April Ma
TechNode
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Past articles by April:
Tech Bolsters The Last Mile-Fireside Chat with Mobike’s Joe Xia
The golden days of free rides may be over, but the two-year long rivalry is survived by bike sharing–analogies drawn between the transportation wars that recently ended and the bike-sharing battle now going at full-throttle, are abundant. While Mobike’s CEO Wang Xiaofeng comes straight from Uber’s Shanghai office, one of the chief backers of OFO … → Read More
WeChat Is Bike Sharing? "That Would Be Us", Says 700 Bike
Whether or not you’ve been paying attention, bikes are back. → Read More
WeChat Censorship Provokes Doubts On Integrity From Disgruntled Editor
A Chinese editor is angry over an arbitrary suspension of his publication–Eastday.com’s official WeChat account, and he’s making sure Tencent hears about it. “I am a man of the press, we deserve our dignity, and we won’t be cheaply bought. If one day all news outlets become minions of Tencent, will the “Chinese dream” even … → Read More
Meet China's AI And Biotech Virtuosi At TechCrunch Beijing Nov 5-8th
In the past few years or so, a wave of technological advancements is promising to take the world by storm, in the same way that the mobile internet redefined our lives ten years ago. In the world of AI, Atlas, the brainchild of Google and Softbank’s prodigy Pepper, as rudimentary as they may appear for … → Read More
A Batch Of Champion VCs In The Spotlight At TechCrunch Beijing, Nov. 5-8
An unexpected cold front has hit Beijing, but that has not stifled the excitement brewing at TechCrunch Beijing, coming up in just one week, when some champion VCs will head to the show, along with the rest of the tech and startup scene. Check out some of these investors before you catch them at the … → Read More
TCBJ speaker line-up: Successful Crossovers
In recent years, celebrities from the actor Ren Quan to Angelababy have been floating over to startup and venture capital circles,and the same goes for star athletes. In this year’s Disrupt San Fransisco, Steven Curry showed up, a watershed moment for athletes making a crossover into entrepreneurship and investment. As we return to Beijing this … → Read More
The E-Ink Keyboard Is In The Future, Whether Or Not Apple Is In The Picture
Will we see a customizable keyboard in the future? We think so, though it might or might not be Apple taking the lead. → Read More
China Is Now The Biggest Spender On iOS Stores
Look Out, World! On top of being the world’s largest phone market with the greatest number of netizens, and the nation with the most iOS downloads, China’s is casting off an image of frugality–“to pay is to die” no longer applies here–as in Q3 this year, China becomes iOS App Store’s most valuable patron, found … → Read More
Meet China's Midas: Lin Sen, Back To the Basics
Words of advice from an Angel Investor during the "winter" → Read More
The iPhone 7 Is Not Worth a Kidney, Only A Few Extra Dollars of Modifications
Why spend thousands on the latest phone when you can make an Iphone6 look the same? → Read More
Dou Tu, The Art of Sticker War [Lost In Translation]
斗图 dóu tú, Sticker Duel Verb. Literally, to fight using stickers (we think the name “Sticker Duel” better fits the sport) Origins: Undocumented, but claims are that this tradition of emoticon bombardment (sharing) has been around since the early days of QQ messaging. The name was not coined until around early 2015, after the mass advent … → Read More
Samsung Finally Kowtows to China’s Quality Control Forces
At last, Samsung has agreed to a mass recall of Chinese-made Note7 phones. On Tuesday, the company filed a recall plan for all 190 thousand devices distributed across China, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, succumbing to pressure after briefings and investigations from the government body. According to the notice, Samsung China has … → Read More
Meet China's Midas: Li Feng, A Knack For Striking Gold
This is the second post in our series: Meet China’s Midas, where we will talk to a mix of Chinese investors who have made successful investments in China’s growing tech space. Stay tuned over the coming one month as we talk to Chinese investors from Beijing to Shanghai about what it take to be a Midas … → Read More
China Transportation Wars 2.0: Bike Sharing
The dust kicked up by ride sharing has settled, but the air is again charged with electricity. This time, it’s bike sharing, and companies are losing no time stocking up on ammo. The latest news is that Ofo, a dockless bike sharing company which started on campus, has completed a C round totaling 130 million … → Read More
Didi Grapples With Devastating Draft Laws From China’s Major Cities
Didi has suffered a bolt from the blue, as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen each rolled out specific regulations for the car hailing business on Saturday. The rules are harsh, to say the least, and has brought the ride hailing behemoth to its knees, arguing for possible remedy from the authorities. The newly published draft interpretations from … → Read More
These Expat Startups Want To Cater To Chinese Weary of Channel and Danone
It’ s a cut and dried truth that China has an overwhelming appetite for foreign goods. With immense strides forward in living standards, and increased recognition of foreign brands, Chinese consumers’ insatiable appetite for cross border commerce, or “Haitao” has fostered a plethora of e-commerce verticals–Ymatou, Metao, Hitao, Bolome, jostling for marketshare with larger players. … → Read More
Samsung Fails to Placate Chinese Users After 6th Phone Ignites
This is a fiasco if there ever was one. As Samsung’s Note 7 crisis continues to unfurl, Chinese consumers scowl at Samsung’s assurances of safety, with the toll hitting six yesterday. China’s sixth Note 7 phone went off on Wednesday in a electronics market in the southeastern province of Guangxi. The phone was hastily flung away … → Read More
Fenda Returns, After Possible Purge From Regulators
This is the place where you can earn top dollar for sharing a 60 second personal opinion, and where you can pay to glean thoughts from celebrities, playboys, professors and government bodies alike. We’re talking about Fenda, the Q&A voice message platform, and after a mysterious 47 day suspension, it’s now back in business. For over … → Read More
Didi May Be Ready For Bike Sharing, But What About The Rest Of The Nation?
Didi-Uber, China’s newly minted transportation tycoon, has revealed intentions to append a bike sharing service to its hefty platform, as it pours tens of millions of U.S dollars in strategic investment into dockless smart bike company Ofo. The ride sharing company has no trouble divining a future where bike sharing becomes the latest installment on … → Read More
WeChat's App Within an App: Free At Last From Endless Installing and Deleting?
Let’s face it, we’ve all found ourselves trapped this loop: we install a certain app whenever the need arises, run out of space two weeks later, and with long and thorough deliberation, finally decide which ones get to stay, and which ones have to go (to make room for selfies)–only to be eventually installed again … → Read More