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Washington Post : China's three state-backed wireless carriers launch 5G in some cities, ahead of original 2020 date; China Mobile aims to bring 5G to 50+ cities by year's end   —  BEIJING — Chinese cellphone carriers will begin offering super-fast, next-generation 5G service on a commercial basis Friday … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2N4UY55

Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat : Amazon says Alexa skill personalization, which allows developers to provide personalized experiences for different customers, is now generally available   —  Future voice skills built for Alexa might respond uniquely to your voice.  That's thanks to Alexa skill personalization … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2puEGcM

Facing increasing scrutiny from international and domestic regulators, the Altria Group has decided to write down its investment into the e-cigarette company JUUL by $4.5 billion. That’s roughly one-third of the $12.8 billion that the tobacco giant had invested into JUUL a little less than one year ago. Juul Labs gets $12.8 billion investment from Marlboro maker Altria Group What a difference a year has made. JUUL, which has become synonymous with the vaping phenomenon that has swept the U.S., was once hailed as being at the forefront of a wave of companies that were making smoking obsolete and nicotine consumption safer for consumers. Vaporization Startup Pax Labs Introduces Juul, Its Next-Gen E-Cigarette The company began running into problems as its popularity increased exponentially (in part by allegedly turning to some of the same tactics big tobacco used to target underage consumers ). As the complaints began to roll in, and as JUUL was held responsible fo

Paidy , a Japanese financial tech startup that provides instant credit to consumers in Japan, announced today that it has raised a total of $143 million in new financing. This includes a $83 million Series C extension from investors including PayPal Ventures and debt financing of $60 million. The funding will be used to advance Paidy’s goals of signing large-scale merchants, offering new financial services and growing its user base to 11 million accounts by the end of 2020. In addition to PayPal Ventures, investors in the Series C extension also include Soros Capital Management, JS Capital Management and Tybourne Capital Management, along with another undisclosed investor. The debt financing is from Goldman Sachs Japan, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. Earlier this month, Paidy and Goldman Sachs Japan established a warehouse facility valued at $52 million. Paidy also established credit facility worth $8 million with the three banks. Th

Alex Marshall / New York Times : How Netflix is navigating strict, sometimes vague, censorship standards in countries like Turkey and India, while viewers decry the concessions to censorship   —  The streaming giant is having to navigate different political and moral landscapes, and calls for government oversight, as it seeks subscribers worldwide. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2pjidPX

Berlin rose as one of Europe’s leading startup hubs over the last decade, featuring unicorns N26, Delivery Hero, HelloFresh, and Auto1 Group. Berlin attracts developers from Eastern Europe and elsewhere into an international hub where English is the linga franca among startups and costs are noticeably lower than in London or Paris. Rocket Internet, while criticized for launching copycats of successful US startups has trained a deep bench of young software executives in rapidly scaling companies. As we gear up for our Disrupt Berlin conference in December , I wanted to get a pulse on the types of startups that top VCs in Berlin’s ecosystem are looking to invest in right now, so I asked eleven of them to share examples of the trends they find most exciting: Luis Hanemann, Partner at e.Ventures David Rosskamp, Partner at June Fund Dr. Fabian Heilemann, Partner at Earlybird Simon Schmincke, Partner at Creandum Jan Miczaika, Partner at HV Holtzbrinck Ventures Pawel Chudzinski, Point

It’s not quite an “ Apple Prime” subscription, but it’s compelling. Apple on Wednesday introduced a new program that will allow Apple Card users to finance their iPhone purchases for 24 months, without paying interest. The program aims to appeal to consumers who frequently upgrade their iPhone to the latest model, but often turn to their carrier to finance those purchases. With the Goldman Sachs Apple Card, those iPhone users will have another option — and one without the associated interest and fees of a traditional credit card purchase, Apple says. In addition, the Apple Card offers 3% back on purchases from Apple, which further sweetens the deal. The program helps to lay the groundwork for what some believe may eventually become a larger subscription product for Apple, or a so-called “Apple Prime” — a name that references the Amazon Prime membership program that includes a variety of perks alongside its fast, free shipping. An Apple hardware subscription could see users instead

Josh Barro / New York Magazine : A look at how US airports like LAX and O'Hare are trying to solve congestion caused by ride-hailing pickups by experimenting with ideas like PIN-based pickup   —  Earlier this month, I landed at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas and got out my phone to call an Uber. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2Nw8s95

Casey Newton / The Interface : Twitter's political ad ban will run into enforcement issues on defining issue ads and possibly disadvantage lesser-known or nontraditional candidates   —  If you've ever wondered about the value of having multiple social networks competing to develop the best products and policies, Wednesday offered us a clear example. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2C1pTcm

One of the world’s most static technologies may be the humble mug, but startup Ember decided it was time for a change when they introduced their temperature-controlled smart mug to the market in 2016. Now, the company has launched its Ember Mug 2 – a follow-up that keeps the concept and design intact, but that improves the lineup in some key ways. There are two separate new second-generation Ember mugs – the Ember Travel Mug, and the Ember Mug designed for home and office use. Both add extended battery life, thanks to swapping its old battery technology with “the most advanced battery technology on the market,” and both gain new redesigned charging coasters, while the Travel Mug 2 gets a new control interface for adjusting the temperature of the beverage within, and it’s a bit lighter while holding the same volume. Ember Mug 2 (from $99.95) This sequel to Ember’s home mug comes in black, white and copper versions, as well as in two sizes: 10z and 14oz. Like its predecessor, it fea

The founders of Seattle-based Modus cold emailed Pete Flint, the founder of Trulia and a current managing partner at the venture capital firm NFX , for months to no avail. In a last ditch effort, Alex Day, Jai Sim and Abbas Guvenilir sent one more message to the investor who’s real estate listings tool sold to Zillow in 2014 for $3.5 billion. They were at a coffee shop below his San Francisco office, was he interested in meeting? Fortunately for them, he was. Modus co-founders Modus, a real estate startup focused on title and escrow services, is today announcing a $12.5 million Series A financing co-led by NFX’s Flint and Niki Pezeshki of Felicis Ventures . Liquid 2 ventures and existing backers including Mucker Capital, Hustle Fund, 500 Startups, Rambleside and Cascadia Ventures also participated in the round. “The first revolution in online real estate was transforming the research experience, the next revolution in the industry is transforming the transaction,” Flint said