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Asia gets limited edition Final Fantasy XIII Lightning controller
Don't you wish you had a matching controller for that limited edition 250GB Lightning PS3 you bought from Japan? Well, if you go to Hong Kong or Taiwan, you'll be able to do just that. To celebrate the new Chinese language release of Final Fantasy XIII, a new special edition DualShock 3 controller will be released. For about $90, you'll be able to get a bundle that includes the Chinese language version of the game, a PSN card, and a special Lightning-branded white DualShock controller, featuring the same pink design as the LE console. [Via Siliconera] %Gallery-80441%
The Engadget Show: Inside the gadget markets of China, part one - Hong Kong
China may have its ups and downs, but there's no denying that it's a geeky wonderland for Engadget advocates. Oh, and we're not just talking about KIRFs either -- this country of 1.3 billion people has a lot more tech love to offer. In this first episode of a two-part series, we'll be showing you around the two hottest gadget districts of Hong Kong -- Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po. By the end of this you'll probably be sick of cramped street markets and computer shopping malls, but hey, just be thankful that you weren't the one who went through all that trouble and jet lag. Host: Richard Lai Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm, Richard Lai Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Filmed by: Omar Rabbolini, Wai-Tai Li, Richard Lai Edited by: Richard Lai Music by: Pieces of Eight, Sabrepulse, Maxo 01 Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Download the Show: The Engadget Show - Segment 007 (HD) / The Engadget Show - Segment 007 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically. See our other Engadget Show short features: The Engadget Show: Inside the mind of Yves Behar The Engadget Show: Inside chiptunes and 8-bit visuals The Engadget Show: Kindle etching and DIY adventures with Adafruit Industries The Engadget Show: Inside the mind of designer Philippe Starck The Engadget Show: Philippe Starck Q&A bonus round The Engadget Show: Inside Ben Heck's magic kingdom The Engadget Show: Hands-on with Times Square
China partially blocks Google search results from Hong Kong, the saga continues
You didn't think that just because Google started redirecting its Google.cn domain to its Hong Kong site, we were coming to a neat compromise to the big brouhaha between the search giant and China, did you? Oh no, brother, this thing is far from over. China has now responded by whipping its state computers into a filtering frenzy, blocking and censoring out content it considers objectionable from Google's HK-based search results. Adding to its show of strength, it's expected the Chinese government's influence will also result in China Mobile canceling a deal to have Google as its default search provider on mobile handsets. We suppose it's Google's turn to respond now. How about offering a friendly game of badminton to settle their differences? [Thanks, Colin]
Google.cn now rerouting to Hong Kong domain, an 'entirely legal' workaround to censorship woes
It's not quite the ceasing of operations that the local papers were reporting last week, but Google has announced today what it's calling an "entirely legal" way of giving mainland China unfiltered search results. The Google.cn domain now redirects to its Hong Kong servers via Google.com.hk, providing uncensored access in traditional and simplified Chinese. Needless to say, any mainland Google China servers have thus been given an early retirement. "We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services," writes David Drummond, SVP of Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, on the official Google Blog, while also noting to expect some slowdown while the HK servers deal with an expanded load of users. As for its men and women on the ground, Google reiterates that these decisions were driven by executives in the U.S. "and that none of [its] employees in China can, or should, be held responsible for them." R&D work will continue on the mainland, and a sales presence will remain. The company has created a "China service availability" page, promised to be updated daily, for seeing what parts of Google's business are being blocked by the country at any given time -- as of today, that includes Youtube, Google Sites, Blogger, and partial blocks of Docs, Picasa, and Groups. We're very curious to see how the page'll look in tomorrow's update. Update: China has given its own response, in English, saying that Google has "violated its written promise." An official for the State Council Information Office goes on to say, " This is totally wrong. We're uncompromisingly opposed to the politicization of commercial issues, and express our discontent and indignation to Google for its unreasonable accusations and conducts." More details via Xinhuanet. Update 2: The White House has chimed in. "We are disappointed that Google and the Chinese government were unable to reach an agreement that would allow Google to continue operating its search services in China on its Google.cn website," said National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer. More via Yahoo! News. Update 3: The New York Times sat down, briefly, with Google co-founder Sergey Brin for a few elaborations on today's events. For starters, Brin noted that the new policy was entirely Google's idea, and the US government was not involved in any way. He also silenced whispers that Google would be releasing software for bypassing censorship. "I think those tools are going to come of their own accord. I don't think we have to do anything," he said.
Hong Kong International Airport installs PS3 game poles, delays more flights
Grrr... It's not fair, is it? You'd think Hong Kong's award-winning airport already has enough to keep travelers jolly (there's free WiFi too), but as the old Chinese proverb goes: "Those who don't move forward will only go backward." As of this week, Hong Kong International Airport has 14 free-of-charge PlayStation 3 game poles that are preloaded with Final Fantasy XIII, Avatar, Uncharted 2, Assassin's Creed 2, etc. Hey Sony, too bad you didn't start from the top of the "world's worst airports" list -- passengers at London Heathrow would've been forever in your debt.
Hong Kong International Airport gets PS3 kiosks
[Image: Flickr user charchlam] While we Americans are forced to spend our layovers trying not to get chosen for random cavity searches, folks who end up with some free time at Hong Kong International Airport are given a much more pleasant distraction. According to travel news site The Moodie Report, HKIA now plays host to more than a dozen PS3 "game poles," which give visitors a chance to check out a number of the platform's biggest titles, like Final Fantasy XIII and Uncharted 2. Sounds like a pretty neat idea -- we're just glad Modern Warfare 2 isn't one of the featured games. That'd be ... uncomfortable. [Via Kotaku]
Fujitsu LifeBook UH900 spotted in the wild, courtesy of shouting speech bubbles
There could only be two reasons for why we got a bit excited upon the discovery of this Asia Pacific-only, $1,415 Fujitsu UH900 in Hong Kong: one was the sugar rush from two custard tarts earlier in the day, and two was the speech bubble overload on this smartbook laptop thing. We quickly sobered up when we heard about the two-hour battery life -- more pessimistic than Fujitsu's own press release, which promises three hours in ECO mode. While there was no hands-on opportunity to try out the multitouch screen -- a self-proclaimed world's first on this form factor -- we weren't impressed by the overall glossiness and the dull side bezel, but kudos to the guy who managed to keep a straight face while revealing the petite battery life. %Gallery-80607%
True Crime in Hong Kong revealed at Spike VGA
The second world premiere of the VGAs was the full version of the teaser we saw a couple weeks ago -- you know, the one we initially presumed was for another installment in the True Crime series? Yeah, well, it was totally for another installment in the True Crime series, which is being developed by ModNation Racers creators United Front. Guess there's no more mystery as to what Activision's upcoming Hong Kong-set action title is, huh? It'll be a little while before we can get the high definition version of the trailer up, but until then, check out a screengrabbed version of the trailer after the jump, and feel confident in the fact that we're very good guessers. Update: We've added a hi-res version of the trailer above.
Samsung F488 relaunched with new TouchWiz cut, 'i' suffix
We would've expected the F480 to fade away quietly into the night, considering that it was the very first device Samsung launched to run TouchWiz back in the day -- but instead, they're taking a different approach by reloading it with the latest and greatest build and launching it anew. The F488i is a variant of the F488i for the Asian market that's been tweaked for an Asian market -- Hong Kong, in this case -- and that "i" on the end means that it's been hooked up with a so-called "3X TouchWiz user interface" (in other words, three pages of widgets on the home screen, not unlike Android), new social networking features, and photo contacts. The F480's still a pretty smart-looking phone even by 2009 standards, so we've got no problem with Sammy's tactic here -- not to say it much matters in the States. [Via Unwired View]
Offshore iPhone/iPod USB power adapters: Caveat Emptor
When I opened my iPhone 3GS, I was surprised to find that the power adapter was nothing but a little 2-prong AC plug (I live in the US) that allowed you to plug in the standard USB to 30-pin connector to charge the phone. I wanted to get a spare; checking online told me that the Apple Store wanted US$29 for the little plug, which just seemed like too much for too little, so I went shopping. On eBay I found a bunch of auctions based in Hong Kong selling what looked like the exact same thing for anywhere from under around $2-4, and they often included the USB cable to boot. I ordered four from a vendor and after a few weeks received them. They looked perfect, right down to the little green dot -- but none of them worked. They might start charging, but after a few minutes the iPhone would beep a few times and I would be informed that "this accessory is not compatible." And so it went for all four pieces. After sending some pictures back and forth and reading a few emails containing a combination of surprise and amazement from the vendor, my money was refunded. Undaunted, or maybe just dumb, I went back to eBay and found another vendor that claimed to be selling, "100% Brand New Original OEM Charger and Original OEM USB Cable for iPhone/iPod" for around US$4. I just checked eBay and found this same vendor raising the price to US$10 in one auction and lowering it to $US.01 in another.
Hong Kong first to get PS3 Slim, hosts global launch party
Due to its spot in the global timezones, Hong Kong will be the first market to sell the slim PS3 when it goes on sale midnight September 1. Siliconera reports that the city will also be the venue for Sony's global launch party for the system, with the festivities taking place in its Causeway Bay shopping district beginning at 6:00 p.m. August 31. The event poster (right) shows some of the swag that will be available to party-goers, including cell phone charms, umbrellas and T-Shirts.If you happen to attend, let us know how it went -- and be on the lookout for the shirtless magician levitating a PS3 Slim. How does he do that?
Starline NB1000 netbook's giant, invisible touchpad is the only thing it's got going for it
Starline -- a Hong Kong-based PC manufacturer -- has unleashed the netbook you see above, the NB1000. This 10-incher's got all the standard, yawn-inducing specs -- an Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD, three USB ports, plus ethernet and VGA ports. The thing that makes this little guy stand out? Well, it's got a massive touchpad running all along the palm rest beneath the keyboard, and that's enough for us to want one -- or at least to touch one, repeatedly. Sadly, this baby is a Hong Kong-only affair, and runs HK$2,498 (about $322), but there's a video of it after the break.[Via SlashGear]
Oh, by the way: July 15, 2009
Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of mobile for Wednesday, July 15th, 2009: Pantech's SKY division has announced the IM-S480S "Tilt" flip for the South Korean market to be offered through carrier SK Telecom. It's a fairly ordinary phone -- 2 megapixel camera, microSD expansion -- but it apparently gets its name from its curved halves (how that evokes a name like "Tilt," we're not exactly sure) and features a trick LED bar above the keypad that can be used to indicate download progress and the like. Samsung has rolled out a so-called Elegant Edition of its S7350 slider in Hong Kong. It's pink and comes with a quilted pink leather pouch, so... you know, you'd better really be into pink. It also features customized "smart seasonal wallpaper" that'll change based on seasons and calendar events. [Via Unwired View] It looks like BlackBerry OS 5.0 will get tabbed browsing, a feature that's become virtually standard across smartphone platforms (and has even started to invade the upper dumbphone echelon recently). The just-announced Sony Ericsson C905a for AT&T has already started to filter into some retail locations ahead of its July 19 release, so don't give up if you've got an unquenchable, urgent yearning for this thing.
Invisibility cloak modified to make you see things that aren't there
The ever-evolving tale of the invisibility cloak makes us want to hang our heads in our hands sometimes, so fraught with frustrations does it seem. Well, another chapter's been added to the tome: researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have devised a way to extend the invisibility principle, allowing an illusion to sit in place of the invisible object. So, say you wanted to use an invisibility cloak to mask the presence of your bottle of beer on the table, the new concept -- or 'shroud of lies' as we call it -- would enable you to make it appear that there was a glass of water sitting there, in place of the beer. So how does that work, exactly? Normal, every day invisibility cloaks bend light around a central cavity, whereas the team has now worked out mathematical rules for bending light in other ways, allowing a material to be designed to bend light in the exact way a spoon would, so that the light hitting the material would distort, making it look like a spoon was there. Theoretically, all of this is rather simple and quite sound, though it turns out that there are numberless mechanical obstacles standing in the way of producing such devices. The new illusion-producing device would have to be capable of working without interfering with the invisibility cloak itself (which, if you recall, also can't properly be said to exist). There's no word on when any of this will ever come to fruition of course, but we remain always hopeful.
Mythic wages WAR in the East
While NCsoft prepares to invade the West with Aion this September, Mythic has their own preemptive RvR strike planned for the East. Both Mythic and Gigamedia are bringing Warhammer Online to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on June 25th. This means people can now play WAR in North America, Europe, Oceania, and Asia. That's quite a global presence.It will be interesting to see what impact this has on WAR's subscriber count in the next quarter. When WAR originally launched in September 2008, they sold over 750,000 copies. That number dropped to 300,000 by December 2008. After a couple big marketing campaigns (recruit a friend and re-enlistment) and a launch in Russia, WAR's numbers held steady at 300,000 in March 2009.Could this Eastern launch propel them beyond the 300,000 mark again? Based on all the Land of the Dead coverage and impressions we've seen, the new live expansion should have some sort of positive effect on the game as well. I guess we'll have to wait until the next EA earnings call to find out, which should take place in August.
Next-gen iPhone photos leaked?
The iPhone blogs says they've uncovered the very first photos of a brand new version of the iPhone (the pictures are watermarked from a site called UMPC Fever), and while there's no actual indication that they're real (at the very least, it wouldn't be hard at all to make a picture and load it on the iPhone stream), they are worth a look, if only as ideas. The pictures hint at what's basically a dream roundup of new iPhone hardware: a camera with autofocus, a digital compass, and there are hints at a CPU log as well (which may be a developer function of some kind).A few people note that there is a percentage near the battery, but that's actually a known function of 3.0, and it's been possible on jailbroken iPhones for a while as well.To add to the mystery, commenter Dstreelm in the comments over there took a look at the metadata on one of the photos (the one supposedly taken by the iPhone), and it was taken near Hong Kong, just a day or so ago. It's definitely all rumors, so take it all with a grain of salt, but it does lend more credence to the idea that we'll be seeing a new version of the iPhone hardware very soon.
Giant keyboard art in Shenzhen metro station offers tech-friendly seating
If you're at the Shenzhen Metro station any time soon, you'll unlikely happen across the beautiful, beautiful sight above. The station -- which is in Shenzhen just north of Hong Kong -- has installed some keyboard art that really speaks to the typist in our souls -- we even type in our dreams occasionally. The keys function as seats to relax in while you wait for your train, though why they chose the keys they chose (Enter, M, <, L, P and ;) is anybody's guess. [Via Engadget Chinese]
Ultmost Technology's 42-inch oval LCD on display
There's perilously scant detail to be had here, but this puppy -- a 42-inch LCD by Ultmost Technology --was on display at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. Called the Fuss LC-4212B, we don't know anything about its specs, pricing, or availability... but we do know that it's pretty crazy looking, and we'd like to see a little more of it. One more shot after the break.
Viliv S5 unboxed and handled in Hong Kong
We've seen plenty of Viliv's S5 tablet PC, but the fine folks of Engadget Chinese have scored some precious unboxing time with the little dude, and it's looking pretty great. The XP-running MID has a 4.8-inch touchscreen, a 60GB hard disk, an Intel Silverthorne-class 1.33GHz Z520 CPU, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and 1GB of memory. It's available in Korea now, though it appears to have missed its European / U.S. shipping dates at the end of March -- but we'll let you know when we start seeing these babies hit the streets. They're supposed to be priced at $649 when they do become available in the States. There are a few more shots after the break, but hit the read link for the entire, stunningly awesome set.
21Mbps Next G mobile broadband comes to Hong Kong's CSL Limited
21Mbps down seems a bit sluggish compared to Ericsson's 56Mbps HSPA+ demonstration, but it's still pretty speedy compared to what's offered in most corners of the globe. As of this week, CSL Limited customers in Hong Kong have access to the same Next G network that Aussies have been enjoying for months on end through Telstra. The launch marks the world's first SDR-based HSPA+ All IP network in Hong Kong, and if you're looking for new devices to take advantage, the operator's currently offering the HP Mini 1110TU (Mobile Broadband Edition), as well as the Express 21 USB modem. Oh, and we totally can't close this post without quoting the new service's motto: "Next G: Time is the Enemy, Fight Back."
