by James T. Areddy and Ellen Zhu, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal
Walt Disney won’t make Shanghai the happiest place in the world.
That’s the early reaction from a surprising number of netizens, or Chinese Internet users, to confirmation early Wednesday that plans for Shanghai Disneyland have the green light to proceed. Of the posts streaming into tianya.cn, a major portal, early Wednesday, the negative views were solidly outweighing positive views.
by Jerry A. Dicolo, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Intel Corp. Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said evidence is beginning to emerge that corporations are returning to technology spending, although such spending is driven more by the savings offered than by any spending increases.
“Our sales guys are picking up more interest at corporations,” Mr. Smith said in an interview Thursday.
by Loretta Chao, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Apple Inc. is a master at creating buzz around its product launches. But as the popular iPhone approaches its official debut in China–the world’s largest mobile-phone market–consumers here seem anything but excited.
by Loretta Chao, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Nokia Corp. unveiled its first cell phone developed with China’s homegrown third-generation mobile technology Tuesday, saying it would aim to “democratize” the smart phone market by aiming to sell lower-priced handsets at higher volumes.
Google has seen its fair share of troubles in China, from having its flagship search engine blocked to being scolded for peddling pornography. Last week, the Chinese Written Works Copyright Society accused the company of infringing the rights of Chinese authors through its Google Books project.
by Loretta Chao, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
The number of Facebook users in China is dwindling. Or to be more exact: falling off a cliff. And not by choice, as anyone who has tried to access Facebook in China recently knows.
It’s no secret among people in the Internet business in China that Facebook was interested in the world’s largest Internet user population.
Microsoft’s big launch of the new Windows 7 operating system on Friday in Beijing was much like its launches around the world: a huge, boisterous demonstration of new features such as being able to share music across multiple computers in one home.
by Loretta Chao, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
In response to the recent uproar over Google’s digital library in China, Google initially gave a boilerplate response about its U.S. book settlement applying only to U.S. books, and that the company will “of course” listen carefully to concerns and work hard to address them.
by Siobhan Gorman, National Security Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal
The Chinese government is ratcheting up its cyberspying operations against the U.S., a congressional advisory panel found, citing an example of a carefully orchestrated campaign against one U.S. company that appears to have been sponsored by Beijing.
Google’s troubles in China seem to have taken a new turn as a result of the company’s plan to create a vast digital library of books.
The China Written Works Copyright Society has called on Chinese writers to stand up for their legal rights in the face of Web search giant Google’s proposed book settlement, according to a post published on the official Web site of Chinese Writers’ Association.
Samsung Electronics Co. said it will set up a joint venture to build a 7.5-generation liquid crystal display panel plant in Suzhou, China, that will cost about 2.6 trillion won ($2.25 billion).
by Tiernan Ray, Blogger, Tech Trader Daily, Barron's
Chinese Web portal and mobile phone content provider Sina’s deal to acquire the billboard operations in China of Focus Media Holding has collapsed today, almost ten months after it was first announced.
by James Hookway, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Attempts to censor the Internet are spreading to Southeast Asia as governments turn to coercion and intimidation to rein in online criticism.
Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam lack the kind of technology and financial resources that China and some other large countries use to police the Internet.
by Don Clark, Geoffrey A. Fowler, Ben Worthen, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal
Consumers are helping pull the technology sector out of one of its worst-ever slumps, and optimism is building that businesses may also start switching on their spending soon.
That upbeat picture emerged as some bellwether technology suppliers issued numbers that were stronger than Wall Street expected, though still reflecting the recession’s harsh effects.
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