Twitter, Mig33, 51.com doing well in Asia, while Plurk, Mixi, and Chinese SNSes flounder

Social networking sites in Asia received some mixed news last week, when Internet research firm GlobalWebIndex released a study of how social networks have performed in the region from Q2 2012 to Q4 2012.

Twitter has experienced tremendous growth among several countries in Asia Pacific, contributing significantly to its status as the fastest-rising social network in the world. Strong performances in Hong Kong, China and South Korea has helped it offset declines in Vietnam and Taiwan. Read more

Andy Zain, director of The Founder Institute Jakarta, joins mig33 as executive director

Mig33, a social entertainment platform company headquartered in Singapore, has welcomed a new executive director, serial entrepreneur Andy Zain. He joined mig33 in August. Read more

Live blog: DEMO Alumni panel — Where are they today?

Steven Goh, founder of mig33; Mario Jobbe, co-founder of Circos; and Jerry Kuo, co-founder and CEO of Atlas Post, will share with the audience about their progress since launching their products on DEMO. Moderated by Chris Shipley, formerly the executive producer of the DEMO Conferences. Read more

Mobile social network mig33 to be pre-installed on 12 handset brands in Indonesia and India

Mobile social network mig33, with over 55 million registered members globally, has today announced that it has signed agreements for its app to be pre-installed on 12 more handset brands in India and Indonesia.

These include Skybee, TiPhone, Lexus Mobile, HT Mobile, Ktouch, SPC, Polytron, and MOVI in Indonesia; and Lemon Mobile, Beetel, Swingtel, and Zen Mobile, which join Olive Telecom, in India. The agreements are set to increase the Singapore-based company’s reach in those countries. Read more

Mobile social network mig33 introduces Twitter-like miniblog, targets 500M users

Singapore-based mig33, a mobile social network with over 1.5M unique users a day, has launched a new Twitter-like feature called the mig33 miniblog, which lets users type 140 character texts, reported VentureBeat.

The social network, which is popular in Asia, allows users to create avatars, chat with other people, and play third party games. The miniblog will be integrated with existing features to increase their usage rate. Read more

Indonesia Digest: New game by Mig33 and Tempa Labs, Indonesian’s Silicon Valley, and more

Here is some interesting startup news snippets from Indonesia, not only in its capital, Jakarta, but also other tech startup hubs such as Yogyakarta, Medan, Surabaya, and many more. These listed news are taken from our partner, DailySocial, a leading blog on Indonesia’s tech startup scene. Read more

Japan Digest – 5 Aug

Here you can find interesting startup news from Japan, not only from its capital, Tokyo, but also other startup hubs like Fukuoka, Kyoto, Osaka, and many more. Read more

Singapore-based TheMobileGamer raised S$1mil from One97MobilityFund

Mobile games developer TheMobileGamer (TMG) has raised S$1 million in second round funding from sole participant One97MobilityFund, reported Penn Olson.

TMG’s games can be found at mobile social networks mig33, kotagames.com, and Mozat. With the investment, they aim to produce 10 more mobile games and acquire 2.5 million more users. Read more

mig33 Developer Program Launch – 20 Jul

With mig33 Developer Program Launch next Wed 20 Jul, game developers and brand owners alike can see how they can connect and monetize social games and apps with mig33′s mobile audience of more than 50 million committed users.

The mig33 Developer Program is a way for game developers to release their products on the mig33 network. This first stage of the program will target advanced social games by adopting the GREE Platform for Smartphone. In later stages, the program will be expanded and will include more types of games. Read more

Steven Goh of mig33: Emerging Markets Are Where It’s At

Do you need to go to Silicon Valley to succeed as a start-up? Steven Goh, co-founder and CEO of mobile content and entertainment provider mig33, thinks not. In fact, he considers moving the company’s headquarters from the Valley to Singapore in 2009 to be one of his best business decisions. “It’s a wonderful place full of amazing people doing great things, and I have no regrets for going there,” he tells us. “But recognise that there is opportunity around you everywhere. Greater Asia is where the world’s attention is turning to and Singapore is in a position to take advantage of this like no other.” Read more