Hasta La Gadget!

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.

Continue reading Lenovo LePhone launching in Le May

Lenovo LePhone launching in Le May originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

RAZR. KRAVE. MOTOROI. SHOP4APPS? We think — nay, we hope — that we’ve at long last reached the nadir of Motorola’s naming convention and are finally on our way up from the depths of marketing hell now that the company has announced its new Android app store for China. We’re not totally clear on why these guys need this on top of the Android Market and China Mobile’s own Open Mobile System initiative, but for what it’s worth, Chinese buyers of the XT701, MT710, and XT800 will have yet another way to find, buy, and store purchases for their phones.

Perhaps the more interesting part of the announcement, though, is that Motorola is adding the capability to choose a non-default (read: non-Google) search provider on these phones. For all practical purposes, Baidu is China’s Google, anyhow, with a commanding market lead — so it probably makes a lot of sense for locals to be able to route searches through them, never mind the fact that it gives Moto an escape hatch for sidestepping the drama going on right now. An Android phone tightly integrated with Google search isn’t so useful if Google leaves the country, right? Look for both of these services to be available via over-the-air updates in time for the Chinese New Year — January 26.

Motorola bringing SHOP4APPS app store 2CHINA, adding workaround for Google spat originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Motorola  | Email this | Comments

As the Year of the Tiger approaches (February 14th this year), Chinese workers look forward to their week-long holiday — a nightmarish time for foreign vendors who’ll struggle to get hold of anyone in the country. Sadly, this wasn’t the case for Wintek — screen supplier for Nokia, Huawei and Apple. The Taiwanese company’s East China factory ground to a halt last Friday morning, while about 2,000 of its 10,000 workers went on a five-hour protest over a rumored bonus cancellation for the second year in a row. On top of that, workers also criticized Wintek for using n-hexane — a banned substance used for cleaning LCDs — which they claim caused the death and paralyzation of several workers last year. Factory officials and Chinese health authorities don’t deny that n-hexane was used, but they say it wasn’t responsible for either the deaths or the paralyzations. Now, the good news: Wintek has promised that workers will get their bonuses, and further said that the factory hasn’t used n-hexane since August — complete with proof that current n-hexane levels are lower than safety regulations require. Let’s hope things get better between management and workers from now on. One more picture and video of the protest after the break.

Continue reading 2,000 Wintek workers go on strike over bonus payments, may affect Nokia and iPhone production

2,000 Wintek workers go on strike over bonus payments, may affect Nokia and iPhone production originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Apple Insider, 9to5Mac  |  Mingpao (1), (2), BackChina  | Email this | Comments

Oh, this is as tasty as it is salacious. Acer founder and former chairman (now retired) Stan Shih has come out with the bold prediction that US computer brands are on the way out — if they do not adjust to the new reality of a PC market focused on low cost. When asked how he foresees Acer and ASUS establishing their brand credentials in the USA when they’re engaged in constant price wars, Shih resolutely stated that lowering costs and prices is the way to do it. Drawing an analogy to the fate of US television brands (pow!), Shih pointed out his belief that American vendors aren’t capable (slap!) of delivering the sort of affordability that the market is set to permanently demand. As harsh as his words may be, let’s not forget Acer recently jumped Dell for the number two spot in volume of global sales, so let’s not ignore what may in fact be prophecy rather than mere prattle.

CE-Oh no he didn’t! Part LXVI: Acer founder predicts extinction of US PC makers within 20 years originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Inquirer  |  AFP  | Email this | Comments

Autsch! In light of the recent attacks on Google China and Microsoft’s revelation that an Internet Explorer security flaw served as an impetus in the assault, Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security has released a warning to its population: avoid IE. Specifically, the report calls out the latest three versions — 6, 7, and 8 — but let’s face it, those older versions should be avoided on grounds of usability alone. Boy, bet the Bonn-based agency is happy about that Windows 7 web browser ballot screen, eh?

Germany advises its citizens to say ‘nein’ to Internet Explorer originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mashable  |  BSI  | Email this | Comments