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Asus has different plans for its new series of smartphones this year. Expected to launch 5 different devices under Zenfone 4 series, the company has already launched Asus Zenfone 4 Max recently. Now, another information of the Asus smartphone launch has popped up claiming that Asus Zenfone 4 will be unveiled on August 17 in Taiwan and will be up for sale immediately after its official announcement.
A couple of rumours have already up on the internet hinting at Asus Zenfone 4 sale to happen in August. Under Asus ZenFone 4 series, these models – ZenFone 4, ZenFone 4 Selfie, ZenFone 4 Pro, ZenFone 4V would be launched in the coming months.


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VirgoCX raises $8M to support growth in Canada’s crypto trading platform
Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform VirgoCX received $7.95 million (C$10,000,000), in a Series A round of funding. This will enable the firm to grow globally and offer new products and services.
Draper dragon, a global venture capital fund, led the financing. Other participants included Blockdream Ventures. Cobo Ventures. Molecular Group. Sora Ventures. How Link Investment. according to a statement Monday.
The Canadian Securities Administrators approved the Toronto-based company as a Restricted Dealer in crypto assets in all Canadian provinces, territories. VirgoCX continues to be available. one of eight registered crypto trading platforms listed by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).
VirgoCX’s CEO Adam Cai told CoinDesk the company worked diligently to secure the proper licenses to operate in Canada and is preparing for potential expansion into Australia, the UK, and some parts of Europe.
“It’s just a natural progression” after garnering Canadian approvals, Cai said. “We have all the necessary infrastructure setup,” he said via phone.
According to Virgo Group’s statement, the exchange’s parent company is also looking to offer DeFi yield farming, staking and other services in “the near future”.
Virgo group wants to assist the NFT marketplace by increasing liquidity, improving user experience and lowering barriers for participation. Virgo Group seeks to launch an “NFT Web 3 Liquidity Aggregator to help users instantly complete the sale with competitive prices and a seamless experience,” according to its statement.
Cai stated to CoinDesk, that Virgo Group would soon launch a decentralized marketplace for NFTs. This will allow customers to quickly sell their NFTs.

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Bovie Medical (NYSE:BVX) said this week it inked a sales channel partnership agreement with Arteriocyte Medical Systems to sell Bovie’s J-Plasma to its network of plastic surgeons. Through the deal, Arteriocyte will offer J-Plasma through its U.S. sales network, which Clearwater, Fla.-based Bovie said will significantly expand its use in office-based practices. “We are delighted to sign […]
The nod means the cobalt-chromium stent is "available in all of the major markets worldwide," according to a press releaase, including the U.S., Europe, China and India.
Stem cell developer Arteriocyte has received approval from the Food & Drug Administration to begin a Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of critical limb ischemia.
The trial will investigate the use of Arteriocyte’s Magellan technology to improve blood flow in patients suffering from critical limb ischemia (CLI), a severe obstruction of the arteries that reduces blood flow to hands, feet or legs, according to the Cleveland-based company. Serious cases can lead to amputation.
Arteriocyte Inc. launched a stem cell-based product that allows researchers to grow red blood cells outside the human body.
The product, called NANEX, is available only for research use and has not been tested in humans. NANEX is engineered to essentially behave like bone marrow.
“This product is the first internally developed product that Arteriocyte has placed on the market to date,” said Adam Sorkin, a company spokesman. “And it was developed at Arteriocyte’s Cleveland R&D center.”


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Shure has acquired California-based Midas Technology, Inc., also known as Stem Audio, which specializes in providing a suite of products including table, ceiling and wall microphones, as well as loudspeakers, control interfaces and hubs.
With the acquisition of Stem Audio, Shure will be able to expand and diversify its solution offering for organizations of all sizes, while Stem Audio will be able to take advantage of Shure’s global infrastructure and support capabilities.
“We both believe in ecosystems. Working together, we aim to provide customers with better options to deploy great audio in more spaces, more cost effectively and more quickly,” Chris Schyvinck, President and CEO, Shure, said. “Shure and Stem Audio understand the importance of good quality audio and taking care of customers, so this acquisition is a great fit for both organizations.”
Shure and Stem Audio will continue to operate separately as integration plans for sales and support are finalized. Future plans for the respective product portfolios will be shared later. In the meantime, customers will continue to buy and receive support for Stem Audio products from Stem Audio’s current channels, including stemaudio.com in the US market.
This acquisition also includes Midas’ Phoenix Audio Technologies brand.
For more news from Sound & Communications, click here.


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Official Speedtest App For Windows Phone 8 Released
Owners of Windows Phone 8 devices can now download and install a new application on their devices, namely Speedtest.net, which has been available for other mobile platforms out there for quite some time now.
The Speedtest.net web interface has been used by millions of people all over the world to test whether or not they are getting what they pay for from their ISPs. The site was originally launched to provide performance indicators of the tested network, but has grown to include a portfolio of official mobile apps as well as a reporting mechanism to see how ISPs around the world are performing, with the idea in mind that being able to name and shame companies should keep service providers honest. Windows Phone 8 users can now count themselves as part of the official experience.
The application already has millions of users, and arrives on Windows Phone 8 devices with the same features and capabilities as on other platforms.
One word of note though: judging by the comments left on the application it appears that some owners of the Lumia 920 on USA’s AT&T are having issues running the program, but the majority of people who have downloaded the application, on the other hand, say that it works as intended. They also seem to dig the new user interface.
Speedtest.net is a free app for Windows Phone 8 devices and you can find it here in the Windows Phone Store.


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Following a year long debate, the Cambridge City Council approved a ban on August 7th, prohibiting the retail of commercially bred animals. Over 250 localities have banned the sale of commercially raised dogs and cats. However, Cambridge is striving to leave no pets behind, as their ban includes the retail sale of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, arachnids, and small pets such as hamsters and gerbils, making this measure one of the strongest of its kind. Vice Mayor Marc McGovern, who proposed the ban in 2016 stated, “The pet shop industry cannot and has not been able to weed out bad breeders, and they do business with bad breeders, and I can’t turn a blind eye to that." 'Bad breeders' is putting it mildly, among several cruelty cases regarding puppy-mills, investigations revealing a commercial pet supplier of Petco and PetSmart was guilty of abuse, torture, severe neglect and the freezing of live animals were brought to light last year. According to the Boston Globe, Marcie Whichard, Petco VP of industry and public affairs, stated in a letter to the council, “25 percent of our floor space would be nonoperational," if the ban were approved. The Cambridge Council wisely saw past that argument, acknowledging not only the egregious cruelty committed by commercial breeders but also a point made by McGovern, that according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), live animal purchases made up a mere 3% of the $67 billion spent on pet-related purchases in the US during 2016. The Cambridge Chronicle shared that the ban will take effect in about a year and excludes home breeders, 'such as people who have a litter of dogs in their home and want to sell the puppies.' However, as far as Cambridge retailers are concerned, they will now be contributing to the rehoming of the overwhelming amount of amazing animals that are rescued or surrendered by people who purchase animals from pet stores each year. If stores choose to continue buying and selling animals from inhumane commercial breeders and mills, they will not be welcome in Cambridge any longer.
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BEIJING (Scrap Monster): China copper imports in March advanced sharply by 80% year-on-year while its zinc imports declined sharply by 32% year-on-year, as per latest Chinese trade data.
According to the data, country's refined copper imports at 346 Kilo tons (Kt) were almost 80% higher y/y as had been indicated by the preliminary data. What this data set revealed however was that exports which were almost 40x higher than in February. Total refined copper exports in March were 27Kt, the highest level since April 2011, with most of it going to South Korea and Singapore.
Ironically, despite this sequential surge in exports, copper exports were actually down by 28% y/y. That is because this time a year ago exports were also high due to the LME backwardation.
Chinese Zinc concentrate imports fell by 32% year-on-year to the lowest since November 2008. Analyst with Barclays said that, they are surprised by the weakness in zinc concentrate imports but suspect that it reflects a build in domestic inventory and weaker refined production due to maintenance.


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|By PR Newswire||
|March 12, 2014 06:18 AM EDT||
LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- YesStyle, the leading online Asian fashion retailer and owner and operator of retail website YesStyle.com, is proud to present "aka DAN", a documentary series starring musician Dan Matthews. Produced by Mayrok Media in association with Arirang TV, the 4-part series "aka DAN" follows Matthews, a Korean American adoptee, as he searches for and reunites with his biological Korean family, including his twin brother who he never knew existed. The series premieres on March 6, 2014 on multiple media platforms, both broadcast and online.
Dan Matthews says about "aka DAN": "The documentary deals with issues of identity, family and culture, so everyone can relate to this story." Also known by his stage name DANakaDAN, Matthews was adopted and raised in a small town in Southern California. "aka DAN" depicts Matthews as he researches his true heritage and finally embarks on a journey to South Korea. In each of the episodes, Matthews wears clothing available from YesStyle, some of which was delivered to South Korea during filming in 2013. Matthews also wore YesStyle clothing at the red carpet premiere of "aka DAN" in February 2014.
The YesStyle.com retail website was created in 2006 in order to provide worldwide customers with high-quality and affordable fashion items from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other Asian territories. In keeping with their support of Asian art and culture, YesStyle regularly sponsors Asian and Asian American artists, and has supported shows featuring Korea's Super Junior and Wonder Girls, Taiwan's Show Luo and Hong Kong's Eason Chan. YesStyle also works regularly with Asian American filmmaking group Wong Fu Productions and YouTube musicians David Choi and Clara C.
"akaDAN" presents a fortuitous synergy between YesStyle, Dan Matthews and other Asian American artists. Also on March 6, Dan Matthews releases a new album entitled "Stuntman" that features collaborations with David Choi and Clara C. Along with hip hop group Far East Movement, Wong Fu Productions co-created ISAtv, a YouTube channel and Asian American entertainment network among the first outlets to broadcast "aka DAN".
Dan Matthews said, "I am very thankful for YesStyle's support in this documentary. We've carefully selected the partners we will work with, and YesStyle with its support for the arts and entertainment initiatives of Asian Americans is a perfect match."
Besides on ISAtv, "aka DAN" premieres on March 6 on Dramafever, an online video service that delivers premium television shows and movies from 70 major broadcasters and studios worldwide via streaming and over-the-top devices; Hulu, the popular over-the-top service offering on-demand streaming of video content; and Arirang TV, a Korean TV network distributed in over 100 million households worldwide.
YesStyle is the world's largest online Asian fashion retailer, offering a wide range of high-quality fashion, jewelry, accessories and beauty products, all carefully selected by in-house stylists. Launched in 2006, www.yesstyle.com allows customers to browse over 300 fashion brands from Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and Hong Kong. To serve growing customer bases around the world, YesStyle launched www.yesstyle.com.au and www.yesstyle.com.hk in 2010, and www.yesstyle.co.uk and www.yesstyle.ca in 2011. Highlighting the latest trends and styles, YesStyle is dedicated to providing the best platform for Asian designers and fashion brands to connect with international customers. For more information, visit www.yesstyle.com or http://www.facebook.com/YesStyle.
About Dan Matthews (DANakaDAN)
Dan Matthews (DANakaDAN) is a Korean adoptee currently living in Los Angeles and working in the entertainment industry. He was raised in the small town of Camarillo, an hour north of LA, with his parents Lynne, Paul, and Jamie. He's currently working as a producer for International Secret Agents, an Asian American entertainment and production company owned by Wong Fu Productions and Far East Movement. Visit www.dan-aka-dan.com, www.youtube.com/danakadantv, and www.facebook.com/danakadantv for more information.
About Mayrok Media
Mayrok Media is a next-generation multimedia company focused on the production, distribution, and management of content on digital platforms. Mayrok Media uniquely addresses the growing interest in and demand for premium entertainment content from around the world and niche subcultures, across digital and traditional platforms. Visit www.Mayrok.com for more information.
About Arirang TV
Arirang TV, operated by the Korea International Broadcasting Foundation, is an international English-language network based in Seoul, South Korea. Launched in 1997, Arirang TV is currently viewed by more than 102 million households in 188 countries across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas, 24 hours a day.
Reaching to every corner of the world, Arirang TV presents an unbiased view and reliable information of Korea to the world through the wide range of programs such as Korean news, cultural, educational and entertainment show, dramas, documentaries and more. To learn more, visit www.arirang.co.kr.
Launched in May 2012, ISAtv is a YouTube partner and entertainment platform for Asian American culture, talent and news. ISAtv produces original content, covering a variety of topics ranging from dance, art and design, and video games, to fashion, music and pop culture. To date, the ISAtv YouTube network has developed 13 unique shows with over 150 episodes of content, and grossed over 7.6 million views. To learn more, visit www.isatv.com.
DramaFever is an online video service that curates premium television shows and movies from 70 major broadcasters and studios throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas. Over 6 million monthly viewers discover and enjoy hit shows from the rest of the world on demand with professional subtitles in HD quality on DramaFever's website as well as its applications on iPhone, iPad, Android, Roku, and Google TV. Most of DramaFever's library of 600 titles and 14,000 episodes are made available to viewers on first-run, next day basis from original broadcast. DramaFever also syndicates a portion of its library to Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes. To learn more, visit www.DramaFever.com.
Sr. Manager - Marketing & Web Dev
YesStyle.com | YesAsia.com
SOURCE YesStyle.com Ltd
"I think that everyone recognizes that for IoT to really realize its full potential and value that it is about creating ecosystems and marketplaces and that no single vendor is able to support what is required," explained Esmeralda Swartz, VP, Marketing Enterprise and Cloud at Ericsson, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
Mar. 30, 2017 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 4,579
Why do your mobile transformations need to happen today? Mobile is the strategy that enterprise transformation centers on to drive customer engagement. In his general session at @ThingsExpo, Roger Woods, Director, Mobile Product & Strategy – Adobe Marketing Cloud, covered key IoT and mobile trends that are forcing mobile transformation, key components of a solid mobile strategy and explored how brands are effectively driving mobile change throughout the enterprise.
Mar. 30, 2017 06:00 AM EDT Reads: 3,149
My team embarked on building a data lake for our sales and marketing data to better understand customer journeys. This required building a hybrid data pipeline to connect our cloud CRM with the new Hadoop Data Lake. One challenge is that IT was not in a position to provide support until we proved value and marketing did not have the experience, so we embarked on the journey ourselves within the product marketing team for our line of business within Progress. In his session at @BigDataExpo, Sum...
Mar. 30, 2017 04:45 AM EDT Reads: 3,373
Keeping pace with advancements in software delivery processes and tooling is taxing even for the most proficient organizations. Point tools, platforms, open source and the increasing adoption of private and public cloud services requires strong engineering rigor - all in the face of developer demands to use the tools of choice. As Agile has settled in as a mainstream practice, now DevOps has emerged as the next wave to improve software delivery speed and output. To make DevOps work, organization...
Mar. 30, 2017 04:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,279
SYS-CON Events announced today that MobiDev, a client-oriented software development company, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and the 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place October 31-November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. MobiDev is a software company that develops and delivers turn-key mobile apps, websites, web services, and complex softw...
Mar. 30, 2017 02:15 AM EDT Reads: 4,166
DevOps is often described as a combination of technology and culture. Without both, DevOps isn't complete. However, applying the culture to outdated technology is a recipe for disaster; as response times grow and connections between teams are delayed by technology, the culture will die. A Nutanix Enterprise Cloud has many benefits that provide the needed base for a true DevOps paradigm.
Mar. 30, 2017 01:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,667
What sort of WebRTC based applications can we expect to see over the next year and beyond? One way to predict development trends is to see what sorts of applications startups are building. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Arin Sime, founder of WebRTC.ventures, will discuss the current and likely future trends in WebRTC application development based on real requests for custom applications from real customers, as well as other public sources of information,
Mar. 30, 2017 01:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,274
China Unicom exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which took place at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, in November 2016. China United Network Communications Group Co. Ltd ("China Unicom") was officially established in 2009 on the basis of the merger of former China Netcom and former China Unicom. China Unicom mainly operates a full range of telecommunications services including mobile broadband (GSM, WCDMA, LTE FDD, TD-LTE), fixed-line broadband, ICT, data communica...
Mar. 30, 2017 12:15 AM EDT Reads: 3,655
SYS-CON Events announced today that Ocean9will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Ocean9 provides cloud services for Backup, Disaster Recovery (DRaaS) and instant Innovation, and redefines enterprise infrastructure with its cloud native subscription offerings for mission critical SAP workloads.
Mar. 29, 2017 09:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,505
Things are changing so quickly in IoT that it would take a wizard to predict which ecosystem will gain the most traction. In order for IoT to reach its potential, smart devices must be able to work together. Today, there are a slew of interoperability standards being promoted by big names to make this happen: HomeKit, Brillo and Alljoyn. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Adam Justice, vice president and general manager of Grid Connect, will review what happens when smart devices don’t work togethe...
Mar. 29, 2017 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,800
SYS-CON Events announced today that SoftLayer, an IBM Company, has been named “Gold Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 18th Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York, New York. SoftLayer, an IBM Company, provides cloud infrastructure as a service from a growing number of data centers and network points of presence around the world. SoftLayer’s customers range from Web startups to global enterprises.
Mar. 29, 2017 03:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,334
SYS-CON Events announced today that Technologic Systems Inc., an embedded systems solutions company, will exhibit at SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Technologic Systems is an embedded systems company with headquarters in Fountain Hills, Arizona. They have been in business for 32 years, helping more than 8,000 OEM customers and building over a hundred COTS products that have never been discontinued. Technologic Systems’ pr...
Mar. 29, 2017 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 3,936
SYS-CON Events announced today that Auditwerx will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Auditwerx specializes in SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3 attestation services throughout the U.S. and Canada. As a division of Carr, Riggs & Ingram (CRI), one of the top 20 largest CPA firms nationally, you can expect the resources, skills, and experience of a much larger firm combined with the accessibility and attent...
Mar. 29, 2017 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 881
SYS-CON Events announced today that CA Technologies has been named “Platinum Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and the 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place October 31-November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. CA Technologies helps customers succeed in a future where every business – from apparel to energy – is being rewritten by software. From ...
Mar. 29, 2017 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,382
SYS-CON Events announced today that HTBase will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. HTBase (Gartner 2016 Cool Vendor) delivers a Composable IT infrastructure solution architected for agility and increased efficiency. It turns compute, storage, and fabric into fluid pools of resources that are easily composed and re-composed to meet each application’s needs. With HTBase, companies can quickly prov...
Mar. 29, 2017 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 3,393
SYS-CON Events announced today that Loom Systems will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Founded in 2015, Loom Systems delivers an advanced AI solution to predict and prevent problems in the digital business. Loom stands alone in the industry as an AI analysis platform requiring no prior math knowledge from operators, leveraging the existing staff to succeed in the digital era. With offices in S...
Mar. 29, 2017 01:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,844
Buzzword alert: Microservices and IoT at a DevOps conference? What could possibly go wrong? In this Power Panel at DevOps Summit, moderated by Jason Bloomberg, the leading expert on architecting agility for the enterprise and president of Intellyx, panelists peeled away the buzz and discuss the important architectural principles behind implementing IoT solutions for the enterprise. As remote IoT devices and sensors become increasingly intelligent, they become part of our distributed cloud enviro...
Mar. 29, 2017 12:15 PM EDT Reads: 8,027
SYS-CON Events announced today that T-Mobile will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. As America's Un-carrier, T-Mobile US, Inc., is redefining the way consumers and businesses buy wireless services through leading product and service innovation. The Company's advanced nationwide 4G LTE network delivers outstanding wireless experiences to 67.4 million customers who are unwilling to compromise on ...
Mar. 29, 2017 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 2,672
SYS-CON Events announced today that Infranics will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Since 2000, Infranics has developed SysMaster Suite, which is required for the stable and efficient management of ICT infrastructure. The ICT management solution developed and provided by Infranics continues to add intelligence to the ICT infrastructure through the IMC (Infra Management Cycle) based on mathemat...
Mar. 29, 2017 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 3,557
SYS-CON Events announced today that Interoute, owner-operator of one of Europe's largest networks and a global cloud services platform, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 20th Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017 at the Javits Center in New York, New York. Interoute is the owner-operator of one of Europe's largest networks and a global cloud services platform which encompasses 12 data centers, 14 virtual data centers and 31 colocation centers, with connections to 195 add...
Mar. 29, 2017 10:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,857


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The content marketing trade has found itself on the fringes of a media sensation in the last week – whether the Daily Telegraph’s editorial policy over coverage of HSBC’s Swiss banking arm was influenced by the bank’s advertising spending with the newspaper. Peter Oborne, the Daily Telegraph’s chief political commentator, brought the issue to light in an explosive post on Open Democracy, saying that the issue was a ‘fraud’ on Telegraph readers and had caused him to resign from the newspaper. For its part, the Telegraph has denied his accusations.
(I should say here I used to be a business reporter for the Telegraph, and in my current job as a freelancer I have written sponsored articles for the newspaper on behalf of HSBC, all clearly signposted as being paid for by the bank.)
Like most industries, members of the media thoroughly enjoy a scandal involving their rivals, and pundits have been delighted to step forward and heap opprobrium on the Telegraph. What is of interest in content marketing terms, however, is that all content paid for by companies has ended up being bashed along with the particular editorial decisions in the HSBC case.
As my colleague Adrian Michaels writes on LinkedIn, journalism published on a company’s own website is a very different thing to sponsored content or advertising space bought in a newspaper. With the former, there is absolutely no possibility the company is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of anyone reading it – it is self-evidently paid for and published by that company.
The reason paying for advertising space in a newspaper is of value to a company, Adrian adds, is because of that newspaper’s trusted reputation with its readers and the size of the audience. Anything which damages the trust between reader and newspaper and possibly causes them to stop buying it undermines the whole point of advertising there.
Furthermore, as Adrian points out, why shouldn’t companies write and publish articles on subjects of interest to them and their customers/readers – a bank may well know more about what’s important to export businesses looking to raise funds than a business reporter. As long as it is absolutely clear to the reader who commissioned and published the article, there is no deception.
No one in the content marketing business would suggest that companies should take up the investigative role of newspapers – that is something which must remain sacrosanctly independent in any functioning democracy. It cannot be done in any sensible way by a commercial organisation operating in the industry under scrutiny. And quite apart from the ethical issues, there would be absolutely no financial rationale for a company to spend money on it.
Informative, lively and interesting features about projects, products and personalities in a company are where corporate-sponsored journalism and content marketing should be directing their attention, with companies making full use of their own content channels and social media presence to do so.


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According to data from CoinDesk, the number of financial intermediaries making money out of cryptocurrencies is increasing rapidly, with the number up from 0.1% in the first quarter of 2017 to nearly 5% in April 2018.
In the first half of 2018, a total of 14% of all financial intermediary firms reported earnings from cryptocurrency trading.
This number has grown by almost 5% from the same period in 2017, and is now around 25%.
It is clear that the number and quality of cryptocurrency trading platforms have increased significantly in recent months, as the volume of ICOs, which have surged in recent weeks, have increased in volume, and are increasingly accepted as a payment method by the financial sector.
While the number is still quite small, this indicates that cryptocurrencies are being used as a way to create wealth.
In the last few weeks, many financial institutions have begun to embrace cryptocurrencies as payment options, which has created a much more favorable environment for the cryptocurrencies to gain traction.
In terms of the financial industry, there are also signs that the acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment is increasing in the United States, where the cryptocurrency-as-payment movement is gaining momentum.
The U.S. Federal Reserve has recently issued guidance stating that it will begin to relax its policies for virtual currency exchanges, and has also expressed its support for cryptocurrency companies and startups, including the Ethereum Blockchain Foundation.
In China, the government is also starting to loosen restrictions on the use of cryptocurrencies.
The People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, said in January that cryptocurrency trading would be considered legal once the country adopted a “decentralized financial system”.
In March, the Financial Services Commission of China (FSCC) also issued a statement saying that cryptocurrency should be treated as a commodity and could be traded like other commodities, with no restrictions placed on its use or its transfer.
Although cryptocurrencies have been gaining popularity in recent years, the financial system has been relatively untouched.
For this reason, the market is growing at an alarming rate, and the number for financial intermediators making money in cryptocurrencies is growing fast.


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A state loan package to purchase efficient equipment was a major factor in reopening the solar panel manufacturing plant in northern Minnesota.
A Canadian company is restarting production in a once shuttered northern Minnesota solar panel manufacturing plant.
Ontario-based Heliene, Inc. has begun operations in a 25,000-square-foot factory in Mountain Iron, a city of nearly 3,000 people on Minnesota’s Iron Range, and it plans to hire 130 employees by September.
The plant was previously occupied by the solar company Silicon Energy and will be retooled with the help of a $3.5 million state loan package. That local subsidy played a bigger role in its reopening than the Trump administration’s solar tariffs, which have a mixed effect.
The company intends to be competitive by marketing premium, “made in America” panels made in a top-of-the-line facility. Heiliene CEO Martin Pochtaruk said the factory “will be the most efficient in the country because no one else has newer equipment than we will have.”
The facility is a remnant of Minnesota’s small solar manufacturing industry that largely disappeared after a subsidy program called “Made In Minnesota” ended in 2017. Heliene was a participant, but nearly all the other companies in the program have closed their facilities in the state or gone out of business.
Liz Lucente, general counsel and communications’ director for the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement that her organization “is pleased to have the newest and most efficient solar module manufacturing facility in the United States operating in the state of Minnesota… especially after losing local manufacturers in the state last year.”
The Trump Administration’s solar tariffs have triggered an estimated $1 billion in new investments in U.S. solar manufacturing but at the same time led companies to cancel or freeze more than $2.5 billion worth of projects, Reuters reported last month.
For Heliene, the impact is mixed. Because hardly any solar panel components are manufactured in the United States, the company will pay a 30 percent tariff this year on components from Asian and European companies, Pochtaruk said.
Yet while the tariffs may help Heliene compete domestically with imported panels, Pochtaruk is hardly a fan.
“The problem with indiscriminate tariffs is that now even the import of glass and the components that go into a module are being taxed,” he said. “So, our manufacturing costs are affected by these indiscriminate tariff taxes placed on solar products from all these countries.”
Pochtaruk recently visited a closed Suniva solar factory in Oregon. It’s the same company that helped initiate the tariffs by bringing a case with Solar World in 2017 to the U.S. International Trade Commission. Now out of bankruptcy, Suniva is up and running again in Georgia but will no longer produce panels in Oregon, where Heliene may purchase a plant that has late model manufacturing equipment in place.
Suniva’s claim led the Trump Administration to place a 30 percent tariff on solar panels and components made abroad. It drops to 25 percent next year and to 15 percent in 2021 before ending in 2022.
The Mountain Iron factory will produce 1,500 panels a day and more than 500,000 annually. A panel will take just 40 minutes to complete, he said, with sophisticated machinery that includes robotics. Those panels collectively could produce 120 to 140 megawatts of electricity, an amount larger than any solar farm in Minnesota.
Despite having to import tariff-laden products, Pochtaruk thinks Heliene’s Mountain Iron factory will become more efficient than its lead Ontario facility, which does not have the equipment to manufacture panels as rapidly as its Minnesota counterpart.
Made In America pitch
The company will market the panels as “made in America” and focus on quality, he said. It will prioritize commercial clients buying rooftop and ground-mount solar panels, with less emphasis on the residential rooftop market, he added.
Another successful sector for Heliene has been community solar gardens, which constitute half of the company’s sales, he said. Minnesota’s growing community solar garden program, the largest in the country, has been a boon for the company, and Illinois may represent the next big market for Heliene, he said.
“Our business is based on volume,” Pochtaruk said. “It’s easier to sell 1,000 panels to one customer than 1,000 panels to many customers.”
The factory’s growth would not have occurred without support from governmental agencies in Minnesota, he conceded. Without the state money, “for sure it would not (been located) on the Iron Range,” he said.
In return for the state funding, Heliene has promised to invest at least $5.2 million in the factory and hire dozens of employees, said Mark Phillips, commissioner of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation (IRRRB), a regional economic development agency.
The agency shared the investment in Heliene equally with the state Department of Employment and Economic Development. Since Silicon Energy stopped production in Minnesota two years ago, the IRRRB had hoped to secure a new tenant for the Mountain Iron facility.
“We had a solar factory to sell and we thought Heliene has a reasonable chance of success,” Phillips said. The company’s made in America marketing ploy and large scale of operation are more likely to bring success than tariffs, he added. Tariffs have “positives and negatives,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to be a windfall for them.”


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Lil’ Wayne has partnered with media distribution and social shopping company Musicane to sell his highly anticipated album “Tha Carter III,” digitally.
With the deal, fans will be able to buy and sell individual songs or the entire album on their own websites. Specifically, the Musicane technology will allow users to post the Lil’ Wayne Musicane widget – an embedded viral player – on their own networks, like MySpace and Facebook.
The album will also be available directly from Wayne’s website, blog and social network pages. With the widget, fans can stream previews of Tha Carter III, interviews, and upcoming merchandise.
Speaking on their decision to complete the deal with Wayne, Musicane president Vikramaditya Jain stated, “Lil Wayne is a natural fit to help further this movement not just because of his stature in the music world but more for his bold attitude toward change… He knows that the new model for the flow of music distribution is rooted in empowering the fans, not the traditional gate keepers that tend to slow everything down.”
Tha Carter III is set for release on June 10.


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Play Sports Group, publisher of Global Triathlon Network (GTN), has announced its selection of Felt Bicycles as the media organization’s new official bike partner for its GTN channel. As part of its new partnership with the Southern California-based bicycle manufacturer, GTN will feature Felt bikes in future content that encompasses the channel’s core offerings on training guidance, bike setup tips, maintenance advice, and much more. Check out the official announcement on the latest episode of the GTN show:
“We’ve long been fans of the various channels produced by Play Sports Group, including GTN, but also GCN and GMBN,” said Eric Sakalowsky, Felt’s VP of Global Marketing. “They’re the best in the business in terms of creating insightful, informative, and engaging content, and they’ve worked hard for many years to emerge as the sport’s leading voice on new trends, expert training advice, and inspiration for triathletes across the globe.”
“As the market leader in triathlon bicycles, Felt was the natural choice as a bike partner for GTN,” says Marc Bearman, Partnerships Director at Play Sports Group. “Our mission is to create content that is educational, informative, and entertaining for triathletes around the world, as well as to bring new people into the sport of triathlon. We are proud to have Felt join us as an important partner and look forward to working with them.”
Felt’s flagship IA triathlon racing platform won the Kona World Championship a staggering six times in a row from 2013 to 2018, and it remains a popular choice for athletes the world over. At the 2019 Kona World Championship, Felt climbed the rankings in the event’s official bike count, rising to become the third-most prevalent bike brand at triathlon’s most prestigious race. Felt Bicycles will collaborate with GTN to showcase multiple bikes from its race-winning stable in various informative content pieces and product launch segments.
We are excited to announce the most significant milestone in our 30-year history with a bold, new brand direction and the release of two all-new, high-performance racing platforms as we celebrate our integration in the PIERER Group's house of brands.
You want your bike and your gear to be an extension of you. So when it comes to your cycling apparel, no item is more important to making the most of your riding experience than your shorts. Here is everything you need to know about finding that perfect pair of women’s bike shorts.
Professional triathlete, Braden Currie, kicked off his 2022 racing season with a stellar win at one of the most famous events in his home nation of New Zealand. The Currie family also made it a family affair, with Braden's son Tarn taking his maiden podium finish at the event's 5km running event.


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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — An electric car maker plans another coming-out party Friday in north Mississippi.
GreenTech Automotive says it will unveil its MyCar electric vehicle line in Horn Lake, just south of Memphis, Tenn. Some auto industry analysts have questioned whether the company will succeed.
MyCar is a two-seat neighborhood electric vehicle, a cross between a golf cart and conventional car, with a 115-mile range. The company has said it plans to sell a "sizeable percentage" of products to Denmark over several years. In the United States, such vehicles are allowed only on streets with speed limits of 35 mph and below. The vehicles are supposed to recharge from household electric outlets and sell for about $10,000.
The company says former President Bill Clinton and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will attend Friday's event. Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe is chairman of GreenTech, based in McLean, Va. The CEO is Chinese businessman Charles X. Wang.
GreenTech announced in 2009 it would build a massive factory in Tunica County, Miss., unveiling four models of full-sized electric cars at a Tunica casino. Those plans changed, though, after McAuliffe got involved and GreenTech acquired MyCar.
GreenTech had said it would start production in late 2011, but missed that deadline. The company said it still plans to build a 200,000- to 300,000-square-foot factory in Tunica County. It also says it plans to progress from neighborhood electric vehicles to full-sized cars. But for now, it's leasing a former elevator factory in the Memphis suburbs of DeSoto County, Miss.
Sally Williams, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Development Authority, said that the state hasn't provided any assistance to the Horn Lake operation. She said Mississippi is "committed" to providing infrastructure aid, tax breaks and a loan to Tunica County to buy land there. However, Williams said she had no estimate of the value of that projected assistance and said details haven't been finalized because GreenTech "is still assessing its needs related to its Tunica County plant."


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Not everyone is happy with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s decision to ban individual investors from speculating on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and there’s an argument to be made that the agency’s rationale was hollow.
But the ban is likely to have a minimal impact, partly because the market is so small, CoinDesk’s Muyao Shen reported Monday, citing analysts and industry executives who track the trading business.
Some U.K.-based brokerages that had offered the crypto derivative products to retail traders could see a drop-off in revenue, though big cryptocurrency exchanges including Kraken say the impact is likely to be minimal. While U.K. individuals can still trade the actual cryptocurrencies, there may be some traders who will seek to skirt the rules by trading on offshore exchanges.
The ban is set to take effect in January. Professional investors weren’t barred from trading cryptocurrency derivatives partly because they “have greater understanding of the risks and greater capacity to absorb potential investment losses,” according to an FCA report this month.
“Those still keen on trading crypto derivatives will just find ways to open accounts in unaffected regions,” Don Guo, CEO of Broctagon Fintech Group, told CoinDesk in an email. “There is a stark risk that retail traders will simply trade on unregulated exchanges, which in fact puts them at more risk.”
Among those affected, the proposal does appear to be quite unpopular: The FCA report indicated that some 97% of comments submitted in connection with the rulemaking were opposed to agency’s proposed ban.
CoinDesk Research Director Noelle Acheson argued in her weekly Crypto Long & Short newsletter that the agency overstepped, since its “job includes protecting investors, not passing judgment on new asset groups.” One of the agency’s reasons for the ban was the “extreme volatility” in cryptocurrency prices, but bitcoin is far less volatile than many stocks, including Tesla.
Bitcoin is struggling to extend the preceding week’s 6.6% gain, the biggest percentage rise since the last week of July.
The cryptocurrency is currently trading in the red near $11,250, having printed highs near $11,500 over the weekend.
The decline could be short-lived, as the global equity markets are trading in the green despite the resurgence of the coronavirus concerns across Europe.
Besides, the bitcoin market looks strong – the cryptocurrency rallied last week even though miners ran down inventory by 1,000 BTC by selling more than they mined, according to the MRI figure provided by data source Bytetree.com.
The miner’s rolling inventory (MRI) figure, which tracks the changes in miners’ inventory levels, held well above 100% last week, as those responsible for generating coins boosted supply. The five- and 12-week MRIs are also holding above 100%.
In other words, the buying pressure has been strong enough to absorb extra supplies from those responsible for generating the cryptocurrencies. That’s a bullish sign.
Also, the payment company Square’s recent disclosure of their bitcoin investments has given market players a fresh shot of confidence, and technical bias has turned bullish with the cryptocurrency’s weekly close above $11,200.
As per charts, resistances are located at $11,500 and $12,000. On the downside, support is seen at $11,000, which, if breached, could cause some short-term technical traders to exit the market.
Bitcoin (BTC): Someone just moved $11M of bitcoin that was tucked away in idle wallets since being mined in 2010.
China pushes to accelerate digital yuan as Japan, other countries push development of their own central-bank digital currencies (South China Morning Post)
BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange hires anti-money-laundering expert as compliance chief after U.S. charges brought (CoinDesk)
U.S. financial regulators are “reevaluating their previously held distrust of digital currency and assets,” and Wall Street broker-dealers may “play a role in implementing regulations regarding the secondary market trading of digital asset securities.” (Greenberg Traurig)


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By Surbhi Moudgil
Rural India has several issues that we keep reading about, seeing them on TV or learning from various sources. Some of them are in the areas of energy needs, sanitation, agriculture, drinking water, cleanliness etc. All these can be addressed through public as well as private endeavours.
The Government has made several policies and launched campaigns in this regard, however, it can only do it till an extent. Some entrepreneurs, along with those looking to start and enterprise in such areas, have taken this seriously to help out the rural population. This way, they are not only gaining the satisfaction of serving the society but they are earning money as well.
At present, India is seeing a surge in the ‘start-up culture’. The trend for entrepreneurship is on the rise in India. People are getting familiar with the economic rubrics of the country. However, entrepreneurship cannot be sustained in an unorganised environment, rather it needs a structured trajectory to succeed.
People are slowly shifting towards start-ups in the rural India as it is giving opportunities of colliding social development with employment. Rural entrepreneurship has its own pros and cons. Some of the issues that a budding entrepreneur can face in rural areas are electricity, team issues, language problems, investment etc.
Doing business in India might not be easy but the budding ‘start-up culture’ and, the government bringing in policies to foster them, are creating phenomenal opportunities for entrepreneurs.
However, these must not act as deterrents to those who want to make a change.
Rural entrepreneurship is expected to do value addition to the existing rural setup and engage a large number of human resources. Rural areas of India offer a lot of variety for social enterprise. From chemical to minerals, engineering and non-engineering, handicrafts and cottage industry, to sanitation, water and energy, the scope is unlimited and results could change the face of India.
Technology needs to be tweaked according to rural needs for providing what suits the rural consumer. There are entrepreneurs who are intercepting these nuances to create unique solutions for the villagers.
IKure Techsoft based in Kolkata sets up rural health centres where doctors are available through the week and pharmacists dispense only accredited medicines. Sujay Santra, the founder, got this idea when he realised that his relatives in a West Bengal village could not relate to his work at a US technology firm.
“I was not doing anything which would impact them directly,” he was quoted as saying to a newspaper.
On the other hand, Sasisekar Krish makes image and video processing products for agriculture and healthcare at his company nanoPix based in Karnataka. Farmers use this technology to categorise agriculture products like cashew by shape, size, colour and quality. The same technology also helps analyse blood smears to detect infectious diseases.
Another such start-up in the rural setup is Ignus which provides its students tablets for studying. It enables the students to connect with premium lecturers across India with the help of pre-recorded educational sessions. It supports those village students who cannot afford to migrate to cities or pay big money for coaching. Mervin Rosario, the founder of Ignus, said, “Students are now more enthusiastic and happy due to better quality and closer proximity of study centre.”
Such entrepreneurs are altering rural India for the better by investing into the initiatives that are bringing socio-economic change in the villages. These are not just money-making schemes for people, but genuine efforts towards decreasing the disparity in urban and rural India.
Doing business in India might not be easy but the budding ‘start-up culture’ and, the government’s upcoming policies to foster them are creating phenomenal opportunities for entrepreneurs. The people must take advantage of these opportunities. This will not only develop the rural region and population, but also add to the overall well being of the Indian economy and its youthful human resources.


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PUNE, India — The global ice maker market is forecast to be worth $5 billion by 2019, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.9 percent from 2014 to 2019, according to a research report now available from ReportsnReports.
Expansion of fast food chains across the globe is primarily driving ice maker market growth. The Americas dominate the global ice maker market, making up 38 percent of the total market share. Much of this region’s growth can be attributed to the presence of established supermarkets and retail chains. Ice makers are predominantly used in the food services and health care industries in this region.
According to the report, manufacturers are making major investments in various R&D approaches to increase the operational life of ice makers. Companies are experimenting with various types of evaporator plates to increase machine life and reliability. Recently, Hoshizaki has introduced plates made of stainless steel to increase durability. Vendors are also introducing machines that are waterproof and dirt and corrosion resistant, with UV disinfection.
Of the three types — ice cube, ice flake, and ice nugget — ice cube makers dominate the ice maker market, comprising around 39 percent of the total market. The rising number of restaurants across the globe has triggered the demand for ice cube makers. Besides residential and food services end-users, ice cubes are used in grocery stores for cold storage purposes. This is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the ice maker market during the forecast period, posting a market growth rate of 8 percent.
The key players in the global ice maker market include Hoshizaki, Ice-O-Matic, Manitowoc, and Scotsman. Competition in this market is based on brand recognition, quality of the product, innovation, performance, and price. Diversified vendors are considered to have a competitive advantage over other companies as they can offer a broad range of service at a competitive price.
More information on the report is available here.
Publication date: 10/23/2015


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Microsoft announced at its Build developer event earlier this year the Apple would be bringing its iTunes app to the Windows 10 store by year’s end. I hope Windows users weren’t holding their breath waiting for it to happen, as blue probably isn’t a good color on them.
The idea was to make it easier for Windows 10 users to find and install Apple’s popular music management and purchasing software. But Apple now admits that it’s not going to happen this year.
“We have been working with Microsoft to deliver the full iTunes experience to our customers and we need a little more time to get it right,” an Apple spokesperson told ZDNet.
Microsoft expert Mary Jo Foley told 9to5Mac she’s been told that while there are no plans to stop development on the Windows Store version of iTunes, a new timeline hasn’t been shared by either company.
It’s good to know that both parties are still all for getting iTunes into the Windows 10 store, but for now, it’s not going to happen.
Happily, most Windows 10 users can still download and install the app the old-school way. However, Windows 10 S users are SOL, as that version of Windows can only run apps from the Microsoft Store. (Windows 10 S offers longer battery life and better security, but is restricted to Store apps only.)


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Just published over Slashdot, a Real-Time Cyber-Attack Map.
Their summary: "In October, two German computer security researchers created a map that allows you to see a picture of online cyber-attacks as they happen. The map isn't out of a techno-thriller, tracking the location of some hacker in a basement trying to steal government secrets. Instead, it's built around a worldwide project designed to study online intruders. The data comes from honeypots. When the bots go after a honeypot, however, they're really hacking into a virtual machine inside a secure computer. The attack is broadcast on the map—and the researchers behind the project have a picture of how a virus works that they can use to prevent similar attacks or prepare new defenses."
That's the name of a story discussed over Slashdot this morning, Flaws Allow Every 3G Device To Be Tracked.
Their summary: "New privacy threats have been uncovered by security researchers that could allow every device operating on 3G networks to be tracked. The vulnerabilities could be exploited with cheap commercial off-the-shelf technology to reveal the location of phones and other 3G-capable devices operating on all 3G compliant networks. It was similar, but different, to previous research that demonstrated how attackers could redirect a victim's outgoing traffic to different networks."
Cellphones tracking is apparently a recurrent topic.
What it is? "GeoShield is a project born to offer a centralized way to define security access-control to geo-services. It acts like a proxy, intercepting all the communications between clients and OGC compliant services (WMS, WFS, and in future WPS, SOS). GeoShield is able to manage users and groups, it handles authentication and privileges settings among groups and registered services. It is capable to analyse requests applying the filters set to the user and manipulating the response. It is a server side security software to secure OGC services."
Slashdot discusses a story named "UK-Developed 'DNA Spray' Marks Dutch Thieves With Trackable Water".
Their summary: "In Rotterdam, there's a new technology in place that dispenses a barely visible mist over those around it and alerts the police. The purpose? To tag robbers and link them back to the scene of the crime. From the article, 'The mist — visible only under ultraviolet light — carries DNA markers particular to the location, enabling the police to match the burglar with the place burgled. Now, a sign on the front door of the McDonald's prominently warns potential thieves of the spray's presence: "You Steal, You're Marked."' Developed in Britain, it's yet to nab a criminal but it will be interesting to see whether or not synthesized DNA will hold up as sufficient evidence in an actual court of law."
This obviously reminded me of that 2007 story about 'powder RFID chips' that can be sprayed on crowds for tracking individuals.
Slashdot discusses a story named Map Based Passwords. Their summary: "Discovery is running an article on passwords based on a very specific location on a map. Instead of showing UID and Password fields, the user would simply click on a very specific spot on Google Earth, for example. I wonder how you would make that secure? Also, if you forgot, would you get a message saying 'Your password is the third flamingo on the left on the lawn of Aunt Bessie's house'?"


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Bitcoin In Payments becomes "Distant Dream"
According to data from Chainalysis, redirected through Reuters, the value of the US dollar (USD) of Bitcoin transactions processed by the main payment processors of this market (BitPay, CoinPayments, etc.) has decreased dramatically, indicating that the use of along with the value of BTC the value could be a fiction.
Chainalysis, one of the leading crypto-centric analytical startups, revealed that from 1 January 2018 in September, the aforementioned figure was hit by 80%, which is comparable to the collapse of 70% of BTC in the same period. To put this collapse into a much-needed perspective, at the end of December / beginning of January, over $ 427 million in BTC were treated in retail payments. Now, a little less than a year later, that figure fell to only $ 96 million.
While the last data is not something to be sneezing, the fact that such a collapse has occurred, even if BTC has found some semblance of stability in recent months, is not a promising signal, at least for the short-term prospects of this market.
Speaking of these statistics, JBS Teves, a London-based UBS strategist, probably referring to the most recent crypto recession and the lack of blockchain scalability solutions, noted:
There should be a stability requirement if it wants to become another form of money … But one thing that would bring the bitcoins into the mainstream is scalability – it can process the value or volume of transactions that money tends to to do?
While the previous point can be solved through the rise of stablecoins, who have undergone a "bull rush" over the last two months, and the presence of institutional actors, this is obviously a concern for a handful of industry experts .
For example, Joey Krug, a co-founder of Augur, transformed Pantera Capital's executive, stressed that the lack of scalability solutions is directly detaining cryptographic assets.
Although the cryptosphere has just begun to walk on its two legs, Krug explained that climbing blockchain networks, while it is difficult, is something that innovators within this industry can get with a touch of elbow grease, grit and determination. While he was hesitant to declare that the Bitcoin mainchain, probably the pinnacle of the crypto evolution, will reach thousands of transactions per second, the industry expert noted that eventually there will be blockchain networks that can overcome today's centralized ecosystems.
Underlining the importance of scalability, Krug declared:
If you look on the Internet, it's easy to say, "Well, just create an app, get some users and then fix scalability issues." But, here, these are all markets, so if you do not have scalability, you do not have a market maker and therefore you have no liquidity.
Keeping this point of view, Pantera's manager added that the correct scalability of the current blockchain networks will drive the next cycle of exponential and stunning growth of the cryptographic market, which according to Krug will increase the values of digital resources by 10 times.
However, the fact is that the use of Bitcoin in retail payments has not yet arrived, despite the cries that BTC is the future of money.
Do not be afraid, The Lightning Network is Here
However, some have claimed that the figures of Chainalysis and the sentiment mentioned above are nothing but unbridled and senseless FUD. Just recently, Ethereum World News reported that month by month, the number of Bitcoin transactions in the chain is increasing and a solid percentile.
In addition, even under the bear market conditions and unexpected sales, the Bitcoin Lightning network has seen unprecedented growth. Lightning, a scaling solution that aims to offer near-feeless, near-instant and low impact bitcoin transactions to consumers, traders and institutional actors, has seen its network capacity increase 200% in recent months, approaching $ 2 million milestone in throughput.
Ed Cooper, head of Revolut's cryptocurrency, noted that Lightning may be a turning point for BTC, which was beaten to hell and returned in the last year. Cooper told Reuters:
Lightning solves some of the bitcoin scalability problems … It is receiving payments in kind, [and] in the network.
So, with the widespread adoption of the Lightning network probably a few months away, there's a chance that today's cryptic cryptic investors do not need to sit on their hands for too long.
Title Image courtesy of Andre Francois Via Unsplash


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American chocolate company Hershey Co. said on Monday that it will be buying Amplify, SkinnyPop’s parent company. The value of the acquisition was at around $1.6 billion, or $12 per share, in cash.
The purchase demonstrates Hershey’s increased efforts in moving beyond its chocolate heritage. It is also the newest addition to a string of snack deals as Big Food continues searching for mobile diners.
Hershey CFO Patricia Little recently admitted in an investor call, “Nothing is as profitable [as our core products]… But we do need to expand our portfolio.”
Brands under Amplify include Oatmega, Paqui, Tyrrells, and SkinnyPop.
“The acquisition of Amplify and its product portfolio is an important step in our journey to becoming an innovative snacking powerhouse as together it will enable us to bring scale and category management capabilities to a key sub-segment of the warehouse snack aisle,” said Hershey CEO Michele Buck in a statement.
She then added, “Hershey’s snack mix and meat snacks products, combined with Amplify’s Skinny Pop, Tyrrells, Oatmega, Paqui and other international brands, will allow us to capture more consumer snacking occasions by creating a broader portfolio of brands.”
Most consumers started moving toward more natural foods and ingredients kick-starting the changes in the packaged food companies. Hershey is no exception to this change.
The deal provides Hershey with a better foothold in the new food market known as “better-for-you products that deliver clean, simple and transparent ingredients as well as unique flavors and forms.”
The acquisition is one of the first big initiatives led by Buck who only took over as CEO this year.
The deal is expected to be finalized sometime during the first quarter of 2018.
Campbell Soup Acquires Snyder’s-Lance
Another company out for acquisitions is the Campbell Soup Co.
The company announced that it will be purchasing the snacks company Snyder’s-Lance for $4.87 billion in cash. This is the largest deal the soup company has ever made in its 148-year history.
The deal is also seen as a way to give consumers an “an even greater variety of better-for-you snacks,” said Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison in a statement. “The combination of Snyder’s-Lance brands with Pepperidge Farm, Arnott’s and Kelsen will create a diversified snacking leader, drive sales growth, and create value for shareholders.”
Snyder’s-Lance will be a part of Campbell’s global biscuits and snacks division after completing the deal. This division includes brands such as Goldfish crackers and Milano cookies.
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Inside a local thrift shop, a valuable 14k gold and pearl necklace was discovered masquerading as a cheap, $5 ornament in the costume section.
Or at least, it’s probably valuable. While the item hasn’t been professionally appraised yet by the original poster, other Redditors observed some clues that could indicate if the pearls are natural or fake.
“A quick hack to tell if pearls are real (that’s not always 100% accurate, but will work for a quick visual skim of a jewelry section) is to look for necklaces with knots between the pearl beads,” one Redditor advises. “It’s standard practice for necklaces with real pearls, to prevent them from clacking together and scratching each other. It’s an extra step that most manufacturers that use fake pearls won’t take!”
Other comments simply praised the find for what it was.
“Nice! It pays to check,” reads one comment.
“That’s a gorgeous set of pearls,” says another. “Hopefully, they’re worth a nice bit.”
The original poster also pointed out that the clasp was marked with the number “585,” which signifies that the gold alloy is 58.5% pure — i.e., 14-karat gold — which likely affords the necklace a bigger value than its original $5 price tag.
The OP doesn’t say whether or not they’ll keep the item or sell it, but beyond possibly making a pretty penny off surprise finds, thrifting is also beneficial for the environment. By using products and keeping them in circulation for as long as possible, consumers can reduce the number of resources wasted creating new products. Plus, thrifting items that you would otherwise buy new can save you an average of $1,700 a year.
But if nothing else, this /r/thriftstorehauls post is further proof that there are potential treasures to be found in all corners of a thrift or charity shop, and not just in the clothing or furniture sections. Countless varieties of valuable items get donated without being closely examined first, so pay attention the next time you’re browsing a thrift shop — you never know what you’ll find.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.


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Earlier this summer, Netflix announced a 60% increase on subscription fees, prompting about one million subscribers to cancel their subscriptions. Now Netflix is splitting its online streaming and DVD-by-Mail services. To order DVDs via snail mail, Netflix users will have to sign-up for Qwikster, the newly renamed mail order plan. The separately named service will show up as a second billing statement, in addition to online Netflix services.
Recently, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings posted a letter to the Netflix website, apologizing for his lack of communication with customers about the sudden changes. “I messed up,” Hastings said. “I owe everyone an explanation.” The full letter can be read here.
Even though Netflix and Qwixster accounts will split into two billing statements, Hastings assures Netflix subscribers that prices will not increase a second time. He also apologized for his own “arrogance based upon past success” and promises to communicate with subscribers through any future Netflix evolutions.


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OUR GOGETFUNDING CAMPAIGN:
Josh Sigurdson reports on the collapse of supply chains worldwide as wheat production collapses and China blames the climate. Ukraine and Russia are also a third of the world's wheat exports and that market has also simultaneously stopped dead.
The tech supply chain as well as oil as come to a near standstill as well while inflation is skyrocketing in countries worldwide. Just in time to move over due to a "crisis" into the SDR (Special Drawing Rights) at the IMF. That's the plan and they're sticking to it.
People are feeling the crunch of inflation everywhere and many countries dependent on the supply chain thanks to the century of coddling people have conditioned themselves to face complete destruction and panic.
While martial law emergency orders have been put forward for price fixing in places like Canada, the US is readying their FEMA facilities. That's where this is going. Desperation and then begging the state for help. FEMA is salivating.
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This tale originally appeared on The Philadelphia Tribune.
Steve Jamison recognizes the price of Small Enterprise Saturday, a countrywide working day recognized to help modest merchants throughout the state in the course of the holiday break searching year.
The operator of Blue Sole Shoes said the Nov. 28 observance is needed, significantly given that the coronavirus pandemic has negatively impacted many corporations.
“Whenever you emphasize a small company like mine it just puts more emphasis on the fact that we need the assistance of our communities now additional than at any time, particularly simply because of the COVID limits and the fact that businesses have been battling,” said Jamison, whose Center City-based keep is a location for significant vogue footwear.
“The actuality that we are modest can make us extra susceptible — much more inclined to fluctuations in the business setting.”
Blue Sole Footwear was among the corporations about the city that ended up ravaged by looters in May throughout the George Floyd protests. Jamison credits help from elected officers, his customers and media coverage with aiding him to rally back from that disaster.
“I consider that the interest manufactured it really important for persons to have an understanding of just how required they are,” he claimed.
The entrepreneur said compact companies perform an crucial position in Philadelphia’s culture and flavor.
“It’s why men and women occur listed here for cheesesteaks and for pretzels,” Jamison mentioned. “Blue Sole Footwear is the cheesesteak of footwear, if you want to get in touch with it that. Our position is to do what we do in a way that is a lot more special than any person else. So that is why you have to support compact enterprises, for the reason that with out compact businesses we do not have any flavor.”
American Convey created Small Organization Saturday in 2010 to support modest retailers get a lot more clients all through the Xmas browsing season. Expending throughout very last year’s observance hit a record superior with an estimated $19.6 billion in claimed revenue, in accordance to American Express.
Saturday marks a distinctive event for Tina Dixon Spence as she formally opens Buddha Babe’s brick and mortar studio in Mount Airy. Buddha Babe, which was proven as an e-commerce business in 2014, specializes in offering components for infants, toddlers and the house.
A variety of components led Dixon Spence to open up her shop, these as an beautiful commerce actual estate sector and a major progress in product sales.
“Fortunately I was capable to pivot to mask-building all through the pandemic and what I resolved to do was just acquire gain of various elements,” she stated.
“I just variety of the took the leap and I understood that if I could just weather conditions via this storm I could arise out of the shutdowns and pandemic at significant and have a truly wholesome, warm and inviting addition to the community.”
A grand opening celebration will be held at 9:15 a.m. Saturday at 7101 Emlen St. The grand opening day functions items with purchases and wrapped treats to go from a neighboring modest enterprise, the Frosted Fox Cake Store.
“I feel that portion of the significance of me opening on Compact Organization Saturday is to really build a emphasize and attract aim and interest to the plight of the small enterprise operator, particularly for the duration of this complicated time and definitely conditioning individuals and supplying them an prospect to be truly tremendous thoughtful in their present getting and offering this individual getaway time,” Dixon Spence explained.
“I consider for small businesses notably, the searching period of time amongst Black Friday and Cyber Monday is our probability to basically glow and get out of the red.”
“A ton of the moments Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts are discounted for the reason that these large companies or substantial businesses can manage to just take a tiny bit of a reduction, but modest corporations need the help all through this purchasing weekend,” she mentioned.


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Best Buy Is A Better Buy Nowby
In the summer of 1996, the short-sellers were all over the shares of Best Buy (BBY), a major retailer of personal computers and other consumer electronic products. They had sniffed out that earnings would be under tremendous pressure because of weakened demand for such appliances. New York money manager Bill Harnisch was among those who made a bundle by shorting the shares--as they tumbled from 26 in mid- June last year to 8 1/2 by mid-February this year. But guess who has turned bullish lately? Harnisch himself, who, as the president of Fortsmann-Leff Associates, manages a portfolio of $4.5 billion.
The dive was so steep, he says, that he felt Best Buy had to be cheap at 8 to 10. And when he saw how well the management responded to misfortune--slashing inventories and installing cost controls--Harnisch went on a buying binge: He has accumulated about 10% of the stock.
He's convinced that the company, which generated sales of $7.7 billion in fiscal 1997 ending Feb. 28, is on the way toward a strong recovery. "Management got rid of nonmoving products, cleaned up the balance sheet, and improved the income statement," says Harnisch. He points out that, while management was tightening inventories, the store's sales have steadied and improved.
The stock has also rebounded lately, scooting up to 24 by Oct. 7. Harnisch thinks it could hit 40 by the middle of next year. The stock has also been helped by a change of heart among several analysts, including Goldman Sachs' David Bolotsky and EVEREN Securities' Beth Richard. They argue that the company's new stress on profitability, as demonstrated by a slowdown in expansion moves and better inventory management have substantially improved the profit outlook.
Analysts figure that Best Buy, which posted earnings of 4 cents a share in fiscal 1997 (vs. $1.10 in 1996), will make 72 cents in 1998 and 99 cents in 1999. But Harnisch is more optimistic: He is counting on $1.28 and $1.59, respectively.


text: BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins cheered investors telling an interviewer that the new Z10 smartphone has performed better than expected. "[I]t's also been attractive for customers coming from other platforms. We are a little surprised by that," he told a Spanish newspaper. The Z10 is expected to reach 21 countries by the end of this week, although U.S. carriers have not set a firm launch date. Verizon Wireless has indicated a late March debut, while T-Mobile USA has pointed to a mid-March ship.


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Fair trade bypasses greed
I would like to congratulate The Hook for being the first local publication to address the Fair Trade issue in regard to the coffee crisis. Kudos also to the students and everyone involved in bringing Fair Trade coffee to the University.
As pointed out by your article, the crisis concerns the producing countries and the people living in extreme poverty because of the crash of the green coffee market. However, even people who have heard about Fair Trade coffee seem confused.
The author of a recent letter [December 4: "Not quite fair, but a start"] stated that there are many high quality coffees that command a price substantially higher than Fair Trade's $1.26 per pound. This is true, but the farmer does not receive this higher price.
According to TransfairUSA and Oxfam America, the current price farmers receive for non-Fair Trade specialty grade Arabica coffee is between 20 and 30 cents per pound. By the time that green coffee reaches the specialty roaster, the cost will be from $1.30 to over $2 per pound. The reason? Many layers of middlemen.
Fair Trade bypasses middlemen, thus allowing the farmers to sell directly at a higher price to American importers. While Fair Trade currently benefit just a small portion of the coffee workers worldwide, even this small group cannot sell all their coffee at these prices because the demand is not yet there.
We cannot wait for the government or large corporations to volunteer to pay farmers a better price. The coffee drinking public must demand Fair Trade. Consumers can make a difference.
Mountain View Coffee Roasters


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February 28, 2019 |
Brazil's Ampla Energia e Serviços could raise up to BRL1bn ($268m) from the sale of five-year debentures in the local market, according to a report from Fitch.
The Niterói-based electricity distribution company will use the proceeds from the sale to extend debt maturities, lower its funding costs and add to working capital, Fitch said.
The rating agency gave the upcoming deal a AAA(bra) on the local scale, citing the financial stability of the parent company Enel Américas, a division of the It
Enel's distribution business in Rio aims to raise $268m from the sale of five-year debentures


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MasterCard has launched a major push to bring MasterCard payments to a wide array of consumer products across the automotive, fashion, technology, and wearables.
Everlink Payment Services announced the release of their new PIN Services Locator for credit union cardholders. A member of Credit Union A will now be able to change or reset their PIN at a PIN Station located in a Credit Union B branch.
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) is now enabling members to pay their healthcare premiums in person via Fiserv’s CheckFreePay solution. CareFirst offers health insurance products and administrative services to 3.4 million individuals and groups in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia.
Seattle-based MAP Prepaid, a provider of Visa®Prepaid card programs for credit unions, has introduced its “MAP App” for smartphones. With the MAP App, cardholders can manage their Visa Prepaid card account directly from an iOS or Android mobile device.
Boston-based StreetSmart has unveiled the world’s smartest wallet which includes a built-in Bluetooth LE locator, USB sync cable and a backup battery station for charging on the go.
The Vodacom m-pesa slution is now used by more than 18 million people across 13 countries to perform banking and money transfer services via mobile phone. Specifically redesigned for the South African market, the service introduces a number of entirely new elements including a chip and pin protected Visa card, and a voucher system to upload cash. The new m-pesa Visa card gives access to approximately 27,000 ATMs and over 240,000 merchant outlets in South Africa, dramatically increasing the versatility of the service. Another key innovation is the introduction of a voucher system which allows people to convert cash to m-pesa at all Vodacom shops, selected spaza shops, and at selected retailers. The process is similar to buying airtime and makes topping up the m-pesa wallet quick and convenient. On top of this, traditional services like person to person transfers have been optimised. Additional functionality is planned for the near future. In short, this is true mobile banking that has something to offer for all income groups across South Africa.
Cachet Financial mobile money management partnered with Navy Federal Credit Union to implement a money management tool geared towards students. The credit union’s Visa(R) Buxx program will use Cachet’s Select Mobile(TM) Money prepaid mobile application to view balances, request money from parents through SMS, email or in-app notification, and use the locator feature to easily locate the nearest branch or ATM. Cachet’s Select Mobile Money prepaid mobile platform is a cloud-based SaaS solution that enables financial institutions to offer their prepaid cardholders a full suite of convenient financial services in one easy-to-use mobile application. Available for iOS and Android systems, the Select Mobile Money platform can be integrated with existing card programs or used to develop a new prepaid card program.
The MoneyPass Network is celebrating another year of increased growth with a contest for cardholders. The MoneyPass “Caught Without Cash” contest gives cardholders an opportunity to win one of two weekly $100 drawings and a grand prize of $1,000. The “Caught Without Cash” contest runs through June 1, 2014. Contestants enter by sharing a brief story about a time they were caught without cash when it was needed, such as paying a babysitter or shopping at a farmers market. Two $100 winners are drawn each week during the contest. Entries can be voted on by visitors to the contest site and one entry will be chosen from the top ten entries as the grand prize winner at the end of the contest. MoneyPass participants are encouraged to promote the contest to cardholders as a way to increase awareness of the benefits of MoneyPass access.
Cardtronics announced a licensing agreement with BBVA Compass, providing the bank branding rights to more than 300 ATMs in H-E-B stores. The deal equates to a nearly 50% jump in the bank’s Texas ATM network, bringing its total to nearly 1,000 machines. The deal provides the bank with potential access to shoppers at more than 300 H-E-B operated stores. The agreement between Cardtronics and BBVA Compass is part of a growing relationship established in 2012. Prior to this H-E-B announcement, BBVA Compass had branded 268 Cardtronics-owned ATMs in convenience and grocery stores throughout Colorado and Texas.
Currently the only international payment brand originating in Japan grew leaps and bounds last year. During 2013, the JCB card reached a milestone as it now has more than 15 million cardholders outside Japan. JCB also expects annual transaction volume to surpass $200 billion in 2014. JCB now has more than 350 issuing and acquiring partners worldwide, with card issuance in 15 countries and acceptance in 190 countries and territories. More than 23 million merchants worldwide serve JCB’s 81 million affluent cardholders. Here is an overview of JCB’s progress in 2013.
Fiserv, Inc. this morning announced that Associated Bank has expanded its mobile banking and payment capabilities and added a tablet banking app with Mobiliti from Fiserv. These changes are in response to customers’ desire to conduct more banking activities via their smartphones and tablets. With the addition of mobile remote deposit capture, branded by the bank as Associated SnapDeposi, customers can now deposit checks by snapping photos with their smartphone camera, while the addition of Popmoney(R) enables them to initiate and accept person-to-person payments directly from their phone. These capabilities are also available in the bank’s new tablet app.
Ally Bank expanded its Ally Mobile Banking app to include two new offerings designed to help customers conveniently access and manage their money on the go. Customers can now use their smartphones to send and receive Popmoney payments as well as make recurring electronic fund transfers between Ally and non-Ally bank accounts. Popmoney, a payment service that allows customers to electronically send money to other people, offers a convenient alternative to sending cash or checks to friends and family or to pay service providers. The service allows Ally Bank customers to send money to anyone in the U.S. who has a U.S. bank account – the recipient does not need to have an Ally Bank account. Popmoney has been available to Ally customers since 2011. In addition to using their smartphones for regular Popmoney transactions, users will now be able to view scheduled payments and payment history as well as set up and manage Popmoney contacts in Ally Mobile Banking.


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Facebook page BrickGeekz has revealed images of this year’s 2017 LEGO Seasonal Christmas set. LEGO Christmas 40262 consists of a few mini market vendor stalls, a mini Christmas train and 3 minifigures. For LEGO Christmas 40263, it features a Christmas tree, a market vendor stall and 3 minifigures. These LEGO Christmas Mini Winter Marketplace sets should be available later this year exclusively at LEGO Brand Stores and LEGO Shop at Home. Thanks to Hoth Bricks for the news.
LEGO 40262 Christmas 2017 Set
LEGO 40263 Christmas 2017 Set


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Habitat for Humanity of Berks County will reopen its Habitat ReStore at 5370 Allentown Pike, Temple on June 6.
“We are excited to welcome our shoppers, donors and volunteers back into the store,” said Executive Director, Tim Daley. “The Habitat ReStore helps to fund the hope of homeownership in Berks County and we are truly thankful for our customers’ continued patronage and support.”
Habitat’s ReStore management and staff have taken measures to ensure everyone’s safety by following guidelines for reopening, such as cleaning, disinfecting and social distancing protocols.
Although the store has suspended furniture pick ups, they are accepting donations. People can drop off their items at the back of the store from 10am to 4:30pm, Wednesday through Saturday and 1pm to 4:30 pm on Sundays.
“To everyone in the community who spent time spring cleaning while sheltering in place, we’re happy to take those donation items off your hands,” said Daley. “Every donation and sale helps us build homes in the community. So, we need them―we need you―now more than ever. When you donate to and shop at the ReStore, your contribution stays right here in this community where it belongs.”
Store personnel encourage people to check the Habitat for Humanity of Berks County website to see what items the store accepts.
The store will resume its normal hours of Wednesday through Saturday, 9am to 6pm and Sunday noon to 6pm. “We are looking forward to seeing our customers soon,” said Daley.
Habitat ReStore is taking the following precautions:
- Plexiglass barriers have been installed at the cash register
- Single direction aisles have been designated and marked
- Staff have been trained on new procedures including hourly hand washing breaks and regular cleaning of high-touch surfaces along with professional sanitizing proceedures.
- Doors will remain open to facilitate airflow
- PPE is provided to all staff members, and is required to be worn
New shopper guidelines:
- Masks will be expected. This includes staff, volunteers and shoppers. If a customer is unable to wear a mask, we will be glad to arrange for a curbside pick up.
- We are limiting the number of customers in order to allow for adequate distancing. Please plan for possible waiting time in an outdoor line, maintaining at least six feet of distance between you and other customers. Also, please kindly keep this limit in mind when shopping and avoid bringing a group of people with you if possible.
- Please watch for the separate entrance and exit doors.
- Please be mindful of direction signs and social distancing.


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There’s a lot of chatter this week about just how many Pixel smartphone Google may or may not have sold this week. Based on downloads of the Pixel Launcher app called out by Ars Technica, Google appears to have surpassed the 1 million mark.
Additional reports this week that Google hired a prominent former Apple chip developer have spurred speculation that Google is looking to build its own processors and set itself apart from competitors. But if Google is looking to take a serious crack at Apple and dominant Android-based manufacturer Samsung, it has a lot of ground to cover.
To show you just how high the hurdles are, here’s the state of the U.S. smartphone market in visual form:


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That will come to no surprise to some Internet sleuths, who combed through federal records, finding no proof of the restaurant officially changing its name.
IHOP is flipping back to pancakes, ending a stunt that temporarily changed the chain's name to IHOB to promote new burgers on the menu.
Why Fred did not play at all in Brazil's World Cup campaign
According to their report, Neymar spent good 14 minutes rolling on the ground in Russian Federation before the quarterfinal match. I think he's set to be the next big superstar as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are coming to the end of their careers.
Turkel Brands President Bruce Turkel discusses how IHOP is temporarily changing its name to IHOb. But the effort did not create a significant increase in the company's purchase consideration, which measures the likelihood of consumers eating at a particular restaurant chain.
But IHOP was quick with a comeback, writing: 'The blan was to get beople talking about our new burgers.
While pancakes are front and center again, that doesn't mean IHOP's burgers are going anywhere.
Wendy's proclaimed that it wasn't really afraid of burgers "from a place that decided pancakes were too hard". "Consequently, we needed to make a bold signal to disrupt people's thinking about IHOP and make it IHOb".


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The case of the designer Calvin Klein versus the Warnaco Group, the company that manufactures the designer's jeans, and Linda Wachner, its chief executive, ended swiftly in a settlement yesterday, with almost as much drama as the dispute's beginning.
Although the terms of the settlement were not made public, people close to the negotiations said the gist of the deal was that Warnaco agreed to limit significantly the percentage of its jeanswear sales to warehouse clubs in return for having Mr. Klein settle and remove the cloud of litigation that has been one of many factors depressing the stock price of Warnaco, which is laden with debt.
In the closely watched fashion world fight, Calvin Klein had been suing to terminate Warnaco's license on the ground that Warnaco had hurt his brand by producing substandard products and distributing Calvin Klein jeans to nonelite outlets like warehouse clubs.
The trial had been scheduled to start yesterday morning and negotiations between the sides went down to the wire, well through Sunday night and into Monday morning.
In fact, both Mr. Klein and Ms. Wachner arrived in federal court this morning to be on hand for jury selection and opening arguments. But the start of the trial was suddenly delayed, a settlement was announced, and Mr. Klein walked over and planted a demure kiss on the cheek of the woman he had labeled a cancer upon his business in the lawsuit filed last spring.Continue reading the main story
The terms of the deal were sealed by the court, but the settlement ended all litigation on the part of Mr. Klein to terminate the Warnaco manufacturing license, including a separate suit that he had filed in state court, as well as counterlitigation that was filed by Warnaco on the ground of trade libel.
Naturally, both sides claimed victory.
''It is a great day for Warnaco,'' said an ebullient-sounding Linda Wachner. The market also responded warmly to news that the litigation was behind the company, as Warnaco shares rose 60 percent, to close at $4. Warnaco's stock has been pummeled since the beginning of last year, when it traded around $14 a share.
''We have achieved the objectives we sought going into the litigation,'' said a spokesman for Calvin Klein Inc. ''We are particularly pleased that Warnaco and we now share a common vision and standard for the brand.'' Calvin Klein Inc. is a privately held company.
Driving the settlement, however, was the fact that both sides had much to lose by airing their dirty laundry in public. ''At the end of the day, we need them and they need us,'' Ms. Wachner acknowledged.
Neither side got everything it wanted, but in the penumbras of the press release that both parties agreed to after trial and in discussions with people close to the negotiations, it appears that Mr. Klein was at least able to achieve his main goal of limiting the direct distribution of his jeanswear to mass merchandisers and warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam's.
But not everyone close to the negotiations said the designer got the better end of the deal. ''Calvin Klein commenced the lawsuit to get the license back and eliminate sales to clubs and accomplished neither; the license remains intact,'' one person close to the negotiations said.
In the joint press statement, the companies agreed that Ms. Wachner would continue to manufacture Klein's jeanswear for the rest of the 44-year duration of her license, but that the future of the brand lay primarily in midprice distribution channels like department stores, where Mr. Klein had long argued they belonged.
''The parties look forward to expanding jeanswear sales consistent with the image and prestige of Calvin Klein products and to expanding and concentrating the distribution of Calvin Klein jeanswear products in the department and specialty stores,'' the press statement said.
In addition, people close to the negotiations said that Calvin Klein and Warnaco agreed that changes in cut and material would have to be approved by Mr. Klein or his design team -- another point that had been a particular sore spot with Mr. Klein.
In return, people close to the deal said that Mr. Klein would have to respond quickly to questions or changes asked for by Warnaco. During the suit, Warnaco had complained that Mr. Klein had abdicated design responsibilities, forcing them to take measures on their own to keep designs current.
The agreement provides for swift arbitration of complaints by either side by a professional panel of independent judges.
People close to the deal said that Ms. Wachner might have begun the settlement talks on Friday because she was under pressure from her banks. Her banks' lawyers, they said, played a key role in negotiations. But she vigorously denied that her bankers had forced her hand.
''Our banks have been very supportive of us,'' Ms. Wachner said.
The law firm of Williams & Connolly represented Warnaco. The firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner represented Calvin Klein Inc.Continue reading the main story


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Consumers drive the EV revolution
The UK’s ban on diesel and petrol cars is more than 20 years away, but new research has shown that consumers are already driving the change. The number of clean electric cars (EV) exceeded 1 million across Europe in the first half of 2018, with sales rising an impressive 42% year on year. This strong upwards trajectory is predicted to continue, with the number of EVs set to hit 1.35 million across Europe by the end of the year and 36 million in the UK by 2040.
The last time the transport industry experienced this kind of transformation was at the end of the 19th century, when cars became more popular than horse and carriage. The impact on industry back then was substantial – the horse industry was almost completely wiped out and a global car empire built in its place. This time, the focus is on the toxic air pollution caused by cars. We are transitioning from polluting diesel and petrol fuel to considerably cleaner battery powered vehicles.
We can’t know for sure what the future will hold, but National Grid’s recent Future Energy Scenarios (FES) report outlined four possible models. Each one is different, but there is one area of consistency – they all say that EV uptake will result high demand for electricity. Considerable activity is underway to prepare the system for this dramatic change. Take Northern Powergrid’s Smart Grid Enablers project for example. The distributed network operator (DNO) manages the power network in North East England, Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire and is investing £83 million in the UK’s most comprehensive network upgrade programme. The project will future-proof the region for rapid growth of EVs and other clean technologies.
Many similar projects are already underway, but much more could still be done to incentivise EV uptake in the UK. In Norway for example, generous government support driven by climate change means that buyers of EVs or hybrid cars are saving £1000s – they don’t pay import tax or VAT, parking is free and road tax is hugely reduced. These perks have resulted in the country currently leading the global race to roll out EVs: nearly a third of all new cars sold this year will be either fully electric or hybrid and experts predict this could rise to 40% in 2019. Let’s hope governments around the world take note!
Another way to drive EV success is through making the most of smart car batteries and two-way chargers. Smart Batteries track user behaviours, the cost of electricity and other variable external factors, such as the weather. They then use artificial intelligence and machine learning to pin point the best times to store power, discharge it and sell to the grid – working to cut costs, maximise earnings and reduce carbon. This is how Smart Batteries begin to really earn their name.
It’s clear that much still needs to be done by industry and government to drive the transport revolution. But with consumers now leading the way, all roads lead towards a greener, smarter EV future.