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Tesla launches the world's largest Supercharger station in Shanghai
Tesla has launched the world’s largest Supercharger station in China.
Huawei reportedly bets on Shanghai chip plant to overcome US trade ban
Huawei is reportedly counting on a chip plant in Shanghai to keep its core telecom business alive despite the US trade ban.
'League of Legends' championship will start in Shanghai despite pandemic
Riot is moving forward with an in-person 'League of Legends' World Championship 2020 in Shanghai, even with COVID-19 remaining a threat.
A life-size Gundam statue will be completed outside of Japan in 2021
A 59-foot-tall Gundam statue will be built outside of Japan in 2021 -- but you'll have to visit Shanghai to see it.
Fiat Chrysler and AutoX confirm plans to work on robotaxis
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is joining forces with the Chinese startup AutoX to bring self-driving robotaxis to China. The companies confirmed rumors of their partnership today and announced that the AutoX AI Driver platform will be installed in FCA Chrysler Pacificas. The robotaxis could appear in Chinese cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai in the first half of 2020.
Tesla moves the Model Y release date up to 'spring 2020'
Tesla was on quite the roll in Q4 last year. The company unveiled its controversially popular electric Cybertruck at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Elon Musk won his "pedo guy" defamation suit, and the first Model 3s produced at Tesla's new Shanghai Gigafactory rolled off the assembly line. The company also delivered 112,000 vehicles in that quarter, and 367,500 vehicles over the full year -- that's a 50 percent increase over 2018.
Volkswagen begins pre-production of its ID.3 EV in China
Just days after Volkswagen showed off the first all-electric ID.3 produced at its Zwickau plant in Germany, the company announced that it has entered pre-production in China, too. Like the Zwickau factory, the new plant in Anti, Shanghai, will produce all-electric vehicles on Volkswagen's MEB platform, a modular design that's built for battery packs of varying sizes.
Ridesharing giant Didi Chuxing will offer robotaxi service in Shanghai
Self-driving taxis are quickly becoming a reality well beyond the US. Chinese ridesharing giant Didi Chuxing has unveiled plans for a pilot robotaxi service in Shanghai's Jiading District. It'll only include 30 cars with Level 4 autonomy (full self-driving in limited areas and conditions) and will start with a mix of driverless and helmed vehicles to deal with the "complex traffic and road conditions" of the city. Nonetheless, there's a real chance you'll be the only human in the vehicle if you're hailing a ride to Shanghai University.
Samsung has postponed Galaxy Fold launch events in China
The $2,000 Galaxy Fold is already off to a bumpy start no thanks to some broken review units (ours is fine, by the way), and though the April 26th launch in the US remains unaffected, folks on the other side of the world aren't as lucky. Over the weekend, Samsung announced that it has postponed the press events in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which were originally scheduled for April 23rd and 24th i.e. this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Tesla's Shanghai assembly plant could be completed by May
Tesla's Shanghai-based Gigafactory could have its assembly plant ready as soon as May and its production line operational by the end of the year, according to Reuters. The news service reports that a Shanghai city government official made the comments "on the sidelines" of an annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing this week, although no further details were given.
VW starts work on its first large-scale EV factory
VW's grandiose electric car plans just became more tangible. The automaker has started building its first group-wide, large-scale EV production factory in Anting, about 19 miles west of Shanghai. When it's up and running in 2020, the plant will build nothing but all-electric vehicles based on the company's MEB (Modular Electric Drive Kit) platform as well as the battery systems needed to power those vehicles. The first EV to roll off the line will be a VW-badged SUV (not necessarily the I.D. Crozz).
Tesla buys the land it needs for its Shanghai Gigafactory
Tesla has secured an 860,000 square meter plot of land in Shanghai for its first overseas Gigafactory after signing an agreement with the local government. The EV-maker confirmed the purchase on Chinese social media, complete with pics from the signing ceremony of the "land transfer agreement." Though Tesla didn't reveal the price, Reuters reports that the Shanghai Bureau of Planning and Land Resources said that the plot fetched 973 million yuan ($140.51 million) at auction.
Starbucks offers AR tours of its lavish Shanghai coffee shop
Starbucks has a long, long tradition of using tech to bring you into its coffee shops, and that will be truer than ever with the latest supersized Reserve Roastery location in Shanghai. The beverage behemoth will use a mobile app to offer guided augmented reality tours of the coffee-making process when the restaurant opens on December 6th. Point your phone at equipment like the roaster or cask and you'll get an explanation of what happens as beans eventually turn into your venti latte.
Tesla reportedly lands deal to build an EV factory in Shanghai
It's difficult for foreign car makers to crack the Chinese market. Unless they're willing to partner with a local brand (and thus give up both profits and technology), they have to pay for shipping vehicles and swallow a 25 percent import duty fee. That clearly won't cut it for Tesla, which has wanted a deeper presence in China but also doesn't want to give up its fierce independence. However, it looks like Elon Musk's outfit may have reached a compromise: Wall Street Journal sources claim that Tesla has a deal to build a factory in Shanghai's free trade zone. Tesla would still have to pay the 25 percent import duty, but it would retain full control and could likely offset the tariff with lower production and shipping costs.
Tesla is laying the groundwork to build cars in Shanghai
If you've been waiting to pull the trigger on one of Tesla's electric vehicles, the upcoming Model 3 probably looks pretty appealing. The car promises 215 miles per charge, ample seating, the tech for autopilot and it starts at just $35,000. Well, unless you're in China -- where imported vehicles get slapped with a 25-percent tariff. That fee is potentially disastrous to both customers' ability to buy Tesla vehicles in china and the company's bottom line. That's probably why Elon Musk's electric vehicle company is now talking with the Shanghai municipal government about opening a local manufacturing facility.
Mini is making augmented reality goggles for driving
Mini is rolling out a new product, and no, it's not a car. Announced at the Auto Shanghai show, the Mini Augmented Vision is actually a pair of augmented reality glasses that offers up info about your ride in your field of vision. You can see some of the following details as you're riding around in your Mini vehicle of choice: destination points that you can select pre-ride, the navigation display of your first and last mile, heads up info like speeds and speed limits, navigation arrows plus points of interest on your route, incoming message notifications, an X-ray view of the vehicle, plus a view of the curb from the car's external cameras so you can park easier. And, of course, since it's AR and see-through, you can still see the road in front of you. As you might expect, there's no details about pricing or availability just yet, but we'll be sure to update the post with more when we hear more.
Following Microsoft, Sony's PlayStation business officially enters China
It's only been about a month since Microsoft announced that it'll be bringing the Xbox to China come September, courtesy of the local government lifting its somewhat lax ban on imported video games and consoles. Today, Sony finally confirmed that the PlayStation will indeed be joining Redmond's console in the Far East. Just like Microsoft's collaboration with China's BesTV, Sony's also working with a local company called Shanghai Oriental Pearl Culture Development (OPCD in short). As pointed out by Sina Tech, the interesting thing is that both BesTV and OPCD are part of the massive Shanghai Media Group.
China to restrict game sales based on content like gambling, violence
Since China temporarily lifted its ban on foreign video game consoles in January, it was a matter of time before the government offered new rules to regulate console and game distribution. According to a Shanghai government release translated by Games in Asia, those rules will dictate the kind of content that won't be allowed to be sold in the country, such gambiling-related game features. Additionally, anything deemed threatening to "China's national unity, sovereignty, or territorial integrity" and content that "instigates racial/ethnic hatred" won't be distributable in the country. Games also may not promote "obscenity, drug use, violence or gambling," as well as cults and superstitions. Approved games cannot violate China's constitution, nor can they harm its culture, traditions and public ethics. The policies state that foreign companies must work with a local company to produce consoles within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, such as Sony's PlayStation 4 or Microsoft's Xbox One, the latter of which arrived in 26 more regions just last month. Plus, games in China must go through an approval process with Shanghai's culture department, which will take "no longer than 20 days." This applies to game updates with new content, such as DLC, even if the game itself was already approved. Lastly, all console games will be required to have a simplified Chinese version, so publishers won't be able to simply re-sell Hong Kong and Taiwan versions of their games. [Image: Microsoft]
China reveals COS: a government-approved operating system designed to break the monopoly of foreign software
China's tried to create its very own mobile OS ecosystem in the past, but let's face it: The attempt with OPhone was hardly something that would make the nation proud. This time round, though, a company by the name of Shanghai Liantong has joined forces with the ISCAS (Institute of Software at the Chinese Academy of Sciences) and the government to launch COS, which simply stands for China Operating System. While there's no official mention of this, it appears that HTC is a big supporter behind this project, which would match what we heard from a Wall Street Journal report from August. Apart from the open-source code, this Linux-based OS is said to be developed "entirely independently," in the hopes of breaking the foreign software monopoly, as well as providing better localization for the likes of language input, cloud services and monetization. At yesterday's launch event, the head of ISCAS criticized iOS for being a closed ecosystem, while Android has the infamous fragmentation problem, and both Windows plus Android are let down by poor security. Ironically, all the COS variants -- in the form of phones, tablets, PCs and set-top boxes -- shown in the promo video after the break are very Android-like, and some of those features, like multitasking, content streaming and remote desktop, are nothing new. Even the HTC One and Butterfly S we saw looked like they were still carrying Sense 5. But hey, maybe such a close relationship with the Chinese government is just what HTC needs for its recovery this year. Update: We reached out to HTC regarding its involvement in COS, but the spokesperson wasn't keen to talk about it: HTC remains focused on working with its current OS partners and we do not comment on speculation regarding other OS.
Glass staircase step breaks at China Apple Store
The latest glass staircase installation in the Shanghai IAPM (China) Apple store broke 23 hours before the Saturday grand opening, according to ifo Apple Store. The site includes photos of the mishap that also damaged the floor underneath. It seems the glass tread fell out of the mounting and ended up in pieces on the stone floor below. Gary Allen of ifoapplestore.com states that "representatives from the glass supplier, Seele GbbH (Germany), worked with local craftsman to retrieve spare glass treads that all stores have ready for such emergencies." Other stores have had minor mishaps with their glass staircases, but no one has been injured by any of the stair problems. Apple's Retail Store page lists nine stores in China, four of which are in Shanghai. ifo Apple Store lists 33 stores with glass staircases, some of which are spiral and some straight. Steve Jobs' name is on the 2002 patent for the Apple Store's amazing glass staircases. An Apple Store Glass Staircases article, also on ifo Apple Store, provides interesting details on the staircases in the different Apple stores. Photo by Henry courtesy of ifoapplestore.com. Related Stories Stores With A Glass Staircase, ifo Apple Store, no date. Gallery of new Beijing Apple Store, TUAW, 10/18/12. Steve Jobs has 313 patents to his name, including some unexpected, TUAW, 8/25/11. The saga of the Apple stair comes to a $9950 end, TUAW, 3/2/10.