Platform Executive

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: South Korean tech firms shake up Japan’s storied manga industry Two South Korean platforms are borrowing from mobile gaming to shake up - and dominate - Japan's manga industry, a plot twist that has expanded the comics' fanbase to a new generation of readers. Backed by tech giants Kakao Corp and Naver Corp, Piccoma and Line Manga have become Japan's highest-grossing mobile apps outside games. Such online manga platforms have seen a surge in popularity during the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. Piccoma's third-quarter transaction volumes more than tripled year on year to 11.6 billion yen (approximately $110 million), extending a wave of online manga sales that has already seen digital surpass print in Japan's $5 billion manga industry. Line Manga, now operated by SoftBank's internet business Z Holdings, saw transaction volumes jump by a third to 8.2 billion...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Brexit Britain to offer fast-track visas to bolster FinTechs The UK government has said it would offer a fast-track visa scheme for jobs at high-growth companies after a government-backed review warned that financial technology firms will struggle with Brexit and tougher competition for global talent. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that now the UK has left the EU, it wants to make sure its immigration system helps businesses attract the best hires. "This new fast-track scale-up stream will make it easier for FinTech platforms to recruit innovators and job creators, who will help them grow," Sunak said in a statement. Over 40% of fintech staff in Britain come from overseas, and the new visa scheme, open to migrants with job offers at high-growth firms that are scaling up, will start in March 2022. Brexit cut FinTech's' access to the European Union single market and ma...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Bitcoin extends retreat from record high to hit lowest in 20 days Bitcoin dropped 6.39% to $43,165.78 on Sunday, losing $2,944.20 from its previous close. Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, has fallen 26% from the year's high of $58,354.14 on February the 21st when it soared amid increasing confidence that it will become a mainstream investment and payments vehicle. Major firms such as BNY Mellon, asset manager BlackRock Inc and credit card giant Mastercard have backed cryptocurrencies. Tesla Inc, Square and MicroStrategy have invested in bitcoin. Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, dropped 8.88% to $1,329.46 on Sunday, losing $129.57 from its previous close. The team at Platform Executive hope you have enjoyed this news article. Translation from English to other languages via Google Cloud Translation. Initial reporting via...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Coinbase listing filing shows surge in revenue amid bitcoin boom Coinbase, the biggest US cryptocurrency exchange, moved a step closer to listing on the Nasdaq with a filing to go public, revealing that it had swung into profit last year as bitcoin surged. Approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a listing would represent a landmark victory for cryptocurrency advocates, vying for mainstream endorsement for a sector which has struggled to win the trust of mainstream investors, regulators and the general public. It would pave the way for the highest-profile share listing of a company whose business is primarily focused around the trading of cryptocurrencies, and could also be seen as a tacit regulatory approval of assets traded on its platform. In its filing, Coinbase noted that it had not received approval from regulators that would allow it to trade cryptocurrenc...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: India tightens regulatory grip on Facebook and WhatsApp with new rules India has announced new rules to regulate content on social media, making the likes of Facebook, WhatsApp and others more accountable to legal requests for removal of posts and sharing details on the originators of messages. The rules -- part of an effort by Prime Minister Modi's nationalist government to tighten the leash on Big Tech -- come after Twitter recently ignored government orders to drop content related to farmers' protests. India is the largest market by users for both Facebook and its messenger service WhatsApp . The new rules issued by the government, called the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, will be legally enforceable. They will require big social media companies to set up a grievance redressal mechanism and within three months appoint new executives to coordinat...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Facebook signs letter of intent with three Australian media firms Facebook has said it had signed letters of intent with three Australian media firms, a day after the country's Parliament passed a law forcing it to pay media companies for using content on its platform. Facebook said it had signed partnership agreements with Private Media, which owns online magazines, Schwartz Media and Solstice Media. Commercial agreements will become effective within 60 days if a full deal is signed. "These agreements will bring a new slate of premium journalism, including some previously paywalled content, to Facebook," the social media company said in a statement. It did not disclose the financial details of the deal. Facebook on Tuesday struck a similar agreement with Seven West Media , which owns a free-to-air television network and the main metropolitan newspaper in WA. Austra...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Twitter aims to double revenue by 2023, teases new ‘super follow’ feature Twitter will launch new features and products faster to refresh its business after years of stagnation, the company has said, aiming to double its annual revenue in 2023. The stock rose 3.9% to close at $74.71, after hitting an all-time high of $80.75. "Why don't we start with why folks don't believe in us," said CEO Jack Dorsey at the start of Twitter's virtual investor day presentation. "It comes down to three critiques: we're slow, we're not innovative, and we're not trusted." The social media network outlined plans including tipping and paid subscriptions to "super follow" some accounts, to attain at least $7.5 billion in annual revenue and 315 million monetizable daily active users (mDAU), or those who see ads, by the end of 2023. The "super f...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Robinhood added 6 million crypto users in last two months Controversial online brokerage Robinhood has said it has garnered 6 million new users for its cryptocurrency services in the first two months of 2021 amid higher retail trading volumes and sharp rises in the prices of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin. In 2020, Robinhood's crypto division averaged about 200,000 new customers trading on its platform per month, the company said in a blog post. A Robinhood spokeswoman declined to say how many overall customers trade cryptocurrencies through the app, which also offers stock and options trading. The price of Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, rose more than 300% in 2020 and this month hit a record high of $58,354 with a market capitalization above $1 trillion, but has since come off its highs. Dogecoin has also soared in value, getting swept up in the s...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Wix.com hits 200 million user milestone, says will continue to invest Wix.com, which helps small businesses build and operate websites, has said it had reached 200 million users globally after adding by more than 31 million users in 2020. The increase comes amid a surge in demand from companies wanting to create an online presence due to the coronavirus pandemic. "The trend of businesses, brands and commerce moving online accelerated in 2020, and we believe this momentum will continue to 2021," said Nir Zohar, Wix's president. The Israeli company said it will continue to invest across multiple areas of its business, including product development and infrastructure. Last week, Wix.com said it expects to grow by one third in 2021. It also said it had planned $60 million of investments this year, including adding more than 600 staff. At the end of 2020, it had 196.7 mi...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Reddit recovers from outage amid heavy trading in GameStop Reddit recovered from an hour-long outage that affected thousands of users on Wednesday afternoon as volatility returned to stocks that were previously at the center of a slugfest between retail traders and Wall Street. Videogame retailer GameStop, which had closed up about 104% on Wednesday and was once again a favourite pick on the WallStreetBets page, doubled in extended trading, even as the social media platform was not fully functional. Analysts that follow the stock offered several reasons for the surge, including a corporate reshuffle. The business had said its finance head Jim Bell will step down next month. Reddit , the massively popular network of user moderated forums is seemingly now more famous for its day-trading forum where individual traders recently triggered a rally in many shorted stocks, has faced several...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Nvidia sales surge as it struggles to keep gaming chips in stock Nvidia has forecast better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter revenue, with its flagship gaming chips expected to remain in tight supply for the next several months. As people wait for the global COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns to end, orders have kept demand high for chips that speed up video games. But the California-based company's gaming chips have also regained popularity for mining cryptocurrency, a trend Nvidia is trying to counter by offering special mining chips in order to free up graphics chip supplies for gamers during a global chip shortage. While Nvidia Corp was long known for its gaming graphic chips, its aggressive push into artificial intelligence chips that handle tasks such as speech and image recognition in data centers has helped it become the most valuable semiconductor maker by mark...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Indian government plans new social media controls Following its ongoing disputes with social media platforms including Twitter, India plans to oblige social media companies to erase contentious content fast and assist investigations, according to a draft regulation. New Delhi's planned "Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code" - a copy of which was seen by journalists at our partner news agency Reuters, come as various nations around the world try to assert tighter control over powerful Big Tech platforms. Facebook faced a global backlash from publishers and politicians last week after blocking news feeds in Australia in a dispute with the government over revenue-sharing. In India, Twitter seemingly ignored precise orders to remove content over farmers' protests, fuelling the zeal of Prime Minister Modi's government since 2018 to tighten regulat...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: UK’s cyber spies embrace the AI revolution Cyber spies at Britain's GCHQ say they have fully embraced artificial intelligence (AI) to uncover patterns in vast amounts of global data to counter hostile disinformation and snare child abusers. AI, which traces its history back to the famed British mathematician Alan Turing's work in the 1930s, allows modern computers to learn to sift through data to see the shadows of spies and criminals that a human brain might miss. GCHQ, where Turing cracked Germany's naval Enigma code during World War Two (WW2), said advances in computing and the doubling of global data every two years meant it would now fully embrace AI to unmask spies and identify cyber attacks. The world's biggest spy agencies in the US, China, Russia and European Union nations are in a race to embrace the might of the technological revolution to bolster their de...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Lyft focuses on OAP’s with feature to book rides by call North American ride sharer, Lyft has introduced a service that would let users request a ride by call, without needing the app, in a bid to make its ride-hailing service more convenient for senior citizens. Users can call a dedicated phone line and talk to agents to avail the service, with the price provided upfront. The new service is available in cities across Florida, Lyft said in a blog post . The move comes at a time when demand for ride-hailing services Lyft and rival Uber Technologies is slowly recovering from its pandemic lows. Uber had launched a similar phone-booking service for customers in New York City and the Miami area that let them order restaurant meal deliveries over the phone, instead of through its smartphone and tablet apps. The team at Platform Executive hope you have enjoyed this news article. Translat...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Facebook’s oversight board has received appeal from ‘user’ in Trump ban case Facebook's oversight board has received a "user statement" for the case it is deciding about whether the social media company was right to indefinitely suspend former President Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, a spokeswoman has confirmed. Facebook handed the case to its independent board in January after it blocked the former Presidents access to accounts over concerns of further violent unrest following the storming of the US Capitol building by rioters reported to be both his supporters and his opponents. The board's process gave administrators of President Donald J Trump's page the option to submit a statement challenging Facebook's decision. The spokeswoman said the board would have no further comment until it had issued a decision. The appeal was first reported by...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Aussie lawmakers expected to pass amendments to Facebook and Google law Australian lawmakers are expected to approve amendments to legislation to force Google and Facebook to pay media companies for news content, despite opposition from some minor political parties. The conservative government introduced amendments to the so-called Media Bargaining Code after Facebook last week escalated a dispute over the new laws by blocking Australian users from sharing and viewing news content on its popular social media platform. Australia's Senate began debating the amendments today. The ruling party does not have a majority in the upper house, but support from the opposition Labor Party is expected to be enough to pass the bill. Facebook said it would restore Australian users' access to news in light of the compromise it had reached with the government. In one major change, Australian...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: French antitrust investigators say Google breached its orders on talks with publishers French antitrust investigators have accused Google of failing to comply with the state competition authority's orders on how to conduct negotiations with news publishers over copyright, two sources who read the investigators' report said. In the 93-page report, known as a statement of objections, the investigators wrote that Google's failure to comply was of an exceptionally serious nature, the sources said. This comes amid complaints by French news publishers that Google failed to hold talks with them in good faith to find an agreement. The same publishers were not part of the $76 million three-year deal signed between the US platform business and and a group of 121 publications, as journalists at our partner news agency reported earlier this month. The agreement was presented as a ma...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Twitter removes accounts it says are linked to Russia, Armenia and Iran Twitter has stated that it has taken down some 373 accounts which it said had ties to Armenia, Russia and Iranian governments and had breached its platform manipulation policies. The company said it had taken down 238 accounts operating from Iran for various violations of its policies. Twitter said 100 accounts with Russian ties were removed for amplifying narratives that undermined faith in NATO and targeted the United States and the EU. Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow planned to look into the grounds for Twitter blocking the accounts, TASS news agency reported. Twitter also said 35 accounts with ties to Armenia were taken down, adding that they had been created to target Azerbaijan. "The 373 associated accounts across the four networks were permanently suspend...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: LinkedIn says tech issue on platform resolved LinkedIn, the worlds leading professional networking platform, has said it has fixed a technical glitch, after thousands of users reported difficulties in accessing the platform. Downdetector, an outage tracking website, showed there were close to 26,000 incidents of people reporting issues with LinkedIn . Earlier in the day, Microsoft Corp -owned LinkedIn said an issue across its platform was causing certain functional requests to take longer or fail unexpectedly and that it was working on a fix. California-based LinkedIn helps employers assess a candidate's suitability for a role and employees use the platform to find new job. Downdetector only tracks outages by collating status reports from a series of sources, including user-submitted errors on its platform. The outage might have affected a larger number of users. The team at P...

The full version of the article, along with thousands like it, can be found on the following page: Spotify to launch in 85 new markets, reach more than a billion listeners Spotify has said it would nearly double its market presence by launching in 85 new markets in the next few days, making the music streaming service available to more than a billion people around the world. The company's shares, which were down in early trading, reversed course to rise as much as 6% to a record high. The Swedish streaming platform, which started its service more than a decade ago, is currently available in 93 countries and has 345 million monthly active users. While Spotify Technology is the leader in music streaming, entry in new countries across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America would significantly increase the gap with its rivals, Apple Music and Amazon Music. "Together these markets represent more than a billion people, with nearly half of them already using the internet,...