China moves to increase online censorship even further
China’s online censorship program has taken a decidedly aggressive turn, following the announcement that police officers will now be stationed inside large Internet companies.
The country’s deputy minister of public security Chen Zhimin revealed the plans earlier this week and explained that "network security offices" would be set up inside digital firms "to find out about illegal Internet activity more quickly".
Apple's iPhones gaining ground in Europe
The move to bigger iPhones is arguably the best decision that Apple has made in recent years. Consumer demand has been extremely strong from launch, proof being that Apple was able to match Samsung's shipments in Q4 2014 and post record sales quarter after quarter. The result? Record earnings.
The strong iPhone sales also translate into a strong market share. In Europe, Apple's handsets are gaining ground across all five-largest local markets, at the expense of either market leader Android or third-place rival Windows Phone, according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
Xiaomi's Mi TV 2S is a crazy-thin Android Lollipop-powered 48-inch 4K TV
Chinese technology conglomerate Xiaomi, best known for its low-priced and durable smartphones, has been aggressively working lately to increase its other product portfolios. The company today announces that it is refreshing its TV lineup by launching the Mi TV 2S.
As for the specifications, the Mi TV 2S sports a 48-inch display with 4K capability. With a waistline of 9.9mm and aluminum body, the television set is impressively thin too. But the company is not making any compromises on the internal components.
Samsung announces Galaxy A8 Android smartphone
Samsung has announced the Galaxy A8, a continuation on the A series of smartphones, in China.
The Galaxy A8 features a super-thin design, measuring at 5.9mm, alongside a 5.7-inch 1920 x 1080 display. Like other devices in the A series, Samsung has added a metallic frame to the device.
What would Steve Carell say? This office will be made with a 3D printer
Step aside, multi-billion-dollar construction companies. The always-pioneering city of Dubai is about to prove that a completely functional office building can be set up with little more than a 3D printer.
A special 20-foot-tall printer will be able to spit out virtually all the varying components and layers for the single-story building, which will then be placed on site and manually assembled in the United Arab Emirates city. Once all is said and done, it will be a sprawling 2000-square-foot structure.
Reddit blocked in China, Wayback Machine blocked in Russia
It is becoming increasingly common for governments around the world to block access to websites they don’t approve of for one reason or another. The most frequent censor is China, and the latest site to fall victim to the Great Firewall of China is Reddit. If you're not able to pop over to China to check whether the site is blocked, you can use Blocked In China to test whether any site is accessible from within the country.
This is not the only site which people are having trouble accessing. Over in Russia, the Internet Archive -- responsible for the nostalgia-inducing Wayback Machine -- is also blocked. While the blocking of Reddit in China has probably been done on purpose, the same may not necessarily be true in Russia.
I bought a $200 Android 'flagship' smartphone and it changed everything
A few weeks ago my one-and-a-half-year-old Nexus 5 started to misbehave. Its power button wasn't holding up well, forcing the phone to switch off a dozen times, while also making it a chore to turn the phone back on again. I realized the phone was on its last leg. I also have an iPhone 5s, but I mostly use it to listen to podcasts, take phone calls, and take photos. Suffice to say I'm an Android guy. With OnePlus announcing its plan to release the successor of its One flagship in Q3 later this year, and LG reportedly working on the successor to Nexus 5, I decided to purchase a cheap phone running Google’s software to keep my boat floating until these much-anticipated smartphones begin to trickle up on the market. This led me to purchase the recently launched $200 Mi 4i smartphone from Chinese conglomerate Xiaomi. After using it for a couple of weeks, I don't think I want to upgrade to a new phone this year.
The smartphone market has seen many new forces arrive in the last couple of years. These new players have changed the landscape entirely, pushing new phones with top-notch capabilities at an increasingly competitive price point. We now have plenty of options in both the low and mid-tier categories. The dirt-cheap $100 Moto E is a decent entry-level smartphone, and the $180 Moto G entices users looking for a more efficient phone. The Lenovo A7000 offers 4G LTE capability for less than $150, and $100 Android One smartphones from Micromax, Karbonn Mobiles, and Lava offer the up-to-date software and reasonably good specs. But I wanted a phone that offers a high-end processor and top-of-the-line hardware modules; Xiaomi was offering me just that.
Alibaba has to expand globally, or it 'won't be able to last'
Even though it reigns supreme in one of the world’s largest markets, China, Alibaba wants to expand globally. If it fails to do so, it might not survive, the company’s new CEO said recently.
In a speech given to employees on Wednesday, the new Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said Alibaba will heavily invest in "new and existing overseas operations".
China military bans smartwatches to lower security risks
China has warned its soldiers not to use smartwatches and wearable gadgets as they could be in breach of army security protocols.
The country’s military issued a statement against the use of Internet connected devices after a recruit attempted to take a photograph using a smartwatch. Restrictions surrounding mobile phone use are already in place.
The smartphone craze is over in China, as shipments decrease
China's smartphone market has declined year-over-year for the first time in six years, according to a new report from IDC. In the first quarter of the year, shipments decreased by 4.3 percent compared to the same period from 2014, with the likes of Samsung and Lenovo posting huge drops.
Apple leads the pack in China, shipping 14.5 million iPhones in Q1 2015, 62.1 percent more than a year ago. Meanwhile, rival Samsung, which comes in fourth place, saw shipments of just 9.6 million units, a whopping 53 percent lower compared to Q1 2014.
Europeans leaving Android smartphones for iPhones
Apple's latest iPhones continue to be in high-demand in Europe half a year after their launch, leading up to a market share boost on the old continent according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. And it is happening at the expense of Android, which, while still the most-popular smartphone operating system in Europe, is seeing part of its local users fleeing to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
In Q1 2015, iPhones claimed 20.3 percent of the European smartphone market, a 1.8 percentage points increase over Q1 2014. During the first quarter of the year, 32.4 percent of new customers were Android defectors.
Samsung fights for 'Avengers: Age of Galaxy S6'
Samsung is down but not out in the global smartphone shipments battle with top rival Apple. That is the conclusion from analysts at Juniper Research, which like Strategy Analytics released first quarter 2015 data today. Juniper sees sharp rebound from Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which "reception" is stronger than their predecessors.
Quarter-on-quarter, Samsung smartphone shipments -- 82 million units -- rose by 23 percent but fell 29 percent year over year. By comparison, annually, Apple shipments soared by 40 percent, to 61 million, largely lifted by China. The country's importance to the fruit-logo company cannot be overemphasized for either manufacturer. But Apple reaped the big crop, with shipments up 71 percent that generated $16.8 billion in revenue.
HTC One M9+: Bigger and uglier, but with a fingerprint sensor
HTC today revealed a new interpretation of its One M9 flagship. Dubbed One M9+, it is slightly bigger, powered by a different processor, offered with a proper fingerprint sensor on the front and fitted with a Duo Camera setup on the back. Oh, and it's also hideous.
There's no sensible way to describe how One M9+ looks. HTC has taken One M9, enlarged it so it fits a marginally bigger display and that fingerprint sensor, and called it a day. The ugly HTC bar above the BoomSound speakers is still there, and so are all the soft navigation buttons. Clearly, the company's designers haven't put much thought into One M9+.
Chinese tech CEO compares Apple to the Nazi Party
China is not known for its subtle language, as recently displayed by Chinese CEO and billionaire Jia Yueting, who compared Apple to the Nazi Party through a cartoon-style image.
In a weibo post, Yueting compares the attributes of the Android and iOS ecosystems as "Crowdsourced, freedom vs arrogance, tyranny", painting Apple as the villain.
Sony's PlayStation 4 goes on sale in China
The hugely popular Sony PlayStation 4 gaming console has finally arrived to China, but the Chinese still have very little reason to rejoice.
There are a total of six games which can, at this moment, be played in China, and those are Knack, Dynasty Warriors 8, Trials Fusion, Rayman Legends, King of WuShu and Mr. Pumpkin’s Adventure.
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