In addition to Meituan Dianping, we also have updates from Booking.com, Facebook, and cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan

Meituan Dianping to expand ride-hailing service nationally – South China Morning Post

Beijing-based on-demand platform Meituan Dianping is set to expand its newly launched ride-hailing service nationally, according to an anonymous source familiar with the matter.

Having been launched in Nanjing in December, the company expects to launch the service in at least five cities in mainland China including Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen.

The company has declined to comment on the matter.

The move has been seen as a challenge to Didi Chuxing’s dominance in Chinese ride-hailing service market, and is expected to trigger price war.

Cryptocurrency exchanges in Japan to set-up self-regulatory body – Reuters

Sixteen government-registered cyrptocurrency exchanges in Japan are set to set up a self regulatory body to build up trust in the industry, following a US$530 million digital money heist in January.

The organisation will later invite other exchanges who have not registered with the government, or those with impending registration.

The organisation’s name and date for registration are undecided and details of the scope of its powers were not immediately available, though an anonymous source said that it would be set up “this spring.”

Also Read: Baidu’s Nuomi dismisses merger rumour with China’s Meituan Dianping

Booking.com selects 4 Asian startups for its accelerator programme in Amsterdam – Press Release

Global e-commerce company Booking.com has named the 10 startups that have been selected to join their sustainable tourism accelerator programme in Amsterdam in May, with four of them originating from Asia.

The startups are Community Homestay Network (Nepal), Global Himalayan Expedition (India), Sakha Consulting Wings: Women on Wheels (India), and HiveSters (Thailand).

The startups are set to particiate in a three-week accelerator programme that consists of a series of lectures, workshops, and coaching. The programme will end with a final pitch eventto receive an up to EUR500,000 (US$613,000) scaling grant from Booking.com’s EUR2 million (US$2.4 million) fund.

Facebook ends News Feed test in six countries – Reuters

Facebook has ended a test that put is signature News Feed into two, with one of them featuring photos and updates from users’ friends and families, while the other featured materials from Facebook pages that the users have liked.

Having been conducted since October, the test was conducted in six countries: Bolivia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Serbia, Slovakia and Sri Lanka.

According to Facebook News Feed Head Adam Mosseri, the platform decided to end the test and maintain only one feed as users “did not like the change.”

Smaller media outlets are also reported to have their traffic affected by the change.

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Image Credit: Nico Villanueva on Unsplash

The post Today’s top tech news, March 2: Meituan Dianping to expand ride-hailing service nationally appeared first on e27.