I bear bad news if you’d rather not walk around feeling like you have a brick in your pocket: Apple seems to be bailing on its smallest smartphone … again. That’s right: The $2.5 trillion company’s big fall event came and went today with no mention of a new iPhone Mini. Instead, Apple is “going…
Monthly Archives: September 2022
For those watching the slow motion unpicking of surveillance advertising in the European Union here’s a fresh development on the long and winding road to a long-overdue legal reckoning: Multiple grounds for appeal lodged by industry body, the IAB Europe, against a breach finding earlier this year against its self-proclaimed “best practice” framework for obtaining…
Michael Mignano has joined the consumer practice of the sprawling venture firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, after previously co-founding the podcasting platform Anchor and then leading Spotify’s talk audio business after the streaming giant acquired Anchor in 2019 for more than $150 million. Interestingly, Mignano joins a firm that did not invest in Anchor, though he…
Yes, I missed Bose’s big news this morning. I was busy with…other stuff. You, too, would be forgiven for missing the QuietComfort Earbuds II launch, under the deluge of Apple news (including its own new buds), but Bose makes very good headphones, and any new version of its flagship products deserves a mention. The new…
There’s a large education gap in Vietnam between urban centers, which have access to more resources, and the smaller cities and rural areas where 80% of students live. Edupia, an online learning platform, is bridging that divide with its live classes and private tutoring. The startup announced today it has raised a $14 million Series…
Sequoia India and Southeast Asia has launched a new program to help its portfolio’s early-stage founders connect with international operators who can help the startups expand to new markets, the venture firm said, as it aggressively scales its offerings in the key regions. In addition to providing founders with advice, connections and help, the operators…
A new nonprofit “startup” is emerging from stealth today with $15 million in funding from Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, with a focus squarely on studying and treating Long COVID. While the global pandemic may have neared something close to a conclusion for many, millions of people around the world are still suffering long-term effects from…
The Philippines’ e-commerce market now has a gross merchandise volume of $12 billion, a 132% increase from 2020, and is expected to reach $26 billion in GMV by 2025. This obviously good news for online sellers, but it also means more shipping headaches, especially for smaller sellers that need to drop off packages at couriers’…
Google plans to run a pilot to permit daily fantasy sports apps and rummy games on Play Store in India, addressing a request from the local community that has long expressed frustration at the Android-maker for not welcoming services on its store in the world’s second-largest market that it allows in many parts of the…
It took Byju’s 10 years to become India’s most valuable startup, expanding its empire of online learning apps to many markets including the U.S. The firm, founded by a teacher, largely avoided controversies even as its sales operations are anything but ideal (though not extreme by Indian standards). Now merely a few quarters – or…