The semiconductor shortage continues to be a concern for most organizations around the world. While investments in new plants have been made to help increase supply, there is still a concern that there might not be sufficient skilled employees in the field.

In fact, the demand for skillsets in semiconductor and its related industries have been increasing, especially with new factories being developed. Despite technology enables most of these plants to be automated, the reality is, semiconductor companies need a physical workforce in areas of research and development and such.

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For example, in the US alone, the semiconductor industry will need to hire between 70,000 and 90,000 additional workers by 2025.  Reports also show that countries like Taiwan, which is currently the global powerhouse of integrated circuit manufacturing, has an average monthly deficit of specialized workers of approximately 27,700 employees.

As such, semiconductor companies have been investing and partnering with universities and learning institutes to develop new talents. In Malaysia, Micron Technology has announced an investment of RM1 million to strengthen collaboration, research and development projects with local universities over the next five years. The funding will go towards grants supporting research in the areas of semiconductor materials, smart manufacturing and artificial intelligence which are key to the advancement of tech manufacturing in the country.

“Micron leads the industry in both NAND and DRAM technology and Malaysia is critical to our global manufacturing footprint. We hope the funding and collaboration with local universities will strengthen the local semiconductor ecosystem, advance R&D and deepen science, technology and engineering skills in the local talent pool,” said Amarjit Singh Sandhu, corporate vice president and country manager of Micron Malaysia.

University Sains Malaysia (USM) will be the first university partner to receive funding from Micron. The partnership is set to create new growth opportunities between various institutors and companies. Further to that, the partnership between Micron and USM is also in line with the focus area of the National Fourth Industrial Revolution’s policy,and supported by national policies such as the 12th Malaysia Plan and Wawasan Kemakmuran Bersama 2030.

Amarjit also pointed out that Micron foresees opportunities to accelerate the next level of growth, given the increasing global market demand for memory and storage products. Hence, Micron has already invested in a 52.6-acre Center of Excellence for solid state drives assembly in Batu Kawan Industrial Park, Penang which is scheduled to begin operations by the end of 2022.

“The RM1 million grant funding to local universities by Micron today further reinforces the company’s commitment to using its leadership, influence and resources to create positive change, on top of its relentless efforts in employee wellbeing, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility,” said Chow Kon Yeow, chief minister of Penang, who witnesses the signing ceremony.

The post Micron Technology invests RM1 Million for semiconductor research at Malaysian universities appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

For many years, when it comes to e-commerce, there has been one undisputed leader — Amazon. However, as consumers began changing their buying behaviour, newer brands began to pop up to upend the online shopping juggernaut. Take Shein for instance, the Chinese company that only recently took the world by a storm for its ultra fast fashion approach has overthrown Amazon, topping the chart as one of the most downloaded shopping apps in the world in 2021.

In fact, Shein is not the only one. According to the newest data from Apptopia, two other e-commerce companies leapfrogged Amazon in the global rankings: Shopee, based in Singapore, which serves Southeast Asia and Latin America; and Meesho, based in India, which specializes in social e-commerce for categories including fashion and home products.

All data is iOS + Google Play combined, except for data from China which is iOS only. Source: Apptopia

The US e-commerce giant came in fourth place overall in global shopping app installation last year. Just the year before, Amazon had the most app installs worldwide. It is fair to note though that Amazon is still first in Apptopia’s US rankings for shopping app installs in 2021. This is given considering data from Statista that shows the Seattle-based company holds 41% of the US e-commerce market in 2021.

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Singapore-based Shopee came in first with a total 203 million downloads while China-based Shein came in second with 190 million downloads and the company has been a growing force in the fast fashion market. India-based Meesho took the third spot with 153 million downloads.

Amazon, Shein, Shopee vs social commerce

At this point, online is growing at a torrid pace. New data from fintech and payments research specialists Kaleido Intelligence has found that B2B and B2C e-commerce spend on physical goods and digital services will reach US$6 trillion this year, up from US$4.8 trillion in 2020. 

But it is shopping on social media platforms that will top the chart as it is currently growing three times faster than traditional e-commerce platforms. In fact, it is on pace to reach US$1.2 trillion globally by 2025, according to a study by Accenture. Most of that growth (62%) will be driven by Gen Z and millennial shoppers.

“The social commerce opportunity will nearly triple by 2025. Growing at a CAGR of 26%, the social commerce opportunity will reach $1.2 trillion by 2025. This accounts for 16.7% of the US$7 trillion e-commerce total spend,” Accenture said in a separate report.

The report also believes that China will remain the most advanced market both in size and maturity, yet the highest growth will be seen in developing markets such as India and Brazil. As for the US, social commerce is expected to more than double, reaching US$99 billion by 2025.

The post Shein, Shopee and Meesho overtake Amazon in 2021 appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Asia Pacific (APAC) consumers have plenty of reasons to be concerned about data security. A study showed a jaw-dropping 168% increase in cyberattacks in just a year, between May 2020 to May 2021. 

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Its not surprising that APAC is vulnerable to a data breach as its diverse economic and geopolitical landscape means the maturity of cybersecurity measures vary. 

According to a report from Check Point Research, an APAC organization experiences 1,245 weekly attacks with ransomware, Remote Access Trojan (RAT), banking trojans and info stealers. 

It is easy to see why the region is a hotspot for cyberattacks, and its consumers are wary. This is from the lack of government regulation and extended dwell time before the breach is detected, to Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), with China in the lead for the state-sponsored variety.

For example, between June 2019 and March 2021, Chinese APT NAIKON targeted military organizations in Brunei, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In October and November last year, hacking group Desorden claimed to have exfiltrated the Centara Hotels & Resorts in Thailand twice and stole more than 400GB of data from its servers. 

The group said the data contained personal information on millions of customers worldwide who have stayed in over 70 luxury hotels operated by Central Group, which owns Centara, between 2003 and 2021.

Increasing awareness and cautions towards data security

With COVID-19 variants still impacting the world, online reliance continues to be a part of day-to-day activities from work and socializing to shopping and more. The only difference now is that people are more aware and cautious about data security. 

A survey on APAC consumers found that over 50% are uncomfortable with their collected data, with 90% having one or multiple concerns about corporate data practices. Most respondents, 85%, also acted when they disliked the practices – 23% of which chose or switched to an alternative brand with better data practices, and 22% using the brand less or abandoning it altogether. This has relevance in marketing, for instance.

“Consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of privacy and how their personal information gets collected and used for advertising. Privacy of user data is among the top five technology concerns for consumers in India, and in the top three for consumers in Japan,” said Jessica Martin, head of APAC privacy GTM at Google, who offered some strategies for businesses to navigate the changing consumer sentiment. They are:

• Invest in first-party data 
• Adopt automation solutions to do more with less data
• Build a privacy-first ecosystem

Even while knowing consumers’ growing apprehensive with data sharing and privacy, a Forrester report found most APAC marketers are unprepared for a cookieless future.

The basic expectation 

In collaboration with Campaign Asia-Pacific and World Federation Advertisers, the report also revealed that 59% of the marketers only fulfil the minimum requirements to comply with data privacy regulations. Only 18% believe they are mature regarding their privacy oversight and process. 43% are still relying on third-party cookies in their current marketing practices, and the same amount is concerned about going without cookies.

That makes for a worrying outlook for APAC businesses if they are slow to catch up with the current market mood. As such, data security isn’t an afterthought anymore; it is a basic expectation of the Asia Pacific consumers.  

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According to Check Point Research, the Zloader malware has now made a comeback. First spotted in 2015, the malware campaign is now reported to be exploiting Microsoft’s digital signature verification to steal sensitive information from victims. The ZLoader malware is a banking trojan that uses web injection to steal cookies, passwords, and any sensitive information.

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In September 2021, ZLoader fell under the radar of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) as a threat in the distribution of Conti ransomware. Most Conti ransomware is laid directly by a hacker that has accessed an unprotected RDP port, utilized email phishing to remote into a network via an employee’s computer, or utilized malicious attachments, downloads, application patch exploits, or vulnerabilities to gain access to a network.

During the same month, Microsoft said ZLoader operators were buying Google keyword ads to distribute various malware strains, including Ryuk ransomware.

While analyzing ZLoader campaigns in early September, we observed a notable shift in delivery method: from the traditional email campaigns to the abuse of online ad platforms. Attackers purchased ads pointing to websites that host malware posing as legitimate installers. pic.twitter.com/8HkR4kmyO6

— Microsoft Security Intelligence (@MsftSecIntel) September 23, 2021

Check Point Research published a report that details the resurgence of ZLoader in a campaign that has taken over 2,000 victims in 111 countries. Check Point Research attributes the campaign to the cybercriminal group MalSmoke.

Check Point Research shared the infection chain of Zloader. First, the attack begins with the installation of a legitimate remote management program pretending to be a Java installation. After this installation, the attacker has full access to the system and is able to upload and download files and also run scripts. The attacker uploads and runs a few scripts that download more scripts that run mshta.exe with file appContast.dll as the parameter.

Not sensing any anomaly, the file appContast.dll is signed by Microsoft, even though more information has been added to the end of the file. From there, the added information downloads and runs the final Zloader payload, stealing user credentials and private information from victims.

The number of victims affected. (Source – Check Point Research)

Specifically, Check Point Research has since documented 2170 unique victims. While most victims reside in the United States, followed by Canada and India, Check Point Research also saw some victims in Southeast Asia, with 18 victims in Malaysia and 82 in Indonesia.

“People need to know that they can’t immediately trust a file’s digital signature. What we found was a new ZLoader campaign exploiting Microsoft’s digital signature verification to steal sensitive information from users. We first began seeing evidence of the new campaign around November 2021. The attackers, whom we attribute to MalSmoke, are after the theft of user credentials and private information from victims,” said Kobi Eisenkraft, Malware Researcher at Check Point Software.

Eisenkraft added that they counted north of 2,000 victims in 111 countries and still counting. All in all, it seems like the Zloader campaign authors put great effort into defense evasion and are still updating their methods on a weekly basis. He strongly urges users to apply Microsoft’s update for strict Authenticode verification as it is not applied by default.

Microsoft has known about this security gap since 2012 and has attempted to fix it by releasing increasingly stricter file verification policies. However, for some reason, these remain disabled by default.

As such, Check Point Research has suggested the following safety tips to be practiced. Firstly, users should apply Microsoft’s update for strict Authenticode verification. Again, this is not applied by default. Secondly, avoid installing programs from unknown sources and sites. Lastly, avoid opening links or unfamiliar attachments received through email.

The post Malware exploits Microsoft’s e-Signature verification appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

A common belief is that the share divestments are due to increasing pressure from the Chinese government through regulatory crackdowns, especially through anti-monopoly laws. Such crackdowns have already led to a combined net worth loss of US$80 billion in 2021 for the top ten richest tech moguls in China.

Tencent’s stake sales

For context, Tencent had announced on Dec 23, 2021, that it will be paying out an interim dividend in the form of 457.3 million JD.com shares, which makes up 86.4% of Tencent’s stake in the e-commerce platform. The dividend payout is estimated to be worth HK$127.7 billion, or, about US$16.4 billion.

And two weeks later, Tencent announced a sale worth US$3 billion, disposal of 14.5 million shares of its stake in Shopee’s parent, Sea. It should be noted that this amounts to about 2.6% of the total shares of Sea, and that Tencent still holds an 18.7% stake in the Singapore-based company.

Tencent has also noted it intends to hold the majority of its stake in Sea for the long term.

Of note as well is that Tencent, along with Alibaba and Bilibili, were slapped with penalties for failing to properly report “about a dozen deals”. The penalties of 500,000 yuan (US$78,692) per deal are the maximum allowed under China’s 2008 anti-monopoly law.

After-sales effects

Tencent’s stake sales have led to drops in share prices not only for Tencent, Sea, and JD.com, but also for other Tencent-backed firms, such as Meituan and Bilibili. Forrest Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Sea, lost US$2 billion of his fortune in the past few days alone.

This comes as the latest blow to Li after losing about US$9 billion when share values fell 39% since October 2021.

Speculation and sentiment were that there would be continued stake sales, divestments, or disposals for Tencent as it looks to circumvent or counter the continuing regulatory crackdowns in China.

However, the share divestments have been noted as exit strategies by Tencent, with the funds going towards “other investments and social initiatives”.

Where to now?

As much as this sounds like a face-saving statement by Tencent, a fact of the matter is that the group has been putting funds into other markets, as much as China and Southeast Asia have felt like a focus for the group.

With China cracking down harder on its own tech giants, and with Sea having established itself as a leading player in Southeast Asia and looking to expand elsewhere, it only makes sense for Tencent to shift its focus towards untapped or upcoming markets.

Here’s where India comes into the picture, placing itself as an investment attraction with its large pool of well-educated entrepreneurs looking at new ways in which many businesses work using a fast-developing digital infrastructure.

The placement appears to have worked, considering the country has seen a doubling in its tech startup unicorn club in 2021 alone, having drawn US$39 billion in foreign investments.

Of note, however, is that Tencent has already been investing in the scene since 2016, with over US$2 billion put into Indian startups. Some examples include fintech startup Slice, as well as social media startups ShareChat and Lokal.

There was a temporary block on this plan, however. The Indian government put into place a requirement for approvals for Chinese investments, or really, investments from any countries sharing land borders with India, in a bid to prevent takeovers of imperiled Indian companies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, approvals started coming for Chinese foreign direct investment proposals in early 2021 on a case-by-case basis, cracking the gate open for Chinese investors to back tech startups in the country, with the results showing in 44 startups reaching the US$1 billion valuation and obtaining unicorn status in 2021 alone.

With that being said, it seems like Tencent is taking advantage in the midst of adversity.

By breaking up its high shareholdings in well-established companies in mature markets, thus abiding by Chinese regulations against monopolies, Tencent is then able to focus on investment opportunities like the Indian tech startup scene — an emerging market that has been earmarked for its untapped potential and similarity to the Chinese market, as well as its ability to generate long-term value for stakeholders.

The post What’s spooking Tencent and making them sell their shares off? appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

VinFast has been making headlines around the world in the last few months for the right reasons. The Vietnamese carmaker recently confirmed its plans to bring a pair of its electric SUVs to the American market during its debut at the 2021 Los Angeles auto show.

Now, Vinfast is planning to set up a battery factory in the US as well as part of its planned US manufacturing complex. The company hopes to build electric vehicle battery cells and packs. Vinfast has previously said it planned to start producing electric vehicles in the United States in the second half of 2024.

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Speaking to Reuters, Le Thi Thu Thuy, Vingroup vice-chair and VinFast Global CEO said the new plant will be a Gigafactory. While the company will continue to source batteries from its suppliers, as it will initially assemble battery packs with cells sourced from its supplier at its U.S. complex before starting its own production.

“We have narrowed down from I think, over 50 sites to about three sites,” she said during her U.S. visit to attend the CES 2022 in Las Vegas.

Reuters also reported her saying that the mega-site will also include an electric bus factory. In December, Vingroup has already started construction on a battery cell plant in Vietnam as part of its plan to build its own battery supply chain.

We’re thrilled to introduce our newest range of all-electric vehicles. Each one is designed to make the switch to EV an easy and exciting experience. Explore the benefits of going #EV with VinFast. See disclaimers in reply. https://t.co/OKXqiPe19u #VinFirst #CES2022 pic.twitter.com/heqy92X4EG

— VinFast (@VinFastofficial) January 6, 2022

In fact, battery supply chain issues have already led to delays in the production of several electric vehicle brands around the world. Some of these companies have now chosen to also build their own battery factories to deal with the shortage.

Vinfast is looking to initially produce 100,000 battery packs per year with US$ 174 million of investments and then upgrade its capacity to one million. As Vietnam’s first fully-fledged domestic car manufacturer, Vinfast is also considered the most advanced car manufacturer in the ASEAN region, designing and building better models than other ASEAN car manufacturers.

(Source – VinFast)

Having only hit the streets in 2019, the carmaker began selling electric vehicles in Vietnam at the end of 2021. At CES 2022, Thuy also announced that VinFast will be a fully electric vehicle company in 2022.  With the new announcement, Vinfast hopes it will be able to cater to the growingly competitive electric vehicle market in the US.

Apart from its new battery factory announcement, the car company also announced that it will commence a reservation program for its first two electric vehicle models through blockchain. Blockchain will be used in the process to certify reservations, payments, and eventually vehicle ownership.

Vinfast’s application of blockchain makes it one of the world’s first automakers to put this advanced technology into use. It will first apply blockchain in the reservation process in the US and is looking at the possibilities of using this technology in other markets in the near future.

“VinFast’s Customer-First Philosophy leads us towards providing high-quality products with reasonable pricing and outstanding services as well as offering solutions that inspire global customers to join hands for a more sustainable future for all,” added Thuy.

The post VinFast to build battery factory in US appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The commitment to transition towards sustainable energy comes afore as the new year opened with Indonesia banning coal exports due to insufficient supply for its power plants. 

On January 1, the country enacted the ban as its coal miners failed to fulfill their Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) to provide state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) with 25% of their annual production.

The country exports about three times the 130 million tons of coal annually to generate 60% of its 73 GW electric capacity.

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“Why is exporting prohibited for everyone? We can’t help it, and it’s just temporary. If the prohibition is not implemented, over 20 power plants with a combined capacity of 10,850 megawatts will be shut down,” said Ridwan Jamaluddin, director-general of minerals and coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, in a statement.

Indonesia raised its coal output target

Last year, Indonesia raised its coal output target by 14% to 625 million tons to capitalize on high coal prices. Likewise, the coal miners have a preference to sell abroad as the prices hit almost US$170 per ton as of January. 

That’s more than double the US$70 per ton fixed coal price the government placed under the DMO since 2018. At 600-rupiah (US$0.042) per kWh in 2020, coal power is the cheapest option, followed by geothermal at 1,100-rupiah (US$0.077) per kWh and gas at 1,600-rupiah (US$0.11) kWh. 

Clean coal energy is unmet even with a pledge to phase out coal power plans at COP26 

Indonesia unveiled its greenest Electricity Business Plan (RUPTL) to date for the 2021 to 2030 period and signed a pledge to phase out its coal power plants at the COP26 climate conference last year.

However, critics found its commitment to sustainable energy underwhelming. Its continuous investment in coal, albeit leaning towards clean coal energy, dampened its goal of a 23% increased use of renewable energy in its energy mix by 2025. 

Moreover, while Indonesia said it will stop building new coal power plants after 2023, it will allow the construction of 117 new plants, which started in 2015, to be completed as planned by 2023. 

Clean coal technology to propel economic growth

In November 2020, the ASEAN Centre for Energy (AEC) and the World Coal Association (WCA) signed a three-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen joint commitments to clean coal technology to propel economic growth.

“During the 37th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) [in 2019], the ministers acknowledged the outlook of rising power generation from coal in the region and highlighted the efforts of ASEAN in promoting clean coal technologies (CCT).

“Ministers were also encouraged to further accelerate the deployment of CCT in the ASEAN region,” said Dr. Nuki Agya Utama, executive director of ACE, in a statement announcing the MoU signing.

ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 

“Under the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC), coal and clean coal technology is one of the program areas, which aims to address the growing energy demand and promote environmental sustainability. ASEAN is currently developing APAEC 2016-2025 Phase II:2021-2025, where CCT is expected to play a significant role to advance the region’s energy transition, resiliency, and sustainability,” Dr. Nuki added. 

“It is critical that the global community is educated by leading organizations such as ACE, who are in the regions which are impacted the most by the lack of access to energy and the advantages that affordable, abundant, and reliable energy delivers,” said Michelle Manook, chief executive of WCA in the announcement.

“Coal is a critical enabler in emerging economies for economic growth, particularly those across the ASEAN region, and many in our global community do not seek to understand this.”

Indonesia is one of the world’s biggest coal exporters and counts China, India, Japan, and South Korea as its biggest customers.

The question now is, will organizations and countries start moving away from coal energy? At the end of the day, if the demand for coal energy stops, the supply can too.

Emerging technologies in the energy field are enabling businesses to make the switch from coal and focus on greener energy. Only time will tell if coal-dependent organizations are really serious about sustainability and reducing their carbon emissions.

The post Indonesia’s coal export drama raises questions appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Following the crackdowns by China regulators on foreign listings, Pinduoduo Inc. founder Colin Huang saw the biggest hit to his fortune when the e-commerce platform’s shares dove by almost 70%, a whopping US$42.9 billion.

Didi Global Inc. founder Cheng Wei saw his company’s value shoot up in the weeks before its June listing in the U.S., hitting a valuation of US$95 billion for the ride-hailing company, leaving Cheng with a stake valued at US$6.7 billion.

However, Chinese regulators cracked down on the variable interest entity structure and raised concerns about data privacy as well as vague cybersecurity. This resulted in Didi not only delisting by request of Chinese officials but also saw its shares plummeting over 60% after an investigation was declared.

This marks the latest effect of China’s continuing crackdown on its tech sector, as part of its bid to enforce censorship on the internet usage of its citizens. However, the delisting of all these China tech moguls leaves investors with a sudden lack of investment opportunities, especially since it has gotten even harder for a Chinese firm to list outside of China.

A loss for China tech moguls, a gain for Indian unicorns?

Enter the Indian startup scene, which has drawn to itself the attention and interest of investors with its large pool of well-educated entrepreneurs looking at new ways in which many businesses work using a fast-developing digital infrastructure.

This, in turn, has led to the doubling in the number of unicorns India has seen in 2021 alone, with 44 startups joining the prestigious club even as the country faced its fiercest battles against COVID-19.

Some of the investors drawn into this surge in numbers, that saw US$39 billion raised, included Japan’s Softbank, and America’s Tiger Global, and Alpha Wave Global.

This surge has also caused a bit of a gold rush, as backers who are traditionally warier have also taken to the scene with gusto as a response to the aggressive funding from their peers.

Interestingly enough, among the backers that have put funds into India are China tech moguls. Jack Ma of Alibaba fame is noted as an investor, despite looking at a US$13 billion net worth loss following the regulatory crackdown by China officials. Another is Tencent, which saw trimmed valuations after the same regulatory crackdown.

Unfortunately, as much as there are those who believe the bullish movements of investors in India’s startup scene will persist into 2022, there are critics who believe that many of these firms may be grossly overvalued.

One noted example was Paytm, the biggest IPO of the year. The fintech player is yet to make a profit, and its share price is down 40% from its IPO valuation within two days of its weak stock market debut.

The post China tech moguls crackdown may just be India’s gain appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

China was the first major economy to pilot a sovereign digital currency, also known as a CBDC (central bank digital currency).

In fact, it is the only country that has continuously made strides with its new electronic payment system while the rest of the world is still in the research phase. That said, after having run numerous trials over the last two years for its digital yuan, the People’s Bank of China is now aiming for a wider reach by launching an e-CNY wallet app in the country.

To recall, over the past two years, cities throughout China have even been holding lotteries, distributing a total of 10 million digital yuan (worth about US$1.47 million at the time) to people in Shenzhen in October 2020, 20 million digital yuan (or US$3 million) in Suzhou in December 2020, and 40.2 million digital yuan (or US$6.2 million) in Chengdu in February 2021.

For context, e-CNY is essentially physical cash converted into a digital form, and it’s been in the works since 2014.

Distribution of the digital currency takes place using a two-tier system that transfers e-CNY from the PBOC to commercial banks. Banks will then distribute the currency directly to consumers.

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In November last year, PBOC’s Governor Yi Gang had said that China would continue to advance the development of its central bank digital currency and improve its design and usage, including increasing its interoperability with existing payment tools.

As of November 2021, the central banks said around 140 million Chinese citizens have opened digital yuan wallets.

As per the Reuters report, a notice in the app said it is in a research and development pilot phase and is only available to selected users through supported institutions that provide e-CNY services, including major domestic banks.

That said, the new e-CNY app is accessible on both China’s Android and Apple app stores since Tuesday, but only to people in 10 specific cities, including Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Shanghai.

Test run at the Winter Olympics for China’s digital yuan

So far, Beijing seems to be focusing on ensuring the release and use of the digital yuan at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February this year — the first chance for the outside world to have a glimpse of the virtual currency.

Foreign visitors will be able to use the digital yuan to pay for things like accommodation and transportation within major venues at the Games, according to the government. 

There will also be ATM machines throughout the Games that can convert foreign currencies, including US dollars, into virtual Chinese money, which will be carried in a digital yuan card.

The Chinese government even urged American companies, including McDonald’s, to accept digital yuan before the 2022 Olympics. 

In fact, according to the Financial Times, the fast-food giant has been forced to expand the digital yuan trial to more of its restaurants in the nation in anticipation of the Winter 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The post China’s digital yuan app now available on Chinese Android, iOS appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Sony has become the latest producer of electric cars as it unveils its prototype model at CES 2022. The electric giant’s Vision-S 02 electric car is the latest prototype from the company as it looks to explore the rapidly growing market.

The Japanese firm, better known for its TVs and video game consoles, will create the Sony Mobility subsidiary in the first half of 2022 as it weighs entering the field. Sony joins a number of electric and tech companies that have shown interest and developed their own electric cars in recent times.

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In Asia, more Chinese carmakers and tech companies are working together to get ahead in electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle production. Among them are China’s BYD and autonomous driving startup Momenta, which has entered a 100 million yuan (US$15.7 million) joint venture to deploy autonomous driving capabilities across certain BYD car model lines. Another carmaker, Jidu Auto, an EV venture between tech giant Baidu and automaker Geely, also announced that it would start mass production of its first “Robot” EV in 2023.

According to a statement by Sony, “the new company will aim to make the best use of AI and robotics technologies, help realizes a world where everyone can live in harmony with robots on a daily basis, fill people with emotion, and contribute to society. With VISION-S, which contributes to the evolution of mobility, together with the autonomous entertainment robot Aibo, and the drone Airpeak, Sony will seek to continue to create new value in a variety of fields.”

According to Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony’s chief executive officer the Vision-S 02 is a new version of the firm’s first prototype that has begun road testing. Through this new branch, the electronics giant intends to explore entry into the EV market.

This vehicle uses the same EV/cloud platform as the prototype (VISION-S 01), which is being tested on public roads. By offering entertainment experiences utilizing the large interior space and variations of a 7-seater, this new prototype will, together with VISION-S 01, promote the accommodation of a large variety of lifestyles within a society where values are becoming increasingly diversified.

To demonstrate the concept in the real world, Sony started public road testing in Europe in December 2020 for the Vision-S. Sony started verification tests of the safety and user experience of the imaging and sensing technology installed inside and outside the vehicle, and the human-machine interface (HMI) system. In April 2021, Sony began 5G driving tests and will continue to apply its cutting-edge technologies to provide new experiences in the realm of mobility, which is undergoing a shift to electric vehicles.

Globally, the electric vehicle sector is still growing. In the US, it only accounts for only about 3% of current sales but it is attracting a lot of interest and investment. For example, General Motors has planned to invest more than US$ 35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles by 2025.

Authorities in Asia, Europe, and the United States plan to spend billions of dollars to strengthen the network of charging stations or encourage individuals to abandon their fossil fuel-powered vehicles.

With additional reporting from Agence France-Presse

The post Sony wants to make electric cars appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.