Users will spend US$65 billion on e-books, games and other content on their smartphones and tablets by 2016, up from this year’s US$40 billion, according to a research report released today.

The upsurge, according to Juniper Research, will be fueled by tablet users buying games, videos and e-books on their mobile devices, along with easier direct payment methods offered on smartphones by telecom operators. …

Some of the grumbling from SingTel in the past two days has been rather astonishing.

Right after being told to share its Barclays Premier League screenings with StarHub, it threatened to raise prices for football fans next season. It took things further yesterday, saying it might not be bidding for World Cup rights in 2014.

To which football fans should say “thank you”. Let someone else bid lower so viewers don’t have to pay so much. …

(credit: Ronnie Macdonald, Creative Commons)

Singapore’s football fans will be relieved the ref has got a crucial decision right on Wednesday evening.

Ignoring SingTel’s pleas of innocence, the country’s media regulator clearly told the team in red to show the next three seasons of the Barclays Premier League on rival services, such as StarHub’s cable TV, starting in August.

In a landmark ruling, it essentially laid out how it will deal with pay-TV operators that have somehow found a loophole in its efforts to open up the market and rid it of ruinous exclusive content contracts that have killed consumer choice for years.
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StarHub launched a new e-book store and reader app of its own last Tuesday called Booktique, which brings about 400,000 titles to all iOS and Android users regardless of their mobile operators of choice.

The number looks paltry compared to the millions upon millions of e-books available elsewhere, but similar to other local e-book stores such as MediaCorp’s ilovebooks, Booktique also offers e-books written by Singapore authors. …

(source: StarHub)

StarHub is using Singapore’s fibre network to deliver its pay-TV services to offices, restaurants and pubs from March 18, as it seeks to cut down on current terrestrial broadcasts to such business customers. …

(credit: Ronnie Macdonald, Creative Commons)

Being a referee is never easy.

In the latest wrangle between SingTel and StarHub for English Premier League TV rights, the Media Development Authority (MDA) has found itself exactly in that tight spot.

But unlike a match where at least one set of fans will be pleased, a bad call by the officials here will have serious impact beyond just football rights. It will drastically drag back Singapore’s pay-TV industry, just as it is showing signs of opening up. …

StarHub will be turning on a new service that promises to let users speak more clearly over their cellphones – without all the annoying background noise – from this Thursday.

Called HD Voice, the technology is similar to noise cancellation technology on phones and Bluetooth headsets that already lets users speak clearly, say, in a crowded cafe or market. The other party hears the caller’s voice, without the background chatter.

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Sometimes, the numbers tell the story best.

WhatsApp, that instant messaging service fast replacing SMS as the preferred way to text friends, is estimated to have as many as 200 to 300 million users worldwide. Today, there could be billions of WhatsApp messages sent every day, because back in 2011, a long time ago in cyberspace, the number had crossed a billion a day.

Now, compare that with the 1.78 billion SMSes sent in Singapore in December 2012. Yes, that’s an entire month.

If nothing else, that shows you the scale of things. It’s something that SingTel and StarHub will have to take heed, as they decide to take on the likes of WhatsApp by coming up with their own messaging apps.

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(credit: StarHub)

Three years after he took over StarHub in a surprise move, company CEO Neil Montefiore will be retiring to make way for current chief operating officer, Tan Tong Hai, who takes over next month.

Montefiore took over from long-time StarHub CEO Terry Clontz in January 2010, in a high-profile move from rival M1. At M1, he had steered Singapore’s second mobile operator through the initial years of the country’s telecom liberalisation in the 1990s. …

Microsoft is selling its new Office software for S$138 a year, or S$11.50 a month, to home users  in Singapore, as part of a new subscription service that it hopes will change its fortunes against Google and Apple this year.

Available today, that offer gives users five licences, which means they can install Office on multiple devices at home, including PCs and Macs.  …