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Ha Noi growth rate to hit yearly forecast
The Ha Noi People's Committee has predicted that the city's economy in the fourth quarter could grow by 8.9-9 per cent and rise to 8.1-8.2 per cent for the entire year, fulfilling the yearly target.
In the third quarter, Ha Noi's GDP posted a growth rate of 8.35 per cent, higher than the rates of 7.5 per cent and 7.85 per cent of the first and second quarters respectively.
The rise in GDP for the first nine months of this year reached 7.88 per cent, much higher than the country's average growth of 5.14 per cent, with positive increases seen in such areas as services (8.9 per cent), industry and construction (7.42 per cent), and agriculture (2.35 per cent).
Also during the nine-month period, 11,410 new enterprises were established with a total capital of VND69.3 trillion (US$3.26 billion), up by 8.2 per cent year-on-year, while 6,538 enterprises ceased operations, down by 19 percent year-on-year.
Savings amongst local credit institutions has been safer and liquidity more secure, meeting capital demands for trade and investment from local enterprises.
Authorities said one of its key tasks was to remove difficulties for enterprises to boost production and business activities. From the beginning of this year, the municipal Department of Industry and Trade has made efforts to expand the export market.
Pham Duc Tien, Deputy Director of the department, last week told Radio the Voice of Viet Nam that so far, Ha Noi has spent VND50 billion ($2.4 million) on trade promotion. Apart from such traditional markets as the US and the EU, Ha Noi will approach new markets like South Africa, Brazil and South America. Some businesses have agreed to export goods to the Brazilian market.
The city's administration also said its key task in the last three months of this year is to be patient in the adoption of support measures for local enterprises, helping them boost production and business operations.
Ha Noi also created favourable conditions for enterprises by improving the management efficiency of local authorities at different levels, implementing administrative reforms with a focus on simplifying administrative procedures, intensifying the fight against corruption and waste, practising thrift and creating a transparent working environment for local enterprises.


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Tight production has lowered Malaysia’s stockpile and pressured the palm oil prices to rise to an 8-year high
by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH / pic by RAZAK GHAZALI
MALAYSIA’S Movement Control Order (MCO) had restrained the country’s economic activities, including the palm oil industry despite its importance in the food industry.
Compared to 2019, Malaysia’s crude palm oil (CPO) production was one million tonnes lower this year for the eleven-month period at 17.8 million tonnes due to the shortage of workers and seasonal weather pattern.
The tight production lowered Malaysia’s stockpile and pressured the palm oil prices to rise to an eight-year high.
The Malaysian Reserve looks at the contributing aspects that influenced the palm oil sector this year.
As the Covid-19 virus spreads to the rural side of the country, the government instructed estate plantations to halt operations to contain the spread of the virus among plantation workers.
The Sabah state government ordered the palm oil operations in six areas — Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Kalabakan, Semporna and Kunak — to be temporarily closed, leading to an exodus of estate workers as the shutdown left them with no pay.
The decision was opposed by the industry players, as delays in the harvesting activities would disrupt the quality of the fruit bunches.
According to industry players, harvesters have a limited timeframe to collect the fruit bunches once ripened, while any delay will degrade the volume and quality of the extracted oil.
It became a genuine concern for the industry players as Sabah accounts for 75% of the palm oil production in Malaysia.
The government also banned the hiring of foreign workers to curb the inflow of Covid-19 cases in the country, leaving industries such as plantation, manufacturing and construction with severe lack of employees.
Supply and Demand Boost Prices
CPO prices have been climbing since May due to thin supply, reaching a year high of about RM3,854 for the generic palm oil futures last week.
Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s benchmark price traded at RM3,701, representing a nine-year high.
The price rally was good news to planters as the crude vegetable oil had been at a low level in the first three months of the MCO.
Analysts believe the rise was due to the tight supply caused by the harvest interruption and increasing demand, particularly from the hotel, restaurant and conference (Horeca) sector.
The country’s stockpiles of CPO also dropped to a new low at 1.56 million tonnes in November, further boosting its prices this month.
The declining trend is divergent from palm oil stocks’ 10-year historical trend where the inventory rose by an average of 3.5% on monthly comparison in November, said CGS-CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd analysts Ivy Ng and Nagulan Ravi.
“The stock is also 1% and 2% above Bloomberg consensus and Reuters’ poll estimates respectively.
“The stockpile remains low compared to historical levels, while the average palm oil stock level in Malaysia at the end of November for the past 10 years has been around 2.3 million tonnes.
“The tight palm oil stockpile level and Indonesia’s revised export levy will likely continue to support CPO prices,” the analysts said.
Besides the shortage of workers, palm oil’s lower production for the season is also affected by the cyclical dry weather pattern, La Nina.
Although the wet weather has little effect on the condition of the palm trees compared to El Nino — the hot weather pattern, the heavier than usual rainfall will most likely slow the fruit collecting process and affect the yield volume for the month.
Tax Exemption Supports Export
In June, the government introduced a tax exemption under the short-term National Economic Recovery Plan, or Penjana, to lift the slump in global palm oil demand, boost exports and bring down the palm oil inventory.
The exemption includes import duties reduction to 0% on CPO, crude palm kernel oil and processed palm kernel oil beginning July 1 to Dec 31 this year.
The policy also came at the perfect timing following India’s interest to increase its palm oil imports to 1.14 million tonnes of vegetable oil in June from the April-to-May monthly average of 865,000 million tonnes.
Outlook for 2021
Analysts believe the strong CPO price momentum will sustain at above the RM3,000 per tonne mark in the first quarter of 2021 (1Q21) before it softens beyond the quarter.
Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd analyst Chye Wen Fei said the momentum is expected to be disrupted by the better supply of other major edible oils of which will result in a more balanced demand-supply dynamic.
“CPO prices will likely remain elevated until 1Q21, supported by the concerns on palm supply tightness in both Malaysia and Indonesia, La Nina phenomenon, which has resulted in slow soybean planting progress in Brazil, and lower soybean yield in the US.
“The low inventory level for edible oil in major edible oil-consuming countries, which will continue to underpin demand for edible oils including palm oil, also contributes to the declining momentum,” Chye said.
Chye said the research house has raised its average CPO price assumptions to RM2,700 per tonne from RM2,350 per tonne for 2020 and RM2,400 per tonne for 2021 to 2022, maintaining its ‘Neutral’ rating on the sector.
AmInvestment Bank Bhd analyst Gan Huey Ling said the plantation industry will see balanced contributing factors in 2021 with the influences slanting more towards the downside risks.
“We think for a CPO price of more than RM3,500 per tonne, there are more downside risks instead of upside.
“We reckon the palm oil industry would rebound in 2021 after sliding in 2020. CPO output was weak in Malaysia and Indonesia in 2020, dragged by the lagged impact of the drought and haze, which took place in 3Q19,”
Gan added that the supply-demand fundamentals for palm oil will recover, particularly on the increasing demand from the Horeca sector which will be supported by the higher CPO production in both Malaysia and Indonesia.
“Malaysia’s CPO production is expected to inch up in 2021.
“Currently, the production is forecast to rise to 19.5 million tonnes in 2021 from about 19.3 million tonnes in 2020.
“We believe the unexciting CPO output in 2021 is premised on the fact there is a shortage of foreign labour in Malaysia presently. The impact of a reduction in fertiliser application by smallholders in 2019 may continue in 2021,” Gan said.
Gan added that China, Malaysia’s biggest importer of palm oil, is expected to continue restocking next year with a higher volume exceeding the imports in 2020.
“We believe China would continue restocking palm oil in 2021 and exceed the 2020’s level of about six million tonnes.
“In 2019, about 22.2% of palm oil was used in the oleochemical industry in China, while another 20.8% was used by instant noodle companies.
“An additional 20.8% of palm oil was used by the catering industry in China, while the remaining 57% was used in the food processing, solid fats and biodiesel industries,” Gan said.
China’s demand for commodities has been robust this year as it has been purchasing various soft commodities after the country ended its lockdown in Wuhan on April 8, 2020.

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SINGAPORE - Fans of the very famous, newly opened Tim Ho Wan in Singapore can now travel to the restaurant's hometown of Hong Kong to dig into some authentic dim sum with Scoot's new low cost flights.
Scoot has just announced the launch of budget flights from Singapore to Hong Kong for those who plan to fly to that bustling city for cheap food and cool shopping.
Services will start at five times per week, and then will be ramped up to daily flights in December during the peak travel period, so you won't have to fight to fly to Hong Kong - there will be space for everyone. Scoot's Hong Kong flights start from November 15, 2013.
For more information about Scoot and the launch fares, go to www.flyscoot.com. Follow Scoot on Facebook at www.facebook.com/flyscoot to get advance notice on special fares and promotions.
Get more stories from herworldPLUS.


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We recently drove the 2013 Ford Fusion and came away very impressed by it.
Read This Article
For this installment of Motor Trend's Wide Open Throttle, Ford Truck's Marketing Manager Doug Scott sits down with some big names to talk about the show-stopping Atlas Concept and its controversial debut.
American muscle fans, rejoice!
Ford today announced that it will open a new research lab in Silicon Valley, just outside of the San Francisco Bay Area.


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An estimated $51 billion of e-commerce sales were registered across the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) in 2017, according to new research.
The report, launched by Dubai CommerCity, the joint project between the Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) and wasl Asset Management Group, said this accounts for only 3 percent of the global e-commerce sales.
It added that the region's e-commerce sector is expected to grow aggressively at 24.6 percent through to 2020, faster than any region in the world.
According to the report, South Asia represents the biggest market in size, while the Gulf represents the fastest growing and highest spending market in the region.
India stands out as the biggest, most mature e-commerce market with US$39 billion in estimated e-commerce sales in 2017 while the UAE represents the biggest spending per online shoppers at $1,648 per person, with the third highest growth projected through 2020 at 29.6 percent.
The report identified seven key growth drivers that include huge latent demand, high internet/ mobile adoption, a young, internet savvy population, high social media usage, cross-border e-commerce, entrepreneurship and growing government support.
It added that an estimated 16 percent of MENASA internet users, approximately 115 million people, are online shoppers compared to 40 percent of global internet users.
The report also highlighted five key challenges that can be attributed to limited e-commerce penetration when compared to the rest of the world including a lack of consumer awareness, limited payment solutions, logistic challenges, customs duties and taxation and limited product coverage.
The report also presents a first listing of top 100 B2C e-commerce companies of MENASA region. Turkey has the most e-commerce companies on the list with 24 companies represented, followed by India (12) and UAE (11).
Dubai CommerCity is being developed in Umm Ramool area, which represents 2.1-million square feet at a cost of AED2.7 billion and aims to strengthen Dubai's presence as a main centre of global e-commerce, establishing zones that support economic diversification and smart transformation, through attracting direct foreign investments in the sector.
DAFZA had recently announced increasing the investment value in Dubai CommerCity by 18.5 percent, to around AED3.2 billion.
Dubai CommerCity is divided into three clusters - the Business Cluster, the Logistic Cluster and the Social Cluster.


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Users of Salesforce's Marketing Cloud on Tuesday gained easier access to Instagram's roughly 300 million users thanks to an integration made possible by a new API.
Microsoft has acquired Incent Games and plans to integrate the Texas startup's FantasySalesTeam sales-gamification software into Dynamics CRM.
Some Apple mobile users have been encountering a pop-up message that is particularly difficult to close.
Mozilla CEO Chris Beard has blasted Microsoft in a pair of posts to the organization's blog, arguing that Windows 10's default browser settings are a "dramatic step backwards" for respecting user choice.
While the buzz around big data analysis is at a peak, there is less discussion about how to get the necessary data into the systems in the first place, which can involve the cumbersome task of setting up and maintaining a number of data processing pi...
Adobe's Digital Publishing suite has long offered a way for brands to publish content on tablets, but on Wednesday the company introduced a new generation of the software tweaked specifically to put such capabilities in the hands of ordinary business...
As Slack's team communication software continues to gain fans, on Thursday it announced a new integration that could be key for the chronically time-challenged: Google Calendar.
Dropbox took in a fresh infusion of team-collaboration technology and talent on Wednesday with the acquisition of San Francisco-based Clementine.
E-mail may still be the dominant tool for office communications in many companies today, but Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled a mobile-minded alternative that's focused primarily on short, quick messages.
Audi, BMW and Daimler will jointly purchase Nokia's Here digital mapping service for roughly $2.7 billion, and they plan to invite other auto makers to take a stake in the company as well, according to reports published on Tuesday.
More than 250 companies have signed on with Airbnb’s Business Travel program since its launch a year ago, but on Monday the home-sharing service launched a new product suite in the hopes of growing that customer segment further.
Oracle on Monday enhanced its cloud-based human resources offering with a suite of "work-life" applications.
Mozilla plans a campaign to stop or slow desertions from Firefox to Windows 10's new Edge browser because the OS's express setup changes previous defaults to Edge during an upgrade, according to published documents.
IBM's Watson has already proven its mettle in the kitchen and on game shows, but its latest skill set is one that could help us all: making sure our writing conveys what we want it to.
Microsoft and FieldOne have been partners for several years already, but on Thursday Microsoft took the relationship a step further and acquired the New Jersey-based provider of field-service software.
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Google has now lowered the price of both Nexus 4 models by $100. US, Canada, Germany, Spain, Korea, Australia, and UK users can get Nexus 4 for 25% off or more. 8GB Nexus 4 model is now available at $199 (£159) and 16GB at $249 (£199).
Google has dropped prices for its already cheaper Android phone. The affordable smartphone of Nexus 4 has now become more affordable. A $100 price cut is now available for both Nexus 4 models. 8GB variant of the smartphone is now available to purchase at Google Play for $199 (£159) after cutting $100 from original price of $299 (£239). Nexus 4 16GB is now priced at $249 (£199). Its older price was $349 (£279).
Don't Miss: The best Deal on a new Samsung Galaxy S8
Google has also tweeted on its Google Play account that this $100 price cut is available for 6 more countries other than US. Canada, Germany, Spain, Korea, Australia, and UK users can get any Nexus 4 model for 25% off or more.
This price cut will attract more users to enjoy the stock Android experience ahead of its anniversary. No news of new Nexus model is yet revealed. But Google will surely launch a new Nexus model as Moto X will not be enough for its mobile lineup, according to Engadget. Till now, Nexus 4 is the best non carrier stock Android smartphone for people on budget.


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Disney’s entry into the crowded streaming market two years ago has been a hit somewhat a lot from the origin. Upfront of a Q4 earnings call, the massive entertainment company has released numbers exhibiting how Disney+ has measured up against stiff competition from Netflix, HBO Max, and others.
In a company document, Disney has published that Disney+ has marked a 60% subscriber divulge since October 2020 to an total of 118.1 subscribers–this time last year, that entire became at 70 million subscribers. “We’re extraordinarily contented with the success of our streaming industry,” stated Disney CEO Bob Chapek within the document. “We are assured that our high of the vary entertainment and expansion into additional markets worldwide will enable us to additional develop our streaming platforms globally.” Demonstrate that on the shut of the 2nd fiscal quarter of 2021, which ended April 3, Disney equipped that its streaming service had accrued 103 million paid subscribers in entire.
The Disney-owned Hulu grew 22% between October 3, 2020 and October 2, 2021. Hulu now sits at 72.6 million subscribers for the streaming service. The Hulu + Are residing TV dropped from 4.1 to 4 million across that identical length of time, which is a 20 percent descend. A few of this would possibly maybe doubtless be explained by the indisputable reality that the service raised its prices support in November last year.
While Disney+ grew in paid subscribers, its moderate month-to-month earnings lowered from $4.52 to $4.12. Here’s being attributed to Disney+ Hostar’s launch, because the moderate month-to-month earnings per subscriber is “vastly decrease.” On a Q4 earnings call, quite loads of Disney+ executives wired platform-extensive objectives to double the assortment of territories the service will doubtless be on hand in by fiscal year 2023–and underlined the big quantity of bellow at demonstrate in pattern.
As soon as November 12, there’ll doubtless be a ton of original offerings rolling available for Disney+ Day. For a paunchy rundown of the entire lot coming to Disney+ later this week, alongside side Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Memoir of the Ten Rings and 13 Marvel motion photographs getting an IMAX Expanded Aspect Ratio layout visible upgrade, take a look at out our rundown here.
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JOLT chief executive Doug McNamee said the investment showed that, after a slow start, Australia’s electric car market had turned a corner.
He said the total cost of ownership of electric cars was lower than for comparable internal combustion cars, and they would soon also be cheaper to buy.
Tesla had demonstrated electric cars could be attractive to consumers on merit, and now that major car manufacturers were dedicating all of their research and development to the technology, they would continue to improve.
According to a new report by the Electric Vehicle Council, which represents the industry in Australia, in the first half of 2021, 8688 electric cars were sold in Australia, which was more than was sold in all of 2020.
The council’s chief executive Behyad Jafari said this was about 1.5 per cent of new cars sold, compared with a market share of about 10 to 15 per cent in similar markets overseas. He described the figure as low but growing rapidly.
The growth now appeared to be locked in, particularly due to new policies announced by the NSW government to encourage the use of the technology, he said.
BlackRock is the world’s largest investment manager and, in a series of high-profile statements, its boss, Larry Fink, has made it clear climate change is a key to concern to its clients.
The investment in JOLT is BlackRock’s first in electric car infrastructure in the Asia Pacific region and its largest investment in the sector in the world.


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JACKSONVILLE, Florida Toyota recently launched its Nationwide Clearance Event, and Arlington Toyota is encouraging consumers in the Jacksonville area to take advantage of the savings.
With numerous offers available, there are vehicles to match each customers budget. The 2013 Venza, 2012 Highlander, 2012 Prius v, 2012 RAV4, 2012 Tundra, 2012 Sienna, 2012 Venz, 2012 Avalon, 2012 Prius, 2012 Camry, 2012 Camry Hybrid and 2012 Corolla are each offering zero percent APR financing for 36 months.
Special lease prices are also available on new Toyotas. Lease the 2012 Camry SE for 199 per month, the 2013 Venza LE for 299 per month, 2012 Camry Hybrid for 269 per month, or the 2012 Prius v for 299 per month. Other lease specials include the 2012 Corolla LE for 179 per month, the 2012 Sequoia for 512 per month, the 2012 4Runner for 387 per month, and the 202 Tundra Double Cab 5.7L V8 for 319 per month. Even more deals are available for consumers looking for something a little different. The 2012 Sienna LE offers 299 per month, the 2012 Highlander for 279 per
month, the 2012 RAV4 for 199 per month, the 2012 Avalon for 379 per month, and the 2012 Prius for 239 per month.
On top of the savings, Toyota is having a contest in which the player can win a debit card worth 250. Participants log on to the Toyota website and answer the clues after purchasing a Toyota during the Nationwide Clearance Event.
Arlington Toyota has also lowered prices on specific vehicles. Purchase a new 2012 Highlander, originally 29,938, for 25,888. Save 2651 on a new 2012 Prius One, and 3581 on a new Camry L.
About Arlington Toyota
Arlington Toyota in Jacksonville, Florida is the perfect choice to buy a Toyota vehicle. The dealership offers new and used Toyotas to not only the Jacksonville area but the St. Augustine, Orange Park, and Ponte Verde areas as well. Arlington Toyota offers a wide selection of vehicles as competitive pricing so families of all sizes can find everything they need. Arlington Toyota also provides financing, service, parts, and repair through their highly-trained personnel.


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- People are increasingly skipping Friday-night treats like movies and restaurants as inflation bites into paychecks
- More than 4 in 10 are spending less on groceries, even cutting back on such staples as bread, milk and eggs
- Cash-strapped Americans in Wisconsin, Illinois and Kansas told DailyMail.com of the painful cutbacks they had been forced to make
- One family has resorted to switching off lights and air conditioning because energy prices are so high
- Joe Biden’s friendly fist-bump with Saudi petro-royal Mohammed bin Salman did not immediately lead to boosted oil supply
Nearly two thirds of Americans have cut back on restaurants, movies and other fun nights out, according to a survey offering the latest snapshot of how 40-year-high inflation is causing widespread economic pain.
Some 65 percent of respondents said they were spending less on concerts and other types of entertainment, while another 61 percent said they were driving less — with the average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline still above $4.50.
More than 4 in 10 are spending less on groceries, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey of 800 people earlier this month, and about a third are using their credit cards more often to make it through the crunch.
Shoppers are spending less on everyday basics like bread, eggs and milk as well as processed goods like juice boxes, according to another study by NielsenIQ. Cereals alone have risen in price by a jaw-dropping 15.1 per cent.


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Splendia Partners with Fotopedia for iPad Ads
Luxury online hotel booking company Splendia has teamed up with app publisher Fotopedia - which also has its own ad platform - for a partnership which will bring Splendia ads to Fotopedia's iOS portfolio, which has a global audience of 12m people across 12 apps.
“We are excited to collaborate with Fotopedia as we continue to grow internationally,” said Guillaume Rostand, director of worldwide marketing at Splendia. “The environment that Fotopedia has created with its apps is nothing short of spectacular. They do a great job of getting people to dream about travel. We help people make their dream vacation a reality, with a careful selection of the most exquisite luxury and character hotels at unbeatable prices, and with the highest quality of service.”
Since it was launched in June, Fotopedia has delivered ad campaigns for 15 brands including Expedia, Flipboard and National Geographic. The ad platform lets brands target people by country, language, device, and user interests - and, because of its niche audiences and interactive advertising, Fotopedia says its ads have an average CTR of 3.5 per cent, up to a high of 10 per cent.
Join us at Mobile Marketing Live, our new two-day conference, exhibition and networking event being held at London's Business Design Centre on 1-2 October


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CD Projekt Studio shared with investors a fresh preliminary estimate of the starting sales of Cyberpunk 2077 – from December 10 to 20, inclusive, sales of the most important game of the year exceeded 13 million copies. These are the total sales of digital and physical copies across all platforms, including processed returns.
Bloomberg reported that the current result is roughly 50% of analysts’ projections of Cyberpunk 2077 sales in the first year before digital stores. CD Projekt itself started returning money for the game.
With sales of 13+ million copies, Cyberpunk 2077 is on a par with the best-selling games of 2020, although it still lags well behind the top 50 best-selling games of all time and CD Projekt Red’s previous hit, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It sold 29 million copies in its fourth year since its release (the entire trilogy sold 50+ million copies).
Earlier, CD Projekt reported that the number of pre-orders Cyberpunk 2077 amounted to 8 million copies, and the proceeds from pre-orders have already exceeded development and marketing costs.
CD Projekt Red says that it has sold 13 million copies of Cyberpunk through digital and physical distribution channels as of December 20.
This number factors in refunds processed by this point at both retail / digital.
The game had 8m pre-orders prior to launch. pic.twitter.com/ZIg4j9nDeB
– Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 22, 2020
Sales of Cyberpunk 2077 will likely become significantly higher after the studio finally fixes the game (since the release on December 10, interim patches 1.04 and 1.05 were released for all platforms, but there are still enough serious problems). She will return to the PS Store. Last week, Sony removed Cyberpunk 2077 from the PS Store, offering everyone a refund for the game, after which CD Projekt’s stock plummeted. At the same time, Microsoft announced a refund for Cyberpunk 2077 on Xbox, and CD Projekt itself promised to refund money for copies of Cyberpunk 2077 purchased at retail, if necessary, “from their own pockets” (players acknowledge receipt of responses to refund requests).
Apparently, with this assessment, CD Projekt expects to console investors and raise the share price.
Cyberpunk 2077 was released on December 10 on all platforms (PC, PS4 and PS4 Pro, PS5, Xbox One | One X, Xbox Series X | S, and Google Stadia). After the release, players began to massively complain about numerous bugs, crashes and performance problems, especially on the base consoles of the outgoing generation. At a recent urgent meeting with investors, top managers of CD Projekt vowed to fix all bugs and errors, and bring the versions for the outgoing generation consoles to a playable state. The studio is preparing two major patches that are slated for release in January and February 2021.


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Apple, the corporate previously recognized by its trillion-dollar market cap, can be reporting its vacation quarter Q1 2019 earnings at present and it might simply have the well being of the worldwide markets driving on how the financials look.
Earlier this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a letter to traders, slashing Q1 steerage from a variety of between $89 billion and $93 billion to only $84 billion. Given that the corporate revised its steerage only a few weeks in the past, there isn’t a lot of a cause to anticipate a serious income miss from the corporate although issues might nonetheless go awfully improper if the corporate is pessimistic in its Q2 outlook or misses elsewhere.
Apple’s inventory worth cratered practically 10 p.c when Cook’s investor letter was launched, a drop that represented the worst single day plunge for the corporate in additional than 5 years. The inventory has largely recovered within the weeks since, however it’s recovering from a 52-week low it reached earlier this month, an almost 40 p.c decline from its all-time-high in October.
Analysts are actually going to be scouring the numbers at present to get any form of learn into the well being of the corporate’s cellular enterprise shifting ahead, however they may have much less knowledge than ever to make these judgments off of.
During the corporate’s final investor name, Apple slid in an announcement that they might not be reporting unit gross sales in subsequent quarterly earnings reviews, that means that you simply gained’t see any flashy “Apple sold XX.X iPhones this quarter” tales floating throughout your timeline. For the time being, income numbers are all we’re working with, although Apple contends that its monetary success is rising much less tightly correlated with unit gross sales, seemingly a results of the widening vary of worth factors in its gadget classes and a basic upward development in these merchandise’ common promoting costs.
Despite the unit gross sales shift, loads of analysts can be staring lengthy and onerous at a single quantity this quarter anyway: Greater China income.
In Cook’s investor letter, he detailed that “economic weakness in some emerging markets” had “turned out to have a significantly greater impact than we had projected.” India and China have been two extremely tough markets for Apple to crack, whereas the corporate has positively made wholesome inroads with the iPhone in China, it appears progress is slowing there with Cook going as far to say that the majority of the…


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NOAA Withdraws Proposed Rule on Seafood Imports
As agency re-evaluates Seafood Import Monitoring Program, Oceana calls for program to be expanded to all species
Press Release Date: November 14, 2023
Cory Gunkel,Megan Jordan | email: firstname.lastname@example.org,email@example.com | tel: Cory Gunkel,202.868.4061
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced today that it will withdraw the proposed rule to expand the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) that the agency issued in December 2022. The rule, which was directed by President Biden’s June 2022 national security memorandum, would have expanded the number of species and species groups subject to SIMP by 4%-8%, leaving nearly half of all seafood imports not covered by these measures. The program, which was created under President Obama, requires catch documentation and traceability for some seafood species at risk of illegal fishing and seafood fraud. The program currently includes 13 species groups and covers less than half of U.S. seafood imports.
Oceana Campaign Director Dr. Max Valentine released the following statement in response to NOAA’s announcement:
“The bottom line is we deserve to know what seafood is on our plate and how it got there, so it’s disappointing that NOAA will not be expanding the Seafood Import Monitoring Program to include additional species. The current program covers less than half of the seafood imported into the U.S., allowing other products to enter without key information to show that they came from a legal fishery. We call on NOAA to use this review of the program to ensure that all seafood sold in the United States is safe, legally caught, responsibly sourced, and honestly labeled. NOAA should commit to a specific timeline to complete the review process and expand the program. As the single largest seafood importer in the world, the United States has a responsibility to prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing and forced labor.
NOAA needs to use this opportunity to ensure the program is a robust tool to combat IUU fishing and seafood fraud. NOAA must commit to expanding the program to include all imported seafood. In addition, the tool should be used to screen products before they enter the U.S. market. IUU fishing and seafood fraud undermines honest fishers and seafood businesses that follow the rules. SIMP should help level the playing field by ensuring only safe, legally caught, responsibly sourced, and honestly labeled seafood is sold in the U.S. The European Union has required this type of information for seafood imports for more than a decade, and it’s beyond time for the United States to follow that lead to protect workers and consumers alike.
From the current Russian seafood ban, to China’s extensive IUU fishing activity across the globe, to forced labor on fishing vessels and in factories, we need catch documentation and traceability for all seafood. Until all the seafood we eat is held to the same standard, we won’t truly know what products are ending up on our plates — or how they got there.”
NOAA established SIMP in 2016, which requires catch documentation and traceability for some seafood at risk of IUU fishing and seafood fraud. The program currently covers 13 species and species groups representing less than half of U.S. seafood imports, and the traceability requirements apply from the fishing vessel or farm to the first point of entry into U.S. commerce — the U.S. border. According to the Presidential Task Force on Combating IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud, established in 2016, the original goal of the U.S. government was to eventually expand SIMP to all seafood, which Oceana supports. The current SIMP will continue to operate regularly while NOAA undergoes a review of the program.
To learn more about Oceana’s campaign to expand seafood traceability and transparency at sea, visit here.


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I'm not the only gamer who misses queuing outside the local GAME at midnight for the latest edition of FIFA, now named EA Sports FC.
But in the digital world we live in today, we don't really need to buy physical discs anymore.
With the PS5 'Digital Edition' and numerous other consoles going disc-less, the need to go and buy physical games is simply no longer there.
Due to online sales and the cost-of-living crisis, the entire retail market has arguably suffered and GAME is no exception.
GAME are, of course, known for selling consoles, video games, accessories and mobile phones.
However, the UK video game retailer with a reported 240 branches - which has closed a number of shops in recent years - is about to close four more.
According to The Sun: "Store closing, all stock must go," signs have appeared in its Rugby store, whilst branches in Exeter, Witney and Huntingdon are set for closure next month.
Witney and Huntingdon stores are set to shut on January 7 and 14 respectively.
"That’s genuinely devastated me that," one resident said, as another added: "So sad to hear yet another Game shop is closing."
"Such a loss to the already diminishing high street," a third penned, while a fourth agreed: "It’s a shame been using this place for over ten years."
GAME has also recently closed three shops in Plymouth, Cambridge and Newport, Wales.
LADbible has contacted the Frasers Group - who own GAME - for comment.
However, it's not all doom and gloom for the high street, as music and entertainment retailer HMV opened the doors of its historic Oxford Street store last month after a four-year absence.
The retailer was rescued from insolvency by Canadian Doug Putman’s Sunrise Records business.
The entrepreneur said the chain has returned after striking a better deal with the shop’s landlord.
“It is a pretty great moment for us, coming back here after four years away,” he said
“When we bought the business, we couldn’t keep the site because the rates bill and rent just didn’t make any financial sense.
“Getting another location in London was an immediate priority and as it became more obvious that the rent and rate situation here had improved and the landlord was open to discussions, we just felt it would be the right move to come back to somewhere with such history to us.”
The shop stocks more than 4,000 popular culture merchandise lines, some 20,000 vinyl albums and CDs, in excess of 8,000 4kUHD, Blu-rays and DVDs, as well as music technology products.Featured Image Credit: Wiki Commons/Flickr


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St Modwen has signed national retailer Home Bargains to a new £15m development in Connah's Quay, Flintshire.
The retailer has leased 6,200 sq ft at 10.48/sq ft and joins local businesses Connah's Quay MOT Testing Centre and Deeside Fish and Chip Shop at the Ffordd Llanarth scheme.
The Deeside District Centre, being developed by St Modwen, is anchored by a 52,000 sq ft Morrisons food store and includes an additional twelve retail units, 325 car parking spaces, improved pedestrian links and a bus pick-up point.
Paul Batho, project director at St Modwen, said: "This is great news for Flintshire. Home Bargains is one of a number of deals we have already secured for the site and we are in advanced discussions with a number of well known retail operators who are keen to be part of the scheme.
"We're aiming to provide a good variety of shops at the development and it is anticipated that hundreds of jobs will be created once the retail centre opens."
The 6-acre development is already taking shape following the completion of the steel frame for the retail units.
Demolition of the original centre, built in the 1970's, started in June last year and was completed two months later.
Construction of the new district centre will be complete in the summer of this year before being handed over to the retailers to start work on the internal fit-out of the units.
Outline planning consent was granted to St Modwen in April 2008 by Flintshire Council.
Morgan Ashurst is contractor on the scheme. Cheetham & Mortimer are agents.


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In October, we reported that Grammy-winning American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer Kanye West, who also goes by Ye, agreed to buy a social media “freedom of expression” platform called Parler. The announcement was made in a joint statement, after Kanye West was fired from Twitter. In a statement, the company said that “the proposed acquisition will secure Parler a future role in creating an irrevocable ecosystem where all votes are welcome.” we will…
Parler’s parent company, Parlement Technologies, has announced that Kanye will no longer complete the deal. The company said it had split from Kanye West, and the deal was apparently never formalized following a memorandum of understanding. Parliament Technologies’ official statement on the development reads: “Parlement Technologies has confirmed that the Company and Ye have mutually agreed to terminate the intent to sell Parler. This mutually beneficial decision took place in mid-November. Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and platform development for our vibrant community.” .
The company also revealed that the deal had already been closed in mid-November. Kanye West has been in the news for various controversial reasons, from his anti-Semitic tweets to his recent praise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis during an interview with Alex Jones.
Founded in 2018 by John Matze and Rebekah Mercer, Parler has positioned itself as a platform looking to fight censorship. The platform is one of the growing “freedom of expression” platforms making the rounds. According to data from Sensor Tower, Parler has just over 250,000 monthly active users on its iOS and Android apps. Also, according to Pew Research, in a survey of more than 10,000 people, 38 percent had heard of Parler.
What do you think about this content Parler’s parent company will not sell Kanye West’s social media
Let’s hear your thoughts!
Read Related Tech Topics


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RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Could dinosaur broccoli trees turn your toddler into a vegetable-devouring, healthy-eating machine? It seems so. Research out of Cornell University found that children ate 50 percent more vegetables when the nutritious morsels were given cool names.
THE DETAILS: The study hasn’t been published yet, but the findings were unveiled earlier this month at the annual meeting of the School Nutrition Association in Washington, D.C. Brian Wansink, PhD, author of author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (Bantham) and Prevention.com blogger, and fellow researchers studied 186 4-year-olds in preschool and found they ate 50 percent more carrots called “X-ray Vision Carrots” than they did on lunch days when they were just plain old carrots. And the children continued to eat 50 percent more vegetables over the next few days. “Cool names can make for cool foods,” Wansink says. “Giving a food a fun name makes kids think it will be more fun to eat. And it seems to be working, even the next day.”
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a health advocacy group, funded the study.
WHAT IT MEANS: Restaurateurs already know this trick: Wansick discovered a few years ago that names of restaurant foods can make people eat more. For instance, when the “Seafood Filet” menu item was changed to a more dramatic “Succulent Italian Seafood Filet,” sales increased by 28 percent and taste rating jumped 12 percent. His latest work shows kids aren’t immune to the name game, either, and suggests parents can use it to get them to eat their vegetables.
Here’s how to inspire your tots to eat more veggies:
• Play the name game. Kids are creative, and if we want them to eat more veggies, we should have fun renaming them. First, know what sparks your child’s interest. Wansink’s two daughters, ages 2 and 4, generally like vegetables, but when he calls veggies things like “princess peas” or “pretty peas,” they love them. “Pretty, pink, and dinosaurs usually work,” Wansink says.
To help you get started, we, brainstormed new names for these vegetables from this week’s menu at the Rodale lunchroom:
• Asparagus: green arrows, unicorn horns, ninja sticks
• Corn: goblin teeth, gold nuggets, pirate food
• Mashed potatoes: smooshed cloud explosion, scrambled dinosaur eggs, robot chow
• Butternut squash: super power cubes, super-delicious-happy-dinosaur-alien-princess-rainbow-treat
• Don’t make your kids clear their plates. Forcing your children to ingest every last bit of food on the plate could turn them into overeaters. According to a 2008 study, children who were forced to eat everything on their plate will go on to eat 43 percent more snacks.
Published on: March 12, 2009
Updated on: May 14, 2010


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By PISAI GUMAR
MOROBE police commander Augustine Wampe is concerned about travellers failing to report piracy promptly to police.
Wampe raised this concern last week following a raid on a vessel carrying store goods, fuel and building materials from Labuta in Nawaeb district to Wasu in Tewae-Siassi.
He said he was yet to get a formal report on the incident for his men to investigate. He was told that pirates attacked a tug boat owned by South Sea Lines Ltd, the mv Kwila I, and stole goods on its pontoon.
Wasu store owner Sipai Bomario said he was concerned that it was the second attack on a South Sea Lines vessel and urged the company to use an appropriate vessel to serve clients.
He said the tug boat was about 100metres away from the pontoon, a distance meant for efficient manoeuvring. But that allowed pirates to climb on board and steal the goods at night.
He queried whether it was appropriate, under the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) laws to use tugboats and pontoons to ferry goods.
Meanwhile, NMSA senior ship inspector Danny Fezamo said pontoons were allowed to carry dry goods but they should be packed in containers to prevent damage.
“Pontoons can also carry passengers under certification by NMSA, providing that there are accommodations on them to cater for human needs,” Fezamo said.
Mange Bosope, a business woman in Kabwum, said apart from 50 cartons of beer, the pirates stole clothes, shoes, belts and caps and left their dirty clothes behind.
By PISAI GUMAR


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Foursquare has decided to split its app into two separate apps and named the new one as “Swarm,” by which, users can check in to locations and see what their nearby friends are up to, while the core app will focus on discovery.
Foursquare has enabled the users to “check-in” to the locations in 2009 and since its inception, it has seen tremendous growth in its user-base and collection of user data as well. Recently, the company has also began rolling out the discovery kind of its service too. Once the new app comes out as public, Fourquare users won’t be able to do everything within its core app. Some of the features will be split to the new Swarm app.
According to Foursquare, checking in with Swarm app will be faster and easier than its core app, Foursquare. Initially, Swarm app will be available for all iOS and Android devices since “later this summer.” Windows Phone version of the application will be launched in coming weeks.
Hence forth, Foursquare app will be focusing on discovery aspect of features, where Swarm will be taking the burden of checking in to locations. Foursquare’s main app will try to take on Yelp, with learning ability of the places the users have been, where users could post reviews of local places and the app will help the users by suggesting new stores and restaurants with the help of those reviews by other users.
Foursqaure always used to say that their core agenda is not to provide check-in services for its users, but the app became popular in that segment. Foursquare says that the interesting move of splitting the app into two will make the separate check-in and discovery process quicker than integrated feature in currently available in Foursquare app.
The company stated in its blog post:
Swarm is for people who want the fastest and easiest way to connect with their friends. Foursquare is for explorers who want to know about the best spots, and to share what they’ve found with others. The two apps have been built to work seamlessly together and we can’t wait until both apps are in your hands.
Do you use Foursquare app? If your answer is yes, which feature you like most within the app – check-in or discovery?[ Source ][ Via ]


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A paid-for rival to Public Health England’s free sugar app claims to offer consumers a much more sophisticated way of cutting down their consumption.
The FoodMaestro app, originally launched in July last year as a way to allow smartphone users with food allergies to avoid danger foods, has been updated to include information on sugar levels across more than 75,000 products.
As well as allowing consumers to scan barcodes in store, the app features an advanced search function to enable shoppers to search by category. As well as showing the sugar content of different products, the app also recommends lower-sugar alternatives in the same sector.
The app uses data gathered by the company and shared with manufacturers for approval. It was developed by Dr Lauri-Ann Van der Poel, a paediatrician at London’s St Thomas’ Hospital. Unlike the PHE app, which uses sugar cube symbols, it uses spoon symbols, each representing 4g of sugar.
PHE’s Change4Life Sugar Smart barcode scanner shot to the top of the iTunes free chart when it launched, with more than 700,000 plus downloads, although it has attracted controversy over the inaccuracy of some of its data
“As far as FoodMaestro is concerned the more of these types of apps the better,” said a spokesman for the company. “We’re very pleased PHE launched its app, but the technology we use is more sophisticated and we think it is more useful for consumers looking for information about what sort of products they should be switching to,” said a spokesman.
The app is available to download on IOS and Android for an annual fee of £2.29


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McDonald’s has created a new food holiday for its Egg McMuffin and will celebrate by giving away free breakfast sandwiches.
Almost 50 years after the sandwich debuted in 1971, McDonald’s is marking its first-ever National Egg McMuffin Day on Monday, March 2. The day coincidentally – or perhaps purposefully – is when Wendy’s breakfast menu launches nationwide.
To get the free Egg McMuffin between 6 and 10:30 a.m. local time Monday, you’ll need to download the McDonald’s mobile app and register an account. No purchase is necessary to get the freebie at participating locations.
“While we’re giving the Egg McMuffin its moment, we’re really honoring our breakfast fans who have woken up with McDonald’s breakfast for nearly 50 years,” David Tovar, McDonald’s vice president of U.S. communications, said in a statement. “And we just thought, ‘hey, why not declare March 2 as National Egg McMuffin Day?’”
Fish specials for Lent:Chick-fil-A, Arby’s, Wendy’s, McDonald’s and more serve up fish sandwiches, specials
Leap Day 2020 freebies and more:Feb. 29 brings free food and specials, along with exclusive deals for Leaplings
Fast-food rivals have been launching food wars frequently and Wendy’s did poke McDonald’s in early February when announcing the March 2 nationwide launch.
Many Wendy’s restaurants started serving breakfast ahead of Monday as a soft launch. The menu includes the Breakfast Baconator, Frosty-ccino and Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit.
Moe’s Southwest Grill kicked off the “queso war” Thursday against Chipotle by offering a free side of queso to coincide with Chipotle’s new Blanco Queso. Moe’s free queso offer was extended through Friday.
Arby’s fired the first salvo in a high-stakes battle over who has the best fish sandwich by trying to bait McDonald’s in a Fish Sandwich War ahead of Lent.
Coronavirus concerns:‘Corona beer virus’ and ‘beer coronavirus’ searches increase as fears of outbreak spread
Perk up:Panera Bread’s new coffee subscription program offers unlimited coffee for $8.99 a month
Follow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko


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Virtual reality has been in the making for at least 30 years, but Best Buy is betting that brick-and-mortar demonstrations may be what the technology needs to bump it into primetime.
Ahead of this year's holiday season, Best Buy announced it would dramatically expand live demos of the Facebook-owned Oculus Rift virtual reality headset from 48 stores to 500. The electronics retailer has also begun in-store demonstrations in anticipation of the Oct. 13 launch of the Sony PlayStation VR game system.
Best Buy is quietly setting itself up to be the premier physical destination for virtual reality gear. As the only U.S. brick-and-mortar retailer selling the Oculus Rift headset, the retailer is uniquely positioned to use demos to drive more traffic into its stores and ultimately increase sales.
Many analysts believe that after years of unmet hype, the VR market is set for strong growth in the next several years, with a recent report predicting over $50 billion in VR hardware sales by 2021. Yet long-standing issues have held VR back before, including equipment cost, availability and uncertain customer interest. An Oculus Rift unit retails at a pricey $599, and Best Buy has been careful to offer "very limited quantities" of the product
Still, analysts say the most powerful sales tool for VR gear is allowing potential customers to experience it first-hand. In doing just that, Best Buy could become the model for how other brick-and-mortar retailers could sell VR gear — and help push VR to its tipping point.
Best Buy has been careful not to over-promise the effect that Oculus Rift sales — or the VR market in general — will have on its bottom line.
Its approach to promoting and selling the Oculus Rift reflects the retail sector's increasing reliance on experiential marketing, the notion that allowing customers to experience a product can increase sales. Best Buy is cagey about its expectations for the in-store demos, but analysts contend such demos can transform consumers from VR-curious to VR-believers.
Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly touted the expansion of live Oculus Rift demos during the retailer's second quarter earnings call, suggesting with tempered enthusiasm that VR products in general could help the retailer increase store sales in the future.
“By holiday, we expect to be selling an expanded assortment of virtual reality products in the vast majority of our stores, and more than 500 stores will be equipped with demo stations, so customers can try out this exciting new technology,” Joly said on the call. “We believe virtual reality has the potential to contribute to our growth in the future, but I am not expecting a material financial impact this year, given the timing of launches, inventory availability, and the fact that we are early in the cycle.”
Danielle Schumann, a Best Buy spokeswoman, told Retail Dive in an email that the demo expansion was not necessarily based on the reception of the initial demo launch in May. "Virtual reality is exciting technology, which is why it was always part of the plan to roll out more demos," Schumann said. Best Buy declined to answer further questions for this story related to its Oculus Rift inventory or the expected impact the demos could have on sales and store traffic.
The retailer may be cautious about giving the expansion too much credit, but Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insights, a consultancy firm that tracks the VR market, told Retail Dive that Best Buy's demos are “extremely important” in the grand scheme of things.
“There is no substitute for trying VR,” he said. “It is almost impossible to articulate the experience without trying it. This is why having easy-to-use, compelling demos in physical retail is going to be so important for this technology.”
Leveraging the in-store experience
In-store demos have the potential to appeal to a segment of consumers increasingly curious about VR, which CCS Insights' Wood says could also drive more traffic into stores.
The Oculus Rift demos at Best Buy take place in the retailer’s Intel Experience store, one example of its store-within-a-store strategy that aligns well-known technology brands with experiential in-store marketing campaigns to enable potential customers to discover new products and services by trying them out firsthand.
CEO Joly has described in-store experiences as a “very important component of our strategy.” Best Buy CFO Corie Barry also said in a recent earnings call that the store-within-a-store concept allows the retailer “to showcase a technology in a very unique way.” Barry clarified that Best Buy doesn’t break out revenue connected to the different experience stores.
Best Buy may want to use the Oculus Rift demos to tap into the sort of impulse buyers who go to Best Buy for a new laptop and come home with other new gadgets they've discovered, according to Beck Besecker, CEO and co-founder of Marxent, a company that works with retailers and others to use VR as a marketing and operational tool.
"It’s certainly a way to draw people into the store. And once they’re inside, they’re likely to buy things — which may not even be an Oculus necessarily," Besecker told Retail Dive. "Brick-and-mortar is dependent on that impulse buying behavior, so they could be using the Oculus to drive people in."
But CCS Insight’s Wood believes the jury is still out on exactly how big of an in-store traffic driver VR could be. “VR remains a niche opportunity versus mass market consumer electronics, or a device such as the iPhone 7, which has tremendous consumer pull," he said. “But we do believe there is a segment of consumers who are certainly interested in trying it, and that could see them visiting a store to test the technology.”
'A nod to market readiness'
Best Buy's dominance in brick-and-mortar virtual reality sales could prove especially significant to the VR market in general. Besecker called the move “a nod to market readiness,” adding that “Best Buy’s backing makes VR experiences more accessible to people who may not otherwise try it."
Analysts say there are other reasons to believe the VR market is about to surge. CCS Insights reported in an August forecast update that it expects sales of dedicated VR headsets, a category that includes the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, will reach 21 million units sold by 2020 — a more than tenfold jump from the 2 million such devices expected to be sold in 2016.
Worldwide sales of smartphone-based VR headsets represent an even larger market in terms of volumes of units, with CCS expecting 72 million such devices to be sold by 2020. But revenue-wise, the Oculus Rift and its ilk could account for 85% of an $11 billion market by 2020 because they represent a smaller part of the market in terms of volume, but they cost much more than smartphone-enabled VR gear.
Forrester Research forecasted that the U.S. market for high-end dedicated VR headsets and mid-priced smartphone-based VR gear will reach 52 million units sold by 2020, according to the May 2016 report, “The Coming Wave of Virtual Reality," written by J.P. Gownder, vice president and principal analyst for infrastructure and operations professionals at Forrester.
Wood, of CCS Insights, believes numerous factors are at play in driving this imminent market growth. He noted that Google has aligned with various partners in campaigns to give away its Google Cardboard VR platform, since it sees VR content and applications as the real revenue driver. McDonald’s has given away “Happy Goggles” VR headsets with Happy Meals in Sweden, and Kellogg’s runs a similar campaign through its family rewards program. Samsung Gear VR, which uses Oculus technology, also has been backed by big marketing money and promotion from Samsung, Wood said.
Much more VR content is quickly becoming available. In recent days, Sony Picture and Reality One partnered to produce VR content, while HTC lent more support to its Vive VR headset by opening a new app store. Facebook and others have also been urging the creation of user-generated content for VR.
These efforts heighten awareness of VR technology overall, Wood said, and should drive adoption of dedicated VR devices. In this context, Best Buy’s demos have the potential to accomplish both of those things.
Challenges to overcome
While the VR market is generating some fresh excitement, and Best Buy is doing its part, the market also has its own history of letdowns. Through its early development years in the 1990s and 2000s, the quality of the VR experience seemed perpetually unable to meet the promise of the pop culture touchstones that helped to hype it, such as the movie “The Lawnmower Man” and William Gibson’s book “Neuromancer.”
"The early interest in VR died because the technology wasn’t able to deliver on the promises that people were making about it," Gownder wrote in his report for Forrester. "Today, the technology is 95% there."
While the technology is solid, the cost could be more consumer-friendly. VR has always been an expensive proposition — and that remains the case. Best Buy sells the Oculus Rift for $599, and the HTC Vive is priced as high as $800 elsewhere. Meanwhile, smartphone-based systems are cheaper, though the Oculus Rift and Vive are considered to deliver a superior quality VR experience. There's also the cost of the high-end PCs that users need to power their VR experiences, games and other content if they don't already have robust hardware.
And after all these years, it's still difficult to ascertain the true level of consumer interest in VR — is it only for hardcore VR gamers and true VR enthusiasts, or will others be interested?
Paula Rosenblum, co-founder and managing partner of RSR Research, said getting more people "to actually see what VR can do" is important for the technology, but suggested that Best Buy faces a conundrum in appealing to consumers beyond those already very interested in VR. She questioned the assumption that the Oculus Rift on its own can drive traffic into stores.
"I, for one, have never had a headset on," she said. "But I don’t think I’d go to a store to just try them. So it’s a bit of a circular problem. I don’t know how good the graphics are, so I haven’t much interest in buying one. I just keep assuming it’s like IBM’s old “Second Life” app, which had pretty awful graphics. I’m not sure how you get past that."
Rosenblum also has reservations about the cost. "I don’t see parents giving their kids $600 Christmas gifts," she said. "I am still unsure beyond the gaming market who the target market for these headsets is."
Perhaps Best Buy will have an answer after this holiday season.
This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the 2016 holiday shopping season. You can browse our holiday page for more stories.


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With its latest release, the new Ford Puma ST Powershift is shaking things up. The popular SUV will come with a 1.0-liter EcoBoost mild-hybrid engine and a 7-speed automatic transmission for the first time. The American automaker has just published the first official images and information about this new engine, and the numbers are impressive.
The 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine boasts 170 horsepower and 248 Nm of torque, enough to reach 100 km/h in just 7.4 seconds. These figures are particularly impressive for a 1.0-liter engine, and the mild-hybrid system is sure to improve fuel economy, making it an attractive choice for both speed and sustainability.
The new Ford Puma ST Powershift comes with a fresh exterior shade called Azura Blue, and the headliner can be ordered in gloss black. The 19-inch wheels are finished in Magnetite, giving the SUV a sleek, modern look.
The new version of the Ford Puma ST Powershift will be available for order in April, and it's sure to be a popular choice among automotive enthusiasts. This is not the first time the Puma ST has turned heads. The American automaker first released the Ford Puma ST three years ago, featuring a 1.5-liter EcoBoost engine with 200 horsepower and a 6-speed manual transmission.
The Puma ST's latest release will make waves in the automotive industry, introducing a powerful new engine to the SUV's lineup. The 1.0-liter mild-hybrid unit is not entirely new to the Puma, having been available since 2019, but the addition of the 7-speed Powershift automatic transmission is a significant upgrade that will improve the overall driving experience.
While technical specifications have not yet been revealed, the Puma ST Powershift's impressive horsepower and torque figures suggest that it will be a force to be reckoned with on the road. Plus, with a facelift scheduled for 2024 and plans for a zero-emission version in the works, the Puma ST is showing no signs of slowing down. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting new addition to the Ford family.


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Ryanair has announced that it will carry at least 3.5m customers over the Christmas and New Year holiday periods, capping a hugely successful year for the airline.
"Record bookings" for December 20th to January 6th will see the airline carry 500,000 more passengers than the same period in 2013, it says.
Extra Christmas flights to Poland and the UK are booking up fast, it notes.
In addition, Ryanair has benefited from the number of families booking Christmas sun holidays to the Algarve and Canaries, and winter breaks to Brussels and Lisbon.
Ryanair will operate flights up to 16.40hrs (GMT) on Christmas Eve, resuming flights at 07.40hrs (GMT) on St Stephen’s Day.
This "to ensure everyone gets home for Christmas", it says.
The forecast caps a remarkable year for the airline, with a $17bn order for new planes and a full-year profit forecast of over €750 million making headlines recently.


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Exchange rates, fuel costs put citrus imports up for grabs
06/02/2011 1:59:37 PMA weaker dollar and higher shipping costs could mean fewer citrus imports hitting the U.S. market... Read more.
Chilean exports: clementines, oranges up
06/02/2011 1:57:20 PMThe effects of a drought in northern Chile slowed arrivals of citrus commodities in the U.S. “The... Read more.
California valencias multiply, in smaller sizes
06/02/2011 1:52:27 PMEstimates differ on the size of this summer’s California valencia orange crop. California Agricultural Statistic Services... Read more.
Peru exports rise, but destinations up for grabs
06/02/2011 1:19:55 PMCitrus exports from Peru are expected to be up this year, but the amount coming into the U.S. could... Read more.
Chile to kick off second year of navel exports to U.S.
06/04/2010 1:21:59 PMWith its first year of exporting navels to the U.S. now in the past, Chile’s grower-shippers are finding... Read more.
- Fourth prison term ordered in Adams Produce fraud
- Sysco the distributor, not the source, in Subway outbreak
- Mango deal begins with light volume
- CORRECTED: Export security program could trip exporters
- UPDATED: Watson stepping down from National Mango Board
- Vidalia onion grower, state official both claim victory in court


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Nippon Ichi Software confirmed last December another new project for Nintendo Switch: a motorbike title called Fuuraiki 4. That same month they also shared its first trailer, gameplay and details.
The last we heard of this title was last March, when Nippon Ichi Software announced that it had delayed Fuuraiki 4 from its previously scheduled release date of 22 April in Japan to 8 July. According to the company, the reason for the delay is to further improve the quality of the product. Finally, we remind you that this title will be available for PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Well, recently Nippon Ichi Software and Fog have shared more gameplays of this title. We leave them below:


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Ring! Ring! Hot News, 2nd June 2008
In Today's Issue: More spy scandal at DTAG - Ricke implicated; your insecure mobile; iPhones that look like Windows!; killer photos hack RAZRs; "Safari" browsing, not browsing with Safari; FeliCa hacked; shareholder revolt at ALU; Isenberg on teleconferencing; Google's app store; BREWidgets; Intel - they're back; UK WiMAX delays; it's Christmas for Openreach; Phorm demonstrations; Virgin Media adds more limits to unlimited broadband; KPN launches mobile TV - sort of; mobile phone shipments sink in Europe
Oh dear, oh dear; the Deutsche Telekom spy scandal takes another turn for the worse, as it turns out the spy was receiving money from the firm as recently as early last month, although the company had claimed it had all ended in early 2007. DTAG management, of course, claims that they were paying for something different and entirely aboveboard...they just don't seem clear what. Interestingly, the spying included the mapping of targets' movements using the mobile CDR stream -- now that's what we call a location-based service.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, meanwhile, claims that the spying project's bills were sent to the same cost centre as the then CEO Kai-Uwe Ricke's office.
Mobile spookery isn't confined to the network operators, of course. Here's an interesting article about extracting evidence from devices. Did you know the iPhone caches screenshots of the last view you had of all applications you use, so the sexy UI effects work? Or that mobile Google caches all your search requests in a plain text file on your phone? In fact, the iPhone looks to be a bit of a security vortex, what with all the private information it caches in the clear. Hey, you can even make it look like Windows! In other security news, last week saw the declaration of an exploit on Motorola RAZRs that let you break in by sending a specially crafted JPG image to it as an MMS message, rather like Langford's Basilisk. You see, machine-to-machine really is the opportunity for MMS after all.
Meanwhile, it turns out that Samsung's latest phone, advertised as offering "Safari browsing", actually does browsing that's like a safari, or something; whatever they meant, it wasn't the Apple-made Web browser, to the disappointment of millions. Or not as the case may be -- as this week also saw the discovery of a major security breach in the browser.
And whilst we're on the topic, the RFID security fiasco goes on. Researchers at Fraunhofer demonstrated yet another attack, this time on FeliCa/NFC as well as on the already-classbroken MiFare chips. They proved that it was possible to intercept the communication between an NFC phone and one of those "smart posters" NFC fans love so much, and tweak it so the user got something completely different. It's a great reason to use the trusted, encrypted and location-aware infrastructure we've already got -- that's right, your friendly local mobile network operator.
In other corporate distress news this week, Alcatel-Lucent's twin bosses Serge Tchuruk and Patricia Russo are being criticised for accepting a generous golden parachute. Specifically, the company's AGM voted to link Russo's pay to performance targets. They also required a smaller majority to sack Tchuruk, with his side of the epic Franco-American culture gap looking the more vulnerable here.
David "Stupid Network" Isenberg, meanwhile, spots the airlines advertising directly against teleconferencing, a sure sign of a maturing technology at increasingly affordable prices. He reckons it'll need more than just "gourmet food, sleeper seats, and vintage wines" to overcome security madness and high kerosene prices. We are not so sure. Isn't it the case that flying is the one time you have to get things done without any interruptions?
Google's annual geekfest, Google I/O was the scene of more semi-thrilling announcements about Android. This time, it looks like Google plans to set up something analogous to the iPhone App Store, as a way for small developers to commercialise Android software and for Google to keep an eye on it. The interesting thing here may be to what extent it's open to non-Android work. Google, of course, is in the business of searching and publishing open-source software through code.google.com, but so far you can't get paid directly for your efforts. It's another plank in the platform.
Qualcomm, meanwhile, made another move in the emerging mobile platform race. They've had their own application developer ecosystem (BREW) for a while, but it's been lacking a low-overhead way to build small applications comparable to Java FX, Flash Lite, MS Silverlight, S60/Python, or the Nokia Web Runtime. Now, BREW is getting features to create widgets under a project called "Plaza". Qualcomm is making some smart moves as its CDMA franchise matures.
At the same time, Intel announced its re-entry to the mobile market. The argument is apparently that if you can do a good webpuck/pda/whatever, it can't be that hard to add voice capability, so all the devices using the new Atom chips could be phones. In some ways this is a Telco 2.0 prediction coming true -- voice gets added to all kinds of devices and all kinds of software. But one thing that our work on the Voice & Messaging report and on voice- and audio-related consulting projects has shown is that voice is both crucial, and difficult to do well. Intel will need to find ways of supporting all kinds of strange new voice applications, and also to provide high audio quality - something which is very dependent on hardware, just not any kind Intel makes. Another IT company that entered the mobile hardware business, RIM, has gained an unwanted reputation for poor voice calls.
The UK's 2.6GHz spectrum auction is being held up, which is bad news for the WiMAX community. It's the only major EU market where the high-quality 2.5-2.6 band is up for grabs, and the HSPA Evolution and LTE world is gradually beginning to catch up WiMAX's lead. You want proof? 3 Ireland is upgrading its backhaul to support 14.4Mbits/s HSPA Class 10.
And it's done; OFCOM is going to make all BT's Christmases come at once, by letting them hike the prices Openreach charges independent ISPs, who will just have to either pass the bill on to subscribers or go under. Watch those "free" broadband offers go! Meanwhile, opponents of the now-notorious Phorm web-spooking system are planning to kill the head so the body will die, by staging a mass demonstration at the BT AGM on the 16th of July and then filing charges with the police against BT executives.
Speaking of "free" broadband, what about "unlimited" broadband? Or, for that matter, "broadband"? After all the advertising about their "fibre" network, Virgin Media has announced a new set of usage caps.
The good news is that they are being open about it -- at the link, there's a useful table giving all the restrictions, the times of day, the trigger levels, and their relationship to Virgin's pricing. Expect to see more of the same from other ISPs.
KPN, meanwhile, launches DVB-H mobile TV. However, they don't seem very committed. The devices are not being subsidised and will cost €499 a go, even before the service charge. We somehow doubt anyone wants to watch "snack TV" enough to pay four hundred quid up front. But then again, despite all the subsidies, mobile phone shipments have started falling in Europe...


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Three consumer advocacy organizations have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), asking the agency to put the kibosh on the proposed Google/DoubleClick merger until certain data privacy requirements are met.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Center for Digital Democracy, and the US Public Interest Research Group have joined forces to file the complaint, which was submitted to the FTC today. The 11 page document claims that "neither Google or DoubleClick have taken adequate steps to safeguard the personal data that is collected" by their respective services, and the FTC is asked to use its merger review authority to put the proceedings on hold until certain "unfair and deceptive trade practices" are altered by the two companies.
The policies that prompted the complaint are nothing new. The consumer groups assert that Google does not properly inform consumers about its data collection practices, most notably its practice of collecting their search queries and pairing them with IP numbers. Google does disclose this information, but users need to click four times from the home page to find the information. The groups also object to the fact that, while cookies can be blocked, there is no way to opt out of the collection of search terms by Google.
Although the complaint spends plenty of time rehashing the way that DoubleClick collects and uses data, only Google is actually accused of unfair and deceptive trade practices.
Before the merger of the two companies is approved, the consumer groups want to see some changes. They first want the FTC to start an investigation of Google's ability to "record, analyze, track, and profile the activities of Internet users" and they want DoubleClick to remove all potentially identifying data from its archives before turning the material over to Google.
Additionally, they want to see Google provide individuals with access to the personally identifiable data collected about them, and want Google to "destroy all cookies and other persistent identifiers resulting from Internet searches that could be personally identifiable once the user terminates a session with Google."
In an effort to stave off this sort of criticism, Google recently announced a plan to anonymize user logs within two years of collection. But the company is unlikely to go along with any cookie deletion plan, as persistent cookies provide access to many of Google's services for users who don't want to login every time they use them.
The complaint comes only days after Microsoft and AT&T mooted some antitrust concerns, so Google now faces opposition both on monopolistic and privacy grounds.


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Motorcyclist caught utilizing ‘James Bond’ gadget to keep away from dashing fines
Google has lastly rolled out Motion Stills, a classy GIF creator app, to Android customers. The app now comes with a redesigned streaming pipeline that guarantee customers can have their GIFs at a second’s discover.
( Google )
Google’s Motion Stills app has till now been solely out there on iOS, which is decidedly odd contemplating that it ought to have been out there on Android from the get-go.
It is sensible for it to be on Apple’s platform, nonetheless, as a result of the app creates GIFs and quick movies with the assistance of the Live Photos operate on iOS. Exactly why Google didn’t deliver it to its core viewers stays a thriller — however irrespective of. Google is lastly making Motion Stills out there on Android.
Google Rolls Out Motion Stills On Android
Now out there to obtain free of charge on Google’s Play Store, Motion Stills lets customers seize quick movies and switch them into a number of issues. Users could make dramatic cinemagraphs, that are pictures that comprise dynamic transferring components; “sweeping cinematic pans,” due to the app’s superior stabilization and rendering tech; or looping GIFs and quick films.
Motion Stills: What’s New
The Android model comprises a couple of updates, together with a brand new recording interface that permits the customers to faucet for a fast snapshot or condense an extended recording through the Fast Forward characteristic. Motion Stills is powered by a classy algorithm that tries to shine video by eradicating unintentional shakes or any sudden actions that may smash the fluidity of a footage. Users can seize video even with out an web connection.
According to Google’s weblog publish, builders redesigned the app’s streaming pipeline in a approach that it processes every body of a video throughout recording.
“By computing intermediate motion metadata, we are able to immediately stabilize the recording while still performing loop optimization over the full sequence.” All that fancy tech speak simply means customers should not have to attend for his or her GIFs to generate.
You Might See The Tech In Motion Stills Be Applied To Other Google Apps
With Motion Stills now ported over to Android, Google would possibly do extra experiments on short-form video. It may additionally contemplate implementing Motion Stills’s underlying tech to its different digicam apps.
Google Photos is one such app, and even now it is already filled with stellar options equivalent to automated backups, simpler sharing strategies, and a heck of much more. Adding movement and stabilization capabilities would make it much more helpful, absolutely.
GIFs have grow to be extra prevalent lately due to the steep upswing of memes. You can most likely discover a GIF for nearly each state of affairs there may be. Motion Stills is Google’s approach of creating a instrument that creates GIFs extensively out there to many customers, which now fortunately contains these operating Android.
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It seems that this did indeed happen, as yesterday Psyonix and Twitch announced that they would come together for the Rocket League Championship Series. As the name suggests, this will be the official competitive league around the game.
The season kicks off later this year with open qualifiers, and will run for three months. The Championship Series will see teams of three battling it out over a total prize pool of $75,000. That’s not exactly the $15 million prize pool pulled in by The International with the Dota 2 championship, but considering we’re talking about an indie title that launched less than a year ago, it’s still some serious cash.
Registration opens later this month on March 25, and will be open to players of the PC and PlayStation 4 versions of the game. Xbox One players are left out for now, presumably because that console’s version of the game only launched a few weeks ago, but Twitch director of eSports operations Nick Allen told Fortune that the console would be added to the competition later on.
As for Twitch’s part of the partnership, games will be broadcast live on the official Rocket League Championship Series Twitch channel. “We’ll be focusing on online play for the early stages of the competition (qualifiers and regional finals), with the capstone event being a live, international championship,” Allen said.
It seems that 2016 is shaping up to be a big year for Psyonix and Rocket League. Last week the developer announced that it would be bringing Rocket League to store shelves later this year. With the Championship Series putting the game in front of more people, those who have been holding out on buying the game digitally may be more interested in bringing the game home.
For more information on how to watch or enter the competition, see the official Twitch channel and the new Rocket League eSports website.
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Retail Apocalypse Continues To Shrink Big Box Landscape
Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday. The company will close up to 178 stores in the United States as part of its restructuring.
“The decisions as to which domestic stores will be closing are ongoing, pending the outcome of continued conversations with landlords,” company officials said in a letter to customers on the website. “We do however expect a significant number of these stores will remain open and operate as usual, and we do not expect to exit any major markets in the U.S.”
Meanwhile, Pier 1 on Wednesday reported second quarter net sales fell 14.3% year over year to $304.6 million. Comparable sales dropped 12.6%, according to a company press release. The company’s interim CEO Cheryl Bachelder announced the company has decided to close 70 stores in the fiscal year, but expects that number will increase.
Forever 21 has a location at the Palisades Center. Pier 1 is located in Spring Valley on Route 59.
It is unclear whether or not Forever 21 and Pier 1 in Rockland County will become the next victim of the retail apocalypse. Last week, RCBJ reported on the closure of Fairway and the vulnerability of several stores at the Shops of Nanuet.
Many fashion retailers are suffering from falling mall traffic, heavy discounting in apparel, off-price and other discounters encroaching on their market share, shifts to e-commerce, heavy debt loads, changing habits in the apparel space and shifts in consumer spending patterns from products to experiences.
Lord & Taylor plans to close its Palisades Center location in January.
The current period of consolidation colloquially known as the “retail apocalypse” may last for another 18 to 24 months, according to analyst note from investment bank B. Riley FBR.
According to Scott Carpenter, who heads the retail solutions unit at B. Riley’s liquidation arm, Great American, “most retailers” are over-stored. That means another 30% of current retail space “would cease to exist in its current form, as consumer buying trends shift increasingly online,” Carpenter told B. Riley analysts.
That includes both liquidating retailers and healthy players looking to rationalize their store fleets. Much of the closures would happen at B- and C-class malls, which have already struggled for years now.
So far this year, retailers have closed more than 7,000 stores, which already surpasses the full-year totals of all past years, according to accounting and consulting firm BDO. As of mid-August, store closures have outpaced openings, according to Coresight Research. And more are on the way. Since Coresight made that count, Avenue Stores opted to liquidate, as did discount and drugstore retailer Fred’s and apparel retailer A’gaci.
Retail liquidations, which BDO notes accelerated this year compared to 2018, have contributed to a sizable chunk of those closures. Payless alone closed more than 2,300 stores in bankruptcy this year, the largest retail liquidation ever by store count. The liquidations of Gymboree, Shopko, Charlotte Russe and Ascena’s Dressbarn contributed hundreds each, but so did relatively stable retailers like Family Dollar, Gap, Walgreens and H&M.
With shifts to e-commerce driving much of the closures, the B. Riley analysts, led by Susan Anderson, wrote that retailers with a “well-developed e-commerce channel can help mitigate store base disruption.” They listed a handful of players they think have “both effectively managed their store fleet and developed a strong e-comm channel.” Those retailers include Children’s Place, Carter’s, American Eagle Outfitters, Foot Locker, Guess and Chico’s.
Meanwhile, many retailers are trying to put out financial fires as debt-servicing and lease costs run up against falling sales trends. Those retailers may well be forced to close more stores, possibly in bankruptcy.
Forever 21 grew aggressively after its creation in 1984 by Korean immigrants to the USA, and made $4.4 billion in revenue at its peak just four years ago, also expects to close many of its stores in Europe and Asia.
News and analysis service Debtwire reported earlier in September that Forever 21 was working with claims agent Prime Clerk in preparation of a bankruptcy and was in talks with lenders about debtor-in-possession financing.


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Environmental organizations gave a passing grade to Asia Pulp & Paper two years after it announced a policy to end forest clearing in its supply chain, but said some deforestation continues. Read More »
A prized forest ecosystem that is home to endangered Sumatran orangutans, tigers, rhinos and elephants is threatened by an Aceh government land use plan that is accelerating illegal logging and development, conservationists charge. Read More »
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Orangutans, crocodiles, proboscis monkeys and fireflies live together in a threatened patch of rainforest on the southern coast of Borneo. Read More »
Content engaging our readers now, with additional prominence accorded if the story is rapidly gaining attention. Our WSJ algorithm comprises 30% page views, 20% Facebook, 20% Twitter, 20% email shares and 10% comments.
Indonesia Real Time provides analysis and insight into the region, which includes Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei. Contact the editors at SEAsia@wsj.com.
Hundreds of staff at Indonesia’s antigraft agency protested against their leaders’ decision to hand over the case of a former police chief candidate to the attorney general’s office.
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Jakarta residents share their views on how Gov. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has been running Jakarta and whether they're worried about plans by city council to investigate his handling of this year's budget.
Aeran Ismail, the Southeast Asia Relationship Manager for LinkedIn talks about how job seekers in Indonesia can use the professional social networking site to their advantage.


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Unsatisfactory workmanship, broken deadlines behind spike in complaints about renovation contractors
Customers reported that they lost about S$57,940 in prepayments due to the sudden closure of renovation firms, said CASE.
SINGAPORE: Customers lodged 807 complaints against home renovation contractors in the first half of this year, a 28 per cent increase from the same period last year.
The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) said on Thursday (Jul 28) that about two-thirds of the 807 complaints were about renovation contractors failing to complete projects on schedule and unsatisfactory workmanship.
According to the consumers, the delays in project completion ranged between two and seven months. Customers lost a total of about S$57,940 in prepayments due to the sudden closure of renovation firms, said CASE.
“The failure of renovation contractors to complete projects on schedule can be largely attributed to manpower shortage and delays in the shipment of renovation materials caused by global supply chain disruptions,” said the consumer watchdog.
“CASE also observed that some renovation firms ran into financial difficulty or became insolvent, and were unable to complete renovation projects despite collecting consumers’ deposits upfront.”
President of CASE Melvin Yong said: “Consumers typically spend significant sums of money on home renovation projects. They expect the project to be completed on time and to a satisfactory standard.
“To manage consumers’ expectations and to avoid unnecessary disputes, renovation contractors who are facing challenges in completing projects on schedule should communicate expectations, timelines and changes honestly with consumers.”
He also advised customers to refrain from making large prepayments upfront, and to make payments progressively as each stage of the renovation is completed.
They can consider engaging CaseTrust accredited renovation contractors. These contractors commit to cost transparency and accountability for listed project deliverables.
If the business closes, consumers’ deposits are safeguarded via a deposit performance bond.
CASE received a total of 7,960 consumer complaints in the first half of the year, a 9 per cent increase from the same period last year.
Complaints against contractors formed the most of the total complaints, followed by those about the electrical and electronics industry.
Complaints in the first half of 2022:
|Electrical and electronics||786|
|Food and beverages||273|
|Medical and medical consumables||202|
The number of complaints against the electrical and electronic industry rose by 45 per cent in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year.
About 40 per cent of the complaints were about defective or non-conforming goods, while 30 per cent were about firms failing to honour their contractual agreements.
The spike in complaints was attributed to disputes against a direct seller of alkaline water systems, Triple Lifestyle Marketing. CASE said it received 162 complaints about the company in the first half of this year.
“Consumers had complained that the company was either unresponsive to requests for service appointments or did not show up for scheduled appointments despite the company’s representations during the sales process that they would repair the water dispensers or water filtration systems if defects occurred,” said the consumer watchdog.
Mr Yong said that under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, if a defect is found within six months of delivery, it is assumed the defect existed at the time of delivery. Consumers are entitled to exchange the defective product even after the stated exchange period by the retailer, he added.
CASE also received 717 complaints against the beauty industry in the first six months of this year, a 14 per cent increase from last year.
About a quarter of the complaints against spas and beauty salons related to pressure sales tactics and misleading claims. Consumers reported that they were pressured to buy high price massage or beauty treatment packages, or were misled about the efficacy of products or services.
A total of 1,107 complaints were lodged in the first half of this year relating to online purchases, an increase from the 986 complaints in the same period last year. The increase can be attributed to a higher number of complaints against online marketplaces and food delivery platforms.
The most common types of e-commerce complaints include defective or non-conforming goods, failure of the seller to deliver the food item or product, and disputes over refunds, said CASE.
Consumers reported S$289,842 in prepayment losses in the first half of this year. The beauty as well as medical and medical consumables industries saw the greatest amount of prepayment losses in that period.
Mr Yong said: “Over the past two years, some businesses in the beauty and medical aesthetics industries have been adversely impacted by deteriorating economic conditions and declining consumer spend, and were forced to close.
“As a result, consumers with prepaid packages lost some or all of their prepayments. CASE is concerned about this issue, as it can be difficult for consumers to recover their monies once a business goes insolvent.
“To better protect consumers against prepayment losses, CASE has called on the Government to mandate prepayment protection in industries where consumers tend to make large sums of payment upfront.”