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Business Standard : Chinese tech giant Alibaba has introduced a new smart screen for the visually impaired users to help them shop without much of an assistance. The smart screen is a result of the company's two years and $25 billion R&D initiative. As TechCrunch reports, the screen, called Smart Touch, is like a silicone layer which can be added to the top of a smartphone screen. Each film costs about 3.6 cents to produce. It has three mini buttons on each side which are sensory-enabled. By pressing these buttons, certain commands are triggered, such as 'go back' and 'confirm', making online shopping a smoother process. Smart Touch is also useful while answering calls, listening to texts, and so on. BS

Facebook is set to offer its WhatsApp payment services to the whole of India as early as next week in an attempt to win market share, even though its partners aren’t all ready, said people familiar with the matter. The messaging app will partner HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank to process the transfers, and State Bank of India will join once it has the necessary systems in place, the people said. Facebook was aiming for a full rollout with four partners but decided to go ahead with just three as its rivals were racing ahead, the people said, asking not to be named as the information isn’t public. The entry of Whatsapp into India’s payments space has been likened to WeChat, which reshaped payments in China when it expanded beyond messaging. The pilot version of WhatsApp Pay — started with 1 million users in February — received rave reviews, threatening the market share of incumbents Google Tez and Alibaba-backed Paytm, which lack the benefits of a social network. “ Wha...

China enacted sweeping changes to a business competition law to address fraud in the e-commerce industry, which is plagued by malfeasance ranging from fake positive reviews to merchants goosing sales numbers. The National People’s Congress adopted revisions Saturday to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law intended to address online retailers, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The changes take effect January 1 but were announced days before Alibaba Group Holding’s November 11 Singles’ Day bargain extravaganza, which dwarfs Black Friday in the US in terms of revenue. The Chinese law initially took effect in 1993 as a way to protect consumers and businesses from unfair market practices. At that time, none of China’s biggest online companies — including Alibaba, Tencent Holdings, Baidu and JD.com — even existed. As e-commerce developed and prospered, attendant problems grew with it. These latest revisions stipulate that operators shouldn’t deceive consumers by faking sa...

Amid competition from deep-pocketed global players like Alibaba, India’s leading online ticketing platform BookMyShow is looking for a backing in its space from Flipkart , the country’s largest internet company. While BookMyShow has been one of the few profitable internet companies in India, with a profit of Rs 3.1 crore on a revenue of Rs 248 crore in the year that ended March 2016, competition from rivals like Paytm has caused sales growth to slow. To shield itself from cash-burning rivals, BookMyShow will sell a minority stake to Flipkart, a behemoth with a cash reserve of $4 billion. For the e-commerce major, a stake in BookMyShow will give it a play in the fast-growing online ticketing space and also an access to a high-spending loyal customer base. According to Livemint, which reported the story first on Monday, Flipkart is interested in outright ownership of BookMyShow, but talks have largely steered towards purchase of a minority stake in the company. Both c...

NSE IFSC Ltd will launch single derivative contracts in 15 global stocks, including giants like Apple Inc, Facebook and Alibaba, as also trade in three additional currencies, including Swiss franc and the US dollar. In a circular, the exchange announced introduction of these new contracts with effect from July 24. The new currency pairs also include the Japanese yen-US dollar and the Australian dollar-US dollar. The 15 global stock derivatives will feature those of Alphabet Inc, Microsoft, China Mobile, Amazon.Com, ExxonMobil Corporation, Johnson and Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, General Electric Company, AT&T Inc, Bank of America and Procter and Gamble Company. IFSC is short for International Financial Services Centre. There will also be day spread contracts in F&O of all these underlyings -- instead of two transactions to be done to roll over a contract to the next month series, it can be done as one transaction. This will bring down cost and risk of on...

Alibaba buys back less than 1% stake held by Reliance Cap in the e-commerce company for $41 million China’s top e-commerce player and lead investor in  Paytm , Alibaba, has bought a marginal stake held by Reliance Capital for $41 million. While the deal has meant a 27-fold return for the Anil Ambani-led firm, it has lifted the valuation of One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm, to an estimated $5 billion at a time when the e-commerce universe is facing severe markdowns.     Reliance Capital had acquired less than one per cent stake in One97 Communications for $1.51 million in 2009.   With this, the Paytm group has risen to the second position in the e-commerce valuation pecking order, if only companies with Indian founders are counted. Flipkart, whose valuation had risen to more than $15 billion a year ago, has gone through several markdowns. The latest markdown by Morgan Stanl...