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MMO Burnout: Do yourself a favor and play Sleeping Dogs
This week I thought I'd travel to Hong Kong as an undercover cop, infiltrate the Triads, enter a few street races, sing some karaoke, and generally kung fu fight my way through another jewel of an open-world sandbox actioner. You're welcome to come with me, but you'll need a copy of Sleeping Dogs to make it happen. Square's 2012 gangster opus got a new DLC injection this week, but it'll be a while before I can report on it since the rest of game is so large and involving.
Xiaomi Phone 2 preps Hong Kong and Taiwan launch, seeks early local testers on Facebook
We knew Xiaomi's keen to bring its phones out of China and into the European market, but before taking that long-haul flight, the Chinese company is going to make a couple of stops in Asia. According to the latest updates on the company's Twitter feed and a freshly-made Facebook group (under "Xiaomi Asia"), the Xiaomi Phone 2 will be hitting Hong Kong and Taiwan "in the near future," and folks living in those two regions can enter a draw for a chance to become a guinea pig help test the phone's localized MIUI ROM (in traditional Chinese, naturally) ahead of launch. CEO Lei Jun had previously stated that his company would expand into Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore by the end of this year, but due to the overwhelming demand of Qualcomm's 28nm chipsets throughout the year, it's unlikely that Xiaomi can realize its original plan in time. Regardless, from what we know, Xiaomi may partner with Chunghwa Telecom to sell the Xiaomi Phone 2 in Taiwan, whereas in Hong Kong it may utilize the same old online direct sale model to begin with -- unlike Meizu who has a physical shop in the city, as well as a partnership with local carrier PCCW. Now, how about a full schedule for your world domination, Mr. Lei?
Cookoo analog smart watch makes early debut in Hong Kong, we go hands-on (video)
Remember the Cookoo smart watch? For those who don't know, 'tis an analog watch with a notification display plus Bluetooth 4.0 low energy connectivity, and it prides itself for its much longer battery life compared to other smart watches. We originally covered it as a Kickstarter project back in May, and seven months later we found ourselves at its humble launch event in Hong Kong. That's right, it turns out that ConnecteDevice, the company behind this gadget, is based in said city; though it did also emphasize its multinational effort on this project -- French design, American engineering, Indian plus European coding, and Hong Kong plus Shenzhen R&D on integration and manufacturing. Interestingly, the company decided to make a commercial debut in its home town ahead of the bigger launch at CES next month. Read on to see how we got on with this wearable -- there's a hands-on video after the break as well.
Hong Kong Causeway Bay Apple store opening on December 15
Apple's newest flagship store in Asia will open this coming Saturday, December 15th. The Hong Kong Causeway Bay Apple store will open its doors at 9 AM local time. According to MacRumors, the new store will consist of three floors for a combined retail space of 20,000 square feet. Like many flagship Apple stores, the Causeway Bay store will feature stunning architecture, including 30-foot tall glass windows. Currently the store is covered in faux red curtain graphics with a sign reading: "An opening you simply can't miss." A few other Apple stores are also set to open this week. Apple will be opening the MixC Chengdu store in Chengdu, China this Saturday as well as the Fountain Gate store in the state of Victoria, Australia. The Chengdu store opens at 8 AM local time while the Fountain Gate store opens at noon local time.
Trial begins for Chinese iPad, iPhone smugglers
A trial has started this week in southern China to determine the fate of a smuggling ring that brought as many as 160,000 Apple devices worth about US$80 million into the country. Sting operations were able to catch five different smuggling rings and 104 suspects. The trial this week, which is being held in the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court, deals with only 25 of the suspects. Apple products are much cheaper outside of mainland China, so smugglers were buying the devices elsewhere and then bringing them into the country for sale on Alibaba's Taobao online marketplace. Electronista reports that the ring was selling up to 20,000 Apple devices a month at one point. iPhones purchased in Hong Kong are popular on the mainland, as they are often sold unlocked and can be used on China Mobile's network. China Mobile doesn't officially carry the iPhone, but has many unlocked iPhones on its network. M.I.C Gadget reported earlier this week that customs officials in Hong Kong caught smugglers attempting to bring 227 iPhone 5s, 22 iPads and a number of other products into mainland China. Those products were worth over US$129,000.
Rara.com expands to iOS, Windows 8 and more countries
Rara.com has been mighty busy since its luddite-friendly music streaming service launched at the end of last year, and now it's reporting the outcome of those 10 months of toil. In addition to an improved web experience and new Android widget, an AirPlay-compatible app for iOS is now available, with software for Windows 8 arriving alongside its launch. Rara's 18 million tracks haven't only invaded other platforms, but other countries, too -- residents of Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Africa and Portugal have joined the party, bringing the total number of compatible countries to 27. Lenovo is also getting a piece of the action, as a worldwide agreement means Rara software will now come pre-installed on the manufacturer's Android tablets and Windows 8 gear. Want to hear more about Rara's recent accomplishments? Then head for the PR after the break.
iPhone 5 selling out in Hong Kong
Hong Kong residents have iPhone 5 fever, and they are buying the smartphone at an astounding rate, according to a report in AppleInsider. This information comes from analyst Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets who is visiting the Asian-Pacific region. White claims customers have a better chance at winning the actual lottery than getting an iPhone via Apple's online ordering process. Apple uses a lottery method to select customers who can pick up the phone the next day in the Apple store. All the stores White visited were sold out of the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 went on sale in Hong Kong on September 28, a week after its initial September 21 launch. By December, Apple expects to sell the phone in 100 countries and with 240 carriers worldwide.
Tonino Lamborghini L2800 tablet and TL700 phone rumble in Hong Kong, we go hands-on (video)
Looks like Russia isn't the only place with an appetite for overly expensive gadgets. Following the original launch last month, two of the four latest Tonino Lamborghini devices have made their way over to Hong Kong. Pictured above is the L2800 tablet which has since been upgraded from Android 2.3 to 4.0.3, but the hardware remains the same: a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm chip, 9.7-inch 1,024 x 768 display, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and microSD expansion, along with 3G connectivity, two- and five-megapixel cameras front and back, four obviously redundant capacitive buttons, 7,500mAh battery and, sadly, a proprietary dock connector. All of this plus the nicely crafted titanium chassis weigh 850g, and it'll cost you just HK$13,800 or about US$1,780. Hey, quit moaning -- it's a massive reduction from the US$2,320 price tag in Russia. %Gallery-164340%
ZTE launching Grand X LTE on China Mobile in Hong Kong
ZTE's LTE-capable version of its Grand X smartphone will arrive on China Mobile's GSM network at the end of this month. The Grand X LTE (T82) is the company's first single-chip LTE handset, coming with a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 8-megapixel rear camera and Ice Cream Sandwich. It'll arrive in Hong Kong on August 31st, setting locals hack HK$3,180, before being rolled out to the rest of Asia-Pacific from Q3.
Akamai: peak internet speeds jumped 25 percent year-to-year in Q1, Germany tops the mobile world
If you thought world internet access speeds were facing a large-scale slowdown, you can stop fretting for now. Data from Akamai suggests that average speeds were just 2.6Mbps, but that was a healthy 14 percent improvement over the fall and a noticeable 25 percent better than early 2011. Average peak internet connection speeds surged just as much in the first quarter of this year: at 13.5Mbps, the average maximum was a 10 percent season-to-season boost and that same 25 percent versus a year before. The leaders remain Asian territories with that ideal mix of dense populations and high technology, culminating in Hong Kong's blazing 49.3Mbps typical downlink. Akamai attributes much of the growth in peak speeds to an explosion in "high broadband" connections, where 10Mbps is the minimum -- countries like Denmark, Finland, South Korea, Switzerland and the US roughly doubled their adoption of extra-fast access in the past year. Before cheering too loudly, we'd point out that mobile speeds are still trudging along despite HSPA+ and LTE making their presences felt. The most consistent speed came from an unnamed German carrier, which neared 6Mbps; the best regular American rate was 2.5Mbps, which underscores how far even some of the most developed countries have to go. There's also a clear gap in regular landline broadband quality if we go by the US' own National Broadband Plan standards. Just 60 percent of US broadband is over the 4Mbps mark, putting the US at 14th in the global ranks. We're hoping that projects like Google Fiber can raise expectations for everyone, but you can hit the source shortly to get Akamai's full study.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon pricing spotted in Hong Kong
Lenovo floated the ThinkPad X1 Carbon past us in May without so much as a whisper of what the lightweight Ultrabook's price would be. The company doesn't mind shouting it out in what looks to be a Hong Kong back-to-school promo flyer, though. As long as the Newsmth.net post represents the final pricing, local residents can normally expect to pay about HK$12,880 ($1,660 US) for an X1 Carbon with a 1.7GHz Core i5, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. That's quite the premium if you compare it directly to what we see in the US for a PC like the Samsung Series 9, although it's tricky to tell if prices will be comparable on the other side of the Pacific: there's no sales tax in Hong Kong, among other factors. Even if the price varies by the time of the US launch later this summer, students in the city are already getting a discount to HK$9,180 ($1,184) that suggests at least some wiggle room if competition among Ultrabooks grows especially fierce. [Thanks, Sam]
iTunes in the Cloud movies find their way to Australia, Canada, the UK and 32 more countries
The advent of movie support in iTunes for the Cloud was a boon to Apple TV owners as well as any iTunes user with a tendency to hop between devices -- within the US, that is. Apple today swung the doors open and let Australia, Canada, the UK as well as 32 other countries and regions around the world get access to their movies whenever they're signed in through iTunes or an iOS device. Not every studio is on the same page, as many American viewers will know all too well: it's more likely that you'll get re-download rights for a major studio title such as Lockout than an indie production, for example. Even with that limit in mind, there's no doubt more than a few movie mavens glad to avoid shuffling and re-syncing that copy of Scott Pilgrim to watch it through to the end.
Philips W732 Android 4.0 smartphone coming to China, has 2,400mAh battery for extended web surfing
The terms "Philips" and "phone" aren't as synonymous as they used to be in the US, but the manufacturer does crank out a smartphone from time to time in China nonetheless. Following the Gingerbread-based W632, Philips is now readying the W732: the smartphone features Ice Cream Sandwich, a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 WVGA LCD IPS panel, 1GHz single-core MediaTek MT6575, 5MP camera, 7.2Mbps HSDPA / 5.76Mbps HSUPA and dual-SIM support. Its most intriguing claim, however, is that its 2,400mAh battery, combined with a few other power-saving methods, will best a Motorola RAZR Maxx at battery life when surfing the web (lasting for 10.5 hours, according to the company). It's still not going to beat the Maxx in overall talk time, but Philips claims its choice of LCD IPS over AMOLED should see significant power savings when looking at the browser, due to the prominence of white screens that drain the battery faster on AMOLED-equipped phones. We'll be eager to see how that turns out, but it's destined only for China at the moment. Head to the source link for all the details.
Nintendo debuts new 3DS variants in spicy summer colors
While we're still itching to handle its bigger (and more stylish) XL iteration, that hasn't stopped Nintendo rolling out the acid colors for two Asia-bound handhelds. The 3DS in Cerulean (the bright blue one) and Shimmer (the hot pink version) will hit stores in Hong Kong and Taiwan, accompanying the launch of the 3DS XL in September. No word from Nintendo so far on whether it'll follow the Aubergine-hued model to the US .
Sleeping Dogs receives adults-only rating in Japan
Sleeping Dogs, the upcoming Hong Kong-based gritty action title from Square Enix received a Z rating from the Japanese rating organization CERO (the equivalent of an AO rating from the ESRB). As a result, the game will be modified for Japanese audiences, particularly to penalize players for attacking civilians, according to CVG.Additionally, a sex scene in the game will be softened, and the game won't include a character that signals the start of a street race. Z-rated games in Japan are not displayed on store shelves, so buyers will have to ask for the game by name at retail store counters (much like the Xbox 360 version of No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise). The practice of adapting a game for Japanese audiences isn't uncommon, as THQ's Homefront shipped without Kim Jong-il images in 2011.Sleeping Dogs received a Mature rating from the ESRB, and is set to launch on August 14 in North America.
iTunes Store opens in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asia-Pacific territories
Our Apple-loving compatriots on the west side of the Pacific Ocean have been able to purchase the latest in iPhone and iPad software from the App Store for a while, but believe it or not, they've been shut out of the iTunes Store. Apple has just opened the virtual iTunes storefront in a dozen locations across the Asia-Pacific region. The "big three" Asian markets that will get access to music and movies for the first time today are Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Other locations that are going live today are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. All of the new stores will feature local content as well as the big international favorites. Apple chose to launch the new branches of the iTunes Store complete with iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match subscriptions.
Apple opens iTunes Store in Hong Kong, Taiwan and 10 other Asia-Pacific territories
Many Apple fans on the opposite side of the Pacific from Cupertino haven't had much of a choice to shop from iTunes, even though they've had the App Store for some time. There's now a much better sense of balance: Apple just flicked the switch on the iTunes Store for music and movies in a dozen countries and territories across the Asia-Pacific region. The company singles out our own Richard Lai's Hong Kong as well as Singapore and Taiwan, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam are also getting the media catalogs, which include local content along with the international hits. It's a full catch-up as well, with iTunes in the Cloud re-downloads and iTunes Match subscriptions available in every new country. If you're a huge Andy Lau fan but wanted his albums from the most iPhone-friendly store possible, the wait is over.
Meizu MX 4-core and Flyme OS 1.0 formally announced, available on June 30th
Forget that "MX Quad-core" moniker, because Meizu's just formally introduced its first quad-core Android phone as the "MX 4-core" in Hong Kong. For those who care, this is the first time ever for Meizu to collaborate with a carrier -- that being Hong Kong's PCCW, who's offering the HK$3,099 (US$400) 32GB model for free on various tariffs, while details are light on the HK$4,099 (US$530) 64GB version. Once the stage cleared we had a chance to take a closer look at the international variant of the MX 4-core. Aside from the disappearance of the Chinese logo above the screen plus the duller logo on the back (but accompanied by an extra capacity label), the 4-inch HSPA+ phone looks identical to its dual-core sibling. Additionally, Hong Kong and mainland China customers who pre-order between now and the launch on June 30th will get to pick a colored back crystal shell for free, including ivory white, milky lime, lilac purple and misty pink to replace the original white. Software-wise Flyme -- Meizu's heavily customized Ice Cream Sandwich -- is also very similar to its Gingerbread predecessor, except for its slicker responsiveness (especially the camera app) and the odd interface tweaks here and there. There are also a few new features that are worth a mention: on top of the new native stopwatch, countdown timer and multi-segmented timed task lists, there's Flyme Voicemail which is essentially a native recorder for incoming calls that you reject (think of it as a neat alternative to conventional visual voicemail), and there's Flyme Message which is Meizu's take on SIP services like Whatsapp and Line. We shall dig deeper in our full review, but for now, you can check out a quick hands-on video after the break. And for those who still possess Meizu's older Android phones, we were told to expect Flyme to be delivered over the air in early July (as opposed to the original June date), so keep an eye out for that little update icon. Update: We mentioned in our video that the China version of the MX 4-core doesn't come with the Play Store, but it turns out that we were mistaken. Hooray! Update 2: By the way, it's pronounced "fly-me." %Gallery-159018%
Retailers relocate to accomodate Apple Store in Hong Kong
Apple is adding a second Apple store in Hong Kong and retailers are vacating their spaces to make room for the Cupertino company. According to an ifoAppleStore report, three retailers, HSBC, Agnes B. and Izzue, are leaving their spaces in the Festival Walk shopping center to make room for a large Apple Store. The new store will be across the bay from the current IFC Mall store and located on an island that ifoAppleStore describes as being "office-oriented." It will be in a high-traffic area near the Kowloon Tong subway station and the City University of Hong Kong. The store may open sometime in 2013.
Crystal White PS Vita landing in Hong Kong June 28th, overpriced import shops two days later
It was bound to happen eventually, every other gadget does it. After debuting in a serious black sheen, the PS Vita is now getting a stylish white shell as well. Sadly, the shiny new pale version will only be available in Hong Kong at first, starting June 28th. There's no price premium for grabbing the lighter shade of handheld, though, if you want the matching white accessory pack, you'll have to pre-order. On the plus side, if you pledge now, they'll toss in the Trooper Pack, Armor Game case, 4GB memory card and (perhaps most importantly) a lint free cloth for free. Check out the PR after the break.