Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Sina

The HTC Salsa “Facebook Phone” Rebrands as a Weibo Phone in China

Riley Kennysmith — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:35:27 +0000

The HTC Salsa, also known as “the Facebook phone,” looks a little different when you get it from China. Specifically, the little dedicated Facebook button at the bottom of the screen is, in Chinese production models, replaced with a Weibo button. Weibo is a Chinese social network with, as Engadget reports, about 50 million active monthly users. [image via Sina]

Sina Launches Two Billion Yuan Fund For Developing Weibo Apps

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:53:37 +0000

Sina.com, one of the largest Internet portals in China launched a mini-blog service that is similar to Twitter about a year ago. Weibo grew to about 50 million users instantly. Users include politicians and celebrities.

Now Sina.com wants people to build apps from Weibo and they are launching a two billion yuan ($301 million U.S.) fund for the app development.

IDG Capital and Sequoia Capital is also supporting the fund. One of the major reasons why Weibo grew so quickly is because China had banned Twitter and Facebook last year. Weibo is closely monitored by the government in China.

[Reuters]

Rumor: Sina Raising $180 Million

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:24:16 +0000

Rumor has it that Sina will be raising $180 million. The three companies putting in the investment are private equity firms. Sina.com is one of China’s largest Internet news, search, and social networking websites. Sequoia Capital,, Fountainvest Partners, and CITIC Capital will be participating in the round and will gain 9.4% ownership in the company as part of the investment.

Sina.com Building Chinese Twitter Clone

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:37:36 +0000

Sina.com is the largest Chinese portal on the web. The company was founded by SINA Corporation in 1999 and started in mainland China. Their headquarters are in Shanghai, China. Now the company has decided to take Twitter head-on in China.

Sina launched a new service called Sina Microblogging earlier this month. Sina Microblogging allows Sina users to post 140 Chinese characters or less. Sina allows users to follow “fans.” Fans are the equivalent of users that you follow or follow you on Twitter. Topics are also supported by hashtags (#) on Sina Microblogging too. Sina Microblogging users have the ability to update their status message using MMS or SMS too.

Several other Chinese companies have launched Twitter clones too. Taotao.com launched a Twitter clone and supposedly already has 40 million users. Jiwai launched a Twitter clone but has been knocked offline for a while now. Digu and Zuosa have also been taken offline about one week after the Urumqi riots.

Given that the government heavily regulates Internet services in China, it is rather difficult for a micro-blogging service to really take off in the most populated country in the world. Anyone that is able to by-pass government security usually only publishes angry content thus making the service less appealing to use.

Surely China is ahead of the U.S. in many aspects, but when it comes to innovation on the web they still have a long way to go.

China Wants Google and Baidu To Remove Pornography From Search Results

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:20:14 +0000

China has launched an initiative to push for the crackdown of pornography on search engines like Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU). Pornography is illegal in China, but it is easy to get a hold of it on the Internet. As ISPs in China discover pornography, they block it. Seven government agencies in China have gotten together to “purify the Internet’s cultural environment and protect the healthy development of minors.”

The announcement made by the government in China stated that Google and Baidu have failed to make efficient measures in removing links to pornography. The statement also included Sina and Sohu, several video websites, and forums. “If we find any violation, we will take action. So far, I haven’t seen any examples of violations,” stated Google China spokeswoman Cui Jin.

China has over 250 million Internet users. Any website that seems offensive or political has been banned. Within the last month, China blocked The New York Times website. During the 2008 Summer Olympics, many websites were reopened for viewing as part of a way to appease tourists.

[via AP]