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China’s central bank halts use of QR codes and virtual credit cards, hitting Alibaba and Tencent

Mar14
by on March 14, 2014 at 5:53 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Asia, payments

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China’s central bank has issued orders to put a stop to QR codes and virtual credit cards in the country, Reuters reports. This move is bound to derail the plans of Chinese Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent, which have been actively boosting their mobile payments ecosystem via such initiatives. The announcement follows hot on the heels of both firms announcing that they would roll out virtual credit cards next week, seeking to make it easier for their customers to shop online without being burdened by a lack of short-term funds. This would no doubt have alarmed authorities, given that the credit approval…

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Rdio acquires troubled Indian music streaming service Dhingana, will launch Rdio India this year

Mar14
by on March 14, 2014 at 4:30 am
Posted In: Around the Web, India, Insider, music streaming, Product Updates

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Music streaming service Rdio is acquiring India’s Dhingana, it announced today, and will launch Rdio India later this year. This comes exactly one month after we reported that Dhingana had quietly closed the shutters on its service without any explanation — and now things are finally out in the open. The acquisition makes a lot of sense. Rdio is already present in 51 countries and its CEO Anthony Bay has spoken at length about going global. “We are one of (the) very few global companies that can provide a great music experience to an expanding international audience, and it is our…

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Apple’s iOS App Store spotlights the selfie

Mar14
by on March 14, 2014 at 3:11 am
Posted In: Around the Web

Want to put your best face forward? Apple is here to help with a new section of its App Store devoted exclusively to, well, selfie photo apps. The Sharing Selfies section, revealed in a tweet by MacStories’ Federico Fiticci, is visible on both the iOS app’s Featured Categories page and on the desktop iTunes Store iPhone tab.  There, you’ll find a selection of 12 selfie photo apps ranging from the familiar Snapchat to the free Selfie Cam, Samba Video Messaging, FrontFlash for low-light shots ($1.99), Facetune ($2.99), and more. Last year, the term “Selfie” gained fame as Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year, so it’s only…

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PayPal tweaks its policy to address crowdfunding issues

Mar14
by on March 14, 2014 at 2:31 am
Posted In: Around the Web, crowdfunding, Insider

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PayPal has gotten itself some bad press over crowdfunding, in particular for withholding funds certain companies need to develop their projects. Now, the payments site reveals that it has put changes in place to address those problems. In a blog post today, Chief Risk Officer Tomer Barel says PayPal has started to engage crowdfunding campaign owners early on so it can understand the campaign goals and help to ensure these campaigns are compliant with its policies, as well as government regulations. To avoid the regulatory and risk issues — as well as upset customers — that crop up when crowdfunding…

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