Square Enix Weighing Feedback on its High Mobile Game Pricing

Pocket Gamer cites Anthony Douglas, Square Enix’s (TYO:9684) general manager for mobile in Europe, on the company’s extremely high mobile game prices:

$20 for something you can play for 30 or 40 hours is still cheaper than what you can get on a handheld. [Square Enix] Japan are trying that and seeing how it works, and it works very well in Japan. […] It has been commented on quite a lot in Europe in the West, [and] they’re responding to it. They’re seeing the feedback, and there will probably be changes in the way that it’s structured.

Square Enix demonstrating Nintendo-like agility in adjusting to digital distribution. Lets see how long it takes for actual changes.

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Apple slashes iPad Price in India, iPad Mini to launch in November?

Apple has slashed the price of the new iPad (3) in India by around Rs.1400/ on each model, saving you the price to buy a smart cover. Here are the exact price of the new iPad in India:

• iPad with Wi-Fi 16GB : Rs. 28,900.00
• iPad with Wi-Fi 32GB : Rs. 34,800.00
• iPad with Wi-Fi 64GB : Rs. 40,900.00
• iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular 16GB : Rs. 36,900.00
• iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular 32GB : Rs. 42,900.00
• iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular 64GB : Rs. 48,900.00 [Via]

Apple earlier reduced the price of iPhone 4S (16GB) in India by Rs. 6,000; which is now available for Rs 38,500 and iPhone 4 (8GB) by Rs 9,600 which is now available for Rs 28,300.

iPhone 5 is scheduled for India launch this November 2nd and the 16GB iPhone5 is available for Rs. 45500/ (16GB), 32GB at Rs. 52500/ and 64GB for Rs. 59500/.

iPad Mini launch in India?

Looks like iPad Mini launch is being planned for November [source] and given that Apple now has retail partnerships in India, expect them to stop treating the country as a dumping ground.

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» Apple slashes iPad Price in India, iPad Mini to launch in November? @Pluggd.in.

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India’s entertainment and media industry to grow by 2x [Outlook for 2016]

The entertainment and media industry at $17.2 billion in 2011 is set to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 17 % to become a $ 37.6 billion industry by 2016, according to a new study. This will be the fastest growing market among the top 15 entertainment and media markets in the world.

The study, by PwC and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) says that advertising spend in the industry was estimated to be around Rs 279 billion, about 35 % of the total E&M revenues in 2011. Consumer spend on entertainment and media has huge potential for growth as the per capital average annual spend is estimated at $ 7 in 2011. This pales in comparison with the average per capital spend of $ 566 in the UK and $ 477 in the US, the study said.

Here are some edited excerpts. The full report has interesting trends that each segments is likely to undergo and you can read it here (pdf).

Television Industry

The Indian television industry in 2011 was estimated at 340 billion INR, with a year-on year increase of 15.8% from 2010 to 2011, driven equally by growth in both advertising as well as subscription revenue. Advertising revenues in television have increased by 14.3% to 116 billion INR, driven by the launch of new channels and growth in inventory. However, growth in subscription revenue has surpassed that of advertising, with a growth rate 16.5% to reach 224 billion INR, led by a sharp rise in DTH subscribers.

The Sector is expected to grow CAGR 14.7 % over next five years, to reach 674 billion INR in 2016. The growth trajectory, similar to previous years, will be equally driven by advertising and subscription revenue, both growing at a CAGR between 14 and 15%. Subscription revenue will contribute a share of over 66% of the total industry size in 2016.

Film industry

The Indian industry is projected to grow from 95.8 billion INR in 2011 to 153.6 billion INR in 2016 showing a cagr of 9.9 % for the next five years after registering a growth of 9.4 % in 2011.

Print

Last year, the Indian print industry witnessed moderate growth. Its revenue increased from 177.7 billion INR (2010) to 190.7 billion INR in 2011.

The magazine industry saw a marginal growth in 2011. The industry has been slowing down for the past few years and the economic slowdown affected it further. Its market size is estimated to be 20.4 billion INR in 2011 as compared to 19.6 billion INR in 2010.

The Indian print industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% over the period 2012-16 and is estimated to reach 296 billion INR in 2016 from the present 190.5 billion INR in 2011.

Wired and mobile internet access

As per the TRAI, India had around 23 million wired internet subscribers in March 2012, of which around 14 million had broadband connections. A year ago, there were around 20 million internet subscribers of which 12 million had broadband. In revenue terms, the size
of the wired internet market increased from about 45 billion INR in 2010 to almost 55 billion INR in 2011.

The Indian wired internet access market is expected to grow rapidly, again from a low base, from about 55 billion INR in 2011 to approximately 149 billion INR in 2016. India’s mobile internet access market is expected to grow even more strongly and increase multi-fold–from
about 61 billion INR in 2011 to approximately 358 billion INR in 2016, representing a CAGR of over 40%.

Wired and mobile advertising

Wired internet advertising, although smaller than its TV and print counterparts, is emerging as an important platform for reaching consumers, especially the digitally savvy. Industry revenues rose from 7.7 billion INR in 2010 to 10 billion INR in 2011, thereby demonstrating a growth rate of over 30%, almost twice the growth rate exhibited by TV and print advertising segments, albeit from a lower base.

Mobile internet advertising is presently in a fledgling state with revenues of only .1 billion Rs in 2011. The market grew by almost 100 % as compared to 2010.

Gaming

The Indian mobile gaming industry was estimated at 6.8 billion INR in 2011. It is the fastest growing gaming segment with a projected CAGR of 22.2% till 2016. The gaming industry comprises the following four key segments: ? PC gaming, Mobile gaming,  Console gaming,? Online gaming.

The Indian gaming industry has shown tremendous growth in the past and its growth will continue in the future. PwC estimates that from 11.1 billion INR in 2011, the gaming industry will be worth 29.8 billion INR by 2016, surging at a CAGR of 23.6%.

Radio

Despite the slowdown in 2011 and the uncertainty about recovery, established players have held on to their advertisement rates while smaller players offered discounts for ad slots. The radio sector grew by almost 10.4 % from 12.5 billion INR in 2010 to 13.8 billion INR in 2011.
Increase in radio listenership has been the major growth driver with consumers listening to radio through new mediums like mobile phones and live internet streaming.

Radio advertising revenues in India have shown healthy growth in the past on account of the expansion of radio technology, including digital as well as internet radio. India is expected to grow cagr 16.7 % over the next five years from Rs 14 billion to Rs 30 billion in 2016.

Music

Music industry revenues from digital platforms have grown from 4.5 billion INR in 2010 to 7 billion INR in 2011 registering a whopping growth of 60% year-on-year. The overall Indian music industry has grown to 12 billion INR in 2011 from 10 billion INR in 2010 with physical sales of music being stagnant at 3 billion INR.

The Indian music market is expected to grow from 12 billion INR in 2011 to 22 billion Rs in 2016 with cagr 12 % over the next five years. Digital spending on music is expected to increase continually and dominate industry revenues by 2016, while contribution from physical distribution will slowly decline to negligible levels.

Out of home advertising

The industry size was estimated to be 15.5 billion INR in 2011 as compared to 14.0 billion INR in 2010 and represented 5.4% of the India advertising market.

The Indian OOH advertising industry is estimated to grow at 11 % in the next five years to reach Rs 26 billion in 2016.

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» India’s entertainment and media industry to grow by 2x [Outlook for 2016] @Pluggd.in.

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At 14th Start-Up@Singapore official launch, prominent entrepreneurs dish advice

Singapore’s longest running start-up challenge, Start-Up@Singapore, held its official launch at the Hon Sui Sen Auditorium on 19th October 2012, thus declaring the 14th edition of the competition open.

Supported by the presence of some of Singapore’s most promising entrepreneurs, the event commenced with Guest of Honour, NUS Provost Professor Tan, and the Start-Up@Singapore Steering Committee members watering the Tree of Dreams, a tree representing the aspirations of all entrepreneurs, which would later be planted at the NUS Business School.

This was followed by a panel discussion on starting-up. The panel comprised Darius Cheung of BillPin, Min Xuan Lee of Playmoolah, Jack Sim of World Toilet Organization, and Adrin Loi of Ya Kun Kaya Toast.

One of the most frequented questions about entrepreneurship is regarding the right time to start-up. There wasn’t a consolidated answer to this question as everyone has had different experiences at different ages of their lives.

Jack opined that there is no ‘right time’ for starting a business and that missing out on junior college or university is alright. He went on to mention that it is riskier to work for others than to run a business as there is no guarantee that you won’t be fired by the age of 40.

Then came up the question of just how valuable an idea is.  Here, Jack said that every problem encountered is a potential opportunity for an entrepreneur. Adrin added that it’s not just the idea, but the benefit must also be sold to a customer and this was supported by Min Xuan who believes that the market wins at the end of the day and only time could impart credibility to an idea.

The discussion shifted in an all new direction as the audience voted for the most popular question using a Q&A conferencing tool, which asked whether connections are really more important than the product itself when creating multi-million dollar companies.

Jack talked about the importance of combining the two factors by getting valuable criticism on an idea from trusted connections. Min Xuan, however, dismissed the significance of connections over an idea by talking about an intern in Playmoolah’s US office, who took the initiative to talk to every gaming app person he could meet as that was where his passion laid.

Talking about partners, Adrin said that every partnership involves give and take and that partners must have interest in the business and must be able to contribute to a common goal. To find the right partner, Jack continued, one would have to play Mahjong or even undergo a courtship phase because there is some chemistry required, just like finding a wife.

Min Xuan added that an entrepreneur should rather not hire than hire the wrong person and Jack agreed by saying that a single founder is better than two or more wrong ones.

To conclude the discussion, each panelist gave their advice to all budding entrepreneurs. Min Xuan encouraged everyone to test their assumptions while being wary of whose advice they take. Jack told young entrepreneurs not to worry about money, while Adrin told them to follow his four Ps – Perseverance, Passion, Perfection and People.

The panellists and guests then headed for the Start-Up Showcase, an exhibition by past winners of the Start-Up@Singapore competition.

About Start-Up@Singapore: Established in 1999, and run under the auspices of the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, Start-Up@Singapore is arguably Singapore’s premier start-up challenge.  The competition this year is divided into three challenges: Business Venture Challenge, i.e the traditional business plan competition, the Social Venture Challenge, which aims to showcase pioneers in the field of social entrepreneurship and the all new Product Showcase, which is Start-Up@Singapore’s take on a Science Fair — a showcase of innovative and groundbreaking products and technologies. The awards include in excess of $85,000 in prize money and incubation support for winners, and a green lane to the ACE Start-Up Grant.

The deadline for submission of competition entries is 8th February, 2013. Before that, Start-Up@Singapore will be organizing a series of educational events, starting with the Speaker Series (November 1), a set of 4 seminars by reputed entrepreneurs, and the Start-Up Dynamo (January 2013), a 3-day workshop which would emphasize the principles of Lean Start-Up: Customer Validation, Problem Hypotheses and so on.

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WePin App Hopes to Overcome China’s Reluctance to Carpool

Carpooling might still be something relatively foreign in China. Issues such as mistrust of strangers or awkwardness among carpoolers can be a problem for many. And that’s what WePin is trying to address.

WePin is a China startup based in Zhejiang which launched in the middle of this year. It aims to address unfamiliarity between potential carpoolers so that sharing cars might become common practice in China. According to a report on QQ Tech, it has already racked up a total of 50,000 app downloads within just one week of its launch.

Like other carpool apps available on the market (such as Wodache), WePin has features that let you search for drivers or passengers to carpool with, including availability details such as their pick up times or drop off points. Users are also able to request personal particulars for verification.

 

It also includes a unique social feature. Using the dashboard, one is able to view nearby users as well as details like their personal messages, announcements, occupation, and recent activity. The location-based service lets users engage with other individuals in the immediate vicinity with the goal of meeting new people and establishing a more comfortable carpool experience.

Wepin’s mobile interface is sleek and navigation through the various menus is a breeze. Surfing WePin on the web is easy as well, and it includes WePinYou, a platform where users are able to post and share their places of interests in China, as well as travel itineraries for potential road trips.

You can try out WePin by downloading the app for iOS or for Android. As I mentioned, it is also accessible via web browsers at wepin.com.cn.

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Create custom shirts for $99 apiece with Bleu Flamme

Bleu Flamme allows you to customize your shirt and get it delivered at only $99 per piece. e27 readers get a discount. Clothing is one of the few basic human needs. But not everyone wants to spend a lot of time shopping for shirts, especially men. The whole process of deciding where to go, physically...

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Create custom shirts for $99 apiece with Bleu Flamme

Bleu Flamme allows you to customize your shirt and get it delivered at only $99 per piece. e27 readers get a discount. Clothing is one of the few basic human needs. But not everyone wants to spend a lot of time shopping for shirts, especially men. The whole process of deciding where to go, physically...

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MyAdCorner helps you Advertise in Print Media, Online

Many of the startups today make money out of online advertising. Why, we are no exception. Not only startups, behemoths like Google and Facebook too rely on online ads for their billions of dollars, and provide ads as a platform for others to use and make money. But here is one online startup whose source of revenue is offline advertising–actually that is the sole business of MyAdCorner.

MyAdCorner provides you a platform to advertise in various newspapers across India. The print advertising industry is highly fragmented, and booking an offline ad, if you have experienced it, is a tedious process. Getting a quotation from newspapers, following up with the ad content, negotiating prices, payment, everything is a hassle. Every publication you need to advertise on needs to be contacted individually. MyAdCorner provides a one-stop booking platform for SMEs and individual advertisers.

MyAdCorner has direct tie-ups with more than 100 newspapers in 175 cities across India, and act as an advertising agency where they get commission from every ad booking provided. Since they place ad orders in bulk, they are able to provide heavy discounts on the advertising fees.

Started in September 2010 by IIT Delhi graduates Prateek Srivastava and Rohit Garodia, MyAdCorner currently houses 50 employees in various fields including Engineering, Product, Analytics, Sales & Marketing. The Noida-based company behind the product called Adception Infotech Pvt Ltd was funded by Singapore-based CCube Angels earlier this year. Prateek adds:

We are adding more than 1000 advertisers (paying customers) on a monthly basis. We got funded from few individuals who really liked our business model and have invested in us. It includes people from Silicon Valley (USA) [sic], New York, Singapore & India. Most of them are serial entrepreneurs themselves.

Apart from letting you post ads to various publications across the country, MyAdCorner also helps you in ‘media planning and buying’. Based on your business and target audience, it helps you to decide your target audience, budget, cities to advertise, which newspapers to choose etc, and also help in designing your ad creatively for maximum impact and branding response. The compose-ad-page has different styling options and templates to help you draft and edit your ad in a WYSIWYG editor. There is also an Advertisement Tips section that acts like a form to discuss the process of creating and placing an ad.

With no one else providing such an exhaustive list of advertisements, the future looks bright, as Rohit believes:

We have served more than 66,000 ads – 4,167 advertisers – 100 newspapers – 175 cities. We are sitting at a potential goldmine as we see more than 1,000 new advertisers (paying customers) getting added on our website on a monthly basis. Not only this, our penetration into smaller towns is increasing. We are hoping that this platform will become the preferred destination for any SME advertiser in India. We are increasing our penetration into Tier-2 towns by making ground booking agents vis-a-vis affiliates.

A very interesting and intelligent concept, I must say, that creates yet another link between the online and the offline world, and fills in the inadequacies of the offline world rather than competing with offline services like ecommerce does.

If you want to advertise in certain newspapers about property, vehicles, matrimonials, jobs, or personal or company announcements, try MyAdCorner and let us know your experience.

[Also see: Access Offline Matrimonial Ads (From Newspapers) Online on findMyMatch]

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» MyAdCorner helps you Advertise in Print Media, Online @Pluggd.in.

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FlagAHero: The difficult but rewarding journey so far

FlagAHero’s co-founders have shared their success story, which they consider a difficult but rewarding journey so far. One of the many topics that has received a lot of discussion on e27 is the rise of startups revolving around the concept of an online peer to peer task outsourcing marketplace, a concept made popular by US...

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FlagAHero: The difficult but rewarding journey so far

FlagAHero’s co-founders have shared their success story, which they consider a difficult but rewarding journey so far. One of the many topics that has received a lot of discussion on e27 is the rise of startups revolving around the concept of an online peer to peer task outsourcing marketplace, a concept made popular by US...

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Sprooki gets USD 0.48M in seed funding from Get2Volume and NRF

Sprooki, a Singapore-based company that provides retailers with end-to-end mobile solutions to engage customers, has secured SGD 0.59M (USD 0.48M) in seed funding from startup incubator Get2Volume, in partnership with the National Research Foundation.

Sprooki has received a total of SGD 1M (USD 0.81M) in funds so far. It’s the second time Get2Volume has invested in the company.

Since the startup’s launch in October 2011, where it announced a tie up with Orchard Road mall 313@Somerset, it has partnered with over 60 mall and retailers in Singapore and Asia.

The company’s system can provide mobile apps for shoppers. These apps can serve location-based ads and promotions and allow users to make mobile purchases.

Retailers, on the other hand, get to utilize shopper analytics and location-aware campaign management tools. They can get the app deployed within weeks, under their own brand name.

According to Claire Mula, managing director and co-founder of Sprooki, she will use the funding to grow its footprint internationally and secure partnerships with Asia’s top malls and brands. The startup will also improve on its platform’s user experience and shopper analytics feature.

Since last year, retailers in Singapore have started opening up to the possibilities of mobile commerce and mobile marketing. Apps like Perx and Squiryl have acquired hundreds of merchants. Malls like Jurong Point now have their own mobile apps, some of it would inevitably incorporate Apple’s Passbook technology.

This funding round was made under the NRF’s co-funding initiative, called the Technology Incubator Scheme (TIS). Get2Volume had earlier invested in Plunify, which enables chip design in the cloud, under the same scheme.

Check out our complete coverage of NRF’s activities.

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Tokyo’s Human Camera Reminds Us to Connect in the Real World

Tokyo-based new media artist Eric Siu has created a really wonderful idea that blends technology and performance art in way that is sure to turn heads — even in Japan where crazy technologies have become almost synonymous with the country.

His prototype of ‘Touchy’ is a human camera, or to explain more fully, a human who wears a helmet-like camera on his head, with the eye-holes functioning as shutters which are activated when others touch him for ten seconds. An LCD screen on the back of the head-piece lets people review the photo which has been taken.

Eric Siu, Asia Skubisz

Together with his partner Asia Skubisz who joined him last year, Eric plans more live performances in the future, such as ones they have already held in Akihabara and Harajuku. They are also considering using Touchy as a sort of social healing device that might be used by social workers in certain situations. The pair have developed a story around the character of Touchy (Asia plays his friend ‘Margaret Toucha’), in which he explores fun new places, and they hope to later build on that, possibly even developing a manga.

The whole concept is rooted in the notion that our current society is in many ways increasingly isolated because of technology. Yes, we’re connected via our smartphones, but the extent to which we are getting lost in the digital world is something which worried Eric. Touchy is a result of rethinking our relationship with technology, and the joy that can come via offline communication.

I’m told that later on, Touchy could be further developed as a Kickstarter project, but nothing has been decided on when or how that might happen. Nobumichi Tosa of Maywa Denki fame has been a mentor on the project, and he has been involved with equally unique and fun devices like the Otamatone.

If you’d like to learn more about how Touchy works, check out the promo video below. It’s a great idea, and I hope we can continue to see Touchy explore Japan more. Perhaps the folks at MOFA or the Japan Tourism Agency should enlist his help in promoting the country to tourists, since their own efforts have been less than stellar so far.

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Following Supreme Court’s stay order Google skips ads from rival website on Bharatmatrimony search

After 3 years of legal battle, the dispute between Google and marriage portal Bharatmatrimony.com seems to be on its last leg. On Friday, the Supreme Court restrained Shaadi.com and two other competing websites from breaching trademarks owned by Consim Info Private Limted, the company which runs Bharatmatrimony.com and other matrimony websites.

A three member bench found merit the company’s case that competing websites were buying up keywords on Google’s adwords program so that their site shows up when people search for Bharatmatrimony. Earlier, Madras High Court had refused to curb Google and the three sites from displaying such pop-ups when someone Googled for BharatMatrimony.

Till recently, if you searched for Bharatmatrimony (and other trademarked keywords), you would have found Shaadi.com, Simplymarry and  Jeevansaathi displaying their ads by leveraging Google’s AdWords program. While Google does competitive ad filtering, there are several permutations and combinations that enables advertisers to play with the system.

Earlier
Google had argued that ‘Bharat’ and ‘matrimony’ were two independent words and Bharatmatrimony could not claim any trademark right. The search giant has cited various examples that whenever such common words were used in Google, similar related sites also would be displayed.

Now

On the other hand, Bharatmatrimony submitted a petition and mentioned that by allowing the competitors to pop-up their websites, Google had been infringing the trademark rights of the company and capitalizing on Bharatmatrimony’s goodwill and reputation.

Consim Info, which owns the trademark for Bharatmatrimony, www.tamilmatrimony.com, www.telegumatrimony, www.bharatrimony.com, www.bengalimatrimony.com and Muslimmarry.com had sued Google India for allowing ads on these trademarked keywords in 2009. Also, in February, Bharatmatrimony had moved to Competition Commission of India, citing discriminatory trade practices related to its AdWords program.

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» Following Supreme Court’s stay order Google skips ads from rival website on Bharatmatrimony search @Pluggd.in.

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Rumor: Xiaomi’s Apple TV-Like Set-Top Box Coming Next Month

This isn’t a real photo of the device. But it might look like this. Hooray for groundless speculation!

A couple weeks ago we passed along an interesting rumor that Xiaomi, the company that more or less started the cheap-but-powerful Android phone trend in China, has been working on an Apple TV-like set-top box product. Xiaomi, of course, isn’t commenting on this one way or the other, but the rumors have just gotten a bit more specific: the device will cost 299 RMB ($47), Xiaomi has already signed contracts with a few partners for content, and the device will hit the market or at least be announced next month.

It’s all still just rumors, of course, but reporters at Investor China found that a number of potential partner tech companies weren’t willing to do interviews, and insiders at several places have dropped hints that the reason is a Xiaomi set-top box that will be announced in mid-November.

Given that Xiaomi continues to no-comment rather than outright deny this, it’s starting to feel like one of those rumors that’s actually true. If Xiaomi is making a set-top box it will be interesting to see whether the company attempts to sell it like it sells its mobile handsets — in small batches at a time, through its own website — or whether it will take a more traditional approach this time around.

It will be also interesting to see whether Xiaomi fans take the bait. If the 299 RMB price is accurate, it’s easy to see lots of dedicated fans snatching this up as soon as they can. But whether the device actually delivers will probably determine whether or not it can expand beyond Xiaomi’s existing fanbase. Even Apple has had trouble in this sector, so a Xiaomi success would be truly impressive; an example of a company many see as aping Apple beating it at its own game.

But of course, that’s all a little premature given that we’re not sure the device even exists. Until we know, you’ll just have to get by with your imaginations and my crudely-photoshopped Apple TV expertly-crafted mockup of what the device might look like (pictured above).

[Investor China via Sina Tech]

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Uber coming to Singapore and Australia, so it seems

If this job posting is legit, Uber is on its way to Singapore and Australia. The call for a Singapore country manager was posted on a crowdsourced jobs listing, which is essentially a Google spreadsheet.

While independent sources close to the San Francisco-based startup have verified the news, we’ve not gotten the official word from Uber yet.

Here’s what the job description says:

“Having raised a series B round of USD $37 million, Uber is now ready to go international. Backed by Menlo Ventures (Fab, Siri, Hotmail), Jeff Bezos, & Goldman Sachs, Singapore is next on Uber’s radar after the UK and Australia. Apply now to join the company disrupting taxi services everywhere.”

Uber is an app that allows users to book a private driver. Essentially, it gives every user the ability to engage a chauffeur at a fraction of the cost. Their secret? Streamlined payment and booking services, and utilizing a limo driver’s downtime.

News of Uber’s impending Asian expansion first arrived in February this year, as reported by AllThingsD. The startup’s CEO Travis Kalanick said that Uber was aiming to establish a presence in Asia by the end of 2012. It looks like that promise is being kept.

The company has rapidly expanded to 22 cities in US and Europe since launching in 2010, and recently introduced taxi booking services into its app. That was when it started getting into trouble, waging battles with unfriendly government regulations and taxi regulators who fear that their industry is being disrupted.

Uber shut down its operations in New York City, months after it launched its services there against the authorities’ wishes. The Taxi & Limousine Commission had even threatened to fine or revoke the licenses of drivers that use Uber.

In Chicago, a group of taxi and livery companies have filed a lawsuit against the startup. And in Washington DC, the taxi commission has proposed a new set of rules that will make life hard for Uber.

It’s unclear if Uber will face the same regulatory hurdles in Asia. In Singapore, it might have to apply for a Taxi Operator License, although its murky what exactly makes one a taxi operator. In the region’s emerging markets though, regulations probably won’t be as much of an impediment due to the markets’ unregulated nature.

But as Uber’s Chicago experience shows, taxi companies, which are usually large and well-established, could gang up on the upstart to preserve the status quo.

I’m not sure if the Singapore government, which goes all out to attract tech startups to the nation, can help much if that happens.

More updates as we have them.

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Over 3 Million Users Now Registered On Colopl

Colopl Inc. [J] has announced that the number of users of their location based game “Colopl” has reached 3 million.  This is the number of already withdrawn users subtracted from the number of registered users.

“Colopl” was opened for service in November of 2010 as the world’s first location game specialized platform.  Currently they are offering 14 location game application titles in all, including 3 titles from colopl starting with “Colony Life,” as well as 11 titles run by LAP (Colopl’s partner businesses).  Among the others, the warring states period of Japan card battle location game “Senkoku Iroha” (Warring States Fundamentals) claims over 100,000 users on its own, and games other than their signature title “Colony Life” also seem favorable.  Colopl moving forward carries the mission of “Entertainment in Real Life,” and they are continuing to challenge to find ways to offer fun entertainment to make people’s daily life more fun.

Translation authorized by VSMedia

Over 3 Million Users Now Registered On Colopl

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