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Crappy smartphone 'for women' does everything wrong
What's small, cute, fashion-focused and pink? The Keecoo K1 -- a smartphone 'designed for women,' of course. No, we're not kidding. The K1 is destined for the Chinese market, and is being marketed with a veritable check-list of gender stereotypes. It comes in an array of fashionable colors, features a hexagonal design to fit the "small hands of women" and boasts a front-facing selfie camera that "automatically makes your skin look delicate and smooth." That's not condescending at all.
Creative HanZpad hurdles FCC, will deliver ICS and quad-core goodness to China
Creative Labs might want to get some white gloves, because we recognized its fingerprints on the HanZPad, a Chinese tablet platform which just landed at the FCC. Using its own ZiiLABS division's ZMS-40 ICS optimized SoC (system on chip), the thinnish 7.95mm tab looks to have meaty specs with a quad-core ARM 1.5GHz processor, 1280 x 800 10-inch IPS display, 1GB RAM and microSD slot allowing up to 64GB of external storage. On top of Android 4.0 support, Creative will be developing its own OS for the device, which will be distributed through OEMs and its own channels. While currently tapped for the Chinese market, Creative's weighty US presence may suggest it'll eventually reach across the Pacific -- if it does, let's just hope it leaves the smudges behind.
iPad moves closer to sale in China
On Monday, the iPad moved one small step closer to the Chinese market when it received the China Compulsory Certification from the China Quality Certification Center. Other certifications will be necessary, but this important first step has been taken. The Chinese government will ultimately determine if and when the device is sold. Before that happens, it will be subject to other regulating bodies like China's Telecommunications Equipment and Certification Center. Liu Liang with the consulting group iResearch suggests that the iPad would sell well in China, despite competition from other devices. "The iPad is a top tier device," he said, "and the Apple brand has a great deal of influence among consumers." You'll remember the trouble Apple had before bringing the iPhone to the Chinese market. Initially, wireless devices were required to use China's own WAPI standard, a measure that was relaxed earlier this year, when devices were allowed to have both WAPI and Wi-Fi. Since then, the iPhone has gone on to sell very well. Apple has not announced formal plans to sell the iPad in China, but (slow) progress is being made. Here's hoping our friends in China can get their hands on iPads soon.
