The Engadget Interview: Lixin Cheng on ZTE’s US future at CTIA 2013

The Engadget Interview Lixin Cheng on ZTE's US future at CTIA 2013

Last week at CTIA, we sat down with Lixin Cheng -- CEO of ZTE USA -- for a candid discussion about the company's future in the US. The conversation started with ZTE's current portfolio in the US, which consists of 18 SKUs -- primarily inexpensive Android smartphones (most with LTE) for the prepaid market. Mr. Cheng mentioned that the company's doing quite well in the US thanks to an 85.7 percent year-to-year growth in market share. ZTE is now in third place among prepaid handset manufacturers with a market share of 17 percent. He explained that carriers are seeing revenue growth from prepaid services which now account for 22.5 to 29 percent of revenue. This puts the company in a strong position for the future, despite last year's investigation by Congress. So we asked Mr. Cheng if and when ZTE would bring flagship phones like the Grand S or Grand Memo to the US in partnership with the four major carriers. His reply:

I have promised you at CES that we're going to bring the Grand S or Memo series into [the] US, and we are working on that, and I think that very soon we will announce some good news.

That's good news indeed. Hit the break for more, including our video interview and full transcript.

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Charlie Rose interviews ‘Bill Gates 2.0’ on 60 Minutes: the man after Microsoft

Charlie Rose interviews 'Bill Gates 20' on 60 Minutes the man after Microsoft

Last night's 60 Minutes gave a solid block of screen time to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, with a focus on his efforts to tackle preventable diseases through the Gates Foundation. The show looked at how the Foundation is using the ethos of a technology company to meet humanitarian challenges, such as its recent plumbing-free toilet competition to improve sanitation around the world, and the development of a thermos that can keep 200 vaccines cool for 50 days using a single block of ice. Separately, Gates also spoke about the late Steve Jobs and how the two men effectively "grew up together" as rivals. 60 Minutes interviewer Charlie Rose noted that Gates will "long be remembered" for his philanthropy, whereas Jobs "did not have time to do that." There are two excerpts from the show after the break, but we can't guarantee how well they'll work on mobile devices so you may want to go straight to the source links below.

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Via: CNET

Source: 60 Minutes Overtime: Gates on Jobs, 60 Minutes: Bill Gates 2.0

Editorial: A conciliatory Apple would be real innovation

Editorial A conciliatory Apple would be real innovation

There are signs of a new attitude emanating from Cupertino, extending across Apple's relationship management of customers and competitors.

One of the two most important things you can say in English is "I'm sorry." (The other is "Thank you.") Failure to get the apology right brands a person as arrogant. As with people, so with companies -- to whatever extent they have personal relationships with their customers. In Apple's case, its best customers definitely feel personally involved with the company's ethos, products and leaders.

Apple's main personifying force is its CEO. That individual manages both the connection with customers and the competitive relationship with other industry players. Now, following an unusual apology to users, Apple startlingly unplugs one of its Android lawsuits against a competitor, and a profound personality change seems to be in progress. Apple is not apologizing for its historical Android rage. But the brand's official temperament might be changing at the core, with the company possibly becoming a more conciliatory actor in the field.

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Editorial: A conciliatory Apple would be real innovation originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dude recreates first-gen iPod in-browser, won’t put 1,000 songs in your pocket

Dude recreates firstgen iPod in the browser, won't put 1,000 songs in your pocket

Here's a bit of web fun to liven up your weekend: a digital artist by the name of Pritesh Desai has recreated a fully functional first-generation iPod that you can play directly in your browser. In remembrance of Steve Jobs, Desai built the faux iPod using HTML5, CSS3, and a touch of jQuery. You can drag the click wheel around just like with the real deal, change the volume, hit play / pause and even skip tracks. Especially nice is the addition of Extras like the Clock and the Calendar. Unfortunately, you won't be able to play any of your own tunes, but Desai had compiled a list of Creative Commons songs, so you can see how the player works. The next step is for someone to fill this up with hits of the early aughts ("Last Nite" by The Strokes, perhaps?) so you can truly travel back in time to the heydays of Windows XP and the Enron scandal.

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Dude recreates first-gen iPod in-browser, won't put 1,000 songs in your pocket originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gizmodo  |  sourceInventika Solutions (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Apple’s Tim Cook remembers Steve Jobs’ life on the anniversary of his death

Apple's Tim Cook remembers Steve Jobs' life on the anniversary of his deat

On the first anniversary of his passing, Apple has converted the front page usually monopolized by the latest shiny gadgets to a tribute to its late co-founder and CEO. "Remembering Steve" cycles through some iconic images and moments in the tech pioneer's life, including the memorable launches of the iMac and iPhone. It's a touching tribute, coupled with a hopeful note from his successor, Tim Cook, who asks the rest of us to reflect on Jobs' life, while adding that he considers the company's current output a tribute to his "memory and everything he stood for."

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Apple's Tim Cook remembers Steve Jobs' life on the anniversary of his death originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Editorial: Apple’s smart Maps maneuver

Editorial Apple's smart Maps maneuver

It might seem as if Apple chose its iOS 6 release last week to practice the biblical directive to love one's enemy. For, by ejecting Google Maps from updated iPads and iPhones, Apple hath caused glorious comparisons to shine upon its foe. If most people were unaware of comparative feature sets and quality aspects that distinguish Google Maps from Apple Maps, every tech-loving person on God's earth is an expert now.

The media love a bloodbath, and Joe Nocera led the rhetorical pack by calling Apple Maps an "unmitigated disaster" in a NY Times piece. He wondered whether such calamity would have ensued if Steve Jobs (who called the 1998 "hockey puck" mouse the world's best pointing device) were guiding the company's product evolution. Mr. Nocera argues the Maps replacement as an indicator that Apple has peaked.

I argue that replacing Google Maps with Apple Maps was shrewd, inevitable and an indicator that Apple understands the true battle it wages.

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Editorial: Apple's smart Maps maneuver originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Sep 2012 15:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Editorial: Physics and politics stand in the way of true mobile

Editorial Physics and politics stand in the way of true mobile

Progress is lumpy. The future is attained in a series of epochal strides, each followed by a lot of relatively inconsequential shuffling forward. The invention of the internet (and especially the consumer-friendly web) was a rare giant step that motivated immense adoption of computers and digital lifestyles. A global marketplace of online citizens spawned gadgets, software apps, corporate gold-rushing and other feverish shuffling.

Even with the opulent gadgetry we admire and enjoy, the whole expanding tech bubble seems to be reaching for something beyond itself. The incremental improvements of personal technology don't thrust into the future as much as push against constraining walls of the present. Sharper screens and thinner computers are delightful results of corporate development cycles. But we are tethered to the present, which one day will seem primitive in retrospect, by two unglamorous bridles: power and connectivity.

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Editorial: Physics and politics stand in the way of true mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad prototype renderings from early-2000s revealed in Apple / Samsung court filings (update: comparison shots)

iPad prototype renderings from early2000s revealed in Apple  Samsung court filings updated

It's a strange bit of history that the concept of an Apple tablet led to what we know as the first iPhone. It's a fact that Steve Jobs made mention of back in 2010, at an appearance at All Things D, realizing that Apple was capable of building a handset based on the technology it pieced together for a multitouch display. Now, thanks to Apple / Samsung court filings (you know that whole little kerfuffle between the companies) and digging by the folks at NetworkWorld, some early concepts for an Apple slate have come to light. The dates of the mockups are a little nebulous at the moment, but during his deposition, Jonathan Ive, puts them at somewhere between 2002 and 2004. Check a few more angles and a stiff case usage in the gallery below.

Update: Our friend Anand Shimpi of AnandTech pointed out that the first iPad prototype used a Pentium M processor. We sure have come a long way.

Update 2: BuzzFeed obtained some color photos of the gigantic prototype placed next to an iPad 2. Head over there to see more.

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iPad prototype renderings from early-2000s revealed in Apple / Samsung court filings (update: comparison shots) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 10:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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