Dangdang EBook Service Goes Online Today

Dangdang, the Chinese online retailer launched its ebook service today with more than 50,000 books in its ebook store and 90% of which are priced under RMB 10 yuan (US$ 1.5 dollar).

360buy is also said to follow suit and launch its own ebook store in early next year with north of 80,000 books and 200 publisher partner for starters. Stiff competition and possible price war is about to spread to the e-reading forefront if more players step their toes into the market which is still in its infancy.

Shanda has been leading the area with its Bamboo ereader (launched last July) and bunch of online literature sites that have a combined 71.5% of China’s online literature market share.

Li Guoqing, co-founder and co-president of the Beijing-based e-tailer revealed in an interview that Dangdang planned to launch ereaders priced at RMB 499 (US$ 78) and RMB 299 (US$ 47) citing the overpriced e-readers in current market as a motivation.

As for the revenue model, Dangdang takes a cut of 40% from every book it sells.

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Chinese Hackers Gained Full Access to US Chamber of Commerce’s Systems [REPORT]

A report from The Wall Street Journal this afternoon says that hackers in China breached the US Chamber of Commerce’s [1] network, and had administrator access to the entire system as early as 2009. They reportedly established a number of back-doors that let them continue to have access until they were discovered by the FBI in May 2010.

While it cannot be said exactly how much of the organization’s information was viewed or stolen, the report cites Chamber officials as saying that emails of four employees who worked on Asia policy had been ‘stolen.’

The Chamber’s response to the breach involved ‘unplugging and destroying some computers and overhauling its security system,’ although official say they continue to see unusual activity, such as back in March when a Chamber printer started printing pages of Chinese text all of a sudden!

It’s uncertain whether or not this particular security breach has any connection to the Chinese government. But it’s interesting to note that the government websites there have also been coming under attack, so China is not immune from such headaches either.

Looking back on 2011, this was a year that hackers (and ‘hacktivists’) made a ton of headlines, and not just in China. One of the most notable in the technology world was when Sony fell victim to a cyberattack that breached its PSN network back in April.

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1. We should clarify that the Washington-based group is not a government organization, but rather a lobbying entity which represents the interests of US companies.  ↩

[Image: impactlab]

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Signing a Contract with a Party Overseas? Sign it in ‘Counter-parts’

One of the common conundrums facing an e-commerce entrepreneur in India today is that of signing contracts with parties overseas. Typically, two issues crop up – the first relates to the drafting of the contract in a manner in which your interests are protected.

The other issue relates to the signing of the agreement. Let us say for example that the other side is in Sydney and you are in Bangalore.

Signing the contract in such a case becomes difficult – after all, the value of the contract may not be high enough to justify travel to Sydney. (If it is, we strongly recommend that you go).

The law has two ways of getting around this – one way is to sign the contract by clicking on a checkbox online. The seller normally has a clause that states “By clicking on this box, you hereby accept and agree to abide by all contractual terms and conditions”.

This first route does not work for more complex, customized contracts which parties may sign. In such a case, there is only one solution: “counterparts”.

What is an agreement in counterparts?

An agreement in counterparts basically means that the agreement is not physically signed by both parties at once.

To make it clearer, let us look at what a counter parts clause reads like:

“Counterparts

This Agreement will be executed in counterparts, each of which so executed will be deemed to be an original, and such counterparts together will constitute one and the same agreement.”

Let us go back to the example of you being in Bangalore and the other party being in Sydney. You will print the agreement at your side in Koramangala and sign it.

3000 miles away, the other party will also print the agreement and sign it. When the two of you sign it at your respective ends, a valid contract has been formed between the two of you.

Do I need to scan my signed copy and send it to the other side and vice versa?

No. A common misconception is that you need to scan and send the document to the other side and they need to do the same.

The whole point of having “counterparts” is that the agreement is in parts, and each part is equally valid.

There is no need to scan your signed agreement and send it to the other side.

What if a dispute crops up? Will this agreement be valid?

Yes, this agreement will be perfectly valid and effective. As far as dispute resolution is concerned, the clause in the agreement will be the defining clause.

So for instance, if your agreement contains a clause which reads:

This Agreement is governed by the laws prevailing in the State of Karnataka, India. The parties agree that the entire cause of action in relation to this agreement (including all discussions, execution and part counseling and Services) has occurred in Bangalore, and hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in the City of Bangalore only.

If your agreement contains a clause like this, no matter which parts of the world the parties are in, the dispute will be fought in the Courts in Bangalore city only. So if your contract contains a clause which states that disputes will be fought in some other country, think twice before signing – the clause can be enforced against you.

[About the author: Contributed by Hrishikesh Datar, founder of vakilsearch.com, online legal services provider (Legal Advice, Legal Documents & more.]

» More Legal Resources for Startups

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Aakash Tablet Sold out, UbiSlate Scheduled for January Launch

Aakash tablet, the cheapest tablet in India is sold out, as per the update on tablet maker, DataWind’s website.

DataWind, the makers of Aakash Tablet is now suggesting users to prebook UbiSlate, which is the premium version of Aakash tablet (the Ubislate price is Rs, 2,999).

The craze for cheapest tablet can be gauged from the fact that the keyword ‘aakash tablet’ has been among Google India’s top searched query for the last 3 days (shows up on website’s traffic  as well)

As per a report by Hindu, DataWind can churn out 1,000 tablets/day and while they haven’t yet shared the registration numbers, it seems that the company will not accept booking of Aakash tablet and will instead force users to prebook the upgraded version, i.e. UbiSlate7.

UbiSlate Specification

• Android 2.3 operating system,
• WiFi & GPRS (SIM & Phone functionality)
• Cortex A8 – 700 Mhz

The processor speed is 700 MHz which makes it three times that of the original tablet. It has a battery of 3200 maH, and lasts for up to 5 hours. It comes with a headphone/mic plus integrated speaker. Ubislate7 is scheduled to launch in the month of January, 2012.

An interesting development – do you think Aakash tablet’s supply is controlled so that the company can sell the premium version, i.e. UbiSlate?

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4. Mercury Launches mTab, Android Tablet With 1.2GHz 3 core processor, for INR 9.5K
5. Tablet To Watch Out For: Huawei’s 7 inch Mediapad Tablet [Runs on Android 3.2]

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Employees Say Groupon China Closes More Branches, Lays Off Workers

via windows8update.com

I’ve seriously run out of ways to begin these “troubled group buy site” stories. But while it seems none of these sites are doing particularly well, there are a few sites we see again and again in the news — that’s not a good thing. This time it’s Groupon’s (NASDAQ:GRPN) ill-fated (or rather, ill-managed) China JV Gaopeng.

Fresh off the heels of its fake-watch-selling scandal, Gaopeng employees have told the National Business Daily the company has engaged in a fresh round of office closings and layoffs. Purportedly on the list are the Wenzhou, Nanchang, and Baoding branches, among others. Gaopeng once had 128 branches in China; according to the employees National Business Daily spoke with, after this most recent round of closings it is left with only 39. Gaopeng reps told the paper this was just normal business adjustment.

Workers like a Mr. Chen were dismissed suddenly, receiving emails that listed the cause of their dismissal as major economic changes that made it impossible for the company to fulfill the employment contract. Employees also received compensation, but some apparently feel it was insufficient.

Groupon’s stock seems largely unaffected for now, but I’m starting to wonder what will happen to it if this China disaster finally blows up.

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Adways Indonesia Expands to Social Mobile Games

Adways Indonesia – a subsidiary of the Japanese advertising company Adways – is expanding its reach to social mobile games. The latest game, World of Monster (pictured above), is available now on Android, after launching earlier in some countries on iOS. Indonesian gamers won’t see the official localization of the game launch until April 2012 on iOS though. In Japanese, it’s dubbed Kaibutsu Chronicle (where ‘Kaibutsu’ means ‘monster’).

World of Monster is a social RPG game and it has already launched in Japan (iOS and Android), China (iOS only), and Taiwan (also just on iOS). The number of daily active users in Japan is up to 50,000, while the total number of users has reached 759,000, keeping World of Monster always in the top five apps in the Japanese iTunes AppStore for the last five months. Talking directly with Hayato Takano, the president of Adways Indonesia, he also mentioned that the revenue per day in Japan for this game is 2,000,000 yen ($25,726) on average. Adways – which opened its office in Indonesia in September – is planning to introduce this game to every Southeast Asia market one after another.

While the levels of traction and revenue in Japan are decent, Adways Indonesia doesn’t expect the money to be coming in from gaming just yet. The first goal, Hayato explains, is to get one million users as soon as possible, at least before the end of next year. When asked about the payment methods available for in-app purchases within the free app, he says that Adways Indonesia is planning to utilize a lot of e-payment systems – for example Paypal, or Google Checkout – and hoping to strike a deal for a telco payment system in some countries too.

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Ads and Analytics Too

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Adways Indonesia itself is a digital media consultancy specializing in targeted online marketing for companies in Indonesia, as the office’s profile page details. So far, its clients have included Japanese multinational companies – and that has helped to build the subsidiary’s Facebook profile and fan page. Adways expanded to Singapore on December 2nd, with the name Adways Innovations Singapore. Not only that, the Japanese ad platform company is planning to introduce an advertising system for Android and iOS called App Driver (pictured above). Hayato said that it won’t just work for their games but also for any other app and developer to use in order to monetize their mobile apps and analyze their usage. It sounds like the Chinese Umeng ad platform that my PO colleague reviewed recently.

While GREE (TYO:3632) and DeNA (TYO:2432) have been fighting it out in social games for quite a while, Adways has been among the first to make a move in the huge potential market of Indonesia (although GREE has been putting a special focus on Indonesia as well). The Indonesian mobile market is one of the biggest in the world, and so if Adways can get the payment system right – and easy – for users to purchase virtual items, then we can expect a decent turnover for Adways Indonesia in the next few years.

The free game is available in selected countries on both Android (version 2.1 and above) from the Android Market, and in the iTunes AppStore.

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Wherethefuckshouldigofordrinks.com helps you find the nearest watering hole

The idea is obscenely simple: It’s a website that detects your current location and helps you find the nearest bar or pub. Hate the recommendation? Simply click ‘No, that place looks shit’ and you’ll be brought to another pub. As far as we can tell, Wherethefuckshouldigofordrinks.com works in Singapore, the UK, and the US.

The website is created by Coolography, a creative consultancy based in the UK. They’ve worked on projects for prominent brands like Topman, Diesel and Sony Ericsson.

It is inspired by another similar concept, Whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com, which throws up recipes in the same fun, vulgar, fashion.

Already, WTFSIGFD has already received over 32,000 likes, and gained almost 4,000 Twitter followers. Which goes to show two things: First, a sure way to get attention these days is to unapologetically drop the F-Bomb. Second, long URLs sometimes work.

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Malaysia Digest: Certified ICT professionals only, EU-Malaysia Biomass Entrepreneurs Nurturing Program, and more

Here are some interesting startup news snippets from Malaysia, not only in its capital, Kuala Lumpur, but also other startup hubs such as Penang, Malacca, and many more.

(1) Board of Computing Professionals is supposed to determine who is qualified to practice in the ICT industry. This also means all Malaysians who are in the computer industry would probably need to pay a yearly fee to join this board.

(2) 45 SMEs have been chosen to work under the EU-Malaysia Biomass Entrepreneurs Nurturing Programme which has been formed to promote long-term business and investment between the two regions.

(3) Catcha Media Bhd is looking to become an internet conglomerate again. It’s recent acquisition of a decisive 50 per cent stake in car portal, Carlist.my, would make this a reality.

(4) Socialwalk.com, a business matching company for buyers and suppliers, received a RM 1M investment from Crystal Horse Investments (CHI). Socialwalk has been in business for 2 years and it has started as a result of the now defunct MSC Pre-Seed program.

(5) Google, the Ministry of Information Communications and Culture, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, .my Domain Registry, and iTrain have joined forces to create Get Malaysian Business Online.

(6) UMNO stalwarts should head government-linked companies (GLCS) to ensure that qualified Malay entrepreneurs and companies receive projects from GLCs.

We thank nordicfactory for the flag image.

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12 Major Android Stories From Across Asia in 2011

2011 has been a big year for Android in Asia, hitting milestones in Japan and South Korea, whilst also expanding the smartphone ecosystem across the region thanks to its open-source tweak-ability.

Here are a dozen of the most significant Android-related stories we’ve covered at PO in the past year, in no particular order.

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Android Market Expands to 131 Countries – But Not China

In a good, early omen for Android in Asia, the Android Market expanded to accept payments for apps in 131 countries across the globe. But a noticeable absentee was China, where Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) still seems to be marked out for its going public with claims of State-backed hacking in 2010.

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Google Android Outgrows Apple in Japan Smartphone Market

But in Japan, Android has been having an easier ride and gaining momentum far earlier. To that end, it outgrew Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS platform in March of this year as Android soared to 4.6 million users across Japan.

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SK Telecom Splashes US$924 Million for 4G LTE Spectrum

In neighboring South Korea, the rolling out of 4G networks is bound to be great news for Android, as no iPhone models support the faster mobile web system. Samsung (005930:KS) and LG (066570:KS) are the first to benefit.

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Samsung Indonesia Scores Another First Day Sell-Out With Galaxy S2

Speaking of Samsung, it’s helping push forward Android in Indonesia, a country that has previously only been keen on BlackBerry-flavour smartphones.

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Games Back in South Korea’s Android Market

Returning to South Korea for a moment, all game apps were barred from the local Android Market by a regulatory ban because of a lack of age ratings (well, the same fate befell Apple’s iTunes store too). But by November, the issue seemed resolved in the Market, and South Korean mobile gamers could get their thumbs back into the action.

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Baidu Launches Android-Based Mobile OS

In September, China’s leading search engine, Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) unveiled its Android-based mobile OS, called Baidu Yi. But we’d have to wait a few months to see it in the flesh – indeed, just yesterday, Dell launched the first Yi-powered phone.

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Chinese-made Android Spyware Can Record, Upload Users’ Phone-Calls

But things have not been all rosy in Google’s low-walled garden. And a Chinese-made form of Android spyware was detected in the wild, hidden inside pirated and repackaged apps, that could listen in on people’s phone-calls.

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Major HTC Android Security Flaw Revealed

It got even worse for HTC (TPE:2498) when it was discovered that every single phone running the newest and shiniest version of HTC Sense – like the HTC Incredible – was hiding a critical security flaw.

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Samsung Dominates Android in China, But Tablets Growing Less Popular [INFOGRAPHIC]

To compound HTC’s woes – to say nothing of the ongoing legal wrangles with Apple – Samsung’s Galaxy S seems to be China’s favourite and most popular Android smartphone this year – stealing the crown from Taiwan’s HTC.

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$50 Android Smartphones? Coming Next Month to China

Despite all the headlines devoted to slim and sexy gadgets, budget Android phones have been the secret sauce/source of its huge growth in Asia this year. And a new chipset by the Chinese manufacturer Spreadtrum (NASDAQ:SPRD) could bring the cheapest ones down to as little as US$50.

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Asia Loves Android Apps, Has Most Downloads Per Capita [INFOGRAPHIC]

This month, Google celebrated its 10 billion apps milestone in its Market with a fancy infographic which revealed that the world’s top three app downloaders are all Asian nations.

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Co-founder of Xiaomi Demos New Smartphone, Just Released [VIDEO]

Lastly, one of the most talked-about Android phones in China this year was from a small startup called Xiaomi, which made a home-grown dual-core Android beast for just 1,999 RMB. It’s based on Android and makes use of the team’s own MIUI UX, which has become popular amongst ROM lovers and modders around the globe. Our own Willis Wee went to Xiaomi HQ for a hands-on demo.

By the way, catch our full series of 2011 round-ups that we’re adding to throughout December.

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