iPhone lai le

If you’re as mesmerized by the iPhone hype as we are, chances are you’ll be excited to hear that the iPhone is due to arrive in Beijing any day via Hong Kong. Although the beautiful little machine is indeed Made in China, it’s not being officially sold on the mainland. As a result, prices will be accordingly high (expect to pay more than 150% the market price elsewhere – upwards of RMB 7000) – and it’s unclear as to whether the phones could be unlocked for use with Chinese cell phone networks.

More promising, therefore, is the arrival of the BlackBerry in Beijing. Research in Motion, the makers of the BlackBerry, have finally been cleared by the government to sell their popular mobile device, which will operate on China Mobile’s network. The 8700g handset is expected to be available for purchase by the end of August.

In other cell phone news, there have been reports that China Unicom is offering a new service called Xuan Qu that allows users to download music to their cell phones for a fee of RMB 3-5/song. Music will be available from 23 record companies, and users can simply send a message with a song title, band's name, etc. to the number 10155 and then receive the music on their phone via a wireless download.

However, it seems that reports of the new service might be premature, as there is still no mention of the service on Unicom's site (the only thing remotely related is their rather dated ringtone download page. The new service isn’t exactly a technological breakthrough either – if you have a memory card, it’s easy to download mp3s from Baidu and then put them onto your phone – however, it does allow you to listen to your favorite mando-pop in good conscience.

If only Unicom went to the trouble of offering free beer to new subscribers, as they've been doing in Jiangsu lately, maybe then we’d consider signing up.

Links and Sources
Network World: Parallel Importers Promise iPhone
Yahoo News: Blackberry Coming to China
Washington Post: China Unicom Tests Music Service
Financial Times: Mobile phone rivals turn to beer
Mindmeters: Image