The most entertaining awards show is almost herethat's right gear up for the 45th E! People's Choice Awards. With the celebrities gathered and the trophies ready to be handed out, you can keep reading to find how to watch an E! People's Choice Awards 2019 live stream from absolutely anywhere.
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Best Bluetooth Speakers Buying Guide: Welcome to TheIndianSubcontinent's expert round-up of the best portable and outdoor speakers you can buy in 2019
If you don't have one already in your AV arsenal, a Bluetooth speaker is a must-own piece of technology. They're the best way to take your tunes with you to picnics, beaches and outdoor adventures,
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Hello and welcome back to TechCrunchChina Roundup, a digest of recent events shaping the Chinese tech landscape and what they mean to people in the rest of the world. This week, a lawsuit sparked a debate over the deployment of Chinapervasive facial recognition; meanwhile, in some good news, foreigners in China can finally experience cashless payment just like locals.
Many argue that China holds an unfair advantage in artificial intelligence because of its citizens& willingness to easily give up personal data desired by tech companies. But a handful of people are surely getting more privacy-conscious.
This week, a Chinese law professor filed what looks like the countryfirst lawsuit against the use of AI-powered face scans, according to Qianjiang Evening News, a local newspaper in the eastern province of Zhejiang. In dispute is the decision by a privately-owned zoo to impose mandatory facial recognition on admission control for all annual pass holders.
&I&ve always been conservative about gathering facial biometrics data. The collection and use of facial biometrics involve very uncertain security risks,& the professor told the paper, adding that he nonetheless would accept such requirement from the government for the purpose of &public interest.&
Both the government and businesses in China have aggressively embraced facial recognition in wide-ranging scenarios, be it to aid public security checks or speed up payments at supermarket checkouts. The technology will certainly draw more scrutiny from the public as it continues to spread. Already, the zoo case is garnering considerable attention. On Weibo, Chinaequivalent of Twitter, posts about the suit have generated some 100 million views and 10,000 comments in less than a week. Many share the professors& concerns over potential leaks and data abuse.
The other technology that has become ubiquitous in China is cashless payments. For many years, foreign visitors without a Chinese bank account have not been able to participate in the scan-and-pay craze thatreceived extensive coverage in the west. But the fences are now down.
This week, two of the countrylargest payment systems announced almost at the same time that they are making it easier for foreigners to pay through their smartphones. Visitors can now pay at a selection of Chinese merchants after linking their overseas credit cards backed by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Global Network or JCB to TencentWeChat Pay.
&This is to provide travelers, holding 2.6 billion Mastercard cards around the world, with the ability to make simple and smart payments anytime, anywhere in China,& Mastercard said in a company statement.
Alipay, Alibabaaffiliate, now also allows foreign visitors to top up RMB onto a prepaid virtual card issued by Bank of Shanghai with their international credit or debit cards. The move is a boon to the large swathes of foreign tourists in China, which numbered 141 million in 2018.
Didicontroversial carpooling service is finally back this week, more than a year after the feature was suspended following two murders of female passengers. But the company, which has become synonymous with ride-hailing, was immediately put in the hot seat again. The relaunched feature noticeably included a curfew on women, who are only able to carpool between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. The public lambasted the decision as humiliating and discriminating against women, and Didi responded swiftly to extend the limit to both women and men. The murders were a huge backlash for the company, and itsince tried to allay the concerns. At this point, the ride-hailing giant simply can&t afford another publicity debacle.
The government moves to stamp out monopolistic practices of some of Chinalargest e-commerce platforms ahead of SingleDay, the countrybusiest shopping festival. Merchants have traditionally been forced to be an exclusive supplier for one of these giants, but Beijing wants to put a stop to it and summoned Alibaba, JD.com, Pinduoduo (in Chinese) and other major retail players for talks on anti-competition this week.
Iqiyi, often hailed as the &Netflix of China,& reports widening net loss at $516.0 million in the third quarter ending September 30. The good news is it has added 25 million new subscribers to its video streaming platform. 99.2% of its 105.8 million user base are now paying members.
36Kr, one of Chinamost prominent tech news sites, saw its shares tumble 10% in its Nasdaq debut on Friday. The company generates revenue from subscriptions, advertisements and enterprise &value-added& services. The last segment, according to its prospectus, is designed to &help established companies increase media exposure and brand awareness.&
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If you're planning on spending a lot of time at the pool or beach this year – or plan on taking your music anywhere outdoors on a camping trip – you're going to want one of these best waterproof speakers along for the ride.
While no one ever really intends to get their portable speakers wet, accidents and bad weather happen, and when they do the
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Popular streaming services, like Netflix and Amazon, increasingly offer movies and TV shows you can watch in 4K resolution – if you have a 4K TV to watch them on, of course. But if you're the kind of person who wants the best, uncompressed picture quality from your movie sessions and TV binges, you need to invest in a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player.
Why
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