Dakele 2 Unveiled, Another Chinese 5-inch Smartphone Challenge Galaxy Note 2 with Low Pricing

Star Chang, Apr 16, 2013 7:57 PM, 1,269 views, 1 Comment »,

Earlier this week, Chinese manufacturer Dakele unveiled its second generation flagship smartphone – Dakele 2. In English, “Da-ke-le” is a transliteration of “Big Cola,” which of course has nothing to do with Coca-cola. The translation can also means “Big Happiness.” For those who failed to pronounce the word Dakele, you can simply call it as Big Cola Phone 2 or Big Cola 2. Last year, the Beijing company released the cheapest 5-inch smartphone on the market with a uncommon screen size of 3:2 ratio at 960 x 640 pixel resolution. The highlights focused on switchable custom Android ROMs and the super low price at 999 yuan (USD$160). About 300,000 units were sold and it received some market attention, but the overall sales was not that strong compare to Xiaomi phone or the Meizu MX. And due to the rebranding of knock-off manufacturers, there are also several similar 5-inch smartphones on the market with advance specification at a good price to compete with Dakele. After 6 months, the company has geared up again and introduced their second-gen model with quad-core chip, HD screen and new custom ROM, to face a new challenge on the new segment of giant-size phone …

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So Much News in China… #079

Star Chang, Apr 15, 2013 10:02 AM, 316 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’re just too busy or too lazy to post. There are stories on HTC’s facebook phone, Apple banned Chinese e-book app, the sales number of Xiaomi phone and so on, check them out after the break. Video for this week: the Chinese really love to watch Jon Stewart making fun on North Korea. Hope everyone have a fresh start to your week and enjoy using you favourite gadget.

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Xiaomi Phone 2S, 2A, MIUI V5 Revealed, CEO No Longer Imitates Steve Jobs

Star Chang, Apr 11, 2013 5:23 PM, 1,158 views, 1 Comment »,

There are more handset companies cranking out new smartphones in China than we can count. But Xiaomi is one of the few companies that actually has a little bit of name recognition outside of China, thanks in part to the company’s popular MIUI skin for Android. The smartphone cult hero, called out by CNN last year, has given us some pretty great hardware with good price. This year, the company seem not ready to give us the Xiaomi Phone 3 with 5-inch Full HD display, so they just did a hardware upgrade to their flagship phone from last year, which Apple will also be doing this year with their iPhone 5. The unveiling of Xiaomi Phone 2S and low-price 2A have not given us too much excitement, Xiaomi company is trying to make their MIUI custom ROM to be the spot light. Also, the announcement event is no longer mirroring Apple’s WWDC, Xiaomi is now showing its own characteristic and brand image. Xiaomi even produce a short film about the dream of a young racer, to express the entrepreneurial story behind the startup Chinese phone company. Most surprisingly, their boss is now dressing like Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos …

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Major Chinese Smartphone Makers Face Production Difficulty Due to Components Shortage

Randy Cheung, Mar 21, 2013 6:08 AM, 507 views, 2 Comments »,

Chinese handset vendor Yulong, better known as Coolpad, is worried that the company will be unable to meet the heavy demand for its products because its suppliers will not be able to produce enough components. Coolpad may be a virtual unknown in the west, but in China here, it’s a major smartphone maker besting Apple’s iPhone and Nokia in 2012. The problem stems from the unexpectedly strong sales of smartphones in Chinese market. Many domestic phone makers have begun seeking a 5-inch hi-definition (1080p) screen for their phones, after Samsung’s Note2, which uses such a screen, became a hit worldwide. But screen makers could not expand their production lines overnight, which has resulted in the serious shortage. Other shortage includes 12-magepixel camera module and 16GB ROM chips. OPPO and Xiaomi, two of the rising Chinese smartphone makers, are also concerning the slow expand of component production couldn’t catch up the market demand. HTC, whose Butterfly phone exceeded Apple’s iPhone in sales in Japan in the first week after its debut, could not meet the demand too for its product because of the scarcity of components. Last week, HTC confirmed that its flagship One phone will be shipping late. Look like every manufactures are having the same difficulty in securing adequate phone components while competing with Apple and Samsung.

Chinese Software Company Mocks North Korea in Browser Ad

Star Chang, Feb 27, 2013 9:45 AM, 456 views, Got something to say ?,

Poking fun at ally North Korea and Kim Jong-Un’s Nuclear ambitions is the latest stunt by China’s Kingsoft to promote its new ‘Lieboa’ (literally means Cheetah in Chinese) web browser. The software company claims Liebao browser is three times faster than Google’s Chrome. Kingsoft is well known in China for its anti-virus software and for its free alternative to Microsoft Office — Kingsoft Office. China tech giant Tencent has a major stake in Kingsoft and Lei Jun, the creator of Xiaomi Phone, is the co-founder and chairman of the company. Since the new browser launch, there has been little written about the browser outside of China because the lack of English interface. And with recent China hacking scandals and accusations that Chinese telecoms companies are untrustworthy, the Chinese browser will certainly remain only in China market. Maybe, North Korea do really need it for their rocket launch …

Xiaomi M3 Leaked From Foxconn, Showing It’s a Phablet With Aluminum Back Cover

Herman Lai, Feb 27, 2013 12:58 AM, 1,046 views, Got something to say ?,

Much of the spotlights are focusing on the latest smartphone and electronic devices at Mobile World Congress over in Barcelona. Unfortunately, we don’t see the Chinese superstar Xiaomi’s latest M2 at the show, but it seems like the company is working on the next gen Xiaomi phone with Foxconn right now. The photo above is allegedly taken inside the factory, which is believed to be one of the prototypes of Xiaomi M3 comparing with Xiaomi M2 back cover. Having a 5-inch or bigger display is certainly going to happen, but it’s unlikely to see a fancy glowing LED Xiaomi’s logo at the back cover as previous concept shot showed. There’s another M3 prototype leaked on the Chinese internet as well, but it looks totally different from what you see above. Check it out after the break to see which one you prefer.

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So Much News in China… #071

Star Chang, Feb 11, 2013 8:05 AM, 510 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 we have left behind because we are just too busy on Chinese New year holiday. There are stories on China hackers and cyberattacks, smartphone sales in China, HTC budget smartphone and so on, check them out after the break. Video for this week: a “Central Perk” cafe in Beijing, inspired by the American sitcom “Friends”… Hope everyone have a fresh start to your week.

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So Much News in China… #069

Star Chang, Jan 28, 2013 7:54 AM, 446 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 we have left behind because we’re just too busy or too lazy to post. There are stories on HTC latest new handset, Apple profits in China, Lenovo consider to purchase RIM and so on, check them out after the break. Video for this week: i-Transport for disabled … Hope everyone have enjoyed your weekend and a fresh start to your week.

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Isn’t It Awesome If Xiaomi M3 Look Like This?

Herman Lai, Jan 13, 2013 10:00 PM, 2,877 views, 2 Comments »,

Heads up, people! The concept shots of the 3rd generation Xiaomi phone are here, showing it’ll have an edge-to-edge huge display and a fancy glowing LED Xiaomi’s logo at the back cover. Alongside a bundle of concept shots, recent rumors said it’ll pack a 5-inch 1080 display with a crazy pixel density of 490ppi, NVIDIA newly launched Tegra 4 chip that clocked in between 1.8GHz and 2.0GHz, 3GB of RAM, 12MP camera, LTE connectivity and Android 5.0. Moreover, the build quality will be improved by using an aluminium chassis. If that’s what it will turn out, can Xiaomi keep its pricing as low as 1,999 yuan (US$322)? Photos after the break.

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Chinese Custom ROM MIUI Celebrates 10 Million Users Worldwide

Star Chang, Jan 9, 2013 6:56 AM, 779 views, Got something to say ?,

MIUI, the Chinese aftermarket firmware for smartphone based on Android OS, have managed to reach an impressive milestone. The company Xiaomi Tech now have more than 10 million MIUI users around the world. MIUI itself is closed source. It features a heavily-modified user interface that does away with the Android app drawer and has drawn comparisons with Apple’s iOS. The custom ROM includes additional functionality not found in stock Android, especially the customizable themes. Not everyone is into flashing ROM’s and all that hack-foolery. So last year, the company introduced MiHome launcher for casual user. Click in to watch an intro video if you’re interested to find out more on the most enthusiastic custom ROM from China.

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