Who is & What is

A child looks on as American military vehicles pass his village on the outskirts of Spin Boldak, southeast of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photo: AP

Afghanistan: All stories

Politics

US leaves China a Xinjiang terrorism problem with its Afghanistan exit

Beijing needs to guard against the spread of Islamist extremism, but Chinese boots on the ground in the ‘Graveyard of Empires’ would ring alarm bells in India and Russia.

16 Aug 2021 - 10:40PMvideocam

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Smartphones

Fancy phones now have higher refresh rates but should you buy one?

21 May 2020 - 11:19AM

Huya

How live-streaming site Huya uses mobile to beat its larger competitor at its own game

21 Nov 2019 - 10:05AM

Who is

TikTok

Alex Zhu’s journey from failed startup to TikTok chief

TikTok's popularity has attracted scrutiny from the US government, which is concerned about the short-video app's ownership by China-based ByteDance.

21 Nov 2019 - 9:15AM

Alex Zhu speaking at the #ProductSF conference in 2016. (Picture: Greylock Partners via YouTube)

What is

Cloud Gaming

Cloud gaming’s promise is why Microsoft, Google and Tencent are all diving in

Cloud gaming is like streaming video, but for games. Games run on servers in the cloud, sending video streams to your device -- meaning you can play virtually any game on any device, no downloads needed.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

Who is

Razer

The gamer who quit his job to create a gadget empire

Min-Liang Tan is the founder of Razer, a company that makes gaming computers and peripherals and recently expanded into fintech for millennials. A lawyer by training, he’s considered one of the most well-known entrepreneurs in Singapore’s startup scene.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

What is

Apps

In China, where you live determines the tech you use

Even though there's no official definition, cities in China are often informally slotted into four tiers. In general, higher-tier cities are larger and wealthier compared to lower-tier ones.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

Who is

Start-ups

The millennial entrepreneur creating China’s answer to Beyond Meat

Lu Zhongming is the young entrepreneur bringing artificial meat to mooncakes in China. He rose to fame after an appearance on China’s Shark Tank, which helped fund his first business selling protein bars.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

Who is

Electric & new energy vehicles

The Chinese billionaire keeping batteries from exploding in your smartphones and electric cars

An engineer by training, Cao Ji is the founder of Zhejiang Hangke Technology -- a company specializing in making production equipment for lithium-ion batteries. It counts Samsung, LG and Warren Buffet-backed Chinese automaker BYD as customers.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

Who is

Artificial intelligence

This Chinese billionaire built AI to help Samsung and Huawei take better photos

Michael Deng, also known as Deng Hui, is the founder and CEO of ArcSoft -- an AI company with Samsung and Huawei among its clients. The firm provides algorithms and software for digital photography. He became a billionaire when ArcSoft landed on China’s Nasdaq-style Star Market in 2019.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

Deng became one of China’s three newest billionaires when his company posted dramatic gains on the country’s new Nasdaq-style Star Market. (Picture: ArcSoft)

Who is

Smartphones

How China’s new Star Market made Chen Wenyuan a billionaire

A freshly-minted billionaire in 2019, Chen is the founder of Suzhou HYC Technology -- a supplier for the likes of Apple and Samsung, selling test equipment for electronic displays. His company was among the first batch to list on China’s Nasdaq-style Star board in July 2019.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

Shanghai’s Star market turned Chen Wenyuan into an overnight billionaire. (Picture: CCTV)

What is

TV shows and streaming video

Kuaishou is China’s original short-video king, and it now hosts ‘little shops’ and live streaming

Kuaishou is China’s second largest short video app. After growing largely from popularity in China’s rural areas and lower-tier cities, Kuaishou moved into live streaming, ecommerce and long-form videos in the face of more competition.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

What is

TV shows and streaming video

How Douyu won the live-streaming war to become China’s Twitch

Douyu is one of China’s two largest live-streaming sites with a focus on game-related content. By out-fundraising rivals and poaching top streamers, it survived China’s live streaming war in 2016 to become an industry giant.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

What is

Video gaming

Auto battlers started with Dota Auto Chess and now Valve and Riot Games are joining in

Auto battlers are multiplayer strategy games. Players select and assemble a lineup of characters to pit against opponents, then the game automatically plays round-by-round to see who wins. Popular games include Auto Chess, Dota Underlords and League of Legends Teamfight Tactics.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

What is

TV shows and streaming video

How Youku went from being China’s YouTube to China’s Hulu

Once known as China’s YouTube, Youku pivoted away from user-generated video to professional content, and is now closer to Netflix or Hulu. Merged with rival Tudou in 2012.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:10AM

Tudou and Youku were the biggest video platforms in China until other rivals such as iQiyi, Tencent Video and Bilibili arrived on the scene. (Picture: SCMP)

What is

Alibaba

Tmall is Alibaba’s answer to Amazon in China

One of the biggest stars in Alibaba’s online retail empire, Tmall found its niche by selling foreign imports and premium domestic goods to Chinese consumers. The site hosts third-party merchants instead of selling directly to shoppers.

20 Sep 2019 - 8:09AM