MinistryOfIndustryAndInformationTechnology
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China chooses Ubuntu for a national reference OS coming in April
China's government and people have historically been friendly toward Linux, although not quite on the level of a new deal with Canonical. The country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is teaming with Canonical to create Ubuntu Kylin, a variant of the regular Linux distribution that would serve as a reference point for local hardware and software developers. A Raring Ringtail-based build due this April should bring Chinese calendars, character input methods and quick access to relevant music services. Later Kylin releases should integrate Baidu mapping, mass transit information, Taobao shopping and a common slate of photo editing and system tools from WPS. The hope is to foster open source development in China as part of a five-year government growth plan -- and, we suspect, get away from closed operating systems that Americans control.
iPhone 4S cleared for use in China, sino-Siri coming soon
While Apple fans around the globe have had the iPhone 4S for awhile now, many of our friends in the Far East haven't gotten to enjoy the fruits of their countrymen's labor due to a lack of governmental approval. You see, before a handset makes it onto Chinese networks, it's got to be approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The good news is, the 4S has finally been blessed by Beijing and will be brought to the masses by Chinese Unicom sometime soon. That means that China's home-grown superphone, the Meizu MX, is going to have some Siri-ous competition for Chinese hearts and yuan in 2012.
China approaches 900 million mobile phone users, India's market is the fastest-growing
Even if everyone and their dog in the US bought a cell phone, the total number of mobile users would still pale in comparison to China's. The country is on the verge of becoming the first with 900 million cell phone owners, according to stats collected by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The number of mobile subscribers reached 889 million at the end of March, up 30 million, or a modest 3.5 percent, from the previous quarter. That would put China on track to exceed 900 million sometime in May. Just to put that in context, the US is home to 303 million subscribers, and there's not a ton of room for growth. China's wireless subscribers, meanwhile, surpassed the total US population four years ago. But, notes PCWorld, India remains the fastest growing mobile market with 791 million users in late February -- a 15 percent boost over the 687 million reported just five months earlier. Which will hit one billion first? Place your bets!
China says Android can stay, misses Google's point
A Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesperson has today delivered a statement affirming China's willingness to allow Android devices to operate within the country without restriction so long as they adhere to the nation's laws. This means that whatever China's response to Google no longer obeying its censorship edicts may be, it won't be to disallow Android -- which kind of makes sense considering the growing roster of OPhones out there, all running a remixed version of the dessert-loving mobile OS. Then again, Google's latest power play was to hold back Android handsets from entering China, so we're not entirely sure how much the Mountain View outfit cares about the Middle Kingdom's apparent benevolence.
