Staff picks: 8 top news stories this week on Tech in Asia

Missed Asia’s tech news this past week? Here’s our regular roundup.

Josh’s pick: Tesla has announced the price of the Model S in China, and it’s much lower than expected

High-profile Western brands with a certain amount of cultural clout tend get taken for a beating by the Chinese media (sometimes for good reasons) if they get accused for treating Chinese consumers differently. Apple, Yum! Brands, Walmart have each been subject to public scrutiny for food scandals or alleged customer service mishaps. Tesla is a prime candidate for this sort of backlash – it’s disruptive, it has a ‘do-good’ agenda, and it’s already an icon of innovation. By announcing quite publicly that it will be selling the Model S in China at minimal markup, Tesla is sending out a gesture of good will. Of course, this could affect its status as a perceived luxury brand, and might make short-term revenue generation difficult.

Saiyai’s pick: No, Beijing residents are NOT watching fake sunrises on giant TVs because of pollution

First, if this was true, it’d be absurd for the Chinese government to do that. But what more absurd is that big names in media would create “news” without fact-checking.

Paul’s pick: China’s Baidu risks a backlash in Indonesia over photos of sexy girls

Having a tab specifically for photos of sexy ladies available for the Indonesian version of Baidu’s mobile browser might seem like a minor issue, but it speaks volumes about how China views the Indonesian market, which will be a major target as big Chinese firms start to expand globally.

Terence’s pick: Mig33 is now listed on the Australian Securities Exchange

We’re seeing Southeast Asian startups head east to Australia’s stock exchange as a means to raise capital. Australian investors are known to be less afraid of tech companies, and if so, this could be a lost opportunity for the Singapore Exchange to become an exit destination for tech startups.

Phoebe’s pick: Samsung Q4 profits down, pressured on both sides by iPhone 5s and cheaper Android competitors

It’s the first time that Samsung’s profits went down in two years. Is it the end of its momentum? Or shall we see it rise back up this year with its Galaxy S5?

Willis’ pick: Apple gets serious about Siri in Asia with job postings for Chinese and Japanese writers

Finally, real effort for Siri in Asian languages. Chinese and Japanese are great languages to start with considering how big both markets are. Apple is definitely getting serious about China and Japan.