Apple has started actively taking down apps that work with Pebble’s smartwatch, boding poorly for the future of Pebble’s system if iOS users are incapable of downloading apps for their smartwatch.

SeaNav US was the first to bring up the situation, claiming its recent app update was rejected due to having ‘Pebble’ in the description; a term Apple will now venomously remove from the iOS App Store. The company received this notice:

    “We noticed that your app or its metadata contains irrelevant platform information in the app. Providing future platform compatibility plans, or other platform references, is not appropriate for the App Store.

    Specifically, your app and app description declare support for the Pebble Smartwatch.”

This isn’t exactly a new move by Apple, it has blocked apps that mention Android or Windows Phone support before and regularly makes sure its platform is filtered to not include rival platform support.

The major issue isn’t that the platform support has been detailed, it is that Apple seems to be removing apps that in any way work with Pebble. Unlike Android and Windows, Pebble has no platform for mobile phone users, meaning it will either have to create a workaround for iOS or skip that part entirely.

Moving to its own App Store for download might be a smart move, but Pebble’s own app might be in trouble if it ever comes time to update the platform.

It also looks like apps like Android Wear for iOS might have a hard time getting on the platform, with Apple not wanting iOS customers to be buying third-party smartwatches.

Apple Watch is showing strong early performance with two million pre-orders so far, and the company is aiming for 20 million sales in 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Reuters) - The Philippines on Sunday called on neighbouring Southeast Asian nations to push for an immediate halt to China's reclamation in the disputed South China Sea ahead of a regional summit.

China claims 90 percent of the South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas, with overlapping claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Recent satellite images suggest China has made rapid progress in building an airstrip suitable for military use in contested territory in the Spratly islands in the South China Sea and may be planning another.

In a speech to foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN), Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario did not name China directly, but said its "northern neighbour" was quickly advancing with its massive reclamation.

"Is it not time for ASEAN to say to our northern neighbour that what it is doing is wrong and that the massive reclamations must be immediately stopped?" Rosario asked.

The territorial dispute is seen as one of Asia's hot spots, carrying risks that it could result in conflict as countries aggressively stake their claims.

The foreign ministers were meeting ahead of the official opening of the 10-member ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

The minister said the reclamation would likely be finished before China agrees to a planned Code of Conduct for the South China Sea.

ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh told Reuters in an interview that it has become very urgent for ASEAN and China to conclude the code early.

"In the context of the ever-widening gap between the diplomatic track and the situation at sea, it is very urgent now for ASEAN and China to early conclude the Code of Conduct, which must be a legally binding instrument and must an instrument that can prevent such incidents," he said.

But ASEAN summit host Malaysia is likely to steer clear of criticising China, it biggest trade partner, a draft end-statement seen by Reuters showed.

PHNOM PENH – Open a web search window, type in: www.khmertimes.com. Amazingly, you will be taken instantly to the website of The Cambodia Daily.

This website was bought in December 2014. With this, The Cambodia Daily broke media ethics rules by cybersquatting, deliberately diverting online searches for Khmer Times to its own website.

The Daily’s attacks on Khmer Times started over one year ago – weeks before our first paper and ink edition was launched on May 2, 2014.

On March 10, 2014, the Daily’s lead political reporter, Alex Willemyns ran a story under the headline: “CPP-Friendly Publisher to Launch English Paper.”

The story began: “T Mohan, the Malaysian national who edited The Cambodia Times and The Vision newspapers in the 1990s before being arrested for attempting to extort a casino executive on behalf of an alleged insurgent group, is planning to launch a new English-language newspaper.”

Two months later, on May 13, the Daily welcomed its new competitor in Cambodia’s newspaper market with an article by the same writer with updated headline: “CPP-Friendly Businessman Launches Newspaper.” 

The story began with a similar lead: “T Mohan, a Malaysian publisher and businessman arrested in the 1990s for attempting to extort a casino executive, is back in Cambodia’s newspaper market.”

In neither story, did the reporter bother to illuminate readers with the fact that no charges ever were filed in the casino case.

The Daily story continued: “Khmer Times, the latest English-language news offering from Mr. Mohan, hit newsstands earlier this month, with a government spokesman even resigning his position to report for the newspaper.”

Fact: the government spokesman never resigned. Further down, the story said: “According to sub-decrees issued in the Royal Gazette in February 2011, Mr. Mohan currently chairs a company with a 7,187 hectare economic land concession in Kampot province’s Phnom Bokor National Park.” Public disclosure, courtesy of the Daily.

Fact: First, the ELC is only partly inside the park and was delineated by Sub Decree as an ELC.  Second, the size stated is wrong. It is actually 6,718 hectares.

In July, Mr. Willemyns walked uninvited into  Khmer Times newsroom, demanding to know sources for Khmer Times story based on transcripts of a Cabinet meeting.

Last Friday, after watching its circulation slowly erode for nine months, the Daily returned to attack mode. It ran a front page lead story with this headline: “In Coverage of Land Dispute, A Publisher’s Interests Served.”

Among the laundry list of accusations was that the newspaper’s owner publisher (me) did not disclose his involvement with Virtus Green Plantations Cambodia Pte Ltd. The news story also charged that the village and commune chief did not know that I owned  Khmer Times when I interviewed them for quotes in my own news story.

A few Twitter users had a field day with the Daily story.

Here are excerpts of Friday’s Daily story:

“While local media have mostly ignored Decho Aphivat, Khmer Times, an English-language newspaper that started up last year, has become fixated with the area, publishing more than a dozen articles amounting to over 10,000 words about the conflict here.

The newspaper has labeled the villagers “opportunists” and “squatters” led by “land gangs” and “instigators“ that pose a “growing threat to plantation agriculture in Cambodia.”

It also published an article under the byline “M.H. Tee” stating that the concession holder, Virtus Green Plantations, had upgraded a 200-meter stretch of road in the remote commune to “alleviate the sufferings of villagers.”

What Khmer Times has failed to reveal, however, is that its publisher, T. Mohan, is also the founder and CEO of Virtus Group, the parent company of Virtus Green Plantations.”

Here is my response:

Alex Willemyns already made public that I chair a company with an economic land concession in and adjacent to  Kampot Province’s Phnom Bokor National Park. Such information also was published in the Government Gazette.  It is public information. However, I am not the Chairman.

The opening sentences of Mr. Willemyns’ two 2014 stories borders on slander when he wrote “a Malaysian publisher and businessman arrested in the 1990s for attempting to extort a casino executive.” He neglected to clarify that the nearly two decade old accusations never resulted in charges being filed.

Friday’s follow up stories by Matt Blomberg and Aun Pheap deride  Khmer Times stories on the Decho Pongrok Village land grab.

But the authors neglected to mention that they did not identify themselves as reporters from The Cambodia Daily. One of their interview subjects, the village chief, Ek Koy, says she was not informed of their true identities. Instead, she says they visited her village last week Monday under the guise of LICADHO, a human rights NGO. Their ‘cover’ apparently was that their NGO  wanted to drill water wells in the village.

Licadho’s Set Vannak, who brought the two Daily journalists to Decho Pongrok Village, initially denied that he even  went there, let alone  with the two Daily journalists. But, under questioning by Khmer Times reporter Ros Chanveasna, Mr. Vannak later conceded that he, indeed, had gone to the village with the two Daily journalists.

On Saturday, Ms. Ek Koy, the village chief told me in a taped conversation:

“I know Khmer Times. I know you, as you  said so yourself on the day you took my photo, midway between Dechno Pongrok Village and the plantation.

“During the visit of by one Westerner and two Khmers, they asked questions as to whether T. Mohan was paying me $100 per month and so forth. I absolutely deny that they identified themselves as from Cambodia Daily or from Licadho. And I received them as usual as I do with anyone who visits my house.”

After the “LICADHO” visit, Ms. Ek Koy sent a written report to her Commune Chief, Chim Seeoun, who was hospitalized at that time.

Here are excerpts from the “LICADHO” (Daily) questioning of  the Village Chief:

Question: Are you currently working for V.G.P. Company?

Answer: I work for the citizens. I only engage in the workforce as a local authority.

Question: Is it true that you get $100 a month from Mr. Mo Han?

Answer: That is not true!

Question: Is it true that V.G.P. Company illegal seizes land from the villagers?

Answer: That is not true. V.G.P. clearly sets the boundaries for the land in order to avoid conflicts with the villagers in the future, because all the villagers already possess their own piece of land.

Question: Did you call the villagers who are currently living here “chaotic people”?

Answer: As an authority, ever since the day Decho Pongrok Village has been created, we have never paid attention to the villagers’ chaos or systematic methods. We only pay attention to how they are living under the Constitution. Moreover, there is no division of groups/class because we are all Khmer.

Question: How do you feel when you see the staff drinking and having fun?

Answer: The provincial staff come to fulfill their obligations for the villagers of Decho Pongrok Village; they are not here to drink or have fun. We are unable to afford food or drinks for them. They come here with their own meals. However, as the local authority, it’s normal for us to provide them with a place to stay and to rest.

Question: There are sources saying that Mr. Mo Han went to drink at you house. How do you feel about that?

Answer:  Mr. Mo Han has never come to my house to drink or dine. Not even once.

Question: If you’re working for Mr. Mo Han, then why don’t you ask him for monthly salary?

Answer: I am not a V.G.P. Company employee. I am an authority, being paid by the government to serve the citizens.

Chim Seoun, the Commune Chief, spoke to Khmer Times journalist Chanveasna from his hospital bed on Thursday by telephone. Previoulsy, he had talked to another Khmer Times journalist, Ven Rathavong on several occasions. Each time he was informed by the journalists that they were calling from Khmer Times. I, too, told him directly that I own Khmer Times.

When talking about publisher’s ethics and use of a pseudonym, such as M.H. Tee, what is so strange about it?  Those are indeed my initials and it is an accepted norm in the newspaper realm.

To respond point by point to the Daily’s attacks is a waste of newspaper space. Suffice to say, this is a case of “the pot calling the kettle black.”

Facts have been misrepresented. The thrust of the story is a personal attack rather than news. The goal is to try stifle the rise of a new kid on the block,  the “Khmer Times,” which is attracting readers from the Daily.

As the owner, publisher of Khmer Times, I pose these questions:

Why the fetish with the Khmer Times?

Why the infatuation  with the exposes on Decho Pongrok Village by the Khmer Times to the extent that the number of words and  articles were counted?

Are there any reports of clashes between Virtus Green Plantations and villagers?

Why the personal attacks on me which are defamatory in nature, when the application for a publishing permit requires a certificate of no criminal record?

Buried in Friday’s Daily story is the Daily’s acknowledgement that Ms.Koy and the original settlers at Decho Pongrok Village  complain that they are being overwhelmed by new intruders.

These new intruders are working in the village with phony land claims. When a plantation invests up to $2.5 million a year to develop its concession, meets the requirements as stipulated in the concession agreement, builds and rehabilitates up to 12 kilometer of roads and bridges (and  allow villagers to use them), provides jobs to up to 250 Cambodians, creates a local economy, it has the right to make known its grievances.

The  Khmer Times has the right to publicize land grabs -- just as the other papers which  champion the plight of alleged victims of land grabs.

Silence and acquiescence by ELC owners combined with the greed of land claims fuel land grabs. If you have full information on a land grab, what is the harm in publishing it?

But, maybe if you practice cybersquatting, you also then approve of land squatting.

Is The Daily’s “hatchet” job  -- three whacks in one year –  really about the publisher occasionally using  a pseudonym? Or, is the rel threat to the Daily  last week’s announcement that Khmer Times will go five times a week  on July 1?

There are many high profile media executives who do not proclaim their investments to the four corners of the earth.

Khmer Times did not start this fire. We kept silent for more than one year even though the very personal attacks started well before we went to print.  But we are not going to waste journalistic resources preparing “exposes” on rival newspaper publishers. We are not going to devote time and manpower to investigate the Daily’s odd, tax-free “NGO” status in Cambodia.

PHNOM PENH – Newly-appointed national head coach Kazunori Ohara has wasted no time in getting started on his new job, selecting a 40-man squad in preparation for the second qualifying round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The 42-year-old Japanese will trim his squad over the coming months to 22 squad members. The team will host Singapore in their first World Cup qualification game on June 11 at Phnom Penh’s newly-renovated Olympic Stadium.

Mr. Ohara, who previously served as Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) technical director, took over the reins last week from South Korean Lee Tae Hoon, who has since moved on to coach the Cambodian U-23 side.

His preparations for the 2018 World Cup, however, may run into trouble as the U-23 side will be participating in the 28th SEA Games from May 29 – June 13, which clashes with the national team’s match on June 11.

At the moment, it is unclear whether Mr. Ohara will select the youngsters from the U-23 side to contest the World Cup match against Singapore. Some of the star players from the U-23 side include Prak Mony Udom, Chan Vathanaka, Sok Chanrasmey, Um Sereyroth and Sary Matnorotin.

The U-23’s SEA Games schedule sees them start their campaign against the Philippines at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on June 3. The team can expect a positive outcome from their meeting, having defeated their opponents 3-1 at the recent AFC U-23 Championship qualification match in Bangkok.

The young Angkor Warriors will then play Indonesia, Singapore and finally Myanmar in their bid to secure a semi-final berth.

The FFC has announced a series of friendlies to prepare the team for the SEA Games. The youngsters play Malaysia on Wednesday and Friday and face South Korea’s U-23 side on May 11. They are also likely to face a final friendly against a team from Vietnam.

Yahoo is planning a virtual assistant service in the vein of Apple’s Siri, Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana, according to sources speaking to Business Insider.

The service will offer search results, contextual information, important updates and located-based news. Yahoo is working alongside the advertising team on the project—known internally as Index—meaning it will most likely contain ads.

Yahoo is putting all of its own services like weather, mail, sports updates and search into the virtual assistant, allowing it to be more powerful without outsourcing searches to other platforms, like Apple has to do with Bing search.

It plans to make the virtual assistant smarter than others by tapping into Yahoo Mail and understanding the context of a question better. CEO Marissa Mayer put forward an example of JFK, but instead of searching for the President, it would search for the airport, because an email receipt from JFK airport was sent to the email address recently.

This sort of contextual information might be invaluable for people that want to know a lot of things, but when they search, it comes up the wrong subject.

Even though Yahoo has millions of search and mail users, it is hard to pinpoint how Yahoo plans to offer the virtual assistant on Android and iOS, since it will not be allowed the same deep integration with the platform that Google Now and Siri offer.

Yahoo plans to make this a mobile-only application. Several ex-Yahoo executives claim this is a terrible idea and will likely cost the company $500 million per year. Execs claim Yahoo should send all traffic to Google, earning them a nice $1 billion per year in profit from such a deal.

Doesn’t look like that is going to happen anytime soon though, Mayer is clear on making Yahoo great again, and outsourcing all search traffic to Google is a surefire way to make the company irrelevant, like it has been for the past 10 years.

PHNOM PENH  April 24 – The Cambodia Basketball League resumes this weekend with three games taking place on Sunday.

The day’s first game will see the Emperors take on TCT Rock at 1 pm.  TCT will try to bounce back from their recent defeat to the league's new-kids-on-the-block, the Magellan Knights.

Davies Megacryl, last season's beaten finalist, will hope to show fans they are still one of the best teams in the league after a tough 81-64 loss to Extra Joss Fighters. They will face Pate Phnom Penh 310 at 2 pm.

Wood’s Peppermint Lozenges will take on Soho Phnom Penh in the last game of the weekend at Olympic Stadium as they attempt to erase their recent humiliation at the hands of Mekong Tigers.

The league will return to its regular Saturday-Sunday schedule next weekend.

The bubbly members of Crayon Pop are gearing up to return to the stage with a roar, teaming up with K-pop hit-maker Shinsadong Tiger for the group’s next single.

“This comeback is going to be awesome! Thank you for giving us such a great song,” the members of Crayon Pop wrote on their Facebook page on Tuesday, praising the producer.

Shinsadong Tiger is one of K-pop’s most recognized producers and composers, having worked alongside 4Minute, Beast, Ailee and Apink, among others.

The producer is also behind his very own K-pop girl group EXID, whose most recent single “Up & Down” ― co-written by Shinsadong Tiger ― has risen to become a hit over the past couple of months.

Officials at Chrome Entertainment stated that the group’s upcoming single is slated to be released sometime at the end of March.

By Julie Jackson