China

At long last, Nintendo's highly-rated gaming console is coming to China. But when the Nintendo Switch does land in stores there next week, it might barely even make a ripple. But while getting approved to officially start sales in the country is newsworthy in itself, it will probably make very little difference in global sales numbers, especially considering there will be only one game available for sale for the console when it launches.

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Our face is the most revealing and most telling part of our body, which is why it is the focus of many security systems. It is, however, also the center of controversy when it comes to privacy issues. Face recognition can be a convenient and powerful tool when used properly but it can also be a dangerous weapon depending on who wields it. That may be one of the concerns even among China's citizens now that their government is requiring them to submit face scans when they're simply trying to get a new phone line.

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China is cracking down on the creation of fake news and 'deepfakes' with new laws that will make publishing this content without an advisory a criminal offense. The move comes amid growing concerns over the effects AI-generated fake content can have on spreading false information and propaganda across social platforms. The move follows a similar bill recently passed in California.

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It's a classic story of selling a multi-million-dollar video game character on a digital sale site for $500 - we've all heard it. This particular story takes place in China, and starts with a video game "whale" - a rich person who spends boatloads of cash on video games. This whale, Lu Mou, spent 8 million to 10 million yuan (the equivalent of around $1.4 million USD) in a video game, creating a powerful in-game character with in-game purchases.

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This morning a leak of regulatory info from China showed how Samsung was about to change the way they delivered the Galaxy S series in the near future. The Samsung Galaxy S11 will quite likely be the first smartphone to benefit from the next-generation charging speeds listed with China regulatory group CCC. This latest leak suggests that the Samsung Galaxy S11 - with codename SM-G9860 - will roll with 25-watt fast charging.

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In an ideal world, smartphone makers have full control over all aspects of the product, from software to hardware to production. Not even Apple has achieved 100% control and companies like Samsung are even less likely to. Now it seems that the world's largest phone maker will be giving up even more control as it will reportedly tap Chinese companies to make some of its phones, particularly those from the mid-range Galaxy A series, that are also bound for the Chinese market.

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Huawei may have a few tense days ahead, with its fate once more hanging in the balance with rumors of a license extension coming Monday. It did, however, have a wonderful weekend at least in China where everything is business as usual despite the US blacklist. The company just launched its long-delayed Mate X 5G foldable phone with an even more astounding price tag than the Samsung Galaxy Fold but still sold out in less than a minute despite those factors.

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Tencent may now be one of the biggest names in the gaming market but there is still one area it has yet to even step into, the US console gaming market. The Chinese company might have that in its cross-hair but it won't be doing that itself. It could enlist the help of its somewhat new partner Nintendo in helping it expand outside of China at a rather troubled time for the gaming giant.

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Gaming addiction, which the World Health Organization (WHO) recently categorized as a mental health disorder, is still a heavily debated topic in both psychological circles as well as governments. While some might not be quick to label it as a mental health issue, it's hard to deny that it is causing problems, especially for impressionable young people. Perhaps unsurprisingly, China is now reported to be imposing some very harsh restrictions when it comes to minors playing online games, a bit ironic considering the country's position in the gaming market.

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China-based smart device maker Xiaomi just released a "Xiaomi Mi Watch" that looks a whole lot like the Apple Watch. It has a very, very similar size and shape... and home screens (watch faces). See if you can tell which of these watches (at the head of this article) are from Xiaomi, and which are from Apple. There are some simple giveaways, but really - there's no getting around the idea that there's some MAJOR design inspiration going on here - to put it kindly.

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The Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro was released today with a set of 5 cameras on its backside. We've seen smartphones with 5x camera lenses before - a combination of front and back lenses - but never 5x on the back of a phone in an array so impressive as this. The primary lens amongst these monsters is a 108-megapixel sensor - a sensor that might well make its way to the Samsung Galaxy S11 in 2020.

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China is putting an end to the online sale of electronic cigarettes, including vaping hardware and liquids, over concerns it has on the health and mental wellbeing of the nation's youth. The decision follows an ongoing outbreak of a lung disease linked to vaping in the United States, as well as a crackdown on marketing and sales believed to be targeted at minors.

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