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The IoT botnet, named “dark_nexus” based on a string it prints in its banner, has the ability to launch a range of various DDoS attacks, disguise malicious web browser traffic as benign, maintain persistence, and infect devices that run on at least 12 different CPUs. The botnet, say the researchers, has already infected over 1,300 devices – including video recorders, thermal cameras, and various home and small office routers – by guessing common administrator passwords and exploiting security vulnerabilities.
“While it might share some features with previously known IoT botnets, the way some of its modules have been developed makes it significantly more potent and robust,” says Liviu Arsene, a senior cybersecurity analyst for Bitdefender. “For example, payloads are compiled for 12 different CPU architectures and dynamically delivered based on the victim’s configuration.”
The botnet features a technique meant to ensure “supremacy” on the compromised device. Uniquely, say the researchers, dark_nexus uses a scoring system based on weights and thresholds to assess which processes might pose a risk by maintaining a list of whitelisted process and their PIDs, and killing every other process that crosses a threshold of suspicion.
The botnet can also kill the restart process, allowing it to run without any interruption while it delivers exploits and payloads using the compromised device. In the three months that Bitdefender has tracked it, dark_nexus has undergone 30 version updates, as its developer – most likely a known botnet author who has been selling DDoS services and botnet code for years – has steadily added more features and capabilities.
Currently, dark_nexus infections are most common in China, with the next four most affected countries being the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Brazil, and Russia. At the time of the report, there were 68 infections detected in the US. It’s likely, say the researchers, that more device models will be added as darknexus development continues.
For more, see the company’s white paper “New dark_nexus IoT Botnet Puts Others to Shame.”
IoT devices becoming ‘cyberweapon of choice’ for attackers
Cybersecurity expert shares top predictions for 2020
GE Appliances first to test devices with new UL IoT security rating
Free cybersecurity tool ‘thinks like a hacker’


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Starz Entertainment’s decision Thursday to walk away from renewal talks on a streaming deal with Netflix leaves questions as to what the next moves from both companies will be.
The original 2008 pact, which delivered more than 1,000 recently released movies to Netflix via the pay cabler’s output deals with Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures, was key to the emergence of the company as a dominant player in digital movie delivery.
“This decision is a result of our strategy to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content,” Starz said in a statement.
Netflix’s high-flying stock tumbled about 8% in after-hours trading Thursday. Hours after Starz announced the end of negotiations, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings minimized the impact of losing top-shelf titles from “Wall-E” to “The Social Network,” noting that they comprised only 8% of its subscribers’ digital viewing.
“We are confident we can take the money we had earmarked for Starz renewal next year, and spend it with other content providers to maintain or even improve the Netflix experience,” he said in a statement.
The prospect of a Netflix shopping spree has sent salivary glands at content companies’ everywhere into overdrive, though it remains to be seen what the Los Gatos, Calif. company is in the market for: films to compensate for the loss of Disney and Sony titles or a doubling down on TV titles.
As for Starz, the question is what it will do next with the streaming rights to its films, which could either be folded into TV Everywhere efforts or maybe even sold to a Netflix rival.
“Starz is in a very different environment now than it was when it made the deal in 2008,” said Deana Myers, a pay-TV analyst with SNL Kagan. “The MSOs are very eager to build out their own digital platforms.”
The loss of the Starz deal comes at a crucial juncture for Netflix, which on the very same day coincidentally implemented a controversial move to raise by 60% the price for subscribers who want to both rent movies by mail and streaming — a decision that could leave it newly vulnerable.
For the past year, the companies had been negotiating a renewal, which likely would have cost exponentially more than the $20 million-$30 million Netflix paid for its initial four-year deal. That pact had been seen as a steal, singlehandedly responsible for putting Netflix on the map online when it had little else to offer.
While the dissolution of the deal wasn’t entirely surprising, both Starz and Netflix execs have spoken optimistically in past months about reaching a new deal.
Starz was said to be seeking at least $200 million per year to renew the deal, a sum that Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acknowledged as reasonable. Back in May, Hastings told Charlie Rose in an interview, “We’ll try to renew with them, and, of course, that renewal if it happens will be for a lot more money.”
The current agreement expires on Feb. 28, 2012.
Sony movies had already disappeared from Netflix in June, when the studio pulled its film titles off the service due to a clause in Sony’s contract with Starz that put a cap on how much its content could be viewed online.
Liberty Media Corp.-owned Starz had already begun to take a more protective stance with Netflix in March, imposing a 90-day delay on its programming made available through the cabler’s Starz Play service. The move came just days after Showtime made a similar move, an acknowledgement of how Netflix has increasingly been perceived as a competitor to pay-TV networks.
Earlier this year, Netflix announced it was getting into the original programming business by ordering 26 episodes of “House of Cards,” an adaptation of the BBC drama set for late 2012. Media Rights Capital will produce the series, which will star Kevin Spacey and be executive produced by “The Social Network” director David Fincher.
The foray into original content has been interpreted as a hedge against the increasing selectivity among content companies regarding what movies and TV shows it will license to Netflix and other digital players. No major TV brand currently licenses Netflix streaming rights to current programming, for instance.
The collapse of deal talks could also raise the prospect that Starz is prepared to steer the movies to a Netflix rival ready to outbid. Competing subscription VOD services including Amazon may have been willing to pay a premium to land the kind of content that would make them more competitive.
The absence of the Starz deal leaves Netflix’s pact last year with Epix, which delivered streaming rights to Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate titles, as its most valuable partner on the film side of its business. That deal is estimated to have cost Netflix nearly $1 billion over five years.

domain: news


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Addressing a long-standing question of potentially merging the iPhone, iPad and Mac operating systems into one with a “no,” Apple did provide a sneak peek at upcoming new frameworks designed to help developers port their iOS apps over to the Mac without too much fuss.
It’s being described as a multi-year project by Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, who went on to confirm that Apple has in fact ported over some of iOS’s key frameworks to macOS and adapted them to the behaviors that are specifically tailored to desktop computing, such as use of trackpad, mouse and windows.
Phase 1 of this endeavor is to test the new frameworks—which Apple has actually done already by bringing new iOS apps to Mac computers in macOS Mojave, including Stocks and Home. The company claims its engineers were able to do so “with very few code changes,” but we’ll believe this when we hear it from major third-party developers themselves.
This new project was first reported on by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who originally described it as a combined apps platform of sorts that would permit the current iOS apps to co-exist on your Mac alongside macOS apps.
Gurman was half-right because Apple, again, is not merging iOS and macOS into a new computing platform, they’re simply announcing these new developer tools to make porting iOS apps over to macOS easier than it is today. According to Apple, the new frameworks will be available to developers beginning next year.
Image: Luna Display for Mac


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Apple is reportedly discussing with its manufacturing partners to move part of the production lines for MacBook and Apple Watch devices from China to Thailand, according to industry sources.
The report underscored an accelerating shift of manufacturing away from China as Washington-Beijing tensions continue to grow, said the sources.
The selective decoupling from China has been in process since 2022-2023, with Apple's production partners significantly expanding their capacities in Southeast Asia for producing such products as iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks.
The supply chain sources indicated that Foxconn has set up a MacBook production line in Vietnam. And Quanta Computer has decided to build a factory in northern Vietnam to produce notebook products.
As the second largest economy in Southeast Asia, Thailand has been one of the favorite locations for Taiwan-based PCB makers to enhance their overseas investments in recent years.
Related PCB suppliers are facing severe challenges in China, including geopolitical tensions and electricity and labor shortages, and are accelerating the shift of their manufacturing capacity away from China, said the sources.
On the other hand, Thailand is continuously improving the value chain of its PCB industry through the availability of lower manufacturing costs, a stable water supply, and government-backed investment incentives.
As such, Taiwan-based upstream and downstream PCB supply chain makers, including CCL, FCCL, and PCB suppliers, are gradually expanding their operations in Thailand.
FCCL maker, Taiflex Scientific, moved fast and started building a factory in Thailand at the end of 2022 with an initial investment of US$35 million. The new plant aims to produce double-sided, non-adhesive copper foil substrates, with mass production likely to begin in mid-2024.
CCL (copper clad-laminate) suppliers Taiwan Union Technology (TUC) and Elite Material (EMS) said that they will also venture into Thailand.
Meanwhile, PCB makers, including Unimicron Technology, Tripod Technology, Dynamic Electronics, and Nanya PCB, have all announced plans to expand their production capacities in Thailand.
Apex International currently produces 100% of its PCB products in Thailand, and fellow companies Chin-Poon Industrial and Advanced Printed Circuit Board (APCB) operate branch offices in Thailand.
And industry insiders pointed out that HDI board makers Compeq Manufacturing and United Printed Circuit Board will likely remove part of their HDI capacities to new plants in Thailand, capitalizing on upscaling MacBook shipments from the country.


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Kwasi Kwarteng, finance minister of the UK presented the mini-budget on Friday and also announced the reintroduction of VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors.
The sales tax-free shopping has been brought back after being terminated in 2020 to encourage growth in the retail sector and help tolerate the rising inflation on the high street.
“Britain welcomes millions of tourists every year, and I want our high streets and airports, our ports and our shopping centres, to feel the economic benefit. So we have decided to introduce VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors,” Kwarteng said as he announced the move in the parliament.
A refund on VAT will now be allowed for international shoppers with the reintroduction of this scheme. This will apply to products bought from the airports, high street, and other departure points and exported from the UK in their personal baggage.
The retail and hospitality sector has welcomed this decision of the government with open arms as they have found that the scrapping of the scheme back in 2020 drove a large number of buyers to other markets.
The scheme, which will cost almost £1.3bn, is yet to go through consultation before introducing it by 2024-25. There are also plans to modernize the system of the tax-free shopping scheme by making it entirely digital.
The UK government believes that a consultation would help “gather views on the approach and design of the scheme” before it can be brought back into practice.
What would this VAT-free shopping mean for British Retailers?
However, the chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, Helen Dickison, pointed out that the Retailers are under immense cost pressures and that Kwateng’s announcement was absent of business rates that are to increase by 10% by April 2023.
She said that although retailers are eagerly waiting for the return of the scheme, the government needs to take into consideration “£800m in unaffordable tax rises on already squeezed retailers.”


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Stockholm’s population may be just over 2 million people (one quarter of New York City). Yet it's home to over 22,000 startups, and has been responsible for more than a half-dozen billion-dollar brands: Ikea, H&M, Skype, King (makers of Candy Crush), Ericsson and Spotify among them. Yet it’s never had its own South By Southwest or Silicon Valley Innovation Summit, conferences that have positioned Austin and San Francisco as tech hubs on a global scale.
Daniel Ek, CEO-founder of Spotify, and Ash Pournouri, founder of At Night Management (Avicii), will seek to change that by hosting the inaugural Symposium Stockholm June 8 through 13, anchored by the tech and music-based Brilliant Minds Conference on June 11 and 12.
Ek argues that Sweden is already a model for the future of content consumption and technology: HBO has been available as an a la carte subscription for years, while the major sports leagues have also cut deals that exclude cable and satellite partners.


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The California Magazine's host, Sasha Khokha, is away this week, so we’re reprising our 2021 Hidden Gems show, where we go from a coveted food truck in the Central Valley to remote corners of Humboldt County.
In the heart of Humboldt County lies a canyon exploding in bright green ferns — it’s easy to imagine a dinosaur popping up from behind the densest thickets. California Report Magazine host Sasha Khokha introduces us to a corner of California that feels more like Jurassic Park than the Golden State.
Landscapes, vistas, and knotted trees abound in Joshua Tree National Park. But those natural stunners are not the only beauty game in town. Reporter Peter Gilstrap takes us to the Beauty Bubble — a cool refuge from the desert sun, and a snapshot of another era.
We’ve all seen them before — the bright yellow bumper stickers that read “Mystery Spot” in black lettering. But what, actually, happens at the Mystery Spot? Reporter Amanda Font follows the story to the heart of the Santa Cruz mountains, to a place where perception appears to bend reality.
The Shuei-Do Manju secret has been out for decades now. The San Jose shop makes mochi so soft one Instagram follower described them as “baby cheeks.” There’s almost always a line out the door at the tiny shop. KQED’s Rachael Myrow stopped by to sample
Tucked away among the warehouses and farm supply stores that dot Highway 99 between Fresno and Bakersfield sits a jewel of a joint. Reporter Alice Daniel takes us to a food truck in Goshen, California featuring Lao cuisine, and a reputation that extends far beyond the local community.
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park in Shasta County is the second oldest state park in California. The waterfall it’s named for might not be the largest in the state — but the California Report’s intern Hector Arzate thinks it might be the most beautiful.


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From Ranch to Table
Molokai Ranch is beefing up their operation, and with more than 1000 cattle grazing on 30,000 acres of pasture, the company has started accepting orders for grass-fed beef, available on Molokai and Oahu in September.
“It’s a big deal for us,” said Molokai Ranch CEO Clay Rumbaoa. “The previous Ranch operation was ‘cow/calf,’ meaning none on the cattle was finished [and] processed on Molokai, but rather shipped to the mainland to be grain finished and processed,. Our model is to raise, finish, process, quality Molokai Ranch Angus beef that is 100 percent grass fed and hormone-free for consumers to enjoy.”
Molokai Ranch’s website touts that its environmentally-friendly beef, having lived on a diet of native grass, has a higher nutrition value with lower fat and higher omega-3s and minerals than the grain-fed alternative.
“Grazing across the vast hillsides, living unconfined and enjoying ideal island weather, our cattle experience a comfortable Hawaiian lifestyle,” states their website. “Locally born, pasture-raised, and finished on Molokai, our cattle remain on-island during their entire life cycle, making Molokai Ranch beef truly ranch-to-table.”
Rumbaoa said beginning in September, the Ranch will begin processing 10 head per month and double that within 18 months. All the meat will go through the local slaughterhouse, Molokai Livestock Cooperative, he said, which he hopes will allow the cooperative to hire more employees and beef up their business, too.
“Molokai Ranch has been fortunate to grow our herd rather quickly, by purchasing on island cattle from other ranchers, that would otherwise be shipped to the mainland,” he said. “It is a win/win situation for all…. The goal is to produce quality meats for consumers to enjoy, keep diseases off island, create a sustainable operation, whereby all the ranchers on Molokai and the slaughterhouse works together and are successful.”
Currently running the operation with two fulltime cowboys, the cattle ranching effort is also supported by other Molokai field personnel, as well as friends and `ohana who help during round-ups, according to Rumbaoa.
Molokai Ranch has also introduced a breeding program to produce Wagyu breed beef cattle. Wagyu orginated in Japan but is now sold commonly in the U.S. as Kobe beef. The meat is known for its high quality and can fetch a higher market price. Last winter, the Ranch used artificial insemination to impregnate some of its cows with the Wagyu strain, with the assistance of specialists from University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. While the Wagyu isn’t ready yet, the Ranch plans for it to be on the menu in the next few years.
“As Molokai Ranch grows, we want to educate and cultivate the quality of our product, because of the pristine Molokai environment and the humane practices we’ve implemented,” said Rumbaoa, via email. “We have used our partnership with the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources to assist with improving our breed quality and held several livestock classes for all Molokai residents to attend.”
Visit molokairanch.com for more information or to place orders.


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Is tourism the crowning glory of the coronation?
Despite the very British weather, London was awash with tourists last weekend flocking to see the spectacle of King Charles III’s coronation.
Not without controversy, many have criticised the pomp and ceremony of gold carriages and ermine robes at a time when many people in the UK find themselves embroiled in an ongoing cost of living crisis.
The travel and hospitality sector may be breathing a sigh of relief however, as domestic and international visitors have given the capital the boost it so sorely needed.
Lured by the historic happenings at Westminster, international tourists flocked in their droves through Heathrow, which reported 6.4 million passengers throughout April, a 25.9 percent increase on April last year. Passenger numbers levelled off after the post-pandemic rebound and Heathrow proved it was ready, with 90 percent clearing security in under 10 minutes.
An estimated extra 30,000 overseas visitors were expected, with the capital predicted to receive an additional revenue windfall worth around £20 million.
Aside from the influx of our foreign friends, the UK travel and tourism industry was predicted to see a boost of £200 million over the coronation and the two-week period surrounding it, with people travelling to celebrate with friends and family.
Although just 47 percent of those surveyed said they are celebrating the coronation, the Bank Holiday inevitably encouraged spending. An additional day off enticed people to book staycations and venture to the capital to join the celebrations, with 4.1 million people estimated to have spent on travel over the Bank Holiday.
Hotels and short-term rentals would have benefited greatly over the weekend. Room rates were up around 16 percent and the number of rentals in the capital increased.
Hotels rolled out the red carpet, with special packages, events, and F&B offerings – with gin and tonics quaffed and quiche consumed.
Time will tell whether the royal-infused enthusiasm will spill over, and the capital will continue to see a flurry of visitors, or whether the coronation was a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon for tourism. Many hotel owners and hospitality workers will be hoping that King Charles’ allure will prevail.


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Experts: Chat rooms a haven for hackers
Anonymously stealing, trading personal information
(CNN) -- Computer security expert Chad Harrington regularly surfs Internet Relay Chat (IRC), one of the oldest chat technologies on the Web. The IRC networks have names like Dalnet and EFnet, but he agrees that another name works just as well: eBay for hackers.
"Once the hacker or someone in the underworld has personal information, credit card numbers, social security numbers, address, whatever it may be," says Harrington, once the hacker "has that information and wants to sell it, often they'll go to a hacker chat room, a place on the Web using an Internet Relay Chat which provides them some anonymity and allows them to mention that they have this personal information and they want to trade."
The ability for hackers to go onto the Internet and chat up fellow hackers is as old as the Net itself. But with identity theft becoming a more popular form of fraud, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), more attention is being paid to chat rooms that serve as flea markets for hackers.
"We know that credit card numbers are bought and sold over the Internet because they have real cash value," says Bruce Schneier, founder and CTO of Counterpane Technologies and a pioneer in network security.
"A lot more credit card numbers are stolen than ever used, but you should assume that right now, in your wallet, there's a credit card number that has been stolen off the Net."
Both Schneier and Entercept Security Technology's Harrington say that your stolen personal information can be swapped or sold in other Web venues. But IRC is largely unregulated -- a Wild West of chat that has a special appeal for hackers.
"Hackers obviously want anonymity when they're looking to trade personal information that they've obtained via identity theft, so Internet Relay Chat is a commonly used mechanism," says Harrington.
Difficult to monitor
The unfettered nature of IRC is also appealing to hackers, says Schneier.
"It's older, it's not tied to Microsoft or AOL or a big company, it's one of the Internet protocols ... so if you're running Windows or Linux or Macintosh or another flavor of Unix, you can use it," says Schneier. "So it's not that it's more suitable for hackers to use, it's just a more basic service and people who are anti-big-corporation are going to be more likely to use something like IRC."
(AOL Time Warner is the parent company of CNN.)
That same aspect of IRC also makes it a tough digital obstacle for law enforcement.
"In the electronic world of the Internet, it's such a vast landscape and there's no way that the FBI and CIA or any law enforcement agency can be involved in watching over the shoulder of every Internet user," says Harrington. "Unfortunately, that's probably what it would have to take to prevent this sort of fraud."
Occasionally the FBI gets lucky. The feds were able to track down the hacker known as "Mafiaboy" when he bragged about his exploits in chat rooms.
And while the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) didn't provide any statements to CNN regarding what goes on in Internet Relay Chat, security experts say it's a matter of law enforcement manpower and trying to track down hackers in a very crowded -- and loud -- chat room.
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Images & Screenshots
Madden NFL 22 leverages the power of next generation consoles to deliver the raw energy, emotion, and unpredictability of the NFL through brand-new Dynamic Gameday, which impacts gameplay across every mode.
Madden NFL 22 [Next-Gen] News
EA, Gearbox, and Microsoft Sign Open Letter Opposing Texas' Anti-Trans Bill
Mar 13, 2022 - "Discrimination is bad for business."
Tom Brady Is Making, Starring in His Own Football Comedy Called 80 for Brady
Feb 23, 2022 - 80 for Brady will follow four best friends on a road trip to Super Bowl LI.
Madden's Surprisingly Accurate Super Bowl Winner Has Been Chosen - IGN Daily Fix
Feb 8, 2022 - On today's IGN The Fix: Games, Known for making Super Bowl predictions every year, EA Sports released it's Madden Super Bowl simulation predictions of the winner of the upcoming Super Bowl 56 between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams. GTA 5 gets a very detailed Batman mod that comes with multiple Batsuits, over a dozen Batman vehicles, gadgets, a new melee combat system, and more! The latest release from JulioNIB's patreon page, allow PC players to take their Batmobile across Los Santos to save citizens or terrorize them. Hazelight Studios It Takes Two has sold over 5 million copies since October. The studio and devs are thankful and eagerly excited to take their IP to a film and television adaption. Narz has all that in your Daily Fix!
Surprisingly Accurate Madden NFL Picks Super Bowl 56 Winner
Feb 7, 2022 - Madden NFL likes the Bengals to win it all this year.
John Madden, NFL Coach and the Name Behind Madden NFL Football, Dies at 85
Dec 29, 2021 - Madden passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, December 28.
EA Says Madden 22 Franchise Updates Still Happening Following Cancellation Rumors
Dec 2, 2021 - More details on the franchise updates will be revealed in the new year.
Ex-Las Vegas Raiders Coach Removed From Madden 22
Oct 14, 2021 - "We will replace him with a generic likeness via a title update in the coming weeks."
Madden 22's Ongoing Roadmap Will Be 'Slightly Less Ambitious' Than in the Past
Oct 12, 2021 - No new modes are in the works.
Madden 22's Producer Looks Back On Another Rough Launch
Oct 12, 2021 - Executive producer Seann Graddy looks back on another difficult release for Madden.


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This week Apple won a temporary injunction in Germany, barring Samsung from selling Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablets in every EU nation except the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the fight's expected to extend to Galaxy phones as well. Apparently the injunction was imposed using an emergency procedure that didn't require a hearing. Samsung claims it wasn't even notified that a block was in the works and has vowed to fight in court today.
For those of us anxiously anticipating the deployment of Android tablets and Galaxy S IIs in our companies, that's a body blow.
As I explained back in April, Samsung's one of Apple's largest suppliers, with $5.6 billion of Samsung's 2010 revenues coming from Apple. The Economist published a breakdown of the components of an iPhone 4, showing that Samsung provides flash memory, DRAM, and the processor for the phone. Altogether, Samsung supplies an estimated 26 percent of the pieces in an iPhone 4. Gizmodo goes on to ask a tantalizing question: What if Samsung stopped supplying parts for the iPhone 4?
My take: I bet it already has, or it will in very short order, and Apple couldn't care less.
Apple has a long history of skillfully working its suppliers. Although nobody knows anything for sure about the iPhone 5, as Galen Gruman noted last week, there are persistent rumors about a new processor (or processors), screens -- just about every single component of the new phone -- and plenty of rumors about the iPad 3. The one common thread that I've seen in all of the rumors recently: Samsung isn't even mentioned.
You may take Apple's new aggression in the Samsung battles as an indication that Apple is finally fed up with Samsung's wayward ways and wants to assert its patent rights. If that's the case, Apple's willing to take the risk that Samsung will cut Apple off because there are larger principles (and dollars) at stake.
I look at it differently. I think Apple doesn't need Samsung any more -- as of a week or two ago -- and it's striking while the litigious iron is hot.
If I'm right, that bodes well for an early release of the iPhone 5 and maybe even the iPad 3. It also speaks volumes about the key suppliers for the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 -- good news for Intel, TSMC, maybe LG. Let's see what happens.
This article, "Apple doesn't need Samsung any more," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.
This story, "Apple Doesn't Need Samsung Anymore" was originally published by InfoWorld.


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HBAN will hold the first Food Investor Forum of 2019 on 21st May in Dublin . The half-day event will bring together current HBAN Food Syndicate Investors, other HBAN Investors interested in the food sector and New Investors interested in getting involved in food investing. It will also bring together other key stakeholders in the food industry including Kerry Group, Finistere (a later stage US and Irish Food and Agtech focused VC), and leaders of successful scaled Food companies to share their market insights and experience. A selection of 4 food sector entrepreneurs from across the broad food supply chain (from production, packaging and distribution) will pitch to investors to raise investment.
InterTradeIreland are holding Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition 2019 briefing sessions in Dublin.
Signum Surgical, a company dedicated to developing minimally invasive technologies to treat colorectal diseases, today announced the company has secured €3.6 million ($4 million) through two grant funding awards. The grants include €2.3 million from the European Union Horizon 2020 SME Instrument, and €1.3 million from Ireland’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF). Funds from these grants will support regulatory and clinical programs leading to the commercialization of the company’s BioHealxTM device, which is designed to treat anal fistula, a painful colorectal condition that affects one in 5,000 people worldwide.


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Facebook is in the middle of controversy yet again after rejecting ads targeting women with menopause but allowing ads for erectile dysfunction products. Unsurprisingly, Facebook is now being accused of having double standards.
The story was first reported by CNBC after startups like Pulse, which offers a lubricant for women going through menopause, saw their ads being rejected by the platform. Other businesses having seen their ads banned include female sexual health startups Genneve and Unbound. However, male focused brands such as Roman and Hims peddling products to help men suffering from premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction have been accepted by the social media platform.
Interestingly, there seems to be a disparity with the kind of language that is deemed acceptable for male-centric products and for ones targeting women. For instance, Pulse has had its ads removed despite being careful in choosing their words. In October 2017, an ad that said “Doctor, what’s happening to me?” with a link to an article about perimenopause, the period before menopause begins, was taken down. Comparatively, Roman and Hims’ usage of “premature ejaculation” or “E.D.”, which is short for erectile dysfunction, were allowed.
Speaking with CNBC, a Facebook spokesperson stated that the removal of the advertisement had to do with the platform’s guidelines. “All ads are equally subject to our advertising policies, which are stricter than our community standards,” the spokesperson said. “Facebook has long had a policy that limits ads with adult content and adult products in part because we take into account the wide array of people from varying cultures and countries who see them. We continue to review these specific ads.”
Polly Rodriguez, CEO of Unbound, told CNBC these rejections are making it difficult for the company to be successful. “It’s so messed up,” she said. “Facebook sends us emails asking us to advertise, so then we go and try to and we get rejected. Not being able to advertise is the most hindering, crippling component to running this business.”
Indeed, this isn’t the first time women focused startups have faced problems. As we’ve previously reported, female founders have a difficult time being taken seriously in general but even more so when their business focuses on sex or sexual health. Often, they even struggle to get funding because investors, who are usually men, fail to understand what female-centric products are for and therefore if there is a demand.
Clearly, there still seems to be a lot of work to be done before opportunities for male and female founders and their companies are truly equal.


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The Westborough Food Pantry’s tradition of providing Christmas dinners to Westborough families in need continues next week.
Donations support the dinners, food pantry Director Phil Kittredge notes: Westborough firefighters buy fresh tomatoes, onions, squash, carrots, celery and the like, supplemented by items from the food pantry. Roche Bros. donates $15 ham vouchers. And the food pantry gives each family a $25 gift card.
Yet this year, food pantry volunteers have been grocery shopping more to meet their changing clientele: larger families; homeless families, which is new; and about a 20 percent increase in seniors, Kittredge says. The food pantry serves only Westborough residents.
The volunteers also must offset a decline in food drive donations.
“We’ve noticed all our drives have been between 20 and 40 percent less from last year,” says Kittredge, who is in his third year as director.
“I’ve got to think there’s been so many different requests for people to give. Everybody has a certain amount of money that they can donate. Maybe two years ago, there were five things that they donated and they gave $100 to each one. Well, now there’s 10. So, they’re giving each one $50.
“We’re very fortunate that the community is tremendously supportive of the food pantry.
“What it’s meant to us is we’ve had to purchase food on a regular basis, more food. Every week we purchase between 60 and 90 dozen eggs, we buy usually between 70 and 80 loaves of bread every week. We purchase approximately 110 packages of chicken, and 80 to 90 packages of hamburger every week. We buy that every single week.
“So, what we’ve had to do over the last probably two months, we’ve had to supplement that by buying everything from cereals to juices to soups. One of the things we try to encourage is we buy cake mixes and brownie mixes. Because we can supply the eggs. So if we give you a cake mix or a brownie mix, then you can go home and make a whole big huge thing of brownies. A package of cookies would be gone in a night, where the brownies might last two or three days.”
Civic groups support the food pantry, at 9 East Main St., well, such as the “Bagel Bistro, with his great big huge gingerbread house that they’re raffling off, with all the proceeds going to the food pantry,” Kittredge says.
“There’s where we get our operating funds,” he says.
“This time of the year, everybody donates. It’s great. Come May, we will get maybe half a dozen bags of food a week. “
The food pantry has just over 100 families registered, which is “down some from last year at this time,” he says.
“But, we’re serving larger families,” he notes.
“We’re seeing probably over the last two or three months a majority of the families we’ve been registering are families with two or three or four children,” Kittredge says.
“Some people are losing their jobs. Some are people that are losing their benefits. The state has moved a lot of homeless people out of the shelters into various motels throughout the state. We have them at the Extended Stay.”
Kittredge says 25 percent of the food pantry’s clientele is over age 65. A
Westborough has “one of the few food pantries that are open on a special day, just for seniors”: every Tuesday, he says. The food pantry is open Thursday morning and night for all other clients.
“Last Thursday, we fed 40 families in the morning. So, you can imagine 40 people in here, some with their children in tow. You can imagine how hectic it was,” Kittredge says.
“This year, our seniors probably have jumped 20 percent. We’re hoping it’s better awareness. The council on aging, and the senior center, and Alma (Demanche, the director), they do a tremendous service in educating the seniors about all of the benefits that are available in town.”
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Seed growers, chefs and farmers join Quebec’s seed guardian initiative [Gardiens de semences] to preserve biodiversity.
According to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), 75% of the world’s crop diversity was lost in the last century. Partly to blame is our production model, which promotes seed standardization. This spurred Quebec organization Arrivage (formerly Chef514) to launch an initiative to rescue endangered seed varieties.
1 seed, 1 chef, 1 farmer to preserve our biodiversity
The principle is simple. With a catalogue of endangered seeds tucked under his arm, Arrivage’s founder Thibault Renouf contacts chefs who value local produce to see if they’d like to help save a particular seed. “It’s a chance for chefs to cook with Crapaudine beets, Red Zebra tomatoes or Dragon carrots—varieties they couldn’t get from big distributors,” says Renouf. The next step is to find a farmer to grow the seed. Then a partnership is born. “Chefs know farming is unpredictable, and that farmers may have to deal with pests, changes in weather or even birds.” Étienne Huot, chef at La Récolte – Espace Local restaurant, certainly does. There was nothing Thierry Poniewiera of Ferme Olac could do when birds ate his entire Baie-Saint-Paul fava bean crop!
Rediscovering heirloom varieties
On the whole, Renouf helps create success stories. Since the start of summer, he’s been present every time growers have delivered their produce to chefs, and when chefs have harvested the crops themselves. Mousso restaurant chef and Oka melon sponsor Antonin Mousso met Manon Dolbec on her farmland this summer and together they harvested this miraculous fruit. The Oka melon, created in Quebec in 1910, disappeared from the Belle Province in the ’60s. Rediscovered by chance in a U.S. seed catalogue, this heirloom variety was reintroduced on a very small scale in Quebec in 2014. “Chefs working with Gardiens de semences are committed to saving endangered varieties and introducing people to forgotten ones,” said Renouf. And the farmers love working directly with chefs in a close partnership.
In 2018, its first year, Gardiens de semences partnered 14 chefs with 8 growers to protect 14 endangered seed varieties. The 2019 goal is 50 seeds. Given the growing interest in local produce and sustainable consumption in Quebec, consumers are bound to support the initiative—and biodiversity.
Photos credit: Arrivage


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Bambuser Continues US Growth - Enters into Agreement with Fashion Discovery Platform Moda Operandi
PR Financial industry (EN) - 10/07/2020 19:10
STOCKHOLM, July 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bambuser AB continues to grow in the US market with yet another new multi-brand retailer in the luxury segment. Today, Bambuser has entered into an agreement with Moda Operandi, one of the world's leading platforms for fashion discovery.
Royal Caribbean Group acquires remaining interest in Silversea
PR Financial industry (EN) - 10/07/2020 14:00
MIAMI, July 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) has purchased the remaining shares of Silversea Cruises, a pioneer and leader in ultra-luxury and expedition cruising.
ITAB Shop Concept: Interim Report January - June 2020
PR Financial industry (EN) - 10/07/2020 13:22
JĂ–NKĂ–PING, Sweden, July 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- THE INTERIM PERIOD JANUARY - JUNE 2020
Pisano Secures $2.5 Million Investment in a Round Led by CEE Fintech Investor Elevator Ventures
PR Financial industry (EN) - 10/07/2020 11:00
European Customer Experience Management Technology Provider Pisano Secures Funding to Accelerate Expansion
DCW Limited Announces Q4 & FY20 Results
PR Financial industry (EN) - 10/07/2020 09:10
MUMBAI, July 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DCW Limited ("the Compay" or "DCW"), specialty chemicals company headquartered in Mumbai, declared the financial results for the quarter and financial year ended on 31(st) March 2020 on Monday, 06(th) July 2020.
Caverion to be Responsible for Technical Maintenance and Facility Management of Telia's Data Centers in Finland
PR Financial industry (EN) - 10/07/2020 08:23
HELSINKI, July 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Caverion has signed an agreement with Telia Finland Oyj for the technical maintenance and facility management services of Telia Helsinki Data Center and Telia's other large and medium-sized data centers in Finland.
Merck Opens its Largest M Labâ„˘ Collaboration Center in Shanghai
PR Financial industry (EN) - 10/07/2020 07:00
-- Focus on improving and optimizing drug discovery, development and manufacturing
Bioservo Signs Distribution Agreement with CAS in the UK
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 18:25
STOCKHOLM, July 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioservo Technologies AB has signed a distribution agreement with CAS Assembly Tooling and Services for selling IronhandÂ® in the United Kingdom.
Career Star Group Reach Milestone to Shake Up the Outplacement Industry
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 17:49
Career Star Group announce ownership of innovative global outplacement platform via the asset deal of CareerArc by Gi Group.
Dignitana Selected as Scalp Cooling Provider by Nuffield Health in UK
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 16:29
- Next generation DigniCap Delta device minimizes hair loss from chemotherapy
Neudata Hires Donald D'Amico to Build Out Data Compliance Offering
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 16:00
NEW YORK, July 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alternative data fintech firm Neudata has hired Donald D'Amico as its general counsel and in-house legal expert on alternative data.
ATM Managed Services Market to Garner $9.97 Bn, Globally, by 2027 at 6.5% CAGR, Says Allied Market Research
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 15:30
Implementation of digitalized technologies and rise in adoption of ATM managed services has boosted the global ATM managed services market
Financial Services Applications Spur Revenues in Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) Market; Estimated to Spawns Whopping Revenues of US$ 4,077.72 Bn by 2027, Projects TMR
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 15:30
- Players in independent software vendors (ISV's) market focus on the troika of fail-safe, scalable, and cost-effective for developing products; cloud-based offering underpins vast avenue for growth.
Global Cannabis Market Projected Could Hit $97 Billion By End Of 2026
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 14:30
- Financialnewsmedia.com News Commentary
PSP Investments Posts 8.5% 10-year Annualized Rate of Return for Fiscal Year 2020
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 14:16
Focus on long-term horizon and diversification safeguards pensions of contributors and beneficiaries who dedicate their professional lives to public service.
Lundin Mining to Release Second Quarter 2020 Results July 29, 2020
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 14:13
TORONTO, July 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- (TSX: LUN; Nasdaq Stockholm: LUMI) Lundin Mining Corporation ("Lundin Mining" or the "Company") announces that the report for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 will be published on Wednesday, July 29, 2020.
Grifols starts commercializing TAVLESSEÂ® in Europe, diversifying its medicines portfolio
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 13:00
- European customers begin receiving TAVLESSE(Â®) (fostamatinib) for the treatment of chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) in adult patients who are refractory to other treatments
Alan Burr Joins Sucden Financial for LME Metals and Options in Hong Kong
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 11:30
LONDON, July 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sucden Financial, the global multi-asset execution, clearing and liquidity provider, has appointed Alan Burr for LME metals and options trading at its Hong Kong subsidiary.
AvaTrade Launches Revolutionary AvaProtect for Desktop Trading
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 10:30
Innovative risk management tool offers guaranteed protection from losses on open positions on the AvaTrade WebTrader
"Bleach: Brave Souls" New Release in Asian Regions Today and Special Campaigns Start
PR Financial industry (EN) - 09/07/2020 08:00
TOKYO, July 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KLab Inc. (TSE1: 3656), a leader in online mobile games, announced that its hit 3D action game "Bleach: Brave Souls" will be released in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, and other Asian regions starting today.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has released a video of a Model 3 release candidate on the move. The video doesn't release any other details about the Model 3, but the video is meant to prove that the automaker is closer to production than some analysts believe.
Tesla has announced that it is ending production of the Model S 60 and 60D models due to poor sales. Most buyers ended up choosing the Model S 75, so to simplify things the 60 kWh option will be removed from the options list.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced on Twitter that the automaker will have a new product unveiling on October 17th. Musk did not reveal any details about the debut other than saying that it's "unexpected by most."
Tesla Model S P100D is the quickest production car in the world!
Tesla has announced the introduction of a new version of the Model S, the P100D, which is now officially the quickest production car in the world that is currently on sale. With a 0-60 mph time of an insane 2.5 seconds, the Model S P100D is the third fastest production car ever produced, but the quickest one that you can actually buy new today. The Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder were faster, but you can't buy a new one.
Tesla Master Plan 2: Commercial vehicles, compact SUV and a pickup are planned
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed the automaker's Master Plan 2, which follows its initial master plan that was released 10 years ago. Now that the original master plan is done with the introduction of the Model 3 and the purchase of SolarCity, Tesla is now ready to start its next phase.
A day after reservations open Tesla gets 198k Model 3 reservations
Last night Tesla unveiled the highly anticipated $35,000 Model 3. Leading up to the debut, Tesla started taking reservations at its stores, which at some locations saw up to 1,000 people or more waiting in line to give their $1,000 fee for the reservation. Now just a day after it started taking orders, Tesla has already received around 198,000 orders.
Tesla has unveiled its game changer! The Model 3 debuts with a 215-mile driving range
After so much anticipation Tesla has finally unveiled the Model 3, which will be its first electric car that most people can actually afford. With buyers waiting outside of Tesla stores for up to 40 hours to be the first on the reservation list, the wait is finally over!
Tonight Tesla may only debut the Model 3 in concept form, 225 mile range expected
Tesla is finally going to give the world a look at the much anticipated Model 3 sedan tonight. Production is expected to kick off by the end of 2017, but the version of the sedan that we see tonight may differ from what rolls off the line next year.
Elon Musk tweets about Tesla Model Y, then deletes the tweet
Last Friday Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to answer many questions about the Model X crossover. One of the questions centered around the upcoming Model 3 and if it would too have the same Falcon wing doors as the Model X. "Not gonna lie, I'd sell my soul to @elonmusk for one. Please tell me the Model III crossover will have these doors!", stated AwesomelyOZ. Musk's response, "there will be a Model 3 and a Model Y. One of the two will."
Tesla Model X can officially drive 257 miles on a single charge
Now that the Tesla Model X electric crossover is finally here, we now know how far it can drive on a single charge. The EPA estimates that drivers will be able to drive the Tesla Model X 90D model up to 257 miles, while the more powerful P90D model will be able to drive up to 250 miles.
Tesla could have a 600-mile range EV by 2017 [VIDEO]
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk recently revealed that Tesla could soon have a 600-mile range electric car, which is a longer driving range than many gas powered vehicles. In an interview with Danish television, Musk stated that a 600-mile range Tesla could arrive by 2017 and that by 2020, the driving range could be even higher at 725 miles.
Elon Musk confirms Tesla Model 3 to debut in March
Tesla's CEO has announced via Twitter that it's much anticipated entry-level model, the Model 3, is going to be revealed in March. It's expected that the Model 3 will debut at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. Following its debut in March, Tesla will start taking reorders for the Model 3.
Tesla Model X revealed, reserve one now for $133,200
The Tesla Model X is finally about to arrive in the hands of those people that placed their reservation for the electric SUV when it was first revealed three years ago. Tesla still hasn't officially revealed the production version, but the online configurator for the Model X has powered up - giving us a look at the production version of the Model X Signature.
It's taken quite a while, but Tesla's CEO Elon Musk has announced that the Model X SUV is set to debut in September. In an official letter, Musk discussed the status of the Model X and that the Tesla is currently "building more validation vehicles, executing final engineering and testing work, enabling our new manufacturing equipment and finalizing arrangements with our suppliers."
In just a few months the first batch of Tesla Model X crossovers will finally be delivered to customers and now it's being reported that Tesla is already working on adding a second crossover to its lineup. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Tesla is going to introduce a crossover version of the upcoming Model 3.
Tesla is now selling pre-owned Model S sedans online
Tesla is now offering pre-owned Model S sedans on its website, with prices starting around $65,000 for a used P85 Model S. Buyers can search for a number of sedans that are available in their area. A quick search of the Los Angeles area reveals that there are at least pre-owned 16 Model S sedans available.
Tesla Powerwall home battery powers your home with energy from the sun
Tesla has unveiled a new home battery called Powerwall. The battery stores energy generated from solar panels or when utility rates are low to power your home. It also can act as a back up during power outages.
Tesla Model S 70D debuts with longer range and more power
Tesla has announced the introduction of the new Model S 70D, which replaces the base Model S 60. Compared to the outgoing Model S 60, the 70D has standard all-wheel-drive, a 240 mile range and 329 horsepower on tap.
Tesla Model S version 6.2 eases range fears and increases safety
Tesla Motors is updating its Model S electric car with software version 6.2 to help ease drivers' worries about running out of battery charge and provide additional safety. The Model S's updated software will map out the best route to a driver's destination based on the location of charging stations. It will also warn drivers if battery power is low before they drive beyond an area where they can charge.
Tesla's Elon Musk says Tesla will end range anxiety this week
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has revealed plans for a big announcement from the automaker this week. Musk went to Twitter to announce that during a press conference on Thursday at 9 am, the electric automaker plans to "end range anxiety."
Tesla Roadster Updated with 400-Mile Range - No Update for the Model S
Even though the Tesla Roadster is no longer in production, that doesn't mean that Tesla has forgotten about it. Tesla has just announced the release of the Roadster 3.0 package that includes a host of updates that will give the Roadster a driving range up to 400 miles.
Just a few months ago it was announced that production of the Tesla Model X crossover was being delayed until the second quarter of 2015, but now it's being delayed further. Tesla has announced that production is now delayed until the third quarter of 2015.
Dual Motor Tesla Model S Announced, Top S P85D Packs 691-HP
Last night Tesla unveiled a new all-wheel-drive version of the Model S, which features two electric motors and will be designated by the "D" designation. The big news is that the top spec Model S P85D model packs 691 horsepower, which is enough to give it a 0-60 mph time of 3.2 seconds.
Tesla's Elon Musk Tweets the 'D' and Something Else is Coming on Oct 9
This week all the news is about everything that is being unveiled at the Paris Motor Show, but in about a week Tesla is going to debut something. What exactly? Well Tesla CEO Elon Musk just tweeted this picture and and stated "about time to unveil the D and something else."
Tesla and Toyota Could Release Another Model in 2-3 Years
With the Toyota RAV4 EV set to disappear by the end of the year, what's in the future for Tesla and Toyota? The two automakers teamed up for the electric RAV4 and now Tesla CEO Elon Musk sees another "significant" joint project that could be released in the next two to three years.
Tesla Model III to Take on the BMW 3 Series in 2017
Tesla has confirmed that its Gen III car, which was originally called the Model E, has now been renamed the Model III. The Tesla Model III or Model 3 as some people will call it, is slated to arrive after the Model X, with an anticipated on sale date set for sometime in 2017.
Saleen has released a few teasers of its upcoming modified version of the Tesla Model S electric sedan. Saleen hasn't released a lot of details about the modified Model S, but it did unveil the design renderings this week at an event in Los Angeles.
Tesla's $5 Billion Gigafactory Will Hire 6,500 Workers in the U.S.
Tesla has revealed more details about its new battery plant, dubbed the Gigafactory, which will be "world's largest battery factory" when it powers up by 2017. Tesla estimates that the Gigafactory will cost about $5 billion and will employ up to 6,500 employees at a site that could be up to 1,000 acres.
Rinspeed xChangE Concept Turns the Tesla Model S Into an Autonomous Vehicle
Rinspeed has unveiled its latest concept, the xChangE concept, which is going to debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month. At first glance you will notice that the xChangeE concept looks like nothing more than a customized Tesla Model S, but underneath Rinspeed has created its vision of a future electric autonomous car.
Tesla Completes its West Coast Supercharger Corridor for Free Travel Between San Diego and Vancouver
Tesla Model S owners on the west coast will love this! Tesla has announced the completion of its Supercharger Corridor on the west coast, which is a network of Tesla Supercharger stations that enable Model S owners to travel for free between San Diego, California and Vancouver, British Columbia.
Tesla is reportedly working on a new all-wheel-drive version of the Model S sedan according to sources that spoke with The Verge. The Model S already has an insane waiting list and with the introduction of a new all-wheel-drive version that list isn't about to get any shorter.
Tesla is now reportedly producing more than 400 Model S sedans a week, which is more than the automaker's initial goal according to CEO Elon Musk. "We're above 400 a week at the current manpower, and not trivially above it," Musk said.
Tesla Battery Swap Stations Will Arrive by the End of the Year
Last night Tesla unveiled its latest innovation, which will keep Model S drivers on the road even longer. By the end of the year Tesla is going to install quick-swap bays at its Supercharger stations in California, which will give drivers the ability to swap out their depleted batteries in less than the time that it takes to fill up a tank of gas.
Tesla to Reveal Model S Battery Swap Option Tomorrow
Tesla has already announced plans to increase its network of fast-charging stations across the country, but tomorrow Tesla is going to unveil a new battery swap option at an event in California. The new battery swapping capability will allow drivers to quickly swap their car's battery with a charged battery, which would be even faster than waiting to charge the car's existing battery.


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Europe: Evonik and Richemont fall as stock markets slip
[LONDON] European shares slipped lower on Tuesday, as the prospect of a possible US interest rate increase in coming weeks knocked back global stock markets.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 and STOXX 600 indexes both fell 0.5 per cent in early session trading.
Evonik was among the region's worst performers, dropping 6.4 per cent after private equity firm CVC placed Evonik shares onto the market at a discount price.
Luxury goods groups Richemont and Swatch also fell 1.5 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively, after data showed that Swiss watch exports fell 11.1 per cent in April, compared to the previous year's figure.
However, shares in French household equipment manufacturer SEB surged 11 per cent as investors welcomed SEB's move to buy WMF, a German maker of coffee machines and silverware, from KKR in a deal worth 1.6 billion euros (S$2.5 billion) including debt.


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Vendor offers selected partners access to Dow Jones SalesWorks to help them boost business
VAR pushes into education market with IT procurement tool and reveals growth is very much on the agenda
A solicitor's viewpoint for resellers that find their tax situation under scrutiny
Industry stalwart Ian French answers the third question in CRN's ongoing Channel Debate
CRN's glitzy Channel Awards offers resellers the chance to boost their business and social networks, Fleur Doidge finds
Sage partner sees turnover increase to £13m through acquisition of Clarita
Reseller to expand its virtual team as it looks to tap into surplus of skilled labour
Jim Close asks what happens post-credit crunch to financial services companies whose IT is burdened by new legislation?
Vendor hopes to bolster sales through its tier two and three partners with points-based reward scheme
While the nation ridicules MPs' expenses claims and the national media eases back on its doomsaying a little, business in the channel is booming, so it seems.
Distribution giant signs a European-wide deal with J2 to capture a slice of the lucrative ePoS market
This year the CRN Channel Awards, to be held at Battersea Park on 19 November, introduces a brand new category: Services Provider of the Year. Many onlookers expect it to be very hotly contested, writes Fleur Doidge
Distribution behemoth adds a new online quote function to cut down order process time
Online VAR Systemax pleased with progress of its European arm as it announces success in Circuit City auction
With the best education programme in Expo history and more big hitters exhibiting than ever before, can you afford to miss this year's event? writes Sara Yirrell
Open source vendor launches channel-centric alliance in US, but hints it might extend the scheme to the UK and Europe
Retailer pairs up with Flixmedia.tv to showcase products via IPTV
Dragons' Den star's firm extends £1.25m credit facility to online VAR
Figures from Apacs find spiralling card-not-present fraud continues to drive UK losses
Distributor signs EMEA agreement with web content provider to offer more than 4,000 product and 3D clips to partners
VAR refreshes website and links through to its distributors
Memory vendor signs partnership with office supplies firm to kick-start consumer spending
Will a web-only sales model finally take off in the security channel in 2009?
Resellers move to protect revenue streams by providing nervous SMEs with better, all-encompassing services.


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KSA’s non-oil exports rise by 37pct to hit USD7.3B
(MENAFN) According to a study from the General Authority for Statistics, or GASTAT, Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports rose by 36.6 percent in April in comparison to the same month previous year as the nation works to diversify its economy in order to meet the objectives defined in Vision 2030.
The research states that compared to SR20 billion during the same month previous year, Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports in April were SR27.4 billion (USD7.3 billion).
Nevertheless, as compared to March the current year, non-oil exports fell by SR1.5 billion (5.3 percent) in April.
The Kingdom's merchandise imports in April increased by 11.2 percent year over year to SR55.3 billion, but decreased by 1 percent from the previous month.
Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.


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The IP contribution solutions company is demonstrating how its products provide solutions to current broadcast industry issues. Mobile Viewpoint is showing attendees how its equipment has helped customers including BBC, RAI, Sky Sports News, Euromedia Group and ORF to continue to thrive in the ever-changing broadcast environment.
Products on display include the Mobile Viewpoint Multicam portfolio, which includes the WMT Multicam bonded transmitter and the WMT AirLink H.265-enabled encoder, and the QuaddroLink, a low-cost and low-weight solution for live streaming which also supports interlaced video. There is also the opportunity to see the Mobile Viewpoint LinkMatrix in action, a web-based platform that allows users to manage and control all their live feeds.
Michel Bais, CEO, Mobile Viewpoint, said broadcasters are under more pressure than ever before in terms of both workload and cost.
“They need to be able to make important production decisions on-the-fly while the content is being captured, and they want to be able to transmit those signals over fast and resilient IP contribution networks,” he explained.
Mobile Viewpoint said it enables a remote-controlled production workflow thanks to its range of encoders, decoders and the LinkMatrix management platform that is optimised for both online and offline video.
“This solution then allows content to be transmitted to linear broadcast channels, online and social media platforms simultaneously, all in 4K quality,” added Bais.


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Hawthorn Brewing Co Named Supreme Champion Brewer
Following on from our recent Gold and Silver medal haul, we are extremely pleased to announce that Hawthorn Brewing Co has been named Supreme Champion Brewer at the 2014 International Beer Challenge (IBC) in London.
In winning the award, Hawthorn (which last month was named “Brewer of the year—Oceania”) edged out established breweries such as Boston Beer Company (Nth American champion), Fynes Ales (UK champion) and Baltika Breweries (European champion) to be crowned.
This year, for the first time, the IBC awarded trophies to the top performing brewers who entered the competition. Chairman of the judges Jeff Evans said: ”For its previous 17 years, the IBC has only focused on beers but we felt it was high time that the brewers themselves were recognised, especially those that achieve success in the competition with a number of different beers. It really shows the quality and consistency that runs through a brewery’s portfolio.”
The IBC is the largest packaged beer awards in Europe with more than 500 entries received from over 30 countries.
For all enquiries please contact your sales representative. Call 1300 HBC BEER (422 233) or email [email protected].


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Fairfax Media, News Corp Australia and Nine have banded together to “explore” the creation of an anonymised digital identity co-operative with the aim of better competing with Google for ad dollars.
The three publishers – which together publish some of Australia’s most well-known brands The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Nine.com.au and 9Now – will explore building the co-operative which would bring together their combined identity assets across a combined audience reach of more than 15 million Australians.
Essentially, the plan will see anonymised audience details of Fairfax, News Corp and pulled together in one location for marketers to be able to better understand and better target their advertising.
When a logged in user accesses content, the co-op will match those user details to the device used (computer, mobile, tablet) which can then be identified when that device is used across the other platforms within the co-op which will give advertisers greater insight into what that anonymised user is looking at, allowing them to deliver more target advertising to that user.
The co-op is designed to enable the publishers to unite in the battle against the likes of Google and Facebook who combined attract around 85 percent of advertising dollars, leaving publishers very little left over to compete for.
News Corp Australia chief digital officer Nicole Sheffield said the co-op was “absolutely” designed to give the publishers a way to compete against Google.
Michael Stephenson, Nine’s chief sales officer, said the co-op would allow the publishers ability to deliver “addressable” advertising at scale on “premium brand-safe environments that Facebook and YouTube can’t”.
“That will differentiate our product offer in market,” he said.
Despite this banding together against Google, Fairfax has also entered into a separate partnership with the search behemoth across digital advertising, technology and product development, with Fairfax essentially outsourcing its commercial team to Google with th goal of selling more digital ads across The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.
When pushed on how the two deals worked alongside each other, Chris Janz, Fairfax’s managing director of Australian Metro Publishing, was diplomatic.
“The important thing for us is it binds us all together as we invest heavily in to Australian content creation, we want to invest more in Australian content creation. To do that you need to explore opportunities as an industry whether that’s with other publishers, platforms, advertiser partners, you need to explore all of the options available to you,” he said.
“We all have a variety of other partnerships, part of the process we’re working in is working out how this arrangement co-exists with our other partnerships.”
The co-op won’t see how the publishers sell their advertising inventory change, that will remain independent with their own individual sales teams remaining in place.
Janz said the three publishers would remain “aggressively competitive” despite coming together.
At present News Corp, Fairfax Media and Nine have signed a “memorandum of understanding” to explore the development of the co-operative with the aim to launch in the first half of next year.
The publishers asserted it’s not a “closed shop”, with it open to other publishers, loyalty schemes, banks or any business that collects logged-in data.
“We are definitely open to partners,” said Sheffield.


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UPS said higher shipping rates are helping to boost its revenue and bottom line.
The Sandy Springs-based shipping giant had nearly $71.9 billion in revenue last year, up 7.9 percent from 2017.
UPS and FedEx announced late last year that they were increasing many of their rates an average of 4.9 percent.
The cost of shipping is expected to continue to increase. UPS chief operating officer Jim Barber said with rate hikes for 2018 and 2019, “we don’t consider this a one-time event.” The company is adding services and technology to make shipping more convenient for customers and is seeking to cover those costs.
Barber discussed the company’s financial results with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday as UPS reported a nearly $4.8 billion profit for 2018, falling just short of the $4.9 billion reported for 2017. But this year’s profit included the effects of a $1.2 billion charge to reflect an adjustment in the value of pension plans.
UPS said it achieved “record shipments and exceptional on-time service during the peak holiday season” in 2018. But it also faced tumultuous union contract votes that cut into its financial results.
The company lost $60 million in profit due to the Teamsters contract vote process for freight workers. That’s because, with concerns about a vote against the deal and potential strike, UPS stopped picking up shipments from freight customers.
After the contract was approved in November, the company started taking freight business again, with about 80 percent of customers returning that month. Close to 90 percent of the business has now returned, according to UPS chief financial officer Richard Peretz. But the company lost some freight customers.
Now, out of roughly 10,000 freight workers, about 1,000 are furloughed or laid off, according to Peretz. The company is still trying to win back business and said it will “continue to rightsize our freight network” as needed.
And labor negotiations continue on supplemental agreements for a Teamsters contract covering more than 200,000 UPS package division workers. The main contract deal failed to get a majority vote in favor in early October, but the Teamsters said the deal was still ratified because of a provision in its governing principles.
Peretz acknowledged that the company saw “softening package demand due to labor relations headlines” early in the fourth quarter, but had strong demand in December.
The shipping giant had ramped up operations, including the opening of a new regional hub in Atlanta, in anticipation of handling more than 800 million packages during the 2018 holiday season.
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China is one of the technology superpowers in the world. Over the past few decades, China witnessed the rise of some of the world’s largest technology giants on its territory. The technological advancements in the country and fairly good per capita income has led the whole economy to be a tech-heavy, which in turn fuels the technology-based companies in the country.
To keep the spirit of innovation and bring together the top global minds from the industry together, China hosts one of the world’s largest tech expo in Shanghai every year. The Appliances and electronics World Expo in short AWE 2019 is being held in the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre (SNIEC). The scale of the event can be guessed by the amount its hosts needed for hosting and that is over 135000 square metres of space in the SNIEC.
This huge expo is a signal to the world from China that they are the leaders of the technology manufacturing industry across the globe. They have the innovative and manufacturing prowess to lead the changes in the home appliances and consumer electronics industry. Last year, the expo witnessed over 292000 visitors whereas this year it is estimated to cross 350000.
The expo is being used as a global stage for the home appliances and consumer electronics brands in China to showcase their products to the world. Below are some of the latest launches and revelations as reported directly from AWE 2019, Shanghai:
Casarte is a luxury home appliances brand in China. It is considered for the elite only due to its uber-luxury and high price. Casarte’s design, intelligence and smart ecosystem are unrivalled. It has launched Air Washing technology that gently takes care of high-end and smooth comfort giving fabrics.
The First Fiber Washing Machine “Integration” in Casarte has 4-in-1 solution to multiple washing needs. It truly fits with their motto of Luxury and Quality to Achieve Artistic Lifestyle.
Born in 1978, the Marlboro refrigerator has always pursued technological progress and quality improvement. In the past few years, three large factories have been set up and invested 4 billion yuan. The Marlboro of the future, dedicated to being a life butler.
Hand in hand with Ali Baba Dharma House, Konka’s AI technology is worth looking forward to.
Hisense OLED product presents perfect picture quality in detail expressive force, sharpness and movement picture fluency.
Reconstruction of science, technology and ecological is the need of the hour. The Home Appliance Development Summit Forum has clarified the development direction of the home appliance industry in the future. This has to keep in mind the environmental degradation and work towards its protection.
The sound refrigerator is not only a feeling but also a technical guarantee. Sister Wang Ming-ts’s first refrigerator advertisement was – Rong Sheng, Quality Assurance.
Shanghai AWE witnessed Tata’s representatives to be true gentlemen. They came to AWE for the first time from India and praised the exhibition.
Television technology is developing in leaps and bounds. Laser 4k television is a cross-border product of fusion projection and television technology. The ultimate product is closest to flat display so far. It breaks the screen limit.
Haixin OLED TV solves 6 big technical defects; the technology is more mature, the picture quality is better.
Without the core technology, how far can Yunmi, which depends entirely on OEM?
-The less core technology, the more they have to rely on OEMs.
AI is the essence of the future. IOT has to ability to link every technology now. In 2019, TCL’s globalization accelerated. As the world’s second-largest brand by sales, TCL will be available in most of the countries in the near future.
Haier: Customizing the Good Wisdom Life, Starting with Haier
Wisdom Security, Wisdom Air, Wisdom Water, Wisdom Food, Wisdom Washing, Wisdom Family Whole Scene Solution. As a sample of global intelligent life, Haier’s Smart Family Eco-brand is worth looking forward to.
The expo is so awe-inspiring that it almost seems unrealistic yet so realistic as one can touch and feel the new advancements in the technology sector. The technology companies are making real efforts to make the common consumers feel elevated and show them a glimpse of what the future has in store.


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After OpenAI launched the ChatGPT chatbot final November, Generative AI grew to become one of many hottest matters within the tech world so, naturally, it additionally began to be explored by different corporations on this business like, for instance, Google.
The delicate and artistic prospects of this new tech are certainly capable of enhance the consumer expertise in a number of completely different eventualities, and, figuring out that, this Tuesday (14) Google began to introduce AI instruments in two of its hottest merchandise: Gmail and Docs.
The brand new options (that can assist customers when creating textual content) have been launched as a part of an initiative to spice up productiveness within the workspace; due to this fact, they’re restricted to the three billion Workspace customers for now. In a current weblog put up, Johanna Voolich Wright, Vice chairman of merchandise for Google Workspace, wrote:
Whether or not you’re a busy HR skilled who must create custom-made job descriptions, or a mum or dad drafting the invitation in your baby’s pirate-themed birthday celebration, Workspace saves you the effort and time of writing that first model […] Merely sort a subject you’d like to put in writing about, and a draft will immediately be generated for you.
In Google’s check, a consumer will be capable to go right into a textual content field and sort one thing like “draft an e-mail to the group” and the app will construct a three-paragraph thank-you observe that may be edited and used as a template and even changed into one thing completely different like, for instance, a bullet record. If the end result just isn’t what the consumer was anticipating, she or he can ask the app to attempt once more.
Google’s initiative might have come as a direct reply to Microsoft’s main funding in OpenAI’s GPT expertise, which can develop into an necessary a part of Microsoft 365 (beforehand known as Workplace 365), one thing to be talked about in a LinkedIn on-line occasion known as “The Way forward for Work with AI”, scheduled for this subsequent Thursday (16).
We nonetheless don’t know when Google will launch the brand new options broadly (or in the event that they’ll be free), however Mountain View is already planning further AI instruments for Workspace, together with robotically generated photographs in Slides, note-taking in Meet, and a formulation technology in Sheets.
Filed in. Learn extra about AI (Synthetic Intelligence), Google and Productiveness.


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Take the Force with you wherever you go this Star Wars Day, with a nerdy-but-nice collection of bags from a galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars Australia and luxe luggage brand Crumpler will launch their collaborative range on Friday 4 May to honour a day that has grown into a national celebration for fans of George Lucas’ seminal trilogy-turned-franchise.
The range of bags are a stylish take on the usual kiddie-friendly stuff you get in fanboy luggage, and includes eight pieces of bags and tech accessories inspired by the much-loved droids, R2-D2, and C-3PO, and a bespoke print of the droids designed by Crumpler especially for the collaboration.
Also in the collection are a sleek tote-pack, The Algorithm, taking design inspiration from C-3PO’s body; and The Chronicler messenger, which has design touches and a colour-way that talks to R2-D2’s compact, yet clever, design.
May 4th is a day Star Wars fans have chosen to celebrate and honour all-things-Star-Wars. Be it by posting Star Wars-related content to social media, hosting Star Wars screening parties, wearing Star Wars costumes and clothing, or shopping for Star Wars merchandise.
Why May 4th? Because, as it happens, fans back in 1978 invented a clever turn of phrase based on the classic Star Wars slogan “May the Force Be With You” becomes May the FOURTH Be With You. While originally invoked among US fans as a Fourth of July greeting, it was reset to May 4th the following year when a full-page ad appeared in the 1979 issue of The London Evening News to congratulate British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on her taking office that day: “May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations!”
Since then, and especially in recent years, Star Wars fans have claimed May 4th as their day, a day that has also given Lucasfilm an opportunity to give back to the Star Wars community that honours that galaxy far, far away. Since 2012, Lucasfilm has encouraged May the 4th activities through its official website and social channels, as well as provided built-in discounts and special offers on Star Wars merchandise.
And since “May the 4th Be With You” doesn’t carry the same witty punch when translated into other languages, “Star Wars Day” has been adopted to establish a global meaning for this annual worldwide celebration.


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Once known as China’s Netflix, LeEco has far outgrown its origins. Will CEO Jia Yueting’s diversification plans succeed?
China is no stranger to sprawling internet companies, with the likes of Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu—collectively known as BAT—having extended their reach into everything from mobile payments, to online video and beyond. But even in this climate, LeEco—previously called LeTV until it was rebranded in January, and which used to be known as the “Netflix of China”—stands out for the sheer range of its acquisitions, investments, new ventures and the unorthodox style of company founder Jia Yueting.
That has increasingly put the company on the radar of industry observers outside of Greater China—after this year’s Mobile World Congress, UK tech website Alphr named LeEco as the event’s most innovative company. And the company generated international headlines once again when it unveiled its electric self-driving car, the Le-SEE, in April, with the vehicle being summoned on to the stage by Jia using a mobile app.
“I can’t hold back my tears,” he said after the car had emerged from a container and gingerly made its way down a catwalk. “Everyone was questioning us and laughing at us, but we’re still presenting this car here today.”
LeEco, which did not reply to CKGSB Knowledgeʼs request for comment, was founded in 2004 as an online video website which was commonly referred to as the “Netflix of China” and is now a dizzyingly diversified entity, with ventures spanning from internet TV and mobile phones to virtual reality and the aforementioned electric cars, all of which underpin its attempts to join the internet big leagues, and which are ostensibly paying off—last year revenue grew 90.89% to RMB 13 billion ($2 billion).
The company’s rhetoric matches its ambition, with LeEco routinely comparing itself favorably to the likes of Apple and Tesla—CEO Jia Yueting called the former “outdated.” Speaking at an IT summit in Shenzhen alongside the CEOs of Tencent and Baidu, Jia said, “We think the internet industry has already reached its peak. BAT and Apple have already peaked, and the next step is entering the internet ecosystem age.”
But in doing so, LeEco is venturing into markets that are by turns mature and ultra-competitive or nascent and unproven. With a growing brand reputation on one hand, and a multitude of challenges on the other, is LeEco ready to vault into the top tier of tech giants? Or will it come to be remembered more for its hubris? Underlining this challenge is the fact that, for all the impressive headline figures, many of LeEcoʼs subsidiaries are hemorrhaging money.
“There is a real shift,” says Thibaud Andre, a research associate at Daxue Consulting.“They have new branding, a new logo, they’ve changed everything. They’re not starting from scratch of course… but it’s a risk.”
Rights Move Founded in 2004 and listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange in 2010, LeEco initially made its name as an online video website—internet ranking firm Comscore ranked it the number one video website in China by unique visitors in December. And in contrast to many of its rivals, it has remained profitable, largely due to early efforts to buy content rights when they were still relatively cheap.
But the company’s content strategy has not just been about acquiring now costly rights—like many of its rivals, LeEco is attempting to save money and win viewers with original content creation. To that end, LeEco acquired award-winning TV production studio Flower TV for RMB 1.6 billion in October 2013, and the company also has LeVision Pictures, founded in 2011, a film studio engaging in US-China co-productions, including The Expendables 2.
Indeed, such ventures are essential to maintaining LeEco’s top position in China’s online video marketplace. “Chinese online users seem to focus more on content not platform and therefore when it comes to platform selection, viewer loyalty is relatively low,” says Chien-Hsun Lee, a senior industry analyst at MIC, a market intelligence and consulting firm in Taipei.
Not Content with Content
But what has really raised eyebrows is LeEco’s moves into hardware.
In 2013, LeEco launched its first line of Smart TVs, and according to the company’s annual report for 2015, it successfully hit its global sales target of 3 million units last year, powering much of the companyʼs impressive revenue growth.
Then in April 2015 LeEco debuted its smartphones, which are sold through its LeMall online store, as well as brick-and-mortar shops in major cities. Making clear its ambitions in this area, in July last year LeEco acquired an 18% stake in mobile device manufacturer Coolpad through its Hong Kong-based smartphone subsidiary for HK$2.73 billion, making it the secondlargest shareholder in Coolpad.
And in a sign of just who LeEco thinks they are competing with, the launch of their smartphones was accompanied by an anti-Apple campaign, one element of which controversially compared the Cupertino-based company to Adolf Hitler.
Jingwen Wang, an analyst at Canalys, notes that LeEco has already managed to emerge as an important smartphone vendor despite its newcomer status—although the company remained outside China’s top five vendors in of the first quarter of 2016. Despite that, the company themselves claimed that they have set new sales records with their handsets, reaching the one-million mark faster than its rivals.
This success is, at least in part, due to the company’s competitive pricing. Wang points out that “they are actually selling the devices below the phone cost, but actually they will be able to make a profit through the content.”
LeEco has further moved to round out its fledgling ecosystem with its range of smartbikes, competing with Baidu and one of Xiaomi’s start-up partners, and into the nascent field of virtual reality with its LeVR Cool 1 smartphone headset. And in addition to its hardware offerings, LeEco also has its LeMall e-commerce platform, the cloud computing and data processing service LeCloud (which recently received RMB 1 billion in series A funding), an online- to-offline wine selling website, and a stake in the car-hailing app Yidao Yongche.
While LeEco has enjoyed a banner year in 2015 financially, the same canʼt be said for many of its subsidiaries. Despite greatly increased revenues compared to 2014, losses have also accelerated. In the case of LeCloud, revenue jumped from RMB 130 million to RMB 562 million, while losses increased from RMB 33 million to RMB 100 million. Similarly, Leshi Zhixin, which amongst other things produces the companyʼs set top boxes, saw its losses hit RMB 730 million, an 89% increase on the year before.
And these losses come on top of concerns about how LeEco is financing its expansion—last year Jia used 85% of his shares in the company, equivalent to a one-third stake, as collateral for personal lines of credit that have then been used to fund the companyʼs various new ventures. Previously Jia extended interest-free loans to the company after selling over RMB 2 billion worth of shares.
Trading in the companyʼs shares has been suspended since December while the company incorporates its film business. But when trading resumes, any fall in the companyʼs share price could have severe implications for LeEcoʼs finances. Adding to the complexity are rumours around Jiaʼs connections to those caught up in Chinaʼs ongoing corruption crackdown.
Compounding the uncertainty is LeEcoʼs most far out venture: electric cars. Long shrouded in mystery, LeEcoʼs plans have become clearer with the debut of the LeSEE concept car. As with the companyʼs other hardware, the company plans to price the vehicle aggressively, and Jia has even gone as far as to suggest that one day the cars will be free.
Previously LeEco had developed an“Internet of the Vehicle” system, which was used as part of a collaboration with Aston Martin in the car maker’s Rapide S, released in January. Under a new memorandum of understanding between the two companies in February, the two companies will collaborate on the all-electric RapidE—featuring a LeEco battery and drive system—which is intended to rival Tesla by 2018. As incongruous as it might seem,
LeEco founder Jia has form in the field of electric vehicles—he was an early backer of Faraday Future, a Silicon Valley electric vehicle start-up that now plans to manufacture the LeSEE. While separate from the Aston Martin venture, three-way collaborations have not been ruled out. But no stone unturned: LeEco also invested in Atieva, another electric car venture.
But although ostensibly far removed LeEcoʼs other concerns, the company views it as another conduit for content. In an April interview with Reuters Jia said,“We consider the car a smart mobile device on four wheels, essentially no different to a cellphone or tablet.”
For a company that has quickly amassed such seemingly disparate interests, the question naturally arises of how the different elements fit together.
“I would say to move into different industries, actually most of the devices are part of the smart home,” says Wang at Canalys. “It’s a way to increase user stickiness, to find more areas to make the business more profitable. If it focuses only on content, it has many competitors like large internet giants as well.”
That may provide the initial motivation for expansion and diversification, but once a move into different industries is underway, a whole new mindset is required. Lee notes that “LeEco used to focus on vertically integration of industry supply chains… Since the ecosystem now involves various ventures from different industries, it is no longer just about vertical integration.”
With rivals such as Apple using a combination of its iOS operating system, iPhones and Appstore to move into new sectors, it has become necessary for LeEco to do the same, lest it be left behind. “[It] is not hard to understand why LeEco has been trying to diversify its applications to include smartphones and virtual reality and automobiles,” says Lee.
Andre of Daxue Consulting also points to big data as being another driver behind LeEco’s expansion, harnessing the data it has, and expanding the data it can collect—motivations underlying LeCloud.
But such diversification isn’t without its drawbacks. Lee points out that such moves can adversely affect brand perception and positioning, and such a wide range of offerings can be of limited value if there aren’t proper synergies between the different industries and segments.
Further complicating the picture is LeEcoʼs rapid efforts to go global, both in operations and sales.
LeEco has adopted what it calls a ‘Beijing, Los Angeles, San Francisco’ (‘BLS’) strategy—the company has offices in both US cities, to which it added a new US headquarters in San Jose at the end of April. Under this rubric, Beijing stands in as the market for consumers, while LA and San Francisco are viewed as a factory for content and as a center for innovation and technology, respectively. While implying a continued focus on China, LeEco has also begun selling smart TVs and accessories in the US through LeMall, and in January LeEco began selling its products in India through Flipkart’s e-commerce platform, with more products expected to go on sale in June.
But seriously pursuing markets outside of China is no easy feat. “Going international is probably the main risk,” says Andre, noting they will be “competing with Samsung, with Apple, basically losing all the advantage of being in their domestic market.”
The other issue relates to what has hitherto been LeEco’s prime concern: content. “First, LeEco’s advantage lies on content and since most of content is in Chinese language, it is affecting the global expansion of LeEco,” says Lee. “Second, entering the overseas markets requires copyrighted content and CDN (content delivery network) construction and therefore LeEco is unable to speedily replicate in other markets its success in China.” And these issues come in addition to the competition in Western markets.
“LeEco is surely to face huge challenges when entering these local markets,” Lee continues. “Even if it wishes to replicate the bundled service with a low price plan, it still needs time to foster brand awareness, distribution channels and sales,” although Lee notes that LeEco has taken steps to engage with local content providers in other markets.
Race to the Finish
But for all LeEco’s grand ambitions, China will inevitably define its success or failure. There the company finds itself not only competing with well-established brands in various product segments, such as Huawei, but also companies with ecosystems of their own, varying from a top-tier brand such as Apple through to China’s other tech upstart, Xiaomi. And here the strengths and weaknesses of LeEco are the inverse of its competitors.
“Xiaomi and Apple have advantages in hardware and applications whereas LeEco has a large collection of copyrighted content and intellectual property resources. When it comes to building an ecosystem, it is always difficult to build up a large collection of IP resources correlated to high profit margins and therefore this has put LeEco at an advantage,” says Damien Chin, an industry analyst also at MIC. “Xiaomi and Apple have already had their own ecosystem built around their own-developed devices and the expansion to other services seems to be more effortless.”
And despite all the activity, LeEco still has some way to go. “In terms of performance and quality, I think they are pushing very hard, and that’s a point where we can say they are competing… they are very innovative,” says Andre. “But they are behind in terms of brand recognition, behind in terms of activity to integrate more with… additions to their ecosystem.” Andre also notes that LeEco thus far hasn’t matched Xiaomi’s activity in the world of start-ups.
As one of China’s top internet companies, LeEco won’t be going anywhere soon. But with the advantages in hardware manufacturing and just the current overall state of their ecosystem that the likes of Xiaomi enjoy, LeEco’s rush into so many segments begins to resemble not so much folly as sheer necessity lest the gap grow even larger. And with the company experiencing what Lee terms a “financial crisis,” due to the losses experienced by several of its subsidiaries, despite having received investments from the capital market, getting it right, and as soon as possible, becomes even more important.
With its ecosystem still in something of a nascent stage, it is hard to say quite where this enigmatic company will end up in China’s tech hierarchy, but with increased competition in its home field of online video, and ever more companies seeking to replicate an ecosystem model, the move from TV to Eco seems not only prudent, but also essential.


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Activision is seeking the real names and identities of the makers of cheat software being sold to Call of Duty players. In a Thursday filing with the United States District Court Central District of California, Activision has asked “for leave to serve fifteen subpoenas necessary for Activision to learn the identities of unnamed or alias ‘Doe’ Defendants in this action and to ensure that all necessary parties have been named in this lawsuit.” The filing was spotted earlier by Axios.
Activision is proposing to use social media, payment processors, domain name services, Github code repositories and Steam to track down the cheat makers’ names, addresses, email addresses, IP addresses and other identifiable information. The defendants have also “created accounts and groups intended to ‘troll’ Activision and its counsel,” Activision alleged Thursday.
The original complaint was filed Jan. 4.
“Activision has spent and continues to spend an enormous amount of resources to combat cheating in its games,” the complaint says. “Notwithstanding those efforts, defendants’ sale and distribution of the cheating software has caused Activision to suffer massive and irreparable damage to its goodwill and reputation and to lose substantial revenue.”
Activision didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.