H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (31 January 2019) – SM Entertainment Enters Into Strategic Partnership Agreement With China’s Tencent Music + What If Unhappiness Contains The Secret To Happiness?

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (31 January 2019) – SM Entertainment Enters Into Strategic Partnership Agreement With China’s Tencent Music + What If Unhappiness Contains The Secret To Happiness?

Companies

• SM Entertainment Enters Into Strategic Partnership Agreement With China’s Tencent Music (Soompi); Tencent has built a portfolio of music app sthat have fandom culture at their core; whether that be the live streaming, social features and in-app gaming of Kuwo, virtual tipping on KuGuo Live or VIP passes to get access to special virtual gifts in karaoke app Quanmin K Ge (We Sing). (MIB)
• Zuken to Acquire Vitech; Vitech Corp.’s GENESYS product is a MBSE software tool that incorporates the key components of building a complex system involving people, processes, data, and documentation (TL)
• Chat app Line’s mobile payment service is getting its own Visa card (TC)
• Sam Tsai: The pivotal figure behind Taiwanese e-commerce giant PChome’s entry into Thailand’s e-commerce market (e27)
• Foxconn reconsidering plans to make LCD panels at Wisconsin plant (Reuters)
• Zomato in talks to sell UAE biz to German co for $200m; Info Edge, an early backer which owns around 28% of the company, called the battle with Swiggy “a hugely capital-consumptive game” (TOI)
• Bravura Solutions becomes first tech firm to join GRiD (CM)

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

• Alibaba growth hits 3-year low as shoppers trim big-ticket buys (Nikkei)
• Even with one more title on China’s gaming whitelist, Tencent still has its cash-cow titles in limbo (KRA)
• Tencent to power Hong Kong startups amid its shift to enterprise (Technode)
• SoftBank’s Massive Debt Burden Looks Worse Than It Actually Is (Bloomberg)

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

• Apple’s new developer guidelines signal that scammy subscription apps’ time is up (TC)
• Apple reaches ‘defining moment for Cook’ amid weakening iPhone demand; The company didn’t forecast how many iPhones it will sell, something Apple has done since the product first hit the market in 2007 (JT); If Apple is serious about becoming a services company, it should truly go for it (qz)
• Apple Stock Is Up. Don’t Buy the Suppliers, Says Analyst. (Barron’s); Apple Is Planning 3-D Cameras for New iPhones in AR Push (Bloomberg)
• Facebook’s Good Quarter Can’t Hide Tough Ones Ahead; It must leverage news feed and Instagram fans into new offerings and figure out how to monetize them. (Bloomberg); Facebook quietly blocked tools that let people see how its ads are targeted (qz); By defying Apple’s rules, Facebook shows it never learns (Wired); Apple bans Facebook from tech tools for tracking teen browsing habits (Reuters)
• Microsoft’s Azure revenue growth slows, shares fall (Reuters); Microsoft Sales Meet Estimates; Cloud Concerns Hit Shares (Bloomberg)
• Google disables iPhone app that studied users’ digital habits (Reuters)
• Why the Netflix Price Hike Should Worry Investors (Barron’s); How Netflix came to dominate Hollywood (Edge)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• China’s Online Tutor Startup VIPKid Is Seeking $500 Million at $6 Billion Valuation; The startup saw its losses grow nearly fourfold over a year to almost RMB 1.2 billion ($173 million) in 2017 (TN)
• China unveils trading rules for new hi-tech board, paving way for bold new market to compete with New York, Hong Kong (SCMP)
• Passengers could take an autonomous train to Beijing’s new airport starting September (KRA)
• It’s time to pay serious attention to TikTok (TC); World’s most valuable start-up ByteDance slashes ‘lucky money’ for Year of the Pig as founder warns of challenging 2019 (SCMP)
• As carmakers go all in for tech, Akebono and suppliers left behind; Toyota and peers demand price cuts to free up cash for future vehicles (Nikkei)
• Paytm enters hotel booking business, buys NightStay (ET)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Robot valets may soon park your car at this London airport (CNN)
• AI could run your life in 2030, as consumers look to tech to make lives easier (TODAY)
• A Tech Firm Far From Silicon Valley Churns Out Billionaires; Shares of payments upstart Adyen have almost tripled since IPO (Bloomberg)
• AI Tradeoff: Accuracy or Robustness? (EE Times)
• Home improvement platform Houzz lays off 180, reportedly gears up for public listing (TC)
• As AMD Stock Soars, CEO Says Its ‘Superior’ Chips Will Win in 2019 (Barron’s)
• PayPal stock falls after outlook miss, but CEO says Venmo has hit a ‘significant transition point’ (MW); PayPal Sales Miss Estimates for the First Time Since 2015 (Bloomberg)

Life

• What If Unhappiness Contains The Secret To Happiness? (Medium)
• The secret of great learners: Focus on the process, not the outcome (MT)