HardwareZone

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
HardwareZone
Type of businessPrivate
FoundedAugust 1998
Headquarters
Singapore
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Lee Choon Yau, Eugene Low, Poh Swee Hong, Ang Chi Hoe and Jereme Wong
ParentSPH Media
URLhttps://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/

HardwareZone is an

Internet portal based in Singapore. It is operated by Hardware Zone Private Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of SPH Media. Some features of the portal are: IT price lists for several countries, feature articles on technology and forums
on a variety of topics.

History

HardwareZone was started as an online magazine in August 1998 by five engineering students from the National University of Singapore: Lee Choon Yau, Eugene Low, Poh Swee Hong, Ang Chi Hoe and Jereme Wong.[1] After a year, it had become a popular gathering place for Singapore's computer-savvy to discuss hardware and software news.[2] By 2000, the website was attracting two million page views a month. The founders made plans to turn the website into a full-fledged portal and launch an initial public offering (IPO) to raise capital. Had the IPO gone ahead, they would have been the first undergraduates in Singapore to launch one.[1]

In 2006, HardwareZone was purchased by Singapore Press Holdings for S$7.1 million. SPH acquired all the magazine titles published by HardwareZone, which included HardwareMAG (HWM), GameAxis (a computer games magazine), and PHOTOVIDEOi (a digital photography magazine).[3][4]

Controversies

Domain dispute

In September 2000, HardwareZone sued Video-Pro, a computer shop in

S$10,000 to HardwareZone. It also withdrew its counter-claims. In return, HardwareZone removed the offending statements from its website and agreed to help identify who had made those false statements.[6]

Bomb hoax

In 2005, polytechnic student Lin Zhenghuang one day after the

bus interchange. Another forum member was alarmed by the post and reported it to police. Lin had made the post while connected to his neighbour's unsecured wireless network, police initially arrested his neighbour, who was released after further computer forensics tests exonerated her. It took the police more than a year to find and arrest Lin. In February 2007, he was sentenced to three months' jail and a S$4,000 fine.[7]

False statement on the 2020 coronavirus outbreak

On 27 January 2020, HardwareZone received a Correction Notice under the

Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act to correct an online post falsely claiming a death in Singapore from the coronavirus outbreak, which had been made the day before at 5.50pm. The post was deleted before the notice was issued.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Sandra Davie (5 February 2000). "5 undergrads aiming for IPO with e-magazine". The Straits Times.
  2. ^ Alfred Siew (4 August 1999). "Connecting people online". Computer Times.
  3. ^ Leong Chan Teik (30 September 2006). "SPH buys popular website in $7.1m deal". The Straits Times.
  4. Business Times
    . 30 September 2006.
  5. ^ Oo Gin Lee (26 September 2000). "Website sues 'sg' namesake". The Straits Times.
  6. ^ Oo Gin Lee (30 September 2000). "Domain name war ends in settlement". The Straits Times.
  7. ^ Chua Hian Hou (8 February 2007). "Bomb hoax youth gets 3 months' jail, $4,000 fine". The Straits Times.
  8. ^ "SPH Magazines complies with Pofma correction order on false HardwareZone post related to the Wuhan virus". The Straits Times. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HardwareZone&oldid=1262023504"