By Nandita Bose CHICAGO (Reuters) – A retailer-backed rival to Apple Inc’s Apple Pay mobile wallet will be tested with customers in a handful of stores in the next few weeks, ratcheting up competition in an increasingly cluttered market. CurrentC was developed by a consortium of retailers under the Merchant Customer Exchange, which includes Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Target Corp and Best Buy Co Inc. The mobile wallet will appear in
By Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) – American business groups are lobbying U.S. President Barack Obama to press Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on technology protectionism concerns during Xi’s upcoming U.S. visit, according to a letter addressed to Obama seen by Reuters. In the letter dated Aug. 11, 19 U.S. business lobbies including the American Chamber of Commerce in China and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and sector-focused groups including the National Association
Tencent Holdings Ltd , China’s biggest social network and online entertainment firm, said second-quarter revenue rose 19 percent, slightly below estimates, as growth at its core gaming business slowed. Revenue for the quarter ending June rose to 23.43 billion yuan ($3.67 billion), Tencent said in it earnings statement on Wednesday, compared to the 24.12 billion yuan forecast made in a Thomson Reuters Smartestimate poll of 11 analysts. Revenue at the
By Paul Carsten BEIJING (Reuters) – “Tragedy” – that was Alibaba Group Holding Ltd founder Jack Ma’s prediction for the fate of rival JD.com Inc in comments published earlier this year. On Monday Alibaba signaled it is no longer writing off its smaller competitor, making a $4.6 billion investment to give it more traction in two areas JD.com does well in: logistics and electronics. Ma’s online shopping titan bought into
How Microsoft taught Cortana to be more human Every morning in Seattle, a group of scribes that includes a screenwriter, playwright and novelist piles into their writers’ room for another roundtable session. They refine ideas, shape lines and test-run jokes, eventually emerging with new material for an unorthodox comedienne – Cortana, Microsoft’s playful, human-like digital assistant built into the heart of Windows 10. See, Cortana – Microsoft’s alternative to comparable
How Microsoft taught Cortana to be more human Every morning in Seattle, a group of scribes that includes a screenwriter, playwright and novelist piles into their writers’ room for another roundtable session. They refine ideas, shape lines and test-run jokes, eventually emerging with new material for an unorthodox comedienne – Cortana, Microsoft’s playful, human-like digital assistant built into the heart of Windows 10. See, Cortana – Microsoft’s alternative to comparable
The essential Windows 10 info Update: As of this writing, Windows 10 has been installed on a whopping 18.5 million devices,according to Neowin, debunking previous reports of download figures in the range of 67 million. Regardless, 18.5 million is no small number, and is likely only to grow from here. The question is: by how much and how quickly? And in case you’ve been living in a cave, the verdict
The essential Windows 10 info Update: As of this writing, Windows 10 has been installed on a whopping 18.5 million devices,according to Neowin, debunking previous reports of download figures in the range of 67 million. Regardless, 18.5 million is no small number, and is likely only to grow from here. The question is: by how much and how quickly? And in case you’ve been living in a cave, the verdict
Introduction The Sony Smartwatch 3 is the company’s best smartwatch so far. Not only does it use the latest version of Android Wear, but it also provides users a variety of options for GPS tracking, data access and more. The wearable device received a number of positive reviews from critics, and was praised for its powerful GPS system. But how powerful is it, exactly? And aside from some well-received features,
Introduction The Sony Smartwatch 3 is the company’s best smartwatch so far. Not only does it use the latest version of Android Wear, but it also provides users a variety of options for GPS tracking, data access and more. The wearable device received a number of positive reviews from critics, and was praised for its powerful GPS system. But how powerful is it, exactly? And aside from some well-received features,
