Windows Phone Marketplace Expands to Indonesia and Four Other Countries

Ahead of the public launch of Lumia in Indonesia on February 17, Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace has expanded to five additional countries including Indonesia as of today. Just last month, the Redmond giant added six countries to the App Hub so developers could prepare their apps for distribution in those countries. The five countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, The Philippines, and Argentina, bringing the number of Marketplace availability to 40 countries.

Among the six countries recently introduced to the App Hub, China is the only one not included in this expansion but developers are still welcomed to submit their applications. What is holding back China is unclear although one could speculate that Microsoft may still be working on the legalities and paperworks in order to allow developers to make their apps available to Chinese consumers.

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Exit Interview: Michael F. Smith Jr.

As promised, we have the exit interview with Michael Francis Smith Jr., a.k.a Smitty, who just left his position at Yahoo to join a new startup called Spuul. We asked Smitty about Spuul, his views on Yahoo, Koprol, and the startup scene in Southeast Asia.

He outlined his reasons for jumping ship from a stable and cushy high paying job full of meetings and planning to one that requires him to stay up coding all night, sleep all day, and eat ramen just to survive. Just kidding Smitty.

Without further ado, we present to you the interview.

What led you to decide to leave Yahoo and join Spuul?
It’s pretty simple. I wanted to get back to startup land. Working for big companies can be fun, great pay and lots of travel but dealing with big companies can be a morass of meetings, planning and process – things that take you away from actually making things. I wanted to get back to making things. I enjoyed my Yahoo! experience a ton and wish the company the very best. I have a lot of friends at Yahoo! from around the globe.

What is Spuul and who else are behind this company?
Spuul is in stealth mode right now. We will launch soon and all will be revealed. Spuul is backed by some serial entrepreneurs, some industry veterans and geeks like me

Will you be staying in Southeast Asia?
But of course. I love SEA. My family is here.

Continue reading Exit Interview: Michael F. Smith Jr.

Smitty Mulai Menulis Kolom di e27 dan Bergabung dengan Startup Bernama Spuul

smitty-rama — Smitty bersama Rama dari DailySocial

Seperti yang dijanjikan oleh Michael Smith Jr. (lebih dikenal dengan nama Smitty), pagi ini ia memulai kolomnya di blog e27 dengan menulis tentang kehidupannya pra dan paska Yahoo!. Dalam post tersebut ia mengungkapkan bahwa ia akan melakukan dua hal, menulis kolom rutin untuk blog Singapura e27, berjudul Tales From the Trenches dan satu lagi yaitu bergabung dengan sebuah startup bernama Spuul sebagai Chief Product Officer.

Smitty selalu memiliki ketertarikan terhadap startup dan teknologi, langkah yang ia ambil ini menempatkannya di tengah medan bukannya hanya menjadi penonton atau pembimbing para pemain di industri. Smitty belum mengungkapkan apapun tentang Spuul, namun informasi tentang startup ini tentunya akan muncul dalam waktu dekat.

Kita tunggu berbagai kisah dari kolomnya di e27 dan tentunya juga tentang Spuul.

Smitty Starts a Column at e27 and Runs a Startup Called Spuul [Updated]

This morning as promised, Michael Smith Jr. posted an entry on e27 regarding his life before and after Yahoo. In the post, he revealed that he will be doing two things; writing a column titled Tales From the Trenches for the Singapore startup blog, and joining a startup himself called Spuul as its Chief Product Officer. ~~Spuul is very likely backed by Pollenizer~~ as I said yesterday since Smitty had been pretty close to those guys recently.

Smitty has always been passionate about startups and technology and this jump puts him right into the thick of things instead of watching and guiding the players within the scene. He has yet to reveal anything about Spuul but we expect to find out soon enough.

We’ll look forward to more of his tales and can’t wait to find out about Spuul.

[update] Smitty corrected me on Twitter saying that Spuul is not backed by Pollenizer.

Michael “Smitty” Smith Jr. Tinggalkan Yahoo!

smitty-tomdiong (1) — Smitty dan Thomas Diong di acara Yahoo! Kopfest

Hari ini adalah hari terakhir bagi Michael Smith Jr., sebagai Head of Developer Network Yahoo! untuk Asia Tenggara. Michael berencana untuk mengembangkan sebuah startup yang belum diungkapkan detailnya. Lebih dikenal dengan nama Smitty, Michael berperan sangat penting untuk memimpin akuisisi Yahoo! atas Koprol tahun 2010 yang lalu, setelah perusahaan asal Sunnyvale ini gagal mengakuisisi Foursquare.

Smitty memberikan tanda sebelumnya bahwa hari ini adalah hari terakhirnya bekerja di Yahoo! dan ia akan menjelaskan proyek barunya di blog e27 besok. Pagi hari tadi, kepindahannya resmi dikabarkan. Kami mencoba menggali lebih jauh tentang rencana apa yang akan ia lakukan, namun sayangnya keteguhannya untuk tidak berkomentar tidak bisa ditembus, ia menolak berkomentar dan mengatakan bahwa kita semua harus menunggu berita di e27 besok. Namun DailySocial akan memiliki wawancara dengan Smitty tentang kepindahannya akhir minggu ini.

Sejauh yang kami ketahui, Smitty akan terlibat dengan startup yang terhubung dengan Pollenizer, inkubator/akselerator asal Australia yang menjadi motor dalam pengembangan Dealised. Dealised sendiri adalah startup berbasis di Australia yang membantu pelaku bisnis dengan kemampuan social commerce.

Kami mengucapkan semoga berhasil dan sukses untuk Smitty di proyek selanjutnya. Dan nantikan wawancara kami dengan Smitty tentang keputusannya keluar dari Yahoo!.

Perusahaan yang Fokus Pada Strategi Mobile, Cenderung Abaikan Web

Angel investor dan pengusaha kawakan, Mark Suster mendiskusikan tentang bagaimana perusahaan yang fokus pada strategi mobile sebagai yang utama, seperti yang disarankan oleh Fred Wilson sekitar satu tahun yang lalu, cenderung melupakan aspek kedua dari nasihat Fred, yaitu web.

Mobile memang bagian utama dalam masa depan konsumsi teknologi. Dalam beberapa tahun ke depan, segalanya nampak akan beralih ke mobile dengan beberapa contoh perusahaan yang mengutamakan akses mobile seperti Instagram dan Square. Ini juga terbukti dari pertumbuhan penjualan smartphone yang meroket dalam beberapa tahun ke belakang. Walaupun demikian, web memiliki kapabilitas yang lebih luas, fleksibel dan lebih komprehensif dalam memberikan akses pada pengguna. Perusahaan yang fokus pada mobile sebagai strategi utama sayangnya cenderung melupakan kemampuan yang bisa diberikan dari akses web.

Menjalankan strategi mobile sebagai pilihan pertama adalah sebuah pilihan strategi yang cukup baik, namun ada banyak pengalaman dan fitur yang tidak bisa dihantarkan oleh akes dari mobile. Contoh yang diberikan Mark, Pinterest, adalah sebuah contoh tepat yang menunjukkan kemampuan web di atas mobile.

Continue reading Perusahaan yang Fokus Pada Strategi Mobile, Cenderung Abaikan Web

Michael “Smitty” Smith Jr. Leaves Yahoo!

: Smitty and Thomas Diong at Yahoo! Kopfest

Today was the last day for Michael Smith Jr., head of Yahoo’s Developer Network for Southeast Asia. He apparently plans to run an as yet undisclosed startup project. Better known as Smitty, he was instrumental in leading the Yahoo acquisition of Koprol back in 2010 following Sunnyvale’s failed attempt at acquiring Foursquare.

Smitty had hinted previously that today was his last day at Yahoo and that he will reveal his next project on e27 tomorrow. By mid morning today, it was official. Pressed over email as to what he plans to do, he was as solid as a brick wall, insisting that we wait for the blog post on e27. We will however have an exit interview with Smitty before the end of the week.

What we know is that Smitty’s going to be involved in a startup that will be connected in some way with Pollenizer, an Australian incubator/accelerator that had been leading the development of Dealised, an Australian startup that aims to assist businesses with social commerce capabilities.

We wish Smitty good luck and all the best with his upcoming project. Stay tuned for the exit interview on DailySocial very soon.

Mobile First Companies Tend to Neglect the Web

Angel investor and long time entrepreneur Mark Suster talks about how companies who have been focusing on the mobile-first strategy, as described by Fred Wilson over a year ago, are forgetting the second part of Wilson’s advice which is web second.

Mobile is without question an important part of the future of consumer technology. Everything seems to be going mobile in the last few years with companies like Instagram and Square, and that is evidenced by the skyrocketing number of smartphones sold in the past few years. The web however, is capable of offering more simply by being larger, more flexible, more comprehensive. Companies focusing on mobile first unfortunately tend to forget about the web’s capabilities.

Continue reading Mobile First Companies Tend to Neglect the Web

Multiply Relokasi Kantor Pusat dari Boca Raton, Florida, ke Jakarta

tumiwa-pezaris — Daniel Tumiwa and Peter Pezaris dari Multiply

Sebelum pembukaan acara Multiply Online Seller Convention di Jakarta pada hari Sabtu, 28 Januari, Peter Pezaris, CEO Multiply mengumumkan bahwa perusahaanya akan memindahkan kantor pusat mereka dari Boca Raton, Florida, ke Jakarta.

Multiply telah memiliki lebih dari 50 karyawan di Jakarta dari total 126 karyawan global. Atas pertumbuhan yang signifikan di Indonesia dan Filipina, Multiply melihatnya sebagai alasan yang sangat tepat jika kantor pusat di pindahkan ke Asia Tenggara.

Selain itu, Multiply juga mengumumkan perpanjangan program bebas biaya kirim dan transaksi yang sebelumnya akan berakhir pada akhir bulan ini ke akhir bulan Maret 2012. Dengan kata lain, konsumen Multiply bisa menikmati layanan bebas biaya kirim, dan para penjual tidak akan dikenakan biaya atas transaksi menggunakan Multiply Commerce sampai dengan tanggal 31 Maret 2012.

Multiply juga mengumumkan bahwa konsumen Multiply di Indonesia telah dapat melakukan pembayaran dengan menggunakan XL Tunai, yang merupakan hasil kerja sama dengan operator XL Axiata, selain itu pembayaran juga kini bisa dilakukan melalui jaringan ATM Prima di seluruh Indonesia.

Continue reading Multiply Relokasi Kantor Pusat dari Boca Raton, Florida, ke Jakarta

Multiply to Relocate Headquarters to Jakarta, Indonesia from Boca Raton, Florida

Prior to the opening of Multiply’s Online Seller Convention in Jakarta today, Peter Pezaris, CEO of Multiply announced that the company will be moving its headquarters from Boca Raton in Florida to Jakarta.

The company already saw more than 50 of its 126 global employees based in Jakarta and along with the significant growth in Indonesia and The Philippines, the company saw fit to relocate to Southeast Asia.

Additionally, Multiply announced an extension of its waiver of shipping cost and transaction fee from the end of this month to the end of March 2012. In other words, Multiply customers will enjoy free shipping and sellers will not be charged any transaction fee until March 31 of this year.

Multiply also announced that Indonesian customers will now be able to pay for purchases through XL Tunai in cooperation with mobile network operator XL Axiata and also through the Prima ATM network across the country.

Continue reading Multiply to Relocate Headquarters to Jakarta, Indonesia from Boca Raton, Florida