Megan Ko

Beijing software company Borqs is the little-known company behind China Mobile's Google Android-based OPhone operating system. It may soon find fame in the U.S. if its software finds its way into the hands of U.S. users of Dell's Aero smartphone on the AT&T Wireless network.

Borqs outfitted the Aero with its Android+ software, which includes an Apple-esque user interface. For example, the Android+ messaging application displays a conversation as a series of speech bubbles, like on the iPhone. Users can also choose to create and jump between multiple screens reminiscent of Mac OS X's Spaces feature, which lets users group application windows together and switch between them.

Kai-Fu Lee, the former head of Google China, is turning his attention to China's start-up scene with his new company, Innovation Works.

Lee is investing in Chinese companies in the mobile Internet space through Innovation Works, which functions as both a venture capital fund and a startup incubator. He serves as co-founder and CEO of the company and aims to give young Chinese entrepreneurs the mentoring, resources and funds they need to stop relying on copy-cat ideas.

Research In Motion (RIM) is too busy with its existing partners in China to partner with China Unicom, according to the company's top executive in China.

RIM has already partnered with two of China's three mobile carriers, China Mobile and China Telecom. Li Gang, a vice president at China Unicom, recently told Chinese media that China Unicom would launch a BlackBerry handset this year but it's not clear if that will happen.

BlackBerry Partners Fund, which invests in applications for the BlackBerry and other mobile devices, has come together with China Broadband Capital Partners to set up a US$100 million fund, called BlackBerry Partners Fund China, that will invest in mobile Internet and mobile cloud technologies in China.

China Broadband Capital Partners, or CBC, is a China-based venture capital and private equity manager focused on telecommunications, the Internet and media investments. BlackBerry Partners Fund is the venture capital arm of Research In Motion, the company that sells the BlackBerry.

Acer introduced its clear.fi home networking system and showed off prototypes for its upcoming Revo consumer product series at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

Clear.fi is based on the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) home networking standard and allows users to share content between Acer devices. Clear.fi can also automatically find Acer smartphones and PCs, including the company's newly announced Stream smartphone and touchscreen computers: the Aspire Z5710 All-in-One PC and Aspire 5745P notebook.

Acer offered a preview of its upcoming Stream smartphone at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday.

The Stream has a unique screen layout, using its status bar as a divider between application icons at the bottom of the screen and application history at the top. Applications like Facebook, the Twidroid Twitter client, Spinlets, and Nemo player will come preinstalled on the phone.

Acer, the world's second-largest PC vendor, signed a memo of understanding with Chinese IT company Founder Group on Thursday, aiming to expand its market share in the world's most populous country.

Under the agreement, Acer and Founder will jointly design IT products including notebooks, netbooks and mobile Internet devices, like Acer's newly announced LumiRead e-reader, for the Chinese market.

Acer showed off a prototype tablet device and an e-reader at a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, setting the stage for the company to push into new mobile product segments.

President and CEO Gianfranco Lanci unveiled the tablet prototype. Image credit: Shufflegazine.