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China's Baidu launches its "ERNIE Bot" AI early in response to GPT
Rushed by investors and partners after the stunning launch of ChatGPT, Chinese web giant Baidu has launched its own anything-machine multimodal AI, with plans to integrate it into all its apps and services – but the company admits it may not be ready.
OpenAI's ChatGPT has made the public aware of the insane power, potential and threat of large language models. The ripples from ChatGPT's launch late last year are being felt in every industry – you can't responsibly plan for the future of nearly any business without factoring in how these ludicrously capable and seemingly intelligent bots are going to disrupt nearly every process.
When OpenAI released the even more astonishing GPT-4 a couple of days ago, it did so with a measure of trepidation. As outlined in the GPT-4 paper, the language model itself was built and pre-trained some eight months ago, and the company spent that eight months working feverishly to make it safe and sanitized for public consumption.
Knowing that many competitors are working on similar AI models, OpenAI recognized that launching this thing would kick off a furious technology race – and that when a "racing dynamic" develops, other companies would be forced by their shareholders and customers to accelerate their own AI programs. Safety measures, the company reasoned, would be among the first things on the chopping block. As a result, the company considered sitting on GPT-4 for six months to give the competition time to proceed with caution – but decided against it.
Yesterday, Baidu proved these concerns well-founded, with what appears to be a hasty launch of its "ERNIE Bot" AI in an attempt to placate its shareholders and partners. Baidu Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO Yanhong "Robin" Li was upfront about this in his introductory comments.
"Many people have been asking me why we're releasing this product at this time," said Li through a translator. "Are we really ready? In fact, over the past decade, Baidu has invested in the R&D for ERNIE Bot. Indeed, the initial version was launched in 2019, and every year a new version has been launched... Others – including Google, Facebook, etc – have no product at the same level. Baidu is the first to launch such a product."
"Our expectations for ERNIE Bot are close to GPT – or even GPT-4," he continued. "During our initial internal testing, we experienced the capabilities of ERNIE Bot. We feel it's not perfect yet. So why are we launching it today? Because there's huge demands in the market. For various product lines including search, AI cloud, autonomous driving... Everyone's waiting for this technology. More importantly, our customers and our partners are waiting for such a technology and a product. They're urging us to launch such a product. Of course, for large models, once products are launched, they'll have real feedback from users, and with users' feedback, they'll iterate and improve their capabilities very quickly. We hope ERNIE Bot will grow quickly and provide value for our customers and users as soon as possible so everyone can benefit from it."
He proceeded to give five short, apparently pre-recorded demonstrations of the AI's capabilities. In the first, he asked it to summarize the plot of the Three Body science fiction series by Cixin Liu (a banger of a read, if you haven't dipped a toe into Chinese sci-fi). He asked the AI how it might continue the books from a philosophical perspective, and what were the commonalities between the lead actors in the films.
Without speaking Chinese, it's hard to gauge how the model performed, but Li claimed that these tasks would typically lead to a high probability of errors in a language model like this, and said ERNIE Bot was able to breeze through them. It appears the AI has access to search results and knowledge beyond its initial training data: "ERNIE Bot adopts a search augmentation and knowledge enhancement," said Li. We have 550 billion knowledge data points, so that we can guarantee that the answers from Ernie Bot will be basically correct."
A second task was more business-oriented and creative, asking for suggested business names and related slogans for a high-tech service company, as well as an initial 600-word company newsletter. The third challenged it on "mathematical logical reasoning" and its ability to point out flaws in the input prompts.
The fourth showed off ERNIE Bot's understanding of Chinese language and context, as well as its ability to work within creative constraints. A well-known Chinese idiom translating roughly to "the paper from Luoyang is expensive" was put in, and the AI correctly recognized it as an allegory for supply and demand economics. It was then able to write a Chinese poem, in which every character of the idiom was embedded in each sentence of the poem.
To see if this separates ERNIE Bot from English-based competition like ChatGPT, I ran a similar prompt into GPT-4, and found that it had no problem doing the same – assuming its Chinese doesn't come out sounding stilted to native speakers.
The final demo showed off its multi-modal creativity – and here, ERNIE Bot showed off some abilities that GPT hasn't turned on yet, since it's only just beginning to open up access to image-based inputs, and is currently only outputting text.
It was asked to create a poster image for the 2023 World Intelligent Transport conference, which it appeared to do with impressive speed. Then it was asked which cities would be most suitable for the development of said intelligent transport. Then it was told to read out its answer in the Sichuan dialect, which it did. Then, Li simply told it to "make a video out of it." It completed this task with staggering speed, taking about ten seconds to be ready for playback. You can see this demo in the video below – skip to around 1:20 if you just want to see the video.
Personally, I found this demo absolutely jaw-dropping to begin with – it spat out a minute's worth of terrific-looking video in about the time DALL-E 2 takes to respond to a single image request. Looking a little closer, though, it seems it's nowhere near as sophisticated; the AI is simply linking together sections of stock footage that seem relevant to the narration content, rather than creating vision in its own right.
And such a service is already well-known to Chinese users, since it's already used extensively on Baidu news services like Haokan, and has been for several years now. "I believe if you're a creator on [one of Baidu's video services], this will already be familiar to you," said Li. "Every day, tens of thousands of articles are converted to video automatically and distributed on Baidu's platform. But we've now connected all these technology points to that."
Chinese media in attendance were given invitations to begin testing the service. "From Ernie Bot's performance, you can tell that it can to some extent understand and express natural language just like humans," said Li. "It can also do some reasoning. All of these features are being improved continuously. Sometimes, we may feel really surprised, but of course other times we identify some mistakes. But one thing can be sure: it's progressing very fast, and there will be more very fast progress in the near future. We're going to fine-tune the model to make it adaptive to all Baidu products, so Ernie Bot can show its powerful capabilities and user-friendliness in the user interfaces and experiences, and draw all Baidu product closer to our clients and users."
Li went on to reveal that Baidu is looking to build additional layers on top of the generalized ERNIE Bot AI model, using training sources specifically chosen for pretty much every industry, giving the examples of energy, transport and media.
"There are estimates that by 2030, some workers will have their productivity quadrupled using artificial intelligence," said Li. "There would be an irreversible change to the nature of their work because of AI... We want to use industry-specific big models, because we think there might be a middle layer for each industry's quite specific and unique data or knowledge. If this is integrated with the grounded large model, huge creativity and productivity would be generated. Maybe that kind of capability can not be owned by Baidu. Maybe those data would be provided to Baidu. But Baidu offers the capability to fine-tune such knowledge or data to avoid mistakes and make the models more adaptive to each and every industry."
This somewhat rushed launch did not appear to impress Baidu's investors, and as CNBC reports, the company's shares plunged by as much as 10% during the presentation, ending the day some 6.4% down in Hong Kong for the company's lowest close since January 19.
Li was keen to tell the rest of the world that ERNIE Bot comes in peace: "What I want to say is the Ernie Bot is not used for the Sino-US conflict of technology," he said. "It represents the dream that we pursue as technology developers. It's a platform we want to use to empower all industries, clients and users. It's a testament to development driven by innovation."
He did not specifically address the issue of Baidu's safety strategy or the sanitization of the AI's output – perhaps this is unsurprising, given that China's "Great Firewall" policies already heavily censor nine very broad categories of information across the country's entire domestic internet – as well as completely banning a long list of foreign websites that might host "spiritual pollution." This is all done in partnership with internet companies like Baidu, and ERNIE Bot can definitely be expected to toe the line.
But these AIs have extraordinary capabilities, and can be misused in a myriad of creative and unexpected ways; ChatGPT users have had a lot of fun finding and exploiting its weaknesses since it launched, and OpenAI has teams working hard to plug these holes. Baidu can expect plenty of the same.
You can see the entire launch below, with spoken English translation.


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Yoti is advising businesses in relatively unregulated industries like online multiplayer gaming to improve their identity verification and crime prevention capabilities. The company noted that unregulated industries seldom stay unregulated for long, especially in industries that have been associated with money laundering and other forms of financial crime.
In that regard, Yoti stressed that fraudsters are increasingly turning their attentions to industries with laxer policies, largely because new laws have made it more difficult to launder funds through more traditional avenues like real estate, art dealers, and casinos. Instead, a criminal may use stolen funds to purchase an in-game currency in a popular online video game, and then sell that digital currency to another player in exchange for legitimate real world cash.
Such behavior is relatively easy to get away with because many financial regulations do not yet apply to online gaming or other, newer industries. As a result, those businesses are not performing the rigorous screenings that are now common in other sectors. However, that is likely to change in the near future. Eighteen percent of UK gamers have experienced fraud, and the UK’s Financial Action Task Force (FAFT) has already recommended that Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws should be extended to close those loopholes.
With that in mind, Yoti is arguing that unregulated industries have an opportunity to act proactively, and to adopt strong Know Your Customer (KYC) and AML practices before they are legally obligated to do so. That will make it easier to adhere to the new laws once they do go into effect, since they will be familiar with the technology and will be less likely to trigger a fine for non-compliance.
Yoti, of course, is best known as a provider of digital identity technology, and pitched its own solution to businesses that want to conduct reliable KYC checks. Businesses can adjust their screening procedures based on the acceptable level of risk, and Yoti can help them verify people’s personal information, and check to see whether or not they are on any watchlists or have been linked to financial crimes in the past.
The company also offered a more general primer for businesses that may not be aware of KYC and AML best practices. It explained that a good KYC procedure needs to ensure that a customer’s identity is legitimate, figure out where their money is coming from, and evaluate the level of risk they present from a financial crime perspective. The business, meanwhile, should have a policy in place to trigger an enhanced screening in high-risk situations.
Like other onboarding solutions, Yoti’s platform ask users to take a photo of an ID and take a selfie to perform a biometric match. The company focused on laws in its native UK, though the same thinking is likely to lead to new AML regulations in other jurisdictions.
October 29, 2021 – by Eric Weiss

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Apple may have put aside its differences with Qualcomm and signed a multi-year licensing agreement with the company, but silently, it continues to work on its own modem. A report from The Information claims that Apple is in talks to acquire Intel’s modem unit in Germany to boost efforts of designing its in-house modem.
Intel had acquired Germany-based Infineon in 2011 for $1.4 billion. It is the same unit that has played a key role in designing and developing all Intel modems so far and this is the business that Apple wants to acquire. This is not the first time that we are hearing reports of Apple showing interest in acquiring Intel’s modem business. A WSJ report had also claimed something similar back in April this year.
Apart from the pool of engineers and tech, the acquisition will also give Apple access to the pool of patents that Intel has access to.
Any deal between Apple and Intel would likely include Intel patents and products, said one person briefed on the discussions. Such an arrangement would resemble the deal Apple reached with Dialog Semiconductor, a U.K.-based company that designs chips that handle power management chores in devices. Last year, Apple and Dialog struck a $600 million deal that brought 300 Dialog employees to Apple, along with some patents.
Before Qualcomm and Apple made up, the latter relied on modem from Intel for iPhones. Apple partially made the switch with the iPhone 7 before ditching Qualcomm modems completely for its 2018 iPhone lineup and switching exclusively to Intel modem. However, Intel modem offered inferior performance to that of Qualcomm.
More worryingly for Apple, Intel engineers were not able to stick to their promised development timeline of 5G modem which put Apple at the risk of not being able to launch a 5G iPhone in 2020. Along with a bunch of other factors, Apple eventually ended up solving all its disputes with Qualcomm outside of court in a settlement which saw it pay upwards of $6+ billion dollars to the chip maker. The move led Intel to completely exit the modem business as the company failed to see a “clear path to profitability and positive returns.”
Apple already poached Intel’s lead 5G engineer in February this year so it won’t be surprising if the company goes ahead and acquires the latter’s entire modem business.
Despite Apple making up with Qualcomm, the company wants to reduce its reliance on the San Diego chipmaker. For this, it is working on its own modem, though it is still a few years away from launch.
[Via The Information]


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Poof! Netflix has deleted all user reviews from its website, citing 'declining use'
If you are looking for a binge-worthy Netflix show to feast your eyes on, don't bother looking at what other users had to say.
The streaming service deleted all user reviews of TV shows and movies from its website on Friday. The company announced the move last month and stopped allowing customers to leave criticism or praise under a program title on July 30.
“Netflix customers were able to leave reviews on Netflix.com until mid-2018, when reviews were removed due to declining use,” the company’s help center says under the heading “How do I post reviews on Netflix?”
But don’t fret: The removal shouldn't affect your Netflix experience. The reviews were visible only through the web, likely adding to the feature's downfall.
More: 'The Break with Michelle Wolf,' 'The Joel McHale Show' canceled at Netflix
Also: Parent group calls for Netflix to pull 'Desire,' calling it 'child porn'
Purging reviews is the latest change Netflix has made to its rating system.
The streaming service switched from a five-star system to a simpler “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” rating in 2017. Netflix said the change was made to clear up confusion on how to rate the quality of a series or movie, but the company probably had other reasons — like user sabotage.
Trolls would purposefully “review bomb” a show title with hopes of bringing its ratings down. Most notably, Amy Schumer’s Netflix comedy stand-up, “Amy Schumer: The Leather Special,” was given a one-star rating last year after being spammed with negative reviews.
Users can still look forward to Netflix's own recommendations. It's a "great built-in way to only suggest content we think you'll love based on your viewing history," the company says.
Regardless of the change, most of us will still be watching.
More: Netflix's odious 'Insatiable' is just the latest example of TV hating fat women
If you love television and love talking about it even more, USA TODAY Life’s Yes, I’m Still Watching is here for you. Join our Facebook group to discuss all things TV with our critic Kelly Lawler.


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SYDNEY, Australia – KFC, a subsidiary of YUM! Brands, Inc., recently launched its first Burgers/Wraps/Bowls concept restaurant in the Sydney, Australia suburb of Paramatta, according to news reports.
The upscale concept restaurant features a streamlined menu that includes new products and ingredients. For example, the KFC "burger" is a chicken breast filet that comes in three styles — grilled, original recipe or marinated in KFC's signature Zinger marinade and a crunchy coating. Sauces include Southern BBQ, Jalapeno Mayo and Creamy Aioli.
Taking a page from Subway, the Burgers/Wraps/Bowls concept has an open kitchen layout where customers can see fresh ingredients such as basmati rice, corn salsa and red quinoa. Frozen custards are on offer for dessert.
Burgers/Wraps/Bowls puts poultry on its large artisanal buns and labels them burgers. But in Japan, KFC went all the way with its Bistro Hamburg, a 30/70 pork and beef patty covered in a mushroom demi-glace on a burger bun, according to Burger Business.
The burger is prices at 490 yen ($4.11) a la carte or 770 yen ($6.46) in a combo meal.
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If there is a recurring theme that has been asking Google to fix it on Android almost from its beginning, fragmentation will undoubtedly be. Due to the way the system is built, and how Google relates to the rest of the manufacturers and operators, although every year there is a new version of the operating system, the reality is that users normally use much earlier versions.
Curiosities about the fragmentation of Android that nobody had told you
Android fragmentation has always been around, but there is a lot of data that goes unnoticed in Android reports.
In recent times we have seen Google take great steps to try to solve this, with strategies such as Project Treble in Android Oreo or Project Mainline in Android 10. And it seems to work.
Android 10 is the version of the system with the highest update speed
The Android development team has published an article on its blog in which it shows us in a graph the speed of adoption of the last three major versions of Android, Android 8 Oreo, Android 9 Pie and Android 10.
As you can see, over the last few years the speed at which mobiles have been updated is increasing. If we look at the same period of time since the release of each version, Android 10 has been installed on 28% more devices than Android 9. And that was already a substantial improvement over Android 8.
Android updates will improve this year
In Google they are aware that this has room for improvement so for Android 11 they will fight fragmentation in various ways.
- The collaboration with various manufacturers so they have beta versions available even before the official version is released. In the case of Android 11 we already told you which mobiles could install the trial versions.
- The Google Play Store and Google Play Services they will continue to gain importance in updating parts of the system. In Android 11 there will be nine functions that can be improved without having to launch a new OTA: Tethering, NNAPI, Emergency Alert Reception, adbd, Internet Key Exchange, Media Provider, statsd, WiFi and SDK extensions.
- The Generic Kernel Image (GKI) so that security updates reach more mobiles and faster.
- Finally, in Android 11 the background updates, so that the mobiles receive the OTAs and the operation of the terminal for the user is not interrupted. They will be installed on the next restart of the terminal.
Obviously, these figures are still very far from those obtained by Apple on their iPhones, but taking into account the type of system of the Cupertino company and what Google is trying to do, we do not believe that Android will ever come close to the levels of iOS, as we saw in April.


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The future of retail and attribution is evolving quickly and allowing brands for the first time to have a better understanding of how effective their advertising is. While the search for in-store attribution is at the top of the every marketer’s wish list it’s important that all know the strengths and weaknesses of each methodology.
Retailers using Swirl’s platform can now connect “verified” real world store visits to Facebook ad impressions and more accurately measure the direct impact that Facebook ad campaigns are having on the way consumers move around inside their stores.
Sponsored Content: The companies who prove that their media is better at driving in-store visits will reap the benefits. Measurement will not come from the vendor itself but rather from third-party measurement firms decoupled both from the buying and selling of advertising and from the platforms on which the media runs.
A new industry-sponsored study of mobile advertisers and agencies offers guidance for hyperlocal marketing providers. Big brands and their agencies are increasing their mobile marketing efforts, with a keen focus on location data and social media integration. The Mobile Marketing Association recently released a report sketching out the key findings from a survey it conducted this […]
There are a number of tools already available for marketers looking to decide which hyperlocal ads are working best, many of which go beyond basic click-through rates and engagement rates to generate a complete picture of advertising successes and misses.
Andrew Osmak talks with us about how the company has been evolving under his leadership over the past six months, where he sees the white spaces in call and data analytics, and why a tracked phone number can be a more valuable data point than a form-fill on a website.
“Based on the growth and adoption that Placed is seeing across its clients, we’d expect that by the end of 2016, attribution will be a default on status for the majority of advertisers where they have an offline conversion event,” said the company’s CEO David Shim.
To many in the industry, the idea of making connections between marketing impressions and dollars spent seems like it could be the holy grail — giving proof positive to businesses that their marketing dollars are well-spent, and unlocking further budget.
A lot of local marketing companies are operating in the shadow of prior practices and companies that created a lot of distrust in the market, says Moz CEO Sarah Bird, who will be a speaker at Street Fight Summit West next week: “Part of the vision of online-to-offline attribution is to overcome that snake oil effect and build trust so you can point to data.”
The company’s CEO Jon Carder says that when you can prove attribution to local marketers, their rate of attrition drops dramatically: “It just gets incredibly better because there’s proof of how well the advertising’s working.” Empyr’s solution for attribution connects credit card information with mobile impressions.


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New Delhi: As Apple and Google goal to manage cell app monitoring on their respective platforms, the opt-out fee for cell app monitoring is anticipated to say no from 85 per cent in 2021 to 60 per cent by 2023 as customers achieve expertise with untargeted adverts, a brand new Gartner report has mentioned.
Whereas Apple has added new privateness options in iOS for customers to handle how they’re tracked, entrepreneurs should reveal the profit to customers in permitting cell app monitoring.
“Roughly one-quarter of customers would enable monitoring if they’re conversant in the model or writer that’s requesting monitoring, particularly as a part of an express worth trade, resembling in money rewards, coupons, reductions or loyalty factors,” mentioned Andrew Frank, vice chairman and distinguished analyst within the Gartner Advertising and marketing follow.
“Though Apple phrases prohibit builders from providing individuals incentives for granting permission to trace on iOS units, entrepreneurs and customers are discovering workarounds,” he mentioned in an announcement.
Entrepreneurs ought to be sure that their consented information assortment gives tangible worth to clients and educate them on precisely the way it does so.
The ought to make altering privateness behaviors and settings simple and seamless with self-service privateness and desire website options and work with publishers to optimize contextual concentrating on and measurement within the absence of monitoring information, the report mentioned.
By 2026, 60 per cent of Millennial and Gen Z customers will favor making purchases on social platforms over conventional digital commerce platforms.
“Customers, particularly youthful ones, are turning towards commerce choices that emphasise comfort and discovery, each hallmarks of social commerce. The share of customers who’ve made purchases via social platforms has elevated, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report famous.


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CEO Sharon Price John says Build-A-Bear’s old e-commerce system is a big reason for disappointing online sales in December.
With a 145% increase in gross merchandise sales, the online liquidator of retail goods closes in to narrow net loss.
Overstock.com Inc. reported third quarter operating profits of $115,000 vs. an operating loss of $3.4 million in last year’s third quarter, on revenue that rose 172% to $23.8 million. For the quarter, gross merchandise sales increased 145% to $38.4 million year over year. Gross merchandise sales represent the gross sales price of goods sold by the company, including goods that Overstock sells on its own behalf and goods that it sells for others and for which it receives a commission.
Net loss for the quarter was $274,000, a 93% improvement from the net loss of $3.8 million year ago, the company reported. Overstock operates a B2C web site and recently launched a B2B site. CEO Patrick Byrne has said that the fast-growing B2B site, used by smaller and medium-sized retailers to stock both web and brick-and-mortar stores, represents an estimated 15% of Overstock’s business and could grow to as much as 50% of revenues within 18 months.


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Police in South Korea reportedly raided Samsung’s offices to investigate the alleged theft of sensitive OLED technology belonging to LG.
Samsung Display, which deals in OLED manufacturing, said investigators arrived at its Headquarters in Asan, South Korea to locate documents relating to Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology. Three other Samsung factories in Korea were searched as well.
Partners of LG Display have been said to leak technology secrets to rival Samsung. LG however, says it did not report Samsung to the police for this investigation.
The latest investigation is related to large-sized OLED TV panel technology, but the police have made the allegation themselves, – LG Display
Samsung meanwhile, downplayed the incident, and promptly dismissed any accusations of theft.
We have no reason to steal other companies’ technology, as we have the world’s best OLED technology, – Samsung
The two electronics giants have been previously involved in similar issues. Last year, six LG employees, among 11 people, had been charged with stealing sensitive information relating to OLED technology to Samsung. In response, LG had filed a patent litigation against Samsung claiming infringement of its OLED technology patents. Samsung had responded with another lawsuit soon after, claiming infringement of numerous other technology patents.
The situation seemed to cool down in February this year when both the companies withdrew their allegations and decided to settle their matters out of court.
Meanwhile, LG has delayed the release of its 55-inch 55EM9700 OLED TV, originally scheduled for March, to the latter half of the year.


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Hey, folks, welcome back to another edition of TechCrunch Week in Review, the place where we point you to the hottest stories of the past sevenish days. I’m stepping in front of the laptop for Greg Kumparak this week, but don’t fret, he will be back soon.
If you want this goodness in your inbox every Saturday, head on over here to sign up. Now, let’s get to it.
most read (Elon edition, somewhat)
Elon did it: He bought Twitter. The $44 billion acquisition closed this week and on day 1, the platform’s new owner “cleaned house,” Taylor and Amanda write, firing CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde. The purchase capped off months of ups and downs, and this week was no different. Darrell rounded up some highlights.
Elon’s layoff about-face: While Elon Musk immediately fired some folks at the top, earlier this week in a reversal from his layoff declaration last week, he said he won’t actually lay off 75% of Twitter’s staff — or 5,600 people — writes Rebecca, citing a Bloomberg report.
Apple’s Elon problem: Darrell’s headline says it all, really: “Twitter’s Elon problem could soon become Apple’s Elon problem, too.” At issue is that Apple updated its developer guidelines this week, one of which “seeks rent on revenue made by social networks around promoted posts.”
Argo AI shutdown: Autonomous vehicle startup Argo AI, flush at launch in 2017 with $1 billion, has shut down. Its parts, writes Kirsten Korosec, are “being absorbed into its two main backers: Ford and VW.”
Speaking of autonomous vehicles: After the Argo AI news hit, Darrell took to the site to explore the fact that, no, autonomous vehicles just aren’t going to happen.
MrBeast’s worth: Amanda asks if MrBeast, or 24-year-old YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, is worth the $1.5 billion he’s valuing his business at.
Meta is in trouble: That’s the headline. Meta reported its third-quarter results this week and they weren’t great. As Taylor writes: “With the Instagram portion of the business not looking so hot lately, Meta has quintupled down on the metaverse without examining if it even knows what users want at all these days. And after changing the name of the company while ruining a perfectly fine word in the process, there are no easy take-backs.” Meta really was a perfectly fine word.
Google Pixel 7’s “dumb” flaw: Haje took a picture through an airplane window and noticed a reflection caused by the reflective chrome surrounding the phone’s camera lens. “It’s a pretty common use case for most photography applications, which makes it all the harder to grok why Google went out of its way to make that experience worse.”
- On Equity this week, we share with you one of Natasha Mascarenhas’s Disrupt panels. She talked to Chief co-founders Lindsay Kaplan and Carolyn Childers about the future of their private membership club for women in leadership positions.
- This week on Found, Darrell and Jordan sat down with Shanthi Rajan from construction management software company Linarc to discuss breaking into a slow-changing industry, building a team with talent across the globe and working with customers to build the most useful product possible.
- And on Chain Reaction, Anita and Jacquelyn chat about Apple’s new App Store guidelines, Reddit’s foray into the NFT space and whether the U.K.’s new prime minister will live up to the hype he’s received from the crypto community.
5 tips for launching in a crowded web3 gaming market. Contributor Corey Wilton explains the steps that will set you apart when looking for capital.
Pitch Deck Teardown: Palau Project. Haje usually passes on tearing down pre-seed rounds, but he went for it this week with the Palau Project, which was founded by professional kite-surfer Jerome Cloetens, who is taking on climate change.


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And it's so much easier for someone to do that online." It's unclear how many people across the United States have been caught up in so-called romance schemes, although the FBI and the FTC have both issued warnings against them.
"Millions of Americans visit online dating websites every year hoping to find a companion or even a soulmate," the FBI said just before Valentine's Day, adding that "the FBI wants to warn you that criminals use these sites, too, looking to turn the lonely and vulnerable into fast money through a variety of scams." Most victims walk away with lightened pockets and broken hearts.
When you're dealing with the Internet, you don't need the resources that you might need in an interpersonal relationship, or face-to-face.
But on the Internet all you need really is to be very skillful at presenting yourself as something that you aren't.
He'd picked her up and they went bowling in Winter Haven, Fla., at Cypress Lanes, which offers shoe and lane rentals for a quarter on Thursday nights, and specials on pizza and beer.


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NEW YORK -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and David S. Yassky, commissioner of the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission, revealed the official color of city’s new Boro Taxis today – apple green.
“We think ‘apple green’ is attractive and distinctive,” Bloomberg said at a news conference at City Hall, the New York Times reported. “It’s easy on the eyes and easy to pick out from a distance in traffic.”
More from GlobalPost: NY cabbies win right to take racy ads off their taxis
The Boro Taxis are cars that New Yorkers in the outer boroughs of Manhattan will be allowed to legally hail on the street. Currently, residents of the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn who want to ride into Manhattan have to call for radio-dispatched car service, wave down a loose yellow cab on its way back to Manhattan or illegally hail an unlicensed taxi on the street. More than 100,000 illegal hails take place each day, according to the Taxi and Limousine Commission, Bloomberg News reported.
The Boro Taxis will have meters, roof lights, global positioning-system locators and accept credit-card payments, Bloomberg News reported.
According to the New York Times:
The city will start accepting applications on May 29 for the first 6,000 licenses; it will offer 12,000 additional licenses in the following two years.
Not all New Yorkers think the new color evokes apples, the New York Times reported. Thomas Boskett, a professor at Parsons The New School for Design and an expert in color theory, told the New York Times that he considers the color “a warm wasabi.”
He added: “I love the robustness. It’s actually nice that they’re picking a color that seems kind of intense.”
More from GlobalPost: Meet the people behind Turkey's 'miracle'


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KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Kalamazoo Beer Week 2015 ended its celebration with the announcement that Western Michigan University, in partnership with Kalamazoo Valley Community College, will begin offering a degree in sustainable brewing for the Fall 2015 semester.
This will be the first sustainable brewing degree offered in the country.
Craft brewing in Michigan has a $1 billion economic impact, giving it a state ranking of tenth in the nation.
The impact of beer in Michigan has gained national attention. In 2013, Grand Rapids was voted “Beer City USA,” by an international pool of voters. Kalamazoo took the runner-up position.
WMU and KVCC’s program is the result of a year of planning and researching small brewing companies.
Interested students may either earn an associate’s degree at KVCC before transferring into the bachelor’s degree program at WMU, or attend the university for the full four years.


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Dubai: Musafir.com today announced that they’re on track to achieve a 30 percent year-on-year growth in their corporate business by the end of 2019 and cross 100,000 transactions. They also announced a 30 percent rise in holiday travel bookings for the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2018.
According to Albert Dias, CPTO and Co-founder, the company’s success is attributed to its digital transformation journey, which began in 2018, and uses innovative technology such as machine learning and natural language processing to optimize travel planning.
Musafir.com has seen a marked increase in UAE-based companies booking their travel online in 2019. Online travel management puts companies and their travelers back in the driving seat with greater transparency and savings.
“Companies using our online corporate travel technology see savings of as much as 20 percent on their annual travel spends in the first year simply because of better travel policy enforcement,” added Dias.
In addition to corporate travel, Musafir.com also focuses on holiday packages and tourist visa issuance & assistance, both services available online on Musafir.com.
For holidays, the rising trend of customers wanting to go online has helped Musafir.com’s new ‘Buy holidays Online’ feature gain a lot of traction, within days of the launch. 95 percent of their customers today prefer at least their first interaction to be online, and more than 10% actually complete their entire holiday booking journey online.
While payment methods are key, offering the right portfolio of destinations is critical and Musafir.com today offers packages to over 40 destinations. While visa-free short-haul destinations are amongst the top selling, Musafir.com sees a rising trend towards Russia, Ukraine, China and Eastern Europe for holiday goers from the Middle East. These upcoming destinations have shown an uptake of passengers of almost 10 percent when compared to previous years, with Musafir.com. Overall, during the recent Eid holiday period they saw a 100 per cent increase in sales as compared to last year.
For the upcoming Eid Al Adha break, Musafir.com recently announced a range of attractive travel deals, which include affordable short holidays, luxury getaways and week-long vacations for families and first-time travellers.
Commenting on Musafir.com’s overall growth and focus in 2019, Sachin Gadoya, CEO & Co-founder of Musafir.com said “Digital transformation is a top priority for us to continue our growth in corporate travel, holidays and tourist visas in 2019. We aim to offer all our services online by 2020 and we’re hiring the right talent to ensure that we maintain our industry-leading position”.
About musafir.com Musafir.com is the UAE's first premium-experience travel website. We offer flights to over 3,000 cities, hotel stays in over 250,000 properties around the world, holiday experiences and much more.
The word musafir (pronounced moo-saa-fir) means “traveler” in Arabic, and we at musafir.com live by three promises to all our travelers – great choice, no-nonsense convenience and a premium experience.
Musafir.com was founded by Mohammed Al Thani, Sachin Gadoya and Albert Dias in August 2007. We launched our services in India in 2010 and signed an exciting partnership with cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar in 2013, which saw him represent Musafir as a global brand ambassador till 2016.
For further information and interview requests, please contact:
BRAVE Communications Agency
+971 50 457 8233
+971 50 233 1080
© Press Release 2019


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Increasingly-demanding consumers want businesses to present a single face to them – whether online, in a retail store or over the phone. We investigate how an omnichannel approach promises to deliver a consistent customer experience.
The Internet has fundamentally changed how consumers interact with businesses across virtually all sectors. Now more knowledgeable, they can get information from many different sources and want to communicate on many different channels from multiple locations.
It’s no longer just about phone, email and face-to-face contact. In just a decade social media has come out of nowhere to become a critical channel for interaction, particularly for dissatisfied customers. An Avaya survey found that almost 55% of consumers had interacted with businesses on social media. Businesses can’t simply ignore social media, because users will take to it anyway to vent their frustrations.
interested in knowing more about the digital customer experience?
supporting multiple channelsWeb chat is another channel that has come into its own – particularly for consumers shopping online. The survey found that it was the fastest growing channel, with 38% using it already, and 68% saying they would like to use it while browsing on the internet. Even video, which has languished for many years is starting to take off, with 55% of respondents interested in having their questions answered by video-chat.
But in many cases, the customer experience between these different channels are not at all consistent. Statistics from Eptica found that only 71% of companies provided email contact details on their website, and just 41% answered emails accurately. It took companies an average of over 60 hours to answer email, which is really quite poor. Social media responses were quicker, but still slow at eight hours average and only 38% of the responses were correct.
With such unreliable customer experience, businesses should not be surprised that their customers are becoming less loyal. They need to provide accurate, timely and consistent information across all channels – something they have known for some years. “True integration of the customer experience across all available communications channels, devices and applications is the holy grail of customer service,” says Nancy Jamison, principal analyst, Customer Contact, Frost & Sullivan.
new consumer behavior
What makes this new explosion of channels even more challenging for businesses is that consumers also want to switch between channels depending on context or requirement. The Avaya survey found that just 17% of the businesses it surveyed were able to support this behavior.
Consumers rarely follow a linear buying pattern anymore. They are more knowledgeable about products and more demanding about what they want to do with them. So they might browse the internet beforehand to find out about products, check social media and speak to an agent using web chat when browsing. Even when inside a store they expect to be able to interact with the retailer and get them to do a price match or get an upgrade, for example.
An Accenture report gives a good example of a disconnect customers often experience. “If a customer buys a tablet computer online and then returns it to a physical store, but the store is not equipped to take it, due to its being part of a different P&L, the customer is increasingly likely to be frustrated or even astonished by this problem,” it says. “After all, the customer views the company as being one company, and expects that the company will likewise have one view of them as a customer across all channels.”
“One of the biggest problems facing brands since personal technology decided to up its game during the last decade has been maintaining uniformity across channels of communication,” comments Jennifer Bowden, customer service specialist at numero.
The solution is an omnichannel approach, which takes a multichannel contact center strategy one step further to encompass all customer touchpoints including retail outlets and branch offices. In fact, it is better to think of the omnichannel approach as a single channel to the customer with multiple touch points.
four building blocks of customer experience
Bowden says that omnichannel communication can deliver better customer experience in four key areas. First is consistency; it helps businesses provide a consistent service based on a single set of customer data shared across all channels.
Second is personalization; it helps businesses build a detailed profile of customers across all interactions to find out their likes and dislikes in order to provide personalized offers and services. This can include real-time location information to provide relevant local offers.
Third is accessibility, it needs to ensure that you are able to react to and service the customer on any channel quickly. And fourth, it can help businesses become more efficient. Bowden uses the example of abandoned shopping carts, which are estimated to cost UK retailers £1 billion per year. By tracking the web journey, omnichannel software can flag this up to a customer services agent who can reach out to the customer and see if they can help meet their needs.
Taking an omnichannel approach to customer experience needs to bridge marketing, customer service and operations. But this company-wide approach will deliver the personalized customer experience that will help businesses attract and keep modern demanding consumer.


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The sharing of ‘Dark Social’, copying and pasting links from websites into email or instant messages and sharing with friends, is 3.5 times more common that Facebook sharing, according to new research from advertising platform RadiumOne.
The research also found that Aussies generate more clicks on privately shared content than any other region in the world.
In October 2014, RadiumOne undertook the first global study to understand and provide a complete picture of online sharing data across all social networks and private messaging platforms, with Australia being looked at as a key market alongside; North America, Europe, the UK and France.
The study titled ‘The light and dark of social sharing,’ concludes that advertisers and publishers are seriously limiting their social focus and marketing investment to activities that take place “in the light” on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest where sharing is publicly available.
Kerry McCabe, managing director for RadiumOne Asia Pacific explained that Dark Social provides valuable new and actionable social data, as the content tends to be directed to people who belong to the sharer’s real life “intimate” social network of friends, family and colleagues.
“Dark Social is one of the most valuable sources of social insights and intelligence because it represents the genuine interests of sharers and their targeted recipients,” said McCabe.
“For each Dark Social share, the content and the people it’s being shared with are selected for a very specific reason. This is very different data than that collected from public social networks, where sharing centres around what an individual considers okay for public examination. For both marketers and publishers it represents meaningful insight into real-time consumer interest and intent” he said.
The key findings of the study show Australians’ Dark Social habits are ahead of the global average in a number of areas:
- In Australia, 75% of all sharing takes place via Dark Social versus 21% on Facebook. (Globally, 69% of all sharing activity takes place via Dark Social, versus 23% on Facebook).
- 95% of Australians who share online use Dark Social channels (Global average = 93%)
- 35% of Australians who share content online will only share via Dark Social channels (Global average = 32%)
- When it comes to consumers clicking on shared links, Australians generate 3.5 times more clicks on shared links than any other region in the world. Dark Social in Australia generates the majority (53%) of all clicks on social links, even more than on Facebook (42%) and all other public sharing channels combined. (Globally, 16% of all shared content is via Dark Social versus 76% via Facebook)
The study includes marketer and publisher case studies including a UK case study undertaken by TimeInc which found that in a typical month, there were 18,908 incidents of users choosing to copy text from the Marie Claire website and share it with a friend via email. This compared with 1,747 instances of users sharing content via Facebook and Twitter.
“Clearly Dark Social is too big to ignore, particularly in Australia where 95% of consumers are sharing via this channel. It’s a critical piece of the marketing puzzle, particularly for prospecting, and until now has been a large blind spot for advertisers and publishers,” said McCabe.
Dark Social generates high volumes of valuable real-time data – which can then be segmented and activated at the exact time when the consumer is showing genuine interest and intent.
The white paper goes on to highlight how RadiumOne helps marketers and publishers reach and convert new audiences with its data gathering sharing tools, integrated data management and delivery platform, and the globally patented ShareGraphTM technology.
View the full white paper here.


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It was late 2018 when we first heard of Narcos: Rise of the Cartels, with the teams at Curve Digital, Gaumont and Kuju announcing the game that has been based on the award winning Netflix show. But since that time things have gone a little quiet – until now, as the announcement comes that the game is on track for a Q4 2019 release.
Coming to Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC, Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is a brutal tactical turn-based strategy game based on Netflix’s Narcos, Coming digitally to all formats in late 2019, with a physical launch happening during Q4, it is certainly one to keep an eye on, particularly if you’re a fan of the show.
To celebrate the announcement of these release windows, and the fact that the game is now available for preorder, a couple of new trailers have been smuggled out, showcasing the game’s stylish visuals and authentic Narcos atmosphere.
In Narcos: Rise of the Cartels you will get the chance to relive the events of the first season, taking the side of either the Medellin Cartel or the DEA in two distinct campaigns. In 1980’s Colombia El Patrón’s influence is rapidly expanding, with drugs, corruption and crime spreading out from the Colombian town of Medellin, and America is now starting to take notice. The question is, do you help the Narcos’ drug empire rise to the top under the watchful eye of El Patrón, or topple the growing criminal enterprise alongside Steve Murphy as the DEA?
Based on the hit Netflix series from Gaumont, Narcos: Rise of the Cartels will feature the same iconic locations and characters from the show, offering players the chance to step into the criminal underworld alongside the likes of El Mexicano, Murphy, Peña, Primo and more. Each of these will come with their own unique gameplay abilities and perks to help turn the tide of battle, as you go about exploring familiar scenery from the show and take a pivotal role in world-altering events that will define and shift the war on drugs.
Should you be a fan of turn-based strategy then Narcos will let you experience an exhilarating new take on the genre, with units on both sides moving simultaneously and with innovative new mechanics that allow players to take direct third-person command over their units in critical moments. Form your team from a variety of class-specific roles, upgrade your skills and join leading characters on the path to dominance, but beware – your actions will have lasting consequences.
Keep an eye out for the fully confirmed release date in the weeks ahead, but for now, it’s trailer time… and there are a couple to watch. Let us know which way you will swing.


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$AAPL have had a lot of stories around iPhone sales being slow. Could be one of the slowest iPhone launches (relatively speaking).
$AMZN could go one of two ways. Certainly, eCommerce sales have slowed, and tech in general hasn’t done very well so could hurt AWS, so revenue is likely going to be negative. But their earnings could save them if they’ve managed to trim some fat and become more efficient.
@luckylefty_expect7 I'm thinking along the same lines about this iPhone launch. With inflation what it is and everything else from gas to rent to groceries so expensive, are people going to be so quick to upgrade their iPhones when the one in their pocket works just fine?
I think that $AAPL will fall after earnings. The main reason is that demand for iPhones is slowing immensely. The Apple employees say that there's no need for people with the 13 or 12 or 11 to get the 14. Also, Apple should be seeing cooling demand after a huge pandemic sales boom. From my experience, the Apple store at my local mall, while it has consistently been crowded, has seen traffic die down immensely. It has never been easier to speak to an Apple store rep.
Also, I do see management having to emphasize the growing tensions between China and Taiwan as a major reason for why they'll have to spend a lot on changing their supply chains to become less dependent on China.
@acb123 I might be falling for the 'sentiment follows price trap' but I've definitely been feeling myself get more bearish on big tech recently.
We've been "trained" to buy the dip ever since 2008. Buying the dip has worked every time, so even with the market down this year, there is still a lot of inflows every dip. But the Fed has said they're going to keep hiking interest rates in to next year, and inflation will likely stay higher than it has been for most of the decade. Makes me feel like big tech has a lot of downward pressure through the end of this year.
I'm not normally bearish 😬, and I'm currently still positioned bullish, but just thinking out loud.


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“Sales reflected the seasonally weak nature of the third quarter, coupled with both our industrial and consumer segments now feeling the impact of the worldwide recession,” said Frank Sullivan, chairman and CEO.
Sales in the company’s industrial segment declined 13%, to $406.7 million from $467.6 million in the year-ago third quarter. “The impact of the global economic slowdown, particularly the negative impact of the financial markets on North American commercial construction activity, is being felt in our industrial businesses,” said Sullivan. “We are experiencing modest growth in certain of our more internationally focused industrial businesses, including corrosion control coatings, polymer flooring and global roofing.”
Sales in RPM’s consumer segment declined 13.4% to $228.7 million from $264.2 million in the third quarter a year ago. “In addition to the ongoing impact of depressed sales of both existing and new homes in North America, our major retail customers continued their inventory reductions in the third quarter, further impacting consumer segment results,” Sullivan said


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Last Updated on Thursday, 29 October 2015 07:14 Thursday, 29 October 2015 07:09
CARLSBAD, California (Golf Canada) — PUMA Golf has introduced the new Ignite collection of golf footwear – the most comfortable collection from the brand to date – including TitanTour Ignite and TitanTour Ignite Premium. The footwear utilizes revolutionary Ignite foam – an innovative foam that maximizes energy return to give golfers power, comfort and performance.
Engineered with PUMA’s proprietary IGNITE foam, the TitanTour Ignite family is designed to deliver responsive cushioning, optimal rebound, and superior step-in comfort through every shot.
Last Updated on Sunday, 04 October 2015 21:39 Sunday, 04 October 2015 21:33
FootJoy has introduced the new D.N.A. (DryJoys Next Advancement) golf shoe which now has full customization through their popular MyJoys® program.
Offering lightweight support, a secure fit and comfortable performance, the latest D.N.A. golf shoes feature a new TourLock Cleat System for enhanced performance and traction in all conditions. While maintaining its low profile appearance, the new cleat system significantly enhances retention. Inside D.N.A., an improved SnugFit Tongue conforms to the top of the foot and locks it in place.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 September 2015 21:52 Tuesday, 15 September 2015 21:47
When Rory McIlroy steps onto the first tee today for his final round at the Deutsche Bank Championship, the Nike Golf athlete will look to disrupt the status quo with both his swing and his shoe: a limited edition Nike Lunar Control 3.
“We set out to be disruptive with this shoe,” explains James Arizumi, Nike Golf’s Design Director of footwear. “We challenge the status quo by placing the Swoosh on top of the shoe in the toe area, instead of on the side.”
Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 September 2015 21:47 Tuesday, 15 September 2015 21:40
Michelle Wie celebrated her 2014 U.S. Open win with a victory tour through New York City — championship trophy in hand and Nike Blazers on her feet, just one of the self-professed sneakerhead’s 20 pairs.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 09 September 2015 21:21 Wednesday, 09 September 2015 21:17
The 574LX features a waterproof full-grain leather upper with a pigskin collar lining and footbed cover. The outsole utilizes an NDurance® rubber outsole for maximum durability in high-wear areas, and a REVLite® 10mm drop* midsole for lightweight cushioning and premium responsiveness. The 574LX weighs just 12.5 ounces and is backed by a two-year waterproof warranty**. Golfers will enjoy the same style, comfort, and fit they are accustomed to from New Balance footwear, plus performance technologies designed to help enhance their golf game.
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As E3 2019 rolls along, Microsoft laid a whole lot of cards on the table for the coming 18 months.
Over 60 games were announced during the Xbox manufacturer’s press conference held Sunday afternoon. Titles ranged from sequels to big name titles, reboots to dormant franchise and plenty of online-exclusive titles furthering the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. While many titles were announced without release dates, big names were officially scheduled for releases for this and the next year.
The most high-profile announcement and crescendo to the conference was Halo Infinite. The 12th game in the iconic first-person shooter franchise will serve as a launch title for Microsoft’s next generation console titled Project Scarlett, scheduled for a holiday 2020 release date. The crowd at E3 was treated to a new trailer (but no gameplay) to the game, focusing on a random UNSC pilot adrift in space who stumbles upon Master Chief floating in the darkness. When Chief is rescued and re-powered, he comes across a shocking sight: a Halo ring destroyed.
One franchise in-particular received a heavy amount of press: Gears of War. The Coalition heavyweight had two titles detailed during the press conference that were practically at the opposite ends of the spectrum. The oddball was Gears POP!, a mobile real-time multiplayer game featuring Funko Pop Vinyl figures of characters from the franchise. Pre-orders from the Apple App Store and the Google Play store are set to go live “soon.”
There was also Gears of War 5, which got a cinematic trailer (soundtracked by Billie Eilish, of all people) and a trailer for its new Escape mode. Coalition Studio Head Rod Fergusson took the stage to announce the game will drop September 10 this year and detailed a brand new mode: Escape, which consists of a three-person team infiltrating the Hive and planting a bomb while fighting off hordes of enemies. Fergusson even gave three lucky fans a test run: WWE superstars Xavier Woods, AJ Styles and Tyler Breeze.
As a cherry on top, The Coalition also announced a character park featuring characters from Terminator: Dark Fate, the upcoming Terminator sequel set for release this summer. The character pack, however, will be a free bonus at the game’s launch with every pre-order or Xbox Game Pass membership.
One of the more surprising moments of the conference came during the new cinematic trailer for Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt Red’s open-world shooter was first officially revealed at last year’s E3 and after such a thorough preview of the game, only one thing could make it even more special 12 months later: Johnny Mnemonic
That’s right, the one and only Keanu Reeves was revealed to be playing a character in the game and then stepped out from the heavenly plains he frequents to greet the crowd. After he beamed with excitement about being part of the project and some adorable fan interaction (no Keanu, YOU are actually breathtaking), Reeves announced Cyberpunk 2077 will hit shelves April 16, 2020.
The conference featured a plethora of other titles with name recognition to them. Psychonauts 2 showcased a gameplay trailer after Microsoft was announced the purchase of its creators, Double Fine Productions. Phantasy Star Online 2, one of Japan’s most popular online RPG’s, will finally arrive on PC and Xbox One next spring. For those still dealing with Game of Thrones withdrawal, Microsoft showed off the collaboration between George R.R. Martin and From Software. Elden Ring showed off little details but a dark fantasy setting that will certainly have fans salivating for more. Fans of the classic era of Rare games were treated to the first trailer for the revival of Battletoads with fresh graphics and plenty of punch-throwing. Other highlights include LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Age of Empires II, The Outer Worlds and Blair Witch.
What do you think of Microsoft’s showcase? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to stay with The Young Folks for more coverage of E3 2019.


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The stigma behind buying condoms is being challenged by 2 childhood friends who want to make a change, Sidney Stanford reports
For as long as they have been around, people have been embarrassed by the thought of buying condoms and other forms of contraception. The FPA, who are a sexual health charity that specialise in helping people understand more about sexual health, conducted a survey that showed that 1 in 5 people were too embarrassed to buy contraception over the counter and that woman still thought there was a certain taboo when it comes to buying condoms compared to if men were to purchase them. Some people even went as far to say they didn’t go through with sex with their partner due to the fact they made sex less enjoyable.
Childhood friends, Farah Kabir and Sarah Welsh joined forces to create the company ‘HANX’ which is a business that makes premium condoms and in an interview with ‘The Business Insider’ they described them as having a “stylish design that you’re proud to purchase, carry and use.” The pair came together as Kabir experienced a humiliating time buying condoms on her lunch break and being seen by her boss.
The product itself has a very unique design that is said to “speak directly to women” with a sleek matted foil white box which is small enough to carry around with you on the go. They are being complimented for being 100% natural, vegan and fair trade.
I set out and spoke to some students on campus at London South Bank Universitymand a majority of people said that the whole process of contraception purchasing is daunting and embarrassing. One girl went as far to say it should be left to the boy to buy the condoms.
It is clear to see that there is obviously a stigma behind purchasing condoms and hopefully this new type of condom by HANX will break the barrier and make people more comfortable in buying contraception.
A box of 3 costs £6:


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Passengers are seen near the check-in desks of Delta Air Lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport before the Fourth of July holiday in Atlanta, Georgia on July 1, 2022.
Ilya Newage | Reuters
Air tickets, believe it or not, are getting cheaper.
Air fares fell a seasonally adjusted 1.8% from May to June, according to the latest US inflation data released last week. Tariffs were one of the few categories to decline at a time when consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than four decades.
According to recent reports from major carriers like Delta Air Lines, increased travel in the spring and summer — even at sky-high prices — has been a boon for airlines, lifting revenues above 2019 levels, even as airlines fly less than before the pandemic. and American Airlines.
The question now is: How sustainable will demand be after the summer peak, as carriers and travelers alike grapple with persistent inflation and worries about a slowing economy?
Last week, CEOs from Delta to JPMorgan said consumers continue to spend voraciously on travel. But rising costs can affect family vacation budgets and companies’ willingness to send employees on business trips.
Rising costs are already hurting airline profits, and high fares are forcing some travelers to change their plans.
Ben Merens, a 62-year-old communications consultant, said he and his wife canceled their summer vacation plans because of a family incident that happened just before the Fourth of July weekend.
The couple had planned to go to Denver or Seattle, but after a death in the family, they don’t travel, so last-minute tickets from their home in Milwaukee to New York to attend the funeral, Merens said. $980 each.
“The price is prohibitive,” Merens said before returning from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
Fewer flights, more income
Ticket prices often fall when the peak summer travel season ends — kids go back to school and families end their vacations — though business travel often picks up again. Airlines also adjust capacity for periods of low demand so they don’t flood the market with seats they would need to offer at low fares to fill.
As of July 14, the average round-trip price for U.S. flights was $375, down from $413 in May but still up 13% from 2019, according to fare tracker Hopper.
Still, airlines are optimistic about future sales, citing pent-up appetite for travel among both business and leisure travelers.
“People haven’t had access to our product for the better part of two years,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said during the company’s quarterly earnings call last week. “We’re not going to satisfy … that thirst in a busy summer.”
Delta posted a profit of $735 million in the second quarter on revenue of $13.82 billion, up 10% from the same period in 2019. The airline reported that sales of domestic corporate travel, which had largely slowed the industry’s recovery, were up 80%. level of 2019.
Delta projects more muted however, revenue growth in the third quarter. The carrier expects revenue to rise 1% to 5% from 2019 levels and said it will limit schedule growth until the end of the year — a measure that could in turn keep fares high if travelers maintain voracious demand for seats.
“We also recognize that our crystal ball is only about three or four months old now, and it doesn’t go as far as people want us to think,” Bastian said. “But everything we see tells us we have to run.”
American and United Airlines were also upbeat and are due to report second-quarter results and provide investors with an outlook on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. American on Monday forecast second-quarter revenue growth of 22.5% from 2019 for the three months ended June 30, compared with a previous estimate of 20% growth on a slightly shortened timetable.
Still, airlines will have to navigate cracks in a hot labor market and concerns about economic weakness as the peak travel season winds down.
“In the fall, the impact of cost inflation on the discretionary income and budgets of consumers and corporate travelers could soften aggregate demand for air travel,” Moody’s Investors Service transportation analyst Jonathan Root wrote last month. “However, current capacity restrictions will protect airlines from overcapacity if this occurs.”
US airlines have significantly cut schedules after biting off more than they could chew this spring and summer. Many carriers sold schedules to passengers only to hold back flights later as staff shortages and other issues prompted them to call.
Delta, American, United, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines and Alaska Airlines have all grounded flights.
A seasonal reduction in the number of flights can help airlines improve operations and offer more training space for their thousands of new hires without summer stocks.
Delta’s Bastian said the carrier has hired 18,000 people since the start of 2021, about the number it lost during the pandemic when it called for staff buyouts.
“While we have more than 95% of the employees needed to fully restore capacity, we have thousands at some point in the hiring and training process,” Bastian said during the company’s quarterly conference call.
Southwest Airlines, for its part, said this week it had hired 10,000 people since January to bring its workforce to 61,000, up from 2019.
Elizabeth Bryant, Southwest’s senior vice president of staffing, learning and development, added that “hiring and training will remain a focus throughout 2022.”
A smoother operation could ease travelers’ worries about delays and disruptions and keep demand high. But in the meantime, fewer flights mean higher costs, which are often passed on to consumers.
“We are basically bearing the full cost of the airline, having only resumed 85% of our flights,” Bastian said.
With high demand, airlines can still charge relatively high fares — quite the opposite, which is why there were so many bargains at the start of the pandemic, when most potential travelers stayed home.
In addition, lower consumer spending or a downturn in the labor market could lead to lower fares and lower airline revenues.
“People just have money to burn right now,” said Adam Thompson, founder of consulting firm Lagniappe Aviation. “When people don’t have any more money, you have to convince them that they want to buy your product.”


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The following info is from Sony Pictures:
Sony Pictures’ and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s SKYFALL, the 23rd film in the beloved James Bond series, opened overseas in 25 markets and grossed a staggering $77.7 million, #1 everywhere. Setting the pace was, of course, the UK, which opened to an enormous estimated $32.4 million (£20.1). Smashing the all-time Saturday attendance record yesterday, this is the biggest opening of 2012 and the 2nd biggest Friday-to-Sunday opening weekend in history there, behind just the 3D Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2. This launch was 76% bigger than Daniel Craig’s first turn as 007, Casino Royale, and 30% bigger than Quantum Of Solace. Of the $77.7 million on Skyfall, IMAX is estimating a weekend gross of $3.5 mil in 79 locations in 15 territories which include the UK, France, Russia, Korea, Bulgaria, Middle East, Kazakhstan and Brazil.
FRANCE bowed with $9.1, 39% more than Casino Royale’s opening Friday to Sunday (beating the entire 5-day opening as well) and just 15% less than Quantum, which opened during a holiday period. RUSSIA opened to $8.6, beating Casino Royale’s first weekend by 171% and Quantum’s by 58%. KOREA managed to take an gigantic 49% of the market, grossing $6.1, which was more than triple Casino Royale’s opening and 58% more than Quantum’s opening Fri-Sun (22% more than Quantum’s entire 4-day opening).
BRAZIL launched with a huge $6.5, the biggest Bond bow ever there, beating Casino’s opening by 130% and Quantum’s by 37%. BELGIUM earned $1.4, up 40% on Casino Royale’s first Friday to Sunday by 40% and 17% on Quantum’s. MGM’s licensees: NORWAY opened to $2.7, capturing well over 65% of the entire market and besting the opening of Casino by 52% and Quantum by 15%. SWEDEN launched with a huge $2.6, the biggest opening of 2012, 27% bigger than the opening of Casino, and just 4% less than Quantum, which opened during a national holiday. DENMARK also opened to $2.6, the biggest non-3D opening ever there, beating Casino by 23% and Quantum by 30%.
POLAND bowed with $2.5, more than tripling the opening weekend of Casino and besting Quantum by 67%. FINLAND earned a huge $1.5, the biggest opening in history there excluding previews, beating Casino Royale’s bow by 82% and Quantum’s by 23%. Other openings include the CZECH REPUBLIC ($.835), ISRAEL ($.825), PORTUGAL ($.630), HUNGARY ($.425), ROMANIA ($.325), SLOVAKIA ($.310), BULGARIA ($.175), and ICELAND ($.155).
Arguably the best Bond film in years, Skyfall will certainly make its mark when it opens in North America on November 9.
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Twitter — Shares of the social media platform slid 9.7% after Elon Musk said his take-private deal is on hold until he receives more information about how many fake accounts there are on Twitter. Still, Musk said he was “still committed to the acquisition.”
Affirm — Shares of the buy-now, pay-later lender surged 31.4% after Affirm beat expectations for its fiscal third quarter. The company reported a loss of 19 cents per share on $355 million of revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had penciled in a loss of 51 cents per share on $344 million of revenue. Affirm also announced a multiyear extension of its partnership with Shopify.
Robinhood — Shares of the investing app jumped 24.9% on Friday after the CEO of crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, picked up a 7.6% stake in Robinhood for $648 million after the stock hit an all-time low this week. His new position makes him the third-largest shareholder in the company.
Duolingo — Shares surged 34% after the language software company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue. Duolingo issued upbeat quarterly revenue guidance, and reported all-time high active user numbers.
Figs — Figs shares fell 25% on the back of disappointing quarterly results. The health-care apparel maker posted a profit of 5 cents per share on revenue of $110.1 million. Analysts expected earnings of 6 cents per share on sales of $117.3 million, according to StreetAccount. The company also issued weaker-than-expected revenue guidance for the year.
Krispy Kreme — Shares of the doughnut chain popped 10.4% after an upgrade from HSBC. “We expect more pricing and higher scale resulting from an aggressive point of access expansion will keep earnings expectations on track,” HSBC said.
Toast — Shares of Toast added 4.9% after the tech and payments platform for restaurants reported a loss for its most recent quarter that was narrower than expected by Wall Street analysts. The company also issued upbeat revenue guidance for the year.
Poshmark — Poshmark rose 23.9% after the company reported a quarterly loss of 18 cents per share. Wall Street analysts expected a loss of 22 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. Revenue for the quarter of $90.9 million also beat estimates of $87.5 million.
The Honest Company — Shares of The Honest Company were up 8.2% after the maker of personal care and household products reported a quarterly loss and revenue that were in line with analyst expectations. The company also reiterated its full-year revenue guidance.
Ford Motor — Shares of the carmaker added 8.5% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to equal weight from underweight, saying the market is underestimating certain parts of the company’s business.


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We had a Halloween-themed game planned for release on iOS next month. I’m now giving serious thought to axing (groan) that project and concentrating our efforts elsewhere. Maybe we could have four or five launch titles on Windows 8 instead of three. Perhaps now’s the time for us to start working with Windows Phone. Maybe we’ll even have to go back to writing other people’s games for a while. But I’m responding to this very quickly and very seriously. If you’re a developer, you should do the same.
The lack of visibility and the potential shift of the iTunes App Store further away from the indie developer is enough for Lightwood Games to look at Windows Phone as a platform. They won't be the only developer in this situation, and they won't be the only developer looking at Microsoft to see how the launch of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 pan out.
Lightwood Games are already working on Windows 8 titles.
Neither would it surprise me if many of those developers will be kicking the tyres of the Windows Phone 8 SDK to see if the new environment and coding options would be easy for them to work with. This, of course, will need to wait until the SDK is publicly available, which will likely be after the launch.
Here's where Windows Phone 8 has a chance, as the alternative to the chaotic app stores of iOS and Android. Microsoft are aware how important discovery is... if they can crack that problem and bring the indie developers with them, then perhaps the call of 'you need apps' will be answered.
You can read more of Newman's post on Lightwood Games.


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Twenty European Associations signed a high-level one page paper highlighting the value of copyright for the European Economy, jobs and innovation.
See below the full statement or download it here.
Copyright Fuels Europe’s Economy and Culture
In the decade following its adaptation to the Internet, Europe’s copyright framework has fuelled a surge of creativity, helped launch innovative business models, and led to an unprecedented offer of films, music, TV-programmes, apps, games, books, magazines and newspapers for Europe’s citizens. This European success story must be protected from efforts to erode the fundamental rights of creators, producers and investors in creation. Three core points in support of this conclusion are offered below.
1. EU Copyright Is a Success – It Creates Jobs, Pays Taxes, and Nourishes Innovative Online Business Models That Support Europe’s Culture.
Copyright is a cornerstone of the digital economy, supporting sectors that generate more than 7 million jobs in Europe and that drive interest in the Internet and new technologies. Legal services are flourishing and helping Internet companies grow. The current EU copyright regime is an engine for growth. It should be supported and strengthened.
The Commission’s public consultation and the studies commissioned in this context confirm the success of this area of European law. This includes the CRA study on territoriality, which illustrates that the current offers by digital services meet consumer demand. This demand is often based on local tastes, cultures and languages. The study also states that services have the inbuilt flexibility needed to address potentially emerging future demands. There is no evidence why copyright should be weakened.
2. Copyright, a Right to Property, Is a Fundamental Right.
The need to carve out commercially attractive uses of other people’s creative works, which has been suggested in discussions to widen exceptions, has not been justified. Weakening copyright for the sake of other commercial interests would be a forced wealth transfer, to the benefit of certain companies dominating the Internet and to the detriment of Europe’s creators. Weakening copyright means weakening Europe’s economy and culture. It would diminish the value of creative works currently sought out by the public, and it would deprive the EU of one of its greatest strengths in the world today: the creativity of its citizens.
Copyright is a fundamental right and must be protected and respected. It is imperative that technology companies and other players in the market, such as Internet intermediaries and news aggregators, whose activities have a major impact on the sustainability of the creative sector, are required to be more accountable in the creation value chain and the economy.
3. Simplistic Sounding Solutions Can Mask Fundamentally Dangerous Side-Effects.
Exclusive rights, freely contracted, are at the core of copyright and must be preserved. They have led to the booming digital creative economy, and they are what creators depend on. Attempts to create loopholes for businesses unwilling to pay for the creative content that makes their services shine should not be tolerated, as these will harm creators and consumers. Licensing solutions should always be the priority, and licenses now enable many uses. Contractual freedom and technology offer innovative opportunities that can be more effective than anachronistic solutions.


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Sony has officially confirmed that PlayStation 2 emulation is coming to PlayStation 4.
Speaking in a statement to Wired, the format holder confirmed that it is indeed working on bringing PS2 titles to its current-generation console following a slew of evidence supporting the feature appeared online earlier this week, notably the Star Wars Battlefront PS4 bundle that included a series of classic PS2 games.
“We are working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation,” said the company. “We have nothing further to comment at this point in time.”
Furthermore, a report on DigitalFoundry has shed a little more light on Super Star Wars, Star Wars: Racer Revenge, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, the classic PS2 games included in the aforementioned Star Wars Battlefront bundle. Three of those titles are not ports of old code to PS4; rather, they are running on proprietary emulation software, the report has claimed.
Essentially, this allows PS2 games to run on the PS4 as if they were being played on their native games console, and sometimes clock in at a higher resolution to boot. PS4 obviously does not have backwards compatibility, making it the only Sony console since the PS2 to eschew the feature. Early PS3 models allowed gamers to play both PSOne and PS2 games, for example.
Sony is investing heavily in PlayStation Now, the cloud-based streaming service that allows gamers to enjoy a range of software on PlayStation-compatible devices. Right now only PS3 games are available to stream, though Sony has plans to make available its back catalogue at some point in the future. Sony recently added a whopping 105 new games to the service in North America, including 21 games from Capcom alone. PS Now recently launched in the U.K. where it will cost you £12.99 per month.
Since we’re in a bit of a retro mood, be sure to check out 5 faces that defined the PSOne era to satisfy your nostalgia.


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Klobuchar Plans Bill To Ease Medication Shortage
EDINA (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she plans to introduce legislation to speed up the availability of substitutes for certain vital prescription drugs that are growing scarce.
She says that 150 drugs are now considered in short supply in the United States, twice as many as five years ago, including some widely-used cancer drugs.
The shortages have been partly blamed on production problems and decision by drug makers to stop producing inexpensive generic drugs.
The Minnesota Democrat says at a news conference Wednesday that she plans to introduce a bill early next year that would require manufacturers to warn the Food and Drug Administration of impending shortages.
The bill would also ease access to similar drugs from Canada and other countries.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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Guwahati, Dec 12: Arunachal Pradesh has become the second state in the Northeast after Meghalaya, to launch drone-based services to deliver medicines and other healthcare essentials in the remote, mountainous and far-flung areas to save time and costs.
Gurugram-based 'TechEagle' has developed the drone-based services and launched it in collaboration with the Arunachal Pradesh government and World Economic Forum.
The operations have been started to enable "Medicines from the Sky" for the remote areas of Lower Subansiri District. The project was flagged off by Arunachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Alo Libang.
Officials said that the drone took off from Ziro Valley and transported the cargo (medicine) to Chambang, covering an aerial distance of 31 km, in just 21 minutes.
The drone took off from Ziro Valley with a payload of 1.5 kg, carrying Diclofenac tablets and Adrenaline Injection, and on its return flight from Chambang to Ziro Valley, the drone carried blood samples for testing.
Apparently, the time taken by a vehicle to travel between Ziro Valley to Chambang by road takes around 8 hours.
TechEagle's indigenously developed drone delivery solution transported the items around 24 times faster compared to ground transportation, a statement said.
TechEagle's state-of-the-art drone delivery solution will ensure regular and consistent transportation of life-saving drugs and other emergency healthcare items to save and improve the lives of people residing in the hard-to-reach areas of the state
In 2021, TechEagle had successfully completed Asia's first cold chain Vaccine delivery by Drones in Telangana with the World Economic Forum's Medicine from the Sky Initiative.
On December 5, TechEagle developed Asia's first drone delivery hub built at the Jengjal Sub-Divisional Hospital in West Garo Hills district was launched by Meghalaya's Health and Family Welfare Minister James P.K. Sangma.


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A la carte pricing of video channels may someday bring in customers by the hundreds of thousands. But, if China’s most capitalistic city is any example, the amount of revenue generated from television subscribers paying per network works out to less than $15 a month: barely one-third of what U.S. cable operators are used to pulling in from their customers.
That is the experience to date of PCCW, a Hong Kong telecommunications company with the largest base of Internet protocol television subscribers — as well as the largest video-over-phone-line deployment — anywhere in the world.
To win its 549,000 IPTV subscribers, PCCW used a la carte pricing. But that doesn’t mean that’s a sure-fire path to profit. In fact, revenue per subscriber has been slow to grow; and as such, PCCW’s experience is a cautionary tale for U.S. operators of multichannel video services.
BIGGEST TELCO IN TOWN
PCCW is the largest telephone and digital subscriber line provider in Hong Kong, with 2.7 million phone and 953,000 Internet subscribers. With a cable operator and a broadband operator coming after its phone customers, PCCW launched a la carte video services over its copper-wire telephone network in May 2003.
The a la carte strategy was a gambit to pull subscribers away from incumbent cable provider I-Cable and keep them away from a new rival, Hong Kong Broadband, before its video service gained a foothold. All three companies now offer video, voice and high-speed data services to Hong Kong residents.
What it found was lots of new customers. PCCW’s 549,000 IPTV subscribers far exceeds the 109,000 subscribers Hong Kong Broadband has signed up for its own Internet protocol-delivered video service. PCCW’s total is even within shouting distance of I-Cable’s 738,000 video subscribers.
“This [a la carte] proved to be a major selling point against the traditional cable-TV proposition of basic and premium-tiered packages,” said Paul Berriman, head of strategic market development at PCCW.
What it didn’t find was a lot of revenue. Of PCCW’s 549,000 subscribers, 158,000 are taking a basic-TV package of 35 channels that costs them nothing, the company said. The true number of “paying” subscribers was 391,000 at year-end 2005.
Even rapid growth doesn’t mean overwhelming results. During 2005, PCCW saw the number of paying subscribers more than double, from 192,000 in January. Revenue per subscriber only increased 8.5%, from $13.44 per month in U.S. dollars to $14.59.
PCCW hopes to close that gap between pay-customer growth and revenue per subscriber by pushing customers into mini-packages of small handfuls of channels, and by offering price breaks for buying more than one a la carte channel.
CNN International and Headline News cost $1.54 a month separately, but $2.56 if purchased together. ESPN and Star Sports each cost $11.26 per month, but subscribers who buy both pay $21.50.
Of PCCW’s 391,000 paying subscribers, 59% are already buying more than one channel. Subscribers who buy more than one channel receive some discounts. Some groups of channels with news or children’s programming are already sold in mini-packages. And last month, PCCW launched an 84-channel Super Value Pack for $49.67 (U.S.) per month, if subscribers make an 18-month commitment.
“It’s a big opportunity for us,” said PCCW chief financial officer Alex Arena said of the 84-channel package on the company’s March 29 earnings call. “We’re getting quite significant interest. It’s not that difficult to sell and we’re fairly expectant that we can get the revenue per subscriber up.”
Although formed in 2000, PCCW has a long telecommunications history. PCCW purchased the telecommunications assets of Cable & Wireless and Hong Kong Telecom, the country’s original telephone company, in 2000. Its chairman, Richard Li, financed the purchase by selling the pan-Asian direct-to-home satellite company STAR TV to News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, for $950 million.
Li is the younger son of Li Ka-Shing, a Hong Kong magnate whose nine holding companies, including Cheung Kong Ltd. and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., are worth nearly $100 billion.
When PCCW launched video service in May 2003, it joined two other companies, I-Cable and Hong Kong Broadband, in offering telephone service, high-speed data and pay TV services to residents.
The incumbent cable company, I-Cable, counts 738,000 video subscribers, 320,000 high-speed data subscribers and 120,000 voice subscribers. PCCW counts 2.67 million telephone and 953,000 high-speed data subscribers, to go along with its 549,000 video subscribers.
The third provider, Hong Kong Broadband, counts 294,000 voice, 229,000 data and 109,000 video subscribers.
PCCW’s a la carte strategy has put a dent in I-Cable revenue per subscriber numbers, but not total subscribers. I-Cable charges about $40 a month for 80 channels of service. Video subscribers rose 5% in 2005 at I-Cable, to 738,000 from 702,000, at the same time PCCW was reporting strong growth.
But revenue per subscriber dropped 6% during 2005 for I-Cable, to $27.14 from $28.80 a month, because I-Cable began to offer new mini-packages of channels to mirror PCCW’s mini-packages.
The revenue-per-subscriber drop “was due to active marketing of lower-yield mini-packages to build market position,” I-Cable chairman Stephen Ng said during the company’s earnings call last month, For instance, I-Cable offers six Discovery Communications Inc. networks in a package for $11.52 a month. A package of Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Nickelodeon is $5.12.
The third video competitor, Hong Kong Broadband, charges $16 per month for its 60-channel video service.
It stays away from carrying the more expensive sports-network product, preferring to position itself as a low-cost video provider. The lower price points helped to drive video subscribers from 39,000 to 109,000 for its fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2005.
For fast access to the Internet, I-Cable charges $35.58 a month, while PCCW charges $31. Hong Kong Broadband only charges $15.
And it’s in the red, partly due to costs associated with upgrading its network to transfer data at 100 Megabits per second. The company reported a loss of $20 million in fiscal year 2005, after posting a profit of $6.6 million in 2004. It was the first time in the company’s 13-year history it lost money, according to company chairman Richard Wong.
While Hong Kong Broadband is banking on its 100 Mbps service to fuel future growth (the company did increase broadband subscribers from 203,000 to 229,000 in fiscal year 2005), Wong told analysts “the industry price war will worsen” in 2006.
Competition may help consumers in Hong Kong, but it does create an economic toll on broadband companies.
PCCW’s strategy is actually a blend of a la carte pricing, packages and subscriptions.
Channels can be bought in one-month, six-month or 12-month increments, with the highest prices at the one-month rate and the cheapest prices at the 12-month commitment level (see chart).
Exactly who buys what, PCCW isn’t saying, other than that 59% of subscribers are buying at least one “mini-pack.”
Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon are available for $1.54 a month in U.S. dollars, for a 12-month commitment. On a month to month basis, those channels cost $2.56 U.S.
Disney Channel (which once was available in the U.S. as a premium a la carte service, first at $9.95 a month but in later incarnations as low as $4.95, before it was converted to a basic channel) is available to PCCW subscribers for $3.84 a month in U.S. dollars with a 12-month commitment, or $6.40 month to month.
Programmers that have fought a la carte in the U.S. have gone along with PCCW’s strategy. One reason is to help a new distributor in the market, they said.
The programmers also believe they can protect revenues by establishing pricing schemes that move subscribers towards longer-term commitments and into mini-packages.
“Turner Broadcasting [System Inc.]’s distribution strategy is to allow services to reach as many viewers as possible,” said Ringo Chan, vice president of wireless development, Asia Pacific, for Turner International Asia Pacific Ltd. “Although PCCW is adopting an a la carte model, they mainly sell their services through different bundled packages. The IPTV platform offered by PCCW enables programmers to provide more services and interactive TV in the future.”
Turner offers CNN International and Headline News, both a la carte and in packages, and Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Chan wouldn’t disclose the programmer’s penetration figures, but said “we are very satisfied with the current take-up rate.”
Chan said the disconnect rate (churn) “is relatively low. Most of our subscribers are on yearly packages and the subscriber numbers have been growing since we launched our services on PCCW.”
In theory, Turner could lose out if PCCW “steals” a full basic cable subscriber from, say I-Cable Communications but that subscriber does not take a Turner network from PCCW. Chan said that hasn’t happened yet, because Turner’s content is strong enough to drawing in PCCW subscribers.
MINI-PACKS IN PLAY
While a la carte has drawn in subscribers, building revenue has been a bit of a challenge for PCCW.
“While this unique approach with flexible pricing was a great entry strategy there was some inherent inertia in the online subscription method, where customers were slow to take up more than a few channels at a time,” Berriman acknowledged.
Several months after launch in September 2003, PCCW introduced a “high-volume discount” for subscribers who signed up for 12-month packages. Mini-packages, which combined channels, were launched in the summer of 2004.
The tactic caused mini-pack penetration to jump from zero to 58% from March 2004 to December 2004 and revenue per subscriber to jump from $7.93 a month to $13.44 (U.S.) a month, over the same period, Berriman said.
But revenue per subscriber growth slowed in 2005, increasing 8.5% from $13.44 to $14.59 per month, even while paying subscribers more than doubled in 2005, from 192,000 to 391,000. The revenue per subscriber is about half what I-Cable generates.
Last month, PCCW launched the 84-channel “Super Value Pack” for $49.67 a month. It includes HBO and ESPN, but not ESPN Star Sports Cricket, Star Plus, Star News, Channel India or the adult channels.
While a la carte slowly evolves to a more traditional packaged strategy, it’s also serving another purpose, Arena said, because it helps builds the data and phone business.
The company reported broadband subscribers jumped from 857,000 to 953,000 from June 2005 to December 2005, its best six-month period in over three years.
“Even if they don’t take any premium channels, the revenue we get from the broadband line has not gone down,” Arena said. “So they pay us something.”
Indeed, some 90% of new customers to PCCW are taking the Now TV service, Arena said. “Most new subscribers are coming to us for broadband because they want Now TV,” he said. “Now TV is driving this growth. It’s proving to be the killer application.”
PCCW added 50,000 telephone access lines in the last six months of 2005, Arena said, compared to a net loss of 53,000 lines in the first six months of 2005. It’s the first time in three years PCCW posted net additions in telephone line share, Arena said.
“For an incumbent telephone provider, this is a massive turnaround,” Arena said.
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