China Telecom to carry Xbox One starting this September

Microsoft's Xbox One is heading to China. The next generation console will soon be sold through China Telecom, one of the nation's leading telecommunications companies according to a report from Reuters.

The Xbox One will go on sale in September and will be the first gaming console sold in mainland China since the country's government issued a ban on such devices in 2000. The ban, put in place over concerns about how violence and mature content may affect Chinese youth, was recently lifted.

A China Telecom spokesperson told the publication that pricing for the console hasn't been decided yet. Further details regarding the launch will be revealed next week according to Microsoft China spokesperson Joanna Li.

The announcement came yesterday during a China Telecom media event focused on the Internet of Things. A set-top box and a smart television were shown as part of a smart home series called Yue Me. The Xbox One, with its heavy entertainment slant, should fit right into what China Telecom is trying to do.

It's a significant move for Microsoft as its Xbox One hasn't sold as well as Sony's PlayStation 4. Much of that had to do with Microsoft pricing their system $100 higher. Last month, however, Microsoft finally unbundled the Kinect and priced the barebones Xbox One at $399 to match the PS4.

Sales have doubled since the move and with more than 104 million China Telecom broadband subscribers in sight, the Xbox One may finally start catching up to the PS4.

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China Telecom to carry Xbox One starting this September

Microsoft's Xbox One is heading to China. The next generation console will soon be sold through China Telecom, one of the nation's leading telecommunications companies according to a report from Reuters.

The Xbox One will go on sale in September and will be the first gaming console sold in mainland China since the country's government issued a ban on such devices in 2000. The ban, put in place over concerns about how violence and mature content may affect Chinese youth, was recently lifted.

A China Telecom spokesperson told the publication that pricing for the console hasn't been decided yet. Further details regarding the launch will be revealed next week according to Microsoft China spokesperson Joanna Li.

The announcement came yesterday during a China Telecom media event focused on the Internet of Things. A set-top box and a smart television were shown as part of a smart home series called Yue Me. The Xbox One, with its heavy entertainment slant, should fit right into what China Telecom is trying to do.

It's a significant move for Microsoft as its Xbox One hasn't sold as well as Sony's PlayStation 4. Much of that had to do with Microsoft pricing their system $100 higher. Last month, however, Microsoft finally unbundled the Kinect and priced the barebones Xbox One at $399 to match the PS4.

Sales have doubled since the move and with more than 104 million China Telecom broadband subscribers in sight, the Xbox One may finally start catching up to the PS4.

Next Users can now make web-based calls on Google Voice via Hangouts without a G+ accountPrev Verizon is preparing to throttle 4G LTE unlimited data users$(function(){$('img', 'img-wrap', 'li', '.related-products .teaser-list').equalHeights();});

View the original article here

In China more users now access the internet with a mobile device than a PC

China has been going through a major internet usage boom over the last little while, due largely to mobile device use. New numbers published by a state supported research group say that for the first time mobile internet usage has surpassed that of laptop and desktop PCs.

Around 83.4% of China's 632 million internet users recorded across June of this year did so via a mobile device, compared to about 80.9% accessing the web via PC. As internet usage as a whole grew around 2.3% since the beginning of 2014, mobile surfing grew 5.4% and usage on PCs dropped between 0.1 and 0.4% over the same time period. 

Internet usage in the country has hit nearly 47% compared to 87% in the US. However, even with nearly half the adoption numbers, China had more than double the entire US population logon during June 2014.

While the numbers are still the other way around in most other places in the world, some suggest the combination of low cost phones and the considerably low average income in China, make mobile devices a much more practical internet solution than pricey PCs. The popularity of mobile internet is also likely parallel with the boom of social networks, online mobile gaming and other on-the-go services in the region.

Image via Shutterstock

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