IntoMobile » China Mobile

Nokia 6788: Nokia’s first TD-SCDMA smartphone; China only, looks like a round N95 8 GB

Stefan Constantinescu — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:31:39 +0000

China has their own 3G standard. First thing you may be asking yourself is why? China has always done their own thing, and by developing an alternative to WCDMA they save themselves the burden of having to pay for WCDMA royalties. Every decision in today’s mobile world, and I mean every single bloody decision from the materials used to make the body of a device, to whether the instruction manual inside the package comes printed in color or black and white, comes down to money. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) feels that with China’s population of 1.3 billion people, playing their game and making devices that work on their network would be beneficial to their bottom line.

Politics out of the way, does anything make the 6788 special? Well it has two 8s in the product name, which is a big thing in China. Some Chinese, a fair bit actually, are still superstitious and believe that the number 8 will bring them good luck. When picking a mobile phone number, they want to make sure it has as many 8s as possible, and they’ll even pay to have a phone number with a lot of 8s. Specification wise you have a massive 2.8 inch screen that is sadly QVGA (320 x 240) resolution, a 5 megapixel camera, and it’s powered by S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. The 6788 will star shipping in December on China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), price unknown. Looks like Colin Giles, Nokia Senior Vice President for Greater China, Japan and Korea, kept his promise.

[Photo below via All About Symbian]
[Press Release]

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Samsung i6330 heading to China Mobile

Dusan Belic — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:51:54 +0000

Samsung is preparing a new all-touchscreen phone for China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), which as you can see from the image above looks like some other Samsung models we’ve seen in the past.

The device name/mark is GT-i6330 and unfortunately we don’t have all the details at this stage. We do see a 3.2-megapixel camera on the back as well as a small camera for video calls on the front. That said, it’s safe to say this baby will run on TD-SCDMA waves, used by the world’s largest mobile operator.

Pricing and exact release date are unknown at this point, but considering we’re approaching the holiday shopping season, we would expect to see China Mobile starting to offer this baby within weeks.

[Via: Unwired View]

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China Mobile to add the Samsung Omnia II i8180

Dusan Belic — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:23:14 +0000

Everyone wants a piece of the Chinese mobile market and Samsung is not an exception. They’ve prepared a version of the Omnia II device marked as i8180, specially customized for the consumers in the “world’s fastest growing economy.”

And by special version we mean WAPI (China’s flavor of WiFi), TD-SCDMA radio (instead of HSPA/EV-DO) and CMMB (China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting) support. Rest of the specs are pretty much the same as far as I’ve understood, meaning that the glorious 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen stays on board, which is cool.

Exact release date is unknown at the moment and the same goes for pricing…

[Via: Unwired View]

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8 Motorola OPhones hitting China Mobile next year

Dusan Belic — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:22:03 +0000

By now we all realized Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is super serious when it comes to their support for the Android platform. In that sense, we were not surprised to learn that they will be making phones for China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), which plans to introduce 8 MOTO-made Android-powered devices during next year. Of course, we’re talking about the “OPhone version” of Android that is used by the world’s largest mobile carrier by subscribers.

I’m glad Motorola is steadily finding its way out of the crisis which it faced after the RAZR glory has passed away. On that note, I’m sure adding some “China sales” will help their bottom line and hopefully make their R&D work even better.

[Via: Reuters]

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CPhone breaks cover in China, gives oPhone some Android competition

Will Park — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:07:23 +0000

Android is capturing the hearts and minds of smartphone users around the world. Surprisingly, China’s Red Wall of Censorship hasn’t gotten in the way of Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s Chinese aspirations. A new Android phone has broken cover at the PT & Network Comm China show, giving the Chinese masses yet another Android option to fawn over. China’s home-grown Android platform, dubbed oPhone, has already been announced for the LG GW880 and looks like a potential winner, but the newly unveiled Access CPhone might give it some competition.

The CPhone apparently runs a customized version of the Android OS 1.5 “Cupcake” build. From what we can tell, the CPhone features a cartoonish widget-based user interface and support for China’s CMMB TV mobile television service. With China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) laying claim to the oPhone (which has been rumored as the cause for Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s iphone negotiation troubles with China Mobile) and China Unicom taking on the iconic iPhone itself, word has it that Access is courting China Telecom to carry the CPhone. The Chinese Android handset is even being heralded as the oPhone killer.

We like the CPhone’s large touchscreen and sleek design – thin display bezels have a way of making a handset look amazing. It’s just too bad the CPhone’s user interface makes it look like a “my first Android smartphone.”

[Via: Ubergizmo]

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Brief: China Mobile: We have over half a billion customers

Stefan Constantinescu — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:11:33 +0000

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), the world’s largest operator, has broken the half billion mark. They have 502 million customers. That is all.

[Photo via Boston.com's The Big Picture]

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Apple eats up world’s NAND flash memory supplies, again

Will Park — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:36:33 +0000

Apple’s got a pretty big appetite for NAND flash memory modules. Now that the iPhone 3GS boasts 32GB of onboard storage, and is headed to China Unicom’s massive subscriber-base, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is gobbling up flash memory chips faster than suppliers can punch them out. DigiTimes is reporting that the world’s main NAND manufacturers are prioritizing Apple’s increased flash demands, which will leave other customers out of luck in the short term. The shortage is bad enough that Samsung Electronics sent out a notice that it will halve its September NAND flash supply. Micron Technologies has gone so far as to tell their other customers that NAND flash memory supplies are tapped out. When Apple wants NAND, they get NAND.

Apple buys so much NAND flash memory for its iPod and iPhone devices that memory chip manufacturers cater to Apple’s demands. Even if it leaves the smaller fish out to dry – Cupertino’s business is that important. In the flash memory market, there’s Apple and then there’s everyone else. When Apple ramps up their NAND demand, the world takes note. People like us, get curious.

Apple’s increased demand for NAND flash memory might signal the company’s intention to push millions more iPhones to China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)’s 600+ million subscribers. On the other hand, China Unicom is already on board to push iPhones in China, so Apple may just be getting ready to ship WiFi-less iPhones for that deal. Still, If Apple does manage to crack China Mobile and get the iPhone onto the world’s single-largest wireless network, iPhone demand might very well skyrocket – and along with it, demand for NAND chips.

And you know Apple will get what they need.

[Via: DigiTimes]

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China Mobile on board to support Symbian Foundation

Dusan Belic — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:58:38 +0000

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) and Symbian Foundation announced a partnership agreement to collaborate on a series of key initiatives to “improve the mobile ecosystem in China and to stimulate the development of the market for CCMC’s locally developed 3G network standard, TD-SCDMA.”

Aside from wowing to support the China’s flavor of 3G, Symbian launched a brand new website in Chinese language, and has agreed to simplify the Symbian Signed testing services for developers submitting applications to China Mobile’s newly launched application store. In addition, the Foundation has also laid out plans to establish an office and local operation in Beijing…

And now it’s time for some short video action, featuring representatives from China Mobile and Symbian Foundation. Enjoy if you can.

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China Mobile to work with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute on 4G technology

Dusan Belic — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:11:55 +0000

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) will work with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to develop 4G technologies. During a visit to the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu City, northern Taiwan – China Mobile’s Chairman Wang Jianzhou also confirmed that he will meet with Morris Chang, founder and chairman of the world’s largest chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

Wang is visiting Taiwan to explore opportunities to forge alliances with local high-tech enterprises, and since his arrival on August 21, he has signed a memorandum with HTC to jointly develop smartphones and relevant technologies. Moreover, he also met with many local high-tech tycoons, including Chunghwa Telecom Chairman Lu Shyue-ching and Acer’s Chairman J.T. Wang.

Wang said he has “great hopes” for strategic alliances with companies within the Hsinchu Science Park. We’ll see how that goes…

[Via: eTaiwanNews]

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Apple to bypass China Mobile by selling iPhone through third-party retailer?

Will Park — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:54:15 +0000

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has already locked down China Unicom as their Chinese iPhone partner and is still trying to strike a deal to bring the iPhone to China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)’s massive 500-million-strong customer base. But, China Mobile recently launched OPhone smartrphone operating system and their own mobile applications store which compete directly with the iPhone OS and the iPhone AppStore, respectively. That puts a kink in Apple’s plans to bring the iPhone to the world’s largest wireless carrier. So what’s Apple going to do? A new report from Wedge Partners research analyst Matt Mathison speculates that Apple could partner up with Chinese cellphone retailer Di Xing Tong to sell iPhones. These iPhones could be unlocked to work on China Mobile’s network.

Mathison says that Apple could push the iPhone through Di Xing Tong’s hundreds of storefronts throughout China, helping increase iPhone penetration in the massive Chinese market. He believes that Apple would sell the iPhones with the understanding that they could be unlocked to work on China Mobile’s network – Apple won’t sell unlocked iPhones directly, they just won’t prevent customers from unlocking them.

The Di Xing Tong retail chain is owned by Foxconn, Apple’s iPhone manufacturer. The retailer’s close ties to Apple could help facilitate an iPhone distribution deal.

There’s a problem though. China Mobile’s 3G network is incompatible with the iPhone. That would leave any would-be Chinese iPhone unlocker limited to China Unicom’s 3G network or China Mobile’s 2G GSM network. The Chinese iPhone doesn’t feature WiFi, so China Mobile’s 2G network might be a tough pill to swallow.

[Via: BusinessWeek]

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Apple still talking to China Mobile behind China Unicom’s back

Will Park — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:19:22 +0000

Uh oh. What do we have here? It seems that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) isn’t satisfied with putting their hands all over China Unicom’s massive customer base. Apple is reportedly still talking to China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) behind China Unicom’s back. It’s obvious what Apple wants – they want to get their iPhone into as many Chinese wireless networks as possible. That sleazy Apple.

As loose as Apple is being with its iPhone, China Unicom should have seen this coming. Their relationship with Apple is in no way exclusive. That leaves Apple free to gallivant through China, sticking its iPhone wherever it sees fit.

But, Apple still faces some obstacles before getting China Mobile to get friendly with the iPhone. China Mobile uses a homebrew 3G wireless standard that the iPhone is not compatible with. Any China Mobile iPhone would need to be specifically designed for the world’s largest wireless network. Then there’s the issue of the AppStore. China Mobile has already launched their own applications store, which caters to smartphones like the OPhone. The iPhone’s AppStore competes directly.

We’ll keep a close eye on Apple’s shenanigans in China. At least China Unicom can claim to have had the iPhone first. Nobody likes (ahem) seconds.

[Via: iPhoneCentral]

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LG GW880 is the Android-based OPhone smartphone for China Mobile

Dusan Belic — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:11:43 +0000

LG is working on the Android-based GW880 smartphone for China Mobile (NYSE: CHL). As you can see from the image above — and more bellow — it will be an all-touchscreen device that will run OPhone “version” of Android, which is specially tailored for the world’s largest mobile operator.

Specs wise, the GW880 comes with China Mobile-specific 3G radio (TD-SCDMA) as well as EDGE data support, 3.5-inch touchscreen (WVGA? – sounds too ambitious, though you never know), Bluetooth, 5-megapixel camera, 256MB of RAM coupled with 512MB of ROM. Sounds cool and I’m wondering when will LG release this baby outside of China. There’s certainly interest in Android-powered handsets, and if it really comes with an WVGA display, I would want one.

[Via: slashphone]

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Motorola’s A3300c WinMo smartphone confirmed for China Mobile

Dusan Belic — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:55:19 +0000

Roughly 20 days ago we talked about the upcoming Moto-made Windows Mobile smartphone for China called A3300c. Well, it’s been confirmed by Chinese paper Sina, which says the official announcement is imminent.

As a reminder, we’re talking about an all-touchscreen device that prides itself with 3.2-inch WVGA touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera with flash, accelerometer, GPS, WiFi, and 3G. Since this baby will end up in China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)’s portfolio, that’s Chinese flavor of 3G aka TD-SCDMA.

Finally, before I let you go, we have three photos of the Moto A3300c to share. Here they come.

[Via: BGR]

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HTC Qilin/Dopod T8388 is HTC’s first TD-SCDMA Windows Mobile smartphone for China

Dusan Belic — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:09:51 +0000

Just when we reported that HTC plans to bring TD-SCDMA device(s) to China in partnership with China Mobile, we spotted the first such phone. It’s the HTC Qilin aka Dopod T8388, which will pack some Windows Mobile love to the users of China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)’s 3G network — there are not that many of them at the moment, but the number keeps growing constantly.

We clearly see it’s the HTC Touch Diamond2/Touch HD kind of device, sporting nothing but a huge touchscreen. Rest of the specs include 3.6-inch WVGA (480×800 pixels) touchscreen, WiFi, GPS, mobile TV receiver, 5-megapixel camera, 512MB ROM coupled with 256MB RAM, and TI’s OMAP 3430 processor which sings on 600 MHz. Exact release date is unknown, but it’s fair to guess it will be somewhere in the fourth quarter of this year…

[Via: Unwired View]

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China Mobile unveils Android-powered Philips V900

Dusan Belic — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:44:10 +0000

China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) unveiled the first official Android-powered Philips phone – V900. Actually, it’s China Mobile’s own flavor of Android called Open Mobile System (OMS), which is also known as OPhone.

We don’t know the release date nor pricing, but we do know the specs. There’s WiFi on board (actually some Chinese version called WAPI), 3.2 megapixel camera, standard 3.5mm headset jack, and a 1450 mAh battery. Moreover, we have tons of photos, compliments to 163.com. Enjoy!

Finally, we do wonder whether Philips will bring this baby outside of China. We would certainly love it!

[Via: phandroid, unwired]

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China Mobile expects 80 million 3G users by 2011

Dusan Belic — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:46:27 +0000

China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong, said that the country’s leading operator, China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), is expected to have up to 80 million 3G subscribers within the next two years.

This is despite the fact that the world’s largest mobile operator in terms of number of subscribers is using China’s own TD-SCDMA standard, which according to the industry isn’t developed as WCDMA and CDMA2000 standards. On that note, it’s worth pointing out that the 80 million is lower than the earlier number of 100 million subscribers, which was claimed by Lu Dongfeng, vice-president of Datang Telecom Technology, a provider of TD-SCDMA products.

Lou Qinjian, vice-minister of industry and information technology, also earlier told the China Daily news agency that TD-SCDMA subscribers in China are expected to reach 10 million by the end of this year.

For the record, China Mobile plans to spend around $8.6 billion during 2009 on rolling out its 3G network, deploying some 60,000 base stations in 238 cities in the process.

[Via: WSJ]

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Photos: Dell’s first smartphone, the Mini 3i for the Chinese market, spotted in the wild

Stefan Constantinescu — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:32:36 +0000

Mr. Blurry Cam is in the hospital after being beat up by Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) employees for posting photos of the new iPhone before it was announced, but luckily his wife, Mrs. Image Stabilization, is taking his place. She is in China and has snapped some clear photos of Dell’s first entry into the smartphone market. The Mini 3i is powered by the Chinese version of Android called oPhone and has a 3.5 inch capacitive touch screen with 360 x 640 resolution. It has a 3 megapixel camera, but unlike modern smartphones it lacks WiFi or 3G. Whether or not this device will come out in Europe and America is unknown at the current moment, but if I was a gambling man, I’d bet we’re going to see Android powered smartphones from Dell in the first half of 2010. Six more photos after the jump.

[Via: Engadget]

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Sexy text messages will land you in a Chinese jail

Will Park — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:20:20 +0000

China might soon overtake the US as the world’s leading superpower, but that doesn’t necessarily mean China’s Communist ways are going to evolve. In fact, China’s backwards policies are being enforced more vigorously than ever. Forget internet censorship. Forget about all those journalists jailed for speaking on China’s human rights issues. Chinese authorities are now monitoring SMS text messages for any erotic or sexually explicit content. Anyone caught having “textual relations” will find themselves spending some time in a Chinese jail.

In China’s Henan province, one offending text message is grounds for spending five days in jail. Chinese citizens who send three or more sexy text messages will be detained for a maximum of 10 days in jail and pay a fine of 500 yuan ($73). According to The Straits Times, the Chinese Communist Party’s Henan branch actually held 480 meetings in the past month in order to deal with the erotic SMS “problem.”

As far as we know, this isn’t a joke. It should be, but it’s not. China monitors all communications within its borders, so it’s no surprise that the Chinese government can track your SMS text messages. After all, the Chinese iPhone had to be custom-made without WiFi to fall within Chinese communications regulations.

If you’re in China, you probably aren’t even allowed to read this, but if you are, you’d be smart to refrain from “textual relations.”

[Via: Textually]

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Huawei readies C7300 and T550+ touchscreen phones for China

Dusan Belic — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:37:36 +0000

Huawei is working to introduce two new all-touchscreen phones to the Chinese market – C7300 and T550+.

The first of the two is a CDMA2000 device, and will most probably end up in China Telecom’s portfolio. Specs wise, the C7300 boasts a 2.5-inch QVGA display, GPS, 2-megapixel camera, handwriting recognition support, media player and of course a microSD memory card slot. As for the size, it measures 109.4×57.6×14.2 mm, and has a weight of 110 grams.

The second phone, Huawei T550+, supports TD-SCDMA flavor of 3G, and is hence going to China Mobile (NYSE: CHL). We lack the details here, but we do know there’s a 2-megapixel camera on board, and we’re guessing a microSD slot, as well.

No word on pricing nor release date, at the moment…

[Via: Unwired View]

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Dell’s first smartphone gets a name: Mini 3i; will be powered by China’s Android based oPhone OS

Stefan Constantinescu — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:18:56 +0000

Looks like TechCrunch’s source was right, Dell will be launching a smartphone some time this week, or by the end of this month at the latest, and it will be called the Mini 3i. It will have a 16:9 aspect ratio screen with a 640 x 360 resolution, run only on GSM (sorry 3G fans), and will be powered by China Mobile (NYSE: CHL)’s version of Android, which they call oPhone. Not much else to say here except when can we get this bad boy in Europe, America, and the rest of Asia?

[Via: Engadget Mobile, MobileCrunch]

[Image below consists of two screenshots from the oPhone OS; Planet iPhones]

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