The Chinese Internet Takes an Arrow in the Knee

I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee...

“Then I took an arrow in the knee,” might just have been the Western internet’s last big meme of 2011, emerging just after the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and quickly catching on until it was suddenly absolutely everywhere. For those not in the know, the joke comes from the aforementioned Skyrim, an expansive single-player RPG in which it seems every guard you meet in every city tells you the same sad story: “I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee.”

Well, we’re living in a global village, and despite the fact that Skyrim isn’t as huge in China as it has been elsewhere, it appears Chinese netizens aren’t letting that stop them from translating and applying the meme here, too. According to a Baidu Baike entry about the meme, the official Chinese translation of “I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee,” is:

我以前和你一样也是个冒险家，直到我的膝盖中了一箭。
Wǒ yǐqián hé nǐ yīyàng yě shì ge màoxiǎnjiā, zhídào wǒ de xīgài zhōng le yī jiàn

The general application of the meme in the West has followed this pattern: “I used to [verb phrase], then I took an arrow in the knee,” and Chinese net users have generally approached it the same way. A cursory search of Sina Weibo for the phrase “took an arrow in the knee” shows the phase appearing in multiple posts per minute, applied in more or less the same way. Some Chinese example usages:

• “I used to drink Mengniu Pure milk. Then I took an arrow in the knee.” [A reference to the recent revelation that Mengniu Pure milk contains one of the world's strongest carcinogens]
• “I used to think trains were the safest form of transportation. Then I took an arrow in the knee.” [A rather late reference to the July high speed rail accident]
• “Kim Jong Il is dead, I’ll never believe in love again, until I take an arrow in the knee.” [a mix of the Skyrim arrow meme with the Chinese meme "I'll never believe in love again."]
• “I used to think prize drawings were just floating clouds, then I took an arrow in the knee.” [A combination with China's "mystical horses are all floating clouds" meme]
• “I used to hold out hope for Chinese people’s sense of right and wrong, then I took an arrow to the knee.” [In response to Han Han's Christmas blog posts decrying revolution and democracy]
• “I used to do well on English tests, then I took an arrow in the knee.”
• “I used to try to improve myself each day, then I took an arrow in the knee.” [Combines the arrow meme with a popular school slogan about working to improve each day]

If you think this is weird, you’re probably not alone. It’s also further evidence that within a decade or two, internet users will all be speaking in a motley assortment of cross-cultural memes that’s completely incomprehensible to outsiders. So prepare yourselves now. We used to think that memes were too weird and specific to effectively jump across cultures, but then we took an arrow in the knee.

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Real Name Checks on Weibo Won’t Come Cheap for Sina, Tencent

China's national ID card - its number must be given to microblog service providers under new 'real name' web regulations.

With it now certain that China’s popular Weibo (microblogging) services – prime among them being Sina’s (NASDAQ:SINA) and Tencent’s (HKG:0700) – will have to implement real-name ID checks in the coming months, it appears that the system will not come cheap. Indeed, each single online check of a user’s name and national ID number will cost a rumored 2 RMB (US$0.20). And so for Sina and Tencent, the government-mandated checks could end up costing them hundreds of millions of RMB for their 250 to 300 million Weibo users.

But it was never going to come free. And it raises the complex issue of potential government ties to the company, called id5, that will process these real-name checks. That little-known company will be the prime beneficiary of these sixteen new regulations for microblogs. It is the government that charges the fee, but it’s id5 that will handle all the processing.

Sohu IT reports that the Beijing-based Time Weekly newspaper has tried repeatedly to question staff at the mysterious id5 about this, but journalists have been turned away.

If, say, 75 percent of Sina’s 250 million Weibo users turn out to be real people or companies – i.e. not spammers or zombie accounts – who wish to continue using the service, then all those checks would cost Sina a total of 375 million RMB (US$59 million).

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Being Held Accountable For Your Tweets

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The official line is that the real-ID clampdown will help stop false rumors (and maybe spam as well) spreading via the numerous Twitter-like services. But other analysts fear it’s a move to suppress free speech on these lively and increasingly popular sites. (Note that microblog users can still use cutesy and wacky nicknames – but Sina, Tencent, Netease (NASDAQ:NTES), and all those other operators, will have every user’s actual name and number on file).

These charges have been levied before, and industry insiders believe that Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) had to pay up for its (failed and shuttered) microblog, Shuoba – but that the search engine giant ended up paying more than the rumored 2 RMB that it’ll cost in 2012. It’s not clear if the real-name requirement deterred users, or if Shuoba simply failed to take off because it arrived too late to be a contender.

Sina’s and Tencent’s shares have been stable since the new regulations were outlined on December 16th – but the full pain of implementation has not yet begun. It will be costly for the companies, and could drive some users away from using any Weibo platform.

Follow this developing issue on our ‘real-name’ tag as it becomes mandated on other areas of the Chinese web as well.

[Source: Sohu IT news (article in Chinese), via Bill Bishop’s Digicha]

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CyberAgent Sets Up Company to Run My365 Photo App, Targets 150M Downloads

A couple of months back we told you about a camera app from Japan called My365, which at that time had attracted more than 100,000 downloads over a ten-day span. Since then it has racked up over 300,000 downloads, gaining popularity abroad as well as in Japan. As we mentioned that the time, the organization of this photo app into a well-designed calendar presentation really makes it stand out as a sort of photo journal service.

And today CyberAgent (TYO:4751) is announcing that it is establishing a new 100 percent consolidated company named Sirok Inc which will be running the My365 services as of January 20. The details of this situation seem a little bit complicated to us, but we’re told that Yuta Iizuka, who is scheduled to join CyberAgent in April, will be the company’s president.

The goals for Sirok are apparently pretty lofty too. A CyberAgent representative tells us that Sirok will be focusing on no less than 100 million downloads of My365 by March, and 150 million downloads by May. As for a business model (the app is currently available for free), we’re told that less-intrusive ads or fees for special functions (which have yet to be determined) could be in the works. The company will also be working on developing an Android version of My365.

You can learn more about the app over on my365.in, and iOS users can download it here.

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New VC fund targets Indonesia with up to US$8M in new investment

CyberAgent Ventures plans to invest up to US$8M in six to eight Indonesia-based companies in 2012, reported e27.

Following the launch of their office in Indonesia last year, they kickstarted their new fund, CyberAgent Asia Internet Fund I. The fund capital will be increased, possibly up to US$15M, which will be proportionately split between Indonesia and Vietnam.

Should CyberAgent fail to find adequate startups to invest in, they will instead set up an incubation office.

Previously, they had set up two offices in Vietnam in 2009, investing in a total of seven Internet service companies.

These moves highlight CyberAgent’s recent focus on Southeast Asia. They already have offices in Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Taipei.

On the challenges of starting a VC fund in Indonesia,  Tahahiro Suzuki, general manager of the Jakarta office, told e27: “We think that they don’t have adequate number of companies to be the role model and sharing their success stories.”

The article also pointed out that technopreneurs there tend to focus too much on their product and ignore other aspects of their business. Failing to create a solid business plan, underestimating the market, lack of innovation and differentiation are other weaknesses.

Which is why they are holding Net-Impact, a conference that updates attendees on the latest internet trends and provides networking opportunities. Net-Impact has already been held in Vietnam, Japan, China, and Taiwan.

CyberAgent Ventures is a subsidiary of CyberAgent, a leading Internet group in Japan.

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Will Weibo and Group-Messaging Apps Replace SMS During Chinese New Year?

Tencent's Weixin group-messaging app now has 50 million users in China - can it help kill off festive SMS this Chinese New Year?

For some watershed moments, you know what’s coming but just can’t pin down when exactly it will come to pass. And so it is with the sending of SMS in China, which reaches a peak during the upcoming Chinese New Year festivities. Will this year be the first time that the number of celebratory SMS be toppled by the welter of Weibos and gush of group-messages from apps such as Kik, Talkbox, Tencent’s (HKG:0700) Weixin, or Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iMessage?

It’s happening in other countries, as Forbes recently reported that the number of SMS sent in Finland and Hong Kong plunged by double digits this festive season. In China’s autonomous southern city, the total number of SMSes fell by 14 percent on Christmas Day compared to the previous year.

SMSes have been booming in China in the past decade, with the total number sent more than tripling from 2003 to 2010. According to Sina Tech, the number sent totaled 7 billion in China in 2003; then it rocketed: 9.8 billion, 11, 12.6, 15.2, 17, 19, and then 23 billion in 2010. But if those numbers are broken down by the exploding number of mobile users in China, the peak was reached in 2007 with 1,180 SMS sent each year per capita. By 2010, it was down to 1,027 SMS sent per person in that one year. So the trend is now one of declining SMS usage in China – it’s just that more mobile subscribers keep coming on board. And so it seems that Weibo and group messaging apps – along, indeed, with older social networks such as QQ IM – are having an influence at the personal level.

But in China, a number of factors will likely keep SMS being fired by the billions for a few more years to come. First, SMS are cheap. At 2 mao (that’s 0.2 RMB, which is two US cents) a shot (or cheaper with an SMS bundle), they’re way more reasonably priced than the exorbitant rates in the US and Europe. Secondly, while about 110 million Chinese are now 3G users, that’s nowhere near the kind of smartphone-and-data-plan penetration rate in the EU and the US, where people seem to be delighted to be sending ‘free’ SMS over 3G in order to avoid the excessive SMS charges of their mobile telcos. Lastly, there’s still room for growth in China’s mobile market, in contrast to the 100 percent penetration rate in Hong Kong. And so China’s traditional SMS platform still has room for growth in 2012, and we’re not at the watershed just yet.

[Source: Sina Tech news - article in Chinese]

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Hello Student Startups

At Pluggd.in, our focus is on building communities around startups/technology and one of the key community we have been focusing over the last few months has been student startups.

Student Startups

Student startups come in all shapes and sizes – right from products to services and we firmly believe that ‘how to write business plan’ is the last thing a student should be doing (unless its for one’s GMAT/GRE application).

The key is to ‘create something’  – could be a Facebook app to building a design services company. And importantly, building a ‘jugaad’ with respect to sourcing/partnering with biggies.

So calling all student startups : fill up the form (embedded towards the end of this announcement or simply hop to http://www.pluggd.in/students/) and share your creation with the world. We want to give your creation a lot of visibility and importantly, connect you to the startup ecosystem/industry out there. We also request you to share this announcement with your classmates/seniors/juniors.

Note to Pluggd.in readers: We know that you are the advanced ones who just wants to read about great product startups from India – but we strongly suggest you to encourage the student startups we will be profiling on Pluggd.in. Some of the product need not be as polished as one would like to see, but be assured that with a little bit of mentoring (and support), there is a magic in making here.

And of course, we request you to help spread the word and get a LOT of college students (engineering/medical/MBA etc etc) to participate in this series.

- Team Pluggd.in.

Regular readers of Pluggd.in will recall our focus on ‘fortnightly themes’ (like rural India, social entrepreneurship, solar energy etc) and while we took a break from monthly themes in 2011, 2012 is when you will see us doing more interesting stuff with focused themes.

[Our student startup coverage is supported by Lenovo, which has started a great initiative called DoNetwork]

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Students: Submit Your Startup For Review

Submit Your Startup For Review.

• Your Name*
• Email*
  Your Email Address. Ensure that you check this email id frequently.
• Website*
• College Name/Location
  Where is your company located
• Founding Date*
• Product/Service Name*
• Industry Category
  InternetMobileEnterprise SoftwareCleantechHardwareOthers
• Product/Service Description*
  Tell us why do you think this is a great product.
• What (and Whose) Problem Are you Solving?*
  Be precise about the problem statement you are solving Do mention the target segment as well as your business USP.
• Core Technology
  Share what's the core technology used by the company (LAMP/MS Stack?)
• Working Prototype/Video/Demo Link
  Share link to working prorotype or demo of your product.
• The Team*
  Please share details of the founding team/key team members.

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MIT EmTech China Conference, Beijing – Jan 8-9th

EmTech China spotlights emerging technologies that are changing the face of business and driving the global economy.

This two-day summit will bring together business leaders, technologists, and entrepreneurs to discuss the latest innovations in mobile internet, cloud computing, clean energy, biotech and more.

The MIT Club of Beijing is pleased to offer a special discounted ticket price of 200 RMB for everyone who pre-registers. This price (collected at the door) includes the MIT Club of Beijing Annual Dinner and Cocktail Reception, 2 Networking Lunches, and all conference activities!  All alumni, family and guests are welcome to attend.

Co-sponsored by the MIT Technology Review, the world’s oldest technology magazine, and the MIT Club of Beijing.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

• Eric Chang, Senior Director of Technology Strategy, Microsoft Research Asia
  Joe Chen, CEO of RenRen
  Ying Cheng, CTO of Wisedu
• Ryan Chin, MIT Media Lab Research Specialist
  Stephen Connors, Director of the MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environments
• Deli Du, CEO of China Solar & Clean Energy Solutions
  Dr. Kewen Jin, Managing Director, Nimbus InnoWorks
• Dr. Siddhartha C. Kadia, President, Life Technologies China
  William Latta, Founder, Chairman & CEO of LP Amina
• Jason Pontin, Editor-in-Chief, MIT Technology Review
  Ming Sun, Chief Representative, Asia Pacific, Clean Air Task Force
• Stephen Terry, Board of Directors, Azure International
  Andy Tian, General Manager of Zynga China
• Qiang Wang, Chairman of Maxit Technology Inc.
  Yang Yu, Founder of Analysys International
• Baoying Zhang, Director, Unicom Group
• Wei Zhou, KPCB China Fund Partner 
• Jinzy Zhu, Senior Vice President of Global IT Strategy and Business Development, Huawei

Also featuring pitches and demos from the “TR 35,” winners of Technology Review’s annual selection of top innovators under 35.

*All panels will be in English, with Chinese translation available.

DATE/TIME:  January 8-9, 2012.  For conference schedule, please visit EmTech China.

VENUE:  The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Chaoyang U-Town

No.3 Sanfeng Beili, Chaoyang District, Beijing

北京朝阳悠唐皇冠假日酒店

朝阳区三丰北里3号

Tel: 5909 6688
Click here for map and directions. 

REGISTRATION:  Please register at this link by Noon, Friday January 6^th.

Any questions, please contact Lilly Kam at:  lilly@alum.mit.edu

Related posts:

1. BarCamp Shanghai: Attention Techies, Entrepreneurs and Social Innovators
2. Startups get ready for launch at Echelon 2011 in Singapore
3. iWeekend Coming to Beijing at 19th Nov

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China’s Department of Commerce Wants to Get Tough on E-Commerce

The Department of Commerce (via Xinhua)

E-commerce has exploded in China, with more and more users buying stuff from clothes to computers online. But as the market expands, so too have customer complaints. Now, China’s Department of Commerce is stepping in to try to straighten a few things out.

The Nanfang Daily learned yesterday that the department plans to punish e-commerce companies that break promises they’ve made to consumers by forcing them out of the market entirely. It’s not exactly clear how that would work, but the article specifically mentions retailers and third party vendors who cancel orders for no reason in the run-up to this Spring Festival as a group the department wants to eliminate. (Unscrupulous retailers will sometimes allow customers to order products with impunity and simply cancel orders with no explanation when they run out of stock).

It’s not clear how any of this will actually work, but the Department of Commerce is trying to attach some teeth to its fighting words, reportedly pushing the State Council to include regulations for internet retail management in its legal plan for this year.

[Nanfang Daily via Sina Tech]

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Nokia Reorganizes: Asia HQ Moves from Singapore to Beijing

A few days ago we reported that Nokia (HEL:NOK1V, NYSE:NOK) was bringing in Gustavo Eichelmann as its new chief executive in China, in an effort to help its operations in the country. And now the company is announcing that it is also moving its Asia headquarters from Singapore to Beijing as well. Operations at the Singapore office will continue however.

A MarketWatch report quotes a Nokia representative as saying that:

[The move is] part of our strategy to adapt our operations to the business environment to ensure our competitiveness. This includes an increasing focus on assembly in Asia, close to our suppliers.

In addition to struggling in China, Nokia hopes that it can ride Windows Phone to a rebound in global mobile market share in 2010. As for Asia, the company still is one of the top recognized business brands over the past few years; in fact it was the top brand as recently as 2012 according to TNS Global.

It will be interesting to see how things play out, particularly in the smartphone space where the company has some catching up to do.

[h/t The Next Web]

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