Myanmar could be the Internet’s next great frontier. Once a closed society, internet users are finding that censorship is no longer as rampant as it used to be. It is in this context that Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is visiting the country this week on a business trip.
Officially, Google has kept mum on its plans for the frontier economy.
However, according to business publication Quartz, it already has several initiatives in the works, including Burmese language versions of the Google search engine, Android and other Google services, as well as access to Google Play and possibly Google Wallet, which were banned in the country. Read more
Indoor Google Maps is now available in 22 shopping malls in Singapore. Available only on its Android app, users can now avoid getting lost during The Great Singapore Sale — hunting season for Singapore’s bargain lovers.
On the app, they can zoom in to see detailed floor plans and where they are relative to it. A blue dot indicates their approximate location, and they’ll be able to tell which level they’re on.
Enabling these indoor maps in these sprawling maze-like shopping malls make a lot of sense, since Singaporeans love to flock to these places after work and on weekends.
The technology used to achieve this feat is similar to Google’s My Location for outdoors, which means it uses a mixture of wifi and GPS signals to determine a user’s whereabouts. Read more
Following a year of speculation, Google has today officially opened its office in the Philippines. The new unit will be located in Makati City. Narciso Reyes, who had stints in Friendster and Komli, will lead operations as Google’s Sales Head for the country.
“The Philippines is a key country in Southeast Asia in terms of its digital economy and tech-savvy population,” said Julian Persaud, managing director of Google in Southeast Asia.
He adds that the new office will allow the Internet giant to better engage local users, partners, and advertisers. The unit will help local businesses grow through Google’s products — a function similar to Google’s other representative offices in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, as well as its regional office in Singapore.
Google, the world’s best company to work for according to Fortune, will be hiring for the Philippines office. Openings will be posted on its jobs page soon. Competition for the positions will be fierce, and Google typically engages in up to 4 interviews with a prospective employee before making a decision.
Besides starting sales offices in the region, Google has also been developing its infrastructure to better serve users by setting up new data centers in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. When completed later this year, experts believe they could provide a combined speed boost of 30 percent.
Updated on: 7 December 2012
Despite the hoax press release of Google‘s supposed USD500M acquisition of Wifi provider ICOA, which duped the Verge, the Internet giant’s recent forays to become an internet service provider is no joke.
While the search company has gotten a lot of press mileage for its Google Fiber experiment and partnership with Boingo to provide wifi hotspots in the United States, the launch of the Google Free Zone in the Philippines could make the most impact. Read more
As part of Google for Entrepreneurs Week, held on 23-29 September 2012, Google Singapore is holding a varsity challenge where students aim to solve real-life challenges based on those faced by Singapore startups GoMyWay and LoveByte.
The case competition, to be held on 29 September, will involve 20 teams from 3 local universities: SMU, NUS, and NTU. Participants will be judged on creativity, coherence, and presentation of their proposals. Read more
In the last 5 years, the balance of the tech marketing world has gradually moved to a balanced spread of Social Media activity (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc), Mobile presence (Apple apps, Android apps, Mobile websites etc), Search marketing (AdWords, AdCenter, Display Network, SEO etc) and Traditional Websites (websites, portals, banner advertising, affiliate marketing etc). And one of the keenest movements driving this new shift in balance is the convergence of Social, Location-based and Mobile media (SoLoMo).
SoLoMo Thursday‘s upcoming talk “Google SEO & Adwords Have Adapted to SoLoMo, Haven’t You?” features speaker Rachit Dayal, Managing Partner at Happy Marketer Private Limited, who will look at the practical impact of how Google’s content and strategy has shifted in this new world. He will also highlight how businesses can implement practical changes to quickly jump ahead of the competition by utilising the newest SoLoMo-related changes in the SEO landscape and Google AdWords. Read more
Meng (front) gives a talk at the National Library. Next to him is cartoonist Colin Goh.
Chade-Meng Tan, Google employee #107, smiled the moment he spotted the SGE team at the lobby of Orchard Parksuites, a stately service residence located in the heart of Orchard Road in Singapore.
Although here on holiday to visit family and friends, the jovial “zen master of Google” had been giving talks about his latest book, “Search Inside Yourself”, which he hopes will bring about the conditions for world peace.
Wearing a slightly faded Google Earth T-shirt, the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) alumnus seemed at ease while talking in an odd mix of Singlish and American twang. He explained the intricate workings of the brain, shared stories about Buddha to illustrate insights, and cracked jokes whenever he could.
Meng is an atypical Singaporean. When Google went public, he became multi-millionaire rich. His official job title, Jolly Good Fellow, started as a joke. But he stayed on at the company, transitioning from an engineer into the Head of Personal Growth at GoogleEDU, the search giant’s workforce development program. Read more
In 2011, Google collaborated with local developers by executing various Google conferences and Hackathons, showcasing creative applications, and supporting Tech Hubs. For this year’s challenge, the Internet giant will focus on Google Apps Script, Google Apps and Google Drive APIs.
The Google Apps Developer Challenge is a global competition for developers across the globe to find novel and innovative methods to utilize Apps Script, Apps and Drive APIs to build cool apps. This challenge is particularly unique as the APIs are available to a large community of developers who code in a variety of languages that include Java, PHP, Python, and .Net. Read more
Early this quarter, more than 500 active mappers and volunteers joined forces across the Philippines in a series of Google Map Maker events that explored the benefits and fundamental steps toward building even more beautiful country maps.
The events kicked off with a Map Maker workshop in Manila, where Advocates and Regional Expert Reviewers worked alongside budding mappers. Their enthusiasm carried over to three Map Maker Summits: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, where the Filipino mapping community focused on the ways an accurate country map can lend itself to improved community planning, disaster preparedness and tourism.
The Google Technology User Group in Philippines (GTUG Philippines) have a very ambitious plan to have MapUps in 80 cities across the Philippines and would like to dedicate this activity for Philippine Tourism. Focus will be given to:
Tourist spots
Airports/Ports/Bus Terminals
Hotels and Resorts
Police Stations
Malls / Business Establishments
Pasalubong Stores
Barangay / City Halls
To kick things up a bit, they will be awarding the top mappers in the country! Please make sure you read the mechanics below for details on how to join the Map Your Town Competition.
For updates, to request for a MapUp or to conduct one in your area, please visit the Mapping the Philippines site.
Mechanics:
Interested individuals must register here.
This contest is only open to individuals based in the Philippines.
The Map Your Town competition shall start on May 16, 2012 and end 2 months later on July 15, 2012. Only approved edits during this timeframe shall be considered eligible.
MapMaker Advocates and Regional Expert Reviewers are disqualified from the individual contest.
The top 10 mappers in the Philippines will be awarded with netbooks.
For the mapper with the most number of contributions in the Philippines, PhP100,000 will be donated to a public school from his/her hometown.
If you’re a woman entrepreneur or professional and want to pick up skills to help your business succeed in the online world, Google and Athena Network Singapore has something for you.
Women Entrepreneurs on the Web (WeOW), an initiative by both organizations, will kick-off in June, with the launch party on 31st May. The event was first started by Google in India and saw over 300 female executives and entrepreneurs participate. Read more
Filed under Events, Innovation & Technology, News, Technology, WebTags: athena network, athena network singapore, Female Entrepreneurs, Google, Singapore, weow, women entrepreneurs, Women Entrepreneurs on the Web
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