Beijing

China is starting a long-delayed introduction of third-generation mobile phone service, setting off a politically charged scramble by foreign and Chinese equipment makers for up to $41 billion in orders.

Chinese sales could be crucial for suppliers such as Motorola Inc., Alcatel-Lucent SA and Nokia-Siemens Networks as global demand slumps. State media say the largest Chinese carrier, China Mobile, expects to sign up 100 million 3G subscribers -- more than most nations' entire mobile markets -- in the next three years.

The Chinese government is stirring trade tensions with Washington with a plan to require foreign computer security technology to be submitted for government approval, in a move that might require suppliers to disclose business secrets.

Most people in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West think of China and India largely as sources for inexpensive products and services. Few know that China, India, and other developing countries are taking center stage in the global war for innovation and talent.

Microsoft Corp. expects its Beijing research center to start producing breakthroughs that could lead to global products in health care and other areas, the software giant's chief research officer said Wednesday as the center marked its 10th anniversary.

Microsoft is part of a wave of companies that are expanding research and development in China to serve its fast-growing market and take advantage of a huge Chinese talent pool of scientists and engineers.

The real time ability to connect with others and share experiences makes Twitter a great platform for individuals, or companies, to use in conjunction with a major event.

Microsoft released Silverlight 2 on Monday, the second major version of its platform for creating and delivering advanced multimedia applications and experiences in a Web browser.

The company also said it will continue to back Silverlight-related open-source communities, with funding for advanced Silverlight development based on the Eclipse Foundation's integrated development environment (IDE) and with new controls to developers via the Silverlight Control Pack.

There's no shortage of U.S. Internet companies that have failed to replicate their successes at home in Chinese cyberspace. Despite throwing considerable resources at its Chinese-language operation, for instance, Google (GOOG) is a distant No. 2 in online search [BusinessWeek.com, 8/30/07] behind local champion Baidu.com (BIDU). In online auctions, eBay (EBAY) threw in the towel [BusinessWeek.com, 12/19/06] in December 2006 after failing to dislodge the market leader, Hangzhou-based Taobao, and joined forces with Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's TOM Online.

China is rushing in to build its own network of electric charging stations. Xinhua, the government's official newspaper, announced last week that the State Grid Corporation, the world's largest electric power transmission and distribution company, is speeding up its plans to build electric car charging stations.
The stations will be located in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and other large cities.

As it’s now the end of September, I think it’s officially time for me to stop blogging about the Beijing Olympics. BUT I WILL NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT!
I’ve already shared what I feel the Lenovo Voices campaign represented for Athlete 2.0 and Olympics of the future. So before I (finally) put this one to bed, I want to post some thoughts about what made this a unique campaign to work on from the “agency side.”