Didi secures US$100M: Do Chinese taxi apps deserve so much funding?

3 Jan 2014

Didi secures US$100M: Do Chinese taxi apps deserve so much funding?

By Terence Ng

Despite high money burn rates, Tencent and Citic’s investment of US$100 million in Didi Dache shows that their motivation goes beyond profitability

Right after New Year’s day, Chinese taxi booking app Didi Dache has announced that it has secured Series C funding amounting to US$100 million, comprising mainly US$60 million from Citic and a follow-on investment of US$30 million from Tencent. This follows its successful Series B and Series A funding rounds earlier last year, which saw it raise US$15 million from Tencent and US$3 million from GSR Ventures respectively. Read more of this post

Chinese Smartphone Insurgents Take Aim at Global Share

SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2014

Chinese Smartphone Insurgents Take Aim at Global Share

By TIERNAN RAY | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

ZTE, Huawei, and Meizu think Apple and Samsung are vulnerable.

The Consumer Electronics Show, which took place in Las Vegas this past week, is host to a plethora of new-product unveilings, though usually not smartphones; they normally make their splashy debuts at the largest cellular trade show, Mobile World Congress, which takes place in Barcelona next month. Read more of this post

China’s ambitious handset makers face tough sell in US

Updated: Saturday January 11, 2014 MYT 12:54:05 PM

China’s ambitious handset makers face tough sell in US

LAS VEGAS: LG Electronics executive Frank Lee bounded onto a Las Vegas stage this week to show off a new phone for the U.S. market, the 6-inch G-Flex, which boasts a curved screen. Read more of this post

Budget phone-maker Coolpad thinks it can sell more 4G smartphones than Samsung in China this year

Budget phone-maker Coolpad thinks it can sell more 4G smartphones than Samsung in China this year

January 3, 2014

by Paul Bischoff

Shenzhen-based budget smartphone maker Coolpad (HKG:2369) says it aims to sell more 4G handsets in China than Samsung (KRX:005935) in 2014, according to Tech 163. That’s a big claim for a company that sold less than half as many phones as Samsung in China last year. Read more of this post

Betting on Bricks and Mortar of Chinese E-Commerce

Betting on Bricks and Mortar of Chinese E-Commerce

ABHEEK BHATTACHARYA

Jan. 7, 2014 11:12 p.m. ET

Global Logistic Properties MC0.SG +1.05% finds itself in a landlord’s sweet spot. The largest provider of warehouses in China by area, the Singapore-listed firm is a play on the country’s fast-growing e-commerce sector. Online retailers such as Amazon’s China operations occupied just 4% of space in 2010, and that’s since risen to 22%. There’s still room to expand.

Read more of this post

Alibaba to set up mobile gaming platform in China

Alibaba to set up mobile gaming platform in China
9:34am EST
BEIJING (Reuters) – E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Wednesday it would set up a mobile gaming platform in China, venturing into a fast growing sector dominated by tech rival Tencent Holdings Ltd. Read more of this post

India Manages to Free Itself of Polio; Against-Odds Achievement Remains Fragile but Brings Global Eradication Quest Tantalizingly Close

India Manages to Free Itself of Polio

Against-Odds Achievement Remains Fragile but Brings Global Eradication Quest Tantalizingly Close

GAUTAM NAIK in London and NIKITA LALWANI in New Delhi

Jan. 10, 2014 7:30 p.m. ET

The World Health Organization is set to announce on Monday that India has officially eliminated polio. Gautam Naik explains how it has achieved this and how far until it is eradicated globally. Photo: Getty Images Read more of this post

Are Jakarta’s Penny Police a Necessary Evil?

Are Jakarta’s Penny Police a Necessary Evil?

By Kennial Caroline Laia on 2:38 pm January 11, 2014.
Penny police have carved out a niche for themselves, but are their actions an inconvenience for the many or a convenience for the few? At one of the busy intersections in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, a man wearing a pair of jeans, shirt and a hat to cover his head from the sun, was busy managing traffic. Read more of this post

With 76% reach Whatsapp emerges leader in Indian app economy

With 76% reach Whatsapp emerges leader in Indian app economy

By Saloni

WhatsApp tops the charts, leading in engagement and penetration; Google Play, Google Search follow, says Informate Mobile Intelligence report

An application for everything – right from monitoring your teeth brushing habits to managing your finance! In such a vast mobile applications economy, who do you think managed to win hearts in the Indian market? Read more of this post

‘Abt 40% of biz for Indian e-commerce will come from mobiles in 2 yrs’; Mukesh Bansal of Myntra talks about the website’s growth story, challenges unique to India & expectations from the next couple of years

7, Jan 2014

‘Abt 40% of biz for Indian e-commerce will come from mobiles in 2 yrs’

By Saloni

Mukesh Bansal of Myntra talks about the website’s growth story, challenges unique to India & expectations from the next couple of years

The Indian e-commerce scenario has proved to be difficult to conquer. Challenges such as lack of FDI support, logistical and payment glitches and raising growth capital are giving entrepreneurs sleepless nights. Nonetheless, there are a few names that have managed to hit the right notes. Read more of this post

Founder of Robot Startup Bought by Google Eyes Hidden Japan Gems

Founder of Robot Startup Bought by Google Eyes Hidden Japan Gems

Takashi Kato, co-founder of the robot venture Schaft Inc. bought by Google Inc. (GOOG) in November, opened a fund to invest in technologies from Japanese startups and universities that have been overlooked by investors. Read more of this post

Cyworld’s global ambitions are over; Once-dominant SNS in Korea was too tardy in going mobile

Cyworld’s global ambitions are over

Once-dominant SNS in Korea was too tardy in going mobile

Jan 11,2014

Cyworld, once Korea’s largest social networking service, decided to end its global service on Feb. 10 after failing to compete against global SNS sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Read more of this post

Taiwan’s Acer looks to Internet trading, acquiring a 15.6 percent stake in a PChome subsidiary

Taiwan’s Acer looks to Internet trading

POSTED: 07 Jan 2014 19:44
Taiwanese computer maker Acer said Tuesday it has made its first major investment since overhauling its top management late last year, acquiring a 15.6 percent stake in a PChome subsidiary. Read more of this post

A Small, Versatile Way to Record Your Life: GoPro’s latest camera, the GoPro Hero 3+, has a longer battery life and higher-resolution camera than its predecessors

JANUARY 9, 2014, 9:09 PM

A Small, Versatile Way to Record Your Life

By NICK BILTON

Among all the vast booths at the International CES displaying 4K televisions and devices by big names like Sony and Panasonic was GoPro, a versatile digital-camera maker that was mostly unheard of just a few years ago. Read more of this post

All Hail The Uber Man! How Sharp-Elbowed Salesman Travis Kalanick Became Silicon Valley’s Newest Star

All Hail The Uber Man! How Sharp-Elbowed Salesman Travis Kalanick Became Silicon Valley’s Newest Star

ALYSON SHONTELL

JAN. 11, 2014, 8:11 AM 18,350 9

Shafqat Islam’s phone was ringing. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the number on the screen. It said unknown, but he took the call anyway. “Hi, this is Travis,” a voice said. “I know Lukas Biewald, and he said you were the only guy he knew in Switzerland.” Islam, part of the tech team at Merrill Lynch Bank Suisse, sat up and wracked his brain. Biewald? He had met the man once or twice, but he certainly didn’t know this Travis character. Read more of this post

At Dolby Labs, a dose of Apple marketing magic

At Dolby Labs, a dose of Apple marketing magic

By Adam Lashinsky, Sr. Editor at Large January 9, 2014: 10:28 AM ET

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, we talk with new Dolby CMO Bob Borchers, who explains the company’s new video technology and how he’ll stoke demand for it. FORTUNE — Bob Borchers recently became chief marketing officer of Dolby Laboratories (DLB), the technology company known for improving what we hear that is also working on enhancing what we see. Read more of this post

Autos Morph Into IPhones as Buyers Want Wi-Fi With Wheels

Autos Morph Into IPhones as Buyers Want Wi-Fi With Wheels

When it came time to trade in her Ford Explorer in September, Svetlana Friedman had a condition: No more basic radio. She wanted a car that could connect to her smartphone, her iPad and her digital life. Read more of this post

Bill Gates Is Not The Next CEO Of Microsoft, But His VC Investments Are Picking Up

Bill Gates Is Not The Next CEO Of Microsoft, But His VC Investments Are Picking Up

Posted 17 hours ago by Jonathan Shieber

Bill Gates may be one of the world’s most famous philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and guest editors,  but could he be adding venture capitalist to the list? Over the past few years it seems that Gates has, in fact, been increasing his investment in startups. Read more of this post

Booming Tech Sector Redraws the Map

Booming Tech Sector Redraws the Map

PAUL MOZUR in Beijing and ESTHER FUNG in Shanghai

Jan. 7, 2014 11:01 p.m. ET

China’s high-tech companies have made their mark on the nation’s economy. Now, with growing cash and investment at their disposal, they are beginning to have an impact on its skylines. Read more of this post

Cheating on social media is lucrative; ‘Click farms’ sell artificial interest to bolster firms’ appearances

Cheating on social media is lucrative

‘Click farms’ sell artificial interest to bolster firms’ appearances

AP

JAN 6, 2014

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – Celebrities, businesses and even the U.S. State Department have bought bogus Facebook likes, Twitter followers or YouTube viewers from offshore “click farms,” where workers tap, tap, tap the thumbs-up button, view videos or retweet comments to inflate social media numbers. Read more of this post

Confide, a Snapchat for the Corner Office

Confide, a Snapchat for the Corner Office

By Sarah Frier January 08, 2014

Two-year-old Snapchat has achieved a multibillion-dollar valuation by creating a technology for disappearing selfies aimed at teenage users. Now companies are pitching similar apps that they say provide untraceable message delivery, except they’re designed for corporate users that want a higher level of security than Snapchat can offer. The latest is Confide, a text-based iOS app released on Jan. 8 by former AOL (AOL) executive Jon Brod and Howard Lerman, chief executive officer of location-services company Yext. Such startups are betting that corporate audiences will be hungry for a secure mobile messaging app suited to their needs. Read more of this post

Designing the Next Wave of Computer Chips: Scientists are looking for new ways to make computer chips and investigating materials that can self-assemble

Designing the Next Wave of Computer Chips

JAN. 9, 2014

By JOHN MARKOFF

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Not long after Gordon E. Moore proposed in 1965 that the number of transistors that could be etched on a silicon chip would continue to double approximately every 18 months, critics began predicting that the era of “Moore’s Law” would draw to a close. Read more of this post

E-commerce lessons from the 1990s; he founder of 192.com, which was established in 1997, explains what he learned from surviving the 90s dotcom boom

E-commerce lessons from the 1990s

The founder of 192.com, which was established in 1997, explains what he learned from surviving the 90s dotcom boom

Alastair Crawford

Guardian Professional, Wednesday 8 January 2014 11.16 GMT

In the 1990s some of us had pagers, fewer had a mobile, and social media didn’t exist. Online interactions mostly took place between computer science students in cliquey chat rooms. Leo slipped out of Kate’s reach on the Titanic and MC Hammer released U Can’t Touch This. Much seemed out of reach in the 90s, but only just. Read more of this post

Electric Cars Are Getting Engine Sounds to Make Them Safer

Electric Cars Are Getting Engine Sounds to Make Them Safer

By Dorothee Tschampa January 09, 2014

Christoph Meier, a sound engineer at Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler (DAI:GR), spends much of his time trying to reduce the noise emitted by car engines. But for the carmaker’s newer electric models, he’s had to do the opposite: create sound. “People expect some exterior noise from a vehicle, because we all grew up with the ‘vroom vroom’ of combustion engines,” says Meier, head of powertrain acoustics at the automaker. Read more of this post

Few ‘wearables’ make fashion sense

Few ‘wearables’ make fashion sense

BY PETER SVENSSON

JAN 11, 2014

LAS VEGAS – Gadget lovers are slipping on fitness bands that track movement and buckling on smartwatches that let them check phone messages. Some brave souls are even donning Google’s geeky-looking Glass eyewear. Read more of this post

Gmail Plans to Allow Google Plus Users to Send Anyone an Email

JANUARY 9, 2014, 10:25 PM

Gmail Plans to Allow Google Plus Users to Send Anyone an Email

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

Google will soon allow people to send anyone an email, even if they do not have the person’s email address, as long as both people have a Gmail and Google Plus account. Read more of this post

How Techies Are Transforming San Francisco; A generation of technology workers is bringing startups, venture capitalists—and high real-estate prices

How Techies Are Transforming San Francisco

A generation of technology workers is bringing startups, venture capitalists—and high real-estate prices

SARAH TILTON

Jan. 9, 2014 7:33 p.m. ET

San Francisco has changed dramatically over the years as young tech workers have migrated to the city, causing a rise in real estate. Photo: Lori Eanes for The Wall Street Journal. Read more of this post

IBM Struggles to Turn Watson Computer Into Big Business

IBM Struggles to Turn Watson Computer Into Big Business

Revenue Is Far From Company’s Ambitious Targets

SPENCER E. ANTE

Updated Jan. 7, 2014 9:16 p.m. ET

Three years after International Business Machines Corp. IBM +1.99% began trying to turn its “Jeopardy”-winning computer into a big business, revenue from Watson is far from the company’s ambitious targets. Read more of this post

IBM: The technology giant asks Watson to get it growing again

IBM: The technology giant asks Watson to get it growing again

Jan 11th 2014 | NEW YORK | From the print edition

“IT’S a silly project to work on, it’s too gimmicky, it’s not a real computer-science test, and we probably can’t do it anyway.” These were reportedly the first reactions of the team of IBM researchers challenged to build a computer system capable of winning “Jeopardy!”, a television quiz show. Yet within five years they had created Watson (named after Thomas Watson, who built up the company), which used natural-language programming to understand questions the way a human would, and massive processing power to find the likeliest answer from vast amounts of data. In February 2011 it beat two human “Jeopardy!” champions in a public showdown. Now, less than three years later, Watson is being touted as a business opportunity potentially so lucrative it can get Big Blue out of what has started to look like a serious growth problem. Read more of this post