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Facebook Safety Check erroneously says a bomb exploded in Bangkok (updated)
Facebook's Safety Check program incorrectly said there was an explosion in Bangkok, Thailand, The Independent reported. For an hour beginning at 9PM local time on December 27th, anyone in Thailand's capital city saw reports of an explosion and a prompt to mark themselves as safe. However, there was no actual bomb explosion in Bangkok tonight.
Uber's experimental service in Bangkok hails motorcyles
In Bangkok, Thailand, people can fire up Uber and summon motorbikes instead of cars. The San Francisco company has kicked off an experimental service called UberMoto in the Asian capital, according to The Wall Street Journal. Motorcycle taxis are a popular mode of transportation in various Asian countries, including China, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, India and Indonesia. A lot of people choose to ride them, because they're small and can easily slip in between cars and bigger vehicles in the middle of a traffic jam.
Thailand's gamers fight to save the open internet
Thailand's military junta has already banned Facebook (a few times), Bitcoin and the game Tropico, but that's not enough for the censor-happy dictatorship. The nation is now kicking around the idea of a single gateway -- effectively one internet connection between Thailand and the rest of the world. With that in place, the government would have complete control over the country's internet traffic, making censorship and surveillance a breeze. Naturally, this so-called Great Firewall of Thailand isn't something that its citizens are taking lying down, which is why several government websites were taken down in a co-ordinated DDoS attack last week.
Thai man gets 30 years in jail for insulting monarchy on Facebook
While Reddit users continue to complain about their speech being restricted, following moves by the site to finally clean up its most hateful communities, internet users in Thailand continue to face actual limits to their speech. Take, for example, 48-year-old Pongsak Sriboonpeng, who was recently sentenced to 30 years in prison for insulting Thai monarchy on Facebook. That's actually a reduction from his original 60 years sentence (the Thai government took half off after he plead guilty -- how kind!). Pongsak's lawyer notes that his sentence has broken the record for Thailand's convictions against the country's harsh lèse-majesté rules, which makes it illegal to defame Thai royalty. His situation was even worse since he couldn't appeal the conviction -- Thailand remains under martial law following 2014's military coup. Earlier this year, another Thai man received a 25-year prison sentence for insulting the monarchy.
The last Pirate Bay founder has finally been caught and arrested
It was only a matter of time. The last of The Pirate Bay's three co-founders was arrested yesterday on the border between Laos and Thailand, signalling the end of a drawn-out manhunt for the site's infamous creators. Fredrik Neij's apprehension follows an arrest in June for fellow co-founder Peter Sunde, as well as a three-and-a-half year prison sentence handed down to compatriot Gottfrid Warg last month.
Thailand built a robot to taste-test authentic dishes
The authenticity of native eats can vary from generation to generation, or country to country if you're eating in a place different than where a dish was originally created. But that's not to say there aren't cases in which things are cooked and made the right way. Thailand, as you're likely aware, is home to some delicious food, and the government now wants to make sure that its most popular dishes are being represented well. To do so, "e-Delicious," a robot capable of tasting food and making sure it meets various quality standards, was built. The idea came from Thailand's Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, as she became interested in fighting against bad Thai food in Thailand and elsewhere across the world.
Dictatorship simulator cuts too close to the bone for Thailand's dictator
In Tropico 5 you play El Presidente, the dictator of a small island, given free reign to build the world according to your whim while violently suppressing your opponents. Unfortunately, tongue-in-cheek games about that sort of subject don't go down so well with an actual military dictatorship, like the one running Thailand right now. The junta, which has already censored the internet and banned Facebook and Bitcoin, has now outlawed sales of the game. The only reason given is that Tropico 5's content might have somehow affected peace and order in the country -- possibly by showing the wider population how dictatorships work. Stefan Marcinek from the game's developer says that the move sounds like it "could have come from one of El Presidente's own edicts." Between this and Manuel Noreiga's decision to sue Activision, it's time the military dictators of the world learned the meaning of that phrase about glass houses and throwing stones.
Facebook is the latest coup victim in Thailand, where the selfie reigns supreme
Foreign governments have been blocking Twitter and Facebook off and on for years, and now Thailand's responsible for some social service downtime. The country's Information Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry disabled access at the military's request, taking the site offline for about 30 minutes yesterday afternoon. According to a Reuters report, Surachai Srisaracam, an ICT official, said the action was intended to "thwart the spread of online criticism of the military" following the recent coup. The official added that the government planned to meet with other social sites, such as Instagram and Twitter, "to ask for cooperation from them." Meanwhile, many Thai citizens are using sharing sites for more innocuous purposes, such as posting selfies with soldiers, which they are once again free to do. Update, May 30th: That meeting between social networks and the Thai military? Guess what. No one showed up. [Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Heroes of the Storm heads to Southeast Asia
We already knew Heroes of the Storm was heading to China, but now Blizzard has inked a deal to bring Heroes -- and possibly other games -- to more of Southeast Asia. Expanding on Blizzard's existing agreement with Asiasoft -- which currently distributes Diablo 3, StarCraft 2, and World of Warcraft in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore -- the deal now includes Heroes of the Storm and features distribution to the Philippines as well. Marketing and operation for the game in the Philippines will be handled by Asiasoft subsidiary Level Up! Inc. No launch date has been set for Heroes of the Storm -- currently in technical alpha -- domestically or internationally, but we assume it will arrive on the traditional Blizzard schedule of "when it's ready."
King of Fighters Online footage features familiar faces, isometric places
King of Fighters Online, the Thailand-only PC MOBA set in the KOF universe, entered beta last week on September 4, and as a result match videos are starting to crop up online. As we can see from this 30-ish minute demonstration, the game features all the expected MOBA trappings (click-to-move, action bars, loitering next to turrets, etc.) in addition to familiar KOF characters and their signature moves. The game is being developed by South Korean studio Dragonfly, and is published in Thailand by True Digital Plus. The client is available to download on the official King of Fighters Online website, with the only barrier to entry being that of language. So far, no announcements have been made with regards to expanding KOFO into other markets, but we're keeping an eye on it just in case.
Bitcoin ban means one less option for bribing Thai officials
Thailand isn't exactly known for its unquestionable ethics; activities that would quickly be labeled as illegal in the West are practiced in plain view in Bangkok. Loose regulations mean that a nearly limitless array of goods and services can be purchased with cash and even credit -- a currency like Bitcoin would only be necessary for the most heinous of exchanges. It's a bit ironic, then, that the Thai government is now the world's first to ban Bitcoin. Following a conference at the Bank of Thailand yesterday, the Foreign Exchange Administration and Policy Department voted to make the digital coinage illegal, prohibiting people from buying, selling or trading Bitcoins for goods or services. Additionally, Bitcoins cannot be moved into or out of the country, rendering any current stockpiles worthless. The Bank of Thailand ended its dispatch with a promise to revisit the ruling in the future, though this landmark decision could prove to be the beginning of the end for Bitcoin.
i-mobile flaunts IQ X and IQ XA Android smartphones with 8MP front and 18MP rear cameras, laughs at megapixel myth
Once upon a time (2007) in a land far, far away (Thailand) lived the i-mobile 902, a pseudo Sony Ericsson W800 clone featuring a trick five-megapixel autofocus camera with a Sony-made CCD sensor and xenon flash. At the time, it produced shots with the most detail and best low-light performance we'd ever experienced on any cameraphone, ever -- make no mistake, it took several years before CMOS-based shooters caught up. It was a well made handset, but fell somewhat short in every other area besides imaging. Fast-forward to yesterday, when Thai phone manufacturer i-mobile published a series of pictures of the IQ X and IQ XA, a pair of thin, handsome-looking Android 4.2 devices with a 4.7-inch 720p display and MediaTek's quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 SoC (MT6589). Read on and we'll run through some of the more curious specs -- not least the resolution of the cameras.
A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda getting an EX version for X.B.L.A.
The manic side-scrolling shooter A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda, originally developed for Windows by a Thai developer named Extend Studio, is making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade in an extended version, courtesy of Origo Games and publisher Aksys Games. The console version of the title (which placed second in Microsoft's 2010 Dream.Build.Play. competition) will feature new controls, a new UI, redesigned maps and enemies, and new high resolution textures and animated cutscenes.The XBLA version, called A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda EX, will also include both the original soundtrack, and a new soundtrack for the second campaign by Peruvian heavy metal guitarist Charlie Parra Del Riego. Aksys hasn't announced a date or price for the game yet.
Acer intros Liquid C1 smartphone packing Intel Lexington, low price to match
Remember that unnamed Acer phone we caught skulking about Intel's CES event? It's been given a proper launch: meet the Liquid C1. True to form, the fully revealed device centers around a Lexington-based, 1.2GHz Atom Z2420 processor. The chip gives the C1 enough grunt to power an 8-megapixel camera with burst shooting while keeping the price in check, at about 9,990 baht ($335) off-contract for the inaugural Thailand release in February. Locals will otherwise get a solid Android 4.0 smartphone with a 4.3-inch display, HSPA+ 3G and a battery that lasts for nine hours of 3G talk. Other countries in southeast Asia are next on the list to get Acer's turn at an Intel-powered handset, although we wouldn't expect to see it everywhere -- Intel's Uday Marty warns ZDNet that the absence of LTE will keep phones like the C1 away from markets where the faster data is commonplace.
Hard drive shipments recover from floods in Thailand, expected to reach record high
Last year's floods in Thailand caused hard drive shortages after wreaking havoc on a number of electronics manufacturers, but new stats from IHS iSuppli indicate that the HDD market for PCs has fully recovered and is poised to hit an all time high. The firm expects 524 million units for internal use in PCs to ship this year, besting the previous record by 4.3 percent. What's giving the recovery an added boost? According to the analytics group, the extra demand comes courtesy of Windows 8 and Ultrabooks. Unfortunately for deal hounds, the company noted in a report earlier this year that prices aren't expected to dip below the pre-flood range until 2014. If IHS iSuppli projections hold true, total annual hard drive shipments could reach 575.1 million by 2016.
iTunes in the Cloud movies find their way to Australia, Canada, the UK and 32 more countries
The advent of movie support in iTunes for the Cloud was a boon to Apple TV owners as well as any iTunes user with a tendency to hop between devices -- within the US, that is. Apple today swung the doors open and let Australia, Canada, the UK as well as 32 other countries and regions around the world get access to their movies whenever they're signed in through iTunes or an iOS device. Not every studio is on the same page, as many American viewers will know all too well: it's more likely that you'll get re-download rights for a major studio title such as Lockout than an indie production, for example. Even with that limit in mind, there's no doubt more than a few movie mavens glad to avoid shuffling and re-syncing that copy of Scott Pilgrim to watch it through to the end.
iTunes Store opens in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asia-Pacific territories
Our Apple-loving compatriots on the west side of the Pacific Ocean have been able to purchase the latest in iPhone and iPad software from the App Store for a while, but believe it or not, they've been shut out of the iTunes Store. Apple has just opened the virtual iTunes storefront in a dozen locations across the Asia-Pacific region. The "big three" Asian markets that will get access to music and movies for the first time today are Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Other locations that are going live today are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. All of the new stores will feature local content as well as the big international favorites. Apple chose to launch the new branches of the iTunes Store complete with iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match subscriptions.
Apple opens iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asia-Pacific territories
Many Apple fans on the opposite side of the Pacific from Cupertino haven't had much of a choice to shop from iTunes, even though they've had the App Store for some time. There's now a much better sense of balance: Apple just flicked the switch on the iTunes Store for music and movies in a dozen countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific region. The company singles out our own Richard Lai's Hong Kong as well as Singapore and Taiwan, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam are also getting the media catalogs, which include local content along with the international hits. It's a full catch-up as well, with iTunes in the Cloud re-downloads and iTunes Match subscriptions available in every new country. If you're a huge Andy Lau fan but wanted his albums from the most iPhone-friendly store possible, the wait is over.
Web Marketplace for Windows Phone gets 22 more stamps in its passport
If you've been holed up in Thailand, waiting to browse the latest and greatest apps for your Windows Phone in your browser instead of on the device directly, then things are looking up. Microsoft has just announced that 22 new countries are being graces with their own web Marketplace. The full list covers Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela, UAE, Bahrain, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Israel, Thailand, and Vietnam. The same blog post advises that work is also underway to improve the search results delivered by the site. So you might not have to play Hungry Birds for much longer.
New iPad arrives in India, eight other countries today
Apple began selling the new iPad today in an additional nine countries, including India. The other countries include Colombia, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand. With today's rollout the new iPad is now available in 56 countries around the world -- the fastest iPad expansion to date. However, as noted by CNET, the biggest country in today's launch, India, seems to have little excitement for the new tablet. Apple has no official retail presence in the country. Instead, its products are sold through third-party retailers, many of which sell cheaper tablets. That's an important factor for many Indian customers as, on average, Indian citizens have less disposable income for tech goods as their Western counterparts. In fact, at one Indian reseller the only one waiting in line for the new iPad was a bull. Both the Wi-Fi and 4G models are now available through Apple's online store and at select Apple Authorized Resellers. Photo credit: Ankit Tuteja/IBNLive.com
