CORP TALK: Malaysia-based MOL Global Pte. Ltd. will be buying US social network company Friendster Inc., which operates Friendster.com, according to a PRNewsWire report.

MOL Global is an affiliate of online payment solutions provider MOL AccessPortal Berhad, whose principal shareholder is Tan Sri Vincent Tan, the Chairman and CEO of Berjaya Corporation Berhad.

According to the release, following the acquisition, the operations of MOL and Friendster will be combined to create Asia’s largest end-to-end network for content, distribution and commerce. This will pair MOL’s offline retail channel partners and payment platform with Friendster’s online network and user base in Asia.

HWM Indonesia

HWM Indonesia: Finally, Friendster will be able to monetize its social network platform through the additional layer from MOL.

A social media network alone will not generate any revenue, let alone a very regionalized social media network like Friendster.

A helping hand from a strong regional player with its retail channel distribution will add value to Friendster and complete the whole solution.

Navin Danapal, Editor, HWM Malaysia

Navin (HWM Malaysia): Berjaya’s (which owns MOL) news about buying Friendster comes at a time when Facebook (probably Friendster’s greatest rival) recently announced forced public exposure (by default) for its public members posts to compete with Google’s real-time search with Twitter.

It would seem privacy is the Web’s next killer app - not protecting it, but exploiting it for the sake of search coverage.

Facebook’s comment that “this is the way the world is moving” conflicts with the fact Facebook is itself the determiner of world privacy when it’s the biggest social networking site.

With the current bad rep Facebook is getting for its new policy, one might wonder what Berjaya’s direction would be for its newly-acquired Friendster with its massive database of users. (more…)

T&A: A new case study (in PDF form) on the successful rollout of Packet One Networks (P1)’s WiMAX in Malaysia has been released by Green Packet Berhad (Green Packet). The latter is a leading developer of next-gen mobile broadband & networking solutions.

P1 rolled out Malaysia’s and South-east Asia’s first 802.16e 2.3GHz commercial WiMAX network in August 2008. We covered its Johor Bahru launch here. Since then, it has acquired over 80K subscribers and maintained a respectable ARPU (average revenue per user) of above US$26 (RM93).

Part of the success is attributable to the the tech from P1’s partner, Green Packet, who provided the innovative plug-and-play fixed and mobile devices and connectivity solutions. The case study explains how Green Packet took on this challenge to supply the products and solutions which helped accelerate P1’s launch and traction in Malaysia today. (Editor opinions: 1)

Navin Danapal, Technical Editor, HWM Malaysia

Navin (HWM Malaysia): It’s no surprise that Malaysia’s P1 WiMAX service owes its success to its parent company Green Packet. P1 is Green Packet’s portfolio to sell its CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) to the Middle-East markets, as well as South America.

This was outlined by Mr. Kevin Lee, Senior General Manager, Green Packet Malaysia, in a December 2008 interview with HWM Malaysia. (more…)

T&A: Reuters has released a report saying that the Malaysian authorities are looking into the possibility of establishing an Internet filter, similar to China’s abandoned “Green Dam” project.

While there is speculation that this proposal could be linked to how a vibrant Internet culture may have contributed to recent political challenges the government faces, tender submissions to implement the filter are already in place, with a second unidentified source saying that there are also plans to secure control over the content and monitoring division of Malaysia’s Internet regulator.

UPDATE 07 August 2009: Malaysian authorities have responded to the report and clarified that the filter is aimed at curbing pornography, this according to a follow-up report from Reuters. However, the report also warned of the impact a filter might have on investor confidence, citing whether this would affect Google’s consideration to set up the world’s largest server farm in Malaysia’s version of the Silicon Valley — the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC).

UPDATE 12 August 2009: Reuters has followed on earlier reports with an update where Malaysian authorities clarified that the Web filter will not be carried out. Instead, the country will now study alternative measures to police sedition, fraud and child pornography on the Internet.

(more…)

This is in conjunction with the launch of LG’s LH50, LH70 and LH35 Full HD TVs. Viewers only need log in here to watch the documentaries and cast their vote by 9 August 2009.

South-east Asian viewers can now vote for their fave HD documentaries from National Geographic Channel in a collaboration with LG Electronics.

Nokia N97 launch in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Mr. Vlasta Berka, General Manager, Nokia Singapore/Malaysia & Brunei shares the benefits of the new Nokia N97.

SHOWCASE: The country editors of HWM Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have come together to share photos from the launch of the Nokia N97. The Malaysia/Singapore launch was held on 5 June 2009 in a Web-themed launch party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while Indonesia had theirs on 8 June 2009 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Philippines launch is expected for June 25.

At the Kuala Lumpur event, guests were treated to an immersive Internet experience that combined all the Nokia N97 has to offer - social networking, localized Web widgets and apps, multimedia capabilities and a personal touch that exemplifies the S60 5th edition touch experience.

The Singapore edition will give consumers the opportunity to purchase an N97 with the Comes With Music service, giving users one year’s worth of unlimited music downloads. The recommended retail price for the Nokia N97 is RM2,480 in Malaysia and S$1,028 (without Comes with Music) or S$1,228 (with Comes with Music) in Singapore. The price of the device in Indonesia is expected to be 9 million rupiah (US$896).

Here’s a video preview of the Nokia N97 when the Singapore team first had the phone on April 24, 2009:

(more…)