Archive for the 'Commerce' Category

The door-to-door salesmen of tomorrow

Published
by
Jason Li
on December 11, 2007
in Commerce and Education
. 0 Comments

Alibabasalesmen

Great factoid found from a (somewhat old) SF Chronicle article about Alibaba (the China-based company best known for their web service that connects
manufacturers from China with customers around the world) Specifically, how they
get manufacturers in middle-of-nowhere China aboard and online:

"Beneath its high-tech sheen, the success of Alibaba.com relies on
the old-fashioned shoe leather method of door-to-door salesmen. The
company employs an army of foot soldiers stationed throughout China and
other parts of the globe who call on local businesses and teach their
owners how to upload product photos, manage customer inquiries and
maintain their online presence.

Because labor in China is cheap, Alibaba.com can afford to deploy a
field sales staff of about 1,900 people to recruit new factories to
join the Internet revolution."

Business of Design Week 2007

Published
by
Jason Li
on November 19, 2007
in Commerce and Design
. 0 Comments

Businessdesign_hk

Businessdesign_hk2

I can’t quite get a good read on this conference, it has a mix of design/branding/art/architecture people from all over, and the scope stretches across innovation, design and brand. It has potential, and isn’t egregiously expensive, and would be good to check out if you’re in Hong Kong then.

http://www.bodw.com

Coca Cola campaign in Hong Kong

Published
by
Jason Li
on November 5, 2007
in Art, Commerce and Food and Drink
. 2 Comments

A 7-minute video of a year-long ad campaign 可口可乐365快乐天（Coca Cola 365 Days of Happiness), created by McCann Worldgroup’s Hong Kong Branch (香港麦肯广告). It’s an interesting case study of what advertising/marketing looks like in different mediums (or as some may call it, “multi-channel marketing”).

Warning: The "trendy" beat in the video drove me nuts.

Via Long Yin Review

.

Sohu claims exclusive advertising rights to the 2008 Olympics

Published
by
Jason Li
on October 23, 2007
in Commerce
. 1 Comment

Beijingo

From TechCrunch:

Sohu paid 30 million dollars back in 2005 to create the official 2008 Olympics’ website, and now claims exclusive rights to all internet advertising for it as well. The Beijing International Olympic Committee has yet to process their claim, but the original article from AFP reveals some insider views:

"Zeng says he should know. He worked for Sohu.com as business department director before defecting to Tom.Com two years ago. One of his projects at Sohu.com was the Olympic deal.

‘The claim about exclusivity on advertising has no basis… It would be like saying that all Olympic sponsors in the US would have to put their TV ads on NBC.’"

Thanks to Adaptive Path’s Dan Harrelson for the tip.

need for Chinese mobile phone hacking blog in English

Published
by
Lyn Jeffery
on October 18, 2007
in Commerce, Mobile and Translation
. 235 Comments

Advanced Chinese mobile phones are gaining an audience, but judging from the comments that are still piling up on this ChinaTech news item from May, there seems to be a growing need for a Chinese mobile phone hacking website — in English.  Someone should do it!

UPDATE: Jeff writes, on Oct. 1, 2008: Hi there, you can find manuals and software for chinese phones easily: http://www.chinamanuals.com
Just check and ask for your specific model. They were very helpful to me (twice).

I checked the site and it looks good.  END UPDATE

On May 21, 2007, ChinaTech posted a general news article/press release titled CECTs Mobile Handset Offers Fingerprint Recognition, which described the release of “the T100, a mobile phone featuring fingerprint recognition and streaming TV,” by Qiao Xing Mobile’s subsidiary CECT.  A month later a reader named RUMELL posted the following:

I want to get CECT mobile phone software. please send this.

The comment has spawned a long scroll of desperate non-Chinese-speaking owners of CECT phones from all over the world, in search of help, hacks, software, CECT phones, and especially, manuals in English.  People are exchanging emails.  The article is the top Google hit for a search of “CECT mobile English.”  Excerpted comments, including one exasperated reader who wonders why people buy phones they can’t operate, and even a Nigerian in search of business opportunities, below:

Arcia Says:
August 16th, 2007 at 6:49 am

I have the english manual for the CECT P186. e-mail me and I will send it

Tony Says:
August 21st, 2007 at 8:09 pm

Hi, I need copy of the P168 manual in english….
Thanks

Albert Says:
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
can
any one help, I have got a Cect P168 but its arrived ni chinese, can
anyone tell me how to change it to english please, I am really stuck

Ralph Harris Says:
August 25th, 2007 at 4:06 am
Try this eBay listing: 270158049230

cenzurath Says:
August 29th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
hi
i need a CECT mobile phone software too :( my phone looks like nokia
n73… but it’s not .. and i think it’s a CECT … send me pls the phone
software :(( thnx

Abhay Says:
September 1st, 2007 at 10:58 pm

Hi, I am unable to play any videos in my CECT phone that i am transferring from other phones. errror message is “invalid video file”. PLease Help me on this.

jagawar Says:
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:48 am

vidoes for cect are supposed to be in 3gp or mp4 format.

jagawar Says:
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:50 am

i
need an english manual for cect n99. need to know if i can install
applications and games. also how to transfer phone contacts from
another phone. jagawar@yahoo.com

Madu Says:
September 5th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
can anyone e-mail me the official website for CECT

Indrajit Das Says:
September 9th, 2007 at 6:18 am

I
have purchased a CECT phone but not sure about which model.After a long
search i got to know that its a CECT mobile phone.can anyone send me a
CECT any model manual. can any one answer me some query regarding this phone.

1.What kind of OS is installed in CECT phone?

2. Can i installed additional software in this phone like i used to installed in Nokia N72
Symbian phone?? Thanks in advance.

Mail me at indrajit_dasin@yahoo.com

Richard Says:
September 10th, 2007 at 4:01 am

I have one CECT N95,which soft install for put java applications/games inside.  I try with PC-Sync Manager but wont install JAVA app.

BABA BELLO Says:
September 11th, 2007 at 1:04 am

Please i need the instruction manual to enable me enjoy full usage of my set and software to install the set on my Laptop.

Murphy Says:
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:21 am

I
am a propectus business man in Nigeria. Due to the current trend by
internals on Nigeria(we are regarded as fraudstars) i will like to get
to know more about the tv phones and how i can enter into a fraudulent
FREE transactions. I reside in okokomaiko Lagos State and own a mobile
phone shop in CC234,Alaba Int’l Market. Pls reply urgently(anyone with
a good bargain)

711 Says:
September 26th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

Why don’t you contact CECT and have them send you a bloody manual? Their web-site is located at www.cectelecom.com

Jacky Says:
September 26th, 2007 at 8:42 pm

Hi,
Im a proud owner of CECT T888 and i wish they could add features like
bluetooth and pc sync.It sucks having to download almost everythin via
USB.But the fon is so cool!

wayne Says:
September 27th, 2007 at 12:50 pm

Hi, i would like to buy 1 and possibly more CECT mobiles. Who is the cheapest seller of these that can post to australia?
thank you

armstrong Says:
October 5th, 2007 at 10:18 am

Why
do all of you idiots need these manuals for CECT mobile phones? Why
didn’t you think of that when you bought those Chinese phones?
Obviously since so many don’t have a manual, they are difficult to
find, and therefore they probably are not available. Are there this
many stupid consumers on planet earth that still buy dumb Chinese
products?

PERKNOT Says:
October 5th, 2007 at 9:01 pm

HI
guys, i have a cect HLF-K808 phone - it has a chinese manual. i wonder
if some of you have an english maual for that and if do so can you
kindly send it to my emaol - r_flordeliz@yahoo.com
- another question - are cect phone capable of having other softwares
like java, or ebooks, is it instalble. what os is being use in it.
thank you for your help!

dmerrilldnd Says:
October 7th, 2007 at 9:45 am

I have the user’s manual for setting up the SMS, MMS and the internet settings. Just email me. I’ll send it to you.

And the most recent comment, from ana, today, continuing the call for help:

Hi I need copy of the a380 fingerprint ecryption manual in english….Thanks

Coca Cola + China = Healthy Herbal Coke?

Published
by
Jason Li
on October 17, 2007
in Commerce
. 1 Comment

"Coca-Cola is to launch a range of drinks based on traditional Chinese herbal ingredients and recipes."

Via PFSK; original article over at BrandRepublic.

HipHi gets a new competitor

Published
by
Jason Li
on October 15, 2007
in Commerce and Virtual China
. 0 Comments

Novoking

Novoking2

Novoking3

They seem to have a Chinese pop-star motif going on, and there’s some talk in the blogosphere about how they rely less on user-generated content and focus more on entertaining people.

I haven’t checked it out yet, but I wanted to get it on the radar, for those of you tracking these things.

In beta stages. See their website.

Caught on tape: Air China’s pilots unable to speak English

Published
by
Jason Li
on October 7, 2007
in Commerce, Meme and Video Clips
. 7 Comments

Floating around the Hong Kong cyberspace this morning, a YouTube clip of Hong Kong Cable TV’s New Channel report about the trouble Air China is encountering flying into New York.

  • The news report plays a taped conversation between an Air China pilot and an American air traffic operator.
  • The Chinese pilot speaks gibberish, starting off with an English word but then mumbling sounds for the rest of the sentence.
  • The air traffic controllers say this happens regularly and poses danger.
  • An Air China rep is interviewed. He says that it’s the air traffic controller’s fault for not using standardized language.
  • By March next year, the report continues, every pilot will have taken English classes.
  • Then they show an exchange between an Air China pilot who passed the English proficiency exam and an English interviewer. It’s pretty ugly, but at least he’s using his words.
  • The report ends by saying that thousands of pilots haven’t even passed this test, but are continuing to pilot planes.

Airchina

Youtube clip here.

As much as this report shows how much Mainland China needs to ramp up its English as a Second Language efforts, it also shows a problem in design: If non-English speaking pilots have trouble communicating with English air traffic controllers "regularly," shouldn’t they have an alternate non-verbal channel of communication?

At least then they could both agree to "hold" without all that fuss.

Happy Mid-autumn Festival!

Published
by
Jason Li
on September 25, 2007
in Commerce and Food and Drink
. 0 Comments

A friend sent this over this article to me today, entitled:

特别报道：全国各地惊现纸馅月饼
("Special Report: Country-wide Shocking Paper-filled Mooncake")

The article describes a famous person named "Jason," who went home with a box of mooncakes and discovered a secret note inside:

Mooncake

Translation: "Jason: Happy Mid-autumn Festival!"

Upon further examination, I noticed that my name (Jason) had been computer generated onto the image and the article! So if you want to send a similar online greeting to your friend, simply:

Copy the URL below, insert the name of a friend, and send it to him/her!

http://www.bokee.net/includes/zhongqiu.jsp?stra=(insert name here)

black market goods on the move between India and China

Published
by
Lyn Jeffery
on September 21, 2007
in Commerce
. 0 Comments

The Asian Studies WWW Monitor points toward this analysis of unofficial cross border trade between India and China.  It gives the geographic details of routes between Arunachal, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Tibet and Xinjiang.  These routes have been in operation for centuries if not longer, and despite official customs efforts, apparently there’s a lot going on.  Excerpts:

Despite our bureaucracy’s whimsical reluctance to acknowledge it
Indian goods are going to China and Chinese goods are being brought in
large quantities all along the border, and China monitors this trade
quite closely.

…coarse wool,
pashm wool, tiger eye & other precious and semi precious stones, gold
pellets, daggers, boots, hats, blankets, quilts, jeans, jackets, fur
caps, felt hats, inverters, electronic equipment, cycles, foot wear,
confectionery, crockery, thermos flasks, raw meat (during winter in
Ladakh), saddles, yaks, and horses come into India and liquor esp.
rum, medicines (large quantity of Indian medicines go through
Kyrghystan and Kazakhstan to Sinkiang), woollen carpets, tea,
utensils, petrol and diesel, car parts, tool kits, solar panels,
shawls, bicycles & sometimes even cement bags go from India.

The goods that are now in demand are no longer traditional, and demand
for traditional goods like wool is now on a commercial scale. No
longer is it only for local use by cross border communities. The
routes and methods of carrying these goods is however still largely
traditional. Earlier needs were few and localized thus salt e.g. used
to be a very important item to be brought in.  Now as can be seen from
the list above preferences have outstripped basic needs.

In Ladakh the Chinese indirectly finance dumping of their goods by
giving long-term interest free credit. They demand payment only after
the goods have been sold by their Indian customers. For Indian goods
they pay in Rupees immediately on delivery. In Leh’s Moti Market,
across the road from the spacious campus of the Intelligence Bureau
about 50 shops sell largely Chinese goods. Amongst their faithful
buyers are uniformed personnel too.

It’s not only for Lhasa that the Chinese could be interested in
opening up trade routes with India. They want traditional trade routes
connecting each part of Tibet that has filial and old trade links with
India to be resumed. This way they can ensure cheaper supplies.
Providing these from mainland China takes time and is expensive. This
situation will not be affected much even when the Sikang – Lhasa rail
link is opened.