Asia is slowly becoming a hub for many smartphone brands. Market research firm GfK reported last month that from March 2012 to March 2013, the number of smartphones sold in Southeast Asia grew by 61%. It also said that the total value of smartphones sold in Southeast Asia alone surpassed the US$ 11 billion mark. Many experts believe that the rise was due to the arrival of low-cost smartphones and high-end operating systems. When it comes to OS, most Asians prefer Android over other OS brands. Android is having a sensational ride in the Asian market and one company that benefits big time from it is Opera Software.

Opera Software’s senior vice-president for Asia, Fabrizio Caruso, announced on Tuesday (June 18) that Android has just become the 2nd largest mobile OS platform among Opera Mini users in many countries in Southeast Asia and India. In each country, Opera Mini subscription grew by an average of 160%.

“From May 2012 to April 2013, we saw 148% Android Opera Mini user growth in India, 161% in Indonesia, 187% in Vietnam, and 214% in the Philippines,” the official said in an interview. 

Web browsers play a critical role in a smartphone’s success in any market. Most smartphones, regardless of the continent, are now mostly used for browsing and other web-based features. People go to their mobile computers to make instant electronic messages, Google search, instant games, and social media updates. Android phones are already famous for their sleek interface and large community of developers that create different applications. But with the surge of low-cost smartphones, things will only get better for mobile consumers.

A reliable web browser is a must for various smartphone activities, especially in playing online games. These games included MMRPG, online casino, betting games, and first-person shooter games. Among all these, browser games like slots, roulette, poker, and baccarat are the ones that require high-end browsers the most. If MMORPGs are played by installing some software, casino games can be played right on the browser. Players who want to spare themselves from traffic or crowded stresets when going to casinos, they can visit websites like partycasino where they can play casino games with a flick of the finger. But first, they need to make sure that their smartphones have a reliable web browser like Opera Mini to maximize the potential of these games.

Opera Mini has more to expect from Android phone’s growth. It is not just in Asia where the Linux-based operating system is dominant. In the United States and several European countries, Android is still the OS to beat when it comes to overall sales. Apple’s iOS is far from second and Windows Phone is at third. Opera Software, as long as it runs on Android phones, will definitely have a great future.

The textil industry is dominated by some big players and proprietary file formats for digital cut patterns. With the maker scene getting a big push with 3D printers, it is time to push for open digital sewing pattern creation as well.

Susan Spencer already works for some time on this goal. She created plugins for creating and portraying sewing patterns in Inkscape and documents her work on the TauMeta Website.

The next goal is to enable designers to upload and customize patterns online through a web interface. This is why we are meeting up at a workshop after the Libre Graphics Meeting in Madrid. I believe this is exciting and offers many people a way to collaborate on patterns around the world.

As textil making is very big in Vietnam and other Asian countries, this could be very interesting for people. I can see that it would also offer ways for small business owners to work together.

Susan Spencer and Hong Phuc Dang at the Digital Pattern Workshop after LGM 2013

Links

* http://www.taumeta.org

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_(sewing)

Thank you for a great event! The Libre Graphics Meeting 2013 took place in Madrid from April 10-13.

While the participation of Asian contributors is still low, talking to developers and designers it is clear that Asian users are "on their map". Designing fonts that include characters for Asian languages for example is high on the agenda.

I would be happy to help people who are interested in font design to get in touch with established font projects. Please get in touch with me, if you are interested.

Pippin (Øyvind Kolås) from the Gimp project and Hong Phuc Dang at Libre Graphics Meeting 2013

Hong Phuc Dang and Sirko Kemter discussing Inkscape at Libre Graphics Meeting 2013

Graphics Tool Social Meet up with Gimp and GNOME developers at Libre Graphics Meeting

Fontforge presentation with Dave Crossland and Ben

Crypto Stick has been accepted as a mentor organization for Google Summer of Code (GSOC) 2013. If you are a student interested in working on cool crypto stuff, developing a high security system, latest web security or embedded programming - this is for you. You can apply for a project and if accepted the mentors will work with you over the summer and Google will sponsor you 5000 USD during that time.

Please check out the ideas page at https://www.assembla.com/spaces/cryptostick/wiki/Ideas or suggest your own idea.

And, join the mailinglist to discuss it: https://lists.crypto-stick.org/mailman/listinfo/dev

Your applications should be submitted through Google Melange (https://google-melange.com) between March 26 and April 6. Generally, it is better to submit your application early as mentors like to discuss proposals.

Important dates are:

* March 17-25: Would-be student participants discuss application ideas with mentoring organizations.

* March 26, 19:00 UTC: Student application period opens.

* April 6, 19:00 UTC: Student application deadline.

You can continue to submit additional information and comments into the system after your initial application submission. In order to participate in the program, you must be a student in an accredited institution or university.

Links:

* Crypto Stick project: http://crypto-stick.org

* Ideas Page: https://www.assembla.com/spaces/cryptostick/wiki/Ideas

* GSOC Progam F&Q: https://google-melange.appspot.com/gsoc/document/show/gsoc_program/googl...

* Crypto Stick Mailing List: https://lists.crypto-stick.org/mailman/listinfo/dev

* Google Melange: http://google-melange.com

We released the first version 0.1 of Meilix System Lock. It is an application that can lock or "freeze" your system.

The application is based on Ofris, but it offers more features like a simple graphic interface to lock or unlock the system. Main developer is Hon Nguyen (Vanhonit) from Vietnam, who started the tool as part of his Google Summer of Code project for FOSSASIA.

The sourcecode is here on github: https://github.com/meilix/systemlock

A couple of Meilix System Lock Screenshots.