Tech

Meituan raises $10 bln for self-driving cars, drone delivery

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan raised nearly $10 billion in a sale of convertible bonds and additional shares and plans to invest those funds in developing and expanding delivery technologies. The Beijing-based firm, China’s largest food delivery platform, said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it sold 187 million additional shares […]

Facebook announces ‘Soundbites,’ Clubhouse spinoff in the works

Audio-only media has been rapidly increasing in popularity among people of all ages and backgrounds over the past decade. What was once transmitted by radio has now become a podcast. Where once people would sit down and read a book, now we listen to audiobooks while commuting, running errands, and doing our dailies. Platforms like […]

Analysis: Can Reddit Talk beat Clubhouse at its own game?

In a sort of domino effect, popular discussion and content platform Reddit announced on Tuesday a first look into its new audio tool called “Reddit Talk” to be integrated within its subreddits, in a bid to increase user real-time engagement. While Reddit Talk does have similarities to Clubhouse, the layout of the tool has a […]

Apple unveils new products, schedules privacy crackdown

Apple spruced up its product line at an event Tuesday while slipping in quiet notice of a software update, now due next week, designed to enhance the privacy of iPhone users at the expense of digital advertisers such as Facebook. Timing for the software upgrade trickled out during a series of announcements for new iPads, […]

Asian shares slide after tech, bank sell-off on Wall Street

Shares skidded in Asia on Wednesday after Wall Street closed lower for a second straight day, led by drops in technology companies and banks. Worsening coronavirus outbreaks in Asia have cast a shadow over prospects for a rebound from the pandemic. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell more than 2% and other benchmarks also declined. On Tuesday, […]

Global Smartphone Market shows 24% growth in Q1 2021, report shows

Over the years, many tech pundits have repeatedly said that the peak smartphone era has ended and is long gone; and the numbers backed up those claims. A report by International Data Corporation (IDC) showed that the smartphone market saw negative growth for five quarters in a row, including the entirety of 2018. It appeared […]

Apple signals return of right-wing 'free speech' app Parler

Apple said it has reached an agreement with the right-wing social app Parler that could lead to its reinstatement in the company’s app store. Apple kicked out Parler in January over ties to the deadly Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. In a letter to two Republican lawmakers in Congress, Apple said it has […]

Zoom Apps to receive $100 million investment to expand ecosystem

Popular video-conferencing platform Zoom Video Communications Inc. announced on Monday the creation of a new $100 million venture fund created to stimulate growth of the company’s ecosystem of Apps, integrations, developer platform, and hardware. The Zoom Apps fund will comprise of portfolio companies who will receive initial investments between $250,000 and $2.5 million to build […]