Chinese companies are increasingly looking to the Hong Kong Exchanges as the threat of delisting from the NYSE grows.
Amid growing tensions between the US and China, US regulators are more aggressively scrutinizing Chinese companies. More than 100 companies have been put on the 2020 Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA) list, opening the door to their eventual removal from the NYSE if they fail to become compliant.
According to Business Insider, Kingsoft Cloud Holdings is the latest Chinese company looking to the Hong Kong Exchanges after being placed on the HFCAA list. The company, and others like it, see Hong Kong as a way to stay out of the US-China fray.
At the same time, moving to Hong Kong doesn’t automatically fix a company’s underlying issues. As Insider points out, Kingsoft has a number of challenges, including a tech crackdown by China, being reliant on too few large customers, and being a small player in the larger Chinese cloud market.
For companies with good financials and a solid business plan, however, Hong Kong may end up being the safe haven they’re looking for.
TikTok has announced plans to pull out of Hong Kong in the wake of a new national security law.
China has been flexing its muscle in Hong Kong, effectively ending the long-standing ‘one country, two systems’ rule. When Britain turned Hong Kong over to Beijing in 1997, its citizens were guaranteed 50 years of autonomy. Despite that, the Chinese government has been trying to exercise more control recently, leading to widespread protests.
In response, Beijing signed a national security law that gives authorities sweeping powers to punish secession and sedition, as well as search properties and prevent individuals being investigated from leaving the city.
Tech companies around the world have expressed concern that China may try to use their platforms for censorship or surveillance, by requiring user data to be stored in China. As a result, TikTok is taking action. A spokesperson told Axios that: “In light of recent events, we’ve decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong.”
The move comes at a time when owner ByteDance is trying to distance TikTok from China. The company operates two similar platforms: TikTok for the world, and a government-approved version in mainland China, called Douyin. Given the allegations that TikTok can’t be trusted to protect user privacy, ByteDance is trying to prove it is not beholden to Beijing.
The next few weeks will likely be difficult for all of the social media networks as they come to terms with how—or if—they will continue operating in the city.
“We got our virtual banking license in April,” says WeLab CEO Simon Loong. “These are very exciting times. We’re busy building a bank, hiring, recruitment, that’s our core focus. What we’re working on right now is rebuilding the core functions of the bank but with a more innovative and more tech-driven approach. Traditional banks have their own way of doing things, but what we’re looking at is how do we look at offering technology-driven banking through innovation and technology?”
Simon Loong, co-founder and CEO at WeLab, discusses building a virtual bank in Hong Kong and how that will revolutionize banking in favor of the customers in an interview on Bloomberg at the Rise Conference in Hong Kong:
We’re Offering Technology-Driven Virtual Banking
We got our virtual banking license in April. These are very exciting times. We’re busy building a bank, hiring, recruitment, that’s our core focus. We’re looking at how do we launch a bank within this year and we’re still on track for that. What we’re working on right now is rebuilding the core functions of the bank but with a more innovative and more tech-driven approach. Traditional banks have their own way of doing things, but what we’re looking at is how do we look at offering technology-driven banking through innovation and technology?
We look at three I’s. How do we offer financial services instantly to consumers? The second is intelligence. How do we actually use data to predict what customers need and offer them the right set of products? The third is interactive. How do we interact with our customers? Marketing does not talk to people with a phone anymore, it’s completely through mobile apps.
Virtual Banking Is An Emerging Trend For Hong Kong
Competitiveness in the market is a very interesting thing that we’re seeing. Even now, before the launch, in just the last couple of weeks, four of the major banks in Hong Kong started reducing the minimum account balance in anticipation of the virtual banks launching this year. Existing banks have to change the way they work and we’re seeing that right now. Going forward, what we think will happen is initially people will have a second virtual bank account. They will enjoy it, use it, and it will increasingly become their core bank account.
For the younger generation who will come on to banking for the very first time in their lives maybe this will be their primary bank account going forward. Our internal projection is that this is going to be the emerging trend for Hong Kong. Virtual banks will offer better choices and more choices for consumers. In the end, consumers will be the beneficiaries of it. We haven’t looked at pricing yet but what we’re looking at is how an innovative customer experience allows us to attract customers. We look at the younger millennial tech-savvy set and what they look at is actually a better customer experience rather than an incremental few basis points on their savings.
Virtual Banks Have a Competitive Advantage
We as bankers have been trying to do (virtual banking) in the past in traditional banks as well. What we always found the difficulty in was the legacy systems, traditional management layers, and layers of (obstacles) that were built over the years. How do we unwind them? Starting afresh definitely has its own benefit. Also, if you look at traditional retail banking, it was built as a branch distribution model. You have branches, telephones, and stuff like that. Then you finally added onto it a layer of core internet and mobile.
Legal and compliance are an extremely important part of this and virtual banks are subject to the same regulations as a normal bank. But I think virtual banks do have a competitive advantage. Number one is when you start afresh you don’t have layers and layers of manual processes that you’ve built in the past. You start with the latest and most dynamic kind of regulatory regime in mind. The second thing is that virtual banks will initially offer simpler financial products where you have actually fewer compacts and compliance infrastructure to monitor. traditional banks typically have a wide array of products that you need to monitor. That allows virtual banks to be more specific and more nimble.
Adding a multi-only-channel approach becomes increasingly more complex for it to break down. If we start afresh where we only have mobile-only or online-only, that simplifies things and allows you to have a much faster time to market. That is very important in this very competitive world.
Focused On Building a Fantastic Virtual Bank
What we are going to look at is how do we build a bank with good economics and also provide customer lifetime value? In the past, we looked at products and their profitability. But what we look at right now is a whole relationship and a customer lifetime value by cohort and how they actually become profitable over the years. Bringing a customer on board today may not be profitable because of acquisition costs. Over time, when they become more and more loyal to us, when we have more products and services, and when they become more engaged with us (they will be profitable). It will be a new way of looking at the whole P&L, managing it on a customer lifetime value on a cohort basis.
We are massively hiring. I think this is an exciting time for virtual banks right now. We are looking at very specific talents, for example, in areas like products, technology, and compliance. These are areas that we are hiring for. I think for us we learned as a homegrown fintech champion in Hong Kong our benefit is that we already have an existing team in Hong Kong versus the rest of the virtual banks. We have around 80 to 100 people in Hong Kong today. What we need to do is just fill certain skillset gaps that we don’t have. What we’re looking for specifically is bankers with an open mind and intellectual curiosity who wants to do something different and build a bank that they love.
What we’re focusing on is building the bank now to make it a fantastic virtual bank in Hong Kong launching by the end of this year.
We’re Offering Technology-Driven Virtual Banking, Says WeLab CEO Simon Loong
The Verge is reporting that Google is taking the drastic step of temporarily shutting down all of its China offices in the face of the coronavirus.
Google confirmed to The Verge Wednesday that it was shutting down all of its offices in mainland China, as well as its Hong Kong and Taiwan locations. The company has also placed temporary travel restrictions on flying to either China or Hong Kong.
The move comes as the Chinese government works to contain the outbreak. The government has been encouraging citizens to minimize travel and try to stay indoors as much as possible. Corporate offices were already closed during the extended Lunar Year Holiday, but Google is keep them closed longer in an effort to help protect employees.
It’s still unclear the level of impact the virus will have on industry and finance, but Google is just the latest company to take defensive measures in response to the outbreak.
Netflix announced that it will launch in South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in early 2016. The news follows a September 2 launch in Japan, which was the company’s first launch in Asia.
The company reaffirmed its plans to complete a global rollout by the end of next year.
“The combination of increasing Internet speeds and ubiquity of connected devices provides consumers with the anytime, anywhere ability to enjoy their favorite TV shows and movies on the Netflix service,” said CEO Reed Hastings. “These four markets well represent those trends.”
“Netflix will be available at launch on smart TVs, tablets and smartphones, computers and a range of Internet-capable game consoles and set-top boxes,” the company says. “Additional details on pricing, programming and supported devices will be available at a later date.”
Netflix is poised to launch in Portugal, Italy, and Spain next month. Earlier this year, it launched in Cuba, New Zealand, and Australia.
Just a couple of days after police raided Uber’s Hong Kong offices, a petition to “Keep Hong Kong Moving” has already amassed nearly 40,000 signatures.
“As you may have heard, police visited Uber’s offices in Hong Kong this week and took two interns into custody. Seven Uber driver-partners were pulled over as well. We’re glad to report they have all been released and are safe at home. A huge thanks to the thousands of you who have emailed us, posted on social media, and otherwise voiced your support. Your UberLove has been tremendous!” says Uber.
On August 11th, Hong Kong police arrested a handful of Uber drivers for “illegal use of vehicles for hire,” according to Reuters.
According to officials, undercover cops used the Uber app to call five cars, and once they reached their destinations they arrested the drivers.
Police also searched Uber’s local offices and seized documents and computers.
Honk Kong, like many cities around the world, has seen protests from local taxi drivers who claim that Uber operates outside the law, failing to obtain permits and proper licensing.
In some places, those protests have turned violent. In Honk Kong, angry taxi drivers recently smashed a red taxi in a symbolic gesture.
“We’re committed to providing Hongkongers with the safe, reliable, and quality transportation options they deserve. We welcome the opportunity to work with the HK government to modernize regulations in order to accommodate technologies that help make Hong Kong a more livable city,” says Uber.
“Around the world, Uber is working with governments to achieve a common goal that creates safe, reliable, and efficient transportation options supported by reasonable, consumer-friendly regulations. We look forward to meeting with the Transport and Housing Bureau, other government bodies, and legislators to discuss how we can work together to encourage innovation and create a better Hong Kong for residents, tourists, and business travelers.”
Much of the recent fluctuation in gold prices was blamed on the improving American economy.
The changing economic landscape in the United States is considered key for determining the long-term market value of the precious metal
As such, gold suffered a drop in value as the US dollar strengthened; there is also the expectation that interest rates are due to rise in the near future.
Despite the heavy focus on the American economy, the precious metals market was recently affected by the perceived political instability in Hong Kong.
Thousands of pro-democracy supporters engaged in violent clashes with police on Sunday. They have occupied much of the financial center of Hong Kong, the sheer numbers bringing traffic to a halt in certain locations.
These individuals are fighting what they feel is communist encroachment and will not budge until they are assured their message is heard.
While the protesters may not be moving, the same cannot be said for stock prices. Hong Kong’s market saw two percent of its value shaved off as a result of wariness surrounding ongoing protests.
This uncertainty recently crept into the global market. American stock futures were lower during pre-market trading on Monday. European shares were also negatively affected.
US markets follow Europe and Asia into red after Hong Kong unrest. Dow drops 150 points. Nasdaq already down 1%. http://t.co/JL1Y5syX6q
As for gold, it received a slight reprieve as the price (for now) rose to $1,217.50 per ounce, up a total of $2.10. Meanwhile silver dropped by three cents to $17.55.
Beyond Hong Kong protests possibly offering a boost, it’s also hoped that the “Golden Week” holidays in China will also lend a hand to gold prices.
The problem is that it has been noted that the demand for gold in China is down overall. Even with the positive effect the situation in Hong Kong has had on the value of gold, it’s expected to continue a slow downward slide in value.
Stateside, the growing economy and strengthening dollar aren’t the only economic factors driving gold prices down. There is much speculation surrounding the upcoming jobs report data to be released later in the week.
The view of gold, even with its short term gains, continues to be somewhat bearish.
Actress Chloe Bennet believes her luck in Hollywood changed within days of adopting a new surname.
The 22-year-old actress was born Chloe Wang, the daughter of a Chinese father and Caucasian mother in Chicago, IL.
“I was having trouble booking things with my last name. I think it was hard for people to cast me as an ethnic, as an Asian American woman,” Bennet told The Toronto Star. “But I still wanted to keep my dad’s name, and I wanted to respect him, so I used his first name.”
Bennet says that within a matter of days, she landed her first big role, a recurring spot on ABC’s hit musical drama Nashville.
Bennet appeared in seven episodes of Nashville’s first season.
From there she went on to become what some consider one of the breakout stars of the 2013-2014 television season when she landed the role of computer hacker Skye on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Bennet is joined on the Marvel adaptation by another actress of Chinese decent, Ming-Na Wen, who was born in Macau and lived in Hong Kong before moving to the United States as a child.
“It’s been great to be a part of a show which is groundbreaking in terms of being an American woman and being Asian on television because there’s people who don’t see a lot of that and I’m really proud of it,” Bennet has said.
Bennet disagrees with critics who say the cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is too homogenous:
“It’s funny to see people say it’s not an ethnically diverse cast,” she says. “This is the first show where two of the regulars are Asians of Chinese extraction.”
Far from being out of touch with her Asian roots, Bennet has embraced them throughout her life.
When she was 15-years-old, she left her investment banker father, doctor mother, and ethnically diverse set of six brothers (“two African American, one Mexican American, and the rest half-Chinese,” according to Bennet) behind in Chicago to pursue a music career in Shanghai.
“It was pretty difficult,” Bennet admits. “I didn’t know anyone there and didn’t speak the language. For the first few months, every day was the same: six hours of dance and four hours of Mandarin. But I had to grow up fast. I like to call it my high school job.”
After a few years in Shanghai and Beijing, she returned to the US, changed her last name, and set her sights on an acting career.
“I wanted to be racially ambiguous,” she says.”It must have worked. The first audition I went to was for Nashville.”
Bennet keeps her Mandarin skills sharp by practicing with Ming-Na on the set of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
“It’s a lot of fun,” she says. “We’ll talk in a nasty tone and pretend we’re saying bad things about the other actors when really we’re paying them compliments.”
Chinese firm Poly Auction was no doubt in the process of a lot of back-patting following their successful sale of the “Snowy Mountain” painting by contemporary Chinese artist Cui Ruzhuo. It was auctioned off for 28.8 million Hong Kong dollars or about $3.7 million.
The auction occurred at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Hong Kong on Monday and the painting turned up missing the next day.
Apparently someone got the bright idea to put the painting on the floor, likely near other disposable items. One thing led to another and now Poly Auction suspects someone’s blunder is why a valuable piece of art is sitting in a landfill at this very moment.
Fingers were even pointed at the hotel staff.
Grand Hyatt has since released a statement saying that while the hotel was cooperating to the fullest with Hong Kong police, they would not be taking any sort of responsibility for the missing painting.
The hotel told Reuters that if any cleaning staff or security guards were at fault, then it would have been whichever individuals were hired for that auction by Poly Auction. Auctioneers typically hire their own personnel for events rather than rely on hotel staff.
Police have no leads in this bizarre case and no one is accused of having stolen the valuable painting. It’s being reported that the matter is not to be pursued by the company and that the painting will be written off as a loss.
Some consolation that is to artist and buyer!
It must be said that the act of putting such artwork in the trash, intentionally or not, may prove to have been the ultimate form of art criticism.
Pizza Hut has always been known for its iconic stuffed crust pizza, usually filled with gooey cheese, but you’ve never seen stuff crust like this. An exclusive Pizza Hut pie has just been released in Hong Kong, called the Flying Fish Roe Salmon Cream Cheese pizza. In this pie’s crust, you won’t find the American version of stuffed crust but instead a filling of cream cheese and flying fish roe – aka, fish eggs. The pie comes in two varieties: Crayfish Seafood Deluxe, with crayfish, scallops, shrimp, clams, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and Thousand Island sauce. Or, for something (slightly) more traditional, there’s the Sausage, Pepperoni and Pomelo (an Asian fruit similar to grapefruit), which also comes loaded with peaches, mushrooms, and a berry sauce. Yum?
This new Hong Kong Pizza Hut pie joins a list of other stuffed crust varieties from around the world, with New Zealand offering a cheese and marmite stuffed crust and a cheeseburger-stuffed crust in the Middle East. Apparently stuffed crust is a big deal everywhere else but America, where perhaps the 90s fad of eating the pie backwards has faded away. But just last year, Pizza Hut Malaysia promoted its Super Pan Pizza with an ad that claimed its squirting, cheesy crust was so seductive, it had the power to make a woman’s boyfriend propose.
Why has Hong Kong joined the stuffed-crust worldwide trend? Richard Leong, marketing director of Pizza Hut Hong Kong, says that the chain is looking to adapt to local tastes. “Hong Kong is very special,” he says. Hong Kong is also the only market that operates two completely separate Pizza Hut brands with separate menus – Pizza Hut and PHD, or “Pizza Hut Delivery.” The second brand was developed to compete with the immense demand for fast delivery services in Hong Kong. Richard says that the brand plans to strengthen its mobile market to boost its online business and keep its PHD chain thriving. Hong Kong is behind when it comes to America’s mobile Pizza Hut market, where a new Xbox 360 Pizza Hut app lets you order pizza right from your video game console. The Pizza Hut Xbox app has already earned Pizza Hut $1 million in sales in four months since its debut. Americans might have the dominant control over Pizza Hut’s online market, but new innovations, like the Hong Kong fish egg crust, show that the rest of the world can compete, too.
A Hong Kong real estate billionaire has doubled the reward amount to any man who is willing to win over his lesbian daughter’s heart.
In 2012, Cecil Chao initially set the amount for $65 million after receiving news that his daughter, 33-year-old Gigi Chao, married her girlfriend of seven years.
Cecil claimed last year that his daughter’s sexual orientation was none of his business or concern, but his actions reveal other wise.
After 20,000 unsuccessful suitors, the billionaire has now doubled the amount to $120 million.
“I would not force her to marry a man,” he said. “But obviously I would, from my point of view, prefer her to be married and to have grandchildren.”
Cecil even stands by the assumption that his daughter is still single, although that’s clearly not the case. He believes that because she is still young that her sexual preference could somehow transform all of a sudden.
Gigi is already a very successful career-driven humanitarian. As the executive director of her father’s property development company, she is also chair of the Faith in Love Foundation.
Cecil has added the fact that he hopes to have his daughter inherit his business someday. How that has anything to do with her sexuality is unclear.
Thus, Gigi HAS MADE IT CLEAR that she is very happy with her marriage and no man would ever be able to change that. (image)
Shockingly, Gigi has stated that she is not at all upset by her father’s efforts to find her a man. She ultimately views it as “fatherly love;” a father’s sincere concern and willingness to do anything for his child.
Gigi’s wife Sean Eav, however, is devastated by Cecil’s relentless offers to break their marriage apart. In response, Gigi has asked her father to avoid reporting his “bounty” efforts to the press for the sake of her and Eav’s private relationship.
“I understand that he loves me, it’s just he’s from another time and it’s difficult for him to understand the plight of the LGBT [community]. At the office it’s business as usual. At family gatherings we hug and dance. And we just agree to disagree on what marriage is and family is,” she reported to the South China Morning Post.
Gigi is an LGBT advocate and leads her own gay rights group, which helps to alleviate discrimination against sexual minorities.
As for the “bounty” award, it still stands. Hopefully someday Cecil will be able to accept and embrace his daughter’s lifestyle.
Here is a full report done by ABC’s 2020 in 2012 :
Someone in Hong Kong must really want to prevent Transformers 4 from happening. A man believed to be under the influence of drugs attempted to smash director Michael Bay’s head in on Thursday using an air conditioner. The air conditioner was of the household variety, not a Decepticon. This went down on the set of the new Transformers.
Initial reports stated that Bay was actually hit in the face with an air conditioner and was injured, but according to a statement made by Paramount, that isn’t exactly what happened.
“Contrary to several erroneous news reports made today, Bay did not get hurt in a fight on set. The production company did have a bizarre encounter with a man (allegedly under the influence of a narcotic substance) who was wielding an air conditioning unit as a weapon. The man, who had earlier accosted several other crew members, rushed onto the set in Quarry Bay and swung the air conditioning unit directly at Bay’s head. The director ducked and wrested the air conditioner from his attacker, preventing what could have been a serious accident. The company’s security team quickly stepped in and subdued the assault.”
You can breathe now. Bay wasn’t injured and the filming of Transformers 4 will go on.
To make the situation even stranger, another report that surfaced today said the air conditioner attack occurred while a couple of people in Hong Kong were trying to shakedown Bay. Two men wanted Bay to fork over around $12,000 since the filming was deemed to be an “inconvenience.”
Michael Bay posted about the incident on his personal blog and Twitter. Bay jokingly described the attacker as being like a “Zombie in Brad Pitt’s movie World War Z.” It’s good to see that Bay is making light of the incident because that means it’s free game for the rest of us.
Now that it has been established that Transformers director Michael Bay is unharmed, a lot of folks on Twitter have decided to have fun with the attack. After all, it isn’t every day that you hear about someone attacking a director with a household appliance.
Michael Bay was assaulted with an AIR CONDITIONER which makes me wonder if he was directing the attack.
Super Typhoon Usagi, the most powerful storm on the planet so far in 2013, is still moving along in the Western Pacific, carrying winds as strong as 162 mph – which is equivalent to a category 5 hurricane. Usagi is forecast to move through the Luzon Straight between Taiwan and the Philippines on Saturday.
In the following TRMM (Tropical rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite flyby animation from September 19, rain was falling at a rate of over 5.5 inches (red) per hour in the powerful storms within the eye of the super typhoon.
The storm is heading northwest toward the southern coast of China, and is expected to hit landfall near Hong Kong on Sunday. Usagi measures roughly 620 miles wide, and is generating waves as high as 50 feet. The National Disaster Reduction Commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs in China have issued a disaster relief alert, in anticipation of Usagi’s arrival, which is expected to hit the southern province of Guangdong. The Hong Kong observatory has also issued a warning, stating that “weather will deteriorate significantly with strengthening winds and rough seas”
So far, Usagi’s outer spokes have brought rain to the northern Philippines, and the Pagasa weather agency has issued a warning for flash floods and landslides. The super typhoon is expected to come closest to Taiwan on Saturday – Pedram Javaheri, a meteorologist for CNN International, states, “If you’re on the east coast of Taiwan, you’ve certainly got to take this storm very seriously,” adding that Usagi could bring over 3 feet of rain to the area over the next few days.
Usagi comes on the heels of Super Typhoon Utor, previously the strongest storm of the year, which hit the Philippines and southern China in August. Roughly 50 people in China and another 11 in the Philippines died in that storm.
China has the worst luck with smartphones. One person is dead, and another seriously injured, after an iPhone delivered a deadly shock to both victims. Now a man’s apartment has burnt down thanks to his Galaxy S4.
Xianguo reports that a Hong Kong man with the surname Du was playing a game on his Galaxy S4 when it allegedly exploded and caught fire in his hand. He immediately threw the phone onto his couch. Unfortunately, his couch proved highly flammable and the fire spread throughout his entire apartment. It even reportedly spread to his Mercedes parked outside.
Now, the logical explanation for all of this is that Du was using a shoddy battery or charger on his Galaxy S4. He says that is not the case, and is adamant that he was using official Samsung parts at the time of the explosion. Unfortunately, there’s no way to prove this immediately as the phone and its parts were destroyed in the fire.
As expected, Samsung isn’t going to let this go without an investigation though. The company announced that it will look into the matter to find if its parts were truly at fault. The Register notes that Samsung has dealt with allegations of exploding phones in the past, and usually finds that the person reporting the defective device was using third-party knock off components. Of course, that’s not always the case.
The moral of this story is that you should always use official parts direct from Samsung or a certified dealer. The prevalence of cheap knock-offs isn’t as much of a problem in the U.S. as it is in countries like China, but it’s still something to watch out for. A good way to avoid cheap parts is realizing that they’re cheap for a reason.
Most of us in the U.S. love to rag on our ISPs and blame them for what we perceive as painfully slow Internet speeds. Our ISPs certainly do deserve their fair share of criticism, but we should also celebrate when things are headed in a positive direction. The latest report from Akamai is cause for celebration as it shows things are looking up in the ol’ U.S. of A.
Akamai released its quarterly State of the Internet report today. The report covers Q1 2013, or the three month period beginning in April and ending in June. The big takeaway from the report is that average global Internet speeds are increasing with the worldwide average now at 3.1Mbps, or a 17 percent increase over last year.
Breaking the global Internet speeds down, we see that South Korea is still the global king of broadband with average connection speeds of 14.2Mbps. What’s interesting about this, however, is that South Korea’s average speed is down 10 percent from last year. It’s the only country in the top 10 to see a decline. In fact, it’s two closest Asian competitors – Japan and Hong Kong – came in second and third place respectively with average speeds of 11.7Mbps and 10.9Mbps. That’s a year-over-year increase of 6.8 and 16 percent respectively.
So, where is the United States in all of this? We’re in ninth place with average speeds of 8.6Mbps, or a whopping 27 percent year-over-year increase. It’s also a 7.4 percent increase over last quarter’s average speeds of 7.4Mbps.
Average speeds are important, but an increasingly important metric is the percentage of Internet users who have access to Internet speeds of 10Mbps or higher. The report found that South Korea is once again in first place with a whopping 50 percent of its population having access to speeds of 10Mbps or higher. The U.S. is showing positive signs in this area as well with 25 percent of its population having access to what Akamai calls “high broadband.” Amazingly, that’s a year-over-year increase of 69 percent.
Next, Akamai’s report moves to the United States to look at which states have the highest average Internet speeds. Like always, New England has the fastest Internet with Vermont coming in first place with average speeds of 12.7Mbps, or a year-over-year increase of 40 percent. New Hampshire and Delaware come in second and third place with 12Mbps and 11.9Mbps respectively. The only state not on the East Coast/New England to make the top 10 is Utah coming in at fifth place with average speeds of 11Mbps.
As for states with the most high broadband, the top 10 list is dominated by New England/East Coast states. New Hampshire comes in first with 48 percent of its population having access to Internet speeds equal to or higher than 10Mbps. That’s a year-over-year increase of 65 percent. New Jersey came in second with 45 percent, or an astounding 100 percent year-over-year increase.
One could argue that the average Internet speeds in the U.S. are going up thanks to an increasing number of cities that are rolling out gigabit Internet services. Akamai points out that gigabit Internet is now available in or coming to 13 cities across the U.S., including Kansas City, Chattanooga, Lafayette, Bristol, Seattle, Cedar Falls and others. It’s unlikely that these cities had any real impact on this quarter’s numbers, but it’s a positive sign to see the number of gigabit cities increasing.
It’s encouraging to see that the Internet is picking up pace around the world. There’s still much work to be done, however, as Akamai notes many countries are still underserved by slow national ISPs that prevent the people in these countries from taking advantage of the numerous innovations brought about faster broadband.
I humorously pondered earlier this week that a movie based on Edward Snowden’s life would be eventually made. Little did I know that a group of Hong Kong filmmakers would join forces to make a five minute short film about Snowden’s leaking of NSA documents and his run from a U.S. embarrassed by the revelations.
Here’s the details of the film:
We are a band of independent and amateur filmmakers in Hong Kong who were both excited and puzzled as to why Snowden chose to come to Hong Kong. While nearly every media outlet wanted to get their hands on him, we decided to produce a short fictional video to depict his experience in HK, and how it would have affected certain parties: Namely, the CIA contingent based in HK who would be tasked to find Snowden. The Hong Kong Police who would be stuck in between the US and China. And the journalists who want to get the scoop. It was also important for us not to ‘twist’ Snowden’s character. We really knew little about him. Although he is a central character, he is not the most prominent. It is more about the maelstrom of events surrounding him.
The idea was hatched two days after he revealed his identity, and principal filming began on June 20th. We were also filming on the same day (23rd) when we learned Snowden had left the city. Therefore we ramped up production efforts and published our short film ‘Verax’ on the 25th. ‘Verax’ was the alias Snowden used when contacting journalists via encrypted chat services. We loved the idea of having Snowden here and the media frenzy it created. We really wanted to make a film based on such real-life news events, especially as it continued to develop. This project really tested our mettle especially when most of us had day jobs.
The filmmakers note that they only made this for fun, and that they’re not trying to make a statement. They also say that they have never met Snowden and that this is a purely fictitious account of the events surrounding Showden’s coming out as the NSA leaker.
Besides some bad acting from the CIA agents, it’s actually a pretty good short film. The choice to make the film more about the people around Snowden instead of the man himself makes it’s a much better film overall.
An investigative report has angered Hong Kong coffee drinkers this week after it was revealed that a local Starbucks was using water from a bathroom spout to brew its coffee.
According to an HK Magazine translation of an Apple Daily report, the Starbucks located in the Bank of China Tower was using “toilet water” from a spout just feet away from a bathroom urinal. Employees allegedly wheeled a cart behind the coffee house to the bathroom dozens of times each day, filling the cart with the bathroom water. The water was then filtered and then used to prepare Starbucks drinks.
A spokesperson for Starbucks in Hong Kong told HK Magazine that the particular Starbucks location used the bathroom water because it was the closest source of water. The spokesperson emphasized that the water had passed certification in the past, and that it “adheres strictly” to regulatory standards.
Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has stated that the restaurant’s practice was not up to regulations. The department has issued a warning to Starbucks.
A public health professor at the University of Hong Kong told HK Magazine that filtering the water should be good enough to remove harmful bacteria, but that smaller pathogens, such as viruses, would require a purifier.
The first anniversary of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ death is fast approaching (October 5th), and what better way to celebrate the life of a guy who meant a lot to many by unveiling a brand new wax replica of him.
That’s just what Madame Tussauds did. On Thursday, they unveiled a wax statue of Jobs in Hong Kong – back shirt, glasses, and arms crossed.
Why the cross-armed pose? Here’s Madame Tussauds’s explanation:
“The pose, inspired by photographs taken at the shoot for his famous Fortune Magazine front cover in 2006, shows Jobs with arms casually folded in front of him, head tilted slightly with a warm smile. The professional team of Madame Tussauds had also replicated a pair of Lunor spectacles which is previously custom made for Jobs.”
If you ever wanted to get some sweet up-close shots of Steve Jobs’ stubble, ass, 34-34 Levis, New Balance sneakers, and piercing brown eyes – well, this is as close as you’re going to get.
Imagine what Steve Jobs would think about this wax statue, har har. The wax statue will remain in Hong Kong until November 26th, when it will then travel to Bangkok and Shanghai.
A Hong Kong shipping magnate has offered quite a bounty for a potential husband for his daughter after rumors began flying that she eloped with her lover in Paris earlier this year.
Cecil Chao Sze-tsung told the BBC that his daughter, 33-year old Gigi Chao, is a “very good woman with both talent and looks”, and that he just wants to find a suitable partner for her. Offering up $65 mil may not be the best way to go about finding “suitable”, but there will no doubt be a large group of men willing to step up and claim it.
Chao insists that reports of his daughter having married girlfriend of seven years Sean Eav are false and that she just needs a good man. He also said that aside from the cash, he will help out the potential suitor in starting a successful business venture.
“It is an inducement to attract someone who has the talent but not the capital to start his own business,” Mr Chao said. “I don’t mind whether he is rich or poor. The important thing is that he is generous and kind-hearted.”
Despite his pleas for a traditional marriage, Chao says he would never force his daughter into something she didn’t want to go along with.
The iPhone 5 is going to be the must have device this year. Once it’s announced on September 12, there will be millions of pre-orders ahead of the phone’s September 21 launch. What happens if you can’t wait though? What if you need an iPhone 5 right now? Well, you can get one if you don’t mind that it’s running Android.
China’s Goophone is releasing a new phone based on the leaked iPhone 5’s design called the Goophone I5. It looks similar to what we’ve seen of the iPhone 5, but there are some striking differences. For one, the screen size is set at 3.5-inches, instead of the rumored larger 4-inch display.
The Goophone I5 is also running an unknown version of Android. Other Chinese knockoffs tend to run Android 2.3, but the Goophone I5 could surprise us with ICS or Jelly Bean. There’s no word yet on when the delightful knockoff will be available or how much it will be, but you can bet it will be cheap. Well, at least cheaper than the iPhone 5.
The Goophone I5 is one of the more fun knockoffs just because of the novelty factor. If they’re able to beat the iPhone 5 to market, people might end up buying it for friends and family without knowing any better. Just don’t buy the Goophone I5 for your girlfriend,she might try to kill herself.
Realistically speaking though, the iPhone 5 is going to dominate China and Hong Kong. Apple says that China is their fastest growing market. The iPhone 5 is going to be huge. There might even be more kids trying to sell their kidneys for one of the wonder devices.
It’s a sad fact that Americans pay more for Internet than other developed nations. There are multiple reasons as to why we pay too much for Internet and we went into a few of those reasons over the weekend. A new study from the New America Foundation has confirmed that Americans are indeed paying too much for Internet.
The report, “The Cost of Connectivity,” compared high-speed Internet offerings in 22 cities around the world by price, download and upload speed, and bundled services. The most important finding in the report is how much $35 gets a consumer in these cities. The results may surprise you.
Consumers in Paris, France can get a bundle that includes 100 Mbps Internet, television and phone for about $35. In Lafayette, LA, which the study bills as a “top American city,” the cheapest Internet package available costs $65 and only includes a 6 Mbps connection. That’s a bundle, however, and much of the cost probably comes from the bundled in television service.
When we go into just Internet, it gets really sad. Hong Kong residents can get symmetrical download and upload speeds of 500 Mbps for $37 a month. For the same price, Washington D.C. and New York residents get speeds that are a fraction of what our friends in China get (25 Mbps download/2Mbps upload).
Speaking to Ars Technica, a member of the New America Foundation, Benjamin Lennett, says that one of the problems is a “really flawed assumption that telephone companies and cable companies are going to compete with each other.” He says that these companies are actually working under a “negotiated truce” that sees them respecting each other’s territory while setting up monopolies in cities.
As for solutions, Lennett points to what the city of Longmont is doing – buying up fiber and selling residents Internet. The introduction of Google as an ISP should also have the same effect of driving prices down with competition.
In its defense, Verizon argued that it’s unfair to compare Internet speeds of American cities to foreign cities. In a response to Ars Technica, a company spokesperson said that the study is flawed because it only looks at cities. The speeds in countries like China dramatically drop once one leaves the cities.
Of course, for that argument, we only have to look at states with large rural populations. The city gets fast Internet for a decent price whereas consumers out in the rural parts of the state are stuck with slow Internet for higher prices. It’s the same situation around the world with the cities getting the better deal while those in rural communities are left high and dry. Even then, it’s still surprising to see cities in foreign countries getting a better deal than their U.S. counterparts.
