China Tech Roundup - February 2, 2007

China Internet and Technology Roundup provided by Chinamemes.com:

Lenovo To Sponsor Williams Formula One Team
Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo officially signed on today as a sponsor of the Williams Formula One racing team in the United Kingdom.

Huawei Chosen by France Telecom to be UMTS Mobile Equipment Suppliers
The Chinese firm Huawei Technologies has been chosen by France Telecom to be one of its UMTS mobile equipment suppliers.

Mozilla Sets up Shop in China
Mozilla.org, which makes the open-source Firefox browser, is opening a China office to do battle in the world's second-largest Web market.

IPTV In China Will Exceed 23 Million Subscribers By 2012
China’s flourishing broadband environment paves the way for IPTV to reach out to the potentially huge addressable market. In a new study, ABI Research forecasts the IPTV take-up in mainland China to pass the 23 million-subscriber mark by 2012.

Web Giants Urge State Dept. to Fight Censorship
After being criticized for bending to Internet censorship demands in China and other countries, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft defended themselves Tuesday and appealed for help from the U.S. government.

The9 Announces WoW Expansion
Chinese online game operator The9 announced on Tuesday that it has signed an amendment with Vivendi Games to release the expansion pack The Burning Crusade for MMORPG World of Warcraft in China.

Pirated Vista beats Microsoft to China's PCs
At least a week before the rest of the world got its first look at Microsoft Windows' new Vista operating system, bootleg copies of the software were widely available in China. The the pirated Chinese version of Vista was priced by vendors from $1.30 to $4.

Microsoft Setting up China R&D
Software giant Microsoft is setting up a $20 million research and development center in Shanghai for its online MSN service, its first such center outside the United States, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday.

China Readies 4G for a Mobile Revolution
China might ignore the 3G standard for mobile phones and go directly to 4G. In theory the new technology, developed by ten "leading domestic institutions" calling themselves collectively the "FuTURE Project", will allow data transmission at up to 100 megabytes per seconds — several times faster than current technology.

MySpace Set to Launch in China
News Corp. is finalizing a deal with partners, including private equity heavyweight IDG, to launch a networking Web site venture in China within a few months, financial and Chinese government sources said Friday.

Chinamemes.com - Observing China's Digital Revolution