OnePlus, the 2014 Crunchies Startup nominee, has just released a successor to its popular “niche” smartphone OnePlus One; the OnePlus 2. Being in the market (or in the invitation letters) for 14 months, OnePlus 1 has received quite positive feedback from the media and the the fan community – and is equipped with CyanogenMod, one of the […]
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China’s Online Insurance Sales Near $13B USD In H1 2015
Internet is transforming the way insurance is sold in China. The country’s online insurance premium has hit 81.6 billion RMB ($12.75 billion USD) in the first half of this year, on par with the 85.89 billion RMB ($13.24 billion USD) annual premium incomes achieved in 2014, according to data released by Insurance Association of China. […]
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Aliyun Furthers Overseas Cloud Push With New Data Center In Singapore
Alibaba Group’s cloud computing arm Aliyun has announced plans to set up a new cloud data center in Singapore. Its headquarters for overseas business will also be based out of Singapore to drive Aliyun’s overseas expansion plan. Scheduled for an early September launch, the Singapore facility will be the seventh globally in addition to existing centers […]
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StoreDot Charges Up With $18M USD Funding For Electric Vehicle FlashBattery Tech From Samsung
Israeli startup StoreDot, a company developing fast-charging battery technologies, announced today $18 million USD of financing for its new electric vehicle (EV) business unit. The round follows a $42 million USD series B funding received last year, bringing the total funding to-date to $66 million USD. Investors in this round include mostly existing investors such as […]
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Tencent Backs Canadian Chat App Kik With $50M Investment
Chinese internet giant Tencent, the maker of WeChat and QQ, has invested $50 million in Canadian messaging app Kik for an undisclosed amount of stake at a valuation north of $1 billion USD. The investment is part of the company’s D series funding which totaled $120.5 USD million. Kik’s CEO, Ted Livingston, mentioned in a public […]
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Samsung Wants You To Enjoy The ‘Aristocratic Life’ With… A Flip Phone
“Enjoy the luxury lifestyle, break into the aristocratic life,” is the mantra Samsung is using to sell its latest flagship, and nothing screams blue-blood quite like a flip phone. No, it’s not 2003, but Samsung did release a clamshell smart-flip-phone called the Samsung G9198 on Friday, complete with a 3.9-inch dual screen 768p touch display, powered by Snapdragon 808. While it […]
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iDreamSky Shells Out $10M For Silicon Valley Game Startup Rumble
iDreamSky, the company known for localizing popular western apps including Fruit Ninja and Temple Run, has paid $10 million USD for a majority stake in Silicon Valley-based game startup Rumble, according to the Chinese company. It’s the most significant foreign investment they’ve made since announcing plans to privatize their Nasdaq-listed company. The partnership will allow […]
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Tencent-backed WeBank Rolls Out Bare-Bones App
WeBank, China’s first online-only private bank backed by internet behemoth Tencent, quietly released its banking app over the weekend. Its features are remarkably similar to the existing WeChat payment services, though they expect to expand soon. In addition to being named after WeChat, Tencent’s mark on WeBank is clear in its exclusive support for WeChat and […]
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GrabTaxi Raises $400M With Help From Didi Kuaidi Backer
Leading Southeast Asian Taxi app, GrabTaxi, has pulled in $400 million USD in fresh funding from investors including sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation (CIC), who reportedly contributed an undisclosed amount to Chinese counterpart Didi-Kuaidi earlier this month. It’s not the first time that Didi Kuaidi and GrabTaxi have shared in the same investment family. At the […]
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A Bleak Market Sees Lenovo Slash 10% Of Their White Collar Workforce
Chinese tech giant Lenovo is slashing over 3000 jobs in what CEO Yuanqing Yang calls a “tough market environment,” said the company on Thursday. Their Q1 earnings report showed a 51% drop in net income since the same time last year. The company will cut one out of every 10 white collar jobs, totaling 5% of the company’s staff, in […]