In Brief

Huawei Technologies to provide WiMAX network in Bulgaria

Huawei Technologies, the mainland's largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, will provide a commercial WiMAX network in Bulgaria this year under a contract with communications service provider TransTelecom.

The project, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, will cover central business districts and so-called wireless networking hot spots in Bulgaria's major cities, including the capital Sofia and Varna, the country's largest harbour city.

Huawei's WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) system contract will include providing equipment that works on the 3.5-gigahertz frequency band and an upgrade of TransTelecom's central exchange infrastructure.

Bien Perez

KongZhong teams up with CSIG for sports content

Nasdaq-listed KongZhong Corp, one of the mainland's leading providers of wireless value-added services, has formed a strategic alliance with Shanghai-based China Sports Industry Group (CSIG). The agreement will see the partners explore business opportunities for developing sports-related content for mobile phones.

Nick Yang, president of Beijing-based KongZhong, said the company's co-operation with CSIG 'can provide China's over 500 million cellphone users with easier access to sports-related content'.

The business interests of CSIG, which has the mainland's General Administration of Sports as its dominant shareholder, include organising commercial sports tournaments, operating sports arenas and fitness centres and selling sports equipment and other items. Bien Perez

51.com to use processing technology from Global IP

The mainland's largest blog community service, 51.com, is adopting media-processing technology from United States-based Global IP Solutions to power the voice-enabled instant messaging application for its 90 million domestic users.

The move follows Shanghai-based 51.com's launch of its 51 guagua instant-messaging service on January 1.

'As the phenomenon of social networking continues to grow, users are demanding superior voice quality as people become very frustrated with poor quality services,' said Peng Shendong, president and chief executive of 51.com. Bien Perez

Noah Education releases handheld graphic calculator

Noah Education Holdings, a leading provider of interactive education content on the mainland, last week unveiled its development of the country's first handheld graphic calculator technology.

The technology was developed in co-operation with Beijing Normal University and features content that corresponds with the mainland's mathematics curriculum.

Noah's graphic calculator technology 'will help Chinese students improve their academic performance and give instructors the ability to teach mathematics more effectively in the classroom', said Dong Xu, chairman and chief executive of New York-listed Noah Education.

The company's research and development team of 160 engineers are located at facilities across the mainland, including in Shenzhen, Beijing and Chengdu. Bien Perez