H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (19 December 2018) – Altium Launches Altium Designer 19 Enabling Easy, Powerful Design for Complex Projects + Unscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts Are Creating the Economy of the Future

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (19 December 2018) – Altium Launches Altium Designer 19 Enabling Easy, Powerful Design for Complex Projects + Unscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts Are Creating the Economy of the Future

Companies

• China’s Ctrip grilled over fake Japan bookings (Nikkei)
• Chinese Apple supplier O-film Tech confirms interest in Japan Display; Negotiations on tie-up with O-film are in ‘early stages’ (Nikkei)
• Mercari calls it quits in Europe as losses mount (Nikkei)
• KakaoPage acquires Indonesian webtoon operator (Investor)
• Lippo internet subsidiaries in legal battle with Indonesian ministry; Unpaid spectrum bills add to problems for cash-strapped conglomerate (Nikkeii)
• Altium Launches Altium Designer 19 Enabling Easy, Powerful Design for Complex Projects (PRweb)

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

• Baidu leads US$87 million investment in Chinese smart lock start-up YunDing (SCMP)
• Baidu restructures to focus on AI and cloud computing (Technode
• Alibaba uses AI to speed up detection of pregnant pigs seven times, boosting efficiency of China’s hog farms (SCMP)
• Masayoshi Son floats part of SoftBank to help pay for his huge tech bets (Economist); SoftBank writedown will cloud Son’s way forward (Reuters); Softbank’s Arm Holdings unveils chip aimed at self-driving car sensors (Reuters)

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

• Google is wading into India’s huge online shopping market (CNN )
• Alexa will be able to tell when your relationship is ending, experts predict (NYP)
• ‘It’s Been a Rout’: Apple’s iPhones Fall Flat in World’s Largest Untapped Market; With global smartphone sales flattening, Apple has looked to India for new growth, with little success so far (WSJ)
• Buy Netflix Stock Because It Can’t Be Stopped, Says Analyst (Barron’s)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• AI start-up Fourth Paradigm, formed by Huawei veterans, becomes China’s latest unicorn (SCMP)
• Why China still needs Silicon Valley (CNN)
• Didi will seize the wheel of a Chinese carmaker (Reuters)
• Honda uses “Game AI to train automatic driving AI” Learning Simulator (Techcrunch)
• How this startup makes health and beauty bookings thrive in Thailand (e27)
• India’s Oyo Hotels Expands Across China And Indonesia While Facing Backlash At Home (Forbes)
• Moglix raises $23M to digitize India’s manufacturing supply chain (Techcrunch)
• India’s Byju’s looks to launch its online learning app in US and UK; Education technology start-up targets users abroad after raising $540m in fresh investment (FT)
• How Nuren Group, Fave, and DahMakan are shaking up the Malaysian digital marketplace ecosystem (e27)
• Indian unicorns will feast on richer pastures (Reuters)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• A New Way to Spot the Next Financial Crisis: The tech revolution means better models of the financial system. This will help identify risks, but is no panacea (WSJ)
• This AI Startup Constantly Monitors Kids To Stop The Next School Shooting-And It Just Scored $16 Million Funding (Forbes)
• Laser Vision Upstart Luminar Reveals Self-Driving Tech Alliance With Audi’s AID Unit (Forbes)
• AI For Mobile: New Solutions To Speed Up Performance (Forbes)
• Lift-and-Shift Cloud Strategies Can Be Costly (WSJ)
• Blue Apron Is Now a Penny Stock and It’s a Cautionary Tale for Next Year’s IPO Market (Barron’s); Blue Apron’s 90% Drop Makes It Third Worst U.S. IPO This Decade (Bloomberg)

Life

• Companies Must Disclose Executive Hedging Strategies; SEC approves rule aimed at shedding light on hedges against a company’s poor performance (WSJ)
• Unscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts Are Creating the Economy of the Future Hardcover – March 27, 2018 (Amazon)
• Will brands without social purpose thrive? (FastCo)
• The Myth of Closure (Krista Tippett)
• 9 Habits of World Class Startups (NFX)