Category: Emerging Technology

Chinese Streaming Giant iQiyi Raises $1.5B

The cash infusion will boost the Netflix-like streaming service in its ongoing battle for market share against Tencent and Alibaba. iQiyi, the Netflix-like streaming video subsidiary of Chinese search giant Baidu, has raised $1.53 billion in new funds to fuel its investments in original content and compete with rivals.

Google, Bing Agree to Help U.K. Creative Industries Fight Pirate Sites

A voluntary code of practice is designed to “kick-start collaboration between the parties to demote links to websites that are dedicated to infringing content for consumers in the U.K.” Google and Microsoft’s Bing are two big-name search engines that have voluntarily signed on to a first-of-its kind initiative in Britain aimed at “reducing the availability of infringing content accessed through online search.” The agreement between representatives of rights holders and major search engines was unveiled Monday following a government-chaired series of roundtables.

Sequoia-Backed China Robot Startup Said to Be Raising New Funds

Makeblock Co., a Chinese maker of DIY robotics parts, is seeking to raise funding at a $200 million valuation as the Sequoia Capital-backed startup expands into classrooms and hobbyist’s workshops globally, people familiar with the matter said. The Shenzhen-based company us seeking to raise about 200 million yuan in a series B round, the people said, requesting not to be named discussing a private matter.

Sequoia-Backed China Robot Startup Said to Be Raising New Funds

Makeblock Co., a Chinese maker of DIY robotics parts, is seeking to raise funding at a $200 million valuation as the Sequoia Capital-backed startup expands into classrooms and hobbyist’s workshops globally, people familiar with the matter said. The Shenzhen-based company us seeking to raise about 200 million yuan in a series B round, the people said, requesting not to be named discussing a private matter.

Access to airwaves made WBIN valuable in $68M sale NEW

Television broadcasting is all about visuals, but it turns out that the valuable part of WBIN-TV wasn’t anything that we could see. On Friday, Bill Binnie announced that he would be shutting down the state’s youngest television station because he had sold its broadcast spectrum – the right to send out its signals at certain wavelengths – to the Federal Communications Commission for $68 million, more than seven times the $9 million he paid for the station in 2011.

Stada Bid War Unfolds as Third Suitor Offers $3.84 Billion

Stada Arzneimittel AG is weighing offers as a bidding war for one of the last remaining generic-drug businesses of its size in Germany and Russia begins to unfold. The company said Thursday it received interest from a third firm that made a non-binding offer of 58 euros a share, or about 3.61 billion euros .

Tech Investor Jackson to Drop Activism With New Fund

Eric Jackson, an outspoken investor whose barbs have targeted Apple Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Viacom Inc., plans to turn his back on activism to start a new hedge fund. Jackson left as managing director at SpringOwl Asset Management LLC in December and plans to launch the as yet unnamed new fund in the middle of this year, he said.

Amazon and Apple’s Payments Growth Shows PayPal Is Facing Stiffer Competition

Though its shares — and back when it was a part of eBay , eBay’s shares — have dipped a number of times on news that a tech giant is trying to muscle in on its turf, the company has kept delivering 20%-plus payment volume growth like clockwork. But while any talk of a would-be “PayPal-killer” merits skepticism, the company does arguably face a tougher competitive environment than any time in recent history.

Google Said to Fund Legal Brief Against Trump Immigration Order

Google parent Alphabet Inc. is footing the bill for the legal brief signed by more than 120 companies that oppose President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, according to people familiar with the arrangement. While Alphabet is paying Washington, D.C.-based law firm Mayer Brown LLP to handle the friend-of-the-court brief, other companies have offered to fund a share of the fee, the people said.

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Market-intelligence firm CB Insights has compiled a list of the major acquirers of private artificial-intelligence companies over the last five years. This list reveals well-known tech giants making large investments to increase their capabilities in AI.

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Market-intelligence firm CB Insights has compiled a list of the major acquirers of private artificial-intelligence companies over the last five years. This list reveals well-known tech giants making large investments to increase their capabilities in AI.

Why Self-Driving Cars Will Be Baidus Next Big Opportunity

Morgan Stanley analysts recently said that Baidu won’t be delivering much upside this year as its growth will be restricted by tight advertising laws in China. Also, as the likes of Tencent Holdings raise their content game by investing in online video, Baidu will find it difficult to boost revenue.

Trump’s FCC closes AT&T and Verizon zero-rating inquiry – CNET

There’s a new sheriff in town at the Federal Communications Commission, and he just gave AT&T and Verizon a big pass. The FCC said Friday it would end its inquiry into the companies’ so-called zero rating offers that allow customers to watch video from certain applications from their mobile devices without it counting against their monthly data caps.

Facebook Carries ‘One Long-Term Concern,’ RBC’s Mahaney Says

Facebook, the social media giant that if it were a country would be the most populous in the world, will report its fourth quarter earnings results after the market close on Wednesday. “We like the setup with Facebook going into this print tonight,” RBC tech analyst Mark Mahaney said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report” Wednesday afternoon.

Google Not Planning to Be Silenced by Amazon’s Echo

Amazon’s Echo may have the early edge, but Google CEO Sundar Pichai says the race to have the dominant voice assistant is at a ‘very early’ stage. The blowout success of the Amazon Echo has raised the stakes in the voice assistant space, but Google CEO Sundar Pichai doesn’t seem to be all that worried.

Better Buy: Baidu, Inc. vs. Facebook

The divergent fortunes of Facebook and Baidu shares over the past year only reinforce their apparent differences. However, though their core businesses today touch different areas of the global technology market, Facebook and Baidu are united in their ongoing efforts to shape some of technology’s most important future growth markets.

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Earnings season is well under way, and some big tech names are up next. In the coming days, investors will watch Alphabet report results for their most recently ended quarters.

Google Buys Parts of Twitter, But Doesn’t Want the Whole Thing

That package includes its mobile application development platform Fabric, the Crashlytics crash-reporting platform, mobile app analytics tool Answers, SMS login system Digits, and development automation system Fastlane. Does the sale indicate that Twitter will sell itself off in bits and pieces instead of as a whole company? Or does it mean that Twitter is merely streamlining its business by dumping its non-core assets? Let’s take a closer look at Twitter and Google’s plans to decide.

3 Top Driverless Car Stocks to Buy Now

I bought a new-to-me car recently, and I realized that by the time I’m in the market for another one, we’ll likely be knee-deep into the driverless car transformation . That’s because IHS estimates that there will be 76 million partially to fully autonomous vehicles on the road worldwide by 2035.

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Baby monitors have come a long way from the walkie-talkie-type devices that let you listen in on the coos and cries of your infant. Today they’re part of the Internet of Things in a connected home that let you wirelessly watch your child on your computer, laptop, or smartphone whether you’re at home, outside, or away.

FCC Chairman warns Republicans against net neutrality repeal – CNET

In his last speech as chairman of the FCC, Tom Wheeler defends his controversial open internet rules that prohibit broadband providers from favoring their own services at the expense of their competitors. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler testifies before a House subcommittee in March 2015 defending his agency’s controversial net neutrality rules.