Bolt launches electric bike-sharing service in Paris

Like other ride-hailing companies, Bolt has been suffering from the coronavirus-related lockdown and economic downturn around the world. But the company is trying to find another revenue stream by launching electric bikes in Paris. Bolt plans to launch a similar service in other European capitals this year.

For the past couple of weeks, the only bike-sharing service that has been operating in Paris is Vélib’, the public bike-sharing service based on docked bikes and electric bikes. Many private companies have tried to compete with Vélib’ but they’ve all failed so far — Gobee.bike, Obike, Ofo, Mobike…

The most recent example is Jump, Uber’s micromobility subsidiary. Following a financial transaction with Lime, Jump has removed all its bikes from the streets of Paris, London, Rome, Brussels and more. Those electric bikes now belong to Lime, but Lime hasn’t relaunched the service yet (if it ever gets relaunched).

Lime closes acquisition of Jump assets in Europe as Jump bikes and scooters disappear

But it doesn’t mean bikes aren’t popular. The public bike-sharing service in Paris is even reaching record highs these days. Let’s see if it means that people are willing to give Bolt’s e-bikes a try.

In addition to ride-hailing and scooters, you’ll be able to access the bike-sharing service from the same Bolt app. Like other free-floating vehicles, you can unlock a bike by scanning a QR code.

When it comes to pricing, Bolt is trying to make its service as cheap as possible to attract its first users. There won’t be any unlock fee and it’ll cost €0.10 per minute. It’s still unclear how much it’s going to cost after the launch phase.

Vélib’ still feels more attractive when it comes to pricing. It costs €2 to rent an e-bike for up to 30 minutes, or €8.30 per month to rent as many e-bikes as you want in a given month. With Bolt, you pay €2 for a 20-minute ride — and that’s without any unlock fee.

Bolt has 30 million users in 35 countries. It operates a scooter service in 21 cities around Europe.

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Qualcomm and OnePlus confirm the Snapdragon 765G on the OnePlus Nord

Rumors about OnePlus' upcoming mid-range handset have been largely conflicting when it comes to the chipset. The first reports said that MediaTek's Dimensity 1000 will be the heart of the phone but the Snapdragon 765G has been thrown around lately. Well, there's no room for doubt anymore all thanks to Qualcomm and OnePlus itself. In a tweet that has been taken down since, Qualcomm's EU branch said that they "are excited to work with OnePlus as they embark on new beginnings" hinting that the company's next smartphone will be powered by the 5G-compatible Snapdragon chipset. This was...

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Poco M2 Pro arriving on July 7 with quad cameras

The Poco M2 Pro that we've been hearing about for the past couple of months will be finally unveiled on July 7 in India, through an online event that will start at 12PM local time (6:30AM UTC). The M2 Pro will mark the debut of the new M series, joining the existing X and F lineups which include the X2, F1, and F2 Pro. The last one wasn't launched in India, though. Poco hasn't revealed any specifications about the M2 Pro yet, but it did give us a glimpse of its back which is similar to the global version of the Redmi Note 9 Pro - four cameras located in the center in a square formation...

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Beyond Burger arrives in Alibaba’s grocery stores in China

Beyond Meat is starting to hit supermarket shelves in China after it first entered the country in April by supplying Starbucks’ plant-based menu. Within weeks, it had also forayed into select KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut outlets — all under the Yum China empire.

China, the world’s biggest market for meat consumption, has seen a growing demand for plant-based protein. Euromonitor predicted that the country’s “free from meat” market, including plant-based meat substitutes, would be worth almost $12 billion by 2023, up from just under $10 billion in 2018.

The Nasdaq-listed food giant is now bringing its signature Beyond Burgers into Freshippo (“Hema” in Chinese), Alibaba’s supermarket chain with a 30-minute delivery service that recorded a spike in orders during the pandemic as people avoided in-person shopping.

The tie-up will potentially promote the animal-free burgers to customers of Freshippo’s more than 200 stores across China’s Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. They will first be available in 50 stores in Shanghai and arrive in more locations in September.

“We know that retail will be a critical part of our success in China, and we’re pleased to mark this early milestone within a few months of our market entry,” Ethan Brown, founder and chief executive officer of Beyond Meat, said in a statement.

Plant-based meat has a long history in China, serving the country’s Buddhist communities before the diet emerged as a broader urban lifestyle in more recent times. Amid health concerns, the Chinese government told citizens to cut back on meat consumption in 2016. The middle-class urban dwellers have also been embracing fake meat products as they respond to climate change.

“Regardless of international or local brands, Chinese consumers are now only seeing the first generation of plant-based offerings. Purchases today are mostly limited to forward-thinking experimenters,” Matilda Ho, founder and managing director of Bits x Bites, a venture capital firm targeting the Chinese food-tech industry, told TechCrunch. “The good news is China’s per capita consumption of plant-based protein is amongst the highest in the world.”

“For these offerings to scale to mass consumers or attract repeat purchases from early adopters, there is tremendous opportunity to improve on the mouthfeel, flavor, and how these products fit into the Chinese palate. To appeal to health-conscious flexitarians or vegetarians, there is also plenty of room to improve the nutritional profile in comparison to the conventional tofu or Buddhist mimic meat,” Ho added.

The fake meat market is already rife with competition. Domestic incumbent Qishan Foods has been around since 1993. Hong Kong’s OmniPork and Alpha Foods were quick to capture the new appetite across the border. Nascent startup Zhenmeat is actively seeking funding and touting its understanding of the “Chinese taste.”

Meanwhile, Beyond Meat’s rival back home Impossible Foods may be having a harder time cracking the market, as its genetically-modified soy ingredient could cause concerns among health-conscious Chinese.

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Realme X50 5G heading to Europe, launch scheduled for July 8

The Realme X50 5G arrived in January as one of the first smartphones with the next-gen connectivity. It immediately started selling in China, but it sure took its sweet time come to Europe. The Spanish website of Realme has now revealed the wait is over and the X50 5G will come on July 8. It will be presented during an online event, scheduled to start at 10:30 AM local time. The poster also reveals the Realme Buds Q will join the party. They are TWS earphones that come in a pill-shaped box and are pretty cheap - they are selling for the equivalent of €18 in China or €23 in...

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Google Play Console reveals Samsung Galaxy M01s is a rebranded Galaxy A10s

The Samsung Galaxy M01s recently bagged TUV Rheinland certification with a 3,900 mAh battery and now it has been spotted on Google Play Console, which reveals the M01s is actually a rebranded Galaxy A10s announced last August. The listing of the Galaxy A10s on the Play Console also mentions the Galaxy M01s, suggesting the M01s will be a rebadged A10s. It also includes key specs - Helio P22 SoC, up to 3GB RAM, and an HD+ display. If the Galaxy M01s is indeed a rebranded A10s, then you can expect it to pack a 6.2" TFT display, an 8MP selfie camera, and a dual camera setup at the back...

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iQOO Z1x full specs and design revealed by TENAA

The iQOO Z1x sporting model code V2012A was spotted on TENAA yesterday with a 6.57" screen and a 4,880 mAh battery. The listing didn't include any other specs of the smartphone but a separate listing on the Chinese certifying authority's website has revealed the full specs and design of the iQOO Z1x. The iQOO Z1x has a design similar to the Z1, but at 9.06mm it's 0.16mm thicker than the Z1. The 6.57" TFT screen, rumored to have a 120Hz refresh rate, has a resolution of 2408x1080 pixels and in the top-right corner is a punch hole for the 16MP selfie camera. The back of the Z1x is home to...

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