China dating app helps gay men banish the blues - and AIDS

BEIJING -- Hua Ruobin started using Blued two years ago to meet other gay men in China, setting up weekend dinners or dates in karaoke bars.

The gay dating app has been a godsend for Hua, allowing the university student in the southern city of Guangzhou to privately contact Chinese men seeking same-sex companionship.

Homosexuality is not illegal in China, but remains a taboo subject in the world's most populous country.

"I found nine (gay friends) through the app," said Hua, 22, who felt he could never talk to his heterosexual friends about being gay. "Now I have a group of friends just like me to whom I can open my mind."

Blued is the brainchild of Ma Baoli, 36, a former policeman who quit his job to play Cupid to millions of gay men in China.

The free Chinese-language app uses the GPS capability of users' smartphones to identify nearby members. As with other dating apps, users can scan profiles, chat privately with the potential Mr Right or hang out in a group chatroom.

Blued quickly found favor with gay people, adding 15 million users in two years. There is scope for expansion, with Ma's company raising $30 million last year from a US venture capital firm. Its long-term goal is to list on the Nasdaq.

"That would be an even better way to show off China's development than a big advertisement in Times Square," said Ma, referring to New York's most famous intersection.

Not just a dating app

LGBT activists in China say Blued has helped gay men develop a positive self-image and fight social prejudices that force homosexuals to stay anonymous.

"It is not only a hook-up app any more, but also spreading knowledge about the community," said Raymond Phang, an organizer of the annual Shanghai Pride celebrations.

Ma's efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS have found support from a government eager to promote safe sex among gay Chinese.

At the Beijing headquarters of Ma's firm, app users can take free HIV tests, administered only by gay members of a staff of more than 50, so as to minimize any potential embarrassment.

A red ribbon icon on the app gives Blued users easy access to information on condom use and AIDS. It offers authorities a way to reach out to gay men, a group the World Health Organization says is at high risk of catching the disease.

"On the street, it is difficult for researchers to find gay groups," said Ma. "We could help the government to help the people that it can't reach."

source: interaksyon.com

Smartphone app helps non-Arabic speaking Muslims read the Qur’an

A smartphone application translates the Qur’an (Koran) from Arabic to Bahasa Indonesia by scanning through codes at the bottom of each line, a technology that aims to encourage a younger generation of non-Arabic speakers to become more familiar with Islam’s holy book. Reuters Jim Drury has more.


It’s the Islamic month of Ramadan and millions of Muslims are spending their time in prayer and reflection. But in Indonesia – the world’s most populous Islamic nation – some Muslims struggle to read in Arabic.

So inventor Syarief Niskala created this smart phone app that allows non-Arabic speaking Muslims to read the Koran.

“We don’t need to translate, nor go to the library. We can learn anywhere from a gadget that we carry everywhere. As I learned from the research, the gadget that is closest to us is a smart phone….Based on that I invented this application for smart phones which we always have close, so can always be read and heard.” ‘Smartquran’ application inventer Syarief Niskala said in Bahasa.

The app is used in conjunction with a specially printed Qur’an, costing 17 dollars, that contains a series of QR codes. Once registered, users scan their phone over codes positioned on each page. Bahasa Indonesia translations appear in seconds.

Commentary from Qur’an experts and verse-by-verse histories are also offered. Perhaps predictably, opinion was split along age lines in this Jakarta mosque.

“There are comments on the verses and translations too, all features that make it easy for us to learn and understand,” Worshipper Riska Suci Utari said in Bahasa

“Although our era is now advanced technologically, older people like me who cannot understand how to use these applications and gadgets, find it easier to read or recite with a real Koran,” worshipper Fadli said also in Bahasa.

But with millions of smart phone users in Indonesia, Niskala believes his app can help a new generation of Muslims stay in touch with their religion.

source: interaksyon.com

Company invents wireless pocket-sized printer

MANILA, Philippines — A technology company based in Israel is now seeking funding to roll out a pocket-sized printer that can be used through a smartphone application.

The device, dubbed as the Mini Mobile Robotic Printer, is no larger than a small perfume bottle and spills ink on the paper as it rolls over every line of text or image. The only downside is that the device it not as fast as conventional laser printers, which prints 10-20 pages a minute compared to the mobile printer’s measly 1.2 pages a minute. The company, however, is banking on the mobility of their product as they seek funding at the Kickstarter website.

“Our printer is entirely fitted for our day-to-day life. It has a rechargeable battery with a on/off switch, it connects directly to smartphones and to PCs and it allows the user to print on any size of paper,” Zuta Labs said on its project brief.

source: interaksyon.com

New app sheds virtual weight so faces look slimmer on ‘selfies’

TORONTO — A new app that lets users shed virtual weight so their faces look skinnier on “selfie” photos is raising concerns about health and body-image issues.

SkinneePix, for iPhone and Android devices, can trim from five to 15 pounds (2-6 kg) of virtual fat for a slimmer selfie look.



“Cameras add additional weight to photos and when you’re taking a selfie you’re also dealing with bad lighting, angles, close-ups and a lot of other factors that make people complain that the photo isn’t an accurate representation of themselves,” said Susan Green, co-founder of the Phoenix-based company Pretty Smart Women that created the app.

It was originally designed to help overweight adults show a leaner version of themselves, but Robin J Phillips, the other co-founder, said the app has also motivated people to lose weight.

“It’s a good reminder to get off the couch, turn the TV off, and go for a walk,” she said.

But some critics fear the $1.99 app, which only works on single head shots, could encourage an unhealthy body image.

Lauren Dickson, a social worker in the eating disorders and addiction clinic at the Center of Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, said the app is one of many factors that could contribute towards a young adult developing an eating disorder.

“The media obviously has some effect on people developing eating disorders, but it’s not the only variable. It’s one of many factors,” she said in an interview.

“The majority of young girls wouldn’t develop an eating disorder because of an app like this, but some might be more vulnerable and it could contribute,” Dickson added.

Green said the virtual weight loss in the app is capped at 15 pounds and the app focuses only on the face and not the entire body.

“We definitely understand that people can have body image problems and we’re not trying to contribute to that in any way,” she said.

“I think if someone who is very thin uses it and goes straight for 15 (pounds), then that’s probably not the best thing, but they could also do that in Photoshop,” Green added.

Other apps can also add or remove weight, including one called FatBooth.

source: interaksyon.com

Facebook is top smartphone app in Philippines, Nielsen says

MANILA – Facebook is the most engaging smartphone application or "app" in the Philippines, according to Nielsen, affirming the social network's popularity among Filipinos online as well as the revenue potential for the country's telecom companies.

Citing the results of the Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights, the multinational consumer research company said Facebook was tops in three of the four Southeast Asian countries included in the study. Apart from the Philippines, the study also covered Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Indonesia and Malaysia were the two other markets that ranked Facebook as the most engaging smartphone app, while Thailand considered the social network app only second next to Line, a Japanese messaging app.

Apart from Facebook, other smartphone apps among the top 10 in the four markets were Google Play Store, YouTube and Line.

Among the four countries, the Philippines was the only place where Skype and Vibr – both Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) apps – figured among the top 10 apps. Microblogging app Twitter was among the top 10 apps in only one of the four countries – Indonesia


The ranking combined app penetration with average time spent per month. The study used a smartphone metering technology across Android, Blackberry and Symbian operating systems, but Nielsen didn't indicate the size of its sample, only to say it maintains opt-in panels in the markets covered.

On average, people from the four Southeast Asian countries spent 45 minutes a day using smartphone apps. Filipinos spent slightly less than that at 41 minutes, while Malaysians led the pack with 66 minutes a day.

“The importance and influence of apps within today’s highly-competitive mobile market has soared in recent years,” said Sagar Phadke, Nielsen director for Telecom and Technology Practice in Southeast Asia, North Asia and Pacific.

“Smartphone users in Asia are highly engaged in apps usage, and the app user base in Asia is growing rapidly, presenting huge opportunities for brand marketers to leverage apps to build lasting connections with consumers,” Phadke said.

Last year, mobile browsing revenues grew by double-digits, making it one of the drivers of an otherwise mature Philippine telecom market – a feat both Smart and Globe attributed to the increasing penetration of smartphones and aggressive rollout of promotional mobile data plans.

Smart parent firm PLDT closed the first six months of this year with a two percent in revenues to P81.1 billion from P79.7 billion last year. Globe ended the same period with a nine percent increase in revenues to P44.5 billion from P40.8 billion a year ago.

source: interaksyon.com