Amazon, WesternUnion debut PayCode to sell goods in emerging markets and let shoppers pay in cash

While Amazon has been methodical (read: a little slow) in launching local versions of its site for various global markets, it has now embarked on a secondary track to snag more business outside the 14 countries where it has built out full operations. Amazon has partnered with WesternUnion to set up a service called PayCode, […]

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Why no one really quits Google or Facebook

Another week, another set of scandals at Facebook and Google . This past week, my colleagues reported that Facebook and Google had abused Apple enterprise developer certificates in order to distribute info-scraping research apps, at times from underage users in the case of Facebook. Apple responded by cutting off both companies from developer accounts, before […]

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Messenger Lite launches on iOS, but only in Turkey

A few days ago, Facebook quietly introduced a “Lite” version of its Facebook app for iOS devices, but only in a single market, Turkey. The app had been previously available only on Android. Today, the company is following suit with a launch of Messenger Lite on iOS, again just in Turkey. The launch was first […]

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Twitter Lite expands to 21 more countries, adds push notifications

Twitter announced today its Twitter Lite app is expanding to 21 more countries, which makes the data-saving app available to more than 45 countries in total. The app was introduced last year with the goal of bringing in more users from emerging markets to Twitter. Similar to other data-saving apps, like Facebook Lite or YouTube […]

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Google’s Datally app adds more ways to limit mobile data usage

In November, Google introduced Datally, a data-saving app largely aimed at emerging markets where users often rely on prepaid SIM cards, and don’t have access to all-you-can-eat unlimited data plans. The app lets users granularly control which apps can use data, which resulted in a 30% savings on data usage during pilot testing and now […]

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Google’s data-friendly app YouTube Go expands to over 130 countries, now supports higher quality videos

 YouTube Go, a mobile version of YouTube built for emerging markets with features like offline viewing and nearby sharing, is today expanding to over 130 countries worldwide. This wider rollout will make YouTube Go available to a large number of people who want the ability to watch YouTube videos, even if they don’t have a good connection, or find themselves offline. The list of new… Read More

View More Google’s data-friendly app YouTube Go expands to over 130 countries, now supports higher quality videos

Twitter Lite app launches in 24 more countries

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Twitter Lite, the space-saving version of Twitter’s main app, is ready for prime time after about two months of ground testing in the Philippines.

The social network announced on Friday it’s releasing Twitter Lite to Android’s Google Play store in 24 countries, mostly in emerging markets across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

The app is meant to take up a tiny bit of space on phones, at about 3MB, and — importantly for places with patchy coverage — support offline usage via caching. Read more…

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Trocafone raises $15 million to expand its used electronics marketplace in emerging markets

 Trocafone, the online marketplace for used electronics, has raised $15 million in new financing to expand its reach beyond Brazil and Argentina into other emerging markets. The company, which raised $7 million in a previous round of financing las…

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Remitly is raising up to $115M led by Naspers’ PayU to double down on remittances

 International remittances continues to be one of the biggest financial services in developing countries, with $450 billion getting sent from countries like the U.S. to emerging markets in 2017 alone, according to the World Bank. Now, one of the bigger startups using tech to take on Western Union, MoneyGram and other offline incumbents in the space is announcing a large round of funding to… Read More

View More Remitly is raising up to $115M led by Naspers’ PayU to double down on remittances