Techmeme
- Fintech startups in Asia are proving to be formidable competitors to traditional banks, offering a slew of financial services, but many are bleeding cash (Financial Times)
- China's AI unicorns like Megvii, which thrived on government contracts for facial recognition, are now facing challenges amid US sanctions and cheaper tech (Will Knight/Wired)
- In China, investors and bankers say SoftBank's involvement, once a sign of promising prospects, is now viewed as a red flag that a company was likely overvalued (Kane Wu/Reuters)
- Instagram's limit of allowing one web link for users as a "Link in Bio" is a slow knife - a subtle, pervasive attempt to kill the open web (Anil Dash)
- Researchers claim they used 3D masks and photos to deceive facial recognition systems used by Alipay, WeChat Pay, Schiphol Airport, and train stations in China (Jeff John Roberts/Fortune)
- Reliance Industries has acquired an 85% stake in NowFloats, an Indian startup that helps small businesses and individuals build an online presence, for ~$20M (Manish Singh/TechCrunch)
- How the concept of free shipping forces small e-commerce businesses to eat the cost of shipping, as large sellers like Amazon do so at scale (Amanda Mull/The Atlantic)
- Morgan Stanley estimates Amazon is delivering half of its US packages, will soon pass UPS and FedEx in total volume, at a current rate of 2.5B packages a year (Michael Sheetz/CNBC)
- Congressional panel chair asks Apple and Google if app devs are required to disclose any non-US ties, amid concerns of Chinese investment in apps like TikTok (Reuters)
- Ping An's financial technology arm OneConnect closes flat on its first day of trading after raising $312M in its US IPO, which valued the company at $3.66B (Michael Hytha/Bloomberg)
- Social media management startup Sprout Social closes down 2.4% on its first day of trading after raising $150M in its IPO, which valued the company at $814M (Brian Deagon/Investor's Business Daily)
- Zippin raises $12M Series A led by Evolv Ventures, Kraft Heinz's VC arm, for Zippin Cube, a modular, prefabricated cashierless "store-in-a-box" (Sam Danley/Food Business News)
- Liu Jingyao, the college student who accused JD.com founder Richard Lui of rape, describes what it's like to be slut-shamed by the Chinese internet (Li Yuan/New York Times)
- WeWork sells SEO startup Conductor, which it bought for $113.6M, back to its management team, shuts down Spacious, which it acquired for $42.5M four months ago (Polina Marinova/Fortune)
- Apple and Spotify podcasts are available through Alexa-enabled devices in the US, starting today (Ashley Carman/The Verge)
TechCrunch
Silicon Alley Insider
- We asked 13 software execs whether Microsoft can topple Amazon in the cloud, and they say there's a chance but it'll be a hard battle (MSFT, AMZN)
- The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are both scheduled to arrive in 2020. Here's how they stack up. (MSFT, SNE)
- Wall Street's year in the public cloud: we tracked how big banks are making strides in using the tech
- Sneaky ways Apple Stores get you to spend more money
- I didn't have the cash to exercise my startup stock options. This Silicon Valley fund offered a way to do it without burying me in debt.
- The CEO of a Silicon Valley startup was quietly fired after allegedly spending over $75,000 at strip clubs and charging it to a company credit card
- Apple's super-powerful new Mac Pro costs anywhere from $6,000 to a mind-boggling $50,000 ? here's why it's probably not for you (AAPL)
- The most unusual buildings Google has turned into offices, from a Swiss brewery to an airplane hangar (GOOG)
- How IgnitionOne, an adtech company that holding company Dentsu bought for $275 million, wound up selling in a fire sale
- TikTok's owner has been quietly testing a Spotify competitor
- This VC built an email marketing company in Indianapolis that he sold to Salesforce for $2.5 billion. Here's why he thinks the city could be the next big tech center. (CRM)
- Uber's co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick sold off close to $166 million shares over the past three days, continuing to offload his stake in the ride-sharing giant (UBER)
- T-Mobile is outpacing the rest of the Big Four US carriers on value, loyalty, and satisfaction ? here's what consumers say is most important when selecting a mobile provider (TMUS, S, VZ, T)
- Amazon's new video game costs $40, but some players who signed up years before launch will get it for free (AMZN)
- AI IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Why carriers could lose out if they don't adopt AI fast ? and where they can make the biggest gains
- Read the pitch deck that Uber founder Garrett Camp created for the ride-hailing giant back in 2008 ? before the company became the $120 billion giant it is today (UBER)
- TELECOMS AND VIRTUAL REALITY: How telecoms can move beyond connectivity and up the VR value chain to grab a slice of the $24 billion revenue opportunity by 2026
- Ring says it will introduce new security features after hackers broke into a camera in an 8-year-old's bedroom, where they could watch and talk to the child
- Vizio's new 4K TV is one of the best home theater displays you can buy for under $1,000 ? here's our full review
- How to turn off AirDrop on your Mac computer, so no one can send you unwanted files
Mashable
- Curl up in front of a cozy Lego yule log that's streaming on YouTube 24/7
- It's good to be a lip balm hoarder
- '6 Underground' is an explosion of star power, style, and desperation
- Gifts to make a 'dumb' car as smart as a Tesla
- This top-rated app makes managing holiday finances a bit less stressful
- This one simple trick will help you find your keys right away, every time
- This magical notebook is straight out of Harry Potter — and it's on sale
- This 5-piece professional Damascus knife set is more than 75% off
- Why use words when you can just DM friends colorful rectangles?
- He died with $190M of customers' crypto. Now they want to dig him up.
- Apple aims for better iPhone photos using AI and infrared
- 9 Christmas tree alternatives for tiny apartments
- This indoor vertical farm grows produce without soil or natural light — Future Blink
- Porsche's Star Wars 'spaceship' sorta looks like the Taycan?
- Claire Saffitz attempts to recreate the Milky Way, and it's a journey
- Airport builds Christmas tree from confiscated knives, scissors, box cutters, and lighters
- George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman chat about what training was like for '1917'
- Facebook waited two weeks to tell employees their payroll data was stolen
- This open source farming technology aims to combat climate change via soil health – Good Algorithms
- Xbox Series X, Microsoft's new game console, is upon us
- AT&T 5G is now up and running in 10 U.S. cities
- Ivanka Trump will reportedly speak at CES
- Best laptop and tablet deals for this weekend: Shop Dell, Amazon Fire, Apple, and more
- Think your Mac doesn't need antivirus software? Actually, it does.
- The viral Mike Bloomberg dance is fake, but you can still love/hate it
- 7 of the best antivirus software for Android smartphones and tablets
- If you're hosting a holiday party, you desperately need one of these
- 7 of the best antivirus software options
- Best antivirus software for Windows 10
- 11 of the best pillows for a good night's sleep