VENTURE CAPITAL POST

China's Tencent Holdings Ltd launched on Tuesday an operating system for internet-connected devices such as TVs and watches that is open to all developers, taking on domestic rivals Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Xiaomi Inc in the smart hardware space.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd launched on Tuesday the Honor 4C smartphone, the latest bid by the Chinese technology firm to gain market share in the highly competitive budget handset segment from domestic rivals such as Xiaomi Inc.

Chinese transportation robotics firm Ninebot said on Wednesday it has acquired U.S. rival Segway Inc, the company behind the self-balancing scooter that became a technological marvel when it was launched in the early 2000s but whose hype then faded.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's (BABA.N) finance arm and smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc [XTC.UL] said on Thursday they will jointly develop mobile payment systems using wearable technology, a first for China's major tech firms.

As Samsung Electronics Co Ltd sells fewer of its own smartphones, the South Korean group's components businesses are under pressure to pick up the slack and secure external customers for chips and display panels, including putting these in rival mobile devices.

China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is taking a $590 million stake in an obscure domestic smartphone maker as the e-commerce giant tests ways to expand its mobile operating system in a shrinking, cut-throat handset market.

China's Xiaomi Inc [XTC.UL] has agreed to buy about 3 percent of software firm Kingsoft Corp Ltd from Tencent Holdings Ltd for HK$527 million ($67.99 million), according to a Kingsoft filing on Monday.

China's Xiaomi Inc [XTC.UL] staked its claim to Apple Inc's crown on Thursday as the world's third-biggest smartphone maker and most valuable tech start-up unveiled the flagship Mi Note, its challenger to Apple's iPhone 6 Plus.

Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg launched a free Internet application in Colombia on Wednesday as part of a drive to bring developing markets online, but remained mute on when and if the company would look to move into China.

Mark Zuckerberg and Xiaomi Inc CEO Lei Jun discussed a potential investment by Facebook in China's top smartphone maker ahead of its $1.1 billion fundraising last month, but a deal never materialized, several people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd launched a lineup of high-tech premium TVs on Tuesday, calling on its original mainstay devices to help avert a second consecutive year of profit decline.

Huawei Technology Co Ltd's [HWT.UL] smartphone sales rose by almost a third to $11.8 billion in 2014, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, showing the Chinese telecoms firm's continued ascent in the global handset wars.

China's Xiaomi Inc [XTC.UL], one of the world's fastest-growing smartphone makers, has raised $1.1 billion in a round of funding that cements its status as one of the world's most valuable private technology companies at a valuation of $45 billion.

China's Xiaomi Inc has become the world's third-largest smartphone vendor just three years after first hitting the market, trailing only Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc, according to a new industry study.

Fast-growing Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc said on Thursday it is migrating some data on non-Chinese customers away from its servers in Beijing due to performance and privacy considerations.