What’s Facebook’s Timeline? Have you heard of Timeline in Facebook? Do you find Timeline cool and awesome? Yes indeed it’s a better way of sorting and presenting your Facebook profile and it’s more organized according to the time that you posted or being tagged in Facebook!
Have you enabled your profile Timeline in Facebook yet? If not here’s some simple tip on how to enable it!
Facebook’s Timeline
Here’s some simple way of enabling it instead of some tedious way of doing it few months back! Now, it’s a whole lot easier, you can enable the Timeline in Facebook with one click yes only 1 click! Then publish it for all to see with one more.
The best part is, after you click the “Get Timeline” button, you have seven days until it automatically goes live, but until then, you’re the only one who will see it until you authorize it to be published. However, if you don’t want to wait seven days, you can publish it any time by clicking “Publish Now”.
So for 7 days after you opt in, you can go through and edit whatever you’d like to hide from all your Facebook friends and followers, making sure your privacy is intact. Once you’ve pruned your Facebook Timeline to your comfort level, click the “Publish Now” button, and all your timeline goodness is immediately displayed for all to see.
Here’s the Simple Steps on enabling your Timeline in Facebook!
1. Be sure you’re logged into your Facebook account.
2. Go to the About Timeline page.
3. Click on “Get Timeline.” (As shown in the print screen above)
4. Scroll down on your timeline and edit or remove any items you don’t want shown. Do that by holding your cursor over the upper right of the item you want to edit, and then make your choice on the drop-down list.
5. From that list you can change the date of the item, add a location, hide it from the timeline, delete the post altogether, or report it/mark it as spam.
6. If you’d like to “feature” any of the posts, click on the star icon to the left of that pencil icon, and that item will be expanded all the way across the page, made larger for all your friends to see.
7. Once you’re satisfied with all the edits you’ve made, either go back to the top of the Timeline and click “Publish Now” or do nothing and it’ll be automatically published on December 22.
Start with your cover on your Facebook Timeline
Your cover appears above your profile picture, and it’s the first thing people see when they visit your timeline. Choose a unique photo from your life to feature on your cover.
Note: Just like profile pictures, your cover photos are public.
Here’s my old profile without Timeline. Do you feel it’s better looking and better presentation in Timeline?
Fast fast go Update your Facebook’s Timeline now~!
The most obvious app missing from the iPad has been Facebook and finally it’s released! I have installed into my mom’s iPad and the user experience is really awesome!
This Facebook app for iPad also support Multi-Touch Gestures! The new Facebook app for iPad really highlight the multitouch awesomeness of the iPad!
When you first login to the Facebook for iPad app, you can choose to Take Tour on how to use the app.
There’s a navigation sidebar on the left side of the screen to search, open your Facebook profile, check out the News Feed, Messages, Events, Friends and more.
Upper toolbar gives you access to friend requests, messages and notifications while your news feed is still on the background! You will not loose where you checking on the feed that you are reading halfway! That’s the best part that I love!
Enjoy bigger, better photos
Your photos take on new life on the iPad. They’re big, high-res and easy to flip through—like a real photo album.
When you search for your friends, the profile photo of your friends also bigger and look very organize and awesome!
Focus on what matters
With less on the screen, it’s easier to zoom in on your friends’ photos, updates and stories.
Navigate anywhere, fast
Just tap, slide or pinch to get from one screen to another and back again in no time.
Never lose your place
Use simplified navigation to send a message, see your notifications or browse your bookmarks without switching screens.
Play games on the go
Play your favorite Facebook games wherever you are, and on a bigger screen.
Tap to send messages
A simple dropdown menu makes it easy to scan and send messages without visiting your inbox.
You could also add multiple Facebook accounts / profiles into the Facebook for iPad app so you could switch between the profile easily.
Download the new Facebook for iPad app now! A New Way to Experience Facebook!
Please Take note!
Problem : The Facebook iPad app might crash or takes a long time to load when you first open the new Facebook iPad app. Don’t worry!
Solution : I kill the running Facebook app and run the app again few times and can load without any problem. Or you may delete the Facebook app on your iPad and reinstall.
RM50Mil project investment on 1Malaysia email which will be providing 1Malaysia e-mail account to every Malaysian aged 18 and above.
1Pengguna.com Portal
RMRM1.4 project investment on 1Pengguna.com which allows the consumers to compare the prices of goods sold at over 1,255 retail outlets nationwide.
Cuti-cuti 1 Malaysia Facebook Pages
Now RM1.8Mil spent on Cuti-cuti 1 Malaysia Facebook Pages which every Tom, Dick or Harry can create it for FREE? I also have my own Saimatkong 驶么讲 Facebook Page, now you can go and like mine! =p
One of my main concern is spending such amount of money on Facebook which is very much depending on the 3rd party and what if the Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg, close down Facebook or change Facebook to some subscription with a minimum amount of charge, then I would say all the money is like throwing into the sea? Am I right? =)
“Expenses for advertisements there are not included in the RM1.8mil budget, which is solely for the social media campaign.” – This is too good to be truth. Then I really hope I can be one of the people that handling the social media campaign!
One of the application / games in the budget of RM1.8Mil?
Actually the idea of this is good but don’t you think RM1.8mil is just too much and having competition with prizes of Free iPad 2 is good and maybe should run more competition or contest related to tourism and giving out some tour package to our own Local Attractions would be good as some of us will not been to those places! Keep it up!
If you need any talent to handle the Social Media can hire me and I would make sure the budget is wisely spend and the citizen would really benefited from these campaign that I could kick-start! I really have a lot ideas in my mind but just no money to execute it! =)
This Curi-curi Wang Malaysia Facebook Page after setup within few days they have already recorded 80,000+ likes. It’s really amazing and the cost of setup is Zero.
Tourism Ministry Utilises Social Website To Promote Domestic Tourism
KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 (Bernama) — The Tourism Ministry has utilised the social website Facebook to promote domestic tourism among IT-literate Malaysians, especially the youngsters, said its Deputy Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit.
He said the ministry had developed six Facebook applications for Tourism Malaysia which cost a total of RM1,758,432 with each page costing RM293,072.
“The pages include product promotions, tourism destinations and activities such as ‘Cuti Cuti 1Malaysia’, Citrawarna 1Malaysia, 1Malaysia Mega Sales Carnival, Year End Sales Carnival and Fabulous Food 1Malaysia,” he said in reply to a question from Loke Siew Fook (DAP-Rasah) who had asked on the justification for the expenditure at the Dewan Rakyat today.
Dawos added that an advertising company, Impact Creations Sdn Bhd, was responsible for all advertisements and events of the ministry and Tourism Malaysia or the domestic market for 2011 until 2013.
However, the RM1.8 million expenditure was questioned by several members of Parliament who claimed that it was a waste.
Loke said it was irrelevant as the social website could be accessed free of charge while Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) asked whether the ministry had set any key performance indicators to monitor the advertising agency’s performance.
KUALA LUMPUR: The RM1.8mil budget is for an overall social media advertising campaign and not just for Facebook, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen.
She said the entire campaign was aimed at creating and developing six tourism events, including Citrawarna 1Malaysia, 1Malaysia Malaysia Mega Sale/Malaysia Year-End Sale, Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia and Fabulous Food 1Malaysia.
Dr Ng said the budget for Impact Creations (M) Sdn Bhd, which had secured a RM30mil ceiling contract for the domestic tourism advertising campaign via open tender, included expenses for digital advertising on Google, Facebook and other websites and to run, manage and monitor responses.
“We also need to spend on the collection of data and evaluation of the campaign. All these need to be done by professionals and technical experts,” she said here yesterday.
She said Impact Creations would also coordinate the campaign with other promotional activities in newspapers, magazines, radio, television and billboards.
“Expenses for advertisements there are not included in the RM1.8mil budget, which is solely for the social media campaign.
“This part of the expenses will be funded by the remaining allocation under the RM30mil contract,” she said, adding that the Facebook page for the six events had attracted 24,000 fans within a month of its launch and expected to reach 120,000 by December.
She also denied the accusation that the RM1.8mil had been spent to set up Facebook pages for the six events.
“Everybody knows it can be done (setting up a Facebook page) for free. It costs us nothing because we do not spend a single sen on it,” she said.
On Tuesday, Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit told Parliament that it spent close to RM1.8mil to develop its Facebook page to promote its domestic tourism market and activities from this year until 2013.
Dr Ng had since said this was a small sum, as compared to the Philippines which spent RM7mil while Australia had set aside RM485mil over the next three years.
Dr Ng accused DAP’s Rasah MP Anthony Loke, who questioned the expenditure, of making an issue out of the reply by “twisting the facts”.
Public outrage over Tourism Ministry’s RM1.8m splurge
PETALING JAYA: THE Tourism Ministry has spent a whopping RM1,758,432 on developing six Facebook pages to promote Malaysian tourism. In an online news portal yesterday, Tourism Deputy Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit was quoted as saying the Facebook pages — Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia, Citrawarna 1Malaysia, Karnival Jualan Mega 1Malaysia, Festival Pelancongan Seni Kontemporari 1Malaysia, Kempen 1Malaysia Bersih and Fabulous Food 1Malaysia — costing RM293,072 each.
Mamit reportedly gave these figures in Parliament yesterday.
But website developers and members of the public say the move was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Creative director Joey Khor, 33, who has seven years experience in developing websites, told The Malay Mail spending such an amount for setting up Facebook pages was simply not justifiable.
“Every website acts like a house and one have to ‘drive traffic’ to their ‘houses’ to promote it. Generally, the bulk of the money spent for websites is usually to attract traffic to it and Facebook pages are a form of an online marketing option.
“However, spending RM1.8 million on such a purpose is not justifiable.”
Khor opined he could easily set up a digital agency and run the websites of five different companies for a year with RM1.8 million. “With almost RM300,000 spent for each page, I can create two iPhone applications.”
Instead of setting up Facebook pages to promote Malaysian tourism, Khor said the ministry could have engaged in other online marketing strategies such as partnering with Google for promotional activities.
A website developer, who wished to remain anonymous, said a general website requires RM50,000 to RM200,000 to be set up, depending on its complexity.
“RM50,000 to RM80,000 is considered sufficient enough to develop each of the ministry’s Facebook pages.
The 32-year-old said even international brands usually spend about RM1 million for their websites.
“My most expensive project was to develop a website for a company that needed me to create a template which could be adapted across all countries. The website development cost the company RM1.2 million.
“Compared to the Tourism Ministry’s Facebook pages, the project I worked on was on a much higher scale. So, how could the ministry had spent more than us?”
Copy writer John Royce, from Petaling Jaya said the ministry either had extremely poor judgement when it comes to selecting its contractors for website development or they were not being completely honest with the public.
“Having worked in a digital marketing agency before, I think it’s ridiculous to spend about RM300,000 for a Facebook page. In fact, you can get a full corporate website with all the bells and whistles, plus social media accounts created and managed for you for RM300,000.
“What’s even more outrageous is that the government claim it can no longer afford to subsidise fuel. And yet here they are squandering taxpayers’ money,” said the 30-year-old.
Samantha Doray, 33, an architect said: “I opened the Facebook pages to find out if there was really anything worth RM1.8 million on them. The comments by the other users aptly describe my sentiments too. The ministry’s idiocy is out there in the open for everyone to see.”
Public relations officer Sasha Sundaran said there should be an inquiry done on how the ministry managed and spent the money.
“Malaysians need to know where their money is going.”
Tourism Minister defends RM1.8 million Facebook promo
Facebook is free, but it’s Tourism Malaysia’s social media advertising campaign that costs RM1.8mil, says minister
JUMPING ON THE BANDWAGON: The world is going digital and if you’re not in social media, you’re outdated, says Ng
TOURISM Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen was supposed to be seething in anger with reports insinuating the ministry spent RM1.8 million on six Facebook pages.
The Malay Mail senior writer Marhalim Abas braved the traffic and a possible tongue lashing to find out what was really going on.
Q: What is the real story behind the RM1.8 million?
A: The ministry’s efforts to embark on a digital promotional campaign and branding via the social media was heavily twisted by Loke (DAP MP Anthony Loke) and caused confusion among Facebook fans and the media. He said the ministry spent RM1.8 million to create six Facebook pages. It was reported in the Chinese Press with, which I see, an intent to mislead the public.
Q: What was the money used for then?
A: Firstly, it was not used to develop the Facebook pages; you and I know those are free. Even I started my DrYenYen page on Facebook for free. Of course it’s stupid (to spend that amount) since it costs nothing to set up a page. Some media correctly reported the sum was for a social media advertising campaign.
Secondly, the sum was used to create and develop the campaign and branding of six major tourism events — Citrawarna; 1Malaysia Mega Sale and Year End Sale; Night Festival; Fabulous Food 1Malaysia; 1Malaysia Contemporary Art Tourism and 1Malaysia Green; and Clean Campaign. The campaign involves content. Promoting and branding a campaign need back servers. You also need to manage the campaign and monitor the response.
Thirdly, data collection and data monitoring. Fourth, campaign evaluation. We don’t have experts in Tourism Malaysia. It’s okay if it’s just your personal Facebook page but this is a global brand, a national advertising campaign.
Q: Who is running the campaign?
A: Our advertising agency. They have been entrusted with domestic tourism promotion. They used to do TV, radio, billboards and print campaigns, and now social media. See what it says? (while holding up a Press clipping) Tourism Malaysia spends RM1.8 million on Facebook. Of course everyone wants an explanation! The Deputy Minister (Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit) was clear but he (Loke) skipped so many (details) and said even children know Facebook is free.
He purposely distracted people from the real issue. I’m happy to report the Citrawarna page has garnered 24,000 fans in less than a month. We are aiming for at least 120,000 fans within six months for the entire campaign.
One newspapers interviewed many people who talked about how much it costs to develop a website. I’m not talking because this is not a website.
Q: You said the papers got the wrong Facebook page. Can you show us the right one?
A: People think a social media campaign is simple. I deny the attempt by DAP, especially Loke. Of course, when people see his statement, they say it’s stupid as Facebook is free. You see the confusion created by DAP? This is a national tourism campaign which forms the RM56 billion national economy.
This is not our website, this is an open country (while holding up another Press clipping). Ours is here, Tourism Malaysia Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia (shows the web page on her iPad). Whoever did the interviews was barking up the wrong tree. You should interview the social media advertising agency.
Q: Why advertise in social media?
A: The world is going digital. The cost of digital advertising is going up because everybody is using social media. Total advertising in social media last year was RM12.7 billion. If you’re not in the social media, you are outdated. We need to attract new types of tourists, the so-called Foreign Individual Tourist or FIT. They go on packages. They check AirAsia (website) and pack their bags. Or they go on Facebook. Facebook has 700 million fans, 10 million of whom are Malaysian, so we have to go to social media and its advertising is not free.
Do you know why Google and and Facebook are so rich? Because you and I are all their fans. Tourism Malaysia’s social media campaign must be top class. We cannot be mediocre. How can Loke talk about Penang Tourism ‘not having to pay anything’? Theirs is only a Facebook page! No campaign, no applications, contest or advertising. It’s like a personal page. In two years, Penang Tourism gained 120,000 fans. Loke is either clueless or wants to distract (the attention) from my social media campaign, which is something the country needs.
Q: Are other countries promoting their tourism via social media?
A: Australia’s tourism authority announced they are going to spent RM150 million annually for three years on social media advertising, promotion and marketing. Queensland is spending RM5 million this year for social media while the Philippines is spending RM7 million. Thailand’s tourism authority is increasing its budget for social media by 40 per cent. There is a clear shift towards social media. That’s why we went that way.
Q: Why is Impact Creations Sdn Bhd handling the social media advertising campaign?
A: Because it is my advertising agency in change of domestic tourism promotion. They manage everything so they can co-ordinate and collaborate their campaigns on TV, radio, billboards and electronics. We asked them to start on the social media campaign. We launched the Facebook page on May 18.
I read someone claimed she went to the page and found nothing much there. Of course, this is a six-month campaign. Another said he did not see RM1.8 million on the page. What about my advertising on Google and Facebook? Social media is not cheap. The Opposition is clever. Take one part and blow it open. I must state I consider the statements (by Loke) an attempt to mislead and discredit Tourism Malaysia.
Q: Where can we see the advertisements?
A: Its on CNN. Have you seen the Malaysia Truly Asia campaign? Our first advertisement on the social media campaign is on Citrawarna, on our Facebook Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia. The advertisements are related to my events.
Q: Why is Impact Creations involved in the social media campaign?
A: As I said before, Impact Creations is the domestic tourism promotion. The tourism promotion is divided into different countries. China and East Asia are under Mascom and Oceania (under) Saatchi. These companies won the tender that created a lot of brouhaha before. They all got an annual RM30 million contract for three years and RM30 million is the ceiling, they cannot go higher.
Q: It was alleged they were given the tender because they are your friends.
A: People can say what they want. I have been a politician for 45 years, everyone is my friend. The owner of Mascom is my friend. M&C Saatchi’s Datin Sharifah (Datin Sharifah Menjelara Hussein) is my friend. You are also my friend. The agencies won in an open tender.
I did not seat in the tender decision committee. I have been accused without justification. The tender board chose these companies for financial and technical reasons. I have answered the allegations clearly in The Star (newspaper) and I answered to Parliament clearly as well.
Impact Creations have the right to outsource or in-source.
After seeing the comments in Facebook, it was important for me to clear everyone’s minds. When we have social media campaigns, even my son who is overseas can see what’s going on.
Q: Besides Facebook, what other social media are you working with?
A: Mostly Facebook because it’s interactive and visual. Twitter is mostly text. It is now important to go to social media for tourism campaign. Print is losing out.
Q: Because print is seen as boring?
A: Yes, sorry. But the most positive and negative reactions are from you.
Do you love to play games? Love PlayStation? Love Android? Love lots free Apps? If yes, then this is the only smartphone that you have to grab! It is the world’s 1st PlayStation™ Certified Android smartphone and it’s also know as “PlayStation™ Portable (PSP) Phone”.
Available from as low as RM848 on Celcom Exec with 18 months contract. You know you will love it!
Sign up now and enjoy:
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taaa daaa… You have got yourself a nice x’mas tree. Now there’s a mission for you! Get into the spirit of Christmas and start decorating your tree by turning your friends into Christmas trinkets and win yourself a special invites to special events and you get to invite 50 of your friendsss too with unlimited free flow of beer. Sound cool? Of coz la! Read on…
Just 4 Simple Steps:
1.) Choose a Friend & Choose your friend’s photo that available in Facebook.
Choose a friend that you would like him / her to be in your X’mas tree.
Choose your friend’s photo that available in Facebook.
2.) Choose a Trinket
Choose a trinket that you think is best fit your friend.
3.) Adjust and fit his/her face onto the trinket
Try to rotate and scale your friend’s face into the trinket.
4.) Hang your trinket on your Carlsbery Christmas Tree
Then just hang it on your X’mas Tree by dragging your friend’s trinket on to the allocated space on the X’mas Tree.
Completed and you may also publish this to your friend’s wall so that they know you actually hung him / her on your Tree. =)
Then you are done. Hmm wait… actually not till you hang all your friends to your special Nice One Tree~!
If you have the most friends on your Carlsberg x’mas Tree, you stand a chance to win your own private party, Yes “Private Party” at a place with unlimited free flow of beer and of coz with the FHM GIRL NEXT DOOR! Nice one right? =)
Celebrate this Christmas in a whole new way! Put up a Carlsberg Christmas Tree and have fun decorating it by turning your friends into Christmas trinkets! And if you’ve put up the largest tree, you may even win your very own sponsored Christmas party. Alright, catch up again as I’m busy building my Nice Tree.
It’s actually very surprise for me that MOL bought over Friendster and it’s now a Malaysia owned online social networking website. Do you think it’s a smart move for the Berjaya group to spend such amount of money just to buy over the Friendster? Will it make our country become famous and more ppl actually know about Malaysia? Malaysia Boleh?
For me personally, I would think that Friendster actually dead after the blooming of Facebook and most of the Friendster’s users / members actually move over to Facebook because of the platform, instant update, easy to use apps in those smart phones like Blackberry / iPhone and there’s plenty of apps and games for the members to play and they will not get board by just logging in to Facebook everyday! Friendster been very active recently to capture their users by introducing new layout, more features and more apps but it’s still way to go mate.
New Friendster Layaout
I started using Friendster when I was in my college era, everyone will be adding friends, busy writing testimonial to your friends, updating their shoutout and check who viewed me and all and there’s a time where there’s another local guy make it for local version with Kawanster.com or something but I just checked and the page is not exist anymore now?
Berjaya bought over Friendster should have their own reason and maybe there’s some big plan which they are yet to reveal or just they want a huge database to make their business grow even faster? What do you think and are you still using Friendster or will you start to use Friendster from now on? Will the privacy be an issue in the future like what Facebook facing (and now Facebook come up with new pricy)?
Friendster vs Facebook…
MOLGlobal acquire Friendster – Press Conference
Photo taken from MOL’s Facebook, since they own Friendster now why aren’t they using Friendster but Facebook? Haha.
Check this out even we have 1Malaysia / SatuMalaysia on Facebook! I got to know this 1Malaysia Facebook thru a TV advertisment and you know social networking it’s the future but are those on Facebook like 1Malayisa, our Prime Minister Najib, other politicians that been using Facebook to talk to Malaysian going to change to Friendster? That’s no the concern but will Friendster bring more good to Berjaya Group?
MOL Global to Acquire Friendster
MOL Retail and Payment Channels and Leading Online Social Network Combine to Form Massive Content Distribution and E-commerce Platform in Asia for Over 100 Million Users
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – December 10, 2009 – MOL Global Pte. Ltd. (“MOL Global”), an affiliate of leading online payment solutions provider MOL AccessPortal Berhad (“MOL”), and Friendster, Inc. (“Friendster”), the operator of a top global web site based on traffic and a leading social network in Asia, announced today they have entered into a definitive agreement under which MOL Global will acquire 100% of Friendster. The principal shareholder of MOL is Tan Sri Vincent Tan, the Chairman and CEO of Berjaya Corporation Berhad, a leading, diversified Malaysian conglomerate that has annual revenues in excess of US$1.8 billion. Following the acquisition, the operations of MOL and Friendster will be combined to create Asia’s largest end-to-end content, distribution and commerce network, pairing MOL’s offline retail channel partners and payment platform with Friendster’s large online footprint, social network and user community in Asia.
“The merger with Friendster will continue to transform the social networking industry, combining a highly intuitive and successful social media site and online marketing channel with an integrated payment platform and content network which includes games, goods, gifts, music and video. We are creating a unique company that will be well positioned to provide content to a huge, regional user base, here in Southeast Asia,” said Ganesh Kumar Bangah, president and chief executive officer of MOL.
MOL uses the leverage of a network of over 500,000 physical and virtual payment channels across 75 countries worldwide to collect payments for content and services. Its core markets are Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and India. MOL has relationships with over 70 online game publishers that have a suite of over 200 online game titles. It also has partnerships with music, movie and video content owners and distributors across the region.
“Friendster and MOL are both industry pioneers and are close partners. This combination is a natural progression of our relationship and will be an industry-changing event,” said Richard Kimber, chief executive officer at Friendster. “The new combined entity gives Friendster the kind of financial backing, retail distribution, and e-commerce infrastructure that will enable us to accelerate our strategy and create a locally relevant, fun experience for our users in Asia, both on and offline.”
In 2003, Friendster pioneered social networking, and today is a leading web site in Asia, with over 75 million registered users and over 90 percent of daily traffic coming from the region. Asian youths have embraced Friendster and use it as their primary means of connecting to and keeping in touch with friends, self-expression, sharing content and news with friends, and as a source of entertainment.
Friendster users also enjoy local music, gifting, photo sharing, online games, and using Friendster on their mobile devices. All of these are incorporated in Friendster’s product suite and will be further developed over time with MOL, specifically with Asian youths in mind.
Friendster and MOL entered a global partnership in October of this year where MOL was appointed to provide an integrated payments platform, as a foundation for The Friendster Wallet and The Friendster Gift Shop, for Friendster’s users. The new combined entity will now build upon that initial set of products to deliver a content distribution network and e-commerce platform, enabling a wide array of content to be distributed to Friendster’s community and monetize via micro-transactions using MOL’s payment platform. MOL will use the leverage of its physical distribution networks to localize and extend the online reach of social networking in Southeast Asia to the physical world through Tan Sri Vincent Tan’s substantial assets across Malaysia and the region, including retail franchises in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia such as Starbucks, 7-Eleven, Borders, Krispy Kreme, Wendy’s and Papa John’s Pizza, just to name a few.
Friendster recently launched a new brand and web site packed with new features representing a significant milestone in the company’s history and further signifying the company’s evolution to focus on the Asian youth market. The notable changes include a new fun-centric brand, and a redesigned web site with a focus on local relevance, fun and simplicity.
The combined entity will maintain offices in various locations, around the world, including Mountain View, CA (USA), the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. Ganesh Kumar Bangah will become the Group Chief Executive Officer of the combined entity while Richard Kimber will become the Non- Executive Chairman.
### About MOL
MOL is a MSC Malaysia Status Company that operates and develops payment systems. MOL handles over 60,000,000 payment transactions a year with an annual payment volume of over US$200 million. It leverages on a network of over 500,000 physical and virtual payment channels across more than 75 countries and linked to 65 banks in 15 countries worldwide to operate its key payment products, namely MOLePoints, an online micropayment system for content and services; MOLeTopUp, an electronic prepaid distribution infrastructure; MOL Freedom, a multi-application prepaid payment card; GamesHive, an online game payment aggregator; MOL Wings, a payment aggregator for wired and wireless internet service providers; MOL Zone, a multi application mobile payment service; and MOL SafePay, an escrow-based payment system for micro-merchants.
MOL was recognized as one of Asia Pacific’s fastest growing technology companies in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific Awards in 2005 and 2006 and has won a Merit Award for the Best of E-Commerce Applications in the MSC Asia Pacific ICT Awards.
About Friendster
With more than 115 million members worldwide, Friendster is a leading global online social network. Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that are important to them. Friendster is one of the best sites that allow people to meaningfully participate with others in exciting and fun ways. Friendster prides itself in delivering an easy-to-use, friendly and interactive environment where users can easily connect with anyone around the world via www.friendster.com or m.friendster.com from any Internet-ready mobile device.
Friendster has a growing portfolio of patents granted to the company on social networking, with more expected over the next several months. For more information,visit www.friendster.com
Malaysia’s MOL AccessPortal to acquire 100% of Friendster
KUALA LUMPUR: MOL Global Pte Ltd is acquiring the entire equity in social networking website operator Friendster Inc, creating an entity with a combined annual revenue exceeding US$110mil upon the completion of the acquisition exercise.
MOL Global is an affiliate of online payment solutions provider MOL AccessPortal Bhd, which has Berjaya Corp Bhd chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Vincent Tan as the principal shareholder.
Following the acquisition, the operations of MOL and US-based Friendster will be combined to create Asia’s largest end-to-end content, distribution and commerce network.
The combined operations will be paired with MOL’s offline retail channel partners and payment platform with Friendster’s large online footprint, social network and user community in Asia.
MOL AccessPortal president and CEO Ganesh Kumar Bangah said the acquisition had a strategic value and the new entity would retain Friendster’s offices in various locations.
“We are creating a unique company that will be well positioned to provide content to a huge, regional user base here in South-East Asia,” he told a press conference after the parties signed a definitive agreement yesterday.
He said he would become the group CEO of the combined entity while the current CEO of Friendster, Richard Kimber would become the non-executive chairman.
MOL has a network of over 500,000 physical and virtual payment channels across 75 countries worldwide to collect payments for content and services.
Ganesh shrugged off questions on the transaction value of the acquisition, saying “we’re private companies, so we can’t disclose the amount.”
Quoting a source, Reuters reported that Friendster would be sold for more than US$100mil.
An industry blog, TechCrunch, had in July valued Friendster at US$210mil, a fraction of Facebook’s estimated US$10bil valuation.
Kimber said the new combined entity would give Friendster the kind of financial backing, retail distribution and e-commerce infrastructure that would enable the company to further expand in the region.
“We target the acquisition to be completed by year-end,” he said.
He said Friendster had recently launched a new brand and website packed with new features representing a significant milestone in the company’s history and further signifying its focus on the Asian youth market.
“We have 115 million registered users currently with 90% of the daily traffic coming from the Asia region,” he said.
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 11,2009) : Malaysian-based payment on line company MOL Global’s purchase of social networking site Friendster has won praises from industry observers.
Media, the marketing and communications newspaper for Asia Pacific, in its on-line report today, quoted the observers as saying that it is a company like MOL, and not another social network, that will advance Friendster’s status in the future.
Yesterday, MOL Global confirmed it was buying 100% of Friendster and that the deal would be finalised by year end.
In a statement, Friendster said this would effectively create “Asia’s largest end-to-end content, distribution and commerce network, pairing MOL’s off-line retail channel partners and payment platform with Friendster’s large online footprint, social network and user community in Asia”.
Friendster’s head of Asia Ian Stewart told Media that, because the website is looking to differentiate itself through its digital payment service, the merger makes sense because MOL is the company that is best able to improve this side of its business and has the clearest reach to Friendster’s cache of Southeast Asian users.
“This deal consolidates the business direction of the company. We believe that having a strong virtual-currency offering will better connect users to the Facebook virtual store, and then into our gaming aspects and music. Through payment mechanisms, Friendster can become a social-shopping platform, kind of like eBay but on a social network,” he said.
The report said Friendster and MOL first began working together in October, when MOL was enlisted to develop an integrated payments platform that would lay the foundation for the Friendster Wallet and the Friendster Gift Shop. Stewart said this partnership demonstrated MOL’s dominant positioning in Southeast Asia, “and in the last two months of the acquisition process, MOL joined the conversation.”
“We were gravitating to the virtual payment possibilities, and with geographic reach and users’ attraction. MOL was obviously going toward that expansion, and when we were going through the acquisition process, we were looking for a partner who would fit these criteria as much as possible,” he explained.
From July, when Friendster first announced its intentions to be acquired, the company has been vocal about wanting to find an Asian-based suitor. Friendster has made strides in centralising its operations in the region to accommodate its strong user base here: Asia makes up more than 90% of Friendster’s audience, and it claims a leading position in Southeast Asia. Friendster is still the number one social networking site in the Philippines.
The Media report said rumours recently circulated of Tencent’s interest in the site, as reports noted that the Chinese online giant was on Friendster’s acquistision shortlist. Reports additionally cited Facebook as a potential early contender for the company, though hurdles related to competition and intellectual property rights prohibited further negotiations.
But according to regional analysts, Friendster did well to partner with a firm that would most adequately advance its operations and allow it to advance its brand.
“I think it was a brilliant idea – combining a platform that has immense social reach with a group of very influential connectors, and then making it easy for audiences to engage via e-commerce,” said vice-president of business development for Adify, Andrew Tu. “I think it’s a marriage made in heaven because, when you look at an acquisition, you need to look at the synergistic components that can help you grow, more than just expanding your reach.”
Jeremy Woolf, managing consultant of Text 100, also said Friendster’s move was a smart one because it enables the site to connect more effectively with local audiences, which will be key to its long-term success. “This is Friendster fishing where the fish are – it is centralising the company where it has the greatest population of users and will work with a company that will preserve the brand,” he said. “It will solidify Friendster’s future as a niche, hyper-local social network.”
Stewart noted that Friendster’s focus on micropayments would give it an operating model that is more parallel to those of Japan’s Mixi, Korea’s Cyworld and Tencent’s QQ rather than globally focused social networking sites like Facebook.
“Looking to micropayments and focusing on localised research and development makes a lot of sense,” said Mindshare’s regional business director Brian Stoller. “Look at QQ’s success – QQ makes its money through micropayments and financial transactions, and its earnings aren’t based on advertising. Focusing on this and working with a Malaysian company that specialises in it is very good on its behalf.”
No hidden clauses, no upfront payment and all. You just need to pay RM998 + RM50 reload (Free 1 week BlackBerry prepaid access & Free imported skin), no commitment and you can stop anytime you wish to. (Promo valid from 11 October to 15 November)
Xpax BIS Usage Plan
BlackBerry Social Plan RM1
-The social networking & instant messaging services under this plan only applies to the following built in BlackBerry applications: Facebook, Flickr, Myspace, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, AOL Messenger and BlackBerry Messenger.
-The speed for unlimited data under this plan is 128kbps and on best effort basis.
-The service is only valid in Malaysia
-By signing up for the service, auto-renewal on a shall take effect on daily basis subject to credit availability.
BlackBerry Advance (2.5G)
-The social networking & instand messaging services under this plan only applies to the following built in BlackBerry applications: Facebook, Flickr, Myspace, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, AOL MEssenger and BlackBerry Messenger.
-Unlimited browsing is only applicable within the BlackBerry handheld device.
-Data usage is capped at 1GB per day. Additional additional usage will be charged at RM0.10 / 10kb.
-The speed for unlimited data under this plan is 128kbps and on best effor basis.
-The service is only valid in Malaysia
-By signing up for the service, auto-renewal on a shall take effect on daily basis subject to credit availability.
*RM899 (1 free skin for every purchase of Blackberry® CurveTM 8520. While stock last.) Exclusive Blackberry® CurveTM 8520 offer for Hotlink subscribers!
*Terms & Condition
“Pay the full price of the Blackberry® CurveTM 8520 at RM 1,199 to enjoy a RM 300 rebate over a 12- month period. Only available for package subscription of 12-month and above.” By saying this, meaning there’s a commitment for you and you need to use 12 months in order for you to get the rebate if not that BlackBerry Curve 8520 is priced @ RM1,199
So you need to pay RM1,199 upfront and they will rebate you over a 12 months period.
When will the rebate be given?
The rebate will be given at the end of each monthly Prepaid BIS subscription period across the 12-month contract prior to subscription renewal. RM25 for 12 months (RM300). If the monthly Prepaid BIS subscription renewal fails at the end of the subscription period, renewal will be retried for 5 days. If Prepaid BIS subscription is still not renewed within the 5 days grace period, the contract will be deemed to be broken and the remaining monthly rebate will be void.
Hotlink BIS Usage Plan
There’s 4 plans and it might confused you compared to Xpax which only has 2 unlimited plan.
Hotlink BIS Usage Plan : Social RM28 per month, Messaging RM28 per month, Weekly Premium RM28 per week, Premium RM98 per month
Subscribers can enjoy usage up to 100MB for Social and Messaging packages, up to 50MB for Weekly Premium package and up to 1.5GB for Premium package. Subsequent data usage will be charged at a pay per use rate of 1 sen per kB (peak) or 0.5 sen per kB (off peak).
Conclusion
- Xpax no commitment needed for RM998, Hotlink need to stay for 12months to enjoy cheaper phone.
- If opt for BIS premium you need to pay RM98 for Hotlink but you only need to pay RM75+- (e.g. RM2.50*30)
- In the premium plan : Xpax give your more flexibility without worrying you exceed the usage where it give you 1GB per day vs Hotlink 1.5GB per month, if you exceed the usage be prepared to pay the high price but a lot of BlackBerry users who use for push mail and all saying that it’s using very minimum of the usage 5MB.
Additional Info :
1) If you already own a blackberry phone but not purchase from Hotlink, and want to subscribe to Hotlink Blackberry Plan, you are not allowed to do so. On the other hand, for Xpax, you can subscribe to their Blackberry plan regardless of whether it was purchased from them or not.
All the above info quoted from their respective website. What say you about the plan?
photo taken by : DannyFoo a blogger & forumer friend of mine.
Woohoo Finally I got my own BlackBerry after so many yearss… I’m loving it. It’s a cool gadgets! Really. I can now MSN, Facebook, Tweet, surf on the go. It’s really cool and convenient so that I do not need to bring my netbook around and find a wifi spot to do what I’m able to do now by paying only RM1 / RM2.50 per day, it’s definitely worth it.
If you get the phone now it’s @ RM998 + RM50 reload and you are good to go with your all new BlackBerry Curve 8520 (Promo valid from 11 October to 15 November). Moreover when you subscribe to Xpax BB service you will “Enjoy free 7 days BlackBerry advance service!” (promo valid from 11 October to 23 October).. so you get to surf all you want with the fair share policy and the data usage is capped at 1GB per day and additional usage will be charged at RM0.10 / 10kb.
BlackBerry Social Plan RM1
-The social networking & instant messaging services under this plan only applies to the following built in BlackBerry applications: Facebook, Flickr, Myspace, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, AOL MEssenger and BlackBerry Messenger.
-The speed for unlimited data under this plan is 128kbps and on best effor basis.
-The service is only valid in Malaysia
-By signing up for the service, auto-renewal on a shall take effect on daily basis subject to credit availability.
BlackBerry Advance (2.5G)
-The social networking & instand messaging services under this plan only applies to the following built in BlackBerry applications: Facebook, Flickr, Myspace, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, AOL MEssenger and BlackBerry Messenger.
-Unlimited browsing is only applicable within the BlackBerry handheld device.
-Data usage is capped at 1GB per day. Additional additional usage will be charged at RM0.10 / 10kb.
-The speed for unlimited data under this plan is 128kbps and on best effor basis.
-The service is only valid in Malaysia
-By signing up for the service, auto-renewal on a shall take effect on daily basis subject to credit availability.
How do you subscribe to Xpax BlackBerry?
It’s just as simple as
1) type BB ON and send to 28882
2) wait for the reply, and BB 100 (BlackBerry Social Plan) or BB 250 (BlackBerry Advance (2.5G)) within 10 mins.
3) wait for confirmation message and you are now able to enjoy all the fun! (within 24hrs)
If you want to stop BlackBerry service, just type BB OFF and send to 28882 at anytime.
With Xpax BlackBerry Curve 8520, it’s getting easier for you to connect to your friend and family thru social networking like Facebook, Friendster or Myspace and even twitter.
With social networking apps pre-installed on your BlackBerry® Curve 8520 smartphone, you can keep everyone updated from almost anywhere and whenever you want to. You’ll experience a truely mobile way of living.
Stay connected to the people who matter most with social networking apps on your BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone. So now you do not have excuses saying that I do not have internet connection or internet down and not able to online. Just get a WIFI spot and you are connected!
There are more features to be covered soon. Stay tuned. Pre-register now.
Facebook will list you some suggestions, but feel free to type in one of your own. You will not be able to edit or transfer this username once you set it.
So I quickly pick my username “saimatkong” before other ppl snap it! =) haha as if got ppl want to use saimatkong. One think you must know is that once you choosen your nickname in Facebook you could not change it~!
Woot!
Username Available
saimatkong is available. Remember, you can’t change your username once you set it. Are you sure you want to set saimatkong as your username?
Your username has been set
You can now direct your friends to facebook.com/saimatkong.
Do you like Facebook? Facebook addict? It’s good news and updates…
We’ve updated our home page to make it easier to understand what’s going on with the people you care about. Now your friends’ posts are streamed in real-time and you have more control over what you see.
Filters
Make sure you stay updated on what the friends you care about are posting. Create your own filters using Friend Lists. You can also filter by applications, like Photos.
Stream
The stream shows you all posts from your friends in real-time. This keeps you up to date on everything that’s happening. You can control who appears here.
Publisher
Publish your status, photos, notes and more into the stream. Posts show up both in your profile, and on your friends’ home pages.
Highlights
Featured photos, events, notes and more that you don’t want to miss. Stories are chosen based on what your friends have interacted with.
More about the publisher
The publisher lets you share your thoughts and content like photos and notes into the stream. You have one stream—your Wall—on your profile, and one stream on your home page that represents the on-going, flowing conversation between you and your friends
When you publish content via the publisher…
…the content shows up on your profile…
…on your home page, and on your friends’ home pages.
Here I'll share my knowledge, discovery and experience related to latest news, gadgets and happening stuffs. Most articles on this site are related to IT, short reviews, tips and latest offers and many more. More
