Panguso: Chinas new government-run search engine.

Xinhua, a prominent news agency in China, and China Mobile, the worlds biggest telecommunications network, joined forces to create a new search engine called Panguso. The interesting bit? Its controlled by Chinas ruling Communist Party.

The new search engine will take advantage of Xinhuas capacity to collect information and provide accurate searchresults and relevant content, while also utilizing China Mobiles position in the cell phone market to enable users to send search results from computers to cell phones using SMS.

We would like to fully exploit the advantage of Xinhua as an official agency having a large amount of news and information, and that of China Mobile in terms of technology, advanced operation principles and strong infrastructure, said Li Congjun, president ofXinhua News Agency.

According to the report, the venture gives Chinas ruling party a new tool to try to control what the public sees online. Beijing promotes Web use for business and education but tries to block material deemed subversive or obscene. It aims to provide only quality and healthy products for Chinese netizens, while curbing the spread of illegal information such as pornography and violence. This may actually be one of the first steps the Chinese government is taking to tighten Internet control after the recent failed attempt of Chinese netizens to stage anti-government protests.

Although the online search market is highly competitive and several domestic and foreign players have taken their share, the market still h! as huge potential, according to Li, who is confident that the new search engine can grab a significant share from the massive 457 million Internet user base in the country. While it may be unlikely for Panguso to topple Baidus solid 72% market share, it wont be too hard for the new search engine to catch up with the second biggest search engine, Google, which only holds 23%. With relentless support from the government, Panguso surely has an advantage.Xinhua News


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

12 startup founders discuss working on Christmas Day

Image
Well, it would seem a trifle rude to not begin proceedings with a warm Merry Christmas. But I must askwhat the hell are you doing reading this when you should be playing your new Nintendo 3DS, or guzzling that tenth mince pie of the day? But then, you will probably ask what the hell am I doing here writing this piece on the holiest of holy-days. My excuse? I love what I do, so its not like Im really working per seplus, I actually prepped much of it yesterday. And your excuse is likely along the lines of I love all things tech, why would I switch off just because my calendar says December 25? Fair point. Confucius once said: Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Nice sentiments for sure, but theres still the issue of a healthy work/life balance to contend with even for startup founders. So I asked a handful of founders and CEOs whether they would be working on Christmas Day this year, or whether theyd treat themselves to a day off. I mean, it is a...
Keep reading

Flipboard needs to branch its content out from US/UK, heres why

Image
Earlier this month, an eagerly anticipated iPhone app was finally launched as Flipboard took its highly acclaimed iPad app to the phone. The app has been out for a few weeks and, with the deafening chorus of cheers fading, Ive found myself shunning its beautiful and innovative design for the simple fact that its content isnt relevant enough for me. Compared to Zite , which may not be as aesthetically pleasing, Flipboard comes up wanting on content. Zite is, among others , an app which aggregates content from my social web Twitter, Google Reader and others giving it to me in a magazine style layout. Though it lacks the page flipping ingenuity of Flipboard, the reading is more varied, which is ultimately what Im looking for from a social magazine. There is credit to be given to Flipboard however, as it is addressing the issue by building an editorial team, as its founder told Robert Scoble recently . The company has also started curating content publicly too, with @flipboardtech cura...
Keep reading

Digitimes: Apples iPhone 5 to include smaller screen and metal chassis

Contray to previous reports that suggested Apples next-generation iPhone would include a 4.2-inch touch screen panel, Asian technology publication Digitimes reports that the device will feature a smaller 4-inch panel, adapting the rear of the device to ship with a metal chassis instead of reinforced glass. Digitimes points out that the many of the rumoured specifications expected to be featured in the iPhone 5 are the markets expectations, with sources indicating that the device will possibly adopt a significantly smaller screen than first imagined: The sources pointed out that the upcoming iPhone will not have many differences compared to iPhone 4 in terms of components and the panel will still be less than 4-inch. The iPhone 5 will adopt a 3.5- to 3.7-inch panel with a design to allow the bezel of the panel to become thinner and make the screen look larger. The inclusion of a metal back will divide opinion, given suggestions that Apple had intentionally utilised glass designs to boo...
Keep reading