Following China Telecom and China Mobile, China Unicom has now become the last of the big three Chinese operators to begin trials of its 3G network -- christened "Wo" -- with some 55 test markets lighting up this week. Happily, the trials are purely UMTS / HSPA, which means you won't need a pesky, proprietary TD-SCDMA handset to take advantage; unfortunately, though, regular commercial service won't begin until the end of the year. In the meantime, Unicom is expecting an expansion in the September time frame that would see the high-speed service expand to some 284 cities.

We all had that "whoa" moment the first time we browsed, streamed, or torrented off a 3G network -- well, okay, many of us didn't have a "whoa" moment, but stay with us here: China Unicom has officially branded its nascent 3G offering as "Wo," which we think is a pretty cool and appropriate name all things considered. For comparison's sake, this lines up with China Telecom's "e-surfing" brand and China Mobile's "G3" -- so yeah, you might be able to argue that Unicom didn't have any serious competition in the marketing department. Wo's trials kick off on May 17 in 55 markets while construction simultaneously begins on the second round of launches, so it looks like China's finally getting really real with this 3G jazz. Cheers to that, we say.

Remember how last week China Unicom brazenly threw up product images for the iPhone and a few other smartphones, implying that in the very near future it would be providing service to them? Well, funny story: turns out the company's chairman, Chang Xiaobing, is now saying negotiations are actually still ongoing with Apple and that the two have a good bit of wheeling and dealing left to do. What could they possibly still be discussing? According to Barron's, the debates focus on two primary issues: a Chinese law banning WiFi use in mobile phones; and Unicom's insistence on installing its own software on the iPhone, including some sort of *gasp* non-iTunes media player. How long now until these issues are resolved? Barron's is citing research firm Wedge Partners, who indicates it may not be until the end of the year. Better stick with those gray-market imports, folks.

Read -- Negotiations still under way
Read -- Barron's

We're a bit curious as to why China Unicom has suddenly grown fond of some of the world's hottest handsets, but we couldn't help but notice that Nokia's N97 has appeared on the carrier's website (a first for this handset) alongside the iPhone 3G and HTC G1. 'Course, Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 and Nokia's E71 are right there as well, so it's tough to say if this means these phones are coming soon or if they just look really nice on its website. Don't get your hopes up too high, but feel free to pester your local branch as often as you'd like until you get a square answer.

[Via TamsS60]

It's been a long, arduous road to Shanghai for the iPhone, but its trip may finally be at an end. Sure, there are already thousands of the things in the pockets and purses of trendy Chinese right now, but an official launch there has taken ages. Last summer it was looking like China Mobile had scored the deal with Apple, but word is now that China Unicom may have completed the upset, posting up a page on its site detailing the iPhone's specs and including the phone in its list of supported headsets. The company hasn't officially confirmed the phone's availability or anything else, but word on the streets of Shanghai is that the phone will be launched there on May 17th.

Update: Looks like it has posted specs for the G1 as well, albeit complete with T-Mobile branding. Hmm. [Thanks, Sze!]

[Via JLM Pacific Epoch; thanks, Scott]

Fresh in the wake of China's massive wireless restructuring, execs are already on the offensive with fightin' words that suggest true, standards-based 4G could be coming sooner rather than later. Though he says EV-DO Rev. A is still in the cards for the short term, China Telecom's CEO says that GSM and CDMA networks alike will all converge to LTE in the country, thus signalling the abandonment of the CDMA-favored UMB migration path by yet another of the world's wireless juggernauts. All told, it's looking promising that the overwhelming majority of the world's countries will be on the same cellular technology page within the next decade or so -- but who would've thought the creator of TD-SCDMA would commit to being one of the first to flip the switch?

[Via IntoMobile]

Chalk this one up as just another rumor for now, but whispers around the Chinese web have it that China Unicom could be netting Apple's latest handset (yeah, that 3G one) this August. If you'll recall, Steve had issues in the past getting Chinese carriers to buy into his demanding revenue sharing model, but now that those days are gone, we suspect talks may go a little smoother. And c'mon, Apple didn't add in Chinese character recognition for kicks and giggles, now did it? As of now, China Mobile has yet to make a peep on the rumblings, but we've only got a few months before finding out either way.

[Via IntoMobile]

Taking a cue from the government to consolidate resources in an effort to get the 3G show on the road, China's China Unicom has kicked off a deal with China Netcom to buy out the landline carrier in a stock swap valued at a staggering $56 billion; the whole thing is expected to close by the end of the year. Separately, China Telecom will swipe China Unicom's CDMA network for about $6.3 billion, setting the stage for a new carrier alignment in the country that'll see three companies align as the 3G powerhouses to serve a grand total of 1.3 billion people. Meanwhile, China Mobile is plodding right along with its TD-SCDMA rollout for the Olympics, so there's really no telling how many standards Chinese subscribers will end up dealing with when all is said and done.

[Via mocoNews]

Read - China Unicom / China Netcom deal
Read - China Unicom / China Telecom deal

This just in: don't believe anything you hear regarding an official 3G rollout date in China. After quite a bit of rigmarole, the Chinese government has finally announced that it will issue a trio of 3G licenses. Notably, the announcement comes with a bit of baggage -- it's also calling for a merger between China Unicom and Netcom, two of its four biggest telecommunications providers. Furthermore, it stated that it would call on China Telecom, the nation's largest fixed-line carrier, to "purchase Unicom's CDMA network," all leading to a massive shuffle that should position three of the nation's telecom juggernauts to eventually offer high-speed wireless to a staggering 1.3 billion people. Unfortunately (though not unexpectedly), there's no time frame given for implementation, but some analysts are asserting that "a full launch of 3G services is [still] years away." Baby steps are better than no steps, we reckon.

[Thanks, James]

It wouldn't be the first time a company has used the press to bolster their negotiating position. Nevertheless, after saying the "iPhone model was not suitable for China" back in November, a spokesperson for China Mobile now says they've "terminated" discussions with Apple to bring the iPhone to China. China's largest carrier gave no reasons for the decision though the fee sharing agreement is likely a contributing factor. Well Steve, there's always China Unicom.

If Steve Jobs dreams of anything other than cubes or the The Beatles on iTunes, it's this: China's largest carriers in a tussle for rights to sell the iPhone. We're talking about a population of some 1 billion-strong who favor BlackBerrys for their sound quality and good looks. In an apparent response to the reported talks between China Mobile and Apple, Li Zhengmao, executive director and vice president of rival China Unicom is quoted by Dow Jones as saying, "It seems that iPhone is hot in some markets. We are willing to discuss with Apple." Direct talks with Apple, however, have not begun. Mind you, those same remarks were captured somewhat differently by Reuters. They quote Li Zhengmao as saying, "Right now, we don't have any plans to introduce Apple's iPhones in China. But of course, we're always willing to discuss a good business opportunity if it presents itself. As for whether we'll talk about iPhones with Apple, you'll have to ask Apple." Still, given that the talks have just begun, it's doubtful that Apple will reach a deal similar to those struck in Europe and the US any time soon. Wouldn't it be interesting though, if Apple released the iPhone in China before Meizu's M8 MiniOne clone ever hit the streets?

Read -- Dow Jones quote
Read -- Reuters

And we thought China's government was pretty solid on deploying TD-SCDMA as the 3G wireless standard of choice in the billion-plus country. It's kinda scary when a single carrier there has more wireless subscribers than the entire US population. Anyway, the Chinese government has had a change of heart it seems, and will be allowing foreign 3G standards into the country's wireless landscape. Why? It appears that forcing more innovation in its own homegrown wireless standard by opening up the market to competing standards -- WCDMA and CDMA2000 among them -- may light some fires under the status of current homegrown deployments.

[Via MobileBurn]

Remember that dual-mode GSM / CDMA Pocket PC out of China a few months back, the CoolPad 728? It looks like it must've done alright for itself because the manufacturer (which we think may be CEC Telecom, the folks behind our latest installment of Keepin' It Real Fake) has wasted no time in rolling out its successor, the 728B. From what little information we have, it looks like there's nothing to get terribly excited about here -- besides being a body double for the 728, the specs are largely similar though the 728B seems to add GPS navigation to the mix. If the 728B strikes your fancy (or you're an overly jealous 728 owner) get ready to dig deep: it scoots out the door for about 7,500 yuan, which works out to about $950 by our calculations.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

We're guessing that taking up residence in China has its fair share of disadvantages, but let it be known that a dearth of nifty, unusual smartphones is not one of them. Samsung has rolled another for China Unicom, the SCH-W579, and with support for CDMA 800 / 1900 and GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900, the touchscreen-enabled beast isn't likely to leave its owner without coverage. Other features include internal QVGA and external 96 x 80 displays, a 2 megapixel cam, Bluetooth, business card recognition, and a media player. We can't make heads or tails of what OS this thing will be rocking, but Linux is a strong possibility.

[Via Slashphone]