Several news stories have noted that China's Internet user base increased by more than 70 million in 2007 to a count of 213 million at year's end. Little noted is that 23 percent of these users access the Internet from mobile devices, the remainder counted as broadband users.
The statistics, released by the China Internet Network Information Center and reported by ChinaTechNews, do not seem to specify how many of these mobile users also use broadband, and I can't find data on whether people use broadband at home or at work.
CINIC also reported (translated) that almost 40 percent of users said the top reason they used the Internet is for instant messaging, edging out e-mail as the top application.
As it stands, there's almost twice as much bandwidth across the Atlantic as there is across the Pacific. But with new U.S. FCC approval for the first ever China-U.S. fiber link, this is all about to change.
The score right now: 5,547 to 2,726. That's the current Atlantic vs. Pacific bandwidth score in gigabits per second, according to TeleGeography. The Trans-Pacific Express "will initially provide capacity of up to 1.28 terabits per second, and the system will have a design capacity of up to 5.12Tbps to support future Internet growth and advanced applications such as video and e-commerce," writes ChinaTechNews.
Construction has been under way since September, and should be complete before the Olympics. Internet speeds in Beijing are generally pretty good in my experience, but further south in Shanghai, much of the transpacific traffic is terribly sluggish on a variety of connections. Perhaps this is a matter of higher demand there, but with the FCC's approval for the cable to land in Oregon, things should get better soon.
The largest mobile operator in China has broken off talks with Apple over the iPhone, with one executive saying Apple wanted to share too much revenue.
From the Financial Times:
Chinese media on Monday quoted Gao Nianshu, general manager of China Mobile's data department, saying that Apple had given the impression it wanted to control the value chain and had pushed for up to 30 percent of revenues generated by locally sold iPhones.
"Of course we could not agree," Mr. Gao told a gathering of local MBA students, according to the Sina Web site. China Mobile also doubted Apple's prowess in communications technology, it quoted him as saying.
China Mobile is a topic for another day; as of November, it serves more than 360 million of the 522 million mobile users in China. The second-largest mobile company here, China Unicom, did not comment on whether it plans to put the iPhone out there.
Meanwhile, unlocked phones are still pouring into the market. I'm seeing more and more of them in the hands of rich folks, Chinese and foreign alike, and there are plenty on sale at electronics markets. Perhaps the person behind the last blip I saw about the iPhone in China was overexcited or full of it, but with the black/gray market so healthy, both China Mobile and Apple will probably not wait long to put a deal together and take their share.
After too long with a single-ringer, no-frills, colorless, call-and-text-only Motorola cell phone, this blogger has upgraded to a touch-screen, Windows Mobile, wi-fi capable, hand-held nugget of a computer.
Enter the HTC Touch, also branded Dopod S1.
Is my hand really that big?
(Credit: Sinobyte)I picked this phone up yesterday from the mobile phone market in the "Super Bar Street" (星吧路) complex at Nüren Jie (Women Street) in Beijing. I'll have to give a tour of the market later on, but the key here is to come with a friend who knows one of the stalls. In my case, one member of a couple who have bought several phones from one stall came along to introduce me and help negotiate a fair price (though I still had sticker shock, being one of those "Which phone is free with the plan?" consumers).
... Read moreDearChina.org is a new site where people can cry out to the great Chinese "other" and ask it to be more sustainable. Its sentiment is admirable. "Not about criticism," according to the introductory blurb, "It's about recognizing the fact that China will play a major role in determining the possibility for a sustainable world."
The submissions, all 19 of which as I write are in English, are translated into Chinese and displayed side-to-side. Many are heart-felt and imbued with some sort of desperate positivity:
Dear China,
Don't do it. Don't be like us. We f****d up. Leap frog us. Renewable energy. Limited growth. What's going on? I heard you can't see the sun sometimes.
Sara
Some are ignorant and disrespectful:
Dear China,
We've bought billions of your great products. Now that we are finished using them, can you please provide an address so we can return them? Thank you.
Chad R
The second is the only post of 19 that has not been translated. Where the translation would be, it says in English "Translation in progress." I hope this means moderators haven't seen this post to delete it. I also hope the delay on this one isn't due to an urge to censor what Chinese not literate in English might read.
The site was created by Ci (Conscientious innovation). While I am a little uncomfortable with the "us" and "you" tone of the notes, the idea of getting messages across from regular people to other regular people in different language and national contexts is admirable. It will be interesting to see what people have to say to "China."
[h/t TreeHugger]
The iPhone is already in China: I saw one for sale today, and a friend really should call me more often from one. But Marbridge Daily is onto a story in the Southern Metropolitan News reporting that the iPhone will be on sale in China by the second quarter of 2008.
I'm not able to find the original article right now, but Marbridge's blurb says the source is Lin Ronghui, vice president of iTell. Lin apparently said the phone will be selling for about RMB 4,000, considerably less than the unlocked street prices I've seen, and will be sold in cooperation with local mobile companies.
Much has been made of the possibility that the iPhone will make it to China's market. Even though it's already here, users of illicitly unlocked phones risk bricking their phones if they download software updates from Apple.
Perhaps we should expect an official announcement sometime soon...
It's a fact of life in China that just about anything comes in a little plastic bag. That's all about to change: In what all reports are calling a surprise move, the central government has banned (translated) ultra-thin plastic bags and will require regular bags to be sold with a clearly marked price starting June 1.
This demonstrates the way the government can simply declare an end to a technology for environmental reasons, even a 1950s technology like plastic bags. Whether enforcement will actually end plastic bags is not something I care to guess about.
The key here is to understand what an ultra-thin plastic bag is. Coming from the United States, where the question "paper or plastic" is a cultural institution, I was used to thicker bags. These are problematic enough for the environment, and several cities, countries, and stores. The plastic from these bags deteriorates into microscopic particles, but it does not bio-degrade, resulting in the gradual dispersion of tiny plastic particles throughout the world's oceans.
The bags subject to the ban are even thinner than what I was used to--less than 0.025mm thick. I first encountered them when buying jīanbǐng (煎饼), often known as Chinese crepes or Chinese pancakes, at a university convenience store. Once the 25-cent treat was ready to eat, the cook slipped it in a tiny sack, and I walked off to savor my junk food. These bags started accumulating in my trash bin. Fried noodles came in them, as did roasted nuts, baked goods, and fruit, among other things. I can only imagine that these ultra-thin bags deteriorate faster than the stronger ones.
There's even some hope that the pay-for-bags structure may make the sort of biodegradable bags used at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 appealing to more people. At the very least, one hopes the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will deal with waste gracefully.
Welcome to Sinobyte. Coming to you from Beijing, I'm Graham Webster, and I'll be bringing you news and commentary on technology and society in China.
Why China? Because China is home to one-fifth of humanity (and millions of bloggers). Because even with government controls, the internet is connecting millions of Chinese to the outside world. Because mobile phones and social networking are coming alive here as quickly as anywhere. Because my laptop was shipped directly from Suzhou to my old office in the United States. And because chances are good that if this computer gets thrown out in the United States, it'll end up being dismantled in China.
... Read moreGraham Webster has no business relations, investments, or affiliations with subjects he covers.
