China's record and the long-awaited border reopening, which is now the final step in its dismantling of the much-touted Covid Zero policy has sparked a frenzy of homecoming rush for many of its diaspora.
However, a full rebound in terms of travel is expected to take much longer. From this Sunday, China no longer is applying any quarantine rule for arrivals after its authorities finally halted the policy. This factor along with the exorbitant air costs as well as severe capacity constraints has been a large deterrent for travellers. While
those who wish to visit the country would have to still submit a 48-hour negative Covid test result, on the other hand total relaxing of border controls which comes two weeks before the auspicious Lunar New Year holiday finally marks an end for Beijing's efforts in warding off virus that has more or less become endemic currently across the world.
The immediate effect now involves a surge of overseas Chinese who are planning to come back home, since many of them haven’t been home or seen family for years. The huge influx of travellers landing in the country now will however be a far cry from outbound travellers, which once represented a $280 billion worth spending force across Western holiday destinations.
Satellite Connectivity For Android Phones?
A surprising new dimension of connectivity may become a reality soon. A new partnership announced between the satellite phone firm Iridium and the chip giant Qualcomm is expected to bring satellite connectivity to some of the premium models of Android smartphones by the later part of 2023.
This implies that wherever there is no mobile coverage, handsets will now be able to explore connectivity through the passing satellites to both receive and send messages. Qualcomm's chips are widely used in many Android-powered smartphones. Apple has already announced a satellite feature that comes with its latest iPhone 14 released in September 2022.
This service is now restricted only to basic text messages during an emergency, a feature that was first unveiled by British smartphone maker Bullitt before Apple.
