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NEW YORK (
) -- Simon Moss has discovered that Web media giants such as
face a shadowy competitor.
"Dark social is what is driving my business now," Moss told me over the phone. The recently transplanted Australian is deep in the business of staying in touch with what works with the Web in these grim digital days.
He's raised $2.2 million on the most interesting media start-up idea I've seen in months. Called
, this eight-person New York-based digital photography market matches the unpublished images of top-flight professional photographers with first-rate media companies and advertisers such as
Saatchi & Saatchi
and many others.
"The world's best shooters have terabytes of photos that never get used," he says. His service lets art directors and page designers specify exactly what they are looking for in a photo. Then it pushes those "image briefs" up to its network of photographers, who then match the spec to their extant images. And price their photos accordingly.
"We offer an upgrade of the cliched stock shot," Moss said. "But not the luxury of the full commission brief. The client gets a $25,000 shot for $8,000 and the shooter gets 8K he would not have otherwise made."
The critical value-add for Moss -- he gets a 30% cut on each photo sold through his service -- is that ImageBrief is not Flickr, Picasa,
or any sort of open content sharing platform. Rather, it's a carefully curated niche offering, and only vetted professional photographers and art directors can participate.
When I asked him what his No. 1 marketing weapon is for connecting with roughly 5,600 photographers and 700 clients, Moss had a fascinating answer: It isn't Web marketing or social media or any sort of hip, big data analysis. Rather ...
"It's dark social," he said. That is, the human interactions that happen in the digiosphere -- usually via Web chatter such as email, SMS or voice calls -- but not via big social networks.
"You know they are there because the phone rings," Moss said. "But you can't measure it, so it stays dark."
Casting a giant dark social shadow
Remarkably, even a cursory glance around the Web reveals that large swaths of the Internet are out of reach of supposedly omnipotent giants such as
, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Alexis Madrigal, the tech channel editor over at
, has done an excellent breakdown on this dark, unquantifiable web.
"To be honest, this was a very difficult thing to measure,"
. "One dirty secret of web analytics is that the information we get is limited."
How limited? Madrigal actually posted the inbound Web traffic to TheAtlantic.com and revealed that a stunning 56% -- or basically double the referrals from Facebook -- came from unknown, or dark, places online.
"Dark social is nearly always our top referral source," he wrote.
The dark Web of opportunity
The notion that wide swaths of the Web are beyond the reach of Facebook, Google,
and other supposedly inevitable big winners in a big Internet is not lost on aggressive entrepreneurs.
This month, St. Louis-based
announced a $6 million funding round from serious backers including Jim McKelvey, co-founder of
, and the president of the St. Louis Cardinals, Bill DeWitt III. LockerDome offers a simple sports-themed social media service, surprisingly close to Facebook and Twitter, that does little more than easily allow athletes to socially interact with fans.
LockerDome's executives agreed enthusiastically that modern integrated Web platforms such as Facebook fulfill surprisingly little of the Web's full potential.
"The opportunity is finding the limits of what they don't do well and serving that market," Gabe Lozano, founder of LockerDome, told me over the phone. Lozano argues passionately that for all their ubiquity, big Web services do a bad job of serving niches markets online.
Lozano has the numbers to back up that gut reaction. His LockerDome broke 10 million unique visitors in February by offering essentially nothing more than well-curated social content from sports stars including Troy Polamalu, Larry Fitzgerald, Blake Griffin and many more.
"The interest-focused Web is very poorly served," Lozano says. "It's why we are growing so fast."
The big Web ain't that big
The investor risks here are significant. First, there appears to be little a Facebook or Twitter can do to capture the value of lucrative social connections that happen on dark networks away from their platforms.
"I don't see any scenario where I will be paying for my dark social contacts," Moss said. "The awareness that we add value is what I have to invest in for my business to grow."
Even more worrisome, Web may turn out to be a small man's game. That is, large Web operations may simply not be able to capture the full opportunity of the niche-oriented Internet. "The interest-specific experience of what we are doing is very tough for a Facebook or Twitter to match," Lozano said. "It's just not what they do."
The Internet universe may turn out to be like the universe itself: little tiny pockets of value falling through a dark void unable to supporting meaningful life.
This commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet guest contributor program. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of TheStreet or its management.


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This is where #LitePay comes in. LitePay will be the X factor that will bolster Litecoin’s position against Bitcoin .
Bitcoin’s journey to the mainstream received a boost from BitPay, a merchant processor solely dedicated to Bitcoin , which made it easy for businesses across the world to accept Bitcoin as payment. LitePay will do the same for Litecoin. I’ve called it a “game-changer” for Litecoin.

domain: news


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Another in a series of setbacks for Mexico tourism
The decision by Princess Cruises to cut back its U.S.-Mexico capacity comes at a time when Mexico's tourism industry is facing unusual challenges stemming from the recession, the aftermath of the H1N1 flu outbreak and sporadic but continuing outbursts of drug-related violence.
In an Aug. 10 report, the World Travel and Tourism Council predicted that Mexico tourism, after outperforming the rest of Mexico's economy in 2008, would contract 9% this year, falling even harder than the 6.5% decline predicted for Mexico's economy as a whole. Overall tourist arrivals are expected to decline by a third.
Contributing to that decline last spring was an abrupt drop in U.S. citizen arrivals by air, a metric used by the U.S. Commerce Department to track tourism flows.
According to the latest data, U.S. citizen arrivals by air fell 13.6% during the first five months of this year. In May, during the height of the swine flu scare, the total dropped 46%, to a mere 274,000 arrivals, the lowest total for any month in years.
Evidently sensing the market, airlines are continuing to reduce U.S.-Mexico capacity. According to data provided to Travel Weekly by OAG, the carriers have filed schedules to put 2.4 million seats in the market during the second quarter, down 16% from a year ago. Fourth-quarter capacity is slated to amount to 2.7 million seats, a decline of nearly 9%.
That combines for a 12% decline for the second half of the year, according to OAG, much steeper than the projected declines for other markets. OAG forecasted a reduction in seats of about 2.8% globally and a 4.3% drop within North America.
Still, the WTTC has found grounds for optimism, noting that during the first four months of the year, Mexico's total international tourist arrivals continued to grow, despite "the global recession and continued drug-related violence."
And it remains optimistic for the long term. WTTC President and CEO Jean-Claude Baumgarten said in the August report that "we still expect the growth in Mexican travel and tourism economy GDP over the next 10 years to average close to 5% per annum." -- Bill Poling
Citing shifting market demand on the West Coast, Princess Cruises will eliminate 15 Mexican Riviera cruises in 2010-2011, replacing them with additional Hawaii cruises and two Pacific crossings between California and Sydney.
"It's a matter of demand," said Princess spokeswoman Julie Benson. "We deploy our ships where we believe they will be most successful, and right now we see more demand for a longer, more exotic deployment over seven-day Mexican Riviera."
The change comes after a significant ramp-up of West Coast cruise capacity that began several years ago.
It also comes at a time when Mexico's tourism industry is facing a litany of unusual challenges (see report at right).
This year, two mass-market ships joined the West Coast parade to the Mexican Riviera. Carnival Cruise Lines' 3,006-passenger Carnival Splendor and Royal Caribbean International's Mariner of the Seas, joined ships like Princess' 2,670-passenger Sapphire Princess in offering weekly Mexico cruises.
West Coast cruising has always created a difficult choice for cruise lines. It is the easiest place to put ships relocating from summers in Alaska, but available destinations in Mexico are extremely limited compared with options in the Caribbean. Even one more cruise ship makes a difference in such a market.
Princess did not go so far as to say there was any destination fatigue associated with that route but said its passengers were simply asking for the longer, destination-focused Pacific itineraries.
"Mexico is one of our deployment mainstays," Benson said. "It's one of our legacy destinations and will continue to be part of our itinerary mix. Because our fleet size limits the number of destinations we can cruise to at any one time, sometimes changes are warranted based on the demand we're seeing.
"We've offered longer Hawaii cruises for some time, with good success," she said, adding that passengers see "a great value proposition" in longer cruises, such as Hawaii.
Princess will still offer 17 Mexican Riviera sailings in 2010-2011 but will no longer operate the weekly itinerary that Princess started out with in the 1960s -- the same route taken by Captain Stubing in the "Love Boat" TV series.
Beginning in September 2010, the Sapphire will offer two monthlong trips -- San Francisco to Sydney, followed by Sydney to Los Angeles -- before operating three 14-day roundtrip Hawaii cruises from Los Angeles beginning in January 2011. The ship will also sail one 10-day Mexican Riviera itinerary.
Princess did its first Pacific crossing last year and is operating two on the Star Princess this fall; they weren't originally on the 2010 schedule.
"Due to the enthusiastic response to our 2009 transpacific sailing, we wanted to offer additional opportunities to experience this unique itinerary," said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises' executive vice president.
Carnival, which now operates the most capacity on the West Coast, has significantly expanded its West Coast operations. Since the opening of the Long Beach Cruise Terminal in Los Angeles in 2003, it has increased its passenger count in that market by 80%.
In 2003, Carnival carried 338,580 passengers from Los Angeles. This year, that number jumped to 611,740 passengers out of Los Angeles and San Diego.
Besides replacing the 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride with the Splendor on Los Angeles itineraries (the Carnival Paradise is also homeported in Los Angeles), the line began its first year-round deployment from San Diego last year, with the Carnival Elation. The Carnival Spirit also does seasonal cruising out of San Diego.
Royal Caribbean International also added a great deal of capacity to Southern California in the last two years, including the 3,114-passenger Mariner of the Seas, which became the largest cruise ship based on the West Coast when it arrived in Los Angeles this year. The Mariner previously operated Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral, Fla.
Royal Caribbean also extended the Radiance of the Seas' season out of San Diego this year instead of doing the South America itinerary originally scheduled.
From this month through May 2010, the Radiance is offering 24 Mexican Riviera sailings, ranging from four to 12 days, and two West Coast cruises, a nine- and a 10-day itinerary.
Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean's senior vice president of sales, trade support and services, said there was no issue of West Coast overcapacity; if anything, there is not enough awareness.
"The Radiance is a great ship for the incentive market, due to the nice mix of balconies," Freed said. "And it's offering a unique itinerary, making a stop in Cabo San Lucas, unusual for a four-day cruise. Not enough travel agents know about it yet."
Holland America Line offered 16 Mexico cruises from San Diego in 2007 on the Ryndam and the Zaandam. Last year, it operated 38 cruises on two ships to Mexico.
This year, the line has three ships operating Mexico itineraries, with the Oosterdam coming from Europe to join the Ryndam and the Veendam. This year HAL is offering slightly fewer cruises, 28, but the itineraries are longer and spread over more ships.
HAL's cruises to Hawaii have remained steady over the last three years, with the Zaandam offering 12 Hawaii cruises in 2007, followed by 14 this year and last.
This year, the swine flu outbreak tested the Mexico cruise market like never before. Royal Caribbean's parent company said in its Q2 earnings call in July that the swine flu continued to have a big impact on Mexico demand, even after the travel warnings to Mexico were dropped.
More capacity is coming next year. Disney Cruise Lines will reposition the Disney Wonder in Los Angeles in 2011 for at least two years, making room at its current Port Canaveral homeport for its upcoming newbuilds.


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Maelor on the rise after sales fillip
AIM-listed healthcare group Maelor increased sales of its catheter cleansing product Optiflo to hospitals by 57% in the six months up to September and now controls 30% of the market. Its only revenue-generating division increased sales to £275,000. Maelor incurred a loss of £1.3m and has cash balances of £800,000. The shares rose 1p to 39 1/2p.
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Achieving máscan take many forms but for Latinas, it means taking care of their well-being first to be in the right headspace to make their businesses thrive.
Ana Flores, co-CEO and founder of#WeAllGrow Latina,the most established digital and lifestyle community of impactful Latinas, defines wellness as “being connected with our inner voice as our ultimate guide.”
Flores has made wellness a priority in her business, hostingwellness events for her team members and community which invite them to prioritize self-care. “The practice of wellness is protecting the container needed for that connection to flow,” she said.
Asurvey by #WeAllGrow Latina and Microsoft found that 94% of Latina entrepreneurs cite their mental health and wellbeing as a top priority, yet 47% of respondents report a decline in their overall well-being, impacting their business.
Technology can contribute to wellness by improving work efficiency and freeing up time for self-care. Like Flores, many Latina entrepreneurs are striving to improve their well-being. We spoke with three Latina leaders to share their tips.
54% of respondents pointed out that technology helps them get more flexibility to work outside of an 8 a.m.-5 p.m. schedule. Miri Rodriguez is a book author and founder ofBe Mindful Be Happy, and thanks to AI, she now has more time to focus on her craft.
She has been relying on Microsoft Teams AI-powered tools to manage her time more efficiently. “I can now record a meeting and AI tells me when someone mentioned a task and it summarizes the meeting for me.” Rodriguez, Senior Storyteller at Microsoft, said.
Whether it’s working on a book or writing exercises, she uses Microsoft Bing to get new perspectives on her writing. “I started to create mindfulness poems and then asked Bing, ‘How would you optimize this? How would you say this to a 5-year-old?’,” Rodriguez said.
48% use technology to manage personal matters. Brittany Valdes, founder of The Mom Economy, uses Microsoft Bing to simplify meal planning. “Dinner is sacred time and gives my family the time to reconnect,” she said.
“I simply type in a prompt to Bing AI like ‘Make me a grocery list with two recipes that I can make for my family this week.’ Bing then generates it for me,” Valdes, Regional Program Manager at Microsoft, said.
64% report using technology to stay organized, as is the case with Ivelisse Capellan-Heyer, a passionate designer who leads design and product workshops for underserved communities.
Microsoft Bing has helped make it easier to tackle her inbox. “Even if it’s a short email, I could spend 30 minutes overthinking the English, order, and tone,” she said.
Whether it’s using AI to keep track of daily activities or feeling more confident about their writing, Latina jefas are making the most out of new technologies to help them thrive and feel their best.


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KUALA LUMPUR: Herbalife Nutrition has expanded its network of pick-up centres (PUCs) with the launch of new centres in Ipoh, Perak and Puchong, Selangor.
This brings the total number of PUCs nationwide to 23.
In a statement, Herbalife said new and existing independent members visiting the PUCs would have access to the full range of its products and will also be able to conveniently collect their online orders.
"We are thrilled to launch our PUCs in Ipoh and Puchong, marking an important milestone for the company.
"Selangor and Perak serve as key markets for Herbalife Nutrition in Malaysia. With new PUCs in Ipoh and Puchong, we are making our products more accessible, and we will continue to enhance our capabilities to better serve our consumers," said Herbalife Nutrition Malaysia and Singapore senior director and general manager Steven Chin.
He said as the country transitioned into the endemic phase, the company understood that health and wellness had become more important than ever before.
"According to Herbalife Nutrition's 2021 Supplements Survey which examines the awareness and usage of nutritional supplements in the Asia Pacific region, 88 per cent of Malaysians respondents reported that they have been taking steps to improve their health since the start of the pandemic.
"This is why we are pleased to continue widening our reach in Malaysia to facilitate and support our consumers in their journey to better health," he said.
Herbalife Nutrition operates across 23 locations throughout the nation, including Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Penang, Pahang, as well as Sabah and Sarawak.


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Samsung's Note 7 has experienced exploding battery problems. (Ariel Gonzalez / YouTube)
Durban - Samsung's controversial Note 7 smartphone, which has become synonymous with dangerous explosions across the globe, is still going on sale in South Africa later this year.
Samsung Electronics South Africa announced on Tuesday that its Galaxy Note 7 will be available in South Africa from November.
This comes after the company previously postponed its September 23 Note 7 launch in South Africa amid complaints of exploding batteries in other parts of the world.
Samsung has had to undergo a recall in places such as the US where the handset had already been launched.
“As the Galaxy Note 7 had not been officially launched in the South African market at the time the battery cell challenges were identified, we took the decision not to release the handset into the South African market until these challenges are overcome," said Craige Fleischer, a director at Samsung Electronics South Africa.
"As such, the Galaxy Note 7 will be available in South Africa in November,” said Fleischer.
Will you buy a Samsung Galaxy Note 7? Tell us by clicking here.
The launch of the Note 7 was marred by reports of exploding batteries with several airlines around the world - including South African Airways (SAA) - banning the charging and usage of the device on board flights.
READ: SAA bans charging of 'exploding' Samsung Note 7
On September 14, the company announced that it would be releasing a software update to help reduce the risk of incidents relating to the battery cell issues by limiting the maximum battery charge to 60%.
But Samsung Electronics South Africa has promised that local versions of the Note 7 will have safe batteries and that the software update won't be necessary.
“As the Galaxy Note 7 has not yet officially been launched in South Africa, this will not be applicable to the South African market. South African customers will receive Galaxy Note 7’s that offers full battery usage,” Fleischer said.
However Fleischer believes that while the delay in the launch of the Galaxy Note 7 in South Africa is disappointing, it will be worth the wait for consumers.
“The Galaxy Note 7 will take the smartphone to the next level in terms of design, power and performance, providing users with a seamless transition between work and play,” he said.
“Moreover, the new phone offers additional features, such as water resistance and upgraded security features, including the latest iris scanning technology, the first of its kind to be available in South Africa,” Fleischer added.
Initial reports suggested that charging the device without the original charger led to the risk of exploding batteries.
Numerous reports of devices exploding while charging, including car and house fires, were blamed on the Note 7.


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The Beauty of Resistance in Balenciaga Fall/Winter 2022
The brand unpacks the war in Ukraine and the effects of climate change, touting dedicated resistance amongst the fanfare of cursory lip service seen throughout the last week.
Guests invited to Balenciaga Fall/Winter 2022 watched were greeted with t-shirts in the colors of Ukraine, with a personal note card from Demna. A “forever refugee,” the designer and his family fled from Georgia in the middle of the country’s conflict in 1993, declaring that the war in Ukraine had manifested the past trauma, “the fear, the desperation, the realization that no one wants you.”
Seeing the horrors that are being inflicted upon civilians who continue to reside in Ukraine or escape triggered the want to cancel the show, writing, “Because, at a time like this, fashion loses its relevance and its actual right to exist.” Like many of his contemporaries, continuing through Fashion Week during this period seems futile, a vain distraction as we witness Ukrainians lose their homes and struggle to advocate for their sovereignty. However, through fashion, resistance was a more worthy dedication to Ukraine and victims of war who are forever displaced for Demna.
Titled 360°, guests sat in a grand exhibition hall opposite large paneled windows, acting as voyeurs to the snow-covered simulation. The virtual effects of the simulation were a confrontation, a time of predictable seasons that Demna describes as now a “nostalgia.”
Acting as figures in a snow globe, models walked around the sphere’s interior, trudging through snow, stiff through the experience of cold temperament and agonizing wind. They lugged with bags in hand, some garbage bag-like pouches. At times, giant Hourglass handbags – pointing to a reality that we are currently seeing and have been witnessing for nearly the last ten years with the refugee crises seen throughout Africa and the Middle East.
Wrapped in only towels and underwear, or only just logo-covered packing tape (as seen on Kim Kardashian), Demna highlighted the force of the conditions of taking refuge. The guest list included Alexa Demie, Sevdaliza, and Lil Baby. For many others, viewing this reality may have been an all too familiar history of being victims of forced movement.
Hulking fur coats, oversized hoodies, and double-breasted suit jackets protected the blowing wind. Asymmetric dresses and catsuits allowed for more struggle when paired with heeled boots—dark beauty through the storm. With booming electronic music pounding through the hall, the finale culminated with one last dedication to Ukraine, a yellow tracksuit that was overwhelmed by the wind as the model trudged through the snow, and a bright blue dress, with a train that continued to flow easily without surrender.


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Results 41 - 60 of 11761
Zebra Technologies Introduces The ZT400 Series, The Next Generation Of Zebra’s Tabletop Printers
(Tuesday, August 26, 2014 2:00:00 AM IST)
iBall Launches Its Aerodynamic Octa Core Smartphone - Cobalt 3
(Monday, August 25, 2014 11:40:00 PM IST)
Intex Launches India's Lowest Priced Smartphone At Rs 1999
(Monday, August 25, 2014 4:40:00 PM IST)
Xiaomi Geared Up To Launch Redmi 1S Smartphone In India
(Monday, August 25, 2014 1:20:53 PM IST)
Time to move on. It's time for Xiaomi Redmi 1S now.
XOLO Releases Android KitKat Update For Its Devices
(Monday, August 25, 2014 12:40:00 PM IST)
Spice Announces Its First Firefox OS Phone, Spice Fire One Mi-FX 1
(Monday, August 25, 2014 10:50:10 AM IST)
One more 'open source' technology based affordable phone comes in the Indian market with advanced features like dual-SIM facility, dual camera and multi-lingual support.
Infibeam Is Introducing Stylish Leather Finish Back Xolo Q610s
(Saturday, August 23, 2014 4:00:00 PM IST)
Spice Launches India’s 1st Firefox Smartphones
(Saturday, August 23, 2014 2:40:00 PM IST)
Infibeam Showcases The Newly Launched Micromax Canvas XL2 A109
(Friday, August 22, 2014 11:40:00 PM IST)
LG Introduces HomBot Square 3.0, A Unique Robotic Cleaning Technology
(Friday, August 22, 2014 1:40:00 PM IST)
Stealth.com Launches Mini-PCs With Four Gigabit Port
(Friday, August 22, 2014 12:00:00 PM IST)
Four new models of mini-PCs launched by Stealth.com feature four gigabit ports. These mini-PCs are powered by Ubuntu.
The Latest KaOS 2014.08 Is Out With KDE 4.14.0
(Friday, August 22, 2014 11:40:25 AM IST)
KaOS Linux distribution has released the latest version KaOS 2014.08, this update comes with KDE 4.14.0.
SLMMSK For iPhone Ruins Your Selfie
(Friday, August 22, 2014 11:20:22 AM IST)
Ruin your selfie in a creative way using this new free app for iOS.
Alcatel Launches 4 New Smartphones In Indian Market
(Friday, August 22, 2014 10:40:36 AM IST)
The smartphone market is getting flooded with Alcatel One Touch launches, that come at an affordable price range.
Samsung-Barnes & Nobles Launch New Nook Tablet Together
(Friday, August 22, 2014 10:20:17 AM IST)
Get your new Nook in your hand and apart from reading books, you can enjoy its other activities too.
Linux Foundation Launches Two New Certification Programs
(Friday, August 22, 2014 9:25:25 AM IST)
The new certification exams, LFCE and LFCS will help employers find right Linux talent.
Panasonic Introduces New Wireless And Portable Qi-Enabled Charger Series
(Friday, August 22, 2014 4:20:00 AM IST)
Pre-Order HyperX Cloud Headset Exclusively On Snapdeal
(Friday, August 22, 2014 1:40:00 AM IST)
Samsung And Barnes & Noble Introduce New Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK
(Thursday, August 21, 2014 11:00:00 PM IST)
LG L Bello, LG L Fino – The New Smartphones From LG
Result Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next
(Thursday, August 21, 2014 5:20:42 PM IST)
LG L series smartphones' popularity meter is increasing and the new launches will boost it up further.


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Tendril Launches A Customer Acquisition Solution For Utility-Owned Community Solar
Tendril, the Boulder, Colo.-based software startup, rebooted its business last year with a shift to microtargeted energy savings products through its new Energy Services Management platform. Today, the company announced it’s expanding its product line with a customer acquisition and engagement solution for utilities getting into community solar.
The new end-to-end solution is designed to help utilities accelerate the development of community solar projects through enhanced customer targeting, personalized proposal generation and ongoing interaction.
Residential solar can be seen as a threat to utilities because it reduces electricity sales. But it doesn’t have to be that way, according to Tendril CEO Adrian Tuck. Utilities can leverage their access to consumers and low cost of capital to deliver solar in a way that benefits their bottom line and enhances overall customer engagement.
This article was shared via RSS by the awesome folks at SEIA read more about <a href=”http://www.seia.org/news/tendril-launches-customer-acquisition-solution-utility-owned-community-solar”Tendril Launches A Customer Acquisition Solution For Utility-Owned Community Solar


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The companies have been partnered for several years, with Innovid’s ad tech being a part of Roku’s ad framework since 2015.
A statement from the company said that the new solution is designed to measure and understand daily demographic reach and frequency on TV campaigns run across the Roku platform, and Linear TV.
This solution utilises data from Roku’s user base of over 30 million active accounts along with Innovid’s OTT ad serving footprint across over 75 million households.
This solution expands upon Roku Ad Insights, a suite of analytics tools that is designed to measure ad effectiveness in OTT, introduced in 2018.
The product is now being tested with several select Innovid and Roku clients including Verizon. The solution will soon expand to include all of OTT, broadening it beyond the Roku platform.
Alison Levin, vice president of ad sales and strategy at Roku said: “More than half of Roku’s audience are cord cutters,” said. “As marketers follow viewers from linear TV to OTT, they need tools to evaluate audience overlap and incremental reach across screens and suppliers.”
Jessica Hogue, general manager of measurement and analytics at Innovid added: “Marketers understand that OTT can build incremental reach to traditional TV buys. Innovid and Roku are now making it easier to connect audiences across all of television.
“The ability to measure reach and frequency across ad campaigns running on linear TV and the Roku platform gives marketers deeper transparency and the ability to reduce over-frequency to drive better business outcomes.”
ICYMI: URC launches global rugby streamer digitaltveurope.com/2021/09/16/urc… https://t.co/mvWGQXsHpi
17 September 2021 @ 19:30:00 UTC
DTVE: the week in view – Cabinet reshuffle comes at tumultuous time for UK pubcasters digitaltveurope.com/comment/cabine… https://t.co/LXoMcJxrEr
17 September 2021 @ 16:40:11 UTC


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Earlier this year the Windows Phone team along with the Imagine Cup announced the Windows Phone 7 Rockstar award for this year’s Imagine Cup competition. Participants were given one month to design a Windows Phone 7 application either in Silverlight or using the XNA Game Studio.
I’m very excited to be able to announce that the first ever Windows Phone 7 Rockstars hail from my home country, the United States. Eric Lo and Christian Hood, from the Advanced Techology Academy, a public magnet high school in Las Vegas, Nevada, have won the 2010 Imagine Cup Windows Phone 7 Rockstar award.
Their project, Droid Assault, is a two-dimensional Windows Phone 7 game written in XNA using C#, that involves a player controlling a machine that destroys other machines using the accelerometer functionality in Windows Phone 7.
Team Beastware plans to publish their game on the Windows Phone Marketplace in time for the launch of Windows Phone 7 devices. I highly encourage everyone to check out their game, and to give them a huge congratulations in their accomplishments.
You can find Team Beastware on the web at http://beastware.co.cc


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Intensifying competition among the major PC makers is going to drive prices, and manufacturers' margins, lower in 1999, especially in large deals like the Mobil contract, according to financial analysts. And, unlike in 1998, Dell will participate more actively in the price games, which could fuel discounts even more.
In a recent financial conference call earlier this month Dell CFO Tom Meredith said that the company will likely see lower gross margins next year, but also try to maintain its current pace of revenue growth, which is roughly 50 percent per quarter on a year-to-year comparison, according to analysts on the call. In all likelihood, this means that Dell will lower its prices.
This is different from 1998 when Dell managed to grow its market share, without cutting its prices as aggressively as other vendors.
Dell will "increasingly become more price aggressive to maintain top line growth," said Kurt King, computing analyst with NationsBanc Montgomery Securities. While some of the effect of lower prices will be absorbed through improved manufacturing, the company will also likely accept lower product margins on average in 1999, said King.
Meredith, in fact, said that price has already become a larger factor in large corporate account sales "where an incumbent is attempting to protect its position," said Richard Gardner, an analyst with Salomon Smith Barney.
"We agree that Dell's gross margins will likely trend down over the coming 12 to 15 months due to, one, an impending moderation in component price declines...and, two, increasing competition from top-tier companies like Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM, who have been working to reengineer their manufacturing and distribution for at least the past 15 months."
Dell will also slow down its rate of hiring, Gardner predicted. The company added about 9,000 employees in fiscal 1998.
Under the Mobil contract, the oil company will standardize on, or purchase on an essentially exclusive basis, Dell desktops, notebooks, and Windows NT servers for a three year period. Standardization will result in a cost savings of approximately 25 percent, according to Dell, by streamlining acquisition and testing procedures.
The company has been buying its desktops from Dell but relying on IBM for notebooks and servers, according to a Dell spokeswoman.


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Toyota Corolla commercial: "Party Dress" Video
Like the hybrid, Toyota largely defined the general purpose compact with the Corolla
At the 2013 Detroit auto show, CNET's Antuan Goodwin drops in on Toyota, which is previewing the Furia Concept, an aggressive Corolla that hints to the future of the company's sedan models.
Toyota rules the hybrid roost, and the new Prius' first job is not to mess with that.
Dressed in bright red jumpsuits, Datarock rules the stage with a Beastie Boys-meets-Talking Heads style. Trading off between campy rap tracks and legit postpunk jams, this Norwegian posse has raised the bar for today's party music. Catch them at dance club or dive bar near you.
You'd sneer at this prize fight at $2.75 a gallon--now you're all eyes.
Who ever thought the humble Corolla would have GPS navigation?
Never a sexy car, the Corolla at least takes a step in that direction.
Yes it's electric and yes it has a Tesla power train, but the limited range of the 2012 Toyota RAV4 EV plus the slow charge times make this car a confusing mess.
ZDNet's David Coursey talks with Microsoft Research about new software tools the company is developing to prevent third-party device drivers from crashing its Windows operating systems.


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Back at its Build conference in May, Microsoft showed Your Phone, a Windows 10 app (with companion apps on Android and iOS) that helped bridge between the smartphone world and the PC world. The company showed syncing of photos, SMS messages, and notifications between the phone and the PC, hoping to put an end to time-honored traditions such as e-mailing yourself a picture you took on your phone just so you can use it on your computer.
The latest Insider Preview build of this autumn's Windows 10 update, released yesterday, finally enables this syncing. Or at least, it enables the Windows-side portion of it. The phone-side updates are merely "coming soon." An Android app, requiring Android 7.0 or better, will soon be available to handle the necessary work on the phone.
Initially, it appears that the focus will be only on the photo syncing (it's the only thing Microsoft mentions in its latest blog post, and the screenshot above shows that there's only a "Photos" section in the navigation bar). This is generally the easiest thing to sync, but it's also probably the most useful. SMS integration will be Android-only anyway (iOS apps aren't allowed to read or send SMSes), and notification syncing is going to be complex. Microsoft wants the notifications to be actionable on the PC, such that clicking, say, a notification from Instagram will open the Instagram app on Windows. This will be powerful and seamless if it works well but will require much more engineering effort than merely mirroring the notification text from the phone onto the PC.
Other aspects of Microsoft's vision of an integrated phone and desktop are already available. I use the Microsoft Launcher and Edge browser on Android, so tabs I have open on the phone already show up in Windows Timeline on my desktop. Microsoft plans more integrations along these lines to, for example, make it easier to continue writing an e-mail on my PC that I started writing in Outlook on my phone.


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Leading cruise operator Carnival Australia has reappointed IDNZ to handle its tour operations in New Zealand.
The appointment covers all New Zealand shore tours operated by three cruise lines represented by Carnival Australia: P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines.
New Zealand is a major destination for the cruise lines, which are scheduled to make more than 250 calls to North Island and South Island ports during the present summer cruise season.
IDNZ has been operating in the New Zealand market for more than 30 years, with its operations covering incentives, meetings and groups as well as cruise customers.
Announcing the new two-year appointment, Carnival Australia Senior Vice President of Strategy Neil Linwood said the cruise operator was delighted to continue its strong association with IDNZ.
“Our cruises to New Zealand cover a large number of ports so we are very pleased to have IDNZ offering a seamless operation across the entire country,” Mr Linwood said.
IDNZ Managing Director Jeremy Palmer said the company enjoyed an excellent working relationship with Carnival Australia.
“We are absolutely delighted to be reappointed and thereby continue to build on what is already a very well patronised programme of shore excursions in New Zealand for Carnival Australia and its associated brands,” Mr Palmer said.


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MicroStrategy announced in press release on February 16, it intends to conduct a private offer of convertible debt worth USD 600 million. The offer will be dedicated to qualified institutional investors. The company said the bonds could be converted into cash or ordinary Class A shares. Most importantly, MicroStrategy intends to use the proceeds from their sale to buy more Bitcoins.
MicroStrategy’s investment paid off
Bitcoin is gaining more and more traction thanks to the continuous investments of large traditional institutions. Recently, more and more companies are starting to accept cryptocurrencies and looking for ways not to miss the boom. But MicroStrategy is always one step ahead, and for good reason. It is one of the first companies to understand that BTC can be a store of value and a reliable investment.
This is the second time this public company has tried to raise funds to increase its crypto wallet. Last December, a company led by Saylor launched a $ 400 million convertible bond offer. In the end, it managed to sell convertible debt worth $ 650 million.
From 2020, the company began to invest heavily in the world’s largest digital currency, cleverly buying up almost every lows. In February, the company acquired 295 bitcoins worth approximately $ 10 million. Currently, Microstrategy is one of the largest Bitcoin holders in the world. Its portfolio includes over 71,079 BTC, worth over $ 3.4 billion.
Bitcoin above $ 51,000
Now that other companies such as Tesla and Square have made a similar move as Microstrategy, the oldest cryptocurrency has experienced a spike. Aggregate investments by MicroStrategy and other companies pushed BTC to hit ATH above $ 51,000. Thanks to these large companies and institutional investors, cryptocurrencies also gained much more credibility in the eyes of ordinary bread eaters.
Microstrategy is not the only company interested in cryptocurrencies. Recently, Apple Pay introduced BTC as a payment option for its users. For this purpose, the application has integrated the top payment platform – BitPay.


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Unilever, Uber, and DB Schenker are just a handful of companies who have joined the digital freight matching arena-an arena that has seen over $180 million in venture capital investments since 2011. With adoption rates of sophisticated transport management software by small and medium sized businesses growing, why are so many of the big players interested in this new model?
Gartner first noted the digital disruptor in the freight management industry in their Hype Cycle for Transportation, 2012 (content available to clients), and the market has since grown at a rapid rate.
The market is ripe for platforms that can replace many of the manual processes that brokers carry out in the name of freight matching. Can this new technology transform an industry that has relied on freight brokers since the early 1900s?
In this article I’ll discuss why digital freight matching will revolutionize the freight industry-eventually. I’ll take you through:
What digital freight matching is
How it helps solve the empty mile problem
How it affects the new Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) mandate
The impact on current carrier-broker relationships.
Digital freight matching replaces the middlemen involved in the supply-chain of load-matching, namely the third party logistics companies (3PLs) and brokers, with new technology that connects the two.
Often described as “Uber for freight” (Uber did indeed join the digital freight matching market in 2017), digital freight matching are apps and digital platforms that seek to match a vehicle’s load capacity with nearby companies who are looking to ship goods.
Through these apps, drivers receive alerts or can browse an app-which details the kind of load, distance, timing, and price-and can choose the offer that suits them most in a few clicks.
According to Ozan Baran, CEO and founder of digital freight matching platform Quickload, digital freight matching comes both as a response to the lack of trust between shipping companies and brokers-despite the long history between them-and a need for the modernization of traditional load boards.
He says, "The need for efficiency, the lack of transparency, and common hidden fees is what is behind the proliferation of on-demand trucking services. I've worked in logistics for twenty years and have really started to notice recently that shipping companies aren't happy with traditional brokers due to the lack of transparency and hidden fees, and are now really open to the idea of new ways to ship their freight."
Uber Freight's digital freight matching platform Source: Uber Freight
As well as improving notoriously slow turnaround times, digital freight matching also comes as a response to other pain points in the industry.
Consider the statistics below. Even for larger freight companies, a truck driving empty miles-without any cargo in its trailer-becomes a costly affair. Third-party brokers aim to close these gaps for a commission, but through a protracted manual process that can sometimes leave drivers frustrated-and empty, still.
A truck's average empty mileage can run anywhere from 12 to 28 percent
The overall estimation of American trucks annual empty miles is 50 billion miles
$1.38 is the average operating cost per mile in the trucking industry.
Baran describes the traditional brokering process as ‘old-fashioned’, with inefficiencies and prices driving the industry to digitization.
He says, "The old-fashioned process that drivers have to go through to find good paying loads is what makes them run empty or half-empty miles around thirty percent of the time. With on-demand platforms trucks are likely to be on the road less because the shipments are booked more efficiently. And, when it's easier to connect trucks with companies that need their services, there is less likelihood of drivers returning home with empty trucks."
Digital freight matching’s on-demand nature responds to this inefficiency in the market and allows drivers more direct and timely control over their schedules. Some platforms also include functionality for advanced visibility into future loads, so drivers will know before their first job whether they’ll be able to fill the empty miles with a backhaul.
Late last year the Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) mandate was issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which overhauled the obligations of electronic tracking in the industry.
Commercial vehicles must now be fitted with electronic devices which record:
Hours of service
Records of duty
With stricter rules and monitoring of driving hours, this is likely to affect the freight matching industry in terms of the importance of the timeliness of loads.
Speaking to Josh Breger, Director of Sales for digital freight matching platform HaulHound, he believes that the renewed ELD mandate could mean that drivers come to rely more on digital platforms to ensure that the hours that they can take advantage of the hours they can legally drive.
He says, "Though the roads are safer with the ELD rules, this does mean that there is less driving time for drivers. A major facet of digital freight matching is to help the driver spend less time on menial tasks and stay focused on driving. If there are fewer hours in the day that they can legally drive, they should utilize a digital freight matching platform to more efficiently find and plan out their next loads."
Baran echoes this sentiment, adding that brokers may find it more difficult to secure carriers due to the ELD rules, and digital platforms provide a more responsive and time-sensitive approach to freight matching.
"Shipping companies or traditional brokers who have trouble securing capacity-and who are often looking for below-market rates, provide short lead times, or have lengthy loading times-might struggle to find reliable carriers when they are more conscious of the ELD rule. Digital freight matching platforms will likely benefit because they utilize smart technology to allow truckers to book their hauls, and we pay them quickly."
It’s yet to be seen how much the emergence of digital freight matching platforms has affected the traditional broker-carrier relationship, if at all.
As with any type of new disruptive technology, demographics will affect the uptake and adoption of such technologies. Veteran and generational truck drivers have been slow to adopt this new technology when compared to other industries. This particular demographic may continue to favor the focus on the human, interactional, and relationship-based aspect of a traditional broker company, instead of a faceless app.
However, larger broker companies are entering the digital freight matching space by developing their own technology-driven platforms. Breger believes that smaller firms may be pushed out of the market due to a lack of available funding.
He says, "Another effect it might have is on the increasingly fragmented freight broker market. Up until this point, smaller brokerages have been able to exist amongst the five to ten larger well-known firms. However, without the deep pockets to build an in-house digital freight matching solution, many of these businesses may be forced out. Digital freight matching solutions, such as HaulHound, work for both the trucking companies and freight brokers and aims to promote grounds for competition with the big guys."
Digital freight matching is a supply-chain technology that’s still in its infancy. While it currently effectively addresses some of the pain points drivers face in the freight matching industry, it will be a few more years until it can be considered a solution that can replace brokers as a whole.
Take, for example, the relationships that have been built up between drivers and brokers over many years. Some drivers may not welcome loads from unfamiliar and faceless brokers, if indeed the smaller brokerage firms are pushed out of the market by digital platforms.
Breger references the impact the ELD rules have had on the industry in terms of older drivers leaving the market, and believes that digital freight matching solutions could have the same effect.
He says, "Instead of transforming how they work, older drivers are simply retiring, leaving a huge gap."
However, Breger sees a silver lining here.
He says, "As younger generations become reliant on their smartphones to pay bills, do business and influence their lifestyle, digital freight matching tools could entice the younger generation to get behind the wheel."
Additionally, digital platforms should be wary of seeking to erase the necessary human component within freight matching due to the time-critical and specialized nature of the industry.
Baran says, "Human interaction within these apps is still needed. We still have actual people who keep track of every shipment in real-time. From checking with the shipper to see how much longer a driver will have to wait on the loading dock, to negotiating with receivers to guarantee load acceptance, we do everything to get the job done and give the best customer experience possible. It's a smart combination of traditional techniques coupled with cutting-edge technology."
One thing is for sure: the freight brokering industry is one that requires modernization, and digital freight matching is a scalable venture that will have a truly meaningful influence on the market. The model opens the future to more transparency, autonomy, and efficiency, which in turn brings opportunities for a more diverse and dynamic workforce.
Take a look at our catalog of freight management software to help manage your broker accounts, schedule pick-ups, and manage tariffs
Leave a comment below and let us know what you think is in store for the future of digital freight matching.


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Online travel site Priceline is adding restaurant bookings to its menu of offerings with the US$2.6 billion all-cash acquisition of OpenTable. The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in the third quarter.
Spurred by stronger demand for business PCs than expected, Intel raised its revenue guidance for this quarter.
PayPal is offering a new educational resource to help merchants worldwide get more use out of its payments service.
Advanced Micro Devices has combined product groups and promoted two executives for the next phase of its planned multiple-year strategy to maintain profitability.
After merging with China's Alibaba Group, local mobile browser developer UCWeb is seeking to accelerate its international expansion, and double its user base to 1 billion over the next three to five years.
SAP's former technology chief Vishal Sikka will head ailing Indian outsourcer Infosys, in a marked shift from his focus at his former company on technology and product development.
China's Alibaba Group is expanding in the U.S., with a new e-commerce site that's geared for buyers interested in boutique stores.
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into Apple's corporate tax affairs on suspicion that the company did not pay its fair share of income taxes.
China's Alibaba Group is buying UCWeb, one of the nation's top mobile browser companies, in a deal that will give the e-commerce giant a bigger reach with smartphone users.
In the face of slowing growth and rising competition in its home market, China Mobile plans to take an 18 percent stake in Thailand's third largest mobile operator.
As software vendors tend to do during their big annual user conferences, SAP made a lot of promises to customers this week at Sapphire. The overarching theme was a desire to make SAP's software simpler and its customers' lives easier.
Sprint has reached a deal to buy T-Mobile US for about US$50 billion, according to news reports on Wednesday.
A couple of things became clear during SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner's keynote at the Sapphire conference Wednesday: SAP remains fully committed to the Hana in-memory computing platform, as well as its push into SaaS (software as a service).
Cloudera will incorporate technology from its acquisition of encryption software provider Gazzang into Apache Hadoop so that industries with stringent security regulations can use the big-data processing platform.
A €2.8 billion (US$3.8 billion) joint investment in robotics research and innovation by the robotics industry and the European Commission is intended to create over 240,000 new jobs in Europe -- but it remains unclear how many old jobs will be replac...
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Google and Amazon: The Cost Challenged Prepare to Squabble
July 7, 2014
I read “Inside Google’s Big Plan to Race Amazon to Your Door.” The US of A is a big place. Making money with to-my-door deliveries is an interesting business proposition. Amazon floated the idea of drones dropping boxes in my yard and has some United States Postal Service trucks putting Amazon boxes on my brick mailbox on Sunday.
Well, Google wants to “race” Amazon. Like an F 1 team, racing can be expensive, very expensive.
The write up does not dwell on costs, preferring to point out:
Google is the undisputed king of search in all but one lucrative and vital category: Product searches.
I also noticed this passage:
Unlike Amazon, Google does not operate its own giant warehouses or store inventory for more than a few hours. Instead, it fulfills customer orders by picking up items from nearby retail stores. So rather than compete directly against retailers like Amazon does, Google is attempting to position itself as an ally. Shoppers in cities where the service is available — mainly areas around San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City for now — visit a dedicated Google Shopping Express website where they can choose to buy goods like groceries, cameras and clothing from a selection of retail partners.
How many of those partners are willing and able to provide same day delivery. In Harrod’s Creek, some of the “we deliver” pizza joints don’t deliver to some locations not on a paved road or in a specific zip code. Will merchants change their tune when the GOOG is involved?
I also underlined the “me too” approach of Google in its battle with Amazon:
Eventually, Google plans to launch a flat-fee membership model similar to Amazon Prime…
In addition to consolidation of shopping, Google wants to be just like Amazon. The innovation is difficult for me to spot. I recall the Google Catalog project. The idea was to scan pages of printed catalogs. Now that did not seem like a particularly useful service. Google killed it. Then there was Froogle, and it disappeared. Now I think there is Google shopping, but I don’t use the service because I browsed pages and pages of non store listings. I recall that the service was not helpful to me.
Google’s approach is to be a partner. Okay, sounds good. Here’s the passage I dog earred:
Google has assembled a respectable group of partners to the program. Several of them say participating in the Google Shopping Express program gives them a way to evaluate whether it’s more cost effective to offer same-day and next-day delivery themselves, through a partner or whether they should at all.
Google “assembled” a group of college and university partners. How has that worked out?
First, both Amazon and Google have a cost control problem. The massive spending is hoped to turn into piles of money. My hunch is that when the costs become greater than the income, both Amazon and Google will have to find a way to produce the returns investors want. The bubble economy in the US may put increased pressure on Amazon and Google to generate better returns. Someone has to pay for the rising investments both companies are making.
Second, Google is less diversified in terms of its revenue than Amazon. As Steve Ballmer said years ago, Google is a one trick revenue pony. Generating meaningful revenue streams from the Overture/GoTo/Yahoo pay to play model is not as interesting to me as search shifts from the desktop to mobile devices. Google has to amp up its revenue. Amazon does too; hence, Amazon is doing some interesting things to publishers, for example. The objective is money, not stroking the publishers.
Third, I am weary of spending more and more time working around ads, search engine optimization content, and plain old flawed information. The Google engine does me no favors when my alert for the phrase “enterprise search” returns a pointer to an SEO outfit that does business as TopSEO. Pure garbage in my opinion.
Net net: Innovation is now enshrined as imitation. That’s okay. We know how the Italian inventor Tesla ended up. Fascinating 21st century business creativity. Oh, by the way, I don’t need same day delivery. I like to go to the farmers’ market.
Converting Amazon and Google to a digital WalMart leaves me cold.
Stephen E Arnold, July 7, 2014


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Read the April 23, 2018, issue of ROI-NJ by clicking on the preview below.
And to subscribe to our print edition or our other products, click here.
Read more from ROI-NJ
N.J.’s new medical marijuana applications enhance market for patients, providers Why trip to India could be worth up to 1,500 jobs now — and plenty more later Latina SmallBiz Expo’s pitch competition offers $12K prize package Pru wraps up $2.35B deal for Assurance IQ Princeton Mortgage launches call center in South Carolina
More By ROI-NJ Staff
Business services company’s COO is leaving, it says Valley National Bancorp CEO to retire; successor named Burlington Stores prepares leadership succession plan Christie picks Newark as state’s Amazon bid; announcement today Study: N.J. ranked among Top 3 states in U.S. benefiting from immigration economy


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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg launched a free Internet app in Colombia that also gives people access to multiple government services.
The application, known as Internet.org, is part of a global initiative to bring developing markets online, and Colombia is the first nation in Latin America and the fourth in the world to benefit from the service in partnership with local mobile provide Tigo.
The app features other free basic services including access to education, health, communication, jobs, finance and local information, being the first of its kind to include such government services.
Speaking at an event in Bogota, Zuckerberg said that the goal is to make the app available across the world and to help everyone get connected to the Internet.
"We're going to look back a year from now and there will hopefully be a lot more countries that have programs like this."
The mobile app is aimed at low-income users and those living in remote places and gives access to more than a dozen online services via an Android operating system. Apart from including Facebook’s own social network and messaging service, for which users do not have to pay, it has weather websites, job listings and Wikipedia. The app has already been made available in three other countries in Africa.
“Internet.org is a global partnership between technology leaders, non-profits, local communities and experts who are working together to bring the Internet to the two-thirds of the world’s population that doesn’t have it,” it says on its website.
Although Zuckerberg kept quiet about where the program might be launched next, he predicted that the app is soon to be the "default" among mobile operators worldwide to expand Internet access.
"[It] will stop being that only the most visionary and forward-leaning operators want to start doing it and it'll start being the case that it's more the default, right, where it's almost like you're not doing it if you're lagging,” he added.
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With the price of gold still well up on where it was five years ago it’s no wonder that Viet Nam’s property market is virtually at a standstill, since real estate in this land is valued in terms of the yellow metal. Nevertheless, quite a few manufacturing companies are taking the view that property development holds great potential and are switching their business accordingly.
Shifting to realty
|Manufacturing companies now venture into property development like building shopping centers and office blocks because it holds great potential (Photo: K.K.)|
Khanh Hoi Import-Export Joint-Stock Company (Khahomex) recently announced it was reducing its emphasis on labor-intensive clothing and footwear manufacturing and concentrating more on building shopping centers and office blocks.
Before it was equitized (went partly public), Khahomex also provided import-export services besides manufacturing clothes and footwear, but it was already getting into property building too.
When the company’s Khanh Hoi 1 apartment building opened, manufacturing, rather than services, accounted for the majority of Khahomex business.
Last year, however, the realty business made up nearly 55 percent of the company’s turnover and generated VND37 billion in revenue.
While garment and footwear manufacture was still strong in 2005, it only earned 61 percent of the previous year’s revenue.
At the moment Khahomex is putting up the Khanh Hoi 2 and 3 apartment blocks and an office building.
Because of its success in the difficult property development business, Khahomex decided to close down its poorly performing units and save the vacated land to construct apartments, offices and shopping centers.
In Ho Chi Minh City’s District 4, the company has more than three hectares available for this purpose.
Like Khahomex, most equitized State companies attract investors thanks to their land holdings, rather than their present profits.
Saigon Jute Co. is a good example, having moved production from District 4 to Binh Duong Province and using the empty land to build a shopping center post-equitization.
Saigon General Service Corporation too is moving into realty and is training its staff accordingly.
So too is the Economic Cooperation and Import-Export Joint Stock Company, which is well known as a manufacturer of classy furniture for export but is now venturing into property development.
Many enterprises have registered to add realty to their business licenses.
Obviously equitized companies controlled by Ho Chi Minh City have an advantage in terms of having land in prime locations of the city on which to build apartments, offices and shopping centers, and so their shares have been eagerly sought.
Much of this land has become available because the factories on which they stood were heavy polluters and were ordered to relocate out of the city’s built-up areas. In fact, this trend is still going and should continue for quite some time.
With lots of space available for construction, housing and office projects are starting to proliferate and the competition among the developers is getting intense.
In order to develop such properties, joint ventures are being formed, more builders are cooperating with each other, and land-holding enterprises are being formed. Profit doesn’t really come into it at this stage.


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Dear Client: COORS SUPER BOWL SPOT? HA, IN YOUR DREAMS Like every other brewer not named Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors is locked out of national airtime during the Super Bowl on February 7. That leaves Molson Coors with not a whole lotta options on the day of the Big Game: They could A) sit it out, … Continue reading “What Everyone (not named A-B) is Doing for the Big Game”
A-B pres Pat Stokes told investors last week how A-B will continue to grow, fight spirits, get Bud Light back on track, low carb news, distributor exclusivity, and more. Here are the highlights.
Miller severs relationship with Allied and Jack Daniels, keeping Skyy.
More on what Jim told the analysts yesterday about the future of imports, light beers, distributors, and more. Plus, Miller is quietly testing the fridge pack.
It was a good finish to a lousy year for imports. Here are the details.
How is liquor gaining share against beer? In a fascinating conference call last week, a Discus exec goes over their successes.
Miller is embarking on a new strategy: It’s all about the beer. It’s risky, because they are taking on the richest, largest, smartest brewery in the country. You know who I’m talking about.
Why did Coors buy Carling, will there be other acquisitions, is Coors for sale? We put the tough questions to Coors president Leo Kiely. Here’s the rest of our chat.Plus, a federal appeals court overturned a lower court, keeping New York’s ban on direct shipping.
It was a tough quarter for the Patriot. But Boston Beer plans to continue to invest behind the brands.
Beer Business Daily spent some time on the phone with Coors president and CEO Leo Kiely to talk about Coors past, the future, and more.
We spoke with NBWA chair Mark Doll about the Leg Conference in DC this year, and why it is so important to attend.
We look at 2003 shipments and what can be looked at in packaging innovation to spark sales. Plus, more showboating in the Maris case.
And as Forrest Gump says, that’s all I have to say about that. But if you have a few extra minutes, read on and we’ll highlight their results and outlook for 2004.
The following is the actual press release of Coors year end 2003 and Q4 results.
They will wait and see just how the low carb fad pans out before rolling out any Bud family entrants. Plus, A-B announces record earnings but with mediocre volume results for 2003 and Q4.
New Page 1 Anheuser-Busch Companies Reports Record Sales And Earnings For The Fourth Quarter And Full Year 2003 ST. LOUIS, Feb 4, 2004 — Led by continued growth in both its domestic and international beer operations in the fourth quarter, Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc., achieved record sales and earnings for the fourth quarter and full year … Continue reading “A-B’s Q4 and 2003 Results”


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BULGARI-BACKED OPERA SPA SEES VALENTINO AS GOOD FIT
Byline: Courtney Colavita
MILAN — Italian jeweler Bulgari may not be interested in Valentino, but it now appears the closed-end fund backed by Bulgari, Opera SpA, could be courting the Roman fashion house.
An Opera spokesman told WWD: “Valentino would fit well into Opera’s acquisition profile to invest in brands that represent the Italian lifestyle.”
However, he added that no formal measures had been taken. “Valentino is just one of many possible investments Opera is considering,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Holding di Partecipazioni Industriali SpA, which controls Valentino, Fila, GFT Net, Joseph Abboud and publishing house Rizzoli Corriere della Sera, said she had no comment.
The future of HdP’s floundering fashion arm has been fodder for the rumor mill since last year. Industry sources have named everyone from Gucci to Valentino himself as possible contenders for Valentino.
Opera, which was launched last year under the auspices of Bulgari’s chief executive officer Francesco Trapani, is the latest front-runner in the acquisition game. Currently, Bulgari controls 50 percent of Opera’s management, but it is just one of several private and industrial investors, which include Verizon Bell Atlantic and Deutsch Bank.
Opera’s aim is to infuse medium-sized Italian lifestyle companies with capital, and help them grow. Since April, it has bought majority stakes in Italian watchmaker, Sector, Italian boat manufacturer, Itama, and San-Francisco-based specialty-food retailer, A.G. Ferrari.
While Opera may be interested in Valentino, it may not necessarily have the funds to buy 100 percent of the company. It’s unclear what Valentino would fetch on the market today, but HdP paid $300 million for the fashion house in 1998.
Opera is reported to have raised close to $250 million, and of that, it has spent close to half on recent acquisitions. (Dollar figures are converted from Italian lire at current exchange rates.)
When asked whether there were sufficient funds to buy Valentino, a spokesman said Opera’s strategy is to buy a majority stake in a company, rather than buy the company in its entirety. That would leave the door open for a partner — possibly even one with Valentino and his longtime business partner Giancarlo Giammetti.
As reported, industry sources said Valentino and Giammetti were looking to buy back the company they founded 41 years ago, with help from a strategic or financial partner. Giammetti, however, has denied this. Neither Giammetti nor Valentino could be reached for comment.
Whether Opera pens a deal or not, the pressure is on for HdP’s ceo Maurizio Romiti to cut loose the fashion division. The core shareholders of the syndicate that controls HdP have an option to quit the syndicate, if they want, at the end of the year. It’s no secret that those shareholders — led by Fiat — want HdP to focus on publishing. Market sources say that option is a clear message to Romiti to sell off the fashion companies, or lose his most powerful shareholders.


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We’ve teamed up with Televisual, Jigsaw24 and EVCOM to help unveil the Televisual Corporate 50 2019 edition. The new league table launches on Wednesday 27th March at Jigsaw24 in Soho Square, central London.
The Corporate 50 is well-established as a benchmark for production companies in the brand video and corporate film sector. After the 2019 results are published, we will crunch the numbers in the Televisual rankings and the peer poll, looking over the results to identify rising stars. Watch this space for the report.
The launch event kicks off with registration at 5.00pm. Jigsaw24 are hosting demos and discussions on streamlining and optimising your video workflow. Guests will get their hands on technology that’s changing production processes.
A panel of leading corporate production companies will have debated what values make a successful production company earlier in the day. James Bennett, Managing Director of Televisual, and Steve Garvey of Moving Image will present the findings in the evening. James will round off the event by unveiling the Televisual Spring Edition, featuring the new Corporate 50.
The event is open to all brand video and corporate film professionals. For full details, click here.


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Billabong has booked a $1.6 million first half loss but the surfwear group is enjoying good vibrations over revenue from its key brands.
Revenue driven by the Billabong, Element and RVCA brands was up 4.5 per cent to $565.4 million, and chief executive Neil Fiske says the company is pleased.
"We don't need to grow sales any more in order to deliver a substantial improvement," Mr Fiske said on Friday.
Half yearly profit margins suffered Mr Fiske said, under forces largely out the company's control.
Firstly, a sharp drop in the value of the Australian dollar relative to the US dollar hit the company's Asia Pacific business hard.
"It happened so fast and it was such a sharp decline," Mr Fisk told AAP.
"There wasn't enough time for products to be re-designed and re-costed.
"We kind of look at (the current exchange rate) as a short term disruption.
"All of our big brands - Billabong, Element and RVCA - grew in this region. (Women's clothing line) Tigerlily was up 13 per cent."
Profit margins also took a hit in the US, where a port strike on the west coast delayed the arrival of stock to stores. The closure of a Billabong store in Times Square, New York, also affected sales.
"We believe once markets adjust and we get our inventories in line, those markets will come back and we'll see a good lift in profitability," Mr Fiske said.
Billabong is optimistic about the second half, saying earnings for January and February 2016 are ahead of the corresponding period.
"That's a good sign, but we know there's still a lot of the half still to come," Mr Fiske said.
The company is banking on the big retail month of June in the Americas, which is equivalent to the purchasing season of December in Australia.
The group is on the tail end of a two-year restructure following four turbulent years of major losses and near-extinction.
A restructure process has seen the company shed loss-making businesses and streamline its processes.
"Just over two years into our turnaround our big brands are stronger. Our organisation is stronger," Mr Fiske said.
Billabong's shares closed down one cent, or 0.64 per cent, at $1.555.
BILLABONG'S HALF YEAR LOSS
* Net loss $1.6m from a $25.7m profit
* Revenue: up 4.5pct to $565.4m
* Dividend: nil, unchanged


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In order to help customers manage the volatility of this global crisis, Odyssey Logistics & Technology has developed and released an interactive technology for its North America Managed Logistics (MLS) customers. The new technology provides visibility into shipments that overlay with geography profiles that present risk; including: COVID-19 hotspots and transportation embargoes. Launched on March 19, 2020 Odyssey customers get actionable data to assess their supply chain risks created by embargoed transportation hot spots—allowing them to act quickly and minimize the operational, economic and safety impacts of these service disruptions.
“Understanding the fluidity of this event, our leadership team strategized the development of a data-driven tool for each of our clients that will provide real-time information specific to their business, quickly identifying changes and trends as a result of the pandemic,” said Kevin M. Land, vice president of Global Solutions. “This business application gives our clients the power to make critical service and cost decisions more effectively, in real-time and based on their actual transactional data.”
In order to manage the rapidly evolving COVID-19 embargoed hotspots, this newly developed technology integrates real-time COVID-19 data provided by Johns Hopkins University, and other third-party data sources, to track the spread of the pandemic and its impact on transportation. Overlaid with real-time customer shipping activity, the app combines data streams to enable dynamic routing optimization that avoids COVID-19 hotspots and prevents service disruptions created by costly, time-consuming shipping embargoes.


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Sony Computer Entertainment (Shanghai) and Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group Co Ltd announced today that the original Chinese Mainland release date for Sony’s consoles, accessories, and software will be postponed from its original January 11, 2015 release date due to “various reasons“.
The official message goes on to read, “We sincerely thank all the players who have supported and encouraged us, and we look forward to our continued journey together!”
Users online have speculated that the PS4 postponement might have something to do with a complaint received by Beijing Municipal Cultural Bureau official Liu Ruizhe and posted by him on Baidu on December 31 which read:
PlayStation 4 (referred to as PS4) is expected to release in January 2015 as reported by major media outlets. It can run a variety games from other countries that have not been audited by the Chinese Cultural Bureau, including Grand Theft Auto V which advocates drugs, violence, crime, killings, promiscuity, and other details of the game, seriously affecting the construction of Chinese culture. I strongly urge a block of this kind of behavior that shows contempt for China’s law by Sony China.
Sony and Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group set up a joint venture back in May 2014, after consoles in China were legalized, to make and market Sony’s PlayStation game console in China.
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A former travel industry executive has opened a bookshop, Truman Books, in an old haberdashery in Yorkshire.
Owner Amanda Truman started Truman Books in June after lockdown inspired her to achieve a long-held ambition. She left London for Leeds, using redundancy money from her travel role to fund her new independent bookshop.
She told The Bookseller: “It’s always been a dream of mine to open a bookshop. I spent 20 years working in the travel industry, most recently setting up a business in Asia, but when the pandemic hit I went from getting on a plane every couple of weeks to not being able to leave the country at all. It seemed like time for something new.”
Lockdown offered a new perspective for her. She said: “I think 2020 gave me the space to look at my life and think about how I wanted it to look. So I cashed in my redundancy cheque, sold my house in London, and moved back up to Yorkshire to open the shop.”
She has been helped by an experienced bookseller from a nearby Blackwell's which closed down. She explained: “My deputy manager is Steve Clough who used to manage the Blackwell's in Bradford. A year ago he was closing that shop down, now he’s helping me open a brand new shop.” The branch was closed last summer to protect the "future health" of the Blackwell's chain amid the pressures of lockdown.
Truman believes the site of her new shop is well placed for a creative, local business. “We are based in Farsley — an old mill town between Leeds and Bradford," she said. "It has a vibrant high street with lots of independent businesses, the mill has studios for artists and creatives, and the local community is very supportive of local businesses. The shop was a haberdashers for about 50 years, closing around 18 months ago when the owner retired.”
The 80 sq m space also includes a small café space to help lure shoppers in offering coffee and cake. It will hold around 3,000 books for adults and children with a focus on diverse voices, also stocking indie presses with a view to providing subscription boxes in the future. Truman hopes to provide “a welcoming community space” with future events including book clubs, author signings and story time sessions.
Truman has been delighted by the response to the store's opening earlier this month. “The reaction has been amazing,” she said. "We had people queuing outside on opening day, and the local community has welcomed us with open arms."
She has also felt welcomed by the trade itself. “The Booksellers Association, Gardners and the bookseller community have all been so helpful and supportive to me when I was working towards opening the shop. It feels like such a lovely industry to be a part of.”
More information can be found here.


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Crystal Dynamics has announced that its upcoming video game Marvel’s Avengers has been delayed to September 2020.
The game was scheduled to be released in May but was delayed so the game publisher can “deliver the ultimate Avengers gaming experience” and to provide the creators with additional development time.
The news was announced on the Crystal Dynamics website in which the publisher stated: “As fans ourselves, it’s an honour and a privilege to work with these legendary characters and we know what these Super Heroes mean to us and True Believers around the world.
“When we set out to bring you our vision for Marvel’s Avengers, we committed to delivering an original story-driven campaign, engaging co-op, and compelling content for years to come. To that end, we will spend this additional development time focusing on fine-tuning and polishing the game to the high standards our fans expect and deserve.”
The statement continued: “The worldwide teams working on Marvel’s Avengers sincerely appreciate the support you’ve shown us. We thrive on your enthusiasm and feedback and we can’t wait to show you more. We apologise for the delay. We’re confident it will be worth the wait.”
Crystal Dynamics’ Marvel video game will feature a large roster of characters from the comic book universe including Iron Man, Captain America, Ms Marvel, Black Widow, Thor, Hulk, and more.
The game is set in an alternative universe five years after the Avengers disbanded following an incident on A-Day in which a large portion of San Francisco was destroyed and the death of Captain America. With the world under threat once more, players are tasked with aiding the heroes to uncover the truth about the incident while avenging Captain America’s death.
When the game was first unveiled last year, fans criticised and voiced disappointed over how the characters looked. Crystal Dynamics responded by stating that they had no plans to change the character designs, only polish them.
In a new interview with the latest issue of PlayStation Magazine, Marvel’s Avengers Creative Director Shaun Escayg stated that the studio was expecting backlash from fans of the comic book and Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
He said: “This is 80 years of Marvel history to play with, and you know, a lot of people forget, but when the movies first came out, there was an uproar from fans. Like, ‘This is not how Iron man speaks!’ And now we face the same thing with the game. We kind of anticipated that.”
As Escayg states, fans criticised the creative decisions made in 2008’s Iron Man but the film eventually led to the birth of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has gone on to become one of the most successful movie franchises of all time.
Escayg hopes fans of the comic book and film franchise will respond similarly to the movies and enjoy the alternative take on the beloved characters. Since the game is delayed until September this year, however, we’ll have to wait to find out.
Image credit: Marvel’s Avengers Footage, YouTube
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In perhaps a surprise twist, a movie theater chain gets a sequel.
Cinemex Holdings USA, the Miami-based parent of CMX Cinemas and owner of 41 movie theaters nationwide, has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The theater chain negotiated with creditors for six months and ended up with modified leases that include a revenue-sharing deal, according to The Miami Herald. The company shuttered 10 under-performing locations, including one in Hialeah.
The chain now includes seven theaters in South Florida, three in Illinois and one in Closter, New Jersey, according to its website. The South Florida theaters include CMX Downtown In The Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens; CMX Wellington; CMX Miami Lakes 17; CMX Brickell Dine-In; CMX CinéBistro CityPlace Doral; CMX CinéBistro Dolphin Mall and CMX Cinemas Dolphin 19 & IMAX.
The chain’s U.S. operations are led by Jose Leonardo Martí. The company is owned by Mexico-based Grupo Cinemex, which is led by Rogelio Vélez López de la Cerda.
Under the agreement, landlords will receive some revenue from movie tickets and food, according to the Herald. Before the bankruptcy protection filing, Cinemex paid 30 percent of revenue on leases and 60 percent to film studios. Landlords wanted a deal because the cinemas are too large to easily rent out and were built specifically to show movies.
The chain filed for Chapter 11 in April with more than $100 million in debt. The Brickell City Centre CMX theater is an anchor for the shopping center developed by Swire Properties. CMX opened the theater in 2017 and spent more than $15 million building out its Brickell location.
The future for theaters looks grim, with theaters across the country closed and studios sending new movies to streaming services. Last month, the owner of Regal Cinemas scored a $450 million loan from lenders to help the financially challenged movie theater chain stay afloat.
Nationwide, movie theaters paid just 38 percent of their October rent as of Nov. 5, dead last among retailers, according to a report by Datex Property Solutions.
[The Miami Herald] — Wade Tyler Millward


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Box Office Barbie
Greta Gerwig’s live-action adaptation of Barbie hits screens later this year; and so far the playful, pink-hued trailer has caused major waves with fans everywhere. But will box office success revive falling sales for the iconic doll’s parent company?
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Researchers have a lot to gain from incorporating game-like design into their data collection methods. In this week's blog, we explore how gamification ties into research and how it may improve insights and analysis.
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At last month’s annual meeting of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), zookeepers and other professionals were treated to a guest speaker who farmers and ranchers know all too well: Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.
Pacelle’s agenda was to slither his way into the good graces of the AZA, which is the main accreditation body for zoos and aquariums in the U.S. With deceptively chosen words, he praised the idea of a certification program that is always trying to “improve” zoos.
Pacelle’s goal for zoos and aquariums was clear: Eliminate and marginalize competing accreditation programs and allow HSUS to influence the AZA accreditation process. This puts HSUS in the position to alter the standards and make it harder and more expensive for zoos to maintain animal exhibits.
Sound familiar? It is the same approach he and HSUS have for agriculture—called the Global Animal Partnership.
Founded over a decade ago, Global Animal Partnership (GAP) existed as essentially a certification arm for meat sold at Whole Foods. Pacelle joined the board of GAP, and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, a vegan, joined the board of HSUS. It was a cozy relationship, though GAP didn’t do much.
That has changed. HSUS sees GAP as a way to change production practices on farms and ranches. It is trying to get a monopoly on farm certification.
This year, HSUS and other vegan groups—namely The Humane League and Mercy for Animals—have launched a pressure campaign against retailers and restaurants demanding that they pledge to only serve GAP-certified chicken by 2024.
The chicken campaign is one of many. Pork, beef, and other animal protein sectors are next on the list. We may even see a return to eggs with the demand that “cage free” be replaced with “pasture raised.”
GAP is intended to be like a roach motel—you can check in, but you can’t check out. The ultimate goal is to allow animal rights activists to control production practices. Once a company commits to GAP as a principal, Pacelle and company can change the standards to make them more expensive to meet.
It’s a movie we’ve seen before. And once a company commits to GAP, it will be hard to back out without incurring threats from HSUS.
The board of GAP has only seven people, including Pacelle and three others representing animal rights groups: the heads of the ASPCA, Compassion in World Farming, and Farm Forward. Together these four activists control GAP, and therefore GAP policy.
And, as you might expect, activists are using coercion to herd companies into GAP.
Almost every day, The Humane League and Mercy for Animals put out calls-to-action, asking for their followers to harass companies that don’t agree to join GAP.
They target executives and board members of companies with calls and emails. They also target people who are casually associated with these executives and officers (Facebook is a great source for connections).
Left unchecked, we will eventually see more companies making GAP pledges. It is the easy way out when confronted by rabid vegans who harass your company and associates with claims of “animal cruelty.” To executives under siege, making a pledge to do something by 2024 while getting the harassment to stop is enticing.
What can producers do? It’s largely about staying ahead of the game. Many consumers are friendly to the idea of certification of animal products. If your customers want to go that route, direct them to a program that is not controlled by HSUS and its allies.
In short: Avoid the GAP trap. It’ll save you heartburn in the future.
Read the original article here.


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Product shortages, which include its crucial data centre components, have delayed orders and increased vendor prices, hampering its revenue and profit.
Chief Executive Officer Mike Norris said that the ongoing supply shortages in the industry has risen to the top of Computacenter’s challenges.
For those who came in late, technology companies around the world are tackling tight chip supply issues as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global availability of the product while boosting its demand.
Computacenter said it does not see these headwinds worsening and hopes it was at the peak of the component's scarcity, although, it added that some of its partners have implemented price increases.
Computacenter, which provides IT strategy solutions and manages tech infrastructure, said its adjusted pretax profit rose to 118.9 million pounds ($163.74 million) in the six months ended June 30, from 74.6 million pounds a year earlier on strength in German, UK and US markets.


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A bill has been filed in the United States Senate (with bi-partisan support) that could legalize industrial hemp cultivation and production throughout the country.
The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015 bill would remove any federal restrictions on the domestic cultivation of industrial hemp. The bill would also remove hemp from being a Schedule I controlled substance and would define it as a non-drug, as long as it contains less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
“The U.S. ban on hemp farming is an outrageous restriction on free enterprise and does nothing but hurt economic growth and job creation,” stated Sen. Wyden. “Our bipartisan, common-sense bill is pro-environment, pro-business, and pro-farmer. Congress must act to empower farmers and boost economic activity across the country. As I’ve always said, if you can buy it in Oregon, you should be able to grow it in Oregon.”
Hemp products, such as food and clothing, are legal to sell in the United States, but must be grown in other countries and imported into the United States.
Farmers worldwide grow hemp for commercial purposes, such as for fiber, seed, and oil, which are used in a variety of industrial and consumer products. The United States is the only developed nation that does not cultivate industrial hemp as an economic crop, according to the Congressional Resource Service.
More than thirty countries worldwide produce industrial hemp, including: Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, England, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, among others.


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Printable meat, edible straws and digital farming platform scoop EIT Food Accelerator Network awards
30 Nov 2018 --- The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Food has awarded three disruptive start-up companies for developing food-related innovations that promise to help tackle global food challenges. The winners of EIT’s 2018 Food Accelerator Network Program are Agri Marketplace, Jet-Eat and Wisefood which have each been given an equity-free cash prize of €60,000 (US$68,348). The winners were announced earlier this week at the EIT Food Venture Summit in Paris.
Portugal-based Agri Marketplace is a global digital platform that directly connects farmers and agro-industrial customers. It is a business-to-business marketplace between farmers and retailers, created to raise prospects for farmers and value to the food supply chain.
Click to EnlargeIsrael-based start-up Jet-Eat offers proprietary technology software and formulations that print fresh meat. The company claims that printed food will “shape our world for the better in the coming decades,” and that Jet-Eat is working on making healthy, sustainable, exciting and tasty printed food a reality.
Wisefood is a German-based company that has created the world's first edible straw made of apple pomace which offers a more sustainable and ecological alternative to plastic.
The ten finalists were selected from a group of 41 agrifood technology start-ups involved in the 2018 EIT Food Accelerator Network (EIT FAN) Program. Over a four-month acceleration period, these start-ups have had access to tools, connections, mentors and expertise to help them succeed.
EIT Food is Europe’s leading food innovation initiative, with the aim to create a sustainable and future-proof food sector. It is made up of a consortium of key industry players, start-ups, research centers and universities from across Europe.
MassChallenge Switzerland, part of MassChallenge’s global network of zero-equity start-up accelerators, partnered with EIT and introduced a food-tech track in its 2018 cohort. Held in Switzerland, Germany and Israel, the EIT Food Accelerator Network aims to make Europe the go-to innovation hub for the world’s most promising agri-food start-ups.
“Many congratulations to our winners from our EIT Food Accelerator Network Program. The ideas of these start-ups is to help tackle global food challenges and address the gap between innovation and the realization of genuine business opportunities,” says Benoit Buntinx, Director of Business Creation for EIT Food.
“It has been a pleasure collaborating with the 41 agrifood start-ups over the last months and seeing first-hand the disruptive ideas they are working on.”
“The Food Venture Summit is not only about celebrating these great projects, but also about bridging the gap between early ventures and established players in food technologies and agriculture,” adds Thierry Duvanel, Managing Director of MassChallenge Switzerland.
To contact our editorial team please email us at firstname.lastname@example.org
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The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition swings onto Wii U on March 5
We knew that The Amazing Spider-Man would spin his web on the Wii U in an “Ultimate Edition” containing the main game and all of the previously released downloadable content. But now we know when… Activision will release the game for the Wii U on March 5.
In addition to all four previously released DLC packs (including the “Amazing Stan Lee Adventure”), the Ultimate Edition will include a pair of Wii U-specific features:
Transform the Wii U GamePad with the Oscorp OsPhone – Access Spidey’s in-game cell phone via the GamePad to accept new challenges, navigate the city, and manage his upgrades.
Off-Screen Mode – Lets users swap instantly between playing on the big screen and the GamePad whenever they choose.
According to Amazon, The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Edition will be priced at $59.99. Let’s hope that’s a typo.
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