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SMS Text Messaging Keeps Strong Edge in Asia Pacific

SMS Text Messaging Keeps Strong Edge in Asia Pacific Despite the increased availability of mobile email and multimedia messaging for mobile phones, most wireless users are still content with plan old SMS text messaging. A recent IDC survey in Asia Pacific countries suggests that less than 10% of users are consistently using advanced messaging and other multimedia features on their cell phones. The survey involved 4,056 urban users in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. It reached the conclusion that “despite the proliferation of content-rich mobile data services, the adoption of advanced services such as mobile phone payment, online

Second Australian sentenced to life on drug charges

Second Australian sentenced to life on drug charges An Australian man was Monday sentenced to life in prison on charges of drug smuggling. In a trial at the Denpasar District Court, judges ruled that Scott Rush, 20, should serve the rest of his life in an Indonesian prison for acting as a so-called drug mule.He was seized at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport with 1.3 kilograms of heroin taped to his legs. He is the second Australian to be sentenced to life in prison Monday for trying to smuggle heroin from the Indonesian resort island of Bali to their homeland, judges said. They were the

Asia’s ’grim view on drug crime’

Asia's 'grim view on drug crime' HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- At dawn on Friday, a hangman at Changi Prison in Singapore placed a hood over the head of drug trafficker Van Nguyen, put a noose around his neck and opened a trap door in a "long-drop" procedure that killed the Australian citizen. The death sentence for the 25-year former salesman was handed down after he was arrested at Changi airport while transiting from Cambodia to the Australian city of Melbourne in 2002, carrying nearly 400 grams (14 ounces) of heroin. The city-state enacted tough drug laws in 1975 which made the death

Drug Trafficking in South Asia Continues says UN

Drug Trafficking in South Asia Continues says UN Lapses in the control of pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances have led to widespread abuse among all segments of the population in South Asian countries including Bangladesh, says a UN report. "Drug trafficking and abuse problems in South Asia continue to be both serious and multifaceted," said the annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for 2006 that was released Wednesday. It said "In South Asian countries, particularly Bangladesh, India and Nepal, lapses in the control of pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances have led to widespread

eBay looks to Asia for growth

eBay looks to Asia for growth Online auction company eBay said it expects the number of Asia-Pacific users trading on its site to eventually outstrip that for the U.S. and Europe as Internet penetration grows, but it also predicts imminent competition. More than 30 million of the company's 181 million registered users worldwide are in the Asia-Pacific region, Chief Executive Meg Whitman said Thursday. "These are still small markets, but as Internet usage and broadband penetration increase, we see these markets growing bigger than our top markets currently," she said. And in markets like India, the company has seen a rise