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shanghai posts

China Mobile opens "experience shops" as TD-SCDMA softly launches

by Darren Murph posted Jun 3rd 2008 @ 4:48AM

We knew good and well China Mobile was all geared up to launch its homegrown 3G standard in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen (among other locales), and though China's government hasn't issued 3G licenses yet, TD-SCDMA has finally made its soft launch. In order to garner interest in the service, said carrier has also opened up "experience shops" in the aforementioned cities "to allow the public to experiment with TD-SCDMA handsets and gain confidence with TD-SCDMA's capabilities." During the initial launch, some 60,000 dual-mode TD-SCDMA / GSM handsets and 15,000 data cards will be on sale in these outlets, with most of the units being in the "mid- to high-end range" and costing between $286 and $572 (those are subsidized prices). Here is where we suppose China Mobile holds its breath and hopes for things to take off.

[Via mocoNews]

Motorola christens flagship Shanghai outlet

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 14th 2006 @ 12:29AM

In what might be called a Destination Q with less Q and more David Beckham, Motorola has cut the ribbon on its first "Global Flagship Store" in downtown Shanghai this week. On second thought, it appears any comparison to Destination Q would be doing the new joint a disservice -- the first of four planned for mainland China, Moto's Shanghai outpost offers laser etching, custom phone tattoos, and onsite factory techs for when your MING starts misbehavin'. The store's design is being called "modular," offering the opportunity for smaller stores and kiosks worldwide based on the same concept. Hey guys, we'd be happy to offer you a mulligan on Destination Q if you want to take that flagship of yours and bring the battle with Nokia (fo' reals this time) to your hometown.

[Via Mobiledia]

Virgin Mobile poised to launch MVNO in China

by Evan Blass posted Apr 8th 2006 @ 9:00AM

Interfax China is reporting that Virgin Mobile is close to signing a partnership with wireless carrier China Unicom that would make the UK-based company the first foreign MVNO in post-WTO China. Although Virgin would still require approval from the Chinese government, which carefully scrutinizes all proposed foreign business presences, the company will benefit from past deals in which Spain's Telefonica and Germany's Vodafone have made invesments in domestic telecom firms. Virgin already has offices in Shanghai, and CEO Richard Branson recently told reporters to expect a Chinese launch this fall, so it would seem pretty likely that this venture, which is well over a year in the making, has the necessary government support to proceed.