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Tag: asia

  • Neso Brands appoints CEO after $100 million funding round

    Neso Brands appoints CEO after $100 million funding round

    Neso Brands, a subsidiary of eyewear manufacturer Lenskart, has raised $100 million in a seed funding round, which will enable the firm to create a house of brands catering to the global market.

    The company did not divulge the details of the investors involved. However, Lenskart, which owns Singapore-headquarted Neso, has earlier raised large sums in funding from prominent investors such as KKR, SoftBank, Alpha Wave Global and Temasek.

    Founded in 2022, Neso Brands is an eyewear manufacturer and retailer that leverages analytics, tech, and its own supply chain and distribution, to create a large network of co-owned direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands.

    Based out of Singapore, Neso Brands plans to sell its eyewear products to a global market by partnering up with the top entrepreneurs in the industry. It plans to invest in consumer eyewear brands around the world and grow these brands by leveraging synergies across the Lenskart group to accelerate international expansion.

    Neso Brands will utilise e-commerce and technologies such as AR and AI for eyewear brands as a strategy to capture global market share. Neso Brands will house these brands and enable a quicker global rollout by giving the brands access to shared resources – particularly technology, supply chain, distribution, capital and best practices.

    Neso Brands also said Bjorn Bergstrom has joined the founding team as the CEO.

    Bergstrom is an experienced investor and D2C operator, having most recently served as chief growth officer and interim chief product & technology officer for the global fashion brand NA-KD. Bergstrom’s experience prior to that includes working as a venture capital investor focusing on early-stage growth startups, management consulting as well as operational roles at consumer startups.

    “Today, there is a perfect storm in the eyewear industry that makes it ripe for disruption. Consumers have increasingly high demands when it comes to customer experience, branding, and choice, but incumbent players have been unable to keep up. By investing in the most promising new brands in the industry and leveraging centralised resources across technology, manufacturing and distribution, Neso Brands will be uniquely positioned to scale the eyewear brands of the future,” Bergstrom, CEO of Neso Brands, said in a statement.

    “With this investment in Neso Brands, we want to accelerate our mission of transforming the way people see and experience the world. Consumers want better and better every day and while people’s quality of life has been uplifted through all other lifestyle products such as shoes, apparel and wearables, eyewear products are the same old with no innovation, just more expensive. And Neso is our initiative to partner with founders globally to help create eyewear brands of the future,” Peyush Bansal, CEO of Lenskart, said.

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  • India’s Imports Of Cheap Russian Crude Surge Since Ukraine Invasion

    India’s Imports Of Cheap Russian Crude Surge Since Ukraine Invasion

    India has received 34 million barrels of discounted Russian oil since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, more than trebling the value of total imports from Russia, including other products, compared with the same period of 2021. The volumes of India’s seaborne oil imports from Russia exclude CPC Blend oil, which is also exported via Russia’s Black Sea port, but mostly supplied by Kazakhstan’s subsidiaries of western countries as transit volumes.

    India’s oil imports from Russia have been rising since February, as Asia’s third largest economy and the world’s third biggest oil importer, turned to deeply discounted Russian oil, mostly Urals crude, to cut its imports bill.

    The country received more than 24 million barrels of Russian crude this month, up from 7.2 million barrels in April and about 3 million in March, and is set to receive about 28 million barrels in June, according to Refinitiv Eikon oil flows.

    Surging energy imports helped push India’s total goods imports from Russia between Feb. 24 and May 26 to $6.4 billion, compared with $1.99 billion in the same period last year, according to government figures seen by Reuters.

    India’s exports to Russia, however, fell nearly 50% to $377.07 million over that period, as its government is yet to set up a formal payment mechanism.

    As the West responded to the invasion with a barrage of sanctions, India has come under fire for its continued purchases of Russian energy. New Delhi has brushed off the criticism, saying those imports made only a fraction of the country’s overall needs and has said it will keep buying “cheap” Russian oil, arguing a sudden stop would drive up costs for its consumers.

    Russian and Indian energy companies have also been discussing term supply agreements and possible acquisitions of stakes in Russian oil and gas projects.

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  • U.S. Agency Asks Tesla For Information On Canadian Fire Incident

    U.S. Agency Asks Tesla For Information On Canadian Fire Incident

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Thursday it has asked Tesla for information about a recent 2021 Tesla Model Y fire in Vancouver, British Columbia, in which a driver reported struggling to exit.

    The NHTSA told Reuters the agency “is aware of the incident and has reached out to the manufacturer for information.”

    Electrek posted a video of the incident in which the owner said he received an error notification and then saw smoke. The driver said that to get out he “had to smash the window. … I kicked through the window because everything stops. The power didn’t work. The door didn’t open. The windows didn’t go down.”

    Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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  • Snapchat upgrades Custom Stories feature, adds more safety improvements

    Snapchat upgrades Custom Stories feature, adds more safety improvements

    Snapchat’s latest new feature is trying to make users socialize more within the social app. Shared Stories is a new way for Snapchat users to involve friends in the creation of Stories. The new feature is the evolution of Custom Stories, which previously allowed users to make a Story and add friends to view and contribute.

    With the new Shared Stories feature, Snapchat users who have been added to a group can add their friends too. Designed with privacy in mind, Snaps sent to a Shared Story delete after 24 hours. Also, these Shared Stories do not have any chat component, so conversations will remain private between friends.

    Additionally, Snap revealed that content will be carefully moderated using a mix of automatic language detection and new community review tools. More importantly, Snapchat users will be notified once they join a Shared Story with someone they’ve blocked, allowing them to leave the Shared Story if they want too.

    The new Shared Stories feature is now rolling out to Snapchat users across the world on all supported platforms, but it might take a few days to reach everyone.

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  • Vietjet eyes 10-fold jump in profits amid return to post-pandemic normalcy

    Vietjet eyes 10-fold jump in profits amid return to post-pandemic normalcy

    Budget airline Vietjet targets profits of VND1 trillion (US$43.14 million) this year, 10 times the 2021 figure, as it seeks to recover from a two-year slump caused by Covid-19.

    It eyes a 2.5-fold rise in revenues to VND32.72 trillion. At the company’s annual general meeting on Saturday, shareholders expressed concern over the rising oil prices, but the management was optimistic.

    To Viet Thang, deputy CEO, revealed that when oil prices reach $100 per barrel, operation costs increase by 50 percent.

    CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said the airline has flown when oil prices were above $100 and still made profits.

    “We are always ready to buy fuel at low price and store them to optimize costs.”

    She also said a surcharge is levied when fuel prices surge and this eases the burden on the company.

    Vietjet plans to return to its pre-pandemic schedule domestically and resume 70 percent of international flights.

    Shareholders approved a plan to issue up to 54 million new shares, or 10 percent of the company’s free float.

    Vietjet recently placed a $35-billion order for 200 Boeing 737 aircraft and engine maintenance services.

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  • India Targets to Roll Out 6G by 2030

    India Targets to Roll Out 6G by 2030

    At an event celebrating the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) 25th anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the country is on track to roll out domestically developed 6G by the end of the decade.

    Currently, India’s 5G developments are still underway. Modi noted that connectivity will determine the pace of India’s growth, making it important for the country to pursue modernization at every level.He called for accelerated 5G network deployments to boost the Indian economy, which is projected to add $450 billion to the country.

    “5G technology will bring positive change in the governance of the country, ease of living and ease of doing business,” Modi stressed. “It will boost growth in agriculture, health, education, infrastructure and logistics.”

    At the same time, Modi announced the country’s first 5G testbeds, which would enable start-ups and industry players to test and validate their products locally and reduce dependence on foreign facilities.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended a base price for upcoming spectrum auctions. According to sources, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to move the 5G spectrum auction proposal to the Union Cabinet for approval next week.

     

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  • Grab customer attention across channels with a diversified strategy

    Grab customer attention across channels with a diversified strategy

    E-commerce businesses are fighting for consumers’ attention at an extraordinary rate. In an industry that’s already heavily saturated, hundreds of emerging digital channels have made it increasingly difficult to stand out, writes Simon Kelly, solutions manager, Apac at ChannelAdvisor.

    Yet, connecting to a diverse pool of customers across multiple platforms is not impossible. Those with the right multichannel strategy will win in this volatile e-commerce climate.

    Still, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. It’s about knowing who your customers are and which channels they use, thoroughly understanding each channel’s requirements and streamlining consumers’ pathway to purchase.

    Let’s take a look at some of the best practices of winning brands in the multichannel e-commerce space.

    Best practices for multichannel e-commerce

    Whether you’re just starting out or optimising your existing multichannel strategy, diversifying your e-commerce presence is most successful when you:

    1. Connect to the right channels. Who do you want to reach? Which KPIs do you want to influence? Which channels will help you get there?
    2. Market at the right time. Increase visibility and put your products front and centre in the eyes of consumers. Invest in digital marketing and retail media to maximise your presence in each channel.
    3. Sell where consumers shop. Prepare your channels for sales. Whether through digital campaigns, marketplaces or social media, clarify the path to purchase so it’s easy for consumers to find you and complete their purchase.
    4. Fulfil customer expectations. Achieve automation and scale with the right fulfilment options. Many marketplaces now offer fulfilment capabilities for added compliance, increased conversion and greater expansion.
    5. Optimise with data and analytics. Test everything from assortments to ads to product descriptions. Continue what works and eliminate what doesn’t to maximise the use of your budget and fuel long-term success.

    Diversify your channel presence

    There are numerous options for diversifying your online offerings, from direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales to third-party marketplaces to social commerce. The key is deciding which option(s) make the most sense for your brand.

    Direct-to-consumer (DTC)

    Many long-time B2B companies are starting to directly engage with consumers for numerous financial, logistical and brand-related benefits. In the face of economic downtimes, D2C offers resiliency, as well as:

    • Increased revenue from new customers.
    • Consumer trust from direct brand relationships.
    • Higher quality data from first-party interactions.

    Third-party marketplace

    Marketplaces like Amazon, Ebay and Walmart now make up more than 67 per cent of global web sales. They help you reach larger audiences, test demand in new markets and try out new products. But to achieve marketplace success, you need:

    • Seamless integrations with the right marketplace(s) for your brand.
    • Product data that meets marketplace requirements.
    • Consistency across all sales channels.
    • Fulfilment and delivery plans.
    • Advertising to drive traffic and visibility.

    Even after a successful launch into a new marketplace and meeting its specific requirements, succeeding in the space means defending your position. One of the best ways to do this is by monitoring performance and conducting benchmarking.

    Wholesale channels

    Most brands use wholesale channels like retailers to sell their products online. To fulfil orders, they can either ship inventory to retailers or dropship through suppliers. Regardless of the method, it’s not something to simply “set and forget,” as changing consumer behaviours and supply can impact your brand reputation. It’s important to regularly monitor your retail partners for share of digital shelf, product availability, pricing, content quality and product reviews. If products aren’t visible on the shelf, consumers can’t purchase. If the price is incorrect or content quality is poor, conversions will go down and reviews will be negative.

    Social commerce

    Social media sites are now a very important part of the consumer journey. From Facebook and Instagram to TikTok and Snapchat, these sites are key research and discovery channels for younger audiences. In fact, 60 per cent of 18-to-25-year-olds have discovered products they’ve purchased on social media. That means brands must be there to meet them. The key to helping them convert is creating clear paths to purchase with buy now options and links to your site or preferred retailers.

    Shoppable media

    Digital marketing campaigns put your products directly in consumers’ line of sight. But if your ads send traffic to pages where shoppers can’t buy (e.g. a showcase website or out-of-stock page), you’re missing out on sales. Shoppable media makes digital campaigns shoppable, ensuring clicks go to pages with in-stock products for purchase. That way, you can increase conversions, create better consumer experiences and strengthen retailer relationships from any digital campaign on any channel.

    The fight for visibility in an increasingly crowded landscape doesn’t have to be overwhelming. ChannelAdvisor helps brands and retailers streamline the consumer path to purchase and improve digital campaigns across retail media sites from Amazon to Ebay. With ChannelAdvisor, you can streamline your e-commerce operations, expand to new channels and grow sales – all from a centralised platform.

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  • Mastercard focuses on Southeast Asia, LatAm after India ban, Russia exit

    Mastercard focuses on Southeast Asia, LatAm after India ban, Russia exit

    Southeast Asia and Latin America are strong growth regions for Mastercard after its withdrawal from Russia in March and India’s 2021 ban on it from issuing new cards, the company’s co-president for international markets said.

    “Southeast Asia is exciting (due to) the right demographics, the adoption of technology and digitisation, and governments’ focus on financial inclusion,” Ling Hai told the Reuters Global Markets Forum, adding that countries in the region would also benefit as supply chains shift away from China.

    India’s central bank banned Mastercard after declaring it “non-compliant” with the country’s 2018 rules that required foreign card networks to store Indian payments data locally for “unfettered supervisory access”.

    “Our sense is we are getting really close to a resolution,” Hai said on the India ban, adding that the company was working “very constructively” with the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

    Hai said Mastercard was ready to comply with India’s local data-storage rules. “The goal is to be 100% compliant. Anything we need to localise in India, we are taking tangible steps to get there.”

    Mastercard says India is a key growth market and has invested $2 billion in the country since 2014 to build technology centres and support innovation in digital payments.

    Mastercard suspended operations in Russia – a market that accounted for roughly 4% its net revenue in 2021 – in March, over its invasion of Ukraine.

    In Russia, if an opportunity arose to improve rules and regulations in areas such as financial inclusion, sustainability and data privacy, Mastercard will “work towards changing them together with other stakeholders in the ecosystem, including the government themselves”, Hai said.

    Hai also said that Europe was an exciting market for the company due to its post-COVID economic recovery and the scope of innovation that the continent offers.

    Besides geography, the payment network company is also focusing on high-growth parts of the business, such as business-to-business payments flows, telecommunications and retail.

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  • Google Assistant could soon learn to recognize your voice

    Google Assistant could soon learn to recognize your voice

    9to5Google has discovered hidden strings of code in recent iterations of the Google app that could indicate a big improvement is coming to Google Assistant. Already widely considered to be the best digital assistant offered on devices today, the code discovered by 9to5Google seems to discuss a voice recognition system that would allow Assistant to recognize your voice.
    The strings of code related to “Personalized speech recognition” could appear in the Google Assistant settings with a description that reads, “Store audio recordings on this device to help Google Assistant get better at recognizing what you say. Audio stays on this device and can be deleted any time by turning off personalized speech recognition. Learn more.”
    Google already has a support article about what is called “federated learning.” The support page says, “Federated learning is a privacy-enhancing technology that we use to improve models on device without sending users’ raw data to Google servers. Google Assistant uses federated learning to improve “Hey Google.” When you ask, “Hey Google, what’s the weather tomorrow?” an on-device model detects that you said “Hey Google,” then sends your query to Google Assistant.”

    Google notes that “this model might activate when you didn’t intend it to, for example, if there is a noise that sounds like ‘Hey Google.’ Also, it might not trigger when you did say ‘Hey Google.’ We now use federated learning to refine the ‘Hey Google’ model and try to reduce misactivations and misses.”

    Learning your voice could help Google Assistant transcribe more accurately some of the common phrases you say often and contacts you mention the most. On some of Google’s smart home devices such as the 2nd-gen Nest Hub and Mini, Google uses a machine learning chip that processes the queries and tasks you vocalize the most in order for Assistant to deliver “a much faster response time.”
    Google could be looking to expand this capability from your smart home devices to your Android-powered mobile products by asking you to opt in if interested,. The files would stay on your device until you disable the system
    You might have noticed recently that when calling your credit card companies, some are now pointing out that they are capturing samples of your voice to match with future phone calls for security purposes. Also, Google notes that “If you turn this feature off, your Assistant will be less accurate at recognizing names and other words that you say frequently. All audio used to improve speech recognition for you will be deleted from this device.”

    It’s all part of Google’s attempt to allow users to have more natural conversations with Google Assistant starting next year. During Google I/O 2022, the company revealed that the Assistant will be able keep a conversation going simply by making “eye contact” so that things can get done without having to say the “Hey Google” hotword.

    As many of you Pixel 6 series users know, certain actions called Quick Phrases can be said to Google Assistant to have the tasks done without having to say “Hey Google” first. These tasks include:
    • Set a timer or alarm
    • Ask for the time
    • Turn the lights on or off
    • Cancel a timer or alarm
    • Dim or brighten the lights
    • Ask for the weather
    This summer, Google is reportedly planning to  add Quick Phrases to the Nest Hub Max.
    While it isn’t clear how many Android phones are sold each year on the basis of Google Assistant’s overwhelming superiority over Siri, many iPhone users end up installing the iOS Google Assistant app and using it instead of Siri on their iPhone. While Google Assistant does work better on an Android phone, installing the iOS version of the app will allow you to set your iPhone’s alarm using Assistant, and call or text friends and family members.
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  • Oppo plans to show off two AR glasses next month in California

    Oppo plans to show off two AR glasses next month in California

    Oppo, the Chinese phone manufacturer, is one of the brands under BBK Electronics’ umbrella along with OnePlus, Realme, Vivo, and iQOO. OnePlus ships its phones inside the U.S. while the other brands do not. Even Oppo, the fourth largest smartphone brand in the world after Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi does not ship its handsets to the states although this might change.

    Last week, Oppo announced that it would show off its Augmented Reality (AR) glasses (the OPPO Air Glass and OPPO AR Glass) at Augmented World Expo USA 2022. he event will take place June 1-3 in Santa Clara, California. Oppo announced Air Glass in China last December and the device was released this past January.

    Unlike most AR Glasses, the Air Glass is a monocle with a single ear frame and displays data sourced from an Oppo phone with an average brightness of 400 nits. That is brighter than the typical 1000 nits (1200 nits maximum) found on the iPhone 13 Pro Max. A small coffee bean-sized Spark Micro Projector projects images onto the microLED lens.
    The Oppo Air Glass is powered by the same Snapdragon 4100 chip used on some Wear OS smartwatches such as the TicWatch Pro 3. The Snapdragon 4100+ was found in last September’s Fossil Gen 6.
    The Oppo AR Glass is a more traditionally designed device with two lenses. The device offers real-time language translation and 3D depth mapping. To use tracked air gestures with the Oppo Air Glass or the Oppo AR Glass, the user must have an Oppo handset and the Oppo Watch 2 nearby.
    Since Oppo doesn’t sell its handsets in North America, what is the game plan here? One possibility is that the company is looking to bring its products to North America (after all, its OnePlus sub-unit does). In February 2019, Oppo made some noise about selling its phones in the states. However, there was one market that the company wanted to crack first.
    At the time, Oppo’s Alen Wu, head of overseas business,  said through an interpreter that before setting off for America, the company would need to solidify its position in Europe. Another possibility is that Oppo is showing off its AR glasses in North America to attract more developers for the devices before releasing the pair in Europe where the company does sell phones.
    Another thing to consider is that Oppo uses Snapdragon Spaces, which is an open mixed-reality (XR) platform that allows firms to develop AR apps without having the basic tools needed to do so. Since the platform uses Qualcomm’s mobile hardware, in theory, Oppo’s Air Glass and AR Glass could work on non-Oppo manufactured Android devices powered by Snapdragon chips.
    Yi Xu, Director of XR Technology at Oppo says, “Our belief that AR can be used to create a new digital world entirely based on the real world has been the driving force behind our investment and R&D in AR technologies, including the development of fundamental technology, applications, user interfaces and ecosystems,”
    Augmented Reality. also known as AR, superimposes data over a real-world image. For example, Google Maps’ Live View uses the rear camera system on your phone to show a real-life view of the area right in front of you. Giant arrows are superimposed on the screen to show you which way to walk to reach your destination. Live View will also show off certain landmarks that you happen to be near.
    Among other Chinese firms that don’t sell their handsets in the U.S., or are banned from doing so, Xiaomi has talked in the past about eventually selling its phones in the states. Currently, it does offer its power bank and the Mi Band fitness tracker to be offered in the U.S. In 2016, former Googler Hugo Barra, working for Xiaomi at the time, said that the firm would be coming to the U.S. in the “near future.”
    Unless Barra confused the U.S. with India, his comment-at least as far as handsets are concerned-never came true.
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  • Gasoline pushes May inflation to 2.86 pct

    Gasoline pushes May inflation to 2.86 pct

    A surge in the prices of gasoline, food and some other goods has sent the consumer price index rising by 2.86 percent year-on-year in May.

    Global gasoline prices went up while the rising costs of raw materials and ingredients pushed up food prices, according to the General Statistics Office.

    The monthly rise in prices was 0.38 percent with culture, tourism and entertainment products rising by 0.74 percent as travel demand recovered.

    Inflation in the first five months was 2.25 percent as against 1.29 percent in the same period last year.

    Standard Chartered Bank expects full-year inflation of 4.2 percent in 2022 and 5.5 percent in 2023.

    Several economists have also said it would be difficult to contain inflation below the targeted 4 percent rate due to higher prices, especially of gasoline, caused by war in Ukraine.

    Inflation was 1.8 percent last year, the lowest in six years.

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  • Dubious move to earn crypto copycats emerge in Vietnam

    Dubious move to earn crypto copycats emerge in Vietnam

    Hai Hoang was invited to join a ‘make love to make money’ project, a copy of the increasingly popular ‘move to earn’ crypto trend.

    The Da Nang office worker said he is curious to know how the app works, but members rarely talk about it, mainly discussing the token price.

    It is one of the many apps trying to replicate the success of the ‘move to earn’ trend, in which users spend a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to buy shoes and jog to earn cryptocurrencies.

    The ways they reward users vary, and include driving, sleeping and even having sex.

    But they have two things in common: few details are given out about how they operate, and participants are urged to invest as soon as possible to make the most profit.

    Tran Dinh, executive member of the Vietnam Blockchain Association, said some crypto move to earn projects have succeeded, but many others have collapsed, while some are just scams, he warned.

    Quan Ngoc, a move to earn game developer in HCMC said the dubious apps contribute nothing to the community, and merely create a bad image for the industry.

    Online security tool ScamAdviser gave a sex to earn app, SexN, a low trust score, saying it could be a scam.

    “We lowered the sexn.finance review score as we found several websites on the same server with a low trust score. Online scammers have a tendency to set up multiple malicious websites on one server, sometimes in the hundreds.”

    Earlier a click to earn app called CryptoBike was accused of scamming users to the tune of $1.4 million.

    SleepN, a sleep to earn app that attracted the crypto community’s attention, turned out to be a joke.

    “Many apps are ponzi schemes in disguise, trying to scam new investors,” Dinh said.

    Users should research the market to avoid dubious apps, analysts said.

    In the past it was not uncommon for blockchain developers to stay anonymous, but many have decided to come out to demonstrate their projects’ legitimacy following many scams.

    It is imperative that users find out about the development team before deciding to invest, Dinh said.

    He pointed out that move to earn scams are not confined to Vietnam but also plague more developed markets like the U.S. and Europe.

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  • A Tech Crackdown Hits Alibaba Profit by Nearly 60%

    A Tech Crackdown Hits Alibaba Profit by Nearly 60%

    China’s economy has been battered by the fallout from strict COVID-19 curbs including lockdowns and transport restrictions that have kept consumers home, pushed up unemployment, and tangled supply chains. Alibaba has also had to contend with a wide-ranging regulatory crackdown on alleged anti-competitive practices by China’s tech giants.

    The Hangzhou-based group cited “macro challenges that impacted supply chains and consumer sentiment” as it announced a loss of 16.2 billion yuan ($2.56 billion) for the January-March quarter.

    It warned it would not give forward-looking financial guidance due to Covid risks and uncertainty.

    Alibaba has seen its market value plummet since Beijing launched its sweeping crackdown in 2020 on some of China’s largest home-grown companies.

    The crackdown included a last-minute cancellation of a planned IPO by Alibaba’s financial arm Ant Group, which would have been the world’s largest public offering at the time. The company was also hit with a record $2.75 billion fine for alleged unfair practices last year. But Alibaba Group said that its revenue grew around 9% in the last quarter to 204.1 billion yuan, better than expected in a Bloomberg forecast. The company’s revenues -generated mainly by its core e-commerce operations – were up 19 % for the fiscal year ending March 31. Meanwhile, its full-year profit came to 62 billion yuan ($9.8 billion).

    “Since mid-March 2022, our domestic businesses have been significantly affected by the Covid-19 resurgence in China, particularly in Shanghai,” the company said.  “Considering the risks and uncertainties arising from Covid-19… we believe it is prudent at this time not to give financial guidance as we typically do at the start of the fiscal year,” it added.

    Alibaba’s earnings follow a series of sluggish results by prominent Chinese tech firms, with internet giant Baidu reporting a net loss of 885 million yuan ($140 million) in the first quarter. Baidu’s business has been “negatively impacted” by China’s recent Covid-19 resurgence since mid-March, co-founder Robin Li said in a statement.  Virus-related challenges continue to pressure Baidu’s near-term operations, Li said.

    Tencent reported record low quarterly revenue growth at 135.5 billion yuan ($20.1 billion) in the first quarter, putting year-on-year expansion at nearly zero. China is the last major economy to stick to a strict zero-Covid policy, which is now being tested by the infectious Omicron variant.

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  • Vietnam runs out of luxury cars

    Vietnam runs out of luxury cars

    Many auto brands have no luxury cars to supply Vietnamese customers due to global semiconductor shortage.

    Trung Kien, 33, from the northern province of Bac Ninh, said he has been looking for a luxury car with a price tag of around VND7 billion ($300,000) for a month, but found nothing to buy.

    He said he would have to wait for three to six months to get a popular luxury car delivered, due to shortage of components, especially semiconductors and chips.

    Over the last two years, supply from the world’s largest producer, China, has been trickling due to impacts of Covid-19, resulting in a global shortage.

    Supply of luxury cars in Vietnam is hit the hardest, as brands focus on delivering orders to their major markets like the U.S. or European countries.

    Mercedes-Benz customers are said to wait for at least three months for some SUVs and S-class sedans, and up to a year for the ultra-luxury Maybach sedans and SUVs.

    Some locally made models, including E-class sedans and GLC SUVs, are also in short supply, so buyers will have to wait 1-2 months to get their unit delivered.

    Many auto dealers are accepting deposits but not promising when they can deliver cars.

    Vinh Nam, an experienced luxury car salesperson in HCMC, said customers have gotten used to the current shortage.

    “They prioritize getting a car rather than a color of choice and other options”.

    BMW used to have a fairly steady supply despite having to import vehicles, but in recent months supply has declined and buyers have to wait three to six months for delivery.

    Buyers of Porsche, Lexus and Land Rover have the longest waiting time of 12-14 months depending on their choice of color and options, up from the earlier six to nine months.

    Many buyers are impatient and as a result are not making deposits with dealers, while some are turning to the gray market.

    The shortage of auto parts is also hurting buyers, with some brands raising their prices and cutting promotions.

    Some models are being sold at above listed prices. A Land Cruiser LC300, for instance, is being offered at VND5.5 billion, 37.5 percent higher than the original price.

     

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  • Google may soon enable Android to detect if you cough and snore while you sleep

    Google may soon enable Android to detect if you cough and snore while you sleep

    Google is allegedly working on introducing snore and cough detection into Android devices. Lines of code in the installation file of the Google Health Studies app reveal that the tech giant is currently conducting a study called “Sleep Audio Collection,” which is available only to Google employees.

    The tech giant explains, “You must be a Full Time Googler with an Android phone to participate in this study. Environmental conditions required for this study are to have no more than one adult sleeper in the same room who does not work for a competitor company.”

    With this experiment, Google is collecting the necessary data to validate, tune, and develop algorithms and an advanced suite of sensing capabilities that could then be made available on Android.

    These “Cough and Snore algorithms” will appear as a sleep tracking feature for you, the end user, and will monitor whether you cough or snore during your sleep. Google further explained that the function will work in a “privacy-preserving, on-device” manner, meaning that the collected information will be safely processed and stored locally on your phone. According to Big G, these new features will provide users with “meaningful insight into their sleep.”

    A snore detection feature has many advantages and will surely give you more information on how you sleep. For example, it can tell you if and in which cycle you snore. It can help people that are battling sleep apnea and other health issues track how diet changes and sleep schedules affect their quality of rest.

    Unfortunately, there is no word on how and when Google plans to implement the snore tracking feature or whether it will be available on all Android devices or just the Pixel phones. It is also possible for Big G to add this function to its fitness tracking app, Google Fit.

    Of course, there are apps out there like SnoreLab, SnoreClock, and Goodsomnia Lab that offer snore detection and which you can use right now.

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