1、The Internet AgeAt the Eighth Global Mobile Internet Conference （GMIC） held in Beijing from April 28 to May 2， famous Chinese pop rocker and songwriter Wang Feng displayed the headphones made by Fiil， his new audio equipment startup that is his latest industry crossover attempt. It isnt his first sw
2、itch. He learned to play the violin from the age of 5， attending the Central Conservatory of Music. However he swapped the instrument for rock n roll when he reached 22， becoming both a composer and singer. In 2013 and by the age of 42， Wang changed again， deciding to produce headphones in a display
3、 of his affection for music. He was encouraged by friends in the Internet industry. According to a report published by the China Internet Network Information Center in January， there were 688 million Internet users in China by December 2015， of which 620 million （90.1 percent） were mobile users. Mor
4、e and more industries are benefiting from rapid online growth， and the greater integration between online and traditional businesses is bearing rich fruit. VR application Fiil headphones have sold nearly 50，000 units since they were launched last October， both online and in stores. Wang said more fu
5、nctions will be added to the headphones in future， including a radical concept enabling different background music for different genres of music played. He added that its a challenge to succeed in the online industry this time around. He dreams of competing with internationally renowned headphone br
6、ands， such as Beats and Sennheiser， and even overtaking them. Made in China Also at the GMIC， during the sub-forum Internet Movie Summit， Hou Guangming， Chairman of the Beijing Film Academy Council and Director of the Institute of China Film Industry Development， was confident that the Chinese film
7、industry would become a global film market leader through Internet integration. At present， the proportion of online ticket to box-office sales in China is the highest in the world. During the first quarter of 2016， Chinas online ticket sales accounted for nearly 70 percent of the total， compared to
8、 less than 20 percent in the United Statesunderlining significant differences in the two markets. Moreover， as audiences aged between 18 and 35， who have grown up in the Internet age， constitute an ever larger share of moviegoers， trends will shift even more toward the virtual world. Meanwhile， film
9、 investment by Internet companies， online crowdfunding and film adaptations of online literary works have fueled the domestic film economy. “Internet plus film has greatly driven the development of the film industry， ” said Hou. He pointed toward the invention and application of virtual reality （ VR
10、） and augmented reality （AR） technologies， which have given rise to VR movies and should bring great opportunities to the film industry. Zhou Hongwei， CEO of tech company Pico， predicted at the Global VR Summit at the GMIC that the industry will grow rapidly over the next five years. By 2020 its val
11、ue is projected to reach $100 billion worldwide. Users can experience all kinds of things by wearing VR equipment， such as helmets or glasses. At the GMIC， there were long lines at VR booths as many customers were keen to experience such cutting-edge technology. Zhou said there are presently more VR
12、 products for computers than mobile equipment and the former are usually of higher quality than the latter. However， with technological progress， mobile VR will gradually catch up. Founded last year， Zhous company is focusing on such products. In order to satisfy their customers， the quality of mobi
13、le VR products should be improved. For instance， the newly launched VR helmet Pico Neo developed by Zhous company uses a high-definition screen to achieve better visual effects. As well as the recreational worlds of video games and films， VR technology will also be applied to hospitals this year， sp
14、ecifically in cancer treatment， by helping surgeons carry out operations more accurately. A VR industrial chain is taking shape：“From makers of chips， sensors， screens， to developers of video games， all kinds of industries are involved in the VR industry， ”said Zhou. Global perspective In addition t
15、o adopting hi-tech， globalization has also become the consensus of Internet companies At a round-table discussion during the conference， Cheng Wei， founder and CEO of Didi， a leading car-hailing company in China， announced that its app had been launched in the United States. “The Internet is global，
16、 ”he said. “Didi wants to enable anyone around the world to use our app to call a taxi where they live， not just people in China， ” he added. Cheng regards globalization as a bigger challenge than that posed by its competitor Uber. When his company announced its international strategy over a year ago， many thought it was too early to take such a step， considering the business had only a two-year history. However， Cheng said such apps were developing fast in Southeast Asian countries and India. If his company failed to seize the opportunity， it would lose the chance.
