text:
Now, it’s time for auto enthusiasts to sharpen their knowledge and pump up the brain muscles, because Mahindra has officially flagged off the 6th season of Mahindra Auto Quotient (AQ), a first of its kind pan-India Auto Quiz. The quizzing event will be held across 48 cities, starting from 21st July 2014.
Mahindra AQ has been engaging auto enthusiasts for the past 5 years. This new season of India’s largest automotive quiz is open to all auto enthusiasts aged between 18 and 35 years! The 6th season will continue to provide an opportunity for people to encourage their friends participate in the quiz. The finale will have 4 zonal finalist teams competing against each other, ensuring an exciting quiz experience.
Speaking on the launch of the new season, Rajeshwar Tripathi, Chief People Officer, Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd said, “Mahindra Auto Quotient has been growing in popularity with each passing year and it gives us immense pleasure to meet and interact with young enthusiasts from across the country, be it from satellite towns or the hinterland. It is their enthusiasm and passion for automobiles that has encouraged us to expand our reach year on year. We sincerely believe that Mahindra AQ will provide the right platform through which auto passionate individuals can meet and interact with like-minded people and further nurture their aspirations of building a successful career in the automobile industry.”
The finalists will be selected through city rounds that comprises of written and stage rounds conducted across 4 zones, followed by studio rounds in New Delhi.
For the first time ever, two winners of the grand finale will receive Mahindra’s future of mobility solution, the Mahindra e2o electric vehicle. The first runner up team will also take home two Mahindra Centuro motorcycles. The second and third runners up will get a chance to be a part of Mahindra Adventure Trail Survivor – Off road training camp and Mahindra Great Escape, respectively.
Mahindra AQ achieved a milestone of 1 lakh participants and over 5 lakh viewers in collaboration with NDTV 24X7 and NDTV Profit. The Regional Final rounds and National Finals were aired on NDTV 24×7 & NDTV Profit. Mahindra AQ also won the prestigious Indian Television award for Best Quiz & Game show in 2010.
Auto enthusiasts interested can participate in the quiz by registering on http://www.mahindraaq.com. The social media pages have plenty of trivia to keep the grey cells ticking. Enthusiasts can also log on to https://www.facebook.com/MahindraAQ and win exciting Mahindra AQ merchandise.


text:
Elon Musk Indicates Further Tesla Price Cuts Amidst Global Economic Uncertainty.
Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, has suggested that the electric carmaker will continue to reduce prices due to the current turbulent state of the world economy. This statement comes after the company faced tough competition, leading to squeezed profit margins.
Over the past few months, Tesla has implemented price cuts in significant markets, including the US and China. As a result of the news and market concerns, the company’s shares declined by over 4% in after-hours trading in New York.
Tesla reported that its gross profit margin for the three months ending in June dropped to 18.2%, the lowest level in four years, down from 26.2% during the same period last year. During a call with Wall Street analysts, Musk expressed openness to further price reductions if required, emphasizing the unpredictable nature of the world economy.
Investors are worried about the potential for more price cuts at Tesla, with concerns raised about a possible price war without a clear long-term strategy to raise profit margins if Tesla emerges as the winner. Earlier, Musk had defended pursuing higher sales at the expense of lower profits as the right approach for Tesla.
To stay competitive and compete with rival manufacturers, Tesla has already lowered prices in markets like the US, UK, and China. The company recently announced delivering a record number of vehicles in the three months ending June. Furthermore, more carmakers, including Nissan, Ford, and General Motors, have agreed to adopt Tesla’s electric vehicle charging technology, making electric mobility more accessible. Nissan plans to equip its EVs in the US and Canada with Tesla-developed charging ports from 2025, as part of their commitment to supporting electric mobility.

domain: news


text:
Trimble has announced that Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) will deploy the Trimble trako Fleet Management and Visual Cargo consignment management solutions in their outbound logistics fleet that transports finished products to locations across India. HPCL is a Government of India Enterprise with Navratna status, and a Fortune 500 and Forbes 2000 company with annual sales income in excess of US$34.23 billion.
The Trimble solution will provide HPCL greater visibility into its transport logistics operations to help increase fleet productivity, improve operational efficiencies, enhance fleet and driver safety, and meet tight delivery timelines, according to the telematics company.
HPCL markets its petroleum products through its retail pumps as well as terminals and depots across India. Its principal consumers include personal vehicle owners, commercial transport and logistics companies, and a variety of heavy industries.
"Transportation and logistics in India is a fast-growing, complex market with fragmented ownership of vehicles. Shippers are dependent on multiple transporters to deliver goods. To address this complexity, Trimble developed an enterprise-class fleet management solution for transporters combined with the Visual Cargo solution for shippers. Its innovative access control mechanism offers trip-based visibility, alerting, and reporting to relevant stakeholders across the supply chain," said Rajan Aiyer, Trimble's managing director for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Region.


text:
In the recent hack on Home Depot, a reported 56 million credit cards were stolen. New facts that have come to light by The New York Times indicates, however, that Home Depot’s internal cybersecurity experts were well aware of the vulnerabilities that allowed the breach to happen from as early as 2008.
Home Depot reportedly relied on outdated software to secure its network and seldom scanned systems that processed customer information. In an attempt to improve security practices, the company hired an engineer in 2012 to oversee a rollout of better security protocols. However, the new hire was soon sentenced to 4 years in federal prison after it was found out that he had disabled his previous employer’s computers for a month after being fired.
The curious thing, however, is how Home Depot was taken by surprise just after the Target breach. According to Home Depot, they assembled a team to make sure they didn’t fall prey to a similar attack. By the time the new encryption systems were rolled out, however, the hackers were already in Home Depot’s system.
Saddest of all is that “several former Home Depot employees said they were not surprised the company had been hacked”, according to the Times. “When they sought new software and training, managers came back with the same response: ‘We sell hammers.’”.
Read our article on possible techniques Home Depot could have used to prevent the breach.


text:
Unbox Robotics, a leading supply chain robotics technology company, raised $7 million in a Series-A round led by 3one4 Capital with participation from Sixth Sense Ventures and Redstart Labs (Info Edge). The round also saw participation from Unbox Robotics’ founders Pramod Ghadge, Shahid Memon and its CPO Rohit Pitale, alongside its existing investors – US-based venture capital firm SOSV, Arali Ventures, WEH Ventures, BEENEXT, Karthik Bhat’s Force Ventures, Dr Vijay Kedia (Kedia Securities), Aditya Singh (Stride Ventures) and Pavitar Singh (Sprinklr). Other investors who participated in the round include Rahul Chaudhary (Treebo Hotels), Nikhil Vora and Kathan Shah (Sixth Sense Ventures), and Veda VC.
The funds raised will be primarily used to expand the team across functions, fulfil the customer demand internationally, R & D and expand to new geographies. The company has already onboarded some of the largest e-commerce and logistics enterprises as early adopters through trials/pilots and has filed IP for its technology in India, the US and the EU.
Unbox Robotics specialises in robotics-based fulfilment and distribution technology for small to large e-commerce, retail and logistics enterprises. The company’s high-speed robotics solutions are built to consolidate customers’ orders in fulfilment centres, as well as to sort them as per final delivery locations in distribution centres or delivery hubs. Its proprietary plug-and-play Swarm robotics can bring down the deployment time at locations to less than a week. The product’s USP lies in its ability to scan, sort, and dispatch packages in less than 50-70% physical space, while improving personnel productivity by more than 3X and reducing operational cost of package sorting by more than 60%— thereby solving challenges in warehouse management sustainably. The first-of-its-kind system allows users to automate not just bigger facilities with a physical space of a few hundred thousand sq ft, but also automate micro-hubs with less than 2,000 sqft space through an innovative and compact vertical sorting mechanism.
Pramod Ghadge, CEO and Co-Founder of Unbox Robotics, said, “We are obsessed with improving the ways packages are handled, distributed, and delivered to end customers. We believe that there’s a massive potential for building and deploying robotics tech to deliver more packages using smaller footprints at lower operational costs as we see more adoption of e-commerce and Q-commerce (quick commerce) across the globe. Since we launched our beta pilots with leading third-party logistics and e-commerce players in April 2021, we have already got orders from some of the leading e-commerce logistics companies. We are on our way to converting every other pilot or demo into a commercial contract. We will deploy the funds to build an A+ team to help our customers experience the future of logistics, sorting and supply chain across continents.”
“Unbox Robotics takes a novel approach in technology development to crack some of the most critical concerns in customers’ supply chains. We are excited to build a diverse team and further develop outstanding robotics technology for the future of global supply chains,” added Shahid Memon, CTO and Co-Founder of Unbox Robotics.
The founding team of Unbox comes with rich experience in the robotics space. Pramod had earlier implemented India’s first robot-based sorting project at a leading Indian e-commerce company, while Shahid built a robotics company in the past. Unbox Robotics earlier won the India Innovation Growth Programme 2.0 organised by the Government of India, Lockheed Martin and Tata Trusts among 2,000+ startups. The team was also awarded the Leaders in Innovation Fellowship programme by the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK.
Speaking on the investment, Anurag Ramdasan, Partner, 3one4 Capital, said, “Globally supply chain and logistics have been reshaped with the growth in e-commerce and D2C over the last decade. Every layer of the stack today requires incredible optimisation and automation today to service the growing demand. Unbox Robotics is doing amazing work in identifying and solving these high-value problems and the team built by Pramod, Shahid and Rohit bring deep domain expertise to tackle this problem at scale. We are highly excited to start this journey with them as they streamline logistics and redefine the space.”
Nikhil Vora, Founder and CEO of Sixth Sense Ventures, commented, “We believe the e-commerce and D2C boom is creating a large need for automation solutions within warehouses and FCs, with the industry slated to grow to $32 billion over the next 2-3 years. This coupled with evolving consumer expectations, labour shortage, omnichannel distribution, and technology accessibility has made robotics a priority for both e-commerce and fulfilment companies. Unbox’s compact, vertical, and modular system is well suited for current market needs. Excited to partner with Pramod and Shahid, who bring deep and relevant industry experience as we scale the company together.”
The logistics industry is expected to handle more than 2X the number of shipments in the next 5 years, while the logistics automation market is expected to reach more than $100 billion by 2026. There’s a massive opportunity to serve customers within the urban clusters using the smallest footprint of warehousing facilities possible and cater to customers in tier-2 & 3 cities with same-day deliveries. The market growth is fuelled by exponential growth in e-commerce and the focus on efficient warehousing operations.
About Unbox Robotics:
Unbox Robotics is a leading supply chain robotics technology company, specialising in robotics-based fulfilment and distribution technology for small to large e-commerce, retail and logistics enterprises. The product’s USP lies in its ability to scan, sort, and dispatch packages in less than 50-70% physical space through an innovative and compact vertical sorting mechanism. It helps personnel ramp up productivity by more than 3X — thereby solving challenges in intra-logistics operations sustainably. Unbox Robotics aims to redefine the global future of Sorting, Supply Chain and Logistics. For more information, visit www.unboxrobotics.com
About 3one4 Capital:
3one4 Capital is an early-stage venture capital fund based in Bengaluru, India. The firm works in select market categories and in the intersection of adjacencies that are large, growing, and ready for unique products and services. The themes pursued are SaaS and Enterprise Automation, Direct-to-Consumer products and services, Digital Media, FinTech, and Deep Technology, with a focus on areas such as machine-driven actionable intelligence services for the enterprise, ambient intelligence technologies, edtech, logistics and distribution, consumer products and services, and health.
3one4’s investments are biased towards companies exploiting technology to create, grow, or dominate large markets in India. The fund also invests a portion of its capital in US-focused companies that have feedforward effects into the themes being pursued in India.
Through a deep involvement strategy, the fund works with founding teams and subject-matter experts to prioritize and strategize for product-market fit, and then optimize for defensibility and growth in revenue and impact. With a focus on margins and on delivering uncompromised end-user experiences, the fund aims to reduce risk, detect new growth opportunities, and return rewarding outcomes to all the stakeholders involved.
With its third early-stage fund and its fifth fund overall, the firm now manages a combined corpus of INR 2,300 Cr (USD 300 Mn) and a portfolio of over 70+ investments across the early stage.
About Sixth Sense Ventures:
Sixth Sense Ventures, founded by Nikhil Vora, is India’s first domestic, consumer-focused venture fund – Investing in the Consumer of Tomorrow…Today. Their core philosophy lies in partnering “Early” with first-generation entrepreneurs that are disrupting large and sticky consumer categories and helping them create value by being a good sounding board. Founded in 2014, Sixth Sense Ventures currently manages over $500M across three funds and has been ranked as the top-performing AIFs in India by CRISIL. Both their funds (SSIO I and SSIO II) have been voted amongst the top 5 funds in India over the past decade.
Sixth Sense’s third fund, Sixth Sense India Opportunities III (SSIO III) has completed 17 investments including Parag Milk, Nobel Hygiene, Fraazo, Open Secret, Stylam, GoodDot, Neeman’s, Rage Coffee, Design Cafe, Bira, Storia, Giva, Freecultr, Dogsee Chew, Wonderchef, Vedic Cosmeceuticals, and Unbox Robotics.


text:
Kimble Rendall has set China-Australia co-production "The Nest" as his next project after "Bait 3D" scored with Chinese audiences.
Multilingual Taiwanese actress Michelle Chen Stars in Hawaii-set "Pali Road," picked up by Arclight Films.
Shanghai Media Group Pictures has come on board to market and handle Chinese distribution of 3D Australian action romance "The Stone Forest."
One of the most ambitious Chinese movies of all time, "Zhong Kui: Snow Girl And The Dark Crystal," releases at Chinese New Year.
"Outcast," the Chinese-made Nicolas Cage-starring period action movie, is to get a near simultaneous release in the world's two biggest theatrical markets in early 2015 – some four months after its…
BUSAN — Sydney- and Los Angeles-based international sales group Arclight has teamed up with Korean producer-distributor Joyncontents to launch a new Korean-specialized sales label. The new Joylight…
Already blessed with the best weather in the world, Los Angeles moviegoers are also graced with the world's best movie theaters, specifically a new generation of uberplexes that combine…
ArcLight Cinemas will host its third annual Documentary Film Festival from Oct. 9 to 13 at the theater's Hollywood location. This year’s fest received more than 250 submissions — its highest to date…
HONG KONG – Arclight Films, the Sydney and Los Angeles-based sales and finance company, has picked up sales rights to the massive Hollywood Classics library across much of Asia. Arclight will handle…
HONG KONG — Arclight Films has become the latest U.S.-based sales agency to open an office in Beijing. The company has hired Elliot Tong, a former producer and sales agent, to head the new operation…
At the April 22 preem of Millennium Entertainment's "The Iceman," Michael Shannon admitted that he had to make himself feel some warmth toward the title character, contract killer Richard Kuklinski.


text:
DENNIS KOOKER, 50
President of global digital business and U.S. sales, Sony Music Entertainment
JULIE SWIDLER, 59
Executive vp business affairs/general counsel, SME
Last Year’s Rank: 60
BRAGGING RIGHTS: Kooker and Swidler’s deal-making helped Sony Music Entertainment, along with Sony Music Japan and Sony/ATV — Sony Corp. does not break out SME’s performance — generate $3.4 billion in revenue for the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2017, according to the company’s most recent financial results. That’s a 28.4 percent jump from the $2.8 billion taken in for the corresponding period in 2016.
DONE DEALS: In 2017, SME’s corporate team re-signed reported licensing deals with Spotify, Apple, YouTube and Amazon. On the content side, the biggest deal was extending SME’s agreement with the Michael Jackson estate. “He is our biggest catalog artist,” says Swidler.
SHE’S OVER… (Swidler) “The disrespectful nature of how people speak to each other in the Trump era.”


text:
Samsung released a series of Galaxy S6 edge promo videos dedicated for the Snapchat-loving crowd. The Korean giant’s marketing team teamed up with the social network’s celebrity Shonduras on a quartet of Edge-ucation videos (yes, the pun is intended).
As expected, the videos show viewers how to make catchy Snapchat content using the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge. Shonduras unsurprisingly praises both cameras of Samsung’s flagship smartphone, as well as its curved Super AMOLED display.
You can find out all about Samsung Galaxy S6 edge and its camera in our detailed review.


text:
Cosmic Girls made their debut as mobile game models!
Korean game developer NEXON announced on October 7, that Cosmic Girls have been selected as game models for their game, 'M.O.E. (Master of Eternity),' and Cheng Xiao will be the main model.
Cosmic Girls have been enjoying a rise in popularity recently with activities on stage as well as on TV shows.
The group will be making many promotional videos and online contents for the game and will attend events to serve as ambassadors.


text:
The company will kick-off the new product line next month, by releasing a
report that examines online advertising trends among top companies in the
“While a lot of attention has been placed on consumer spending online, the
big money is coming from the corporate community,” says AdRelevance
president and chief executive officer Will Hodgman.
“Businesses across the US are rapidly adopting the Internet as a more
efficient way to purchase products and services. As a result, companies
serving the corporate market are keenly focused on creating and placing ads
online that attract, not only the attention of purchasing officers, but
also rank and file employees that influence their buying decisions.”
Forrester Research predicts that B2B
electronic commerce in the US will exceed $2.7 trillion by the year 2004,
up from $109.3 billion spent during the past year.


text:
The construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will boost investments in the Bukedi Sub region, which is endowed with fertile soils and minerals, the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) has stated in its latest profile of the region.
UIA, the lead agency charged with the promotion of investments, has profiled the region that borders south western Kenya at the key border towns of Busia and Malaba, through which Uganda exports and imports its goods.
In the profile code-named ‘Bukedi Investment Profile 2017’, the UIA says: “Coupled with this is the expected development of offshoot industries and services which will project Bukedi region in the right direction to boost employment and incomes of the locals.”
The region comprises the districts of Tororo, Busia, Pallisa Butaleja, Budaka, and Kibuku, all with high potential for the development of commercial agriculture and agri-business, tourism as well as quarrying and mining.
According to UIA, the region and particularly Tororo district, is going to be the hub of the SGR where the eastern and northern routes from Kenya will be divided. The eastern route will run from Tororo to Kampala through Iganga and Jinja (261km) while the northern route will run through Gulu to Nimule (476km) with a spur to Pakwach (117km).
The region currently is served by a network of tarmac and feeder roads including the Mombasa-Kampala highway in the northern corridor.
Bukedi sub region is synonymous with cotton growing and ginning although there are few farmers engaged in robusta coffee farming. The region also has potential investment opportunities in improved fruit such as mangoes, oranges, pineapples.
The UIA profile shows that agri-businesses can also invest in food crops such as rice, cassava, beans, maize, onions, sunflower, millet as well as livestock farming.
Further, the UIA indicates that the sub region has proven deposits of gold at Tira and Amonikakine in Busia, while magnetic iron ore and 45 million tonnes of phosphate exist at Sukulu. Other minerals include titanium and rare earth elements.
The region already hosts industries such as Tororo Cement which mines limestone and Uganda Clays which manufactures building materials such as tiles and blocks.
The fact that Bukedi strides the border of Uganda and Kenya, the location offers numerous cross border trade opportunities in produce rice, fish, beans, coffee, maize which have lucrative market in Kenya. UIA says Bugisu sub region, with Mbale town, is also a good market for Bukedi’s products.
However, UIA says the region faces challenges like low prices of produce, inadequate storage facilities, inadequate skills and low urbanization which is characterised by low presence of banks, internet booths and shopping malls.
But the challenges, UIA says can be turned into opportunities by the investors.


text:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of his 72nd birthday, will gift to the country the National Logistics Policy (NLP), which is aimed at promoting seamless movement of goods and enhancing the competitiveness of the industry. The policy is expected to focus on areas such as process re-engineering, digitisation, and multi-modal transport. The move assumes significance as high logistics cost impacts the competitiveness of domestic goods in the international market.
“The need for a national logistics policy was felt since the logistics cost in India is high as compared to other developed economies. It is imperative to reduce the logistics cost in India for improving the competitiveness of Indian goods both in domestic as well as export markets," an official statement said on Friday.
Reduced logistics cost improves efficiency cutting across various sectors of the economy, encouraging value addition and enterprise. It said that the policy is an effort to address issues of high cost and inefficiency by laying down an overarching interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and multi-jurisdictional framework for the development of the entire logistics ecosystem.
First introduced in 2020 during Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Budget speech, the policy, according to the government, will bring in an integrated and tech-enabled approach to logistics operations to bridge the efficiency gap. On September 13, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said the government has stressed the need to reduce logistics costs in the country from the current levels of 13-14 per cent of GDP.


text:
US: Target cuts outlooks on lower Q1 profit
- Q1 profit declined 28.5% to $498m
- Sales climbed 0.5% to $16.6bn
- Company lowered full-year EPS guidance
General merchandise retailer Target Corporation has lowered its full-year earnings outlook after higher interest charges as well as soft apparel sales weighed on first-quarter profits.
The company today (22 May) said net earnings declined 28.5% to US$498m for the three months to 4 May, compared to $697m the prior year.
Net interest expense increased to $629m in first quarter from $184m last year, due to a $445m charge related to the early retirement of debt.
Net sales climbed 0.5% to $16.6bn from $16.5bn last year, while comparable store sales edged down 0.6%. The retailer opened its first 24 Canadian stores in March, which generated sales of $86m.
Gross margin, meanwhile, increased to 30.7% in 2013 from 30.2% last year.
"Target's first quarter earnings were below expectations as a result of softer-than-expected sales, particularly in apparel and other seasonal and weather-sensitive categories," said chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel.
"While we are disappointed in our first quarter performance, we remain confident in our strategy, and we continue to invest in initiatives, including Canada, our digital channels and CityTarget, that will drive Target's long-term growth."
Looking forward, Target now expects full-year adjusted earnings per share of $4.70-4.90, down from its previous guidance of $4.85-5.05.
General merchandise retailer Target Corporation has laid off around 150 employees as part of a restructuring of roles and responsibilities at the business....
Retail giant Target Corporation suffered a double-digit profit dip in the second quarter, thanks to softer than expected sales in the US and start-up costs in Canada....
- TPP tariff phase-out guides Vietnam sourcing plans
- Why fast fashion isn't a case of one size fits all
- How Central America garment sourcing measures up
- How virtual garments could shape fashion retail
- Brexit Trade Focus – How a CANZ-UK FTA stacks up
- Ethiopia opens flagship textile and apparel park
- VF confident on "solid" sustainability roadmap
- VF Corp cuts guidance as Q2 profit plunges 70%
- Inditex and Lenzing sign textile waste pact
- EU and US dispute China raw materials duties
- Central America strategic sourcing review - a focus on Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras
- Southeast Asia strategic sourcing review – a focus on Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar
- World Textile and Apparel Trade and Production Trends: the EU - June 2016
- Luxury Goods Retailing in Europe, 2014-2019 ; Market & Category Expenditure and Forecasts, Trends, and Competitive Landscape
- Primark Stores Limited: Retailing - Company Profile & SWOT Analysis


text:
EY, Asoko Insight and IC Publications are set to launch Africa’s first continent wide survey of Africa’s fastest growing, privately-held
companies.The tripartite partnership will result in the inaugural Africa Ranking on the continent’s fastest growing companies.
The Africa Ranking is a collaboration between Asoko Insight (Asoko),Africa’s pre-eminent provider of corporate data, African Business magazine,the continent’s best-selling and most respected business monthly and EY, a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services.
The report – the first of its kind – will provide an extensive ranking of the best performing, privately – held companies across Africa. Data
submissions will be measured on three key indicators: financial performance, growth, and governance. The Africa Ranking is set to become
the ultimate reference point for the companies actually driving the region’s growth based on audited and verifiable company data.


text:
Facebook has launched its Cloud gaming service on iPhones and iPads through a web app.
Facebook’s cloud games are currently available in the US, Canada and Mexico, and will reach Western and Central Europe by early 2022.
“The site will let you play simple web games like Solitaire and match-threes and stream more graphically intensive titles like racing games,” reports The Verge.
Over 1.5 million people are playing cloud-streamed games on Facebook Gaming every month and the social network has announced to roll out Cloud gaming in Canada and Mexico, and will reach Western and Central Europe by early 2022.
The social network also welcomed top gaming company Ubisoft as a partner and the popular Assassin’s Creed Rebellion has arrived as a cloud-streamed game on Facebook Gaming.
Facebook in October last year made its Cloud gaming service official, with launching several new games in the main app and on browser for Android and on the web but ditched Apple, saying its Cloud gaming path on the iOS devices is uncertain.
Apple restricted Facebook Gaming to arrive on iOS several times and the social network’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg admitted that Facebook managed to launch an iOS version of its gaming app after it was “forced to make a concession to bring it to the App Store”.
Facebook now has over 25 cloud-streamed games on the platform, with recent additions including Roller Coaster Tycoon Touch by Atari, Lego Legacy Heroes Unboxed and Dragon Mania Legends by Gameloft and State of Survival by FunPlus.


text:
While Activision has still not officially announced this year’s Call of Duty, which is unheard of given we usually hear about the year’s new COD game in May, the publisher confirmed that it’s still set for release later this year. What’s more, this new Call of Duty game isn’t just being made by one studio!
In Activision’s most recent financial earnings call, the publisher confirmed that the both Treyarch and Raven Software are co-developing this year’s Call of Duty game, which is rumored to be called Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
According to Activision, this year’s new COD will be out in Q4 2020, which is from October to December 2020. Sadly, not specific release window has been given, but at least we know it’s coming at some point.
While we already know that Treyarch will be developing this year’s Call of Duty thanks to the confirmation of pro players earlier this year, news that Raven Software is involved is definitely new info. Raven Software has primarily been seen as a “support” studio for other Call of Duty mainline studios such as Infinity Ward and Treyarch, with the studio assisting in last year’s Modern Warfare.
We’re hoping official Call of Duty 2020 news will make its way out soon. In the meantime, go check out the multiplayer info leak that surfaced last month.


text:
Korean publication ETNews reports that Samsung has finalised the design of the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, and has completed trial manufacturing.
The company is reportedly planning to start manufacture components in May, and start mass-producing the device in the June/July time frame.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 (SM-F916) is believed to be somewhat more affordable than the $1980 original mode, with a 265 GB model with lower cost will be on the way.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 will be offered in two models – a basic 256Gb one (SM-F916), and a more expensive 512 GB model (SM-F91x). The lower price is expected to result in much greater sales, as seen with the success of the $1380 Samsung Galaxy Flip.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to correct many of the issues of the original Fold, including a larger external screen, larger 7.7-inch internal screen and a punch-hole camera instead of a notch. It is expected to have the same cameras as the Samsung Galaxy S20.
There are also rumours of pen support, though this is not well supported and rumours of a 4G model (SM-F910), presumably for even cheaper.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to hit the market in Q3 2020 and may be launched alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note20 in August 2020.
- Microsoft Teams for iOS and Android updated with Cortana, data saver mode and more
- Youtube blocks iOS 14’s PiP mode for non-Premium users
- Windows 10’s new Meet Now feature could be a Zoom killer
- Google’s Android TV-powered Chromecast shown off in new images w/ revised remote layout
- Trump bans WeChat and TikTok apps to safeguard the national security of the United States


text:
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to speed up its reviews of thousands of electronic cigarettes currently on the market, siding with public health groups that sued the agency.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Maryland last year by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other public health groups. They argued that the FDA’s delay in regulating e-cigarette products led a spike in underage vaping.
According to the judge, the FDA’s decision to delay reviewing electronic cigarette products for several years amounted to a serious dereliction of duty.
Allowing the default call-blocking could significantly increase development and consumer adoption of the tools, Pai said.
“By making it clear that such call blocking is allowed, the FCC will give voice service providers the legal certainty they need to block unwanted calls from the outset so that consumers never have to get them,” Pai said.
The U.S. telecommunications regulator is expected to take action on Pai’s proposal at its June 6 meeting.
The case, Apple v. Pepper, was brought by iPhone users who complained that the App Store is the only place where iPhone apps are available and that, as a result, Apple has a monopoly on “the iPhone apps aftermarket.” They claim prices are consequently high stemming from the charges Apple imposes on app developers.
NASA on Tuesday revealed that a pair of failed missions were caused by a 19-year aluminum scam.
The space agency previously said theand missions malfunctioned when the protective nose cones on the Taurus XL rockets failed to separate on command.
Employees at the company’s Portland, Oregon, facilities tweaked failing tests so materials appeared to pass from 1996 to 2015, according to the Justice Department.
The demonstration is aimed at shutting down the Phi Psi chapter at the private liberal arts school in suburban Philadelphia. On Monday morning, about 30 students were sitting at the college-owned building, which is mainly used for Phi Psi parties and other social activities. As many as 100 protesters were there over the weekend.
“We’re trying to force the college to make the right decision on this,” senior Morgin Goldberg, 22, said.
The next time parking enforcement officers use chalk to mark your tires, they might be acting unconstitutionally.
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that “chalking” is a violation of the Fourth Amen


text:
Packs of Beyond Meat plant-based burger patties are displayed for sale.
Paul Yeung | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Beyond Meat on Thursday reported a wider-than-expected loss as higher costs and investments in its business weighed on margins.
The company also expressed caution for the second half of the year, citing the delta Covid variant.
Shares of the company fell more than 4% in extended trading.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- Loss per share: 31 cents vs. 24 cents expected
- Revenue: $149.4 million vs. $140.8 million expected
In the fiscal second quarter, Beyond said its net loss widened to $19.7 million, or 31 cents per share, from a loss of $10.2 million, or 16 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting a loss per share of just 24 cents.
The company said losses accelerated due to investments it is making to support its expansion efforts, such as adding to its workforce and spending more on marketing, as well as higher freight costs.
Net sales rose 31.8% to $149.4 million, topping expectations of $140.8 million.
In the United States, which accounts for two-thirds of Beyond’s revenue, grocery demand fell as the company faced tough comparisons with a year ago, when consumers were stockpiling food in the face of lockdowns. Grocery outlets still account for roughly three-quarters of Beyond’s U.S. sales.
U.S. food service sales more than tripled compared with a year ago as diners returned to restaurants. However, the company said that it saw a significant reduction in the number of Dunkin’ locations that carry its Beyond Sausage. CEO Ethan Brown said the company is still engaged with Dunkin’ about new products and distributing its sausage alternative to locations in the western U.S.
Outside the U.S., both grocery and food service saw sales more than double. The company has been looking to Europe and China as key parts of its plan to become a global supplier of meat alternatives and has been investing in expanding production capabilities in those regions. Beyond launched its meatless meatballs in Europe for the first time during the quarter.
Looking ahead to the third quarter, Beyond said it expects revenue of $120 million to $140 million, falling short of Wall Street’s estimates of $153.3 million. The company said that it expects food service sales growth to moderate because restaurants and cafeterias restocked their bare refrigerators and freezers during the second quarter.
Brown told analysts on the earnings call that some restaurants are being more conservative about how much they order because of the rise of the delta variant and a shortage of willing workers. He also said that labor issues delayed at least one of its food service launches, which has been postponed to early next year.
The delta variant has become the dominant form of Covid in the United States, leading to a surge of new cases in recent weeks, particularly in areas with low vaccination rates. While many restaurant companies say so far they haven’t seen a material impact to their sales, some localities are beginning to impose restrictions. New York City, for example, will require proof of vaccination for some indoor activities, such as eating inside, which could hurt restaurant sales.
“I’m optimistic about what lies ahead,” Brown said in a statement. “That said, given the recent uptick of Covid-19 cases, which could disrupt demand patterns, we believe caution for the balance of the year generally remains appropriate.”


text:
New round of funding is led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and included additional funding from existing investors Insight Venture Partners, MHS Capital, Metamorphic Ventures and ff Venture Capital.
Co-founder Slava Rubin said the financing would be used to make key hires, expand globally and focus on mobile users, personalisation and trust. Rubin said that within a decade crowdsourcing for projects will be seen as a standard source of funding. He is very confident that this decade will be about crowdsourcing, as 90s were about commerce and 2000s were about social.
In a Webrazzi interview recorded during DLD14 conference, he said they have hundreds of competitors in the market but will lead the crowdfunding arena with its unique and liberal approach. Because they ‘bring the crowd to crowdsourcing’ says Slava. Kickstarter, the crowdsourcing leader of the day in terms of market share, has more restrictions on the campaigns to be launched on the platform. It seeks a “creative” element and “business-orientedness” in the proposed campaigns whereas Indiegogo allows social responsibility and charity campaigns as well.
Founded in 2008, Indiegogo has hosted more than 190,000 campaigns so far from 190 countries. Company says funds raised on Indiegogo have grown by 10-fold in last two years.
In praise of the funding, John Doerr, general partner at KPCB said Indiegogo is playing a central role in the transformation of the global economy and they are excited to partner with it to help support the dreams and aspirations of the Indiegogo community and continue establishing Indiegogo as the leading international platform for funding new ideas and innovation. Jules Maltz of IVP said in the press release that Indiegogo’s flexible funding model and open platform are helping it become the market leader in the rapidly growing crowdfunding space and the company is ‘the Android of crowdfunding’.


text:
It's the digital advertising equivalent of asking a woman who is not pregnant when she is due. Shutterfly's Twitter account is in hyper-drive today apologizing to a slew of users who received an email from the Internet-image-publishing service congratulating them on their "new arrival," complete with a photo of a sibling cradling a newborn baby. "There's nothing more amazing than bringing a new life into the world," says the emailed ad, encouraging lucky new parents to use their services to order birth announcement mailings, even though many recipients had nothing to announce, and in some unfortunate cases, something to mourn.
Some recipients were amused, "This baby welcome came 7 years late :)," tweeted one. Others who haven't been able to do that amazing thing -- who have instead struggled with infertility or miscarriages -- were outraged and didn't appreciate being reminded by Shutterfly of the photos they don't have to share. "Having had 3 miscarriages and no babes, receiving a 'Congratulations on your new arrival' has ripped me apart," said one woman who shared the ad on Instagram. "I am a mix of sadness & anger. It's one of the biggest marketing fails I've come across. #epicfail."
"I experienced a miscarriage in March, and getting this email today was a bitterly painful reminder of how far I am from the 'amazing experience' that Shutterfly so blithely shoved in my inbox this morning," writes a woman who asked not to be identified. "I find myself wishing they were hacked, rather than the marketing strategy and data mining that probably went on to result in this poorly executed message."
Many of us are used to the Internet predicting things about us -- sometimes accurately and some inaccurately. How did this particular advertising wind up do missing the mark? Shutterfly issued an apology and said it was a mistaken mass mailing. "Earlier this morning, we unintentionally sent an e-mail to some of our customers. We deeply apologize for this intrusion and any offense this may have caused," says spokesperson Nicole Stier. "The intent of the email was to target customers who have recently had a baby and may be interested in using our products to commemorate that life event. Our intention was to target customers who have recently purchased birth announcements with us, and it was sent to a larger distribution in error."
"I work in digital content creation so I absolutely understand that there are human beings at the end of this mistaken email," said another recipient Dresden Shumaker whose last pregnancy ended in a second trimester loss. "I know Shutterfly didn't intend to hurt me or any other woman or family suffering from infertility issues. But they did."
New parents make extremely valuable customers as they embark on 18 years of spending, which is why retailers are so desperate to identify them, with
"I would like answers and an apology," says one of the woman who emailed me. "Even then, I'm not sure they'll keep my business."
The problem for companies is that unearthing data like this can be incredibly sensitive, and when they get it wrong, they can turn off a customer forever. But in the grand scheme of things, the customers they get this way likely outnumber the ones they lose.
Hat tip: Kim Dale
* Updated with new statement from Shutterfly.


text:
Anne Marr recently chaired a forum on Urban Fabric that encompassed the disciplines of architecture, interiors, and textiles, bringing together respective practitioners from Central Saint Martins and Chelsea College of Arts. It was no coincidence (more…)
The EcoChic Design Award is a sustainable fashion design competition inspiring emerging fashion designers to create mainstream clothing with minimal textile waste. Designers are educated (more…)
Professor Becky Earley will be speaking at the launch of the Global Change Award in Stockholm on 25th of August.
The first Global Change Award is an innovation challenge by the H&M Conscious Foundation. It is going to be one of the world’s biggest challenges for early stage (more…)


text:
NEW YORK: Medialink Worldwide has warned that its third-quarter
results, to be announced prior to the opening of regular trading on
November 6, will be below previous guidance.
The company's pre-September 11 guidance called for expected revenues in
the range of $12 million to $12.5 million, and a net loss
per share in the range of $0.08 to $0.10. Now, however,
Medialink has announced that it expects a loss of up to 25 cents a
Medialink said it expected its fortunes to improve when television and
radio newscasts return to more general news coverage. It also pledged to
react to the reduction in business travel by aggressively marketing its
videoconferencing and webcasting services.
To cut costs, the company had had what Ryan Barr, Medialink IR director,
called "a modest staff reduction." The company has also leased out
excess office space.
Medialink will also take third-quarter charges of approximately $550,000 to cover a one-time charge related to restructuring activities,
and the cost of hiring advisors. Medialink has hired UBS Warburg LLC as
its financial advisor to a takeover offer by United Business Media,
parent company of PR Newswire.
Medialink shares have fallen and risen since September 11, trading at
$3.89 as of October 8.


text:
Are Vitamin Supplements Good For You?
The word on the street is that vitamins might not be doing you so much good after all, at least when it comes to vitamin supplements.
Last December the Annals of Internal Medicine published several studies which concluded that multivitamin supplements don’t do the public a whole lot of good, and a new study recently in The Journal of Physiology showed that vitamin supplement intake could actually be harming athletes. It has even been written that excess vitamins may be a risk factor for diabetes, at least when it comes to serving formula that’s power-packed with vitamins to babies.
In response to the December findings, the Annals of Internal Medicine published an editorial titled “Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements,” writing “Despite sobering evidence of no benefit or possible harm, use of multivitamin supplements increased among U.S. adults from 30% between 1988 to 1994 to 39% between 2003 to 2006, while overall use of dietary supplements increased from 42% to 53%.”
That use of supplements accounted for about $30 billion spent on vitamins and minerals in the United States in 2011.
We know that we need vitamins to live, which makes it not so shocking that many companies have bottled them up and made them easy for consumption, but where do these vitamins come from in the first place? Our food.
Several studies have shown that multivitamins do nothing to prevent heart attacks or cancer, whereas eating more fruit and vegetables has a wide variety of benefits. Leafy greens and pears may reduce your risk for a stroke and root vegetables may be beneficial for the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
So why are we still taking them? It’s partly a question of money and big industry.
Fruits and vegetables contain so many vitamins and we need them to survive, so nutrition marketing has told us that we can get them in different forms. While at the outset getting people to have a diet higher in vitamins and minerals may have seemed like a good thing, ultimately it has become more of a question of marketing than nutrition. When even Girl Scout Cookies are being marketed as healthy, you know something has gone wrong. In fact, it has been shown that when foods are marketed as healthier, which means they often have vitamins added to them, it leads to bigger profits. Vitamins make good business sense.
Vitamins are good for you, yes. But if you think you can stick to an unhealthy diet and just keep yourself going thanks to pills, you can forget it. If you have a well-balanced diet, you may be getting all the vitamins you need. So kick the pill and go for the fruits and vegetables instead.
Photo Credit: stevendepolo


text:
These 10 Retailers Are Taking Over Vacant Stores
A massive turnover
It’s no secret that the retail industry is changing. A wide range of retailers are struggling, including mall-based chains, department stores and pretty much any retailer whose model can be easily replicated online.
However, even in a challenging retail environment, there are almost always chains that are growing and entrepreneurs with new ideas looking for space to expand. These days, many of those retailers have hybrid online/offline models -- some were even born on the internet -- while others offer products like groceries that aren’t easily sold online. Still others cater to experiences and services that require a brick-and-mortar location.
Click through to see 10 retailers that are taking over vacant stores across the U.S.
1. Trader Joe’s
With a unique business model in grocery of selling almost exclusive private-label goods at affordable prices, Trader Joe’s has spread across the country and become one of its best-performing supermarket chains. The privately held company is considered the industry leader in sales per square foot and its strategy of opening locations in high-traffic urban and suburban areas and its ability to its draw a wide range of customers has made it a sought-after tenant among commercial landlords.
Over the last five months, the company has opened 10 stores across the country, including in places like New York City, Miami Beach, and Santa Monica, California.
It may be surprising to see Amazon’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) name on this list as the e-commerce giant is no doubt responsible for putting so many brick-and-mortar retailers out of business, and threatening nearly every other storefront operation.
However, today Amazon is much more than an online retailer. The company is becoming a presence in high-end malls, and busy streets. In addition to its acquisition of Whole Foods, which gives it a huge stake in a brick-and-mortar retailer, the tech giant is also opening a number of physical store concepts including Amazon Books, Amazon 4-Star, and Amazon Go, its most promising brick-and-mortar idea yet. Amazon Go is a convenience-store chain that has no cashiers or lines thanks to network of cameras and sensors that the company calls “Just Walk Out” technology, allowing customers to scan an app upon entry and simply leave with whatever items they want to purchase.
With its deep pockets and reputation for customer satisfaction, Amazon is also a popular tenant in malls and shopping corridors. The company now has 15 Go stores around the country with three more opening soon.
3. TJ Maxx/Marshalls
TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX), the parent of TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, and Home Goods, has been the leader of the off-price retail sector for decades, but in the e-commerce era, the company’s advantage over traditional retailers has only expanded.
The off-price business model, which offers discounts on branded merchandise thanks to things like manufacturer errors and excess inventory, has been difficult to replicate online, as it’s expensive to photograph clothes in bulk, and the model aims for fast turnover.
As a result, off-price shopping tends to take place in brick-and-mortar stores, which have only become more popular as department stores and apparel chains like Gap have struggled.
In the second quarter, comparable sales at domestic TJ Maxx and Marshalls locations rose 2%, following a 7% jump last year, and the company continues to blanket the country with new stores.
Over the last year, the retailer opened 24 TJ Maxx locations and 30 Marshalls.
While most department store chains are struggling and closing down locations these days, Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) is still tactically opening new stores. The company is steadily adding new off-price locations under its Rack brand, as it’s increased the domestic store count from 231 to 236 over the year that ended May 4.
The company is also preparing to cut the ribbon on its new flagship, full-line location in New York, on Oct. 24 even as it’s closing some full-line stores but opening others in order to optimize its store portfolio.
Finally, Nordstrom is also experimenting with smaller store locations like Nordstrom Local, a new hub for pick-up, tailoring, and personal styling and consultations, that show the company is thinking creatively about how best to use customer-facing real estate.
5. Warby Parker
Perhaps the best example of a digital-native retailer that’s made the transition from the online channel to brick-and-mortar locations is Warby Parker.
The eyewear specialist now has more than 100 locations across the country, and has proven fluent in both online and offline retail, drawing traffic to hip urban neighborhoods and suburban malls.
Founded in 2010, the privately held chains does not report its sales figures, but the company is now valued at $1.75 billion, as of a 2018 funding round, and it said would be profitable on an EBITDA basis that year.
Just a few years ago, Target (NYSE: TGT), was losing sales to rivals and looking like it had lost its identity after a data breach and so many years of outsourcing its e-commerce operations to Amazon.
Today, however, the big-box chain is thriving. Target has streamlined its growth strategy to focus on online sales, remodeled legacy stores, and is opening small-format stores in high-demand areas like gentrifying neighborhoods and college towns.
In its first quarter, comparable sales jumped 4.8%, and in the year before May 4, the company added 25 locations of 50,000 square feet or less, even while its number of larger stores essentially held steady.
7. Ulta Beauty
Another darling of commercial landlords in strip malls across the country is Ulta Beauty (Nasdaq: ULTA), the combination cosmetics store and beauty salon that has proven to be a nimble brick-and-mortar model for the e-commerce era.
In its first-quarter report, Ulta posted 7% comparable sales growth, a sign its stores continue to bring significant customer traffic. The company opened 22 new stores in the quarter, and said it plans to open 80 locations this year, in addition to 270 store refreshes in 20 store remodels.
With a hybrid model that offers both a service that customers can’t get online and in-demand product, it’s easy to see why Ulta shares have more than tripled in the last five years.
8. lululemon athletica
Apparel retail is tough these days with rampant competition in both the online and offline channels, but lululemon athletica (Nasdaq: LULU), the brand that established itself selling high-end yoga pants, continues to show that it has that secret sauce to deliver growth in today’s retail environment.
In its first quarter, comparable sales surged 14%, an almost-unheard-of growth rate in retail these days. In-store comparable sales were up 6%, with a 33% jump in digital sales driving the remainder of that growth, a sign the company is executing in both the offline and online channels.
Through the year ending May 5, the company added 44 stores globally, bringing its grand total to 455.
9. Costco Wholesale
It may not be correct to say that Costco (Nasdaq: COST) is taking over vacant stores as the warehouse retailer’s locations are so big that it generally has to build them itself. However, Costco is certainly among the retailers that are growing their physical footprint in the U.S. and it’s one of the biggest retailers in the U.S. by sales. Its impact can’t be ignored.
Over the last year, the company has opened 16 new warehouses in the U.S., bringing its total to 536, and has six new locations planned for the next three months including stores in Minnesota, Florida, and Texas.
Excluding fuel, comparable sales have risen 6.9% through the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, a sign demand remains strong for the membership-based warehouse club.
10. Planet Fitness
While not technically a retailer, Planet Fitness (Nasdaq: PLNT), the fast-growing discount gym, has undeniably become a friend of strip mall landlords looking for traffic drivers as dedicated gym members will visit several times a week.
In its second quarter, the company posted 8.8% same-store sales growth, showing that its low-priced model, where monthly prices start at $10, is driving increased membership.
Planet Fitness is also growing quickly across the country thanks to its franchise model. Over the last year, the company has added 251 locations, making it one of the fastest-growing storefront businesses in the country.
The times they are a-changing
Though it’s become popular in the business media to refer to the current retail upheaval as an “apocalypse,” in reality what we're seeing is more of a broad transition. New kinds of retailers and storefront businesses are emerging to take the place of old models that are no longer in demand.
Consumers will always want a reason to venture out of the home, whether for shopping, an experience, a service, or even exercise.
The retailers on this list and others that are growing have found a superior model for meeting the demands of today’s consumers.
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Jeremy Bowman owns shares of Amazon, Nordstrom, and Target. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Lululemon Athletica, and Planet Fitness. The Motley Fool has the following options: short January 2020 $180 calls on Costco Wholesale and long January 2020 $115 calls on Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool recommends Costco Wholesale, Nordstrom, The TJX Companies, and Ulta Beauty. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
HOW THE MOTLEY FOOL CAN HELP YOU
Premium Investing Guidance
Market beating stocks from our award-winning service
The Daily Upside Newsletter
Investment news and high-quality insights delivered straight to your inbox
Get Started Investing
You can do it. Successful investing in just a few steps
Win at Retirement
Secrets and strategies for the post-work life you want.
Find a Broker
Find the right brokerage account for you.
Listen to our Podcasts
Hear our experts take on stocks, the market, and how to invest.
Premium Investing Services
Invest better with The Motley Fool. Get stock recommendations, portfolio guidance, and more from The Motley Fool's premium services.


text:
AT your controllers, dear cryptophiles! – The growing success of blockchain gaming platforms, such as The SandBox, based on the Ethereum blockchain (ETH) gives ideas to other developers. As such, Binance secures the services of a crypto gaming expert to promote its famous Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
The BSC takes on blockchain games
According to a December 6 announcement, the BSC and Animoca Brands allocated $ 100 million each to launch an investment program dedicated to gaming crypto. It is therefore a program of $ 200 million which will be dedicated to BSC-based crypto gambling projects. It will allow to incubate and accelerate the emergence of startups that wish to use the BSC for their blockchain game projects.
For Binance, this investment follows its ambition to develop its blockchain, the BSC, for which she unblocked $ 1 billion last October.
The CIO (director of investments) of the BSC, Gwendolyn Regina, is aware of the opportunities offered by this partnership:
“With this co-investment, projects relying on BSC will have the opportunity to acquire knowledge and expertise from major gaming giants such as Animoca Brands, as well as opportunities for collaboration with blockchain experts from the community. BSC. “
BSC offers itself a partner of choice with Animoca Brands
If you’re interested in crypto gaming, you’ve probably heard ofAnimoca Brands. Indeed, it is one of these new funds in capital risk who decided to specialize in blockchain games and in metaverse.
Since its creation in 2015, Animoca Brands has become leader in the field of entertainment based on blockchain technologies. She has since invested in projects that have been very successful. On a non-exhaustive basis, she participated in fundraising for The SandBox by becoming themajority shareholder. In addition, Animoca has invested in projects NFT who have since become the main players in the market, such as OpenSea Where Axie Infinity.
In addition, recently Animoca Brands has diversified its investments. She took part in the financing of XDEFI. However, even though this project is not a blockchain game, it does offer a related tool : a wallet browser. Thus, Animoca, with its expertise in the crypto gaming environment, will be a undeniable asset for the BSC.
Binance’s investment to promote its blockchain in the crypto gaming environment makes sense. Moreover, Solana (SOL) has already integrated this area with DeFi Land, a game play-to-earn hosted on the blockchain of the same name.
No more playing! did you know that ZENGO offers you bitcoin cashback? And that the JDC, multiply this bonus by 2.5? These are so 25$ and bitcoins waiting for you in downloading the ZENGO app and by entering the code ZENGOJDC at the time of your registration (in return for $ 250 purchase in crypto, affiliate link)


text:
Merging Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart will take about five years but will create a massive and diverse retailer well positioned to cater to Canada’s growing number of city dwellers, seniors and even the online crowd.
That was the assertion of Vicente Trius, president of Loblaw Companies, on Tuesday.
Trius, as well as presidents of Metro and Sobeys, gave presentations to analysts during a conference hosted by ScotiaBank.
Trius said that Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart’s breadth of offerings–from food and pharmacy to banking and apparel–would make it unique in Canada. So too will its wide portfolio of store formats, which include supermarkets, drugstores, discount stores and wholesale club outlets across more than 2,350 stores.
READ: What happens when Canada's biggest retailer buys its best?
Loblaw-Shoppers will have “one-on-one” conversations with 15 million Canadians through both companies' loyalty programs, which he noted, represents one in every two Canadians.
Combined, Loblaw and Shoppers are well positioned to compete in the “omni channel,” the term used to describe the shopping experience across bricks and mortar, mobile, the web and all other media.
“I believe that it sets us apart in this marketplace,” he said.
Trius also gave a short outline of how the massive operations of the companies will be integrated, and the potential benefits.
In the near future, he said, Loblaw will announce a team that will lead the integration, including two positions that Trius referred to as the “executive vice-president of integration” and “executive vice-president of speed of change.”
In addition to bringing about an estimated $300 million in synergies between the two companies (which Trius said would take two to three years) the integration team would be responsible for combining the companies’ two cultures.
“This is the piece that usually takes longer,” he said.
Loblaw’s $12.4-billion acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart was announced in July. It still requires approval by the Competition Bureau.
Trius pointed to Shoppers’ network of smaller stores nestled within urban environments as a key advantage of the deal.
Canadians, he said, are moving back to cities, and with a quarter of the population over 65 within 10 to 12 years, Shoppers’ mix of health and convenience is ideal to serve them.
READ: In quest for loyalty, retailers dig deep into data
But he also hinted at how Loblaw’s food offering might play well in Shoppers' stores.
“When we look at food, we believe that there’s room, and they believe that there’s room, because there are some out-there categories that they could downsize fairly quickly, like for example, photofinishing. That’s one that would allow us to have more room. As you do that, we believe, you can put a more comprehensive offer, leveraging the space in food. To us this means you can buy your breakfast, lunch and dinner when you go to Shoppers.”
Trius explained that a Shoppers Drug Mart customer today might buy one or two convenience food items, but a better food offer could be entice that person to buy three to five items.
Trius, who formerly held top positions for Walmart in Asia, pointed to Japan as a great example of a place where food is expertly merchandised in a convenience setting.
“If you go to Tokyo, being to my mind the best in the world at convenience stores, you’ll find in 150 square metres, (1,600 square feet) can put in as much as 3,000 to 4,000 SKUs.”
Food would also boost traffic to Shoppers stores, which would in turn increase sales in Shoppers’ core categories such as health and beauty.
Interestingly, both Trius and Sobeys CEO Marc Poulin used the same word to describe their recent acquisitions: “transformational.”
READ: Sobeys unveils its new brand positioning with Jamie Oliver
Poulin said Sobeys' June buyout of Canada Safeway is expected to close later this fall and that the integration program is well underway, with regular leadership meetings and very good co-operation of the Safeway team.
Once the deal is done, Sobeys will be become “a leading grocer in Western Canada” and “the leading grocer in the attractive high-growth market of Alberta.” More than 800 stores would fall under the company’s full-service format under banners Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, IGA extra and Thrifty Foods.
Poulin said this larger store base would create critical mass for Sobeys to develop new fresh food programs and become the clear leader in fresh food stores in Canada.
Along with the Safeway acquisition, the grocery chain has lately focused on making changes to the Sobeys banner. Poulin pointed to the just announced partnership with celebrity chef-food advocate Jamie Oliver and the new brand positioning for the Sobeys banner to help customers eat better.
With more 1,500 stores in Canada, we’re not a niche company; we can’t only focus on part of market that will pay a premium for better food, said Poulin. Instead, he said the retailer is committed to finding ways to offer better food at better prices. “Our purpose is to help Canadians eat better at an affordable price.”
Over the past month, Sobeys has been making changes to its offering in Sobeys banner stores across Canada. Later this fall, a new store concept will roll out, said Poulin. At present, Sobeys is working on stores in Western Canada and in Ontario that will showcase its commercial programs.
Montreal-based Metro has not made an acquisition this year, but its president, Eric La Flèche, noted that the retailer has the “financial strength to make” one.
In his presentation to analysts, La Flèche spoke about Metro’s investment in its distribution and store network.
A $50-million dairy and produce warehouse recently opened near Montreal and Metro has consistently invested in store renovations, including the recent opening of the company’s upscale Les 5 Saisons store in Montreal.
VIEW: Tour Les 5 Saisons in Montreal
Metro also recently launched a mobile app and a revamped website, and it struck a deal with Target to put Metro’s Brunet pharmacies into Target's Quebec stores starting next spring.
The company also recently announced plans to restructure its Ontario network, including the conversion of about six conventional Metro stores to the Food Basics banner.
La Flèche said Metro intends to “rejuvenate” the Food Basics banner soon. He did not provide specifics but suggested the company is looking at doing more marketing for the brand, including more store-level signage that emphasizes price.
None of the grocery executives quibbled about the current state of the industry, which they described as having zero price inflation and, in some cases, deflation.
Trius pointed to to high levels of consumer debt, slow economic growth and the growing amount of retail food square footage, which is outpacing population growth, as contributing factors.
He said the amount of food space within stores in Canada is rising at about 3% to 3.5 % now, which is double the rate of population growth.
Much of that growth is being driven by Target, which just this week opened 14 stores, including its first in Ottawa, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Trius said he expects that square footage growth will start to level off to more normal levels of about 1.6% in the second half of 2014.
Competition in the current environment is tight but not mutually destructive, it seems.
When asked about the impact of a growing number of Walmart Supercentres in Quebec, La Flèche responded that it isn’t “a not-event” but it’s “modest.”
“ have not started price wars in the Quebec market,” he said. “They are in line with discount pricing.”


text:
May 29, 2020 by
It looks like the rumors were true: Sony is presenting a live, PlayStation 5 games event next Thursday, June 4.
Sony announced the event via social media and the PlayStation Blog. The news confirms industry chatter earlier this month that the next step of Sony’s unveiling strategy was imminent.
Thus far the next-gen Sony console has had a rather unusual launch process. Gamers are yet to see the physical console in any form, unlike the Xbox Series X which Microsoft showed off some five months back in December 2019. Instead Sony has focused on the console’s technical specifications and the new controller.
Thursday’s event is the next stop for the PlayStation 5 hype train: the games. Like Microsoft’s gameplay event in early May, this presentation should reveal what games PS5 players will get their hands on when the console launches at the end of the year.
Speaking on the official blog, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan said:
“The games coming to PS5 represent the best in the industry from innovative studios that span the globe. Studios, both larger and smaller, those newer and those more established, all have been hard at work developing games that will showcase the potential of the hardware.
“This digital showcase will run for a bit more than an hour and, for the first time, we will all be together virtually experiencing the excitement together. A lack of physical events has given us an amazing opportunity to think differently and bring you on this journey with us, and hopefully, closer than ever before. This is part of our series of PS5 updates and, rest assured, after next week’s showcase, we will still have much to share with you.”
A number of third-party studios have already confirmed their games for the PS5, on or around the launch window. This includes major titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion, Godfall, and — of course — Fortnite, but Codemasters has also confirmed that rally driving title DIRT 5 will see a PS5 release too.
As yet we haven’t seen anything from Sony’s in-house developers, newly renamed as PlayStation Studios. The June 4 event should bring some of these games into the picture, and that might include Gran Turismo 7. The next title in Polyphony Digital’s racing series is widely tipped to be a PS5 launch day title, though that remains to be seen.
One other thing that is yet to be seen is the PlayStation 5 console itself. Will Sony finally reveal the finished product at this event? You’ll have to tune in, on PlayStation’s official Twitch or YouTube channels, from 2000 UTC on June 4 to find out.