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Apple, Steve Jobs win patents for Shanghai Apple Store design
Apple is constantly adding patents to its portfolio of intellectual property, many of which are not directly associated with the design or operation of the consumer electronics products the company makes. Patently Apple reported today on a patent awarded to the company and late founder and CEO Steve Jobs for the design of the Apple Store, Pudong in Shanghai, China. Like the 5th Avenue store in Manhattan, the Shanghai store is primarily underground, with a clear glass structure above ground. Instead of a giant glass cube a la 5th Avenue, the Shanghai store features a large glass cylinder. The store was designed by architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects, but Apple and specifically Steve Jobs were singled out for the idea of the giant curved glass panels that make up the cylinder. Other Apple notables listed as inventors on the patent include senior director of Real Estate and Development Benjamin Fay and ex-VP of Retail Operations Ron Johnson. Steve's fascination with large curved glass panels in architecture is also reflected in the design of the still-to-be-constructed world headquarters in Cupertino.
Shanghai court rejects Proview injunction, okays the sale of Apple iPads (update: Proview sues Apple in US courts)
The legal tussle between Apple and Proview over the iPad has swung in Cupertino's direction. According to Chinese news outlet Xinmin, a Shanghai court has rebuffed Proview's demand for an injunction halting the sale of the Apple tablet due to licensing issues. The Pudong New Area People's Court made the decision yesterday, stating that while the Guangdong court case has yet to make a final decision on who owns the "iPad" trademark, there wasn't enough evidence on Proview's side to honor an injunction.For those who've just caught up with the story, here's a quick overview: starting in 2000, Proview's Taiwan branch registered the "iPad" trademark in several countries, with the Shenzhen branch doing the same in China. Apple then bought worldwide rights from Proview Taiwan, which would have included China. Proview Shenzhen, who has gone into debt restructuring since 2010, is now saying that it never authorized its Taiwan counterpart to do so, but Apple claims that it has Proview Shenzhen's signatures on the paperwork. It looks like eventually it's going to get easier to grab that iPad in China, though if Apple's appeal case in the Guangdong court fails, then Proview could easily strike again with more ammo.Update: Looks like Proview is bringing the fight to Apple's home turf. We've just learned that the Chinese company filed a lawsuit against the Cupertino firm on February 17th in Santa Clara County, California, where it alleges deception in Apple's purchase of the iPad trademark. [WSJ]
Explosion at Apple supplier injures 57 workers
The welfare of Chinese workers is back in the spotlight after an explosion at Shanghai-based Riteng Computer Accessory Company left 23 people in hospital with burns and another 34 with more minor injuries. Local government officials said the explosion happened on Saturday afternoon at a workshop on the fourth floor of the facility. Riteng is a subsidiary supplier to Pegatron Corp and the Chinese newspaper Yi Cai Daily reported it was in the middle of trial production of aluminum iPad 2 back panels. A separate explosion at a Foxconn factory back in Spring was attributed to poor extraction of combustible aluminum dust.
Shanghai Science and Technology Commission proposes 100 'innovation houses' for DIYers
Here we call them hackerspaces and generally they're sustained through the contributions of paying members. The Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality has decided to go with the more esoteric "innovation house" and is expecting support from the government, but the concept is the same -- a pubic place where those with an idea can go and make it a reality. The commission is proposing building 100 such studios equipped with wood and metal lathes, drills, saws and milling machines. Shanghai may be a sprawling city of over 23 million (the largest in the world), but if even just half of those hackerspaces are eventually constructed it would have one studio for every 460,000 citizens and become one of the most DIY-friendly metropolises in the world. By comparison, New York City's roughly 8 million residents share just eight.
Mitsubishi Electric to build world's fastest elevator, usher in the death of small talk
Cheer up, ladies, because Mitsubishi Electric is about to make your elevator ride substantially less awkward. Yesterday, the company unveiled plans to construct what it hopes will become the world's fastest lifts, as part of a new project in China. The forthcoming set of elevators will be housed within the still-incomplete Shanghai Tower, where they'll travel between the basement and 119th floor at a speed of 59 feet per second -- a rate that would narrowly eclipse the current Guinness world record, which sits at about 55 feet per second. These elevators, of course, would be significantly slower if they were filled with vomit, which is why Mitsubishi will add active roller guides, vibration-dampening roof covers and pneumatic controls to make the ride a bit easier on the human body. Unfortunately, it'll be a while before these flesh wagons enter the record books, as the Shanghai Tower likely won't be completed until 2014. Willy Wonka, however, has already begun the appeals process. Elevate past the break for more information in the full press release. [Image courtesy of AMC]
Huge crowds attend Shanghai Apple Store grand opening
As expected, China's newest Apple store opened today in Shanghai. The store's 300 employees were greeted by a crowd of over 500 people on hand for the grand opening. Located on the busy Nanjing road, the store is China's fifth Apple store and its largest. It occupies five stories of retail space and has an expected foot traffic of 40,000 customers each day. The opening of this store is part of Apple's long-term strategy to increase its presence in China and other parts of Asia-Pacific. In the past, Apple has been slow to introduce products into China. It took Apple 4 months to introduce the iPhone 4 to China, 5 months for the iPhone 3GS and a whopping 16 months for the iPhone 3G. Apple is trying to reverse this trend by slowly adding new retail outlets to improve its brand awareness and hopefully boost its sales in the region. Apple's biggest hindrance may be its own popularity. Demand for Apple products has created an underground network of fake Apple products being sold both in open air marketplaces and fake retail stores.
Shanghai's Nanjing East Apple Store to open this weekend
China's new Shanghai store will open for business this weekend. Plans for the retail store were revealed earlier this year and construction to turn the former jewelry store into an Apple store has progressed smoothly. Last week, the red curtain covering the store was lifted, revealing an Apple logo and a promise that Apple was going to light up Nanjing Road soon. Nanjing road is one of Shanghai's busiest retail roads and the Apple store is one of the largest in China. A large store combined with a high traffic location is a win-win situation for both Apple and its Chinese customers. [Image from Micgadget]
Hackintosh repaired at Apple Genius Bar
So, you're in Shanghai, China with your fake MacBook Air when it suddenly stops working. What do you do? Make an appointment at the real Genius Bar for the Apple Store, Pudong in Shanghai and get help. Fortunately for the man who brought the "MacBook Air" into the store, the Geniuses behind the bar were in a good mood and actually helped him out with diagnostics and troubleshooting. I somehow feel this type of friendly and helpful reception might be lacking if a certain colleague of mine brought her trio of hackintosh netbooks into a local Apple Store here in the U.S.
Japan speeding ahead with 500km/h Maglev train
Traveling the 515 km (320 miles) from Tokyo to Osaka by Shinkansen bullet train currently requires 2 hours and 25 minutes (and costs a small fortune, too). Come 2045, travel between Japan's two largest metro areas will take just over one hour, following the launch of the country's longest maglev track, which just received construction approval from Tokyo. The nine trillion yen project (approximately $112 billion) was first proposed in the 1970s, but was tabled indefinitely due to its astronomical costs, most of which stem from an extensive network of tunnels that will represent 60 percent of the route. You'll be able to get your Japanese Maglev fix beginning in 2027, when the Central Japan Railway launches its high-speed route between Tokyo and Nagoya. One notable neighbor to the west is already operating its own maglev train. China's Shanghai Transrapid has been blasting riders to Pudong airport since 2004, and once achieved a top speed of 501km/h (311 mph). The country is also constructing a 1000km/h vacuum-based train that it plans to launch within the next few years.
Mahjong gets Cub3D on 3DS this summer
Atlus appears to have been eager for something to supplement Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked in its 3DS lineup, as it's picked up a Japanese launch window game we didn't expect to see localized. The publisher is bringing Sunsoft's Shanghai 3D Cube to North America this summer as "Mahjong Cub3D." Players will match mahjong tiles on the faces of a cube in "Cube Mode" or in a more traditional Shanghai arrangement (flat, facing up) in "Classic Mode." There will also be multiplayer via Download Play, if you want to test your tile-swapping abilities against an opponent. In all, Atlus claims there are 200 puzzles to be found. The first: What's a mahjong cub?%Gallery-121642%
Chinese Apple Stores plan special New Year events
While India's Krishna Kalyan ate an iPhone 4 cake to celebrate the New Year, Apple's four retail stores in China have something else in mind to celebrate the Chinese New Year. According to ifoAppleStore, Apple has emailed an invitation to their customers in China to visit the retail stores between January 26 and February 13 for select events such as workshops, One to One training and shopping specials on Apple and third-party products. Apple currently has stores both in Beijing and Shanghai, but we here at TUAW are partial to the first one to land in Shanghai back in July of last year. With the four stores already under its belt and a growing online presence in China, it seems that Apple heard Lenovo loud and clear when it was declared that Apple hadn't stepped up efforts in the Far East.
Meizu M9 christens site launch with full specs list
Meizu CEO Jack Wong has been teasing the M9 handset for some time now, and if we're not mistaken, the official site just went live with a full list of specs to boot. As promised, there's a 3.5-inch 960 x 640 resolution screen (reportedly the Sharp ASV display), and we're also apparently looking at a 1GHz S5PC110 processor (just like the Samsung Galaxy S), Android 2.2, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A-GPS, 802.11b/g/n, microSDHC, a removable 1370mAH lithium-polymer battery, and support for (drumroll, please) GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, HSDPA,and HSUPA. Too good to be true? Word on the street is this very phone will be available December 25th in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and will expand to the rest of China days later. We'll believe it when we see it.
Chinese passenger train reaches 302mph, claims speed record for unmodified trains
Did you find the 262mph record that China scooped up only two months ago impressive? Well, add another 40mph to that number as today Xinhua News has revealed China's claim to the new speed record for unmodified commercial trains. The new line presently being tested between Beijing and Shanghai has delivered a mind-warping 302mph (486kph) top speed, which is projected to help cut down travel times between the two cities in half, down to a mere five hours. As with the Shanghai-Hangzhou connection that held the record previously, speeds with actual passengers on board will probably be limited to more moderate levels when this connections opens up in 2012, but the Chinese government's goal is still that magical 312mph (500kph) mark -- at this pace, they should be there by Tuesday.
BAIC's C71 EV has hot-swappable battery packs and a questionable sense of style
Electric cars hold the potential to eliminate your monthly gasoline bill, but if you want to go more than 100 miles or so at this point you'd better plan to make a bunch of lengthy pit-stops along the way. There are various solutions, like the Volt's on-board generator or Nissan's offer to replace your Leaf with something a little more traditional for long weekend trips into the country. But, to us, battery swapping seems like the best plan. Better Place is the leader in this space but BAIC, the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company, is showing off its own solution, the charmingly named C71 EV that looks like what might happen if a SAAB and a Toyota spent a crazy night together in Shanghai. It's a $45,000 car with a 60Ah floor-mounted battery pack that can be swapped in just five minutes, each delivering 150km (93 miles) of range and can naturally be charged by more traditional means (a plug) should you not be in such a hurry. The car is said to be available sometime next year, but we've heard that one before.
Driverless electric van cruises 8,000 miles from Italy to China without stopping for directions
They made it. The team from Visilab, which left way back in July, has arrived in China and will now take its place among the various other random things going on at the Shanghai World Expo. As you may or may not recall, a gaggle of autonomous orange EVs left Italy three months ago on a trip that would take them through cities like Moscow and wastelands like the Gobi Desert, all thanks to an array of laser scanners, cameras, and of course GPS. It was a 13,000km journey (8,078 miles) that was made with minimal driver intervention and, thanks to the EV-nature of the vehicles, without stopping once for gasoline -- though they were limited to about four hours of travel each day before having to recharge. Now, remember when you were impressed that Google's autonomous car managed about 1,000 miles on its own?
Exclusive photos from iPhone 4 launch in China, new Beijing Apple Store
Our favorite blogger in China, Maik Lutze of SuddenlyBeijing.com, has provided TUAW with exclusive photos from the official Chinese iPhone 4 launch this morning (9/25). Not only were there lines for the iPhone 4, but there was a new Apple Store being opened in Beijing at Xidan's Joy City today, so he provided photos of the crowds on had for the opening: %Gallery-103229% This is the second Apple Store in Beijing, the first being the Sanitun store. Maik provided a batch of photos for TUAW of the iPhone 4 lines at this store as well: %Gallery-103230% The second Apple retail location in Shanghai also opened today. The new Huaihai Lu Apple Store is a two-story structure with the only curved window front of any Apple Store. Apple is really booming in the Chinese market, with a third Beijing store planned for Qianmen Street that will open this fall. [Shanghai store information via Shanghaiist.com, Beijing store info via Asia Blog]
China gets the iPad
As you can see in the video above, China finally got the iPad (officially) this week, and Mac fans there were pretty excited about it. The device went on sale this morning at the Apple Stores in Beijing and Shanghai, and hundreds of people stood in the rain -- one man was there waiting for two days. He's the guy in the "I buy iPad" t-shirt, I think, and good for him; looks like it worked out all right. Only the Wi-Fi models are on sale so far, 5588 yuan (US $826) for 64gb, 4788 yuan ($712) and 3988 yuan ($590) for 16gb. iPads have been available in China so far only through the "gray market," unauthorized resellers from other countries. Early reports from the stores say that the iPad is selling better than the iPhone first did there, which is good news for Apple. It's been hoping to gain a much better foothold in China recently, so a big release for the iPad is a nice step in that direction.
Apple's Shanghai shirt: "Made for China"
We've heard great things already about the brand new Apple Store in Shanghai, but this one's interesting: on the back of employees' t-shirts there (which are red, apparently, rather than the usual black found in North America), Apple has printed "Designed in California, Made for China" in Chinese. That's obviously a play on the "Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China" that you'll find on the back of your iPhone and many of Apple's other products. Cult of Mac checked in with Chinese gadget blogger Chris Chang, and he says that the reference does play in Shanghai. He was at the store when it opened, and says that Apple is definitely pushing to do better in China, and create more of a presence there. That's really interesting -- Apple's not only trying to simply sell its products over there, but it's actually localizing the brand a bit to do so.
Shanghai Apple Store is a stunner
Now that Apple has held a pre-opening of Shanghai's first Apple Store (China's second) for the press, we can finally get a look inside. Shanghaiist has published a great article about the store, complete with a large photo gallery. Here are some incredible facts about this new location: The cylinder (40 feet high) contains the largest curved glass panels in the world There are more hands-on gadgets to play with than any other Apple Store (but no iPads or iPhone 4s yet) It's one of the largest Apple Stores It's got one of the largest Genius Bars Once you're inside, the design and layout is similar to other Apple Stores. TUAW reader Lawrence Sheed was also invited to the pre-opening and has posted a huge gallery of photos. He adds that the managers and staff were "overwhelmingly positive" and knew their stuff. Congratulations to Apple on what looks like an incredible store. If you attend the opening this weekend, let us know!
Apple Store openings
Several new Apple Stores either opened or are set to open this weekend. Here's a look at what's going on. In Shanghai, China, the curtains have been removed from the huge glass structure that sits atop the city's new flagship store. Flickr user Lesh51 has posted some great shots of the removal process. You can plainly see the cylinder itself, the familiar Apple logo, and the interior spiral staircase that leads to the underground retail space. His aerial shots offer an overview of this store's dramatic location. This store will open this Saturday at 10:00 AM local time. Meanwhile, the Opéra Store in Paris is finally open, and it's a stunner. The layout, both inside and out, differs dramatically from what we typically see. Here's a gallery of photos that show off this beautiful space. Even Steve showed up to check it out. Enjoy Paris, Steve! Here in the States, Apple Store, Haywood Mall is set to open in Greenville, SC this Saturday. It will be South Carolina's second Apple Store and the 295th store opened overall. It's located in the Haywood Mall, at 700 Haywood Road, in Greenville. You'll find it on the lower level of the Sears wing, next to Abercrombie & Fitch. Doors open at 10:00 AM local time.