8 Asians

Manga has not only hit the mainstream, but NTT DOCOMO is looking to provide mobile manga in the cellular environment via Manga Mode. French operator Bouygues Telecom S.A. will be providing a special pane-by-pane reader that allows their customers to read translated manga from publisher SHUEISHA Inc. with hits that have taken off in both Europe and North America.

DOCOMO has introduced audio spatial technology which allows you to hear different sources of sound in your mobile so that virtually, you can hear distinct users in different spaces just as if it were a conversation. This allows the mobile listener to differentiate speakers based on their virtual placement.

ChangYou.com writes MMORPGs, but specifically they wrote the popular, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龍八部), based on the novel of the same name by one of the most famous Chinese novelists, Jin Yong (金庸).

Well, it seems that out of this year’s IPO starts, Changyou is actually doing fairly well opening the public share price of $19USD and now stabilizing around $25USD. It seems that the parent company Sohu, another Internet favorite, sold half of the shares. Currently, it’s doing fairly well in a weak market although they’re going to need more than Tian Long Ba Bu to actually last out the weak markets. But the opening perhaps was a sign that it isn’t all downhill globally since ADR stocks have not been weathering the storm very well and have fluctuated all over the board in the past six months.

NTT DOCOMO completes purchase of a stake in Tata Teleservices. TTSL is branded as Tata Indicom in India and is part of the Tata Group conglomerate.

The Tata Nano including tax is only $2500USD. The two cylinder, four seater can go a maximum of 105 kmh and is really suited for city driving. Unfortunately, it will currently only be sold in India with a European launch in 2011.

China Mobile’s cellular subscribers is now up to 464 million out of the country’s 650 million total.

In the world of cheap manufacturing, China reigns king. And while their economic growth is an explosion on global front, their pollution has also gotten away from them due to their dependence on coal for power. But this wind play for infrastructure could actually help them in the short and long haul.

If you take the fact that seventy cents to every dollar is borrowed through government owned banks due to the fact that the corporations are also government owned, then you have some self-dealing. But it is also a trust factor that is in play. And with the wind farms sprouting up to take on some of the backlash from the beast of energy consumption, this is given the Chinese more ways than one to look at this technology and to cut costs where they can. Eventually, this will produce great goods at a low price which would in turn increase their profit margins.

It’s not that it’ll save the environment as much as there is a huge green market and it gives another source of energy to delve into and allows them to grow even at a faster pace. Let’s face it, if this Asian country is increasing their electrical take that is equivalent to the take by France every year, there isn’t anything stopping this growth for a while until the country hits a utility critical mass. And there is a lot of room to grow yet.

Photo Credit: (Kiwi Mikex)

In the midst of layoffs and stock market downturns, there are young Asian entrepreneurs breaking out the good stuff displaying that you CAN make it. The several young people featured in the latest issue of Inc.’s Cool College Start-ups proves that you don’t need a good idea as much as you need to target the right market with an idea.

Truthfully, I can’t even understand how Danny Klam is making it with Simply Splendid Donuts; with the current downturn and Krispy Kreme taking a beating, I’m surprised that the doughnut industry is still viable. Then again, he is based in a college town and remembering back in the days, it didn’t matter how bad the food was for you as long as it was cheap and good. But it’s obviously doing well since it’s on track for gross revenue of 1.2 million this year. The website is actually kind of meh, but then again, who really buys doughnuts from a website?

Jessica Mah’s InternshipIN identifies high-quality internships for college students. This market is great due to the fact that most students are looking for job experience; the business model probably lies in the same one that most job engines provide, through the employer. The prospect of gaining experience is definitely enticing although having been on the recruiting end I have to admit that most employers are looking for not only provision of experience but also some tedious grunt work when it comes to interns. I love the straightforward look to this website.

Brian Laoruangroch of Missouri created Green Mobile, recycling cell phones and selling them for profit or donating them to charities. There is a website and they’ve grown out of a kiosk at their local mall into a storefront. With a half million in revenue, it’s not a bad business to be in especially with the current “green” run and many people trying to tighten their purse strings and keep their phones in active order instead of upgrading to a latest and greatest model. Their marketing isn’t bad with a superhero type marketing campaign on the front page, but there is a lot of Flash which prevents a lot of useful SEO from performing with search engines. Wouldn’t be bad if they pushed for sending out small plastic bags that allowed you to send phones in like many manufacturers and vendors currently do.

Times are definitely becoming rough and things aren’t going well for the larger businesses. But if these three youngsters have anything to show, it’s the fact that you can still make it with a good idea and some sweat equity on your own.

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Interestingly enough, Jim Cramer from Mad Money was on all night yesterday about how China is up and coming and from a money market perspective, they’re on their way in taking on much of the financial markets. Of course, with almost two trillion in cash reserves and investments in almost every sector, this could be the reasoning that China is actually bolstering much of the failing corporations. Anyone interested in the build-outs going on in China domestically? You could be saving your corporation.

You seeing the trend here? China, China, China. That’s what’s driving this market. As for the U.S., “we’re worse off than we were four months ago,” Cramer said. And until we solve our core problems – housing, jobs, the banks – things won’t get any better.

As for Washington and their current plans to help stimulate the economy, they’re missing some key points that even those continuing to watch the stock markets are wondering about. When will they see that the issues are not completely with the banks anymore? From a personal level, I see the core problems actually in a sense more driven in a hierarchy form. Jobs as foremost, then banks, then housing. Must of this is due to the fact that you cannot have the latter without the former and it creates a LIFO type of queue when it comes to problems. We need to create high paying degreed jobs in the United States for those professionals that are being hit by attrition everywhere. Maybe I’m crazy, but unions are not the answer either. These jobs in turn provide taxes, which provide money to be spent on a down payment in housing… which allows the banks to unfreeze their jittery loan fingers.

Strangely enough, this brings me back to science class in second or third grade. First you identify the problem. Then you solve that problem. So what’s Washington actually contemplating? If another problem lies in the solution set of your foremost issue, then you solve outside-in. All the while, China just keeps its head cool and keeps pumping money into its own infrastructure instead of ours. No wonder Jim Cramer would say what he did.

Photo Credit: (Michael McDonough )

The United States is currently in one of the worst recessions since the Depression. Even though China’s economy last year grew at 8%, that is not fast enough for China, given its vast population. Now, according to the New York Times, China’s best and brightest graduates are having a hard time finding a job:

“The plight of college graduates is expected to get worse because Chinese universities are increasing their enrollments each year. Furthermore, the ranks of overseas Chinese who are returning to look for work are swelling because of the recession in the United States and Europe. Of 5.59 million college graduates in 2008, an estimated 27 percent were unable to find jobs by the end of the year, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.”

That is pretty crazy to think that even as the Chinese economy is EXPANDING (while most nations’ economies are shrinking), given China’s vast educated population, job opportunities are few and far between for many.