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HDTV sales to surge in China, not due to Beijing Olympics
Couple the fact that the standard of living in China is set to rise substantially in the coming years with the perpetually dropping prices of flat-panel HDTVs, and it seems quite easy to see how some analysts are predicting huge HDTV sales in said nation this year. According to research firm DisplaySearch, LCD shipments to China are set to jump 70-percent this year to nearly 15 million units while plasma sales nearly double to over 1 million. Interestingly, the looming Beijing Olympics aren't being pinpointed as the main driver, or even a passenger, to be honest. For starters, the Chinese government canceled May Day holidays this year, "a major shopping season," and Lehman Brothers' James Kim even went so far as to note that the "Olympics can help sales, but it won't change the market fundamentals." If only they knew how fantastic the long-jump looked in 1080i...
Motorola's Linux-based Ming 2 in Q2
According to Bill Chen, General Manager of Motorola Taiwan's Mobile Device business, the second generation Linux-based Ming handset won't launch until Q2 of 2008. Not February as initially rumored. What's more, the handset will be introduced in high-end and entry-level configurations -- unfortunately, both are GSM/EDGE, not 3G capable. DigiTimes says that Inventec won the manufacturing contract of this MOTO Beijing designed handset. Given the unusual (for MOTO) use of a lower-case vowel in the name, there's a good chance this was never meant for Stateside consumption anyway. Too bad, eh?
Love me, marry me?
I'm a big fan of The Crazy, and I like to think the world is a finer place when we're given the opportunity to really experience how it moves through our lives. Case in point: Beijing's Perfect World Network, owners of the Chinese MMO 'Legend of Martial Arts', have announced an event to run for the rest of this year entitled 'Love Me, Marry Me'.Now, as far as I understand this, Perfect World is talking about an event that's meant to reward cash prizes and publicity to players who have real-life relationships, culminating in a group wedding event at a prestigious hotel. Entrants will be judged on, among other things, 'how well the lovers know each other' and 'a Medieval style mysterious Chateau Party'. Best of all, the press release states '"Love Me, Marry Me" is the largest love-themed event ever held by [Perfect World]', meaning there have been others.I'm loving this idea, and wish all competing couples the best. I'd like to end this post with something cutting and acerbic, but I just can't; I'm all about the love, baby.[Via http://usstock.jrj.com.cn]
China and the US are getting hitched (with fiber)
Looks like Chinese and US telco's will do what our governments can't: establish an undeniable bond which is stronger than, uh, glass. Ok, we have that. Nevertheless, work began this week in China on a 18,000-km (11,184-mile) fiber-optic cable between the coastal city of Qingdao and Nedonna Beach, Oregon. Existing cables between China and the US run through Japan. The new link is designed to support 62 million simultaneous calls while handling the anticipated growth from Internet video and e-commerce. With any luck, they'll meet the July target ahead of the Beijing Olympics which starts in August 2008.
Joystiq hands-on: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii/DS)
Smash Bros. isn't the only place the mascot exchange program is thriving. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games pits Nintendo and Sega characters against each other in Summer Games challenges. Bowser, Peach, Tails, Robotnik, and others compete in triple-jump, swimming relays, velodrome races, and dozens of other contests.I recently sampled the DS and WIi versions of the game. Sega mentioned that the IOC helped make sure that the stadiums and other settings accurately reflect the 2008 Beijing games. But another license requirement pitches the title at kids; other than real-world-based measurements of distance and time, don't expect accuracy within the events. Instead, Mario and Sonic plays like another mini-game buffet.A few modes -- especially with four players and user-created tournaments -- are interesting, but the majority seem suited to a younger crowd. Gaming families may enjoy the humor, variety, and simple style. But sports enthusiasts should wait for a more realistic game.%Gallery-4863%%Gallery-4864%
Samsung intros 18K Golden Edition E848 handset
Releasing gizmos to commemorate the 2008 Olympics in Beijing is becoming somewhat of a recurring theme, and the Samsung Anycall 18K Golden Edition E848 is keepin' the trend alive. Reportedly, the handset features an 18K golden reflective surface to compliment the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games logo imprinted on the back. Additionally, it boasts a 2.2-inch 320 x 240 resolution LCD, integrated media player, support for H.263 / MP3 / AAC / WMA / MPEG4 formats, quad-band connectivity, 70MB of internal memory, a microSD expansion slot, Bluetooth 2.0, A2DP, USB 2.0 and a talk time of around five hours. Mum's the word on an actual release date, but you can purportedly expect it to ring up for HK$2,780 ($359) whenever it lands. Check out a couple more shots after the jump.
2008 Olympics inspired phone ready to scare children
At first glance, we're not sure whether CECT designed its cell phone around an Olympic mascot or some sort of cellular voodoo doll. Apparently inspired by 2008 Beijing Olympics mascot Fuwa Huanhuan, the kid-friendly candybar rocks a 1.5 inch screen, 1.3 megapixel camera, microSD expandable memory with a 256MB card, media player, and the requisite assortment of Olympic ringtones, wallpaper, and screen savers. The device will be a Chinese market exclusive, so we can see it being branded as an Olympic collectible and ending up on eBay for enormous amounts of money -- or peanuts. Hard to say.[Via Newlaunches]
Chinese electronics company sues Blizzard over fonts
An electronics company in Beijing has sued Blizzard, claiming that they allegedly used five copyrighted fonts in World of Warcraft. Founder Electronics wants 100 million yuan for the alleged infringement, which is apparently the largest amount ever asked for by a Chinese company in a copyright case (Founder claims the loss cost them 1 billion yuan). The case is sitting in front of the Beijing High People's Court, and the9, which is the Chinese company that runs WoW there, is considering their options.I'm assuming that means the9's Chinese version of WoW, which would mean the fonts themselves are for Chinese characters, so there's probably no fonts that English-speaking users would recognize ingame. However, Founder is apparently known for creating some of the most popular fonts in China, so the odds that someone at the9 used one of them (or at the very least one that looked like one of them) are probably pretty good (the picture on this post is from a Founder event, not a Blizzard event, so the obvious use of the Founder font there doesn't count). Of course it's up to the High Court to decide whether the infringement actually took place or not-- no word on how long the judgment will take.
NBC to shoot 3600 hours of 2008 Olympics, many in HD
If you thought 416 hours of Winter Olympic Games coverage was a bit much, the 3,600 hours (that's 150 days worth, folks) that NBC-Universal will be recording next year will seem like overkill in its finest form. Sure enough, it will supposedly be covering every facet of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing from August 8 - 24, 2008, and a variety of networks including NBC, USA, MSNBC, and CNBC will be carrying its programming. Notably, it will be displaying Olympics in HD on Universal-HD, NBC HD, and USA HD, and while the exact amount of HD coverage wasn't stated, even a fraction of the 3,600 hour total would be mighty impressive.
Lenovo to auction Olympic laptops for charity
In celebration of the "one-year-out mark for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games," Lenovo has just announced that it will be conducting a series of back-to-back, week-long auctions to gift high bidders with its svelte Olympic-themed machine. Beginning on February 8, 2008, a "Cloud of Promise" laptop will be available for bidding each week leading up to the Olympic Games, and a number of them will even be "autographed by athlete ambassadors." Reportedly, "100-percent" of the proceeds will be distributed through the Lenovo Hope Fund to select philanthropies, including Right to Play, and the auctions will take place at the currently unavailable www.lenovohopefundauctions.com website.[Via TechDigest]
Beijing turns to Nissan for citywide navigation system
It looks like the city of Beijing was suitably impressed with Nissan's still-in-development transportation safety system, as the city's now tasked the company with installing the system in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. According to The Wall Street Journal, the system, dubbed Star Wings, will rely on an existing Beijing system to collect traffic data, which Nissan will then turn around and transmit to drivers via an unspecified wireless network. That'll allow drivers to determine the quickest route to take which, in theory, should reduce congestion in the city, something Beijing's been trying to get under control in time for the Olympics. While that's not all that far away, Nissan seems confident that it can make a difference, saying it hopes to put the technology into a fifth of Beijing's 3 million cars by August of 2008 -- an ambitious goal it believes in can achieve in part by working with rental car companies and taxi fleets.
Sonic has not been training for the Olympics
Oh, Sonic! How unkind the years have been to you! We remember the days when you dashed through Green Hill Zone at breakneck speeds, a blue, blast-processed blur. Look at you now, wheezing while just keeping pace with an obese plumber. You make us sick.We're not sure whose idea it was to pit these two rivals against each other in a footrace, but they're to blame for our harsh words with Sega's mascot. Four new screenshots showing off Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games have been unveiled and dropped into our gallery below. Though this image of our favorite hedgehog lagging behind in a sprint event is downright deplorable, we were happy to see Luigi's arms thrust up in victory for a change. %Gallery-4697%
Hitachi and Oracle introduce anti-piracy tags in China
Considering the sensational amount of knockoff gadgetry and counterfeit software that manages to emerge in China, it's only surprising that it has taken this long for a company (or two) to unveil a legitimate solution to at least curb the amount of black market goods that leave the country. Reportedly, Oracle will be teaming up with Hitachi to "jointly market wireless IC tags in China that can be used to identify whether products are real or not," meaning that tagged goods can now be easily identified as authentic when placed over a reader. The tags will be made and distributed by Hitachi and the duo of firms will promote the usage of said anti-piracy measures with the Tokyo-based Ubiquitous ID Center which issues and manages IC tags. Initially, the tags will purportedly be used with tickets for the upcoming Beijing Olympics and Expo 2010 in Shanghai, but there was no word on any planned rollouts or potential takers outside of these two events. Still, for Japanese wares makers that operate in China, ¥10 ($0.08) a pop for these piracy-thwarting tags sounds like an awfully fair deal. [Warning: Read link requires subscription][Via Yahoo]
Golden Dragon's Ruyan e-cigarettes deliver nicotine sans toxins
While overseas firms like Thanko and SolidAlliance are kicking out random bits of fun that surely generate a solid profit, China's Golden Dragon has probably found the real road to riches with its toy. The brilliant Ruyan e-cigarette purportedly "feels like a cigarette and looks like a cigarette, but it isn't bad for your health." The battery-powered device is used exactly like a typical, harmful cigarette, but rather than delivering tar and toxins to the lungs along with nicotine, the poisons are stripped away and doses of nicotine are still provided. Interestingly, the company claims that its product is simply the best way to kick the habit, but if these things actually do what they claim, it honestly seems like a marvelous ploy to get folks to shift their funding from tobacco-based cigarettes to the Ruyan. The gizmos are already available in China, Israel, Turkey, and a number of European countries for around $208 apiece, and while profits have "more than doubled" in just a year's time already, bringing this thing to the US would certainly provide a few early retirements.[Via TheRawFeed]
Lenovo's Olympics-inspired laptops revealed
Yeah, you may have thought those Santa Rosa, er, Centrino Pro-based ThinkPads were hot stuff, but they ain't got nuthin' on the future eBay value of the svelte new Olympic-inspired iteration. Shortly after Lenovo unveiled its 2008 Beijing Olympic torch design, the firm has already thrown down snapshots of its Olympic laptop, which certainly looks dashing in its own right. The stunning red and black case design is accented with a motif similar to that found on the torch, and the spiral designs actually seep beyond the external casing right onto the palm rests and around the LCD's bezel. Unfortunately, not much is know about the internal hardware that these presumably finely trained machines will sport, but early details suggests a 12.1-inch XGA display and Intel's L2400 Core 2 Duo processor will be in the mix. Additionally, mum's the word on pricing and availability, but you can rest assured that this bad boy will be one hot commodity whenever it lands in limited quantities. Click on through for a few more glamor shots.[Via Engadget Chinese]
Beijing Olympics to get Lenovo-designed torch, seeded clouds
Apparently, Lenovo kept enough staff on board to create the 2008 Olympic torch, as the firm's Cloud of Promise design was recently selected over 300 competing themes and will be "carried by torchbearers around the world in the Olympic Torch Relay preceding the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games." With Lenovo being a China-based firm, the company's chairman (Yang Yuanqing) stated that it was "an honor to have its torch design chosen," and oddly enough, that wasn't the only cloud-related Olympic news coming out of Beijing. Reportedly, meteorologists will be utilizing a process known as "cloud seeding" to force rain out beforehand and subsequently clear the filthy skies and alleviate the purported "50-percent chance of rain during the opening and closing ceremonies." Of course, this isn't exactly a push to become a greener society or anything, but at least the HD feeds from around the area will look a bit better during the competitions.Read - Lenovo designs Olympic torchRead - Cloud seeding in China
Sonic & Mario finally team up for a game
Once embittered rivals, Mario and Sonic were at each others' necks during the 16-bit console wars, both of them vying for the Top Mascot prize that awaited the victor at the end of the battle. Tensions eventually eased between the two combatants and their respective companies, and after years of respectful neutrality, Nintendo and Sega are making their friendship official with a game that joins both franchises.Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will be released during the holiday season this year for the Nintendo DS and the Wii. Mario, Sonic, Luigi, Tails, and the rest of the extended casts will be competing in events set in arenas modeled after the venues of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.Hisao Oguchi, Sega Corp.'s President and CEO, had nothing but praise for the project: "For the first time, two of the world's greatest games' characters come together to compete in the world's greatest sporting event and we couldn't be more excited." While we can't imagine anyone from the Mario troupe besting Sonic at the 100m run, the blue hedgehog might have trouble with swimming competitions if he has to stop and replenish his air supply with bubbles too much.This might not receive the same fanfare as a Sonic appearance on Super Smash Bros. Brawl would, but maybe this is just a hint of what's to come from Nintendo and Sega? There's not much at the video game's official site yet, but head over there to check out forum discussions and sign up for email updates.
New Year's gaming gorge ends in death
A 26-year-old man from northeastern China collapsed and died Saturday after a "marathon" gaming session. Identified by his surname Zhang, the man had reportedly spent nearly all of his week-long Lunar New Year vacation playing online games. A doctor ruled the cause of death to be "overwork and obesity" -- Zhang weighed roughly 330 pounds.Zhang has been classified as an internet addict, a growing concern for the Chinese government, which has taken action in recent years to address this latest social ill, launching a rehab clinic and testing a system that regulates online gamers' playtime. The government has classified 2.6 million of the country's 20 million internet users under 18 as addicts. Said a young female middle school teacher of Zhang's death, "There are only two options: TV or computer. What else can I do in the holiday as all markets, KTV, and cafeterias are shut down?" In response, the local government has been urged to organize more "traditional activities" to entertain its citizens during the week of celebration.
Gold and silver USB drives celebrate the Year of the Pig
While most of you may think we're just rolling along in 2007, you're probably just paying too close attention to that Gregorian calendar, as there's still a ways to go before the Year of the Pig is rung in. In a collaborative effort between the Beijing Zhongshi Boda Company and Lenovo, a limited run (9,999 to be exact) of gold and silver USB flash drives are being released with celebratory engravings on the sides. Each drive is made from "30 grams of its respective metals," and reportedly sports a purity level of 99.9-percent. Looking to woo folks who just can't get enough of that Chinese culture in the side of their computer, the devices feature a pig pattern and "2007" to commemorate the upcoming new year, and moreover, the Chinese characters "Jin Zhu Tian Fu" are inscribed, which translates to "may the gold pig bring you good fortune." We've no idea if silver users won't be nearly as lucky for typographical reasons, nor how much capacity these things actually have, but the sets should start selling soon for a whopping 9,999 CNY ($1,281) over in China.[Via Spluch & Engadget China]
Mass market SED HDTVs by 2008?
Yeah, we know that Toshiba and Canon promised us a complete line-up of SED TVs by March of this year, and we don't quite buy their "drop in LCD / Plasma prices caused the delay" excuse, but we'll let them off the hook just this once. According to the slacking partner companies, we should expect to see mass-market availability of SED HDTVs by 2008, just in time for the next major sports event / HDTV-push: the Beijing Olympics. The make or break factor for SED is how much it's going to cost consumers, so it's not encouraging to hear Canon chairman Fujio Mitarai say "we have not yet established the manufacturing technology for mass-producing SEDs at low cost." With the price of Plasmas and LCDs dropping all the time, they better figure out how to make SED TVs cheap, otherwise they run the risk of the benefits of SED -- CRT performance in an LCD sized package -- becoming irrelevant to the average consumer.[Via HDBeat]