text:
MPS to debut EF next generation press at Labelexpo Europe 2022
17 February 2022
MPS Systems is returning to Labelexpo Europe 2022 in Brussels, April 26-29, showing its continued commitment to the label industry. The event will also see MPS emphasize their ‘Connect to Grow’ brand, introduce their EF next generation press in the Automation Arena, and celebrate its 25th anniversary.
“As the label industry continues to face numerous challenges, it remains increasingly important to stay in close contact with our customers and partners to strengthen each other and Connect to Grow together,” said Atze Bosma, CEO of MPS. “Labelexpo Europe is ideal to do just that.”
Value of Connect to Grow in a challenging market
In response to changing needs and market developments in the industry, in 2021 MPS embraced a new corporate vision and brand identity with ‘Connect to Grow’ as its new brand promise. The cornerstone of Connect to Grow is looking beyond the machine through intensive cooperation with customers to address all aspects involving their MPS presses, to help them achieve the best performance and maximum return.
With its MPSConnect platform that combines sensor technology with the internet (IoT), real-time data collection is possible from hundreds of events per second. This unbiased information helps to identify bottlenecks, errors, and inefficiencies to optimize press performance and decrease waste. Visitors to the MPS stand at Labelexpo Europe will learn more about this valuable initiative.
“MPS strongly believes that helping our customers reaches further than supplying the best printing machine,” said Bosma. “Through our MPSConnect connectivity platform we provide customers with the information and tools required to follow best practices and use their machines in the most efficient, standardized, and simple fashion. Sustainable labelling solutions is especially important in this challenging market with recent global supply chain issues of reduced raw material availability and staggering cost increases.”
Launch of the EF next generation press: the connected printing solution
At Labelexpo, MPS is debuting their seventh generation EF flexo press, reflecting continuous improvements to offer the best narrow web flexo press in the industry with ultimate productivity through connectivity.
The EF next generation press is now equipped with the slide-out ink drawer as standard, E-Sleeves, improved Job Memory functionality and two automation levels to ensure the highest quality printing with the fastest changeover time between jobs. New to the next generation EF press is the option of a wider 580mm web width.
Joining forces at Automation Arena
Following its previous participation in the Automation Arena in Brussels in 2017 and Chicago in 2018, MPS is again participating in the Automation Arena at Labelexpo Europe.
“We are excited to show a ‘factory of the future’ in this edition of the Automation Arena, focusing not only on perfect flexo printing, but more importantly on improved performance, based on factual data coming from the press,” said Bosma. “We strongly believe that joining forces with other industry partners in this initiative is key to collectively helping label printers understand the range of technologies at their disposal.”
Joining MPS in the Automation Arena are Xeikon, CERM, Esko, and Grafotronic with presentations taking place three times a day. Live demonstrations on the EF next generation press will also be held outside of the Automation Arena demonstration schedule.
Labelexpo visitors are welcomed to visit MPS in the Automation Arena and their neighbouring stand 7A45.
Commenting for the show organizer, Labelexpo Managing Director Lisa Milburn stated: "I am delighted to welcome MPS to Labelexpo Europe 2022 and to help the company celebrate its 25th anniversary at the show. It is particularly exciting that MPS has chosen Labelexpo as the platform to launch its new EF flexo press and MPSConnect technology. This ties in perfectly with our show theme of automation and integration and will make the Automation Arena even more of a 'must see' for our show visitors."
As a reputable manufacturer of high quality and highly automated flexo, offset and hybrid printing presses in the label and packaging industry, MPS looks beyond the machine through intensive cooperation with its customers.
Founded in 1996 and celebrating our 25th anniversary year, innovation and continuous improvement are in our DNA.
By connecting with MPS as your performance partner, you ensure the best in reliability and productivity from your printing press. Connect with our machines to create insights in productivity.
Connect with our service for maximum uptime. Connect with our specialists to create access to knowledge and expertise.
This is how we evolve: connect to grow, together.
MPS. Connect to Grow.
New website: www.mps-printing.com
Manager Marketing Communications
Labelexpo Global Series
For further information about Labelexpo, please contact:
Paul Connelly, marketing director, Labelexpo Global Series.


text:
Latest News on Wallets
Showing of 0 - 10 from 312 results
Wallets - Total results - 312
May 26, 2018
Paytm says its never shared user data with a third party entity after a video claims to show it leaks dataPaytm reiterated that their policy allows only legally compliant data requests from the "law of the land" to get access to data for necessary investigation.
May 03, 2018
Google Pay is now being introduced to web browsers and on iOS for faster payments onlineGoogle Pay is essentially a payment platform combines the features of what was the earlier Google Wallet app and bakes Android Pay features into it.
Apr 19, 2018
Cash crunch: Cashless economy is still far away; govt hasn't done enough to push digital transactionsThe steps thus far taken by the government are few and unsubstantial like 0.75 percent cash back on card payments in petrol bunks, waiver of user charges for online booking of rail tickets, etc.
Apr 18, 2018
Cash crunch: Mobile wallet companies see spike in digital transactionsMobile wallet companies including Paytm, Mobikwik and Flipkart-owned PhonePe on Wednesday said they have seen a significant jump in digital transactions amid a recent currency shortage at ATMs and banks in some parts of the country
Mar 26, 2018
WhatsApp new Android beta update lets you transfer money by scanning QR codesA new update for those who are on the WhatsApp Android beta version will now let you scan a QR code to easily transfer money.
Mar 24, 2018
WhatsApp's UPI based P2P payments feature will give greater momentum to the digital payments revolutionBy going the UPI route, WhatsApp will seemingly avoid the regulatory hassles involved with setting up a payments bank or digital wallet.
Mar 22, 2018
Digital gold sellers hope trickle will become a rush with smartphones, e-wallets and flexible investment schemesA digital revolution is reshaping India’ gold market, with smartphones, e-wallets and flexible investment schemes drawing new buyers into the business
Feb 27, 2018
Digital wallet payments: RBI's refusal to extend 28 Feb deadline may lead to Rs 12,000 cr loss for sectorThe central bank RBI, however, clarified that customers who have balances in such wallets or PPIs need not worry about their money
Feb 21, 2018
Google Pay combines the power of Google Wallet and Android Pay in a brand new app for AndroidThe Google Pay app provides a convenient and simplified interface that lets you store your credit card, debit cards, loyalty programs, offers and even gift cards.
Feb 13, 2018
WhatsApp Payments: Messaging app may turn heat on mobile wallet players, but game has shifted to value-added dealsWhat Facebook-controlled WhatsApp can do, however, is to possibly look deeper into your behaviour than other mobile wallet players like MobiKwik, PayTm etc

domain: news


text:
WASHINGTON -- Bludgeoned by smoking restrictions and antismoking sentiment, the consumption of cigarettes in the United States is expected to fall a couple of percentage points this year, according to the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. for the last nine years. Reduced retail prices, however, were apparently successful this year in slowing the rate of decline. "The decline stems from a growing number of prohibitions and restrictions on where people can ...
REGISTER TO VIEW THIS ARTICLE - Register for a Free Account
Why Register for FREE?
Registering for content on Supermarket News will give you INSTANT access to invaluable articles and media content that industry professionals rely on. You will have access to our special reports, feature articles, and industry analysis. It’s FREE, easy and quick. What are you waiting for! In addition you will also receive complimentary access to the SN salary survey data tables.
Attention Paid Print Subscribers: While you have already been granted free access to SN we ask that you register now. We promise it will only take a few minutes! Or visit your profile and add your print magazine account number and zip code.


text:
Markets are rallying after the biggest stock rout of 2019 — but Trump's 'currency manipulator' label on China means the trade war will drag on
- US and European stocks rallied on Tuesday after Monday's bloodbath, despite the Trump administration officially labeling China a "currency manipulator," dashing hopes of a US-China trade deal in the near future.
- "The US and China have locked themselves in a new war, a currency war," one analyst said.
- The People's Bank of China allowed its currency to pass seven yuan to the dollar for the first time in a decade, after the US president announced a 10% tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods starting in September.
- View Markets Insider's homepage for more stories.
US and European stocks rallied on Tuesday after Monday's bloodbath, despite the Trump administration officially labeling China a "currency manipulator," dashing hopes of a US-China trade deal in the near future.
"The US and China have locked themselves in a new war, a currency war," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at TF Global Markets UK.
Stock markets plunged on Monday, with the S&P 500 recording its biggest lost this year, but recovered on Tuesday.
Here's the market roundup as of 9:46 a.m. ET:
- US stocks rallied in early trading with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rising 0.6% and the Nasdaq climbing 1%.
- European equities were broadly higher with Germany's DAX up 0.2% and the Euro Stoxx 50 up 0.7%. Britain's FTSE 100 slid 0.2%.
- Asian stocks closed lower with China's Shanghai Composite down 1.6%, Japan's Nikkei down 0.7%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.7%.
- Oil prices have pared earlier gains with West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.2% at $54.80 a barrel, and Brent up 0.4% at $60.10.
- Gold inched up 0.1% to $1,478, close to a six-year high.
- Bitcoin has retreated to around $11,700.
The Treasury Department's official designation came after the People's Bank of China allowed its currency to pass seven yuan to the dollar for the first time in a decade. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to slap the label on the world's second-largest economy himself.
"China has always used currency manipulation to steal our business and factories, hurt our jobs, depress our workers' wages and harm our farmers' prices. Not anymore!"
"In labelling China a currency manipulator, the US has simply made it clear that there is no goodwill in discussions and no desire for a swift resolution to trade talks," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com. "Given the US has already imposed tariffs, the move has little real meaning anyway, but it provides the ammo to press harder on tariffs."
China's weakening of its currency was likely in retaliation for Trump's decision to impose a 10% tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods from September. A weaker yuan makes Chinese goods comparatively cheaper, helping to offset the impact of tariffs. China has also pledged to halt purchases of US agricultural products and could impose tariffs on farm goods bought after August 3.
"It is safe to say that a trade deal between the US and China seems like a faraway dream," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group.
The latest escalation in the trade war is bad news for investors.
"What will markets do? Crash," said Michael Every, senior Asia-Pacific strategist at Rabobank. "Equities are slumping. They will slump more. Bond yields are tumbling. They will tumble far more."
SHARE THIS POST
your MARKET VIEW
Your Personalized Market Center


text:
Sahara reaches Dubai
South African PC manufacturer Sahara has set up shop in Dubai and has aggressive plans to replicate its African success in the Middle East and establish itself in the region’s IT landscape.
South African PC manufacturer Sahara has set up shop in Dubai and has aggressive plans to replicate its African success in the Middle East and establish itself in the region’s IT landscape. Sahara will use its Dubai facilities to target emerging markets such as North and East Africa, as well as more mature markets such as the GCC.
“Sahara is the second largest IT company in South Africa for hardware,” claimed Manoj Tripathi, general manager at Channeltech, Sahara’s master distributor for the Middle East region. “It has built up a branded business and also a distribution arm. Sahara has reached such a size that it needs to expand into other markets, including the Middle East.”
Sahara’s Dubai facilities include warehouse operations at Jebel Ali as well as a regional office in the heart of the city’s Computer Street. Sahara, known for its desktop PCs but also supplying a wide range of peripherals and components, will use its Jebel Ali warehouse to ship stock across the Middle East, North Africa, the CIS and East Africa.
“We have opened up offices in Kenya, Tanzania and a host of other African countries and we will use Dubai as our logistics hub for our products,” added Tripathi. “We want to make an impact on the customers who come to Dubai and make the Sahara brand known across the region.”
Sahara has ambitious plans to open a string of offices across the region over the next year, beginning with Egypt and Saudi. The manufacturer is also keen to sign up in-country distributors. “There is a certain market that we will be targeting. Our desktop PCs are high quality and have proved a winner in South Africa, but it will take time to build the brand with the channel and the customer. We are looking for several dedicated distributors in each country for across the region that will help us to build the business. Long-term, people will know the Sahara name.”


text:
BURLINGTON, MA March 5, 2002 In its largest deal ever, Logistics.com Inc., recently announced that the building products division of Georgia-Pacific has selected Logistics.com's OptiManage 7 transportation management system (TMS).
The Fortune 100 company will process an estimated 550,000 shipments annually through the system, which will be used by 140 sites across the country and thousands of end-users. Implementation by Logistics.com is underway, but, because OptiManage is a Web-based application service provider (ASP), OptiManage the initial group of Georgia-Pacific plants should be online by the beginning of the third quarter.
The Web-native application will be fully integrated with Georgia-Pacific's proprietary order-management system. OptiManage will provide the company, its customers and other trading partners with supply chain visibility features such as intelligent freight monitoring, appointment scheduling, shipment notifications and Web-based tracking and tracing of shipments.
"After exhaustive review of the offerings in the marketplace, Logistics.com's OptiManage rose to the top for its comprehensiveness and proved to be the definitive choice for Georgia-Pacific," said Robert T. Pugh, vice president of transportation for Georgia-Pacific's building products division. "The hosted Web architecture eliminates capital expenditure, and allows us to begin enjoying the savings faster than any other TMS software. OptiManage's advanced event management capabilities will help us control the cost of transportation. By keeping our costs low and helping us improve customer service, OptiManage will help us extend our marketplace advantage."
"Vendors like i2, Manugistics and Logistics.com are offering shippers value through hosted transportation management systems," said Gerald McNerney, research analyst at AMR Research.


text:
Of course you would, because how else can you spy on people you hardly know without someone taking out a restraining order?
We know that Mark Zuckerberg has been facing the music these past two days, including some questions in Senate that would make your parents proud, but before we get onto that let’s check in with computer science philosopher Jaron Lanier.
He was talking at a TED conference in Vancouver, and some of what he had to say should resonate with us all.
Quartz has that covered:
“I can’t call them social networks anymore. I call them behavior modification empires”….
Lanier [below], who is widely credited as a founder of virtual reality, says the problem lies not with individuals, but in the core philosophy of the internet itself. “I don’t think it’s a matter of bad people who’ve done a bad thing. It’s a globally tragic, astounding ridiculous system rather than a wave of evil,” he said…
The internet was built on a socialist model that everything should be free and accessible to all. But it also celebrated visionary tech entrepreneurs who made it big with their world-changing ideas. “How do you celebrate entrepreneurship when everything is free?” he mused. Tech companies looked to advertising to fund their operations, and that’s where all the corruption began.
I think ‘behaviour modification empires’ has nailed social media on the head. Before Facebook, did people buy new cars, and then email picture of their new wheels and humblebrags to everyone in their email contact list?
So how do we fix this mess, where tech companies harvest our data and flog it to advertisers to generate profits? Simple – we pay for the services in the first place:
To fix things, Lanier proposed a provocative scenario: What if we paid for every Google search and Facebook interaction? “Sometimes if you pay for stuff, things get better,” he said, noting that HBO and Netflix’s paid subscription models have resulted in “peak TV.” Lanier suggested exploring other business models as well, including a scenario where individuals would be compensated for uploading quality content…
“We can imagine a hypothetical world of peak social media,” Lanier said. “It could mean that when you get on you can get really good, authoritative medical advice instead of cracks. It could mean that when you go online to get factual information, there’s not a bunch of weird conspiracy theories […] I’m certain that the companies—the Googles and the Facebooks—would actually do better in this world. I don’t think we need to punish Silicon Valley, we just need to remake the decision.”
That theory has its merits, but it’s also spoken from a position of financial privilege. What about those who cannot afford access – should they be excluded from social media?
This, from Lanier, also hits the spot:
“We cannot have a society where when two people wish to communicate, the only way it can happen is if it’s financed by a third person who wishes to manipulate them.”
Over on Recode they’ve surveyed Americans on how much they would be willing to pay for Facebook, and it makes for interesting reading.
This is a good starting point:
Facebook makes its money by leveraging user data in order to serve users ads it thinks are pertinent. Facebook generates about $9 a month per user in the U.S. by targeting you with ads. Theoretically, it would want about the same to offer the service ad-free.
And a pie chart, because they’re fun to look at:
Given that South Africans are already forking out ridiculous prices for mobile data, I reckon chopping on another R50+ a month for Facebook is a stretch.
I tell you what I would pay for – a program that tells people who share fake news stories on Facebook without Googling them first that they are terrible, lazy, no good idiots who need to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror.
Then again, they’d probably enjoy looking at themselves in the mirror.
It’s a vicious cycle, I tell you.
[imagesource:needpix&dutchcyclingacademy.com] The Dutch have never been afraid of a...
[imagesource: YouTube] Gauteng is turning into a real jungle. Sheba the tigress was ...
[imagesource: YouTube / Atlanta Police Department] This is one wild ride. It is not ...
[imagesource:instagram] Nan Goldin has never been one to shy away from controversial su...
[imagesource: Needpix] Oz authorities are losing their minds over a tiny cylinder of ra...


text:
It is no longer surprising to anyone that the various manufacturers want to expand their activity, namely on European soil. Names such as the North American Intel and the Taiwanese TSMC are the main stakeholders in this bet.
And, according to the latest information, Intel could receive 6,800 million euros from Germany to subsidize its factories.
Intel will receive €6,800 million from Germany for its factories
According to the most recent information, Germany will allocate 6,800 million euros in subsidies to Intel. The objective is to help the US manufacturer pay for part of the construction of its chip factory that it will build in the German city of Magdeburg. The intention to implement its facilities here was revealed in February of this year.
This new factory will then be Intel's second on European soil, as it already has one in Ireland. And these new facilities will be accompanied by two additional factories.
Some communication channels also state that about 2,700 million euros are already reserved, and are part of the government budget for this year 2022. And the remaining amount will be applied to the 2023 and 2024 budgets.
It is estimated that, in a first phase of the project, Intel's facilities in Magdeburg will have two nearby factories, which will occupy the equivalent of two football stadiums of world dimensions. With this construction, the company expects to create around 3,000 permanent jobs dedicated to high technology and tens of thousands of additional jobs within the scope of suppliers and partners.
According to the details, the construction of the factories in the German city is expected to start in the first half of 2023, and the manufacture of chips in them, through state-of-the-art processes, is expected for the year 2027.
This information comes at a time when Taiwanese rival TSMC has come to say that it has no plans to build factories in Europe.


text:
there has been data published by Fuji Europe some months ago:
Originally Posted by Faintandfuzzy
Michael, while Fuji's chemical, aka film and Instax divisions do i deed make more momey than the digital cameras, the Fuji X system is profitable.
Fujifilm is producing standard films, instant films, instant cameras, archival films, RA-4 silver-halide photo paper, BW photo paper, photo chemistry, lab equipment, photo books. And they are running several huge industrial-scale mass volume photo labs in several countries.
They are making more than 2 billion $ (!) with that business.
And that business is increasing.
With their digital segment (cameras) they are making less than 900 million $, and that business is decreasing (mainly due to the collapse of the compact camera sales).


text:
CrispyGamer reports that Rigopolous' firm will instead be concentrating on its new Beatles music game, which was officially announced late last year.
"We've actually made a choice to break out of the annual release cycle for Rock Band this year," Rigopolous told the assembled press and industry members. "[This is] partly because the annual cycle places limits on the choices you can make as a developer. We're trying to take a long term view."Fielding questions at the conference, Rigopolous also hinted that there may be be a piano keyboard peripheral in the works for the Rock Band franchise.


text:
Posted by Milton Griepp on July 20, 2020 @ 4:16 am CT
The deal is subject to shareholder approval, the approval of the holder of CTM’s PPP loans, and "other customer conditions."
The transaction takes debt off IDW’s balance sheet and divests a division that never seemed a good fit with the publishing and entertainment divisions. And as a tourism-based company, CTM would have likely dragged down the company’s performance for the foreseeable future. CTM’s sales in the quarter ended April 30 were down 43%, with an operating loss of $1.6 million. The division was shut down for the last month of the quarter (see "IDW Publishing Sales Up Despite COVID").
An Update on 'Disney Lorcana,' Plans for the Future, and More
April 15, 2024
In this e-mail interview at the six-month mark after the release of Disney Lorcana, to get an update on the progress of the game, plans for the future, and other topics.


text:
Jack London Square, Oakland’s waterfront property that has been in a state of flux over the last few years, will soon become home to a 40,000-square-foot market hall.
CIM Group, the national developer that bought the Jack London Square property in a $131 million deal roughly three years ago, announced the news on Monday. According to the company, a long-term lease was signed with John McEnery IV to bring a two-level “entertainment venue with novel food and beverage purveyors” to 55 Harrison St.
No further details on the project, such as its timing, were yet available. CIM Group declined further comment.
John McEnery IV also operates San Pedro Square Market in San Jose and the Abbott Square Market in Santa Cruz. The Jack London Square concept will be its largest such project.
If the idea sounds familiar, it’s because it sounds a lot like the Water Street Market, the 32,000-square-foot project that was announced in 2015 for Jack London Square. It fell into limbo when CIM bought the property in 2016, and never came to fruition.
Jack London Square in the throes of a revitalization for years, much of which came in 2017 in the form of a new generation of restaurant tenants. Over the last two years, Burmese restaurant Grocery Cafe has opened, as have Belcampo, Dyafa, urban winery Brooklyn West, Irish bar Sláinte.
Meanwhile, retail has seen new life with Ayesha Curry opening her first brick-and-mortar version of Homemade, her popular lifestyle brand. The business is said to only be taking temporary residence at Jack London Square, but Curry has not ruled out the possibility that it becomes a permanent space. Not to mention, the Oakland A’s are planning to use the property in new stadium plans.
Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: firstname.lastname@example.org. Twitter: @JusMrPhillips


text:
As any avid gamer would know China has a history of banning games. While other countries that forbid games do it only for reasons such as violence and mature content, China has a different scale of rating things as well as the normal one. Following a ban of video-game consoles in 2000 the Chinese finally got a lift of that ban in 2013.However a lot of the games still remain forbidden most notably Command & Conquer Generals for “smearing the image of China and the Chinese army”,Football Manager 2005 for ”recognizing Tibet as an independent country” and now even Battlefield 4.
For those of you who don’t know Battlefield 4 bases it’s campaign around the story of a rouge admiral that plans to overthrow the Chinese government and conquer the World. While this may seem like an innocent plot for another Modern FPS, China hasn’t taken it lightly and plans to reinforce their laws on censorship. China is writing new laws on how they will treat games and it doesn’t look good for gamers. The head of China’s Ministry of Culture, Cai Wu, said that the regulations are being written as fast as possible.
“Things that are hostile to China, or not in conformity with the outlook of China’s government, won’t be allowed. We want to open the window a crack to get some fresh air, but we still need a screen to block the flies and mosquitoes.”
This is still a lot better than the original ban of all video-games in China but what happens remains to be seen. Sony and Nintendo are analyzing the ways they can make money from the new open market,we can only hope that those possibilities will be great.


text:
NEW LONDON — With plates heaped high with at least five varieties of lettuce picked that morning at an aeroponics farm a couple miles away, restaurant owners and volunteers working to bring a food cooperative to New London were clearly enjoying their salads.
They were also talking with the farm’s owners about getting the fresh greens on the menu and on the shelves.
“Absolutely,” said Leah Michaelis, owner of Lake Affect Coffee in New London, when asked if she would consider purchasing the leafy greens from Lettuce Abound Farms. “It’s good and nearby and fresh.”
Mateo Mackbee and his partner Erin Lucas, who will be opening Model Citizen Restaurant this month in the Goat Ridge Brewery in New London, said the locally grown greens will fit perfectly with the farm-to-market emphasis of their menu.
That’s exactly the kind of reaction Kevin Ortenblad and Brian Dengler were hoping for when they invited several business owners and business leaders on a tour last week to see how their aeroponics lettuce is grown and to serve up a meal featuring their first harvest.
When Ortenblad and Dengler, along with their wives Julie Ortenblad and Melody Dengler, started the process 16 months ago to build the region’s first commercial-scale aeroponics lettuce farm, they asked local grocery stores and restaurateurs if they would be interested in buying lettuce grown year-round in rural New London.
“They told us, ‘let us know when you have something to taste,'” said Dengler, who is Ortenblad’s son-in-law.
That time has arrived.
To show people how the lettuce is raised, how it tastes and how much it costs, the family-owned farm is giving tours and giving potential customers a taste of the product.
While building up their wholesale commercial base, individuals can purchase the lettuce from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. directly from the farm site, 3825 County Road 40 N.E. The price is $2.25 a head.
“You pray at the end that people want it,” said Dengler, who is also setting up private meetings with local grocery stores. Their goal is to sell their product to local vendors.
“We’re very optimistic,” Dengler said.
They’re hoping that once people taste the greens, they’ll be hooked.
“My life was rocked when I found out what real lettuce can taste like,” Dengler said.
Lettuce Abound is the first franchise operation of the Faribault-based Living Greens Farm, which developed this type of aeroponics system.
Ortenblad and Dengler modified the system and, despite some challenges that delayed the start-up, they said the system is working flawlessly and plants are growing faster than expected.
The facility is housed in a farm machine shed they turned into an immaculate indoor farm that meets federal vegetable production and packaging standards.
After suiting up in a white jacket and hairnet, washing one’s hands and stepping in a shallow shoe wash before entering the indoor farm, visitors see vertical walls of lush green lettuce.
The quantity and vibrancy of the edible greens stop visitors in their tracks.
When the facility is eventually in full year-round production, the 102- by 50-foot building will produce the equivalent of a 180-acre farm.
But these plants are grown without one grain of soil.
Instead, seeds for the greens — including butter lettuce, red and green oak leaf lettuce, romaine, arugula, and microgreens — are hand-seeded in a product called “rock wool” that Dengler describes as crushed volcanic rock “spun like cotton candy.”
After the seeds germinate and plants are a couple inches high, the chunks of rock wool are placed into panels with cup-like plastic containers and attached to 12 stainless steel A-frame units that are eight feet high and 32 feet long.
Each unit holds 1,536 lettuce plants.
The roots of the plants dangle in the air underneath the frame and are spritzed every 12 minutes with a mist of reverse osmosis water and fertilizer delivered through mechanical sprayers run by a complex computer program.
The water does not touch the leaves of the lettuce, and there are no pesticides used.
Banks of intense lights — which are so strong sunglasses are needed to work among the plants — help fuel the plants’ rapid growth. (The lights are turned down during tours.)
The carbon dioxide level is carefully measured, the temperature is kept at 70-72, the humidity is at 55-65 percent and a fan blows air to mimic the wind and makes the indoor farm “smell amazing,” Dengler said.
“Schedule is king,” Dengler said of the enclosed system and computer program that controls nearly every aspect of the growing process.
It takes about a month from when seeds are started to when plants are harvested. During peak capacity, they will harvest three units, or about 4,600 heads of lettuce, every week, Ortenblad said.
The plan is to harvest lettuce on Thursday and get it packaged and cooled and delivered on Friday.
They are gradually increasing the number of varieties of lettuce and will grow specific types of greens requested by large-scale customers, Dengler said.
While they’re growing just lettuce now, they have already laid the groundwork for a potential expansion in a couple years for a new building to grow aeroponics strawberries and small cherry tomatoes.
Ortenblad, a retired farmer who raised organic soybeans in traditional fields near Willmar, said he is “having a ball” with this new project, in part because he gets to work with his family, including grandchildren, who help plants the seeds.
During the April blizzard, he teased his farmer friends that he was already working in his fields in a perfect climate-controlled environment surrounded by sumptuous green leaves ready to eat while they were waiting out the storm.


text:
An overseas Vietnamese man in his sixties is taking a shot at Vietnam’s competitive fashion scene after 40 years of living abroad.
Thuan Nguyen, also known as Nguyen Van Thuan, was born in Laos and began developing a passion for French fashion when he was just ten.
That passion, however, was never able to grow as family hardship kept him from pursuing a life in the fashion industry.
At 17, Thuan dropped out of school, learned how to fix planes, and took on a job as an aircraft maintenance technician at an airport in the Lao capital of Vientiane.
Still, as he grew older and began to raise a family, his love of fashion kept a strong foothold in his heart.
Thuan shared that he earned a reputation at the Vietntiane airport for his keen taste in clothing and willingness to drop big bucks on high-end shoes, even if they cost twice his monthly wage.
“Fixing aircraft made me a lot of money, but it was not a job I had been longing for,” Thuan Nguyen said, adding that his desire to find something meaningful to do with his life prompted his decision to move to Paris in 1973.
Thuan got married a year after moving to France and spent the next 20 years working as an auto mechanic in order to raise his family.
For two more decades after that, he studied accounting in the hope of giving his wife and children a better life.
Even though he was well known amongst his friends in France for his unique and sophisticated fashion, it was only when he decided to retire and return to Vietnam in 2012 that his dream of becoming a designer began to flourish.
As more and more people throughout the country began noticing Thuan Nguyen’s age alongside his astonishing suits and impeccable fashion choices, his reputation began to grow.
“I choose to dress fashionably every day to inspire myself and others,” he said.
|Thuan Nguyen poses for at a photo shoot with members of Hanoi’s football club, all donning suits he designed. Photo: Supplied|
He began to design clothing for well-recognized Vietnamese singers such as Le Hieu, Quoc Thien, and Dang Khoi, but it was not until he starred in a photo shoot with Vietnamese photographer Tuan Phap, which went viral, that he started to gain a loyal fan following.
Thuan said that he was very happy to be featured in social events, commercials, movies and even fashion catwalks and feels like he is living the life he has always dreamed about.
He also shared that he believes he is on the right track to happiness and plans to establish his own fashion brand named “L’ATELIER” in the near future.
“I am proud to consider myself the most fashionable old man in Vietnam,” Thuan Nguyen said, eyes gleamed with joy.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!


text:
Hyundai will continue squeezing capacity out of its critical North American vehicle assembly plant as it presses for 1 million U.S. sales by 2025.
But Hyundai Motor North America CEO Jose Muñoz acknowledges that it has been a tough year for his dealers to get all the cars and trucks they want, either from South Korea or the company’s plant in Montgomery, Ala.
“All the plants in the group are being hit with a lot of uncertainty and then a short supply,” Muñoz said Thursday during an interview with Automotive News as part of its online Congress Conversations series. “We have not been able to maximize the capacity that we had available.”
But by comparison, he noted, “most of our competitors have to idle their plants and have lost way more production.”
The Alabama plant has production capacity of 400,000 vehicles a year.
Muñoz said Hyundai continues to assess its American plant capacity needs. He added that the company is listening closely to what the Biden administration says about new federal incentives for the electric vehicle industry.
“We are assessing and evaluating this particular case and the new Biden administration’s policies,” he said. “And I think that once we see a little bit more clarity on what the plans are in detail, we may have other considerations.”
For the time being, he said, Hyundai would be happy simply to get as many vehicles out of Alabama as the plant is built to produce.
The automaker just invested $400 million in the plant to add the redesigned Tucson to its production mission. That brings the plant to four key products — the Elantra and Sonata sedans, the Santa Fe crossover and now the Tucson crossover — in addition to production of all the engines to supply those models.
Still this year, the plant will add the Santa Cruz to its roster. The vehicle represents Hyundai’s first move toward U.S. pickup buyers, but the company has clarified that it intends to market the Santa Cruz as a crossover with a pickup bed, rather than as a pickup.
“We made the commitment to invest while all of this pandemic took place,” Muñoz noted. “This is going to be a great opportunity to enhance our overall opinion as a brand.
“The new launches are going to help a lot.”


text:
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (October 20, 2011) – A significant construction milestone occurred today when the keel for the new Royal Princess was laid in the building dock at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. As the keel – the bottommost part of the ship – was ceremoniously lowered into position, Princess Cruises and shipyard officials marked the occasion with a celebration and countdown to the ship’s debut in spring 2013.
Following a traditional blessing by a priest, the ship’s keel – which weighs approximately 500 tons – was moved into position by a huge crane onto the keel blocks. The computer-guided maneuver took only minutes, belying the more than two million man hours that will ultimately go into building the vessel. The 3,600-passenger, 141,000-ton ship will remain in the building dock until its float-out next summer.
“It’s always very exciting to mark this step in a ship’s construction, when several of the pre-built sections come together to form a new addition to our fleet, especially with a prototype design,” said Alan Buckelew, president and CEO of Princess Cruises who traveled to Italy for the ceremony. He explained that Royal Princess’ evolutionary design will include some exciting new elements and expanded spaces, while maintaining the classic profile and popular features passengers have come to associate with Princess.
“The keel laying in the building dock marks a fundamental step in the construction of Royal Princess, an innovative prototype ship for one of the most prestigious brands of Carnival Corporation, the world cruise leader, for which Fincantieri has built many vessels in the past,” said Giuseppe Bono, Fincantieri CEO. “We are particularly proud and strongly believe that Fincantieri will build the most beautiful ship in the world.”
One of the most dramatic new design elements of Royal Princess is an over-water SeaWalk – a glass-bottomed enclosed walkway extending more than 20 feet beyond the edge of the vessel. From here passengers will enjoy dramatic views off the side of the ship and to the sea below. On the ship’s opposite side, an over-water SeaView bar will also extend over the waves to provide cocktails and unbeatable vistas.
On her top decks, Royal Princess will feature a new adults-only pool surrounded by seven plush private cabanas that appear to be floating on the water. Two additional pools will flank a tropical island that will offer pool seating by day, and by night will become an outdoor dance club, complete with a dazzling water and light show. Princess’ signature adults-only haven, The Sanctuary, will be expanded both in size and amenities. The popular poolside theater, Movies Under the Stars, will play a starring role mid-ship with an expanded size and high-definition viewing.
Royal Princess will feature an expanded version of the company’s signature Piazza – the ship’s central atrium incorporating a myriad of dining, entertainment and retail experiences. And each of the vessel’s outside cabins will include a balcony, meaning 80 percent of all staterooms will offer this popular feature.
Additional details about the ship will be released over the coming months.
Source: Princess Cruises


text:
— This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on September 23, Tuesday.
Welcome to the CNBC Business Daily, I'm Qian Chen.
Alibaba shares down more than 4 percent today... with investors taking some profit off the table after that first day surge. The IPO is making history as the world's largest, after bankers exercised the green-shoe option. Alibaba now ranks among the biggest companies in the S&P 500.
If Alibaba closes around $93 where it opened for trade on Friday, its market value would be roughly $240 billion. That's almost the same size as Wal-Mart, which has a $245 billion market cap. Or more than four times the size of Walgreen's market cap. In fact, there are only nine companies in the S&P 500 that are bigger than Alibaba including Apple, Exxon, Google and Berkshire Hathaway.
Dominic Chu takes a closer look at what the Chinese e-commerce giant is worth in this report.
Now that we've seen alibaba's historic IPO raise the most money ever for an initial public offering, we thought it'd be interesting to show you guys the perspective of how much alibaba's worth at certain levels.
Well first of all, when it came to market, at $60 a share, it came with an inherent, at least, market value of about $170 bn. Now, to put that in perspective, that's about the same size as semi-conductor giant intel, worth about $173 bn. So, alibaba goes public and on day 1, it's worth as much as one of the biggest semi-conductor companies in the world.
Secondly, let's see where it opened. It opened just around $93 a share. You can see there. That meant that alibaba had a market value of around $240 bn and again, that's the same size as oil and gas giant chevron. So, immediately when it starts trading, the first minute, it's worth as much as one of the biggest oil companies in the world, really.
And then let's put it again, in perspective. At $95 per share, alibaba's worth $245 bn. At one point during the first day of trading, it hit there and for perspective, that means that alibaba, at that price, is worth just about as much as the world's biggest retailer walmart. So again, interesting perspective that on the first day of trading, alibaba is already up there in terms of size with the biggest companies in the world. Back over to you.
I'm Qian Chen, reporting from CNBC's Asian headquarters.


text:
"It is said the devil is in the detail, but that's also where you'll find the brilliance of Tacoma."
The release is set for May 8, almost a year after its arrival on PC and Xbox One.
We're taking a look at Fullbright's latest adventure.
The Gone Home studio isn't abandoning its approach to narrative.
We got a look at the game during Microsoft's conference.
Check out Fullbright's upcoming space adventure.
We finally get to see some of the changes they made after delaying it.
We're not going to the space station in 2016.
Steve Gaynor talks communication in Fullbright's new first-person exploration game.
New game shown at The Game Awards from Gone Home creators.


text:
Renovite Announces Upcoming Cloud-Based ATM Software Release
Payment tech vendor Renovite Technologies is preparing to roll out a new ATM transaction solution at the ATM & Payments Summit. The new payment software, Reno-ATM, is based in the cloud, which, the company claims, allows it to outperform existing legacy platforms in the ATM sector.
The software boasts increased ATM configuration capabilities, flexible transaction orchestration, automated testing and hardware-agnostic ATM client software for Windows and Linux.
"Legacy systems have been patched up over the years, a bit like an old car," Renovite Senior Product Manager David Smith stated. "But, under the surface, they are no longer fit for purpose. The main issue with these legacy platforms — what we call legacy dragons — is that they are too complex and expensive to change. Organizations are forced to keep spending more and more money to fix problems rather than transform their business to drive new growth. Happily, Renovite has both the modern technology and [the] payments expertise to resolve these infrastructure challenges."


text:
“We’ve got a little more to show you.” (Link via The Verge)
On top of a rumored iPad mini, there are rumors that Apple will also be announcing new Mac minis and a 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina Display.
Since the debut of the iOS 6, which included a new Maps app, there has been a loud chorus from the vocal minority known as the tech media. Apparently, some users were unhappy that they no longer had a maps app from Google and contended that Apple’s mapping solution was subpar. That’s debatable but I’m not addressing that here.
What I would like to point out is that the Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, Inc., penned an open letter in regards to the mapgate situation. He wrote what seemed like an honest apology about the entire situation.
All I want to know is if there is a new opening at Apple to head the mapping division because I’m sure Cook does not want to keep writing apologies.
By the way, Google Maps is far from perfect and has gotten me lost on more than one occasion (and I’m sure for many others including the mapgate chorus). But, I have never read a single word by anyone in the tech press complaining about the imperfections of Google Maps.
No matter how large Apple gets, they will always be treated like the red-headed stepchild of the tech industry.


text:
Diamonds and Dogs
Under Armour is flexing its muscle today up 20% thanks to better than expected earnings. The Baltimore based company that counts such sponsors as Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, Steph Curry, Cam Newton, Jordan Spieth, Tom Brady, and Gisele reported better than expected earnings and sales growth of 31% and 28% for the full year coming in at nearly $4 billion in just 20 short years. With the stock still down 26% from the yearly highs, the stock may see more upside.
"Cloud" computing is the hot sector except for today's dog, Servicenow Inc. (NOW). Servicenow is down 18% to a new 52 week low following better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, but disappointing guidance. The company marked a huge milestone in 2015, becoming only the second enterprise SaaS company to surpass $1 billion in revenue. Going forward, ServiceNow also expects 2016 revenue between $1.34 billion and $1.37 billion, up between 33% and 36% from 2015 as reported and between 34% and 37% at constant currency, but somehow investors were disappointed with the outlook. Investors have been tough to please in this market.


text:
The baking company Warburtons has apologised for a promotion that inadvertently directed customers to pictures of people who get their kicks by dressing up as animals.
It offered a prize for its Instagram followers who posted pictures of “Christmassy crumpets” using the hashtag #crumpetcreations.
However, the marketing team had failed to realise that the hashtag was already used by the niche subculture “furry” community. As a result, customers expecting to scroll through photos of buttered crumpets were instead presented with images of adults dressed in animal costumes.
In one image, a person in a reindeer suit lounges on a sofa, with the caption: “Come have a seat?” Another features a large squirrel with pink hair peeking out from behind a tree. The hashtag also directs…


text:
CHICAGO — Mayor Rahm Emanuel is slated to make his Food Network debut Sunday night.
Emanuel will appear on "The Great Food Truck Race," a weekly show that follows fledgling food truck operators as they compete coast-to-coast. The winner takes home a fully loaded food truck to start his or her own business.
This summer, Chicago saw the number of cook-onboard food trucks rise to 21, as several new additions were approved. These included Eastman Egg Company, Gelato D’Oro and Husky Hog BBQ.
There are now more than 120 food trucks roaming Chicago, according to the mayor's office. Several of these made history when they set up shop at Taste of Chicago in July.
The mayor's Food Network appearance airs at 8 p.m.


text:
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for April delivery fell $2.03 to $61.50 a barrel Friday. Brent crude oil for April delivery fell 75 cents to $66.13 a barrel.
Wholesale gasoline for March delivery fell 1 cent to $1.88 a gallon. March heating fell 5 cents to $1.86 a gallon. April natural gas fell 1 cent to $2.77 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold for April delivery fell $46.60 to $1728.80 an ounce. Silver for March delivery fell $1.24 to $26.40 an ounce and March copper fell 18 cents to $4.09 a pound.
The dollar rose to 106.63 Japanese yen from 106.22 yen. The euro fell to $1.2079 from $1.2185.7 Stocks to Buy For the Gig Economy
Before the global pandemic, it was referred to as a side hustle—a way for some individuals to make a little extra money. However, as the pandemic has changed the nature of how we work, and as consumers how we spend, the gig economy has become an essential way of life for many workers.
There is much that’s not known about the long-term effects of the pandemic. But if there’s one lesson we learn from history, it’s that there will be ripple effects. We believe that society will get back to something resembling normal. However, what that normal looks like may be different.
Americans were becoming less social since before the pandemic. Now consumers have begun to realize there truly is no reason to leave their house to shop for anything. And while many crave physical connection during these times, there will be many that have changed their purchasing habits for good.
Other elements of the gig economy, such as ride-hailing and home rentals, were devastated due to the pandemic. Those businesses are likely to come back.
And that’s why companies that have created the gig economy aren’t going away anytime soon. In this special report, we’ll highlight several stocks that investors should consider as the gig economy moves forward.
View the "7 Stocks to Buy For the Gig Economy"


text:
Game Group set to become biggest High Street casualty since Woolworths as it calls in administrators
Game Group is set to become the next major retailer to disappear from the High Street as it called in the administrators today.
The video games retailer, which has 1,300 stores worldwide and employs 10,000 staff, suspended its shares earlier when its management admitted the business has no value.
The company is teetering on the brink of a collapse which could be the largest in the retail sector since the demise of Woolworths.
But there remains the possibility that investment firm OpCapita, which recently bought electrical goods retailer Comet, could still buy Game out of administration with far fewer stores.
Under threat: Game shares were suspended on the London Stock Exchange 'pending clarification of the company's financial position'
With a huge rental payment due on Sunday and suppliers refusing to provide it with new products, lenders to the retailer have been locked in talks over a potential bid by OpCapita since last week.
But Game’s syndicate of six banks, including state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, are thought to have rejected the only fully funded offer on the table from the firm.
Some 600 of Game's stores are in the UK, employing 6,000 staff. All the group's stores, which also include the Gamestation brand, are still open for business.
It is understood that one of Game's main lenders, taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, has objected to the terms of a rescue deal with private equity firm OpCapita.
It has been reported that Game faces a £21million rent payment due on Sunday and a £12million wage bill at the end of the month, and owes more than £10million in VAT and £40million to suppliers.
A new investor would have to pay up to £100million to Game's banks.
Game has borne the brunt of dire trading in recent months, which has forced the chain to ask its suppliers for more generous trading terms.
Some of them have instead stopped supplying Game with new releases, such as Mass Effect 3 and Street Fighter X Tekken, leaving fans disappointed and adding to the group's trading woes.
Game agreed fresh lending facilities with banks last month and began seeking access to alternative sources of funding earlier this month.
It has already signalled that losses for the year to the end of January are likely to be around £18million.
An OpCapita spokesman said: 'We put forward a fully funded proposal which would have preserved Game as a viable business in partnership with the suppliers, who have been very supportive.'
Long decline: Game shares have struggled for the past year as the retailer battles to win over shoppers
Most watched Money videos
- Lord Blunkett 'never envisaged' disabled Child Trust Fund issues
- BMW under fire for latest 'woke' promo video
- Bentley blower is back! British marque completes reborn 1920s racer
- The all new Toyota Mirai 2021 hydrogen fuel cell car
- UK's first garage for charging electric vehicles opens in Braintree
- Renault 5 EV prototype will look like the 1980s rally car
- Electric cars could reap benefits from new green number plates
- We've had the vaccine rally, so what next for shares?
- Chinese Nio ET7 electric family car costing £60,000
- All-New Dacia Sandero supermini will hit UK market later this year
- JCB's new vehicle designed to eradicate potholes in record time
- 'UK shares can do well when the world reopens': Tom Becket


text:
Google Ads this week has ceased purchasing ads through multicall requests in waterfalls that lack bidding ad units, and it will fully eliminate multicall support within hybrid setups in January 2024.
This is part of the move of Google Ads moving towards real-time bidding (RTB) auctions for app advertising. This move aligns with Google Ads' ongoing efforts to enhance transparency and efficiency in the app advertising ecosystem. By prioritizing RTB, Google Ads aims to provide advertisers with the most relevant and valuable placements across app networks.
To further safeguard the integrity of its app advertising platform, Google Ads will be implementing measures to detect and deter multicall abuse. Multicall abuse involves manipulating the bidding process by submitting multiple requests for ad inventory, potentially inflating ad prices and hindering effective targeting.
Specifically, Google Ads will scrutinize attempts to circumvent multicall detection systems, including techniques like ad unit misrepresentation. This practice involves creating, utilizing, or manipulating new ad units within multicall queries, often employed to conceal chains of related multicall requests.
Starting January 20, 2024, Google Ads may temporarily pause app ad purchases from publishers found to engage in multicall abuse. The duration of the pause will depend on the severity of the detected violations.


text:
Nigerian brewers dump barley for sorghum in hunt for local substitute
Cultivation of sorghum, an important cereal crop, is fast booming in the Nigerian market as brewers in the country are now using a larger percentage of the crop in place of barley for brewing beer and malt drinks.
Brewers are also making huge investments in sorghum malting plants in the country owing to their hunt for local substitutes in place of barley malt and barley concentrates.
As a result, billions of dollars that would have been spent on importation of barley malt and concentrates will be retained in the economy and help propel growth and development, even as it will drive down input costs for brewery firms.
“A lot of farmers are now going into sorghum farming because the brewery industry is buying more from us now than before,” Adamu Bature, secretary, Sorghum, Millet Farmers Association of Nigeria, told BusinessDay in a telephone response to questions.
“Brewers make use of 70 percent sorghum as by-product for brewing beer and malt. Nigeria Breweries fayrouz brand is 100 percent sorghum. This shows the huge industrial potentials of the crop. Also, it serves as raw material for biscuit and noodles production,” Bature said.
He noted that the crop is grown in all the northern states in the country including Kogi and Kwara States.
Nigeria is the natural habitat for many varieties of sorghum and the world’s second largest producer and supplier of the crop, churning out 11 million metric tons per annum while demand is put at 12.5 million MT, leaving a gap of 1.5 million MT, according to data obtained from the Federal Ministry Agriculture.
“Nigeria Breweries funded a sorghum research at the institute and we developed a sorghum variety with high malting properties which can be used in place of barley as by-product for brewing beer and malt. So most brewers are increasing their local sourcing for sorghum,” said Ibrahim Umar Abubakar, director, Institute for Agricultural Research, IAR Zaria.
According to the institute, two varieties of sorghum with malting properties have been released.
“The CSR03H and CSR04H are the two varieties we developed with high malting properties and have been released officially,” said Daniel Aba a sorghum breeder at the Institute for Agricultural Research, Zaria.
Sorghum is a grass of east African origin. It is the 4th most important cereal after wheat, rice and maize and is used as a maize substitute for livestock feeds because of their similar nutritional values.
“The stalk from sorghum can be used as livestock feeds while the grains are used for poultry feeds production. It has high protein content than maize,” said Aba.
Like shea nuts, sorghum has the potential to be a huge export earner for the country, but years of low investment, lack of government support and natural vagaries has limited the huge potentials.
Inability of Africa’s biggest economy to sustain and improve its production of sorghum over the years has resulted to an average yield of 0.500 ton per hectare when other leading countries produce between 4.5 to 6 tons per hectare of improved variety.
Olayinka Edmond, corporate communication manager, Guinness Nigeria in an email response to questions, said Guinness has increased its local sourcing to 70 percent within the last two years and that sorghum constitutes the bulk of it.
“Despite the price of the crop increasing significantly we are still increasing our demand for sorghum,” Edmond said.
Liman Mohammed, a sorghum farmer in Borno, said “I have three brewery firms I sell to immediately after harvest. The demand is getting higher since the dollar volatility as most of them want to source locally and now using sorghum in place of barley.”
“Currently a metric ton of sorghum sells for N170, 000 as against N130, 000 sold four months ago. The price keeps rising owing to the increase in demand,” Mohammed said.
Currently, most of the brewery firms in the country are supplying free inputs such as improved seed varieties to farmers and also giving them technical support in the production of the crop.
“The company has made progress in increasing the supply of sorghum used for some of its beverages as more than 100, 000 tons of the cereal were purchased during the year,” said Patrick Olowokere, manager, corporate communications and brand public relations, in a note made available to BusinessDay.
Big Read |


text:
GTA 5 Delayed till September, Could come out on next gen
Rockstar has confirmed a September release date for Grand Theft Auto 5, moving it from the original Spring release window, to September. One analyst thinks GTA 5 is coming out on next gen systems.
The move will provide “additional development time,” according to the firm.
“Grand Theft Auto V continues to push the series forward in new ways; Rockstar North are creating our deepest, most beautiful and most immersive world yet,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games. “We are very excited for people to learn more about the game in the coming months.”
Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz has chalked the delay up to a possible release on next-gen consoles.
“In and of itself, the delay of the game from FQ1 to FQ2 would not normally mean any significant change to expected FY14 financial results,” Creutz stated in a financial note. “However there is an issue in that we expect the next generation of Xbox and/or PlayStation consoles to launch in the December quarter.
“We think the closer proximity of GTA V to the next cycle could, at the margin, impact lifetime sales of the title, though we believe that a title of GTA’s stature will still be a major seller regardless. We think there also could be some impact on the legs of likely GTA V downloadable content as the next-gen installed base increases through 2014.
“However, we suspect Take-Two may have plans to eventually publish GTA V on the next set of consoles in some form to offset this.”
GTA 5 will be released on PS3 and Xbox 360 September 17.Mario Kart Double Dash Final Fantasy Vs 13 on PS4 to Block Used Games 2 Wishlist PS4? Via NFC Tech? Playeressence Original Next Generation News All the Top Gaming News Content & Shows Central, All info here For the day here


text:
Cupertino, California (February 26, 2007) – Ducati North America announces an exciting series of events surrounding the 2007 edition of Daytona Bike Week.
This year Ducati is making the Daytona experience better than ever, with a four day celebration of the company’s culture and roadracing heritage. From Wednesday, March 7 through Saturday, March 10, Ducati will transform the area located directly beneath Daytona International Speedway’s Nextel Tower Grandstand into “Ducati Village” – featuring Desmo-only parking, hospitality, live TV feeds, the 2007 Ducati model range and a place to meet fellow Ducatisti.
On Friday, March 9, the Village will host non-stop entertainment as Ducati.net presents the annual DucatiDayDaytona party (DDD). DDD 2007 will feature favorites such as the Concorso DucatiDayDaytona; the longest running Ducati-only motorcycle concours in North America, a contest for the best sounding Ducati and two rounds of the exciting Fashion Show.
This year’s event also marks the 30th Anniversary of Cook Neilson and Phil Schilling’s historic 1977 Daytona Superbike win on a Ducati. To commemorate this occasion, Cook Neilson and Phil Schilling will once again return to the Speedway. On Friday they will attend DDD to meet fans and celebrate their legendary success at Daytona.
Another special guest of the festivities is Gianandrea Fabbro, the Senior Designer of the new 1098 Superbike. Gianandrea is making a special trip from Italy to attend DDD on Friday afternoon where fans can learn first hand about the development of the 1098 during a special presentation. Gianandrea will be available at the event for the duration of the day to answer questions, sign autographs and enjoy all that bike week has to offer.
Full details of the week’s events, including a complete schedule, can be found at www.ducatidaydaytona.com and www.ducatiusa.com.


text:
The company’s shares surged about 15% in extended trading.
The electric carmaker said Model Y production started in January and deliveries began in March, significantly ahead of schedule.
It also said that its Shanghai factory in China continued to achieve record levels of production, despite significant setbacks.
Tesla last month suspended production at its Fremont, California, assembly plant under pressure from local authorities to curb the spread of the virus.
The company delivered 88,400 vehicles in the first quarter, including 76,200 Model 3/Y sedans and 12,200 Model S/X SUVs, below estimates of 93,399 vehicles, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.


text:
An alleged teardown of a prototype version of the Apple AirPower shows a massively complex internal design that might explain why Apple cancelled it.
The purported teardown uploaded to bilibili and reported on by 9to5Mac and iClarified shows an array with a total of 14 wireless charging coils – all layered within the base of the device. This would have assured that iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods owners could have charged their devices wherever they were placed on the AirPower mat.
The teardown also shows a keyboard-esque metal frame that would have kept everything densely packed into the product. We can also see the Lightning port that would have enabled the device to be connected to a power source.
All of this, if accurate, might shed some light on why Apple was unable to perfect the AirPower device to its own “high standards.” When it cancelled the product last year, 18 months after announcing it, the company didn’t cite a particular reason, but it was largely believed to be technical challenges that brought down the gadget.
Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, Dan Riccio said at the time: “After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project.
Read more: AirPower alternatives
“We apologise to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward.”
If you believe recent rumours, Apple is having another stab at building an AirPower multi-device wireless chargers. According to a tweet from Jon Prosser, the founder of Front Page Tech back in March, Apple has once again started work on the wireless charging solution that once promised to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods case simultaneously.
Prosser said the project is “back on” with Apple engineers attempting to “re-engineer the coils to displace heat more effectively.” If the source is reliable, Apple is already prototyping new solutions.


text:
Hertz to buy car hire rival
US car rental company Hertz today said it will buy smaller rival Dollar Thrifty for about $2.3 billion, ending more than two years of on-off takeover talks.
Hertz, which is the number 2 ranked US car rental company, and third-ranked Avis Group have made several offers for Dollar Thrifty, but until now they have been blocked by disagreements over price and doubts about regulatory approval.
The takeover leaves just three players with more than 90 per cent of the US car rental market and cements Hertz's position as the number two, leaving Avis far behind in third.
Privately held Enterprise Holdings, with its Alamo, National and Enterprise brands, is far and away the market leader.
Dollar Thrifty, the final big target in an industry that has consolidated rapidly, this month urged Hertz to make a compelling bid or leave it alone.
Hertz will buy Dollar Thrifty for $87.50 per share in cash, a premium of 8 per cent over Dollar Thrifty's Friday closing price of $81 on the New York Stock Exchange, and almost double a $1.2 billion offer Hertz made in April 2010.
Avis' entry into the bidding in 2010 pushed up the price for Dollar Thrifty, which was at one point during the financial crisis was offered $2 per share by Hertz.
Avis withdrew its offer after it bought Avis Europe last year for about $1 billion.
"Hertz has made a compelling offer to our stockholders that reflects the strength of our business," Dollar Thrifty chief executive Scott Thompson said in a statement.


text:
Fintech Takes Lion’s Share in Q2 2021 Swiss VC Fundingby Fintechnews Switzerland July 22, 2021
Out of the CHF 1.4 billion raised by Swiss startups in Q2 2021, CHF 677 million, or nearly half of that sum, went towards fintech companies, according to a new report by Startup.ch, Switzerland’s largest startup directory and a leading news platform.
Wefox’s massive CHF 588 million Series C funding round pushed the fintech sector to the top, overtaking biotech and information and communications technology (ICT), two industries that have historically led in venture capital (VC) investment.
The Wefox deal was by far the largest round in that quarter, far ahead of the second largest one (CHF 106 million) which went to medtech company Cequr. It’s the only fintech round that made it into the top ten VC rounds list.
The deal gave Wefox a post-money valuation of US$3 billion and represents the largest Series C to date for an insurtech globally, the company said in its media release.
Wefox, formerly known as FinanceFox, was founded in Switzerland in November 2014. It’s a fully licensed digital insurance company that sells insurance products through intermediaries. In 2020, the company reached profitability and saw its revenue double to US$143 million.
Wefox, which is currently active in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Poland, plans to use the proceeds from its latest fundraising to expand into the US and Asia within the next two years.
“Super-rounds” of more than CHF 20 million drove most of Switzerland’s VC funding activity in Q2 2021, contributing a total of CHF 1.15 billion through 11 deals, data show. Two of those deals involved fintech companies. Alongside Wefox, the other fintech super-round went towards unicorn startup Numbrs, which announced the closing of CHF 27 million round in January 2021.
Founded in 2014, Numbrs is a personal finance app that allows users to connect their bank accounts, crypto wallets and loyalty cards into one platform to have better view of their finances. As of May 2020, the app had an aggregated of EUR 11 billion in client assets, recorded 2.2 million downloads and had 1.8 million bank accounts linked to it.
Q2 2021 also saw Deutsche Boerse acquiring a majority stake in Swiss digital asset startup Crypto Finance. The US$108 million+ deal sees Germany’s stock exchange operator hold a two-thirds majority in the fintech company, and allows it to extend its offering for digital assets by providing a direct entry point for investments, including post-trade services such as custody, the group said on June 29.
A record year
Q2 2021 was a record quarter for Switzerland’s VC funding activity, which grew 118% in volume and 13% in deal count compared to the same period last year.
The trend in Switzerland is consistent with the broader European region where startup investment boomed in H1 2021.
An analysis by Sifted, a Financial Times-backed media site focused on European startups, shows that total funding raised by tech startups in H1 2021 skyrocketed to US$57.5 billion, or three times more than in the same period last year.
For some of those countries, fintech represented a big chunk of their VC funding activity in H1 2021.
Sweden secured some of the region’s largest funding rounds in H1 2021 with buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant Klarna raising two massive rounds of US$1 billion and US$639 million.
In the UK, London-based fintech companies secured US$5.3 billion out of the US$18.8 billion raised by all UK startups in H1 2021, demonstrating the capital’s resilience as a fintech hub post-Brexit. Five of the country’s top ten largest funding rounds came from fintechs: neobank Starling Bank (US$444 million), blockchain startup Blockchain (US$300 million), and payment startups SaltPay (US$478 million), Checkout.com (US$450 million) and Rapyd (US$300 million).
In the Netherlands, online payment company Mollie came neck and neck with enterprise social network MessageBird, both raising US$800 million, the largest deals in H1 2021. And in Germany, neobrokers Trade Republic and Scalable Capital raised two of the ten biggest rounds: US$750 million for the former and US$180 million for the latter.


text:
NEW YORK, May 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Video streaming content has grown rapidly in recent years, and the trend is expected to continue. New technologies, such as AI, play a major role in in editing, cinematography, voice-overs, scriptwriting, and several other aspects of video production and uploading, as various video streaming solutions companies are using AI to improve the content quality of their videos. Importantly, social media has played a major role in the development of the current live streaming infrastructure as well. Overall, live streaming sites have gained precedence in light of emerging social media platforms and affordable data consumption plans. This is also attributed to public figures, celebrities, and government agencies using the software to better reach the masses. Furthermore, the growing popularity of online gaming and esports tournaments is evidence of the large potential of the industry. Scienjoy Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SJ), Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT), Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM), fuboTV Inc. (NYSE: FUBO), Vuzix® Corporation (NASDAQ: VUZI)
Augmented reality is also becoming a more prominent technology in recent times in large part due to social media. After Snapchat pioneered the use, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok have launched their own lenses, filters and effects to better engage with consumers. In the process, AR has shown its value not only for branding and entertainment, but also for commerce. A few recent developments from the social media world include Facebook’s roll-out of AR advertising, and Instagram adding try-on features. According to a report by eMarketer, the shutdown of many retail stores spurred some marketers to invest more in AR as a way to offer virtual try-on and other experiences typically only available in-store. Several social media properties now enable try-on within their apps.
Scienjoy Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SJ) announced yesterday breaking news regarding, “its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.
First Quarter 2021 Operating and Financial Highlights
- Total net revenues increased by 68.8% to RMB 365.0 million (US$55.7 million) from RMB216.3 million in the same period of 2020, exceeding the high end of the estimated range for total net revenues released by the Company on May 6, 2021.
- Gross profit increased by 54.7% to RMB80.1 million (US$12.2 million) from RMB51.8 million in the same period of 2020. Gross margin decreased slightly to 22.0% from 24.0% in the same period of 2020.
- Net income increased by 88.4% to RMB71.0 million (US$10.8 million) from RMB37.7 million in the same period of 2020. Net margin expanded to 19.4% from 17.4% in the same period of 2020.
- Adjusted net income increased by 121.8% to RMB83.5 million (US$12.7 million) from RMB37.7 million in the same period of 2020, exceeding the high end of estimated range for adjusted net income released by the Company on May 6, 2021. Adjusted net margin improved to 22.9% from 17.4% in the same period of 2020.
- Total paying users increased by 20.5% to 291,949 from 242,265 in the same period of 2020.
- Total number of active broadcasters increased by 967.0% to 143,980 from 13,494 in the same period of 2020.
- As of March 31, 2021, the Company had RMB268.0 million (US$40.9 million) in cash and cash equivalents, which represented an increase of 19.3% from RMB224.8 million as of December 31, 2020.
 “Adjusted net income” is defined as net income excluding change in fair value of contingent consideration and warrant liabilities. For more information, refer to “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Results” at the end of this press release.
Mr. Victor He, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Scienjoy, commented, “We were delighted to kick off 2021 with robust growth in the first quarter. Revenue and adjusted net income both significantly exceeded our prior estimates for the quarter, driven by the continuous improvement of our paying user count and user paying ratio. By continuing to adopt cutting-edge technologies and implementing innovative features on our platform, we have further upgraded our user acquisition capabilities, refined our monetization systems, and expanded our overseas footprint. Since the start of the year, we have focused on forging more partnerships with best-in-class organizations to expand our business capabilities, cultivate new revenue streams, and enhance our R&D. As a result, we have established a broadcaster training system, laid a solid foundation for our live streaming e-commerce business, become one of the first live streaming platforms in China to offer Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”), and more. We are confident that such efforts alongside our established advantages in live entertainment mobile streaming will provide users and broadcasters with increasing value, helping us to accelerate our expansion efforts both at home and abroad going forward.”
Mr. Denny Tang, Chief Financial Officer of Scienjoy, added, “In the first quarter, we once again delivered solid financial results, marked by high growth and improved profitability. Our significant increases in total net revenues and net income continue to showcase our attractive value propositions for users and broadcasters as well as our increasingly proficient monetization capabilities. Looking ahead, we plan to continue innovating, introducing more engaging services, and investing for the long term. We believe that such efforts will allow us to expand our total market share and capitalize on new growth opportunities to generate lasting shareholder value.”
First Quarter 2021 Financial Results
Total net revenues in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 68.8% to RMB365.0 million (US$55.7 million) from RMB216.3 million in the same period of 2020. This increase was driven by the growth in paying users during the outbreak of COVID-19 on the Company’s live streaming platform as well as the Company’s increasing ability to attract and retain paying users and broadcasters. The number of paying users in the first quarter of 2021 was 291,949, increasing by 20.5% from 242,265 in the same period of 2020. The Company’s paying ratio in the first quarter of 2021 improved to 3.44% from 1.99% in the same period of 2020.
Cost of revenues in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 73.2% to RMB284.9 million (US$43.5 million) from RMB164.5 million in the same period of 2020. This increase was primarily attributable to a year-over-year increase of RMB103.9 million, or 74.6%, in the Company’s revenue sharing fees and content costs, which was in line with the growth of the Company’s live streaming operations in the first quarter of 2021.
Gross profit in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 54.7% to RMB80.1 million (US$12.2 million) from RMB51.8 million in the same period of 2020. Gross margin in the first quarter of 2021 decreased slightly to 22.0% from 24.0% in the same period of 2020, which was in line with the increase in revenue sharing fees and content costs to attract more quality broadcasters…”
For our latest “Buzz on the Street” Show featuring Scienjoy Holding Corporation, recent corporate news, please head over to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7vIiPP1d20
Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) together with its subsidiaries, provides audio streaming services worldwide. Earlier this year, the Company announced the launch of its service in South Korea, giving Korean listeners access to over 60 million tracks and over 4 billion playlists from around the world. As the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, Spotify offers an effortlessly simple interface, an innovative technology framework, everyday new music discovery and algorithmic recommendations personalized to each listener’s music taste. This launch brings Spotify’s total number of markets to 93. “We always want to be where the listeners and artists are, and Korea is rich in both,” said Alex Norström, Chief Freemium Business Officer of Spotify. “This launch presents a massive opportunity for us to not only further our mission of bringing new and quality content to more audiences, but also help local Korean artists tap into Spotify’s 320 million listeners worldwide. We hope to create more opportunities for Korean artists across all genres to be discovered by listeners around the world.”
Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) announced back in October its new end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is now available to users globally, free and paid, for meetings with up to 200 participants. This feature is available immediately as a technical preview, meaning that the company is proactively soliciting feedback from users for the next 30 days. E2EE is available on Zoom desktop client version 5.4.0 for Mac and PC, the Zoom Android app, and Zoom Rooms, with the Zoom iOS app pending Apple App Store approval. “We’re very proud to bring Zoom’s new end-to-end encryption to Zoom users globally today,” said Zoom CISO Jason Lee. “This has been a highly requested feature from our customers, and we’re excited to make this a reality. Kudos to our encryption team who joined us from Keybase in May and developed this impressive security feature within just six months.”
fuboTV Inc. (NYSE: FUBO) announced on April 8th, that it has acquired the exclusive live streaming rights to the Qatar World Cup 2022 Qualifying matches of South American Football Confederation. “Our mission is to provide the world’s most thrilling sports-first live TV experience with the greatest breadth of premium content, interactivity and integrated wagering,” said David Gandler, co-founder and CEO, fuboTV. “By offering the best of South American soccer in advance of Qatar 2022, we are further differentiating fuboTV’s sports-first content portfolio enabling us to engage with more consumers than ever before.”
Vuzix® Corporation (NASDAQ: VUZI) announced yesterday, a new partnership with TechSee, a leader in intelligent visual assistance technology, to deliver a remote visual assistance solution to field service technicians using AR and computer vision on Vuzix’ M400 and M4000 Smart Glasses. “TechSee’s field service solution is a natural fit with our Smart Glasses, so we are very excited to partner with them to offer a unique computer vision-powered solution that can help technicians in both assisted service and self-service modes,” said Paul Travers, President and Chief Executive Officer at Vuzix. “Our smart glasses ecosystem continues to expand with each passing day, and we remain confident that Vuzix is increasingly well positioned to become the hardware vendor of choice among a growing number of industry players.”
Subscribe Now! Watch us report LIVE https://www.youtube.com/FinancialBuzzMedia
Follow us on Twitter for real time Financial News Updates: https://twitter.com/financialbuzz
Follow and talk to us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/financialbuzz
Facebook Like Us to receive live feeds: https://www.facebook.com/Financialbuzz/
FinancialBuzz.com, a leading financial news informational web portal designed to provide the latest trends in Market News, Investing News, Personal Finance, Politics, Entertainment, in-depth broadcasts on Stock News, Market Analysis and Company Interviews. A pioneer in the financially driven digital space, video production and integration of social media, FinancialBuzz.com creates 100% unique original content. FinancialBuzz.com also provides financial news PR dissemination, branding, marketing and advertising for third parties for corporate news and original content through our unique media platform that includes Newswire Delivery, Digital Advertising, Social Media Relations, Video Production, Broadcasting, and Financial Publications.


text:
The NADAguides released its 2011 Second Quarter Car Buyers Market report, with six current models earning a spot on NADAguides Top Recommended Current Buys.
Read This Article
We like how SUVs and crossovers offer height to see ahead, and offering plenty of space for when you need to haul those 3-5 extra people.
Toyota is recalling select RAV-4 crossovers produced for the 2006 to 2008 model years thanks to several complaints filed by consumers with the Office of Defects Investigation.
We're simple folks here at Automotive.com.


text:
Current chairman of the Airports Authority of India Guruprasad Mohapatra has been appointed the Secretary, Department of Industry and Internal Trade, in the Ministry of Commerce. Mohapatra will replace Ramesh Abhishek, who is superannuating on July 31. The appointment comes as part of PM Modi's first cabinet shuffle after the BJP government returned to power for a second term. 12 secretaries to government departments have been changed. Mohapatra had joined AAI in July 2016 and served as the joint secretary in the Department of Commerce before moving to AAI. Additional secretary for Telecom Anshu Prakash has been appointed as the new secretary for Telecom, to replace Aruna Sundarajan, who is superannuating on July 31. Sundarajan has been Telecom Secretary since June 2017. Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, and designated Finance Secretary has been shifted to Ministry of Power as the Secretary. Garg will replace Ajay Kumar Bhalla, who is now Home Secretary. Atanu Chakraborty has been appointed Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs. Also, Additional Secretary of DPIIT Atul Chaturvedi will leave the department and serve as Secretary of Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, under the Ministry of Fisheries. Anuradha Mitra, Member (Finance), Digital Communications Commission, under the DoT has been shifted to the Ministry of Home Affairs as secretary of Department of Official Language.
- Indian crypto exchanges plan to collect identity details for crypto transfers to private wallets: Report June 3, 2023
- Jugalbandi, A Chatbot for Rural India by Microsoft and EkStep: What to Know and Think About? June 3, 2023
- Hopeful to See Action Against E-Pharmacies Selling Medicines Online Without Licenses: Pharmacy Body Writes to States and UTs June 3, 2023
- Meta to give advertisers more control using AI and content filters June 2, 2023
- Transparency Report: Here’s all Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google had to say about user complaints in April June 2, 2023
MediaNama’s mission is to help build a digital ecosystem which is open, fair, global and competitive.
Is it safe to consider all "publicly available data" as public?
PhonePe launched an e-commerce buyer app for ONDC called Pincode. We, however, believe that it should also launch a seller app.
Amazon announced that it will integrate its logistics network and SmartCommerce services with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
India's smartphone operating system BharOS has received much buzz in the media lately, but does it really merit this attention?
After using the Mapples app as his default navigation app for a week, Sarvesh draws a comparison between Google Maps and Mapples
Please subscribe to MediaNama. Don't share prints and PDFs.
You May Also Like
Google has released a Google Travel Trends Report which states that branded budget hotel search queries grew 179% year over year (YOY) in India, in...
135 job openings in over 60 companies are listed at our free Digital and Mobile Job Board: If you’re looking for a job, or...
Twitter takes down tweets from MP, MLA, editor criticising handling of pandemic upon government request
By Aroon Deep and Aditya Chunduru You’re reading it here first: Twitter has complied with government requests to censor 52 tweets that mostly criticised...
Rajesh Kumar* doesn’t have many enemies in life. But, Uber, for which he drives a cab everyday, is starting to look like one, he...


text:
The 2008 presidential campaign season may be gearing up, but there’s also another race afoot that has nothing to do with politics. It’s the race for consumers’ hearts and wallets that’s being run by cable companies and telcos, and triple play bundles are the most recent heat.
“Over the last several years, we’ve seen the cable companies really attacking the incumbent phone companies for phone service, but now we’re seeing the turnabout on this,” In-Stat Senior Analyst David Lemelin told the E-Commerce Times. “Now the cable companies are the incumbents, and they have a large leg up in triple play.”
“The cable operators are in the catbird seat,” agreed Elroy Jopling, a research director with Gartner. “They have a market share lead in broadband and in pay TV, and now they’re leading into the third one — voice — with a price advantage.”
Two Plus One … or More
Triple play bundles are packages offered by a single provider that combine TV, telephone and Internet services. The bundling practice is evolving rapidly to include “quad play” and even more, as wireless telephone, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) and other services are added to the mix.
Bundling began with double play offerings, which were originally packages in which consumers got both their cable TV service and Internet service from a single provider. The addition of telephony created the triple play, and quad play is typically defined as a triple play bundle plus wireless service — though the variations are increasing all the time.
By choosing a bundled package, consumers get the convenience of a single provider and a single bill for multiple services. The providers get a considerable advantage too.
More Valuable Customers
“Providers are doing extraordinarily well with bundled sales,” Mike Roy, vice president of client development and solutions for StarTek, told the E-Commerce Times.
Whereas typically the individual services in bundles are “high churn,” meaning that customer turnover is relatively high, “bundle consumers tend to be more loyal,” he said.
To wit: Double play customers are 30 percent less likely to shop around than those who buy each service individually, Roy noted, while triple play consumers are 40 percent less likely to do so. “As we offer bundled services, retention is higher, and average revenue per user is much higher as well,” he stated.
Put another way, if you consider a customer of just voice service to be one revenue-generating unit, or RGU, then a customer of both voice and broadband has been found to represent 1.5 RGUs, Jopling said. That’s half again as much value from one individual customer.
Where Cable Stands
While the cable companies may still be a step ahead, they have their work cut out for them — particularly when it comes to adding wireless services.
Companies such as Time Warner and Comcast already offer wireless mobility through a joint venture with Sprint, but “it’s pretty small, still — they’re just getting their feet wet,” Jopling said.
“It still remains to be seen how effectively the cable companies will be able to add wireless to their offerings, and how synergistic it is,” Lemelin added.
A lesson might be taken, however, from the fact that NTL, the United Kingdom’s top cable operator, recently bought Virgin Mobile, effectively buying its way into quad play in one fell swoop.
VoIP, on the other hand, has been an area the cable companies have been able to roll out at a lower price than the telcos, which offer it as well. “The cable companies’ cost to get into VoIP is much less than that for the telcos,” Jopling noted. “It’s easy enough for cable companies to take the telcos’ price and reduce it by 10 to 30 percent.”
The Telco Approach
For the telephone companies, the latest challenge has been providing the TV component — cable’s stronghold.
“The telcos are gaining market share without question, and they’re getting into TV, but that won’t happen tomorrow,” Jopling noted.
Many telcos have made deals with satellite providers to be able to offer services such as DirecTV, but they don’t have as much control over pricing, he added.
Verizon has been offering individually tailored bundles for three years, and in January it launched six new bundle packages: two double play, three triple play and one quad play, Maria Malicka, the company’s director of product line management and bundled solutions, told the E-Commerce Times.
Banking on Fiber
Fiber optics, however, is where much of the telcos’ potential lies. Both AT&T and Verizon recently brought fiber optics to the limelight in this country with their U-verse and FiOS systems, respectively, which are alternatives to traditional systems for providing TV and Internet service.
Like those of some cable companies, AT&T’s system brings fiber to central nodes, while copper cabling delivers the service the rest of the way to each consumer home. Verizon, on the other hand, is bringing fiber all the way to each home, much like what’s already available in Japan.
The result of these new technologies is higher bandwidth and more options for consumers. AT&T is adding about 2,000 U-verse subscribers per week, with plans to surpass 19 million households by the end of 2008, Lemelin said. Verizon, meanwhile, has been ramping up quickly as well, with more than 200,000 FiOS subscribers already, he added.
“With fiber, these companies can replicate everything the cable companies can do, plus they can include wireless in maybe a more credible, synergistic way,” In-Stat’s Lemelin said.
“With our fiber-optic network, the sky is the limit,” Verizon’s Malicka said. “It’s ‘future-proofed’ and sustainable for many years ahead.”
The next step in bundled services will be for the providers to begin improving pricing and service, Gartner’s Jopling said.
Indeed, Verizon has already begun offering customers add-on options such as round-the-clock support, Internet security, and hosted storage, Malicka said.
Next in the progression will be improvements in TV service, Jopling added, as providers begin offering IPTV and other solutions. AT&T has already begun using Microsoft technology to bring IPTV into 15 or so markets, he said, though market share is still small.
Interactive television is on the horizon too, Jopling said, as is what’s called the “three-screen deployment,” where content is delivered to consumers’ TV, PC and mobile phone screens. Widespread deployment in that area probably won’t be until about 2011, he said.
Consumers Take Charge
User-generated content will also get incorporated into the mix. “When you look at TV in a few years, you’ll be able to flip back and forth between “Desperate Housewives” and Internet-delivered content such as YouTube,” Jopling said.
Ultimately, which bundling business model enjoys the biggest success will depend not just on the individual components but on the entire mix and the user experience, he added.
“That experience is changing already,” Jopling explained. “Consumers are becoming content creators and aggregators as well as consumers from anywhere and at any time. It’s going to be a wild time.”


text:
What political apparatus and rules allow the United States to have leverage against companies when it has several intellectual properties associated?
Only the Dutch manufacturer ASML makes the lithography machines that use the short wavelengths at the extreme end of the ultraviolet spectrum to shrink transistors to such tiny dimensions. And the fabrication plants are extremely expensive, costing up to US$20 billion each.
In 2020, the US forced the Dutch government to ban exports of ASML’s most sophisticated lithography machines to China. ASML uses American intellectual property, giving Washington leverage.
It says it's because of the intellectual property that ASML has political leverage over ASML.
And afterwards it says that ASML doesn't have to listen to the U.S. regarding product that doesn't use enough of American intellectual properties:
As Scott Foster and Jeff Pao reported in Asia Times, Washington last month asked the Dutch government to stop ASML from selling the older DUV machines to China as well.
Semiconductor Industry executives told Asia Times that the Dutch would not accede to the American demand. ASML’s China sales exceeded $2.7 billion in 2021, including the 81 DUV lithography machines.
The American intellectual property (IP) content of the older machines isn’t big enough to justify an American ban, analysts and executives say.
Through what laws and organisms can the United States use its intellectual properties to force companies to abide by its will? I am thinking the United States Patent and Trademark Office can do something against ASML, but since ASML doesn't infringe on anyone's patent by exporting goods, I am not sure what laws allow the United States to exercise such influence and only when a lot of American intellectual properties are involved.