Jon Russell
Jon Russell is an Asia-based writer for TechCrunch. Formerly he was an Asia editor for The Next Web.Jon Russell is passionate about the development of the internet, technology, and startups in Asia. He is based in Bangkok, Thailand.
You can email him at jr@techcrunch.com or use his PGP key.
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Latest from Jon Russell
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US lifts laptop ban on passengers flying with Etihad, Emirates and Turkish Airlines
The U.S. government has lifted the controversial laptop ban for flights to the U.S. for three major airlines. Effective immediately, Etihad Airways, Emirates Airline and Turkish Airlines have all been cleared to allow customers to bring electronic devices, including laptops, tablets and e-readers, on flights from the Middle East into the U.S.. That still leaves another six airlines, each of… Read More
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Game studio Mighty Bear rises from the ashes of King’s former Singapore office
Office closures don’t just mean unemployment and uncertainty, they can lead to new opportunities. That’s the case for Mighty Bear Games, a Singapore-based games studio that grew out of the closure of King.com’s local office. As part of streamlining following its $5.9 billion acquisition by Activision, King.com shut down the Singapore office it picked up when it bought Non… Read More
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Nokia and Xiaomi ink patent and equipment deal, Xiaomi buys Nokia patents
A year after buying 1,500 patents from Microsoft, Xiaomi is digging into the global intellectual property pool once again. Nokia has announced that it has entered into a wide-ranging patent licensing and purchase deal with Xiaomi, the Chinese maker of smartphones, wearables and other hardware, which will also become a customer of Nokia’s for networking equipment. The deal covers three… Read More
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Tencent’s online publishing arm files for IPO in Hong Kong
Hong Kong has secured its second high-profile tech IPO inside a week. Following on from gaming firm Razer, which filed its prospectus on Friday, Tencent’s online publishing service has followed suit with plans for a Hong Kong IPO. China Literature is akin to Amazon’s Kindle service, with 8.4 million pieces of content from more than five million writers. It counts 175.3 million… Read More
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Cross-border payment startup InstaRem eyes IPO in 2020 after closing $13M Series B
Cross-border payment startup InstaRem has raised $13 million in new financing as it looks to expand its business, which is rooted in Asia, into Europe and North America ahead of an eventual public listing as soon as 2020. The Singapore-based startup said the raise was led by China’s GSR Ventures, an early investor in Didi among others, with participation from Japan/Netherlands… Read More
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Tech veterans set up $100M fund to turn India’s top startups into unicorns
Two Indian technology veterans have set up a new fund that they hope will help the county churn out world-class, billion-dollar startups. Nandan Nilekani and Sanjeev Aggarwal have come together to launch the Fundamentum Partnership. Initially a $100 million fund — half of which is committed already — the duo told TechCrunch they aim to help cover the funding gap for India’s… Read More
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Amazon completes its acquisition of Middle Eastern e-commerce firm Souq
Amazon has completed its acquisition of e-commerce firm Souq.com, which was first announced at the end of March and sees the U.S. retail giant enter the Middle Eastern market. Read More
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Tesla to deliver the Model 3 to its first batch of customers on July 28
Tesla is likely to reveal the first production model of its hotly anticipated Model 3 this week, according to CEO Elon Musk, with the first batch of customers on track to get their vehicles by July 28. Musk took to Twitter, as he so often does, to reveal that the Model 3 passed its regulatory approvals for production two weeks ahead of time. Model 3 passed all regulatory requirements for… Read More
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500 Startups admits it kept Australian partner in the dark over investigation into Dave McClure
500 Startups has apologized to its Australian partner LaunchVic after the U.S. firm admitted that it failed to disclose an internal investigation into sexual harassment claims against co-founding partner Dave McClure. LaunchVic is a $60 million entrepreneurship scheme backed by the government of Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state. It’s a major investor in 500… Read More
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Apple continues Asia expansion with its first retail store in Taiwan
Apple has continued to expand its retail footprint in Asia after the iPhone-maker opened its first store in Taiwan this weekend. The inaugural Apple Store is located in Taipei 101, a landmark skyscraper in Taipei, and it is staffed with an initial workforce of 130 employees, Apple said. Doors in Taiwan opened at 11am local time on Saturday, but eager fans had queued for as long as 68 hours… Read More
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Microsoft is laying off ‘thousands’ of staff in a major global sales reorganization
Microsoft is poised to layoff thousands of employees worldwide in a move to reorganize its salesforce. A source with knowledge of the planned downsizing told TechCrunch that the U.S. firm would lay off “thousands” of staff across the world. The restructuring is set to include an organizational merger that involves its enterprise customer unit and one or more of its SME-focused… Read More
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Gaming firm Razer seeks to raise over $600M in Hong Kong IPO
Gaming firm Razer has filed to go public through an IPO in Hong Kong as it looks to raise more than $600 million to go after growth opportunities. The U.S.-based company, which traces its origins back to Singapore, filed initial paperwork on Friday. Certain details — such as how much Razer is looking to raise, its valuation and the timing of the IPO — are not disclosed in the… Read More
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Chat app Kakao raises $437M for its Korean ride-hailing service
Korea’s Kakao, the country’s top mobile messenger company with some 50 million monthly users, has continued to diversify its business with a move to spin-out the unit managing its mobility services, which include a ride-hailing app that is beating Uber in Korea. The firm announced that ‘Kakao Mobility’ has now become an independent entity in a move that sees U.S. Read More
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Delivery Hero’s valuation surpasses $5B following successful IPO
Delivery Hero’s valuation topped $5 billion after the food delivery firm went public in a listing on the Frankfurt stock exchange. The listing, announced earlier this month, came at a €25.50 share price, at the top of its pricing range. The share price quickly rose to reach as high as €26.90 — or up 5.5 percent — on the first day of trading, according to Bloomberg. Read More
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Indian messaging app Hike may launch live-streaming following recent acquisition
Hike, the billion-dollar messaging app chasing WhatsApp in India, may be preparing to enter the live-streaming space following a recent acquisition. The company, which is backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent, has acquired India-based live-streaming app Pulse and at least two of its founding team, according to a report from Inc42. Hike declined to respond to our request for comment but… Read More
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China’s on-demand bicycles have now become advertising space
Here’s a fitting Friday anecdote to illustrate the growing ubiquity of bike-sharing startups, and their rides, in China. One of the largest companies in the space is now using some of its bikes as an advertising canvas. Ofo, one of two billion-dollar startups that supplies dock-less bicycles across China, has been spotted offering a number of bikes that are customized with Minions… Read More
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Alibaba ups its stake in Southeast Asia’s Lazada with $1 billion investment
Alibaba is doubling down on Southeast Asia after it announced a deal to pay close to $1 billion to raise its stake in e-commerce firm Lazada from 51 percent to 83 percent. The Chinese firm made an initial $1 billion investment in April 2016 at a valuation of $1.5 billion — this second deal raises that valuation to $3.15 billion, Lazada disclosed. The deal sees Alibaba buy shares… Read More
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Samsung will reportedly revive the Galaxy Note 7 with a Korea-only ‘Fandom Edition’
Samsung is reportedly gearing to revive the Galaxy Note 7, its disastrous 2016 smartphone that was recalled after battery problems caused units to catch fire, with the limited release of a new model. The company hinted a few months ago that it planned to make such a move, but now we have more details. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Note 7 FE (that stands for ‘Fandom… Read More
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These are the autonomous trucks that Google’s Waymo is testing
Alphabet/Google’s self-driving car division Waymo disclosed earlier this month that it is working on (semi-)autonomous trucks, and now we have our first look at the vehicles in question. Jalopnik published a number of photos of a Waymo branded truck kitted out with a radar, lidar and ultrasonic radars. Waymo is, of course, not alone in exploring autonomous trucking. The company took Uber… Read More
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Justin Kan’s video Q&A app Whale gets Tinder-style swipes in major redesign
Whale, the Q&A app backed by Twitch co-founder Justin Kan, has gotten a major update and refreshed design that makes it easier to discover video content on the service. The iOS-only app launched in October 2016, pivoting from a music app after Kan was inspired by Chinese Q&A service Fenda. The goal was to enable users to ask questions or get advice from subject matter experts, such… Read More
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