Startup Roundup: Eatable, NEUrOS, Dhitrax and Collectors HERITAGE

Quick roundup of interesting Indian startups.

Startup: Eatable

URL : http://www.etable.in/

What it does? Etable acts as a platform for foodies to discover, explore, recommend restaurants based on location, taste, budget and share their experiences with friends and family through seamless social integration.

For restaurants, Etable works as a data analytics platform to get greater insights of preferences, usage patterns and push information to its target customers. Started by Rohit Iyer and Sharad Madiman Eatable has also released an Android app(link) to target youngster under age bracket ( 16-30 year olds).

Startup: NEuROS

URL :http://neuros.org

What it does? Neuros is a social network for doctors medical aspirants and other health related professionals available globally. Users can access the platform via Facebook. Hyderabad based startup has also incorporated an online study centre, where medical students and professionals can ask questions, discuss, chat amongst others. The company is being founded by Waiz Wasey and Ravi Kiran.

Startup: Dhitrax

URL : http://www.dhitrax.com

What it does? Dhitrax offers online accommodation specialise in hotel rooms and packages and claims to save up to 80% on hotels in India and worldwide. The startup also promises to have lowest rate guaranteed, real guest reviews. including thousands of landmarks with nearest hotels. The Hyderabad based company is launched by Prashanth and Ineela.

Startup: Collectors HERITAGE

URL: http://collectorsheritage.com

What it does? E-commerce site by Windlass Group for high end collectibles and licensed hollywood replicas. Period clothing and costuming and other collectibles. The company is founded by Rajiv Goil, Sarthak Gupta and Sugandh Windlass and focuses on catering to the need of collectors around the world as well as providing services for collectibles/antiques restoration.

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eBay to invest in Snapdeal?

eBay is rumored to pick up a significant stake in Snapdeal, which earlier raised $40mn from Bessemer, Nexus and IndoUSVenture Partners in July 2011.

The company started as a deal site and later pivoted to a pure-play ecommerce company (marketplace model) in 2012.

“Ebay is looking to make a strategic investment in Snapdeal, a move that is expected to help both sides”. Details of the transaction are still being worked out, but sources said it will likely be carried out through eBay’s Indian arm and structured in a manner that it does not violate the current norms prohibiting foreign investment in online retailers.[source:HT]

The eCommerce industry in India has seen a multifold increase in the past three years, with the total market size increasing from Rs 19,688 crore by the end of 2009 to an estimated Rs 28,500 Crore ($6.3 billion) in 2011 and Rs. 76,300 crore ($14 billion) in 2012.

In 2012, 52 eCommerce companies have raised close to $700 million venture capital over the past 3 years and out of them, only 30 % could raise the next round of funds [read: Ecommerce Marketplaces in India : Crawford Market Vs Bigbazaar?

Related posts:

1. Is Snapdeal now a pure play ecommerce company? [Pivot]
2. Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl on eSportsBuy acquisition: “We are building the largest assortment of branded products and services in India”
3. The Snapdeal Journey–Of Failed Experiments & A Lean Startup Story [Part 2]

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Versatility with Freelance Jobs

Needless to say, today’s self employed recognizes the importance of being extremely versatile. Often on these types of small project websites, people want SEO work performed, or want to create links, content, interpretation writers, raise Facebook friends, Twitter Followers, data entry, business logo graphic designers etc. At times some might quite possibly would like some rather complicated work done, which include computer programming, template design task, make HTML pages / website development, or any other specialized deals. A freelancer will make it a point to generally be flexible in order that they will apply for practically virtually any freelance job out there.

Just what else should you be aware of free-lance gigs on the net? It is really best if you pace yourself and create a program which maximizes your time and efficiency. Obviously, client satisfaction is the vital thing, so an honorable freelance writer will not write or create substandard, inferior work, or skip significant due dates.

Scheduling Freelance Tasks in 2012

Generally there a wide range of self-employed jobs presented in the given time frame, therefore don’t overbook yourself. Or in other words, don’t go with a number jobs you really can’t most possibly finish! Established a schedule of work and then proceed from there. If you have the endurance, the patience and the motivation to find those jobs, rest assured, they are out thereDetermine a regime of work and afterwards start from there..

And so one of the best ways to find them is through free lance web-sites really like our Gigbucks.com. Listing websites help you write-up an assignment idea as well as your proposed earnings, or even the possibility to get connected to anyone placing task descriptions. They are short-term work, that is truly true, and this also is considered the part concerning freelancing that’s hard for many folks to accept. You need to be ruthless in in search of these kinds of tasks other than relying on someone to find them for you.

However, it is now incredibly easy opening 2012 for the high-quality freelancer to earn money on the web.

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The Leap could change the way we use our mobile devices

San Francisco-based startup Leap Motion has partnered with Asus to embed its motion-sensing technology into notebooks and desktop computers. How soon until this becomes a reality in mobile devices?

I’ve always been fascinated with mobile user interfaces. After having used mobile phones for almost 17 years, I can say we’ve gone leaps and bounds in how we interact with our devices. While we used to have to memorize menu-key combinations and navigate through clunky file-folder representations, touch-based interfaces and apps are now the rage.

But there’s a rising trend in computing devices, which no longer involve touch. Take Siri, for instance. Apple’s intelligent assistant communicates with users in a more natural way — through speech. The same idea is being utilized by Google Now, which runs on the latest Android devices on Jelly Bean. But yet another emerging trend involves motion-sensing devices. Are you fond of playing Kinect-based games on your Xbox 360? Pretty soon, you might be interacting with your mobile devices the same way.

In mid 2012, a San Francisco startup called Leap Motion introduced a small device called The Leap. The gadget is as big as a USB thumb drive, but could do so much more. The Leap uses several cameras and sensors to create a three-dimensional map of up to 0.22 cubic meters. The main differentiator between The Leap and other similar devices is its accuracy of up to a hundredths of a millimeter, or about half the diameter of human hair. Another differentiator that The Leap has is its ability to distinguish between different parts of the body. The device knows if you’re moving your pinkie or your thumb, for instance.

Think Minority Report, but without the three-fingered gloves, and without you looking like Tom Cruise.

Embedded into devices

In August last year, Leap Motion offered developers the ability to play with the device so that they can develop applications based on gesture controls. Qualified developers were given a free device, which was then planned to retail for US$70 apiece once it was ready-to-market.

In recent news, Leap Motion has reportedly partnered with Taiwanese manufacturer Asus to embed its motion-sensing technologies into high-end notebook computers and top-of-line all-in-one personal computers. Leap Motion is also planning to launch an app store within the year, noting that such hardware will not be relevant without practical applications.

What’s exciting here is The Leap’s potential in mobile devices. Leap Motion CEO Michael Buckwald says that embedding Leap into mobile devices should not be too difficult, given the size of the device. “The cameras are actually very small,” Michael told CNet in an interview. “The actual sensors and software [can] fit in even the smallest form factors.”

Leap Motion has announced a Series B financing in the amount of US$30 million led by Founders Fund and High Capital Partners, and had earlier raised US$15 million in capital. The funds will be used to support its expanded production process, given that the startup is now producing “between hundreds of thousands and millions of Leaps” to meet with its partner company’s needs.

A leap into mobile?

Industry observers might even go beyond smartphones, tablets and notebook computers, when considering The Leap’s potential. How about a partnership with Google, which is developing its Glass Project? Google Glass is an augmented-reality device that incorporates a display into an eyeglass-like accessory. Google is still looking into the practical applications of this device, and considers using a mix of voice control and gesture controls in interacting with the device and the Internet.

If yo’re fascinated with mobile interfaces, this would be an interesting startup to watch. Then again, there are even other startups focused on exploring alternative interfaces, such as PredictGaze, which tracks eye movement and body language to predict how you want to control your TV. But that’s anther story for another day.

Check out the video below for what The Leap can do.

The post The Leap could change the way we use our mobile devices appeared first on e27.

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The Leap could change the way we use our mobile devices

San Francisco-based startup Leap Motion has partnered with Asus to embed its motion-sensing technology into notebooks and desktop computers. How soon until this becomes a reality in mobile devices?

I’ve always been fascinated with mobile user interfaces. After having used mobile phones for almost 17 years, I can say we’ve gone leaps and bounds in how we interact with our devices. While we used to have to memorize menu-key combinations and navigate through clunky file-folder representations, touch-based interfaces and apps are now the rage.

But there’s a rising trend in computing devices, which no longer involve touch. Take Siri, for instance. Apple’s intelligent assistant communicates with users in a more natural way — through speech. The same idea is being utilized by Google Now, which runs on the latest Android devices on Jelly Bean. But yet another emerging trend involves motion-sensing devices. Are you fond of playing Kinect-based games on your Xbox 360? Pretty soon, you might be interacting with your mobile devices the same way.

In mid 2012, a San Francisco startup called Leap Motion introduced a small device called The Leap. The gadget is as big as a USB thumb drive, but could do so much more. The Leap uses several cameras and sensors to create a three-dimensional map of up to 0.22 cubic meters. The main differentiator between The Leap and other similar devices is its accuracy of up to a hundredths of a millimeter, or about half the diameter of human hair. Another differentiator that The Leap has is its ability to distinguish between different parts of the body. The device knows if you’re moving your pinkie or your thumb, for instance.

Think Minority Report, but without the three-fingered gloves, and without you looking like Tom Cruise.

Embedded into devices

In August last year, Leap Motion offered developers the ability to play with the device so that they can develop applications based on gesture controls. Qualified developers were given a free device, which was then planned to retail for US$70 apiece once it was ready-to-market.

In recent news, Leap Motion has reportedly partnered with Taiwanese manufacturer Asus to embed its motion-sensing technologies into high-end notebook computers and top-of-line all-in-one personal computers. Leap Motion is also planning to launch an app store within the year, noting that such hardware will not be relevant without practical applications.

What’s exciting here is The Leap’s potential in mobile devices. Leap Motion CEO Michael Buckwald says that embedding Leap into mobile devices should not be too difficult, given the size of the device. “The cameras are actually very small,” Michael told CNet in an interview. “The actual sensors and software [can] fit in even the smallest form factors.”

Leap Motion has announced a Series B financing in the amount of US$30 million led by Founders Fund and High Capital Partners, and had earlier raised US$15 million in capital. The funds will be used to support its expanded production process, given that the startup is now producing “between hundreds of thousands and millions of Leaps” to meet with its partner company’s needs.

A leap into mobile?

Industry observers might even go beyond smartphones, tablets and notebook computers, when considering The Leap’s potential. How about a partnership with Google, which is developing its Glass Project? Google Glass is an augmented-reality device that incorporates a display into an eyeglass-like accessory. Google is still looking into the practical applications of this device, and considers using a mix of voice control and gesture controls in interacting with the device and the Internet.

If yo’re fascinated with mobile interfaces, this would be an interesting startup to watch. Then again, there are even other startups focused on exploring alternative interfaces, such as PredictGaze, which tracks eye movement and body language to predict how you want to control your TV. But that’s anther story for another day.

Check out the video below for what The Leap can do.

The post The Leap could change the way we use our mobile devices appeared first on e27.

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‘Good Doggy’ is a Chinese Mobile Startup Especially for Dog Lovers

As a relatively new dog owner, I’ll be honest — I haven’t really integrated my down ownership with my digital life all that much. Aside from spamming my Facebook friends with pictures of our puppy, I don’t really have any dog apps or anything like that, so when I stumbled across the Beijing-based mobile startup Haogougou (“Good Doggy”), I was curious as to what kind of dog-related apps were even possible.

Good Doggy currently offers two separate iPhone apps, both free. The first is “Good Doggy Rescue” (pictured at right), a cool social app that allows you to browse photos of street and rescue dogs up for adoption, and contact the people responsible for them if you’re interested. It also allows for simple photo browsing if you’re just in the mood for looking at some dog pictures. The social rescue service is a cool idea; and the execution is not dissimilar to web services like Baidu Xunren that help parents search for street and kidnapped children to rescue. It’s cool that “Good Doggy” is providing this service matching dogs in need with potential “adoptive” parents, and the app is smooth and very simple to navigate.

The other app, “Doggy Diary,” doesn’t have the same kind of social significance, but it’s still fun. Basically, it allows users to upload photos of their dogs along with little “diary” entries like those pictured below (the black german shepherd, Maya, is ours). These are then shared with everyone else who has the app, and users can browse through to check out cute photos and see what other people’s dogs are doing with their days. Yes, this is technically an even bigger waste of time then checking out the pointless status updates of your human friends, but hey, sometimes people just like to look at pictures of cute puppies. That’s what this app is for.

Both apps seem to be well put-together, although I did have a few issues with crashing when I tried to apply one of the built-in photo filters in “Doggy Diary.” Luckily, that’s the less important of the two apps anyway, and nothing else about the app (including the other photo filters) caused a crash, so I assume it’s just a bug that will likely be fixed soon anyway.

Neither of the apps ran any ads during my time with them, so I have no idea how Good Doggy is making money — perhaps it’s just focused on growing the user base right now. But I had enough fun with the apps that I recommended them to my wife, who loves taking and sharing photos of our dog on weibo already. Neither app seems to have a very big user base just yet (though it’s hard to be sure as both allow for anonymous posting without registering a user account), but there are already enough people that it isn’t just the same dog over and over again. Dog ownership is already big and growing in China, so I expect that with the right marketing, Good Doggy will definitely find a market.

The post ‘Good Doggy’ is a Chinese Mobile Startup Especially for Dog Lovers appeared first on Tech in Asia.

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Deng Feng: VCds

For startups, smooth sailing is rare. Things change rapidly and suddenly for investors and entrepreneurs. Deng Feng, co-founder of the VC Northern Light (NLVC), recently shared his views on the relationship bewteen VCs and entrepreneurs during turbulent times.

Three months ago, the once high flying maternity-children B2C site Redbaby was finally  acquired by Suning for $66million. Rumor has it that Mr. Deng and other VCs were heavy handed with the company’s management resulting in its demise.

If words on the street were to be trusted, Mr. Deng’s action didn’t pay off. Before Redbaby was acquired, an unnamed, organization had bought the majority shares of Redbaby for $10million, leaving early investors NLVC and KeyTone Ventures with pittance.

Deng explained that NLVC and other VCs never wanted to take over Redbaby; there had not been any conflicts between VC and entrepreneurs. “The real story is that the founders feuded, and they both turned to us for help. In the end, we chose the majority side. End of the story.”

When asked about the relationship between investors and entrepreneurs, he answered that “entrepreneurs are not working for VC, and vice versa. But the problem is that in China sometimes our entrepreneurs don’t even trust each other, which makes it even harder for VCs to trust in them.”

Mr. Deng further added that he believed “a startup is like a baby, founders, investors and all the staff members are family members that should work together to care of the baby.” He had a hard time dealing with people who do not share this view, especially people with IT background, whom he finds to be especially difficult. “Tech guys are impossible to management.”

Speaking of Kaixin001, another NLVC  backed venture, Mr. Deng is demonstrating how a failed venture should proceed. NLVC invited Kaixin001 to join its “family” when the social network only had 50,000 users. Since then, Kaixin001 has exploded, only to have an Icarus like fall once bigger players like Sina and Tencent entered the arena. Mr. Deng is sure the founders want to soldier on, but sometimes you have to cut losses. “Sell if you can’t win.” that’s the philosophy behind Mr. Deng’s decision to ally Kaixin001 with Tencent.

Mr. Deng’s deed backs up his words. In 2004, he sold his startup Netsceen to Juniper for $4billion. But even before that, Mr. Deng has learned to take a back seat to professional managers, as he focused his energy mainly on R&D after attracting early investments. “The company doesn’t belong to me, but to all of the shareholders and the staff. It is true that I am one of the founders, but I only hold a very small portion of the shares. My bigger concern goes to the benefits of the shareholders, staff and the board.”

 

Related posts:

1. Aigo Founder, Feng Jun, Wants to See World Class Chinese Brands
2. Nokia Believes in Phone Shui (Feng Shui)
3. GMIC – The Money Side of Things

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Report: Chinese Ecommerce Market to Hit 2568B by 2015

Chinese B2C and C2C market size reached RMB 806 billion in 2011, according to a report by Analysis International, a Beijing-based Internet think tank. The report also showed that China’s group buying market reached RMB 23.7 billion in sales in the same year.

Due to the money-burning marketing methods adopted by group buy businesses and the large scale marketing input of leading e-commerce companies, etailers’ marketing expenditure has grown significantly in 2011, reaching 12.14 billion RMB.

Analysys International estimates that Chinese B2C and C2C market will reach RMB 2,568 billion by 2015, while the market scale for sheer etailer online marketing will reach 48.87 billion RMB at the same time.

Online marketing channels for etailers have been greatly diversified over the past few years. Mediums like search engine, branding, performance marketing, email direct marketing, social media and price engine have also played significant role in e-commerce online marketing.

The diversified online marketing channels have derived a group of third-party marketing service providers with focus on specific media platform. The e-commerce online marketing industrial chain has been refined, and a unique small ecosystem has formed gradually.

Given the diversified services available on the market with fierce competition, focus and technology are vital for the third party service providers to survive. From the perspective of advertiser, it is rather difficult to choose the appropriate partner. Analysys International had some suggestions on this matter:

Firstly, marketing should be chose to fit a company’s strategy rather than blindly follow the marketing trend, Sina Weibo marketing is good for some, but is it for you?

Secondly, in terms of SEM(search engine marketing), performance optimization would play a more important role compared to mere key words optimization.

Thirdly, the performance-based advertising will be the most important marketing platform.

Other metrics like the reputation and quality of an advertisement network, accuracy of the advertising and convenience of operation should all be taken into consideration for the advertisers.

 

Related posts:

1. Report: China Online Gaming Market to Reach $ 8.84B in 2012
2. Shanda Invests Into Ecommerce Market
3. Chinese Online Luxury Market, Expected to Hit 16 Billion Yuan in 2011

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Chinese Broadband Customers Finally Getting the Right to Choose Providers

Life can be difficult for broadband internet users in China. Speeds are increasing fast, but they’re still well below the international average, and many Chinese users live in residential communities that limit them to only one broadband provider. Now, new regulations announced by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) will mandate that residential communities with fiber-optic broadband cables must allow multiple telecom operators access to give residents a choice in all county-size and larger cities nationwide.

The new regulation is a reaction to a widespread form of corruption in which telecom operators pay the owners of a residential development for exclusive access to its residents. As someone who lived in one of those broadband monopoly communities when I was in Beijing, I can tell you firsthand that it sucked. Our connection was often slow or disconnected, but customer service was nearly impossible to get in touch with, and pretty unhelpful when you did finally get them to pick up the phone. We also were forced to pay more money for a slower connection than many other broadband users in Beijing, but we had no choice: there was only one broadband provider allowed to service our building.

This new MIIT regulation should rectify that. Interestingly, it also mandates that all new residential buildings in cities be built with fiber-optic broadband equipment. The fiber-optic technology, in combination with the speed hikes and price drops that should be the result of the increased competition between ISPs, should ultimately mean a much faster experience for Chinese broadband users. That’s a good thing, and it can’t come a moment too soon. MIIT’s regulation is scheduled to go into effect this April, so if nothing goes wrong between now and then, Chinese broadband users could start to see a little choice in their local ISP offerings this spring.

[via Sina Tech, Image source]

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Tmall Now Lets US Food Companies Ship Directly to Chinese Consumers

A new e-commerce business model? The Tmall promo page for pre-orders of American food products.

China’s top online store, Tmall, is trying out a special promotion that will see American foods sold directly by US firms to Chinese consumers. This is running through to January 15th, allowing shoppers on Alibaba’s Tmall to buy products like Alaskan flounder fish or fresh salmon, Hawaiian macadamia nuts, and Pepperidge Farm cookies.

The promotion is on the pre-orders section of the Tmall site (see it here), where folks in China can put down a deposit now on items – that’s the price seen in red text in the image below. Full payment comes upon final delivery, which is expected to be on the last day of this month – just in time for Chinese New Year on February 10th.

Pre-order prices. Click to enlarge.

The pre-order system means that the US foodstuffs companies know precisely how much to ship, and customers in China will see prices dip if more people order certain items. For example, the fresh salmon was originally tagged at 368 RMB (US$58) for a kilo, but is now down to 248 RMB ($39) with nearly 700 people having ordered the item already.

Alibaba’s in-house blog notes today that this scheme features input from the US Department of Agriculture’s branch in Shanghai. In a statement, Tmall’s senior director, Ma Xuejun, added:

[This] addresses Chinese consumers’ changing lifestyle needs and will enable merchants and suppliers to more accurately estimate consumer demand, thereby optimizing the supply chain and returning cost savings to both parties.

This tie-up with US food-makers is an example of the C2B (consumer-to-business) model that Alibaba, as an e-commerce platform that doesn’t buy or store its own inventory, is keen to promote. It’s a bit similar to the JIT (just-in-time) manufacturing process that’s a growing trend in online fashion retailing. A few months ago we heard Professor Zeng Ming, Alibaba’s chief strategy officer, say that “e-commerce is not just online sales, but transforming business in every aspect, step by step,” and part of that is by now allowing companies to sell in this kind of flexible and customizable way.

Tmall’s move comes at a time of ongoing concern about food safety in China amidst seemingly never-ending scandals about locally-produced foods and drinks.

The post Tmall Now Lets US Food Companies Ship Directly to Chinese Consumers appeared first on Tech in Asia.

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Indonesia’s Multiply To Start Taking LG Nexus 4 Pre-Orders Tomorrow

After a one-month delay, Google’s flagship handset, the LG Nexus 4 will finally make its way to Indonesia next week. Indonesian e-commerce store Multiply will become one of the first online stores open for pre-orders, while offering a generous IDR 1 million ($104) discount in the process.

Pre-orders will be for the 16GB version and can be made from tomorrow until January 10th. The handset’s normal price is IDR 5.5 million ($570), and the aforementioned discount is only for pre-orders.

Customers then can opt to pick up the phones at the Grand Indonesia Shopping Town on January 12th, or they can be delivered on January 11th. Multiply will give out a free tumbler and a power bank for customers who pick up the phones themselves while stocks last. There are only 200 phones available for the pre-orders.

The Nexus 4 runs on the latest Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS. TheVerge touts it as being almost the best Android phone on the market, except for the fact that it doesn’t support LTE, a feature not relevant to Indonesian users anyway.

You can check out more information on the Multiply site, and use the discount code ID-PROMOLGNEXUS4 to get the price down to IDR 4.5 million ($467) when making your purchase.

The post Indonesia’s Multiply To Start Taking LG Nexus 4 Pre-Orders Tomorrow appeared first on Tech in Asia.

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Indonesia’s Multiply To Start Taking LG Nexus 4 Pre-Orders Tomorrow

After a one-month delay, Google’s flagship handset, the LG Nexus 4 will finally make its way to Indonesia next week. Indonesian e-commerce store Multiply will become one of the first online stores open for pre-orders, while offering a generous IDR 1 million ($104) discount in the process.

Pre-orders will be for the 16GB version and can be made from tomorrow until January 10th. The handset’s normal price is IDR 5.5 million ($570), and the aforementioned discount is only for pre-orders.

Customers then can opt to pick up the phones at the Grand Indonesia Shopping Town on January 12th, or they can be delivered on January 11th. Multiply will give out a free tumbler and a power bank for customers who pick up the phones themselves while stocks last. There are only 200 phones available for the pre-orders.

The Nexus 4 runs on the latest Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS. TheVerge touts it as being almost the best Android phone on the market, except for the fact that it doesn’t support LTE, a feature not relevant to Indonesian users anyway.

You can check out more information on the Multiply site, and use the discount code ID-PROMOLGNEXUS4 to get the price down to IDR 4.5 million ($467) when making your purchase.

The post Indonesia’s Multiply To Start Taking LG Nexus 4 Pre-Orders Tomorrow appeared first on Tech in Asia.

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