This week, we saw the temperature in Beijing go from ‘reasonable’ to ‘a billion degrees’ (roughly). But is was the tech scene also heating up this week? Well, not literally, no. But figuratively? You bet.
1. Xiaomi Gets $216 Million in Funding
The rumors were true! Xiaomi confirmed that it has nailed down a huge round of funding this week. And not a moment too soon, either, because this week we also saw…
2. Three Cheap Chinese Smartphones Launched on the Same Day
That’s right, there are so many Xiaomi competitors coming out now that they apparently have to share launch days. Nobody seemed to have particularly amazing sales numbers, but only time will tell if any of these cheap smartphones can unseat Xiaomi and its newfound buckets of cash.
3. New York Times Joins Weibo, Gets Blocked
America’s most famous newspaper had a rough first day on Sina Weibo, seeing its account quickly blocked, then unblocked, and then later blocked again. Apparently someone at Sina is having trouble deciding what they want to do. The NYT also launched a Chinese-language site which — fingers crossed here — isn’t blocked yet.
4. Is PPTV the New King of Video?
The latest stats from iResearch appear to show PPTV having blown ahead of Tudou and Youku to become the biggest player in China’s streaming video market. However, iResearch’s explanation for this abrupt shift makes no sense whatsoever, which leads us to doubt the data a bit. Still, though, if it’s true? Oh snap.
5. KTV App Takes China By Storm
Finally, we took a look at a karaoke app that has an awful lot of Chinese people singing its praises, or at least singing something. Can this little startup app conquer the Middle Kingdom, or is it destined to be squashed by Tencent’s inevitable copycat app?
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