Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 with Aura balance design to go on sale today via Amazon

Redmi Note 9 is a dual SIM phone. The handset houses a 5020mAh battery with 22.5watt fast charger. The smartphone supports wired reverse charging. It comes with a 6.53-inch full HD+ Dot notch display with 2340x1080 pixel resolution. The display comes with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top. https://ift.tt/30m7Nyh

US expected to sue Google next week as DOJ seeks support from states

The lawsuit is expected to accuse Google, builder of the world's dominant search engine, of looking to disadvantage rivals such as Microsoft's Bing by depriving them of the data about users and user preferences that they need to improve and to advertise to people. https://ift.tt/2HIBZ01 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

A Napster moment for online video and music platforms in India as piracy soars in lockdown

Telegram saw piracy on its platform jump a staggering 1092% or about 11 times during lockdown, while the Internet and mobile on a whole saw a 348% increase, according to data shared by Markscan. https://ift.tt/30k1JpW https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Apple Grants CEO Tim Cook First Major Stock Package Since 2011

Apple on Tuesday granted CEO Tim Cook 333,987 restricted stock units, with a possibility to earn as many as 667,974 more if he hits performance targets, in the executive's first stock grant since... https://ift.tt/3iha6bM

Palantir value pegged at $15.8 billion ahead of long-awaited NYSE debut

Two previous high-profile direct listings - Spotify in 2018 and Slack in 2019 - had started trading significantly above their reference prices. https://ift.tt/3i9lyq4 https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

E-scooter startup Neuron Mobility adds $12M to its Series A for expansion in Australia and New Zealand

Neuron Mobility, a Singapore-based e-scooter rental startup, announced today that it has added $12 million to its Series A. Led by Square Peg, an Australian venture capital firm and GSR Ventures, this increases the round’s new total to $30.5 million. The company, which operates in Australia and New Zealand in addition to Southeast Asian markets, first announced its Series A in December 2019.

Singapore’s Neuron Mobility raises $18.5M to bring its electric scooters to more international markets

Part of Neuron Mobility’s growth plans hinges on the increased adoption of electric scooters and bikes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people are using their cars less frequently because they are working remotely or there are movement restrictions where they live. When they do go out, electric bikes and scooters offer an alternative to public transportation and ride-hailing services for short trips.

Neuron Mobility’s chief executive Zachary Wang said the company raised a Series A+ instead of moving onto a Series B because more cities are “opening up to the possibility of micromobility, particularly rental e-scooters as they present an individual transport option that takes pressure off public transport and allows people to continue social distancing.”

“We’ve been experiencing tremendous growth in ANZ and the pandemic has made us fast track our plans,” he added.

Though Neuron Mobility currently does not operate in other Southeast Asian countries besides Singapore, Wang said it is “constantly evaluating opportunities across APAC.”

The new funding will be used to speed up Neuron Mobility’s expansion plans in Australia and New Zealand, where it claims to be the leading electric scooter rental operator. The company is currently present in nine locations, including Auckland, New Zealand, and Australian cities Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Canberra and Townsville. Neuron Mobility plans to expand into five new cities over the next two months and part of that involves hiring 400 more people in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. In addition to the Asia-Pacific, Neuron Mobility will also launch in Slough, it’s first location in the United Kingdom, by the end of this year.

Neuron Mobility’s research found that before the COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia, one in five of its users had never used an e-scooter before. But now Australian and New Zealand users have increased their average e-scooter trip distances by 23% to 2.6 kilometers, with the average duration of rides rising by 10% to more than 14 minutes. Neuron Mobility’s pricing is meant to be affordable depending on different markets. For example, in Brisbane, users pay one Australian dollar (about 68 U.S. cents) to begin a trip and then 38 Australian cents for each minute of the ride. Its e-scooters can go up to speeds of about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) per hour.

Other “micromobility” companies, including Ofo, Reddy Go, Obike and Lime, have also offered rental services in Australia and New Zealand, but ran into trouble. Bike-sharing startups Ofo, Reddy Go and Obike withdrew from Australia in part because city councils were frustrated by bikes were being abandoned on sidewalks and in parks. Lime still operates in Australian cities, but in June, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that the company failed to disclose safety issues with its Generation 2 scooters (in response, Lime said it would implement new compliance procedures and upgrade to its new Generation 3 scooter).

Wang said Neuron Mobility avoids those issues by strategically planning which cities it will launch in, instead of focusing on rapid expansion, partnering with city councils and “continually shifting and adapting to meet their needs.” Several of Neuron Mobility’s features, including geofencing to control where and how fast e-scooters can be ridden, and a “Helmet Lock” to make helmets available for all scooters, were developed after discussions with city councils. Neuron Mobility’s scooters, designed by the company specifically for renting, also use swappable batteries to decrease pollution.

After launching in Singapore, Neuron Mobility decided to focus on Australia and New Zealand because “both countries have cities that are highly suitable for micromobility in terms of infrastructure and regulations,” Wang said. City councils have also “been keen to push the boundaries of what can be done with technology to make programs better and safer and that really suits our way of thinking.”

The scooters arrive in Australia

 

LG says its Wing smartphone will be available in the US beginning October 15 from Verizon and later this fall from AT&T and T-Mobile, starting at $1,000 (Chaim Gartenberg/The Verge)

Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge:
LG says its Wing smartphone will be available in the US beginning October 15 from Verizon and later this fall from AT&T and T-Mobile, starting at $1,000  —  LG's wild sliding phone won't be cheap  —  LG's wild-looking Wing smartphone has gotten a US price and release date …

Cloudflare launches a free "privacy-first" analytics tool to rival Google Analytics that records how users engage with websites without invasive tracking (David Meyer/Fortune)

David Meyer / Fortune:
Cloudflare launches a free “privacy-first” analytics tool to rival Google Analytics that records how users engage with websites without invasive tracking  —  The cybersecurity and content-distribution company Cloudflare has become a major part of the Internet's infrastructure …

No need for payment gateways to deduct tax if e-tailer does it

Earlier, industry stakeholders had said that tax was being deducted twice — once on e-commerce operators who are facilitating sale of goods or services or both, and once on payment gateways which also happen to qualify as e-commerce operators for facilitating the service. https://ift.tt/30mnVzH https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Clubhouse courted fresh controversy after a conversation with hundreds of listeners devolved into a platform for anti-Semitic comments on a Jewish holy day (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg:
Clubhouse courted fresh controversy after a conversation with hundreds of listeners devolved into a platform for anti-Semitic comments on a Jewish holy day  —  Controversial private social app Clubhouse was again the target of criticism on Monday, after a conversation with hundreds …

Apple and Epic Games stated in a court filing on Tuesday that their coming court battle should be decided in a bench trial by a judge, not a jury (Mikey Campbell/AppleInsider)

Mikey Campbell / AppleInsider:
Apple and Epic Games stated in a court filing on Tuesday that their coming court battle should be decided in a bench trial by a judge, not a jury  —  Apple and Epic have agreed that the coming court battle should be decided in a bench trial by a judge, not a jury.

Xiaomi launches its first-ever smartwatch in India: How it compares to rival Oppo Watch

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Apple says several of its services including App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade are facing outages (Juli Clover/MacRumors)

Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple says several of its services including App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Arcade are facing outages  —  Top Rated Comments  —  I cannot access iCloud.com.  Getting server error/verification failed

Tencent to take private NYSE-listed Chinese search engine Sogou in a $3.5B deal; Tencent had previously revealed that it had a 39.2% stake in Sogou in July (Reuters)

Reuters:
Tencent to take private NYSE-listed Chinese search engine Sogou in a $3.5B deal; Tencent had previously revealed that it had a 39.2% stake in Sogou in July  —  (Reuters) - Sogou Inc said on Tuesday shareholder Tencent Holdings Ltd would take the web search firm private in a $3.5 billion deal …

Realme Narzo 20A to Go on Its First Sale Today via Flipkart, Realme.com

Realme Narzo 20A will be going on its first sale today, September 30, starting 12pm (noon) via Flipkart and Realme.com. The phone will be available in two colour options and two storage... https://ift.tt/36gReHB