Monthly Archives: August 2011

Asian Startup Goes Global : CEO Corner With Saumil Nanavati from Chalkboard

When I met Saumil and his partner Bernard last year in Singapore, I wasn’t sure about his plan by taking his company Chalkboard to the US market. The concept is easily cloned by some company in Silicon Valley and would’ve probably gain more exposure and investors’ trust compared to some company from Singapore.

Saumil has proven me wrong.

His company received funding from Neoteny Labs, a Singaporean fund backed by Twitter’s early investor Joi Ito who has strong connection to tech startups and investors in US. This strategic move works perfectly for Chalkboard to go conquer the US market with the help of their investors.

So in this session of CEO Corner, I’m interviewing Saumil Nanavati the founder and CEO of Chalkboard. Check it out!

Continue reading Asian Startup Goes Global : CEO Corner With Saumil Nanavati from Chalkboard

Mengapa Kita Masih Menggunakan Perangkat Key Generator Untuk Internet Banking?

Salah satu hambatan untuk internet banking di Indonesia adalah kebutuhan wajib dalam menggunakan key generator fisik sebagai langkah keamanan tambahan untuk mencegah akses tidak sah ke rekening bank Anda. Meski hal ini bisa menghambat atau menyulitkan orang lain yang mencoba masuk ke akun bank pengguna, namun ada harga yang harus di bayar, yaitu ketidaknyamanan dalam aktivitas internet banking yang aman.

Ini merepotkan karena setiap kali Anda perlu melakukan transaksi online, Anda harus memasukkan serangkaian angka yang dihasilkan oleh key generator. Ini berarti Anda harus membawa perangkat kecil yang menyerupai kalkulator ini setiap saat di antara koleksi gadget lain yang Anda bawa setiap hari.

Anda mungkin bertanya, apa apa susahnya untuk membawa perangkat itu, kan hanya satu gadget kecil? Masalahnya akan muncul ketika Anda kehilangan perangkat kecil ini, Anda akan perlu meminta gantinya dari bank. Akan sangat menyulitkan jika hal ini terjadi pada jam lima sore atau sedang berada di area yang tidak ada cabang bank terdekat, misalnya di luar negeri.

Continue reading Mengapa Kita Masih Menggunakan Perangkat Key Generator Untuk Internet Banking?

Pada Tanggal 1 September, Foursquare Akan meluncurkan Aplikasi BlackBerry Dengan Citarasa Indonesia

Kami menerima email anonim yang memberitahukan bahwa Foursquare telah meminta bantuan dari RIM untuk mengenalkan versi terbaru dari aplikasi mereka di BlackBerry AppWorld. Alasan untuk permintaan ini tampaknya adalah dukungan untuk bahasa tambahan.

Menurut email tersebut, pembaruan aplikasi Foursquare berikutnya akan memiliki dukungan lokalisasi bahasa untuk Thailand, Indonesia, Rusia, Portugis dan Korea. Aplikasi ini akan tersedia mulai dari tanggal 1 September. Saat ini, tidak ada informasi tambahan untuk lokalisasi atas aplikasi Foursquare di platform lain seperti iOS dan Android.

 

Continue reading Pada Tanggal 1 September, Foursquare Akan meluncurkan Aplikasi BlackBerry Dengan Citarasa Indonesia

Permainan Dimulai! Sekarang Anda Bisa Beli Zynga Credits Menggunakan XL Prabayar

Saya tau beberapa orang Indonesia tergila-gila (bahkan terobsesi) dengan permainan yang dikeluarkan oleh Zynga, terutama permainan yang bernama Zynga Poker. Penggunanya agak kesulitan untuk membawa permainan ke tingkat yang lebih menarik, namun di sisi lain Zynga sendiri justru menemukan kesulitan untuk memonetisasi pasar Indonesia. Kesulitan itu akan hilang mulai hari ini, melalui mitra lokal mereka Indomog, Zynga bermitra dengan XL Axiata (salah satu telco terbesar di Indonesia) untuk menjembatani mata uang virtual dengan mata uang di kehidupan nyata.

Dengan pengisian kartu prabayar XL Anda sebesar Rp 50.000 dan Rp 100.000, Anda sudah dapat me-redeem Zynga dollars Anda dan menambahkan saldo untuk digunakan kemudian. Indomog juga bermitra dengan grup ritel seperti Indomart, grup Alfamart, Lotte Mart dan Circle K, dimana pengguna dapat membeli (dan melakukan Topup) untuk memudahkan pengguna dalam menambahkan Zynga dollars ke akun mereka.

Continue reading Permainan Dimulai! Sekarang Anda Bisa Beli Zynga Credits Menggunakan XL Prabayar

Game On! Now You Can Buy Zynga Credits Using Your XL Prepaid Credit

I’ve known some Indonesia people crazy (or obsessed) with Zynga games, especially Zynga Poker. And people are finding difficulties to bring the game to a more exciting level, and the Zynga guys are finding difficulties monetizing the Indonesian market. Until today, through their local payment partner Indomog, Zynga partners with XL Axiata (one of Indonesia’s big telco) bridging virtual currency and real-life currency.

By charging your XL prepaid cards with IDR 50k and 100k, you’ll be able to redeem your Zynga dollars and add the balance in the future. Indomog also partners with retail chains such as Indomart, Alfamart group, Lotte Mart and Circle K where users can buy (and topup) more Zynga dollars to their account.

Continue reading Game On! Now You Can Buy Zynga Credits Using Your XL Prepaid Credit

Foursquare to launch BlackBerry app with Indonesian localization on September 1

We just received an anonymous email letting us know that Foursquare has requested assistance from RIM to feature the latest version of the Foursquare app in the BlackBerry AppWorld. The reason for this request is apparently support for additional languages.

According to the email, the next Foursquare app update will have localization support for Thai, Indonesian, Russian, Portuguese and Korean languages. The app will be made available from September 1. No word as to the localizations for Foursquare’s apps on other platforms such as iOS and Android at this moment.

Read on for the email from Holger Luedorf, Foursquare’s VP mobile and partnerships

Continue reading Foursquare to launch BlackBerry app with Indonesian localization on September 1

Why are we still using key generator devices for Internet banking?

One of the barriers to Internet banking in Indonesia is the compulsory requirement to use a physical key generator as an additional security measure to prevent unauthorized access to your bank account. While it may make it more difficult for someone to try and break into bank accounts, the inconvenience of it becomes a price to pay for consumers to engage in safe internet banking.

Inconvenient because every time you need to perform an online transaction session, you would need to enter a set of numbers produced by the key generator. This means you have to carry this small calculator-like device with you at all times among a collection of your other gadgets that you carry on a daily basis.

What’s the big deal, it’s just another small gadget, you probably are asking. The big deal is that if you lose it you’ll need to request another one from the bank and it’s not that convenient if it happens to be at five in the afternoon or you’re in an area without a branch of that bank, for example overseas.

Additionally if you’re overseas for an extended period of time and the battery in your key generator runs out. You’re pretty much prevented from any online transaction using your Indonesian bank account.

Continue reading Why are we still using key generator devices for Internet banking?

Kartumuu Launched Business Facility (Updated)

May be some of the readers start their vacation and packing, or have already gathered with family to welcome Ied Al-Fitr this year. But wait, this is a good moment for startups to run their program, one of them is Kartumuu.com.

Kartumuu.com is a social media service which gives facility to users for sending digital cards. According to their press release several days ago to DailySocial, they launched their business facility. Kartumuu Business helps brand for their online campaign program.

There are three main services explained in the press release from the Kartumuu’s business facility. The first one is the special page for brand (profile page) on Kartumuu, so every brand can have special page with custom design.

Continue reading Kartumuu Launched Business Facility (Updated)

Free Version of Two Games from Aksara Studio Reach Thousands Downloads

Do you still remember Aksara Studio? DailySocial interviewed two of three founders of Aksara Studio at Mobile Game Developer War last June. That time, they explained about Waroeng Ekspress Jawa and Petualangan Aksara Jawa games and also their preparation to release Waroeng Aksara Jawa (sequel of Waroeng Ekspres).

When we interviewed them, their game has been downloaded around 1.000 downloads. The most interesting is that the English version also downloaded by Vietnam and India users, as stated by Jeffrey Hermanto Halimsetiawan and Alexander Raharjo. Now, the Waroeng Ekspres sequel, that is the free-of-charge version of Waroeng Ekspress Jawa, has reached more than 10.000 downloads in one month and still downloaded more and more.

From its Aksara Studio Facebook Page, it is informed that the other game they developed, the free-of-charge version of Petualangan Aksara Jawa (PAJ) has been downloaded around 10.000 times with more than 1.000 download every day. PAJ also has a sequel that is Petualangan Aksara Bali which is available in Ovi Store for only Rp. 3.000.

Continue reading Free Version of Two Games from Aksara Studio Reach Thousands Downloads

Setelah Malang, Kini Palembang Bentuk Komunitas Startup

Sebelum memasuki hari raya Idul Fitri, saya akan menuliskan satu artikel tentang munculnya komunitas startup di Palembang. Setelah bermunculan beberapa komunitas di berbagai kota seperti Bancakan 2.0 (Yogyakarta), FOWAB (Bandung), StartupLokal (Jakarta), SuWec (Surabaya), SuBali  (Bali), dan Stasion (Malang), kali ini Kota Palembang muncul dengan komunitas bernama MusTech kepanjangan dari Musi Technology. Ya, Musi adalah nama Sungai terbesar dan menjadi ciri khas dari kota ini.

Komunitas ini dibentuk oleh dua inisiator yang tertarik dengan bisnis internet, mereka berdua adalah Andhika Wijaya dan Sekar Ayu Adjilianty. Seperti yang dijelaskan disitus resmi MusTech, tujuan dari komunitas ini adalah mengumpulkan komunitas yang suka dengan teknologi internet dan digital, membangun bisnis di dunia internet dan mempertemukan pendiri-pendiri startup, investor, dan media untuk saling berkolaborasi. Sehingga nantinya akan bermunculan technopreneur maupun netpreneur dari kota Palembang.

Continue reading Setelah Malang, Kini Palembang Bentuk Komunitas Startup