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ChinaMobile posts

China Mobile's Mobile Market site goes live, sort of

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 3rd 2009 @ 3:07PM

A site channeling 480 million subscribers into a single mobile app and content store would seem like one of the world's most lucrative properties, so naturally, there are a lot of eyes focused on China Mobile right now as it gets ready to launch its Mobile Market venture. The store's site is sort of live now, though it appears to be in a pre-release testing phase with broken links all over the place; the carrier officially says that the service will be available in September, so we'd look to that date before the full force of half a billion individuals gets unleashed on the site. Combine this with an Android-based OPhone or two, and we're totally in.

[Via PC World]

China Mobile says 3G isn't winning hearts and minds yet

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jun 29th 2009 @ 9:42PM

China Mobile officially kicked off commercial 3G services on China's homegrown TD-SCDMA standard way back in January of this year and it's sparing no expense to build it out, but so far, only 3 percent of new subscribers -- that is, those that could easily get a 3G line and hardware if they wanted to -- are opting for the service. It'd be totally cool if 3 percent of China Mobile's total subscriber base were on 3G, but in reality, only about three-quarters of a million folks were signed up by the end of May -- and when you consider that there are nearly half a billion subscribers on the carrier, that's a drop in the bucket. Part of the problem could simply be that TD-SCDMA is unique to China, which limits hardware selection; its competitors are deploying HSPA and EV-DO networks, which may have a better chance of broad acceptance. Either that, or Chinese just hate fast wireless, and we're doubting that.

Move over, Lenovo: HTC Magic-based OPhone confirmed for June on China Mobile

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 29th 2009 @ 12:13AM

Shots of that China Mobile-customized Magic in the wild have proven spot-on now that the Wall Street Journal has confirmed HTC's plans to begin offering the device starting next month. The phone will join hardware from Lenovo as a member of China Mobile's OPhone initiative, which is looking to offer a carrier-customized Android experience on surprisingly awesome handsets. Of course, awesomeness always comes with a price, and when the Magic launches in June, it's expected to run something in the range of 5,000 yuan ($732) -- a princely sum for a phone that should run no more than $450 or so totally unlocked in other locales. Just how bad do you want Android, punk?

[Via CNET]

Samsung B7300 pictured, excites only the most rabid WinMo fans

by Chris Ziegler, posted May 19th 2009 @ 9:52AM

It's not the prettiest Windows Mobile smartphone we've ever seen, and there's a good reason for it -- all indications are that the unannounced Samsung B7300 is targeted squarely at the midrange of the market. In fact, the leaked pictures we're looking at here are China Mobile-branded, suggesting that the 3G- and WiFi-free device will find a home in an area of the world where EDGE doesn't matter much, much less HSDPA. Specs are said to include a WQVGA display, GPS, Bluetooth and USB 2.0, and quadband GSM, so at least you'll be able to take this puppy wherever you need to go -- and the 12.98mm-thin shell helps make the case, too. No word on when or where else we might see this one, but we'll stick with our Omnias for the time being, we think.

Dell to launch smartphones in China by end of year

by Darren Murph, posted Apr 14th 2009 @ 10:28AM

After having its prototypes rejected a few times over by carriers here in America, it seems that Michael Dell is taking his smartphone initiative overseas. 'Course, he'll need something mighty special to outshine Lenovo's OPhone over in China, but we digress. Hot on the heels of rumors galore, Reuters is reporting that Dell is indeed aiming to launch multiple smartphones in the Chinese market before the dawn of 2010. A pair of analysts have asserted that the firm is working with Chi Mei Communications -- an unlisted unit of Taiwan's Hon Hai -- on the hardware front, while China-based Red Office is engineering the operating system. Not surprisingly, spokespeople from these outfits are all remaining mum for the moment, but we are told that the US and Europe are on Dell's list of next-up launch markets assuming the China rollout goes well.

[Via MobileBurn]

Dell smartphones planning whirlwind Asian trip courtesy of China Mobile?

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 13th 2009 @ 9:07AM

China Mobile may or may not have lost out to China Unicom in the bid to (officially) bring the iPhone to the most populous nation in the world, but it seems the provider might still have an ace up its sleeve -- Dell. The Texas-based company, which may or may not be actually making smartphones, is said by analyst Zhang Jun to be in final negotiations with the Hong Kong-based provider to ship those actual devices to Asian shores, devices that were supposedly shunned by providers elsewhere on the globe. Talk of Dell's handsets running Android seems to fit in nicely with China Mobile's requirements to use its custom-baked operating system (which has a crunchy Android filling), as does Dell's apparent upcoming release of a TD-SCDMA-packing Mini 10 to Chinese netbookers. So is this a match made in heaven or an analyst daydream? Sadly we won't know until August, when this supposed deal will supposedly be done. Something tells us Unicom and Apple will still be debating by then, too.

[Via mocoNews]

Lenovo's Android-powered OPhone shows itself again. Launch imminent?

by Donald Melanson, posted Mar 31st 2009 @ 6:03PM

Lenovo's KIRF-tastic OPhone hasn't exactly been all that camera shy since it first dipped its toes into the Android waters in December, but it's now proudly showing itself yet again, and giving everyone their best glimpse yet at its China Mobile branding. What's more, while we've already heard that the phone is on track for a launch this quarter, the talk now seems to be that a release could be just around the corner, with some speculating that it'll roll out immediately after China Mobile's other Android handset, the Dopod G2 (a.k.a. HTC Magic). Hit up the link below for a few more pics, including a closer look at the phone's slightly familiar-looking UI in action.

[Via ModMyGphone, thanks Neerhaj]

Unicom confirmed as Chinese iPhone / G1 provider?

by Tim Stevens, posted Mar 25th 2009 @ 8:12AM

Unicom confirmed as Chinese iPhone provider?

It's been a long, arduous road to Shanghai for the iPhone, but its trip may finally be at an end. Sure, there are already thousands of the things in the pockets and purses of trendy Chinese right now, but an official launch there has taken ages. Last summer it was looking like China Mobile had scored the deal with Apple, but word is now that China Unicom may have completed the upset, posting up a page on its site detailing the iPhone's specs and including the phone in its list of supported headsets. The company hasn't officially confirmed the phone's availability or anything else, but word on the streets of Shanghai is that the phone will be launched there on May 17th.

Update: Looks like it has posted specs for the G1 as well, albeit complete with T-Mobile branding. Hmm. [Thanks, Sze!]

[Via JLM Pacific Epoch; thanks, Scott]

China Mobile's customized HTC Magic gets shown off

by Donald Melanson, posted Mar 17th 2009 @ 12:28PM

China Mobile already has one Android-based handset on track courtesy of Lenovo, but it looks like it's not stopping there, with this pre-production HTC Magic (a.k.a. G2) now apparently making the rounds ahead of a May launch. What's more, as with some other phones that have landed on the carrier, this one looks to have been pretty heavily customized for its debut, both in terms of its interface and its specs, which should now comply nicely with China's own TD-SCDMA network. That, unfortunately, means the phone has dropped both 3G and WiFi connectivity, though it has at least picked up some nifty Dopod branding in the process. No word on pricing or an exact launch date just yet, but you can find plenty more pics and some (translated) impressions by hitting up the read link below.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

Vodafone's Vittorio Colao dreams up "unbeatable" alliance around LTE

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 29th 2009 @ 12:52PM

And here we go again -- new CEO, same message. Just under a year after ex-chief Arun Sarin urged the industry to rally around LTE, the new bigwig (that's Mr. Vittorio Colao to you) is coming forward with even zanier ideas. In a recent interview with Financial Times, Colao asserted that collaboration between China Mobile, Vodafone and Verizon Wireless around LTE could create an "unbeatable" alliance. More specifically, he noted that the trio could "work more closely... in the management of customers, procurement and service creation," which in some courtrooms may be misconstrued as collusion. All kidding aside (maybe), this master plan makes more sense when you realize that Vodafone owns a 3.2 percent stake in China Mobile and is already involved in VZW via a joint venture. Still, just because Microsoft and Apple could join forces to create an unbeatable operating system factory doesn't mean that laws would allow it.

[Via mocoNews]

China Mobile blowing $8.6B to build out 3G network

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jan 14th 2009 @ 2:41AM

Building a wireless network is never cheap -- but when you take into account the fact that you have to cover a huge landmass that's home to well over a billion souls... well, you get the picture. China Mobile has announced that it intends to sink some 58.8 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) this year alone into building out its TD-SCDMA-based 3G network to cover 238 cities across China with roughly 60,000 base stations. In the 3G race, they'll be going up against China Unicom and China Telecom who'll be operating more world-friendly WCDMA and EV-DO networks, which raises an interesting question: will TD-SCDMA equipment be cheaper thanks to royalty loopholes, or more expensive because there's no global scale of economy?

[Via mocoNews]

Lenovo's Android-powered OPhone to hit China Mobile this quarter

by Darren Murph, posted Jan 9th 2009 @ 4:18PM

Look out, China -- Lenovo's all-too-sexy OPhone is about to land in the hands of unsuspecting China Mobile subscribers, or so says Reuters, anyway. The planet's largest mobile carrier will reportedly launch the 3G handset sometime this quarter, though some reports are suggesting that development is being hampered as engineers struggle with creating a Chinese language version of the OS. Once launched, it will go down as the first Android-powered handset to operate on China's home-cooked TD-SCDMA 3G network, but there's no word on just how costly it'll be. Not like cost is really a concern here, right?

[Via mocoNews, image courtesy of modmyGphone]

Lenovo's Android phone for China hotter than a G1 with a defective battery

by Chris Ziegler, posted Dec 12th 2008 @ 3:40AM

What if we told you the most beautiful phone in the world was a Lenovo? Reactions to that statement are likely going to oscillate between "Lenovo doesn't make cellphones" and "impossible, considering this is the country that gave us the QKfone G998," -- but seriously, have a look. Even if you don't agree that it's one of the most attractive mobile devices you've ever laid eyes on, you're going to have a hard time making a cohesive argument that the Android-based slate doesn't run circles around the G1 for physical design. 'Course, that just makes it all the more maddening that it's apparently nothing more than an early model of the "Ophone," a handset designed to comply to China Mobile's Open Mobile System that combines Android's core with support and apps for the carrier's homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G network. Translation: we'll never see one outside China, so yeah, just lust from afar while you pray HTC and its comrades are busy cooking up some stellar gear.

China Mobile could deactivate 3G / WiFi on iPhone 3G launch

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 26th 2008 @ 3:31AM

Currently, over 400,000 unlocked iPhones are roaming around China. Now that China Mobile is about to officially launch Apple's latest handset in the world's most populous country, we can only imagine that figure going up. In a bizarre twist of trying to keep a homegrown 3G standard (TD-SCDMA) alive, the carrier has announced that it is intending to launch the mobile with WiFi and 3G disabled -- a move that would make it less appealing to those who may be considering buying one, unlocking it and using it on the expected W-CDMA network from China Telecom. Uncool, China Mobile. Very uncool.

[Via mocoNews]

China Mobile soars past the 600 million subscriber mark, refuses to slow down

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 31st 2008 @ 7:02PM

Just last April, we heard that China Mobile had acquired more subscribers than the entire population of the United States of America. 15 months later, it has doubled up on that figure. Yep, China Mobile has just broken the 600 million subscriber mark as the country as a whole added 53.5 million new wireless users from January to June. Consequently, fixed-line customers fell by 9.3 million to 356 million during the same window of time. So, what's the over / under on months before the carrier breaks the big 1 billion?

[Via IntoMobile]