Tag Archives: HongKong

Hong Kong’s CSL demos 300Mbps LTE Advanced service, due early 2014 (video)

Posted on by

Phil Mottram, CEO of CSL.

It was only about four months ago when CSL, Telstra's part-owned operator behind Hong Kong's one2Free and 1010 networks, showed off its 150Mbps LTE Cat 4 upgrade; but why stop there? Today, the same company gave us a glimpse of its upcoming 300Mbps LTE Advanced service, which is enabled by aggregating its 20MHz carriers at both its 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz LTE bands.

"The announcements in Korea and the announcements in Australia around LTE Advanced... the theoretical speed that they're delivering is 150Mbps. What we're talking about today is LTE-A300," said Phil Mottram, CEO of CSL. "It's definitely a first for Hong Kong, and it's potentially a world-first in terms of being able to deliver these theoretical, maximum download speeds at 300Mbps." %Gallery-slideshow83577%

Filed under: ,

Comments

Edward Snowden stops off in Moscow with US extradition request snapping at his heels

Posted on by

Edward Snowden stops off in Moscow, US extradition demand snaps at his heels

Even if he anticipated the risks involved in turning whisteblower, Edward Snowden can't have imagined the rushed, convoluted journey he'd have to take to avoid the full wrath of the US government. First to Hong Kong; most recently to Moscow, and perhaps soon to Ecuador (via Cuba and Venezuela) where he has apparently made a request for asylum. Strongly worded demands for his capture have followed every step of the way, with the White House National Security Council expressing "disappointment" that Hong Kong allowed Snowden to flee and now urging Russia (which has no formal extradition treaty with America) to "expel Mr. Snowden back to the US to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged." In an effort to help the fugitive navigate the maze of diplomatic fault lines, WikiLeaks has stepped up to say that its own legal advisors are "escorting" Snowden towards his final destination, likely making use of the knowledge they gained while protecting Julian Assange, and that it sees US efforts to arrest him as an "assault against the people."

Filed under:

Comments

Source: WikiLeaks, CBS News, @RicardoPatinoEC (Twitter)

US government files criminal charges against Edward Snowden over PRISM leaks

Posted on by

US government files criminal charges agains Edward Snowden over PRISM leaks

The Washington Post reports tonight that, as expected, the US Government has filed criminal charges against Edward Snowden for leaking information about NSA surveillance programs to the Post and Guardian. The charges listed include Theft of Government Property, Unauthorized Communications on National Defense Information and "Willful Communication of Classified Information to an Unauthorized Person." The charges are filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where the headquarters of Snowden's employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, are located. So what's next? According to the paper, the government has asked Hong Kong to detain Snowden on a provisional warrant, however if a fight over extradition or request for asylum could delay the process.

Filed under:

Comments

Source: Washington Post, Official Complaint

HTC sends out Butterfly S and Desire 600 launch invitation in Taiwan

Posted on by

HTC sends out Butterfly S and Desire 600 launch invitation in Taiwan

According to an invitation we received earlier today, HTC and Taiwanese carrier Chunghwa Telecom will be holding a joint event on June 19th to launch two devices locally: the already announced 4.5-inch, BoomSound-enabled Desire 600, along with a new Butterfly S. While no specs are mentioned here for the latter phone, our usually reliable friends over at ePrice received a tip last month on what to expect: the new phone is believed to still pack a 5-inch display, but its camera will be replaced by an UltraPixel version (which is currently only featured on the One), plus its body will be slightly thicker to make way for a larger battery. And unsurprisingly, the new Taiwanese Butterfly is expected to still have a microSD card slot.

HTC's VP of North Asia Jack Tong also told ePrice recently that if there is a demand, he will speed up the process of bringing an LTE-enabled second-gen Butterfly to Hong Kong -- a city that never officially got hold of the original Butterfly. The exec believes that judging by HTC's recent market performance in Taiwan, it's possible to realize a dual-flagship strategy in other regions for the remainder of the year. Anyhow, our brethren over at Engadget Chinese will be at the launch event in Yilan, Taiwan next week, so stay tuned for our coverage.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

KEF M500 and M200 headphones launched in Hong Kong, we go ears-on

Posted on by

Image

It's been almost a month since KEF announced its first headphone series, and yesterday we finally got the chance to try out its M500 cans and M200 in-ears at the company's Hong Kong launch event. In fact, it's worth noting that while KEF originated from the UK 52 years ago, it's been part of Hong Kong's Gold Peak Group since 1992. That said, much of KEF's R&D is still done back in an English county called Kent, where the engineers attempted to port their company's sonic signature over to its M series headphones. The result? Let's just say we prefer one to the other.

Gallery: KEF M500 hands-on

Gallery: KEF M200 hands-on

Filed under: ,

Comments

BYD e6 all-electric taxis, Premier sedan launch in Hong Kong

Posted on by

BYD e6 allelectric taxis, Premier sedan launch in Hong Kong

Anyone who's visited Hong Kong within the last few years has probably experienced the city's thick soupy smog. Sure, things aren't as bad as they are in Beijing, but pollution from the mainland often wraps the metropolis in a humid haze -- and we're not sure an all-electric taxi rollout is going to do anything to alleviate that. Just 45 of the BYD e6 cabs are now on the road, so the release is mainly symbolic -- only a few dozen lucky drivers will be cruising up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) of city streets between charge breaks at one of nine area stations. Private citizens, for their part, can take ownership of the e6 Premier sedan -- the civilian version just began shipping as well.

Filed under:

Comments

Source: BYD (Business Wire)

BYD e6 all-electric taxis, Premier sedan launch in Hong Kong

Posted on by

BYD e6 allelectric taxis, Premier sedan launch in Hong Kong

Anyone who's visited Hong Kong within the last few years has probably experienced the city's thick soupy smog. Sure, things aren't as bad as they are in Beijing, but pollution from the mainland often wraps the metropolis in a humid haze -- and we're not sure an all-electric taxi rollout is going to do anything to alleviate that. Just 45 of the BYD e6 cabs are now on the road, so the release is mainly symbolic -- only a few dozen lucky drivers will be cruising up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) of city streets between charge breaks at one of nine area stations. Private citizens, for their part, can take ownership of the e6 Premier sedan -- the civilian version just began shipping as well.

Filed under:

Comments

Source: BYD (Business Wire)

Xiaomi Phone 2S and 2A announced with MIUI v5, the former entering Hong Kong and Taiwan

Posted on by

Xiaomi Phone 2S and 2A announced, bringing MIUI v5 and Krait 300 together

After selling 7.19 million phones in China last year, Xiaomi is now one step closer to world domination with a new device that'll take it to new territories: the Xiaomi Phone 2S (or MI-2S). As the name and look (pictured left) suggest, this is pretty much the same device as the 4.3-inch Xiaomi Phone 2, except it comes with Qualcomm's newer Snapdragon 600 quad-core chip clocked at 1.7GHz, plus a beefed up camera of 13-megapixel resolution (with F2.2 aperture) on the 32GB model. The 16GB 2S, on the other hand, gets the same old 8-megapixel F2.0 imager. The rest of the hardware is the same old: 2GB RAM, 2,000mAH removable battery, 720p IPS display, dual-mic noise cancellation, 2-megapixel front-facing camera and WCDMA 850/1900/2100MHz radio (there's also a CDMA version for China Telecom).

Unlike the previous launch, the 16GB flavor of this phone is already in stock on the day of announcement and is ready for purchase in China today for ¥1,999 or about $320 unsubsidized. Actually, strike that -- apparently the first lot of 200,000 units promptly sold out (likely thanks to scalpers). Luckily, Xiaomi is finally tapping into the Hong Kong market via its xiaomi.hk website starting April 23rd, so chances are genuine buyers in Hong Kong won't have to compete against the machines from mainland China; and Taiwan customers will also be able to buy a 2S from either local carrier Far Eastone towards the end of this month, or from xiaomi.tw starting next month. No word on the availability of the 32GB model just yet, but it's already priced at ¥2,299 or about $370 unsubsidized.

Gallery: Xiaomi Phone 2A

Gallery: Xiaomi Phone 2S

Gallery: Xiaomi Fans Carnival 2013

Filed under: ,

Comments

Via: Engadget Chinese (2S), (2A)

Source: Xiaomi (2S), (2A)

Surface RT coming to six more countries in late March, Pro in the ‘coming months’

Posted on by

Surface RT coming to six more countries in late march

Microsoft's Surface is continuing its global retail rollout, expanding its reach well beyond the western hemisphere. In late March the RT model of Redmond's in-house tablet effort will begin popping up in Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan, (though, not necessarily at the same time) adding to the pile of European nations where it's already launched. Meanwhile, the Surface Pro will finally be leaving the Americas and heading for Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the UK sometime in the coming months. Unfortunately Microsoft isn't getting any more specific about when its full-blown Windows 8 machine will appear in countries other than the US and Canada. All we can do now is await the promised follow up post on the Surface blog for more details about availability. If you're a fan of press materials (even those that don't provide a ton of information) you'll find some after the break.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Source: Surface Blog