Software giant Microsoft says it will invest US$280 million to building a research and development center in Beijing.
Microsoft's new R&D center, which is expected to accommodate 5000 employees upon completion, is located at Beijing's Zhongguancun Square and covers a total area of 11,600 square meters. Consisting of two buildings which are connected by an air corridor, the center is estimated to be completed in 2010.
Zhang Yaqin, chairman and president of Microsoft China, says that the center will become Microsoft's largest research center outside the United States.
At present, Microsoft has four offices in Beijing.
As a Beijing 2008 Olympics sponsor, Lenovo has just released its latest T168 Olympics server.
The server was created by the Olympic torch design team of Lenovo, with such Olympic elements as badges and sports pictures embedded on the front panel and both sides of the exterior. As servers usually huddle together in big racks, it's unclear to what extent the nice exteriors can be enjoyed by the purchasers. Wei Jianglei, vice president of Lenovo, says that the product is mainly targeted at medium and small enterprises.
In addition to the launch of the new server product, Lenovo has announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft. The two companies will carry out complementary cooperation on marketing, technology innovation and product cooperation and launch one-stop solutions for medium and small enterprises throughout this Olympic year in China.
Apple China has made a major change on the purchase information channel of its official website and made it more consistent with that of its global website, a move which may soon herald a start for its direct selling pattern on the Chinese mainland.
Apple China did not offer any official retailing price for each of its products and accessories on the Chinese website, but now it has a clear classification and logo for each of them. However, still different from its global website, the "Order" button on the webpage of the Chinese website is replaced by a list of dealers' addresses. Web shoppers must still either phone the dealers directly or physically enter the stores and pay in-person.
Apple plans this year to open its first two self-owned stores in China, and both will be in the Beijing.
AOL's research and development company has been unveiled in Beijing with the Chinese name of Aolong (Beijing) Technology Development Co., Ltd.
According to Chinese media, Aolong formally landed in Beijing at the end of last year. The company has rented a two-floor office space which can hold over a hundred staff in a science park in Beijing.
Aolong Beijing is reported to have three major departments: Labs, Mobile and Online Publishing. Of these, Labs mainly deals with next-generation Internet technology, Mobile specializes in the application and development of mobile communications related website and terminals, and Online Publishing does something related to aol.cn.
The unveiling of Aolong means that AOL has taken a tangible step in returning to colonize the Chinese mainland market. Early in 2001, AOL set up a company with the same Chinese name with Lenovo. That website failed, leading to the closure of the joint venture and the sale of the website in 2004. AOL also previously had a lukewarm investment in Chinese website portal China.com.
All these past blunders for AOL makes one wonder "how long will Aolong" survive?
A rumor has been going through Chinese media that AOL is coming to China and it is sending job invitations via local job hunters to editors of many Chinese portal websites.
The three other top American Internet service providers, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, have all entered the Chinese market but none have met certain success. Google lags far behind Chinese search engine Baidu.com; Microsoft's MSN and its instant messaging service fail to attract as many fans as China's own QQ; and Yahoo is involved in legal disputes in America over revealing sensitive data about its users to the Chinese government and Yahoo paid Alibaba a hefty fee to manage its website in China.
Earlier this week, AOL launched Chinese websites in Taiwan and Hong Kong. It is yet unknown about the company's detailed plan about entering China, again. Some rumors state that AOL will set up a R&D center in Beijing and will be devoted to mobile communications, Internet technology research and development and online publishing in the country. If this is true, it would mean AOL is coming into the Chinese Internet market very late.
News Computer China 
