The Internet in Asia

Digital divide narrowing

The digital divide has narrowed as more people from developing countries are going on-line with more widely available computers and mobile phones according to the results of an annual study published by U.S. computer company International Business Machines Corp. and the intelligence unit of British magazine The Economist. The survey looked beyond basic connections and also studied how the Internet is being used to improve productivity and reduce costs, including on-line access to public services.

Religion and Technology

A workshop, ‘Religion and Technology in Contemporary Asia’ will be organized by the Asia Research Institute from the 18-20 January 2005, aimed at graduate students. For more information, please click here.

UNESCO supports global forum for media development

Over 300 media professionals will gather in Jordan in early October in  at the first international conference organized by UNESCO that is aimed at discussing the challenges and opportunities facing the media development sector.

Japan Networks Push Internet TV Toward Mainstream

Japan based Nippon TV has said that it will launch on-line pay-per-view programmes later this year.  The service, to be known as The Second Nippon Television Network, will offer a range of programs already shown on Nippon's cable TV network, for download over the Internet.Analysts see this as a sign that Web-based TV programmes are just round the corner, building on the long term success of music downloads. At the same time, the expected rise of video commercials on the Internet might make on-line broadcasts more appealing than ever to content owners.

The first programmes that are expected to be aired on-line are replays of sporting events that the audience may not have been able to catch on-line. Prices are expected to range from USD1 to USD 10 per show. At the same time, the expected rise of video commercials on the Internet might make on-line broadcasts more appealing than ever to content owners.

Some of the major hurdles expected include  reluctance by TV network owners to cannibalize their already shrinking and fractured audiences. Secondly, Nippon has said that it will only make available the shows that all parties - including actors, producers and distributors have agreed to air on-line - which as you can imagine could take quite a while!