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Stripe adds support for Alipay, helping Alibaba extend its global reach

Jun25
by on June 25, 2014 at 2:49 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Asia, Insider

Alibaba
US payments firm Stripe is adding support for Alibaba’s payments service Alipay, helping its businesses reach more customers in China, where e-commerce is on a rising trend. This also comes as the Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba seeks to make Alipay a mainstream option as part of its efforts to eventually take its consumer business global, particularly to the West. Stripe is one of the largest companies of its kind, having raised over $120 million in funding – and businesses in 14 countries are using it as part of their infrastructure to sell to customers all over the world. This agreement will see Alipay reaching customers who…

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Google doubles the RAM in its Glass headset to 2GB

Jun24
by on June 24, 2014 at 9:21 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Google

On the heels of its UK launch, Google has revealed that new units of its Google Glass headset will now include 2GB of RAM, up from the 1GB of RAM that shipped in earlier units. However, unlike the last time Google updated Glass’ hardware, it looks like early members of the Explorer program won’t be able to swap out for the new model. According to The Verge, Google also recently added a bigger battery to Glass. Google claims the headset gets 20 percent better battery life than a year ago, though that’s also thanks to firmware improvements. In terms of software, Google is…

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Twilio partners with Google to release a Chromebook communications package

Jun24
by on June 24, 2014 at 8:30 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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Cloud telephony firm Twilio today announced Twilio CX for Chromebooks, a new partnership with Google that bundles its WebRTC-powered client, 7,500 voice minutes, a Plantronics headset and a Chromebook together to offer an out-of-the-box communications solution to enterprises. Since Twilio operates as a platform, it’s relying on additional partners to take Twilio CX to market. Customer service startup LiveOps has signed up as one of the first integrations, offering the package with its LiveOps Engage and LiveOps Voice Advantage for Salesforce products for call centers. Twilio CX customers will pay a monthly subscription fee to services like LiveOps for the Chromebooks….

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How startups can truly make a social impact

Jun24
by on June 24, 2014 at 8:25 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Entrepreneur, How-To's

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Roger Huang is an entrepreneur who is working on his next venture, and advising several others on growth. This post originally appeared on Code(Love). In the Amazonian forests, wildlife presenter Charlie Hamilton Jones was looking to make a statement. He went and bought a patch of Amazonian wildlife, looking to protect it for generations. Instead, he wound up buying a cocaine plantation. The most dangerous one in the area, owned by the “most dangerous family.” When he went to confront the drug dealers, he was in for a surprise. Far from being gun-toting murderers, they were desperately powerless. Charlie had always…

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Oculus acquires Carbon Design, the product studio that designed the Xbox 360 controller

Jun24
by on June 24, 2014 at 8:16 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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Virtual reality firm Oculus VR announced today that it has acquired Carbon Design, the product development studio that built the Xbox 360 controller for Microsoft. Oculus said it hopes to close the deal by the end of summer. Carbon Design will remain in its Seattle offices and work closely with the Oculus R&D team in nearby Redmond. Interestingly, Oculus revealed that it has been working with Carbon Design on “multiple unannounced projects” for over a year. Carbon Design will help Oculus fill a major gap in its strategy as it moves toward the consumer version of its Oculus Rift headset….

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