility for faster time-to-market and feature rich functionalities.”

    Elitecore said its RCM is a modular and feature ready platform that offers operators the speed and flexibility to roll out, new monetization and personalization use cases needed to innovate in next-generation data services. The platform promises significant contribution to capex and AMC cost reduction.

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  • Oppo F1s launched in India with increased memory and storage

    Oppo F1s launched in India with increased memory and storage

    Oppo has relaunched its self-proclaimed “selfie expert” – the F1s – with increased memory and storage in India. The phone will now be available with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. It will also be available in a new grey color.

    Oppo launched the F1s earlier in India with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, along with a 5.5-inch 1080p display, MediaTek MT6750 processor, 13 megapixel rear camera, 16 megapixel front camera, ColorOS 3.0, and 3075mAh battery. Other than the memory and storage, everything remains the same on the upgraded model.

    The new F1s is priced at INR 18,990 ($275) and the first 50,000 buyers will get a limited edition Doctor Strange cover for their phone.

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  • Ferrari boasts rising sales and profit

    Ferrari boasts rising sales and profit

    Italian luxury sports carmaker Ferrari has reported strong third-quarter results despite a challenging market environment. The company logged its steepest sales rise in China, while the rest of Asia proved difficult.Ferrari on Monday booked a record third-quarter profit of 113 million euros ($126 million), marking a 20-percent rise over the same three-month period a year earlier.

    The Maranello, Italy-based automaker said revenue in the quarter was up 8 percent to 783 million euros. It noted the success was attributable to its sales of 12-cylinder models, notably the F12df, the four-seat GTC4Lusso and the newly launched LaFerrari Aperta.

    The Italian carmaker reported shipments of 1,978 vehicles for the July-to-September period, emphasizing that its sales to China had increased by 15 percent.

    Rosy outlook

    Also picking up were sales to Europe and the Americas, while Asia outside of greater China proved a difficult market with shipments there decreasing due to logistical delays caused by a shipment carrier.

    Ferrari confirmed its forecast of shipments for the whole year at around 8,000 units, with revenues to pick up by 3 percent.

    The group revised its earnings guidance upward on the strong third-quarter results, saying that pre-tax profit would come in at above 850 million euros for 2016.

    In the past quarter, Ferrari also booked higher engine revenues on Maserati sales and rentals to other Formula 1 teams as well an increase in sponsorship and brand earnings.

  • Starbucks in Cambodia: From Coffee Beans to Housing Dreams?

    Starbucks in Cambodia: From Coffee Beans to Housing Dreams?

    There’s nothing particularly new with coffee places opening in Phnom Penh. There is a different brand of coffee shop at just about every corner.

    But the recent launching of the Starbucks Reserve brand in Phnom Penh seems to mean something significantly more for both the international F&B franchise sector, and local urbanite Phnom Penh citizens.

    Been There, Done That

    With 45 years of experience in the coffee industry, Starbucks has managed to open around 22,519 stores worldwide (as of June 28, 2015). The brand has become one of the world’s most recognized, through intensive advertising campaigns and aggressive product placement.

    Fast-forward to October of 2016, another branch just opened to serve the Cambodian public in Phnom Penh’s BKK1 district. It was launched under the high-end “Reserve” brand of the company.

    If the market can prove profitable for Starbucks, other international F&B and consumer goods franchises may look to enter the Cambodian market place as well

    The new branch features two floors and 650 square meters filled with local craftsmanship, including a mural centerpiece depicting the Cambodian Folklore of Sovann Maccha.

    Starbucks Cambodia has partnered up with a local NGO – Cambodian Children’s Fund – as part of its long-term community investment. They said, “We take a thoughtful, disciplined approach to growth in Cambodia that is locally relevant and in line with our company’s values. Our growth story is not just about expanding our store count in the market.”

    Something Brewing:

    Yet Starbucks’ opening of another high-end coffee place doesn’t only signal a positive outlook for the F&B industry…

    It also transcends into real estate. A few months back, the World Bank declared Cambodia a lower-middle income country – where Cambodians currently have an average yearly income of between $1,026 and $4,035.

    So, locals are now able to afford items that have a higher price tag, according to the Bank.

    With this rise in consumers’ expendable incomes, Starbucks isn’t worried about the huge difference in price of their coffee compared to local ones. The local coffee costs about $0.74 (and sometimes as cheap as $0.25), while a small latte from Starbucks is $2.95.

    If a cup of coffee is any indication of rising incomes, then sectors like real estate might follow a similar trend. Investors may be getting closer to a market in which the local population can afford resale units and higher rental rates. The current lack of a secondary market, resale and rental, for new development units is proving one of the biggest risks of the Cambodian market for pure investors.

    Furthermore, if the market can prove profitable for Starbucks, other international F&B and consumer goods franchises may look to enter the Cambodian market place as well – spurred by this signal of consumer confidence and affluence.

    So while Starbucks opening in BKK1 has been warmly welcomed by local cafe enthusiasts keen to try an international flavor, its significance for investors may have longer lasting influence.

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  • Dah Makan hoping venture capitalists delive

    Dah Makan hoping venture capitalists delive

    Seeking to upgrade technology and improve the user experience, Malaysian food-delivery startup Dah Makan is working on a larger funding round with global venture-capital firms.

    Dah Makan raised $320,000 from two angel investors in a seed round more than a year ago and has since grown to cover about 80 per cent of the Klang Valley region and has also crossed its 100,000th delivery.

    “We are now finalising a larger round with several global VCs with extensive experience in eCommerce and consumer brands,” says founder/CEO Jonathan Weins. “It’s very important to have the right investors on board as they can have significant influence on the future of a company.”

    He says an announcement on the funding may come in a few months, but meanwhile the company is investing into its team and technology. It released a new version of its apps last months and implemented a new backend system to manage the delivery fleet.

    Before Dah Makan, which is Malay for “Have you eaten?”, Weins had helped launch Foodpanda in Hong Kong.

    For Dah Makan, he and his co-founders did most everything from sourcing and cooking to delivering with the goal of understanding the customer experience as well as the business model.

    From less than half a dozen orders a day, a few months later the rate was 100 orders a day. Since then, the group has had to move kitchens three times to expand capacity and has grown its team with culinary and tech talent.

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  • DFS Group Unveals Exclusive Pre-Launch of Bulgari Jewelry Collection in Stores Worldwide

    DFS Group Unveals Exclusive Pre-Launch of Bulgari Jewelry Collection in Stores Worldwide

    DFS Group, the world’s leading luxury travel retailer, is excited to announce the pre-launch of an exclusive BVLGARI-BVLGARI collection by Italian luxury jewelry brand Bulgari, which will be available only at DFS and T Galleria by DFS stores beginning this holiday season until October 2017. The specially created, one-of-a-kind jewelry collection includes necklaces and bracelets with signature double-sided pendants – one side featuring a Carnelian stone and the other side a Mother of Pearl. With the two contrasting sides, the pendants offer travelers a piece they can interchange according to mood, outfit or occasion.

    “We are honored to work with our long-standing partner Bulgari to present our customers with an exclusive set of one of their most iconic jewelry designs,” said Christophe Chaix, Senior Vice President Fashion, Watches, Jewelry and Accessories, DFS Group. “In the coming holiday season, we look forward to exciting our customers with a jewelry set that strongly resonates with their preferences, while elevating their gifting experience with something only DFS can offer.”

    The BVLGARI-BVLGARI collection, an emblematic favorite for over four decades, became the ambassador of Bulgari’s tradition of luxury, quality and the finest Italian design. This particular exclusive rendition of the BVLGARI-BVLGARI collection aims to excite and attract customers seeking a limited edition for the holiday season.

    The Carnelian in red on one side of the pendant symbolizes happiness and joy and is always the most popular color among Chinese shoppers. In Western culture, this color resembles an iconic Christmas color reminiscent of holly berries. On the flipside, the Mother of Pearl, symbolizing purity with a hint of feminine glamour, is one of the four imperial colors classic to the brand that magnifies the ever modern style of the BVLGARI-BVLGARI collection.

    The exclusive BVLGARI-BVLGARI line is now available at all DFS Bulgari boutiques worldwide, except in Abu Dhabi.

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  • Singapore Airlines to cut 5 weekly flights to Jakarta

    Singapore Airlines to cut 5 weekly flights to Jakarta

    Singapore Airlines will cut five weekly flights to Jakarta, from Dec 1, as directed by the Indonesian civil aviation authorities, the airline said.

    SIA which has been operating 63 flights a week to and from Jakarta has been told to cut five flights a week due to runway maintenance works at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

    The five affected flights are SQ962 and SQ963 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

    SIA apologised to customers for the inconvenience and said it will progressively contact those affected to accommodate them on other flights.

    Responding to media queries, a Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) spokesman said the authority is aware of SIA’s plans.

    “CAAS hopes that the runway maintenance works will be completed expeditiously and that the impact on airlines will be fairly distributed,” she said.

    CAAS also hopes that the Indonesian civil aviation authorities will be able to allow Singapore Airlines to resume all 63 weekly services to Jakarta as soon as possible to reduce the impact on business travelers and tourists, who rely heavily on air services to travel between Singapore and Jakarta.

    The latest development comes several weeks after SIA said it had had to postpone plans for a thrice-weekly Singapore-Jakarta-Sydney service, which had been due to start on Nov 23.

    The Indonesian authorities had also cited runway maintenance works as the reason for withdrawing approval for the route.

  • DHL eCommerce unveils new distribution center in Japan

    DHL eCommerce unveils new distribution center in Japan

    DHL eCommerce, a division of Deutsche Post DHL Group, unveiled its plans to establish an outbound cross-border eCommerce distribution center in Narita, Japan by April 2017.

    The distribution center will be co-located with the Japan Global Distribution Center, created by one of DHL’s divisions. The cross-border shipping product DHL Parcel International Direct will provide affordable deliveries from Japan to the United States and the United Kingdom, guaranteeing transit times of four to six business days, DHL eCommerce said. DHL GlobalMail Packet Plus, another cross-border shipping product, will provide the best rates for Japan-Europe deliveries, offering transit times of five to 10 business days and a high degree of visibility into the status of shipments.

    The expansion plans in Japan are part of DHL eCommerce’s larger strategy in the Asia Pacific. The company recently unveiled its 70 million euro (U.S. $74.3 million) investment in India to boost the capabilities of the air hubs in Delhi and Mumbai to enhance B2C e-commerce delivery in India.

    In June 2016, DHL eCommerce announced its plans to grow its overall footprint in China by 50 percent. In January 2016, the company launched domestic delivery operations in Thailand and announced plans to double its fleet and number of depots by 2017.

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  • AirAsia launches daily Manila-Taipei service

    AirAsia launches daily Manila-Taipei service

    Travellers from the Philippines now have more options when flying to Taiwan after Philippines AirAsia started its daily Manila-Taipei service last Monday.

    Philippines AirAsia chief executive Captain Dexter Comendador himself piloted the Airbus A320 to mark the budget airline’s maiden voyage from Manila to Taipei.

    “Today heralds a brighter and much closer ties between two countries to improve trade and tourism,” he addressed the passengers midway through the flight.

    “We have introduced amazing connections for our guests to enjoy and we are aiming to go further across Asia by strengthening AirAsia’s presence in Taiwan,” Comendador added.

    The flight touched down at the Taoyuan International Airport after midnight to a welcome water barrage from firetrucks.

    The Taipei-Manila route was officially launched Tuesday at a press conference at the Grand Sheraton in Taipei, which was attended by Philippines AirAsia chair Maan Hontiveros and AirAsia North Asia CEO Kathleen Tan.

    A thrice-weekly Cebu-Taipei service was also announced with performances from Sinulog dancers. Taiwanese celebrity travel blogger Patty Woo also regaled guests with her beach adventures during her recent trip to Cebu.

    Starting Friday, Philippines AirAsia will begin regular flights from Cebu to Taipei on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

    Taiwanese tourist arrivals in the Philippines have reached 157,517 from January to August this year. Taiwan is currently the country’s sixth top visitor market after Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Australia.

    “Taiwan and the Philippines share a strong affinity with one another. They enjoy robust economic ties, many Filipinos live and work in Taiwan and more and more Taiwanese are visiting the many beautiful islands in the Philippines. We are honored to be able to bring the countries even closer together,” Tan said.

    Taiwan is known for night markets, tourist attractions like Taipei 101, and foodie adventures with its diverse culinary offerings

    Philippines AirAsia has teamed up with TourMeAway Walking Tours to make exploring Taipei more fun. From now until November 30, Philippines AirAsia travelers to Taipei may join the Hunger Game Walking Tour or the Taipei Chillout Tour for free.

  • Australia’s nbn selects FTTC supplier

    Australia’s nbn selects FTTC supplier

    Australia’s nbn – the company building the National Broadband Network – has selected NetComm Wireless to supply equipment for the fiber to the curb (FTTC) proportion of the rollout.

    NetComm Wireless will supply the distribution point units for the deployment, which will be one of the world’s first wide-scale rollouts of FTTC technology.

    FTTC involves delivering fiber to the telecoms pit outside a building, using existing copper lines from the pit to the home. This technique brings fiber closer to the end-user than FTTN.

    NetComm Wireless, a Sydney-based equipment supplier, appears to have beaten out global vendors such as existing NBN partner Nokia for the contract.

    The agreement follows successful trials of FTTC in Sydney and Melbourne conducted by nbn, which achieved end-user speeds of 100/40Mbps using VDSL vectoring technology.

    “nbn is delighted to bring NetComm Wireless on board as a technology partner. We have tested FTTC over the past year and we’re confident we can now deploy the technology in areas where it makes better sense from a customer experience, deployment efficiency and cost perspective,” nbn Chief Network Engineering Officer Paul Ryan said.

    “Delivering FTTC will not only allow us to deliver speeds of up to 100/40Mbps using VDSL but will also allow us to offer even faster speeds in the future with some of the new technologies that are becoming available.”

    But industry groups such as Internet Australia have been sharply critical of the current government’s decision to switch from a planned all-FTTP deployment for the vast majority of the network to a multi-technology mix making use of existing copper last mile connections.

    Critics of the decision have argued that the multi-technology mix model will require further expense to upgrade rapidly aging copper with fiber for the last mile in 10-15 years if not sooner.

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  • Facebook Is Next on Indonesia Tax List as Google Deal Nears

    Facebook Is Next on Indonesia Tax List as Google Deal Nears

    Indonesia is eyeing Facebook as its next target in a government tax crackdown as it nears a settlement with Google Inc. Facebook, which counts more than 88 million Indonesians among its users, owes about 2 trillion rupiah ($148 million) to 3 trillion rupiah in unpaid taxes and penalties, Muhammad Haniv, head of the special taxpayers office at the Finance Ministry’s Tax Directorate-General, said on Wednesday in Jakarta. The office has sent a letter to the company in Ireland, calling for a meeting to discuss the issue and seek information on the company’s business interests in Indonesia, he said.

    Yunita Purnamasari, an external spokeswoman for Facebook in Jakarta, said Thursday she couldn’t comment at this stage on the tax demand. Apple, which is also being targeted by the tax office along with Twitter and Yahoo!, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Indonesia’s government is seeking to boost revenue as it tries to keep the budget deficit below the legal limit of 3 percent. Authorities have turned to Instagram Inc. stars and merchants peddling goods and services on social media to bridge a revenue shortfall as an ambitious tax amnesty program loses steam after earning the government 97.1 trillion rupiah in the first three months of its start in July.

    Indonesia’s government plans to drop claims on any unpaid taxes and penalties it has sought from Google if a settlement is arrived through negotiations, Haniv said. The settlement with Google, the largest unit of Alphabet Inc., may come as early as next week and the government will focus on ensuring the company pays all future taxes, he said. The company owes about 5 trillion rupiah in taxes and penalties, he said.

    Taj Meadows, Google’s head of policy communications for Asia Pacific, declined to comment on Wednesday and referred to an earlier statement that said the company had paid all applicable taxes and will continue to fully cooperate with the Indonesian government.

    Indonesian tax officials have visited Google’s office in central Jakarta several times in recent months. The government had earlier sent Google a warning letter for refusing a tax audit that can result in criminal punishment, Haniv said in September.

  • Toyota recalls 838,000 Sienna minivans to fix sliding door issue

    Toyota recalls 838,000 Sienna minivans to fix sliding door issue

    Toyota Motor Corp said it was recalling about 838,000 Sienna minivans to fix an issue that may arise while operating sliding doors of the vehicles.

    The recall affects about 744,000 vehicles in the United States and nearly 4,000 vehicles in South Korea and Taiwan, a Toyota spokesman said on Tuesday.

    “Toyota would like to refrain from commenting whether there were any injuries or crashes as a result of the safety flaw,” the spokesman said.

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  • Toyota says aims to develop advanced electric-car battery in a few years

    Toyota says aims to develop advanced electric-car battery in a few years

    Toyota Motor Corp said it aims to develop a new, more advanced electric-car battery “in a few years” that will allow the Japanese automaker to come up with an electrified vehicle with driving range and battery life enhanced by up to 15 percent.

    Such performance-enhanced lithium-ion battery technology will likely enable all its electrified vehicles to be improved, Toyota said.

    “Lithium-ion battery is a key technology for electrifying cars, and there is a clear need, going forward, for improving this technology and its performance even more,” Hisao Yamashige, a battery technology researcher at Toyota, told a media briefing in Tokyo on Thursday.

    Improving the performance of lithium-ion battery technology is a pressing issue for traditional automakers such as Toyota and new entrants such as Tesla Motors Inc because of its limiting characteristics.

    Producers of all-electric battery cars, plug-in electric hybrids, as well as conventional gas-electric hybrids are all striving to source or develop more advanced battery technologies to give their electrified cars a better driving range, battery life, and safety.

    Toyota, Japan’s biggest automaker by volume, has pioneered gasoline-electric hybrids technology and is gearing up to launch a new, near-all-electric plug-in hybrid car called the Prius Prime. It also has recently said it is aiming to come up with an all-electric battery car by 2020.

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  • Nokia, UAE to develop drone ecosystem

    Nokia, UAE to develop drone ecosystem

    Nokia has teamed up with the United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to drive the development of an end-to-end Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) ecosystem.

    The collaboration will will make the UAE the first country in the world to allow the operation of drones by both businesses and government agencies in a safe, secure and managed environment.

    The project is part of an initiative by the GCAA to make Dubai one of the world’s smartest cities by 2017 and will allow Dubai government security network operator Nedaa to develop a next generation network for mission-critical and smart city services.

    At the heart of this new ecosystem will be Nokia’s UAV Traffic Management (UTM) concept, which is being developed to manage drones in and around cities, and coordinate their interactions with people, manned aircraft and an increasingly diverse array of connected objects.

    The Nokia UTM system will provide capabilities such as automated flight permissions, no-fly zone control and beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) that are critical for the safe operation of UAVs in densely populated urban areas.

    The ecosystem will also serve as a testing ground for various applications of drone technology, which can be explored in a safe and controlled environment.

    Drones are quickly emerging as important tools for businesses and governments alike, providing substantial benefits such as infrastructure monitoring and maintenance, public safety applications, logistics and transport and much more.

    The GCAA has launched this initiative so businesses and local government can take advantage of these benefits, making the city smarter while minimizing any hazards that UAVs may present.

    Nokia’s UTM concept combines its expertise in 4G LTE and leadership in developing 5G and Mobile Edge Computing and related services – including managing the Network Operations Center, planning and optimizing the network for UTM connectivity and integrating UTM to other application platforms – to provide a platform that can support the extreme low latency and exceptional reliability and resiliency needed to manage UAV traffic.

    The system will be able to monitor airspace and flight paths, and share data between UAVs, operators, and air traffic controllers and establish no-fly zones that can be continually refreshed with the latest data.

    This agreement complements a recent Nokia’s initiative to establish and develop a UAV test facility at Twente Airport in the Netherlands.

    “The UAE is committed to making Dubai the smartest city in the world, and UAVs are expected to play a critical role in this process by supporting a wide variety of smart city services,” said Bernard Najm, head of the Middle East Market Unit at Nokia.

    Ismaeil Mohammed Al Blooshi, Assistant Director General of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority, the UAE has superb aviation infrastructure and is qualified to play a key role in innovative aviation projects such as this drone collaboration.

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  • Isetan Mitsukoshi launching online store

    Isetan Mitsukoshi launching online store

    As part of its aim to have digital strategy as the core of its business, Japanese department store company Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings is preparing to launch an online store.

    It has started tests leading up to its launch this month of its first online store on Alibaba Group Holding’s Tmall Global.

    In the first half of this year, Isetan Mitsukoshi saw sales of duty-free items rise about 3.7 times compared with the same period in 2013. It says Chinese customers account for about 70 per cent of duty-free sales, and are interested in Japanese products that are popular in Japan. This has led to it seeking to develop a following in China through its strategic partnership with Tmall Global.

    It will offer safe, high-quality products, mainly Japanese, on Tmall Global; form an alliance between its Chinese and Japanese stores; and accumulate know-how on marketing in China.

    Isetan Mitsukoshi will initially offer hundreds of types of products on the platform ranging from fashion and cosmetics to foodstuffs and daily necessities, with plans to subsequently expand the scope of ifs offering.

    It will focus on its own brands and seasonal products, and gradually add other Japanese brands. From next year it will stage special campaigns in collaboration with designers.

    There will also be after-sale services, including repairs, as well as pop-up stores through its network in China.

    Alibaba Group, which runs Tmall – China’s largest B2C online shopping mall – and other eCommerce portals, had 434 million active users on China’s retail market as of June.

    Isetan Mitsukoshi was formed in 2008 by merging Mitsukoshi and Isetan, originally inaugurated in 1673 and 1886 respectively as kimono shops. It runs Japan’s largest department store network with 27 outlets in Japan and 31 overseas.

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