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"Alicloud, the cloud computing branch of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has uppped its mobile game after it\u00A0unveiled\u00A0the\u00A0Haier\u00A0Zing, the newest smartphone powered by its Android-based Aliyun operating system.\r\n\r\nPriced at $157 (999 RMB) and launching mid-June,\u00A0it is powered by a\u00A01 GHz process and comes with 512 MB of RAM and a 4 inch, 800x480 resolution touch screen. The device has been manufactured by home appliances/electronics maker Haier, and\u00A0sports a 5.0 megapixel camera and integrates with Alibaba's cloud services.\r\n\r\nThe Zing is the fifth Aliyu-powered device to hit the Chinese market since the Tianyu-produced\u00A0K-Touch was introduced in July 2011. The debut phone went on to sell\u00A0200,000 units in its first 3 months, and Alibaba reveals that, to date, more than 1 million Aliyun smartphones have been sold.\r\n\r\nThe Zing could be the first of many collaborations between the two firms, as the announcement says that the companies will &amp;quot;explore further cooperation&amp;quot;, which could see Alibaba's cloud services integrated into televisions and other appliances.\r\n\r\nThe unveiling of the Zing comes one month after Baidu revealed its new cloud-centric operating system, also an Android fork, which it says is a platform for sub-1,000 RMB smartphones.\r\n\r\nThe Chinese search giant says it is in talks with 20 handset makers about partnering, and the first confirmed Baidu Cloud-powered phone is the upcoming Foxconn-built\u00A0Changhong H5018.\r\n\r\nThe two Internet giants aren't the only ones taking at China's affordable smartphone space. E-reader maker\u00A0Shanda\u00A0is expected to enter the space soon, providing plenty of competition for the attention of mainstream Chinese consumers.\r\n\r\nXiaomi is one the best examples of a successful Chinese smartphone maker, having sold more than 2 million of its $320 M1 phones. The company has reportedly just closed a new round of funding that values it at $4 billion - while that figure is not confirmed, the fact it has been mooted demonstrates the potential of mid- and low-range smartphones in the country."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/asia/2012/06/06/alibaba-unveils-the-haier-zing-a-157-smartphone-launching-in-china-mid-june/>