Folks who are head by heels with Apple will surely know that the iPhone which is sold in China has had its Wi-Fi connectivity disabled, but all that is about to change pretty soon. It seems that a China-specific WAPI (WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure) protocol has been born, making it possible for the next iPhone to hit the market in that part of the world come with Wi-Fu support. Are you stoked yet, or are you just in a daze, wondering why do assured countries seem averse to Wi-Fi connectivity by everyday devices?

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Orginal post by Mike

A Chinese regulator’s website was recently spotted to carry a couple of images of the Dell Mini 3T1 and Mini 3iX, where they have already received network access licenses for China – a mandatory component which is compulsory for phones to be sold in China, which points toward their debut in that part of the world sometime in the very near future. The Mini 3T1 will support the Chinese homegrown 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, making it most likely to be available from China Mobile. It is different from the Mini 3i thanks to its rectangular body and shorter display. As for the Mini 3iX, that handset supports 3G connectivity (WCDMA) that is used by carrier China Unicom, coming with rounded corners and a large display. No concept on pricing or availability though, as none of the companies involved – Dell, China Unicom and China Mobile, decided to comment.

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Orginal post by Mike

The Samsung I6500U Saturn which was announced in October 2009 has finally arrived in China, thanks to the efforts of China Unicom. What makes the I6500U different would be having Android 2.1 running right out of the box, making it the third Android device to do so from Samsung in China. (four whether you count in Galaxy Spica’s recent update). Just to refresh your memory, the Samsung I6500U Saturn will be equipped with a 3.2″ AMOLED touchscreen display at 320 × 480 resolution with handwriting recognition capability, HSDPA support, a 800MHz processor, Wi-Fi (WAPI) connectivity, a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS navigation, Bluetooth 2.1, USB 2.0, an integrated FM Radio, a microSD memory card slot and a 1,500mAh battery.

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Orginal post by Mike

It was previously reported that Chinese Telecom was working out a deal with RIM and Palm, and now it seems that those talks have resulted in some upcoming mobile phone offerings. It seems that Chairman and Chief Executive Wang Xiaochu has confirmed that the carrier will be offering BlackBerry devices in China come May, and the Palm Pre will be available that July, though there wasn’t any mention of the Palm Pre. Will these deals help China Telecom face off against China Unicom and China Mobile?

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Orginal post by Mike

If you bought a China Unicom iPhone in China, you’ll most likely have noticed that it doesn’t offer Wi-Fi, as it was initially disabled for the Chinese market, thanks to government regulations that favored the home-developed WAPI shield standard. The rules have been relaxed since thereupon, so Wi-Fi iPhones are now allowed, as distant as they continue to include support for the WAPI standard as an added operate. China Unicom’s Chief Executive, Chang Xiaobing, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal saying that the company would consider giving some scheme of compensation to existing iPhone owners in the style of improved 3G tariffs, though chances are users would much rather see Wi-Fi in their phones. Word is plus going around that Unicom might lower the iPhone’s asking price from 4,999-6,999 Yuan to 3,000-3,500 Yuan, and whether that’s true, it’ll certainly help boost the iPhone sales in China.

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Orginal post by Mike

Steve Jobs has made it clear that those who buy the iPad in April won’t be able to tether the device to the iPhone for 3G connectivity. That is hardly a surprise considering the iPhone still can’t tether to laptops in the US.

O2 has listed video calling fees for the iPhone according to remotes. Video calls in the UK are 20p per minute and have added to rumors that the next iPhone will support video calling.

Orginal post by Shane McGlaun

Games are the favorite items on the App Store for many of us. A new report from Mobclix has shown that the App Store now has more eBooks than it has games with 26,500 eBooks on the store.

A China Unicom executive has stated that the mobile carrier hopes that the price of the iPhone in China will come down. The official handset lacks WiFi and is reportedly more expensive than grey market versions offering WiFi.

Orginal post by Shane McGlaun

China Unicom carries the iPhone in that part of the world, and we now have news that they have comissioned Foxconn to come up with a WAPI version, where it is known as the N88 (sounds suspiciously like a handset from Nokia, eh?). Apparently, the 4th generation iPhone has plus been dubbed the N90, but that is digressing. Just as you are scratching your heads and wondering what WAPI is, it is a Chinese National Standard for Wireless, that can plus play nice with standard Wi-Fi. WAPI is mandatory no thanks to China’s rather strict regulations that needed Wi-Fi to be removed from China Unicom iPhones, so hopefully the WAPI version, when released, might help boost iPhone sales there by a mile.

Permalink: Foxconn working on WAPI iPhone for China Unicom from Ubergizmo | Hot: Nexus One Review

Orginal post by Mike

China Unicom might have had a little trouble getting the iPhone off the shelves at the beginning, but signs are starting to seem that sales are picking up. Following the recent announcement by the carrier that it had hit the 100,000 mark, the latest update (which comes less than a month after the 100k announcement) boasts that it has managed to breach the 300k mark, which is certainly a nice landmark, and a good indication that sales of the iPhone are picking up nicely for China Unicom.

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Orginal post by Mike

Reports are filtering in that China Unicom will be buying twice as many Windows Mobile handsets for 2010 than iPhones. According to Zhang Zhijiang, GM of China Unicom’s technology division, 8% of their 3G handset procurements will be Windows Mobile handsets, and 4% will be iPhones. Of course, let’s not forget that there are many devices out there that use Windows Mobile, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see that there will be more Windows Mobile phones that the iPhone. China Unicom is additionally the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in China, so it will be interesting to see how well the iPhone fares in China via official channels.

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Orginal post by Mike