TC Roundup: Uber China closes $1 billion fundraising round: sources

Uber Technologies Inc's China arm has closed its $1 billion fundraising round early, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, with investors still hopeful for the U.S.-based ride service despite strong domestic competition.

Investors in Uber's Chinese unit include Internet giant Baidu Inc, China CITIC Bank Corp Ltd and China Life Insurance Co Ltd, among others, said one of the people, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. (Reuters)

Apple to make (iPhone 6S?) announcement on September 9: The invitations have arrived. Apple will hold a press event in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 9, at which it is widely expected to debut its new generation of iPhones.

The new iPhone 6S (or whatever it will be called) is expected to feature several enhancements including a "force touch" display that will reveal extra menu settings when you press down hard enough on the screen. That feature first debuted on the Apple Watch. (CNN Money)

Facebook has a billion users in a single day, says Mark Zuckerberg: For the first time over a billion people used Facebook on a single day, according to company founder Mark Zuckerberg. The "milestone" was reached on Monday, when "1 in 7 people on Earth used Facebook to connect with their friends and family", he said in a post. Facebook has nearly 1.5 billion users who log in at least once a month, but this was the most in a single day. (BBC)

Facebook introduces new tools to crack down on video copyright violations: Facebook has been under fire lately from top Web video creators who have called out the social networking giant for failing to prevent people from posting their videos without permission. Now, Facebook is trying to make it easier for some of these creators to protect their content, particularly when videos go viral.

According to a new blog post, Facebook is working with a select group of creators on this initiative, including the multi-channel network Fullscreen (which has been particularly critical of Facebook on this issue), the viral video specialist company Jukin Media, and Zefr, which helps marketers track videos online. (The Wall Street Journal)

YouTube launches live-streaming video game service: It's official: YouTube Gaming, a website and app for live-streaming video games, launched to the public Wednesday after months of beta testing.

The site, available at gaming.youtube.com, hosts dedicated pages for more than 25,000 video games. Users can find fellow gamers live-streaming their sessions as well as videos and other content related to their favorite titles. Gamers can also upload their own gameplay live-streams to the service. (NBC News)

Pentagon teams up with Apple, Boeing to develop wearable tech: The Pentagon is teaming up with Apple, Boeing, Harvard and others to develop high-tech sensory gear flexible enough to be worn by people or molded onto the outside of a jet.

The rapid development of new technologies is forcing the Pentagon to seek partnerships with the private sector rather than developing its technology itself, defense officials say. (Reuters)

Instagram Goes Rectangular: Instagram has a radical new look: On Thursday, the Facebook Inc.-owned mobile app introduced portrait and landscape orientation, allowing social shutterbugs to avoid cropping out gathered friends or that perfect pair of shoes.

The app will continue to let users post images and video in its traditional square format. However, the additional options could help Instagram appeal to serious photographers and maintain its dominance in the increasingly crowded photo-sharing app space. (The Wall Street Journal)