Now that the iPhone 4S is coming to China Telecom (HKG:728, NYSE:CHA), Chinese iPhone users finally have a choice. Do they stick with China Unicom (HKG:762, NYSE:CHU), previously the only official option for the iPhone, or switch to Telecom? Or just forgo 3G service altogether and shove a China Mobile SIM card in instead? Sina Tech put together a comparison of the plans which might be interesting if you're actually trying to buy one of these phones in China, but they also are conducting a user poll about what they think ...
Feb 22 2012
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Chinese Police Crack Down on Cybercrime, Tianya, Sohu, Baidu BBS Services Implicated
China's police are on the back end of a three-month long crackdown on cybercrime, and apparently, they've found an awful lot of it. Over the course of the crackdown, police told Xinhua, they cleaned up more than 1.2 million pieces of harmful information, closed over 7,000 illegal websites, and investigated harmful information posted on 1,075 prominent sites. Among those prominent sites were Tianya, Sohu, and Baidu's Tieba. The BBS services these companies offer are theoretically self-censored, but the police found that on these and many other sites, illegal information was present. ...
Feb 21 2012
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MiniGames: A Review of Sina Weibo’s ‘One and One Story’
In a bid to monetize its user-friendly but financially dragging giant, Sina recently imbued its Weibo microblogging platform with its own currency — the weibi — and games. But are these games actually any good? I dove into a few of them to find out. This is the seventh in a series of reviews of Sina Weibo games. One and One Story is the casual game I wish I'd been playing this whole time instead of slogging my way through all those other dumb games. Put simply, One and One Story rocks. Unfortunately, I have ...
Feb 21 2012
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One Day After Deadline, Tuanbao’s New Services Still Missing
Tuanbao, the group buy clone that snagged the Groupon.cn domain before Groupon could, is in trouble. That much has been clear for a while. But, like many group buy sites looking to change things up as it became clear succeeding with the group buy model wasn't as easy as originally thought, Tuanbao said it planned to offer new services. In fact, it even plastered a big red banner across the top of its website announcing the new service would be arriving on February 20th. That was yesterday. The new service? ...
Feb 20 2012
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Rumor: China’s Massive Wanda Group to Enter E-commerce
The Wanda Group is basically ubiquitous in China. The mega-company, which is itself a subsidiary of the China National United Oil Corporation, has its hands in everything from commercial real estate to cultural industries, chain stores, and hotels. Now, it appears the company may be planning to get into e-commerce. Specifically, the rumor started last Friday, when an industry insider reportedly tweeted: Wanda is getting into e-commerce, headhunters are already searching for employees. Wanda has yet to confirm the news, but they haven't yet denied it, either. One Wanda rep told a ...
Feb 20 2012
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Now You Can Input Shanghainese on Your Android
Shanghai natives rejoice! Thanks to the efforts of one very dedicated young man from Shanghai, you can now type using Shanghainese (the Shanghai dialect) on your Android phone. The input method release has sparked lots of attention and thrust Wu Wei, its developer, into the spotlight. Wu has been developing the input method for years and although it has now been released -- you can download it here -- he is still working to improve it. In fact, he told the IT Times in a recent interview that he hadn't ...
Feb 17 2012
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Asian Game Devs, I’m Begging You: No More Three Kingdoms
Browsing the news this morning, I spotted a rumor that Netease may be poised to launch a DOTA-style game of its own next month. DOTA is very popular here, and a domestic take on it could be interesting. Then I read the second half of the headline: "...it may be called Heroes of the Three Kingdoms." Oh. Excitement deleted. The Three Kingdoms is actually a historical period of Chinese history, but games about it are generally based on the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the four great classics ...
Feb 16 2012
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Baidu Launches New Version of Baidu Browser [REVIEW]
![Baidu Launches New Version of Baidu Browser [REVIEW]](http://www.penn-olson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/baidu-250x250.jpg)
Last year, Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) launched its own browser application, the creatively-titled Baidu Browser. Today, the Chinese search giant has launched version 2.0, and is touting significant improvements. My colleague Steven gave the browser a thorough review back when it originally launched, but I thought I'd take a gander at the new version. Which, by the way, is Windows-only, so move along, Mac users. The browser and I got off to an inauspicious start. During the installation process, I was asked if I wanted it to automatically create a desktop shortcut for ...
Feb 16 2012
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The Old Republic Launches in Hong Kong and Singapore on March 1
The Old Republic, Bioware's latest MMO and the best recent shot at World of Warcraft's crown, is coming to Asia. Specifically, the game will launch March 1 in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Through digital download, some gamers in those regions may have purchased the game already and begun playing it on American or European servers, but Bioware says those players will have "a limited-time opportunity to migrate their characters from their current servers to Asia Pacific servers after the launch on March 1st." Previously on Penn Olson, we ...
Feb 16 2012
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SARFT Establishing Platform For Regulating Internet Video in China
Well, we all knew it was coming. Heck, I even wrote it was coming in an article three months ago. Now, it's official: China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) plans to establish a platform for regulating internet television. According to SARFT vice-chief Zhang Haitao, the administration will regulate IPTV streaming services, mobile video services, and traditional internet television services like Youku (NYSE:YOKU) and Tudou (NASDAQ:TUDO). The move is part of a larger push by SARFT to regulate the "three networks:" telecom networks, computer networks, and cable television networks. ...
Feb 16 2012
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Does Apple Really Care About Factory Workers?
In response to the growing brouhaha over working conditions at Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) suppliers' factories in Asia -- not to be confused with the growing brouhaha over Apple's iPad trademark problems in China -- Apple CEO Tim Cook said this: Apple takes working conditions very very seriously, and we have for a very long time. We care about every worker We believe that every worker has the right to a fair and safe work environment, free of discrimination where they can earn competitive wages and where they can voice their complaints ...
Feb 14 2012
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Rumor: Netease Will Publish Diablo 3 in China
Blizzard is going to release Diablo 3 this year. China loves Blizzard games. Which Chinese publisher will get to make oodles of money off of that when Diablo 3 comes to China? Word on the street is it's Netease (NASDAQ:NTES). The rumor, based on an implication in a report from Lyon Securities that Netease has already gotten the contract, hasn't been confirmed yet by either party, so take it with a grain of salt. That said, it shouldn't come as a surprise. Netease operates Blizzard's Battlenet service -- which Diablo 3 ...
Huawei Chairman Boasts MediaPad 10 Will Be ‘Most Powerful Tablet Ever’
Feb 22, 2012
One Day After Deadline, Tuanbao’s New Services Still Missing
Feb 21, 2012
InMobi Makes Mobile Ad Deal With Detikcom in Indonesia
Feb 22, 2012
GREE Gets Games from Gameloft, Ubisoft for Global Gaming Platform
Feb 21, 2012
Bandwagon Wants You To Jump Onboard its Live Music Search Engine
Feb 22, 2012