We all know about the most famous Chinese mode of transportation, the bicycle. Indeed with the situation is changing and the bicycle leaves more and more its place to cars & motorbikes. 

I arrived 2 days ago in Kunming, the capital of the Yunnan province. The city is growing and its 6 millions inhabitants add 200 cars on the road every single day. However in a city where a liter of petrol costs 0.50 USD and the monthly salary is less than 100 USD I wonder what is the average yearly mileage of this multitude of vehicle.

What surprised me here is that most scooters in town are electric and this idea should inspire Europe. However I have not seen how they recharge them and if the battery can easily be remove and be charged at home. I'll try to have a deeper look in the coming days .

Specifications are the following

Dimension: 1700*555*1170
N weight/ G weight: 115/136KGS
Max speed: <60Km/h
Battery: 48V/38AH Silicone
Motor Power: 1500W
Load capacity: >85Kg
Brake: Disk brak FR, drum brake RR
Mileage for one charge: 80Km
More info here

Who said that in China there are no efforts made to reduce carbon emissions ? 

Not yet sure if it is a good news or not, but Air France has become the first airline in the world to offer an in-flight mobile phone service on international flights.

One Airbus A318 aircraft operating European routes has been fitted with a mini GSM base station to provides 123 passengers the possibility to :

• Send and receive sms and mms messages
• Send and receive emails via all phones with Internet access

During the second half of the trial, passengers will be able to make and receive phone calls, with the service being regulated to maintain passengers’ comfort and well-being.

If passengers kindly turn off ringing traffic data from/to an aircraft should not be a big deal, if not journeys may become quite annoying with uninterrupted flow of incoming messages ringing alert.

Hard to imagine how will be a long haul flight with full mobile phone services (voice and data) "offered" to passengers. 

At the end of the six-month trial, Air France will examine the feedback and comments made by customers to determine whether to launch this service on all its flights.

What is your feeling about the availability of in-flight mobile phone service ? 

For the technical part,
Air France uses Mobile OnAir onboard mobile telephony system, certified by EASA (European Aviation Safety Authority) which does not interfere with the radio-navigation instruments on this Airbus A318 and may only be used at cruising altitude once the new illuminated sign “Switch off your phone” is turned off (recycling the "no smoking" sign ?).  The system is activated at 3,000 metres (10,000 feet).

More about this trial on AirFrance site including a video of the 1st trial flight.

ITU Telecom ASIA 2008 will encompass an Exhibition, featuring the latest technologies and innovations and an extensive Forum which will explore the key technologies, policies and applications which are driving Asia's ICT sector.

This major ICT event will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from the 2nd to the 5th of September 2008.

Venue: IMPACT near Don Muang Airport (former BKK Intl. Airport)