SAP Will Increase Chinese Workforce

SAP has announced plans to hire hundreds of new employees in China and India over the next few quarters to accelerate its expansion in Asia.
According to reports in foreign media, 16% of SAP's operating revenue was from the Asia Pacific region, including Japan.
An executive from SAP said that SAP's goal is to increase the number of its employees in China and India by 200 and 300, respectively. At present, the company has 2,600 employees in China and 5,500 in India.
Stephen Watts, president for SAP Asia Pacific and Japan, said that SAP will hire most new employees in China and India. The company now has about 11,500 employees in the Asia Pacific region, including Japan; and it has the largest subsidiary in India. SAP plan to add new consulting, financial management, and technical support staff in India.
Watts said the development of the Asian market is faster than other regions around the world and the development is sustainable. He also revealed that the company may implement merge and acquisition in the marketplace.

China's Rising Starts Security Web Browser Beta Tests

Chinese anti-virus software provider Rising has announced that its first Internet client product, Rising security browser, has started beta tests.
A representative from Rising has confirmed the news and said the security browser features security, fast speed, and personalization. It reportedly has the most complete malware address base and the most advanced cloud security engine in China. Those features can effectively prevent virus attacks, hackings, and Internet fraud.
An insider revealed that Rising has started its transformation to an enterprise-level Internet company and it will focus on the development of enterprise security products in the future. Meanwhile, the company will continue to improve its technical advantages in individual-level products to further distribute its Internet products and expand value-added services. While maintaining a large user group and increasing the activeness of users, Rising wants to seek new profit models.
Prior to this, Rising launched several other Internet products, including security for games, security website navigation, and group buying navigation protection. Though it keeps a low profile, its intention for Internet distribution is obvious. With the launch of the security browser product, Rising has now made a further step in its transformation from a software company to a full Internet company.
To better promote its new browser product, Rising said it will provide awards to users participate in the beta tests and those who report major bugs during the tests.

Chinese Cloud Computing Market Scale Continues To Grow

Chinese information and communication technology research and consulting firm CCW Research has released statistics, stating that in 2010 the scale of the Chinese cloud computing market reached CNY55.93 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29.3%; and it predicted that the compound annual growth rate of the Chinese cloud computing market will be over 50% between 2011 and 2015.
The research by CCW Research showed that among enterprise users, about 67.5% have recognized the cloud service model and have started using the cloud computing services, or they have partially realized the sharing of cloud platforms within their companies.
CCW Research said that applications that focus on the innovation of service models will be the key development trend for cloud computing and cloud services. After several years' development, the SaaS market is facing a bottleneck in China. SaaS manufacturers are seeking transformation and breakthroughs; while the SaaS products and competition structure will see a series of changes.
Meanwhile, the report states that as the key roles on the future cloud industry chain, new comprehensive cloud service providers will emerge. These new providers should have powerful network operating resources, wide user bases, rich SaaS software applications, mature cloud platform operating models, comprehensive application terminal supports, and complete industry chain collaboration systems to become the backbone of the cloud computing industry chain, said CCW Research.

Nokia Will Shut Ovi Email Service In Mainland China

Nokia has announced that starting from August 19, 2011, it will terminate its Ovi email and chat room services on the Chinese mainland.
Nokia said in emails sent to users that their mobile Ovi email accounts will be shut after August 19 and they will not be able to visit their Ovi emails or send new emails via these accounts. In addition, their history information in the Ovi emails will be deleted. For Ovi chat room users, they will not be able to use the chat room or the contacts application after August 19.
Nokia launched the Ovi email service in December 2008 and it mainly targets users in developing countries and regions. The service is reportedly open in over 180 countries and regions and it offered a Chinese-language interface from the beginning of 2010.
In September 2010, Stephen Elop replaced Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo to become the new chief executive officer of Nokia, and a series of adjustments were announced targeting Nokia's company structure, smartphone operating platform, and mobile Internet strategy. On May 16, 2011, Nokia announced that it will give up its Ovi brand and all mobile application services named under Ovi will be renamed under the Nokia brand from July 2011.
Prior to this, Nokia announced plans to relocate its Ovi email service to the web email platform of Yahoo in April. In regards to users in China, Nokia said they will provide users with three ways to maintain their email records, including moving their emails and contacts to Tom Online with newly-registered @tom.cn email accounts; moving Ovi emails to other email accounts designated by users; or downloading these emails to the PCs of users.

China's Rising Starts Security Web Browser Beta Tests

Chinese anti-virus software provider Rising has announced that its first Internet client product, Rising security browser, has started beta tests.
A representative from Rising has confirmed the news and said the security browser features security, fast speed, and personalization. It reportedly has the most complete malware address base and the most advanced cloud security engine in China. Those features can effectively prevent virus attacks, hackings, and Internet fraud.
An insider revealed that Rising has started its transformation to an enterprise-level Internet company and it will focus on the development of enterprise security products in the future. Meanwhile, the company will continue to improve its technical advantages in individual-level products to further distribute its Internet products and expand value-added services. While maintaining a large user group and increasing the activeness of users, Rising wants to seek new profit models.
Prior to this, Rising launched several other Internet products, including security for games, security website navigation, and group buying navigation protection. Though it keeps a low profile, its intention for Internet distribution is obvious. With the launch of the security browser product, Rising has now made a further step in its transformation from a software company to a full Internet company.
To better promote its new browser product, Rising said it will provide awards to users participate in the beta tests and those who report major bugs during the tests.

Tencent Acquires 15.68% Stake In Kingsoft For HKD900 Million

Chinese software provider Kingsoft and Internet company Tencent have jointly announced that the two parties have reached a strategic investment cooperation and Tencent has gained a 15.68% stake in Kingsoft.
Tencent acquired the 15.68% stake in Kingsoft from Qiu Bojun, founder and executive director of Kingsoft, and Zhang Xuanlong, a non-executive director of Kingsoft, for HKD892 million. At the same time, Tencent made a strategic investment in Kingsoft's Internet security subsidiary. The two parties will establish a long-term partnership to jointly provide an Internet security solution for users while implementing wider and deeper cooperation in application software and gaming sectors.
Qiu said that as the founder of Kingsoft, he devoted a lot of energy and effort in the development of the company. After a long period of consideration and investigation, he has decided to introduce a strategic partner that can coordinate with Kingsoft and help the company to gain greater value; and he believes Tencent is such a company.
Ma Huateng, chairman and chief executive officer of Tencent, said that his company is glad to form the strategic partnership with Kingsoft. The strategic cooperation represents their commitment to establish a healthy and secure Internet environment in China. Ma said Kingsoft's Internet security subsidiary has 14 years of security technology and operation experience as well as advanced anti-virus technology and talent pool. Kingsoft and Tencent's technologies and businesses are highly complementary and the cooperation will combine their advantages in security technology and network operation.

Avira Strikes New Chinese Internet Security Deal

Just days after Avira announced a deal with Chinese portal Tencent, Avira has now also done a deal with Chinese Internet security provider Qihoo 360.
European anti-virus software Avira and Qihoo 360 have formed an in-depth cooperation partnership to implement technical communications and joint research in the anti-virus field.
Meanwhile, 360's anti-virus software will integrate Avira's anti-virus engine. The official edition of 360's anti-virus software will reportedly adopt four sets of anti-virus engines, including its self-developed cloud anti-virus engine, QVM artificial intelligence engine, active defense engine, and BitDefender engine introduced from Romania. With the joining of Avira's anti-virus engine, 360 anti-virus software will be able to recommend different engine combinations to users according to their different computer configurations and security demands.
Qi Xiangdong, president of 360, said that 360 and Avira will implement in-depth cooperation in anti-virus research, virus sample exchange, false report control, and product quality improvement. At present, a beta edition of 360 anti-virus software integrating Avira's anti-virus engine has been launched.
Qi revealed that apart from the long-term technical partnership with Avira and BitDefender, 360 will cooperate with more international technology providers in the future.
Avira is a leading global provider of IT security solutions for professional and private use. With over twenty years of experience, it employs around 300 people and its free Avira AntiVir Personal anti-virus protection is claimed to be used by over 100 million private users.