Tag: tech

Innovating through manufacturing, the China way

Posted on by Jason Li

Dan Wang writes in Foreign Affair about how China is gaining ground over the US in the tech space by challenging the Western model where scientific discovery reigns supreme:

Unlike the West, China has grounded its technology sector not in glamorous research and advanced science but in the less flashy task of improving manufacturing capabilities. If Washington is serious about…

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Ethnography of Tech

Chinese tech globalizing like the US, with drones and bikeshares leading the way

Posted on by An Xiao Mina

Photo of bike share in front of the Eiffel Tower

Dockless bikeshares in Europe predated the arrival of Chinese companies like Ofo and Mobike, at least in Berlin, but it was a recent trip in Shenzhen and Beijing that I saw their potential at scale. I am used to seeing Chinese tech phenomena remain just that, ie, limited to China. But the near omnipresence of these bikes in major cities — I…

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Explaining why Twitter is worth less than its “Chinese clone”

Posted on by Jason Li
Weibo versus Twitter. Source: Aw Guo.
Weibo versus Twitter. Source: Aw Guo.

A few days ago, Tech In Asia published the provocatively titled article, Twitter is now worth less than its Chinese clone. Coming fresh off the heels of Twitter’s recently-failed acquisition talks, the article definitely resonated with many members of the tech community. But as many of us know,…

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Multi Entry

Advanced Red Envelope Techniques

Posted on by Christina Xu

tumblr_o29197shb91uds0c5o1_1280

Red envelopes used to be a simple joy. On a festive occasion like Chinese New Year, people exchanged perfumed red-and-gold paper envelopes stuffed with cash to signify good will. For Chinese kids, it was like Trick or Treat but infinitely better—kneel in front of your elders in a New Year’s greeting, and you’d walk away with cold, hard cash to spend on…

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Our very own job board for tech/media/design in Asia

Posted on by Jason Li

88 Gong screenshot

We’ve been pretty quiet about it, but a while back, Tricia and I got together with our friend Adrianna to launch 88 Gong – the world’s first job board for tech/media/design gigs in Asia. Since its inception, we’ve had over 400 postings featuring jobs from not only China but also India, Singapore, Malaysia and countless other places. Plus, we’ve been…

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Fact checking the hype around mesh networks and FireChat

Posted on by Jason Li

Being based in Hong Kong, my tech friends and I still occasionally get asked, “So what’s the deal with FireChat?” In case you missed it, FireChat, a smartphone chat app with basic mesh support, made headlines during the recent Occupy Hong Kong protests. Protesters on the ground here turned to it in late September when rumors began to circulate that the government would shut down…

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Xiaomi’s vaguely familiar design and a Chinese bitcoin mine

Posted on by Jason Li

In case you’re not following consultant-turned-VC Benedict Evans‘ newsletter on mobile technology (which is excellent and highly recommended), here are the China-related gems from this week:

Xiaomi unveiled the latest version of its custom flavor of Android. Lot of interesting and innovative features in there. The design language, though, looks… vaguely familiar. Link

Apple is…

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