Didi Chuxing launches bike-sharing service in China

Didi Chuxing launches bike-sharing service in China

Chinese ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing launched a bike-sharing platform within its mobile app on Wednesday. Riders in Beijing and Shenzhen can use two popular shared bikes companies, Ofo and Bluegogo, via Didi’s latest version of the app, with no deposit required for riding Bluegogo bikes. Didi is an investor in Ofo, and it announced last […]

Line partners with Folio for an in-app investment management portal

Line partners with Folio for an in-app investment management portal

Line Corporation, the Japanese subsidiary of South Korean internet company Naver Corporation, has entered into a ‘capital alliance’ with investment management firm Folio, which will see its service integrated into the Line messaging app. Following a Line investment in Folio, the pair will work to implement the service on the Line app – which now […]

Global app downloads surge to 175 billion in 2017, India second largest market after China

Global app downloads surge to 175 billion in 2017, India second largest market after China

India downloaded more apps than the US in 2017, a new report by app analytics provider App Annie has revealed. Riding on increased smartphone penetration and dirt-cheap 4G data access, India accounted for nearly 58 billion of the world’s 175 billion app downloads in 2017. Only China, the world’s largest internet market, is ahead with […]

Blippar partners with Magnum for Singapore AR campaign

Blippar partners with Magnum for Singapore AR campaign

AR (augmented reality) technology company Blippar has teamed up with Unilever’s Magnum ice cream brand and Mindshare to launch its first Asia-Pacific campaign using its AR digital placement (ARDP) unit. The ‘Make My Magnum’ experience allows users to create their own personalised Magnums—by selecting from a list of 18 toppings—on their smartphones using Blippar’s ARDP. […]

Uber rival Grab acquires Indian startup to bulk up its mobile payment platform

Uber rival Grab acquires Indian startup to bulk up its mobile payment platform

Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab today said it has acquired Bengaluru-based payments startup iKaaz to strengthen its payments platform. Grab, which competes with the likes of US-based Uber, said the “rich functionality of iKaaz mobile payments platform and its experienced leadership team will accelerate feature development and partner integration of GrabPay (its payments platform)”. It, […]

BMW acquires Parkmobile parking app to help tackle city traffic

BMW acquires Parkmobile parking app to help tackle city traffic

BMW has acquired Parkmobile, an app that provides guidance and services for those looking for parking in North America, including on-street and garage parking payments and spot reservation. BMW Group had already held a minority investment in the company, and owned its Parkmobile Group Europe affiliate, but today it increased its holdings to reach majority […]

Nielsen adds measurement for YouTube mobile app in UK, France and Germany

Nielsen adds measurement for YouTube mobile app in UK, France and Germany

Nielsen ​announced ​it ​has ​introduced ​advertising measurement ​on ​YouTube’s ​mobile ​app ​through its ​Digital ​Ad ​Ratings ​service in ​the ​UK, ​France, ​and Germany. The ​service, ​which ​expands ​Nielsen’s ​current ​measurement  coverage ​of ​YouTube ​ads ​on desktop ​and ​mobile ​web  browsers, ​will ​now ​provide ​marketers ​independent ​and  comprehensive cross-device ​measurement ​of ​advertising  audiences ​on ​YouTube ​across […]