6waves, previously highlighted in 2008, has seen their social gaming business expand and become one of the leading developers in the market (Inside Facebook has the details). While their competitors have already raised their series B and C rounds, 6waves has just raised their series A round of $17.5 Million from US based VC, Insight Venture Partners. 6waves plan to use the funding to expand their business and platform.

image from appdata.com

Having already been competitive (and in the green) long before this round of funding, the $17.5M in the bank is a bonus for them. Besides expanding the gaming platform, it’s very likely their company expansion will take them beyond Hong Kong and tap talent from the US and it won’t be surprising to see 6waves operating from both Hong Kong and the US.

Expect some great things from them in 2010.

Ankoder brings video transcoding to users and business everywhere. Ankoder uses Amazon’s S3 and Elastic Cloud to provide a proven and scalable solution to anyone or any business working with video. With video becoming a big part of many businesses, any business looking to incorporate their own video site, cloud encoding is something they could consider since these type of services are easy to use and does not require excessive budget that’s needed for video encoding.

With an encoding service, you not only reach those devices that can connect online, you’re also able to reach the vast number of existing multimedia/desktop/mobile devices that are already in the marketplace. In addition to encoding and downloading videos, Ankoder can also encode and segment files for iPhone HTTP streaming.

Here are some features Ankoder offers:

• a flexible API with multiple steps notifications.
• Encode into theora - the open source video codec for HTML5
• Auto scale with maximum 10 minutes queue time.
• Handle direct upload (minimize file transfer)

Signing up for Ankoder is free but it’s a pay-per-use service. That means you are charged for the bandwidth used for uploading of source video and the download of the transcoded video.

Despite their recent entry into this space, they are already helping others run large scale outdoor video shows.

Ankoder is a service by RoRCraft based in Hong Kong and Australia. You can learn more details about Ankoder on their blog.

Less than a year and still in private beta, Thumbdive will be shutting down their service. We first profiled their service back in January and found their privacy control approach and a different UI a good change from the other services in the market. I had hope to see it go further, but apparently Airgini, the developer, did not see a bright future in it, as a consumer service. The service will cease on September 16, 2009.

Thumbdive won’t be going to the grave completely though. I’ve been told that they are working on a new version of Thumbdive, for the enterprise. With their already proven system with privacy and control, the move from consumer to enterprise service seems to be a better suited direction for them, not to mention, the possible revenue that comes with targeting enterprises.

We’ll have to wait and see how Thumbdive for the enterprise will shape up to be. Maybe we’ll be looking at a service similar to Yammer, the enterprise microblogging platform?

So I finally got my Apple iPhone 3GS, but to my surprise it came with something extra. I unpacked it and found a hair stuck in the packaging, appears to be nose hair. This maybe a minor issue to all but I find it kind of disgusting.

What do you guys think? Does that look like hair to you?

The news is out! The new iPhone 3GS will be available come this Friday, July 10th, at 3 HK stores. I’m not sure if we’ll see the Apple online store and authorized Apple resellers across Hong Kong carry the new phone on that date (it’s not out now at midnight) Now available online. 3 HK will continue to be the sole provider of the iPhone which I am sure many are disappointed - I’ve heard nothing but bad things about them like poor service and cheating users of their cash with their iPhone app.

I skipped the math on the plan, but by glancing over it, it’s a welcome mat for 3 HK to rape you (I’m sure that’s true with AT&T in US too), it always is. Lucky for people in Hong Kong, Apple store will eventually sell the iPhone separately. If you are current users, I’d suggest against upgrading with 3 HK just so you can get the 3GS (I’d expect to see it online in about a week’s time, don’t quote me though). Instead, shell out a bit more and get the phone by itself, so you don’t get tied down with a 2-year contract, unless I mean you enjoy their service then by all means. Be sure to read the fine print so they don’t screw you over.

There’s no word on the price of the standalone phone, but if Australia is any indication, the price will remain the same as the iPhone 3G, which is around HKD$5500-$6400 (approx. $700-$850USD) for 16GB and 32GB respectively. That’s a lot of cash for a friggin phone, not to mention the games, apps, music that you end up purchasing during ownership. But, knowing how people in Hong Kong go through phones like they go through toilet paper (I’ve heard lifespan for mobile phones for the younger demographics is around six months), the iPhone 3GS will likely be a hit in Hong Kong, again.

The iPhone 3GS is calling me and I will soon be a iPhone virgin no more. Will this be the best $700USD I’ve ever spend? iPhone owners please tell me.