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When you’re the only company at CES from your country
There are more than 1,700 American companies at CES, 1,200 official exhibitors from China, and several hundred from France and South Korea. Many of them are veterans of the trade show circuit, one-upping each other's booths with elaborate curved OLED TV installations and Disney-fied cart rides. There are entire government-sponsored showcases to feature the best of their country's tech scene.
iPhone 4S coming to China, Caribbean islands next week
Apple has announced that the iPhone 4S will be making its way to China and 21 other countries beginning next Friday, January 13th. The smartphone will reportedly launch on China Unicom just before the Chinese New Year, which will be celebrated on Monday, January 23rd. Pricing has not been announced in local currencies, but is listed as $199, $299 and $399 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. Apple China is clearly the most notable of the bunch, but other countries include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda. Jump past the break for the full PR from Apple. Update: Apple got in touch to remind us that Siri will be updated to support Chinese at some point in 2012, along with Japanese, Korean, Italian and Spanish.
Why Apple is trademarking Thunderbolt and why Sony might be left out
Thunderbolt (formerly known as Light Peak) may have been developed by Intel, but it's Apple that's been snatching up all the trademark glory. The company first filed in November of 2010 in Jamaica, then followed up in February of this year by securing the rights to the name in Canada, before registering similar claims in Europe, China, and now the US. This raised some interesting questions about Intel's claim to be the exclusive trademark holder (see the more coverage link) and whether or not other companies would be able to use the Thunderbolt brand. Intrigued, we did a little digging and you'll find what we uncovered after the break.
Sprint hammers out WiMAX roaming agreements in Taiwan, Jamaica
Most of us our still concerned with getting good 4G coverage domestically, much less internationally, but Sprint's taking things to the next level for globetrotters by hammering out a couple global roaming agreements for users of its WiMAX modems. The carrier has inked new deals with Jamaica's Digicel and Taiwan's Global Mobile that will allow travelers to sign up for 24-hour passes -- but as with any international roaming situation, pricing is the tricky part, and Sprint's yet to announce how that's going to play out here. Devices using the Sprint SmartView Connection Manager software are compatible, meaning the 250U and U600 modems are on board; an exact launch date is yet to be determined, unfortunately, so if you're a subscriber with a trip to either of those countries in the next few days, our deepest condolences. Follow the break for the full press release.
Planet Calypso 2010|2 update adds 80 missions
It may be a MMO about planet colonization, but we dare you to look at the title of Planet Calypso and not imagine a neverending Jamaican party resort. In any case, the Planet Calypso team is pleased as punch to announce its 2010|2 update, which includes a whopping 80 new missions. You may recall that the 2010|1 update introduced the mission system back in February of this year. 20 of these new missions are dedicated to the mysterious Cyclops volcano (which also appeared with the 2010|1 update), with the remaining 60 devoted to the "Iron Challenge" of finding and exterminating the local critters. The latter is done, to quote the patch notes, "in order to raise awareness of firearms issues." The 2010|2 update comes with a few other additions, as well as a trunk full of bug fixes. You can read the full patch notes over at the Planet Calypso site.
iPhone in 29 new countries; unlocked in Hong Kong
Our sister site Engadget reports that Apple is now offering unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong via its online store. HK$5,500 (≈ US$700) will buy you an 8GB model, HK$6,200 (≈ US$800) gets you 16GB. The Apple Store's terms and conditions limit sales to individuals in Hong Kong only, but who knows what the gray market will bring. Three Russian carriers will also begin selling unlocked iPhones on October 3, with the 8GB model selling for over US$900. In related news, 29 new countries will begin selling the iPhone, some today: Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Turkey and Venezuela. [Via IGM.]
iPhone launching on a CDMA carrier in Jamaica -- huh?
Last time we checked, the iPhone 3G was GSM through and through -- four bands of GSM / EDGE plus three bands of UMTS / HSDPA, to be exact. So how exactly is it that an exclusively CDMA carrier, Jamaica's MiPhone, could be carrying it? Even MiPhone's international roaming agreements are all with CDMA carriers (Alltel, MetroPCS, Sprint, and Verizon in the States, for example) so it's pretty freaking unclear how -- or what -- they plan to launch down there. We've cooked up a few possibilities for how this could play out: MiPhone has negotiated a roaming agreement with a GSM carrier in Jamaica. Doesn't seem like there would be any way to profit from this arrangement, though, since iPhone customers would be roaming 100 percent of the time. They didn't get the memo that "WCDMA" doesn't mean "CDMA". Just imagine the blushing execs! Unlocked iPhone 3Gs will simply be offered through MiPhone stores for use on other networks. There's a mysterious CDMA version of the iPhone waiting in the wings. Doubtful. Very, very doubtful. CDMA support secretly lurks inside each and every iPhone 3G. Again, doubtful. We're working to figure out what the heck is going on here; we'll update you once we know.[Thanks, L8on]Update: It seems that MiPhone might be branding its GSM 850 network as Claro, which would match up with branding corporate parent America Movil uses throughout much of Latin America. Where this leaves MiPhone's CDMA network is unclear, but needless to say, we don't think there's a CDMA iPhone in the cards. Thanks, everyone!
Jamaica's The Palmyra Resort & Spa opening with cable HDTV
Looking for something a bit more elegant than just another hotel? If you've been toying with the idea of shipping yourself off to Jamaica this fall for a nice dose of R&R, you may want to put The Palmyra Resort & Spa on your short list. After all, you can't make it a whole week without a little high-resolution action, right? Said venue is being launched by the former president of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Horst Schulze, and aside from luxurious amenities throughout the place, you can expect 299 well-appointed guest rooms with HDTVs, "cable HDTV" (that's programming, we presume) and high-speed internet. Sound too good to enjoy for just a week? Call these guys up -- you can buy yourself a private residence if you've got the scratch.
