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Spain celebrates its national holiday this Tuesday. A new October 12 that has led many people to ask for leave this Monday to enjoy a four-day long weekend. While some have taken advantage of this bridge simply to disconnect from work, others have preferred to travel to destinations that have been marked in red for months on their agenda. And it is that, taking into account that it is the first bridge without restrictions due to COVID-19, everything indicates that many have taken advantage of these days of rest to recover the trips that the pandemic took from us.
Whether you belong to one or the other, perhaps it would be good for you to know which supermarkets will be open throughout this day and which ones will not. The policy of each company is different in these cases, so it never hurts to know the hours of the different supermarket chains to know if you should go out this Monday to make the purchase or if you can leave it for tomorrow. Below we offer you the schedules of the main food chains.
Mercadona schedule for the bridge of October 12
As is customary on national holidays, Mercadona will not open its doors on Tuesday, October 12. In the same way that they close on Sundays so as not to double the salaries of workers and avoid an increase in the cost of products to customers, something that Juan Roig himself said in an appearance in which he presented the economic results of the company, the company Valencian usually closes on national holidays like this Tuesday.
Carrefour schedule for the bridge of October 12
The supermarkets of the French multinational Carrefour will vary their hours depending on their business models. While some will remain open 24 hours, others will do so for a limited time. On its website you can select the nearest establishment and check its opening hours. There you can check that some stores will remain open all day and that others will raise the blind from 09:30 hours.
Lidl’s schedule for the 12th October bridge
Lidl has decided to close a large part of the country except in Madrid and those areas with a large tourist influx. For the same reason, and to find out if your closest supermarket is open or not, we urge you to make a quick query on their website. In case your establishment is among those that remain open, the German firm has decided to maintain its usual hours, so it will open at 09:00 and close between 22:00 and 23:00.
Aldi schedule for the October 12 bridge
The other great German firm will remain open throughout this October 12 in all the country. According to the company itself, the different establishments throughout the country will lift the blind at 09:00 and will remain open until 22:00.
Daytime for the bridge of October 12
Like Lidl, the Dia firm’s supermarkets will remain closed in much of the country except in Madrid, Barcelona and those areas with a large tourist influx. Therefore, and to find out if your closest supermarket is open or not, we urge you to make a quick query on their website. In case your establishment is among those that remain open, the hours will depend on their business models.
Schedule of El Corte Inglés for the bridge of October 12
The El Corte Inglés supermarkets will remain open both in Madrid and in Barcelona and areas of great tourist influx between 11:00 and 21:00 during October 12. To find out if your closest establishment will remain open or not, you just have to go to their website.
Alcampo schedule for the bridge of October 12
The opening hours of the Alcampo firm will vary from the format of its stores. Although it plans to open in its usual hours, between 09:00 and 22:00, it is advisable to check the hours of the nearest stores on their website to get out of doubt.
Eroski’s schedule for the bridge of October 12
Like the rest of the stores, the Basque company will close some of its stores by October 12. Everything will depend on the format of your stores. To find out if your nearest supermarket will remain open or not, you just have to access their website to get rid of doubts.


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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - For want of an iPod, a billion-dollar lawsuit may be in jeopardy.
Millions of Medicare Advantage customers are fast approaching a deadline for a task they'd rather avoid: Researching and then settling on coverage plans for 2015.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Japan's Takata Corp. rejected federal regulators' demand Wednesday for an expanded, nationwide recall of millions of air bags, setting up a possible legal showdown and leaving some drivers to wonder about the safety of their cars.
WASHINGTON (AP) - In a bipartisan show of unity, the House overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday to allow Americans with disabilities to open tax-free bank accounts to pay for expenses from education to housing and health care.
NEW YORK (AP) - Watch out world, the Girl Scouts are going digital to sell you cookies.
NEW YORK (AP) - Cyber Monday is turning into Cyber Month.
DETROIT (AP) - At least 36 people have died and 44 have been seriously injured in crashes involving General Motors cars with defective ignition switches.
NEW YORK (AP) - Black Friday seemed a little less crazy this year.
NEW YORK (AP) - Black Friday shoppers are starting to look like procrastinators.
NEW YORK (AP) - A decision by OPEC this week to maintain current levels of oil production hammered major energy companies in the U.S. and abroad.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is appealing a World Trade Organization decision that would make it harder for U.S. consumers to know where meat in the grocery store came from.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Many immigrants in the United States illegally who apply for work permits under President Barack Obama's new executive actions would be eligible for Social Security and Medicare benefits upon reaching retirement age, according to the White House.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Twitter said it is now tracking what other apps its users have installed on their mobile devices so it can target content and ads to them better.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Redbox is raising its DVD rental prices by 25 percent in an effort to wring more revenue from the shrinking audience that still watches movies on discs rather than online.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - In an exception to Southern California's lackluster real estate market, sales of homes costing $2 million or more are hitting record levels, according to a report.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration is keeping a bold-letter warning on Pfizer's anti-smoking drug Chantix about suicidal behavior and other psychiatric side effects, after reviewing company findings suggesting the drug does not increase those problems.
NEW YORK (AP) - The company behind the Snuggie, Perfect Bacon Bowl and other "As Seen on TV" products has agreed to pay $8 million to settle charges that it deceived customers.
MOUNTAIN VIEW (AP) - Google is helping California drivers shop for car insurance as part of a new service that could foreshadow the Internet company's latest attempt to shake up a long-established industry.
WASHINGTON (AP) - In an encouraging development for consumers worried about antibiotics in their milk, a new Food and Drug Administration study showed little evidence of drug contamination after surveying almost 2,000 dairy farms.
POLK CITY, Fla. (AP) - The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus says the "Greatest Show on Earth" will go on without elephants.
NEW YORK (AP) - There was a time you could count on phones getting larger each year. Samsung's runaway success with the big-screen smartphone even spurred Apple to release a supersized model last fall. But if phones get any bigger will they be too hard to use?
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg has enlisted NBA stars LeBron James, Stephen Curry and some of the basketball league's other top players to convince more men to join the fight for women's rights at home and at work.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Uber Technologies is buying digital mapping specialist deCarta in a deal that may help the rapidly growing ride-hailing service lessen its dependence on navigation services from Google and Apple, an imposing pair of potential rivals.
NEW YORK (AP) - McDonald's says it plans to require chicken suppliers to stop using antibiotics important to human medicine within two years.
• ALIBABA OPENS DATA CENTER IN SILICON VALLEY: SAN JOSE (AP) - The cloud-computing unit of Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba is making its first foray into the U.S. by opening a data center in Silicon Valley.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Sony plans on putting its virtual-reality headset on consumers' noggins next year.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration is warning doctors against over-prescribing testosterone-boosting drugs for men, saying the popular treatments have not been established as safe or effective for common age-related issues like low libido and fatigue.
NEW YORK (AP) - News on Tuesday that major U.S. airlines are no longer going to ship powerful lithium-ion batteries might lead some to fret about the safety of their personal electronic devices.
NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. has so much crude that it is running out of places to put it, and that could drive oil and gasoline prices even lower in the coming months.
NEW YORK (AP) - Target Corp. is cutting several thousand jobs as part of a plan to eliminate $2 billion in costs over the next two years.

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Acer Rolls Out World First Technology In NYC
Acer Australia is set to significantly expand their PC offering across both the consumer, education and B2B markets, in Australia following the launch in New York of a complete new product range that include several worlds’ first products.
The launch at the World Trade Centre in lower Manhattan, saw Acer revealed the world’s fastest 14″ Chromebook featuring an Intel Core i processor and up to 12 hours’ battery life. Some of the fastest gaming PC’s in the world that are Virtual Reality ready including one model that comes in its own portable carry case on wheels.
The new Chromebook which is set to be ideal for the education market, comes with a Gorilla Glass case and a spill-resistant keyboard, the device has been drop-tested from a height of 1.4 metres and adheres to the Military Standard (MIL-STND 810G).
Also released is a Switch Alpha 12, 2-in-1 notebook that is liquid-cooled making it extremly silent. Described as the industry’s first fanless 2-in-1 notebook that is built around a 6th Generation Intel Core i processor.
The device has a kick-stand design, a 12-inch 2160×1440 display and an optional backlit keyboard.
In the PC gaming market Acer is currently witnessing significant growth via the specialist channel and Harvey Norman and Bing Lee.
Among the new products set to be launched in Australia is a 17″Predator 17X gaming notebook that delivers overclocking and desktop grade performance to mobile gaming.
Apart from a custom triple-fan cooling system, it also delivers an uncompromising combination of power and portability claims Acer, who are globally growing their share of the PC gaming market up against Dell’s Alienware and Lenovo’s recently launched gaming PC range.
Acer has also introduced a Predator G1 gaming desktop described as ideal for “Lan parties”.
this small and transportable PC, has a full-sized NVIDIA GeForce GTX graphics (up to Titan X) and features 6th Generation Intel Core processors and up to 64GB DDR4 RAM.
Also in the new line up from Acer is an S 13 ultrathin notebook, sleek, angular and lightweight at just 1.4 kilo, its expected to sell for sub $900.
Available in Obsidian Blackit is designed around 6th Generation Core processors and has a Full HD IPS displays (touch optional), it delivers up to 13 hours of battery life.
A new R 15 convertible notebook -comes with a metal lid pairs with a body made of a glass fibre and silver particles to improve rigidity while maintaining a thin profile.
Depending on model, it includes 6th Generation Intel Core processors, up to 12GB DDR4 memory, up to NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics and a 15.6-inch FHD IPS display.
Regional management claim that several of the new products are specifically designed for the education market where Acer has expanded their share during the past 12 months.
Acer is also making headway in the Government market and will shortly announce a $10M Federal Government contract according to Acer management.


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Dhiraagu, on Friday, began issuing iPhone Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max for customers who preordered the latest addition to iPhone lineup.
Last Friday, Dhiraagu opened preorders for both phones. The telecom operator reported running out of stock in mere moments. They added that opportunity for customers to place purchases will reopen after a new stock is received.
Dhiraagu said that customers can purchase the latest iPhone models by making full payment or on a 12-month installment plan. Customers making the purchase will receive 5GB free bonus data for a period of six months.
Dhiraagu states that they are committed to bring the latest smartphone devices to customers.
Apple unveiled the latest line-up of iPhones on September 8.
The new models come in the colors blue, purple, midnight, starlight and red. Although similar looking to iPhone 13 models – the iPhone 14 models boast new, and improved features.
Among the latest improvements are a 48-megapixel camera in the Pro and Pro Max models, as per Apple will produce crisp pictures. They also have always-on displays that stay lit even when the device is locked, so that important notifications may not be missed.
Another highlight is the “all-day” charge retention and faster processors.
Beginning in November, all the iPhone 14 models will be able to send SOS messages via a new satellite feature — a safety measure intended to let users request help when in remote areas without a wireless connection.
All the iPhone 14 models also will include a motion sensor capable of detecting serious car crashes and automatically connecting to emergency services.


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A collection of news, articles and other featured content about Family Casual Dining.
Applebee’s COO will oversee operations.
CEO says the partnership is “an investment in an improved To Go and Curbside experience" and "lays the foundation to better meet the needs of today’s consumers.”
Guests complete a one-minute review at the end of the experience on Yumpingo devices or on their own device.
Industry vet has 20+ years experience working for Panera, Starbucks & Taco Bell.
Casual dining chain sees KPIs jump 4 weeks after updating mobile loyalty and CRM programs
DoorDash is integrated into Applebee's POS.
Wyman Roberts to step in as president of Chili’s, a role he’s previously held
Industry vet has 25 years of marketing and ops experience.
Eatery known for its wings operates four locations in Northern Virginia.
Prior to joining the Brinker International brand, he previously worked as chairman and CEO of Cheddar’s.
New head of culinary has decades of industry experience
Guests’ payment card information was compromised at certain restaurants between March – April 2018.


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Company plans to inject new life--or more accurately, a new processor--into the venerable OS, CNET News.com has learned.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer and printer company is launching version 8.2 of the operating system, which for the first time will bring OpenVMS to Itanium processors, sources familiar with the plan said. The announcement will accompany a refreshed Itanium server product line that HP will trumpet during a Webcast with Chief Executive Carly Fiorina on Tuesday.
With the launch, HP will seek to retain historically loyal customers who today are prime targets for competitors such as IBM and Sun Microsystems. HP is vulnerable because its OpenVMS customers face a major hardware and software transition: HP is phasing out the Alpha processor that is the primary foundation for OpenVMS today.
The debut of OpenVMS 8.2 will mean that a fourth operating system can run simultaneously on the same Itanium server alongside Windows, Linux and HP's version of Unix, called HP-UX. HP is expected to launch new pricing and joint support plans Monday to make that mixture easier.
HP declined to comment on its OpenVMS launch plans.
OpenVMS for Itanium will come with many of the abilities of the Alpha version--in particular a famed reliability feature called clustering that links separate machines into a tightly knit group. One machine in a cluster can fill in for another that's taken down for equipment failure or an upgrade, for example.
But the new OpenVMS version also will come with some of the baggage of Itanium. The Intel processor family had a late and troubled debut, still isn't meeting Intel's shipment goals, and faces competition from chip families including IBM's Power and Sun's UltraSparc.
HP initiated the Itanium project but gradually transferred all engineers to Intel. While other companies sell servers with the chip, HP remains Itanium's most ardent supporter.
Itanium's troubled debut has given pause to Jess Goodman, VMS systems manager at AccuWeather, who runs 34 VMS systems to process information sent to the company's weather Web site.
"Certainly I'm a little bit worried about how Itanium hasn't turned into Intel's flagship as we had hoped," Goodman said. "I'm somewhat concerned about the future of VMS if there's no good hardware to run it on. If no one is buying Itanium, will there be enough research and development money to keep them competitive with other chips?"
Goodman is keeping his eyes on Itanium, but so far, "We haven't seen anything yet that's making me want to go," he said.
But others are more excited. "We are looking forward to it," said Jack Steinman, vice president of information services for Aurora, a nonprofit organization that runs more than 250 hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities in eastern Wisconsin. Aurora needs expanded computing power that the Itanium systems will provide, and will upgrade once its software suppliers test and certify their Itanium versions, he said.
Cost will be an argument to go to the new systems, said Jim Custer, director of HP server product marketing for Avnet, a major HP partner that distributes and resells OpenVMS and other servers.
"In the long run, running infrastructure on Itanium is going to be much less expensive on Itanium than Alpha--both the initial acquisition (cost) and ongoing maintenance and support," Custer said.
Even with a new low-price OpenVMS edition coming, though, HP doesn't appear to be trying hard to attract new buyers, Custer said. "Their primary goal is to protect the installed base and make sure the customer has an adequate roadmap. Gaining net new (customers) may be secondary at this point," he said.
OpenVMS began its life in 1977 as VMS, the operating system that powered Digital Equipment Corp.'s once-dominant VAX computers. DEC's so-called minicomputers unseated mainframes, but
DEC embraced RISC and Unix, but it wasn't enough: Compaq Computer acquired DEC in 1998. But Compaq also decided not to go it alone, and HP acquired the company--along with OpenVMS--in 2002.
When HP bought Compaq, OpenVMS "was probably one of the close calls when they decided what was going to move forward and what projects they were going to cancel, simply because OpenVMS is clearly for legacy systems," said Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff. "When (administrators of) legacy systems are faced with a transition, they are going to look at other alternatives."
But presumably, HP did the math and decided the investment was worthwhile--unlike the conclusion it reached with its largely phased-out HP 3000 line. The OpenVMS business was profitable in 2003, but HP declined to state whether it is today, citing investor regulations.
Sun is one company that would like to lure OpenVMS customers. But the company doesn't plan a high-profile campaign such as its HP Away program to convert HP-UX customers, said Larry Singer, vice president of Sun's global information systems strategy office.
"I don't see the compelling market event to cause people to go running away from that platform. It's more of a slow slide into the horizon," Singer said. Sun will try to pick up customers who aren't satisfied with HP's support or who are paring down the types of servers in their data centers, though. At HP, "it is very clear that OpenVMS is not a strategic operating system and Alpha is not a strategic platform."
It's not surprising why competitors are pouncing. In August 2003, well after HP announced it would maintain OpenVMS after the Compaq merger, a survey by an HP user group called Encompass found that 42 percent of 569 HP customers planned future OpenVMS purchases, but half that--21 percent--did not.
HP isn't the only one seeking to rejuvenate a stalwart product line. IBM has updated its iSeries--long called AS/400 and another decades-old family--with its new Power5 processor. The same IBM Power machine now can run Linux, IBM's AIX version of Unix and the iSeries operating system, i5/OS.
The multi-OS playing card
And like IBM with Power, HP is expected to tout Itanium's ability to run multiple operating systems.
"It gives a customer flexibility," said Avnet's Custer. "As they plan for growth or a transition of their business, they can take that infrastructure and redeploy it elsewhere."
For Accuweather's Goodman, the multi-operating system ability makes it easier to free up purchasing dollars for OpenVMS systems.
"It holds appeal for management," which likes the argument that the company can use the server for Windows later. "I want a box for VMS. They say they're not sure we'll be using VMS in five years. They've been saying that for 20 years," Goodman said.
Another company intrigued by the multi-operating system abilities of Itanium is Cerner, a major HP partner that sells health care software called Millennium--30 million lines of code and 56 modules for tasks such as recording patient information, logging pharmacy orders and billing insurance companies. Cerner sells its software along with either HP's Alpha-based hardware running OpenVMS or IBM's Power-based hardware running AIX, but the company has begun investigating using Linux on those servers, too.
"We are seeing more (customers) that are asking specifically about Linux," said Mike Nill, vice president of technical architecture at Cerner. "We can run Linux on the IBM boxes and the Itanium boxes. We're starting some initial research-and-development work there."
Cerner has been working closely with HP to translate the OpenVMS version of its software to Itanium, but the software isn't ready yet, Nill said. "There's some more time to get fully certified on the technology. It's in the relatively near future," he said.
OpenVMS 8.2 features
HP is expected to release three versions of OpenVMS 8.2, said Terry Shannon, longtime OpenVMS watcher and author of the Shannon Knows High Performance Computing newsletter.
The Foundation level will be for low-end use and price-sensitive customers; the Enterprise level will sport better reliability, management tools and performance; and the Mission-Critical level will feature support for clustering.
OpenVMS 8.2 supports clusters of as many as 16 machines--up to eight Alpha-based and up to eight Itanium-based in the same group, a source familiar with the software said.
HP also is expected to introduce per-processor licensing for OpenVMS, letting customers pay for the amount of computing horsepower they're using instead of today's pricing based on the capability of the entire system. The move dovetails with HP's Adaptive Enterprise initiative to better link a customer's computing infrastructure with its business priorities.
Support for the operating system initially will be available on lower-end Itanium servers ranging from the dual-processor rx1600 to the four-processor rx4640.
A key requirement for customers to make the move to Itanium will be new versions of their software, though HP offers a migration tool that eases the change even when the software's original source code isn't available.
There will be 250 OpenVMS applications available for Itanium by the end of February and 800 in 2005, HP said. That compares with 3,000 for other Itanium operating systems--roughly 1,500 for HP-UX and 750 each for Windows and Linux.


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As Tesla faces several fatal crashes in the recent past that has put its Autopilot mode in scrutiny, engineers at Consumer Reports engineers have easily tricked a Tesla Model Y to drive on the electric carmakers driver assistance feature, without actually anyone in the drivers seat.
During the drive, Tesla Model Y automatically steered along painted lane lines, but the system did not send out a warning that the driver's seat was empty.
The engineers tricked Tesla vehicle by placing a small, weighted chain on the steering wheel, to simulate the weight of a driver's hand, and slid over into the front passenger seat without opening any of the vehicle's doors, because that would disengage Autopilot, the report said on Thursday.
Using the same steering wheel dial, the engineers reached over and was able to accelerate the vehicle from a full stop.
"In our evaluation, the system not only failed to make sure the driver was paying attention, but it also couldn't tell if there was a driver there at all," says Jake Fisher, CR's senior director of auto testing, who conducted the experiment.
"Tesla is falling behind other automakers like GM and Ford that, on models with advanced driver assist systems, use technology to make sure the driver is looking at the road."
Last week, two people were killed in a fiery Tesla crash in Texas with no one in the driver's seat. The fatal crash is under investigation.
Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman told Houston television station KPRC 2 that the investigation showed "no one was driving" the fully electric 2019 Tesla when the accident happened.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted earlier this week that data logs recovered from the crashed Model S "so far show Autopilot was not enabled".
Musk argued that it would not be possible to activate Autopilot on the road where the crash took place because of the lack of "painted lane lines".
Fisher, however, found that the Tesla car "drove up and down the half-mile lane of our track, repeatedly, never noting that no one was in the driver's seat, never noting that there was no one touching the steering wheel, never noting there was no weight on the seat".
"It was a bit frightening when we realised how easy it was to defeat the safeguards, which we proved were clearly insufficient," he was quoted as saying.
There have been at least 23 Tesla Autopilot-related crashes, currently under investigation by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Tesla had cautioned that Autopilot is not an autonomous driving system and requires a driver's constant attention.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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DUBAI—The highfliers of Dubai are increasingly selling up their Porsches or Ferraris in the wake of the financial crisis, figures reveal.
Sales of luxury cars at the UAE online auction site Dubizzle have increased by 115 per cent over the last month, according to statistics obtained by The Epoch Times.
J.C. Butler, owner and co-founder of the popular website, said that he was surprised by the jump.
“It’s most unusual. At first we thought that it was because of an increase in the total listings of cars, but then we checked and that has only increased by 3.6 per cent since last month.
“Lots of people seem to be tightening their belts amid the credit crunch. Perhaps they lost their shirts on the stock market and they needed to sell off their assets.”
Butler reported that from October to November 2008 there were 306 luxury cars listed on the website. Between June and July there were only 142.
The Dubizzle statistics match with anecdotal evidence obtained from used car dealers. One such dealer said that where he once received only one Porsche a day, he now receives around eight.
However, according to Hussam Khaled, General Manager of Dubai-based Target Auto, fewer people than ever are buying luxury cars.
“People will not buy cars that are over Dh80,000, where before this used to be no problem,” he said. “This month has been very quiet. As we know, there are more people here who are dealing with the stock market so they know what is happening with the economy. Those who can afford to buy these cars, aren’t doing so anymore.”


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Since it launched in Australia, Netflix has been offering a three tier service – basically taking the trusted “good, better, best” product strategy. But a new pricing tier, called ‘Ultra’ has now been spotted in the wild. Here’s what existing customers need to know.
Netflix Ultra has started appearing in some parts of the world with the company saying it’s “testing slightly different price points and features to better understand how consumers value Netflix”. So what does the Ultra tier get you, what do the others lose and is this good news or bad?
Netflix currently offers three pricing tiers in Australia; $9.99, $13.99 and $17.99 per month. The difference between the two least expensive services is the availability of HD and streaming to two devices rather than just one. Premium subscribers get access to Ultra HD and four simultaneous screens.
Netflix has been adding HDR content to its library for some time. A number of its original productions are available in HDR but the content range seems quite limited and it’s hard to tell what content comes in the emerging higher-quality format. With that said, it’s likely to become a more prominent format with the latest Apple TV and Google Chromecast supporting it, as well as most new TVs.
The bad news is that this new pricing tier will have some ripple effects on the existing structure.
The Standard tier, with two simultaneous viewers, drops back to just one viewer while Premium drops from four to two viewers. Access to HDR and Ultra HD content, which are currently bundled up with the rest of the HD content, becomes an Ultra feature.
In other words, if you’ve got a fast internet connection and the right kit, you could see a drop in the quality of the material Netflix streams to your TV.
There’s also a potential risk that some movies and TV shows could be restricted in some way. While we doubt Netflix would block or segment its Original content, it may dabble in timed exclusives where Ultra customers get early access to new shows. This is pure speculation, but it’s clear Netflix will need to add as much value to this fourth tier as possible.
Based on the European pricing, I expect the Ultra tier, if it’s introduced here, to come in at $19.95 per month.
I’ve reached out to Netflix for a local comment on whether this will hit the local Netflix service. If that response arrives, we’ll update this story. But, if things go ahead according to what we’ve seen, you can expect the value of the existing packages eroded in order to create the Ultra pricing tier.


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Skip to main content
More in Wearable Computing
Apple Leads Worldwide Wearables Market Thanks To AirPods Pro, Apple Watch; Xiaomi Stands Second
Apple leads the worldwide market on the back of strong demand for AirPods Pro and Apple Watch.
Dec. 10, 2019, 12:55 p.m.
Researchers Develop An e-tattoo That Can Accurately Track Your Heart Health
Scientists have come up with a new wearable electronic device, an “e-tattoo”, that can track heart rate with higher accuracy and ease.
June 24, 2019, 4:24 p.m.


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Electric car registrations set to make 2017 a landmark year for ULEVs
Government and industry body Go Ultra Low are estimating that more than 100,000 plug-in cars will be on UK roads by mid-2017.
This astounding figure has been fuelled by a record number of electric car registration last year. This saw volumes rise by nearly 30%.
From January to December 2016, motorists flocked to buy and lease electric vehicles in record numbers, with 36,907 electric vehicles registered in the UK.
As thousands of motorists switched-on to the cost saving and convenience of electric motoring, public and business appetite for plug-in hybrid and pure electric cars reached a new high.
With upcoming changes to company car tax aimed at increasing the uptake of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles as well as changes to road tax coming into effect from April, it’s no coincidence that electric car registrations are set to rise considerably.
On top of this, an ever-increasing selection of electric cars is playing a key role in plug-in vehicle uptake surpassing record levels.
Today, more than 35 plug-in models are available to UK motorists – with 2017 due to see updates to the Volkswagen e-Golf and Kia Soul EV as well as Jaguar releasing their first electric vehicle, the I-Pace, and Tesla presenting their latest offering, the Model X – this is four times the number on the market just five years ago.
This broad variety of hybrid and pure electric cars on the market is a marked improvement on the eight electric models available to drivers in 2011 when the government introduced the Plug-in Car Grant.
The range of products now extends to more than 20 pure electric and 15 hybrid vehicles, from city cars and SUVs to sports cars and family hatchbacks.
Ultra Low Emission Vehicles are exempt from the London Congestion Charge
Commenting on the prediction, Poppy Welch, head of Go Ultra Low, said: “Year after year, we see record levels of electric vehicle registrations as more and more motorists realise the cost-saving and environmental benefits of driving a plug-in electric car.
“With ongoing government incentives and increasing product choice we expect this trend to continue, boosting the number of electric cars on UK roads beyond 100,000 by mid-2017.”
Every quarter in 2016 produced a year-on-year improvement, while the accumulative registrations total for all electrically powered cars now rests at 87,158.


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The Senator of Massachusetts and her colleague Ron Wyden claimed Amazon knew its servers were "vulnerable" to the attack that affected Capital One earlier this year prior to the hack.
Customer required surgery to her cheekbone and broken nose following the incident in Colerain Township.
Cybercriminals use skimming codes on payment-processing websites to steal credit card and other personal information.
Jamar Davis, 30, is facing child desertion charges after a customer found his son wandering in a Walmart parking lot while Davis worked inside.
Starting Wednesday, the fast-food chain will sell the "Incogmeato" Italian sausage on its Garden Specialty pizza for a limited time at a single store location in Phoenix, Arizona.
Walmart is offering big savings on a string of Apple products including a free one-year subscription to Apple TV+ for selected customers.
Mido Mourad said he called police to the TJ Maxx store in Brooklyn, New York City, after a white woman allegedly harassed his family and assaulted him.
"Black Lightning" Season 3, which is currently airing on The CW in the U.S., is coming soon to Netflix across the world. Here's when the release date is expected to be.
Audio from the flight deck suggests the spillage occurred when a product was left in the airplane bathrooms after cleaning at London Heathrow airport.
An unlicensed medical practitioner who allegedly offered "butt injections" will serve one year behind bars after entering a guilty plea in relation to the 2015 death of a woman in New York, according to reports.
The Trump administration is waging trade wars against China, the European Union, and others, and the tariffs are costing many American manufacturers money.
Stacy Wagers said she became seriously ill "within seconds" of drinking water with liquid nitrogen in it at a restaurant on the premises of The Don CeSar hotel in St Pete Beach, Florida.
"It's devastating beyond words," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said. "I hope that is investigated and I hope those responsible are held to account."
Better Made, a Detroit-based potato chip company has announced the return of its seasonal chocolate-covered chips
Californians continue to be in the dark as second wave of power shutoffs are institute by Pacific Gas & Electric due to high fire risk conditions.
Described as "disgruntled" and disorderly, an unidentified man drove his pick-up truck through the front door at the Lincoln, Nebraska branch of the chain and was shot dead by police.
The Supreme court kicked off its new term yesterday—from LGBTQ discrimination to gun control, here's what to expect in the next year
"She came to the drive-thru window and made threats, and then eventually threw a glass bottle at the drive-thru window, causing it to break," Peoria police said.
A Boston area utility worker wearing a Trump 2020 hat was fired after allegedly harassing a woman outside her home, due to bumper stickers on the woman's car.
The man who launched a racist rant at the restaurant worker was told to "get out" by other customers.
The robot can move its eyes, eyebrows, lips and "other muscles," the company said.
After Isabel Albright of San Lorenzo, California, passed away at the age of 102, her family was shocked when DirecTV charged her an "early termination" fee.
Neil Starr, 73, said he was covered in blood after a man attacked him outside the Dollar General store in Buckhorn, California.
Khyler Edman was found dead by Charlotte County Sheriff's Office following "violent encounter" with suspect.
Manager of fast-food restaurant also allegedly found other pictures of cards on the worker's phone in Ohio.
Stephanie Lay of Windham, Maine, is looking for relief after a deluge of letters from United Healthcare filled up her mailbox for nearly a week.


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SEGA job listing hits at a new Mario & Sonic Olympic game
Off to the races once more
SEGA and Nintendo have quite a successful history of teaming up for Olympic-themed games staring various Mario and Sonic characters. While we haven’t heard an official announcement about a new installment, a SEGA job listing certainly seems to hint that one is on the way.
A recent SEGA job listing is looking to hire someone with experience in Unreal Engine 4, along with experience in working on action games. Work with online gaming and experience in platforms like PS4/PS5/Switch/XB1/XSX & S/PC is also a plus.
Most importantly, the job listing says that this game will be tied to the Sonic series and the Olympics as well, with links to the official websites for Sonic and Olympic video games. If that’s not a confirmation of a new Mario & Sonic Olympics game, we don’t know what is!


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SUNMI L2s came as demand is increasingly high for smart POS devices to accelerate businesses’ digital transition to a post-Covid 19 era.
Sunmi released an updated version of its best-selling handheld point-of-sale device, the V2 PRO, as part of a new approach to empower businesses to cope with increased customer orders and food deliveries in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
IoT device leader bets on the growing demand from retailers and restaurants in a context of strong sales growth due to the Covid-19 outbreak
Powerful, lightweight and cost effective all-in-one payment and EPOS solution now available exclusively through Varlink.
Anderson Zaks, an independent, UK-based multichannel Payment Gateway has collaborated with Varlink and Smart Volution to deliver a one-device mobile POS and payment solution for retailers and merchants in the UK. Based on the Sunmi P2 Pro and Sunmi P2 Lite Android devices, the new solution is easy to integrate, quick to install, simple to use and provides next day settlement at competitive rates. It is certified for use by Elavon for all European markets where Elavon operates.
“With the new rules around social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are seeing heightened interest from merchants and retailers in creating pop-up drive thru and mobile stores”
As a new retail format reconstructed from offline supermarkets by Alibaba, Freshippo in 4 years has developed multiple formats including: Freshippo, Freshippo Mall, Freshippo Mini and Freshippo F2. Covering 4 typical scenes where consumers buy for daily meals, at offices, during commutes and at communities. The exploration toward every format is originated from Freshippo’s endeavor in reconstructing traditional business pattern, enhancing shopping experience and business efficiency.
Alibaba’s Vice President and Chairman of the Freshippo Group, Hou Yi: “The real value of Freshippo is to constantly create value for consumers”.
In today’s reality of COVID-19, physical distancing and hand hygiene have been key prevention measures around the world, contactless payments are top-of-mind for both consumers and businesses.
On April 22, a well-known IoT company SUNMI and Chinese new retail leader Freshippo jointly launched 2 Kiosk devices K2 and K2 MINI to help global merchants realize contactless payment during COVID-19.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, Sunmi has launched an emergency response, to develop and improve anti-epidemic needs in various scenarios such as supermarkets, agricultural trade and medical treatment. Sunmi implemented in different regions of China the following epidemic prevention solutions.
- SUNMI OS, our fully optimized android-based operating system, successfully won the German IF design award and Red Dot design award!
- SUNMI T2 Pro (X2) (device for Asian market), won the 2020 Red Dot Product design award!
Since January 2020, the epidemic situation in China with coronavirus has affected the hearts of all people.
It is urgent to fight against the epidemic! After only 10 days of construction, the Wuhan Huoshenshan hospital has been officially built. With a capacity of 1000 beds, today (02 Feb) the newly diagnosed patients with coronavirus began to be admitted. At the same time, another hospital (Leishenshan) is under construction!
Facing this particular time, health and safety have become our most concerns. SUNMI is on the move! By fighting against the epidemic and overcoming the difficulties together!
We’re so excited to announce that from now on, you can easily connect the built-in printers by selecting SUNMI in the Loyverse POS app printer settings.
Loyverse counts with a full set of Apps to fulfil all your needs as a business owner and now its also available in all SUNMI terminals.


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Investors gave the thumbs down yesterday to the move by Australian packaging giant Amcor to buy US-based rival Bemis Company in a $US6.8 billion ($A9.2 billion) all – paper deal and shift its main stock exchange listing to America.
While the deal will create a company with revenue of $US13 billion, Amcor, which was established in 1860 in Victoria, will move its primary listing to Wall Street with an estimated market capitalisation of $US17 billion.
It will maintain a listing on ASX to try and keep local investors happy (imitating BHP, Rio Tinto, Resmed, Janus Henderson and CYBG which have dual listings with either US markets or London).
Emerging from the transaction will be a global leader in packaging with a more balanced, profitable exposure to emerging markets.
The transaction is being done at a fixed exchange ratio of 5.1 Amcor shares for each Bemis share, resulting in Amcor shareholders owning 71% of the combined company.
This equates transaction price of $US57.75 per Bemis share based on Amcor’s closing share price of $A15.28 last Friday August 3.
Amcor shares lost more than 5.8% today to $A14.39 as investors went off the deal and the decamping of the company to the US.
“The strategic rationale for this combination and the financial benefits are highly compelling for both Amcor and Bemis shareholders,” according to Amcor CEO Ron Delia.
“We are convinced this is the right deal at the right time for both companies, and with the right structure for both sets of shareholders to participate in a unique value creation opportunity,” he said in a statement justifying the deal.
“Amcor identified flexible packaging in the Americas as a key growth priority and this transaction delivers a step change in that region.”
Bemis’ President and CEO, William F. Austen, says the combination of Bemis and Amcor creates a global leader in consumer packaging.
“We believe this combination, which is an exciting growth story for both companies, will benefit all stakeholders,” he said in a statement.
“The combination will enable us to offer global, regional and local customers the most compelling value proposition in the industry through a broader product portfolio, increased product differentiation and enhanced operating capabilities, while leveraging Bemis’ extensive US manufacturing base and strengths in material science and innovation.”
The deal was well-leaked in the US business media, starting with a report last weekend from the Wall Street Journal.


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Paul Sawers was a reporter with The Next Web in various roles from May 2011 to November 2014. Follow Paul on Twitter: @psawers or check h Paul Sawers was a reporter with The Next Web in various roles from May 2011 to November 2014. Follow Paul on Twitter: @psawers or check him out on Google+.
Just because you CAN print photos on your shoes, doesn’t mean you should. But that hasn’t stopped Adidas from continuing on its mission to bring the mi ZX FLUX customizable sneaker to millions more people. As noted by PetaPixel, the hitherto Europe-only service was quietly rolled out to the US last week.
In a nutshell, you select your shoe-size from within the app, followed by gender, size and location. Then, take a photo on the spot or pull one in from your camera roll, then scale it, preview it and order.
Though the app was already available in the US, you couldn’t order sneakers Stateside until now. The update is live for iOS, though it’s not yet clear whether the Android incarnation is now fully-featured too – its release notes would suggest not yet.
The damage to have an image of your Starbucks skinny-mocha-chocca latte on your footwear? $110.
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Five Target stores closed this past weekend following alleged bomb threats reportedly made by LGBT activists upset that the retail giant agreed to remove or change products and displays related to its ‘Pride Collection.’
Targets across five states were evacuated following bomb threats, though legacy media including the Washington Post inferred from its headline that the threat came from conservatives.
An email to a Louisiana Target location said, “You have betrayed the LGBTQ+ community. You are pathetic cowards who bowed to the wishes of far right extremists who want to exterminate us.”
“We will not tolerate intolerance nor indifference,” the email read. “If you are not with us then you are against us. That is why we placed a bomb in each of your locations, evacuate now as this is only to cause economic damage.”
Target has very few friends these days https://t.co/SvTL3hIwJJ
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 12, 2023
Furthermore, stores in New York, New Hampshire and Vermont each received email threats accusing the company of betraying LGBT causes.
Furthermore, in May a number of bomb threats targeted Target locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah, calling the company “full of cowards who turned their back on the LGBT community and decided to cater to the homophobic right wing redneck bigots.”
Target’s inclusion of a number of LGBT-themed products caused significant criticism from conservatives. In particular, the chain partnered with Abprallen, a Great Britain-based company that markets Satanist and occult-themed products.
Some merchandise sold by the company include taglines such as “heteronormativity is a plague” and a guillotine with the words “homophobe headrest.”
The company’s designer Eric Carnell is both a self-described transgender individual and a Satanist.
Carnell said that Satanists do not believe in the devil, but that Satan is “merely used as a symbol of passion, pride and liberty. He means to you what you need him to mean.”
For Carnell, this meant that “Satan is hope, compassion, equality and love.”
“So, naturally, Satan respects pronouns.He loves all LGBT+ people,” Carnell said.
The designer then described the devil as non-binary.


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Britishvolt is to anchor its UK battery scale-up facilities in the West Midlands with the announcement that it is to build a new facility with an investment exceeding £200m (US$251m) in partnership with Prologis.
Britishvolt has already developed pre-A battery samples at WMG in Warwick and is scaling up its A-Sample cell formulations at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre in Coventry. This £200m investment will enable Britishvolt to develop new formulations and formats to enable higher performance and more affordable cells.
Paul Franklin, property director, Britishvolt, commented, “This is another important milestone for Britishvolt and the automotive industry. I am delighted to see Britishvolt lead the UK’s journey into re-industrialization with the first full-scale battery gigaplant. The new scale-up facilities announced today will help the UK build on its home-grown battery intellectual property and level up the country ready for the energy transition.”
The new site – which will support the start up of gigaplant operations in 2024 – will create upward of 150 highly skilled technology jobs and help the company meet cumulative demand in excess of 7GWh in 2024 and 2025 from MoUs with Lotus and Aston Martin as well as other commitments.
“Partnering with innovative technology brand Britishvolt has been a pleasure,” said Tom Price, capital leasing and deployment director, Prologis. “The reputation of Hams Hall and the location’s connections to the UK automotive sector has allowed us to embark on a wider conversation with Britishvolt. With battery technology seen as the way forward, it’s exciting to be working in this growing sector.”


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Finnish app store startup bets on Android in Asia
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish technology startup Blaast on Wednesday opened an Android application store hoping to tap into booming demand for affordable smartphones in Indonesia and other emerging markets.
The 2010-founded Blaast has built a platform to distribute apps to mid-range cellphones, enabling carriers to sell more data packages bundled with free access to applications.
"Android is going to own over 75 percent of smartphone sales in emerging markets," said Blaast Chief Executive Joonas Hjelt.
Blaast said its Android store will launch in Indonesia with No 2 carrier XL Axiata, preinstalled on Sony's (6758.T) new Xperia J smartphone. So far operators in Malaysia and Bangladesh have launched Blaast service for basic cellphones.
Google's Android has become the dominant smartphone platform over the last quarters, controlling around 2/3 of smartphone sales globally. Models costing less than $200 have boosted Android demand, especially in emerging markets.
(Reporting By Tarmo Virki; editing by Andrew Hay)
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- Current underwater search for Malaysia plane could end within a week
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Weibo Corp executives on Thursday toasted the Chinese social media firm's debut at Nasdaq's New York headquarters. Hours earlier in Beijing, Charles Xue, a Chinese-American venture capitalist and prominent Weibo user, celebrated a different kind of coming-out: his release after eight months in jail. Full Article
Tech workers seek to use Steve Jobs evidence in upcoming trial on no-hire accords Full Article


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Beekeeping is a relatively new hobby, with the advent of pesticides and fertilizers that have caused a drop in honeybees.
Beekeepers have been trying to keep up with this, and now that the insects have adapted to the new poisons, many have developed a way to remove them.
Beekeeper Dave Jones has been experimenting with this new weedkiller, called Butterscotch, which was designed to kill the insect pests that have overrun his farm.
“We had to start from scratch,” he told The Local.
“This was a completely new process.
It was a whole new level of innovation.”
The beekeeper is hoping to raise enough money to buy a second shipment of the product, which is also being sold online for a hefty price of $1,000 per unit.
Beekeeping has become a lucrative industry for farmers across Australia, with many beekeepers now being able to produce as much as 200kg of honey a year.
The honey is eaten by birds, bees and other pollinators, who then produce pollen for the plants that produce the honey.
Butterscotches effectiveness against these pests is the same as that of glyphosate, which has been used to kill many other insects and weeds in Australia.
The beekeeper also found that Butterscott was more effective against the bees that he was trying to control.
“If we can remove the pesticides from the plant, it helps control the bees,” he said.
Jones says he has now been able to reduce the number of bees that are in his backyard and is looking forward to seeing what happens when the product is available to buy.
He said he is working with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to see if the product should be included in its new anti-dumping duty system.
Jones said the beekeepers product was designed with the benefit of the bee in mind, and was not meant to kill all the insects in his yard.
“I’m not a huge fan of spraying a huge amount of pesticides on a single plant,” he explained.
“But I’m happy to have that option.”
Jones said he was still waiting to see how the product would perform against the honeybees that were invading his backyard, and that he had been using the product for two years.
“It’s a bit more than we would have done without,” he added.


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July 15, 2013
FILE - In this Friday, June, 28, 2013, file photo, people shop fireworks at Pyro City retail store, in Winslow, Maine. The government reports on sales at U.S. retailers in June on Monday, July 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Stories this photo appears in:
Sunday, May 25th, 2014 4:00 p.m.
State lawmakers in 2011 legalized louder and more powerful fireworks, igniting a rush to purchase the devices and creating a business opportunity for retailers.
Monday, July 15th, 2013 12:25 p.m.
The U.S. economy appears to be weaker than many economists had thought after a report Monday showed consumers spent cautiously in June at retail businesses.


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Every winter, I watch my social media news feeds fill up with pictures of my friends who are travelling abroad. I watch with envy as they post about their seaside vacations, their mojito day drinking and the glorious sunsets that can be seen from their beachfront hotels. Outside my window there is another 20 centimetres of snow set to fall. It just doesn’t seem fair right?!
Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the world that virtual reality (VR) is about to change the face of social media forever. With the help of new VR technology, Zuckerberg says we will never have to miss out on these kinds of social opportunities again. In fact, we will have more opportunities available to us than ever before.
“Pretty soon we’re going to live in a world where everyone has the power to share and experience whole scenes as if you’re right there in person,” he said in USA Today. “Imagine being able to sit in front of a campfire and hang out with friends anytime you want or be able to watch a movie in a private theatre with your friends anytime you want. Imagine holding a group meeting or event anywhere in the world you want. All these things are going to be possible.”
In 2014, Facebook paid $2 million to purchase Oculus Rift, a VR technology company, which has partnered with Samsung to produce virtual reality headsets and gear that will be available later this year. The social media giant now has teams working on social apps centered in virtual reality that will allow friends, loved ones and business associates — no matter how far apart — to feel like they’re conversing in the same place together.
Zuckerberg says he sees a future where users can scan through their Facebook feeds while playing a virtual game with the help of VR eye glasses. For now, Facebook’s Oculus technology is being demonstrated with the use of 360 Video. The high-definition videos unveiled on Facebook last year, allow you to experience scenes from every angle and feel like you are fully present in that moment, such as in this clip from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Oculus VR recently released a new virtual movie-watching app called Oculus Social Alpha for use with its VR headsets and Samsung smartphones. The app will allow users to pick their own avatars and to “sit” with each other in a virtual theatre while taking in videos in real-time. In 2016, Facebook says we will see more publishers and brands creating video content with this new technology, which is hoped to pave the way for more VR-driven content on social media platforms. It is thought that ads featured on VR heads sets will likely grab more attention than standard video ads and will eventually become an advertising method of choice.
Recreate your image with the use of Avatars
Creating an avatar with VR technology will give users an ability to present the best version of themselves in a virtual world. It will provide the option of creating younger, slimmer or more glamourous-looking “twins” of ourselves. It can also map out our facial expressions, as well as mimic the movements of our faces, heads, hands, and our walk and even allow us to make eye contact while having a conversation.
VR technology will additionally give users the option of creating entirely imaginary avatars and will facilitate social interactions in both “real” and fictional places – some even beyond our imaginations. Unlike in video games where you have to participate from the outside looking in, you can become completely immersed in the 360-degree experience of a virtual reality setting.
Is VR the best or worst development in technology?
Many people believe virtual reality will soon become the most addictive form of technology, as it will give users the ability to escape their daily lives and transport themselves to irresistibly amazing places and seductive experiences. Social virtual reality will also have the power to unite us like never before, but if we’re not careful, it could isolate us even more from real life.
Although still in the development stages, Zuckerberg says the marriage between virtual reality and social media won’t reach its full potential for about 10 years but he’s hoping VR will roll out to Facebook as soon as possible.
No matter how far away we are from adapting our daily lives into a new and exciting virtual world, you can bet this new technology will change the way we do just about everything. I, for one, am excited to see the limitless potential that virtual reality will have on our life experiences. I’m also looking forward to that long-awaited mojito on the beach. Or how about from the moon? That’d be one hell of a status update.
Are you excited to try out VR technology?
How do you think VR technology will impact social media use/marketing in the next decade?
How do you think virtual reality will impact our future daily lives?
I would love to hear your thoughts.


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Customers buying F1s, A33F, A37F, A37Fw, A57 and A71 will get 10 GB additional data per recharge and will be entitled to 6 recharges to get a total of 60 GB data.
The Chinese PC and smartphone major is even contemplating to stop selling handsets under the Lenovo brand or make it a small online-focussed brand from next year.
Qualcomm signed three non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOUs) to sell components over three years to phonemakers Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo, the U.S. Department of State said in a statement on Thursday.
Chinese telecom giant Huawei's sub-brand Honor wants to take the Indian smartphone market by storm with some innovative and trend-setting products and become the country's top smartphone brand within three years, its Global President George Zhao has said.
At present offline accounts for 20% of the sales in India, the rest coming from online including its own store Mi.com, which has doubled on-year.
The phone will be available in online and offline stores from November 9.
Under the new category, the company has launched two smartphones variants - Redmi Y1 and Redmi Y1 Lite.
As smartphone vendors focus on improving image quality, the first half of 2017 saw 123 per cent growth in shipment of devices with dual-camera system, new research said on Wednesday.
Apple has ended an 18-month slump in iPhone sales in China with a 40 percent surge in shipments in the third quarter, according to a private survey released Monday.
Chinese smartphone giants like Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Lenovo have made deep inroads into India, Russia and even Africa, but grabbing a foothold in the American market still appears to be a distant dream.
Emboldened by its success against Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. at home, the company now intends to tackle developed markets with higher-end devices.
Chinese state media report bloated battery in Apple's iPhone 8
Indian govt considering exemptions sought by Apple, says official
For companies to sell directly to consumers through the single-brand retail channel, they are required to source 30% of the products locally.
Chinese smartphones maker Oppo cleared to open own stores in India
India's ambitions to become a smartphone-making powerhouse are foundering over a lack of skilled labour and part suppliers along with a complex tax regime, industry executives say.
Indian mobile phone manufacturer Lava International plans to target the sub-10k market segment while also investing in research and development (R&D) of new and unique designs and features for its phones to take on its competitors.
Editor's Picks ›
DoT exempts featurephones from GPS installation diktat / Intex eyes Rs 4200 crore revenue this fiscal; kicks off domestic LED Panel production / Idea Cellular deploys 5MHz spectrum in 1800 MHz band to double 4G speeds in Maharashtra & Goa / Idea Cellular deploys 5MHz spectrum in 1800 MHz band to double 4G speeds in Maharashtra & Goa / Nokia 2 to be available at Rs 6999; users to get 45GB 4G data from Reliance Jio / GSMA wants India to prepare spectrum roadmap for 5G rollout / Crisil ups Tata Tele (Mah) debt rating / TTSL mobile customers begin transitioning to Airtel network under ICR deal / ACT Fibernet launches new initiative to strengthen workforce / Atria Convergence Technologies joins COAI as Associate Member


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- President Biden signs new coronavirus relief bill that includes $1,400 direct payments and expanded unemployment benefits.
- Insider Intelligence publishes hundreds of insights, charts, and forecasts on the Payments & Commerce industry. Learn more about becoming a client.
President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package into law on March 11 that includes $1,400 direct payments to qualifying adults, extended unemployment benefits, and funding toward coronavirus vaccine distribution, per CNBC.
This round of direct relief payments has more income limitations than the first two: To be fully eligible, individuals need to have an adjusted gross income (AGI) below $75,000, and married couples filing jointly will need to have an AGI below $150,000. However, this package also makes adult dependents eligible for direct payments. The federal boost to unemployment provides individuals with an additional $300 a week that lasts until September 6.
Digital payments will be key to getting payments to consumers quickly—aiding growth for NACHA's automated clearing house (ACH) network as well as some peer-to-peer (P2P) payment platforms.
- Direct deposit-based stimulus distribution via NACHA's ACH network might grow. NACHA helped with the first two rounds of stimulus payment distribution and recently said it will aid this round, which should help get payments to cash-strapped consumers quicker than mailing debit cards and paper checks. This could give the ACH network a boost in payment volume: In 2020, the ACH network processed $61.9 trillion in payments, representing an 8.2% year-over-year (YoY) increase in volume, which likely came on the back of stimulus distribution.
- The ACH network will also power distribution by P2P providers, some of which are stepping in to help customers receive their payments. Providers like Square's Cash App and PayPal's Venmo both allowed customers to receive stimulus payments from prior relief packages on their platforms. And because customers will likely turn to them again this time around, they may experience the increases in volume they saw before: Venmo processed $37 billion in total payment volume in Q2 2020—a 52% YoY growth surge. Venmo also launched a check-cashing feature in January that should make it even easier for consumers to cash and spend their stimulus paper checks.
Insider Intelligence believes that stimulus payments and extended unemployment benefits should give an added boost to consumer spending, which has already been ticking upward—and that's good news for payment providers. The first and second rounds of stimulus fund disbursement were likely a major factor in helping increase consumer retail spending: June retail sales grew 5% YoY, and sales for January ticked up 5.1% YoY.
And with the latest stimulus package's $1,400 payments—more than double the amount consumers received in January—retail sales could see even further growth. In turn, retail spending could trickle down to card networks: Visa, for example, experienced an 11% annual increase in payment volume growth in January. The expanded unemployment benefits in this package may also result in increased consumer spending, especially for essential purchases like groceries.
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Every year, the world’s leading marketers, PR professionals, creatives and advertisers come together for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where they showcase (and honor) their best work. Set alongside the harbour and main beach of Cannes, France, they network with their peers and discuss the latest industry trends. One specialist category is Lions Health, focusing on healthcare communications and marketing for the pharma and health & wellness sectors.
It’s a wrap: two days of intense learning and networking at the Lions Health are over, and the winners of the Cannes Lions for Pharma and Health & Wellness have been announced. While the judging, networking and presentations at the Cannes Lions continue, we give you our first take on the cutting edge of healthcare communications marketing.
As one of the Cannes Lions organizers put it: not that long ago, marketing for the Health industry was seen as the “red-headed step child of creativity”. Not anymore. “Creativity that saves lives” is now a force to be reckoned with, and its craft is on par with, and often outshining, that of other industries.
For marketers and communications professionals, it’s an event not to be missed, so whether you made it or not, here is our take on the key trends and some of the award-winning work at this year’s Lions Health in Cannes.
Transformation is the watchword in our industry. At a time of fake news and collapsing trust, consumers’ expectations are changing rapidly and dramatically. Healthcare companies are recognizing that these days it’s simply not good enough to tell consumers “science says so”. Anything labelled “organic” or “natural” is perceived by many as having an edge on products and medication grounded in science. “We were bombarded with negative information about our ingredients… and it didn’t matter that science was on our side,” recalled Alison Lewis, Chief Marketing Officer at Johnson & Johnson Consumer.
To counteract, brands must explore how they can reconnect with consumers without losing their integrity. It was no coincidence that three big companies – GSK, Johnson & Johnson and Merck – all used the Cannes Lions to explain how they are transforming their brand marketing and positioning. Their aims are deeper, more emotional relationships with consumers and better business outcomes. As J&J put it: the transformation was a “reinvention in an age of scepticism.”
Carlton Lawson, Head of Global Categories at GSK Consumer Healthcare, described it as a consumer mindset shift from “I know you” to “I like you” and – most importantly – to “you know me,” where brands show consumers that they truly understand their concerns, and are willing to address them.
For Atilla Cansun, CMO at Merck Consumer Health, it was about making “healthcare irresistible” by sharing people’s aspirations, communicating with emotion and creating “seductive products” that stand out to deliver “love at first sight”.
Empathy with the lives and circumstances of consumers was a theme that dominated discussions in Cannes. Yes, campaigns remain anchored in the efficacy of products and services, but there was a new focus not just on their emotional impact, but also on bringing this empathy to life – through experiential, technological and digital storytelling.
Gaining Trust is the key objective of these campaigns, and it’s more important than ever. As the Edelman Trust Barometer shows, trust in the pharma industry is reaching new lows – suffering a 13-point drop to 38% in the U.S., for example. As brands rebuild their relationships with consumers, they aim to achieve (or deliver) “value”, “love” and “trust”, although ultimately they all mean the same thing: demonstrating to consumers that they understand and address their wants, needs, emotions and concerns. Seeing the case studies on display at Cannes and listening to two days of talks, panels and workshops, with many sessions running in parallel, the “how-to” was obvious: Underpinned by data insights, brands are now focusing on “telling real stories using real people” that use empathy to gain trust (or love). This approach is not without pitfalls. “Everybody tries to be authentic,” but most consumers can see right through when it isn’t, warned an industry outsider on one of the panels.
That’s also why campaigns should not just be about triggering emotions – even though many videos in Cannes were real tear-jerkers. Don’t “lob one-off things over the wall,” health marketers were warned; address real needs and make sure campaigns are scalable.
Transparency, the comms professionals in Cannes agreed, has now definitely become table stakes, even if that means – in the words of J&J’s Alison Lewis – that “in an age of transparency you can’t have any trade secrets”. Consumers not only want transparency, they also demand deep but easy-to-understand information. Brands, though, face the dilemma that while some people are keen to be informed, others refused to engage with public health campaigns for “fear of finding out” (FOFO), as an AbbVie campaign put it, bad news about their health.
It’s not just the name: The Cannes Lions at times resemble a crowded zoo. Spare a thought for the jurors, who find themselves trapped every day for 12 hours or more in windowless rooms. Everybody else – and the list of attendees is a rollcall of many of the top names in the industry –is crowding the corridors and event spaces of the “Palais” conference center – to debate, learn and network. If you want to get a feel for where our industry is at, Cannes is the place to be.
The leaders of the digital attention economy – Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pinterest, Spotify, Snapchat and many others – are betting big on offline experiences, occupying a large stretch of the Cannes beach, where they entertain guests at parties fueled by DJs, live acts and plenty of food and drink.
The Pharma and Health & Wellness categories saw plenty of change this year; they now have a clear distinction between regulated and unregulated campaigns, as well as a separate category for non-profit work.
Here are links to the full lists of winners in Health and Wellness and Pharma.
What became obvious is that there is no difference in terms of creativity and craft between campaigns for regulated and unregulated products and services. For the best campaigns, purpose and brand values were inextricably linked, with campaigns often delivering life-changing outcomes.
There was enormous diversity in the campaigns, but there were a few trends: many campaigns focused on helping children understand or cope with their illnesses, like “Zac’s play day”, a children’s book helping youngsters living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and – a double gold winner – “The Imaginary Friends Society”, which uses cartoons and a (yet to be launched) AR experience to help children with cancer.
Gender equality and female health issues were other big story strands, like the much-lauded Stay-free campaign that helped sex workers in India to learn skills on their “days off”, which are the three days when they have their period.
Effectiveness and measurable results reign. An Eli Lilly campaign featured the “smallest booth” ever made, raising awareness for STS – an extremely rare cancer – and targeting 144 specialists, with the campaign reaching more than 70% of them. “TV Doctors of America, Season 2”, from Cigna won, demonstrating the value of humour and the importance of delivering measurable outcomes, in this case boosting the number of doctor visits.
It’s worth noting that the shortlisted work and the winners came from all around the world, with some of the most creative ideas hailing from smaller markets.
INSIDE THE JURY ROOM
So what makes a winner? It obviously starts with a great creative idea, but two sessions gave marketers a glimpse inside the jury rooms for Pharma and Wellness & Health. Here are some of the tips and warnings of this year’s jurors.
Health & Wellness
The Grand Prix went to “Corazon – Give Your Heart”, a campaign to drive organ donations for Montefiore hospital, with another eight gold lions awarded in this category. From the jurors:
- Integrated campaigns with broad reach that triggered change and had measurable outcomes came out on top.
- Winning campaigns “elevate the industry”, they drive creativity, raise the profile of our industry and change how we communicate and interact.
- It’s the idea that matters – and a powerful case-study film helps too.
- The idea has to be authentic. It has to scale. It has to solve a problem.
- Film is gaining in prominence (in contrast to print and photography), as is technology.
The Pharma category did not award a Grand-Prix for the second year running; jury president Rich Levy said that “there was no campaign that lived up to the idea of genuinely life changing-creativity”.
There were only two Gold Lions, awarded to “Blink to Speak” (a campaign for the Asha Ek Hope Foundation in India, teaching patients with ALS a ‘blink language’) and “Change Gout “(for Grunenthal, who wanted to help healthcare professionals gain a better understanding of the illness). The jurors said:
- We want campaigns that “show us what the future of communication and marketing look like”.
- It’s not enough to “raise awareness”. Action and outcomes are critical.
- We have seen enough suffering in slow-motion and black & white. Give humor a chance.
- Be mindful where you enter your work. A scattergun approach doesn’t work.
CANNES LIONS HEALTH: ROUNDTABLE EDITION
- Trust is essential to build relationships with patients and caregivers, which makes them essential for brand success.
- Campaigns must be grounded in empathy and emotional storytelling.
- Measuring outcomes has to be an integral part of your campaign.
- Brands are expected to do more. Go beyond the science, treatment outcomes and product benefits. Demonstrate value to the individual that changes society or their lives.
- Focus on communication. Even emotional campaigns have to have a message at their heart.
- Brand transformation is not a journey from A to B, but a never-ending story.
- Technology is gaining ground – either for campaign delivery, or as a tactic that sits at the heart of a campaign.
- Integrated campaigns that take an idea and play it out across the whole spectrum of communications marketing have the best chances of winning big in Cannes.
Every year, the world’s leading marketers, PR professionals, creatives and advertisers come together for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where they showcase their best work, network and discuss the latest industry trends. The Lions Health track has grown in prominence in recent years, focusing on healthcare communications and marketing for the pharma and health & wellness sectors.
The talks, panels and roundtables at Cannes Lions Health explored how the communications strategies of the healthcare industry have to evolve at a time of massive change in both the industry and consumer expectations. The focus is shifting from the medication to the patient – while at the same time it’s matter for debate whether we should be referring to “patients” or “people”.
Edelman was proud to host two roundtables at Lions Health that brought together healthcare professionals, tech industry experts NGOs and agency leaders to tackle two key issues facing our industry: How can data-gathering and targeting be used for good, and how can we successfully engage with consumers through “storytelling” rather than “storyselling”? Both sessions were lively exchanges of insights and ideas, and proof of what’s possible at the Lions Health.
As one participant put it: “This is both the most exciting time for healthcare and the most challenging”.
Here are key insights from our roundtable events:
“We need to build trust” was a consistent phrase during most panels, talks and roundtables at Lions Health, but this – all agreed – was not an easy task. One panelist declared the healthcare system to be “broken”, because neither patients nor the healthcare providers were investing a lot into health, only into illness.
Some argued that trusting one’s medication is not realistic, and instead of trust, companies should try to build “brand love” or “brand value.” Others questioned which drugs – with the possible exception of Viagra (a PR professional joked) – could even claim anything like brand love. As one participant put it: “The world [of healthcare communications] is changing, but is it a priority to build love? You can’t love your doctor, he won’t write you a prescription even if you have a great relationship.” Whether trust, value, or love, all agreed that healthcare companies must deliver demonstrable value to stakeholders beyond product benefits or traditional patient assistance programs.
DATA FOR GOOD
The importance and potential applications of data in healthcare is rising rapidly: as an early warning system for diseases; as a tool to understand, predict and prevent illnesses; and as a storytelling device that helps us identify the biggest hopes and concerns of patients and consumers alike.
The healthcare industry understands the power of using data for good but faces two critical challenges: it’s one of the most regulated industries, and consumers have to understand and believe that health data can be used for good. Around the world, consumers are deeply concerned about the privacy of health data. That’s partly cultural (as one participant posited, Asian patients are more concerned about privacy than, say, Americans or Europeans), partly economic (amid concerns that data could leak and be used to stigmatize individuals, or that insurers use them to justify higher premiums or even refuse coverage).
Participants debated the power of anonymised data for extremely precise forecasting, but acknowledged that most consumers would assume the data collection by pharmaceutical firms would be for profit, not purpose. One pharma industry expert said patients were deeply conflicted about data: “they want companies to use their data, but they are also worried about it when they do”. The healthcare industry would have to convince consumers that data would be used for the good of patients – with patients’ skepticism made worse by reports about the use and abuse of data collected by Facebook.
One potential solution, the data roundtable agreed, would be “data philanthropy” and non-traditional partnerships, through which data from health or non-health industries can be used to address public health threats. As a first step, healthcare companies would have to shed their customary data secrecy, which in turn would show consumers that data are being collected for a good purpose and following high ethical standards. One participant cited the telecoms operator Orange, who had helped track the spread of Ebola by sharing anonymized data of people’s movements across West Africa.
Insurance companies, meanwhile, could flip their model and focus on the “wellness data” instead of the “sickness data”, for example by rewarding and incentivizing regular exercise, instead of punishing poor health with higher premiums.
Flipping from treating illness to promoting wellness raised a number of questions. “When a company knows that you will have diabetes in a year from now, who should contact you – your doctor or the company that gathered the data? And how will patients feel about it?” Then there was the age-old question for individuals: Do I want to know? People will trust pharma companies more once they don’t just sell them medication, but help them manage their diseases, said a pharma executive.
Data in healthcare, everyone agreed, “is just getting started”, but is set to dominate a broader debate across industries. Participants agreed that the healthcare industry has an opportunity to lead in using data for good, however, this would require breaking from tradition and institutionalised protocol.
EMPATHY – THE POWER OF STORYTELLING
To achieve this, the healthcare industry has to dig into how to truly understand and connect authentically with consumers. How come, we asked our second roundtable, that people love the technology in their smartphones and other gadgets, but neglect to regularly take (never mind talk about) their innovative medicines?
The key difference, a marketer noted, was that technology is about wants, while medication is about needs. In this context, it’s worth noting that both gadget makers and car manufacturers these days mainly talk about the lifestyle they enable, something the pharma industry is only beginning to emulate now, agreed the roundtable participants.
Instead of focusing on the health benefits, successful campaigns were telling the stories of their patients, and the lifestyle that these medications were enabling – and not through actors, but real stories of real people and their authentic experiences.
Storytelling had to be about “showing empathy” and proving that “we understand patients”. It was “the key to building trust”. One participant from the technology industry encouraged focusing on “friction points”. Interestingly in this context, most of the short-listed campaigns at Cannes had moved from analog to digital, and focused on building empathy through experiential storytelling.
Blaming the challenges of operating in a regulated environment doesn’t cut it anymore, participants agreed. There’s an urgent need to really speak to consumers, using the techniques of other industries – whether that’s the tech industry or fast-moving consumer goods.
Agreement was that ultimately, health brands have to learn to speak to consumers on their terms, and with integrity.
Trusted storytelling must be grounded in transparency, for example, by sharing anonymized data and in language easily understood. Most importantly, though, companies must demystify and humanize the medical language they use. Most patients, it was noted, don’t want to be “in the drivers seat” when it comes to medical decision making, but expect frank and clear information.
The solution is quality, not quantity, though. Persuading patients – especially Millennials – to engage with all this transparency is a challenge in itself. Gamification might be a solution, similar to fitness band challenges or using the Wii Sport to get army veterans to exercise. “We have to make things less threatening, more fun and help people overcome their fears”, said one marketer.
PATIENTS OR VICTIMS
The Achilles heel of the industry, everybody agreed, was language. Just using the word “medication” was turning consumers into patients, and – as one participant put it – patients see themselves, yet don’t want to be seen as, victims.
The participants noted there was a reason people felt good about and were diligent in taking vitamins every day – they believe they are doing something empowering and for their health, while patients are often less adherent when it comes to taking their medication every day.
Could the industry transform its relationship with ‘patients’ by pivoting the conversation and turn it into one about wellness and self-care? How can we help people celebrate that which can make them better?
The discussion became particularly animated over whether healthcare companies needed an internal challenger – like a chief humanity officer who makes sure the patient experience is better by design.
Changing the language would also incentivize people to become more proactive about their health. Another approach – especially for healthcare providers – could be to remove friction points in the care process, however small. “What do people complain about after a hospital visit?” asked a doctor. “It’s mainly the hotel functions of the hospital stay, not the care they received.”
Healthcare attitudes of Millennials arguably encapsulated our industry’s challenges: thanks to technology, this generation is more empowered than any other to deal with its health – but also does very little about it.


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Zuckerberg came, saw and then what?
Many have written articles on Mark Zuckerberg’s visit to Lagos. CNN’s Stephanie Busari’s article aptly summed it all up that Zuckerberg’s visit gave Nigerian startups a “much-needed boost.”
Now that Zuckerberg has come and gone, the real work begins.
Many local and international investors will likely look even more keenly to invest in entrepreneurs and startups in Lagos and all other cities south of the Sahara. A recent BCG report stated “Africa will have over 1.1 billion consumers by 2020 — more than the populations of Europe and North America combined.” In my view, this means within the next five years, we could witness a few unicorns out of Africa — Lagos in particular.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will write on various topics of concern that tech entrepreneurs generally treat as an afterthought. Everything ranging from entity choice and formation, IP protection, establishing co-founders, dealing with angels and VCs, how equity really works etc etc. I’ll also discuss how entrepreneurs can protect themselves at conception so they can focus on building and growing their businesses without getting burned later on.
Please stay tuned.


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A massive breach (~9.7 million customers) in Medibank continues to escalate. Hackers have leaked information about 200 customers as a warning shot.
A massive data breach has rocked Australian health insurance company Medibank within a month of the government passing a resolution to toughen up data privacy laws and impose heavy penalties for data breaches. This all started when a ransomware attack group stole the personal information of about 9.7 million Medibank customers. The stolen data includes extremely sensitive personal and medical information.
Since then, things have steadily gone from bad to worse for Medibank after the company refused to comply with the demands of the ransomware group, indicating that they do not believe that paying the attackers will prevent them from releasing personal information. As a result, the attackers have started leaking information on the dark web, releasing sensitive data.
In the first wave, the hackers leaked information about 200 Medibank customers. While names, passport numbers, and medical claim records have been disclosed. To make it worse, data includes numerical diagnosis codes that make it possible to link individuals to issues like HIV, alcohol addiction, and drug addiction.
There is also concern about the details of high-profile customers being leaked, as the Australian Prime Minister and the #Cybersecurity Minister have already confirmed being victims of the breach.
Moreover, leaked negotiation screenshots also reveal that the hackers have threatened to disclose decryption keys for customer credit cards despite Medibank’s insistence that no banking or credit card details were stolen.
The situation is devolving rapidly, with more data leaks expected soon. While Medibank has quickly rolled out a support system for possible victims, many would wonder whether they are partly to blame for this scenario and should be on the receiving end of sanctions.


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Has Intel's chipmaking business landed a big fish?
Altera reportedly became Intel's largest manufacturing customer to date, and people wondered whether Apple might be next to partner with Intel.
Well, it doesn't appear that Apple is next in line. But it could be Cisco.
As CNET reports, a Korea Times article quotes Lee Hee-sung, country manager at Intel Korea, as saying his company has signed a chip manufacturing deal with Cisco.
No word yet from Intel's corporate headquarters on whether the report is legit.
Executive Development Center Director Willamette University - Atkinson Graduate School of Management | Portland/Salem, OR
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