Asian tech roundup: Blockchain builds in China

Plus: Solar power is a non-starter in Singapore

Welcome to Computing's fortnightly roundup of tech news in Asia. This time we look at India's answer to Google; chip advancements; and what Softbank's upcoming financial results mean for Arm.

• A scheme to pipe electricity 4,000km from Australia to Singapore has collapsed due to the project's outstanding complexity. The plan, backed by several billionaires, would have routed solar power collected in Australia's Northern Territory to a giant battery (some would have been siphoned off to provide power to the city of Darwin) and then sent to Singapore via undersea cable. That cable was the main breaking point, and SunCable entered voluntary administration last month. Source
• Cloud-delivered malware tripled in Australia in 2022, the second-highest increase of any region worldwide. Although North America still tops the percentage of cloud malware downloads, cloud malware delivery rose 10 percentage points in Australia to represent 50% of all malware delivery - just behind Europe's 11-point increase, to 42%. Asia also saw a significant increase, from 39% to 45%. Source
• China has built a 1,000-server cluster in Beijing to advance its aim of recording government and commercial activity on a blockchain. Designed by the Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing, it relies on homegrown blockchain platform ChainMaker. The current plan is to use the cluster to secure and record transactions across 80 departments, 16 districts, and organisations in the transportation, finance and telecoms fields. Source
• The Competition Commission of India has ordered Google to open up its Android walled garden, allowing smartphone vendors to pre-install non-Google apps. Consumers will also be able to use third-party search engines and payment options on the Play Store. Source
• The Indian government has financed and is preparing to launch BharOS, a home-grown open source Android alternative built on Linux. It is specifically designed for use in government and public services. Source
• Japanese chip-maker Rapidus aims to have a 2nm prototype production line in operation by 2025, the same year TSMC plans to bring 2nm to market. However, company president Atsuyoshi Koike estimates developing the technology and building the plant will take as much as €35 billion, which the company has not yet secured. Source
• Japan's SoftBank is aiming to take British chip-designer Arm public in this calendar year, although not before March. The listing is seen as crucial to improving SoftBank's financial performance. The company is expected to post a net profit of ¥103.7 billion ($807.2 million) for its financial Q3, ended in December, which is up on ¥29 billion ($225 million) in Q3 last year. Source