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Delivery Time - Cargo
The air cargo supply chain is uniting to solve its common challenges
Air freight is an essential component in aviation’s success. As Des Vertannes, IATA Global Head of Cargo, puts it: “Even a volume gain of 0.5% against maritime freight would make an enormous difference to the long-term sustainability of air cargo. The sector is worth $66 billion in revenue to the airlines.”
That figure represents about 11% of global airline revenue but cargo can be considerably more important to individual airlines. About 30% of Cathay Pacific’s revenue is derived from air freight, for example.
Individual projects are making a difference to components of the value chain. But what has been missing until now is a joint effort by the cargo community to lobby governments or focus strategic investment. Realizing the potential in industry programs such as e-freight requires the participation of the entire value chain.
A year or so on from its formation, the Global Air Cargo Advisory Group (GACAG) has already created a buzz. Vertannes acknowledges that a lot of hope is being pinned on the group but believes the hype is justified. “This is the first time the industry has spoken with one voice and agreed to travel along one path,” he says. “GACAG simplifies how the industry tackles its problems. We can now look at issues from a number of different perspectives. All partners are benefiting from this broader understanding of the supply chain while regulators profit from improved feedback and a united industry position.”
GACAG unites four industry associations. The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA) forms the secretariat and carries out all lobbying efforts on behalf of the air cargo sector. IATA represents airlines; the forwarders and logistic community are represented by the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA), and the Global Shippers’ Forum (GSF) will speak on behalf of shippers.
GACAG is running four task forces, each chaired by one of the four organizations and addressing a key industry priority decided at the last World Cargo Symposium: security, e-commerce, trade facilitation, and sustainability.
Relevant experts will join the task forces to ensure the correct level of detail is achieved in any discussions and resolutions.
“This is a unique project,” says Vertannes. “These four associations have agreed that this is what the air freight sector wants and we are united on how to achieve these goals.”
Security Task Force
IATA will chair the security task force as its Secure Freight program will form the basis of much of the work. This promotes a multi-layered approach to security that looks as much at the point of origin of a shipment as it does at the point of loading. There have been two successful trials in Kenya and Mexico, and the aim is to get as many states as possible to officially recognize the program.
Creating standards will form a crucial part of the work. Documentation will need to state not only who shipped what, where, and when, but also who secured the shipment and how. The task force will also study EU Regulation 859/2011, which requires a recognized audit of all airlines and agents sending packages into the EU. An independent audit program that covers all partners may limit the costs involved in this regulation.
The security task force will also fully support ICAO efforts to find ways to better manage high-risk cargo.
E-Commerce Task Force
The e-commerce task force will be guided by FIATA. Its goal is a truly paperless environment for air cargo and it will build on the progress already achieved by e-freight. A key IATA Simplifying the Business project, e-freight has reached close to 10% penetration on live trade lanes. More importantly, a lot of vital regulatory work has been done. Various approvals are in place and treaties have been amended. Governments still need to do more to actively implement and encourage e-commerce friendly procedures, however.
The e-commerce task force will focus on any obstacles to a fast-track implementation of e-freight. It will break up these roadblocks and assign tasks to individual partners such as the airlines or forwarders to ensure a speedy adoption of e-freight principles. Changing the air waybill, for example, is something airlines can do to kickstart changes in other processes further down the line.
“The future for our industry and for the individual businesses that take part in our global air cargo supply chain depends on our ability to provide the best possible service to international traders and their customers and facilitate further development of global commerce,” says Bill Gottlieb, Chair of the E-Commerce Task Force and Treasurer and Past President of FIATA. “Customers want to see actual, tangible change—no more rhetoric—and a clear shift in the way we do business.”
Trade Facilitation Task Force
Trade facilitation, chaired by TIACA, will evolve harmonization work with customs organizations. The World Customs Organization (WCO) already has a set of usable standards; the challenge is to ensure these global norms are adopted by all members of the WCO. The task force will also study how early in the shipping process advance information can be sent and the form that information should take. “Such aspirations are not new but the point to underline is that this is the first time all the relevant parties have been involved in the process,” says Vertannes. “Because GACAG comprises the four main agencies, whatever work TIACA endorses through the task force has the implied consent of IATA, FIATA, and the GSF.”
Furthering the Air Cargo Advanced Screening (ACAS) program will be equally vital for the trade facilitation task force. ACAS is voluntary and uses advance information from forwarders to target high-risk cargo. ACAS aims to establish the correct communication protocols and will encourage participation for all relevant shipments going into the United States.
The United States Customs & Border Protection (US CBP) agency invited GACAG to a meeting in early December to discuss ACAS trials. UPS has already trialed the system out of Dubai and the US CBP is now eager to see how ACAS works with a combination (passenger and cargo) carrier. “There was a genuine desire to cooperate,” says Oliver Evans, Vice Chair of TIACA and Chief Cargo Officer for Swiss International Airlines. “Both the US CBP and the Transportation Security Administration have noted that their agenda is the same as ours. They are delighted that air cargo now has a single voice through GACAG.”
Overall, the risk assessment of shipments is improving enormously and getting proof of concept for ACAS will be another step forward.
Sustainability Task Force
The GSF will chair the sustainability task force. Because the GSF has only just become a legal entity it is in catchup mode but the Secretary General, Chris Welsh, insists it will waste no time in establishing the foundations for a sustainable air freight industry.
The huge interest GACAG is creating will be respected through project transparency. A logo has already been decided upon and a website will be up and running in 2012.
“A scorecard will be presented at the next World Cargo Symposium in March 2012 in Kuala Lumpur,” concludes Vertannes. “This will explain the current picture, including any proof of concept projects that are running. It will also detail the next set of deliverables and the timeline involved. We will reconfirm the four priorities and ask if any other topics have become more relevant.”
For more information on cargo, visit www.iata.org/cargo


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Earlier this year, rumours surfaced that Amazon might be working on its own smartphone, a move seen by some as an ambitious follow-up to the company's successful Kindle Fire line. Now another report originating from Taiwan claims that manufacturing of the device has already begun, handled by a familiar name: Foxconn.
According to a report in the Taiwan Economic News, Foxconn - the company best known as the production factory behind the iPhone and the iPad - has begun manufacturing a new smartphone handset for Amazon. The report claims that Foxconn is working to produce around five Fmillion units, a relatively small run for such a major undertaking, which may indicate caution on the part of Amazon as it enters a new and highly competitive market.
Perhaps the most surprising part of the report relates to the price of the supposed device. The report claims that Amazon's smartphone will be offered for a price somewhere in the range of $100 to $200 (£60 - £120). If true, such a low price point would be consistent with the company's strategy of bringing customers into its e-commerce ecosystem over profit margins on its hardware. Despite the success of the Kindle line of devices, the company barely breaks even on every Kindle Fire device produced.
But, contrary to the high profit margin strategy of Apple, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apparently believes in a different approach. In October, in a statement accompanying Amazon's third quarter results, Bezos said, "Our approach is to work hard to charge less. Sell devices near breakeven and you can pack a lot of sophisticated hardware into a very low price point."
The Asia-based news source also claims the device is scheduled to be launched some time in the second or third quarter of 2013, which might allow the handset to compete, give or take a few months, with the release of an updated iPhone, assuming Apple hews to its usual release schedule.
Last month, Digitimes reported that Foxconn was producing phones for Amazon and Microsoft.

domain: news


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New PCI requirements that go into effect June 30 are pushing payment card acquirers, processors, gateways and service providers worldwide to implement more secure encryption protocols for transactions. But are they ready?
Security experts analyze the potential impact of recently announced changes to the PCI Security Standards Council's Qualified Integrators and Resellers Program that are designed to help smaller merchants prevent breaches.
A new standard from the PCI Data Security Standards Council could help ease the way for smaller merchants worldwide, especially in developing nations, to move to cashless payments using a variety of devices, says Troy Leach, CTO for the council, who spoke last week at a conference in South Africa.
The PCI Security Standards Council is offering 40 percent lower fees for participating organizations in nations with lower-income economies. "We want to encourage countries in Africa and South Asia to get engaged with us," Jeremy King, international director at PCI SSC, tells ISMG in an exclusive interview.
The PCI Security Standards Council is creating a payments software framework, including two new standards that can evolve as the software rapidly changes, Troy Leach, the council's CTO, explains in this in-depth interview.
Information Security Media Group's Healthcare Security Summit in New York on Nov. 14-15 will feature a top-notch lineup of more than 40 experts, including leading CISOs, who will explore such issues as battling ransomware, improving medical device security and beefing up breach prevention.
Information security professionals to the U.S. government: Please put up or shut up over Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, by either showing evidence that others can independently judge, or else dropping your vague insinuations.
Verizon has made a strong case for continual PCI DSS awareness with its new study of payment card data security. But like many vendors that conduct their own studies supporting their business cases, Verizon makes suspect logical stretches.
Many media outlets have suggested that the recent arrest of a Russian computer programmer ties to the 2016 U.S. presidential election meddling blamed on Russia. But the only source for this supposed connection traces to a Russian propaganda arm that's been blamed for participating in said meddling.
For any of the tens of thousands of organization that may be smarting from this week's Amazon Web Services and Simple Storage Solution (S3) outage, take the following advice to heart: "You must kill your darlings."
The latest edition of the ISMG Security Report leads off with an analysis of the PCI Security Standards Council's new requirements that are designed to help thwart attempts to defeat encryption in point-of-sale devices.
How can issuers and acquirers help smaller merchants improve payment card security? One way is to dramatically ramp up their efforts to educate the retailers about PCI compliance, says Michel Christodoulides of Barclaycard.


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Drink up — and save 5,000 livesHumankind water uses all profits to provide safe drinking water
This day, 5,000 children will die in the world for no other reason than the lack of access to clean water.
When T.J. Foltz learned this, he discussed it with several youth pastors and worship leaders he knew as part of his youth minister work. After much prayer, the vision of Humankind bottled water was formed.
The plan was to start a company and donate 100 percent of the net profits to dig wells, install filtrations systems or repair existing wells in parts of the world where people don’t have access to clean water.
Foltz told his story to residents in the region recently when he visited DNA Church in Asheville and Long's Chapel in Clyde.
The company, which was formed as a social enterprise in 2011, experienced a meteoric rise to fame not just because of its mission, but because of the "Get on the Shelf" contest by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
“There were 4,300 products entered in every category under the sun,” Foltz said.
With the help of a team lovingly called the "Geeks," the Humankind water message went viral, and against all odds, won the WalMart contest.
“We got more votes than any of the other 4,300 products,” he said. “They never told us how many votes we had, but we figured out a way to measure the number of You Tube video views and monitored the competition. Other products that had more views, but no other product had more votes.”
A key to success was reminding people to vote daily, and showing the faithful followers how they could vote once on Facebook and once through a text.
“I think we won pretty handlily, even though some of the other companies put a lot more money into it,” Foltz said. “I know the second-place winner spent hundreds of thousands on the campaign. We spent $5,000.”
The WalMart contest was announced in January 2012, just several months after the first bottles of Humankind water hit the selves in select areas. Humankind didn't enter until March, and was declared the winner in late May. By October, 2012, a year after the effort started, HumanKind water was on the WalMart shelves in the midAtlantic area. As the story of the water gets out, it has been relatively easy to expand nationwide.
The product has been picked up by Krogers' largest convenience story subsidiary — Turkey Hill — and the goal is to get into Krogers as well. Humankind water sells for $1 a bottle in WalMart and $1.79 in the convenience stores. He estimates about one-third the cost for each bottle is in production, the retailer takes one-third and one-third comes back to the company where it is donated for the larger cause.
The company has very few employees, but operates with many volunteers passionate about the cause.
While the water itself is spring water that is on par with the other major brand names, it is the story that drives consumers to the Humankind brand.
"If we get 90 seconds of radio time, which is an eternity, to tell our story, we don't even get into the water. It's what the water does," Foltz said. "I'd guess 98 percent of those buying Humankind water are doing it for what it does. The profit from one bottle is enough to provide a person with clean drinking water for an entire year."
It is estimated nearly 1 billion people on the planet lack access to safe drinking water. That’s one person in seven, according to the Humankind website. Half of the hospital beds in the world are filled with someone either sick or dying from lack of clean water or sanitation.
Making a difference
The way Humankind water touches so many lives — it is already approaching the milestone of providing 500,000 people years of water by being on shelves in just a few states — is to focus on providing water in high population areas.
"The price of a well is fixed, so we go into huge communities to force the per person costs down," Foltz said. "We say that out of all the bottled waters sold in the world, we're the only one that wants to go out of business."
Numerous nonprofit groups, upon learning the story behind Humankind, buy entire pallets of water, show images of children without clean drinking water, and raise funds not only for their own project, but to help make a difference globally as well.
"Once they know the story and make a buying decision, it is no contest," Foltz said. "Our challenge is getting he word out there. We spend so much on wells and filters, and very little to advertise."
Still, there's story after story about event organizers, groups and businesses that will make the conscious decision to opt for Humankind water over other choices.
"When we start to edge out Coke and Pepsi, we’re starting to move the needle," Foltz said, noting that has happened in select events.
Foltz said he had been warned that becoming too successful could bring down the wrath of major companies in the drink industry that would crush sales of the product. It was advice Foltz ignored.
"How would Coke or Pepsi crush us?" he asked. "They can't crush the organization that does nothing but give drinking water to dying children."
So far, Humankind has provided wells in Haiti, Haiti, Malawi, Uganda and India, will soon open wells in the Dominican Republic, Kenya and has made inroads into South Africa.
A simultaneous focus is making Humankind water a household name across the nation so the company can have an even larger impact.
"People smarter than me who have studied philanthropy say this truly one of the 10 major world crises, but that is is one we could see an end to in our lifetime because there is no new technology needed."
When the idea of saving lives by selling water was first considered, it sounded ridiculous, Foltz admitted.
"But then we asked why it would be impossible. The top-selling brands of bottled water bring in $1 billion a year. We estimate it would cost $8-$10 billion to wipe out the drinking water crisis. I don’t believe in impossible," Foltz said. "This is a faith-based issue. I believe in the power of prayer. The chances of us winning the (WalMart) contest were actually less than 1 in 4,300. For us to have won that, what kinds of odds can be against us.?"
Humankind water isn't available in Western North Carolina — yet. Foltz said that can change if people ask retailers in the region to begin carrying it.
For more information, visit humankindwater.org.


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City officials are negotiating with Wal-Mart in hopes that the mega-retailer will build a store near Mountain Avenue at the Foothill Freeway.
The city stands to gain an estimated $400,000 in annual sales tax revenue.
Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is drawing plans to build a 126,000-square-foot store on a 13-acre parcel just south of the 210 Freeway at Mountain and Evergreen avenues.
At its regular meeting last week, the City Council voted to postpone until its April 13 meeting a decision on whether to approve a development agreement involving the city, the Redevelopment Agency and Wal-Mart.
That agreement will govern how much each party will contribute toward buying the land and how the store will be constructed. Several points must be negotiated, city officials said.
The lot is the former headquarters of an electronics company called Conrac Corp. The real estate broker overseeing the deal could not be reached for comment, and city officials declined to divulge the amount the owner is asking for the land.
Wal-Mart is expecting to begin building this summer and open for business sometime in 1994.


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Local NewsShare on Twitter
A call center planning to hire more than 100 workers in Wausau by early next year still has positions available, despite good turnout for its recent job fair, officials said.
BLOUNTVILLE — State officials say Sprint is moving its call center operations to Blountville.The move will bring more than 600 jobs to Tennessee and represents a multimillion dollarin the state.
Home improvement giant Home Depot is creating a new national customer service
call center in Cobb County, according to state officials.
Gov. Nathan Deal said the Cobb County-based retailer and the center developer is investing $24 million in the project that will create 700 jobs in
Even though we have yet to even hand out highly nutritious candy to
ghouls, ghosts, and goblins this Halloween, companies have already
starting to ramp up the number of employees that can help to assist with
increased customer demands for the holiday season. A new call center
located in Meridian, Idaho is doing just that, recently revealing hiring plans for 100 new jobs at the location.
Global Response, a call center business in Margate, is hiring an
additional 100 customer-service workers for the holiday sales season,
said Wendy Shooster, co-owner of the family-operated business.
MAU Workforce Solutions is seeking to fill 100-plus call center representative positions through Dec. 5.
The available jobs result from increased demand from a local client. The
positions are in Augusta and will be responsible for handling inbound
customer service-oriented calls, according to a release.
Avod Producstswill keep its customer service call center and
returned goods processing operation at its Springdale facility.
The company had announced in July 2009
that it would be closing its Springdale facility by mid-2012, but it
has decided only to shutter manufacturing operations at the property.
ACS, a Xerox company, announced Tuesday that it is adding 200 new jobs at its Lexington, Ky. call center. Xerox and ACS currently employ about 5,000 people in Kentucky, including 3,000 people in Lexington
Ryla Inc. will hire 700 holiday customer service jobs immediately at its Kennesaw, Ga., call center.
The Kennesaw-based company said the new jobs are the final round of hiring for a recurring annual, seasonal project.


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On Saturday, August 5th, 2017, we’re excited to roll out Appspace App v1.19. Here are three things you should know about it:
Increase your control on LG webOS
Using a remote control to navigate through interactive mode has been available from day one. The addition of support for network commands opens up the possibilities of using other devices to browse through content on LG webOS devices. For example, a tablet or smartphone can emulate controls. So, if you have an issue with remote controls going missing this is great news for you.
More options for BrightSign and LG webOS during registration
In some registration scenarios, the use of a virtual keyboard provides many advantages, and we’ve added the ability to toggle these on and off as needed. This is welcome news for IT admins.
Improved layout and playlist synchronization
Using player properties, we’ve made it simple to synchronize the playback of layouts and playlists across multiple devices. Using a common NTP, we expect the synchronization to be around one (1) second. So, if you are looking to have all TVs show the same thing at the same time, you’re going to love this feature.
As with every release of our app, you can expect additional performance improvements and bug fixes. To see the full release notes, click here.


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NAPA, Calif.—California's wine country scrambled to pick up the pieces after the largest earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area area in 25 years buckled roads, toppled portions of historic buildings and spilled untold gallons of the region's famed wines.
The 6.0-magnitude earthquake, which hit at about 3:20 a.m. Sunday, was the most damaging in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1989 said David Oppenheimer, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif. The USGS predicted a more than 40% chance of aftershocks of a magnitude of 5.0 or greater during the next week.
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ROME: Italian economy is likely to have underperformed significantly in the fourth quarter as compared to the rest of the euro area. According to a Societe Generale research report, the Italian economic growth is expected to have stayed at the same rate in the December as in the third quarter, at 0.25 percent quarter-on-quarter. This is in spite of the political backdrop and the banking sector woes seen in the quarter.
Meanwhile, the consumer sentiment and business sentiment indicators have rebounded in the fourth quarter. The PMI manufacturing index showed that the bulk of the increase is because of the new export order component. On the contrary, credit conditions have tightened for corporates, as observed in the bank lending survey, and employment growth has lost momentum, noted Societe Generale.
Both consumption and next exports are likely to have slightly contributed positively to the growth, whereas investment is expected to have provided a neutral one.


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BY 2016 Microsoft aims to have placed tens of millions of smart devices in the hands of African consumers, to have helped 1 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to come online, and to have provided skills to 200 000 people.
The initiative, Microsoft 4Afrika, was launched in Johannesburg yesterday and is intended to improve Africa’s economic development and its global competitiveness, according to Mteto Nyati, the managing director of Microsoft Africa.
The entire initiative would cost about $70m (R630m), Nyati said.
He said the three pillars of the initiative were innovation, skills development, and access to affordable devices and connectivity.
In South Africa, the software giant established an apps factory three months ago and is in collaboration with Wits University. It is renovating premises in Braamfontein, where the factory will be based.
Microsoft has trained 15 paid interns to develop apps on its Windows platform based on suggestions from the South African public. It intends to employ more young people to develop about 700 apps a year for the South African environment.
The existing group of developers had already built 73 Windows apps and 29 Windows phone apps, according to Daniel Chileshe, an intern at the Application Factory.
The apps included one to report infrastructure faults to the relevant municipality.
“Beyond Mxit, we don’t have many applications that are of use, but our country is facing huge challenges,” Nyati said.
Microsoft and Huawei, a leading information and communications technology solutions provider, are in a partnership to launch a handset featuring the apps.
Yesterday, the Mail & Guardian quoted Huawei as saying the phone would be available in South Africa towards the latter part of the first quarter of this year.
Over the next three years, Microsoft South Africa would skill 3 000 unemployed people in a job creation programme. Some of the funding would come from the government’s Jobs Fund and some from the 4Afrika initiative.
Each year, for the next three years, the initiative would incubate 200 technology start-ups through Microsoft’s BizSpark programme. About 1 800 jobs would be created. The businesses would receive development tools and production licences with no upfront costs and minimal obligations.
Nyati said: “At the moment, our unemployed youth are the biggest threat to our stability as a nation. But harnessed well, they can become the country’s greatest asset.”
About 10 percent of Africa’s more than 1 billion people have access to the internet, and this number could increase to 400 million by 2015, according to Google Incorporated.
Microsoft will offer the SME4Afrika initiative with three partners: the National Small Business Chamber, the Small Enterprise Development Agency and Vodacom.
An online support hub for SMEs will be launched in April. It is expected that 100 000 enterprises will be assisted over the next three years with free domain registration for a year and free tools for SMEs interested in creating a professional web presence.
The 4Afrika initiative is also being launched in Cairo, Egypt; Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Lagos, Nigeria; and Nairobi, Kenya.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg


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Brazil to send more police into the Amazon to fight illegal logging
July 23, 2008
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed two decrees Tuesday to rein in illegal forest clearing in the Amazon, reports the Associated Press (AP).
The first gives law enforcement the power to seize property and goods from people caught with illegally logged timber. It also reduces the time when landowners can appeal environmental fines from eight years to one.
The second decree increases the number of police in the Amazon region.
According to the AP Silva said the measures will head off a potential boycott of Brazilian agricultural products by European consumers.
Brazil accounted for nearly half of global tropical forest loss between 2000 and 2005.
“Not protecting the environment would hurt Brazil’s competitive advantage,” Silva was quoted as saying. “We’d be shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Brazil has recently a spate of initiatives to promote better environmental performance by commodity producers in the Amazon. At the same time, industry groups — including soy, beef, and timber associations — have announced their own certification schemes for their products.
After a three year decline in deforestation, forest clearing in the Brazilian Amazon is expected to rise in the 2007-2008 year. High commodity prices have been blamed for the increase.
Overall about 20 percent of the Brazilian Amazon has been cleared since the late 1970s. Still the Amazon remains the largest rainforest on Earth. More than 60 percent of the forest lies in Brazil.


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Pou Chen Corp (寶成工業) on Thursday reported that net income in the third quarter of this year increased 21.82 percent from a year earlier, due mainly to non-operating gains.
Pou Chen, the world’s largest manufacturer of branded athletic and casual footwear, has a 18.13 percent stake in Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽), the nation’s most profitable life insurer last year.
It has investments in areas ranging from shoe manufacturing and footwear retailing to electronics, banking and land development.
Net income totaled NT$4.39 billion (NT$143.8 million) in the July-to-September quarter, up from NT$3.6 billion a year earlier, thanks to non-operating income of NT$3.78 billion, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Earnings per share (EPS) rose to NT$1.49, from NT$1.23 a year earlier.
Revenue increased 4.61 percent year-on-year to NT$76.62 billion, while operating income decreased 6.39 percent to NT$3.15 billion, with operating margin falling from 4.59 percent to 4.11 percent.
Gross margin also declined from 25.51 percent to 24.85 percent in the period, Pou Chen said.
“The 3Q EPS of NT$1.49 is 12 percent above our estimates thanks to investment income from Nan Shan; however, operating profit is 13 percent below our forecast due to tepid improvement in the manufacturing business and sale of the wholesale apparel business,” JPMorgan Securities (Taiwan) Ltd analysts Bill Lin and Cindy Huang wrote in a note on Friday.
Commenting on the company’s business outlook, the analysts said they do not see a clear market share gain for Pou Chen in terms of brand clients’ supplier consolidation, while rising order volatility is likely to worsen the firm’s operating leverage.
In the first three quarters, Pou Chen reported that net income totaled NT$11.34 billion, up from NT$8.47 billion a year earlier, with EPS of NT$3.85.
That included non-operating income of NT$6.72 billion derived from Nan Shan Life’s equity and bond investments, Pou Chen said in a statement.
Overall sales increased 9.07 percent to NT$234.13 billion, but gross margin fell by 0.13 percentage points to 25.35 percent in the nine-month period.
The company’s shoe manufacturing comprised about 58.8 percent of its revenue, sliding from 60.2 percent in the same period last year, while retail business accounted for 40.9 percent, up from 39.5 percent a year earlier, Pou Chen said.
The company attributed the decline in gross margin to more complicated designs in shoe manufacturing, production capacity adjustments in concert with brand clients’ procurement strategy, and investment in automated manufacturing and enterprise resource planning systems.
Pou Chen reiterated its goals of enhancing manufacturing automation and supply-chain system integration as well as deeper collaboration with brand clients, while expanding sales channels and further enriching its product portfolio, the statement said.
“We expect the company’s multiclient strategy, rising investment in automation and capacities relocation out of China to hamper margin expansion,” the analysts said, adding that the retailing business would remain the bright spot on the back of solid sportswear demand in China and further store expansions.
Pou Chen shares fell 1.91 percent to close at NT$41.05 on Friday in Taipei trading. They have risen 25.92 percent this year.
NO VIRUS BLUES: A SEMI Taiwan official said that the virus does not slow down the global semiconductor industry’s investment in manufacturing equipment The production value of the nation’s semiconductor industry is expected to grow 16.7 percent this year from last year, outpacing the global industry’s 3.3 percent growth, industry association SEMI said yesterday. That would help Taiwan safeguard its second spot in the global semiconductor market with a production value of more than NT$3 trillion (US$102.73 billion), SEMI Taiwan president Terry Tsao (曹世綸) told a media briefing in Taipei for the Semicon Taiwan trade show beginning today. The global semiconductor industry’s production value is expected to increase to US$426 billion this year, SEMI said. In terms of semiconductor equipment investment, equipment billings from Taiwanese firms
Intel Corp has received licenses from US authorities to continue supplying certain products to Huawei Technologies Co (華為), a company spokesman said yesterday. Washington has been pushing governments around to world to squeeze out Huawei, saying that the telecom giant would hand data to Beijing for espionage. From Monday last week, new curbs have barred US companies from supplying or servicing Huawei. This week, the state-backed China Securities Journal reported that Intel had received permission to supply Huawei. China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯國際), which uses US-origin equipment to make chips for Huawei and other companies, last week confirmed that it had sought
Taipei Times: When do you think the hospitality industry can return to how it was before the COVID-19 pandemic? How does Formosa International Hotels Group (FIH, 晶華酒店集團) fare this quarter and beyond? FIH chairman Steve Pan (潘思亮): The virus outbreak will have a serious impact on business travel, driven mainly by meetings, incentive travel, conferences and exhibitions over the past three decades. For the past six months, many businesspeople have grown used to exchanging information on the Internet, where more people can participate. The trend might sustain for three to five years until people are vaccinated and it is safe to
DIGITAL COMMERCE: In 2016, only 2 percent of orders were delivered in Taiwan, but that has risen to 10 percent, Foodpanda Taiwan Co operations director Nick Yu said Online food delivery platforms have seen explosive growth in Taiwan this year, helped by business opportunities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, company executives said at a digital commerce conference in Taipei yesterday. When the threat of COVID-19 kept people from going out to eat, more people experimented with ordering food deliveries online, Foodpanda Taiwan Co Ltd (富胖達) operations director Nick Yu (余岳勳) said. Foodpanda started operations in Taiwan in 2012. “We experienced 5,000 percent growth in the past 24 months,” Yu said. “That’s more than the previous six years combined.” In 2016, only 2 percent of food orders were delivered in Taiwan, but that


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SEARCHED FOR:URBAN ECONOMY
Remittances from urban pockets nearing pre-Covid levels
Places like Punjab and Kerala recorded more than 30% rise in remittances over last year, data collated by several payment companies showed. The trend on reverse remittances too altered with migrants finding stable jobs and steady income in metro pockets.
Stimulus 3.0: FM Sitharaman announces Rs 18,000 cr additional outlay for urban housing scheme
This is over and above Rs 8,000 crore already p...
Rural employment falls, employment rate in urban India stays low
CMIE data shows that the gap between the monthly employment rate in 2020-21 ...
Govt to soon come out with model tenancy law: Urban Affairs Secretary
The deadline for feedback on the proposed model tenancy law ended on October 31 and now States have been asked to send those feedbacks after compiling it, he said. The secretary said the model tenancy will come "very soon".
Choices today have strategic implications and Atmanirbhar Bharat is the need of the hour: Jaishankar
Jaishankar, delivering inaugural keynote address, said, “Choices today have more deeper strategic implications and in this context Atmanirbhar Bharat is critical perspective for India. We must build capabilities to effectively realize the fruits of globalization and the current openness is not giving the full picture.”
Manager to Plumber: Workers hit by pandemic reinventing themselves for the post-COVID economy
Economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will hinge to some extent on how quickly show managers can become electricians, whether taxi drivers can become plumbers, and how many cooks can manage software for a bank.
Rural demand is here to stay: Anant Goenka, Ceat
Things are positive till Nov-Dec, we are uncertain what happens after that. Rural economy is completely different from the urban economy and...
India’s economy shrinks sharply as Covid-19 slams small businesses
The latest data firmly establishes India’s position among the worst-performing major economies, despite government spending meant to blunt the pandemic’s impact.
Government expands stimulus to 15% of economy as recession looms
The additional stimulus steps amount to about Rs 9 lakh crore ($120 billion), taking the nation’s total virus relief to almost Rs 30 lakh crore, or 15% of gross domestic product, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters in New Delhi Thursday. That equals the total spending envisaged in the government’s budget for the year to March.
India, Nepal begins construction of Integrated Check Post to smoothen regional connectivity
The project will be implemented by M/s Rajdeep Buildcon Pvt. Ltd, a Pune based Indian company under the supervision of M/s RITES International Ltd. a Government of India undertaking.
Policy focus the biggest differentiator between rural and urban economy: Upasna Bhardwaj
‘Rural unemployment is close to the February level while the urban rate is relatively higher.’
Urban India has to perform for rural economy to grow on an absolute basis: Sanjeev Prasad
‘Rural India by itself will not sustain beyond a certain point in time and agriculture in its current form.’
Rural spending overtakes urban; rural growth seen as the only silver lining in mid term
Companies are also pinning hopes on the rural bounce back fuelled by higher farm incomes, good monsoons, government stimulus and reduced impact of lockdowns, because macro indicators of overall economic revival in the immediate term remain challenging.
Economy picks up momentum, COVID handled much better: SBI Research
Corporate results for July-September quarter shows that the companies producing essential goods have mostly witnessed strong results while those producing non-essential goods and services have mostly shown weaker results.
India looks to poor farmers to rescue virus-ravaged economy
Rising consumption in rural areas contrasts with that of urban areas, where companies are still struggling to boost their sales following the pandemic that has hit business activities, hurt demand and caused labor shortage. The adverse impact of the world’s strictest lockdown in March continues to haunt, but the hinterland is holding out hope.


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UK Mail will invest £20 million improving automated sorting in a bid to drive down costs.
The parcel delivery company said it aims to sort 80 per cent of its packages through the enhanced automated system over the next few years.
UK Mail unveiled the investment as it reported an 18 per cent rise in full-year pre-tax profit, to £17.8 million. Revenue rose 11 per cent to £475.4 million.
The results sent shares rising 10 per cent, or 46p, to 506p in morning trading, valuing the company at £277 million.
Britain’s largest independent parcels, mail and logistics services company was recently embarrassed by a Channel 4 documentary showing its staff throwing and kicking customers’ parcels.
At the time, UK Mail’s chief executive, Guy Buswell, apologised…


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According to data earlier this month, Newark, California-based electric car maker Lucid Motors has rewarded investors who have made significant profits and bet on their shares during the year. The company aims to target the luxury high-end market segment with its vehicles. One of the few electric vehicle start-ups in the United States aimed at taking advantage of growing market interest.
By the beginning of this month, shortsellers who borrow and sell their shares in the market in the hope of profiting from trading through a fall in stock prices will have a profit of 302 million, according to data shared by research firm S3 Partners. Dollar. These profits were due to Lucido’s share price declining last month as some shareholders’ lock-up period expired last month and their holdings could be sold.
Lucid Motors shortsellers double their profits less than a month after the stock price falls.
From the beginning of August to the end of last week, Lucid Motors’ share price fell $ 23.77, 19.93 16%, and recovery began earlier this month, slowing some of the damage. The stock started at $ 23.77 in August and closed at $ 19.33 on Friday. Looking at the decline that took place earlier this month reveals some of the short-selling profits.
From the beginning of August to the end of the transaction on September 1, Lucid Motors shares lost about a quarter or 25% of their value and some investors’ lockup period ended in September. It has fallen. Lucido, which went public in merge with the special acquisition company (SPAC) Churchill Capital Corporation IV, sold a portion of its shares to institutional investors who were banned from selling before the lockup period expired.
As soon as that happened, the market panicked after similar events for other companies, which led to their institutional camps quickly offloading their holdings.
In the aftermath of all this volatility, data from S3 partners reveals that by September 3, Lucid’s shortsellers had expanded their profits to $ 302 million. This was after the stock rose 3%, causing a loss of $ 29 million that day. ..
These rises accelerated rapidly due to the fall in stock prices in August, and data for the third week of the month revealed that shortsellers made $ 135 million on the 16th. These expanded to $ 200 million within four days and increased $ 100 million over the next two weeks.
At the same time, the number of shares sold by short sellers on the market continued to fluctuate significantly. Approximately 1 million short shares were repurchased and sold in the third week of August, with a total increase of approximately 2 million shares during that period. Since then, they have remained at this level, but the impact of a 6% rise in stock prices on them has not yet been determined.
Lucid is moving faster than other electric vehicle manufacturers and plans to offer Lucid Air vehicles to its customers later this year. Air received a lot of support when the car magazine was published in late August. Motor trend We described it as a “great machine” and outlined that a vehicle’s driving range could exceed 500 miles under proper driving conditions.
https://wccftech.com/lucid-motors-short-sellers-extend-gains-to-302-million-by-september-start/ Lucid Motors Shortseller Expands Profit to $ 302 Million By Start of September


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It was a night of beauty and glamour as Dettol Even Tone team hosted an exclusive event to celebrate the African Woman.
Themed #EvenBetterMe, the celebrities-filled gig was hosted by the ever-green ex-radio presenter Pinky Ghelani. It brought together leading artistes and fashionistas, including top fashion bloggers Sharon Mundia, Joy Kendi and Nancy Mwai, Showbiz exraordinaire Talia Oyando a.ka Night Nurse, songbirds Size 8, Avril Nyambura and Patricia Kihoro, Capital FM’s Anita Nderu and Mandi Sarro.
Also in attendance were Dettol Brand Marketing manager Rachel Migwi and Damira Golubic, RB Marketing Manager.
“For many years Dettol has been a real companion to mothers in Africa, Dettol Even Tone is our gift to the African woman, we celebrate her by ensuring that her skin is well taken care off,” RB County Manager for East Africa Sachin Varma said.
“Dettol Even Tone is the ultimate blend of hygiene and beauty that not only replenishes the skin but also removes dark spots to ensure that mothers step out in even toned skins.”
The new soap, Dettol Even Tone was developed in Africa, based on African consumers’ insight around even toned skin. It is an antibacterial soap with extra features, such as moisturisers and crushed apricot seeds to remove blemishes.
Pinky Ghelani said: “Today, we sit around this lovely room to celebrate our skin, the biggest and most precious asset for any woman.”


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As well as cheapo pricing Intel is offering design assistance, technology and marketing help to people who design in Intel tablet chips.
A little while back Bernstein Research estimated Intel would be subsidising its tablet slots to the tune of $51 per chip-set.
Since it has set a target of getting into 40 million tablets this year, that’s a cool $2 billion to get tablet makers to use Intel chips.
Of course it is being said that Intel wants to get into 60 million tablets this year which would cost it $3 billion in customer inducements.
And then of course there’s next year. If Intel withdraws its inducements next year, will customers stop using Intel tablet ICs?


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Economists and politicians have long argued about the appropriateness and effectiveness of economic stimulus programs to try to jumpstart sluggish economies and the practice of giving tax breaks, grants and low-interest loans to attract corporate job creators (i.e. corporate welfare).
Now Connecticut is trying yet another approach. Call it economic stimulus through small business welfare.
The $100 million Small Business Express Program, approved with near unanimous support by the legislature as part of the Jobs Bill in October, is handing out $100 million in low-interest loans and grants to the little guys, companies with fewer than 50 employees at the time of application.
Seems like the fair thing to do. Since states appear committed to providing incentives to lure the big guys, it appears equitable to send some help to the little guys. And aren't politicians always telling us small businesses are the big job creators?
Unfortunately, the facts appear to say something different. While it might seem fair to help small businesses with loans and handouts, the truth is that most of these small businesses, unlike the big corporations states compete for, are not moving. They will either make it or not right where they are.
Also, most small businesses eliminate more jobs than they create in a given year, either through layoffs, closings or bankruptcy. And most don't pay very high wages. That was the determination of a recent study, "What do Small Businesses Do?" by University of Chicago economists Erik Hurst and Benjamin Wild Pugsley. They found that most small business owners just want to be their own boss and never expect to hire more than a few employees.
The small businesses that do really drive job growth, the study's authors found, are those run by innovators and entrepreneurs, companies with genuine growth potential. As an Associated Press story about the small business study aptly put it: Think Bill Gates and Paul Allen huddled together late nights developing Microsoft, not the guy at the corner liquor store.
Yet, by all appearances, the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) is not being terribly selective in parceling out the Small Business Express Program funds. The Star Hardware Corp. Hartford got a $100,000 grant to redesign its showroom; the Dog Lane Café in Storrs a $100,000 grant for startup operations; Fields of Fire in Mystic a $100,000 grant to get its paintball competition operation off the ground.
So far the state has handed out $6.08 million in loans and $4.8 million in grants to about 70 small businesses. With $100 million to work with, there will be many more. But if there is a strategy to this, outside of giving out a lot of money to generate a few jobs at many different places, it is difficult to discern.
I asked David Treadwell, a spokesman for the DECD, how the state is going about choosing which small businesses to invest taxpayer money in.
"The business approaches us and we evaluate what they do, how they are doing it, are they in a growth industry, an industry important to the state, and how healthy are they? We do our due diligence and make a calculation; are they going to be able to pay us back?" he said, adding after a pause, "Sometimes it is just a gut feeling."
The growth industry part sounds good, not so much the gut feeling. Yet it is hard to envision Raceway Golf Club & Restaurant in Thompson, which received an $88,525 grant to update its fleet of golf carts, as a pioneering growth business.
"If you want jobs, you have to focus on the innovative firms trying to provide something new and different," economist Charles Kenny of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan business research group, told the AP.
That would seem the better approach for the state's Small Business Express Program. But that would require greater discernment and almost certainly fewer press releases. Right now the state is announcing at a rapid pace the small businesses winning grants and loans, usually with a quote from a local legislator up for re-election. Call that vote stimulation.
Paul Choiniere is the editorial page editor.


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May 26, 2020
RLA SmartBrief: Retailers need to be ready for the surge in returns of online purchases as more states allow businesses to reopen, writes Sarah Jones. Automation can make returns more efficient, while Larisa Summers, senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce at Optoro, says that workers need to be trained in handling returned items safely.
Full Story: https://sourcingjournal.com/topics/logistics/coronavirus-reverse-logistics-returnly-return-logic-optoro-ecommerce-212114/


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VINELAND — South Vineland United Methodist Church is taking part in a nationwide event to send shoe boxes filled with gifts to needy children all over the world.
Cumberland County residents are being encouraged to send gifts wrapped in shoe boxes through Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project, to over 8.5 million children in 100 countries suffering from natural disaster, war, terrorism, disease, famine, and poverty.
“We’re asking people in the United States to pack shoe boxes with gifts for children,” said Katie Rowland Media Relations Associate with Operation Child Christmas. “They can be filled with toys, toiletries, clothing. Anything but liquids and war-related toys.”
The operation began in 1993 and has sent out over 77 million shoe box gifts worldwide.
“It’s grown exponentially,” Rowland said. “Last year we were able to send out 8.2 million gifts. The scale is pretty astounding.”
There are more than 300 gift collection sites across the US. Gift-givers are asked to be as creative as they want.
“One child living in Bosnia was praying that she’d receive mittens,” Rowland said. “One family happened to include mittens in their shoe box. Her prayer was answered.”
Rowland said the gifts go to many needy children. Many of the children have nothing but the clothes on their back, she said.
“They’ve never received a gift before,” she said. “They ask, ‘is this all for me?’”
Rowland said all residents need to do is pick a gender, an age, and follow the four step process. Instructions can be found online at www.samaritan.org/occ. The four steps are as follows:
~How to pack a shoe box gift.
~Preparing the shoe box to be shipped.
~Dropping off the shoe box to a collection site.
~Following or tracking the box.
The gift-giver can go to the website and print out a shipping sticker for $7 that will allow them to track the package they sent.
“I want to encourage everyone to pack a shoe box,” Rowland said. “It’s a simple thing to us, but to those in need, it means hope and that someone cares and took the time and resources to show love. It’s a great way to send a Christmas gift to someone who would never receive one.”
Shoe box gifts can be dropped off at the South Vineland United Methodist Church from Nov. 15 - 22 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Gifts can be dropped off on Monday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.


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Priced at Rs 69,999, the Tab P12 Pro features a 12.6-inch AMOLED touchscreen display enhanced by the detailed S-Stripe RGB subpixel layout for less graininess. Users will also get the Lenovo Precision Pen 3 bundled with the pack.
“Our latest addition to the market — the Lenovo Tab P12 Pro — is incredibly versatile,” Pankaj Harjai, Director – Tablets and Smart Devices, Lenovo India, said in a statement.
“It offers smart entertainment and is built with all the clever bells and whistles that consumers have come to expect from a Lenovo flagship Android tablet, for instance, its brilliant AMOLED display, immersive sound, long-lasting battery, and the all-new digital pen,” Harjai added.
The newly launched tablet is powered by Snapdragon 870 Mobile Platform, cutting-edge CPU speed, and up to 8GB RAM. It houses a 10,200mAh battery.
Now available across Lenovo.com, Amazon.in and Lenovo Exclusive Stores, it will also be available at other offline retail channels soon.
The tablet also supports Dolby Vision which delivers incredibly vivid picture quality, and its display features a colour gamut of 107 per cent NTSC and up to 400 nits of brightness.
The company claimed that the tablet also protects against eye strain with Lenovo’s hardware and software tuning, including the low-blue light emissions certification from TUV Rheinland.


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John Martellaro and Dave Hamilton join host Kelly Guimont to discuss widescreen displays and how many Ks and inches and lines you really need.
Amazon is folding its Fire TV into a smart 4K/UHD TV, called the Fire TV Edition. It’s what some have called on Apple to do. Will Amazon’s vision pay off?
Apple, as it always does, created a unique vision for the HomePod. The device is cool, but the product concept may have been off the mark. Now, Apple will adjust.
If you’re thinking about upgrading to a 4K/UHD TV this holiday season, you may be wondering about a new 4K/UHD Blu-ray player.
If there’s a theme to this week’s Particle Debris, it’s how some companies are struggling with technology decisions while others, like Apple, seem to have smooth sailing.
The demand for 4K movies has brought about the business of upscaling 2K movies to 4K and marketing them as 4K. Should we care?
The new Apple TV 4K ushers in a new era of TV technology for Apple customers, so it’s time to learn some new tech.
Back in January, during CES, TMO wrote up a news story about Sony’s new XBR-A1E BRAVIA OLED 4K HDR TV. At the time, the product was not yet shipping, and we didn’t know what the prices would be. As a recap, Sony has embraced the OLED technology for its new line of 4K/UHD TVs, a market previously held only by LG. Now we know the details from the official press release for the two smaller models. For 55-inch: US$4999.99. For 65-inch: $6499.99. Sony says these TVs will be “available in stores beginning in April 2017.” OLED displays consistently win the picture quality battle against any kind of LCD, and so it’s important and timely for Sony to enter this market. No doubt, prices will be lower for the 2017 holidays.
LAS VEGAS — For a long time, Sony has had an excellent reputation for building great TVs. However, until yesterday, only LG was selling those magnificent OLED 4K/UHD TVs. Now, Sony has joined the fray with its own branded OLED 4K/UHD sets, and they’re amazing. And not only HDR but Dolby Vision to boot. The word is… wow.
The personal computing industry is changing quickly. Again. Not long ago, there was a simple migration from Mac and PC desktops to notebooks. Then, Apple finally got the simple tablet right in 2010. However, basic tablets can’t do it all, and so Apple warmed to the iPad Pro concept. But the dust isn’t clearing. Rather the market is exploding in use cases and advanced technology. John tries to make sense of it all.
It’s not surprising that Apple is warming up to the idea of machine intelligence and AI agents with its $200 million purchase of Turi. The company needs to do that to remain competitive with Google and Microsoft. But, over and above that, the beneficial side effects will have even deeper implications for Apple as a company and its future.
Apple has been nibbling around the edges of the TV experience for a long time. The Apple TV has been a good start, and the recent emphasis on the 4th generation Apple TV and apps has been good. And yet, Apple hasn’t really closed the loop for a complete viewing experience and has delivered only pieces of the needed hardware. John fantasizes a bit. But with logic.


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BlackBerry awarded $815 million in judgment against Qualcomm
Why it matters to you
Qualcomm’s chip monopoly reportedly edged out competition, inflating the prices of smartphones.
BlackBerry scored a big win on Wednesday against Qualcomm. A court awarded the Waterloo, Canada-based smartphone maker $815 million in refunded royalty payments stemming from a binding arbitration agreement, CNBC reports.
The specifics of the refund remain unclear — Qualcomm said it is for sales of “subscriber units” — but at the core of the dispute is licensing fees BlackBerry paid in advance to Qualcomm. The smartphone maker argued that an agreed-upon caps on royalties was never applied, and Qualcomm argued that the payments were nonrefundable.
More: Expect more smartwatches and wearables this year, Qualcomm executive says
Qualcomm, unsurprisingly, said it disagreed with the court’s ruling. But it acknowledged that it was binding and that it “[had] no impact on agreements with any other licensee,” a Qualcomm spokesperson said.
It’s the latest in a string of legal blows against Qualcomm. In January, the United States Federal Trade Commission sued the San Diego, California-based company for anti-competitive practices, accusing it of using its dominant market position to edge out competition. The FTC alleged that Qualcomm gave its partners two choices: Pay pricey royalties for the use of its patents or limit the sale of their devices to smaller markets.
The FTC said that Qualcomm abused standards-essential patents — patents that must be licensed at fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory rates — by refusing to license them directly to competing suppliers. The FTC characterized Qualcomm’s fees as “disproportionately high” relative to its competitors and it said that consumers ultimately paid the inflated prices.
More: Apple vs. Qualcomm: Everything you need to know
Apple later filed its own $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm (and subsequent suits in two other countries) over royalties for basic patents, claiming that Qualcomm forced it to pay excessive fees and withheld nearly $1 billion “as retaliation for responding truthfully to law [South Korean] enforcement agencies investigating them.”
“Despite being just one of over a dozen companies who contributed to basic cellular standards, Qualcomm insists on charging Apple at least five times more in payments than all the other cellular patent licensors we have agreements with combined,” Apple said in a statement.
It put the kibosh on competition. Qualcomm cut Apple a discount in exchange for agreeing not to source competitors’ wireless modems for five years. That reportedly hampered silicon giants like Intel, which for years have tried to break into the smartphone chip space.
More: Federal Trade Commission hits Qualcomm with a lawsuit over its licensing practices
In a statement, Qualcomm general counsel Don Rosenberg said that Apple had “intentionally mischaracterized” Qualcomm’s practices and has been “actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm’s business” around the world. “We welcome the opportunity to have these meritless claims heard in court where we will be entitled to full discovery of Apple’s practices and a robust examination of the merits,” Rosenberg said.


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NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street stocks finished modestly higher on Thursday (Arpil 6), shrugging off concerns about US monetary policy ahead of the closely watched March jobs report.
US equities steadied after Federal Reserve meeting minutes had prompted a sell-off Wednesday afternoon due to concerns about tightening monetary policy.
Petroleum-related shares rose with higher oil prices, along with the industrial giant Caterpillar and some retailers after Bed Bath & Beyond reported better-than-expected earnings.
Analysts are looking ahead to Friday's official Labor Department jobs report, which is expected to show the economy added 215,000 jobs in March and that unemployment held steady at 4.7 per cent.
Markets are also eyeing President Donald Trump's first meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 per cent to 20,663.02.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.2 per cent to 2,357.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 per cent to 5,878.95.
Costco Wholesale advanced 1.7 per cent after reporting a six percent rise in comparable sales for March.
Bed Bath & Beyond surged 3.4 per cent after reporting fiscal fourth-quarter earnings with a 0.4 per cent rise in comparable sales. Net income was US$268.7 million (S$376.7 million) on US$3.5 billion in revenue.
Beer and wine marketer Constellation Brands advanced 6.3 per cent after reporting that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings jumped 85.7 per cent to US$452 million.


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• Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange is standing up for crypto staking and economic freedom.
• The online community has urged Coinbase to relist XRP after delisting it in 2020 due to US Securities Exchange Commission’s legal action against Ripple.
• Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal and CEO Brian Armstrong have both declared that the company will continue to oppose government overreach when it comes to protecting services like staking.
Coinbase Standing Up for Crypto Staking
Coinbase, a popular cryptocurrency exchange, is taking a stand for crypto staking and economic freedom. On February 9th, its chief legal officer Paul Grewal stated that Coinbase’s staking program is not affected by rival exchange Kraken shutting down its staking services due to the fundamental difference between them. Grewal argued that Kraken’s platform was offering „yield products“ while Coinbase’s was something else entirely.
Online Community Urges Coinbase To Relist XRP
This statement from Grewal was followed by an even stronger one from CEO Brian Armstrong who declared that the exchange would continue to oppose government interference when it comes to protecting services like staking. He also mentioned how there are no clear regulations surrounding this matter yet which prompted the online community to urge Coinbase to relist XRP on its platform after delisting it in 2020 as a result of US Securities Exchange Commission’s legal action against Ripple.
Protecting Customers From Government Overreach?
The public wondered whether this delisting was done out of a genuine willingness from Coinbase to protect customers from government overreach or if there were any other motives involved as well. This debate sparked many conversations among cryptocurrency enthusiasts with some criticizing Coinbase for not supporting XRP despite their claims of standing up for economic freedom.
SEC Allegations Against Ripple
In response to SEC’s allegations against Ripple regarding selling unregistered security tokens called XRP, Coinbase decided to suspend trading of the digital asset on their platform back in December 2020. This decision drew mixed reactions from within the crypto-community with some supporting it while others questioning its legality and fairness towards those who had already purchased these tokens before the suspension took effect.
Fighting For Economic Freedom
As debates around government overreach in cryptocurrencies continue, CEO Brian Armstrong has remained steadfast in his support of economic freedom and keeping customers safe from such interferences as well as possible legal repercussions they might face due to unclear regulations governing certain activities within this space such as crypto-staking. Even though some people still argue against this stance taken by him, Armstrong continues fighting for what he believes is right and necessary in order protect users’ rights at all costs


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In most countries, spring is the best time of year when a good number o >>>
Two years ago, a 17-year-old Reshma Quereshi, an Indian girl dreamed of finishing school and getting a good job. But a brutal attack originally meant for her sister, changed the course of her life. Quereshi will open for Mumbai-based designer Archana Kochhar, FTL Moda President Llaria Niccolini told. The merging of Quereshi’s and Kochhar’s worlds is significant because Kochhar’s colorful, trendy designs represent luxury and decadence, while Quereshi grew up in a “very poor” area of India, Niccolini said. Quereshi may close the show as well.
During the evening show, Quereshi will walk for Vaishali Couture, which is considered one of the most significant fashion lines in India for its bespoke designs, Niccolini said. It is not clear exactly what Quereshi will wear while walking the runway, but the outfit will undoubtedly be “special,” Niccolini said.


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Apple received high praise from one of its major competitors The success of Apple, the leading name in the smartphone industry, is acknowledged by many of its competitors.
Apple A17 Pro vs A16 Bionic: Here are the differences The differences between the Apple A17 Pro and the A16 Bionic are quite substantial.
Apple made significant announcements about the iOS 17 update The American tech giant Apple provided very important details about the eagerly anticipated iOS 17 update.
Huawei's comeback threatens to disrupt Apple's operations significantly After enduring hardships due to prolonged embargoes, it seems Huawei now rises above these challenges.
Battery capacities for the iPhone series have been confirmed! The recently introduced iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max models' battery capacities are now known.
The initial rumors about the iPhone 16 are quite thrilling! Just a few days after the launch of the iPhone 15 series, leaks related to the iPhone 16 series have already started to surface.
Reassuring news arrived for those considering the iPhone 15! American tech giant Apple shed light on a crucial detail about the introduced iPhone 15 series.
Apple prohibited employees from discussing that issue! Recently in the spotlight for reports regarding high radiation emissions from iPhone 12 models, Apple made a surprising decision.
iPhone 16 leak hints at virtual buttons and high refresh rates for all variants There's been a noteworthy leak regarding the upcoming iPhone 16, suggesting some intriguing changes on the horizon.
Apple aims to address the high radiation issue of iPhone 12 With news of the iPhone 12 models getting banned in France due to "high radiation", Apple has taken note.
Apple A17 Pro makes a noteworthy appearance on Geekbench The Apple A17 Pro has made a significant impression on the Geekbench benchmark platform, showcasing its impressive performance capabilities.
iPhone 16 and 16 Plus to include 'Higher Frequency Display', does it mean 90Hz? The mention of a 'Higher Frequency Display' in relation to the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus doesn't explicitly confirm a specific refresh rate, such as 90Hz. While it's possible that Apple might opt for a 90Hz panel, the exact details regarding the refresh rate remain unconfirmed.
Foxconn raises wages for Huawei workers in Shenzhen over iPhone production Foxconn, one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers, has announced a wage increase for its workers in Shenzhen who are involved in Huawei device production, marking a significant development in the tech manufacturing industry.
Apple responds to iPhone 12 radiation concerns in France with software update In response to concerns over radiation levels in its iPhone 12 model raised by French regulators, Apple has announced plans to resolve the issue through a software update.
Apple's new leadership aims to bring blood sugar monitoring to Apple Watch Apple's new leadership is on a mission to integrate blood sugar monitoring into the Apple Watch, signaling a significant move into health tracking technology.
Big shock for Apple: France bans iPhone 12 with a terrifying reason! After China, the American tech giant Apple faces another ban, this time from France. However, the reason given by French authorities differs significantly from China's.
Apple's A17 Pro barely surpasses the A16 Bionic! The A17 Pro chipset, powering the iPhone 15 Pro models introduced by Apple, might not have fully met expectations in initial tests.
Apple still relies on China, albeit indirectly! The American tech giant, Apple, introduced its new iPhone series just a few hours ago. Yet, the initial data indicates that China will remain Apple's main base this year.
Apple unveils the Apple Watch Series 9: Here are its features and price! The eagerly anticipated Apple Watch Series 9 finally made its debut. So, what features did Apple include in this device?
Foldable smartphones poised for remarkable market surge by 2027 The foldable smartphone market is on the brink of a remarkable surge, with projections indicating that by 2027, it is set to encompass 70 million units, constituting 5% of the global smartphone market, driven by cost reductions and the expanding presence of Chinese smartphone manufacturers.
iPhone 15 series to offer battery charge limitation feature The iPhone 15 series is set to introduce a notable new feature: the ability to limit the maximum battery charge, as revealed through source code in the iOS 17 beta, offering users greater control over their device's battery health.


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Rogers Lowers Price of 5G Plans, Extra Discounts for Shaw Customers
Rogers has announced some major changes for its 5G plans, lowering the price of select plans with bundles and also doubling the data for its entry unlimited plan.
5G wireless plans now start at $65 per month but they get cheaper if you bundle your cell phone with a Shaw home service, leveraging the company’s recent acquisition of the latter.
Here are the new mobile only 5G plans:
- $65 for 25GB
- $85 for 50GB (was 25GB)
- $105 for 100GB – USA/Canada
- Extra lines: $60/15GB (up to 250 Mbps speeds)
As of writing, Telus and Bell have yet to match these 5G plan changes, but you know they will soon.
If you’re a home internet customer, you get the following 5G plans when you bundle services:
- $55 for 25GB (up to 250 Mbps speeds)
- $65 for 50GB
- $75 for 100GB – Canada/USA
- Extra line: $50/15GB (up to 250 Mbps speeds)
There are extra discounts for additional lines, up to $30/month off for 24 months.
“We’ve invested to build the largest 5G network in the country covering more than 2,000 communities, and we’re committed to ensuring all Canadians can access the best 5G technology,” said Phil Hartling, President, Wireless, in an issued statement. “We’re squarely focused on delivering a service that Canadians value and offering them lower-priced options that fit their needs. There’s a reason more Canadians choose Rogers every day, more than any other telecom company.”
Rogers says over the “coming months”, all wireless customers with voice and data plans will get access to their 5G network for free. Previously, you had to subscribe to an Infinite plan starting at $85 per month.
“Canadians already pay less per month for wireless services than customers in the United States, and we are continuing to deliver more value,” added Hartling. “Today’s announcement is part of our ongoing commitment to make our services more accessible and affordable.”


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The Fed will need to drop the script if we get stagflation
Our economy is already witnessing slow growth so if you add inflation to it, you will trigger stagflation
," he added.
experiencing de-industrialization in the face of stagflation
, began crafting a bill to put things into practice.
Ulyukayev told reporters that stagflation
was an appropriate term to use in Russia today, RIA News A reported.
We, similar to many other places in the world, are caught in a classic stagflation
President ICCI said cut in mark-up rates would not only strengthen economic activities but would also go a long way in controlling stagflation
that was giving birth to many economic problems besides jacking up the graph of unemployment.
India's economy is in stagflation
with notably weaker growth but inflation still stubbornly high, said Glenn Levine, senior economist, Moody's Analytics.
Action now is crucial to ensure the UK isn't gripped by stagflation
, with the economy in the slow lane but inflation rising.
is a situation in which the inflation rate is high and the economic growth rate is lower than its long-term trend.
However, Magda Kandil, economist and executive director of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, is wary that the country's economy may be approaching a standstill, or stagflation
is paradoxical in that inflation generally creeps into the economy during periods of strong economic growth.
had been triggered by the application of Keynesian policies and expansion and growth of government in the 1960s and 1970s (Hayek, 1979).
In tracing the evolution of the third period, Morgan rightly associates the transition to chronic, large deficits to the stagflation
that followed the supply shocks and oil embargoes of the 1970s.
Pakistan's economy is virtually in stagflation
, as the country witnessed low economic growth and high inflation during the fiscal year 2010-11 ended on June 30.
amp;nbsp; This is simply another institution pointing out the new global phenomenon, Stagflation


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Apple’s big event is finally over. The company announced its new Apple Watch, which happens to have up to 18 hours of battery life. The watch will start shipping on April 24, but you will be able to pre-order starting April 10. The Apple Watch app, which is what you need to customize your watch is available in iOS 8.2. You can download the new update today.
During the event, Apple demonstrated how the watch can help you pay for things, travel more easily, and even get a cab. Since developers are still coming up with apps for the device, the sky’s the limit. Let’s not forget that this is a pretty awesome fitness device.
Speaking of new products, Apple device owners will be able to experience HBO’s streaming service for $14.99 a month. The Apple TV did not get a major upgrade but will sell for $69. During the event, Apple also announced a new MacBook with a 12″ display and MacBook Air and MacBook Pro upgrades. The new MacBook has a thin design, a brand new keyboard with butterfly mechanism, and a pressure sensitive Force Touch trackpad. It will also have USB-C, which gives you power, data transfer, DisplayPort, HDMI, and VGA all in one port. The new Mac notebook sells for $1299 and will ship starting April 10.[More info]


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Olympic Ratings are down, but less than expected! Unfortunately for NBC, so is revenue. That, though, is expected: sports and its advertisers remain interconnected. Then, at least NBC finally figured out how to manage multiple mediums.
In case I wasn’t clear in yesterday’s article, Walmart really has no chance to catch Amazon in e-commerce. Then, the news that P&G will reduce targeting isn’t a surprise, but it’s not necessarily that much of a problem for Facebook. Plus, notes on Facebook’s earnings.
Dollar Shave Club is a textbook example of how the new Internet economy will destroy value in incumbent industries.
P&G is cutting product lines, the plethora of which made far more sense in the retail world than online. More change is coming.


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Zynga has been downgraded by the equities researchers at Vetr, in a report issued on Monday. The Vetr analysts lowered their rating on game maker from Strong-Buy to Buy with a price target of $2.90.
Limited downside and upside
Last week, Zacks lowered its rating on the game maker from Buy to a Hold. And on July 14, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Zynga with an Equal-weight rating and a price target of $2.80. Morgan Stanley is impressed with the company’s ability to transition from gaming on social networking sites to the mobile gaming. However, analysts are concerned that the company is now at the mercy of new hits considering its popular franchises such as FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Words With Friends are losing popularity. Though the analysts expect limited downside, they see little reason to give Zynga a more compelling rating and a higher price target.
The ExodusPoint Partners International Fund returned 0.36% for May, bringing its year-to-date return to 3.31% in a year that's been particularly challenging for most hedge funds, pushing many into the red. Macroeconomic factors continued to weigh on the market, resulting in significant intra-month volatility for May, although risk assets generally ended the month flat. Macro Read More
A number of analysts have offered an opinion on Zynga in recent months. Sterne Agee CRT analysts reiterated their Hold rating on the game maker, in a note issued on May 14th. In a report on May 10th, Piper Jaffray reiterated uts Neutral rating on the stock with a price target of $3. Benchmark Co. reiterated a Hold on the game maker with a price target of $2.54, in a note May 10th. Presently, Zynga has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $3.39.
Recent insider selling at Zynga
Zynga witnessed a couple of insider selling transactions last week. In a single transaction on July 16, Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary Devang Shah offloaded 14,220 shares, constituting 7.42% of his stake, totaling $38,832. After the transaction, Shah is left with 177,520 shares worth approximately $481,079.
Separately, CFO David Lee sold 17.14% of his stake or 11,747 shares for $32,069. The shares were sold in one transaction on July 19. After the sell, Lee is now left with 56,787 shares worth around $153,893, according to a filing with the SEC.
On Monday, Zynga shares closed down 2.21% at $2.65. Year to date, the stock is down almost 3% while in the last twelve months the stock is down over 13%. The game makers stock has a 52-week high of $3.19 and a 52-week low of $2.20.


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Pandemic-control measures and changing consumer attitudes recently have forced more reliance on delivery and take-out business channels among foodservice operators struggling to rebuild sales. In an effort to avoid third-party delivery fees while creating more work for existing employees, whose hours were cut when dining rooms closed or have reopened with capacity restrictions and social distancing requirements, some operators have turned to handling the new delivery demand in-house.
Join this virtual town hall webinar to hear from an operator who has tackled self-op delivery and from officials and users of program sponsor ShiftPixy, a company that provides the administrative help and order-and-dispatching-management tools that permit restaurants to take-on delivery apart from or in parallel with the big third-party players – all the while using and supporting the workers they know.
An extended audience Q&A session will be a part of this program.
David E. Goldstein
Chief Operating Officer
Sharky’s Woodfired Mexican Grill
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Data & Event Content Director
Nation's Restaurant News


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Apr 18 (Reuters) — Chipmaker Intel Corporation aforementioned on Tuesday it has discontinued production of its bitcoin minelaying silicon chip series, simply a year subsequently its entry.
A gouge in the cryptocurrency commercialise suffering about bit companies including Nvidia Corp, whose high-oddment art chips became democratic for crypto minelaying.
Intel expects to stop taking orders for the series, named Blockscale, by Oct 20 this year and close transport by Apr 20 future year, according to a text file on the company’s web site.
«As we prioritize our investments in IDM 2.0, we have end-of-lifed the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC while we continue to support our Blockscale customers,» a society voice aforementioned.
IDM 2.0 refers to Intel’s scheme to outsource its micro chip fashioning to outdoors customers, spell it continues to incline up its ain output of littler and faster chips.
Intel aforesaid it will carry on to «monitor market opportunities» in the cryptocurrency distance.
Argo Blockchain, Obstruct Inc, Hive Blockchain Technologies and GRIID Base were Intel’s 1st customers for the chips.
(Reportage by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Redaction by Krishna Chandra Eluri)


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PARIS, Tenn. – State officials from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and the Department of Agriculture, along with local civic leaders, farmers and park supporters, kicked off a “Farm to Table” Pilot Program at Paris Landing State Park today.
The Tennessee State Park System, which is part of TDEC, continues to look for ways to increase the amount of locally grown food served at State Parks restaurants. Procuring locally-grown food products is both environmentally sustainable and economically supportive of communities that produce the products.
“Local foods benefit the environment and wildlife. Well managed farms provide ecosystems that conserve the soil, protect water sources, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. The patchwork of fields and ponds provide habitat for wildlife,” said TDEC Commissioner Bob Martineau. “These partnerships are a win for all, and we are beyond thrilled with how the event turned out today.”
Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Division of Market Development partnered with Tennessee State Parks to locate, visit and evaluate farmers around Paris Landing State Park that can produce enough quantity to support the restaurant operations at a price that is economically feasible for customers.
“Our State Park system is truly a gem and an important draw for visitors. It just makes sense to enhance that experience by connecting them with local producers and processors,” Agriculture Commissioner Julius Johnson said. “I want to thank Commissioner Martineau and his team at TDEC for leading this effort and for supporting the local agricultural economy through our Pick Tennessee Products program.”
Tennessee State Park restaurants offer southern cooking served buffet style, menu service, catering and, conference banquets. There are six resort inns and all include a food service operation, serving three meals daily. All restaurants also offer catering on-site for picnics, meetings, conferences and other special events.
Tennessee’s 54 state parks offer diverse natural, recreational and cultural experiences for individuals, families, or business and professional groups. State park features range from pristine natural areas to 18-hole championship golf courses. There is a state park within an hour’s drive of just about anywhere in the state, offering a variety of recreational, lodging and dining choices. For more information about Tennessee State Parks, visit www.tnstateparks.com.
Pick Tennessee Products is program developed by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to help consumers connect with locally grown and processed foods and other agriculture related enterprises. Local products and more can be found at www.picktnproducts.org or through the “Pick Tennessee” mobile app available from both the App Store and from Google Play.


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The business case for high-value real-time payments
The digital transformation of payments promotes an expansive approach to changing the ways companies do business, but the reality so far has been incremental gains, largely due to some restrictions. As a core piece of streamlining sending and receiving payments, RTP payments move with speed, efficiency and certainty. With the increase to $1 million for payments on the RTP network, the same benefits of the previous $100,000 mark can be multiplied. Across industries and organizations, businesses are turning to higher-value transactions with RTP as a way to streamline and optimize payments more – well-beyond an increment.
According to Adam Carter, vice president in the Faster Payments Group at U.S. Bank, “digital-based payments options are all going to look pretty fast when compared with, say, processing checks or paper-based invoicing, but there are so many opportunities for businesses to operate better – truly transform – when they’re leveraging RTP to its maximum potential,” he says, “and there’s a lot more at stake now.”
Real-time research on real-time payments
New research from U.S. Bank shows the rise of real-time payments across the country and improved business results for the first wave of early adopters. Gain insights into how innovative companies are using real-time payments to accelerate their digital transformation.
With a transaction value maximum of $1 million on the RTP network, treasury, payments and money movement decision-makers might need to consider sooner vs. later in terms of the benefits gained by transferring higher volumes and payment values away from disparate payment types and onto RTP.
“Finance leadership across the entire business payments landscape has to decide, if they haven’t already, how quickly they’ll want to capture all the benefits that come along with RTP,” he says, “but now, with the transaction limit at a million bucks, you have to ask yourself, what can we do now that we couldn’t do before?”
To answer that “million-dollar question,” Carter points to several payments categories and applications primed to take advantage of the increase.
Immediate settlement has obvious value to high-value sellers, but RTP wasn’t a viable option for real estate under the $100,000 limit. Only 4% of U.S. home sales would have fit under the old threshold in 2021.
“In terms of value to the real estate industry, RTP transactions are really in the sweet spot,” Carter says. “For any transaction between zero and $1 million, both the business and their customers are going to benefit with RTP. Sellers expect to walk away with value for their exchange, be it the sale of their home, car or other asset. RTP allows them to know they have been compensated in full, in real-time.”
The higher value threshold for RTP also means that businesses can streamline their payables operations by consolidating disparate or multiple payments in favor of large, one-and-done transactions. When it comes to procurement, Carter used the example of nationally scaled big box retail store supply chains as a relatively easy way to gain efficiency.
“Consider how many semi-trucks are out there on a store’s loading docks every day,” he says, “those suppliers need to get paid and it’s far less expensive for all parties to reduce the number of transactions necessary in the invoice-to-payment cycle.”
High-value payables are also an opportunity to improve the customer experience for business-to-consumer payments. RTP has given insurance companies the ability to deliver emergency funds immediately to claimants who can start spending comfortably without waiting for a check or transfer payment to clear.
Increasing the transaction limit to $1 million gives other industries the same kind of ability to deliver larger lump-sum payments immediately, which can increase speed and reduce stress.
“When larger sums are involved, there’s naturally more concern from the receiver about actually getting the money,” says Carter. “Whether you’re completing a sale, delivering a bonus or commission, or even paying out a legal settlement, the money is visible in the receiver’s bank account right away. So, RTP eliminates that so-called pending anxiety.”
“Corporate and large-scale payments aren’t limited to simply buying things or receivables,” Carter says. “The bottom line for a business depends on their workforce, too. Employees need to be paid, and the trend is that – understandably – they want to be paid faster.” Carter says the example of payroll and disbursements extends across industries. “If one company can pay me faster than another… all I can say is that’s going to simplify the decision for me.”
“Corporate and commercial enterprises who are optimizing money movement with RTP, in terms of both the customer experience and the efficiency gains in operations are likely going to see opportunities to quickly capture the competitive edge – especially early adopters,” Carter says, “but when you look at that opportunity, analyzing the data through the lens of cash management and forecasting, you might actually see how long that advantage could last.”
In a recent commentary in Treasury & Risk, Shailesh Kowal, Vice Chair of Payment Services at U.S. Bank, cited the coupling of RTP fundamentals – including immediate settlement of funds and instant payment notification -- with the RTP transaction limit increase as a “key change” for treasurers and CFOs seeking to optimize payments processes and gain a competitive edge.
“Treasury and finance professionals who understand the prospective benefits to their organization of faster payments are better prepared to stay a step ahead as digital payments evolve,” he says. “We expect RTP to become increasingly embedded in the software that treasury and finance functions use every day, which will allow us all to reimagine and transform the movement of money.”
RTP allows businesses to take control of their money movement and drive transformative innovation enterprise-wide. To learn how real-time payments are changing the way companies do business, visit our RTP® resource page, explore our survey of 1,000 American businesses, or schedule a call with a treasury management expert.
RTP® is a registered trademark of The Clearing House Payments Company LLC.
Eligibility requirements, other conditions and fees may apply. Services mentioned may be subject to credit approval. Deposit products offered by U.S. Bank National Association. Member FDIC.


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International Dehydrated Foods LLC (IDF) has expanded its CHiKPRO portfolio to include CHiKPRO Collagen Bone Broth, an ingredient that recently received a patent for collagen content and significant prebiotic effect in preclinical research trials. CHiKPRO Collagen is made from chicken bone broth that has been enriched with type II collagen, guaranteeing a 55 percent minimum level of collagen. The U.S. Patent Office granted a patent, based in part on the results of two preclinical studies from the Center for Biomedical & Life Sciences at Missouri State University, the company says. The trials demonstrated a significant prebiotic effect of increasing Lactobacillus, which poses the opportunity of reducing and/or eliminating the need for regular probiotic supplements, it adds. The studies also showed that CHiKPRO Collagen can reduce COX-2 activity by at least 20 percent, while not significantly inhibiting COX-1 activity. “Public interest in bone broth and collagen is on the rise, and many consumers use it as a supplement for joint and skin health, as well as a source of electrolytes,” said Stephanie Lynch, vice president of sales, marketing and technology for IDF, in a statement. “The recent preclinical trials uncovered additional health benefits that have previously not been recognized.” CHiKPRO Collagen is compatible for use in FDA, USDA and supplement products. Made from 100 percent USDA chicken, CHiKPRO Collagen is free from common allergens (including dairy and soy), keto-friendly, and Certified Paleo for formulators seeking these label claims, the company says.
International Dehydrated Foods LLC (IDF)
3801 E. Sunshine St.
Springfield, Mo. 65809


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Sir Philip Green, the former owner of BHS, got into an angry exchange with a Sky News journalist who attempted to question him over his role in the collapse of the retail chain.
A video appears to show the billionaire businessman lunging at the news crew's cameraman and threatening to throw his equipment into the water while on holiday in Greece.
The incident occurred after Sky News journalist David Bowden asked him why he was holidaying in his yacht instead of dealing with the BHS pension deficit.
"I'm going to call the police if you don't go away," Green says in the video.
Bowden is then heard asking: "People will want to know why you're on holiday when they think you should be sorting out the pension deficit."
Green is then seen trying to grab the camera while saying: "Will you go away? Go away! Which bit are you not understanding? Just go away. That's going in the f****** sea."
Green was grilled for six hours by MPs in the House of Commons in June over his role in the demise of BHS in June.
The retailer filed for administration in April, putting 11,000 jobs and 20,000 pensions at risk. Its demise left a £571m ($745m) black hole in its two pension schemes.
The company was bought by Dominic Chappell's Retail Acquisitions last year for just £1 from Green, even though Chappell had been declared bankrupt twice before and had no previous experience in retail.
Green took blame for the pensions "mess" in June and pledged to "sort it".
"We want to find a solution for the 20,000 pensioners. It's current and in motion. We are trying to fix this mess," he told MPs.
Green was criticised for taking delivery of a private jet days after appearing in the House of Commons.
Some MPs have accused Green of removing large sums of money from BHS through dividends and rent during his 15-year ownership of the business and have called for his knighthood to be stripped.
A deadline of 28 August has been set by administrators for all BHS stores to close.