Chinese Super computer helps to create a DreamWorks animated film.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Chinese Super computer helps to create a DreamWorks animated film.

Two staff members collect data in a computer room containing Tianhe-1A, China's fastest supercomputer, in Tianjin, on Aug 28, 2012. 

If a Chinese supercomputer pops up in the credits at the end of a Hollywood film, don't be surprised, for China's Tianhe-1A, one of the world fastest supercomputers, is being used by a company in Tianjin to help create an animated film for DreamWorks.

"With the supercomputer's help, we've improved the rendering capability of DreamWorks," said Hu Yong, chairman of Cool Cartoon in Tianjin.

Hu said his company is now developing a data transmission system that will allow it to send rendered animations to its clients in North America faster in the future.

Tianhe-1A was developed to boost China's economic development and improve its scientific research capabilities, said Meng Xiangfei, head of the application department with the National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin, where Tianhe-1A is installed.

With the support of Tianhe-1A, a Chinese geographic information provider started the country's first official 3D map Tianditu - a Chinese version of Google Earth - which required an enormous number of calculations and data storage to create.

Compared with traditional two-dimensional maps, three-dimensional maps are more true to life, which offers users a more direct understanding of a real location, said Wang Jian, whose company provides a 3D map Tianditu of Tianjin.

"For example, if a house located in a block with interlaced streets catches fire, it is easier for firefighters to pinpoint the house's location and determine the quickest route to the fire using a 3D map."

In this way, the map not only makes firefighters' jobs easier, it can also help save people's lives, Wang added.

Wang said his team is now busy developing software to run on supercomputers that will improve the quality of the 3D map.

"The 3D map is really useful to me, because I find it difficult to relate ordinary maps to real streets. But the 3D map makes it easy," said Li Jing, who previously avoided driving in unfamiliar streets as she found it difficult to follow maps.

"I always thought the supercomputer was doing high-end scientific research. I never dreamed it would be part of my daily life," she added.

Thanks to its high performance, Tianhe-1A has also been boosting China's independent research and development capability in various industries and bringing more benefits to Chinese enterprises.

With Tianhe-1A's help, BGP, a geophysical service company affiliated to China National Petroleum Corp, China's largest oil and gas supplier, managed to eliminate China's dependency on overseas oil exploration technology.

"We now run independently developed software, which we used to have to buy from foreign companies, in Tianhe-1A to simulate underground geology," said Wu Wei, a manager from BGP.

"Using Tianhe-1A, we can conduct the simulation over a wider area and to a greater depth, which makes the exploration more accurate", he said, adding that the greater accuracy has increased the company's efficiency and saved it money.

"If we dig an oil well in the wrong place on land, we will lose tens of millions of yuan, and digging a well in the wrong place at sea can waste hundreds of millions of yuan," Wu said.

Like BGP, Tianjin Motor Dies Co Ltd will also save money, at least 3 percent of its production costs, thanks to Tianhe-1A's simulations.

"It's a large saving," said Chen Huibin, one of the company's experts in computer-aided engineering, "because our profit margins are only about 20 percent".

Meanwhile, the supercomputer is giving the company, which designs and manufactures car body panels and large stamping parts, a greater competitive edge.

After employing Tianhe-1A to simulate its stamping process, the company expects to increase its market share and "make the transition from offering low-end to high-end products", explained Chen.

Individuals can also use the supercomputer, according to Meng.

The level of supercomputer development in a country indicates its scientific research capabilities, so China's unexpected progress in developing supercomputers, Tianhe-1A beat supercomputers from the United States to be the world's fastest in 2010, caused an outbreak of anxiety in the US, which had long been the undisputed leader in supercomputers.

The US government responded by attaching more importance to the development of supercomputers, and the country reclaimed the world supercomputer crown in June this year using the Sequoia from the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.

The latest US supercomputer will be used to carry out simulations to help extend the durability of the US' aging nuclear weapons, avoiding the need for real-world underground tests.

Although Tianhe-1A had dropped to fifth place in the list of the world's fastest supercomputers published in June, it is still one of the fastest supercomputers in the world. However, related services, including software and data transmission systems, need to be further developed and improved in order to make the most of its formidable computing power.

China smartphone market: Sony Mobile Communications AB will win enormous opportunities.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

China smartphone market: Sony Mobile Communications AB will win enormous opportunities.

Sony Mobile Communications AB will win enormous opportunities in China's smartphone market if the company always focuses on the right products, is quick to respond to market demand and is speedier in innovation, according to Sony Mobile's top officer in China.

The Chinese smartphone market is extremely "tough and intense", said Magnus Ahlqvist, president of Sony Mobile China. "The market has all the international players, as well as a number of Chinese rivals who also perform actively," Ahlqvist said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

After the Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp bought out Ericsson AB's half of their 10-year-old venture for $1.3 billion in February, Sony Mobile has become a wholly owned subsidiary under Sony Corp and is acting as a pillar for the company's turnaround plan.

With China being the world's biggest smartphone market, with an expected smartphone shipment of more than 164 million units this year, Sony Mobile regards it as a key customer and focuses more on it now, he said.

"Sony Mobile tries to ensure it does very deep analysis on the Chinese market. Then we can have a good assessment of what are the opportunities going forward," Ahlqvist added.

Unlike Samsung Electronics of South Korea, which has a complete product line covering all price levels, Sony Mobile's products were mainly targeting mid- to high-end segments. Of all the global brands competing in China, Sony Mobile had about 60 percent of its smartphones sold at a price of more than 2,000 yuan ($315), behind only Apple Inc and Research In Motion, according to a study conducted by Barclays.

However, the majority of Chinese people can only afford a smartphone with a price tag of between 700 yuan and 2,000 yuan, which means Sony Mobile has ceded the lion's share of the booming Chinese smartphone market to Samsung and local competitors.

"Yes, we have probably lost shares in those segments because we have not addressed them, so we don't really have a presence today," Ahlqvist said. But, on the other hand, every company has to do a good job in areas it is really expert at, he continued.

Sony Mobile's performance in the mid- and high-end sectors has already given us a lot of confidence, he pointed out.

Ahlqvist said Sony Mobile had achieved a clear increase in market share in the higher end segment in the second quarter in China. "Combined with our creative technology, rich content and unique design, I am quite confident that we will continue to grow at a fast pace," he said.

Sony Mobile has introduced 12 smartphone models in the Chinese market this year. Ahlqvist said it is a must for his company to better understand customers' needs and be quick to launch products satisfying their demands. "The Chinese market is changing very fast," he said. Therefore, every product may have a shorter life span and should be replaced by new devices with advanced technologies.

Analysts argued that Sony Mobile might have the most potential to challenge industry's dominant players - Samsung and Apple - since Sony Mobile could take advantage of tremendous resources from its parent company Sony Corp.

"The competition in the mobile phone industry is no longer merely relying on hardware, but also on software and the whole eco-system as well," said Wang Ying, an analyst at Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. Sony is a rare, comprehensive entertainment company, with operations in movies, music, gaming and financial services. If it integrates well, those resources would quickly make Sony devices stand out, she said.

In a previous interview, Ahlqvist said there is a trend that people like to enjoy content and services through multi-screens, including smartphones, tablets, televisions and personal computers. "Through our many devices, people can enjoy all of Sony's content - from movies to music and games - in a way no one else can," he said.

Meanwhile, Chinese customers are familiar with the Sony brand thanks to the company's lengthy presence in the Chinese market. It's a positive benefit for Sony Mobile after it returned to Sony, he added.

Sony had a 3.5 percent share of the global smartphone market in the second quarter, according to Gartner Inc. Samsung topped the rankings with a 29.7 percent share, followed by Apple with 18.8 percent.

"I doubt Sony has the scale to re-emerge as a serious contender anytime soon," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, a consultancy company that follows China's IT industry.

Kunimasa Suzuki, a Sony executive vice-president overseeing mobile products, said earlier this month that Sony plans to draw on its skills in video games, cameras and audio players in developing smartphones and tablet computers, Bloomberg reported.

In April, when Sony's chief executive officer Kazuo Hirai laid out his strategy for the company, he said he expects the mobile products group, which also includes tablet computers and traditional personal computers, to generate more than 1.8 trillion yen ($23 billion) in revenue with a "significant improvement" in operating profit within three years.

Sony's mobile products division posted a loss of 28.1 billion yen in the fiscal first quarter that ended in June. However, Sony raised its estimate of smartphone shipments by about 2 percent to 34 million units for the year ending in March next year.

China North Vehicle to build carbon steel vehicle production line.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

 China North Vehicle to build carbon steel vehicle production line.

The construction of a rail vehicle manufacturing base and its affiliated parts manufacturing companies was launched on Thursday in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin province.

With an investment of over 1 billion yuan (about $162 million), the base is expected to become China's most advanced carbon steel rail vehicle production line upon its completion. It will be able to produce 600 new carbon steel vehicles, maintain 120 electric multiple units (EMU) and another 700 high-end rail vehicles, said an official with the Changchun Railway Vehicles Co Ltd of China North Vehicle (CNR).

The construction is the second phase of the relocation project of Changchun Railway Vehicles Facilities Co Ltd, and is expected to be completed in two years.