Around the World

» In US: Some stats– about 38% of consumers are watching TV shows online, 36% use their cell phones as entertainment devices and 45% are creating online content such as Web sites, music, videos and blogs for others.

Google is close to claiming 60% of all Web searches conducted in the U.S.. Longtime No. 2 search player Yahoo! is slowly losing traction.

» In Singapore: Motorola acquired Singapore-based music downloading site Soundbuzz to help expand its MOTOMUSIC service into India, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Soundbuzz currently has partnerships with Hutchison 3, Airtel, SingTel, M1, Optus Zoo, Telstra/ BigPond Music, Microsoft (Windows Media Player 10), Creative Technology and Sony BMG.

» In China: New measures are underway to censor and control online video websites. Starting January 31, sites that provide video programming or allow users to upload video must have a permit and be either state-owned or state-controlled. Permits for video hosting sites will be subject to renewal every three years and operators who commit violations may be banned for up to 5 years.

» In Australia: Government has announced that they will be joining China as one of the few countries globally that broadly censor the internet. Censorship of “pornography and inappropriate material”will be mandatory, although people can opt-out of it. The problem then is: if you opt-out, questions will be asked as to why you want out, which may lead to Government monitoring. Catch-22, anyone?

» In India: Video-gaming rising fast! Right now, only 5% of India’s 42 million Internet users are active gamers, but the cybercafé craze is catching on, particularly among teenagers. Bombay Taxi and Raju Driver are two of the most popular titles.

» In World: Text messages aplenty! For Asia, analysts estimate that 1.5 trillion messages sent this year will grow to 1.7 trillion in 2008, making up the bulk of messages measured across “major markets worldwide” including N. America and Western Europe. N. America is expected to send 189 billion messages by the end of 2007 and reach 301 billion in 2008. Western Europe will send a total of 202 billion mobile messages by end-2007, and is projected to send 215 billion next year.

Facebook Update

» Facebook recently joined the DataPortability Workgroup, which comes as a surprise to many. The move shows that Facebook is embracing open standards and open access, and that is a huge fundamental change from its previous stance on being locked in to closed standards.

Newfangled Things

» 4HomeMedia launched an in-home health monitoring service called Home HealthPoint. It allows family members/caregivers to monitor an elderly person’s activities (through a box that talks to a broadband modem + sensors) and receive alerts if something is amiss. The service includes the monitoring software, three motion detectors and an emergency pendant. Additional medical devices include a digital weight scale, a blood-pressure cuff, or a glucose meter. Looks like a much better alternative to spending the average $72,000 annual fee for transitioning a senior into an assisted living facility.

» Israel-based MeeMix is moving their Internet radio service from closed to open Beta. It’s adding a slew of new features, such as comment-based conversations with other users, newsfeed indicating favorite songs/stations rated/friends added and gifting a created station to friends. And the most interesting one? Twitter integration: users can update their Twitter accounts with songs they’ve listened to, favorite stations, etc.

» Nymbler is a new site that helps parents name their babies. Type in names you like and it’ll suggest a bunch of similar names based on origin, sound, meaning and overall style. A search can be refined by indicating whether you love/hate each suggestion.

» Yahoo! Go mobile browser opened its platform to third-party developers. EBay, MySpace and MTV News are the first announced companies to enroll. Yahoo aims to capture more users by allowing them to customize their mobile experiences. For example, users can create a start page containing e-mail, Yahoo buddy status, news feeds, widgets, and RSS feeds.

» Japanese manufacturer Matsushita (Panasonic) has signed a deal with Google to help it launch flat panel television sets that allow users to access YouTube and other Google services.

» Netflix struck a deal with LG Electronics to develop and market a set-top box that would let Netflix users stream movies straight to their TVs. This move may have placed Netflix ahead of main competitor Amazon, who launched a partnership with TiVo last summer. Other competitors with similar services include Movielink, VUDU and MovieBeam.

» Comcast launched Fancast, which serves as a media guide for TV shows/movies and a place to watch full length professional content. Fancast partnered with Hulu to offer content from NBC and Fox, in addition to content from CBS, MTV, and BET. You can check out info about casts and crews, review information about past episodes, and look at related photos. Users are also promised the ability to control their DVR online so they can schedule recordings of shows when they are away from home. Furthermore, the service will recommend shows coming up on television that it thinks you might like to see.