Archive for the 'Mobile' Category

A modern phone booth?

Published
by
Jason Li
on April 29, 2008
in Commerce and Mobile
. 1 Comment

Spotted on the streets of Hong Kong:

“Wifi available here,” it says

Unfortunately, it’s just a convenient place for the telecom company to advertise that they are offering wifi… for a fee.

Correction: From a comment by Alex:

“Actually this is not true.  PCCW had been offering paid Wifi access at more than 400 access points across the city, a majority of those are from PCCW phone booths! (including all the ones with this wifi label)
They actually have AP built into the phone booths like this one which the company owns.”

CityIN: mobile networking, QR codes in China?

Published
by
Lyn Jeffery
on March 13, 2008
in Mobile
. 2 Comments

Qr_code_cityin_2

CityIN’s press release arrived in my box this morning, and it looks pretty interesting. It’s a Hong Kong-developed social networking service that can work on your mobile, and it uses QR codes, which always seem so smart to me but which have not taken off much of anywhere outside of Japan. The Wikipedia entry says: QR Codes storing addresses and URLs
may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards or just about
any object that a user might need information about. A user having a
camera phone equipped with the correct reader software can scan the
image of the QR Code causing the phone’s browser to launch and redirect
to the programmed URL.

It would be a very interesting development to have them start to actually be used in China–a form of meaning that could be left in public places but not immediately visible to the ordinary passerby. CityIn’s press release cites a different use for QR codes, however, as kind of an easy way to get information from one screen (say in an Internet cafe) to your phone screen.

CityIN generates a QR code image for each user-created social events, visitors just need to scan the QR image with their mobile phone camera, and at maximum 4296 English characters (which is more than 1000 Chinese characters) will be read and input into their phone.

Why is this QR code feature important? Think about where many Chinese youngsters go online - Internet café. Do they have pen/paper/mobile-PC usb? So what if they need to note down the address of the party they are going tonight?

It also supports QQ contact importing.

See more at Web 2.0 Asia and 852signal

“red SMS culture” in China

Published
by
Lyn Jeffery
on December 12, 2007
in Mobile
. 4 Comments

Red_sms

Over the last three years, three and a half million mobile users have
created over 14 million "red" SMS messages (“红段子”), which have been downloaded
and passed on over 100 million times, according to this Xinhua article about Guangdong’s "red SMS culture" (红色短信文化) (in Chinese), found via Zhejiang Online.  "Healthy" red SMS have been solicited by China Mobile Guangdong for the last three years in an effort to counteract "yellow" SMS (of a sexual nature), "black" SMS (characterized in the article as "malicious satire), and "gray" SMS (doesn’t say what this means).  A Xinhua reporter recently went to investigate some of the people who have been creating and circulating the red SMS, to hear their stories and understand what lies behind this "healthy" movement. 

Here are some of the stories from the article, paraphrased:

Spreading warmth and kindness is what the red SMS do.  "With someone worrying about you the journey is not a wandering, with someone thinking of you the days aren’t lonely, with someone caring about you the years are not lost. Don’t let fate brush by you, don’t let your dreams burst like bubbles.  Hope you have more happiness than others!" This was the red SMS received by the GM of China Mobile Guangdong’s Dongguan office, sent by a colleague, one day when he was on his long commute home and feeling tired.  He had just been promoted to GM of the Dongguan office and his wife was still living in their old home, over 1000 km away. His son was in a third place, and the GM could only make it home once a week.  The travel was long and tiring, but when he received the red SMS above he laughed aloud and felt better knowing that a colleague cared enough about him to send it. 

[Note: It's not only management who are using red SMS to feel more connected.] "’Red SMS’ help smooth my communication with my son and allow me to peacefully work in Dongguan," said a construction worker.  "Now that I’ve left home I can’t take care of my son and I feel really guilty about it.  Then one time I saw some educational red SMS on the company’s website.  I downloaded them and changed them to suit my own way of talking, then sent them to my son.  On the weekends I can even go to the China Mobile service center to make free calls and chat with my son. It makes me happy."

When the Jiangmen city branch office asked for red SMS in praise of Jiangmen, they received over 100,000 SMS from 80,000 Jiangmen people, spread across 167 different countries or regions of China.  [Note: Jiangmen county is one of the main sources of diasporic Chinese in the last several decades, and civic pride got expressed in poetry and history via SMS.]

People are also expressing their everyday concerns via the red SMS.  For instance, one high school student composed a red SMS about China’s environmental problems. "By the roadside white plastic flutters, in the restaurant used chopsticks pile up; outside the window, dirty paper amasses." In concert with a municipal environmental office, China Mobile Guangdong’s third annual red SMS contest enlisted citizens to create and disseminate environmentally themed SMS. 

Establish a healthy mobile phone culture.  China already has over 500 million mobile users.  SMS are already part of our everyday communication methods.  People are creating all kinds of SMS; some are healthy but there are also "yellow SMS," "black SMS," "gray SMS," and so on. Are there more good messages or bad ones? In addition to blocking bad messages by technical means, China Mobile also encourages users to create healthy content for messaging, in order to lead people toward positive expression, toward the pursuit of truth, kindness, and beauty. SMS are inherently neutral, but if gray SMS outweigh red SMS and become more prominent in people’s thoughts, the city itself will become grayer, according to a Jiangmen city official.

The official mobile game of the 2008 Olympics

Published
by
Jason Li
on October 31, 2007
in Games and Mobile
. 1 Comment

Catching up on news: NTT DoCoMo unveiled the official mobile phone game of the 2008 Olympics at the Tokyo Game Show 2007 in September:

"In one of the game’s events, you put the phone down on a table and pump your arms like a sprinting runner. The phone’s camera picks up your movements and accelerates your onscreen running character accordingly."

Unfortunately I have been unable to find more information on the game.

Thanks to Jason Tester for the link. Original short post at picturephoning.

need for Chinese mobile phone hacking blog in English

Published
by
Lyn Jeffery
on October 18, 2007
in Commerce, Mobile and Translation
. 77 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!

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

Isaac’s murmurs: digital tracks in virtual China

Published
by
Lyn Jeffery
on September 20, 2007
in Blogs, Design, Mobile, News, P2P, Virtual China and Web 2.0c
. 0 Comments

If you really cared about emerging Internet practices and their social impact in China, AND if you were trying to keep up with social media, AND if you didn’t have all the time in the world to read blogs, AND if you read Chinese…you might just check out or even subscribe to Chinese venture capitalist and social entrepreneur Isaac Mao’s Twitter stream. 

Isaac_twitter

Here’s Joi Ito’s Twitter stream in English, which helps give an idea of how the streams can create a kind of ambient intimacy among users.  But Isaac is stepping it up a level, to something that is closer to IM + blog + IRC/BBS.  Not only do you find Isaac’s ongoing thoughts throughout the day (such as the recent: What’s up with Air China’s service? The flight attendant on an international flight didn’t know whether the meat in the main meal was pork or chicken, and in the end everyone voted and decided it was chicken LOL), but Isaac is using some very cool little applications like Twitterfeed, which lets you read the RSS feeds he subscribes to (blogs such as mindmeters, Techmeme, and 我blog故我在), and Twitterfox, which lets you view his buddies’ Twitter updates (also known as "Tweets").  You can follow conversations across Twitter, kind of like comments back and forth on a blog or a BBS, but all on one page, and often referencing blog posts, news, and random experiences nearly as they happen. 

It starts to feel extraordinarily exponential…people like Isaac are moving fast with this stuff and are creating new virtual experiences and spaces as they go. 

We love Xiao i: Chinese intelligent agent

Published
by
Nan Yang
on May 23, 2007
in Mobile and Virtual China
. 0 Comments

Just got to know Xiao i, a funny and smart robot created by Incesoft, when I attended the weekly 5G workshop in Shanghai this weekend. 5G is considered as a multiple meeting focus on Internet, new media, and innovation in Web2.0 style. It is initiated by Donews, the popular IT community & Media platform, and the first meeting in Shanghai started in April, 2006.

Xiao i was published in 2001 and then won a Microsoft robotic contest last year.

Xiao10

Here are some funny conversations between me and Xiao i:

Xiao15

Dialogue:

Me(M): I love you

Xiao i(i): Don’t know what to say

M:I love you

i: Sorry, I am not rich $_$

M: I love you

i: What do you want to say? Don’t repeat, otherwise I won’t be able to know what you want to say

M: I love you

i: Repeating needs skills, and you can use different words to express the same meaning, isn’t it better?

Xiao i is not only good at joking but also can help you get instant ticket information. However, I tried and found it was not so useful. And people discussed at the 5G conference that maybe it would be more efficient and convenient through a telephone call. But Xiao i’s father insisted that he could get the cooperation with the professional tickets and touring companies and provide the latest ticket information to Xiao i’s users.

The homepage says, "Xiao i is everywhere!"

Could it be really everywhere? Such as being used on mobiles? I think the market is huge, since many people in the countryside would prefer using mobiles to computers.  I wish I could get the humorous reactions from Xiao i when I am in a subway and waiting for ticket information. Now Xiao i’s father and his colleagues are working hard on this and hopefully we could see Xiao i on mobile as soon as possible.

more cellphone flix from Metroer

Published
by
Lyn Jeffery
on May 21, 2007
in Film, Mobile, Video Clips and Virtual China
. 0 Comments

Cellflix_2

Last spring we and others reported on the First Annual Cellphone Film Festival held by the Shanghai magazine Metroer.  Now you can check out the latest entries at the homepage of Metroer’s Third Annual Cellflix Festival (yes, I know, what happened to the second"? perhaps we were wrong last time!). They define cellflix as short pieces of a few minutes that are either captured via cell phones or can be directly downloaded and viewed on cell phones.

There you can see short pieces like The Time of Our Singing, by btr who also made last year’s memorable Shanghai Freak.  The Time of Our Singing showcases a number of different venues where Chinese people are singing, from subterranean pedestrian busker to karaoke bar.  Quite nice.

Cellflix

Here we see a pair of middle-aged women singing revolutionary songs from their youth. 

Not to be missed: "Marv’s" Back in the Saddle with group shakerees by a bunch of exercise enthusiasts on the street in China. 

WoZone 我族 mobile social networking

Published
by
Lyn Jeffery
on May 18, 2007
in Dating, Mobile and Virtual China
. 1 Comment

Wozone_2

"Send your location in by SMS at any time to 106920052131"

Wozone 我族网 is a free online social networking service that can also be used on your cell phone. You SMS your location and it tells you who is nearby that you might want to meet.  It adds location to the usual online China features: chat rooms, BBS, photos and profiles, different "tribes" 部落 that you can search among including everything from geographic region to military interests.  Most popular are fashion and feelings.  Of course this kind of thing depends on a critical mass–the more users, the more valuable it is to other users–and there are no numbers on the site telling us how many people are using it. The locations themselves are quite broad areas within the city, such as "the zoo," or "Sanlitun" in Beijing.  Presumably users could then SMS one another with more specific information if they were interested.

Here’s a screenshot of one Beijing user who has input his location at Tiantan and Dongdan over one evening in Beijing. 

Wozone_3

“this is illegal”: turn a mobile phone into a bug?

Published
by
Lyn Jeffery
on May 7, 2007
in Mobile and Virtual China
. 3 Comments

From Chinese spambots, ads for a device that allows you to turn anyone’s mobile phone into a listening device.  We followed them to a little company called usa peian, whose homepage says, helpfully:

Every product on this site is illegal.  The products on this site are professionally used by the American FBI. Chinese technicians can discuss high level technology together with us, and bring foreign technologies into China, to assist China in its efforts to catch up with foreign technologies more quickly.

For 5200 RMB (about US $650), you can get a device that claims to allow you to enter the phone number of any wireless device (including Little Smart, China Unicom, China Mobile, and any CDMA device), and then:

  • listen to every call made
  • if you can’t pick up, the device will record the call for you
  • see where they are making the call from with GPS and pre-loaded mapping software
  • listen to anything happening when the caller is NOT on the phone

Pei_an

Usa peian claims to have representatives across China but they have to "protect" them so you can only get in touch with representatives in Beijing, Shenyang, Jinan, and Xi’an.  They promise to have your order delivered with 5 hours of placing it–and their bank account numbers are listed on the website as well.  It all sounds a bit fishy, doesn’t it?

The plot thickens.  See shoujiqietingqi.cn, a website with the banner, "For the happiness of you and your family, please stay far away from Mark Six!"  Mark Six 六合彩 is the Chinese Lotto game originally organized in Hong Kong but now an illegal gambling phenomenon on the mainland.  The site also proclaims: "Strike and punish the listening apparatus commercial movement, and push forward social stability." And it tells stories such as that of Mrs. Gao, who bought a listening apparatus for her daughter’s phone so that she could monitor her.  The device didn’t work.  She realized she had been cheated, but also realized that she shouldn’t have done it in the first place because it is better to communicate directly with her daughter.

So companies like usa peian are cons, conning people to sign up as "sales representatives" for expensive, fake, top-secret, high-tech products, and probably making them buy one first; and also selling fake listening devices to unsuspecting buyers.

But isn’t it interesting that they are marketing such products and such sales opportunities?

Be careful: another site, also claiming to be the sole "authorized general agent for American cellphone listening apparatus, original packaging, lowest price," comes with a warning! 

Geeglechina