Very punny!
"Wo"phone = "I"phone
China Unicom is planning to launch its own mobile OS, taking on Apple and everyone else in a market presently dominated by Symbian and Ovi. The new OS will be Linux- but not Android-based, and called "Wophone" as the Wall Street Journal reports. Wophone handsets will be manufactured by ZTE, Huawei, TCL, Samsung and Motorola, …
I just helped a friend set her email account up so she could use the Android Marketplace last weekend, and she's had the phone for about 6 months.
I don't think a lot of these people realise they actually have access to an app store if they spend 2 minutes creating an email account
The Chinese government loves 'backdoors' and whilst it has the InterNet pretty well under control, in their thinking, smartphones represent the next challenge to their hierarchy. There being no physical wires to tie down a user, or to positively identify them, they need to reassert their control.
Look at the kerfuffle over imported WiFi units a short while back - China wanted the 'universal' keys to the encryption.
Anything involving an antenna requires permission (permit) from the Interior Ministry be they two-way radio, satellite dishes, etc. Satellite phones are essentially banned, unless you have a model with an unobtrusive antenna you can sneak through customs.
If you compare the skyline of any Chinese city with Western cities of like size and you will notice the almost total absence of antennae. WiFi is almost non-existent in many cities.
Compare China to HongKong or Cambodia or VietNam, Laos is too poor for high technology, where WiFi is free and open and satellite dishes are as common as front doors. SMS/text is instantaneous whereas in China there can be lengthy delays.