shenzen
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Snap Inc. is expanding its presence in China
Snapchat is officially banned by the Chinese government, but its parent company Snap Inc. is looking to expand its presence in the country's tech and manufacturing hub of Shenzen. According to a CNN, Snap Inc.'s Shenzen office will work on research and development related to Spectacles, the company's only hardware device, which is already being manufactured in China.
Apple will build an R&D center in China's Silicon Valley
Apple needs China a little more than China needs Apple, which is why the company is bending over backwards to show some love to the Middle Kingdom. VentureBeat is reporting that the iPhone maker will open a research and development center in Shenzen, the Silicon Valley of Hardware. The site quotes Apple spokesperson Josh Rosenstock saying that the facility will help Apple's engineers work "even more closely and collaboratively with our manufacturing partners." Given that Shenzen is home to Foxconn City, the site where several Apple products are assembled, it makes sense that Apple would push for an official presence in the region.
iPhones smuggled into China in beer bottles
It's pretty easy to understand most of this story. Someone in Hong Kong wanted to get a bunch of iPhones into Shenzen, China, so they decided to smuggle them across the border. That's illegal, but it makes sense. China charges heavy taxes on importing goods like these, and whoever ran this scheme wanted to avoid the tax. What doesn't make sense, however, is how they did it. The culprit cut open empty beer bottles, placing iPhones inside three at a time, and then resealed the bottles with tape. You can see the full Chinese news report below. Over 200 iPhones were being smuggled in beer bottles. I guess the best explanation is that people often bring empty bottles into China for recycling, and the hope was that these would just get lost in the mix. But it's definitely an unusual scheme. [via OBP]
Smugglers use zip line and slingshot to sneak iPads into Shenzhen
Chinese smugglers turned to a rather low-tech method for getting a pile of decidedly high-tech iPads and iPhones across the border to Shenzhen, in a scheme to make money off of regional tax differences. The unsanctioned exporters fired a slingshot from a high-rise in Shenzen, dragging a zip line down to a small house just across the Sha Tau Kok river in Hong Kong. They then sent canvas bags loaded with the gadgets flying through the night sky along the projectile-placed cable -- at least until authorities spotted the gear hurtling through the air, that is. Police recovered about $46,000 worth of Apple products (and four culprits) when they discovered the end of the 300-meter line. Check out the video below for a little Chinese-language news coverage of the story and a glimpse at the simple, but ingenious, smuggling rig.
EraThink EraPalm runs like a netbook, looks like a portable gaming handheld
Looking at this odd bird of a device on display at the China Consumer Electronics Fair inspires tired cliches about mating gadgets. But really, it took a wild night between a Windows 7 tablet and a portable gaming console (with a possible cameo by a UMPC) to spawn the EraThink EraPalm. This handheld runs Windows 7 and has a 5-inch (800 x 480) capacative touchscreen that slides out to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard -- all of which is reminiscent of the extinct OQO Model 02, except for the gaming controls flanking the display. Newpad spent some with the little guy, and reports some netbook-like specs including an unspecified Atom Z processor, 3G connectivity, and Ethernet, HDMI, VGA, and USB ports. (Then again, it does one better with GPS and support for 1080p video.) Want a closer gawk? Click the source link for a couple more hands-on shots. [Thanks, leungxd]
Bus that travels over traffic longs for US embrace, designer seeks stateside collaborators
Can't imagine this one's left your collective conscience, but just in case: back in August, Shenzen Huashi Future Car-Parking Equipment unveiled its design for a commuter monorail that used the space between traffic and bridges. In a sense, the bus would straddle over its four-wheeled brethren at a rate of 25 to 50mph. Construction reportedly starts in Beijing's Mentougou district by year's end, but what of the rest of the world? Designer Song Youzhou has founded US Elevated High-Speed Bus (Group) Inc which, as the name would suggest, is on the look-out for manufacturers to build (and outlets to sell) the so-called straddling bus to the proper American locales. Sure, we're the Land of the Free and Home of the Extra-Tall Trucks (and Low Overhead Bridges), but don't let that get you discouraged.
7-inch iPad coming? Loose lips in Shenzen say yes
Since the iPad was first announced in January of this year, there's been speculation that a smaller form factor -- say, something between an iPad and an iPod touch -- would be added to the line. Shanzai.com, a site that follows China's technology industry, has posted a rumor to the effect that Apple's next tablet will resemble "an oversized iPhone 4" rather than a smaller iPad. Shanzai says that they have "ears to the ground in Shenzen," the home of Apple contract manufacturer Foxconn, and that loose lips have stated that the 7" tablet is a "finished product." Sam Levin of AppMinute.com and I discussed the possibility of a smaller tablet on a podcast we recorded right after our abortive attempt at doing TUAW TV Live this week. Apple abhors a lot of different products that are not heavily differentiated. I brought up the example of Archos, which has a line of six Android-based tablets that range in screen size from 2.8" to 10.1." That just seems to be a bit odd, as there's not a tremendous amount that really makes the devices different other than screen size. Apple, however, has managed to turn the iPod line into four completely different products -- the minimalist shuffle, the tiny touch screen nano, the Classic, and the iPod touch. Would Apple risk cannibalizing sales of the iPod touch on the small device side and the existing iPad on the larger tablet side to bring in a new form factor? Does a smaller iPad that would be difficult to type on make sense? What do you think? Leave your comments below. [via 9to5Mac]
Track an iPad from Shenzhen to you
There's a fun post at Silicon Alley Insider today that traces an iPad's journey from China to the customer's home. By monitoring Twitter and tracking reports, Nick Saint has assembled an iPad's typical journey to the US. It starts at the infamous Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China. That's the "iPad nursery," if you will. From there, iPads destined for the USA fly to Anchorage, Alaska, a journey that Google Maps struggled with (38 days by car? Oh, it'd be much shorter by car). From there, the iPad that Nick was tracking went to Louisville, Kentucky, where it will remain (UPS shipping calls it "UPS Internal Activity") until it's set free on Saturday. Many TUAW readers wrote in to say they've received shipment notifications, so we can assume that your precious is somewhere along this route. In the meantime, why not install a package tracking app on your iPhone (you remember your iPhone, right)?
Meizu opens flagship store in Shenzhen
If you're going to go to the trouble of procuring an M8 from Meizu, you may as well turn it into an authentic, memorable, world-class experience by making the pilgrimage to Shenzhen, China to pick it up in its hometown. Oh, but don't just pick it up from some random street vendor -- do it up right by swinging on over to Meizu's shiny new flagship store, where you'll be able to select your M8 (or at least see renders of the M8) in a comfortable, relaxed environment while rubbing shoulders with Meizu employees. The fresh digs just opened today, and pictures from the grand opening show an epic mass of humanity waiting for the doors to unlock -- a promising sign for Meizu, and an unfortunate sign that the enochlophobes among us probably ought to wait a few weeks to make the trek.[Via Meizu Me]
Finally, the Buddha Phone
We'll admit, there's something strangely intriguing about the over-the-top design put forth by this gilded, Buddha-themed candybar turning up in the streets of Shenzhen. The shell is alleged to be stainless steel with a 24 karat gold plating -- though we suspect that might only be true of the engraving on the back -- and not a single square inch of the thing has been left without some sort of intricate detail that you're not going to find on your average Nokia or Samsung. No proper Buddha phone would be complete without a microSD slot or a touchscreen, of course, and this example is no exception; it also seems that the phone has been blessed by a monk, so you shouldn't have much trouble with evil spirits taking residence in your decidedly materialistic purchase. Seriously, how can you go wrong with a keypad that fancy?[Thanks, Kin N.]
Shenzen Leadertone intros GPS3000 navigation system
Ah, just what we needed -- yet another Chinese navigation system that touts mutiple layers of functionality, but probably doesn't really excel in any of them. Shenzen Leadertone has its Windows CE-powered GPS3000 on deck and ready for showing at next week's CES, and aside from the somewhat gaudy window attachment, it manages to sport a 3.5-inch 4:3 touchscreen, SD / MMC flash card slots, rechargeable four-hour battery, turn-by-turn voice guidance, and a built-in, brain-rattling one-watt speaker to crank out the MP3, WMA, and WAV files. Additionally, it can playback ASF and AVI video formats, recognize text files / pictures, and touts automatic redirecting, 3D / "overlook" views, and an integrated 159dBm GPS antenna. Of course, it the included one isn't up to your requirements, you can attach an external antenna of your own thanks to the MCX port. No information regarding pricing or availability has been released just yet, but all that should become perfectly clear when it hits the Vegas floors in just a few days.[Via Navigadget]
