Apple's iTunes platform now allows customers in the People's Republic to pay for their mobile apps and music purchases with their Chinese bank cards. However, instead of paying for each purchase as you go, you'll now have to first top-up your iTunes account in pre-set amounts of 50, 100, 300, or 500 RMB. Payments via Alipay or Union Pay are also not currently available. Steven Millward of Penn Olson dissects Apple's move:

The move is also designed to combat piracy of iOS apps in China, which has been thriving under the previous inconveniences/restrictions. Just this week we saw a major Chinese web company, Tencent (HKG:0700), launch a shanzhai iTunes app that helps you avoid Apple’s tightly-controlled ecosystem, and there’s the Chinese-made iTools desktop app that assists in the jailbreaking and adding of pirated/cracked apps. more ›

Cell phone rage could soon be coming to a flight near you: Three Chinese airlines have signed deals to allow in flight cell phone usage. Air China, China South and China East are beginning preparations to allow passengers to use their cells mid flight in order to offer services offered by competing airlines throughout Europe, Africa and America. The set price per minute: 15 yuan! more ›

So the iPhone was finally launched in China after much rumor mongering and fanfare and... well, it seems like most everyone who wanted an iPhone already has one. While the launch party in Beijing was a rousing success, actual first day sales were nowhere near as wild as in the U.S. or Japan. About what you could expect, we guess, from a crippled product (no WiFi) that came months and months after it was released elsewhere. Especially if it has turned out to be actually more expensive than its gray market brethren. more ›

How convenient! China Unicom customers can now have a payment card attached to their cellphone SIM cards, allowing them to swipe their mobile phones to pay for subway and bus fares. The transport bills will be tacked directly onto phone bills, and will receive the same discounts that regular transport cards currently get. All you have to do to get this fuction is go to a Shanghai Unicom outlet and ask for it to be added on. Unicom says these cards will soon be able to pay for shopping as well. Other carriers said they were developing similar systems. Japan and South Korea have had a system like this in place for a while now, and we're glad it's catching on in Shanghai too! Source: Shanghai Daily more ›

We're used to seeing mind boggling statistics living here in China, but this one still made our jaws drop. This country now has 703 million mobile phone users - that's double the population of the United States chatting on their cellphones. According to a report released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the number of mobile users rose by 61.41 million in just the last six months. Meanwhile the overall number of people using phones rose by 48.99 million to 1.03 billion. Handset makers, welcome to your heaven. Source: People's Daily online more ›

• Party Secretary Indicted, part of Spain's "Universal Jurisdiction" [Xinjiang: Far West China] "Last Tuesday Spanish Judge Santiago Pedráz requested authorization from the Chinese Ministry of Justice to investigate eight Chinese leaders, including the Party Secretary of both Xinjiang and Tibet, on charges of mistreatment of minorities, a charge that involves not a single Spanish citizen."
• Chinese anger at student ID theft [BBC] "There has been outrage in China over reports that a police official helped his daughter get into university by stealing another student's identity. The official, Wang Zhengrong, stole the name and ID number of his daughter's classmate, state media reports. While Mr Wang's child took her university place, the other girl had to spend a year re-taking the exam."
• Taxing fun with (yes!) cell phones [Shenzhen Noted] "One of the events being promoted by the Shenzhen Bureau of Taxation is citizen participation in the 3rd National Tax Collection Text Message Publicity Contest (第三届全国税收宣传短信大赛). I hadn’t realized that the first and second contests had come and gone, but the current contest is open until June 30, 2009. The particularly ambitious can also compete in the ring-tone competition and the multi-media message competition (basically flash for phone)."

China Mobile probably won't be seeing an iPhone in its lineup anytime soon, but it has confirmed that its customers will be seeing a customized version of the sexy HTC Magic. The Android OS-based smartphone will be getting a China Mobile-centric makeover before it arrives on our shores - hopefully that makeover will keep the awesome open-source Android app store. While we're not sure exactly when it'll be available in China, it's rumored to be hitting Taiwan around April. more ›

Ladies and Gentlemen, China Telecom has finally officially launched its 3G commercial service in Shanghai! The new 3G network signal covers all urban areas within the Outer Ring Road, as well as towns in suburban areas. The CDMA2000-based (that's the network usually used in Europe the U.S.) 3G network technology promises to be 20 times faster than our current 2G data streams - though whether it will ever reach advertised speeds is up for debate. From today to the end of the month, users who have agreed to use 250 yuan in monthly service feeds could get trial 3G Internet access cards and high-speed wireless internet access for 100 hours a month. Source: People's Daily more ›

CNNIC has released two reports on the status of China's mobile internet, which is used by about 117.6 million out of the current 640 million registered cellphone holders. China Web 2.0 Review summarized some of the key findings: more ›

If you're one of those people who would like a “lucky number” for your newest 3G phone, China Mobile has started accepting applications in Shanghai for digits that start with 188. The auspicious numbers are supposed to help lure people into joining China's proprietary 3G network, TD-SCDMA. This made-in-China standard is competing with the more mature WCDMA from Europe and CDMA2000 from the U.S. Source: Shanghai Daily more ›

Surprise, surprise! Talks between China Mobile and Apple over bringing the iPhone to China (legally) have stalled yet again - this time over the iTunes apps store. Allegedly, China Mobile is itching to operate the application store itself in a typical ploy to retain as much control as possible. Also, unlike their Western counterparts, Chinese phone users don't typically have credit cards, preferring to pay for things by depositing money into their mobile phone accounts. Add that to already ongoing issues like figuring out which of the three 3G networks the iPhone plays the nicest with, and it's probably safe to say we won't be seeing any Made-for-China goodness soon. more ›

A man in a Guangzhou Lenovo store died after the cellphone in his chest pocket exploded. The explosion severed a major artery in his neck and caused massive blood loss, almost immediately killing him. Though the make and model of the mobile phone are still under investigation, a member of the staff said the man had just changed his cellphone battery to a new one. This is the 9th recorded cellphone explosion in China since 2002, so maybe it's best to make sure your cellphone's in a bag or something, rather than on your physical person. Hexun more ›

With Christmas right around the corner, many of you will be looking for gifts for that special princess (or queen) in your life. more ›

A few weeks ago, an American teenager made headlines by unlocking the American version of the iPhone, which is strictly limited to use on the AT&T mobile network in the U.S. The 17 year old published his work on his blog, forever cementing in place in the annals of nerdery. With the iPhone unlocked, iPhone users can use to phone on any GSM network, as used in Europe and Asia, free them from AT&T's... more ›

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend... more ›

Shanghaiist probably knows a little more about China than the Chicago Sun-Times. Giving them the benefit of the doubt on that one. The city does to have a music scene. Don't even front like they don't. They also have Dorito bananas. What they don't have is any more tolerance for jaywalkers. more ›