M.I.C. Gadget

Chinese Government Wants 4G TD-LTE To Become the National Standard Requirement

Star Chang — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:14:26 PDT

The Chinese government will begin issuing 4G licenses by the end of this year, a move that has been welcomed by the country's three major telecom carriers, as well as mobile device makers hoping to grab a slice of China's lucrative 4G market. The authorities are keen on making TDD-LTE network the future standard for 4G in China to combat the FDD-LTE standards. The United States, Japan and South Korea have mainly focused on the deployment of FDD-LTE networks. But the Chinese government's stance to offer a duplex network that supports both systems has given the upper hand to China Mobile and prompted it to expand its deployment of TDD-LTE. China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile operator based on subscriber numbers, had purchased a total of 1.24 million 4G terminal devices for TDD-LTE ...

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It Looks Silly to Use an Umbrella on Aircraft

Star Chang — Sun, 19 May 2013 23:53:14 PDT

An unlucky flight passenger was using an umbrella to prevent water dripping from air-conditional. The issue was found recently in Cathay Pacific's flight. The well-known Hong Kong's flagship carrier currently holds the title of the world's third largest airline. All commercial airplanes that carry passengers will experience moisture-related problems in service. Usually, a environmental control system will be provided to control the thermal. It's really annoying to see water starting to drip from the ceiling after the take-off and stewardess just couldn't solve your problem. It is hilarious to use an umbrella onboard, it will make other flight passengers uncomfortable and you will also be committed an offense against the Aviation Security regulation. The convicted will be liable to a fine of HKD$10,000 (USD$1,288) and six months' imprisonment.

Meet the Chinese Robot Who Protects Hong Kong in the Latest “Pacific Rim” Movie

Star Chang — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:39:05 PDT

Summer movie season is just getting started. "Pacific Rim" is the latest sci-fi film where again, China elements have added to the plot. The adventure set 15 years after gigantic Kaiju monsters emerged and attacked Earth. This event forced nations to develop and engage giant robots, called Jaegers, to defend against the enemy. The China's Crimson Typhoon, is the big red machine who defends its land from the monsters' attack. Ironically, the 25-storey-tall robot will be defending Hong Kong, not mainland China. Why ? Because you cannot create a trail of destruction in Beijing or Shanghai, the China's state censor will take this as 'sensitive scenes'. The US$150 million blockbuster might get banned in China. Hong Kong is a former British colony. Although the city is part of China now, it's a Special Administrative Regions which has a different political system, there is no restriction on film-making and creativeness ...

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China May Focus on Developing Plug-in Hybrid Cars

Randy Cheung — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:34:26 PDT

Electric cars continue to face cooling global sales, while many in China debate which way the country should go forward with its own energy development. There are currently three types of new energy vehicles in development: electric cars, which uses electrical energy stored in batteries; plug-in hybrids, which combines an internal combustion engine with rechargeable batteries; and conventional hybrids, which has an internal combustion engine and can save energy, but cannot be recharged. Plug-in hybrid cars have been the main focus and priority for research and development. Industry insiders say that China should abandoned electric cars in favor of hybrid cars. The government also plans to subsidize both electric and hybrid cars according to their oil-saving ratio ...

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Hong Kong Science Enthusiast Designs Robots to Discover Ancient Burial Chambers (Video)

Star Chang — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:16:51 PDT

A small robot has discovered three possible burial chambers under a temple in Mexico's pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan, a find that may reveal secrets about funeral rituals in the ancient site. The robot, dubbed Tlaloc II-TC, was made to navigate rough terrain and is equipped with an infrared camera and a scanner that generates detailed maps. It has located the chambers in the last section of a 2,000-year-old tunnel tucked under the temple, surprising archeologists who had expected to find just one room. The robot was one of two involved in the project put together by a team that included Hong Kong dentist and science enthusiast Dr Ng Tze-chuen. Ng has previously helped design robots used to explore a secret chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza, as well as tools to gather soil and rock samples on missions to Mars and the moon ...

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Chinese Motorcyclists Love Harley Davidson

Star Chang — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:42:20 PDT

Harley-Davidson may be a quintessentially American brand, but that doesn't mean it's not beloved around the world. Early this week, about 1,000 motorcycle enthusiasts from all over China traveled to Qian Dao Lake, in Zhejiang Province. They took part in the 5th Annual Harley-Davidson National Rally, part of the celebration of the brand's 100th birthday. Harley Davidson only began official sales in China in 2005, and its bikes are considered to be luxury items because of the extremely high Chinese tax. A 2013 motorcycle might sell for 200,000 yuan (US$32,500), approximately four times the average annual salary in Beijing. Transportation authorities have also placed Harleys in the same category as electric bikes, horses and bicycles, so they cannot be ridden on highways and major avenues ...

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Selling Clothing Buttons Online Can Really Make Some Good Money

Randy Cheung — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:12:25 PDT

A Hong Kong-based e-commerce site selling buttons has turned a profit in its first year, selling over 15,000 China-made buttons to US clients. "Lots of Buttons" was established by a US-born Hong Kong resident, after he found that the niche selling buttons to the US could quickly lead to profits as high as 70 percent a year, which is significantly more than establishing a clothing company. The site went online in June last year, the operation focuses on handicraft stores and small US garment factories, which are unlikely to visit China for their small volume of button purchases, and therefore cannot establish long-term deals with Chinese button factories. Polo Ralph Lauren recently became a new client of Lots of Buttons after it placed orders for its new designs ...

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There Are Too Much Light Pollution Over at Hong Kong Apple Stores

Star Chang — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:12:12 PDT

Green activists are pushing for tougher control on light pollution, as alarms are raised over the Apple Store in Hong Kong. One of the main flagship store located at Causeway Bay, Apple still has about 500 lamps and spotlights burning across all three floors during midnight, through the signature glass walls, despite the near-empty streets outside. The activists organization said the absence of regulations governing light pollution in Hong Kong has opened the door to abuse. They has complained that glare from the shop can be seen 700 meters away, placing the Apple store at the center of the light pollution storm. Apple has yet to comment on the criticism of the lighting in its stores ...

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Amazon is the First Foreign Tech Company to Offer Paid Android apps in China

Star Chang — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:40:28 PDT

Amazon quietly launched its Appstore in China. The growing Chinese market is just too large to ignore. The e-commerce giant also debuted its Chinese-language Web site for developers, promising that they will soon have access to customers in 200 countries. The new Appstore might be an attractive alternative to Google Play for Chinese developers. Google Play isn't widely available in China and most developers sell through third-party app stores. Google's own app store only provides free apps to China, not paid apps. The open environment of Amazon Appstore can provide a worldwide customer base for Chinese developers, of course the most important is revenue sharing. The online retailer launched its e-book store and e-reader apps in China last December. Local regulator had investigated the company for the right to sell e-books in the country. Distributing mobile apps in China is the latest move in Amazon's worldwide expansion. Amazon need to compete with hundreds of local rivals offering paid and free apps, some of them pirate. In the meantime, the Kindle hardware are still not available in China.

You Can Buy Fresh Crocodile Meat in China Supermarket

Star Chang — Sun, 05 May 2013 12:52:30 PDT

A supermarket in Guangzhou sells fresh crocodile meat became headlines across China's major online news website. The supermarket marks different part of the crocodile with different price. The most expensive is the crocodile tail at the price of 230 yuan per kilogram (US$40 per kilo), the body meat is 164 yuan (US$26.5) per kg and the head is the cheapest, priced only at 70 yuan (US$11.30) per kg. In Guangdong province, the people there are famous for “eating everything,”but with more and more Chinese being aware of the importance of protecting wildlife animal, Chinese netizens are divided on whether crocodile should be banned from dining plate. It is understood that the crocodile is not an endangered species that is under state protection. In the west, you won't find slaughter crocodile meat in supermarket placing side by side with other seafood. Crocodile meat is not only a gourmet dish in China, but practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine also believe it can cure asthma and similar respiratory illnesses.

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Lenovo First MediaTek-based Smartphone Teased by Kobe Bryant (Video)

Randy Cheung — Sat, 04 May 2013 19:30:30 PDT

Kobe Bryant is injured at the moment, but he is actively for the smartphone world. Lenovo has recruited the basketball legend to plug an upcoming new handset device. A new behind-the-scenes spot featuring Bryant hit the web this week. The ad sees Kobe playing basketball around with formal suit before plugging the Lenovo P780. It is very low on appearances from the Lenovo P780 itself, with the phone only featuring in the last few seconds of the video. Before that, the Lenovo K900 is the first Lenovo smartphone that promoted by Kobe Bryant ...

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Chinese Employees Ordered to Crawl Like Dog in Public to Cope with Stress (Video)

Star Chang — Sat, 04 May 2013 10:01:19 PDT

A cosmetic company in Chongqing city has required its employees to creep on kneels publicly in commercial district as a training program aiming to enhance the capability to cope with working pressure. The staff were kneeling down and crawling, shouting cheers slogans, and drawing large crowd of curious passers-by to stop to watch. Local police persuaded the company to leave and criticized the organizer for conducting such kind of training program, as humiliating the employees. The report has also sparked sharp criticism from Chinese netizens toward the company as employee abuse. It just went so far for this kind of stupid pressure-releasing method, and it is even more laughable that the employees were following the order. Early this year, waitresses in a Chinese restaurant have also conducted the same kind of military training. Hey come on Chinese people, Chairman Mao is dead !

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Chinese Scientist Only Interested in Porn and Pirated Movies, Not NASA Secrets

Randy Cheung — Sat, 04 May 2013 04:05:33 PDT

A Chinese research scientist suspected of spying on the NASA is set to plead to a misdemeanor charge of violating agency computer rules. According to the court filing, the researcher was charged downloaded copyrighted movies and sexually explicit films onto his NASA laptop. Along with the misdemeanor, the government said it had resolved the false statements case. At the time, American authorities accused the man of sharing sensitive information with the Chinese government, he was pulled from a plane as he was about to depart for China. Now it appears that the fears were unfounded. After all, sending a Chinese James Bond to steal space technology from the U.S. is rather exaggerating. Most Chinese are only interested to download Hollywood movies that are free of charged, and we have also realized you will be getting bored if you spend too much time doing research on space technology, you need some sexy entertainment.

WTF: Chinese Woman Poops in Glass Elevator in Shenzhen Subway (Video)

Star Chang — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:02:28 PDT

A video clip titled "Woman poops in elevator in Shenzhen subway" has gone viral on Chinese social media. The 42-second long video recorded showed people were walking about outside the glass elevator when the Chinese woman in her forties pulled off her pants, squatted down, and pooped in seconds. While a man, likely her husband, was on guard. The couple left the elevator later, leaving a pile of shit behind. Shenzhen subway administration confirmed the incident and criticized such uncivilized behavior of passengers. The video has drawn tens of thousands of comments. Although many of the comments are criticizing the couple, there are also pointing finger at the shabby subway design for not providing any toilet for the passengers in millions per day. Previously, we have also seen kids poops in Guangzhou subway carriage. Looks like taking a shit in public is an important part of Chinese culture ...

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A China-made Giant Motorbike Looks Real Cool (Video)

Randy Cheung — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:51:24 PDT

A Uighur youth from Manas County, Xinjiang China has made an impressive giant motor motorbike. The materials and parts used to build the bike were all bought from scrap yards. The DIY transport is measured at 4.4 meters long, 2.4 meters high. The maximum speed can only reach up to 40 km/h (24.85 miles/h), pretty slow. It's able to go easy on the slopes and can carry up to 5 to 6 passengers. Check out the video after the break.

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Watch: Chinese Martial Arts in Crazy Slo-Mo

Cyril Chang — Thu, 02 May 2013 13:50:14 PDT

BBC Earth Productions has captured some amazing high-speed footage on Shaolin Kung Fu. According to legend, Chinese Kungfu martial arts originated from the Shaolin Monastery. It has produced countless Kungfu masters and patriotic heroes, and generated many mysteries. Today, the Shaolin Monastery and Martial Arts are synonymous in China and around the world, and humble students from all over the globe make their way to the Shaolin Temple to learn the legendary skills of martial arts from the real masters. The Shaolin Warriors traveling shows is much more than a Kungfu demonstration. It presents the magnificent and rarely-seen temple life of the Shaolin monks: their Buddhist meditation and martial arts training. The act of Shaolin Kung Fu can be lightning fast, thanks to the advance high-speed camrea which now let us to view the action in super slow motion.

A Beautiful Chinese Winery in Beijing

Randy Cheung — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:18:32 PDT

The market for China domestic wine production in joint ventures with foreign companies has grown, and often the companies reside in imitated French chateaus, Italian fantasy castles or traditional Chinese courtyard houses, which are used for the sale of wine and the presentation of the vineyards. This 60,000-square-foot winery is part of a luxury complex from a hotel group, which combines wine showroom, restaurant and underground winery. The pavilion is built on an artificial island surrounded by water, amidst a vineyard. The ground floor space is separated in five different wings, each with its own characteristics.The building which designed by Japanese architects adds a new destination on the map of wine experts and lovers of architecture in Beijing ...

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Watch: The Impressive Process of the New HTC One

Randy Cheung — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:55:24 PDT

We're used to see production videos from Apple with Jony Ive talking designing and details of making a new i-product. HTC is taking design just as serious as the Cupertino company. The new HTC One is probably the most beautiful looking smartphone on the market right now. We shouldn't be surprised that a beautiful phone has some serious design process. In a public video, HTC's design team talks about the process of turning a slab of metal into their high-end handset. The Taiwan handset maker is taking the opportunity to assure prospective users to go for their quality product. It sound really geek to hear words like zero gap construction, electro chemical etching process, nano matrix structure, special diamond cutter, etc.

Suicides Return, Foxconn Workers Forced to Work Long Hours in Silence

Star Chang — Wed, 01 May 2013 05:57:32 PDT

Foxconn has found itself once more embroiled in a suicide scandal after two apparent staff suicide attempts within four days were witnessed by workers from the company's Zhengzhou plant in central China's Henan province. The two factory worker, one male and one female, attempted suicide by jumping from buildings between April 24 and April 27. The man has died, while the fate of the woman remains unknown. Sources claim that the Zhengzhou factory entered "silent mode" from the beginning of April, restricting workers from discussing anything unrelated to work while on company premises. Many workers have complained about the new rule, which some believe is related to recent media reports about Foxconn products not meeting quality standards ...

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Misspelled Signs, Chinese Restaurant is Providing “Wife” Instead of WiFi

Star Chang — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:41:23 PDT

A farming restaurant in rural China has decided to provide wireless Internet access for their customers. The restaurant owner put up striking banner to promote the new service, but a small mistake has became frankly laughable. The most important word "WiFi" has misspelled, the signs now become: "Our Farm Has Been Covered with Wife." The story gained some steam on Chinese social media, many people are saying it's hard to believe to commit such a ridiculous mistake, it could be some kind of marketing hype. Even more interesting, one Chinese netizen is poking fun at the restaurant, asking whether the "wife" is free to access. Misspelled signs are not only found in China, the west is having spelling mistake too.