Today Tencent unveiled the first place in China where you can use WeChat to take the subway: the Southern city of Guangzhou. Its little surprise that this subway system would be first as Guangzhou is the hometown of WeChat. Read on to find out: How does it work? Is scanning a QR code really easier than using a card? And what else is WeChat doing …
WeChat Data Report 2017 WeChat Lifestyle Update
Once again the highlight of this year’s Tencent Global Partners Conference was the release of a new data set regarding WeChat usage. Below is the report which is shorter than previous years and this time delivered by Frank Fu, Manager of Data Analytics on the Core WeChat Team. We were there live in the South Western Chinese city of Chengdu …
WeChat Freezes Profile Changing Till End Of Month
Last night saw a rather sudden and unexpected announcement from WeChat team. The official statement was short and to the point: No one can change their profile information until the end of the month. From testing, it seems it’s true, see pics below: Left: Error message when trying to change profile picture Right: Error message when trying to change profile …
How To Break WeChat’s Transfer Limit: WeBank
A few days ago a small but potentially important new change on WeChat was quietly released without any official announcement (to date). There’s now finally a way to get around WeChat Pay’s yearly balance transaction limit and it seems that this is now WeChat’s first serious move to promote WeBank, which makes it a big deal. Tencent’s smart way of driving …
CHina CHat Conference 2017 Shanghai – Review
This year’s CHina CHat conference was yet again a sell-out success with 500+ attendees, 30+ speakers, 15+ exhibitors, 8 workshops, 2 after parties and 1 hackathon, all across 4 days. Things got quite busy 😉 Drone eye view Opening keynote from Matthew Brennan of China Channel (ChCh) Damn that sign is REALLY green Going deep into WeChat E-commerce. Workshop delivered by …
WeChat National Day 2017 Travel Data Report
As has become the tradition after major public holidays in China, WeChat team released a data report detailing some statistics regarding the travel and spending habits of Chinese tourists. Below is the full report with some of my annotations on what I felt were the more interesting points. If you wish to receive a PDF version of this report then …
WeChat Facial Recognition Case Studies
Just a few days ago one of the first test integrations of WeChat facial recognition was announced (full details + screenshots below). This technology is starting to gain rapid adoption in China with examples popping up everywhere. Generally, China is still behind the US in AI but in face recognition, it’s now recognized as leading the world. Below I give you: 10 case studies of facial recognition technology being …
WeChat Launch Screen Changes For The First Time Ever
The iconic WeChat launch screen was recently changed the 1st time ever in its 6 year history. The symbolic alteration is planned to be live only for a few days before reverting back to the original screen but it’s hard not to miss the subtle subtext of the ‘middle kingdom’ now beginning to return to its rightful place as …
Why Is WeChat Pushing So Hard For Charity?
Yesterday WeChat moments was overtaken with people posting colorful paintings to help raise money and awareness for those with mental disabilities. The campaign from Tencent Charity was an amazing success raising millions in hours and yet another clear demonstration of how mobile technology is changing the charity industry in China in ways that we don’t yet see in the rest of …
1 Billion Views In 10 Days: China Viral Campaign
Earlier this month an online promotion campaign spread like wild fire across the Chinese internet and was so successful being that it gained 1 billion views in just 10 days! To put that into perspective the most watched video on Youtube ever is currently the song ‘Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee’ which took 97 days to reach 1 billion views. Things evidently move quite fast in China. Read on to …
Tencent Credit Score Launching Soon On WeChat & QQ
Today reports have started to appear across the Chinese intranet indicating that in the next few days Tencent credit ratings will be available to check directly through QQ & WeChat. If correct that means we could soon be able to get a little glimpse into all the juicy financial data that Tencent has on WeChat users and their creditworthiness. This …
CHina CHat Conference 2017 Info Pack
Last year’s smash hit confrence CHina CHat is back for another installment. We’ll be announcing a whole variety of top speakers, sponsors and a few surprises between now and September 21st. Tickets are now on sale! Below is the full info pack. >CHINA TICKET SALES SITE (RMB)< >INTERNATIONAL TICKET SALES SITE (USD)< To get a PDF version of this information pack send us an …