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Shadow is a cloud computing service for gamers that allows them to gain access to a gaming PC in a data center for a monthly subscription fee. However, unlike Google Stadia and other competitors in the space, the French startup Blade provides users with a full Windows 10 instance that allows them to install any software they want in addition to games and access it on any device.
Although Blade was able to raise over $100m since its founding in 2015 and reach 100,000 paid users, the company was unable to generate enough revenue to be self-sustainable. As a result, the company went into administration with the Paris Commercial Court.
- We've compiled a list of the best cloud computing services available
- These are the best cloud hosting providers on the market
- Also check out our roundup of the best dedicated server hosting
Takeover bids were then submitted by Scaleway, several other companies and even Blade CTO Jean-Baptiste Kempf along with other employees but in the end, Klaba's Jezby Ventures had the winning bid.
Once the takeover is complete, Klaba plans to keep all of Blade's existing employees with the exception of Kempf.
In a recent tweet announcing Jezby Ventures' Blade acquisition, Klaba explained that the investment fund aims to “build the best Cloud Gaming offer in the world!” going forward.
In its bid to the Paris Commercial Court, the company explained that it plans to buy all of the servers that Blade has not yet paid for and then sell them to OVHcloud. The web hosting company will then rent the servers back to Blade.
Earlier this year, Jezby Ventures also acquired the cloud storage service hubiC from OVHcloud after it was discontinued in 2018. The investment firm plans to use Blade's streaming service to help it run hubiC. Blade will also continue to offer its Shadow cloud gaming service to consumers but down the line, Jezby Ventures wants to extend its business further to provide remote desktop services.
As cloud gaming has grown in popularity over the past few years, Jezby Ventures' acquisition of Blade makes sense but Shadow's full Windows 10 instances could end up being much more profitable for the company in the long run.
- We've also highlighted the best cloud storage


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AK Steel AKS, +0.37% shares rose almost13 percent after J.P. Morgan added the stock to its "Equity Focus List" and set a $15 October 2005 price target for the shares. Analyst Michael Gambardella told clients that during a visit to Asia he learned of "unprecedented" contract renegotiations in Japan between steel makers and auto makers that he believes will have "a significant positive impact" on AK Steel as it goes to renegotiate contracts with its customers. See full story.
Euro Tech Holdings Co. Ltd. CLWT, -0.45% shares soared more than 10 percent after the company said it has received two contracts worth a total of $1.9 million from the Chinese government. The deals call for Euro Tech to provide flow injection analyzers and sample preparation equipment for water quality analysis to China's State Environmental Protection Agency.
Genaera GENR shares climbed more than 7 percent after the company received fast track designation for Squalamine, its proposed drug treatment for "wet" age-related macular degeneration, from the Food and Drug Administration.
Hutchinson Technology HTCH shares jumped more than 16 percent after the company said it now expects to report fiscal fourth quarter earnings per share of 15 cents to 20 cents on sales of about $122 million; in guidance given in late July the supplier of suspension assemblies projected earnings per share of breakeven to 10 cents on sales of $100 million to $110 million. The company attributed the improved outlook to strong shipments.
Interstate Bakeries IBCIQ shares soared almost 9 percent after Barron's said the company, the maker of Twinkies, could be a good buy even though the company is in bankruptcy. Duncan Yin of CRT Capital Group tells Barron's that shares could be worth $6 to $10 if the company can raise its operating profit margin to 4.5 percent, enough to pay off $600 million of debt and leave $300 million. Additional divesture of well-known dessert brands could add more cash.
MSC.Software MNS, +0.16% shares rose 12 percent after the company said that it has received a letter from ValueAct Capital Partners in which ValueAct stated its interest in sponsoring a going private transaction that would provide $9 per share to all of the company's shareholders. The company is reviewing the letter from ValueAct and has no additional comment at this time.
NBTY NTY, +16.67% shares climbed almost 12 percent after the company said its preliminary un-audited fourth-quarter results show total sales of $426 million, up 17% from the year-earlier result of $365 million. The maker of nutritional supplements is scheduled to release audited results for fiscal 2004 in mid-November. On Friday the stock closed up $1.13 at $22.69.
Penn Treaty American Corp. PTA shares surged more than 5 percent after the company said it plans to resume selling long-term care insurance in Georgia. Penn Treaty said Georgia sales of policies account for 1.3 percent of total sales volume.
Perini Corp. PCR, -4.35% shares rose more than 6 percent which provides construction services, said Monday it has elected Robert Miller to its board of directors.
Portfolio Recovery Associates PRAA, +1.62% shares leapt more than 12 percent after the company agreed to acquire IGS Nevada, a private company providing asset-location services, for $14 million in cash and stock. The Norfolk, Va.-based Portfolio Recovery said the initial consideration includes $12 million in cash and $2 million in stock, and that the total purchase could increase by $4 million through cash payments of $2 million in 2005 and 2006 if the assets meet certain performance standards. Portfolio Recovery expects the deal to add slightly to earnings in the fourth quarter, and to increase earnings by 13 to 17 cents per share in 2005.
Siebel Systems SEBL shares surged more than 14 percent after the company said it expects third-quarter revenue between $315 million to $317 million, ahead of Wall Street's current consensus estimate of $306 million. The San Mateo, Calif., business software maker anticipates operating income for the period to range from $24 million to $26 million, also ahead of the analysts' average view, according to Siebel, of $20 million. See full story.
SimpleTech STEC, -0.98% shares rocketed almost 29 percent after the company raised its third-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts due to strong growth in its stacking memory business and better gross margins. See full story.
Skyworks Solutions SWKS, +0.51% shares climbed more than 4 percent after the company said it received its first "high-volume" purchase order for the Helios Edge radio solution from a Korean handset original equipment manufacturer
SunGard SDS, -0.46% shares jumped more than 10 percent after the company said it plans to spin off to its shareholders its SunGard Availability Services unit through a tax-free distribution of shares. SunGard will focus on its software and processing business, which generated 60 percent of its 2003 revenue. See full story.
UTStarcom UTSI, +0.00% shares advanced more than 9 percent in morning trade. The move comes after the company disclosed initial purchase orders of more than $60 million from Softbank BB, a Japan-based provider of broadband services.
Varian Medical Systems VAR, +0.54% shares rallied more than 18 percent after the Palo Alto, Calif., medical equipment maker said before the opening bell that demand for its new image-guided radiation therapy products has resulted in strong net order growth of more than 20 percent in its oncology business in the fourth quarter
WebMethods WEBM shares rose almost 4 percent after the company announced Monday the appointment David Mitchell as CEO effective immediately. He also will become a member of the board, replacing the former Chairman and CEO, Phillip Merrick, who has resigned for health reasons.
A. Schulman SHLM shares slid more than 3 percent after the company warned that fourth-quarter earnings would miss estimates due to restructuring and other charges at its Nashville, Tenn. plant and weaker-than-expected earnings in North America and Europe. The Akron, OH. supplier of plastic compounds and resins said it now expects earnings of less than 10 cents a share, against an earlier outlook of at least 20 cents. The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call is for earnings of 23 cents a share.
Atheros Communications ATHR shares fell more than 13 percent after the company lowered its third quarter earnings and sales forecasts, citing customers working through excess inventories more than anticipated and driving down prices faster than originally planned. Atheros said third quarter revenue will be between $37.5 million and $38.5 million, on non-GAAP earnings per diluted share between two and three cents. Atheros previously said third quarter revenue would be between $41 million and $43 million, on earnings between three and four cents a share.
Career Education Corp. CECO, +0.49% shares slipped almost 6 percent after the company was downgraded to "neutral" from "buy" at Banc of America as the U.S. Department of Education's latest graduation rate data showed a "material deterioration" in the company's schools. "We believe the valuation proposition for Career Education customers has eroded and will continue to erode, thereby underscoring the dangers of aggressive growth," said analyst Howard Block in a note to clients.
Centex Corp. M2500, +0.39% shares slid more than 4 percent as rising bond yields hurt the homebuilding sector.
D.R. Horton DHI, -1.64% shares fell more than 6 percent as rising bond yields hit the homebuilding sector.
ElkCorp ELK, +0.00% shares fell more than 5 percent after the company, which makes building products, cut its first-quarter outlook late Friday to 31 cents or 32 cents a share. On Aug. 10, it forecast earnings of 43 cents to 46 cents a share. Two analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting first-quarter earnings of 45 cents a share. ElkCorp reaffirmed its outlook for 2005 of $2 to $2.05 a share.
InterWave Communications IWAV shares slipped more than 5 percent after the company said Monday that it is filing suit against Alvarion Ltd. for breach of contract. The complaint, to be filed in federal court Monday, alleges that Alvarion breached an agreement to acquire InterWave. The company said it is seeking fulfillment of the agreement and damages over $75 million.
Lennar Corp. LEN, -1.13% shares slipped almost 5 percent as rising bond yields impacted the homebuilding sector.
Mobius Management Systems MOBI shares sank more than 15 percent after the company warned that it expects first-quarter revenue to be lower than previously anticipated, citing slow sales and a delay in an order closing. Mobius forecast a net loss of 5 cents to 7 cents per share, with revenue of $17 million to $18 million. The company had previously forecast a revenue range of $20 million to $22 million. See full story.
Network Engines NENG shares slumped almost 10 percent after the company said it now sees its loss for the fourth quarter "at the high end or possibly greater" than its prior outlook for a loss of $900,0000 to $1.1 million due to weak sales to original equipment manufacturers. The Canton, Mass., storage and security technology company expects revenue of between $30.5 million and $31 million for the quarter, beneath its previous estimate of $32 million to $36 million.
Nu Skin Enterprises NUS, -0.69% shares slumped more than 32 percent after the Provo, Utah-based direct seller of personal care and nutritional products forecast earnings of 27 to 28 cents per share for the third quarter on revenue of roughly $282 million, below Wall Street's consensus expectations for a profit of 31 cents per share on revenue of $285.6 million. The company said revenue in Japan and China was softer than anticipated, and that selling expenses in these regions were higher than typically incurred.
Pervasive Software PVSW shares plunged more than 18 percent after the company, which makes database software late Friday forecast first-quarter revenue of $11.6 million to $11.8 million and earnings of 3 cents to 4 cents a share. The Austin, Texas-based company said its earnings outlook includes amortization of purchased intangibles of about $300,000. Two analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call expect Pervasive to report earnings of 7 cents a share on revenue of $14 million.
Pulte Corp. PHM, -2.49% shares slid more than 8 percent as rising bond yields affected the homebuilding sector.
SupportSoft SPRT, +0.80% shares plummeted more than 35 percent after the company indicated that third-quarter earnings and revenue would fall short of expectations due to tight information technology spending and more complex approval processes. The software company now expects earnings, excluding special items, of breakeven to 3 cents a share, vs. the average analyst estimate compiled by Thomson First Call of 9 cents a share. Revenue is now seen at $11.9 million to $12.3 million, below analyst forecasts of $17.4 million. See full story.
Toll Brothers TOL, -0.94% shares slipped more than 4 percent as rising bond yields affected homebuilders.
Verilink VRLK shares fell more than 7 percent after the company, which makes equipment to speed Internet downloads, said late Friday it has revised its fourth-quarter loss to $538,000, or 3 cents a share, compared with its previous report of a $500,000 loss, or 3 cents a share. For 2004, Verilink said it has a loss of $26,000, or breakeven, versus its original report of a profit of $12,000, or breakeven.

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Recently completed survey of the Association of Czech Travel Agents clearly showed that even in times of global crisis the Czechs have no forgive their main holidays. Relaxation is the need for all of us.
The survey has been completed in period of late January up to mid of March, 2009 and clearly showed that even in times of global crisis, one main vacation for Czechs is absolutely necessary. Only 8 percent of all respondents stated, they are not going to travel this year as they has been hit by global crisis or they can not afford to leave. In this group are mainly those over 50 years of age and some families.
The other 92 percent of respondents are preparing to travel, even though they know about the global crisis and in some cases with the effect of personal experience with it. All respondents agree that once a year more rest is necessary to them and the length of stay abroad they plan is over 8 days.
For those who plan to travel is least group of those, who are going to invest into their travel less finances than last year. Of these 17 percent around 10 percent of respondents in addition states that the target of their holidays will be in Czech Republic. The rest will replace luxurious destinations for those less luxurious, but financially accessible.
Group of 44 percent respondents, which constitutes 78 percent of families, going as well as last year to use a travel agents for the purchase of accommodation or programs and manage transportation by theirself or they are going to buy through travel agents their usual air package tours. For own transportation is the most cited target Croatia and North Italy, air transport package tours it is Greece and Greek Islands, Cyprus, South Italy and Spain, and the exotic destinations as Tunisia and Egypt.
The big surprise for "lovers of the crisis" can be a finding that 31 percent of people intends to spend even more money to buy main season travel compared to previous year, when the crisis in the main tourist season did not appeared yet. In this category there is the most singles and young people up to 30 years of age. Exotic destinations lead the chart of travelled destinations, while 65 percent of respondents is about to visit another country or other place than last year.


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Did you forget that the SEO toolkit provider Ahrefs announced plans to build its own search engine 2019?
If you answered “yes”, you are not alone.
Ahrefs has been busy over these three years, investing $ 60 million of his own money to launch a new search engine called Yep.
What is it?
yes is a general purpose search engine. Yes, it will soon be available in all countries and in most languages.
Ahrefs positions it as Google’s competitor. However, we’ve seen a lot of Google competitors and Google “killers” in the last two decades. So, for now, let’s just call it Google’s alternative.
So what is Yep counting on to become a true Google alternative? two things:
Yep will not collect personal information by default (e.g. geolocation, name, age, gender). Your Yep search history will not be saved anywhere.
What Yep will rely on is pooled search statistics to improve algorithms, spelling corrections and search suggestions, the company said.
“In other words, we store some data when searching, but never in a way that could be identified,” said Ahrefs CEO Dmytro Gerasymenko. “For example, we’ll track how many times a word was searched for and the position of the link that received the most clicks. But we will not create your profile for targeted advertising. “
What Yep will use is the seeker:
- Keywords entered.
- Language setting received from the browser.
- Approximate geographical area at the source of the search within the region or city (derived from the IP address).
The Ahrefs search engine plan is a 90/10 profit sharing model where Ahrefs shares 90% of its profits from advertising with content publishers.
Reason: Google displays content in its search results without actually having to click on the site. This means that sites are losing traffic. And for many sites, less traffic means less revenue.
“Creators who make search results possible deserve to be paid for their work,” Gerasymenko said. “We’ve seen how the entire video-sharing industry has thrived on YouTube’s profit-sharing model. By sharing the profits from advertising 90/10 with content authors, we want to encourage fair treatment of talent in the search industry. ”
Here’s what Yep says:
“Let’s say the world’s largest search engine earns $ 100 billion a year. Now imagine giving $ 90 billion to content creators and publishers.
Wikipedia would probably make a few billion dollars a year with its content. They could stop asking for donations and start paying decent wages to people who polish their items.
There would no longer be a need for paid walls and associated links, so publishers who had to resort to catching traffic with click-to-call articles and fill their pages with ads could return to investigative work and quality analysis. A citizen journalist who detects corruption on the side of regular employment could receive compensation without having to spend time monetizing content.
And the best thing? You don’t have to be an expert to benefit.
Let’s say you love pancakes more than anything else in the world. Now you have the impetus to develop that passion – imagine being paid fairly to share creative recipes, post photos of your creations, and teach the rest of the world how they too can make the most fluffy pancakes ever. Independent creators everywhere will finally be able to flourish. “
All of this sounds nice in theory. But Yep is just beginning.
Launched in 2008, DuckDuckGo receives as many searches per year (~ 15.7 billion) as Google receives in about two or three days. Even Microsoft Bing – owned by Microsoft, the third largest company on the planet by market capitalization – has failed to significantly reduce Google’s market share since 2009.
How Yep works
The quality of the search is really important. This means that Yep will have to meet the wishes and needs of searchers. So how will they put these search results together?
Yep collects site data using AhrefsBot. Ahrefs said he intends to replace AhrefsBot with YepBot in the “near future”.
AhrefsBot visits more than 8 billion websites every 24 hours, making it the second most active spider on the web, behind Google alone, Ahrefs said.
AhrefsBot has been crawling the web for 12 years. They just used AhrefsBot data to power a database of links and insights into SEO,
The Yep search index is updated every 15 to 30 minutes. The daily company adds 30 million websites and drops 20 million.
Other technical details
Ahrefs said his data center in Singapore is powered by about 1,000 servers that store and process 100 petabytes of web data (web pages, links between them and search index). Each server uses at least 2 x 100 GB connections. Some servers use multiple GPU cards to train large models of transformers. Before the end of the year, Ahrefs plans to open a US-based data center.
Ahrefs the ultimate goal?
In 2019, Gerasymenko said the goal of his then-hypothetical search engine was to attract the attention of a larger company (e.g. Microsoft) that could afford to expand the idea.
“Given that the platform generates only a fraction of the company’s $ 120 billion in revenue, the organization could easily revamp Bing on a profit-sharing model. I anticipate that only a positive public opinion would have a higher return on investment than existing ad revenue. If we succeed in our efforts, Google will finally get long-outdated search competition. “
Ahrefs CEO Dmytro Gerasymenko, “Investor money versus public interest: has Google failed to build a platform that is not evil?“
I search results
Yep’s Search Results (SERP) pages are minimal. It’s not quite at the level of the old 10 blue links, but it’s not far from that.
Your options are the results of the web or news.
To the right of some SERPs are also “knowledge” fields that contain content taken from Wikipedia about your search.
Here is an example of a search [apple wwdc]:
You will notice that the Apple Events page gets six links to websites. Many other results also have additional links below the search snippet.
And news results for [apple wwdc]? Well, something seems to have gone wrong:
Yep also gives you the option to try the same search with other search engines – Google, Bing, Mojeek and DuckDuckGo.
Note: The first organic result for all four other search engines is Apple’s official WWDC site, unlike Yep. This is a failure. And Yep’s results are much more subdued than all the competitors it points to, except for Mojeek’s (which are pretty awful).
By comparison, they look like this:
The [Apple WWDC] The results for Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo are much more recent and include links to news in the last few minutes or hours published by CNN, CNBC, MacRumors, TechCrunch and others.
Bottom line: Yes, a scaled-down version of search results is not a violation. And if you’re not interested in new results, these results may be acceptable – especially if it’s a broad search term. Clearly, however, Yep still has some work to do before it becomes a serious alternative and convinces searchers to use it through Google – or helps any creator earn more than just a penny.
More is coming
I turned to Ahrefs to answer several questions about their search engine. When these answers arrive, I will update.
New to Search Engine Land


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Riot Expected To Boost Economy
When it comes to 1,100 people from all over the world flocking to the area to participate in the 18th Annual Mock Prison Riot, local businesses have only one motto: The more the merrier.
With hundreds of people using area hotels, restaurants and stores, officials say the event is a great boost to the local economy. According to Mike Coleman, assistant commissioner of the West Virginia Department of Corrections, the riot’s research indicates event participants spend about $140 a day while in the area, which totals to about $616,000 in revenue for local businesses over the four-day event.
“That’s everything from motel rooms, meals and whatever else people might need to buy at local stores and restaurants while they’re here,” Coleman said. “The folks we’ve done business with are happy.”
Coleman said the riot also spends money on service contracts in the area such as tents, catering and other supplies to help run the event.
“We often go to various stores to buy things that come up during the event,” Coleman said. “Sometimes, something breaks and you have to replace it. I’m sure they’re happy to have money being spent in their stores.”
Coleman said participants stay in most of the major hotels in Moundsville, Wheeling and St. Clairsville, including Wilson Lodge at Oglebay Park Resort and Conference Center and new hotels at The Highlands. The new Sleep Inn & Suites in Moundsville has also supported the event by offering 80 more rooms for participants and staff to stay this year.
Grand Vue Park Director Craig White said seven out of the park’s eight cabins have been booked with Mock Riot groups this year, including groups that have come from as far as Ontario.
Each cabin holds about 10 people, which is more cost effective than getting separate hotel rooms and helps build camaraderie, White said.
Some groups have also been using some of the park’s shelters for workshops that require open spaces, something groups have been doing for the last couple of years.
White said although park patrons might hear some of the groups, their stations are set up so they won’t affect anyone else in the park.
“It does help the park without a doubt,” White said. “We appreciate the business. The guys are really good. They leave it clean and they’re a nice group of people to have up here.”


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According to foreign media, the Huawei Mate40 series global conference will be held on October 22. The theme this time is Leap Further Ahead "Flying Forward." The specific time is set at 14:00 Central European Time, which is 20:00 pm Beijing Time, which is very friendly to Chinese consumers.
Not surprisingly, Huawei will release a brand new Mate40 series flagship mobile phone in this release, among which the rendering of Huawei Mate40 Pro has been circulated on the Internet.
This is a rendering made by the Twitter expert @OnLeaks and foreign media Pricebaba. On the whole, the appearance of Huawei Mate40 Pro is not much different from the previous generation. The front and back sides are all curved glass, which is relatively round.
The screen has changed from Liu Haiping to a 6.7-inch dual-hole screen, and the Oreo camera module on the back has become larger, suggesting that the Mate40 Pro will use a camera with a larger sensor. In addition, Huawei Mate40 Pro may also Become the first flagship of the Mate series with a periscope telephoto lens. There is a strip flash next to the camera module, and the opening below may also be a depth sensor.
We will wait and see what surprises Huawei Mate40 series will bring to us.


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Otley Parish Scouts and Guides will hold their first Christmas fair in more than a decade next weekend.
The event will feature a “wheel of fortune”, a prize-winning card game, mulled wine and a tombola.
It will take place at the group’s hut, which is based on Burras Lane, from noon to 3pm on Saturday, December 8.
The fair will raise money to pay for improvements to the venue.
Other attractions on the day will include bric-a-brac stalls, dog-tag making, refreshments and a visit from Father Christmas.


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NADA Guides said its second-quarter traffic trends report shows growth in consumer shopping activity and site traffic across new and used cars, classic cars, motorcycles, boats and RVs.
Consumer interest in boats and personal watercraft surged in the second quarter, increasing 54 percent from the first quarter.
“Analysts attribute the majority of this growth to an increase in consumer demand for used boats, compared to the same time last year — the month of June 2011 alone showed a 14 percent increase in unique visitors, as compared to June 2010,” the report said.
“Boat dealers are finding it difficult to keep used-boat inventory on their lots,” according to the report. “Boat and personal watercraft shoppers, in an effort to keep purchase costs down and still pursue their boating interests in tough economic times, are seeking out late-model used boats and personal watercraft, and the traffic within the boat section of NADA Guides is reflecting this same trend.”


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It’s one of the biggest variables in business today, so a roundtable conversation on managing currency risk generated some interesting conversation.
The announcement of a snap election rallied the pound against a murky future, but there are many more factors at stake.
Currency fluctuations always mean some businesses come out on top while others are left in the dust but in a sector analysis, which industries fare the worst from a weak pound
Every conversation that I have had about Europe in the past year or so has focused on the politics of the region more than the economics and a European recovery.
In this two-part exploration of the reality of Brexit, we explore the potential disadvantages and opportunities afforded to small businesses in the UK post-EU. In order to ensure we end things on a high, let’s kick things off with the disadvantages.
Currency fluctuations are affected by political decisions all around the world. With that in mind, here World First provides an overview of how South East Asia countries may react to Trump’s election victory in 2017.
Companies of all sizes need to stay clued up about the strengths and weaknesses of all the currencies they operate in. Here’s a 2017 overview of the non-EU European countries.
The weak pound has started to make itself felt. First Marmite-gate and now other food suppliers seem to be following suit but when will household budgets and SMEs throughout the supply chain start to feel the pinch?
Jeremy Cook, chief economist at World First, the currency and international payments firm, discusses emerging markets and his predictions for 2017 in the second of a two part series.
What can we expect from the year ahead Jeremy Cook, from World First, gives his 2017 economic predictions as part of an exclusive two-part series.
On 11 October 2016, World First held its first inaugural Think Global event aimed at burgeoning exporters and SMEs looking to grow business overseas.
A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research and World First examined the case for why SMEs should be exporting, exploring both the untapped opportunities and barriers.


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Verizon had announced the Motorola devour last week (after a long string of prerelease sneak peeks) as a cheaper alternative to the droid. Rumour has it that Verizon’s Indirect Channel will be offering the devour to business customers starting February 25, and coming to the market at large on March 15 at the outer limit.
It’s entirely possible that the devour‘s modest 3.1” 320 x 240 touch display and 3 megapixel camera don’t sell you on the phone immediately, but the motoblur social networking layer on top of Android, presumably low price point, and Megan Fox’s above endorsement from Super Bowl should be enough to at least pique some interest. The optical trackpad is also a nice addition that you won’t find on the droid.
Between the droid, Zeppelin, Backflip, cliq, and motoroi Motorola has been aggressively pumping out the Android handsets over the last couple of months, and if their Q3 and Q4 2009 results are any indication, it seems like Google’s mobile OS is the way to go for Moto to pull themselves out of the slump.


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Eight newbuild VLCCs taken on subjects with clean product floating storage options
At least eight newbuild VLCCs have been placed on subjects on short-term time charter of up to six months with options to store oil products by global trading companies and oil majors, several shipping industry executives in Singapore, Japan and South Korea said Sept. 25.
The companies include Trafigura, Clearlake and Total, the sources said. None of the companies could be reached for comment, but sources with direct knowledge of the matter said the new ships are for delivery between now and November.
The development is significant because it could remove up to 60 spot Medium Range size cargoes from the market, significantly reducing demand for clean tankers. MR freight rates had already been under downward pressure in recent months due to a dearth of demand and with the new super tankers being snapped up for storage the trend could be reinforced.
“A large volume of mainly gasoil but also some jet fuel is going to disappear from the spot freight market,” said a broker in Singapore.
A VLCC can carry up to 300,000 mt of oil products if it has not loaded any crude or fuel oil cargo previously — once it has carried a dirty cargo using it for clean products is no longer viable.
“There is now an increased interest in taking these new supertankers because they are relatively cheaper and can hold larger volumes,” said a shipping source in Tokyo.
The eight VLCCs have been chartered at $38,000-$42,000/day on the assumption that the holding costs maybe recovered at the time of selling the cargoes a few months later, sources said.
Floating storage is currently an attractive option in the Asian gasoil market because of the prevailing contango structure — where prices further down forward are higher than at the prompt — while the East-West arb is not viable for gasoil, sources said.
In the derivatives market, the front-month FOB Singapore gasoil timespread has remained in a contango structure since Aug. 3. The October-November Singapore gasoil timespread was assessed at minus 57 cents/b at the 0830 GMT Asian close on Sept. 25, widening 8 cents/b since the start of the week when it was at minus 49 cents/b on Sept. 21, according to S&P Global Platts data.
The front-month Exchange of Futures for Swaps — which measures the relative strength of the FOB Singapore 10 ppm sulfur gasoil swap against the ICE low sulfur gasoil contract, and is a key measure of the arbitrage window between Europe and Asia — firmed 16 cents/mt day on day to $2.96/mt at the Asian close Sept. 25.
A strong EFS spread indicates that trade flows from East to West are not economically viable, meaning floating storage is the more viable option, sources added.


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At the end of last year, Netflix completely revamped its app for Windows 10 users. Since then, the number of downloads from the Windows Store has gradually increased, fueled by the fact that Netflix has become available in more countries all over the world.
Netflix updated on Windows 10
The Netflix app has been updated from version 6.6.33 to 6.7.38 so it’s a rather small update. We’ve reached out to Netflix to ask for further clarifications on the matter and will update this piece once we get more details.
The update itself is also very small — less than even a single megabyte. This makes it clear that this is a minor update most likely bringing minor bug fixes and various other stability improvements.
The app currently has a rating of 3.9 from more than 172,000 ratings, so there’s definitely some more work to be done here from Netflix‘s side.
And if you are encountering any kind of issue with Netflix on Windows 10, go ahead and have a look at our previous guide where we provided some advice on how to fix Netflix problems in Windows 10.


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Reporters Sidney San Martin and Jacob Dodd went down to the Grand Opening of the Willowbrook Mall today to check out the scene.
Today marked the grand opening of the widely anticipated Willowbrook Mall Apple Store in Wayne New Jersey. Rumored to be coming to the complex since March of this year, this Apple retail store marks the 11th to be opened in the New Jersey area. A line of perhaps 200 people formed outside of the store ahead of it’s official launch at 10AM. The store employees energetically participated in the event, dancing behind the glass facade of the store before the opening, high fiving customers as they entered the store and starting a chant of “Let’s go Apple!”.
As per custom, 1,000 T-shirts were given out to the stores first vistors. Several iLife staff members got a chance to test out some of the new iPod models, coming away particularly impressed by the new Nano, as has been reported by other sources it is quote “very sleek and and fits in your hand great!”. Many wonder if it will be possible to make the next generation of Nano’s any smaller without making a significant redesign to the dock connector, which has now become the bottleneck for the device’s dimensions. The Willowbrook Mall Apple Store is now the most conveniently located Apple retail store for most of the iLife staff, making this event particularly special.
Videos of the interviews conducted are coming soon! Stay posted to theiLife.com for the latest.
Photo gallery after the jump! Read more…
Categories : Apple


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Brocade acquisition of Ruckus good news for resellers
Brocade’s acquisition of Ruckus Wireless is being seen as a positive for the local reseller channel, boosting revenue potential for resellers by providing a more complete package including the increasingly important area of wireless networking.
The US$1.2 billion deal provides Brocade with a wireless component and Ruckus with a networking component, with Brocade noting Ruckus’ product line - which it dubs ‘a complete Wi-Fi solution’ - is a ‘natural extension’ adding WLAN technology and solutions to Brocade’s wired and software networking portfolio.
“The product lines are very complementary,” Brocade says. “Brocade has leading solutions for storage area, data center, campus and software networking as well as network monitoring and analytics.
“Ruckus complements that with wireless networking solutions that extend out to the wireless edge of the network.”
“For resellers involved with either brand the opportunity to leverage the other brand, if they’re not already doing it - and for the most part they’re not - is large,” one distributor says.
He notes that Brocade competitors have already made moves to bolster their Wi-Fi offerings, with HP acquiring Aruba and Cisco acquiring Meraki.
“They’ve all basically got both parts of that piece now, and the network does include the wireless component now so having it all in one does make sense.”
Brocade says there is no expected impact to its current offerings as a result of the deal.
“The integration of Ruckus with Brocade is expected to result in greater value from both companies’ product portfolios over time,” the vendor says.
Brocade says the distribution models for both companies will remain as they are - ‘at this time’.
Brocade says some of its channel partners already carry both Ruckus and Brocade products.
“We will continue to encourage and enable partners to sell Brocade’s complete portfolio inclusive of storage solutions, software networking solutions and wired and wireless LAN networking solutions,” Brocade says.
The vendor says it will begin the process of integrating its channel ecosystem, enablement and programs once the sale has closed, with the transaction expected to be completed in Brocade’s fiscal Q3 2016.
Both vendors have similar go-to-market routes, including OEM, direct and channel.
Brocade says for now, the Ruckus and Brocade channel programs will continue to operate separately, with Ruckus sales not counting towards Brocade rebate goals yet.
“Post close we will begin to evaluate our programs and initiate the process of integration with a combined focus on enhancing partner satisfaction, profitability, ease of doing business and pay-for-performance programs.”
Education and certification programs will be re-evaluated during integration planning Brocade says.
“We will evaluate the best method for ensuring the right on-going certification programs for Ruckus customers,” the company says.
Meanwhile, Brocade says the Brocade Open Mobility Solutions ecosystem, which includes HPE/Aruba, Aerohive and Ruckus, will remain a strategic priority, post-acquisition.
“We expect to continue to support and advance our Open Mobility Solutions partnerships to enable best-in-class open standards-based wired/wireless solutions for our customers,” the company says, adding that Ruckus too, expects to continue supporting its open partner ecosystem.


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After putting the 5,000mAh Mi Power Bank up for sale last week, Xiaomi today is conducting a flash sale for the 16,000mAh Mi Power Bank. The power bank, priced at Rs 1,399, will be available on the company’s website from 2:00PM onwards.
Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) September 22, 2015
As we have reported before, the 16,000mAh Mi Power Bank features dual-USB ports, and Li-ion battery cells encased in a sleek aluminum casing. The company says that the 16,000mAh Mi Power Bank is good enough to fully charge a Redmi Note 4G almost 3.5 times, an iPhone 6 almost five times, and an iPad mini almost 2.5 times, on a single charge.


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Small business spotlight: Faro Industries Inc.
Matt McConville Sr. had been working as a tool salesman when a childhood friend approached him with an offer that changed his life.
His buddy, Earl Martin, had been working at a plastic-distribution company. Martin “liked to make things,” McConville said, and began doing just that with plastic sheets. Soon, requests were coming in from companies, and Martin realized he needed help keeping up.
“He and I grew up together, since we were 5-ish,” McConville said. “He said, ‘Would you ever want to come into business with me?’ Someone where I worked ticked me off, and I said (to Martin), ‘Let’s do it.’ ”
Those were the early days of Faro Industries, a Lyell Avenue plastics company that has been around nearly a half century. Martin no longer is involved, having started another business some 10 years ago.
The Faro Industries name was chosen quite randomly.
“Earl didn’t want his former company to know that he was in competition with them,” McConville said. “Literally, he opened the phone book and went ‘boom.’ ” His finger landed on “Faro.” “So he said, ‘Let’s call it ‘Faro.’ That’s how it went.”
Faro started doing short-run, prototype fabrication and vacuum forming work. For a while, the company did injection molding, but Faro has sold off that division. An early connection with Xerox Corp. led to an ongoing relationship that spurred Faro’s growth and success.
McConville recalled a long-ago request from Xerox for work that required a non-disclosure agreement. He found out later what the work involved.
“They said, ‘Listen to the news tomorrow,’ and Xerox announced it was getting into color copying,” McConville said. “We made this thing for them that looked like a rainbow, to get all the color across. We patted ourselves on the back.”
Nowadays, Faro does a lot of work for the food, medical and automotive industries. The company added 3-D printing capabilities a few years ago to greatly speed up some plastics work, a venture that McConville calls that “our most interesting, latest endeavor.”
Faro’s client base is typically within a 100-mile radius, McConville said. The company has a steady presence in the Buffalo area and has done work for Canadian-based clients and some as far away as China. Products Faro has created include plastic-frame headlight holders for cars and “slotted trays” used to hold cookies for Wegmans Food Markets.
Faro was founded in 1967 and has been in the same location since 1972. The move from the original site was just across Lyell Avenue. “We started out in a bookie joint,” McConville said, “We needed some elbow room.” McConville’s son, Matt Jr., has worked at Faro for years, and his grandchildren have had occasional summer jobs there.
Faro has gotten a lot of business in recent years from small start-up firms that spun off from once-mighty local giants like Eastman Kodak Co., he said. The calls used to come from those big companies, McConville said, but the change hasn’t fazed him.
“We didn’t sit around and mope when they slipped away,” he said. “I never really thought about it. You just moved on. It’s word of mouth and repeat business. We just plug along day after day, hoping it’s going to happen. And it always does.”
Alan Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer.
Location: 340 Lyell Ave.
Executives: Matt McConville Sr., president and CEO.
Employees: 14 .


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The Rocketrip corporate travel platform has added Sherpa and Thrust Carbon functionality to its product, the company announced Wednesday.
The former makes Covid-19 related safety information available as part of the search results of its online booking tool. The information covers current restrictions, documentation requirements, mask use, quarantine policy, and other relevant information for upcoming business trips. The latter adds carbon emissions data to the platform, along with the ability for travel managers to use the savings from their Rocketrip programs to offset the carbon emissions from their corporate travel programs.
Additionally, Kim Andreello has joined the company as CEO. He will continue to be president of Avia Travel Services, which is part of Rocketrip’s parent company, Mondee. It will be based in Florida.


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Private Division have announced that the Switch port of their popular RPG The Outer Worlds has been delayed. the game was scheduled for release on March 6, but has now been pushed back to an unannounced date.
The company stated:
We’re delaying @OuterWorlds on Nintendo Switch due to the coronavirus impacting the Virtuos team working on the port, to provide them enough time to finish development. We’ll now be releasing the physical version on cartridge. Once we have a new launch date, we’ll let you know!
To clarify, the team at Virtuos is ok, but their office has remained closed during this time. We’re working with the team to determine an updated development timeline, and will share more regarding a new launch date shortly.


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NanoMarkets Issues New Report on Powered Smart Cards Market, Sees $1.5 billion market in 2017
Industry: Market Research
Report includes eight-year forecasts both in volume and value terms, as well as market forecasts for powered smart cards by application and by region.
Glen Allen, VA (PRUnderground) December 2nd, 2014
The total market for powered smart cards will rapidly expand from slightly under $300 million today to more than $1.5 billion by 2017, $4.6 billion by 2019, and more than $13 billion by 2021, according to a new report from industry analyst firm NanoMarkets. Details of the new report, “Powered Smart Card Markets 2015-2022” including a downloadable excerpt, are available at: http://nanomarkets.net/market_reports/report/powered-smart-card-markets-2015-2022
About the Report:
Powered smart cards are designed to deliver new functionalities, or combinations of existing ones, that conventional smart cards cannot fulfill that necessitate an onboard thin-film or printed battery to accomplish. Usually (though not always) this means a display, and potentially other capabilities such as biometric sensing, lights, and sound.
This report identifies the main ways that money will be made in the powered smart card business over the next decade, and profiles the key trends in this sector over the past two years and projecting over the next eight years (to 2021). We explore the pull for powered smartcards for various end-use cases, which continue be mostly focused on one-time password (OTP) verification for consumer financial transactions, with some improvements in features and customizations. We also discuss the development of components, especially displays and batteries. We include eight-year forecasts of all these items, both in volume and value terms, as well as market forecasts for powered smart cards by application and by region.
Companies discussed in this report include: American Express, Blue Spark, Bundesdruckerei, China UnionPay, Coin, ComCard, Cymbet, Dynamics, E Ink, FlexEl, Gemalto, Hierstar, Imprint Energy, Infineon Technologies, Jinco, MasterCard, Morphos, Mt. Gox/Bitcoin, Oberthur/NagraID, Omne, PayPal/eBay, Plastc, Powered Card Solutions, Stratos/Protean, Rocket Electric, SmartDisplayer, Solicore, STMicroelectronics, Visa, and X-Core Technologies.
Highlights from the Report:
Almost exclusively powered smart cards have been targeted at one-time password (OTP) functionality to provide an extra security layer during consumer financial transactions, and that has been the envisioned golden goose for this technology. Other potential applications such as secure identification (public and private sectors) and medical information continue to tantalize, but have yet to approach anything that would present significant alternative markets.
What we are now seeing is a growing realization that while “EMV” smart-card chip/PIN standardization (named for the widely adopted Europay-MasterCard-Visa standard for credit and debit payment cards) has largely been effective at that, it has also led to a shift in fraudulent activity toward “card-not-present” transactions, mainly e-commerce. Here is where we see the arrival of proposed new solutions that swing wide open the doors for powered smart card adoption.
Below are six key trends we highlight in our new report:
– Beyond EMV: Powered smart cards that can generate a secure password are gaining favor. The newest example receiving market acclaim: a dynamic card verification value (CVV), seen as the next evolution of OTP.
– U.S. and China coming on strong: Roughly 80 countries are in various stages of EMV chip migration, but the U.S. is about to shift to an EMV infrastructure by late 2015, which could prove a shot in the arm for powered smart cards. Meanwhile, China has seen very little EMV penetration but represents a huge market, especially with the clout of state-backed China UnionPay which dwarfs the other major global issuers.
– Costs within market grasp: Manufacturing costs are reported to be quite close to the perceived magical number of $5-$7 per card, which is supposedly what card issuers would be willing to pay to convert from cheaper smartcards, weighed against security risks and liabilities.
– Moment of validation: We believe the recent acquisition of NagraID by Oberthur could represent the tipping point for other powered smart card suppliers, indicating that the market is now ready to ramp up. Furthermore, many new powered smart-card entrants are said to be close to finalizing certification with major banks and issuers in the U.S.
– Smartphones and OTP: Arguably the use of mobile phones for OTP, in which secure passwords are sent to a user’s mobile device — often as a free service — represents potentially a significant competitive threat to powered smart cards. However, we now believe these fears may be overblown due to security concerns and a lack of visibility in true costs.
– Technology updates: On the battery side, this is still largely a one-player market led by Solicore whose technology combines some of the virtues of both printing and coating, though other firms appear to be pursuing this market. On the display side, E Ink and e-paper continue to be invoked. We also are hearing more about we once thought weren’t as viable options for this application: LCD and LED displays.
NanoMarkets tracks and analyzes emerging markets in energy, electronics and other area created by developments in advanced materials. Visit www.nanomarkets.net for a full listing of NanoMarkets’ reports and other services.


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Attendances at auction across the UK have remained buoyant over the last month, with buyers continuing to search for the best stock on offer.
The average LCV auction sale price increased by a further 2.1% in October and now stands nearly 15% higher than at the same point last year. The average mileage of those sold increased by 685, but is still 2,545 miles lower than 12mths ago. Of those sold, 84.4% found new homes at the first time of asking – the highest for the last year.
The used market continues to power ahead with the near 11,000 units sold at auction during October, up 2.7% on September and 14.9% up on the same point last year. With demand continuing unabated for good quality stock, any straight examples serving the construction industry, home shopping or small sole trader/SME have been sold for ever-strengthening prices with vendors enjoying excellent conversion rates.
Blue utility Caddy vans remain a regular sight at auction, as does the Citroen Berlingo 625 Enterprise and the current shape Transit Connect. The best examples of the latter two especially when offered in a metallic colour, received plenty of interest continuing to perform to Glass’s values.
The medium panel van sector remains the most popular with over 36% of all sales taking place here, with 2-4yrs old stock proving the most sought after. The Custom, Transporter, Trafic and Vivaro continue to sell in the biggest volumes, with crew van and Kombi variants continue to sell for huge premiums.
Demand in the large panel van sector saw prices for dropsides, tippers and Luton vans firm, whilst the continued increase in internet shopping has seen values for tidy, large panel vans – particularly, the previous generation Transit 280 and 350 - with sensible mileages, surge.
The market for 4x4s continues to improve as does the average sale price, which now stands at £9,888, up £274 on September and £96 on October 2016. Volumes of both the Nissan Navara Tekna and the Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian remain high and feature in the top 10 list of models sold last month.


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Ford US Vehicle Sales For June Rise
(RTTNews) - Ford Motor Company (F), on Tuesday reported a rise in the total U.S. vehicle sales for the month of June. However, it recorded a decline in the total vehicle sales for the year-to-date period.
For the month of June, the company sold 152,262 vehicles, compared with 115,789 vehicles sold for the same period, last year.
For the year-to-date period, Ford delivered 915,820 vehicles , less than 996,661 units sold last year.


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The Super NES Classic Edition recently hit a major sales milestone, selling 4 million units worldwide.
The figure was confirmed in Nintendo’s recently published financial results briefing, and completely eclipses the previous NES Mini’s sales.
It seems that Nintendo has learned their lesson from the debacle that was the NES Mini. When the original mini console was announced in 2016, stores couldn’t keep them in stock. Resellers were purchasing the console and then selling them on eBay for ten times what they retailed in stores.
To make matters worse, Nintendo then announced that they would stop making the NES Mini in April 2017, having sold 2.3 million consoles. Analysts universally panned Nintendo’s decision as demand for the hit mini console was still very clearly there. It was as though Nintendo was announcing to the world that the company dislikes money.
Nintendo did not make the same mistake twice. The Super NES Classic Edition remains in production, reversing an earlier decision to halt manufacturing at the end of 2017. Although pre-orders of the console were sold out in minutes, the SNES Mini is still available in stores months after its original release.
And, according to Business Wire, Nintendo is also reversing their earlier decision to stop the manufacture of the NES Classic Edition and will bring the original mini console back sometime this summer. Nintendo will release additional details at a future date.
Both consoles play heavily on gamer’s sense of nostalgia, containing software which emulates classic console games from the era. The Super NES Classic Edition comes with 21 games including Final Fantasy IV, F-Zero, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and Super Metroid. It also contains the previously unreleased Star Fox 2, which was canceled before it could be released on the original SNES console.
The NES Classic Mini came with 30 games, including Castlevania, Mega Man 2, Ninja Gaiden, and The Legend of Zelda. Games from around the world praised the return of much-beloved classics to their home entertainment systems without the need to constantly blow on their cartridges to make them work.


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E.ON launches Live Chat as more customers choose digital channels to manage their energy needs
E.ON have launched Live Chat which will help further improve the service it offers and give customers another way to manage their energy needs.
Live Chat provides customers with an instant digital service, in addition to E.ON’s existing email, Facebook and Twitter channels, enabling them to talk directly with E.ON’s customer service advisors via its website. Live Chat supports E.ON’s strategy to meet the ever changing needs of its customers, with more than 44 per cent of customers choosing to use its digital channels to manage their energy accounts and services in 2015, compared with 30 per cent at the beginning of 2014.
E.ON estimates it will initially undertake approximately 50,000 chats in 2016 and over 120,000 in 2017. It’s also expected that Live Chat will help ensure customers get their queries resolved there and then where possible, while other advisors continue to support customers who don’t have access to digital channels or who want to discuss their enquiry over the phone.
David Bird, Managing Director of E.ON’s Residential business, said:
“We want our customers to be able to contact us easily, quickly and in a number of different ways that suit their individual needs.
“Over the past six months we’ve responded to more than 22,000 customer questions via our social media channels and, in January, for the first time ever, our digital interactions with customers exceeded the number of offline interactions we had, highlighting a significant shift in customer preferences when it comes to managing their energy accounts.
“Last year we came top of the larger suppliers for customer satisfaction in the uSwitch.com Energy Awards, retaining this title for a fourth year in a row. It’s important we continue to listen to our customers’ views and improve the services we offer. Our customers’ feedback shows us that instant messaging is now one of their preferred channels in terms of driving satisfaction, so we believe the introduction of Live Chat is an important milestone for our customers and for our business.”
E.ON’s Live Chat is now available for residential customer enquiries and can be accessed through the ‘Live Chat’ button on the Website


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The online sales tax act is not fair and could
bring damage to small enterprises and the jobs they create, said John Donahoe,
chief executive officer of eBay Inc., one of the world's leading e-commerce
In an article carried on the Wall Street Journal, Donahoe, said the problem with the online sales act is that "it treats mom-and- pop businesses the same way as it does multibillion-dollar retailers."
He argued that a small business with a dozen employees simply can't be lumped in with national behemoths such as Amazon and retail chains that have warehouses and stores around the country.
Internet retailers in the United States currently don't have to charge local sales taxes to a customer so long as they don't have a "physical presence" in the customer's state.
However, in a bid to flatten the playing field between online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores, U.S. Senators recently launched a bill which would empower state and local governments to require internet retailers with sales over $1 million annually to collect sales taxes and send the revenues to the appropriate venues.
Donahoe said the proposed bill would require small businesses to collect sales taxes on behalf of every state where they make a sale, which would make it difficult for them to succeed. He said small businesses with fewer than 50 employees or with less than $10 million in annual out-of-state sales should be exempted from collecting sales taxes nationwide.
The Senate advanced the bill, known as the Market Fairness Act, in 74-20 procedural vote on Monday evening and a decisive vote is expected later this week.
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AVON LAKE, OHIO—BFGoodrich Co.'s Specialty Plastics Division is in the second phase of a two-pronged expansion of its Estane Thermoplastic Polyurethane business.
BFG completed phase one in 1995 when it tripled the Estane group's manufacturing space in Avon Lake to 120,000 square feet.
The company will bring two production lines on stream at the plant in September. Also, by year's end BFG will consolidate its maintenance and technical areas and quality-control facility in the new building.
The entire project—valued between $40 million and $50 million —is slated for completion in late 1998 and will hike Estane's TPU capacity 50 percent, said Mike Marasch, Estane senior commercial manager.
New production equipment will give the segment more flexibility in compounding and polymerization, he said. Small manufacturing runs will be more cost-effective.
These new capabilities could propel the business into new markets.
``Part of our primary function is to find new uses for TPU, so we're always looking to open up new areas,'' Marasch said, naming textiles and adhesives as areas of focus.
Estane makes custom products for markets such as environmental, health care, marine and recreation. The elastomers are used for landfill liners, oil booms and aircraft escape slides.
The group will move its quality-control unit on site from another building at the Avon Lake complex. The transfer will improve material flow efficiency by consolidating Estane's efforts in one location, Marasch said.
Steady sales growth sparked the plan to hike capacity for the Specialty Plastics Division. The segment's sales and volume have risen 10 percent annually for the past three years, Marasch said.
BFG's Specialty Plastics Division recorded 1996 sales of $292 million, up 17 percent from 1995. Estane is the largest segment in that division, Marasch said, declining to break out sales figures.
In addition to the Avon Lake plant, Estane also operates a production facility in Belgium.
BFG, headquartered in Richfield, Ohio, posted 1996 sales of $2.2 billion.


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Anna Rawlings stories
ComCom appeals $2.25 million fine in Vodafone FibreX case
The Commerce Commission has filed an appeal in the High Court against a $2.25 million fine imposed on Vodafone NZ for its offending under the Fair Trading Act.
Vodafone guilty of nine breaches of Fair Trading Act
In a ruling from the Auckland District Court last week, Vodafone NZ was guilty of being 'liable to mislead' consumers about the nature of its FibreX service.
ComCom takes responsibility for external provider breach
Commerce Commission admits security flaws and pledges to implement stronger systems following burglary incident.
ComCom warns Becextech for breaches against Fair Trading Act
Commerce Commission warns Becextech over misleading sales tactics and false discount claims.
NZ telcos plead guilty, given fines over false invoicing
Three telco providers in New Zealand have been fined a total of $121,500 for making false representations in customer invoices.
Can you back up your marketing claims? ComCom campaign aims to help out
Companies in New Zealand are being warned by the Commerce Commission that they must be able to substantiate their marketing and advertising claims.
Kiwi clothing brand under fire: ComCom warns businesses about 'Made in NZ' claims
Clothing brand WORLD is under investigation by the Commerce Commission regarding the accuracy of its t-shirt labelling.


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As ecommerce takes a greater share of retail sales, the view into relative channel strength has been somewhat opaque. But Nordstrom recently began reporting ecommerce as a percentage of net sales, not just a growth percentage. Tune in to the latest MCM CommerceChat podcast to hear more on this interesting development.
Fanbank, a Santa Monica, CA-based startup, aims to give small business owners a greater opportunity to reach online buyers by creating digital credits that can be redeemed in brick-and-mortar stores through Facebook ad campaigns. The ads show up in shoppers’ newsfeeds, and soon will be publishable on a merchant’s Facebook page.
Eyewear brand Warby Parker continues to disrupt its sector by offering affordable eyewear both online and offline, innovating and taking a “do well by doing good” approach, its co-founder and CEO told an audience at IRCE in Chicago. Here is how the brand transformed from a pure-play ecommerce brand to reaching customers both online and in store.


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SA expects decisive leadership from the president, including the fight against Covid-19 and holding his Cabinet to account, writes Mpumelelo Mkhabela.
High level clouds. Mild.
And they said fashion is frivolous, callous, and unbothered.
Balenciaga was one of the most famous purveyors of the "dad shoe" trend that swept the latter half of the 2010s — but now, they're pivoting.
Inspired by Greta Thunberg's eco-conscious travel, the Swedish terms for "flight-shaming" and "train-bragging" have become 2019's new buzzwords.
There were a couple of big-hitter property transactions in an otherwise depressed residential market.
Luxury jewellery design house Shimansky unveilded its new Table Mountain ring.
De Beers is taking more drastic steps to stem the crisis in the diamond industry by cutting prices across the board for the first time in years.
Bellami commissioned a gilded makeover for their superyacht. Its new look took 13 days to create and is the first of its kind.
The most expensive hotel room in the world is a 2-story suite designed by Damien Hirst that costs R1.4 million per night. Here's a look inside.
Bugatti has already sold the "La Voiture Noire" car to an anonymous customer.
The rand is on a death march.
Cayne Philander spotted a few Bentley models roaming around in Franschhoek. Here's what the new 2020 model has to offer.
This rare find is reminiscent of childhood stories about finding hidden treasures, this time with a sprinkle of luxury.
Ever wanted a designer condom or a gold toothbrush? Well, you're in luck, because those — and a number of other fancified items — are very real.
There is a huge difference between having multiple watches because you find them fashionable and being a collector.
Gulfstream's new flagship jet has a nearly 57-foot-long cabin that allows it to seat 19 passengers or sleep 10.
A 91m luxury yacht once owned by Malaysia’s fugitive financier Low Taek Jho is back on the market.
US rate cut, but probably not in SA.
Prosus makes strong debut.
Tiffany & Co, Estee Lauder, Movado Group and other North America luxury-goods stocks sank after protests in Hong Kong escalated and all flights at the region’s airport were canceled.
Backpacking or road-tripping may be fun when you’re young, but when the thought of shoving your carry-on into a crowded overhead compartment or staying in a no-name special makes you reconsider your vacation, it’s time for a luxury trip.
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The latest trend for ailing news organizations is to adopt a bricks-and-clicks business model. What with evaporating advertising revenues, news organizations such as Corelio in Belgium are dipping their toes in online retailing. For instance, just last week Het Nieuwsblad launched their Nieuwsbladshop.be, hoping to lure their readers into buying wine, DVDs and books.
The future of news? Bricks-and-clicks25 10 2009


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The New York Daily News, the fifth-largest circulating newspaper in the US, has joined Yahoo’s newspaper alliance.
The consortium launched last November with Belo, Cox Newspapers and Hearst Newspapers as premier members, and membership has since tripled to include nearly 400 newspapers from 21 publishing groups. The Daily News, with a reported weekly online and print readership of 4.5 million, is the largest to join Yahoo’s year-old group.
Consortium partners use Yahoo’s HotJobs to amp up their job listings and send out local ads to a national audience. HotJobs has launched 160 newspaper co-branded sites to date, serving 377 newspapers. In return, Yahoo is allowed to sell national ads on individual newspaper sites.
“Yahoo and Yahoo HotJobs provide great products and tools, and a mutually beneficial business model for working with newspapers,” said Jennifer Mauer, director of communications for the New York Daily News. “The strategy is to get our advertisers’ messages in front of as many of the right users as possible, and Yahoo will help us do that.”
Newspapers like the NewYorkDailyNews, TheAtlantaJournal-Constitution and TheSanFranciscoChronicle have joined the Yahoo group in an attempt to combat the decline of print ad dollars. Print classified ad revenue, according to the Newspaper Association of America, has fallen 16.5% for the first half of 2007.
“The Daily News and other members of the Yahoo! Newspaper Consortium are trying to make our Web products as effective and compelling and user friendly as possible for advertisers and consumers,” Mauer continued.
Five other publishers, responding to the same dropping numbers, have entered talks to form their own online alliance separate from Yahoo. Interested companies include Gannett Co. and Tribune Co., which co-owns CareerBuilder.com. Other publishers who may join the new group are Hearst, Media News Group and Cox.
Since joining with Yahoo, some alliance members have reported ad gains. Lee Enterprises, for example, posted a 50% increase in online ad sales this year. Newspapers have reported a 20.3% increase in overall online ad revenue for the first half of 2007.
Integration between The New York Daily News and Yahoo has not been completed yet, but the two companies are working on a timeline.


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What's blowing up on Twitter and elsewhere on social media regarding Super Bowl XLVII? Check out what everyone is saying about Sunday's big game between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens.
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( SUSAN TRIPP POLLARD )
Review: Three new East Bay pizza spots
As far as we're concerned, there's no such thing as too much pizza, especially when Buma's and The Forge Danville are concerned.
( DOUG DURAN )
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens': Toy unboxing a swing and a miss
Too few toys and too much repetition turn the much-hyped 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens Global Toy Unboxing Live Stream Event' into an early snooze fest.


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Beef prices have come under further pressure at factories this week, in a continuation of the downward slide in returns to farmers.
Quoted prices for steers and heifers have been reduced by 5-8 cent/kg, and factory agents are adopting a tougher approach to conceding top-ups on quoted prices.
Farm conditions, due to continued heavy rainfall, are helping processors, as pressure increases on finishers to ease stocking levels and to reduce poaching, by disposing of the heavier cattle. They also have to conserve scarce winter feed supplies.
Base prices for steers are quoted at 380-390 cent/kg (136p-139p/lb) and it is very difficult this week to negotiate more than 390 cent/kg at factories. Most sales are being made at 385-390 cent/kg.
Heifer prices are quoted at 10-15 cent/kg higher than for steers, as are actual prices being paid, meaning that the premium on females has improved as much as 5 cent/kg, while the base price continues to slide. Actual prices paid last week declined for both steers and heifers (see figures on the left) — bad news for finishers who purchased forward stores at very high prices.
Intake at factories continues to increase, although trailing 2011 by 15% to 20%. Last week, the kill was just short of 26,000 head. The supply normally continues to increase seasonally over the coming weeks, but the difference this year is the forecast of lower overall supply.
The cow trade is also under more pressure at factories this week, with prices dropping sharply. Base price quotes for O/P grade cows have eased to 310-340 cent/kg for the general run, while the quality R-grade cows, for which there is continued strong demand, are making up to 365 cent/kg.
The trade in the UK over the past week is reported similar to previous weeks, with tight supply matching current demand levels.
Prices have firmed, with R4L-grade steers averaging equivalent to 468 cent/kg (167p/lb), including VAT.
On the Continent, trade across most of the key markets has firmed, reflecting tightening supply.
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved


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If the valuations of Silicon Valley startups have you scratching your head, take a look at a recent New York Times article on calculating the value of a soccer player. According to the report, even those whose job it is to monitor the transfer market fail to see a pattern behind the prices quoted for certain players. Or, as Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is quoted as saying, in the biannual buying and selling frenzy, nobody is sure anymore what the “real valuation” of a player should be. Models for market valuations exist, but the price a team ends up paying, what the article calls, the “intuitive price,” may deviate substantially. “Ultimately … the only measure of worth that counts is what someone is willing to pay,” the article says.
Please let us know
if you have any comments about this article or enhancements you would like to see.


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Aug 9 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related
stories were reported by media on Thursday:
* South Korean refinery-to-retailer GS Group is
considering acquiring U.S. metalworking fluid maker Houghton
International Inc through its GS Energy affiliate,
the Korea Economic Daily reported.
* Denmark's biggest financial institution, Danske Bank A/S
, is close to putting its pension arm Danica up for
sale, a move which could generate 20 billion crowns ($3.32
billion), business daily Borsen reported on Wednesday, citing
Chief Executive Eivind Kolding.
* Prozone Capital Shopping Centre, the demerged arm of the
clothing retail player Provogue India Ltd, could be
listed on the markets around mid-August, the Economic Times
reported. The new entrant in the real estate space is a joint
venture between Provogue (India) and UK FTSE-100-listed Capital
Shopping Centres Plc.


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Last fall, a rash of stablecoins entered the market, all purporting to do the same thing.
Their timing couldn’t have been better. In the coming months, a number of scandals would rock Tether Limited, who issue the first stablecoin (USDT), and Bitfinex, who relied heavily on the stablecoin to get to their massive market position.
USD Coin (USDC)
In stablecoins, there are less factors to consider regarding their quality.
How often does the stablecoin leave its dollar peg? When this happens, it indicates that more people are looking to rid themselves of the token — without going through the issuers — than are looking to buy it.
Stablecoins can go the other direction as well.
They rarely go more than a penny or two, but in rare cases like BitUSD, things can get awry.
In the case of USDC, its dollar peg is frequently respected. It probably doesn’t hurt that Coinbase offers multiple extremely easy redemption options. As little as a few USDC can be redeemed through the Coinbase retail application, for example.
Despite all the drama surrounding Tether, and even a revelation that the token is not completely backed by dollar reserves, the godfather of stablecoins retains a multi-billion dollar warchest of a market valuation.
Tether, by far, has the most liquidity, the most pairs, and after a year of numerous upstarts trying to unseat, maintains its huge standing, which is in excess of all others combined.
Tether is currently issued on three blockchains.
That being said, stablecoins are a long game. Eventually, a conglomerate of other stablecoins will likely rival the dominance of USDT, although that probably won’t happen in the near-term.
If there is a David in this fight, it’s TUSD, who are definitely the most competitive.
The company offers thing like automated auditing of their reserves and has recently expanded into other stablecoin offerings for fiat currencies besides the US dollar.
Firms like TrustToken, who issue TUSD, put their focus on transparency and providing a superior user experience.
In many respects, companies like Tether Limited are quite vulnerable to such disruption.
Time will tell whether the more recent entries will make a dent in Tether’s hegemony.
One thing that’s certainly true: there’s plenty of room for all in the nascent crypto economy.


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R3 has released a report looking at best practice in media investment in China. R3’s China Media Investment Effectiveness report reviews media placement trends across categories and provides marketers with insights on buying costs, ad visibility and placement effectiveness. The report is released in partnership with market research company CTR.
Factors Impacting Media Investment in 2023
Increasing downward pressure on China’s macro economy is expected to contract the growth rate of the country’s advertising market by more than 10% in 2022. However, the value of China’s advertising market is expected to grow and exceed 1,200 billion yuan. In such a complex and volatile economic and media environment, advertisers need to demand more of their media investment.
Some questions being asked are:
Is my media spend growing at the same or below average rate as my peers?
Is my media mix optimized and aligned with buying models, billing units, evaluation indicators and billing indicators?
In addition to regular rate card rates, discounts and loading fees, when should I re-evaluate and adjust the KPI settings of my media placements?
Increasing Media ROI with the Right Evaluation Criteria
Effective KPI setting can improve the quality of media traffic, and as a result, help marketers increase their return on media investment. R3’s China Media Investment Effectiveness report explores the complex relationship between media placement and evaluation criteria across 5 major mainstream media formats (online media, outdoor media, TV, radio, and print), giving special focus to effect-oriented media and e-commerce in-site media.
Online and television (reality and drama) content partnerships have shown to be able to deliver significant brand awareness for marketers in China, however, many brands still lack robust and transparent procurement index systems for these areas. This report looks at how marketers can implement best practice procurement frameworks to ensure the integrity of brand exposure benefits, and how to implement best practice in developing quantified evaluations to measure program influence and brand enhancement effect.
In the case of online media, systematic interpretation of different advertising formats, buying models and pricing units is provided. The report also analyzes other media evaluation criteria such as definitions, purpose, acquisition modes, and industry usage rates.
This report is in Mandarin. To request a copy, please contact us.


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A new mixed-use development with 500+ housing units is coming to Parole. The 13-acre site will replace an office park near the town center.
The developers planning the huge North Woodbridge Town Center in Prince William County and moving ahead with the project.
Tysons has long been one of the mid-Atlantic’s largest retail hubs, with two major malls and a series of strip centers drawing shoppers from around the region.
If 2020 was a building year for Downtown Columbia, 2021 was the year of openings. A slew of new restaurants and eateries joined Howard Hughes Corp.’s Merriweather District, the growing urban-suburban development located between Broken Land Parkway and Merriweather Post Pavilion.
There was a time, not so long ago, when the idea of dining in the suburbs conjured up visions of fast food drive-thrus and shopping malls brimming with chain restaurants.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday (Tuesday) to approve a pair of rezoning applications that will expand the Tysons mixed-use community with 1.1 million square feet of housing, retail, and other amenities.
A Brookfield Properties executive has detailed the company’s plans to advance a state-of-the-art office building in Reston for the Halley Rise development.
Privai, a luxury skin and body care line, has signed six leases in the Washington, D.C., region to debut its new Privai Spa + Salon.
A new spa salon concept will replace space vacated by Red Door, a spa that closed permanently due to the pandemic last year.
Bluestone Lane officially opened the doors of its cafe at The Boro on October 13th, marking the first foray into Virginia for the New York-based but Australia-inspired company.
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) appears to be filling the high-end auto dealership void left by Maserati’s closure in South Arlington.
Thompson Hospitality Corp. is bringing its Matchbox and Big Buns Damn Good Burgers chains to a McLean retail center.
Tysons, the largest suburban office market in the D.C. region, has long been dependent on people driving their cars into work every day.
D.C.’s &pizza plans to open a new location at One Loudoun as it works to expand its presence in Northern Virginia and beyond.
A Redbrick LMD-led development team has filed a design review application for a mixed-use project in Poplar Point at 632 Howard Road SE, an area that the development team has dubbed the “Bridge District”. The 130 foot-tall development would deliver 748 residential units above roughly 46,700 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a… Read more »
The owners of a Manassas rock climbing center plan to open a new location in Tysons, replacing a shuttered furniture store about halfway between the Greensboro and Spring Hill Metro stations in Fairfax County.
The developers behind one of the largest projects in Tysons are pulling the trigger on its next phase, the team announced Monday.


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NEW YORK — Sharps, a new men’s product line, is aiming to garner customers by taking the barbershop concept to specialty stores, gyms and department stores.
The company, which describes its products as “head-to-toe prep for guys,” is positioning itself as an “antigrooming” line.
“We chose [the barbershop] because it’s the best language to speak to the mainstream guy in America. The barber is about value, convenience and a sense of community,” said Oliver Sweatman, co-founder of Sharps. He noted the brand is “cloaked in a barber tradition” but is infused with modern ingredients, marketing methods and distribution.
Sharps was founded in early 2002 by Sweatman, age 32, who founded Spring Street Advisors LLC, a merchant banking practice that focused on emerging beauty and wellness companies, and Larry Paul, age 34, who served as general manager of Bliss SoHo and director of retail and merchandising at Blissworld.
“We’re really about being your own guy,” added Paul, a barber and graduate of Atlas Barber School in New York, who designed the products. The items were inspired by the simplicity of a barbershop and are younger in attitude and grooming than traditional grooming lines.
The product lineup consists of six stockkeeping units in three categories: hair; shave, and face and body. Each category is represented by a different image, which appears on the packaging. For the face, represented by an image of a white goat, there is Kid Glove Shave Gel, $12 for 5 oz., and Kid Glove Hydrating Gel, $16 for 2.5 oz. The hair category, with an image of an astronaut, consists of Mission Control Conditioning Shampoo, $12 for 8.5 oz., and Mission Control Guck-in-a-Puck, $14 for 2.6 oz. The face and body offerings boast a black-and-white image of a geisha and include Happy Me All Over Wash, 8.5 oz. for $12, and Happy Me Pit Guard, $10 for 2.5 oz.
The packaging was designed by Pandiscio Co. to “inspire people to spurn convention and try something new,” according to the company.
“We wanted to offer all the ingredients that the prestige lines have and make it as accessible as possible to the guy that’s looking for specialty products,” said Sweatman. “Our intent is to be the opening price point at specialty distribution, because we believe that’s where the market is moving.”Though Sharps executives declined to comment, industry sources estimate the line could generate retail sales of as much as $1 million in 2004.
The line launched in June 2003 with the shave gel in 10 locations that included Jeffrey and Bigelow. The line, including the additional five stockkeeping units, will debut in August in all Barneys locations, as will products for holiday in late October. Plans are to be in abut 50 doors by yearend. Rather than focusing on traditional classic specialty store and department store distribution, the brand is searching out “environments where guys feel comfortable,” such as gyms, barbershops and “guy-friendly” salons, as well as specialty and department stores that are “forward thinking and making an effort to attract the young, fashionable customer,” said Paul.
The company is currently developing a number of follow-up products in each category, added Paul. “As men get used to taking care of themselves and learn how to use our core products, we’ll bring them up a notch and introduce them to the next level,” he said.
— Kristin Finn
P&G, Valentino Venture
PARIS — Procter & Gamble and Valentino have joined forces on the beauty front.
The two firms said Wednesday that they have signed a licensing agreement involving P&G Beauté — P&G beauty unit’s fine fragrance division — designing and marketing Valentino fragrance and beauty products globally.
The agreement goes into effect Friday. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We took a long look at the marketplace and identified Valentino as a unique opportunity for us,” Hartwig Langer, vice president of P&G, told WWD in a telephone interview.
He explained the brand acquisition is important for global growth. “We have great success with Hugo Boss as well as with Lacoste. Hugo Boss has become a market leader in the men’s segment in most European countries — excluding Italy. We believe it’s number three there, while it’s number one [elsewhere] in Europe.”
And, alongside contributing what he called “a very strong global Italian name,” Langer said he expects Valentino will also add muscle to the women’s fragrance side of P&G Beauté’s business.Valentino, he continued, “is an ideal compliment to our existing portfolio.”
News of the P&G-Valentino deal came one week after Valentino ended its fragrance and cosmetics licensing agreement with Unilever Cosmetics International.
— Jennifer Weil
Madina Milano to Close
MILAN — In the wake of consistent losses, Intercos has decided to shut the doors of its Madina Milano cosmetic store in New York’s SoHo district.
Having just returned from overseeing Intercos’ new plant construction in Shanghai, Intercos chairman Dario Ferrari said the SoHo store was a “disaster from start to finish. It was not the right timing — we opened the store six months after 9/11 and it never recovered after that. It doesn’t make any more sense to keep it open,” Ferrari said.Ferrari also added he was happy with Madina Milano’s success in Italy and Asia and that the company would be refocusing on making Italy the center point of the brand.
Alberta Ferretti's "Rainbow Week" sweaters are back. The designer closed her #MFW show with a few day-of-the-week sweaters, which first debuted on the catwalk last January as part of the pre-fall 2017 collection. #wwdfashion (📷: @delphineachard)


text: The Walgreens store in Bowdon is closing. Signs have been posted to let customers know that the store will close on September 21. The pharmacy will close early at 3:00 p.m.. that day. After the store closes, prescription records will be available at CVS #5765 at 100 Oak Street in Bowdon. Customers also have the option to transfer their prescriptions to either Johnson Pharmacy at 205 East College Street or Bowdon Pharmacy at 301 West College Street.


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Many companies are building digital solutions that use proprietary data for their businesses in-house, unlike in the past where they traditionally outsourced applications to IT services companies.
French IT services leader Capgemini
, however, says it has begun helping its global banking customers —who are building captive centres in India
— to scale up operations and build newer products and solutions that they take to their customers globally.
“As we work with firms on their innovation journey, a lot of scale-up is happening through the India operations,” Sudhir Pai, chief technology and innovation officer - financial services at Capgemini, told ET.
Global in-house centres (GICs), or captives
, of US and European companies are seeing a strong revival in India, with the multinationals either setting up new units or expanding existing operations as they look to use technology to reinvent their businesses.
India has over 1,200 captive units. Last year, these units hired more people than the IT firms, and are set to hire a further 1.5 lakh people over the next two years, according to a report by staffing agency TeamLease. The GICs employed nearly one million at the end of the just-concluded financial year, from about 7.45 lakh in fiscal year 2015.
With large corporations and financial institutions moving their technology needs in-house, IT service providers will have to offer newer services to remain relevant and not lose out on business, says Pai.
“If you have a new idea, it is hard for clients to do a proof-of-concept and to industrialise it on their own. For that, they need Capgemini, and this is a very different model where you work with them and create a concept and industrialise it,” he says.
For instance, if a bank wants to move towards an open banking platform, Capgemini could step in with a comprehensive package comprising a few solutions of their own, combined with something sourced from a fintech
partner and a component from Amazon Web Services.
This is a far cry from the traditional model, where the focus was more on traditional tech needs, and not so much on working to help the client with business model innovation.
“Over 60-70% of our clients today demand new agile ways of working, where we target to deliver tangible outcomes at sprint level. In this context, our role is not just confined to systems integration but also to be an orchestrator of services, delivered by collaborating through a number of product and fintech partners,” he says.
With the business environment changing and becoming more competitive, a lot of clients have moved core IT tasks in-house. “This is an operating model transformation
, a part of the new ways of working model. The stakeholders are also changing,” Pai says.


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Bellini Modern Living, a leading distributor of modern Italian-made furniture, will showcase a curated selection of its best-selling entertainment units at the Las Vegas Winter Market in January. The new line is designed with fashion and function in mind to attract a younger, more minimalist consumer.
Spring Air International, one of the nation’s top mattress manufacturers, is adding a six-model mattress collection to its portfolio, called Nature’s Choice.
Mattress manufacturer Mlily USA will once again host its popular “Moonshine Mixer” at the Summer Las Vegas Market, on Saturday, Aug. 21 from 4-7 p.m. The event provides an opportunity to help raise funds for Special Spaces – a non-profit organization that transforms bedrooms for terminally ill children.
Building on its philosophy of using proven components and expert craftsmanship, Englander is launching a collection of 14 new mattresses at the upcoming summer Las Vegas Market.
Following a successful debut in the new EXPO at World Market Center Las Vegas in April, Las Vegas Market's temporary exhibits are seeing a surge in both new and returning brands for the Summer 2021 Market, taking place Aug. 22 – 26. The market is expected to draw 350+ gift and home décor temporaries – an increase of 75 percent over the April Market.
Norwalk Furniture and Los Angeles-based designer Kim Salmela are expanding their partnership once again with the launch of several upholstered seating options designed with her modern, west coast vibe. The new pieces will debut at the upcoming Winter 2021 Las Vegas Market, April 11 -15.
Capitalizing on a recent shift in timing of home furnishings industry markets, and in concert with ongoing travel and government restrictions in the western United States, International Market Centers (IMC) has rescheduled the winter and summer editions of the Las Vegas Market — originally planned in January and July — to run April 11-15, 2021, and August 22-26, 2021. IMC’s 2021 markets in Atlanta for Gift & Home and Apparel will run as scheduled.


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Fed Chairman Jerome Powell faces the tough challenge of presenting a unified voice on Fed policy from the most divided Fed in years.Market Insiderread more
Dow to rise; Fed chief Jerome Powell speaks; Fed presidents offer their views; bonds stable; and Larry Kudlow adds a tax twistMarketsread more
Falling air cargo demand could be flashing warning signs about the broader economy.Transportationread more
James Bullard says the Fed should continue to ease monetary policy because of the recession signal being flashed by the bond market.Investingread more
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who is under house arrest in Canada and facing extradition to America, is not a bargaining chip in the trade...Technologyread more
Target's latest earning report shows how these investments are driving traffic and sales at a time when other retailers are struggling.Retailread more
European Union officials drafted a plan to launch a sovereign wealth fund to invest in companies that could compete with U.S. and Chinese tech giants, according to reports in...Technologyread more
The chip, called the Ascend 910, was first unveiled in October last year and is aimed at data centers.Technologyread more
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro hit back at French leader Emmanuel Macron, after he urged dialogue among G-7 leaders on the rising number of fires in the Amazon rainforest.World Politicsread more
Investors are rushing to get a piece of its privately held rival Impossible Foods before it goes public, according to the Wall Street Journal.Food & Beverageread more
"The economy may be in good shape now, but if we keep getting more and more tariffs it could deteriorate," Jim Cramer says.Mad Money with Jim Cramerread more
democracy slogans@ (Adds Amazon comment)
SHANGHAI, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Chinese social media users directed their fury at online marketplace Amazon.com on Thursday, after discovering T-shirts on its website sporting slogans that support anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.
The hashtag "Amazon T-Shirts" became the fourth-top trending topic on China's Twitter-like Weibo on Wednesday in the latest backlash for an overseas company that broached matters regarding Hong Kong's territorial status.
The widely-read Global Times tabloid, published by China's state-owned People's Daily, said many Chinese internet users found the T-shirts for sale carrying slogans such as "Free Hong Kong Democracy Now" and "Hong Kong is Not China," among others.
Legions of internet users accused the site of being insensitive towards the Chinese people, with one Weibo commenter writing, "Amazon has already left China, right? We need to teach this company a lesson."
The e-commerce giant shut its domestic marketplace Amazon.cn in July, but some overseas goods can still be shipped into the country. The T-shirts were available on Amazon's U.S. website.
The company said in a statement, "Amazon has always and will continue to acknowledge the longstanding and widely-recognized policy of 'one China, two systems'. Every country where we operate has different laws, and we will continue to respect those local laws where we do business."
Protests in Hong Kong are attracting media attention across the region, as activists have occupied public spaces across the global financial hub for more than 10 weeks, to draw attention to a perceived erosion of civil liberties in Hong Kong.
At the start of the protests, domestic media from mainland China gave them only limited coverage but they now dominate headlines in both state-owned newspapers and online publications.
Several celebrities from mainland China severed ties with a number of fashion labels this week, after online users pointed out they had released apparel that referred to Hong Kong and Taiwan as separate from the People's Republic of China.
Versace, Calvin Klein, and other brands each issued public apologies online, either on Chinese social media accounts or overseas ones.
Coach, which drew fire for a T-shirt that implied Taiwan was a distinct entity from China, said that in May 2018 it discovered a "serious inaccuracy" in one of its clothing items and pulled it from store shelves. (Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Additional reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Nick Zieminski)


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THE CHEAPEST Windows Phone handset yet will go on sale in the UK within the next two weeks, Nokia announced on Thursday.
At an event in London, Emma Gilmartin, head of smart devices at Nokia announced that the Lumia 610 will hit UK stores in the first week of June. She also revealed that the handset will be available on a £15 per month contract, and a Nokia spokesperson let slip to The INQUIRER that it'll also be available for £150 SIM free.
The Nokia Lumia 610 might be a low-end phone but Gilmartin added that it'll be offered by a number of retailers and networks, including Carphone Warehouse, Phones4u, O2 and Virgin Media. Orange also announced last month that it will be exclusively selling an NFC-equipped Lumia 610.
The Lumia 610 is one of the first handsets to arrive running Windows Phone 7.5 Tango, giving it Nokia's new public transport app and the ability to set custom ringtones. The latest version of the Windows Phone mobile operating system also lowers hardware requirements, allowing the Lumia 610 to use a budget 800MHz processor and just 256MB of RAM.
"It's not about MHz or GHz - the Smoked by Windows Phone tests proved that," a Nokia spokesperson told The INQUIRER.
The phone also features a 3.7in WVGA touchscreen, a 5MP camera with LED flash, GPS and a 1300mAh battery. It will also be available in four different colours - black, cyan, white and pink.
Check back next week for our Nokia Lumia 610 hands-on review. µ
Ira Rothken steps up to the piracy plate, again
Trusted Platform Module 2.0 support required for PCs, smartphones and tablets
'One of the most successful products in history,' boasts Tim Cook
People are keeping busy