Gang Lu of TechNode points us to a unique little innovation developed by China Unicom that he says the provider is selling "under the table". The device basically allows China Mobile users to use China Unicom's 3G network which makes sense since China Mobile has better mobile coverage while Unicom remains the better 3G provider. Here's how it works:

Basically, you just attach that film sticker (card) on your China Mobile sim card, then insert it back to your phone. What happens is that you can still make/receive the call, send/receive sms message etc using China Mobile service, but in the meanwhile, you can also surf the internet using China Unicom’s 3G network. As we said before, it is pre-paid data card which means you can just do top-up when the credits run out. It’s so impressive, and I bet China Mobile will get pissed off by this innovative product.

Have an iPhone and not on 3G yet? Now's your perfect opportunity to dump China Mobile once and for all because China Unicom, so far the only mobile operator offering 3G packages, is slashing down prices to as low as RMB66 per month. China Unicom aims to convert more iPhone fans over to 3G fast because China Telecom is said to be in talks with Apple to introduce the iPhone. China Mobile also hopes to finally hop onto the iPhone bandwagon once its 4G system is up. more ›

We did it. Several Shanghaiist readers did it. And you -- you admit you did it too! But the award for Most Scientific Controlled Study in this category goes hands down to Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap. And he has lived to tell the story. more ›

Is this true?

A Beijing entrepreneur, discussing restaurant choices with his fiancée over their cellphones last week, quoted Queen Gertrude’s response to Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The second time he said the word “protest,” her phone cut off. more ›

Recently uploaded onto the twitterverse were two word documents (this one and this one) purporting to be a list of SMS words banned by China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. The three telecommunications companies had announced their plans to monitor text messages for "bad content" this time last year, but the implications of that went unnoticed for most of 2010. more ›

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg continues his first trip to China hobnobbing with the who's who of China's tech scene. Earlier today, he was received by top executives at the Sina headquarters. According to Sina.com spokeswoman Liu Qi, Zuckerberg "exchanged his views on China's Internet market and wanted to understand Sina's Weibo (microblog), the hottest Internet product in the country." Sina's star has been rising rapidly over the last year with the launch of its own microblogging platform, Weibo, which added 50 million users in its first 12 months and is well on its way to break the 100 million mark in 2011. more ›

Last time we checked in, there were over 5000 Shanghai Wi-Fi hotspots around town here. Now, apparently that number has risen to a whopping 10,000, though there's a catch. The Wireless City project, which began in 2008, has brought Wi-Fi access to most downtown areas of Shanghai... as long as you've either subscribed to or purchased cards from China Telecom and China Mobile. China Mobile charges five cents per minute and China Telecom charges around 50 cents per megabyte. Huh - guess I'll just stick to the coffee shops I'm used to... at least that's free. more ›

With the Expo soft opening happening next week and the Expo itself drawing ever closer, even my procrastinating butt decided it was time to try and wrangle tickets. Then I read this article from City Weekend telling me that "single-entry ordinary day tickets are... sold out." Well, after calling around frantically, turns out that's not quite true (read on for more). But the calling around frantically also produced some interesting results. So if any of you want to try buying tickets by phone - so here's a short guide for what to. more ›

• Your text messages will be rated automatically based on "key words" provided by the police.
• Someone can also rat you out for sending unhealthy messages.
• Also not allowed: "a large amount" of illegal information. We're guessing this is like spam or something.

Hey sexy texters, feel free to whip out your phones and tell your respective others how much you like bedtime moves. What? Worried that it'll somehow get your SMS service turned off by the folks at China Mobile and the Public Security Bureau? Thankfully, it turns out that news of those proposed regulations against sexting aren't quite true... at least for now. more ›

• China anniversary puts security jitters on show [Reuters] "The Chinese government is flooding Beijing with armed police and up to one million security "volunteers" to head off any unrest over October's sensitive anniversary of 60 years of Communist Party rule. The relentless security has grounded pigeons, lined streets with grandmothers, prompted warnings to stock up on food and left harried residents wondering who the festivities are really for."
• China jails four over stabbings [BBC] "Four more people have been found guilty of carrying out attacks with syringes in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, state-run television says. The four received sentences ranging between eight and 15 years in jail. Three other people received prison sentences for similar attacks earlier this month."
• SCENARIOS: How US-China trade tensions might play out [Forbes] "U.S. President Barack Obama has slapped a 35-percent "safeguard" tariff on tire imports from China, inflaming trade relations and raising concerns about a possible trade war. Obama's decision, announced on Sept. 11, responded to demands from U.S. union groups, manufacturers and lawmakers who view the Asian export powerhouse as an unfair trader. That perception is shaped by the U.S. trade deficit with China, which hit a record $268 billion in 2008. Here are some ways the dispute could play out:"

• Jet Li returns to Chinese film after 3 US movies [AP] "Jet Li is returning to Chinese film with a reportedly non-kung fu movie after three Hollywood productions, a publicist said Tuesday. Li is due to start shooting the movie — tentatively called "Ocean Paradise" in Chinese — Edko Film publicist Zhang Hongyan told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday. The film, due to be released next year, will be directed by a newcomer, Zhang said, declining to give further detail before the official announcement at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday."
• China Premier Rejects 'Blindly Optimistic' View of Economy [WSJ] "China's Premier Wen Jiabao expressed caution about the country's economic recovery, saying the effects of some short-term policies may fade while longer-term policies will take time to have an impact. Ending a three-day visit to the eastern province of Zhejiang, Mr. Wen warned against being "blindly optimistic," according to a statement by the State Council."
• China Mobile chief pushes e-book potential [BusinessWeek] "China Mobile Ltd., the world's largest mobile carrier, is pushing e-reading, seeing it as its next big mobile business, the company's chief executive has said. Wang Jianzhou, also China Mobile's chairman, called e-reading a "new culture" and said he expects such services to grow in China because of the rising popularity of smart phones, which can download content faster than conventional cell phones."

The words "unconfirmed", "anonymous" and "sketchy" all come to mind whenever we talk about the arrival of the iPhone to China, but this latest story actually originates from Foxconn, the contract manufacturer for Apple's game-changing phone. JLM Pacific Epoch reports that an unnamed source within the company has leaked that they have already commenced mass production of wifi-less versions of the iPhone for release in this country. more ›

Tickets for the World Expo officially went on sale at 9am yesterday and already, peak-day tickets (tickets for the first three days and for the National Day holidays) had completely sold out. more ›

If you are waiting anxiously for the upcoming iPhone 3.0 firmware update - due to be released tomorrow - but concerned that it will relock your iPhone, you need not fear (too much). @MuscleNerd from the iPhone Dev Team announced on twitter that he would be airing a demo of an unlocked iPhone running on the new software. more ›

• Facebook blunder betrays NZ millionaires [ABC] "Interpol is still trying to find a couple of cashed-up Kiwis, believed to be living it up in Asia, after they were mistakenly given $8 million ($NZ10 million) by Westpac. Rotorua service station owners Leo Gao and his girlfriend Cara Young fled New Zealand with about $NZ3 million after they discovered the money in their bank account. But their chances of being caught have increased after they were joined overseas by Ms Young's sister, Aroha Hurring, who posted details about their location on her Facebook page. Police believe the trio are in China after Ms Hurring foolishly updated her status to say she was drinking the local Asian beer and enjoying the heat."
• Taiwan Firm to Offer Google Phone in China [WSJ] "HTC Corp. plans next month to start selling in China a smart phone based on Google Inc.'s Android operating system, the first Google-based phone in the world's biggest wireless market, HTC Chief Executive Peter Chou said in an interview. The new HTC phone is a version of the company's Magic model, unveiled in February, that has been customized to incorporate software from China Mobile Ltd. China Mobile is the world's largest mobile operator, with nearly 500 million accounts."
• In Chinese city, WWII enemies are now partners [LA Times] "Looking back, Japanese businessman Tomatsu Ito says, he might as well have moved to Mars rather than a few hours' flight away to China... Often desperate, he would phone JianHua Yang, his second in charge at the branch office of an Osaka, Japan-based software company. Yang is a Dalian native who, like many here, speaks Japanese. Their budding bicultural friendship symbolizes a trend here: Ito is among thousands of Japanese flocking to this bustling port on China's eastern seaboard. Resentment still runs deep in China over Japan's 40 years of often brutal colonial rule in this region in the early 1900s, but Dalian has become a singularly welcoming oasis."

In case you've been waffling over whether to get a netbook, Shanghai Mobile and Yongle electronic store have both begun selling 3G-versions of the ultraportable computers this week. All of these laptop-lites use the TD-SCDMA 3G standard on China Mobile, the only telecommunications company to offer a 3G network option so far. more ›

While China Unicom may have finally won the iPhone battle, but that the war for control of China's mobile phone market is still far from over. more ›

As "G-Day" approaches and suburban Beijing start to get their 3G signal, we are still speculating about the arrival of the iPhone. Rather than relying on official announcements, pundits are now looking further up the iPhone supply chain to make predictions about how and who will bring the iPhone to China. more ›

With major companies all hoping to attract China's massive customer base, especially the burgeoning middle class, the Chinese next-gen phone market is getting a bit crowded all of a sudden. more ›

While the system seems pretty cool, we feel like we've definitely seen that OS somewhere else. more ›

The iPhone's arrival (particularly the 3G variety) has been the subject of a great deal of speculation of late. Particularly since China Unicom, the only mobile carrier to provide the iPhone supported WCDMA 3G standard, already announced that they will be rolling out their 3G service on the 17th May. more ›

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 ›

We've been burned so many times before, so we're taking this with a grain of salt - but China Tech News reports that China Unicom has reached an agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone 3G to China by May 2009. If the rumor's correct, then it means that China Unicom will be launching the iPhone the same time it starts up its WCDMA 3G network nation-wide. Apple had allegedly been talking to China Mobile as well, but talks stalled over the tech company's iTunes app business. 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 ›

As it turns out, China's 3G licenses will be issued to China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom by Spring Festival. Guangdong Mobile (a China Mobile subsidiary) is already releasing a new set of 3G numbers all starting with "188" beginning this Thursday. In addition GPRS fees will be cut by as much as 2/3 in most cities. According to Pacific Epoch, Shanghai Mobile users can "now pay RMB 5 per month for 30MB, rather than the RMB 5, 10 MB package originally available, while RMB 20 per month gets 150MB, also three times more than before". more ›

A nameless source in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has leaked the news that the three restructured mobile telecommunications carriers, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, will be issued licenses on the same day after a meeting with the State Council today. more ›

Image by Roger Wo more ›

Plans are in motion for the much anticipated launch of an Android device for China between February and March 2009, but unlike the US launch of the T-Mobile G1 handset, China Mobile has decided not to work with Taiwanese PDA manufacturer HTC and has instead opted for working with Lenovo Mobile to release it's first Google powered phone. more ›