Notes on Asia Business Since 2013, continuous growth in the Philippines’ property sector has been recognized by different institutions such as the World Bank and real estate advisor CBRE. It’s a trend that has continued into this year. A survey by The Urban Land Institute ranked Philippines the fourth in the top real estate market investments in Asia Pacific. Following this boom, Tech in Asia has spotted a number of property marketplace startups that has entered the market in the past year. Here are four of them: Zipmatch ZipMatch launched in April last year trying to address the problems of brokers and agents of having their online listings replicated by others. The platform has built microsites for brokers and agents to list the properties they have for rent or sale and is designed for the users to contact the agent directly. It vets all the listings on the site to make sure they are quality ones. Postings that lack information are rejected. Brokers can also pay ZipMatch for a list of customers that are qualified to buy their respective properties. Last month, Zipmatch received an undisclosed amount of funding from IMJ Fenox, 500 Startups, Ideaspace Foundation and Hatchd Digital. (See: With strong mobile presence, Rumah.com claims it’s the leading Indonesian property portal in 2013) True Property True Property is the product of Philippine incubator Kickstart Ventures and Australian accelerator Pollenizer’s search for a startup in the country last June. The listings in the property marketplace are sorted according to cities, condominium buildings and specific communities within cities, making it easier for users to filter their searches. And apart from the typical listings, True Property added Google Map integration to show establishments, parks, transportation, and other landmarks that are available within a two-mile radius from the listed property, which is what potential buyers look for. Brokers can also get SMS notifications so that they can easily get in touch with interested parties who complete the inquiry form in the True Property website. Property24 It is Philippine classified ads giant Sulit which brought the South Africa-based property listing portal Property24 to the Philippines, being both backed by Naspers. It has a list of properties for sale, rent, or pre-selling. It also has Google Maps integration to show where listed properties are in the country. Property24 is one of the few real estate marketplaces locally that has a mobile app, which is available for download on iOS and Android. Lamudi Lamudi, Rocket Internet’s real estate marketplace venture launched in the Philippines late last year. To date, most of the listings on its site are central to the metro area with a few additional listings in the provincial areas of Luzon and Visayas. It currently has around 10,000 listings in the Philippines for properties both for rent and for sale. Like other Rocket Internet ventures, Lamudi is also available in other countries such as Pakistan and Indonesia. (Editing by Terence Lee) 

Read more: 4 property marketplaces to watch out for in the Philippines http://www.techinasia.com/4-property-marketplaces-watch-philippines/

China Mobile says most of its 4G subscribers are using iPhones March 20, 2014at 7:16 pmby Steven Millward Share 00000 “Most of our 1.34 million 4G users are using an iPhone,” said China Mobile chairman Xi Guohua today. He was speaking in the post-earnings conference call after China Mobile (NYSE:CHL; HKG:0941) released its Q4 financials, reports Reuters. China Mobile rolled out 4G on December 18. On that day Mr. Xi said that the telco giant aims to sell 100 million 4G on-contract phones in 2014 thanks to greater subsidies. However, this 1.34 million number shows that target will be tough to hit – perhaps even an impossible task. Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) long-awaited deal for the iPhone with China Mobile arrived a week after the 4G launch. Tim Cook and Xi visited a China Mobile store in Beijing to celebrate the new partnership. (See: China ends 2013 with a total of 417 million 3G subscribers) China Mobile now has 776 million users, of whom 28 percent are signed up for 3G. The telco could find it tough to persuade its 3G subscribers to shift to 4G without offering lower data package prices. In other news from China Mobile’s Q4 earnings, the company saw a shock drop in profit, falling to $4.89 billion in that quarter. The huge costs of its 4G rollout were the likely cause. The full Q4 document is here (PDF). 

Read more: China Mobile says most of its 4G subscribers are using iPhones http://www.techinasia.com/china-mobile-4g-subscribers-love-iphones/

After scanning 1 million Chinese phrases last year, visual translator app Waygo adds support for Japanese March 19, 2014at 11:27 amby Steven Millward Share 3812530 Waygo, the visual translator app that impressed us back in 2012, has undergone a major update so that it supports scanning and converting Japanese text. When Waygo app was first created, it focused on translating menus printed in Chinese – just point your phone’s camera at a dish’s name, and Waygo would give you the meaning in English. It even manages to unscramble idiomatic phrases. It later expanded its repertoire to cover signs. The inclusion of Japanese this week is the biggest update for the startup app so far. (See: Baidu’s image-recognition software isn’t perfect, but it’s super smart and will make you laugh) A new pair of eyes Ryan Rogowski, the CEO of Waygo, tells Tech in Asia that the app’s users translated more than one million Chinese phrases last year. An average of 3,100 phrases per day are being scanned and processed – that’s even before launching Japanese support. The startup declined to reveal active user numbers. The Waygo team graduated out of 500 Startups last year. Rogowski explains that the accelerator program was the catalyst

for a lot of changes: Since being in 500 Startups, we’ve added two full-time and two part-time team members. We have done a lot of work to build a solid foundation for the company and technology and are excited for the year ahead. 500 Startups was a huge help in getting the word out about our product and connecting us to the international startup community. With their help, we were able to attract investors from China, Singapore, and Japan to help in distributing Waygo. The product has gone through redesign, feature updates, and vast algorithm improvements and we are excited for our first major language release since Chinese, with many more to come. The core crew now consists of five full-timers scattered across the US, Taiwan, and mainland China. Rogowski says that the remote team helps the startup support marketing efforts and connect Waygo with the right people across Asia. Waygo is free for iOS, but free users are limited to 10 translations per day. An in-app purchase called the ‘tourist package’ gives unlimited access for one week for US$1.99, or there’s an offer for lifetime unlimited translations in both Chinese and Japanese for US$6.99. That lower rate is available until April 1.

Read more: After scanning 1 million Chinese phrases last year, visual translator app Waygo adds support for Japanese http://www.techinasia.com/visual-translator-app-waygo-adds-japanese-text-support/

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