Turns out the rumors weren’t too far off. After fighting for ages to get the iPhone 3G to Chinese shores, citizens of the aforementioned nation will soon be able to pick up one of Apple’s latest (the iPhone 4, if you’re keeping count) without reverting to importers and KIRF shops. Starting on September 25th, the iPhone 4 will be available across China in retail locations as well as China Unicom shops, with off-contract pricing set for CNY4,999 (16GB model) and CNY5,999 (32GB model) — that’s around $743 and $892 in greenbacks, respectively. Those looking for subsidization options will need to do some digging once China Unicom starts talking numbers. But hey, at least this one has WiFi!
Samsung’s done an admirable job of pushing its Galaxy S line far and wide already, but when you enter the Chinese market — a market with a billion wireless customers — you’re potentially taking things to a whole new level. Sammy has crafted HSPA, EV-DO, and TD-SCDMA versions of its high-end Android phone for China Unicom, China Telecom, and juggernaut China Mobile, respectively, all offering the same 4-inch Super AMOLED display seen elsewhere around the world. The Telecom model launches first — this month, in fact — but all three versions will be available before the end of the year. Follow the break for the full press release.
Motorola’s venerable MING handset revisions were just made official in three Android-toting varieties for China Unicom (model A1680 pictured above left), China Mobile (MT810, pictured center), and China Telecom (XT806, on the right). The TD-SCDMA riding MT810 ships with the Android derived OPhone 2.0 operating system and two touchscreen displays: a 3.2-inch stylus-friendly resistive touchscreen and a second transparent capacitive cover that provides a finger-friendly experience when closed. Other specs include 720 x 480 video capture, 720p video playback, and support for China’s CMMB mobile television spec. China Telecom’s XT806 is built on Android 2.1 with GPS, 720p video capture, and support for both CDMA EVDO and GSM for global wanderings. Finally, China Unicom’s A1680 packs a 3.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen, Chinese WAPI WiFi, 5 megapixel camera, GPS, and Motorola’s sixth-generation SoftStylus handwriting system.
Remember that WAPI-compliant version of the iPhone approved back in May? Yeah, well, China Unicom is just now getting around to rolling it out, promising it’ll be available next week in the form of an 8GB 3GS for an incredible 4,999 yuan (about $739). As far as we can tell, the phone will be compatible both with straight WiFi and WAPI wireless networks, which is a big step for the country — traditionally, the Chinese iPhone has been WiFi-free while the iPod touch has gone unfettered, the result of bureaucracy, product categorization, and strange laws that don’t fly in many other locales. On a related note, rumor has it that the iPhone 4 — presumably also with WiFi / WAPI — is on track for a September 1 release, so if the 3GS is feeling a little too 2009 for you, you may not have long to wait.
We’re not sure how we missed this one, but it’s better late than never — turns out some lucky jerks in China were given a Lenovo LePhone to play with back in mid-April, and the guys at Sooyuu have just finished the fifth and final part of their lengthy review, just in time for the May launch. We weren’t expecting any changes since our last encounter at CES, but apparently the 3.7-inch screen’s now been upgraded from LCD to AMOLED, and like the Palm Pre, the LePhone also sports a gesture area below the screen. Of course, there’s also the never-before-seen packaging that we totally dig, not to mention the bundled goodies such as a leather case, a noise-isolation handsfree kit (but sans music and volume control), plus a magnetic dock adapter. As for software, the reviewer praises Lenovo’s snappy, heavily customized Android with its vast Chinese social networking service integration, music store, video apps, and an impressive Chinese turn-by-turn navigation suite. We almost want to adopt this baby, only to be let down by its 3.2-megapixel camera’s mediocre quality, lack of flash, and inability to autofocus. Anyhow, you can be the final judge — head over to Sooyuu for plenty more pictures.
Oh, brother. This just keeps getting better and better, and by “better and better,” we mean “uglier and uglier.” Google’s abrupt decision to stop censoring results in China and redirect users on the mainland to the outfit’s Hong Kong portal has stirred up all sorts of tense feelings around the globe, and if you thought this whole war would be confined to the desktop, you were sorely mistaken. China Unicom, which is gearing up to present its customer base with a few more smartphone options with Android loaded on, recently announced that it wouldn’t be using Google as the search engine on those very phones. Lu Yimin, president of the operator, was quoted as saying that his company was “willing to work with any company that abides by Chinese law,” but that it didn’t have “any cooperation with Google currently.” Granted, this is just the latest in a series of blows to Android’s proliferation in the world’s biggest nation, but you can really tell it’s getting personal now. C’mon guys — can’t we just hug it out?
It’s no surprise that the MotorolaXT701 (aka Motoroi) was going to land in the hands of China Unicom with its WCDMA radio, but man, that must’ve been a painful two-and-a-half-month wait for Chinese Motofans. Mind you, considering earlier worries about Google’s departure from China, it’s better late than never, right? Like its Korean and American counterparts, the XT701 also sports Android 2.0 but boosted with WAPI support — China’s very own WiFI standard. Fork out ¥4,299 or about $630 and this phone’s yours.
23 billion text messages in one week, with 13 billion from the first two days alone. Pretty mind-boggling, isn’t it? And this 10 percent growth in the number of gung-hey-fat-choi messages is the work of just 747 million phone users in China — imagine what would’ve happened if all 1.3 billion people in the country had a phone during Chinese New Year. Throughout the same period, China also produced 1.33 billion MMS messages — a staggering 40 percent increase from last year — while China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom operated 127.6 percent, 19.5 percent and 15.7 percent more voice calls respectively. Looks like someone’s bagged themselves some extra red pockets here. Now, any guesses for next year’s figures?
Call it proof that there’s a global wireless karma equilibrium, if you will, that needs to be maintained: China Unicom has warned that its net profit for 2009 will be down a whopping 50 percent, while one of its doppelgangers across the Sea of Japan — NTT DoCoMo — has encountered exactly the opposite fortune on news that it has posted a 48 percent year-over-year improvement in black ink. Unicom blames a perfect storm for its misfortune, citing the sale of its CDMA network in 2008 for an artificially inflated profit a year ago combined with the immense expense involved in rolling out its HSPA cells over the course of 2009.
DoCoMo, meanwhile, ironically benefited from weak demand for new handsets that pushed its procurement costs lower, and it might be the start of a revolution in the way Japanese phones are announced and offered. Reports circulating today suggest that the carrier is gearing up to offer micro SIMs capable of working with Apple’s iPad, which would mark a first for any major Japanese network; historically, you’ve had to buy a phone from them, but with LTE looking more globally harmonious than any network technology before it, this might be the start of something good. Speaking of LTE, NEC has announced that it’ll be demoing a concept LTE “terminal” (presumably a handset) in cooperation with DoCoMo at MWC this month, likely the first example of many we’ll see over the course of the year as a number of carriers around the world march toward live 4G networks.
As Google and China trade blows on the global stage Lenovo just keeps on truckin’ with its plans to launch the Android-powered LePhone in China and overseas. Samsung and Motorola you’ll recall, already bent under Google’s pressure and agreed to delay the launch of their respective handsets in China last week. Lenovo execs are planning for a hat-trick launch in May on China Unicom, China Mobile, and China Telecom with a rest of world launch expected later in the year. Lenovo shareholders also approved the company’s planned buy-back of its mobile handset division today, making them just the latest tier-1 PC maker to join the smartphone party. Picture of the LePhone with its optional keyboard accessory after the break.
Turns out the rumors weren’t too far off. After fighting for ages to get the iPhone 3G to Chinese shores, citizens of the aforementioned nation will soon be able to pick up one of Apple’s latest (the iPhone 4, if you’re keeping count) without reverting to importers and KIRF shops. Starting on September 25th, the iPhone 4 will be available across China in retail locations as well as China Unicom shops, with off-contract pricing set for CNY4,999 (16GB model) and CNY5,999 (32GB model) — that’s around $743 and $892 in greenbacks, respectively. Those looking for subsidization options will need to do some digging once China Unicom starts talking numbers. But hey, at least this one has WiFi!
Call it proof that there’s a global wireless karma equilibrium, if you will, that needs to be maintained: 
