Monday, August 23, 2021

Nigerian mobile payments service OPay raises $400M led by Vision Fund 2 at a $2B valuation, marking SoftBank's first investment in Africa (Gillian Tan/Bloomberg)

Gillian Tan / Bloomberg:
Nigerian mobile payments service OPay raises $400M led by Vision Fund 2 at a $2B valuation, marking SoftBank's first investment in Africa  —  - Sequoia Capital China and Redpoint China also participated  — Investment marks Vision Fund 2's first bet in Africa



Review of new $150 OnePlus Buds Pro: lightweight and water resistant with good controls, sound quality, and ANC, but no EQ adjustments in its app (Chris Welch/The Verge)

Chris Welch / The Verge:
Review of new $150 OnePlus Buds Pro: lightweight and water resistant with good controls, sound quality, and ANC, but no EQ adjustments in its app  —  The company's most refined earbuds yet  —  The new $150 OnePlus Buds Pro are the company's most elegant, polished set of true wireless earbuds so far.



Poly Network Says Hacked Crypto Funds Returned

Poly Network said that almost all of the $610 million (roughly Rs. 4,520 crores) stolen this month in one of the biggest crypto heists had now been returned by the unknown person or persons behind the... https://ift.tt/3j79CJa

Psychonauts 2 Review: Cult Hit Follow-Up Is Just as Zany, Goofy, and Eclectic

Psychonauts 2 review: Double Fine's full-length follow-up to its 16-year-old title offers more of the same - and that's a good thing. Psychonauts 2 release date is August 25 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox... https://ift.tt/3mvQPJL

Nokia G50 Accidentally Confirmed by the Smartphone Maker

Nokia G50 has accidentally leaked by the French division of Nokia brand licensee HMD Global. The new Nokia phone has appeared with a waterdrop-style display notch and a triple rear camera setup. https://ift.tt/3De6Xpc

Russian News Websites Blocked by Ukraine

Ukraine blocked the websites of several prominent Russian media outlets in its latest round of sanctions against neighbouring Russia that it has accused of spreading propaganda. https://ift.tt/2WfRVyb

Mi TV 5X Will Feature 40W Stereo Speakers With Dolby Atmos

Xiaomi Mi TV 5X will come with 40W speakers that support Dolby Atmos. The Mi TV 5X will launch in India on August 26 alongside the Mi Band 6 and Mi Notebook. The Mi TV 5X, as the name suggests, will... https://ift.tt/3sCYpmG

OnePlus Buds Pro Review

OnePlus has launched its latest and most advanced true wireless earphones yet, the OnePlus Buds Pro. Priced at Rs. 9,990 in India, the Buds Pro feature ANC, wireless charging, and more. Is this the... https://ift.tt/3DafhpW

Supdrive Is Vine Co-Creator's New Video Game NFT Project

Supdrive, an NFT video game project, is being helmed by Dom Hofmann, the co-creator of Vine, a popular short-video sharing app that got shut down in 2017. Twitter user @jacksondame shared more on the... https://ift.tt/3mpeeMI

Chinese e-comics app Kuaikan, which has 50M MAUs, raises $240M Series F from CCB International, Tencent, and others, source says at a $1.25B valuation (Zheping Huang/Bloomberg)

Zheping Huang / Bloomberg:
Chinese e-comics app Kuaikan, which has 50M MAUs, raises $240M Series F from CCB International, Tencent, and others, source says at a $1.25B valuation  —  - Comics apps valued at $1.25 billion, a person familiar says  — Kuaikan is also backed by the likes of Coatue and ByteDance



Bangalore-based Zetwerk, a business-to-business marketplace for manufacturing items, raises $150M Series E led by D1 Capital Partners at a $1.33B valuation (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)

Manish Singh / TechCrunch:
Bangalore-based Zetwerk, a business-to-business marketplace for manufacturing items, raises $150M Series E led by D1 Capital Partners at a $1.33B valuation  —  An Indian startup that operates a business-to-business marketplace for manufacturing items is the latest to attain the coveted unicorn status in the South Asian market.



Synopsys design software uses AI to make chips more power efficient

Major chip firms like Intel Corp or Nvidia Corp can spend two years and hundreds of millions of dollars to perfect their designs. https://ift.tt/3sN8JZy

Digital coin adoption to increase in small-town India: WazirX CEO

Touted as the most important asset class of the 21st century, more than 1.5 crore Indians are currently holding over Rs 1,500 crore worth crypto assets. https://ift.tt/2XQp4Be

Ethiopia to Build Local Rival to Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp

Ethiopia has begun developing its own social media platform to rival Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, though it does not plan to block the global services, the state communications security agency... https://ift.tt/3sCZn2c

WhatsApp Testing New Payment Shortcut for Android Users

WhatsApp for Android appears to be getting a payment shortcut on the chat bar. Separately, WhatsApp has launched a beta programme for users on WhatsApp for Desktop. WhatsApp is also found to be... https://ift.tt/3gnwIJy

A case study of the amount and kinds of ads in 12 shows on the ad-supported tiers of Netflix, Peacock, Disney+, Max, Paramount+, and Hulu (Jon Keegan/Sherwood News)

Jon Keegan / Sherwood News : A case study of the amount and kinds of ads in 12 shows on the ad-supported tiers of Netflix, Peacock, Disne...