Tag: chinese

HTC Building Its Own Mobile OS

Rumours of HTC creating their own operating system has been floating around for a couple years. Back in September of 2011, HTC Co-founder and chairman Cher Wang, stated “We can use any OS we want. We are able to make things different from our rivals on the second or third layer of a platform. Our strength lies in understanding an OS, but it does not mean that we have to produce an OS.”

HTC currently relies heavily on the Android OS, plus puts its unique spin with its Sense UI, but this dependance an US-based Google is rumoured to slow. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, HTC, with the assistance from the Chinese government, will forge ahead and produce their own mobile operating system that’s ‘specifically for Chinese consumers.’ Apparently this initiative is part of a bigger play by the government “to encourage the development of a unique local software ecosystem to reduce reliance on Western companies.”

The WSJ report says it isn’t clear whether the mobile OS will be entirely proprietary or built on top of Android — as just like Acer, HTC is part of Google’s Open Handset Alliance, and that means it needs to abide by certain rules laid down by Google.

Acer last year built a phone for China’s Alibaba but it was squelched at the last minute due Google’s intervention. Google even suggested that Acer wouldn’t be allowed to build future Android phones if it moved forward with the Alibaba phone launch. Given that HTC’s smartphone focus is built on Android — it only makes a few Windows Phone devices — the company isn’t in a position to anger Google.

The ambitious reported move by HTC comes as it has been struggling financially. CEO Peter Chou said in the company’s recent second-quarter earnings call that HTC is expecting Q3 revenue to decline as much as 29.3 percent from the amount of revenue it posted in Q2.

[Via]

August 28, 2013
Apple developers get Mac OS X Mountain Lion downloads

If you continue to stay on the Apple Developer program then you can have yourself a developer preview download of the new exciting Mac OS X Lion. The new versions of Reminders , messages , gatekeeper, Notification center and iCloud and sharing capabilities can be experienced in this preview. Hit the link below to sign into your member area and begin the download.

[Apple]

February 17, 2012
Apple shows off OS X Mountain Lion

Apple has already begun the next update cycle of the OS X platform with just over a year ago Apple unleashed OS X Lion on Mac owners. This time around the number is bumped to 10.8 and the name to Mountain Lion. The overall outlook of the OS remains the same with more integrations and basic app changes in tow.

The biggest add-on for the OS has to be the Notification centre that has been inspired from the iOS notification centre.

Notification Centre.

The spotlight icon on the far top right of the screen is replaced with a circle with a dot in the centre, which lights up when you receive a message or a notification even a calendar reminder.

Messages

The other major release in OS X mountain lain will be the replacement of iChat with messages, which will allow you to message all iOS devices on iMessage and other macs on Messages. Using the service, you can send messages, documents, HD videos and photos (up to 100MB apiece) to one person or several, using phone numbers or email addresses as points of contact. Messages on Mac still incorporates chat services like AIM and GChat. Messages sent through the service are encrypted, and the app also uses a notification to let you know when messages have been delivered / read.

Reminders

The next cool thing of our liking that has been ported from iOS to Mac is Reminders. For those who don’t know , this is more of a glorified to-do list. It will sync with iOS reminders keeping the seamless architecture intact.

Notes

Another addition to the Mac OS X Mountain Lion is the Notes app, which not only completely resembles the on on iOS but also syncs up with all your devices and email addresses via iCloud.

Apple has added deeper integration of iCloud on Mountain Lion, allowing users to sync up and back up more data, also allowing seamless interconnectivity with all other Apple devices owned by a user. The other additions to Lion include Airplay mirroring, integrated Game center and included sharing – allowing you to instantly share content from your desktop via email, message, AirDrop and third-party services like Twitter, Flickr and Vimeo.

February 17, 2012
China government Ban on iPad causes removal of stocks from stores.

Government authorities and retailers in China have started removing stocks of iPad from the shelves in the market, in response to a ruling issued in December. According to Hebei Youth Daily, local representatives of the country’s Administrations of Industry and Commerce (AIC) have started confiscating Apple’s tablet from retail outlets, with some merchants are voluntarily removing the device from their storefronts as a pre-emptive measure.

As a part of a local campaign this incident only took place in the city of Shijiazhuang, but vendors weary of the outcome have started to take precautions. Remember this is the same country where people literally give body parts to own iPads.

February 13, 2012
Dell Vostro 360 Launched in china – AIO Desktop at good price
Dell has launched a new AIO desktop PC in China, dubbed the Vostro Success 360.

Specs Include:-
- Windows 7 Professional Edition
- 23-inch Full HD WLED display
- Intel i3 or i5 processors with the H61 chipset
- 1 TB 7200RPM Hard Drive
- 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M
Price is set at US $780 or INR . 35000/-

Hopefully we start to see a trend of these hit Indian markets, so that people get more and more used to the concept of Fast paced AIO’s.

Dell [Chinese]
August 27, 2011
Chinese Authorities find 22 additional Fake Apple Stores

Remember the fake Apple stores that were in the news recently? Well the Chinese Authorities cracking down on impostor Apple stores have uncovered 22 additional Apple wannabes. Now, the stores are being forced to remove Apple’s official logo after Apple China accused them of violating its trademark. The Administration for Industry and Commerce will setup a hotline in an effort to catch more illegal stores.

In July, inspections of around 300 shops in Kunming were carried out after a blog post by an American living in the city exposed a near-flawless fake Apple Store where even the staff were convinced they were working for the California-based iPhone and iPad maker.

[Read]

August 12, 2011
Google+ Blocked in China

China, as a country has banned Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Foursquare. Its newest target has been the Google+ service, which promises to give a better social networking experience than Facebook. A Chinese Internet Analyst Sage Brennan had this to say:

[quote]This was the quickest blockage I can remember … The speed with which they moved to block Google+ was surprising, but I couldn’t be less surprised to see it blocked.[/quote]

China has discouraged the use of online forums with a political tinge and has been wary of all foreign social networks after growing fears of uprisings in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and Libya which were fuelled by social networks. Instead of continuing under a Chinese censorship, Google opted to pull out its search engine from mainland China last year. A few weeks ago, there were allegations that Google’s email service, Gmail, was hacked by Chinese hackers.

With the launch of Google+, Google wants to redefine social networking by fixing the alleged imperfections in the Facebook model. They say that the way we connect with people has to be re-worked. Right now, they say that the existing social network model has reduced friends to the status of fast food, where people wrap each other in friend paper. At the moment, we’re bombarded with updates from all of our ‘friends’. But in reality, you share something with your friends, another thing with your parents and a third thing with your boss.

The core of Google+ lies in its ability to define ‘circles’. Circles are basically groups that allow you to define what you are sharing and with who. There are also a host of other services like +Sparks (Strike up a conversation, about pretty much anything), +Hangouts (stop by and say hello), +Mobile (share what’s around), +Location, +Instant Upload, +Huddle and +You.

The service is going through a limited trial at the moment and is scheduled for release soon.

June 30, 2011
25 Year Old Man Killed by a Chinese Phone

A 25 Year old man, Dhanji Damor from the Panchmahal district of Gujarat, India, was killed by his phone while attempting to make a phone call while the phone was plugged in for charging. He recieved a massive electric shock and was pronounced dead on arrival by doctors at a local hospital.

This just goes to show the shoddy design and construction of devices from China as well as a lack of quality control. If you can’t afford a branded device then it might be worth your life to not buy a cheap knockoff. Its always safer to purchase a device from a known company. It’s incidents like these that give Chinese technology a bad name which is rather scary if you’ve ever taken a look behind your iDevice.

http://www.redmondpie.com/unlock-iphone-3.1.3-3g-3gs-with-ultrasn0w/

June 17, 2011
The Line Phone – Scalable | Multitouch | Concept

Ever wish you had an iPhone or a Multi-touch smart phone? Well you can wish again because we’ve just found the Line Phone. It has a very interesting multi-touch interface that seems very easy to use and very well thought out. The phone comes with many features that we have come to expect from technology out of the box.

It performs even basic tasks such as photography and Internet surfing with a flair that we cannot find in todays devices. The best thing we like about this concept is its ability to seamlessly scale the size of the display for performing more complex tasks such as Desktop use and Gaming. Check out the video for more info.

May 2, 2011