Amazon launches India-first product Kindle Lite; Microsoft India wants to make AI accessible to all

Numbers show Bengaluru-based edtech and online tutoring company Byju's is growing significantly. According to ROC data, its revenue in FY2017 was Rs 247 crore and it made losses of Rs 59 crore. According to the company, it will end the financial year 2017-18 at around Rs 520 crore in revenues. Byju's high growth rate can be attributed to the fact that the present renewal rate from subscribers is 85 percent and the addition of new students continues at a fast pace.

SmartCoin, a Bengaluru-based micro-lending platform for lower and middle-income segment, raised $2 million pre-Series A funding led by Accion Venture Lab and a top Chinese VC fund. Existing investor Unicorn India Ventures and fintech accelerator ISME ACE also participated in this round.

To popularise the adoption of its Kindle reading app, Amazon released a data-friendly version of the product in India. Kindle Lite, the beta version of which has been available for a while, was officially launched on the Play Store. The Kindle Lite app is light at 2 MB, and Amazon has tailored the new app for Android users on 2G/3G networks in India.

At its 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) for All' conference in Bengaluru, Microsoft India showcased some of its recent AI solutions aimed at improving lives and transforming businesses. Microsoft India also shared it is helping 650 India-based partners use Microsoft's cognitive services, Internet of Things (IoT), AI and machine learning platforms to build solutions for India.

Since its entry into Asia in 2013, Uber charged on with its strong tech play and deep pockets, but local rivals managed to capture a majority market share with strong localisation. due to a deeper understanding of local cultures. Now, Uber is in facing trouble in one of the world’s largest markets - Asia. After China and Russia, Uber has conceded a defeat of sorts in Southeast Asia, selling its ride-hailing business in Southeast Asia to Indonesian rival Grab.

Popular magazine Playboy, which stood as an epitome for personal freedom and celebration of sex, joined the #DeleteFacebook campaign and deleted its Facebook pages. This move made the magazine lose more than 25 million followers and virtual fans directly.

India’s telecom regulator is miffed with smartphone giant Apple for delaying the anti-spam app which the latter was supposed to develop for the government. TRAI has now threatened to take legal action against Apple. It hasn’t met TRAI since November 2017, and the regulatory authority is awaiting “basic clarifications” on the potential features the iOS app can offer.

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