H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (9 April 2019) – Subscription Is Blowing Up Aussie Traditional Models ; 76% is how much Microsoft ‘s cloud-computing business grew sales last year

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (9 April 2019) – Subscription Is Blowing Up Aussie Traditional Models ; 76% is how much Microsoft ‘s cloud-computing business grew sales last year

Companies

• Transsion, NetEase-backed music-streaming service Boomplay raises $20 million (Technode)
• Daifuku Pockets Indian Material Handling Equipment Maker Vega (CE)
• Shopee starts charging commissions in Vietnam as part of monetization plan (KRA)
• Zomato’s revenue soars on robust food delivery business; Zomato spent US$500 million in expenses over the year, dwarfing the US$80 million worth of expenses it recorded in FY 2018. (TIA)

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

• Youku still needs two more years to compete with Tencent Video and iQiyi, says company president (KRA)
• Tencent doubles down on healthcare, tests medical services on WeChat (Technode)
• Tencent is adding medical services to WeChat in its industrial internet push (KRA)
• WeChat opens up tagging function for ads on social Moments section (Technode)
• Tencent’s WeGame X service soft launches worldwide (Technode)
• SoftBank buys stake in hyper-accurate US weather service; Potential demand for real-time forecasts seen in airline and insurance sectors (Nikkei)

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

• FAANG’s $800 Billion Rally Has Mom and Pop Investors Cashing Out (Bloomberg)
• Amazon goes into luxury beauty (AFR)
• Apple’s Health Opportunity Could be Triple Smartphone Market (Bloomberg)
• Cybercrime groups continue to flourish on Facebook (TC)
• 76% is how much Microsoft ‘s cloud-computing business grew sales last year (Barron’s)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Panda TV’s demise makes way for gaming giant Tencent to dominate live streaming too (SCMP)
• Aeon to use facial recognition at 80 China self-serve stores; Smart supermarkets anticipate customer purchases upon store entry (Nikkei)
• Azoop, a second-hand truck trading service operator, raises 450 million yen to transform 15 trillion yen of transportation industry with IT (TC)
• Who was first to launch 5G? Depends who you ask (Reuters)
• Ola to Oyo: An emerging breed of internet-age Indian companies have global ambitions (Forbes)
• Why One Startup Founder Turned Down a $1.1 Billion SoftBank Deal (Bloomberg)
• Australian regulators cautiously embrace AI to boost compliance; Markets watchdog begins trials designed to tackle misconduct and improve regulation (FT)
• Power grid not ready for spike in electric vehicles (Age)
• In Southeast Asia, a land without Uber has an Uber for everything (SCMP)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• Pinterest seeks $11.3bn valuation in New York IPO; Online scrapbooking site plans to sell 75m shares at a price range of $15 to $17 each (FT)
• Subscription Is Blowing Up Aussie Traditional Models (CDOT)
• Roblox hits milestone of 90M monthly active users (TC)
• Spotify’s new ad metrics show what listeners do after they click (TC)
• The Argument For Schwab’s Subscription Model (Barron’s)
• How we get to the next big battery breakthrough (qz)
• Uber, ahead of IPO, sees some time before self-driving cars dominate the road (Reuters)
• The Future Of Enterprise Voice AI Is Genderless, In Your Car And (Hopefully) More Secure (Forbes)
• Investors should beware the behemoths rushing to market Lyft, Uber and Airbnb impress in almost every respect – but they do not make money (FT)
• Afterpay inspires US rival Sezzle to list on ASX (AFR)
• Call centres are set to go the way of the typing pool, according to the founder of pioneering UK job automation software company Blue Prism, but fears of a pending human jobs apocalypse are over blown. (AFR)
• Deliveroo’s subscription service shakes up $2.6b market (AFR, Age)
• The dawn of the deep tech ecosystem (BCG)
• Lyft Is Angry About Lockups (Bloomberg)
• This free software automates bankruptcy to help people clear their debts (FastCo)
• Avaya to Plan Auction After Getting Unsolicited Interest (Bloomberg)

Life