BRIEFING - ASIA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - MAY 18, 2011.

An executive briefing on information technology for May 18, 2011, prepared by Asia Pulse (http://www.asiapulse.com), the real-time, Asia-based wire with exclusive news, commercial intelligence and business opportunities.

APPLE TAPS FORMER LG EXECUTIVE TO LEAD KOREAN UNIT

SEOUL - Apple Inc. recently appointed a former executive of LG Electronics Inc. (KSE:066570) as the new head of its Korean unit, an industry source said Wednesday.

Dominique Oh is the new general manager at Apple Korea, which oversees the U.S. company's business in South Korea, the source said on condition of anonymity. He succeeded Andrew Sedgwick, who led the Korean unit since 2001.

S. KOREAN REGULATOR TO DISCIPLINE HYUNDAI CAPITAL OVER HACKING

SEOUL - South Korea's financial regulator decided Wednesday to punish Hyundai Capital Services Inc. for lax computer system maintenance, which led to a major hacking attack at the biggest local consumer finance firm.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) launched an inspection into Hyundai Capital on April 11 after a hacker broke into Hyundai Capital between March 6 and April 7, stole personal customer information and demanded cash from the company, threatening to leak it on the Internet.

ACER'S PROPERTY SALES AIMED AT BOOSTING BOTTOM LINE: ANALYST

TAIPEI - A plan of Acer Inc. (TAIEX:2353), a leading notebook computer vendor, to sell a piece of commercial real estate in Taipei City is aimed at cashing in on the local booming real estate market and lifting its bottom line, as fierce global competition is eroding the company's profitability, an analyst said Tuesday.

Acer announced a day earlier that it has put a 10-story office building located in the Neihu District up for sale and has started to take bids for an auction scheduled to take place on June 22.

KKBOX TO LAUNCH CLOUD MUSIC SERVICE FOR JAPAN ANDROID HANDSETS

TAIPEI - KKBOX Inc., Taiwan's biggest digital music provider, announced Tuesday that it will launch its music service for mobile phones in Japan in June, in partnership with RecoChoku, Japan's largest digital music content provider.

The Taipei-headquartered company said in an e-mailed statement that the service will be run on its cloud music platform and operation infrastructure in the world's second-largest market, while RecoChoku, established by Japan's major music labels, will provide music licensing and content.

INDIAN IT BIZMEN TO INVEST IN INDONESIA'S 2ND BIGGEST CITY

SURABAYA - An Indian information technology business is interested in investing in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city widely considered to have a big potential in the field.

"The major Indian company whom we have invited to come here today is very interested in capital investment in Surabaya," Indonesian ambassador to India Andi M. Ghalib said here Tuesday.

INDIAN COS NEED NOT WITHHOLD TAX FOR DATA PROCESSING SERVICES

NEW DELHI - Indian firms outsourcing routine work to their overseas subsidiaries would not have to deduct withholding tax on the payments made to them.

In a landmark ruling, the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) has held that firms are exempted from deducting the withholding tax on the payments made for services like transcription and data processing.

FORMER IDEA CELLULAR EXECUTIVE JOINS BOARD OF INDIA'S SUBEX

NEW DELHI - Indian IT solutions provider Subex (BSE:532348) on Tuesday announced the appointment Sanjeev Aga as an independent director on the company's board.

Aga is the former managing director of Idea Cellular and has 38 years of experience across sectors such as consumer, services, entertainment, light engineering and telecommunications.

AUSTRALIAN MAINLAND SITE FOR NBN TO GO LIVE ON WEDNESDAY

CANBERRA - The first Australian mainland site for the A$36 billion (US$37.99 billion) national broadband network will go live on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will visit an Armidale school to flick the switch on the network, which until now has operated only in Tasmania.

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ASIA PULSE RY 18-05 1720