Want to form the “Singapore Alley” at SXSW 2012?

For the first time ever, the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive section of the larger SXSW Conferences and Festivals (including Music and Film) saw official Singapore representation earlier this March.

Held yearly in Austin, Texas, SXSW is a place where people meet, new technology showcased, ideas exchanged and new ones emerge.

It was my first time attending the festivities this year, which happened to coincide with the aforementioned first official Singapore delegation. There was a Singapore pavilion which had the startups showcasing their products and even a Singapore party one evening [check out pictures].

Having had a large hand in making the Singapore pavilion happen this year and being encouraged by the results, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is planning for another Singapore presence at SXSW 2012.

Drawing on lessons learnt from the 2011 festival, there are some changes planned for the 2012. In lieu of a pavilion space, each participating startup will get a 10’x10’ booth of their own. The vision is to have enough companies to form a Singapore Alley that visitors will walk through. This will provide stronger brand identity for individual companies and yet be covered under the umbrella of Singapore’s brand name.

IDA will also look into a SXSW Block Party to draw visitors to the booths, and is planning to work with partners to facilitate personalized 1-to-1 meetings between Singapore startups and SXSW attendees. At the same time, VentureBeat, an influential US tech blog, will select and conduct video interviews the most interesting Singapore startups.

Timeline: Singapore Delegation At SXSW
Singapore Alley Exhibition: 12-15th March 2012

The cost for each start-up is estimated to be US$500 to cover booth space, advertisement, booth setup and related marketing activities. Startups will need to cover their own airfare, transport, SXSW Interactive passes and accommodation. IDA is required to make a decision very soon, so for those who are interested, please send an email to ida_startup@ida.gov.sg.

Report: Smartphones only have 19% penetration rate in Asia

While cutting-edge iOS and Android smartphones have been hogging the headlines lately, it is the feature phones that are still dominant in Asia.

Market analysis firm VisionMobile has estimated in a report that smartphones only have a 19 percent penetration rate in Asia, due to the prevalence of cost-sensitive developing markets.

The report also revealed that smartphones have a 50 percent peneration rate in developed markets but less than 20 percent in developing markets. For instance, 46 percent of Singaporean mobile phone users own smartphones, leading the region.

Things could change rapidly in some emergent markets however. Almost half of netizens who do not own smartphones in Southeast Asia have the intent of purchasing one in the near future.

Read more

How to outsource everything to the cloud (except yourself)

Remember the blurry old days when software was sold in boxes? If you were born in early 80’s, you might even have had the joy of installing software from floppy disks. Gladly, those times are past us.

Setting up a website, building a customer database, sending out newsletters and many other impractical tasks have become affordable for everyone, at a fraction of the costs 20 years ago, thanks to a plethora of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) businesses.

Here you’ll find a brief overview of web-based services that you can start using today to help bootstrap your company. Read more

QropIt hopes to take QR code implementation to the next level

Usually, a QR code would bring you to a website or call up some contact information about a company or individual. While useful if well-implemented, these uses provide just a glimpse of the QR code’s potential.

Enter QropIt, a full-fledged, free-to-use QR code web app that just launched today (29th November). Led by Singapore-based web developer Chua U-Zyn and working with Korean partner Focusone, QropIt allows users to ‘like’ a Facebook page or receive coupons from merchants after scanning a QR code. The mobile app, which is coming soon, will let smartphone users find out what QR codes are nearby which may interest them.

Read more

MakeShake is making milkshakes sexy again

Customizable desserts and beverages have been around for quite awhile. From customized yogurts to make-your-own gelato,  Singaporeans have been spoilt for choice when it comes to satisfying their sweet tooth.

So it’s only a matter of time that someone applies the same concept to milkshakes, which of late seemed to be playing second fiddle to the ever-popular bubble tea. Read more

ClickTrue gets privileged MSC status in Malaysia

ClickTRUE, a Singapore-based SEO consultancy firm, has been awarded the MSC status for its Malaysian office, it announced in a press release today.

Benefits that the company will receive include better access to communications infrastructure, duty-free importation of multimedia equipment, R&D facilities, and financial incentives like tax exemptions. Read more

Starting a new company? Do industry analysis (part two)

If you are looking to sell a business idea to venture capital firms, demonstrating an understanding of your industry is important. This is the second of a two-part series on how industry analysis can take the guess work out of starting a new company and securing venture capital.

Part one defined what kind of questions industry analysis aims to solve. Here we recommend some of the best resources on the Internet to help you carry out industry analysis.

To start, look at the industry as whole, and then begin to make a study of the top three or four players. Cross reference analysis of individual companies with industry analysis to see if you can verify the industry reports and make your own conclusions. Read more

Daily deals aggregator AllDealsAsia’s mobile app imminent

In a hyper-competitive, crowded group buying industry in Singapore and Asia, creating a mobile app is one sure way to stand out from the crowd.

AllDealsAsia, a Singapore-based group buying deals aggregator with a presence in Southeast Asia, has done just that (screenshots below). Read more

Events For The Week – 26 Nov-3 Dec

For a one-stop to all events related to or concerning entrepreneurship, certain industry-meets-business forums and seminars in Singapore, check out our Calendar. If not, you can also follow our bite-size updated posts for upcoming events for the week.

Events range from simple get-togethers to full-blown conferences. Get to meet fellow developers, entrepreneurs, startup CEOs & founders, and meet & learn from CEOs of established companies who have seen it all.

Our aim here at SGE is to make it easy for you to pick & choose from the event buffet. Enjoy.

Here are the events for this week. Events are mostly in Singapore (generally 30 minutes drive from anywhere), but we also include key events from around Southeast Asia and beyond. Read more

Singapore’s Progeniq powered visual effects production for movie “The Flying Machine”

The Flying Machine, a 3D live-action and animation family movie starring Heather Graham (Bowfinger, The Spy Who Shagged Me) and produced by Oscar winner Hugh Welchman, was created with the help of Singapore-based company Progeniq Technology. Read more