Showing posts with label Mobile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mobile. Show all posts
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Minquan Road Mobile Phone Street in Zhongshan, China
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
9:45 PM
Although many mobile phone stores exist elsewhere in Zhongshan, Guangdong province, Minquan Road in the central Shiqi District may have the greatest concentration. Below are just a few scenes from there during March earlier this year. Most of the stores sell new phones of brands common in many Chinese cities. The Minquan Xinyi Shopping Center — a collection of stalls selling a variety of lesser known brands, more blatant imitations, or second hand phones — is similar to the Bu Ye Cheng (Long Xiao) Communications Market in Shanghai but much smaller in scale. The photos provide a sense of the brands available and how some stores are changing their look to stay "fresh". They also provide context for a particular store which will be the focus of a later post.
Store featuring Vivo, HTC, Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Meizu, Oppo, and Gionee |
Store featuring Apple |
Android robot promoting the iPhone 6 |
Store promoting Samsung, Huawei, Vivo, Apple, Xiaomi, and Oppo |
A store with a strong Apple theme |
Store featuring Oppo and HTC |
Promotion for Oppo |
Minquan Xinyi Shopping Center |
Inside the Minquan Xinyi Shopping Center |
Monday, August 31, 2015
A Mix of Old, New, and Inexpensive: Shanghai Yinxiang Cheng Electronics Market
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:59 PM
Shanghai Yinxiang Cheng (上海音像城) offers a shopping experience which feels like a cross of a flea market and a large electronics store. I haven't seen any official names in English, but instead of the previous transliteration the name could be translated as Shanghai Audio & Visual City. And at least one online site refers to it as the Qiujiang Lu Electronics Market, though that doesn't reflect its prominently displayed Chinese name. Whatever the case, it is easy to find the market just east of Shanghai's Baoshan Road metro station — part of the complex sits underneath the elevated metro tracks. It may not be where to go if you want something like the latest models of popular mobile phone brands, but it offers an wide array of electronics for sale not seen in many other electronics stores in Shanghai.
Below are a few photos I took there. They only provide a quick look at the market and don't capture many of the second-hand classics available. Like the Bu Ye Cheng (Long Xiao) Communications Market near the Shanghai Railway Station, a visit can be eye-opening even if you aren't interested in buying anything.
More scenes from markets elsewhere in China later. I will also have more to say about mobile phones like those which appear below.
Below are a few photos I took there. They only provide a quick look at the market and don't capture many of the second-hand classics available. Like the Bu Ye Cheng (Long Xiao) Communications Market near the Shanghai Railway Station, a visit can be eye-opening even if you aren't interested in buying anything.
More scenes from markets elsewhere in China later. I will also have more to say about mobile phones like those which appear below.
Monday, August 24, 2015
Bu Ye Cheng (Long Xiao) Communications Market in Shanghai
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
10:44 PM
About 300 meters (1000 ft) to the east of a pedestrian bridge near the Shanghai Railway Station is a market which fills the majority of a large building. The market's name is written, translated and transliterated in numerous ways. A map inside the market, the sign of a complaints office for the market, and a sign by the market's management, all indicate a name which includes the Chinese "龙晓通信市场" which I'll translate as "Long Xiao Communications Market"*. But names more closely resembling "Bu Ye Cheng Communications Market" — "Bu Ye Cheng", sometimes spelled as a single word, comes from the name of the entire building — appear to be more commonly used. Whatever you call the market, fortunately the gold-tinged building with a large digital billboard at the intersection of Tianmu West Road and Meiyuan Road is easy to spot.
If you so desire, you can collect business cards from the hundreds of stalls and marvel at the different names they give the market. But of more interest to me are the various mobile phones and related products that mostly fill its six dense levels.
I think it offers the closest experience in Shanghai to some of the markets in Shenzhen's immense Huaqiangbei electronics commercial area. I recommend taking a look, especially if you are interested in mobile phones and won't be in Shenzhen. I will refrain from sharing more details about what I saw there, since a closer look is in store for some similar markets in Shanghai and elsewhere in China.
*Two of the signs used the slightly longer name "上海龙晓通信产品市场".
If you so desire, you can collect business cards from the hundreds of stalls and marvel at the different names they give the market. But of more interest to me are the various mobile phones and related products that mostly fill its six dense levels.
I think it offers the closest experience in Shanghai to some of the markets in Shenzhen's immense Huaqiangbei electronics commercial area. I recommend taking a look, especially if you are interested in mobile phones and won't be in Shenzhen. I will refrain from sharing more details about what I saw there, since a closer look is in store for some similar markets in Shanghai and elsewhere in China.
*Two of the signs used the slightly longer name "上海龙晓通信产品市场".
Friday, August 14, 2015
Another Scene of the Mobile Phone Brand Vivo in Hengyang
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:59 PM
To show that the Vivo-related photos I took last year in Hengyang didn't capture something fleeting, here is a promotion for the mobile phone brand I saw in the same area this year:
And I saw it on the very first day I returned to Hengyang. They weren't overrun with people when I passed by on a Sunday afternoon, but in general the area seemed rather quiet.
And I saw it on the very first day I returned to Hengyang. They weren't overrun with people when I passed by on a Sunday afternoon, but in general the area seemed rather quiet.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Apple on Windows Above Apple in Shanghai
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:47 PM
Above the Nanjing East Road Apple Store in Shanghai, a mall's digital billboard displayed an advertisement for the Apple Watch.
And like what I saw at a mall in Haikou, I discovered the digital billboard runs on Windows.
This case just included an added touch of irony.
Perhaps-not-needed-but-would-rather-error-on-the-side-of-openness-disclosure: I previously worked as a user experience researcher at Microsoft China. I didn't work on any projects directly related to digital billboards, partly because they are difficult to carry around.
And like what I saw at a mall in Haikou, I discovered the digital billboard runs on Windows.
This case just included an added touch of irony.
Perhaps-not-needed-but-would-rather-error-on-the-side-of-openness-disclosure: I previously worked as a user experience researcher at Microsoft China. I didn't work on any projects directly related to digital billboards, partly because they are difficult to carry around.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Scenes of the Mobile Phone Brand Vivo in Hengyang
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:59 PM
An advertisement I saw in Xiangtan, Hunan, is a small but relevant piece of data about Vivo's presence in China. To provide a bit more color, particularly of the blueish variety, and context about a mobile phone brand not familiar to many outside of China, this post includes some Vivo-related photos I took last year in Hengyang, Hunan. The signs, promotional events, and young people handing out printed ads all come from an area east of Lianhu Square densely packed with a large number of mobile phone stores — the same area where I saw people marching with Vivo and Oppo signs. I could have taken many more photos in the same spirit. Although Vivo is just one of many brands available there, it would be hard to miss.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Sign of Things to Come: An Advertisement for Mobile Phones in Xiangtan
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:59 PM
A few months ago I took the above photo of a billboard from a bridge in Xiangtan, Hunan province. The advertisement for a mobile phone store featured five brands: Apple, Vivo, Xiaomi, Samsung, and Huawei. One of those in particular, Vivo, receives relatively little attention outside of China, yet, as the sign suggests, it is rather visible in some parts of China. More on that topic, tech in general, and other themes soon.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Another Sculpture in Changsha Conducive to Sitting and Photography
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
6:45 PM
The previous post about sculptures of string players and string instruments in Changsha mentioned that some people enjoyed having their photo taken while posing with the smaller sculptures — a common sight in numerous Chinese cities. However, the man in the post's last photo was not posing for a photographic moment but instead was taking advantage of a place to sit afforded by the sculpture. I have recently seen similar examples there and elsewhere nearby, including at the South Huangxing Road Commercial Pedestrian Street where on one occasion I saw a woman using her mobile phone while sitting on a sculpture's small stool.
Another time at the same location, I saw photography practiced in parallel with the more mundane act of sitting.
This raises an issue relevant to the design of public spaces in China: the competing interests between those who wish to use a suitable sculpture for an extended period of time as a place to sit with others who desire to use it more fleetingly for photos. Perhaps if a sufficient number of places to sit existed in the surrounding area, which research for this pedestrian street found to be a common desire, the conflict would arise less often.
Another time at the same location, I saw photography practiced in parallel with the more mundane act of sitting.
This raises an issue relevant to the design of public spaces in China: the competing interests between those who wish to use a suitable sculpture for an extended period of time as a place to sit with others who desire to use it more fleetingly for photos. Perhaps if a sufficient number of places to sit existed in the surrounding area, which research for this pedestrian street found to be a common desire, the conflict would arise less often.
Monday, June 1, 2015
A Duet and Quartet at a Mobile Phone Promotion in Changsha
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:59 PM
In the spirit of the recent themes of music and duets, last night around 8 p.m. I heard a performance with electric string instruments.
The performance was part of a promotion at a Changsha mobile phone store selling brands such as Vivo, Samsung, Apple, Gionee, HTC, and Oppo. Some of the those brands aren't familiar in many places outside of China or don't receive much international media attention. But they are common in many cities I have recently visited in Hunan and elsewhere in China. Inside the store another brand familiar in China was featured — Huawei. A quartet sans musical instruments was there to help.
A table of hors d'oeuvres and wine was also nearby. As I was full from a recent meal of spicy fish and snails, I did not partake.
Except for the hors d'oeuvres, none of this seemed exceptional for a mobile phone promotion in Changsha. Other examples to come later . . .
The performance was part of a promotion at a Changsha mobile phone store selling brands such as Vivo, Samsung, Apple, Gionee, HTC, and Oppo. Some of the those brands aren't familiar in many places outside of China or don't receive much international media attention. But they are common in many cities I have recently visited in Hunan and elsewhere in China. Inside the store another brand familiar in China was featured — Huawei. A quartet sans musical instruments was there to help.
A table of hors d'oeuvres and wine was also nearby. As I was full from a recent meal of spicy fish and snails, I did not partake.
Except for the hors d'oeuvres, none of this seemed exceptional for a mobile phone promotion in Changsha. Other examples to come later . . .
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
A One-Wheeled Phone Conversation
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:23 PM
Recently I shared examples of people using mobile phones while in control of moving motorbikes in Hengyang. Today in Changsha, I saw an example of someone using a mobile phone while riding another type of powered vehicle.
Despite the vehicle only having one wheel, I suspect the phone use presents less of a safety issue given the vehicle's slower speed and it not requiring any hands to operate. Although they are not an everyday sight, I have noticed more and more electric unicycles in use, often rented for a fun ride. I didn't ask the girl if she owned the unicycle. She appeared preoccupied as she zoomed past.
Despite the vehicle only having one wheel, I suspect the phone use presents less of a safety issue given the vehicle's slower speed and it not requiring any hands to operate. Although they are not an everyday sight, I have noticed more and more electric unicycles in use, often rented for a fun ride. I didn't ask the girl if she owned the unicycle. She appeared preoccupied as she zoomed past.
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Motorbike Phone Calls in Hengyang
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:47 PM
The Hengxiang Bridge offers an excellent opportunity to appreciate Hengyang's "traffic culture" and the variety of vehicles used there.
It also offers an excellent opportunity to observe some real-life mobile phone usage in Hengyang. On that note, here are four photos I took as I crossed the bridge one afternoon:
In all four cases, a person was using their mobile phone while driving a motorbike. The above capture most, but not all, of the examples I saw.
Later as I walked back across the bridge, I saw one man park his bike in the dedicated bike lane and then have a phone conversation as he stood on the sidewalk.
And finally, tying it all together in what felt like a brief magical moment, I saw a man using a mobile phone while he rode by and looked at a woman who had stopped to use a mobile phone.
It is a just a small period of time and only a single location. But if representative, it suggests a large number of people in Hengyang are willing to use their phones while driving a motorbike, at least under some conditions. And much else could be learned, better appreciated, or questioned at this single bridge in Hengyang.
It also offers an excellent opportunity to observe some real-life mobile phone usage in Hengyang. On that note, here are four photos I took as I crossed the bridge one afternoon:
In all four cases, a person was using their mobile phone while driving a motorbike. The above capture most, but not all, of the examples I saw.
Later as I walked back across the bridge, I saw one man park his bike in the dedicated bike lane and then have a phone conversation as he stood on the sidewalk.
And finally, tying it all together in what felt like a brief magical moment, I saw a man using a mobile phone while he rode by and looked at a woman who had stopped to use a mobile phone.
It is a just a small period of time and only a single location. But if representative, it suggests a large number of people in Hengyang are willing to use their phones while driving a motorbike, at least under some conditions. And much else could be learned, better appreciated, or questioned at this single bridge in Hengyang.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Genuine, Fake, and In-between: A Visit to Electronics Markets at Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:08 PM
Several days ago I spent part of one afternoon in Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei (also known as Huaqiang North) commercial area. According to ShenzhenShopper:
Theres over 20 shopping malls located in the Huaqiangbei area which provides about 70 million square meters of business area. Annual sales reaching over 20 billion, and there’s something like 130,000 people employed in the area. Yep, it’s large.Huaqiangbei is most known for being one of the biggest electronics markets in the world. For many first time visitors, especially those already familiar with typical consumer electronics chain stores in China, I would agree with the suggestion on PIXEL to:
Skip [the consumer electronics shops] and spend your time in the buildings dedicated to Android tablets, “Shanzhai” phones (copies), phone accessories, components, LEDs, various gadgets, etc.Just one of the shopping centers on its own can be overwhelming to those not accustomed with their scale, density, and intensity. Charles Arthur shared a gallery of photos on The Guardian. As prelude to another gallery of photos on Tech in Asia, Paul Bischoff wrote:
Within lies stall after stall after stall of nearly every gadget, component, and tool imaginable. Over half a dozen city blocks are filled to the brim with crowded marketplaces, each ranging from four to 10 floors high. Photos hardly do it justice. The place is immense.For a variety of reasons, I kept my photo-taking activities to a minimum this time. The photo above is of an alley on the outskirts of Huaqiangbei. On both sides are huge electronics markets which aren't labeled even on Seeed Studio's detailed Shenzhen Map for Makers (free PDF download). The several markets I visited on this block mostly focused on mobile phone products — from components to complete phones to accessories. Here is just a small taste of what I saw in these markets where the line between genuine and fake can be blurry:
- Thousands of mobile phones with cracked screens, some showing clear signs they were from the U.S.
- Screens for various brand name phones for sale.
- Workers fixing and cleaning phones.
- Workers affixing brand name labels to unmarked batteries.
- Workers packaging iPhones to appear as new.
- Foreigners making purchases, reminding me of what I learned at a fake stuffed toy wholesale store in Guangzhou.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Yahoo Leaves, Apple's Watch Copied, and GitHub Attacked: Assorted China Tech Links
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:56 PM
In addition to other topics, I plan a return to some China tech-related themes here. For a starter, I'll share assorted excerpts of four recent pieces sans commentary by me. Much more can be found by clicking the related links.
1. Yahoo closing its office in China received a lot of media attention. Michael Smith, an ex-Yahoo employee, provided some useful perspective:
1. Yahoo closing its office in China received a lot of media attention. Michael Smith, an ex-Yahoo employee, provided some useful perspective:
China was really just one of the last remote engineering orgs to go. Brazil gone. Indonesia gone. The centralization plan was back on target. Build in HQ – launch everywhere. Like a lot of big internet companies really.2. Even before Apple's new smart watch was publicly available, you could buy an imitation of it in China. Peter Ford reported one person's account of the processes used in China's electronics copying business:
So yes – they closed China. I don’t think it has any connection to a pull back in China since Yahoo is already gone from China. Now the engineers are too.
Big deal. Not.
If there are product details he is unsure of, he says, “I wait for the product to come out, or ideally see if I can get it earlier than the release date.” Since so many electronic goods are made in China, where factories “are leaky, very leaky,” he adds, “people will straight up offer that stuff to you.”3. Github, an online site used by many developers worldwide for coding, has been the target of a remarkable attack. Eva Dou explains the attack and why it appears that not only is the source based in China but the Chinese government is behind it:
Nor does a manufacturer of what the source calls “facsimiles” need to resort only to the black market to see engineering ahead of time. “Companies like Apple buy things from other providers and put them together in a pretty package,” he says. “I don’t even need to ‘pirate’ their stuff; I just buy it from the same guys who sell it to them [ie Apple].”
Mikko Hyponen, the chief research officer of cybersecurity firm F-Secure, said the attack was likely to have involved Chinese authorities because the hackers were able to manipulate Web traffic at a high level of China’s Internet infrastructure. It appeared to be a new type for China, he added. “It had to be someone who had the ability to tamper with all the Internet traffic coming into China.” he said.4. Erik Hjelmvik at NETRESEC provides an intriguing and in-depth look at how the GitHug attack works:
We have looked closer at this attack, and can conclude that China is using their active and passive network infrastructure in order to perform a man-on-the-side attack against GitHub. See our "TTL analysis" at the end of this blog post to see how we know this is a Man-on-the-side attack.That's all for now, folks.
In short, this is how this Man-on-the-Side attack is carried out:
- An innocent user is browsing the internet from outside China.
- One website the user visits loads a javascript from a server in China, for example the Badiu Analytics script that often is used by web admins to track visitor statistics (much like Google Analytics).
- The web browser's request for the Baidu javascript is detected by the Chinese passive infrastructure as it enters China.
- A fake response is sent out from within China instead of the actual Baidu Analytics script. This fake response is a malicious javascript that tells the user's browser to continuously reload two specific pages on GitHub.com.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Mannequin Takes a Selfie in Chongqing
Posted by
Brian Glucroft
at
11:59 PM
Last year I shared photos of mannequins along a street in Yangjiang. Yesterday, in front of displays for Casio products at the Times Paradise Walk shopping mall in Chongqing, another mannequin caught my attention.
A sign of the times . . .
A sign of the times . . .
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