Tag: China

China AI startup fights COVID-19 with lung analysis tool

GPU-powered Lung Doc is used by 30 hospitals in China.Shukun Technology was busy improving its AI-powered platform to diagnose heart disease and strokes when COVID-19 struck. The China AI startup quickly switched gear to develop a system that analyses chest CT scans to help speed up diagnoses of COVID-19 patients.

Zoom hits security and privacy bumps

Among the few sparkles of hope in this period is Zoom whose video conferencing solution has become famous almost overnight. With movement and gathering restrictions in place in many parts of the world, Zoom has become a tool that many have turned to to stay connected and keep operations running.

Online education platform Yuanfudao raises US$1b in funding

Lessons are increasingly being conducted online because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand has been a boon for online education platforms. China-based Yuanfudao has raised US$1 billion in a new financing from investors such as Tencent Holdings, Hillhouse Capital Group, Boyu Capital, and IDG Capital.

ZTE to unveil Axon 11 5G on March 23

ZTE will launch the ZTE Axon 11 5G smartphone in China on March 23. The company has given little away from its announcement press release other than the fact that the ZTE Axon 11 will be compatible with both SA (standalone) and NSA (non-standalone) modes.

Hold the predictions

By Edward Lim

Research firms have played a vital role in providing the industry with vital information on market trends and technologies. Reports based on past quarters contain valuable analysis that helps enterprises and consumers make better sense of the numbers.

Apple stores back in business in China

Apple’s Shanghai store is among all that has reopened.After a month of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple has reopened all its 42 stores in China. The closures had hit Apple’s revenue as China is the company third largest market.

MWC Barcelona hit by string of withdrawals

The list is growing. Amazon has joined Ericsson, LG and NVIDIA in pulling out from MWC Barcelona. Held from February 24 to 27, the leading mobile event is expected to see fewer participants this year because of the novel coronavirus situation.

China to lead in global robotics systems and drones spending in 2020

China will lead in drones and robotics systems (US$46.9 billion) in 2020, according to IDC. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan and China) (APeJC) will be the second largest region with US$25.1 billion in spending, followed by the US (US$17.5 billion) and Western Europe (US$14.4 billion).

Huawei grows while smartphone market slumps in Q3

The Honor Pro has helped Huawei grow in Q3.Amid a 0.4 percent contraction in the global smartphone market in Q3 compared to the corresponding quarter last year, Huawei continued to stride ahead with 26 percent growth. It has narrowed the gap with Samsung at the top while pulling away from Apple in third spot.

5G: US$13.2t sales and 22.3m jobs by 2035

5G is expected to have more impact that originally predicted. According to the IHS Markit 5G Economy Study, the new mobile technology will generate US$13.2 trillion is sales enablement by 2035 — that’s a near US$1 trillion increase from the estimate in 2017.

Smartisan reveals flagship Jianguo Pro 3 smartphone

Smartisan may not ring a bell to those in the region but what about TikTok? Smartisan and TikTok are both owned by ByteDance. The China-based technology company has launched the Jianguo Pro 3, its flagship smartphone that’s packed with leading features, including dual-video.

China steps up to 5G

The Huawei Mate X is one of the devices that’s ready for 5G.5G mobile phone services will be available across China from tomorrow (November 1, 2019). China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom have announced on their 5G plans which from 128 yuans a month.

India’s Stellapps Technologies wins Rabobank’s SustainableAg Asia Challenge

Umesh Parjapat of Stellapps Technologies (second from left) with (from left) Albert Boogard of Rabo Foundation, Diane Boogard of Rabobank Asia and Harjan Kuiper of Rabobank Singapore.Stellapps Technologies put on a stellar presentation to win over the judges and take home the top prize of US$10,000 at Rabobank’s SustainableAg Asia Challenge. Fending off 13 other shortlisted competitors from China, India, Indonesia, and Singapore in a field of 138, it impressed with its SmartMoo internet of things (IoT) platform, which improves yield per animal, traceability and quality of milk in emerging countries.

China and Brazil buck trend as smartphone sales slump in Q2

Google fires first salvo at Huawei

By Edward Lim

It was only a matter of time before the spat between the US and China went up another level. And this week, Google joined in the fight by pulling out support for China’s world number 2 phone maker Huawei.

Huawei bucks the trend as global smartphone shipment shrinks in Q1

The Huawei P30 series is helping the smartphone maker rise up the global ranking.
The Huawei P30 series is helping the smartphone maker rise up the global ranking.

While its competitors struggled, Huawei strode ahead and emerged the winner in the worldwide smartphone market in Q1. Though it’s still behind market leader Samsung, the China-based smartphone giant narrowed the gap with an astounding 50 percent growth in the quarter, according to IDC.

China: Quick adopter, widespread use of technology

By Edward Lim

In the early 2000s, I visited Beijing for the first time and was amazed to see a taxi using a global positioning system (GPS) to get me to my destination. To put things in perspective, this was before the arrival of smartphones and GPS wasn’t even used in Singapore.

China bans some Apple iPhone models

Thei iPhone 6S is banned from sale in China.
Thei iPhone 6S is banned from sale in China.

Qualcomm has dealt a blow to Apple with Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court banning the sale of selected iPhone models in China. The move was for the violation of two Qualcomm patents.

NTU achieves highest Linpack score in global supercomputing competition

Teams had to work round-the-clock to tackle real-life challenges.

A six-person team from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has achieved 56.51 teraflops, the highest Linpack score — a measurement of a system’s floating point computing horsepower — in a global supercomputing competition held in conjunction with SC18 in Dallas.

Huawei ups the ante on AI

Huawei has upped the ante with an ambitious US$140 million investment in developing one million artificial intelligence (AI) talents in three years. Under its AI Developer Enablement Programme, the China telecoms giant will work with universities and research institutions as well as partners and developers to build an ecosystem with AI resources, platforms, courses, and joint solutions to better support AI development.

The stuff of spy movies

Supermicro has become infamous overnight following an expose by Bloomberg quoting unnamed sources. According to the report, “the attack by Chinese spies reached almost 30 US companies, including Amazon and Apple, by compromising America’s technology supply chain.”

Alibaba founder Jack Ma walks the talk

By Edward Lim

It’s hard to let go when you’re one of the richest man in the world and leading one, if not the biggest, e-commerce company in the world. But, Jack Ma is a man of his word. A man who knows his time and a man who has shown what resilience is all about.

China wins battle for AI investments

A battle of sorts is taking place in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). It has been widely reported that China is ramping up its focus on the technology that is expected to transform businesses and industries. Numbers from ABI Research point to a swing in favour of China.

Google Pixel 3 coming on October 9

The Google Pixel 2 is expected to welcome its new sibling soon.

The rumour mills are spinning at top speed as smartphone launch season gets ready to kick off. With Samsung having announced the Note 9, and Apple expected to respond with a new iPhone next month, Google looks to be getting into the act too with the Pixel 3 slated for an October 9 introduction, according to Bloomberg.

Apple pulls out 25,000 apps from China app store

The ongoing spat between China and the US seem to have claimed another victim. Apple has removed 25,000  gaming-related apps from its China app store. This move follows hard on the heels of the US ban on Huawei and ZTE technology from being used by the US government and government contractors yesterday.

Samsung and Xiaomi neck-to-neck in India in Q2

The Redmi 5A was Xiaomi's bestselling phone in India in Q2.
The Redmi 5A was Xiaomi’s bestselling phone in India in Q2.

Xiaomi and Samsung shipped 9.9 million smartphones each to India in Q2. Together they account for 60 percent of the total shipment that quarter, according to Canalys.

PC market inches up 2.7% in Q2

HP maintained tops with the likes of the HP ProOne 600 G4  business PC.
HP maintained tops with the likes of the HP ProOne 600 G4 business PC.

Global traditional PC shipment posted the strongest growth in more than six years during the past quarter, according to IDC. Total shipment was 62.3 million units, which translates to a 2.7 percent year-on-year growth.

100m smart speakers by end of 2018

The Amazon Echo Dot and its siblings account for more than half of installed smart speakers.
The Amazon Echo Dot and its siblings account for more than half of installed smart speakers.

Smart speakers are picking up steam with the installed base expected to hit 100 million by the end of this year, according to Canalys. That’s 2.5 times the size of end 2017.

Suning Tesco opens first UAV logistics route in Wuhan

China e-commerce firm Suning Tesco has opened the first pilot route for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) logistics and transportation in Wuhan, China. Its logistics arm Suning Logistics and Ewatt Aerospace jointly developed two UAVs for this purpose.

China tops IDC’s smart cities awards

China has emerged tops with five out of 19 winners in the 2018 IDC Smart City Asia Pacific Awards (SCAPA). Taiwan and Singapore were next with four and three awards respectively across 12 functional categories.

Alibaba leverages AI for copywriting

Text generated by The AI Copywriter.
Text generated by The AI Copywriter.

Copywriters, beware! A new tool dubbed “The AI copywriter” by Alimama can generate an astounding 20,000 lines of copy in a second. Alimama is the digital marketing arm of China e-commerce giant Alibaba.

HTC to slice 1,500 from workforce

Even the Vive wasn't enough to keep HTC intact.
Even the Vive wasn’t enough to keep HTC intact.

Taiwan smartphone maker HTC is making a cut of the most painful kind — by slicing 20 percent of its workforce. The decision to swallow the bitter pill comes in the wake of heavy losses and strong competition.

SenseTime makes triple signing in Singapore

Sealing the deal: Professor Hui Shen (SenseTime), Associate Professor Tan Tin Wee (NSCC), Professor Lam Khin Yong (NTU), Kiren Kumar (EDB), Bill Chang (Singtel), Professor Xiao’ou Tang, Peter Ho (NSCC), Arthur Lang (Singtel), Professor Louis Phee (NTU), Jeff Shi (SenseTime), and Martin Huang (SenseTime)
Sealing the deal (from left): Professor Hui Shen (SenseTime), Associate Professor Tan Tin Wee (NSCC), Professor Lam Khin Yong (NTU), Kiren Kumar (EDB), Bill Chang (Singtel), Professor Xiao’ou Tang, Peter Ho (NSCC), Arthur Lang (Singtel), Professor Louis Phee (NTU), Jeff Shi (SenseTime), and Martin Huang (SenseTime)

China artificial intelligence (AI) company SenseTime has inked memoranda of understanding (MOU) with Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National Supercomputing Centre of Singapore (NSCC) and Singtel.

Google moves to top of smart speaker market in Q1

Google has ousted Amazon from the perch of the global smart speaker market. According to Canalys, Google shipped 3.2 million units with its Google Home and Google Home mini series , surpassing the 2.5 million units of the Amazon Echo series for the first time in Q1.

ZTE gets reprieve from US President

ZTE looks like it’s getting a chance to resurrect its business, thanks to help from the highest office in the United States. Last week, the China telecom giant announced that it had to cease business activities because of US sanctions on critical components.

ZTE ceases activities

ZTE has hit a massive roadblock that has resulted in the cessation of its business operations. China’s number 2 telecom equipment maker was hit by the US’s seven-year blockade to vital components needed for its devices.

Apple fully powered by clean energy

Apple is powered by 32 megawatts of solar panels on more than 800 rooftops in Singapore.
Apple is powered by 32 megawatts of solar panels on more than 800 rooftops in Singapore.
Singapore’s land scarcity is not a constraint for Apple, which is drawing 32 megawatts of power from solar panels on more than 800 rooftops.