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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...

Domestic workers have been illegally sold via Instagram and other apps on Google and Apple's stores. from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8290670 https://ift.tt/2Nx2gxk

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

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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 ...

Steve O'Hear / TechCrunch : Freetrade, which offers commission-free stock investing in the UK, raises $15M Series A led by Draper Esprit   —  Freetrade, the U.K. challenger stockbroker that offers commission-free investing, has closed $15 million in Series A funding.  The round includes a $7.5 million investment from Draper Esprit … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2N35cTK

Jager McConnell / Crunchbase : Crunchbase, a platform for finding business information about private and public companies, raises $30M Series C led by Omers Ventures   —  We are excited to share that Crunchbase just closed a $30 million dollar Series C funding round led by OMERS Ventures. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2C0IGnU

The internet and search engines like Google have made the world our oyster when it comes to sourcing information, but when it comes to business, there remains a persistent need for more targeted market intelligence, a way to get reliable data quickly to get on with your work. Today, one of the startups hoping to build a big business around that premise is announcing a round of funding to get there. Crunchbase — a directory and database of company-related information that originally got its start as a part of TechCrunch before being spun off into a separate business several years ago — has raised $30 million, a Series C that it plans to use to continue expanding its base of paid subscribers and expanding its product to include more predictive, personalised information for its users by way more machine learning and other AI-based technology. CEO Jager McConnell, who has long viewed Crunchbase as the “LinkedIn for company profiles,” said that of the 55 million people who visit the si...

Pavel Alpeyev / Bloomberg : Nintendo beats estimates in Q2 with sales of 4.8M Switch consoles, up 50% YoY, and operating income of ~$615M on revenue of ~$2.5B   —  - Switch sales climb 50% from a year ago to 4.8 million units  — Nintendo sticks with conservative full-year earnings outlook from Techmeme https://ift.tt/2PwipWu