SingTel, StarHub’s decision to develop own Whatsapp makes absolutely no sense

Singapore’s top two mobile operators SingTel and StarHub have made known today that they are taking the fight to WhatsApp, which has become the dominant messaging service in many parts of the world. Faced with declining revenues from SMS, both telcos are developing their own chat apps that they hope to launch within the next few months.

While the Today article is vague about SingTel’s plans, it reports that StarHub will be working with Vodafone to create an ‘interoperable’ service that includes instant messaging, video calls, and file sharing.

But here’s the problem: what StarHub has described sounds exactly like WhatsApp.

Sure, it would have been feasible to develop a WhatsApp killer one or two years ago, but the fact is that market conditions have shifted dramatically in one important way: They’re no longer battling against just Whatsapp or Vibe, but also Kakaotalk, Wechat, Line, and many others. Read more

Singapore on the cusp of becoming an NFC-enabled nation; thousands of merchants involved

Previously, we’ve written that 2012 could be a big year for Near-field Communication Technology. Today, Singapore has taken a big step towards making it happen.

Gemalto, a global digital security company that is leading an NFC consortium in Singapore, has announced that it is finally ready to launch a slew of NFC-enabled mobile payment services.

The consortium, which consists of Citibank, DBS, EZ-Link, and all three mobile operators in Singapore — M1, SingTel, and StarHub,  is supported by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

If you’re hazy on what NFC is, it is essentially a technology that, among other uses, turns smartphones into mobile wallets. It essentially eliminates the need to bring out physical wallets and credit cards. Read more

Aggregate all digital bills into one place with GreenPost

With electronic bills slowly entering mainstream usage, GreenPost hopes to aggregate all your digital bills into one place for convenient viewing. Users would need to register for an account on the website (or through their iPhone, iPad, and Android app) and link the respective service providers — like your phone company for instance — with GreenPost. After that, the bills will appear on the GreenPost website or app. Read more

65Bits Episode 161: Repeat after me, Windows Phone 7 Series

Our friends at Tech65 starts off this week with their weekly podcast on the following issues that dominated the tech landscape: [1] Windows Phone 7 Series won’t have copy and paste, [2] Apple bans protective screen film from Apple Store, [3] iPhone browsing could be faster with Opera — if Apple approves, [4] MyTransport.SG packs travel information on the go, [5] SingTel and Ericsson Ride the Waves of LTE Technology and [6] StarHub upgrades broadband. Do click and check out their latest podcast here. You can now also listen to the Tech65 podcast here as well by coming to the blog post directly. Read more

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65Bits Episode 148: Somewhere between Joo Koon and Joo Chiat

Our friends at Tech65 start their weekly podcast on the following issues that dominated the tech landscape last week: [1] Faster Starhub broadband, [2] iPhone prices in Singapore, [3] Fusion Garage Joojoo tablet rises from the ashes of the CrunchPad, [4] CrunchPad Federal Lawsuit Filed; Some Additional Thoughts and [5] Google backs world’s fastest internet cable. Do click and check out their latest podcast here.

65Bits Episode 144: Hackers and HackerSpace

Our friends at Tech65 start their weekly podcast on the following issues that dominated the tech landscape last week: [1] StarHub to offer iPhone, [2] Google investing in a mobile future with AdMob, [3] Google Has Acquired Gizmo5, [4] Google’s Go: A New Programming Language That’s Python Meets C++, [5] ZiiLABS ZMS-08 offers Cortex A8-powered Full HD and Flash acceleration for netbooks, [6] Xbox 360 Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm hit Nov. 17 [7] Tech65 website was hacked on monday night, [8] HackerSpace.SG. Do click and check out their latest podcast here.

Hoiio Wins Digital Life Choice Award

In an article published yesterday by Digital Life, Hoiio came out tops in a comparison of applications on mobile phones that enable users to slash local and overseas calls. Apart from Hoiio, other applications that were in the running include Pfingo, Skype, Blackberry Messenger, Truphone, Fring and Nimbuzz. Read more

65Bits Episode 129: The 129th Episode

Our friends at Tech65 start their weekly podcast on the following issues that dominated the tech landscape last week: [1] Starhub’s Prepaid Mobile Broadband Plan, [2] Windows 7 RTMed, [3] Jolicloud (A Netbook OS designed for the Cloud) Alpha-ed, [4] Twitter Correcting Follower Counts: 1000s of Spammers Perish, [5] Facebook let you change your username – Just one more time and the Byte of the week: Google Latitude for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Do click and check out their podcast.

65Bits Episode 123 : Month of SmartPhones 2 – iPhone 3GS

Our friends at Tech65 start their weekly podcast on the following issues that dominated the tech landscape last week: [1] Video Games Live Concert in Singapore, [2] Soundbuzz music store to shut down on July 15, [3] Singtel to launch a Music service called AMP, [4] Popular Bookshop website got hacked, [5] Facebook allows personalized username, [5] Twitter launches verified accounts, Stories: [6] MacBook family refreshed, [7] Snow Leopard announced, [8] Safari 4 annouced, MonthOfSmartPhones Discussion: [9] iPhone 3G S, [10] Singtel to launch iPhone 3GS in July. [11] Singtel to offer Tethering on iPhone3.0 OS, [12] iPhone OS 3.0 and Byte of the Week: doubleTwist for iPhone. Do click and check out their podcast.

Web Developer-Designer Needed At Foosti

A startup backed by the second largest telecommunications service provider in Singapore is looking for a web developer/designer intern. Read more