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On December 2nd, the 2021 Annual meeting of China Quality Association was held in Beijing, and yili was awarded the “19th National Quality Award”. Yili became the only dairy enterprise to win the award. This is yili has won the honor of authority in the field of quality in half a year after winning the Nomination of China Quality Award consecutively.
Recently, Yili put forward the goal of “Leading in overall value”, with high-quality development as the main line, to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the enterprise. As the leading enterprises in the health field, yili Mr Pan, chairman of the proposed “to become the world’s most trusted health food providers” vision guidance, actively carry out quality improvement action and concentrate the power of overall quality, to provide consumers with high-quality products and service, help the development of Chinese quality towards a higher level.
In fact, every Yili is a bright footnote of “Yili is quality”. Zhang Jiming, an animal husbandry engineer at Yili Dairy Cow Research Institute, has extended his research position to forage grass planting industry, the most upstream of dairy industry development, in order to protect the nutrition and health of every drop of milk. He runs in the fields around “planting good grass and raising good cattle”.
In order to obtain good seeds, Zhang and his team collected data, conducted surveys and field tests on farmers and planting bases across the country. Zhang jiming walks more than 1,500 kilometers a year in the fields. After years of scientific research, Zhang jiming and his team have achieved the highest yield of high-quality silage varieties, with the pasture yield reaching 5.13 tons/mu, surpassing the international standard of high-quality silage. In addition, Zhang Jiming also conducted in-depth research on silage production to reduce feed costs and improve the fermentation quality of silage. In 2020 alone, the production cost was reduced by 81,609,500 yuan.
It is with a group of animal husbandry engineers like Zhang Jiming that Yili has helped its upstream partners achieve the triple strategic goals of reducing dairy cow feeding costs, stable milk yield supply and quality assurance of raw milk, thus ensuring quality control from the source.
Yili laboratory team is one of the backbone of yili quality creators. In Yili, there are many such quality creators. For example, su Chunling, a milk analyst, samples more than 1,000 tons of milk every day and memorises more than 1,000 testing standards. To keep their sense of smell and taste sensitive, they should not use perfume, cosmetics, or eat spicy food. But it is such “tasteless life”, they stick to it for ten years as one day, assumed the responsibility of “safety guard” to ensure milk safety and quality from the source.
“We must do every test well and fulfill our solemn promise that ‘everyone is a quality creator’.” “Su chunling said. Under the escort of the laboratory team, every yili product that arrives in the hands of consumers maintains high quality.
At the same time, innovation is yili’s attitude and one of its core values. In terms of talent training, Yili attaches particular importance to the training of young innovative talents and encourages them to release their innovative energy. All these efforts are aimed at better serving consumers.
In 2021, Zhao liuyong won the National May 1 Labor Medal. With 28 national authorized invention patents, he is an outstanding representative of Yili innovation team. Over the years, Zhao Liuyong led the team to develop and market more than 60 products. In AnMuXi development, six yong zhao multiple Sweden tetra and yili laboratory, developing strains of Greece, after thousands of times of experiment test and trial production equipment, has solved the product thick walls can’t mass production, other separation technology of industry worldwide problem, successfully developed the first generation of tetra brick AnMuXi yogurt at room temperature. Today, Amucci has become a star product with annual sales of more than 20 billion yuan.
It is the growth of innovative talents like Zhao Liuyong that drives the development and innovation of Yili, so as to constantly meet the growing and changing consumer needs.
As a Chinese saying goes, “Only with work can you achieve success, and only with work can you achieve success.” Every achievement of Yili is inseparable from the efforts and efforts of yili people, and every glory of Yili is inseparable from the struggle and progress of Yili people. In the future, Yili will aim at the development goal of “comprehensive value leading”, adhere to quality, promote innovation and seek development, and work together with every yili staff towards the beautiful vision of “becoming the world’s most reliable health food provider”.


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- A little over 24 hours ago, a Reddit user known as Celentano1234 who is apparently fascinated with everything related to cryptocurrencies questioned the Litecoin (LTC) community on probabilities that the “Blockchain silver” network would undergo a “Schnorr-Taproot” upgrade.
- Normally, such a question would get answers of varying quality and usefulness from every crypto lover on the Reddit platform, but one answer stood out because it was made by a Litecoin (LTC) developer and was revealing in its content.
Celentano1234 has a reputation for asking loads of hard-hitting questions related to various blockchain projects on Reddit. He apparently decided to have a little fun and find out the latest news on Litecoin.
To make this happen he hit on the bright idea of questioning Litecoin (LTC) developers on how well or badly their projects were going and was rewarded for his persistence. Celentano1234 questioned the developers about the possibilities of their upgrading the network, especially since the kick-off of Taproot schemes and Schnorr signatures that can be used to endow the network with top-class security of the sort that was only a pipe dream a few years ago.
The Answers Have It
In response to the question posed by Celentano1234, a Reddit user by the name of Losh11, who might well be a well-regarded Litecoin developer called Loshan T gave an insightful answer. Specifically, Losh11 said that for Bitcoin to implement the latest security upgrades was not a problem in the least, nor would it be much of a trouble for its little brother Litecoin (LTC) to copy the aforesaid upgrades.
A well-known crypto analyst by the called Lucas Nuzzi went further to imply that should Litecoin embark on a sibling-copying spree, it wouldn’t be out of the bounds of possibility for it to go further by embarking on a soft-fork this year when Bitcoin does the same.
Tapping Into Big Upgrades
The Schnorr/Taproot upgrade if implemented could well change the way Litecoin (LTC) does business. It would alter the current transaction signing methods and that would also permit the development of novel multi-signature methods.
The upgrade could as well work in concert with the MimbleWimble protocol and boost both user confidence and scalability. This particular protocol jumbles the transaction data to an incredible extent and therefore makes user tracking a very difficult if not impossible endeavor indeed.
Litecoin Is Big Business
As of the present, Litecoin is the 7th biggest digital coin, with its market value almost reaching $4 billion. The price of the coin climbed to a high of $63.17 on January 17, and its price movement is bearish, with speculators and technical factors keeping the price jumping from a high to a low point and vice versa.
Should Litecoin (LTC) implement a soft fork, that could make it more attractive to lots of investors in search of the next big thing. And once it does implement the mooted upgrades, that is bound to boost its current use, with individuals around the globe using it to buy things and store assets that they do not want the taxman to be aware of in the slightest.

domain: news


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Samsung’s surprise release of the final Android Pie update for the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ wasn’t followed by any sort of official announcement. But the company is likely to fix that once the update starts to roll out to more countries around the world, and while that moment could be a few days or even weeks away, Samsung is carrying the momentum forward and has updated the Galaxy S9 user manual with references to Android Pie.
Not much useful info in the updated manuals
The Android Pie user manuals are available in English, Dutch, and German, and we should see it coming online in more languages in the next few days. There’s nothing the updated manuals say that we don’t know, though. The new features are better detailed in our One UI (Android Pie) feature focus series, because the manual talks about things in a generic manner and has a lot of basic info that you have to parse through (like guidance on how to put in a SIM card, which is the same on any version of Android).
Based on Samsung Turkey’s roadmap, the Galaxy Note 9’s Android Pie update may come out by January 15. The update for the Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8 may follow a month later, although these time frames are all subject to change, as is the case with every new major Android OS upgrade.


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(Bloomberg) — Robinhood Markets Inc. unveiled a new debit card with features that could prompt users to invest in small increments when making everyday purchases.
The Robinhood Cash Card will allow customers to round up their conversion to the nearest dollar, investing the difference in an asset of their choice, the company said on Tuesday. As a temptation to use the feature, Robinhood will offer bonuses ranging between 10% and 100% on these weekly round-ups, with a maximum limit of $10.
“The next big step in investing is actually tackling the expense,” Robinhood Chief Product Officer Aparna Chennapragada said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “We think this is expanding the definition of investing. You don’t have to wait until you accumulate wealth and then invest to grow it.”
Information in a beta version of Robinhood’s iPhone app had previously indicated that the company was close to releasing a cash card. Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev also indicated on an earnings call that Robinhood had a day-to-day spending product in progress.
Read more: Robinhood plans to spend account service with new Cash Card
Robinhood shares were up 1.3% to $13.20 in New York trading at 9:40 a.m. The stock is down 27 percent this year.
– With assistance from Emily Chang.


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A new EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 restock was spotted online selling for just $200 past its MSRP. Similarly, another GPU was spotted online just a few weeks ago, selling for the same price. The thing was, the GPU was exactly the same!
EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
As it turns out, the EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 is one of the least marked-up GPUs in the market compared to other GPUs. As of the moment, the marketplace is filled with GPUs costing over twice their original SRP. Although the NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti is generally priced over the $1,000 price point, it still remains one of the most powerful GPUs in the market.
The $200 markup, however, isn't the same for other NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPUs and has only been spotted with the EVGA version. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti was spotted by a restock tracker Twitter account selling for just $1,399.99 on Amazon.
GPU Prices 2021
Although this might still seem quite big for some, this is actually one of the rare moments that a high-powered NVIDIA GPU is being sold not too far from its original SRP. Although there is still a $200 markup, this is not the same as other GPUs that go past $500 their MSRP.
An article by arsTechnica noted that although the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti MSRP is priced at just $1,199.99, there will still be a huge difficulty in finding a GPU at its MSRP. The same is true today, with other GPUs being sold at largely marked-up prices.
AMD vs. NVIDIA
While the competition used to be between AMD and NVIDIA, the main competition now is basically with the supply of GPUs, scalpers, and cryptominers. Both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs are extremely difficult to purchase due to the limited global chip supply along with the heightened demand for the GPU.
Gamers used to compete against each other for GPUs but due to the hype of cryptocurrency, more and more people are starting to mine cryptocurrency. Mining cryptocurrency requires massive hash rates, and this is something that GPUs are capable of providing.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Price
This, however, means that there are fewer GPUs left for gamers to buy. Since crypto miners are buying up massive amounts of GPUs, what's left for gamers is even affected by scalpers coming into the picture.
Scalpers buy out significant amounts of GPUs and sell them for higher prices. Due to this, it's now extremely difficult to find a GPU being sold at its MSRP. It seems that as of the moment, the EVGA NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti price is set at $1,399 same as before. However, there is still no guarantee that the same price would be given for the same model and brand of GPU later on.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.


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Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner and while that’s awesome because, hello, three day weekend*, that’s also terrifying, because Memorial Day means summer and summer means bikinis and bikinis mean plenty of fear-driven ad fodder off which brands hope to make bajillions of dollars. Who wants to go swimming now?
The New York Times explores bikini-phobia (and the businesses that stoke its flames like so many delicate spaghetti straps) in an awkwardly titled Thursday Styles piece, “Bikini Ready’? Who’s Judging?”
So who is judging? Well, women’s magazines, for a start.
Magazines like Shape and Self reinforce the idea that preparation is essential, with months-long bikini body countdowns (100-calorie snack tips included) and workout DVDs like “Bikini Ready Fast!” as if the beach reveal were a test on par with the MCAT and only a slacker would settle for a one-piece.
Good thing we kick butt at standardized tests! Wait, what? It’s not multiple choice? WTF! Anyway, while magazines like Self and Shape are the source of a subtle, pervasive brand of bikiniphobia, businesses and advertisers wear their love for bikiniphobia on their sleeve. Why? Because self-esteem does not encourage people to spend close to $2000 (not including airfare!) on a week at a “bikini boot camp” resort.
“Our society definitely has a stigma of bikini readiness — my business thrives on that,” said Melissa Perlman, an owner of the resort [Amansala], which she said mostly attracts women in their 30s and 40s. “But at the same time, we send a different message that you don’t have to be perfect. Feel good, take care of yourself, and looking good in a bikini will follow.”
Talk about a bait and switch! If we’re going to spend $2000, we want our self-esteem levels to be puddled somewhere around our ankles by the time we leave, thankyouverymuch.
But despite the efforts of magazines, paparazzi, and brands like Yoplait (see their “inspiring” ad below), some women remain immune to bikiniphoba.
Not all women let the camera-phone-wielding bikini police (or their own self-criticism) stop them from enjoying a two-piece. [Swimsuit designer Malia] Mills calls this type a “good-attitude girl.”
“She is a phenomenon and totally inspiring,” she said. “She is of any age, any body, she has a totally great attitude, because she has had a come-to-Jesus moment with her body.”
On that note, we’re about to have a come-to-Jesus moment with our sausage, egg, and cheese, bikini season be damned.
*We don’t believe in three day weekends, so we’ll be posting up our regular weekend storm. Come keep us company! We’ll take the pageviews as a sign of your never-ending passion for fashion.
**How awesome is that pic of Marilyn Monroe and her (tiny) squidge of fat peeking out over her bikini bottoms? H-O-T.


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Growing appetite for contemporary fast food leaving traditional fast food operators lagging behind.
Growing appetite for contemporary fast food leaving traditional fast food operators lagging behind
• Rapid acceleration continues in the contemporary fast food segment. The segment is expected to increase in outlets and turnover by 20% and 25% in 2016 to 497 outlets and £607m respectively. The segment is driving growth in the branded fast food market which is set to grow in turnover by 0.5pp to 7.1% this year. By comparison, traditional fast food outlet growth is sluggish, expected to decline by 1pp from 4.7% to 3.7% in 2016.
• Five Guys and Leon driving outlet growth for top ten contemporary fast food brands. Five Guys is expected to open the most outlets in absolute terms, with 25 sites added this year including openings in Brighton, Harrogate and Watford. Leon is also set to show impressive growth with the brand forecast to expand its estate to 49 outlets this year, with openings lined up including Liverpool Street Station and Brunswick Square. Itsu continues to lead the segment by outlets with a 73-strong estate this year.
• Smaller emerging brands are the fastest growing in the segment. Coco Di Mama is the fastest growing in the contemporary fast food segment, set to grow by 180% in 2016, with sites opened in Bow Cross and Leather Lane this year. Friska and Hummus Bros will also deliver impressive outlet growth, up by 50%, with the former opening its first transport hub in Luton Airport this year.
• Contemporary fast food brands looking to regions for expansion opportunities. Six out of the top ten brands are expected to have net openings in the regions this year. Tortilla has opened its first site in Scotland, in Silverburn this year, whilst Itsu opened its first site in the North in Spinningfields, Manchester. Five Guys and Barburrito are more regional focused than other brands with more than double the sites in the regions than in London.
• Itsu leads in turnover of contemporary fast food brands. Itsu leads the contemporary fast food segment in terms of turnover at £90m this year. Five Guys is the fastest growing brand, up 79% to £75m in 2016, with the brand set to overtake Itsu as the leading brand if it continues its current rate of expansion.
• Contemporary fast food will continue to prosper. MCA expects continued rapid expansion for contemporary fast food brands, with the segment forecast to grow by a CAGR of 13.7% between December 2016-2019 to a total of 730 outlets. Five Guys will continue to be a major driver of this growth, on track for 25 openings this year as the brand works towards its goal of 200 UK sites. Growth will also come from previously London-centric chains openings more stores in the regions, including Itsu, Leon and Wasabi.
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Krispy Kreme UK has launched its second advertising campaign, encouraging workers to buy a dozen doughnuts for fellow colleagues.
Working with global media agency Addiction, the international doughnut business’ ’Think inside the box’ campaign will span print, outdoor and social media. Headlines such as ’May the workforce be with you’, ’Want to leave at 3? Start at 12’ and ’12 steps to a promotion’ will appear in key commuter locations, including London Underground stations and phone boxes throughout Manchester city centre.
Judith Denby, chief marketing officer at Krispy Kreme UK, said: “We’re delighted with the success of Addiction’s campaigns to date, as they have enabled us to extend the brand communications regionally, as well as across different channels, resulting in a healthy uplift in sales and brand saliency with customers.”
A competition will also run across Krispy Kreme’s Facebook and Twitter platforms, supporting the outdoor advertising campaign. It will encourage individuals to post and tweet their favourite work disasters or triumphs for a chance to win a box of a dozen doughnuts.


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The promotion might be the viral marketing hit of the year.
Fiji Water landed a big win when it turned to Kelleth Cuthbert to promote its product at the Golden Globes. Cuthbert was able to drive online conversations with a series of strategic photobombs.
The numbers confirm that Cuthbert’s photo savvy was a major boon for the brand: Since the start of the Globes, the hashtag #FijiWaterGirl has been used nearly 7,000 times (and counting) on Twitter, earning a whooping 98.9 million impressions on the platform, according to Brandwatch. (And the lesser-used hashtag, #FijiGirl, nabbed an additional 698,000.) And even on a night full of big stars, sentimental speeches and viral moments, the only other hashtag that earned more impressions during the Globes than #FijiWaterGirl was the #GoldenGlobes hashtag itself.
The success has lived on in marketing efforts from Fiji Water, including cardboard cutouts of Cuthbert watching over displays in local supermarkets.
It’s clever to extend an advertising coup, but Cuthbert says she hasn’t been compensated for the continued use of her likeness.
Model Kelleth Cuthbert, real name Kelly Steinbach, just sued the Fiji Water Company and The Wonderful Company alleging they created an unauthorized marketing campaign based off the viral sensation she created at the Golden Globes.
According to the documents, obtained by The Blast, Cuthbert claims on January 7 — one day after the Globes — Fiji Water “intentionally created cardboard cutouts of Steinbach for use in a cardboard cutout marketing campaign.”
The lawsuit asserts that Cuthbert has not been compensated as an ongoing spokesperson for the company and alleges the company used disingenuous tactics to buy her support. The story suggests someone tried to reverse-engineer an influencer marketing relationship, without taking the time to build trust between the organization and the talent.
The Blast continued:
She says on January 8, Fiji tried to negotiate an agreement with the model’s agent … but the very next day they were contacted when someone had already seen the cardboard cutout placed in a Bristol Farms in West Hollywood. In fact, it was seen in a paparazzi photograph as John Legend exited the grocery store.
The cardboard cutouts were apparently used to push Fiji Water while capitalizing on the fame from the Golden Globes moment. The documents claim Fiji tried to offer “gifts to entice” the model to sign away her rights.
The suit also claims Fiji “pressured Steinbach into video recording a fake signing of a fake document to simulate Steinbach signing on as a Fiji Water Ambassador.” Her legal team says the document was not an agreement and was later destroyed by the model.
The documents argue that Fiji was aware that no agreement existed but still began using Steinbach’s image and likeness for profit.
Steinbach, who believes she generated more than $12 million worth of brand exposure, wants the company to stop using the cardboard cutouts ASAP, and for Fiji Water to open the floodgates in monetary damages.
Fiji Water issued a strong response to the lawsuit.
A Fiji Water spokesperson responded to the lawsuit with a statement, saying, “This lawsuit is frivolous and entirely without merit. After the Golden Globes social media moment, we negotiated a generous agreement with Ms. Cuthbert that she blatantly violated. We are confident that we will prevail in Court. Throughout our history, we have had a sterling reputation working with talent.”
The figures on what Fiji Water got from the promotion are undeniable—and might be what has pushed Cuthbert to renegotiate a deal.
Thanks to the unexpected virality of a model hired to hold bottles of Fiji Water on the red carpet, the water company notched a Golden Globes record for earned impressions, according to marketing analytics firm Apex Marketing Group. To create the same level of buzz through traditional advertising, Apex says Fiji would have had to spend more than $12 million on advertising.
On social media, many have supported Cuthbert’s suit:
The Fiji water girl is every actor who has done a promo job for crappy money under the false promise of it being an opportunity for ‘exposure’.
And she is winning. #GoldenGlobes2019
— Nicola Thorp (@nicolathorp_) January 7, 2019
The more I read about her, the more I like her. https://t.co/8SxE0dqoze
— Chrissa (@chrissahardy) February 1, 2019
Pay her…ok? Read this… she did her job, …then they decided to capitalize on it and didn't pay her. Smh.
Golden Globes Fiji Water model is suing the brand: https://t.co/sdHOcCYJKR
— SunnyAnderson (@SunnyAnderson) February 1, 2019
The incident reveals the importance of having all your ducks in a row before launching a viral marketing campaign. Negotiating a deal with Cuthbert after the Golden Globes was too late. An incentive clause with outlines for a continued working relationship from the start could have saved Fiji Water a lot of trouble.
Now, it must face a lawsuit—and potentially the end of the sharpest marketing stunt of 2019 only weeks after its launch.


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Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Netflix Inc., the Internet and mail- order video-rental service, fell the most in more than two months after cable company Comcast Corp. said it would expand offerings to customers interested in streaming movies online.
Netflix fell 5 percent to $111.58 at 2:09 p.m. in New York trading and dropped as low as $108.54 for its biggest intraday percentage decline since Nov. 30. The shares had risen 69 percent this year through yesterday.
Comcast, the largest U.S. cable-television company, said yesterday it would begin offering customers the added ability to stream movies and TV shows to devices outside the home. The Philadelphia-based company’s Xfinity Streampix service joins Dish Network Corp.’s Blockbuster@Home in offering so-called TV everywhere services. Reed Hastings, chief executive officer of Los Gatos, California-based Netflix, also lists among his rivals Time Warner Inc.’s HBO Go service, Amazon.com Inc. and Hulu LLC.
John Blackledge, an analyst with Credit Suisse Securities in New York, and Michael Olson, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. in Minneapolis, said investors shouldn’t worry.
Comcast Xfinity Streampix will offer older TV shows and films to existing customers and isn’t competing with Netflix in all U.S. markets, Blackledge wrote in a note to clients today. He has an “outperform” rating on Netflix shares.
Netflix “remains differentiated” and is benefiting from a shift to carry more TV content, Olson said in a note of his analysis of the company’s online catalog compared to Hulu and Amazon. Olson reiterated his “overweight” rating on the stock.
“Netflix has more of the top 50 TV shows from the last two years, and fewer top 50 movies from the last two years,” Olson said. “Hulu Plus has a comparable library of popular TV, but no popular movies, and Amazon has very little top-tier content.”
Hastings efforts to get more exclusive content for Netflix’s streaming site also will help the company differentiate, said Youssef Squali, a Jefferies & Co. analyst in New York, who reiterated his “hold” rating on the shares.
--Editors: Romaine Bostick, Cecile Daurat
To contact the reporter on this story: Cliff Edwards in San Francisco at email@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at firstname.lastname@example.org


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Thanksgiving is over, and the busiest shopping day of the year is here. With retailers across the country slashing prices in an attempt to woo customers eager to get a jump on their holiday shopping, some 147 million people are expected to go shopping between Friday and Sunday. Some retailers, including Target and Sears, went so far as to start Black Friday on Thanksgiving itself, opening their stores on Thursday night.
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Larrabee, Intel’s first big push into the graphics processor unit (GPU) market, didn’t make much of an impression at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) last September. However, the company made up for that at the recent SC09 supercomputing show.
The conference focuses on all things related to high performance computing, something GPU vendors have increasingly wanted a part of. ATI and nVidia were both on hand at SC09 to show off their products tuned for HPC, as was Intel. Only instead of just discussing the Nehalem generation of CPUs, Intel CTO Justin Rattner also showed significant progress in Larrabee’s development. (See YouTube video clip here).
Intel has been coy about the exact specs of Larrabee. It has not said how many cores it will have, the clock speed or power draw. What is known is that it’s a many-core design that uses older Pentium cores, updated with 64-bit extensions and SIMD
The IDF showing was, to be charitable, underwhelming, with an old 3D graphics game sitting idle on stage and barely any action taking place on screen. But during his keynote, Rattner showed a much better demonstration. He held up the Larrabee card, which is about as large as modern day cards, and then ran an HPC demo.
Using a SGEMM single-precision math performance test and half the cores on the card, Larrabee racked up 417 gigaflops (GFLOPS) of performance. With all the cores turned on, it hit 825 GFLOPS, which would indicate 1:1 scaling that Intel has said it is aiming to provide. With a little overclocking, Rattner got it to hit the 1 teraflop (TFLOP) barrier.
By way of comparison, the Intel quad-core QX9775 Core 2 Quad, the highest-end processor of the pre-Nehalem generation, taps out at 51.2 GFLOPs. The Core i7-975, the top desktop of the Nehalem generation, hits 55.36 in turbo mode and 42.56 in regular mode.
Ready for primetime?
Good, says Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research, but not good enough. “You’ve got ATI out with a card [the 5800] that can do five teraFLOPs now. For Intel to come out with a card that does one teraFLOP next year isn’t going to cut it in the high-end space,” he told InternetNews.com.
He qualified that by stating the part does well, but has to compete against the very established players in ATI and nVidia. “I think Intel wants to show the progress they’ve been making, and the part can deliver performance, and one teraflop is a good level of performance. If they price it according to other one teraflop parts from ATI and nVidia, then they have a contender,” he said.
The question is how much of a contender. “Intel will take market share from nVidia and ATI. How much remains to be seen. Intel will get market share just for showing up, but going into the performance market they will have work to do. They are going into nVidia’s and ATI’s camp where there is tremendous brand loyalty,” Peddie added.
That said, he feels Intel is doing things right, and certainly not fudging the numbers. “I don’t think Intel would play any games. It’s a big publicly held company they can’t afford to do smoke and mirrors,” he said.
“They have a program plan and as far as I know they are executing close to plan. They’ve done the seriously hard work in terms of getting the developer community onboard. The hard work they had to do was all the software tools,” he added.


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Competition of projects04.05.2021
The outlook for a rapid recovery in global trade has improved as merchandise trade grew faster than expected in the second half of last year. We can see the prospects for investment in trade transactions below.
World merchandise trade volume is expected to increase by 8.0% in 2021 after falling 5.3% in 2020, a smaller decline than previously estimated.
Trade growth will likely slow to 4.0% in 2022, with the total volume of global trade remaining below the prepandemic trend.
World GDP at market exchange rates should increase by 5.1% in 2021 and 3.8% in 2022, after contracting by 3.8% in 2020.
Merchandise trade in nominal dollar terms fell in 2020 by 7% while commercial services exports declined by 20%.
Falling oil prices led to a 35% contraction in trade in fuels in 2020.
Travel services were down 63% in 2020 and are not expected to fully recover until the pandemic wanes.
Prospects for a quick recovery in world trade have improved as merchandise trade expanded more rapidly than expected in the second half of last year. The volume of world merchandise trade is expected to increase by 8.0% in 2021 after having fallen 5.3% in 2020, continuing its rebound from the pandemic-induced collapse that bottomed out in the second quarter of last year. Trade growth should then slow to 4.0% in 2022, and the effects of pandemic will continue to be felt as this pace of expansion would still leave trade below its pre-pandemic trend. The relatively positive short-term outlook for global trade is marred by regional disparities, continued weakness in services trade, and lagging vaccination timetables, particularly in poor countries. COVID-19 continues to pose the greatest threat to the outlook for trade, as new waves of infection could easily undermine any hoped-for recovery.
World merchandise trade volume, 2015Q1-2022Q4 (Index, 2015=100):
Short-term risks to the forecast are firmly on the downside and centred on pandemic-related factors. These include insufficient production and distribution of vaccines, or the emergence of new, vaccine-resistant strains of COVID-19. Over the medium-to-long term, public debt and deficits could also weigh on economic growth and trade, particularly in highly indebted developing countries.
The forecast illustration shows two alternative scenarios for trade. In the upside scenario, vaccine production and dissemination would accelerate, allowing containment measures to be relaxed sooner. This would be expected to add about 1 percentage point to world GDP growth and about 2.5 percentage points to world merchandise trade volume growth in 2021. Trade would return to its pre-pandemic trend by the fourth quarter of 2021. In the downside scenario, vaccine production does not keep up with demand and/or new variants of the virus emerge against which vaccines are less effective. Such an outcome could shave 1 percentage point off of global GDP growth in 2021 and lower trade growth by nearly 2 percentage points.
For the whole of 2020, merchandise trade was down 5.3%. This drop is smaller than the 9.2% decline foreseen in the previous forecast in October 2020. The better than expected performance towards the end of the year can partly be explained by the announcement of new COVID-19 vaccines in November, which contributed to improved business and consumer confidence. Below discusses reasons for the forecast upgrade in more depth. The volume of world merchandise trade plunged 15.0% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020 (revised up from -17.3 % in October) as countries around the world imposed lockdowns and travel restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19. Lockdowns were eased in the second half of the year as infection rates came down, allowing goods shipments to surge back to near 2019 levels by the fourth quarter. Faster trade and output growth in the second half of 2020 was supported by major government policy interventions, including significant fiscal stimulus measures in the United States. These measures boosted household incomes and supported continued spending on all goods, including imports. In addition, many businesses and households adapted to the changing circumstances, finding innovative ways to sustain economic activity in the face of health-related restrictions on mobility. Effective management of the pandemic limited the extent of the economic downturn in China and other Asian economies, allowing them to continue importing. These actions helped prop up global demand and may have prevented an even larger trade decline. Trade in nominal US dollar terms fell even more sharply than trade in volume terms in 2020. World merchandise export values were down 8% compared to the previous year, while commercial services receipts tumbled 20%. Services trade was especially weighed down by international travel restrictions, which prevented the delivery of services requiring physical presence or face-to-face interaction.
The impact of the pandemic on merchandise trade volumes differed across regions in 2020, with most regions recording large declines in both exports and imports. Asia was the sole exception, with export volumes up 0.3% and import volumes down a modest 1.3%. Regions rich in natural resources saw the largest declines in imports, including Africa (-8.8%), South America (-9.3%) and the Middle East (-11.3%), probably due to reduced export revenues as oil prices fell around 35%. In comparison to other regions, the decline in North American imports was relatively small (-6.1%). In 2021, demand for traded goods will be driven by North America (11.4%) thanks to large fiscal injections in the United States, which should also stimulate other economies through the trade channel. Europe and South America will both see import growth of around 8%, while other regions will register smaller increases. Much of global import demand will be met by Asia, exports from which are expected to grow by 8.4% in 2021. European exports will increase nearly as much (8.3%), while shipments from North America will see a smaller rise (7.7%). Strong forecasts for export growth in Africa (8.1%) and the Middle East (12.4%) depend on travel expenditures picking up over the course of the year, which would strengthen demand for oil. Meanwhile, South America will see weaker export growth (3.2%), as will the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including certain former and associate Members (4.4%).
WHY TRADE AND OUTPUT DECLINED LESS THAN FEARED AT THE START OF THE PANDEMIC? In April 2020, when over half the global population was under lockdown orders, the sheer extent of pandemic-related uncertainty led the trade forecast to explore two distinct scenarios for how COVID-19 would impact global trade: (1) a relatively optimistic scenario, with a sharp drop followed by a recovery starting in the second half of 2020, and (2) a more pessimistic scenario with a steeper initial decline and slower recovery. It quickly became apparent that the optimistic scenario was the one actually unfolding. Yet even this scenario overstated the extent of the decline: the initial April estimate of -12.9% was revised upwards to -9.2% by October. The final decline was -5.3%. Similarly, the IMF’s projected decline for world GDP at market exchange rates in 2020 went from -6.1% last June to -4.7% in October, and finally to -3.8% in January 2021. What accounts for the smaller-than-expected contractions in growth and trade? Strong monetary and fiscal policies by many governments were probably the biggest factors. Much greater in scale and geographic coverage than the response to the 2008-09 global financial crisis, these policies helped prevent a larger drop in global demand, which would have reduced trade further. Fiscal policy in particular boosted personal incomes in advanced economies, allowing some households to maintain relatively high levels of consumption, and supporting more exports than would otherwise have been the case. Lockdowns and travel restrictions caused consumers to shift spending away from non-traded services and towards goods. Innovation and adaptation by businesses and households kept economic activity from falling even more. Manufacturing supply chains were able to resume operations, and many people shifted to working remotely, generating income and demand. Finally, trade policy restraint by WTO members prevented protectionism from strangling world trade. As WTO monitoring has documented, many restrictive trade measures imposed at the start of the pandemic were rolled back, and new liberalising measures were introduced. Despite continuing challenges, notably around vaccine trade, the multilateral trading system kept trade flowing and prevented worse outcomes, as members were restrained by commitments and economic self-interest. As during the global financial crisis, the foundation of the system proved sound.
Merchandise trade volume and real GDP, 2017-2022 (Annual % change):
Details on trade statistics. The charts in this section illustrate annual and quarterly trade statistics in greater detail and highlight certain noteworthy trade-related indicators. Chart below shows quarterly merchandise export and import volume indices by region for 2015 to 2020, plus projections for 2021 and 2022. In the second quarter of 2020, North America and Europe saw sharp year-on-year declines in export volumes, down 25.8% and 20.4% respectively. By the fourth quarter these regions had recovered much of their lost ground, with respective yearon-year declines of just 3.0% and 2.4%. Middle Eastern exports also fell precipitously in the second quarter as oil consumption slumped worldwide due to restrictions on international and domestic travel.
Asian exports saw a much smaller decline of 7.2% in the second quarter, but by the fourth quarter they were up 7.7% compared to the previous year. Their rapid recovery can be explained by the relatively small impact that COVID-19 had on certain Asian economies, and by the fact that the region has been supplying the world with consumer goods and medical supplies during the pandemic, driving up regional export totals. In the forecast periods we see a divergence between regions with faster and slower trade growth. On the import side, Africa, South America and the Middle East will continue to see their merchandise trade stagnate while other regions will pull ahead. On the export side, most regions will only see modest gains while Asia continues to supply large quantities of goods to global markets.
Merchandise exports and imports by region, 2015Q1-2022Q4 (Volume index, 2015=100):
Chart illustrates the quarterly evolution of merchandise trade in current US dollar terms over the course of 2020. It indicates that the value of world trade in manufactured goods was 6% higher in the fourth quarter of 2020 than in the same period of the previous year. This resurgence may be attributable to the resumption of factory operations in alignment with safety measures required to protect workers from COVID-19. Trade in agricultural products was up by a similar amount over the same period. In contrast, the value of Fuels and mining products trade was still down 19% in the fourth quarter. The value of merchandise trade overall was up slightly compared to the previous year (2%), but this increase might be exaggerated due to the fact that world trade was already slowing in the fourth quarter of 2019, before the pandemic.
Year-on-year growth in world merchandise trade, 2020Q1-2020Q4 (% change in US$ values):
Most categories of manufactured goods saw significant gains in the second half of 2020. This is illustrated by Chart, which shows monthly and quarterly year-on-year growth in the US dollar value of world trade by sector. World trade in Iron and steel was down 17% in the third quarter, but this decline was reduced to 2% by the fourth quarter. Iron and steel trade is indicative of broader economic conditions as these products are heavily used in both automobile manufacturing and building construction, both of which were hit hard by the pandemic. Strong growth in textiles trade in both the third and fourth quarter probably reflects high demand for medical face coverings, which is included in this category. Electronic goods including computers also saw steady growth of 12% in the second half of 2020, reflecting strong demand as households and businesses upgraded equipment to facilitate working remotely.
Chart shows year-on-year changes in world commercial services trade by major category. For the whole of 2020, Travel and Transport services were down 63% and 19%, respectively. Meanwhile, the category Other commercial services (including financial services and computer services) held up well, falling only 2%. Finally, Goods-related services fell 13%. Transport and Travel services were directly impacted by containment measures designed to limit the spread of COVID-19, many of which remain in place or have been tightened in response to the resurgence of the disease.
Year-on-year growth in world manufactured goods trade, 2020Q3-2020Q4 (% change in US$ values):
Year-on-year growth in world commercial services trade, 2020Q1-2020Q4 (% change in US$ values):
Chart shows daily counts of international flights and port calls of container ships, as well as prices of copper futures through 1 March 2021, depending on data availability. The number of daily international flights fell around 80% in the first quarter of 2020 as countries closed their borders to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This number gradually picked up as cases declined and people resumed limited travel. The end of 2020 saw an uptick in flights as people travelled to meet friends and family for seasonal holidays, but a resurgence of the virus has reduced flights again in 2021. International flights are closely related to travel services, but also to transport services and goods trade, as passenger aircraft frequently carry air freight shipments. In contrast to international flights, seaborne transport has been steadier during the pandemic. The number of port calls dipped in February and April of last year as well as in January of this year, reflecting peak periods of infection. The recent dip is worrying since countries have become increasingly reliant on international trade to obtain vital necessities such as food and medicine. Daily prices of copper futures contracts declined sharply in March 2020 as news of the pandemic spread, but have risen since then, reflecting improving economic prospects. Copper feeds into the manufacture of electronics, demand for which has been strong as people and businesses have invested in technology to allow remote work. An uptick in November of last year probably reflected expectations of stronger economic growth after the announcement of new vaccines against COVID-19. The recent rise in 2021 may reflect expectations that stimulus measures in the US and elsewhere will boost economic growth.
International commercial flights, port calls and copper futures, 1 January 2020 – 1 March 2021 (Indices, US$ per pound):
Finally, Chart shows the daily volume and average tone of news reports containing phrases related to “economic activity”, as monitored by the GDELT Project Summary Service. At the height of the pandemic, press reporting increased and the average tone of articles was mostly negative. As the pandemic progressed over the recent months, the number of articles declined but remained above pre-pandemic levels. The tone of reporting became more positive with the announcement of vaccines against the virus in November. A recent flattening in tone and the bottoming out of intensity could be related to the resurgence of the pandemic.
Illustration of phrases related to economic activity, 01 January 2020 – 15 March 2021 (% and index):
For investment in trade transactions: email@example.com


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Motorists use them to cruise through highway tollbooths, marathon runners rely on them to accurately monitor race times, and they can even help reunite a lost pet with its owner. Now radio frequency identification (RFID) tags may revolutionize supply-chain operations by offering a superior way to track individual items compared with bar-code labels.
A report released in October 2002 by AMR Research Inc. says early adopters of RFID tags have cut supply-chain costs by 3 to 5 percent and have achieved 2 to 7 percent increases in revenue thanks to the better inventory visibility the tags provide.
RFID tags have made headlines recently because the cost of producing them has plummeted to as little as 15 cents apiece for some varieties. At that price, tagging individual items, whether parts or finished products, becomes viable for many companies.
The tags are superior to bar-code labels because they don’t require a line of sight between laser and label: contents within a crate can be “read” as it passes a scanner, even if everything within the box is fully packaged and each item is unique.
That provides new flexibility and power in terms of tracking parts and products from one end of a supply chain to the other. Pete Abell, AMR’s director of research, global retail, points out another advantage: RFID-tagged products can be scanned at from 150 to 1,000 per second compared with 1 or 2 hand-scanned bar-coded items per second, which can reduce warehouse labor by 20 percent. Simon Ellis, supply-chain “futurist” at Unilever, says CFOs need to follow RFID advances because they will reshape IT infrastructures.
The Auto-ID Center, a not-for-profit global research program based at MIT and in Cambridge, England, predicts RFID technology will usher in reduced transaction costs, shorter lead times for manufacture and delivery, a decrease in inventory, and improved product availability.
There are some roadblocks: while some types of RFID tags have become very inexpensive, they don’t suit every application, and some tags can cost up to $100 each. Metal and liquid can affect data transmission, although the installation of insulators can help prevent this. The tags can store more information than bar-code labels can, but bar-coding is cheaper and firmly entrenched.
Of more concern may be competing or still-emerging standards. RFID chips rely on different portions of the frequency spectrum to send data. In limited applications this is no problem, but if companies want to achieve the broadest possible supply-chain data-sharing using RFID chips, interoperability becomes a bigger concern.
In addition to the Auto-ID Center, the RFID Center of Excellence, launched this year by RedPrairie Corp. and several other technology suppliers and major corporate users of RFID tags, is working to bring together consumer-goods companies “to really examine where RFID can have the greatest impact in the supply chain,” says James Le Tart, corporate marketing group leader at RedPrairie.
And, while tags may have gotten substantially cheaper, an investment in the wireless infrastructure needed to make full use of RFID technology can run to millions of dollars at a large company. Analysts say many companies will take the plunge; Venture Development Corp. in Natick, Mass., predicts companies will spend $2.6 billion on such equipment in 2005, three times what was spent in 2000.
At this point, companies are intrigued rather than hooked — they underwrite research efforts and run pilots, but they’re moving slowly.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., for example, is working with the Auto-ID Center on a three-phase pilot that involves limited use at one location, then broader use on more products at the case level, and eventually tagging individual items.
“The jury is still out,” says Wal-Mart spokesman Bill Wertz, “but it seems promising.”


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Maruti, M&M shares gain on hopes of festive sales
Sharekhan said both Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra will outperform the sector in the near-term, citing a 'strong' order backlog
Shares in Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra gain on hopes for rising sales this month as part of the festival season.
Sharekhan said both Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra will outperform the sector in the near-term, citing a "strong" order backlog, according to an email to clients.
Six models from the two companies, including the Maruti Dzire and the Mahindra XUV 500, have pending orders of about 170,000 units, or as much as 75 percent of the average monthly passenger vehicle sales recorded in the broader sector, as per Sharekhan calculations.
A weakening Japanese yen is also helping Maruti Suzuki shares given expectations it will reduce the cost of royalty payments to Suzuki Motor.
Maruti shares gained 4.2 percent, while Mahindra & Mahindra shares gained 1.5 percent.
The Asus laptops that will come will be equipped with the updated GPUs are the ROG and TUF family laptops.
You get access to flagship-grade processors, 108MP cameras and 5G compliance in smartphones available for under Rs 25,000 in India this month.
McKeown, who is shaping as a serious contender for multiple Olympic medals, hit the wall in 57.63 seconds at the Sydney Open, just outside Smith's all-time mark of 57.57, set at the 2019 world championships.


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Survey reveals increased exposure to casino game ads
According to a survey conducted by the Netherlands Online Gambling Association (NOGA), over the past 12 months, Dutch consumers have reported a sharp increase in the number of advertisements for online casino games. Conducted by Ipsos, the study was conducted among a representative group of adults aged 18 to 34. What conclusions can we draw from this?
Netherlands: adults increasingly exposed to casino gambling ads
The second annual NOGA online gambling barometer revealed that Dutch adults saw more iGaming ads in 2022 than in previous years.
In the young adult category (18-24 years old), it is mainly on the Internet and social media that casino game ads were seen most often. For adults aged 25-34, the television was the primary medium of exposure. Overall, 23% of young adults reported seeing iGaming ads “very often” in 2022, compared to 25% of slightly older adults.
The NOGA survey also found that not all respondents are enthusiastic about online gambling ads. For example, most respondents would like to see advertisements only after 9 p.m. and to minimize the targeting of young people and vulnerable groups. Only 22% of respondents said they don’t mind receiving, or seeing, online gambling ads.
Only 2% of Dutch adults gamble daily, down from 9% in 2021
Earlier this month, Dutch Minister of Legal Protection Franc Weerwind announced that the gambling market regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), had launched an investigation into how operators advertise to the specific segment of gamblers aged 18 to 24.
According to the latter, the number of gamblers in 2022 remained stable compared to the previous year and continues to be composed mainly of men and people with a high level of education. The survey’s finding also indicates that 12% of all adults have gambled online at least once in the past 12 months, compared to 11% in 2021. On the other hand, only 2% of Dutch adults gambled daily in 2022, compared to 9% in 2021.
Furthermore, the survey shows that despite the government’s desire to bring a legal framework to the Dutch online casino market, the vast majority of players (approximately 70%) do not know how to recognize a licensed operator from an illegal one.


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In the run-up to Edition Spéciale by LUXE PACK’s second edition, taking place on August 31-September 1st in Paris, organizers have revealed a preview of the show’s conference program. The annual event, focused on sustainable packaging solutions in the luxury space, is set to welcome 65 exhibitors this year, of which 15% are new to the show.
Given the ever-growing importance of sustainable solutions in packaging, Idice, organizer of Paris-based trade show Edition Spéciale by LUXE PACK, is devoting the show again this year to the theme as it did for its premier edition in 2019. “This choice has an even stronger impact this year given the current context and due to the fact that the luxury industry intends to play a major role in the transition to sustainability — a gargantuan challenge,” comments Idice.
The conference program, a key part of the event that will involve leading brands, associations and experts, was built to reflect the fast-changing environment around green packaging and to address the most pertinent issues to date. Here are a few of the talks not to be missed.
- The Circular Economy as a New Mindset: a roundtable discussion with Positive Luxury (Diana Verde Nieto), Quantis (Dimitri Caudrelier), Citeo (Jean-François Robert) and La Dame à la Licorne (Sylvie Bénard).
- How Design Serves Sustainability will address designers’ move to place ecological and social challenges at the heart of their creative process. With Diageo (Jeremy Lindley), Guerlain (Cécile Lochard), Coopérative MU (Anthony Boule) and French artist William Amor.
- E-commerce Packaging: What Levers for Improvement? The panel will investigate how e-commerce packaging is facing up to the sustainable challenge. With Lacoste (Mélanie Pénaud), DHL (Assia Belkhodja), and Hipli (Léa Got).
- Zero Waste Objective looks at packaging’s potential to be truly sustainable. With Clarins (Guillaume Lascourrèges), TIPA Compostable Packaging (Jean-Pierre Rakoutz), Esprit Gourmand (Marc Gastel) and OÉ (Thomas Lemasle).
These morning conferences will be followed by one-on-one sessions where brands and suppliers speak of their experiences in the area of natural materials, reuse, recycling, lightweighting and other issues surrounding sustainability.
Some 2,000 visitors and 65 exhibitors are expected at the show including newcomers Heinz Glas, Van Genechten Packaging, Chic, Golden Arrow and more. Stay tuned for more previews.


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Many of us look forward to a hot summer season but the apparel brands think one or two seasons ahead and prepare for the next winter already now.
So even if you can not imagine right now to have cold feet again you might be interested in knowing that Columbia Sportswear will launch this autumn the Omni-Heat Boots that will keep your feet cozy warm on the coldest days thanks to an electronic heating system inside the shoes.
Columbia Sportswear has already claimed the innovator spot with the launch of the electrically heated Bugathermo last season, a hot looking shoe with battery powered heating.
This years model (no product image available yet) will feature electric powered thermal technology with state of the art carbon based heater, 4-6 hours of continuous heat from the integrated battery. Battery charging is dane via USB cable which are included when buying the Omni-Heat Boots.
The expected retail price will be around $300,- for black and $350,- for Camo. We will keep you posted about the launch of this hot boots from Columbia Sportswear.


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The development studio behind the upcoming System Shock remaster, Nightdive Studios, has released four new screenshots of the game.
The new screenshots show the graphical fidelity of the game since the studio decided to move over to Unreal Engine 4. The environments shown are the same as the ones featured in the original demo.
Development of the game was funded via its Kickstarter campaign back in 2016 when the studio collected $1,350,700 US from 21,625 backers.
The initial prototype of the game was powered by the Unity game engine, but the studio has since switched the game over to Unreal Engine.


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If you've been holding your breath for LG's curved, flexible G Flex and... well, the somewhat less remarkable Optimus F3Q to come to Magenta, then you won't have to wait much longer. T-Mobile announced this morning that both smartphones will be available starting on February 5th online and at retailers. The G Flex will cost $672 ($28 a month on T-Mobile's two-year payment plan), while the budget QWERTY slider will cost $312 ($13 for 24 months).
You know what product has a really good name? SkyDrive. It's clean, unique, and it conjures up the image of what it does – cloud storage. Well, now it's OneDrive, because everything is One-something now. It's not entirely Microsoft's fault, though – it's a trademark thing.
Samsung has been gradually rolling out the KitKat software update for international models of the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 over the last couple of weeks. But surprisingly, it looks like at least one American carrier is eager to get Android 4.4 on the latest Samsung flagships as well. Noted XDA Developers forum member Designgears has posted official leaked builds of KitKat for AT&T's variants of the Galaxy S4and Galaxy Note 3 - you can download and flash them right now.
Google has long offered Nexus devices in black, with only occasional white options. The Nexus 5 is the first one that has been available in both colors from the start. Perhaps because of this, rumors of different colors for the Nexus 5 have been circulating for a while now, but a new cache of photos is the best evidence yet that a red version of Google's flagship is on the way.
Sprint's mobile data is typically not the first, or the second, or even the third to come to mind when looking for a zippy connection in the US, but the company is looking to change this impression with its new tri-band LTE network, more memorably known as Sprint Spark. Unfortunately, only a limited number of the carrier's phones are able to take advantage of this new capability, with some of them requiring an OTA before they're ready.
LG used to be a second rate Android OEM, but the last few years have been good to the Korean company. After making the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 for Google, its own "G" line of flagship phones have been more successful. Everyone has been wondering if the successor to last year's LG Optimus G Pro would be coming soon, and LG Korea just spilled the beans on its social news site – the G Pro 2 will indeed be unveiled next month.
Successful doesn't even begin to describe the recently concluded Kickstarter campaign for the PowerUp 3.0. This smartphone-controlled paper airplane was only seeking $50,000 in funding, but has knocked it out of the park with more than $1.2 million in pledges. The Android control app was unlocked at the $150,000 stretch goal, but more has been added since then, and the first lucky backers will be getting their rewards as soon as next month.
Google has reportedly closed a deal to acquire a London-based artificial intelligence startup called DeepMind. Google buys things all the time, but this time Mountain View has agreed to pay a huge sum of money for DeepMind. Sources are reporting the deal could have been valued as high as $500 million, or 0.5 Instagrams.
There is now an official Olympic TV app in Google Play, which is pretty big news. Does this mean the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is finally embracing modern technology? Eh, kind of. The app promises to give you access to all the live and replayed events from Sochi next month, but there are apparent limitations based on where you live.
Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got a revamped tower defense game, a gorgeous point-and-click adventure, an atom-powered casual game, a card fighter from Sony, and a kid-friendly puzzler.


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Audi recently made big headlines by claiming to be done producing new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2026. That doesn’t mean Audi will stop building cars with engines in 2026 but it will stop introducing new models with piston engines by that date. However, Audi has now announced that there’s a date when Audi will stop selling internal combustion engine cars — 2033.
According to this new announcement, Audi will slowly phase out internal combustion engines starting in 2026 and will eventually end in 2033. Which makes that date the date in which Audi will become a fully-electric manufacturer.
“Audi is ready to make its decisive and powerful move into the electric age.” said Audi CEO Markus Duesmann.
“Through our innovative strength, we offer individuals sustainable and carbon-neutral mobility options,” Duesmann continued. “I don’t believe in the success of bans. I believe in the success of technology and innovation.”
Customer demand for gas engines will continue in a few markets, most notably China, which is why they will still be sold until 2033. However, Audi has a roadmap for the piston-engine’s extinction and it plans on sticking to it.
“With this roadmap, we are creating the clarity necessary to make a decisive and powerful transition to the electric age. We’re sending the signal that Audi is ready,” said Duesmann
What’s interesting about this news is that it falls on the same day Audi announced the specs of its latest RS3 performance car, which uses the latest version of its most iconic engine configuration– the turbocharged five-cylinder. With 401 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque, the Audi RS3 makes more power than ever before from its gas engine and it’s being celebrated by Audi enthusiasts worldwide. So to hear that it could be the very last one is bittersweet. On one hand, Audi is moving into the electric future, and should be making some great new cars in the process, but on the other, we’re going to lose some great engines over the next decade.


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The Afghanistan Railway Authority (ARA) department in northern Balkh province says 175,000 tons of commercial goods from Pakistan were transferred to Central Asian countries in freight trains via Hairatan railway line during the first 10 months of this year.
Maulvi Mohammad Safiq Mahmood, ARA director in Balkh, said 175,000 tons of potato, tangerine and ghee were transferred to Central Asia from Pakistan through railroads this year, generating $1.75 million revenue from transit duty.
Meanwhile, traders and their representatives emphasize on interaction and good relations in the field of trade with neighboring countries.
They say neighboring countries export their goods through Afghanistan, so they should also allow the goods of Afghanistan to be exported through their territory to other countries.
Ahmad Shakib Akbari, head of Balkh chamber of commerce, said that good relations between neighboring countries could lead to their common development.
He added commercial interests should not be sacrificed for politics because both were different topics.
Haji Qalandar Rahimi, a businessman from Balkh, said that through Afghanistan, thousands of tons of commercial goods of the neighboring countries were sent to Central Asia and many other countries.
He added the neighboring countries should also allow Afghanistan’s goods to easily reach other countries.
Abdul Naseer Reshtiya, economic affairs expert, Afghanistan was the best connection point for Asian countries and railway lines through Afghanistan could create many employment opportunities and generate millions of dollars’ revenue every year.


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Samsung wants to put its Cinema LED Display in your home
Samsung is looking to supply its Cinema LED Screen to customers wanting one in their home, in an attempt to combat the sluggish QLED TV sales, reports BusinessKorea. The firm is also believed to have shown an interest in acquiring a Taiwanese LED manufacturer, which owns the rights to the technology required to make its QLED TVs smaller in size.
Taking control of the unnamed company will enable Samsung to not only reduce the amount of physical space its QLED TVs take up, but also its recently-launched Cinema LED Screen, making the dream of putting it in peoples’ living rooms a lot closer to becoming a reality. There’s just one (major) hurdle it will need to overcome first: pricing.
Where I can see the Cinema LED Display in action?
“Through sharper and more realistic colors, complimentary audio and an elevated presentation, our Cinema LED Screen makes viewers feel as if they are part of the picture,” said HS Kim, President of Visual Display Business at Samsung. It’s currently in use at the Lotte Cinema in South Korea, but will be installed in the Siam Paragon Cineplex in Bangkok by February 2018.


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Bath & Body Works (BBWI)
Bath & Body Works is a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care, soaps and sanitizer products. At a time when brick-and-mortar retailers face intense competition from online giants like Amazon, Bath & Body Works keeps growing at an impressive rate.
In the most recent quarter, net sales rose 11% year over year to $3.03 billion. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations increased 17% year over year to $2.30.
Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs added Bath & Body Works to its Americas Conviction List.
“We believe there is upside potential to current consensus estimates given the expected rollout of the company’s loyalty program to the entire chain in mid-2022,” writes analyst Kate McShane.
Goldman has set a price target of $85 for Bath & Body Works — roughly 70% above where the stock sits today.
Salesforce is a cloud-based software giant. More than 150,000 companies use its customer relationship management platform to scale their business.
Cloud computing is a booming industry, and Salesforce’s numbers completely reflect that.
In the company’s most recent quarter, revenue surged 26% year over year to $7.3 billion. Management also issued upbeat guidance: It now expects full-year 2023 revenue of $32 billion, marking a year-over-year increase of 21%.
But the stock is down more than 20% in 2022, giving contrarian traders something to think about.
Last month, Goldman Sachs reiterated a ‘buy’ rating on Salesforce and raised its price target on the shares to $360, implying potential upside of more than 80%.
Penn National Gaming (PENN)
Penn National Gaming is a casino and racetrack operator with 44 properties in 20 states and provides online sports betting in 13 jurisdictions.
The shares rallied nicely in pandemic-struck 2020, but have slumped ever since on concerns over slowing growth. They’re down more than 60% over the past year. That could give bargain hunters an opportunity, especially considering how much the company’s business has improved.
In Q4, revenue grew 53% year over year to $1.57 billion, while net income spiked 253% to $44.8 million. The company generated record free cash flow in 2021 and is returning cash to investors. In February, the board approved a $750 million share repurchase program.
Goldman has a ‘buy’ rating on Penn and a price target of $77. With the stock trading at around $38 right now, that target suggests potential upside of 103%.
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After creating a compound turbocharged LB7 Duramax with more than 1,200 horsepower, Mike Maas, the owner of Dark Horse Diesel, is eager to get more. He decided to build this LMM Duramax engine and
A newly released report by QY Research entitled "(Commercial Air Cooler Market)" reveals industry dynamics and current and future trends, which play a key role in determining business expansion. Th
The weekend brought the first measurable snowfall to parts of the area, putting the 60-degree weather of last week firmly in the rearview mirror.
And that kind of warmth? This is followed by
The following are the food service inspections reported by the Onondaga County Health Bureau from October 17 to 23:
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If anyone should know how people reduce their carbon footprint, it is scientists, professors and other energy experts who have been
These are the most recent restaurant inspection reports in Alachua County-from August 30 to September 4-submitted by the state safety and health inspector.
The Florida Department of Commerce
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I am one of those people who are always cold. So when I
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Apart from the high asking price, MSI MEG Cor


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This fall in the CII-IBA Financial Conditions Index for the first quarter of 2020-21 is primarily due to the outbreak of coronavirus that has sent economies and financial sector across the world into a meltdown.
The coronavirus pandemic has for the first time in the last several quarters pulled down the CII-IBA Financial Conditions Index to below 50 mark, reflecting worsening of liquidity situation, external financial linkages and economic activity. This fall in the CII-IBA Financial Conditions Index for the first quarter of 2020-21 is primarily due to the outbreak of coronavirus that has sent economies and financial sector across the world into a meltdown, industry body CII said. The Index for the first quarter of the current financial year stood at 44.2. It was at 60.5 in the preceding quarter (January-March FY20). “With a series of lockdowns happening across the world bringing economic activities to a virtual halt, organisations in the global arena are uncertain about the whereabouts of their cash flows and business prospects. India is not an exception,” it said.
The CII-IBA Financial Conditions Index was launched in April 2015 to serve as a key indicator in assessing the short-term financial conditions in the Indian economy and provide effective monitoring of current financial conditions for facilitating regulatory and policy decisions.
The Index was also aimed at generating early signals on turning points in financial conditions and help in tracking credit flow conditions for industry and service sectors from various channels. A total of 22 entities participated in the Survey that includes nine public sector banks, five private sector banks, two foreign banks, and one cooperative bank. Representing other financial institutions, five leading non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) participated in the Survey.
Releasing the index for the first quarter of 2020-21, CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said the impact of COVID-19 has been much worse than the financial crisis faced by the world including India in 2008. While the lockdown was necessary to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the population, it has had dire implications on the financial conditions of the economy, he said.
“In this hour of need, banks along with NBFCs and MFIs (microfinance institutions) have the ability to ensure smooth and continuous flow of credit, particularly to MSMEs, farm sector and retail sector and ensure some economic activity. “The measures announced by the government and the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) have come as a big relief to them and with an expected upliftment of the lockdown soon, the financial conditions can only improve,” he said.
Commenting on the index, IBA Chief Executive Officer Sunil Mehta said the low reading of the overall index for the first quarter of the financial year is on the expected lines. Coronavirus, he said, has created havoc across the world and India is not an exception. Preventive measures like lockdown would have had an adverse effect on the economy.
“In the present round of the survey, the cost of fund index is reading at 83.5 which is the highest in the sub-indices which essentially conveys that interest rates have come down substantially to facilitate business. Even the liquidity is also comfortable,” he said. Mehta added that banks are playing a significant role even during this pandemic and banking services are being offered to the general public without any disruption. “Going forward, the gradual lifting of the lockdown would help the economy to rebound at a faster pace and would help the businesses and there by employment,” he added.
Among the sub-indices, the highest contribution was made by the Cost of Funds Index recording a value of 83.5, which has improved significantly in comparison to the previous quarter. The Funding Liquidity Index recorded a value of 47.2, which has decreased significantly in comparison to the previous quarter. The release said the External Financial Linkages Index has recorded an all-time low of 20.5, which is significantly lower as compared to the previous quarter. The Economic Activity Index recorded a value of 25.6, which has declined significantly in comparison to the previous quarter, it added.


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Oak Ridge National Laboratory will open its doors July 14-15 for its “Explore ORNL” conference designed to introduce the region’s business community to the lab’s world-class research and development facilities and expertise, a press release said.
“Explore ORNL is an outreach event that provides companies both large and small with a unique opportunity to learn about collaboration possibilities,” said Tom Rogers, ORNL’s director of Industrial Partnerships and Economic Development.
Representatives from companies such as Boeing, Cummins, Local Motors, Ten-Tec, Dresser-Rand, and Eagle Bend Manufacturing will speak about their experiences in working with ORNL experts to overcome technical challenges and develop new products.
ORNL researchers will join their private sector counterparts to deliver briefings on topics including transportation technologies, material characterization and neutron imaging, sensors, high-performance computing, 3-D printing, and composites manufacturing, the press release said.
A keynote panel discussion with Mark Muro of the Brookings Institution, Kim Ketchum of the Tennessee Automotive Manufacturers Association, and Jamie Stitt of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development will highlight efforts to grow Tennessee’s automotive industry.
Attendees will also learn about the lab’s research through tours of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, Spallation Neutron Source, and Manufacturing Demonstration Facility. For a full agenda and registration information, visit https://public.ornl.gov/conferences/exploreornl2015/.
Participants can learn about new initiatives such as ReVV!, which assists Tennessee manufacturers by providing access to ORNL resources through an industry voucher program.
“This outreach event helps us better understand private sector priorities,” Rogers said. “The better we understand the needs of the commercial marketplace, the more impact we can have on the U.S. economy.”
Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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The various tea planter organizations of Assam welcomed the budget 2023-24 tabled by state finance minister Ajanta Neog on the floor of the Assembly on March 16.
Tea Association of India (TAI) secretary Dipanjil Deka welcomed the budget and lauded the extension of the Assam agri income tax exemption and the incentives declared under the Assam Tea Industry Special Incentive Scheme (ATISIS).
“The proposal to hold road shows all over India, to promote Assam tea, as part of the 200 years celebration of Assam tea, would be of immense benefit to the Assam tea industry,” Deka said.
Welcoming the budget, Guwahati Tea Auction Centre Buyers Association (GTABA) secretary Dinesh Bihani said, “The Assam government has emphasised promoting Assam Tea across the country. This will bring more cheer for the consumers to drink good quality Assam Tea.”
“The makers of good quality tea will be recognised by tea lovers for good liquors, aroma and good taste. This will result in good remunerative prices. At present, we are in surplus of tea and due to lower consumption of tea the tea industry is facing a lot of problems. I hope the new initiative by the Assam government will change the scenario of Assam Tea,” he added.
In her budget speech, the finance minister said, “For nearly two centuries, the tea sector has been a backbone of our economy. Needless to add Tea Industry is also extremely important from the employment generation perspective. A substantial part of our populace depends on the tea. Even today, tea constitutes close to 90 per cent of our exports.”
“Our government wishes to celebrate 200 years of Assam tea, which coincides with 2023, grandly. We propose to organize road shows in major cities across the country as well as abroad to promote Assam Tea as a brand and showcase the rich socio-cultural heritage of tea garden communities.
“The potential of tea garden land has been unlocked and shall be used for agriculture and allied activities. Assam Tea Industries Special Incentives Scheme (ATISIS), 2020 will be further strengthened to incentivize the production of orthodox tea and speciality tea in Assam. As promised, an increase in the production subsidy for orthodox and speciality tea from Rs 7 to Rs 10 per kg is already under process.
“However, celebrating the 200 years of Assam Tea, I am pleased to announce that for 2023-24 only, an enhanced production subsidy of Rs 12 per kg will be extended. Rs 100 cr has been earmarked for this scheme.
“Further, I propose the extension of the tax holiday on agricultural income tax for a period of the next three years. The emphasis will be given on the infrastructure development of tea garden labour lines, especially the development of roads.
“This year, as a special relief, all the arrear electricity dues of tea garden worker families living in the lines will be waived off as a one-time measure by the government. I will earmark Rs 150 crore for the same.
“Under the wage Compensation Scheme for Pregnant Women of Tea Garden Areas of Assam, the compensation amount will be enhanced to Rs 15,000 from the existing Rs 12,000. For the construction of 500 Mahaprabhu Jagannath Community Hall-cum-Skill Centres in the prominent localities of tea gardens, our government has already made a provision for Rs 200 crore in this regard.
“Under Mukhya Mantri Awaas Yojana, 10,000 houses will be constructed in Tea Garden labour lines only. Our government will continue supporting Assam Tea Corporation Limited (ATCL) against the payment of outstanding liabilities of interest on the Provident Fund in a phased manner, keeping in mind the greater interest of ATCL workers. I am allocating a sum of Rs 100 crore this year.
“Tea garden and Adivasi community will be recognised as a separate sub-category within OBC. Around 3 per cent reservation into government jobs, within the OBC quota, will be considered for them, subject to fulfilling legal stipulations in this regard,” she added.


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“In Google’s early days, around this time every year, a group of us would run to Costco and buy supplies to take to Bay Area food banks and pantries. It was a grassroots effort that was scrappy and meaningful — and it introduced a lot of Googlers to how rewarding giving back can be,” says Philipp Schindler, Google’s Chief Business Officer. “It made me want to learn what more we could do to have an even bigger impact.” So, with help from organizations like WhyHunger and Hunger Free America — and various Google teams — we launched new tools to help people find food support near them. Continue reading
Purity Nakaonga is a Laboratory Technologist at University Teaching Hospital (UTH), in Zambia who has found Google Workspace highly valuable in her work as medical technologist. She has also found time to start her own business using the Google For Startups resources.
If you want to learn more about how Google Cloud can help your startup, visit our startup page here where you can apply for our Startup Program, and sign up for our monthly startup newsletter to get a peek at our community activities, digital events, special offers, and more.
SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Palace Resorts and Siemens Energy are among the hundreds of companies worldwide to have chosen SAP® Ariba® and SAP Fieldglass® solutions in the third quarter to help digitalize procurement and external workforce management. Hundreds more companies also renewed licenses and went live with solutions from SAP to optimize spend management. Continue reading
Stats Perform Integrity and Starlizard Integrity Services have released their fourth annual Suspicious Betting Trends in Global Football Report. The report aims to provide fellow stakeholders in the sports integrity community with a significant and informative overview of current trends in suspicious football betting. Continue reading
Global technology brand, OPPO, announces incredible market growth both locally and internally, cementing the brands commitment to offering its growing consumer base innovative products and enhanced customer service. Continue reading
90s American rap superstar Vanilla Ice has teamed up with Samsung Electronics to re-release his hit single ‘Ice, Ice Baby’ as ‘Reduce Your Ice, Ice Baby’, delivering a powerful message “with a sustainable edge”. Continue reading
Manama: Bahrain Bourse, a self-regulated multi-asset marketplace, announced signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Instinctif Partners MENA, an international business communications consultancy and Investor Relations (IR) advisory. The collaboration seeks to implement IR-related initiatives, which will allow Bahrain Bourse to promote best practice among listed companies, other market participants, as well as internally. Continue reading
Today, Sony Production Music announced that after ten years, EMI Production Music has returned to its flagship brand name KPM Music. The company also unveiled a modernized KPM logo and symbol, an abstract visualization of vinyl records, reflecting KPM’s evergreen collection and rich heritage. Continue reading
Schneider Electric’s innovative and sustainable technologies are at the heart of the renewed medium-voltage electrical distribution system, delivered by Alstom for Milan’s Azienda Trasporti Milanesi bus depots in Viale Sarca and Giambellino. Continue reading
Hyundai Mobis(KRX: 012330), the global no.7 automotive supplier, announced ‘Mobis Mobility Move’, a vision to become the electrified mobility partner for the consumers in the European market with competitive edges in electrification and future mobility technologies. Continue reading


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The Netherlands, which has recorded more than 24,400 cases of coronavirus and 2,643 deaths, has implemented a moderate social policy to combat the spread of the virus without entering into a total ban. Schools, restaurants, bars, museums, sports facilities and gymnasiums are closed until April 28. Most events of more than 30 people were banned until June 1.
However, small stores, such as florists and garden stores, can remain open as long as customers maintain a social distance of 1.5 meters (just under 5 feet) from each other and store employees.
While producers and distributors who mainly serve the local market are still able to sell flowers and plants on the domestic market, flower companies that depend on international trade are worse off.
Jan de Boer, managing director and owner of Barendsen, a global flower export company based in the Dutch village of Aalsmeer, said that he has so far lost 90% of his seasonal income. He usually has 60 full-time employees at this time of year, and now, he says, works for only six people. The Dutch government is paying these salaries, he said, so it hasn’t hurt his business yet.


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Gamedec is an isometric story cyberpunk RPG that was just announced ahead of Gamescom.
Published and developed by Anshar Studios, Gamedec looks to be following more in the footsteps of something like Blade Runner rather than next year’s Cyberpunk 2077.
Anshar says players will solve crimes as a private detective in a XXII century Warsaw. The twist, however, is that the cases being solved involve virtual worlds. Gamedec is adaptive and it sounds like choices matter, so expect the weighty decisions teased in the game’s first trailer to play a part in the final game.
Gamedec starts to set itself apart from other entries in the cyberpunk sub-genre with the virtual worlds the trailer describes. In some cases, children are used as slaves to operate in free-to-play games, while other cases involve murders over game-related clans. This exaggerated take on where games and gamers could go has yet to be explored to this extent and promises plenty of potentially original scenarios.
All we know about Anshar’s plans for Gamedec comes from the trailer and a few descriptions on the game’s Steam page, but expect more in the future as Gamescom rolls around Aug. 20.
Gamedec is currently set to launch on PC in 2020.


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Electronic Arts has released its fourth quarter and 2011 fiscal year report, announcing a substantial increase in both net income and revenue over last year's results. Net income for the publishing giant jumped to $151 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, from only $30 million a year earlier.
For the final quarter, EA saw revenue jump to $1 billion versus $970 million in the same period a year ago. Reuters notes that EA's shares closed at $19.92 on the Nasdaq earlier today.
Though the company saw solid growth in the final quarter for the 2011 fiscal year (ending March 31), EA ended the year with a GAAP net loss of $267 million. The loss, however, pales in comparison to the $677 million drop that EA saw during the end of its last fiscal year close.
Highlights for EA included Crysis 2, Dead Space 2, and Dragon Age 2, which all sold over two million units since launch. Another division closing the loss gap for the fiscal year was EA's digital arm, which was up to $211M (up $67M). Physical retail increased $44M to $838M.
Over the course of the year, EA revealed it has shipped 12 million units of FIFA Soccer 11 and five million units each of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Medal of Honor, and Madden NFL 11.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 shipped seven million units in the reported year, which helped solidify EA's big news that pre-orders for its upcoming Battlefield 3 are up "more than 700% vs. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in 2010."
Xav de Matos posted a new article, EA closes gap on year-end losses, sees substantial growth in Q4 FY11.
EA has released its quarterly results and 2011 fiscal year report, showing an increase in both net income and revenue for the quarter and a less significant loss than the company suffered a year ago.
TOO MANY SUITS.
i read this as too many sluts, and was bewildered


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GoToConnect Contact Center honored for improving customer service technology and improving the customer experience
LogMeIn, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based SaaS solutions such as GoToConnect, GoToMeeting, LastPass and Rescue, announced today that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has named GoToConnect Contact Center as a 2021 Contact Center Technology Award winner, presented by CUSTOMER Magazine.
Marketing Technology News: Spirit of Wipro Run Brings Together Participants From Over 35 Countries
“We are honored to be recognized for the continued excellence and innovation our team has put into making GoToConnect Contact Center one of the top collaboration offerings available today,” said Mike Sharp, Chief Product Officer, Unified Communications & Collaboration at LogMeIn. “The last year has been a challenge, especially for smaller businesses, but GoToConnect allows companies to quickly adapt and improve customer communications at a fraction of the price of competitive solutions.”
GoToConnect Contact Center can be deployed in one day and is designed with small and medium-size businesses in mind. The solution provides insight into how many calls are being handled, allows automatic call back for customers unable to speak to a live agent and provides tools designed to increase agent effectiveness and productivity so that organizations can easily improve and capitalize on their customer interactions.
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“Congratulations to GoToConnect for being awarded a 2021 CUSTOMER Magazine Contact Center Technology Award. GoToConnect Contact Center has been selected for demonstrating innovation, quality and unique features which have had a positive impact on the customer experience,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO of TMC. “We’re pleased to recognize their achievement.”
This 16th-annual Contact Center Technology Awards honors vendors and technologies that have embraced technology as a key tool for customer service excellence. This award distinguishes their success as innovators, thought leaders, and market movers in the contact center and customer care industries.
Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Gavin Laugenie, Global Head of Content at dotdigital


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Businesses are starting to count the cost of South Africa’s prohibition on the sale of alcohol, with more companies indicating that plans for expansion and hiring have been put on hold.
Heineken South Africa said in a statement on Monday (3 August) that it remains invested in the country and has a long-term commitment.
However, due to difficult micro & macro-environment challenges, and with the additional strain brought on by the Covid-19 lockdown with restrictions on alcohol sales, it cautioned that it has had to reassess a number of its expansion ambitions including exploring the establishment of a brewery in KwaZulu-Natal.
The ban, it said, is placing immense pressure on the industry to retain jobs, create new ones and contribute to the local economy.
“Local production is hampered, resulting in ongoing efforts by the business to implement cost-cutting measures including, but not limited to, salary cuts as we desperately attempt to protect the jobs of more than 900 employees.
“Approximately 117,000 jobs were lost in the industry during the first ban on alcohol sales.
“Currently, countless businesses that rely on Heineken have had to close their doors or scale down their operations because of the sudden nature of the government’s decision to stop the sale of alcohol.
“This has caused job losses and untold suffering, stress and panic, with an estimated one million livelihoods at risks,” Heineken said.
The announcement from Heineken follows a similar announcement from the country’s largest brewer, South African Breweries (SAB), which stated on Monday that it has cancelled R2.5 billion of scheduled investments that were earmarked as part of its annual capital and infrastructure upgrade programme.
These funds were previously scheduled as part of its capital allocation programme for this financial year, while an additional R2.5 billion planned expenditure for the next financial year remains under review, the brewer said.
Brands in the group’s portfolio include Black Label, Castle Lager, Brutal Fruit, and Hansa.
“The cancellation of this planned expenditure is a direct consequence of having lost (as at 3 August 2020) 12 full trading weeks, which effectively equates to some 30% of the SAB’s annual production,” said SAB’s vice president of finance, Andrew Murray.
“This decision is a result of the first, and current, suspension of alcohol sales which has led to significant operating uncertainty for ourselves, our partners, as well as colleagues in the industry, including participants in the entire value chain, and which impacts over one million livelihoods across the country.”
The investments that were being considered included upgrades to operating facilities and systems, as well as the installation of new equipment at selected plants.
SAB warned that its decision will also have an impact on the external supply chain companies that had been selected for these upgrades.
Drinks maker Distell, meanwhile, warned of the cost the prohibition will have on the country’s fiscus. Brands in the group’s portfolio include Hunters, Savanna, Nederburg and Richelieu.
“We have to ask whether an outright ban on alcohol sales can be justified when the damage outweighs the benefits and there are smarter ways to achieve the same objectives,” said Distell chief executive Richard Rushton.
“The alcohol industry has already lost 118,000 jobs and projections show that a nine-week ban now will cost another 84,000 livelihoods and R15.5 billion in GDP.
“The long-term damage will be immense – wine farms, restaurants, glass container manufacturers and taverners are all bleeding and many will not survive.
“We’re facing a structural decline in output capacity in an industry that supports almost 1 million livelihoods and accounted for 3% of SA’s GDP in 2019,” said Rushton.
“I fear the impact this will have on the prospects of an economic recovery for SA, but more importantly, the ability of people who lose their jobs to feed their families.”
He added that industry estimates show the country is losing R206 million in taxes every day that the alcohol ban continues – the equivalent of 1,000 teacher salaries for an entire year.
Almost 800 micro and SMME liquor manufacturers, from wineries to craft brewers, face bankruptcy because of the alcohol ban, it said.
The glass container industry, which supports 26,300 jobs, is burning R8 million a day to keep its furnaces running, with the alcohol industry making up 82% of its business.
“We understand the government’s duty to ensure there are enough hospital beds to meet the expected need during the peak of the pandemic,” said Rushton.
“But the economic consequences of a ban are likely to cause more suffering down the line, in terms of hunger and hardship, than it can possibly prevent now.”


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Apple just announced that its beta version of iOS 6 will be available for developers later today. It supports the iPhone 3GS and later, the 2nd and 3rd generation iPad and the fourth generation iPod touch. Consumers will be able to get their hands on a build this fall. iOS 6 offers more than 200 new features, including 3D maps, Siri enhancements and much, much more.
iOS 6 Beta Launches for Developers Today
by June 11, 2012June 11, 2012 11:51 am PDT|