Huxiu: This week in brief

Monday, October 6

Legendary Pictures attracts Softbank capital: will Sun Zhengyi be the next tycoon gold-lining the silver screen?(http://www.huxiu.com/article/43839/1.html)

Softbank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son's announces investment in Legendary Pictures. Author Chen Chang Ye tracks Hollywood's shady history as a sanctuary for tycoons and investors to park their cash.  Is Hollywood pursuing foreign investment as a sign of depreciation?

Tuesday, October 7

Mobile End Games? Winter isn't coming for handheld play just yet. (http://www.huxiu.com/article/43889/1.html)

Amid concerns that “winter is coming” for the mobile gaming market in China, guest contributor Gallon Wang offers an optimistic insight into handheld gaming's present and future. Gallon points out that this is still a high-growth industry, and mobile gaming is graduating from a peripheral form of cultural entertainment to a central one. Players of mobile games can be college students or retired seniors—a vast diversity of games hold broad appeal. The App Store is bringing more equality in the face of Tencent's fallible monopoly on mobile games. Venture capitalists, whose interest in mobile games has waned of late. should reconsider the viability of these lucrative and innovative products.

Wednesday, October 8

Will Alibaba's Latest IM Craze Bring Strong Government Regulation of the Handheld Game Industry?  (http://www.huxiu.com/article/43902/1.html)

Alibaba's Instant Messenger Game “Crazy Come-and-Go” has sparked controversy due to leaked users' content, including private photos of women and minors. “Crazy Come-and-Go” is a multimedia guessing game in which friends provide visual cues (photos/video captured with their phones) whose recipients must guess the word the cues connote. A lack of user content privacy and security led to flurry of intimate photos and videos being uploaded to Youku—some images involving minors. Youku removed the sensitive material, but not before some had more than 35,000 views. The scandal raises questions over accountability and regulation of handheld applications and content. The article raises pertinent questions about user privacy,and weighs the benefits and setbacks of regulating the mobile app industry.

Thursday, October 9 

Planes, Trains and AeroMobils: They flying car is coming! Fly fly fly! (http://www.huxiu.com/article/43996/1.html)

Slovakian company AeroMobil have announced that their flying car, which shares the company's name, will be “launched” on October 29 of this year. The AeroMobil can drive as a normal car with its wings folding, or take to the skies for up to 692km on one tank of gas. The company says its flying car will be able to make full use of existing infrastructures for cars and airplanes, and will be a boon in traffic jams.