All of us love pointing fingers, mostly to apportion blame or to pass-the-buck. Leveraging on this urge to point fingers, GeoVector Corp., a company focused on pointing-based local search solutions for wireless devices, has launched a location-based service system, which allows users to search the Internet or query databases merely by pointing a wireless phone or other mobile devices at a location or object.

How does the technology work? GeoVector says the mobile handset will have GPS technology and a digital compass, which kick in when a user points his phone at retailers, restaurants, billboards, banks or historical sites to instantly retrieve information on what they are looking at, or find what they are looking for.

The technology allows users to "click on the real world" similar to how computer users point and click with a mouse to access information, conduct transactions or play games. The solution currently utilises Qualcomm SnapTrak positioning technology and their BREW solution.

"When GeoVector and its partners launched the world‘s first pointing-based local search service, we revolutionised the way people use a wireless phone to interact with the world around them," says Mr Peter Ellenby, GeoVector’s director of New Media. "GeoVector’s pointing solutions will soon become the de facto world standard for local search," added Mr Ellenby.

Broadband revenue
Meanwhile, on the broadband front, the total Asia-Pacific broadband access service market revenue, $20.7 billion in 2005, is expected to reach $55.1 billion by 2011. Tier-1 markets, Japan and South Korea, contributed more than 60 per cent of total revenue in 2005, followed by Tier-2 markets — Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, and Singapore, contributing around 15 per cent, according to a report by In-Stat, a high-tech market research firm.

"In less developed markets like China and India, broadband access services are expected to demonstrate impressive growth through 2011 and constitute the bulk of Asia-Pacific’s broadband subscriber expansion," it says.

"Wide availability of low prices in cyber cafes in these markets is allowing people to experience broadband services without a fixed charge, which will stimulate potential new subscriptions." "Various connection technologies will be competing through 2011, with the current dominating technology, DSL, facing price competition from cable modem and satellite. In the long run, compelling content or ‘killer broadband applications’ will be the key to success," In-Stat says.

Sixty per cent of Chinese college leavers looking for work in the final half of 2006 will be unable to find a job, a government report has revealed. China is expected to face serious employment difficulties during this period, according to a report published by the National Development and Reform Commission, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The number of graduates will increase by 22 per cent over the previous year to reach 4.13 million while the job market can only soak up 1.66 million new graduates, down 22 per cent on the previous year, the report said.

"It is hard to create new jobs in large numbers due to surplus production capacity, more trade frictions and the revaluation of the yuan. As a result, it will be less easy to tackle employment pressure," Zhang Xiaojian, vice minister of the ministry of labour and social security, was quoted as saying.

According to the report, due to stable economic growth, the first quarter saw a healthy employment situation with a registered urban unemployment rate of 4.2 per cent, 2.52 million newly-added urban labourers and 1.03 million laid-off workers reemployed.

China’s unemployment rate does not take into consideration people living in the countryside who are idle laborers or surplus labor seeking employment. The level of surplus labour this year would reach 14 million, around one million more than last year. The commission said in March it was expecting 25 million new people to seek jobs in the cities this year.

Next week, Cellebrum.com Private Limited (Cellebrum), one of Asia’s leading integrated telecom value-added services provider, will announce the launch of a new solution called "select caller list" that will allow mobile subscribers to screen and block unwanted incoming calls.

Spice Telecom is expected to offer this service first to their subscribers in Punjab and then introduce the same in Karnataka later this month. Other major service providers have also contacted Cellebrum for this call blocking service, which is expected to become a standard feature in the telecom industry soon.

"Even when a person is on the move (while roaming), he can define a list of numbers that can be allowed to come through while the rest can be blocked out. A follow-up SMS will notify the subscriber on the numbers that have been blocked," said Mr Savinder Sarna, head (marketing), Cellebrum. This service would allow subscribers to screen incoming calls instead of wasting valuable time and effort registering their numbers individually at various "do not call" registries and databases of banks and credit card companies across the country. There have been allegations that some marketing companies routinely communicate features, products and promotional offers even after being warned against it. This service could also be used to block callers that make obscene calls as well, said experts.

On Monday, Cellebrum announced the launch of a "Pay-4-Me" product that aims to provide continuous connectivity to prepaid subscribers who have their outgoing call facility barred due to insufficient funds. The service has already been successfully tried by Spice Telecom in Punjab and requires the called party to agree to pay for the calling party. Service providers such as Hutch, Airtel and Idea could soon offer this product to their subscribers.

Mr Saket Agarwal, chief operating officer, Cellebrum, said, "Almost 75 per cent of mobile subscribers in the country use prepaid connections and over 30 per cent of the prepaid subscribers usually get caught in a situation where they do not have the balance to make calls when it is needed the most. In such cases, our product will come to their rescue."