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Robotics

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… this seemingly minor wait can disrupt their learning continuity and focus—something any parent who has helped with homework can easily relate to.
Is it possible to eliminate boot time and deliver instant results anytime, anywhere? The answer is yes, but it’s a complex challenge, particularly for hardware like dictionary pens, which are highly sensitive to power consumption and performance. The D1 Pro team spent an entire year in R&amp;D, ultimately achieving an optimal balance between software and hardware performance, power consumption, response speed, and overall cost. This enables the D1 Pro to provide quick scans and rapid results, helping to maintain children’s focus during learning sessions.
Beyond performance, the Alpha Egg team has invested heavily in acquiring high-quality educational content. The D1 Pro comes preloaded with 82 authoritative, licensed dictionaries, covering all subjects from elementary to high school. The built-in translation, picture books, textbooks, and over 170,000 textbook sentences have been meticulously annotated by a team of three editors over six months, ensuring the utmost professionalism and reliability of the educational content while minimizing the risk of inaccuracies often seen in current large language models (LLMs).
The D1 Pro also features a larger, high-definition screen measuring 3.48 inches, with German TUV Rheinland eye protection certification. Responding to user feedback, it incorporates soft lighting from professional eye-protection desk lamps into the scanning pen head, offering gentler, more eye-friendly illumination that reduces the strain on children’s eyes from prolonged screen and lamp exposure.
Every aspect of the D1 Pro is infused with a parent’s concern, and this care is embedded in its AI.
According to data from China’s Ministry of Education, the number of students enrolled in formal education in China reached a record high of 293 million in 2022, an increase of 17 million compared to 2018. If current population trends continue, this growth is expected to persist for at least another decade.
In this highly competitive market, traditional manufacturers, K12 education companies, AI startups, and internet giants are all vying for a share. As one player exits, another enters, and the battles are relentless. New players emerge daily, while others withdraw just as quickly.
Yet, companies like Toycloud, which have remained steadfast in this arena for 15 years, are a rare breed.
This Q4, Toycloud is set to launch a new Go-playing robot. According to data from the Chinese Weiqi Association, there are currently about 60 million Go players in China, with 100,000 Go professionals and over 3 million young people learning Go each year. However, Go training institutions and resources are mostly concentrated in first-tier cities, leaving many children with limited opportunities for face-to-face training with a teacher, instead spending long hours staring at a computer screen.
"Many children give up learning Go because they worry about getting nearsighted. Our Go robot aims to change that," Wu told 36Kr.
Once again, Toycloud is venturing into a new category with an entirely new hardware product. The Go robot presents a unique challenge, requiring precise computer vision and servo motor technology, and it targets a more specialized application scenario.
Alpha Egg is about to face another new challenge—but so what?
China’s smart hardware industry has always been fiercely competitive, especially in the children’s hardware market. Even in 2024, countless battles are still being fought daily in this space.
From mobile phones to MP3 players, MP4 players, children’s toys, watches, robots, speakers, wireless earphones, learning devices, and dictionary pens—everything you can think of, and even things you can’t, is here.
Looking back at Toycloud’s 15-year journey, if there’s a strategy that has guided them, it’s this: stay grounded in product development, perfect the simple things, and always choose the difficult but right path.
And most importantly, keep a parent’s heart in everything you do, pouring genuine love and care into every product.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/2908646639213187">article</a> was written by Xiao Xi for 36Kr.

Toycloud: The hidden unicorn rewriting the rules in children’s tech

China

Artificial Intelligence

Hardware

Deep Tech

Edtech

On August 18, <a href="https://www.agibot.com/">Agibot</a> officially unveiled its latest lineup of humanoid robots, marking a significant milestone for the company. After a year of anticipation, five new models were introduced: Expedition A2, Expedition A2-W, Expedition A2-Max, Lingxi X1, and Lingxi X1-W.
Agibot, founded by Zhi Huijun—a former prodigy at Huawei and now a popular figure on Bilibili with 2.5 million followers—has quickly become a leading name in the robotics industry. Since its inception in February 2023, the company has attracted substantial investment, securing six rounds of financing from notable backers like HongShan, Baidu, and SAIC Motor. These investments have driven Agibot’s valuation to over RMB 7 billion (USD 960 million).
With these new releases, Agibot aims to redefine the capabilities of humanoid robots. The Expedition series, initially conceived as a bipedal robot, now includes wheeled and heavy-load versions, broadening its application scope significantly.
Central to the innovation in the Expedition A2 model are advancements in four key areas: power, perception, communication, and control.
In terms of power, Agibot has optimized its PowerFlow joint modules, enhancing both reliability and stability. The robot’s dexterous hand now boasts 19 degrees of freedom (DOF), up from the previous 11, enabling it to perform more intricate and precise tasks. A video demonstration during the press event highlighted this capability, showing the hand executing everyday tasks such as unpacking deliveries and pouring water, as well as delicate operations like threading a needle—showcasing the robot's heightened precision.
Agibot has also improved the robot's perception abilities by incorporating multimodal sensing with microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology, significantly boosting the tactile sensitivity of the robot’s hand.
On the control side, the Expedition A2-W is outfitted with two high-precision, force-controlled dual arms, each with 7 DOF, achieving industrial-grade accuracy in repetitive tasks.
For communication, Agibot introduced AimRT, a lightweight and high-performance communication framework designed specifically for intelligent robots. This in-house development surpasses third-party middleware like ROS in terms of performance, stability, and deployment efficiency, while maintaining compatibility with existing ROS and ROS 2 systems.
During the event, Zhi emphasized that Agibot has been focusing on progressive innovation over the past year, refining core components, and restructuring system solutions based on the Expedition A1 prototype. These efforts have paved the way for the robots' mass production, setting the stage for commercial deployment.
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However, Zhi pointed out that optimizing the robot's physical design is just the beginning. The true intelligence of a humanoid robot resides in its "brain," which requires not only advanced computing and control capabilities but also the ability to continuously learn and adapt, enabling autonomous improvement in real-world applications.
"Humanoid robots are extraordinarily complex systems, and their manufacturing challenges span nearly the entire spectrum of the industry," Zhi noted during the press conference.
Over the past year, Agibot has worked tirelessly to refine its integration of hardware and software, supply chain management, manufacturing processes, and production workflows. These efforts have transitioned the Expedition series from prototype to mass production, a significant milestone in the commercialization of humanoid robots.
Zhi also announced that Agibot’s X-Lab will soon open-source most of the design materials for the Lingxi X1 robot, including comprehensive design blueprints (excluding critical components), software frameworks, middleware, and motion control source codes.
Additionally, Agibot plans to release the industry’s first embodied dataset in the fourth quarter. This dataset will include one million real-world data points and tens of millions of simulated data points, aiming to support further innovation and development in the embodied intelligence industry.
As the event concluded, Zhi underscored that the true value of technology lies in its ability to impact human life profoundly. Agibot’s mission, he explained, goes beyond mere technological advancement: the company seeks to accelerate industry innovation through an open ecosystem and collaborative efforts, ultimately integrating robots into everyday life.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/2911230419147648">article</a> was written by Annabella Chang for 36Kr.

Agibot unveils five humanoid robots, commercialization on the horizon

China Tech

China's top chipmaker says the country's push to localize semiconductor supplies has boosted orders and improved pricing in recent months and will continue to provide a tailwind for the company for the rest of the year.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) said geopolitical uncertainties were fueling the rush to onshore production.
"Due to the disruption and changes in a supply chain broken by geopolitics, some customers had the opportunity to penetrate into the industrial [value] chain," co-CEO Zhao Haijun told investors on August 9. "This brought incremental demand to the company in response to the changing market."
China's largest contract chipmaker said it has received some "rush orders" and requests to make some shipments earlier than planned, the CEO added. Zhao said the push for localization has also boosted demand from some overseas chip developers seeking to tap the Chinese market and maintain their market share.
"Some overseas customers need to build up inventory so as to stabilize their market share and hedge against the market risks," Zhao said. "We do expect this localization push will last till the end of this year," he added.
But visibility for the final quarter of 2024 was still unclear, he added, as many tech companies are reviewing their demand levels, with some requesting adjustments to their order for the period. "We have received requests to adjust orders downward a bit for chips used in televisions, smart speakers, and smartphones," Zhao said. "That's because they always book a bit more in the first half and adjust according to real demand."
Demand for certain industrial and automotive-related chips has not yet recovered from its downturn, he added.
SMIC's revenue in the April-June quarter grew 21.8% on the year to USD 1.9 billion. However, gross margin contracted to 13.9% from 20.3% due to intensifying price competition in certain less-advanced chips and increased investment in cutting-edge chip production. Net profit fell 59.1% year-on-year to USD 164.5 million.
From a quarterly perspective, SMIC's revenue and gross margin both improved better than the company's guidance. Its production utilization rate also improved to 85.2% in the second quarter from 80.2% in the first quarter.
For the current quarter, the CEO said SMIC forecasts its revenue will grow 13–15% quarterly and its gross margin will improve to between 18–20%.
Zhao said SMIC's 12-inch wafer capacity has been in short supply and prices are trending up due to demand for localization. Its newly added capacity, he said, has been "effectively utilized."
"Our 12-inch wafer capacity has been nearly fully loaded … Since the second quarter of this year, the price is only going up, not down," he said.
SMIC is accelerating its capacity expansion to meet this robust localization demand, Zhao said. "Our speed for construction and our requests to our suppliers are all as soon as possible. We estimate our 12-inch capacity will increase by 60,000 wafers by the end of this year, which is faster than our usual annual 30,000–50,000 wafer expansion plans."
This article first appeared on <a tabindex="0" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/SMIC-says-China-s-localization-push-is-boosting-chip-demand2" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-token-index="1">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing <a tabindex="0" href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-token-index="3">partnership with Nikkei</a>.

SMIC says China's localization push is boosting chip demand

Semiconductors

51World‘s Earth cloning tech secures backing from Chinese state-owned investor

Agriculture

Climate

… aria-level="1"><a href="https://dimuto.io/">DiMuto</a>, a Singapore-based startup that provides end-to-end supply chain visibility for businesses, raised USD 5.9 million in a Series A funding round led by The Yield Lab Asia Pacific. The round saw participation from SiS Cloud Global Tech Fund 8, Gold Sceptre, and Dave Chen, as well as existing investors Seeds Capital (SG Growth Capital), SGInnovate, and PT Great Giant Pineapple.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Finture, the operator of Southeast Asian digital bank Yup, raised over USD 30 million in its Series B funding round. The round was led by Hong Kong-based venture capital firm MindWorks Capital, with participation from XVC, SWC Global, Richen Pioneer, and Antao Capital.</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://nexusocean.ai/">Nexus Ocean AI</a>, a Singapore-based provider of generative AI-powered efficiency solutions for the maritime industry, raised USD 400,000 in angel funding from Tradeworks.vc.</li>
</ul>
If there are any news or updates you'd like us to feature, get in touch with us at: <a href="mailto:hello@kr-asia.com">hello@kr-asia.com</a>.
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Deals in brief: SleekFlow bags Series A+ funding, Ikhlas Capital invests in Food Empire, Australia’s Compass secures EQT backing, and more

Venture Capital

Private Equity

Investment

Merger &amp; Acquisition

Singapore

Malaysia

Southeast Asia

Oceania

… revenue from minigames increasing by over 30% YOY in Q2.
Mitchell also mentioned that Tencent is not currently monetizing minigames through in-app purchases on iOS, but discussions with Apple are underway to potentially enable this revenue stream. Traditionally, Apple does not allow apps on its store to offer in-app payment services for other apps, taking a commission instead. Tencent hopes to negotiate terms that are economically sustainable and fair for all parties involved, including developers and users.
Mitchell expressed optimism that a positive outcome could be reached, emphasizing that such an arrangement would benefit Tencent, Apple, and the broader gaming community.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/2908215784954755">article</a> was written by Wang Yuchan for 36Kr.

Tencent’s Q2 profit surges despite economic headwinds

WeChat

If you’re a startup with funding in Southeast Asia, Alibaba Cloud has an opportunity you might not want to miss. The tech giant has rolled out its Startup Catalyst Program, tailored to fuel the growth of emerging companies with cloud credits and essential resources. Successful applicants will receive USD 1,000 in cloud credits, setting the stage for them to start building on Alibaba Cloud’s robust platform.
But that’s just the beginning. Participants in the program will also tap into expert guidance, ensuring their cloud infrastructure is optimized to scale with confidence. Beyond the technical support, there’s a chance to connect with industry leaders and fellow innovators through regional networking events, broadening the horizons for collaboration and growth.
<h3>Apsara Conference 2024</h3>
As a highlight of the Startup Catalyst Program, Alibaba Cloud is organizing an exclusive demo day for artificial intelligence startups at the upcoming Apsara Conference. Scheduled from September 19–21, 2024, in Yunqi Town, Hangzhou, China, this event is set to be a global tech gathering that attracts thousands of industrial professionals.
For startups, this is an ideal opportunity to present their innovative solutions to industry experts and venture capitalists. In addition, selected startups will enjoy an English-guided tour of the Apsara Conference and an exclusive visit to Alibaba’s headquarters. They will also have the opportunity to showcase their solutions at a booth table in the exhibition hall, placing themselves in the spotlight.
The demo day winner will be awarded up to USD 20,000 in cloud credits and a dedicated booth at the next Apsara Conference, offering enhanced visibility and promotional opportunities.
<h3>How to apply</h3>
Ready to take the next step? Complete the <a href="https://airtable.com/appbHmEU8NAUNs5bn/pagwVUJP4viIhpG2h/form">registration form</a> for the program and submit your pitch deck for the demo day by September 1, 2024.
Startups selected for the demo day will also benefit from a SGD 500 (approximately USD 375) travel subsidy provided by KrASIA.
This article was written in partnership with Alibaba Cloud.

Open new doors: Join Alibaba Cloud’s startup program and showcase at Apsara Conference 2024

Alibaba Cloud

Thailand

Vietnam

Indonesia

Philippines

Announcements

… href="https://www.sheingroup.com/corporate-news/company-updates/shein-to-bring-local-manufacturing-to-brazil-enabling-2000-local-manufacturers-thatwill-create-approximately-100000-jobs-in-the-next-three-years/">USD 150 million investment</a> to help Brazilian manufacturers upgrade to its on-demand production model, with plans to onboard 2,000 local manufacturers over the next three years. By the end of 2026, Shein aims for 85% of its sales in Brazil to come from local manufacturers.
AliExpress, meanwhile, has captured a leading position in the Chilean market. According to consultancy Kawes Lab, AliExpress accounted for 42% of cross-border e-commerce platform transactions in Chile in early 2023, outpacing both Amazon and Shein. Even short video apps like TikTok and Kwai have begun exploring e-commerce opportunities in LATAM, tapping into the region’s vast consumer base.
However, these platforms face significant hurdles, particularly in navigating the region’s complex and ever-changing tariff policies. Brazil, for example, recently approved a <a href="https://kr-asia.com/temus-latam-expansion-stymied-by-brazils-complex-tax-policies">20% tariff on goods from overseas platforms</a> valued at less than USD 50, replacing the previous tax exemption. This shift naturally dampens enthusiasm among cross-border sellers and could slow the growth of these platforms.
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For Mercado Libre, the reduction in competition due to tax pressures might seem advantageous at first glance, but the reality is more nuanced. Chinese cross-border sellers, who have bolstered Mercado Libre’s growth since it entered the Chinese market in 2019, remain crucial to its success.
In today’s interconnected world, LATAM’s e-commerce market doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. The landscape is vast, with enough space for multiple players to succeed, provided they can navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/2909006817647232">article</a> was written by Leslie Zhang for 36Kr.

As e-commerce heats up in LATAM, who can catch Mercado Libre?

E-commerce

Consumer Economy

Latin America

… initiative</a> where his team developed a quantum communication chip that was 1,000 times smaller than existing models. By incorporating quantum key distribution directly into the chip, they significantly enhanced communication security, paving the way for more secure and compact communication technologies.
Zhu is the first author of the research paper detailing the latest breakthrough.

Can quantum tech solve chemistry’s toughest problems? Hong Kong’s PolyU leads the charge