WhatsApp is getting several new changes including stickers and business-focused app features, its parent company Facebook announced today during the annual F8 developer conference. The messaging platform will also be adding group video calls in the coming months, WhatsApp director Mubarik Imam announced. Imam didn’t have many details to give about how group video calls … Read more
Yang Qianqian holds out her smartphone to scan a barcode on the mobile of a vendor selling fresh fruit and vegetables at a bustling outdoor market in Beijing. The dance student is part of an explosion in the use of mobile payment platforms in China as consumers increasingly take out phones instead of cash to … Read more
China’s censors raced Friday to scrub social media networks of candles, RIP and other tributes to Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo as they seek to silence discussion about the prominent dissident’s death. The 61-year-old democracy activist died Thursday from liver cancer while under heavy police guard at a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang — … Read more
Basketballs, electric scooters and rainbow-coloured umbrellas — nothing seems out of bounds in China’s booming “sharing economy”. Where once Chinese consumers would look to shell out on items such as luxury handbags or cars, now they can rent them for short periods taking advantage of the explosion of mobile payment technology. As ever with China, … Read more
Online peddlers of celebrity gossip have fallen foul of China’s new cybersecurity law, with officials ordering internet companies to stop “catering to the public’s vulgar taste”. The controversial regulation took effect on June 1 and is largely aimed at protecting China’s networks and private user details — but also bans the publication of a wide … Read more
A Chinese dating app for lesbians that has more than five million users has been shut down. The app, Rela, is no longer available in the Android or Apple app stores, and its website and Sina Weibo account have been deleted. Users began to notice that the app was not accessible last week. It is … Read more
Moscow’s communications regulator has added WeChat to its list of prohibited websites, according to Russian state news agency TASS. The messaging app ran afoul of laws requiring companies that distribute information online to register with government authorities in Russia. Operated by tech giant Tencent (TCEHY), WeChat has about 900 million monthly active users, the vast … Read more
Alipay, the Chinese digital payment giant owned by ecommerce giant Alibaba, is expanding in the US. Customers will be able to use Alipay at about 4 million businesses after a deal was signed with credit card processing service First Data. The deal is chiefly aimed at Chinese tourists visiting North America. It follows a small … Read more
Chinese internet giant Tencent said Saturday it was “deeply sorry” its messaging app WeChat was blocked in Russia, adding it was in touch with authorities to resolve the issue. WeChat, which had 889 million global users by the end of 2016, was not properly registered with Russian regulators, Tencent said. It is not clear how … Read more
In a one-room shop tucked inside a Beijing alley, a bearded 74-year-old fortune-teller in crimson tunic offers what Chinese parents have sought for centuries: an auspicious name for their newborn. But business has been tough lately for Mao Shandong and others in his trade as tech-savvy entrepreneurs have turned the ancient naming tradition into a … Read more
China’s giant Tencent Holdings has taken a five percent stake in the Tesla electric car company as it moves to ramp up production, according to an official filing Tuesday. Tencent paid about $1.8 billion for the small share of Elon Musk’s company, according to the document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). … Read more
The Ghana Police Service has cautioned the public to be vigilant against fraudsters on social media. The service said some fraudsters have taken advantage of social media to defraud unsuspecting victims of huge sums of money on the various platform. According to the police, the fraudsters target entrepreneurs, contractors and individuals seeking employment and contracts … Read more
Manchester United is the most popular club online in China but the Bundesliga’s web presence far outstrips the English Premier League, a new study has shown. The survey by sports marketing company Mailman also found that Cristiano Ronaldo was the player with the biggest presence among Chinese fans with United’s Wayne Rooney, who has been … Read more
Snapchat may be banned in China, but that isn’t stopping the messaging app’s parent company from building a toehold in the world’s most populous country. Snap Inc. says it has opened a technology office in the southern city of Shenzhen to focus on Spectacles, the startup’s camera-equipped sunglasses that can send footage to users’ Snapchat … Read more
Police in Shanghai have busted a gang suspected of fabricating official documents and spreading rumors online. A Ministry of Public Security statement Friday said the group, with members from over 20 provincial-level regions in China, used WeChat as a major platform to spread rumors about the Chinese government’s control of free speech online. Han Wencai, … Read more
Tencent Holdings Ltd’s main movie arm plans to spend at least 2 billion yuan ($295 million) investing in Hollywood and Chinese films in the two years through 2017 to expand its presence in global entertainment production, according to people familiar with the matter. Tencent Pictures, which helped finance domestic smash Warcraft and the upcoming Kong: … Read more
A company in Beijing has come up with an unusual and incredibly offensive way to improve working relations between employees and managers. Every morning, between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m., female staff members are required to line up and kiss their boss before beginning work at a company selling home brewery equipment in Tongzhou District. Photos … Read more