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Francis Tan
Francis Tan is the Asia editor of TNW, who is based in the Philippines. He is particularly interested in Asian Internet startups, social me Francis Tan is the Asia editor of TNW, who is based in the Philippines. He is particularly interested in Asian Internet startups, social media and e-commerce. Get in touch with him via Twitter @francistan or Email [email protected].
Starting tomorrow, Sina Weibo, the popular Chinese microblogging service, will move to a new domain at weibo.com, which analysts believe is a possible indication of a corporate spin-off.
In the meantime, both the new (weibo.com) and the old (t.sina.com.cn) domains will coexist and users will be able to log on using either. It will eventually be unified into a single domain — weibo.com — once the migration is completed. The shift should not affect the user’s normal use as the company promises a smooth transition for all existing users.
The seamless transfer enables microbloggers to retain their existing user information, including content, friend relationships, and personalized domain names. None of Sina Weibo’s applications and features will be affected.
This news has once again revived the rumors that Sina Corp is actively preparing to spin off its Weibo microblogging unit and has started talking to investment banks about an initial public offering.
Sina has already set up a special devision for its microblogging service, responsible for product development, operations and planning, that is headed by Peng Shaobin, the former general manager of Sina’s business products.
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