The Tech Dynasty

Posts written at CNET Asia’s The Tech Dynasty

Skritter – Chinese character learning for the skittish

As a full-time expatriate in China, I’m always on the lookout for ways to make learning Chinese easier. There is no shortage of options when it comes to Mandarin learning; whether it be in books, at university, with a tutor, or–my personal favourite–online. I’ve sampled many of the online options for Chinese learning–from once free …

January 13, 2009
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3G arrives in China–now where’s my iPhone?

The wait is over. Nary 24 hours ago, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT, as in “got their MIITs in everything”, for short) issued China’s first 3G licenses. China’s largest provider, China Mobile, received its license for the made-in-China TD-SCDMA network, while China Unicom got it for the Japanese-built W-CDMA. China Telecom, like …

January 8, 2009
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What is Google China thinking?

<In cruising around the Internet I came across a humorous post at The Next Web asking, “What is Google thinking?“. The author points out that Google has some rather interesting “suggestions” for the simple phrase “How long does…” The auto-complete feature that Google recently rolled out worldwide has been an integrated part of Google.cn for …

December 22, 2008
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Shanghai woman refuses to be held captiva by tower, viral ad?

With marketing budgets being slashed in the “new economy”, low-cost/high-return word-of-mouth advertising is going to be more relevant than ever.A new viral video spreading its way across Chinese forums shows a Shanghai woman arguing with a tow truck driver. Despite her Chevrolet Captiva‘s rear wheels being hitched to the tow truck, she jumps in her …

December 16, 2008
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Qifang becomes first Chinese WEF Technology Pioneer

The World Economic Forum has just announced Shanghai-based Qifang as one of its prestigious Technology Pioneers of 2009. Joining the ranks of past winners (Google, Wikipedia, Mozilla), Qifang is the first Chinese company to receive the honor.Qifang, which takes its name from the poem “????????? (Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of …

December 4, 2008
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Best tech blog in China?

By no means do I think I’ve earned enough stripes here on CNET Asia to propose that the seven-post-old The Tech Dynasty is the best tech blog in China, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t draw attention to the Best China Blog Awards ’08 that have just kicked off.

December 2, 2008
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You can take the Huang out of the streets…

The big news in the Chinese tech sector this week is the ongoing drama of Huang Guangyu, founder and chairman of China’s largest electronics retailer GOME. Huang, one of the richest men in China, is currently being held under investigation for “suspected economic crimes”. I find it somewhat astounding, but a bit unsurprising, that Huang …

November 28, 2008
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Exploring Shanghai startups with China 2.0–Part 2

What follows is the continuation of my recent tour of Shanghai’s burgeoning collection of innovative Web companies as part of the China 2.0 tour (see Part 1). Friday morning I caught up with the rest of the crew for an enlightening breakfast meeting with Gary Rieschel, founder and managing director of Qiming Venture Partners, where …

November 26, 2008
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Exploring Shanghai startups with China 2.0–Part 1

I was recently invited to take part in the inaugural edition of the China 2.0 Tour, an event organized by The China Business Network, CNReviews and Web2Asia.The tour was designed to allow high-profile Western bloggers and industry professionals access to some of the most exciting Chinese Web companies, in an effort to spread better understanding …

November 20, 2008
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G-Fox gets Juice’d

Upon the release of Google Chrome back at the start of September, I closed down Firefox with a tear in my eye.Chrome, like its namesake, is one slick customer, and for the most part I’ve not regretted the switch for my daily browsing habits. However, I do miss the addons. Like, really, miss them.

November 19, 2008
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