Photo credit: Mobike
These were the top tech headlines as Asia-Pacific welcomed in the new year.
<h2>Transportation</h2>
Mobike makes the move into ride-hailing (China). The bike-sharing company will launch the service in China’s Guizhou province, with a car-hailing feature added into its existing app. Mobike’s rival Ofo has partnered with ride-hailing market leader Didi Chuxing to offer a similar service through its app. (Technode)
<h2>Ecommerce</h2>
Alibaba could expand India footprint with XpressBees interest (India). The Chinese tech giant is said to be planning a US$100 million investment in local logistics firm XpressBees. Alibaba has been ramping up its Indian investments as it seeks to compete in the country’s ecommerce market with homegrown player Flipkart and US entrant Amazon. (The Economic Times)
<h2>Mobile</h2>
New Year’s outage for WhatsApp users (Asia-Pacific). The Facebook-operated messaging service experienced an hour-long global outage, with users in India – the app’s biggest market – losing coverage for several minutes after midnight on New Year’s Eve. (Reuters)
Photo credit: Jan Persiel
<h2>Fintech</h2>
Increased scrutiny for cryptocurrency exchanges (India). Regulators in the country are likely to take action against exchanges and other platforms they consider to be operating collective investment schemes or illegally pooling buyers’ money, anonymous officials said. The country’s finance ministry had earlier referred to some virtual currency trading activities as “Ponzi schemes.” (Livemint)
Analysts expect economic boost thanks to bitcoin (Japan). A report from financial services giant Nomura suggests that the cryptocurrency’s remarkable 1,500 percent rise in value during 2017 could lead to an uptick in consumer spending next year as bitcoin holders realize their returns. (Bloomberg)
See: Previous Asia tech news roundups
This post Asia tech news roundup – Jan 2 appeared first on Tech in Asia.
from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/apac-news-02-01-2018
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