China Mobile is looking to get a major stake in the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, which is a medium-sized Chinese lender. The world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers is looking to acquire a 20% stake for CNY40 billion, which is about $5.9 billion. You may wonder why an operator would need a bank. The idea…
Sagem Orga shoves WiFi on a SIM card, while JCET prefers to stick NFC onto that little piece of plastic
When you think of a SIM card, innovation isn’t exactly the first word that pops into mind. For Europeans and Asians, a SIM card is where they keep all their contacts, and what they actually pay for every month out of pocket. Most people purchase their devices unlocked. For Americans, the SIM card is still…
Ultrabrief: China adds 8.86 million mobile subscribes in December 2009
China Mobile added 4.2 million subscribers in December 2009, brining their total to 522.3 million. China Unicom added 1.56 million subscribers during the same month, their total is now 147.54 million. China Telecom added 3.1 million subscribers, their total is now roughly 56.1 million. Good job at deciding to pull out of China, Google, why…
BlackBerry 8520 Announced for China Mobile Alongside IM and E-Mail Services
RIM has been making some serious inroads with China lately, between locking down a distribution deal with Digital China and China Telecom, but China Mobile is still the biggest deal. They kicked off with the BlackBerry 8700 awhile back, but we haven’t heard much about other BlackBerrys available in the area (although apparently the Curve…
Up to 19 LTE networks to go live in 2010, 36 networks to be operational in 2012; list of who and where!
The GSA (Global Suppliers Association) is reporting that over the past 8 months there has been a near 100% increase in the number of operators around the world committing to the LTE standard. There are now 51 network commitments in 24 countries, an increase of 96% over the past 8 months. Not all is rosy…
TD-LTE BlackBerry Coming to China Mobile
Hot on the heels of their Chinese distribution deal, RIM has announced that they’re working with China Mobile not only on a TD-SCDMA handset, but one compatible with China’s emerging TD-LTE standard. This is the first time we’ve heard RIM talking firmly about LTE, and it’s pretty exciting to think about what they’ve got planned…
Motorola’s DROID-ish MT710 Android phone headed to China soon
Motorola will soon be pushing their Android wares in China. According to a new report from IDG, Motorola will soon send the Motorola MT710 Android smartphone to China as a keyboard-less variant of Verizon’s Motorola DROID. Starting December 28th, China Mobile will offer the Motorola MT710 as part of their OPhone Android lineup, which offers…
Nokia 5132 XpressMusic candybar heading to China Mobile
Nokia will be shipping an XpressMusic device to the world’s largest mobile operator in terms of number of subscribers – China Mobile — or at least the carrier’s logo on the phone suggests so. It’s the Nokia 5132 XpressMusic, an entry-level candybar, which looks pretty much the same as Nokia’s other device – 5130 XpressMusic.…
LG’s GW880 OPhone Goes Official on China Mobile
After a sneak peek, the LG GW880 OPhone has been announced by China Mobile. The GW880 packs a 3.5-inch, 800 x 480 touchscreen, Bluetooth, 5-megapixel camera, 256MB of RAM/512MB of ROM, CMMB mobile TV and running on Android over China’s TD-SCDMA network. Of course, the apps will all be approved by big daddy China Mobile…
China Mobile 3G to surpass 100 million 3G subscribers in 2011
According to Secretary General of the TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance, Yang Hua, subscribers to China Mobile’s 3G network are expected to exceed 100 million within two years. Mr. Yang said this at the 2009 Sino-Japan TD-SCDMA Collaboration Conference. According to statistics from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, since trial operation began on April 1st,…