Google Wi Fi Database check.

If you want to find whether your home Wi-Fi location is known to Google then do a search at below link. I bet you'll be pretty surprised to see what the giants like Google, Apple knows about you. I think sooner or later they can capture each and every device location on this planet. Big brother or Grand pa Sam. Don't know but sure they know tons about each and every one of us who's connected. Scary!!!

mapping MAC addresses - samy kamkar

How smart is your city - Ericsson Networked Society Index

Source: Youtube

Looking in to ICT (Infocomm Tech) and trying to correlate with development is nothing new. We've seen many measurements before and CIA factbook carries a lot of information on ICT.

Anyway the video is from Ericsson and Singapore is the No.1 followed by Stockholm. Thanks for the wonderful infra in place we're on the top. However we're miles behind in terms of service and consistency. Hope to see some improvement, especially in mobile services.

Cisco gains market share in X86 Blades and ranks 3rd worldwide

Source: E-week

When we hear Cisco, the first think comes in to our mind is "Routers or Switches". Ofcourse recently they came in to the news for all the wrong reasons and I don't really a great fan of their consumer non-core products like CIUS, Flip or UMI.

Now Cisco officially the 3rd largest x-86 Blade server vendor overtaking Dell in the process. Market leader HP is still way too high with 48% share followed by IBM with 20%. Cisco captured 10.5% and placed at 3rd.

Look at the graphs here

IPv6 deployment - Taking time..

Why IPv6 still finding its place in Gov & Universities? With the push from industry as well as regulatory bodies I was hoping by 2011 we'll start to see main stream services but today I feel it'll take few more years before we see such services.

I happened to talk to some of my friends working at big organizations. Surprising companies like Cisco, Juniper, HP, IBM yet to start IPv6 in their internal networks. The reason is " No immediate requirement".

I agree that there is no immediate requirement in internal LAN but this is where IPv6 will find its mass market. Unless enterprises opt for it we don't see the traffic going north. It is the same reason, why ISP's & TELCO's are not starting IPv6 in their networks.

Imagine today a mobile operator running on IPv4 private. Nothing 'pushes' the operator to deploy IPv6. No apparent revenue driver, but cost wise it is going to be higher.

Mobile Networks today doesnt support v4v6 PDP which means for every IPv6 session this is going to be a "NEW session" and Operator ends up paying higher license charge as well as provide more resources in the core network. This will increase costs significantly. Also Customer is not demanding (won't be demanding) public IP or reachable IP address. So without strong push or pull factor the technology cannot be deployed.

Secondly, today almost 100% content is on IPv4 network. Exceptions like Google, MS, are there but majority of the websites still running on v4. So even if an operator deploys v6 100% and implement a NAT device this is not poolfroop yet because some of the services seems not working with 6to4 NAT (Skype, IM, Facebook etc). So this is another big hurdle.

Hopefully the v4v6 PDP comes up with more and more content providers making their content available on v6 that's the day we see more v6 traffic.

Telkom CEO wants to buy back 35% share of SingTel in Telkomsel.

Previously I've mentioned it here, that Telkom wants to buy back shares from SingTel. Now seems there is more action. CEO of Telkom made it public that they are talking with SingTel. If this is true, then this is a big blow to SingTel and SingTel will not give up unless there is political/regulatory pressures.

M1 Singapore will offer commercial LTE Q1-2012

Source: M1 website

M1 announced that they will be offering commercial LTE as early as Q1-2012. I believe both SingTel & Starhub will be offering LTE in 2012 and if you are hoping to enjoy speeds up to 300Mbps by next year I've to say sorry to you. I am not very optimistic about LTE or higher mobile speeds in Singapore at least for the near future. It is quite similar to NG-NBN. Today the fiber rollout is almost 90% done but if we see the % switched to fiber that is less than 5%. Reason is Cost and requirement.

End of the day people subscribe higher speeds when they need it. Today without doubt higher bandwidth is used for gaming, p2p or video stuff. The common man doesn't really require dozens of mega bits or hundreds of mega bits right now. For me I am very happy with my 10Mbps connection which is used mainly for voip or video chat as well as normal browsing.

Anyway more info about M1 is they've awarded the contract to Huawei and the value is worth 280 million over 5 years. If my wild guess is correct M1 awarded as Managed services. That's the only way they can chalk up such high amount. If this is correct, then we'll slowly see Managed Services entering in to Singapore Telco market.

This is significant because as of now we see very little managed services in APAC region. Bharti pioneered this model in India and we all know the success story. Globe is venturing in to it right now and once Singapore opt for it within few years Indonesia, Thailand and rest will follow the suite (be it due to SingTel influence of singapore influence).This will help Telco's to reduce costs but not very good for engineers working with them :|

Also a bit surprised that NSN (Nokia) lost the contract. Currently M1 Core is NSN while the radio network is by Huawei. My understanding is M1 not very happy with Huawei as Huawei prioritizing  all new features for Starhub (Starhub is completely build by Huawei) and M1 wanted to keep NSN for their strategic advantage. So nor M1 awarding to Huawei means either they managed to get some commitment or wonderful 'cost' quote.
Given the fact that Starhub can offer much more business to Huawei the former assumption may not be valid and more likely that M1 managed to get a bargain. Who knows we may well see some M&A activity here too :)

Play Angry birds in any browser... No need iPhone, Android..:)

Just point your browser to chrome.angrybirds.com or download the app from Chrome webstore @ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/

The game is not complete (yet) but who cares, the addictive game still has 63+2 plays so just point and target 3 stars..:)

Update: Just got the hint that this is using the local storage and the hack to the 7 levels in Chrome Dimesion.
So this will open up the 5 levels and make it 63+7.

Install the angrybirds from chrome store and open it.
Once its running then paste below code in to the address bar and press enter. Now go and waste few more min..
javascript: var i = 0; while (i<=69) { localStorage.setItem('level_star_'+i,'3'); i++; } window.location.reload();

To return to original paste below code

javascript: var i = 1; while (i<=69) { localStorage.setItem('level_star_'+i,'-1'); i++; } window.location.reload();

Casino spending - Loss per resident adult. Singapore is 2nd

Just in three years time the Integrated Resorts in Singapore became the 2nd largest/richest money makers. If we see the per capita losses we are 2nd too. US, China are no where to be found (Macau/Monaco are not part of this study).

This is based on the total revenue/residents of singapore. So if we assume 50% of money is coming from foreigners/tourists, still the loss/resident will stand at 500+ which puts us in top 5 list.

All this money supposed to go to other markets are now directed to gambling. No wonder the retails sales, and other businesses are affected after the IR opening.

Cisco cius - Any takers??

AT&T will be the second carrier to start selling Cisco Cius (pronounced as See US). Indicative price is ~ USD 900. Now the big question is who is the targeted audience?

Rumor says that APAC will follow by middle of the year. So hopefully the box is available in Singapore later part of the year.

Also what is/are the USP of Cius compared to the market leader iPad or the new entrants Samsung, RIM etc? It comes with a  7" screen, android & pretty standard features like bluetooth, wi-fi, 3G etc. Cisco tops with WebEx & VPN client, but these are already available for iPad or Android tabs. So what exactly is the differentiation factor? No idea ..:|

My opinion is soon we'll see Cisco withdrawing Cius product from the market similar to Flip. Hope Cisco will get their business strategy soon. If not the 'once most valuable company' will be go down in the history and will be a subject for MBA students.

Microsoft purchases Skype.

Source: Microsoft

I am quite optimistic about this deal. Mainly from three different points, say

1. Kinect/Gaming strategy
2. Mobile VoIP/Windows 7 overall strategy
3. Online market/Microsoft internet strategy

In 2009 Skype became the largest long distance call company with 8% of international market share, and in 2010 the market share increased to 12%. The numbers are staggering with 54 billion minutes and close to 550 million registered users and 50+ million paid users (Of course Skype still struggling to make profits).

What Microsoft can do with Skype is to integrate with their existing products.

* Kinect became a huge hit and Microsoft will certainly integrate Skype/Video calls with Kinect platform.

* As per Pyramid reports, windows 7 will overtake Android by 2015 and skype can be a very nice addition to smart phones. Also skype is a semi-business tool for frequent travelers and I've seen some SME's & consultants even printing their skype ID on business cards. So this will make a lot of sense to have skype onboard

* We all know how MS tried to buy Yahoo couple of years back. MS wants to put their name in internet arena and skype can help that.

Also MS is sitting on piles of free cash. The amount paid is ~ 10xPE and I'd think this is the right price. They can open new areas of revenue to make it profitable. One big issue will be to reduce the call charges. Skype is no longer competitive compared to new VoIP providers. I've done some comparison here. If they can reduce the prices or offer flat rate plans in a new countries that'll bring new revenue.

In Singapore or APAC I don't see a big impact of Skype on TELCO's right now but moving forward with greater access speeds Skype/Microsoft can pose a bigger threat jointly with Apple Facetime, Google Voice & other VoIP providers.


On a side note, now I'm pretty curious to see how Cisco will do with their Umi service :). If Cisco acquires Skype that would've made them instantly the market leader of VoIP market and they could've integrated Skype Video with their Umi box. But MS did the right thing now.

Video conferencing - Huawei & ZTE to enter the market

Source: Ovum

As per below text, Huawei & ZTE will be entering the market. In this part of the world the video conferencing or tele presence yet to take in a big way. Perhaps due to the geographical distance or the cultural reasons we don't see many people going for video conferences. Does Huawei/ZTE entrance in to the market will change this scenario? I don't think so. The impact in APAC would be minimum as Asians tend to prefer face-to-face meetings and build rapport over lunch/dinner rather than business meetings. Also the investment and mtce is not cheap. If we really want to reduce the costs down then there are options like Skype or SIP based video conference solutions.



    HELSINKI, May 5 (Reuters) - Video conferencing services developed by Huawei and ZTE will shake up the market in coming years in the same way the Chinese vendors changed the telecom gear sector, research firm Ovum said on Thursday.
Ovum forecast that business spending on video conferencing would grow annually by 6 percent through 2016 when the global market would be worth $3.8 billion.
The video conferencing equipment market is dominated by established U.S. vendors Cisco <CSCO.O> and Polycom <PLCM.O>, but Ovum said Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] and ZTE <000063.SZ>, both small players now, are set to have a major impact on the market in the next two to four years.
"We expect them to cause quite a lot of disruption," Ovum analyst Richard Thurston said.
Huawei and ZTE together have built up a 30-percent share of the global mobile telecom gear market in a few years through aggressive pricing that pushed vendors such as Nortel and Motorola out of the business.
Ovum said some parts of the videoconferencing market were set for much higher growth: 19 percent annually for high-end offerings such as telepresence rooms costing about $300,000 each and 11.5 percent for managed services.

Apple Phone

Source: Google Patents

Have a look here. Apple is quite popular with the phones, tabs etc and they are known for great designs. But did you see this?

Lucky they didn't materialize this. If it is I am sure the successor would have been "Pine apple"

Best employers in Singapore 2011

Source: Aon Hewitt 


Here goes the list for Singapore. I think they've either excluded the MNC's or their survey methodology doesnt take 
big wigs like Google, MS or local giants SIA, ST, Singtel. 


Outstanding

1. Ritz-carlton
2. McDonalds

Best employees

1. Hilti Far East Pte Ltd
2. Singapore food industries 
3. TATA consultancy
4. American Express
5. CITI Bank
6. Federal Express
7. ITE
8. Intercontinental
9. Marriot Hotel
10. Bain & Co SEA
11. Singapore prison service

Best employers in India 2011

Source: Aon Hewitt

As per their recent survey, below is the list. Surprisingly the IT firms in the list are just three (Wipro, Mindtree & NIIT). Rest of them are manufacture segment or Telco's. Sounds strange but seems pretty good indication for the future. Management consultancies, Finance firms couldn't get their share as we normally see in developed markets. If we're to take this as a true reflection at ground, then the days of dream job in an IT firm seems to be over and hopefully we'd see more and more conglomerates will found their place in the list.

1. Hindustan Unilever Limited
2. Aditya Birla Group
3. LG Electronics Ltd
4. Godrej 
5. Bharti Airtel
6. NTPC
7. Becton Dickinson India
8. Aircel
9. Wipro
10. Marriott India
11. Kotak Mahindra
12. Scope International
13. Dr Reddy's
14. Whirlpool India
15. Maruti Suzuki
16. Canon India
17. Ford India
18. Tata Teleservices
19. MindTree
20. NIIT

PAP returns to power.. No surprises

No surprises as expected. Singaporeans in general are quite a matured lot and it proved once again yesterday.

Opposition managed to get a GRC for the first time and managed to keep Hougang. But they've lost one of their strong hold, Potong Pasir. Congratulations for Aljunied team & all the winners. For the rest, I believe they've done a very good job, especially Nicole Seah & Kenneth.

This is the best one can see in any nation. The entire elections process done in less than a month time :)

Singapore general elections 2011. Waiting for results now

Finally the elections are over and all polling stations closed.

Now waiting for the results. The results will be broadcasted Live in major channels (Channelnewsasia, vasantam, suria, Channel 8 & 5) from 09.30 PM onwards.

I think this is the most tensed & hotly debated elections in Singapore during my observation so far (from 1991 onwards) and I'll be watching CNA too.. Just hope no surprises and candidates will get what they deserve..

iPad - Missing App Store or Safari or Genius..

Ok. After one day, I've problem with the iPad. Basically the "App Store" icon on the home tab went missing. I've tried Googling but no solution. I restarted, tried uninstalled the most recent app. But ended up with No Safari icon too.

Then followed the engineering process :). The problem is the applying "Restriction".

Go to Settings > General> Restrictions. If you select any of them, this is reflected with hiding respective icons.

So I've enabled restriction for "Deleting Apps" then App Store went missing. Enabled for "Safari" then Safari icon went missing. My idea of the restriction is not to let any one change the settings without authorization. But somehow the Apple took it literally by hiding the app totally.

Finally purchased the iPad...

I am not a "i-Fan". But I realized the benefits of having a tablet, especially for my baby. Purely for educational purposes and trust me, you won't regret buying one.

I tried Motorola Xoom, Galaxy 7" as well as other less known brands. But finally I opted for iPad. This is my first purchase of "Apple" product and I hate to say that now I am purchasing the "accessories" to connect a thumb drive/SD card.

I opted for a Wi-Fi only tab because this will be mainly used at Home. So saved couple of hundred bucks there. So far the experience is wonderful and battery seems pretty solid too. I've been using it since this morning (5.30am) and after almost 4 hours still left around 60%.

Most dangerous destinations in the world

Source: Forbes

The list goes as below. While it is very unfortunate to have such situations in any place on the planet more specifically I am quite sad due to the fact that the list contains the names of Pakistan & Sri lanka in the list. These countries were part of the most beautiful, resource rich, culturally diverse & highly peaceful nation on the planet "Bharata Varsha". While the situation in India is not grave but its not that better compared to many of these nations. I just pray that we don't even have to have such list in the future..God bless all..

• Sudan
• Liberia
• Lebanon
• Chad
• Haiti
• Sri Lanka
• Burundi
• Pakistan
• Cote Divorie
• Democratic Republic Of Congo
• Afganistan
• Iraq
• Somalia

Singtel MIO did it again.

Not quite sure what is going with the system but the MIO TV went down last night. There was supposed to 'the match' in La Liga between Barcelona vs Real Madrid (0200 hrs Singapore time) and the 'popular PINK screen" started to display.

I believe the "PINK SCREEN OF DEATH" or "PSOD" will be as popular as the BSOD of Windows NT soon.. By the way did you guys realized that MIO TV using Microsoft Media room as the backend system ;)

B-RAS Market status - Market share, Competitors, Growth prospects..:)

I was trying to update myself on the B-RAS market and would you believe what Google search results showed me?

It's "Wonder BRA"

LoL. Just like the names such as "expertsexchange or MoleStationNursery" I didn't realized that I was searching for B-RAS and it became "BRAS". Bonus are the picture results :)

Coming to the 'technology' area, I remember it was Alcatel who was the market leader in 2009-2010 closely followed by Huawei. Also Redback (now acquired by Ericsson) have sizable penetration in APAC (Globe-Philippines, Bharti-India, SingTel-Singapore, Optus-Australia, etc)

However the current market share stats seems to be a bit tough to get. I've to start digging my market research folks now..

After a loooooooooooooong time login to Yahoo Mail..Reason is Disposable mail

I am quite surprised to see the new feature and to try it I login to my yahoo mail ID. Great, I remember the password still so the login is not a much problem. The interface seems pretty changed and it was the so called "new interface" & Google mail worked as Push & Pull factors for me to switchover.

The new new interface is good and the best part is the disposable email. I've tried with a local website and worked like a charm. Good job Engineers.. Though this alone doesn't make me to switchover atleast I remember that I don't have to google for anon mail offerings.