Ten Richest Men in Indonesia: Globe Asia

Total wealth of 150 millioners published in the Globe Asia list by 2010 reaches US$61.5 bn


Globe Asia magazine again lists tycoon Budi Hartono as the richest man in Indonesia. The owner of tobacco company Djarum and Bank BCA owns US$4.8 billion worth of wealth.


The rise in Budi Hartono's wealth is due to the growth in stock prices and Indonesian economy. In addition to Hartono, 20 other richest men in the country have improved their wealth by virtue of the recovered stock market.


"Indonesia's wealth is supported by its natural resources. This is high time for businessmen to invest in," said Tanri Abeng, publisher of Globe Asia, today, May 31.


Total wealth of 150 millioners published in the Globe Asia list by 2010 reaches US$61.5 billion, 22 percent higher than 2009. 


Here is the list of 10 richest men in Indonesia according to Globe Asia: 


1 Budi Hartono US$ 4,8 billion

2 Eka Tjipta Wijaya US$ 4 billion
3 Anthony Salim US$ 3,6 billion
4 Aburizal Bakrie US$ 3 billion
5 Martua Sitorus US$ 2,5 billion
6 Putra Sampoerna US$ 2,4 billion
7 Sukanto Tanato US$ 1,8 billion
8 Dato Low Tuck Kwong US$ 1,4 billion
9 Peter Sondakh US$ 1,3 billion
10 Eddy William Katuari US$ 1,3 billion

A new Apple TV for 2010?

Details on a new Apple TV set top box were revealed on Friday, with the device reportedly based on iPhone OS 4, powered by Apple's A4 processor (the same used in the iPad and iPhone 4 that is soon to be released), and equipped with 1080P cloud-based streaming content (meaning coming from other computers in your home or network).


The information is rumored to have been confirmed by a source "very close to Apple", according to the article listed here on Engadget. The new hardware is reported to possibly be limited to 16GB of storage (not much needed when using a cloud), but will be equipped to provide full 1080P HD video.


"Not only will this be priced to sell (like hotcakes), it seems that Apple is moving away from the model of local storage and will be focusing the new ATV on cloud-based storage", the Engadget report states. "For those still interested in keeping their content close, there will be an option to utilize a Time Capsule as an external storage component, but the main course will be about streaming."


This dreamy new product was described as "an iPhone without a screen." We've all hoped for a day when we could download the same apps we use on our iPhones, iPods and iPads right on Apple TV since the App Store was introduced.


Apple Insider had this to say in regards to the coincidence of Google's recent announcement about their own TV offerings, "The project has allegedly been in development since long before the Google TV was introduced last week. Google's offering will run on the Android operating system, and will be integrated in set top boxes as well as on HDTV hardware itself from major manufacturers. Google TV, which will run applications from the Android Market and stream Internet video, is scheduled to be released this fall."


In February of this year, Chief Operating Officer of Apple, Tim Cook, said the set top box market does not compare with the other categories in which Apple competes. I can't say I disagree with that statement, considering the capabilities and luxuries offered on their media players, smartphones and computers. Every other device Apple has created exudes absolute astonishment and excitement from its consumers. With Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference taking place in San Francisco, California June 7th-June 11th, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed hoping for the announcement or unveling of this... but I suppose that depends how far along in the development process they are.


Engadget's findings lead us to believe that Apple would continue to sell their TV products as a set top box, while Google TV is going to be integrated with some HDTVs in the fall of 2010. The biggest shock is what the rumored retail value of this new TV will be... starting at $99. If Apple had any concern before about how their TV's would compete, I think it safe to say their amazing ability to market this so economically will bridge the gap at lightspeed. Apple vs. Android.... to be continued, still it seems.

Google Lists Top 1000 Sites, Facebook No. 1

A list commissioned by Google’s search engine has declared Facebook as the most visited site in April 2010. Google has listed the top 1000 websites for the month.

It shared that Facebook has witnessed more 540 millionunique visitors in April, which comes out to be 35.2% of the total number of internet users worldwide.

In addition, Facebook has reportedly triggered 570 billion page views throughout the month, surpassing all other leading websites.

On an interesting note, Facebook races with Google's own socialnetworking site Orkut. The other competitors in the social networking area are LinkedIn, MySpace and microblogging site Twitter.

"The list excludes adult sites, ad networks, domains that don't have publicly visible content or don't load properly, and certain Google sites", Google said.

Second in the line is Yahoo with about 490 million unique visitors, visiting in April. In addition, Yahoo catered to 70 billion page views during the month.

Yahoo was followed by Microsoft's live online services in the two and three spots with 39 billion page views coupled with 370 million unique visitors.

Google has brought out the list in an attempt to display its ad sales.

HTC EVO 4G rooted, running Android 2.2

Last week Sprint announced that the HTC EVO 4G would hit stores on June 4th. The phone will cost $199 USD with two-year contract. 

Today, a user on XDA-Developers has posted a video of the upcoming phone rooted and running Android 2.2 "Froyo," which has not been released on any phone except for the Nexus One. 

It is speculated that the phone is one of the few that were given out to I/O conference participants, the Google event last week. 

The HTC EVO 4G boasts the most impressive specs on an Android phone yet, with a 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive multi-touchscreen display (with pinch to zoom), Android 2.1 with Sense UI, Google Search, Google Maps, Google Talk, Gmail, Google Goggles, YouTube, Google Calendar syncing, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot capability for connecting up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices. 

Additionally, the device has GPS with Sprint Navigation, a Digital compass, Bluetooth 2.1, a 3.5mm headset jack, FM radio, Amazon MP3 store, Qik video sharing, HDMI out a kickstand for hands-free viewing, an 8MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash (and 720p HD video recording) and an additional 1.3MP front-facing camera for video conferencing. 

Under the hood is a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1GB ROM, 512MB RAM, a 1500 mAh battery and an 8GB microSD card. 

3G Skype Calling Hits Apple's iPhones... for a Future Price

At long-last, a new version of the Skype application for the iPhone has been released and, more importantly, it allows owners of Apple's device to make outbound Skype calls using their 3G connections. Previously, Apple--and in many ways, AT&T--had forbidden such a practice due to competition between the network and Skype itself.

"We absolutely expect our vendors not to facilitate the services of our competitors," said Jim Cicconi, AT&T's senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs, in an April interview with USA Today.

With the release of Skype 2.0 for the iPhone, users are no longer restricted to WiFi only calling. Skype-to-Skype calls over a 3G connection are free—for now, at least. The company has indicated that it plans to begin charging users for these kinds of calls beginning in September, but the service won't come in the form of a "buy a chunk of minutes" option akin to the company's Skype-to-landline or Skype-to-mobile calling services.

Instead, users will pay an undisclosed monthly fee for the ability to fire up Skype on their iPhones and call out to other Skype users. That's in addition to whatever fees or prices they already pay as part of their various calling plans with AT&T.

Skype-to-Skype calls over a WiFi connection will remain free, and it's unclear whether users will pay a fee in addition to paying for Skype minutes or unlimited calling plans when trying to make Skype calls to landline or mobile phones over the iPhone's 3G connection.

Currently, Skype users on Verizon smartphones can make all the calls they want for free—save for the standard rates that apply when using Skype to dial up a landline or mobile phone. The application works on Verizon's 3G service and doesn't cost a single penny extra to reach another Skype user, even though it only allows for Skype-to-Skype calls, instant messaging, and discounted international calling (you can't make calls out to U.S.-based numbers via the Skype app).

Of course, Skype and Verizon partnered up in February of this year to release the application across the carrier's various smartphones. It's been suggested that the fee for iPhone users is a way for Skype to maintain this partnership and still tap into the iPhone/AT&T market in some capacity—however, it's unclear whether Skype will be forking over a fraction of its to-be-determined monthly subscription costs to AT&T itself.

Bangladesh blocks Facebook access

Bangladesh reacts to "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day"

Bangladesh has become the second Muslim country to block citizens from accessing Facebook.

The decision comes after caricatures of the prophet Muhammad and the country’s leaders were uploaded to the social network, according to the AFP news agency, which spoke to the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The BTRC said a man was arrested on Saturday in connection with the images. It said public access to Facebook would be restored once the offending images are permanently blocked from view.

The censorship follows a protest on Friday in Bangladesh where thousands of people took to the streets and demanded the government ban Facebook because of satirical depictions of Muhammad and the country’s leaders.

Depictions of Muhammad are forbidden by a number of Islamic texts.

A controversial anti-Islamic group called “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” invites Facebook users to draw and submit their pictures of the prophet.

The initial group reportedly had 43,000 supporters, while other groups and events supporting the cause have additional thousands of followers, all claiming to support “peace, freedom of speech, and human rights”.

However a couple of Facebook groups opposing the day have around 216,000 followers collectively.

EveryBody Draw Muhammad Day was initiated by a US cartoonist, Molly Norris, who reacted against the internet death threats that had been made against cartoonists for depicting Muhammad in an episode of South Park.

Pakistan ordered ISPs block access to Facebook the day before the 20 May event.

Mozilla preps developers for Firefox 4

Mozilla has said that Firefox 4 will support the proposed IndexedDB standard, which provides a local database store for web applications.

The news was released on Mozilla's new Firefox 4 for developers site, boding well for those who use the web a lot: the IndexedDB interface gives web applications a way to work even without a network connection.

The proposed IndexedDB addition to the HTML standard is one of a collection of technologies opening new horizons for web programmers and putting competitive pressure on Adobe Systems' Flash Player plug-in.

When earlier this month Mozilla detailed Firefox 4 plans, including a desire to release the new version by November, the organisation left IndexedDB support as a greyed-out item, meaning it wasn't committing. When asked if things had changed since then, Mozilla displayed some optimism but left itself some IndexedDB wiggle room.

"Our team continues to work on both the implementation of IndexedDB as well as on the specification in collaboration with Microsoft and others," said director of Firefox Mike Beltzner. "This work is moving fast; over the past two weeks there has been a lot of progress on the specification. We're still aiming to ship it with Firefox 4, assuming the quality of the specification and implementation meet the needs of web developers looking to build applications that use client side storage."

Firefox faces new competition from Google Chrome in particular, but its usage continues to grow, and at least for newer websites, being something other than Internet Explorer isn't the liability it once was.

IndexedDB is one of a number of technologies developers should be aware of. Mozilla mentioned some earlier, but the developer page has a full list that's still under development. Some highlights:

• WebM. Google hadn't announced its royalty-free, open-source web video project when Mozilla gave its 11 May list. It's no surprise, but WebM has indeed arrived on the Firefox 4 to-do list. Some raw developer-oriented builds of the software have support already.
• Multi-touch. Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad don't run Firefox, but an increasing number of touch- and multi-touch-operated devices will, including Google Android phones.
• WebGL. This technology for bringing 3D graphics to the web uses the OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics interface, but Google is working on a technology to bridge to computers that only have Windows Direct3D drivers installed. Google's also working on a higher-level 3D graphics interface based on its O3D plug-in.
• WebSockets. This HTML feature is for better communications between a browser and a server.
• HTML5 parser. The HTML5 specification, while not finalised, brings some improvements to the rules for how to interpret web pages, and Mozilla is moving to a new parser to handle that task. The HTML5 parser is faster than its predecessor and can display SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) amid other elements on a web page.
• SMIL. The Synchronised Multimedia Integration Language can be used for some animation chores, encroaching somewhat on the toes of Adobe Systems' Flash.

Now Motorola is planning an Android tablet

Motorola's CEO Sanjay Jha is so pleased with the success of his Droid smartphone that he is planning to create a tablet based around the OS by the end of the year.

Speaking at an Investor's Conference  Jha said that the tablet will be between seven and 10-Inches and will act as a "companion product" to HDTVs.

Jha said his outfit is jolly interested in getting into this whole "convergence between mobility and home". We guess that he means that he will be building mobile homes next.

The tablet will use Android, as the open-source operating system as this has been a run away success for the company.

Jha moved to kill off any rumours that Motorola was thinking about creating its own mobile OS.

However, he did say that for Motorola said to remain competitive, however, it must continue to improve its MotoBLUR user interface.

MotoBLUR is installed on phones like the Cliq, which runs Android, with BLUR on top. Jha says BLUR 2.0 will be released later this year, as well.

He added that there will be new Droid products released soon.