Catherine Shu is a TechCrunch writer based in Taipei. She started her career in New York City at the Wall Street Journal Online and Barron’s Online before moving to Asia. After studying Mandarin Chinese, Catherine put her language skills to the test by covering the design industry and culture in Taiwan’s capital for the Taipei Times. Her other journalism experience includes an investigative reporting internship at the Village Voice and numerous freelance writing gigs. Catherine graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
Disclosures: None
A California federal judge has ruled that Craigslist can’t sue real estate listings platforms 3Taps, PadMapper, and Discover Home Network for copyright infringement. But the judgement isn’t a complete victory for the developers of 3Taps because Craigslist is still allowed to sue the startup for gaining unauthorized access to data on its Web site. Critics of Craiglist’s actions have said that they… → Read More
LinkedIn has acquired one million users in Singapore, or 20 percent of its 5 million population, since the service’s launch there in 2011, the professional networking site announced today. This milestone means that about 70 percent of Singapore’s labor force and students now have accounts on the Web site, according to the company. → Read More
Microsoft has announced that it is launching a preview of Skype for Outlook.com starting in the UK. The service will be made available in the U.S. and Germany in the coming weeks before it is rolled out to the rest of the world. → Read More
An internal email written by Huawei founder Ren Zheng-fei and obtained by Sina Tech (link via Google Translate) sheds light on the secretive Chinese firm’s future. In it, Ren downplays his company’s reputation for opacity, which has fueled charges that Huawei, the world’s second largest maker of telecom equipment, is involved in espionage for the Chinese government. Ren, who is 68 and rumored to… → Read More
Google has announced that it is bidding adieu to the Meebo Bar publishing tool in order to focus on projects like Google+ Sign-In and plug-ins. The Meebo Bar will be retired effective June 6. → Read More
Hon Hai is planning to diversify its business away from producing Apple devices by signing an agreement with Indonesia to make and sell handsets in that country, reports Reuters. A Hon Hai spokesman said that the company, which derives about 60 to 70 percent of its revenue from manufacturing work for Apple, hopes to sign the agreement next month. Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn, is one of… → Read More
Baidu posted double-digit percentage revenue growth in 1Q2013–but its earnings still missed analysts’ expectations as the Chinese search giant’s costs soared. → Read More
Shanghai-based video streaming platform PPStream has reportedly (link via Google Translate) been purchased by iQiyi, the online video unit of Internet search giant Baidu, for around $350 million to $400 million. A Baidu spokesman would not confirm the reports, which have been circulating in Chinese media since the end of last month, but a statement by the head of rival video platform Youku-Tudou… → Read More
Verizon Communications is preparing a $100 billion cash and stock bid to take full control of Verizon Wireless from Vodafone Group, reports Reuters. Verizon’s board is expected to discuss the potential buyout next week ahead of its annual shareholder meeting. → Read More
Less than one week after Twitter Music’s launch, Kevin Thau, the man responsible for the standalone app, is leaving the company to become COO of Jelly, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone’s mysterious, mobile-focused startup, according to AllThingsD. → Read More
Microsoft has signed a patent deal with ZTE that covers all Android and Chrome devices manufactured by the Chinese firm. This latest agreement comes a week after Microsoft scored a major coup by striking a similar patent licensing deal with Taiwanese smartphone maker Hon Hai, which owns Foxconn. → Read More
Huawei, the world’s second-largest supplier of network gear by revenue, is pulling out of the U.S. after it sales efforts have been repeatedly stymied due to concerns over security. According to a report in the Financial Times, executive vice president Eric Xu said at the company’s annual analyst summit yesterday that Huawei “is not interested in the U.S. market any more.” He added that the… → Read More
ZooZ, a consumer-driven payment platform startup, announced today that it has closed a Series A funding round for $2 million. The investment round was led by XSeed Capital, and includes ZooZ’s existing investors lool ventures and Rhodium, both of which also contributed to ZooZ’s seed round. → Read More
Singapore-based e27 is moving beyond its roots as a tech media and events platform with its latest offering Bundles, or product and service packages geared at founding teams in Southeast Asia. Companies with services featured in Bundles include Facebook, Airbnb, Freelancer, WP Engine, 99designs, Zendesk, Google Apps, and Shutterstock, as well as nine co-working spaces throughout the region. There… → Read More
“Gangnam Style” was the first video to hit 1 billion views on YouTube, a milestone it reached last December. Though arguably less catchy, Psy’s followup video “Gentleman,” a unique blend of pounding beats and fart jokes rumored to be an elaborate commercial for Candy Crush Saga, is now also breaking records on YouTube. The video-sharing site announced that “Gentleman” has set the record for the… → Read More
Blackstone has reportedly withdrawn its bid for Dell, leaving the way open for founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake to buy out the company, reports Reuters. → Read More
BBC America has announced via a tweet that it will partner with Twitter to offer the “first in-Tweet branded video synced to entertainment TV series.” News of the deal comes after a few days after a report that Twitter is in talks with Viacom and NBCUniversal to host TV clips and sell advertising on the site. BBC America’s tweet didn’t offer any specific information about the deal or which of its… → Read More
Cloud-based inventory and sales management developer TradeGecko has announced that it is now integrated with online accounting system Xero. The Singapore-based company says that the partnership will allow its clientele of small- and medium-sized businesses to monitor financial transactions in real time. → Read More
Kaazing, a provider of live Web and mobile communication and the developer of HTML5 WebSocket, has raised $15 million in funding, bringing the company’s total financing to $39 million. New investors this round include New Enterprise Associates and Columbus Nova Technology Partners, as well as existing investors. Kaazing says it will use the money to drive its plans for corporate growth. → Read More
Good Morning America has tweeted that Twitter will be making a major announcement on the show tomorrow. So what is Twitter planning to unleash tomorrow? The most likely guess is the official launch of Twitter Music, after more than a week of hints, including code in the app’s placeholder page showing its web interface. → Read More
Samsung Electronics may purchase mobile memory chips from South Korean rival SK Hynix for devices including the Galaxy S, said J.K. Shin, head of Samsung’s mobile business. If the deal goes through, it will be a boon for SK Hynix, which currently counts Apple as one of its top DRAM chip customers and saw it shares slip 2.8 percent on Thursday after another Apple chip supplier, Cirrus Logic, … → Read More
China’s e-commerce market racked up a whopping 1.3 trillion RMB ($190 billion USD) worth of transactions in 2012, according to a report by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) (linked article is in Chinese), an increase of 66.5 percent over 2011′s total. Last year, 242 million Internet users purchased goods online, and e-commerce transactions accounted for 6.1 percent… → Read More
Another round of headaches for Chinese telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE–after previously facing scrutiny over security concerns in the U.S., the two companies are now being targeted by the European Commission. The European Union’s executive body is seeking to investigate Huawei and ZTE for undercutting European firms by receiving state subsidies, and wants the backing of EU states to move… → Read More
Twitter is nearing an agreement with Viacom to host TV clips and sell advertising on the site, reports Bloomberg. It is also reportedly discussing a content partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal, and one or more of the deals could be reached by mid-May. → Read More
Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission is investigating charges that Samsung paid students to attack rival HTC’s smartphones online. The South Korean tech giant could potentially face a fine of up to NTD $25 million ($835,000 USD) if the charges of false advertising are upheld. Samsung’s Taiwanese agent allegedly hired students to write online articles attacking HTC and recommending… → Read More
Alipay has launched a new payment system in the Beijing subway that uses sound waves to connect smartphones with ticketing machines. The sound wave payment system was introduced with the Alipay Wallet mobile app in January and uses white noise (link via Google Translate) generated by a smartphone to carry digital information to another device. Initially used for smartphone-to-smartphone… → Read More
Baidu, Hillhouse Capital, and GGV Capital have invested a total of $57 million in Chinese travel site Qunar, according to a report by First Financial Daily (link via Google Translate). The news comes as Qunar weathers a boycott by third-party service providers triggered by a change in its operational and pricing policies. South China Morning Post writer Doug Young speculates that Qunar might have… → Read More
Twitter Music will reportedly launch on Friday, reports AllThingsD citing sources familiar with the matter. Earlier today, music discovery service We Are Hunted confirmed that it had been acquired by Twitter, while Ryan Seacrest tweeted that he’d been playing around with Twitter’s new music app. AllThingsD says that Twitter’s standalone music app will suggest tracks based on data… → Read More
Electronic Arts is laying off staffers at its Montreal office in another round of job cuts. The news comes less than two weeks after CEO John Riccitiello resigned, citing the company’s financial underperformance. → Read More
POP, the app that lets developers turn paper sketches into app prototypes, has joined AVOS, the Internet company led by YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. When it launched in November, POP’s (Prototyping On Paper) easy and intuitive set-up garnered it a lot of buzz on both tech and design blogs. All developers need to do with POP is draw a user interface on paper, take photos of their… → Read More
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