Praveen chintu

Quantum physicists can now distil a kind of photon schnapps. When spirits are distilled, the alcohol content increases relative to the water content. A similar method developed by a team from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching works on light quanta – photons. It extracts individual photons from a light source, pushes back the unwanted vacuum component, and reports this event. Such single photons are important quantum bits for the currently emerging quantum information technology. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2PEO6ed

Following four expeditions in the Arctic Ocean and satellite data analysis, a team of Russian climate scientists featuring MIPT researchers described the ocean's "seasonal memory." This refers to a mechanism explaining how atmospheric circulation has caused the ice in the Eurasian Arctic to melt faster than in the American Arctic in the 21st century. The paper was published in the journal Atmosphere. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2DEr16F

Small stellar systems like dwarf galaxies are thought to be the main building blocks of the Milky Way. However, it is unclear how many and what kind of stars in our galaxy originated from satellite dwarf galaxies. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2GPQUBd

For the first time, a European research team involving the University of Göttingen has discovered the remains of a nova in a galactic globular cluster. The remnant is located near the centre of the globular cluster Messier 22 and has recently been observed using modern instruments. The results will be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2V2TM7U

As fascinating as it is mysterious, dark matter is one of the greatest enigmas of astrophysics and cosmology. It is thought to account for 90 percent of the matter in the universe, but its existence has been demonstrated only indirectly, and has recently been called into question. New research conducted by SISSA removes the recent doubts on the presence of dark matter within galaxies, disproving the empirical relations in support of alternative theories. The study, published in the Astrophysical Journal, also offers new insights into understanding the nature of dark matter and its relationship with ordinary matter. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2Leq4sd

A team at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has succeeded in producing inorganic perovskite thin films at moderate temperatures using co-evaporation - making post-tempering at high temperatures unnecessary. The process makes it much easier to produce thin-film solar cells from this material. In comparison to metal-organic hybrid perovskites, inorganic perovskites are more thermally stable. The work has been published in Advanced Energy Materials. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2VzkZyp

When scientists are trying to make things better, they will often turn to a standard rule and try to disprove or disrupt it. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2GIqwJG

Scientists have invented a new "synthetic antibody" that could make screening for diseases easier and less expensive than current go-to methods. Writing in the journal Nano Letters, a team led by Markita Landry of Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley describes how peptoids – synthetically produced molecules, first created by Ron Zuckermann at Berkeley Lab's Molecular Foundry, that are similar to protein-building peptides – and tiny cylinders of carbon atoms known as single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can be combined to selectively bind a target protein. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2V91qxx

When there are multiple factors at play in a situation that is itself changing, such as an El Nino winter in a changing climate, how can scientists figure out what is causing what? Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed an advanced statistical method for quantifying and visualizing changes in environmental systems and easily picking out the driving factor. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2ZKtJRJ

A beluga whale was found off the coast of Norway with a harness labelled: "equipment of St. Petersburg." Russia denies any involvement and although whales can be trained for spying, they shouldn't be from WIRED UK http://bit.ly/2V2NyVD

Twitter is expanding its lineup of live and on-demand premium video programming across sports, gaming, entertainment and news. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2ZKfmNd

From today, Uber has added public transport to its app in London, incorporating real-time information on the city’s Underground, Overground, train and bus network, as well as other trams, shuttle, river boat and the DLR’s driverless trains. Last summer the ride-hailing giant was granted a provisional 15-month license to operate in the U.K. capital — after appealing against the shock 2017 decision of transport regulator, TfL, to reject its application for a licence renewal. But instead of the standard five-year license, a judge gave Uber 15 months grace to continue working to satisfy conditions that Transport for London had said it had failed to meet when it made the decision not to grant a license renewal — deeming Uber “not fit and proper to hold a private hire operator licence”. The TfL decision focused mainly on concerns around passenger and driver safety. But Uber was also called out for a questionable approach to regulatory oversight, with TfL saying it had failed to adequa

Asia Pacific grocery delivery startup Honestbee has confirmed it is suspending business in half of the eight markets it operates in and laying off 10 percent of its 1,000 staff. The cost-cutting appears to be part of belt-tightening ahead of a planned new injection of funding, TechCrunch has come to learn. According to a statement shared today, Honestbee is “halting our services in Hong Kong and Indonesia” while its business in Japan and the Philippines — and some partnerships in other countries — will be “temporarily suspended” while an internal review is conducted. It also operates in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand (where it has paused its food delivery service) and Malaysia. One of the big concerns around Honestbee’s future is its lack of financing, as TechCrunch reported last week. The company has raised around $60 million in disclosed funding from investors, which does not match its currently monthly losses of around $6.5 million. A source told TechCrunch that Honestbee is expec

Garmin announced today that it will be adding menstrual cycle tracking to its line of trackers and smartwatches. The new feature gives users the ability to log symptoms, track cycles and offers up additional context by way of Garmin Connect, the company’s mobile app. The addition follows a similar feature instituted by Fitbit , roughly this time last year. It’s since become a mainstay across the company’s tracker and smartwatch offerings. In spite of still being associated with GPS, Garmin has become a major wearable player in its own right, generally rounding out the global top five, courtesy of devices focused on sports and outdoor functionality. Garmin’s offering sounds pretty similar to Fitbit’s primarily focused on offering users a way to log this information in a centralized location along with the rest of the health data Garmin’s devices track. The contextual information, meanwhile, continues tidbits such as, Once your period starts, you might find it easier to push yoursel

Companies are on the hunt for ways to reduce the time and money it costs their employees to perform repetitive tasks, so today a startup that has built a business to capitalize on this is announcing a huge round of funding to double down on the opportunity. UiPath — a robotic process automation startup originally founded in Romania that uses artificial intelligence and sophisticated scripts to build software to run these tasks — today confirmed that it has closed a Series D round of $568 million at a post-money valuation of $7 billion. From what we understand, the startup is “close to profitability” and is going to keep growing as a private company. Then, an IPO within the next 12-24 months the “medium term” plan. “We are at the tipping point. Business leaders everywhere are augmenting their workforces with software robots, rapidly accelerating the digital transformation of their entire business and freeing employees to spend time on more impactful work,” said Daniel Dines, UiPath

Scandinavian air carrier SAS said Tuesday it had to cancel another 504 flights on Wednesday, affecting 47,000 passengers, as a pilot strike continued into its fifth day. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2VEgeDR

US stock market operator Nasdaq said Tuesday it was giving Oslo Stock Exchange shareholders more time to accept its near-700 million euro takeover bid, as it battles Euronext for control of the Norway bourse. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2J5jCAU

Little is known about deep ocean environments. But scientists focussing on the depths of the North Atlantic are now learning more about their ecosystems—including the role of vast sea sponge grounds – and how to safeguard them against the effects of climate change and industry. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2XUH08w

A University of Denver team is using drone images to create a 3D reconstruction of a World War II-era Japanese internment camp in southern Colorado. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2LehVnC

Samsung on Tuesday stood by its new Galaxy S10 5G model after a South Korean smartphone owner posted pictures online of a charred handset claiming it had mysteriously "burnt". from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2VEwLHK

Nigeria based startup Tizeti , an internet service provider, today launched WifiCall.ng —an internet voice-calling platform for individuals and businesses. WifiCall is a VoIP— or Voice over Internet Protocol —subscription service that allows unlimited calls to any phone number, even if that number isn’t registered on WifiCall’s network. Tizeti will offer the product in Nigeria for now, with plans to open it up to phone numbers outside Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy in 2020. WifiCall was influenced by popularity of WiFi enabled voice services such WhatsApp, in Africa, and the continent’s improving digital and mobile profile. With its new VoIP product, Tizeti looks to contend with the likes of Skype, WhatsApp, and major telcos. “On the low end we’re competing with the mobile providers. WifiCall gives you a real number and it’s cheaper. But we’re also offering enterprise options you would not get with a mobile connection or even WhatsApp,” Tizeti co-founder and CEO

Vault Platform , a London-based startup that has built software to “re-imagine” workplace misconduct reporting, has raised $4.2 million in seed funding. Leading the round is Kindred Capital, with participation from Angular Ventures, System.One, Jane VC, and ex-Mosaic Ventures Partner Mike Chalfen. Founded in 2018 by Neta Meidav and Rotem Hayoun-Meidav, Vault is attempting to create a new and better way for company employees to report misconduct, such as workplace bullying or harassment, and in turn replace existing “hotline” systems, which it reckons are underused and often ineffective. The so-called “TrustTech” offering lets employees easily record incidents in a diary-like space, with the option to only action those complaints when others also come forward. The SaaS consists of an employee app, corporate case management hub, and data and analytics. The latter claims to be able to help enterprises identify repeat problems and manage issues internally before they escalate. “It’s und

Perkbox , the London-based startup now calling itself an “employee experience platform,” has raised a further £13.5 million in funding. The round is led by existing investor Draper Esprit, alongside a number of previous Perkbox angels. Prior to this, the company, which launched in 2015, had raised £11 million. Targeting companies of all sizes, from SMEs to larger businesses, Perkbox’s platform lets employers give employees a number of benefits and rewards to enrich their work and personal life. The broader aim, of course, is to improve retention and staff well-being. The offering now spans several products beyond its “perks” origins , including card-linked loyalty and medical provision. In addition, Perkbox enables companies to measure employee sentiment to help break down silos between management and teams, and to let employees give recognition to one another. This can either be peer-to-peer or top down from management. “With this new suite of products, we transitioned from an emp

Remember Prisma? The Moscow-based team behind the app that sparked a style transfer craze in 2016 has raised a €6 million (~$6.7M) Series A, led by early stage artificial intelligence focused VC firm, Haxus. While two of Prisma’s original co-founders left the company in the middle of last year , to work on building a new social app — the still, as yet, unreleased Capture — co-founder Andrey Usoltsev stayed on to keep developing Prisma Labs, taking up the CEO role. The Series A funding will go towards expanding Prisma’s 21-strong team and scaling the business by spending on marketing to grow uptake of its apps’ premium subscription offers. These include a subscription layer for its eponymous app which gives users access to styles not available in the free version. “We’re going to grow rapidly. We’re going to double our team this year and set up the impressive marketing budget,” says Usoltsev. Late last year the team released a new freemium selfie retouching app, called Lensa , hop

Quebec's criticism of Justin Trudeau's French serves to position him as an "outsider" to Quebecois identity, according to a professor at Binghamton University, State University of New York. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2GSt7Cf

Editor’s note:  This post originally appeared on TechNode , an editorial partner of TechCrunch based in China. It may have lost its original founding team , but the wheels are still rolling for embattled electric vehicle (EV) maker Faraday Future. The company, famous for lavish promotions but little substance , has received yet another financial lifeline in the wake of a dispute with key investor Evergrande. Faraday announced on Monday that it had received $225 million in bridge financing. That sum is apparently part of a larger $1.25 billion capital raise that the company believes it can close before the end of this year. This latest shot in the arm is led by U.S. asset management firm Birch Lake Associates and it is aimed at bringing Faraday’s flagship FF91 SUV to market. Part of the financing seeks to reassure Faraday’s suppliers after the financial turmoil the company has seen since late last year, and to “obtain their commitments” to ensure that the FF91 enters mass producti

Low-cost acoustic tags attached to fishing nets are being trialled as part of a major new project to reduce marine litter and 'ghost fishing'. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2GSTWWQ

European aerospace giant Airbus announced Tuesday its net profit fell sharply in the first quarter, blaming in part its decision to stop building the loss-making A380 super-jumbo. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2J2NePy

Here's a hypothetical: a telescope detects an asteroid between 100 and 300 meters in diameter racing through our solar system at 14 kilometers per second, 57 million kilometers from Earth. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2WgprPI

In serene turquoise waters off Egypt's Red Sea coast, scuba divers ease among delicate pink jellyfish and admire coral—yet a rebounding tourism sector threatens the fragile marine ecosystem. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2IQRRg5

Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest smartphone and memory chip maker, reported a slump in first-quarter net profits Tuesday, in the face of a weakening chip market and rising competition. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2LejuBN

German airline group Lufthansa plunged deeper into the red in the first quarter, it said Tuesday, blaming the rising price of fuel and intense competition in Europe but sticking to annual targets. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2VCdSFE

Virgin Australia said on Tuesday it had delayed delivery of its order of 48 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft over safety concerns, following two deadly crashes. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2L9tdJz

Though less likely to study in a formal technology or engineering course, America's girls are showing more mastery of those subjects than their boy classmates, according to newly released national education data. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2VyvB0I

While Google has dominated the online ad market for almost the entirety of its existence, its first quarter earnings report suggests that competitors may be nipping at its heels. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2Lfmhuz

The UK's currently proposed 2040 ban will leave too many fossil fuel burning cars on the road by 2050, harnessed whale appears to have been trained by Russian Navy from WIRED UK http://bit.ly/2V2MsZS

Bees exposed to a neonicotinoid pesticide fly only a third of the distance that unexposed bees are able to achieve. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2XTqGF1

Japanese automaker Toyota will assemble two models of its Lexus in Canada starting in 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2V26iEA

Federally-sponsored science plays a more significant role in bringing together stakeholders and facilitating environmental governance debates than all other types of research, according to an international team of researchers. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2GJf5RZ

Planting and growing a strategic mix of cover crops not only reduces the loss of nitrogen from farm fields, protecting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, but the practice also contributes nitrogen to subsequent cash crops, improving yields, according to researchers. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2V3SB8p

At least three major U.S. airlines were briefly affected Monday by an outage at a technology provider that shut down ticketing and check-in online and at airport kiosks. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2J2j5zH

When Alfred Brownell arrived in a remote Liberian village, the surrounding tropical rainforest had been leveled by bulldozers. Burial grounds were uprooted, religious shrines were desecrated and a stream people depended upon for water was polluted. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2vqOJip

Fishing managers on the East Coast began the daunting process Monday of implementing new restrictions on lobster fishing that are designed to protect a vanishing species of whale. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2W8kUil

You're donating an old computer storage drive or putting one up for sale on eBay. But first, you erase all the data. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2DCnfuC

Google parent Alphabet on Monday reported that profit in the first three months of this year sagged under the weight of a hefty antitrust fine in the European Union. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2WgsPdE

A study conducted by Assistant Professor Blaine Reeder, Ph.D., and co-authored by Catherine Jankowski, Ph.D., at the University of Colorado College of Nursing on older women's perception of technology found that more active older adult women prefer wearable sensors for themselves and smart home sensors for their older parents. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2PBdTEl

Everywhere you look, people are looking at screens. In the decade since smartphones have become ubiquitous, we now have a feeling almost as common as the smartphones themselves: being sucked into that black hole of staring at those specific apps—you know which ones they are—and then a half an hour has gone by before you realize it. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2XShe4F

Mixed-race couples are a burgeoning population in the United States, accounting for 17 percent of all new marriages. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2GSLo2d

Tiny tomato plants developed at the University of California, Riverside, could one day feed astronauts on the International Space Station. The plants have minimal leaves and stems but still produce a normal amount of fruit, making them a potentially productive crop for cultivation anywhere with limited soil and natural resources. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2XTgLPN

Parasitoid wasps lay their eggs on a spider's back. This team proposes that by injecting the spider host with the molting hormone, ecdysone, the wasp induces the spider to make a special web for the wasp's pupa. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2GSIeLV

A beluga whale found with a tight harness that appeared to be Russian made has raised the alarm of Norwegian officials and prompted speculation that the animal may have come from a Russian military facility. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2XVFu5Q

Polymers are usually the go-to material for thermal insulation. Think of a silicone oven mitt, or a Styrofoam coffee cup, both manufactured from polymer materials that are excellent at trapping heat. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2URAZHz

WeWork, the fast-growing office-sharing startup, said Monday it had filed documents for a stock market listing to help fuel further expansion. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2V1KwRw

Over 11 field seasons, between 1999 and 2010, ornithologist Cagan Sekercioglu trekked through the forests and coffee fields of Costa Rica to study how tropical birds were faring in a changing agricultural landscape. Through painstaking banding of individual birds, Sekercioglu asked whether the expansion of coffee plantations is reducing tropical bird biodiversity. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2Lcm6Am

Researchers have discovered a gene that drives color differences within a species of bumble bees. This discovery helps to explain the highly diverse color patterns among bumble bee species as well as how mimicry—individuals in an area adopting similar color patterns—evolves. A study describing the gene, which occurs in a highly conserved region of the genome that provides blueprints for segmentation, was led by researchers at Penn State and appears April 29, 2019, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2VwVgXl

What matters more to a scientist's career success: where they currently work, or where they got their Ph.D.? It's a question a team of researchers teases apart in a new paper published in PNAS. Their analysis calls into question a common assumption underlying academia: that a researcher's productivity reflects their scientific skill, which is reflected in the prestige of their doctoral training. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2LcfMsy

The world's oceans soak up about a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans pump into the air each year—a powerful brake on the greenhouse effect. In addition to purely physical and chemical processes, a large part of this is taken up by photosynthetic plankton as they incorporate carbon into their bodies. When plankton die, they sink, taking the carbon with them. Some part of this organic rain will end up locked into the deep ocean, insulated from the atmosphere for centuries or more. But what the ocean takes, the ocean also gives back. Before many of the remains get very far, they are consumed by aerobic bacteria. And, just like us, those bacteria respire by taking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide. Much of that regenerated CO2 thus ends up back in the air. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2VAlZ5s

Grass-eating mammals, including armadillos as big as Volkswagens, became more diverse in South America about 6 million years ago because shifts in atmospheric circulation drove changes in climate and vegetation, according to a University of Arizona-led research team. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2LclUkC

An international research team led by invasion ecologist Bethany Bradley at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has conducted the first global meta-analysis of the characteristics and size of invasive alien species' impacts on native species as invaders become more abundant. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2VCM0B2

Clear behavioral rules posted prominently on online discussions can markedly increase participation while cutting harassment, new research from Princeton University has found. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2Ld4SCU

Some animals form characteristic infertile spermatozoa called parasperm, which differ in size and shape compared to fertile sperm produced by single males. Species that have been reported to produce parasperm include snails, cottoid fish, moths and butterflies. Moths and butterflies produce fertile eupyrene sperm and anucleate non-fertile parasperm, which are known as apyrene sperm. A research team at the National Institute for Basic Biology in Japan has identified the gene involved in the formation of the apyrene sperm and has revealed the important function of the apyrene sperm in fertilization using the silk moth, Bombyx mori. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2XZBxgR

On April 13, 2029, a speck of light will streak across the sky, getting brighter and faster. At one point it will travel more than the width of the full Moon within a minute and it will get as bright as the stars in the Little Dipper. But it won't be a satellite or an airplane—it will be a 1,100-foot-wide (340-meter-wide) near-Earth asteroid called 99942 Apophis that will cruise harmlessly by Earth, about 19,000 miles (31,000 kilometers) above the surface. That's within the distance that some of our spacecraft that orbit Earth. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2USMqPC

Hate crimes committed by groups are especially likely to result in injuries such as broken bones and missing teeth, according to a new study from Florida State University. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2ZMMp30

More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in eastern Canada in recent days as spring floods broke record levels set in 2017, officials said Monday, warning that it could take weeks for the waters to recede. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2UPAQV8

Biochemists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered two ways that autophagy, or self-eating, controls the levels of oils in plant cells. The study, published in The Plant Cell on April 29, 2019, describes how this cannibalistic-sounding process actually helps plants survive. It also provides mechanistic details scientists might leverage to get plants to accumulate more oil. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2ZL0kXC

Chewy, the online pet store owned by PetSmart, is going public. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories http://bit.ly/2DFwrOT

from Gadgets Now http://bit.ly/2J2CznX

A first-ever Indian study has found that Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS), also known as e-cigarettes, pose much less a health risk than combustible cigarettes and could be an ideal tool to reduce or give up smoking. from Gadgets Now http://bit.ly/2UPwnBY

The soon-to-be-launched internet-enabled passenger cars, via SIM card connections, will have the ability to not only become major product differentiators but also prop up sales, experts said. from Gadgets Now http://bit.ly/2ZIXoe8

We put the two budget smartphones' cameras to test. Find out which one comes out on top. from Gadgets Now http://bit.ly/2XUhq3s

For the ongoing IPL season, Facebook-owned instant messaging platform WhatsApp has introduced a set of special cricket stickers. The stickers are currently available on Android and are expected to be added on iOS soon. from Gadgets Now http://bit.ly/2J2HPbd

Samsung’s Q1 earnings are in and, as the company itself predicted , they don’t make for pretty reading. The Korean giant saw revenue for the three-month period fall by 13 percent year-on-year to 52.4 trillion KRW, around $45 billion. Meanwhile, operating profit for Q1 2019 came in at 6.2 trillion KRW, that’s a whopping $5.33 billion but it represents a decline of huge 60 percent drop from the same period last year. Ouch. Samsung’s Q1 last year was admittedly a blockbuster quarter, but these are massive declines. What’s going on? Samsung said that sales of its new Galaxy S10 smartphone were “solid” but it admitted that its memory chip and display businesses, so often the most lucrative units for the company, didn’t perform well and “weighed down” the company’s results overall. Despite those apparent S10 sales, the mobile division saw income drop “as competition intensified.” Meanwhile, the display business posted a loss “due to decreased demand for flexible displays and increasing m

Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem is set to get a massive injection of funds after Jungle Ventures reached a first close of $175 million for its newest fund, TechCrunch has come to learn. Executives at the Singapore-based firm anticipate that the new fund, which is Jungle’s third to date, will reach a final close of $220 million over the coming few months, a source with knowledge of the fund and its plans told TechCrunch. If it were to reach that figure, the fund would become the largest for startup investments in Southeast Asia. Jungle Ventures declined to comment. An SEC filing posted in December suggested the firm was aiming to raise up to $200 million with the fund. Its last fund was $100 million and it closed in November 2016. Founding partners Anurag Srivastava and Amit Anand started the fund way back in 2012 when it raised a (much smaller)  $10 million debut fund . Digging a little deeper, our source revealed that the new Jungle fund includes returning LPs World Bank aff

Alphabet’s Q1 earnings were a disappointment for Wall Street, courtesy primarily of ad revenue shortcomings. The hardware team met with some difficulties, as well, owing in part to a stagnating global smartphone market that has impacted virtually all players. CEO Sundar Pichai cited “year over year headwinds” when referring to the company’s smartphone line, following the release of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL last fall. The executive rightly referenced the company’s relatively recent entry as a standalone hardware developer and painted a hopeful picture of the industry’s innovations going forward. “I do continue to be excited to see 5G coming and the early foldable phones, which Android plays a big part in driving,” Pichai said on the call. Google has notably taken an important role developing an Android UI designed for the foldable form factor, along with working closely beside Samsung on its recently delayed foldable. CFO Ruth Porat echoed Pichai’s comments, while hinting at wha

We’re deep in IPO news, and last week was no different. When this happens, Equity’s Kate Clark and Alex Wilhelm fire up their mics and wax financial about the news we can’t possibly fit into the regular episode of the popular TechCrunch podcast. Last week the duo discussed Uber’s IPO pricing and Slack’s S-1 . On Uber: Kate: And before we jump into Uber’s Q1 financials, what do you think of Uber is most recent private valuation of 72 billion. Do you think that’s a wildly inflated valuation or do you think that’s a reasonable price tag? Alex: So I have absolutely no idea. And we’re going to get into this a bit with the Q1 numbers, but I don’t know how to price this company. I really don’t. We talk a lot about SaaS IPOs and there’s a lot of really solid metrics out there about those companies and what they’re worth and what makes them work more or less than competitors. Uber’s a strange beast. It’s got these enormous losses. It’s got slowing growth. It is a global brand. It’s got

Twitter is unveiling a number of new content deals and renewals tonight at its NewFronts event for digital advertisers. It’s only been two years since Twitter first joined the NewFronts . At the time, coverage suggested that executives saw the company’s video strategy as a crucial part of turning things around,  but since then, the spotlight has moved on to other things (like rethinking the fundamental social dynamics of the service ). And yet the company is still making video deals, with 13 of them being unveiled tonight. That’s a lot of announcements, though considerably less than the 30 revealed at last year’s event . The company notes that it has already announced a number of partnerships this year, including one with the NBA . “When you collaborate with the top publishers in the world, you can develop incredibly innovative ways to elevate premium content and bring new dimensions to the conversations that are already happening on Twitter,” said Twitter Global VP and Head of Co

Amazon announced today it has begun to ask customers to participate in a preview program that will help the company build a Spanish-language Alexa experience for U.S. users. The program, which is currently invite-only, will allow Amazon to incorporate into the U.S. Spanish-language experience a better understanding of things like word choice and local humor, as it has done with prior language launches in other regions. In addition, developers have been invited to begin building Spanish-language skills, also starting today, using the Alexa Skills Kit. The latter was announced on the Alexa blog , noting that any skills created now will be made available to the customers in the preview program for the time being. They’ll then roll out to all customers when Alexa launches in the U.S. with Spanish-language support later this year. Manufacturers who want to build “Alexa Built-in” products for Spanish-speaking customers can also now request early access to a related Alexa Voice Services (A