H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (16 August 2018) – Japan still has the edge in solid-state batteries, with its companies holding nearly half the patents in the world for related technologies + Lessons From Da Vinci on Work and Life

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (16 August 2018) – Japan still has the edge in solid-state batteries, with its companies holding nearly half the patents in the world for related technologies + Lessons From Da Vinci on Work and Life

Companies

• Trend Micro Launches Product to Protect Telecom Networks Serving Business and Home Users; New security solution mitigates risks in high volume, dynamic network architecture environments (BW)
• In race for better batteries, Japan hopes to extend its lead; TDK began shipping samples of CeraCharge, a solid-state battery measuring just 4.5mm by 3.2mm by 1.1mm — smaller than a grain of rice. CeraCharge cells use a lithium-based ceramic oxide as the electrolyte, which is layered into a battery pack. TDK says the product maintains its performance in high- and low-temperature environments. Similar products designed for use in internet-of-things devices are also being developed by other Japanese companies, including Murata Manufacturing and Taiyo Yuden. Japan still has the edge in solid-state batteries, with its companies holding nearly half the patents in the world for related technologies. Japanese companies with key technologies include Toho Titanium, which has developed a high-output solid electrolyte that combines titanium and lanthanum, a rare-earth metal. It recently started shipping samples of the product. Optical glass maker Ohara has developed a glass-based electrolyte. It that could have wide commercial applications (Nikkei)
• Sony’s catch-up plan to break into pro camera market (JT)
• Chinese Online Drugstore 111 Inc. Files For $200M US IPO (CMN)
• Lenovo’s Sharp Knife Is Behind Those Meaty Profits; Cost savings are welcome. They’re also hard to repeat. (Bloomberg)

BATTSS – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, TSMC, Softbank, Samsung

• Alibaba offers cloud computing for Southeast Asia’s retailers to embrace digitisation and big data (SCMP)
• Tencent’s first profit drop since 2005 blamed on wait for Chinese regulators to approve new games (SCMP); Tencent posts first profit decline since 2005 on lower gaming revenue, investment gains (SCMP)
• Tencent Slumps After First Profit Drop in at Least a Decade (Bloomberg); Regulatory limbo hits Tencent with first profit fall in nearly 13 years (Reuters); China Makes WeChat’s 1 Billion Users a Tempting Target for Tencent; With growth from games slowing, tapping the social network looks increasingly attractive. (Bloomberg)
• How WeChat became China’s everyday mobile app (SCMP)
• Tencent Is Participating In More Tech IPOs Than Anyone Else; Tencent was an investor in a whopping 12 tech companies that have gone public since the start of 2017. (CBI)

• SoftBank Ventures leads W10b investment in Bepro11 (Investor)

FAANNMG – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Netflix, Microsoft, Google

• Amazon Has a New Rival in India, and It Isn’t Walmart; A draft e-commerce law threatens the core of the company’s business model. (Bloomberg)
• Amazon Has YouTube Envy; It wants to turn its Twitch online hangout for avid gamers into a broader video service. (Bloomberg)
• 5 Reasons to Buy Nvidia Stock Now (Barron’s)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• An Uber for Trucks Is Hitting Obstacles in China; The industry is ripe for disruption, but it’s a lot tougher than ride-hailing. (Bloomberg)
• SynchroLife, blockchain-based restaurant discovery app from Japan, raises $720K (Bridge)
• Hospitals in Japan turn to high-tech to treat language barriers; Multilingual AI service among new offerings to help staff deal with foreigners (Nikkei)
• Visual recognition tech to drive O2O interactions in future: AIQ; VRT Technology in different vertical (KRA)
• Silicon Valley’s land-grab capitalism comes to the ASX (AFR)
• Bennett Coleman, India’s largest media conglomerate, is making rapid progress in building equity partnerships with foreign digital businesses, including arrangements with America’s Uber, Airbnb and Vice Media (Nikkei)
• Vietnam e-commerce leader draws $51m pan-Asian investment; SBI, Daiwa and SoftBank participate in Sendo Technology funding (Nikkei)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• We Still Don’t Know Whether Uber Is a Real Business: It has never had to live on the cash it generates. (Bloomberg) Is Uber Really Worth $62 Billion? (Barron’s)
• Why Two of Europe’s $1 Billion Startups Just Had Their Valuations Cut (Bloomberg)
• From blue lipstick to Facebook Live, home shopping networks refine their pitch (Reuters)
• Meet the man who’s building Sonos’ audio internet (Wired)
• A Decentralized Reputation System: How Blockchain Can Restore Trust In Online Markets (Forbes)
• The Trade Desk is a global tech company that enables ad buyers to purchase and manage data-driven digital advertising campaigns through a self-service omnichannel software platform. (Barron’s)
• Making Music Social: What Drives Streaming Revenues (Medium)

Life

• Lessons From Da Vinci on Work and Life. (Medium)
• The Trajectory of Great Ideas (Morgan Housel)
• How Companies Thrive by Making You Obsessed: Customer service is still king (Medium)
• Claude Shannon: How a Genius Solves Problems (Medium)