Tech Nuggets with the Technology

Thursday, September 5, 2019

PhonePe behind surge in Walmart’s share price

PhonePe is in talks to close a $1-billion fund-raise from a marquee set of investors, including Tiger Global, Tencent and DST Global. https://ift.tt/2ZLIsP2 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

MeitY may relax norms on content monitoring for social media firms

The official said that the tools could resemble the ones currently used by WhatsApp to tackle child pornography on its platform. https://ift.tt/2NSicfB https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

UberEats to ride with its main app in India

Uber has started testing a new super-app interface in India that integrates food delivery and ride hailing, multiple people familiar with the matter said. https://ift.tt/30W3FDq https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Indians lead the world as Facebook Big Bug Hunters

It was an Indian security expert who played a crucial role in the latest incident of a data breach at the social media company though he didn't report his discovery under the bug bounty programme. https://ift.tt/2MVf2bm https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Amazon confirms it has started testing the "New" badge to highlight newly released products in "select markets for certain customers" (Eugene Kim/CNBC)

Eugene Kim / CNBC:
Amazon confirms it has started testing the “New” badge to highlight newly released products in “select markets for certain customers” — KEY POINTS — It's still unclear what criteria is used for the badges on Amazon, which give sellers a significant advantage on the marketplace.

Oppo Reno 2Z Goes on Sale in India via Amazon, Flipkart

Oppo Reno 2Z price in India is set at Rs. 29,990 for its sole 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. It is available to buy via Amazon India and Flipkart. https://ift.tt/2zXTimI

Vivo Z1x to Launch in India Today: How to Watch Live Stream

Vivo Z1x will launch at 12pm (noon) IST on Friday. The launch will be live streamed on the company's Facebook page. https://ift.tt/32BbVZZ

Alibaba acquires NetEase Kaola in deal worth $2 billion

Alibaba Group said today it has acquired NetEase Kaola for $2 billion and will integrate it into Tmall, creating the largest cross-border e-commerce platform in China. The announcement follows weeks of media reports about a potential deal, which was said to have stalled in the middle of August after the companies reportedly disagreed on transaction details.

Tmall Import and Export general manager Alvin Liu has been named as Kaola’s new CEO, replacing Zhang Lei, but Kaola will continue to operate independently under its own brand.

Tmall Global and Kaola are China’s largest and second-largest cross-border e-commerce platforms, respectively, holding 31.7% and 24.5% of the market, and their union means they will create a business that will far outstrip in size rivals like JD Worldwide, VIP International and Amazon China.

Alibaba and Yunfeng, the investment firm launched by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, also agreed to invest $700 million into NetEase Cloud Music’s latest funding round. This will give Alibaba a minority stake in the streaming music service, with NetEase remaining its controlling shareholder.

In a press release, NetEase CEO William Ding said “We are pleased to have found a strategic fit for Kaola within Alibaba’s extensive ecosystem, where Kaola will continue to provide Chinese consumers with high-quality import products and services. At the same time, the completion of this strategic transaction will allow NetEase to focus on its growth strategy, investing in markets that allow us to best leverage our competitive advantages.”

Daniel Zhang, Alibaba Group’s CEO, said “Alibaba is confidence about the future of China’s import e-commerce market, which we believe remains in its infancy with great growth potential.”

Alibaba buys import ecommerce platform Kaola from NetEase for ~$2B, will integrate it into Tmall, creating the largest cross-border ecommerce platform in China (Catherine Shu/TechCrunch)

Catherine Shu / TechCrunch:
Alibaba buys import ecommerce platform Kaola from NetEase for ~$2B, will integrate it into Tmall, creating the largest cross-border ecommerce platform in China — Alibaba Group said today it has acquired NetEase Kaola for $2 billion and will integrate it into Tmall, creating the largest cross-border e-commerce platform in China.

Companies rely on digital verification startups to foolproof customer identity

Companies such as IDfy, one of the many digital identity verification firms, are seeing higher demand for their services, as businesses go digital and there is little interaction with customers. https://ift.tt/2ZTqUfQ https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

In a testimony to House committee staffers, 8chan owner Jim Watkins says 8chan "has no intent of deleting constitutionally protected hate speech" (Makena Kelly/The Verge)

Makena Kelly / The Verge:
In a testimony to House committee staffers, 8chan owner Jim Watkins says 8chan “has no intent of deleting constitutionally protected hate speech” — The private deposition lasted around four hours — Jim Watkins, the owner of 8chan, gave testimony to Congress on Thursday …

Patreon CEO Jack Conte says the company is considering providing HR support, capital funding, health insurance, and other services to creators (Todd Spangler/Variety)

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Patreon CEO Jack Conte says the company is considering providing HR support, capital funding, health insurance, and other services to creators — Patreon, the subscription-based fan platform, is eyeing a range of new services to support creators — including potentially providing loans at some point, CEO Jack Conte said.