Government-backed movie streaming service coming to China in Q4, bringing Paramount titles along

Government-helmed China Movie Channel's site M1905 announced this week that it's joining forces with Jiaflix -- a consortium comprised of Hollywood-types like former Columbia exec Sid Ganis -- to launch a movie streaming service in China. The still unnamed offering is set to stream both Chinese and international films, including a deal struck with Paramount that will bring the studio's back catalog and future releases to the service. The fruits of the partnership are set to launch in the fourth quarter of this year, bringing streaming to a number of platforms, including smartphone and tablets. Jiaflix and China Movie Channel added that they'll have a plan in place to combat potential piracy through the service, but have yet to spell out what such a plan of action would entail.

ZTE Tania waves Windows Phone flag for China, makes official mainland debut

When it rains Windows Phone in China, it pours. After HTC claimed top honors for being the first to bow a Redmond-powered handset in the region, the floodgates opened with Nokia quickly doling out its Tango wares and, now, ZTE. The company, formerly a white label manufacturer, has finally gotten its Tania act together, releasing the not-so-secret phone on China Unicom with a slight upgrade to its previously announced spec list. Though most of what it offers falls in line with WP hardware requirements -- 800 x 480 display, 512MB RAM -- the processor's been bumped from 1GHz to 1.4GHz, giving the 4.3-incher a welcome speed boost. Interested parties can also look forward to a 5-megapixel rear shooter, 4GB of storage, as well as black and white color options. If you're living in the land to the far east and like the live tile approach, you might want to consider this as your next.