Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Autonomous trucking startup Gatik AI raises $85M Series B led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, bringing total raised to $114.5M (Kirsten Korosec/TechCrunch)

Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch:
Autonomous trucking startup Gatik AI raises $85M Series B led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, bringing total raised to $114.5M  —  In the two years since Gatik AI came out of stealth, the autonomous vehicle startup has launched pilots with Walmart and Canadian retail giant Loblaw in its bid …



China's new 'online gaming ban': What it means, new timings, verification process and all details

China on Monday introduced new rules that limit the amount of time under-18s can spend on video games to three hours a week, a move it said was necessary to combat gaming addiction. https://ift.tt/3ju2Op2

Indonesia probes suspected data breach on Covid-19 app

Anas Ma'ruf, a health ministry official overseeing data, said the government was looking into the potential breach, but said the potential flaw was in an earlier version of the app, which has not been used since July. https://ift.tt/3BtvZPm

Airtel ends silence on Google rumours: This is what it said in response to stock exchanges

Telecom major Bharti Airtel described that the reports on likely investment by Google into the company as speculations. https://ift.tt/3jBS0pb

Indian payments platform BillDesk gets $4.7 billion investment from Prosus

Prosus NV doubled down on its investment in India on Tuesday with a $4.7 billion deal for payments platform BillDesk, making it one of the biggest players in the country's fast-growing fintech sector. https://ift.tt/3kI63bO

Thai crypto exchange Zipmex raises $41 million from Bank of Ayudhya, others

BAY joins Thai media companies, Plan B Media Pcl and Master Ad Pcl, and foreign venture capital funds in the investment round. https://ift.tt/3gO2UWW

Semiconductor shortage hurting production, may impact Aug-Sep automobile wholesales: Report

Semiconductors are silicon chips that cater to control and memory functions in products ranging from automobiles, computers and cell phones to various other electronic items. https://ift.tt/3jswKC6

VPNs in India Should Be Blocked, Parliamentary Panel Again Urges Government

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has urged the government to block virtual private networks (VPNs) in India, citing VPN services as a "technological challenge" that could lead... https://ift.tt/3t5rPKn

South Korea Passes Bill to Curb Google, Apple Commission Dominance

A landmark bill passed in South Korea's parliament bans major app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing software developers to use their payment systems, effectively stopping them from... https://ift.tt/3zAZluv

As ad revenue surges, Alphabet shares are up 65% over 2021, and up more than 7% in August to reach a record high of $2,891.81, the longest rally since 2009 (Ryan Vlastelica/Bloomberg)

Ryan Vlastelica / Bloomberg:
As ad revenue surges, Alphabet shares are up 65% over 2021, and up more than 7% in August to reach a record high of $2,891.81, the longest rally since 2009  —  - Shares are poised for their eighth straight month of gains  — Yearly rise nearly twice as much as Facebook, Microsoft



Sources and experts say US-funded Afghan government databases containing sensitive personal data could be used by the Taliban to identify millions of Afghans (MIT Technology Review)

MIT Technology Review:
Sources and experts say US-funded Afghan government databases containing sensitive personal data could be used by the Taliban to identify millions of Afghans  —  By capturing 40 pieces of data per person—from iris scans and family links to their favorite fruit—a system meant to cut fraud …



At the behest of South Korean regulators, payments service Kakao lowers its IPO target to ~$1.3B at the top of the range, down from ~$1.4B (Sohee Kim/Bloomberg)

Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:
At the behest of South Korean regulators, payments service Kakao lowers its IPO target to ~$1.3B at the top of the range, down from ~$1.4B  —  - Regulators asked the startup to revise its IPO prospectus  — Krafton's lukewarm debut has soured sentiment domestically



TikTok parent ByteDance acquires VR headset maker Pico

In a statement issued to the publication, ByteDance said that Pico's "comprehensive suite of software and hardware technologies, as well as the talent and deep expertise of the team, will support both our entry to the VR space and long-term investment in this emerging field". https://ift.tt/3kBpsv7

Google says it removed 95,680 content pieces in July in India

On Tuesday, Google said it had received 36,934 complaints in July from individual users located in India via designated mechanisms, and the number of removal actions as a result of user complaints was 95,680 - the highest so far. https://ift.tt/3BvQcUL

Tata Tigor EV Launched in India: All You Need to Know

Tata Tigor EV has been launched in India. The electric vehicle (EV) is touted to be the cheapest EV in the country. It is available in the three trims - XE, XM, and XZ+ - with a dual-tone colour... https://ift.tt/2YgOybj

South Korea's National Assembly passes a bill that forces Apple and Google to allow alternative payment systems in their app stores (Jiyoung Sohn/Wall Street Journal)

Jiyoung Sohn / Wall Street Journal:
South Korea's National Assembly passes a bill that forces Apple and Google to allow alternative payment systems in their app stores  —  Seoul requires the companies to allow competing payment systems, threatening their 30% cut of most in-app digital sales  —  SEOUL—Google and Apple Inc …



Sources: Indian ride-hailing company Ola is seeking to raise about $1B at an $8B+ valuation in a Mumbai IPO; source says the filing could arrive by October (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Sources: Indian ride-hailing company Ola is seeking to raise about $1B at an $8B+ valuation in a Mumbai IPO; source says the filing could arrive by October  —  - Citigroup, Kotak Mahindra, Morgan Stanley are on the listing  — Startup to seek valuation of more than $8 billion in the IPO



New York and San Francisco are moving to make commission caps for delivery platforms permanent; NYC voted to approve a 23% cap, below the 30% usually charged (Dave Lee/Financial Times)

Dave Lee / Financial Times:
New York and San Francisco are moving to make commission caps for delivery platforms permanent; NYC voted to approve a 23% cap, below the 30% usually charged  —  Grubhub vows to fight legislation as shares in European parent Just Eat Takeaway fall  —  Shares in Just Eat Takeaway …



A flaw in Go Ethereum, used to verify transactions, has been fixed after it caused about half of the Ethereum ecosystem to split into a separate chain (Kartikay Mehrotra/Bloomberg)

Kartikay Mehrotra / Bloomberg:
A flaw in Go Ethereum, used to verify transactions, has been fixed after it caused about half of the Ethereum ecosystem to split into a separate chain  —  - Ethereum blockchain was divided by mistake in client software  — Network patch swiftly stabilized the blockchain system



Russia's Yandex says it will buy Uber's stakes in their joint foodtech, delivery, and self-driving businesses in a $1B deal (Reuters)

Reuters:
Russia's Yandex says it will buy Uber's stakes in their joint foodtech, delivery, and self-driving businesses in a $1B deal  —  Russian internet giant Yandex (YNDX.O) said on Tuesday it would buy Uber's (UBER.N) stakes in their joint foodtech, delivery and self-driving businesses …



LG UltraGear Gaming Speaker GP9 With Hi-Res Audio, RGB Lighting Launched

LG UltraGear Gaming Speaker GP9 has been unveiled expanding LG's UltraGear line of gaming hardware. The speaker has a unique look to it paired with RGB lighting. LG says it offers three-dimensional,... https://ift.tt/3t0FH8I

Google Pixel 5a Users Are Complaining of Overheating, Touchscreen Issues

Pixel 5a users are reporting of overheating and touchscreen issues. Some users claim that the overheating warning comes in when shooting in 4K video, while others say it gets triggered even when... https://ift.tt/38sn30g

New Rechargeable Batteries Can Store Up to Six Times More Charge

Researchers have developed a battery prototype that can store as much as six times the charge of a conventional lithium-ion battery. The discovery was published in the Nature journal. https://ift.tt/38sIYnW

Monday, August 30, 2021

Flip, a social commerce app with 1M+ downloads that mixes customer reviews with live shopping shows, raises $28M Series A led by Streamlined Ventures (Christine Hall/TechCrunch)

Christine Hall / TechCrunch:
Flip, a social commerce app with 1M+ downloads that mixes customer reviews with live shopping shows, raises $28M Series A led by Streamlined Ventures  —  Social commerce startup Flip is mixing live commerce mobile apps with real customer reviews to improve the buying experience and opportunity for the creator economy.



China's crackdown on Big Tech has shifted balance in the country's e-commerce market, with JD.com, Pinduoduo thriving while Alibaba reels under heavy pressure (Naoki Matsuda/Nikkei Asia)

Naoki Matsuda / Nikkei Asia:
China's crackdown on Big Tech has shifted balance in the country's e-commerce market, with JD.com, Pinduoduo thriving while Alibaba reels under heavy pressure  —  Regulatory scrutiny and scandals put e-commerce leader on the ropes  —  SHANGHAI — China's crackdown on Big Tech has shifted …



China restricts children to 3 hours of online gaming per week

China is banning children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, the harshest restriction so far on the game industry as Chinese regulators continue cracking down on the technology sector. https://ift.tt/3joVsmJ

India must rethink on Mumbai concentration of data centres: Microsoft executive

Major global cities like Amsterdam and Singapore are shunning any new datacentres because they "suck out" power, and we need to be circumspect about concentrating all the capacities in or around the financial capital, a senior industry official said on Monday. https://ift.tt/3mZnwzx

Check Point Software acquires cloud email security company Avanan

Check Point Software Technologies said on Monday it acquired U.S.-Israeli cyber security company Avanan, which specialises in protecting email, where most cyber attacks begin. https://ift.tt/3zypURc

Fossil announces Gen 6 Touchscreen smartwatch with a Snapdragon Wear 4100+ processor, starting at $299, and says it won't get Wear OS 3 until sometime in 2022 (Dieter Bohn/The Verge)

Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Fossil announces Gen 6 Touchscreen smartwatch with a Snapdragon Wear 4100+ processor, starting at $299, and says it won't get Wear OS 3 until sometime in 2022  —  A new Qualcomm processor promises better battery life  —  Fossil has announced its fall 2021 smartwatch lineup running Wear OS, which it is calling the Gen 6 Touchscreen.



Whoop, which makes a fitness tracker and sells a subscription-based health coaching app, raises $200M from SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 at a valuation of $3.6B (Miles Kruppa/Financial Times)

Miles Kruppa / Financial Times:
Whoop, which makes a fitness tracker and sells a subscription-based health coaching app, raises $200M from SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 at a valuation of $3.6B  —  Funding enables fitness tracker start-up to challenge tech giants in health monitoring business  —  Whoop, which makes a fitness tracker …



Realme 8, Realme 8 5G, and Other Realme Phones Get a Price Hike in India

Realme 8, Realme 8 5G, Realme C11 (2021), Realme C21, and Realme C25s price in India has been hiked by up to Rs. 1,500. The price hike is applicable across all channels, and it reflects online through... https://ift.tt/3BjA3Bq

Zebronics FIT4220CH review: A Feature-Packed Smartwatch that Lacks Polish

The Zebronics ZEB-FIT4220CH could be a good deal given the features it offers at an affordable price, but all is not as it seems. https://ift.tt/3yr9f0f

Xiaomi 12 Tipped to Feature Three 50-Megapixel Rear Cameras

Xiaomi 12 is reported to be in the development phase. A fresh leak suggests that the phone may come with three 50-megapixel sensors – 50-megapixel main, 50-megapixel ultra-wide, and 50-megapixel... https://ift.tt/3BouSAh

CryptoPunks Ethereum-Based NFT Project Hits $1 Billion in Lifetime Sales

CryptoPunks - the popular non-fungible token (NFT) project - breached the $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,330 crores) mark in all-time sales on August 28 to become only the second NFT project to have... https://ift.tt/2WCngLD

China's Regulatory Crackdown at a Glance: From Bitcoin to Ride-Hailing Apps

China has launched a multi-pronged crackdown on its tech companies, leaving startups and decades-old firms alike operating in a new, uncertain environment. https://ift.tt/38myBls

Zomato Brings a Change in Cutlery Option While Ordering Food: All Details

Zomato has announced an update for its app where it will change the default settings for the cutlery option. Users will now have to opt in to get cutlery instead of opting out. The food delivery... https://ift.tt/2Y0xsxY

Who Holds DOGE? Major Sum of Dogecoin Is Being Held by Only 535 Entities

A gargantuan sum of DOGE 106 billion, comprising 82 percent of the supply, is held on-chain by only 535 entities. These entities hold over DOGE 10 million each. Read all about it. https://ift.tt/3kzN2bI

ByteDance acquires VR headset maker Pico; according to IDC, Pico was the third-largest VR headset maker globally in Q1 2021 with shipments up 44.7% YoY (Arjun Kharpal/CNBC)

Arjun Kharpal / CNBC:
ByteDance acquires VR headset maker Pico; according to IDC, Pico was the third-largest VR headset maker globally in Q1 2021 with shipments up 44.7% YoY  —  - TikTok owner ByteDance has made its first foray into virtual reality (VR) through the acquisition of a start-up called Pico.



State media says China is restricting online gaming time of minors to 3 hours most weeks of the year, from 8pm to 9pm on Fridays, weekends, and public holidays (Zheping Huang/Bloomberg)

Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
State media says China is restricting online gaming time of minors to 3 hours most weeks of the year, from 8pm to 9pm on Fridays, weekends, and public holidays  —  - The country is imposing its strictest limits yet on play time  — Beijing is waging a campaign to groom productive youths



Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G Price in India Leaked via Amazon Listing: Report

Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G is all set to launch on September 1 in India. Ahead of that, the phone was briefly listed on Amazon India, leaking price and offer details. The phone is tipped to be priced at... https://ift.tt/3BjeVeG

A look at social media stock pickers, many of whom generate more income from ad revenue than investment success, and how bullish advice brings more page views (Robbie Whelan/Wall Street Journal)

Robbie Whelan / Wall Street Journal:
A look at social media stock pickers, many of whom generate more income from ad revenue than investment success, and how bullish advice brings more page views  —  Young investors are turning to a new generation of stock pickers—many without formal training—for advice.



Researchers, cybersecurity agency urge action by Microsoft cloud database users

Researchers at a cloud security company called Wiz discovered this month they could have gained access to the primary digital keys for most users of the Cosmos DB database system, allowing them to steal, change or delete millions of records. https://ift.tt/3mLp9kc

Australia considering new laws for Apple, Google, WeChat digital wallets

Services such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and China's WeChat Pay, which have grown rapidly in recent years, are not currently designated as payment systems, putting them outside the regulatory system. https://ift.tt/38nHnQb

Watch: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 Gets Tortured in JerryRigEverything Test

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 has been put through a durability test by YouTube channel JerryRigEverything to test its build as well as the cover and folding displays. https://ift.tt/3kFxOBZ

Shopee May Soon Launch in India as Company Ramps Up Hiring

Shopee has launched a recruitment campaign for vendors to sell on what it called Shopee India and is ramping up hiring in the country, according to YouTube videos and job postings. https://ift.tt/2UZz3Dh

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE May Launch Next Week; Allegedly Spotted on Geekbench

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE could launch on September 8, as per tipster Mauri QHD. Another tipster has also shared an image with the smartphone's branding at what seems to be a retail store. An alleged... https://ift.tt/38qhKhO

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Google Play app store revenue hit $11.2 billion in 2019, lawsuit says

Attorneys general for Utah and 36 other U.S. states or districts suing Google over alleged antitrust violations with the app store also said in the newly unredacted filing that the business in 2019 had $8.5 billion in gross profit and $7 billion in operating income, for an operating margin of over 62%. https://ift.tt/2UVMy6M

Apple, Google, Digital Wallets May Face New Regulation Laws in Australia

The Australian government is considering new laws that would tighten the regulation of digital payment services by tech giants such as Apple and Alphabet's Google. https://ift.tt/3Bly8wo

iPhone 13 May Feature Satellite Communication Connectivity

iPhone 13 lineup will come with low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication connectivity that will allow users to make calls and send messages without requiring cellular coverage, analyst Ming-Chi... https://ift.tt/3BsKZNr

Best Internet-of-Things Products You Can Buy in India

The term 'Internet of Things' (IoT) covers a wide range of products, but can generally be considered to be anything 'smart'. Here is our list of the best IoT products you can buy in India... https://ift.tt/3BoLxUA

Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G India Launch Set for September 1

Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G is set to launch in India on September 1 at 12pm (noon). Confirmed via a tweet by the company, the smartphone will be launched in three colour options - Awesome Black, Awesome... https://ift.tt/2Wy469J

Realme C21Y Goes on Sale in India via Flipkart, Realme.com Today

Realme C21Y will go on sale today. It will be available via Flipkart and Realme.com. The sale will begin at 12pm (noon) and the phone will be available in Cross Black and Cross Blue colours. Realme... https://ift.tt/3yyK2kU

Bharti Airtel Plans to Raise Up to Rs. 21,000 Crores via Share Sale

Bharti Airtel said it plans to raise up to Rs. 21,000 crores via a sale of shares to existing shareholders as it builds a war chest to prepare for the launch of 5G services. https://ift.tt/2UVZutk

Google Play App Store Revenue Hit $11.2 Billion in 2019, Lawsuit Says

Google generated $11.2 billion (roughly Rs. 82,320 crores) in revenue from its mobile app store in 2019, according to a court filing unsealed on Saturday, offering a clear view into the service's... https://ift.tt/2WzIrxC

Microsoft 'threatens' to withhold Windows 11 updates on old CPUs

Microsoft had earlier said that it won't actually block users from installing Windows 11 on a PC with an older CPU, "so long as you download and manually install an ISO file all by yourself". https://ift.tt/3DsZ3bt

Indian mapmaker powering Apple Maps, Amazon Alexa looks to IPO

The firm, backed by Qualcomm Inc. and Walmart Inc.-owned payments startup PhonePe, is targeting an IPO size around $175 million at a valuation of about $825 million https://ift.tt/2Y2LRK1

Mi Smart Band 6 Goes on Sale in India via Amazon, Mi.com Today

Mi Smart Band 6 is all set to go on sale in India today. The fitness band will be available via Amazon and Mi.com in the Indian market. The wearable is priced at Rs. 3,499. It supports SpO2 tracking... https://ift.tt/3sYVZ1Z

SpaceX Launches Ants, Avocados, Robot to International Space Station

A SpaceX shipment of ants, avocados, and a human-sized robotic arm rocketed toward the International Space Station on Sunday. https://ift.tt/2Y8DXPv

Clubhouse Launches Spatial Audio Feature to Help Chats Feel Life-Like

Clubhouse said it will launch a spatial audio feature to make voices sound as if they're coming from different directions, helping conversations and virtual performances feel more life-like. https://ift.tt/3zuTbvR

This chip giant may have Tesla problem

E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc and smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have also lodged opposition to the deal with U.S. authorities, the newspaper reported. https://ift.tt/3ysOlOn

8 things to do to keep money safe when your smartphone gets stolen

https://ift.tt/3zYNrvb

Should You Invest in Cryptocurrency?

Investing in cryptocurrency in India is going up steadily, but how many people are doing this simply because of a fear of missing out? There are a number of things that you need to consider before you... https://ift.tt/2WE1Gq8

S. Korea is expected to be the first country to pass a law to prevent app stores from mandating first-party IAP payment systems; assembly vote on 8/30 is likely (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
S. Korea is expected to be the first country to pass a law to prevent app stores from mandating first-party IAP payment systems; assembly vote on 8/30 is likely  —  - New law will mandate free choice of app payment providers  — Silicon Valley giants argue privacy, security under threat



Most of the internet privacy proposals on the table today are in absolute, direct conflict with most of the proposals to increase competition in the markets (Benedict Evans)

Benedict Evans:
Most of the internet privacy proposals on the table today are in absolute, direct conflict with most of the proposals to increase competition in the markets  —  The consumer internet industry spent two decades building a huge, complex, chaotic pile of tools and systems to track and analyse …



Chinese regulators to exercise more control over algorithms

Chinese regulators will exercise greater control over the algorithms used by Chinese technology firms to personalise and recommend content, the latest move in a regulation spree across the internet sector. https://ift.tt/3yrffX1

Sources: Apple Watch Series 7 will get an updated design, come in 41mm and 45mm sizes, featuring multiple new watch faces to take advantage of the bigger screen (Mark Gurman/Bloomberg)

Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple Watch Series 7 will get an updated design, come in 41mm and 45mm sizes, featuring multiple new watch faces to take advantage of the bigger screen  —  This is the free version of Power On.  If you like it, consider subscribing to Bloomberg.com — you'll receive …



Jack Dorsey and Mike Brock say Square's TBD is building a Bitcoin-centric decentralized exchange for digital assets (Andrew Hayward/Decrypt)

Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Jack Dorsey and Mike Brock say Square's TBD is building a Bitcoin-centric decentralized exchange for digital assets  —  Square's Cash App is a popular way for people to buy and sell Bitcoin, but CEO Jack Dorsey's love for the leading cryptocurrency is immense—and the financial services firm plans to do a lot more in the space.



Kuo: iPhone 13 hardware could support LEO satellite communications; Apple may work with Globalstar to enable connectivity when not in 4G/5G range (Hartley Charlton/MacRumors)

Hartley Charlton / MacRumors:
Kuo: iPhone 13 hardware could support LEO satellite communications; Apple may work with Globalstar to enable connectivity when not in 4G/5G range  —  The iPhone 13 will feature low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication connectivity to allow users to make calls and send messages …



China starts a two-month campaign to crack down on websites and social media accounts that post financial information that "maliciously bad-mouths" its economy (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
China starts a two-month campaign to crack down on websites and social media accounts that post financial information that “maliciously bad-mouths” its economy  —  China kicked off a two-month campaign to crack down on commercial platforms and social media accounts …



Saturday, August 28, 2021

Filing in AGs' lawsuit against Google: the Play Store hit revenues of $11.2B in 2019, with $8.5B in gross profit and an operating margin of over 62% (Paresh Dave/Reuters)

Paresh Dave / Reuters:
Filing in AGs' lawsuit against Google: the Play Store hit revenues of $11.2B in 2019, with $8.5B in gross profit and an operating margin of over 62%  —  Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google generated $11.2 billion in revenue from its mobile app store in 2019, according to a court filing unsealed on Saturday …



CryptoSlam: CryptoPunks, an NFT platform with 10K pixel portraits, crossed $1B in transaction volume, with the cheapest artwork available for sale costing $450K (Lucas Matney/TechCrunch)

Lucas Matney / TechCrunch:
CryptoSlam: CryptoPunks, an NFT platform with 10K pixel portraits, crossed $1B in transaction volume, with the cheapest artwork available for sale costing $450K  —  Hello friends, and welcome back to Week in Review!  Last week we dove into Bezos's Blue Origin suing NASA.



Bike price cut, rising costs to hit Peloton's profitability

Peloton Interactive Inc said its near-term profitability would suffer due to a decision to slash the price of its exercise bike and higher commodity and marketing costs. https://ift.tt/3zpQ9Jp

Apple's "clarifications" as part of its settlement will not make much of a difference in the long run for developers or to how the App Store actually works (Chaim Gartenberg/The Verge)

Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
Apple's “clarifications” as part of its settlement will not make much of a difference in the long run for developers or to how the App Store actually works  —  Apple isn't changing how the App Store works because Apple doesn't want it to change  —  Apple made waves this week …



Analysis: a record 19 fintech startups in Europe have become unicorns in 2021 so far, bringing the total number of fintech unicorns on the continent to 39 (Gené Teare/Crunchbase News)

Gené Teare / Crunchbase News:
Analysis: a record 19 fintech startups in Europe have become unicorns in 2021 so far, bringing the total number of fintech unicorns on the continent to 39  —  At the start of 2021, Europe had just one decacorn—a startup valued at $10 billion or more—in the fintech sector to speak of …



Google says it plans to counter Japan's FTC over claims that it hobbles rivals in search; a source says Japan's FTC sent a cease-and-desist order to Google (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg : Google says it plans to counter Japan's FTC over claims that it hobbles rivals in search; a source says Japan's FTC s...