So Much News in China… #074

Star Chang, Mar 11, 2013 11:06 AM, 342 views, Got something to say ?,

There are so much news from China that passes by that we couldn’t possibly cover it all. Here are the Chinese tech news that have left behind because we are just too busy or too lazy to post. There are stories onSmart TV’s user habit in China, Alibaba’s online shopping credit, China better internet infrastructure and so on, check them out after the break. Video for this week: a tourism video of Dongguan city telling the world they are not “Dickensian Factory City”… Hope everyone have enjoyed your weekend and a fresh start to your week.

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Watch: What Kind of Chinese Processors Chips You Should Look for on Your Android Tablet

Star Chang, Mar 11, 2013 12:24 AM, 561 views, 1 Comment »,

There are many cheap Chinese Android tablets on the market right now, if you were thinking of picking one up you might want some advice on what type of processor you should look for and avoid. The folks over at MobileGeeks has given us a brief explanation on a dual core Rockchip and an IMAP processor, both are common Chinese ARM processors in the same price range. Rockchip is manufactured by Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics company. Their chips are widly used in many China domestic brand that made low-cost Android tablets. While IMAP processor is produced by Shanghai InfoTM Microelectronics company, is a less developed IC design company compare to Rockchip. Allwinner processor is the new kids on the block. The red-hot Chinese fabless company has flooded the Chinese tablet market with its own turnkey system, and now Rockchip faces stiff competition. This year, Taiwan-based IC developer MediaTek joined in the party, the recent announced Lenovo budget Android tablets are all powered by MediaTek’s quad core SoC.

You Can Now Fish Dead Pigs Out of Shanghai River (Video)

Star Chang, Mar 10, 2013 8:50 PM, 1,072 views, Got something to say ?,

[UPDATE 2] Shanghai found more than 1200 2800 5900 dead pigs in the main river that provides drinking water for the city’s residents. The government said water quality so far hasn’t been affected (hard to believe …). Shanghai’s agriculture commission have carried out bio-safety treatment on the retrieved dead pigs, and investigation has been carried out. The committee said so far it has not received reports of animal epidemic outbreaks in the city. In the meantime, local authorities are still retrieving, or you can describe as fishing dead pigs inside the river to avoid water contamination. The dumping is the latest environmental scare in China. Last year, a Chinese mining firm dumped toxic cadmium into Longjiang river and triggered panic buying of bottled water. We will also not forget the ‘river of milk’, where a trading company loads and unloads latex into the river …

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Western Architects Propose Crazy “Farmscraper” to Deal with China Urbanization

Star Chang, Mar 10, 2013 6:22 PM, 419 views, Got something to say ?,

China’s mass-migration has led to a tipping point as the number of city-dwellers has now exceeded that of the rural population. Shenzhen may have transformed more than any other city in China since the launched of open and reform 30 years ago. Back then, Shenzhen was mostly farmland, while today it’s filled with skyscrapers and high-rise. Architects are often pushing the boundaries of vision and scope with their ideas apartments. The designers at Vincent Callebaut believe they have an answer to China’s mass urban migration, polluting cities and resource-hungry people. They propose a “green, dense, smart city connected by the TIC (total integrated communication) and eco-designed from biotechnologies” …

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China Doesn’t Need Stark Industries to Launch its First Solid Fuel Rocket

Star Chang, Mar 9, 2013 10:24 AM, 402 views, 1 Comment »,

China plans to launch its first solid fuel rocket by 2016, marking a strategic shift from liquid fuel rockets, which so far has been used in over 170 successful launches in the last two decades. According to China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, China’s first solid-fuel rocket Long March-11 is expected to make its first launch before 2016. The Long March-11 rocket will use China’s largest solid-fuel rocket engine and a brand new launching support system. The rocket will be easy to operate and cost-efficient to launch. It can remain in storage for long periods and reliably launched at a short notice. China has launched more than 170 liquid-fuel rockets successfully, but is yet to make breakthrough in developing solid-fuel rockets, which analysts say can be applied in missiles as well. We can see the development of Long March-11 will greatly improve China’s capabilities to rapidly reach space and at the same time, creating more advance missiles aiming at Japan and Taiwan.

Asus Transformer AiO Will Officially Cost You US$1,299

Star Chang, Mar 9, 2013 7:29 AM, 353 views, 1 Comment »,

Asus first showed us its Transformer AiO — an 18.4-inch Full HD all-in-one/tablet combo that runs both Windows 8 and Android — back at last year Computex, then it showed up again at this year CES, the Tanwanese PC maker has finally given us a release date and a price for its giant tablet. Transformer AiO is a powerful desktop PC, running Windows 8, Intel Core CPU, a bunch of memory and hardisk storage. As a tablet, you can keep running Windows 8 in remote desktop mode or you can run Android Jelly Bean on the device with ARM processor. The Transformer AiO is expected to be available early second quarter at US$1,299 for the basic model. You will get a Windows 8 machine running on a Core i3, 4 GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive storage, and it also comes with a DVD-RW optical drive which properly nobody is going to use it. Popping it from the dock you will get a super-size tablet with its own internal specs: a quad-core Tegra 3, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of flash storage. We will see how the market respond to this crazy all-in-one concept.

IMDb Website Can be Accessed in China Now

Star Chang, Mar 8, 2013 1:33 PM, 291 views, Got something to say ?,

Yes, the encyclopedic movie website was previously not allowed to access in China internet. The reason ? In 2010, IMDb may have irked Chinese authorities by featuring a preview of “When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun” – a documentary about the Free Tibet movement led by the Dalai Lama – on its home page. Since then, the site had been blocked for more than three years. Movie buffs in China were frustrated by the ban, especially those interested in foreign films. The decision to unblock the site in both its English and Chinese versions has triggered intense debate on Chinese social media right now, with many suggesting the move coincides with annual legislative meetings held by the National People’s Congress and the People’s Political Consultative Conference. It’s unclear what motivations were behind the decision to unblock IMDb, but Chinese movie fans are celebrating and appreciate the lifting of the ban …

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Watch: The Chinese Version of Iron Man 3 New Trailer

Star Chang, Mar 8, 2013 7:48 AM, 1,110 views, Got something to say ?,

In a bid to tap the booming Chinese box office, Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Company has made a co-production deal with Chinese DMG Entertainment, who has throw in money in order to make the Hollywood blockbuster to be filmed in China. By partnering with DMG, which enjoys close working ties with the state-run China Film Group, Disney and Marvel are able to work around Beijing’s tight film-import quota. The movie is scheduled for release on May 3 in the US, the theaters in China will have a simultaneous release, a good news for all Chinese moviegoers. The latest trailer of Iron Man 3 has its own Chinese version in China too, it’s much the same as the international version we have seen during the last few days, just added in a few more footage on the Chinese actor and actress. And by the way, we haven’t seen any appearance of TCL’s television or advance M.I.C. gadget in the latest trailer …

New HTC One to Debut in China Before May

Star Chang, Mar 8, 2013 6:30 AM, 432 views, 1 Comment »,

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC said that its newest flagship model, the HTC One, will hit store shelves in China before May. The company has been in talks with the top three telecom operators in China to sell the HTC One and the phone will likely go on sale before that country’s week-long holiday begins on May 1. The plan of the launching timetable is well assorted with the strong buying season during the country’s long holidays. HTC is also working on increasing the supply of the HTC One, the new phone has received strong demand from global operators. HTC has just announced the pricing for the flagship model in their home-grown market. HTC One will be priced starting from NT$19,900 (US$670), while the 32GB and 64GB models will be sold at NT$21,900 (US$738) and NT$24,900 (US$839), respectively (standalone device, without contract). The 16GB model of the HTC One will not be sold in China because it is a special version for Taiwan only.

The Chinese Are Upgrading Their Old Feature Phones to Modern Smartphones

Star Chang, Mar 7, 2013 5:11 PM, 474 views, Got something to say ?,

According to statistics by IDC, Seventy-million smartphones were shipped in China in the last quarter of 2012, covering 73.2 percent of the country’s mobile market share. The volume of smartphone shipments saw a 112.1 percent year-on-year increase. The total shipments of mobile phones in China last year reached 362 million, among which smartphones recorded 213 million. We believe the low-cost Android phones, subsidies from phone operators and the arrivals of mobile internet were the driving force behind the boom. Decent enough Android devices at a relatively low price are going to be what turns the tide for smartphones in China. Cheap smartphones are going to make a dent in the China feature phone market. Previously, users in rural China, where access to PCs isn’t widespread, favour the feature phone as a way to get online. But due to the demand of better multimedia and online social networking, cheap smartphones have the opportunity to snatch away yet more market share from feature phones in communist China. And now we can see why the Chinese government is worried about Google having undue influence over the nation’s smartphone landscape.