Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Amazon India Responds to Report on Secret Strategy to Dodge Regulators

A leading group of Indian retailers on Wednesday urged the government to ban the local operations of Amazon, after a report said that the US e-commerce giant has for years given preferential treatment... https://ift.tt/3u2m6oK

Ahead of Congressional hearing on GameStop, Vlad Tenev denies Robinhood colluded with hedge funds, asks for revision of SEC rule so trades settle in real-time (Allana Akhtar/Insider)

Allana Akhtar / Insider:
Ahead of Congressional hearing on GameStop, Vlad Tenev denies Robinhood colluded with hedge funds, asks for revision of SEC rule so trades settle in real-time  —  - Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev released his testimony ahead of Thursday's Congressional hearing.  — The House asked Tenev …



JD.com plans to list its shipping business in Hong Kong through an IPO that sources say could raise approximately $5B and value JD Logistics at about $40B (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
JD.com plans to list its shipping business in Hong Kong through an IPO that sources say could raise approximately $5B and value JD Logistics at about $40B  —  - An IPO is said to value the logistics arm at about $40 billion  — JD built one of China's largest shipping operations over years



Buying a smartphone? Here's how you can check its original and not stolen

https://ift.tt/37lm9SU

Amazon app quiz February 18, 2021: Get answers to these five questions to win Emporio Armani Valente watch

Name of the winner of today’s quiz will be announced on February 19. https://ift.tt/2ZqVFej

Facebook Blocks Australians From Accessing News on Platform

Facebook announced it has blocked Australians from viewing and sharing news on the platform because of proposed laws in the country to make digital giants pay for journalism. https://ift.tt/3s1bapC

Flipkart quiz February 18, 2021: Get answers to these five questions to win gifts, discount coupons and Flipkart Super coins

Only the first 50,000 participants will be eligible for the quiz prize. https://ift.tt/37ozTMB

When ‘Brad Pitt’ appeared on Clubhouse and got banned

Here's what happened when Clubhouse users thought Brad Pitt had joined the social media app. https://ift.tt/3b8PtNq

How Android users can share apps with Nearby Sharing feature

As per the report, the Google Play Store is now rolling out the ability to share apps with nearby Android devices. The report adds that this feature will work on version 24.0 or newer of the Google Play Store. https://ift.tt/3bapzZS

Global Chromebooks outsell MacBooks in 2020, but here’s why Microsoft may need to worry more

While ChromeBooks have reportedly beaten Apple MacBooks earlier too, 2020 was the first full year that they held on to this. What seems to have worked in ChromeBook’s favour is the pricing of the low-cost laptop. “Until the pandemic, Chrome OS’ success was largely limited to U.S. schools. https://ift.tt/2ZsgtlO

Triller CEO now says the company never inflated user numbers and that Triller should even be valued at over $10B based on claims made in a Billboard report (Sean Burch/The Wrap)

Sean Burch / The Wrap:
Triller CEO now says the company never inflated user numbers and that Triller should even be valued at over $10B based on claims made in a Billboard report  —  CEO Mike Lu said the company has “never” padded its user count, one day after Billboard said the app had half the 50 million users it claimed



Banning Australian news makes sense for Facebook and may prompt people to visit news sites directly; Google's payoffs, though, will invite global shakedowns (Casey Newton/Platformer)

Casey Newton / Platformer:
Banning Australian news makes sense for Facebook and may prompt people to visit news sites directly; Google's payoffs, though, will invite global shakedowns  —  But Google gives in.  What's next?  —  Yesterday, I wrote that Australia's News Media Bargaining Code threatened to splinter the internet.



Twilio reports Q4 revenue of $548.1M, up 65% YoY, vs. $454.7M est.; says it now has 221,000 active customer accounts, up from 179,000 at the end of 2019 (Natalie Gagliordi/ZDNet)

Natalie Gagliordi / ZDNet:
Twilio reports Q4 revenue of $548.1M, up 65% YoY, vs. $454.7M est.; says it now has 221,000 active customer accounts, up from 179,000 at the end of 2019  —  Twilio says it now has 221,000 active customer accounts, up from 179,000 at the end of 2019.  —  Twilio delivered better …



How to download and set up India’s WhatsApp alternative app: Sandes

The app has not been listed on Google Play Store, however, those interested can download the APK file for the app from the official website of the app. There’s a web version of the app as well. Here's how to download and setup the app. https://ift.tt/3jVFWNW

FCC launches the Broadband Data Task Force to collect data and develop more precise maps of US broadband availability, which currently rely on ISP-provided data (Karl Bode/VICE)

Karl Bode / VICE:
FCC launches the Broadband Data Task Force to collect data and develop more precise maps of US broadband availability, which currently rely on ISP-provided data  —  You can't fix a problem you don't understand.  And for decades the US has refused to accurately measure the full scope of US broadband market failure.



Russian cryptocurrency payment network A7 expands to Africa, as Moscow builds an alternative payments system amid western sanctions after its Ukraine invasion (Financial Times)

Financial Times : Russian cryptocurrency payment network A7 expands to Africa, as Moscow builds an alternative payments system amid weste...