M.I.C. Gadget

iPhone 3GS Prepares to Sell For Under $300 in China Market ?

Star Chang — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:16:38 PDT

According to a report from Apple Insider, the iPhone 3GS, which first released in 2009, may stay in production for Apple to sell contract-free in developing markets, where prepaid smartphones are popular. Apple has inked an agreement with a leading distributor that new partnership is intended to push the iPhone 3GS in prepaid markets around the world. With the iPhone 4 replacing the iPhone 3GS as Apple's entry-level smartphone, some might expect that the iPhone 3GS would be an end-of-life product. But Apple may have other plans to expand iPhone sales in markets like China where cheap Android-based smartphones are dominating ...

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The Dramatic Story of a Ferrari Crash in Singapore Caused by China Second-gen Rich (Video)

Star Chang — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:03:07 PDT

We believe Ferrari is getting more and more politically sensitive in China. In March, a crash involving a Ferrari in Beijing led to widespread speculation over the identity of the driver and the blocking of the keyword "Ferrari" on Chinese social networks. The driver was suspected to be a high-ranking official's son. Now another similar accident had happened in Singapore. A tragic three-vehicle accident caused by a speeding Ferrari driven by a young and fabulously rich mainland Chinese immigrant killed three people, including himself. The Ferrari collided into a taxi, which subsequently hit a motorcycle. Rumors are swirling that the dead Ferrari driver is the son of Secretary-General of the State Council from China ...

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Watch: Hong Kong TV ‘Promotes’ Euro 2012 with Animation Bombing The World-famous Attractions

Star Chang — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:42:03 PDT

A Chinese multi-channel digital satellite TV and IPTV channel service based in Hong Kong have chosen a strange way to promo the upcoming UEFA Euro 2012 tournament. They have made a Cantonese song MTV with animation, showing the London Big Ben is crashing down and being bombed, the Eiffel Tower in Paris is falling to the ground, Rome's Colosseum in flames and there are soldiers firing live rounds on the pitch, not to mention helicopters ! Plus the World War II imagery of countries invading Poland and the Ukraine. Click in to watch the ridiculous video before it will be taken down by youtube.

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So Much News in China… #046

Star Chang — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:55:48 PDT

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 last week because we are just too busy or too lazy to post. There are stories on 300 million weibo user, Nvidia virtual GPU computing, Lenovo carbon ultrabook and so on, check them out after the break. Video for this week: could China rival Silicon Valley … Hope everyone have a fresh start to your week.

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Blind Chinese Activist Arrives In U.S. (Video)

Star Chang — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:40:44 PDT

Chinese legal activist Chen Guangcheng and his family have arrived in the US from Beijing after a month long diplomatic stand-off. The 40-year-old self-taught lawyer, who is blind, was allowed to travel to the U.S. following negotiations between the two countries. Chen and his wife, and their two young children were greeted with cheers on arrival at the New York University apartment block in Manhattan that now becomes their new home. He expressed gratitude to the American embassy for ushering him to a new, free life in the United States. He said: "I hope everybody works with me to promote justice and fairness in China" ...

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Mark Zuckerberg Finally Got Himself a Chinese Wife

Star Chang — Sat, 19 May 2012 21:12:27 PDT

The facebook CEO and his longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan (ethnic Chinese) are married, only a day after he became one of the richest men on the planet. And because it is a wedding ceremony, Zuckerberg was wearing a suit ! No jeans and hoodie for such an memorable moment. Zuckerberg just updated his facebook status to "married". The ceremony took place in Palo Alto, Calif over at Zuckerberg's backyard with fewer than 100 guests, who all thought they were there to celebrate Chan's graduation ...

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Microsoft Thinks Windows Phone Edging Out iPhone in China

Star Chang — Sat, 19 May 2012 19:45:57 PDT

According to Microsoft, Windows Phone has already picked up a market share of 7 percent in the China market, after making its debut among Chinese consumers just two months ago. That's a tad higher than the 6 percent share owned by Apple's iPhone. Microsoft currently employs around 2,500 people in its R&D department in China, and the company will invest more heavily in the country. Android currently dominates China with a market share of around 69 percent. Microsoft admitted Windows Phone is still far behind in the app arena compared with Google. What we know so far, the Chinese are quite excited about the Nokia Lumia phones, but the sales figure should still consider not big enough to outsell the iPhone. Lets wait for some authoritative data before we take Microsoft's word ...

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ZTE Low-entry Smartphone Sold In the U.S. Contains Security Hole

Star Chang — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:04:54 PDT

Concern over Chinese phone manufacturer ZTE expansion in U.S. has intensified even more now that ZTE confirms existence of security hole in one of its model sold in the U.S. last year. ZTE Score is out in the United States on the prepaid brand Cricket Mobile. This phone is selling for about $65 over at Amazon without a contract. Usually, if any vulnerability in mobile devices security occurs, those who provide mobile operating systems are responsible. However, in this case it is somehow inserted by the hardware manufacturer, which is described as 'highly unusual' ...

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Huawei Unveiled a Cheap Dual-core phone To Compete with Xiaomi

Herman Lai — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:15:38 PDT

Here in the China, most of our smartphones are relatively affordable, thanks to the cheap labors. Now, even big name like Huawei, is making a play to break out of the low-cost smartphone market. Today, Huawei and Qihoo 360 has jointly announced a dual-core Android handset called "Huawei Shine (华为闪耀)", which priced at 1,499 yuan ($242). Yup, that sits on the horizon with the just-released 1.2GHz Xiaomi phone.

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China Unicom Offers Ultra-low-cost 3G Pre-paid Card to Woo New Users

Star Chang — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:13:37 PDT

CHINA Unicom has introduced the cheapest 3G package that the company ever offered, a 20-yuan (US$3.2) monthly package to woo the entry-level users. The 20-yuan package contains 200 minutes of talking time and 100 MB of 3G data services available on China Unicom's website. The new 3G pre-paid card only limited for 100 thousand sets and each customer can only purchase 3 sets. It has quickly sold out within 12 hours and CHINA Unicom will distribute it to their customer by mail. The attractive price is expected to draw more new 3G users to China Unicom which is competing with China Mobile and China Telecom ...

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China Mobile Launches 4G Tests in Shenzhen

Star Chang — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:22:21 PDT

China Mobile, the country's largest telecommunications operator, plans a total investment of about 1.2 billion yuan (US$189 million) in Shenzhen to expand 4G TD-LTE network coverages tenfold over last year. The branch company in Shenzhen will construct 3,000 new TD-LTE base stations by the end of this year. Meanwhile, China Mobile opened a free 4G experience roadshow to the general public in Shenzhen's commercial district with a number of professional instructors to demo the high speed radio network. The activity will last for two weeks ...

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MIUI Spotted Running on Meizu MX!

Herman Lai — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:25:12 PDT

Xiaomi's CEO Lei Jun and Meizu's CEO Jack Wong used to be friends and business partner, but for some reasons, they became rival subsequently. Recently, Xiaomi posted a thread on their forum seeking testers for MIUI V4 ROM beta test on the Meizu MX (dual-core version), and the image above is from one of the testers. At the moment, there're couple of bugs were found on beta test, including overheating problem, restart problem and signal problem. More shots after the break...

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Screen Protector Sales Thrive in China Thanks to iPhone

Star Chang — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:29:10 PDT

In Shenzhen, an unauthorized screen protection film for Apple's iPhone sells for 10 yuan (US$1.60), more than 10 times its cost. The costs for each iPhone protection film just needs 0.8 yuan (US$0.12). According to industry insiders, the market of screen protection films for Apple devices and other related accessories are valued at more than 100 million yuan (US$14.64 million) in China. It has already become a huge industry chain consisting of over 1,000 Chinese manufacturers all located in Shenzhen ...

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Watch: Cracking Walnuts With a Samsung Rugged Smartphone

Star Chang — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:52:13 PDT

Last year, Samsung had released the Galaxy S5690 Xcover, a rugged smartphone to compete with Motorola tough droids. The Galaxy S5690 can be immersed in one meter of water and last there for half an hour, on top of being dust-proof and shock-resistant. It is not so common in Asia market and it has quietly released in China. A Chinese user used it for cracking walnuts to find out how rugged it really is. The chassis of the handset is tough enough to survive. Next time, try to use the front screen. We will be more impress if the gorilla glass can smash some nuts.

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Evernote’s New China Service Sees More Signups than US and Japan Combined (Video)

Star Chang — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:32:39 PDT

Evernote, the popular notetaking software, has launched a dedicated service for Chinese users last week, which will run completely separate of Evernote and its existing Chinese-language offering. Ordinarily, Evernote was adding around 4,500 new users per day to its 1.1 million user base in China, but following the launch, downloads here have rocketed. Based on the first week, daily new user numbers in China have been greater than its two biggest markets — Japan and the US — combined ...

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A Foreigner Using Chinese To Insult a Chinese Lady: “Silly C*nt!”

Herman Lai — Thu, 17 May 2012 06:07:47 PDT

There's always some bastards around us. And today, a bastard goes viral on the Chinese internet and we definitely want to share with you guys. This happened in a train travelling from Shenyang to Beijing. The video showed that a white guy with blonde hair put up his feet over the seat. A woman passenger who sat in front of him was annoyed by his feet, then the dispute began...

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Speed Test: 1.2Ghz Xiaomi M1 vs 1.5Ghz Xiaomi M1 (Video)

Herman Lai — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:21:26 PDT

By now you should have already known the low-end Xiaomi phone (also known as the "Youth Version Xiaomi M1") that the company launched two days ago. Tomorrow, it will be the last day for register the pre-ordering lucky draw. So is it worth to buy? Does its 1.2 GHz processor perform a lot slower than its predecessor? That's what we are going to tell you after the break.

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Watch: Media Markt Sweating Advertisement in China

Star Chang — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:50:02 PDT

Leading European electronics retailer Media Markt has already opened 7 retail stores in Shanghai China. The company's expansion in China has been rapid. Recently, they have released a corporate branding advertisement to showcase the dedication its employees give to their Chinese customers. The idea is to show how Media Markt's staff work so hard to give great customer service that they are sweating all the way from head to toe ...

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This Knockoff New iPad Commercial Would Want To Make us Laugh (Video)

Herman Lai — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:02:41 PDT

No matter how well you know about the New iPad, you gotta check this out. It's a viral video that made by a Chinese netizen, and highlight some features like the iCam, iCutfruit, iRay, iShoot that you would be familiar with. The ad also introduced a 40-inch LuxuryPad, and it shows you how useful it is. Check it out after the break!

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TP-Link Launches First Android 4.0 Phone T882

Star Chang — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:57:36 PDT

TP-LINK, the well-known Chinese networking equipment company which based in Shenzhen, has decided to enter the smartphone market by introducing the new T882. Previously, TP-Link had released several features phone but couldn't catch any people attention. The new T882 is running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, powered by 1.4-gigahertz single core processor. Other main specifications include 4.0-inch WVGA-screen, 768MB RAM and 2GB ROM, 8 megapixels camera, support HD video recording, dual LED flash and weighted in 148 grams. Apparently, the smartphone T882 will only be available in China market. We believe T882 should have some built-in software to perform WiFi tethering, TP-Link is specialized on this. Price and release date still unknown, we assume it will sell at a dead cheap price because of 2GB internal storage. Few more pictures after the break.

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