AllChinaTech News
With all the music, partying and general loud noise mixed with the cutting-edge technology and entrepreneurial excitement, you might think you were at the the world-renowned music festival/tech conference SXSW, but it’s actually the scene at GMIC 2016. The five-day conference kicked off in Beijing this Thursday.
Partnering up with China’s biggest indie music brand Modernsky this year, the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) is turning the ever-serious suit-up tech conference, as it usually is in the Middle Kingdom, into a funky mixture of entertainment and technology.
Crossover of tech & entertainment
This year GMIC is showcasing explosive ideas by day and partying by night.
On the first day of GMIC, over 30 panels were hosted along with several important new product releases, including Huawei’s Honor 3C Play and Baidu’s 4K Map. Qualcomm also introduced a hover drone housing its Snapdragon chip. Representing the chip company’s furthest achievements in the drone industry.
Highlights of the day also included GMIC’s business pitch contest, G-Startup Beijing. Finalists of the contest get a chance to present in front of renowned investors and a chance to win USD 300,000 at the global championship.
“GMIC always has high-quality startups, but the contestants in the G-Startup pitch contest this year were an even better quality,” one of the judges, Rui Ma, Partner of 500 Startups, told AllChinaTech. “They have a clear idea of their business models and are cautious of what they’re doing.”
After a whole day program, GMIC is putting on a concert supported by Modernsky and featuring some of China’s most popular indie singers and indie bands. This is where we’re finding the crossover of music that brings something different to the normally geeky world of Chinese startups.
“Hello Future”
In a twist that makes things appear a little different from what you might see in Austin, Texas during SXSW, here at GMIC the party isn’t only for the hippy twenty-ish millennials, but also for even younger folks — teenagers and kids who want to engage in the futuristic techie world and be — as a very Chinese description puts it — “the owner of the future“.
During the five-day conference in Beijing this year, GMIC will also have a
three-day carnival named Hello Tech. Companies attending the event include Chinese VR headset manufacturer, BaofengVR, developer of Angry Bird, Finnish company Rovio, and world-renowned toy maker LEGO, who’ll showcase their 3D printer during the exhibition. A little more about education, GMIC is also hosting an invitational match for the college robotics tournament RoboTac.
Featuring VR theatres set up by BaofengVR, GMIC will bring children in Beijing a first-time opportunity to experience this popular and rising new medium for entertainment and technology. This year, GMIC is also live streaming most of the panels via VR.
“Technology used to be high-end and iron-cold. But a good product and a good brand can be converted into a lifestyle, which is the most incredible branding,” said Hao Yi, the CEO of GMIC.
“At GMIC, we want to have a crossover of technology and entertainment — and even create a different lifestyle and culture.”
AllChinaTech is GMIC’s Official App English Content Publishing Media. AllChinaTech is a startup media platform, dedicated to providing timely news and analysis on the Chinese tech industry in English.
