Category: Technology

January 24, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan mobile phone operator Celltel Lanka Ltd Wednesday said it hoped to increase its subscriber base by 50 percent to 1.5 million users by the end of the year. Sri Lanka had over 5.8 million cellular subscribers as at end 2006, , according to Central Bank figures, with four […]

Jan 23 (LBO) – Sri Lankan mobile operator Dialog said Tuesday it had rolled out broadband wireless services for a few pilot customers, with plans to extend it to other parts of the island over the next few months. The mobile operator also provides retail and wholesale international voice and data services, Internet services and […]

CANNES, France, Jan 22, 2007 (AFP) – Music fans, watch out. The hot new music-enabled phones being launched by top cellphone makers are going head-on with the stand-alone MP3 players that are now a way of life for the millions who prefer them over an Apple iPod. Key entertainment industry player Brad Duea, who heads […]

KYOTO, Japan, Jan 22, 2007 (AFP) – In these days of the Internet, cellphones and iPods, few Japanese girls still dream of becoming a geisha with a strict life of training and duties. Facing growing competition from nightclubs and karaoke, Kyoto’s geisha are having to adapt to survive.At one tea house in Japan’s ancient capital, […]

January 22, 2007 (LBO) – Motorola Inc plans to introduce a low budget handset next month to popularize the use of cellular phones among less affluent people, officials said Monday. As at end last year, bank estimates around 5.8 million people were connected to the local cellular network. Updated-weekly sales Sri Lankans can pick up […]

January 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to abort contracts of greenfield radio station operators and instead offer them to new investors, in a crowded market that currently has around 30 channels, the Secretary to the Media Ministry said. “Around five to six investors have got the license, some have secured the frequencies but […]

January 18, 2007 (LBO) – India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd has been tentatively picked to take up a slot as Sri Lanka’s fifth mobile phone operator, the island’s telecom watchdog said Thursday. “We have issued an offer letter to Bharti, who have a month to make a 4 milllion dollar payment to collect the license,” Telecommunications […]

Jan 18, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka stopped mobile phone services for nearly half a million users in the island’s embattled east as government troops were locked in combat with Tiger rebels, an official said Thursday.More than 60,000 people have died during the 35-year ethnic conflict as minority Tamils fight for an independent homeland. Despite […]

SINGAPORE, Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – Workers are relying on 19th century technology to fix a very 21st century problem — disruption of the Internet traffic that tech-savvy Asia relies on. Crewmen on boats south of Taiwan are dragging the seabed with grappling hooks at the end of long ropes to recover fibre optic cables […]

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Jan 10, 2007 (AFP) – Porn makers at the world’s largest sex trade show in Las Vegas on Wednesday were taking a page from Internet superstars such as YouTube by tapping into the power of social networking. Fresh young start-ups at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo weren’t just saucy women in scanty […]

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Jan 8, 2007 (AFP) – Skype unveiled on Monday its own models of desktop telephones that can make free Internet calls using the firm’s pioneering online service.The pricing for calls will be the same on the new Skype telephones, Lagier said. The IPEVO Solo One and the TOPCOM Webt@lker 5000 were among […]

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Jan 9, 2007 (AFP) – Family entertainment conglomerate Walt Disney Corporation introduced a revamped website which they say is a one-stop portal to online games, information on films and Disney characters, and product sales.“Our villain is going to try to wipe out our pirates,” Bruckheimer said, referring to his film-in-progress.“Hopefully, you will […]