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OmiseGo is a payment platform and more. Want to see what the future may hold for OMG? Here are three Price predictions of OmiseGo’s native token.
Author Jacques Martin
One of the reasons Binance has been so successful is the introduction of Binance Coin. Check out these three Price Predictions on the crypto token!
We’ve tirelessly searched the internet and discovered ten hilarious products; suitable for the most die-hard crypto maniacs.
One of the world’s premier tech entrepreneurs, Naval Ravikant has been “Moving the Chain” with some impressive crypto credentials.
Meredith Darden is a communications specialist at PIVX, social media strategist for Mandala, digital marketing lead for Digipharm and more.
Already a state known for being business-friendly, Delaware is looking to upgrading their filing systems using blockchain technology.
Like it or not celebrities have influenced the crypto world, here are a few of the positive and negative impacts they have had.
This Moving the Chain Spotlight is on tech and digital currency expert Rumi Morales who specializes in both blockchain and distributed ledger technology.
Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for some fascinating facts about Binance, the reigning king of crypto trading platforms.
Richard Hilton, chairman of Hilton and Hyland hotels, recently announced he would be selling a luxury mansion in Rome and would be accepting digital currency for the purchase.


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You might know it as BBX, RIM’s QNX-based operating system, which was renamed to BlackBerry 10 after Basis International, an Albuquerque-based company, has claimed trademark ownership of the “BBX” moniker.
However, RIM has recently confirmed that PlayBook tablets will get an update to BlackBerry 10, which is currently running PlayBook OS 2.0 (also QNX-based). “We’ve said publicly a number of times that our first BB10 handset will be available towards the end of 2012, and that’s still firmly the case. At some point after the launch we’ll [...]
The BlackBerry PlayBook Keyboard Case is a highly anticipated accessory for all RIM tablet users and we’ve just recently heard it was on an exclusive pre-order up in Canada. However, you can now grab your unit directly from RIM.
It will cost you $119.99 and it will ship on March 23. You will be able to use the touchpad to navigate and control your PlayBook, have access to the entire screen while typing (which is great now that PlayBook OS 2 brought a dedicated e-mail client), it also acts as a case and it even charges using your PlayBook charger (with up to 30 days battery [...]
Owners of BlackBerry’s PlayBook tablet got their eagerly awaited update to PlayBook OS 2.0 last month, bringing with it, among other features, support for compatible Android apps through its Android Player. The process by which you can run those apps take a tiny bit of effort, requiring the developer to re-package his or her release for the BlackBerry, but it’s certainly preferable to re-coding a port, or just not reaching BlackBerry users with Android apps at all. One of the latest developers to embrace the Android Player on the PlayBook is MoboTap, the team behind the [...]
If you are a PlayBook owner or fan and you’ve been following the news you probably didn’t miss the PlayBook Keyboard case pictures which popped up around a month ago, together with rumors of an upcoming 10-inch follow-up and a dock.
You can now pre-order the BlackBerry PlayBook Keyboard case online at the source link below in Canada for $99.99. It is a full-fledged keyboard with touchpad, left and right mouse clicks and multi-touch functionality. Estimated shipping time is March 23, 2012 and The Source is currently having an exclusive on it (as well as the exclusive [...]
A keyboard dock can add a big amount of usability to a smartphone, as we’ve seen with the Motorola Lapdocks, and looks right at home on a tablet, like the ASUS Transformer Prime. The next manufacturer to add a keyboard option to its hardware looks like it’s going to be RIM, thanks to the company’s Mini Keyboard for its PlayBook tablet.
Now technically, this isn’t another docking situation, since the Mini Keyboard connects wirelessly over Bluetooth. What sets it apart from a generic Bluetooth keyboard, beyond showing-off design choices that match the [...]
While RIM is struggling to regain their (lost) place in the top, the philosophy of Canada’s favorite smartphones and tablets manufacturer also seems to change, as small joys are definitely preferable to no joy at all. In fact, RIM recently posted on their Twitter page that the BlackBerry PlayBook was the best selling tablet in Canada last week, both at BestBuy and Future Shop. No numbers though and nothing about the overall sales in Canada.
The news is good however, as the launch of Apple’s iPad 3 approaches and RIM needs to take its tablets to as many users as [...]
Most of our attention upon hearing rumors about RIM’s hardware plans for the rest of the year has been focused on the company’s next wave of smartphones, leaving the tried-and-true BlackBerry OS for a new QNX-based system. Mixed-in with those rumors and leaked roadmaps have been a couple mentions about what RIM might be planning for its tablet lineup. We had heard about the possibility of seeing two such models released this year, with an HSPA+ enabled version for May and a larger 10-inch LTE version closer to the end of the year. A new leak out today suggests that [...]
February 21 was a busy day for RIM and PlayBook owners alike. Shortly after the release of the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, bloggers will be glad to find out that the official WordPress App for PlayBook is also available for download on BlackBerry AppWorld.
This app allows you to write posts, edit pages, and manage comments on the go. Both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress (2.9.2 or higher) sites are supported. The application features similar capabilities with those you can find in the WordPress for BlackBerry smartphones, but with a much better resolution, to take [...]
It didn’t happen on the 17th, as rumored, but today is the day when RIM finally decided to release the long awaited BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0. It is now available for download and comes with lots of goodies, such as native email, calendar and contacts sync, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn integration, that might be just the things whose absence kept people away before (and owners waiting patiently for the refresh). It also welcomes an updated BlackBerry Bridge app that provides Bluetooth connection between the BlackBerry PlayBook and the BlackBerry Smartphone. “Thousands [...]
After seeing it jump around a little bit, it’s started to seem more and more likely in recent days that RIM would be releasing version 2.0 of the PlayBook’s system software tomorrow, February 21. One thing that’s been following all these rumors of potential release dates has been the claim that we’d also be seeing RIM release an updated version of its BlackBerry Bridge software to coincide with PlayBook OS 2.0 availability. Sure enough, that new Bridge has landed, making tomorrow’s release rumor seem all the more likely.
BlackBerry Bridge 22.214.171.124 [...]
After finally getting a chance to see BlackBerry 10 in action, as we did yesterday, the other big software news we’ve been looking forward to from RIM was the arrival of PlayBook OS 2.0. As a QNX-based platform, it’s very much tied to the company’s work on BlackBerry 10, making us even more interested to see what’s released. The last we heard, February 17 was being floated as a potential release date for the update. A new rumor seeks to amend that estimation a bit, now focusing on a release just a few days later.
N4BB reports hearing from a number of its [...]
Some pictures have surfaced of BlackBerry Playbook accessories taken at BlackBerry DevCon Europe 2012. In the image above you can see the BlackBerry PlayBook keyboard case which also features a multi-touch pad. It’s said to offer enough juice to go for 30 days, hence the rather heavy weight.
The image below seems to be one of a docking station for the BlackBerry PlayBook where the tablet connects via HDMI. There’s also a LAN port for the times you have no WiFi but there’s a chance for wired internet.
What we wish we could have seen pictured was the [...]
The BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.0 is expected this month — on February 17 according to some rumors — after the world saw a demo at CES complete with the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps built-in (which will allow Android apps to run on the Playbook as well as BlackBerry 10 devices after developers repackage the applications).
Developers will have to submit their packaged and signed Android apps by Monday, February 6th, 2012, in order for them to be available in the BlackBerry App World when BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2 comes out. Aside from Android apps, the BlackBerry [...]

domain: news


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Google has just released the latest numbers regarding who's using what version of Android. These are devices that have accessed the Android Market over two weeks ending Feb. 1. The long and short of it is this:
- Ice Cream Sandwich is up to a whopping 1 percent of all devices. That's the Galaxy Nexus, of course.
- Honeycomb (Android 3.0) is still around, hitting 3.4 percent of devices in the past two weeks, up a percentage point from a month ago.
- Gingerbread (Android 2.3) is at 58.6 percent, up from 55.5 percent last month.
- Froyo (Android 2.2) fell three percentage points to 27.8 percent.
- Eclair is hanging on at 7.6 percent, down from 8.5 percent last month.
Google is currently activating more than 700,000 Android devices a day.
Source: Android Platform Versions
Daily Coronavirus updates: COVID-19 cases cross 800,000 globally
COVID-19 has already infected over 720,000 people globally and caused over 34,000 fatalities. It has also had a huge impact on the tech industry, affecting the global supply chain and causing interminable product delays. Here are all the ways the coronavirus is affecting the world.
OnePlus CEO confirms key specs of upcoming OnePlus 8 series phones
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau today confirmed that the company's upcoming OnePlus 8 series phones will come equipped with a Snapdragon 865 chipset, LPDDR5 RAM, and UFS 3.0 flash storage. Both the phones will be unveiled at an online event on April 14.
How to take better smartphone photos in any conditions or lighting
That smartphone you're holding not only has a camera, but it probably has a decent one capable of taking good photos. Getting better shots is a matter of knowing the camera you have and following some basic fundamentals wherever you are. With so many features and effective software increasingly helping get the job done, it still helps to know how to wield your device to capture images...
The Xperia 1 is still our favorite phone for shooting video
If video recording is your thing, then look no further than the Sony Xperia 1 — it offers a large screen, three great cameras, and extremely robust manual video controls.


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La La Anthony is kicking off her 36th birthday with a little latex.
The television personality celebrated turning another year older on Tuesday by posing for an Instagram shot wearing a hot pink $35 Fashion Nova “Stick With Me” latex mini dress and neon yellow heels.
“Reflecting on what an amazing birthday today has been,” the mother of Kiyan Carmelo wrote in the caption of the photo. “Feeling so blessed for all of you & the family and friends that I have. The love is so genuine and so real. Thanks for always having my back during the good times and the bad times and never switching up on me. I LOVE YOU.”
Anthony is hardly the first star to rock a latex look; her BFF Kim Kardashian is also a fan, while Kylie Jenner has practically made the style her signature.
At the launch of her Kylie x Jordyn cosmetics collaboration in September 2018, both the 21-year-old reality star and her former bestie wore matching wet-look minis from Laroxx ($195) in pink and brown, a style the brand fittingly went on to rename the “Kylie Dress.”
Source: Read Full Article


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Not satisfied to set a Guinness World Record, Charlie Sheen clearly feels he needs to be even more “winning.” The verbose actor today filed a $100 million lawsuit against Two and a Half Men producer Chuck Lorre and Warner Bros. Television, which produces the hit series for CBS.
Who else is winning from Sheen’s public tirades and manic self-promotion? Consider brands like Zazzle, a Silicon Valley startup whose business — instant customization of 50 or so products — has catapulted overnight to feed a public eager to capture Sheen’s catchphrases on t-shirts.
By popular demand on zazzle.com, they’ve been churning out t-shirts with variations on Sheen’s “winning,” “tiger blood” and other bon mots at a steady clip, making up a healthy chunk of the 150,000 user-customized products it manufactures daily. Its instant response to the Sheen phenom also garnered it a CNN profile this week.[more]
Ad.ly. was also thrust into the spotlight by association with the actor’s public meltdown, as it helped Sheen launch on Twitter.
“We are pioneering the celebrity endorsement market in digital media, tapping the $50 billion spend on endorsements worldwide as well as the $35 billion spent in digital advertising,” said CEO Arnie Gullov-Sing last month.
When we covered Ad.ly’s Top 10 Celebrity Consumer Influence Index, Sheen was nowhere to be seen.
“If people are the new publishers, then people are also the future of advertising, and celebrities are the new ‘prime time.’ That’s why we define influence as the ability to get people to visit places on the Web. This simple metric is essential to social media marketing. It’s how brands will decide where to spend their money,” said Gullov-Singh.
Sheen defines the new model of ‘prime time’ in more ways than one, and direct to the consumer social marketing that enables anyone (including celebrities) to bypass traditional PR and marketing avenues and make their case directly in the court of public opinion — in partnership with an eager public.
- 95,333 clicks in the 1st hour
- 412,000 clicks in 48 hours
- A worldwide trending topic #TigerBloodIntern
- Internships.com received 74,040 applications
- Applications came in from 181 countries.
Internships.com also became an overnight success – rising from obscurity to headline brand overnight.
“Celebrities just happen to be the people with the largest audiences and therefore offer the greatest scale in social media…Celebrity endorsements enable brands to stand out, whereas buying ads on Facebook and Twitter only makes brands part of the noise,” says Gullov-Singh of the multibillion-dollar celebrity endorsement market.
Or as he tweeted: “Whatever your opinion of him, it’s clear Charlie Sheen is an advertiser’s dream.”
Seems that Sheen is indeed “riding the media tsunami on his mercury surfboard,” as business, media and advertising monetize the wave.


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Luxury home prices rose 5.2 percent year over year and did especially well in lower-tax states in Q2. Even so, the rate of growth was down, according to new data from Redfin.
The report found that luxury home prices, predominantly in Florida, Nevada, and Washington, grew to an average of $1.9 million in the second quarter. In Q1, that growth was up 7.3 percent. The average price for the bottom 95 percent of luxury homes was $350,000. That’s 5.4 percent higher than in Q2 of 2017.
“Demand for luxury homes in the U.S. has strengthened this year because stock-market gains and tax reform put more money in the pockets of the wealthy,” said Sheharyar Bokhari, senior economist at Redfin. “Yet the inventory shortage is ongoing—even among multi-million-dollar homes. As a result, we are seeing luxury homes sell in record time. The good news is that inventory declined at a slower rate last quarter, which has alleviated some of the upward pressure on prices, resulting in slightly lower price growth in the luxury market last quarter.”
Luxury homes, which spent an average of 65 days on the market nationally, sold much faster in the Bay Area. Luxury homes in Oakland sold in an average of 17 days, followed by San Jose at 19 days and San Francisco in 29 days. Seattle’s luxury homes moved in an average 43 days, while Washington, D.C. luxury homes moved in 44.
Cities across Florida and the western U.S. saw the nation’s largest increases in luxury home prices in Q2, according to Redfin. In West Palm Beach, Fla., the average sale price for a luxury home was up 85 percent over last year, closing at to $2.24 million. Luxury home prices were up 59 percent in Boynton Beach, Fla., as well.
Redfin said that some portion of the gains “can be attributed to the $10,000 cap on state income and property tax deductions established in the new tax code, enacted in December 2017.”
The biggest drops in luxury prices were east of the Mississippi. The average price for a luxury home fell the most in Boston, down 16.7 percent year over year in Q2, the report stated. However, prices for non-luxury homes in Boston grew 9.7 percent.
Prices for high-end properties also dropped 15.6 percent in Clearwater, Fla., and were down less than 2 percent in Sandy Springs, Ga., and Alexandria, Va.


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Tesla Motors Inc. said on Tuesday that it is in "late-stage" negotiations for an undisclosed site to build its Model S sedan.
A statement from the San Carlos company didn't disclose the new site but said an announcement would come soon.
The new location would replace one in San Jose that the electric car company had intended for its Model S manufacturing.
The company shifted its focus from a San Jose site after it had trouble raising venture funding for the project. It has now shifted to trying to win a $250 million federal, low-interest loan for the factory through the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program.
The San Jose site doesn't work under the federal program because it is an undeveloped "greenfield site," and Tesla would have built on it from scratch. The federal loan program favors "brownfields," sites on which factories or plants closed years ago and need to be rehabilitated.
A spokeswoman said Tesla has been approached by numerous commercial real estate developers with potential sites since last week.
The company plans to unveil the new sedan in March at an event in Hawthorne where its design studio is located.


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Thomas Cook reveals £12.6m swine flu hit
Thomas Cook has announced 'robust' trading conditions, despite taking a £12.6m hit from the outbreak of swine flu.
Taking a hit: Swine flu has cost Thomas Cook £12.6m
The travel giant today revealed revenues for the nine months to the end of June are in line with expectations, as revenues rose more than 10% to £5,854m.
However the firm admitted the impact of swine flu was 'more significant than expected', resulting in £12.6m losses as travellers followed governmental advice not to travel to Mexico.
The cost of cancellation was felt mainly in the British and German markets.
Thomas Cook now has more long-haul trips left to sell than in the same period last year as travellers shun the popular destination of Cancun.
Despite this, Thomas Cook said it is currently seeing strong trading this summer and is confident of achieving market expectations for the full year.
Group CEO, Manny Fontenla-Novoa, said: 'Trading for the Summer 09 season continues to be robust. In all major markets prices are flat or ahead of last year and cumulative bookings have continued to build towards our planned capacity levels.'
Fontenla-Novoa said the company will be undertaking further streamlining in a bid to reduce costs.
In the three months to June 2009, the group recorded a profit from operations of £61.4m – an improvement of 39.5% on the same period in 2008.
He added: 'Looking beyond the current year we are preparing for continued tough market conditions.'
In the UK, average selling prices for summer were 8% ahead of last year although bookings were down 11% in line with the company's reduced capacity.
The business has over a third less short-haul flights to sell than at the same stage last year, meaning it has to give away fewer holidays cheaply in the discounted 'lates' market.
'Tough conditions ahead': Manny Fontenla-Novoa, CEO of Thomas Cook
Package deals now account for more than 40% of summer capacity, the firm said.
For the coming winter Thomas Cook has seen a 'slow start' with UK bookings 13% down on last year.
Shares in the group slid almost 5% on the today's announcement – down 11.4p to 218.6p – topping the FTSE 100 fallers list.
Numis analyst Wyn Ellis said: 'Pricing is strong, capacity is well under control and, whilst bookings trends are getting later, the lates market is looking promising.'
However trading analysts Evolution said the positive tone of Thomas Cook's announcement 'disguises the longer-term issues that face it - booking patterns continue to get later, capacity continues to be shed, and the financial health of major shareholder remains uncertain.'
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Food Fight Over Genetically Modified Food
[Sorry, the video for this story has expired, but you can still read the transcript below. ]
TOM BEARDEN: Nearly half of the corn American farmers planted last year was genetically modified to be resistant to insects and herbicides. The same is true for about a third of the U.S. soybean crop. It’s big business for U.S. farmers, who sold about $50 billion worth of products to the rest of the world last year. The United States pioneered bioengineering technology, which has allowed U.S. farmers to grow bigger crops while using less water and fewer pesticides. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates the use of genetically engineered products and requires scientific trials to prove their safety.
But many governments and consumers in Europe and elsewhere are not persuaded by that evidence and question the safety of the products both for human consumption and in the environment. They fear that resistance to herbicides could be transferred through pollination to undesirable plants, creating “super weeds,” for example. Protesters from the environmental group Greenpeace have invaded fields and destroyed crops, and other environmental groups have launched a campaign against the products.
This past week, delegates from 140 countries met in Montreal to draft trade rules for the altered foods and organisms. The result was an agreement which requires exporters to get permission from the receiving country before shipping genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, if they are meant for release into the environment, such as seeds. Advance permission is not required for products meant for human consumption. The agreement does require that the shipment be labeled as “possibly containing GMOs.” The agreement must still be ratified by 50 countries before it takes effect.
JIM LEHRER: The American and European interpretations of the agreement. Frank Loy is undersecretary of state for global affairs. He led the U.S. delegation to the trade meeting this past weekend in Montreal. John Richardson is the deputy head of the European Commission’s delegation to the U.S. Mr. Secretary, what will be the practical effect of this agreement?
FRANK LOY: The practical effect will be that the nations of the world have put together a regime that will give to each other information that will permit the nations, the receiving nations, to judge, to access the benefits and the environmental risks and environmental benefits of the products that they get. And I think in the long run it will depolarize the kind of dispute that has existed in the last few years. And I think it will be good for the biotech industry.
JIM LEHRER: Depolarized, Mr. Richardson? Does this depolarize this argument?
JOHN RICHARDSON: Yes, I agree with that analysis. I think this is about winners. The industry will win — the biotechnology industry — on both sides of the Atlantic and elsewhere because of predictability for what it’s doing. I think consumers and citizens will win because they’re now reassured that their concerns will be taken care of. And I think this planet which we live on will win because it gives us a chance to move towards something which I would describe as genuine sustainable development in the long run.
JIM LEHRER: But the argument is not over. I mean, Europe still believes that genetically modified food is not safe in some respects, and the United States does not, correct?
JOHN RICHARDSON: I don’t think that’s correct at all. It’s not a question of belief. It’s a question of examining what the risks are, what the potential risks are to the environment and to human health and to making judgments about those as information becomes available. In Europe, we are not sure that that process is over. So we are taking an extremely cautious attitude towards the approval of genetically modified substances — more cautious than in the United States. That’s a difference of degree. It’s not a difference in fundamental approach.
JIM LEHRER: Not a difference in fundamental approach, Mr. Loy?
FRANK LOY: Well, I think we both believe in caution and precaution. Some say we actually invented the concept. And we’ve certainly been practicing it in our domestic regulatory scheme for a long time. We think that in the area of human health, there simply is no evidence whatsoever that anybody’s ever been hurt by eating genetically modified food. In the area of the environment, we recognize that there are potential unintended consequences of introducing a particular seed and that you have to manage it. But we think it’s quite manageable. And we think that in the long run this agreement will make that distinction and will enable trade in these products to take place and will enable the harnessing of the benefits of genetically modified foodstuffs, which after all, we think are going to benefit the developing world particularly as it tries to feed itself.
JIM LEHRER: But you all believe that there is — this is a question. Do you believe that there is scientific evidence that the United States reads differently about this whole issue?
JOHN RICHARDSON: Yes. Scientific evidence on these subjects is not complete because we’re dealing with new technology. We’re dealing with new products. And the jury is still out, if you will, even scientifically. But I agree with Frank that we are dealing here with a technology, which has enormous potential benefits. I give you one example. Two weeks ago there were research results published in Europe showing that we can now introduce new rice varieties containing beta carotene, which will increase the Vitamin A content for this particular rice. There are 250 million children in this world who suffer from blindness caused by Vitamin A deficiency. With any luck, this new technology will be able to cure those 250 million children. That’s enormous. We’re talking here enormous potential. And if we want that potential to be realized, we must make sure this technology is well examined were we adopt it so that it’s acceptable to our populations and then introduced successfully so that we can realize those benefits.
JIM LEHRER: So Mr. Secretary, what’s the argument about then? What was the argument? What was the argument that brought you to Montreal and that caused all these problems to begin with?
FRANK LOY: Well, the European Union and the United States had a somewhat different approach to this agreement. We have always viewed it as an agreement that dealt with bio safety, dealing with the risks of the biodiversity. And we were very concerned about introducing new varieties into the world and making sure that no unintended consequences happened. The European Union dealt with this more as a consumer protection agreement. We’re quite for consumer protection and we want our consumers protected. In fact, the United States regulatory system has protected the consumer exceedingly well. That’s one of the reasons I think we don’t have the kind of concern that the Europeans have where the Europeans believe that perhaps they’ve not been served so well by their regulatory schemes. So that difference of approach, I think, has characterized much of the discussion that we’ve had over the last year.
JIM LEHRER: Do you agree with that? Do you agree with Mr. Loy’s characterization?
JOHN RICHARDSON: I think to some extent I do. Certainly what we’ve done in this particular case is come at the problem from a different point of view. But I think we would both agree that what you need in this type of agreement is a balance between the rules designed to promote the introduction of technology to promote the trade in these products, and the concerns of our citizens for their health and for the health of their environment. It’s balance between the two, which is needed, and I think this is a very important agreement as a precedent for other areas where we need a similar sort of balance. Connect it for example with the further development and liberalization of trade under the WTO (World Trade Organization). It’s balance — where we need it — and that’s very important. This is a breakthrough in Canada I think this week.
JIM LEHRER: All right. Now, let’s go back to the practical effect. What happens as a result of this agreement that wasn’t already happening? Let’s be specific. Let’s say there are some U.S. seed product that wants — that is now being sold in Europe or wants to be sold in Europe. What will this — how will this agreement affect that sale in any different way?
FRANK LOY: Well, once this agreement is in effect, then when there is a sale of a U.S. seed intended to be planted, there will be information given by the U.S. to the recipient country as to exactly what is contained in that seed.
JIM LEHRER: And that was not done before?
FRANK LOY: That was done frequently before. In fact, it was probably done all the time, but it wasn’t required.
JIM LEHRER: It wasn’t required. It will now be required?
FRANK LOY: It will now be required.
JIM LEHRER: And then that goes, say, to a European country. And, now what can the European country do with that information under the agreement that it couldn’t have done before?
JOHN RICHARDSON: Well, we can check of course whether this information is sufficient for us to be able to accept the product, to approve it for use in Europe. But I think asking about Europe and the United States here is a bit of a red herring, if I may say so. The great benefits I think from these products come particularly from developing countries. What they needed, I believe, was reassurance that their interests would be looked after. They don’t have the experts, the scientists that we have on both sides of the Atlantic and Europe and the United States. They needed something I think which would give them reassurances that what they were doing would protect their environment and their consumers. I think they’re going to have that now.
JIM LEHRER: All right. Let’s go back to my question. What happens — a European country gets this information and reads it and interprets it and decides “We don’t want these seeds in our country.” Under this agreement, can you say no seeds?
JOHN RICHARDSON: You can say no seeds if you think the information is insufficient to come to a conclusion about the health risks of the seed concerned or the environmental risks. If there is doubt, if there is scientific doubt, if two scientific interpretations of the data are possible, then we still have the precautionary principle and could in this agreement, which allows governments under those circumstances to say, “Well, we don’t want to take any risk. We want to lower the level of risk which our population is exposed to. And because of that, we will not yet approve these seeds until we know more about them.” So the answer is, yes, we can still say no to them, but only provided we’ve done the scientific analysis.
JIM LEHRER: So that’s a loss for the U.S., is it not, in this agreement?
FRANK LOY: I don’t think so. This is not a market-opening agreement. And the markets that have been closed aren’t automatically opened by what we agreed to in Montreal. On the other hand, I think in the long run this exchange of information and this ability of countries to assess what it means that they’re getting, I think will actually begin to make trade flow more easily and permit countries to decide whether they want this product but do so with a lot more information. Let me add one thing about the Vitamin A case that John mentioned. He’s absolutely right. I think it’s an enormous breakthrough. I have to say, I think the United States’ insistence that there be room for the biotech industry to experiment and to sell its products and to develop new products is one of the things that has made discoveries like that possible and is going to make future discoveries possible. We can imagine easily that we’re going to end up with products that will permit you to grow more food with less land and less water and fewer pesticides, so that it is really our insistence that we make sure that that development is not throttled that I think is one of the good things in this agreement.
JIM LEHRER: You mentioned red herrings, Mr. Richardson. Another underlying theme that’s been running through the reporting on this has been that Europe has been motivated politically to protect its farmers from U.S. farm products and the U.S. has been motivated to protect its producers from unfair subsidization by the Europeans. Has this been wrong?
JOHN RICHARDSON: I don’t think that’s right at all. Europe has been motivated largely by the concerns of its voters. And you have been watching earlier in your program all this reporting from New Hampshire. We live in democracies, and we must listen to our voters. If they want us to be cautious, our politicians have to be cautious — otherwise we’re going to lose the next election. That’s very important. But we have an interest, too, in the introduction of biotechnology. It’s European research I cited on Vitamin A — it was supported by the way, by the European Union money. So we have exactly the same interests here to have this technology adopted. It’s not about our farmers. It’s about our consumers, our voters, yes, but also our industry is involved.
JIM LEHRER: Mr. Loy?
FRANK LOY: Well, in our case, one of the important factors in our thinking were our farmers, who are producing very good quality crops and in our opinion many of those crops were shut out from European markets. The motivation for that I will leave to John to describe. But in our opinion, it was based not on any scientific analysis, not on any scientific assessment of risk, but listening to what we would consider quite hyped noise from a lot of voters, as John suggests. And we think it was quite unfair. And we think that we suffered. Now, we have said that to them, and we hope that we will be able to work that out.
JIM LEHRER: All right. Thank you both very much.
JOHN RICHARDSON: Thank you.


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PSP2 Details Revealed
The PSP2 has yet to be officially announced, but it’s shaping up to be epic. A Japanese newspaper announced today that the new portable unit is going to have a 3G connection!
Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper announced some cool details ahead of a press conference scheduled for January 27 which will hopefully announce the system’s official debut.
According to the paper, the new PSP will have a 3G connection (supported by NTT DoCoMo in Japan) which will be used for online gaming and for downloading movies and games. Unfortunately it will not be able to be used to make phone calls.
3G is different from WiFi (which requires hotspots) and will allow gamers to access the 3G connection in all DoCoMo cell phone service areas. Since DoCoMo is Japan’s largest cell service, this will mean permanent connection throughout Japan. As expected, the system will also have WiFi just like the PSP. It was not stated if monthly charges will be incurred for accessing DoCoMo’s network or if equivalent providers were available for overseas access. In addition to 3G, the paper stated that the PSP2 will include an OLED touch screen and a new processor capable of high end visuals.


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Jim Cramer likes T-Mobile for its strong business. A takeover would just be icing on the cake.
If the president wants to kill AT&T's $85.4 billion deal to buy Time Warner, he needs to force the Federal Communications Commission to rule on the merger.
John Legere crowed about his company's subscriber growth and criticized Verizon's recent move to offer its own unlimited data plans on T-Mobile USA's earnings call.
Expect mobile video to get more competitive after the Federal Communications Commission's recent decision on zero-rating.


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With a full week’s hindsight after Cannes Lions 2022 – the first Lions event since the pandemic – now is a perfect time to offer a few observations about the event with an eye to the ad industry as a whole. In no particular order, I offer five Cannes Lions observations below:
AWS: The Sleeping Giant Awakens
After years of staying comfortably in a quiet back end role, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is clearly looking to take center stage. It’s a logical next step: the service has long been a key enabler of the advertising ecosystem, so much so that it’s a foundation to tech giants like Snowflake. This year, AWS made it clear that it wants to take that next step—debuting at Cannes Lions with a massive a 27,000 foot Amazon Port. On the more tactical side, it used the conference as an occasion to launch its new cookieless ID solution with the Trade Desk. Ad tech observers have long wondered when the AWS sleeping giant will awaken. At Cannes Lions this year, it looks like we got our answer.
CDP = Cannes Doesn’t Pay?
While AWS was the notable presence, many of the major CDP players were noticeably absent. To be sure some, such as Oracle, procured prominent locations with big activations to match. But other CDP “usual suspects” did not have a significant showing at all.
Given the real appetite for finding first party data activation partners (more on that in a bit), the absence was jarring. I can only speculate as to why some of the biggest CDP names chose to largely sit Cannes out. Possibly, they thought that their core market simply wouldn’t be there. In the case of larger CDP brands tied to Fortune 500 tech companies, they may have decided it was enough to ride the momentum of the larger brand. In other cases, some companies may be burning too much capital to establish a presence at the conference. We’ll never know for sure…although we may get hints as the market plays out through the rest of the year.
Finding Identity on the Riviera
AWS’ ID solution announcement was hardly a lark. I saw a huge demand for building out identity strategies from companies of all kinds. Yes, I’m sure there’s a degree of confirmation bias at play here – as the CEO of an identity resolution provider, I’m obviously more attuned to ID resolution interest than most. But even so, with data deprecation on the horizon, it’s hardly a surprise at all that identity was in high demand from agencies, brands, and tech players alike. I expect this to be a sign of things to come in the months ahead.
All Advertising is Ad Tech
I’m not sure at what point Cannes Lions morphed from a creative conference with tech on the sidelines to a conference with a deep focus on technologies. Whenever the switch took place, it was clearly on full blast this year. Between Paris Hilton riffing on Web3, WARC (Lions’ Ascential sister brand) sharing analytics content from the main program, and of course the tech-heavy yachts (see image above), it’s clear that advertising’s tech backbone and glossy front-end are becoming one and the same. Data and tech are the stepchildren no more.
Stay Tuned for 2H
One thing that was crystal clear was that, after sitting out Cannes Lions over the course of the pandemic, people were happy to be back to live events and eager to return to live business discussions. It was a great opportunity to get the second half of the year into high gear. I can’t wait to see what comes next for the industry. ◆


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The opening ceremony of the 27th Hong Kong Food Expo
Vice Governor of Hunan Province Dai Daojin and his agricultural delegation visit Hunan Pavilion during the 27th Hong Kong Food Expo.
From Aug. 11 to 14, 2016, Vice Governor of Hunan Province Dai Daojin and his agricultural delegation attended the 27th Hong Kong Food Expo. A hundred of pollution-free agricultural products, green food, organic agricultural products and geographical indication products offered by 40 Hunan enterprises were highly favored by businessmen from home and abroad.
Hunan (Hong Kong) High-quality Agricultural Products Promotion Conference 2016 was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on Aug. 11. Hong Kong and Hunan have great cooperation potential, said Dai at the conference, adding that Hunan has been vigorously developing modern agriculture. Dai warmly invited more Hong Kong businessmen to invest in Hunan’s agriculture to promote mutual benefit and win-win result.
During the expo, Hunan agricultural delegation held Matchmaking Conference on Hunan Agricultural Products at Sanxiang Group Hong Kong Headquarters. The two sides signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement to establish Hong Kong Exhibition Center for Hunan Agricultural Products. A trade platform for exporting Hunan agricultural products will be opened at the Center to expand export trade share.


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Production has stopped on every model of the Nintendo 3DS family of consoles.
Reported by The Verge, the official Japanese Nintendo website lists all purposely in-production handhelds – the New 3DS LL, New 2DS LL, and 2DS – as being “out of production”.
On the United States version of the Nintendo website, the company has removed all references to the decade-long family of handhelds outside of the necessary support pages for those suffering from technical difficulties.
The start of the hardwares’ end was hinted earlier this year when Nintendo started shutting down the system’s online eShop functionality for multiple countries, barring users from purchasing new digital content.
It would appear that Nintendo has left the clamshell portable DS series behind in favour of the Nintendo Switch, a system that allegedly has an upcoming 4K-ready Pro system in development.


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The new KAMAZ K-4386 TYPHOON-VDV w/32V01 Remote controlled weapon station from RPG Models is now available.
Meng released a new T-72 kit, a very interesting variant indeed. Check out the company's press release.
New German what-if tank from Das Werk
W-SS Panzer Grenadier figures from Rado in 1/35 scale
This new Panzer II Ausf. F is Gecko’s first release in the larger 1/16th scale.
Amusing Hobby announces a new AMX-50B French heavy tank to be released in July
Adie Roberts continues his inspirations to help inspire modellers of all abilities to work out of their comfort zone building dioramas or just trying new builds.
Sol Model has a new 1/35 wooden bridge
D-Day Miniature Studio released a new set of figures depicting Canadian troops from WWII. The figures are also available individually or as two-figure kits.
After releasing Stuart tank crew in 120mm, Jeff Shiu started working on tank riders. Here's the first figure in the series.
Coming soon in June. FIAT-Monti Corazzato di Circostanza in AOI. 1/35 & 1/72 scale versions
This bit of news presents new figures from Royal Model across the scales, all depicting soldiers from WWII era.
WIP 3D announces a conversion for the M113-based VCC-1 Camillino
J's Works has several new 1/72 items
Also from Black Dog, a Wespe accessories set and two resin bases.


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China is about to surpass the U.S. as the country with the most Internet users.
The state operated China Internet Network Information Center reports that 210 million Chinese were online by the end of 2007, just five million less than the number in the U.S. However, while the total represents about two-thirds of the U.S. population, China’s Internet penetration rate is only 16%. And the number of Internet users in China is rising rapidly: The country has added about 50 million new Internet users since the end of June, according to CINIC.
Friday, January 18, 2008
China Takes Over the Internet
Wall Street Journal 1-17-2007


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South African lender Barclays Africa reported a slower pace of earnings growth with a 5% rise in year profit on Thursday, hit by rate hikes at home and sluggish growth in Africa which hit consumption and investment spending.
The unit of Britain’s Barclays Plc said diluted headline EPS totaled R17.69 in the year to the end of December compared with R16.86 a year earlier.
Headline EPS is the primary measure of profit in South Africa that strips out certain the South Africa.
Barclays Africa, along with rivals, has struggled to increase lending as slowing economic growth in many African markets tempers demand from corporate clients and rising interest rates at home hit consumption by retail customers.
Source; Money Web


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Netflix’s upcoming ad-supported plan may price wherever from $7 to $9 per thirty days in line with a Bloomberg report printed over the weekend. For comparability, the streaming service presents a primary single-screen plan within the U.S. for $9.99 per thirty days, whereas its hottest plan, which presents full HD streaming on two screens, prices $15.99 per thirty days.
The Bloomberg report famous that Netflix plans to point out roughly 4 minutes of commercials for an hour of programming, which is on par or lower than its competitors. It additionally mentioned that the corporate may present advertisements earlier than and through a present, however received’t present something after an episode ends.
In April, the streaming big mentioned it plans to supply its ad-supported plan subsequent yr. However since then a number of reviews have remarked that the firm might launch this plan by the top of the yr. The brand new report says Netflix may launch its ad-fueled tier in a minimum of half a dozen markets within the final quarter of the calendar yr.
Throughout its current earnings name, Netflix confirmed that customers subscribing to the ad-supported plan wouldn’t have access to its whole catalog initially — that could possibly be resulting from its licensing cope with totally different studios. Recent reports have additionally revealed that Netflix may now enable offline viewing in its upcoming plan. Final month, the streaming firm introduced that it’s partnering with Microsoft for ad sales for the upcoming plan.
What’s extra, a report from Bloomberg final week urged Netflix might not run ads on kids’ content — even on the ad-supported plan. The report famous the corporate may initially chorus from displaying advertisements on its unique film programming.
The streaming big has tried to garner extra customers by experimenting with cheaper plans like mobile-only plans out there in India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Nevertheless, the ad-supported plan may turn into out there globally after launch. Estimates recommend that advertisements on Netflix will generate $8.5 billion in revenue by 2027. A research printed by Digital TV Research in Might means that the worldwide ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) market will develop to $70 billion by 2027 — with the U.S. producing $31 billion.
Netflix just isn’t the one streaming service seeking to depend on an ad-supported plan to increase its person base. In March, Disney+ confirmed that it’s planning to introduce a similar tier by the end of the year. Earlier this month, the corporate confirmed the launch for December with $7.99 per month pricing. Throughout its earnings name for Q2 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery additionally mentioned it’s exploring an ad-fueled plan for the brand new service — slotted to launch in 2023 — created by the merger of HBO Max and Discovery+.


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China resort island Hainan sees growing holiday revenue
Tourism revenue of China's southern island province of Hainan grew by 11.5 percent year on year to 7.67 billion yuan (US$1.08 billion) during the National Day holiday, authorities said on Tuesday.
Hainan received a total of 4 million visitors during the weeklong holiday, up 5.8 percent compared with the same period of last year, among which close to 2.3 million trips were single-day tours, according to the provincial department of culture and tourism.
The scenic spots on the island attracted 2.6 million people, an increase of 8.3 percent year on year.
Four offshore duty-free stores in Hainan received over 220,000 customers during the holiday, raking in 385 million yuan in sales, up 38.9 percent and 57.4 percent year on year, respectively.


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Unilever To Sell North American Laundry Unit
Unilever has signed a definitive agreement to sell its North American laundry business in U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico to Vestar Capital Partners. The global private equity firm will merge the business with its existing operation, Huish Detergents Inc., to form a new company, The Sun Products Corporation (Sun Products).
The Unilever deal consists of a cash payment of $1.1 billion, together with preferred shares in The Sun Products Corporation with a face value of $375 million, and warrants offering the opportunity to acquire up to 2.5% of the common equity of The Sun Products Corporation.
The businesses to be sold include All, Snuggle, Wisk, Surf and Sunlight fabric cleaning and fabric conditioning brands in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as Unilever’s manufacturing facility in Baltimore, MD. The transaction is expected to close later this year.
“We have reached a good deal for both Unilever shareholders and the business. It puts our North American laundry people and brands into a company which is focused on the laundry category and which, with its new combined portfolio, is well-positioned to become a strong player in their market,” said Patrick Cescau, Unilever’s group chief executive. “Laundry remains an important category for Unilever outside North America. This transaction will allow us to focus our resources on our leading positions in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.”
Sales Jump 16.5% at Colgate
Colgate-Palmolive Company posted a gain in worldwide sales with higher than expected earnings growth for second quarter 2008. Global sales rose 16.5% to $3.96 billion. Gross profit margin was almost stable at 56.5%, up from 56.0% a year prior. Operating profit as reported increased 17% to $767 million. Reported net income rose 19% to $493.8 million.
For the six months that ended June 30, 2008, net sales rose 17% to $7.7 billion, while gross profit dropped 2% to $4.3 billion, while operating profit slipped 1% to $1.5 billion. Net income fell 5% to $930.3 million.
Revlon Sees 8% Rise in 2Q Sales
Revlon, Inc. announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2008. Net sales rose 8% to $376.4 million. In the U.S., net sales in the second quarter of 2008 increased 6% to $216.4 million.
According to the company, the primary driver of the second quarter net sales growth was higher shipments of Revlon color cosmetics, largely due to new product launches, including initial shipments of its more extensive second half 2008 new product lineup.
In the company’s international operations, net sales in the second quarter of 2008 increased 10.3% to $160 million. Each of the company’s international regions—Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America—experienced net sales growth.
Operating income was $59.4 million, versus $16.9 million in the second quarter of 2007. Net income was $19.9 million, compared with a net loss of $11.3 million.
For the six months ended June 30, 2008, net sales increased 2.8% to $696.8 million. In the U.S., net sales decreased 1% to $393.6 million; in the company’s international operations, net sales increased 8.2% to $303.2 million. Operating income was $91.9 million in the first six months of 2008, versus $19.9 million in the first six months of 2007.
Second Quarter Looking Good at Avon
Avon Products, Inc. reported that second-quarter total revenue grew 17% to $2.7 billion. Sales of beauty products rose 19%. Active representatives increased 7%, and units sold were up 5% versus the prior-year quarter. According to the company, all six operating regions contributed to the growth in each of these measures.
Operating profit doubled to $374 million, while net income leaped 60% to $236 million. The company’s 19% growth in beauty sales included increases in all categories: color was up 26%, fragrance grew 17%, skin care increased 15% and personal care rose 17%.
Beauty sales benefited in part from a 10% increase in advertising expenditures to $103 million, according to the company. Advertising supported the launch of new products as well as representative recruitment in priority markets. For the six months ended June 30, 2008, net sales rose 16% to $5.2 million, while net income jumped 60% to $420.3 million.
Net Income Up 22% At Bare Escentuals
Bare Escentuals, Inc. posted financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 29, 2008. Net sales for the second quarter were $138.5 million—an increase of approximately 12% from the same period last year. Net income increased 22% to $24.7 million.
For the six months ended June 29, 2008, net sales increased 16% to $278.9 million. Net income was $50.5 million, an increase of 24% compared to the same period last year.
Inter Parfums Reports 20% Increase in 2Q Sales
Inter Parfums, Inc. announced that net sales for the second quarter of 2008 were approximately $99.1 million, 20% ahead of 2007. The company is also reporting that for the first half of 2008, net sales were $222.2 million, up 32% from $167.9 million last year. Management affirmed its current 2008 guidance calling for net sales of approximately $460 million and net income of approximately $26.8 million.
Coty Aiming to Boost Its Cosmetics Portfolio
Coty is seeking acquisitions to expand its cosmetics business. The company, which markets Lancaster and Rimmel, is looking to increase annual sales to $5 billion by 2010 from $3.3 billion in 2007, according to reports. Some 82% of Coty’s sales last year were generated in the perfume division, while makeup accounted for 15% and skin care generated 3% of revenue. Coty is said to be one of several parties interested in buying Clarins.
P&G’s Sales Jump 9% in Fiscal 2008
The Procter & Gamble Company posted a net sales growth of 10% for the April-June quarter to $21.3 billion, and 9% net sales growth for the fiscal year to $83.5 billion. Growth from new innovations on key brands was driven by the Head & Shoulders brand restage, Gucci by Gucci, Cover Girl Lash Blast, Nice ‘N Easy Perfect 10 and Febreze Candles, according to the company.
Operating profit increased 13% for the quarter and 11% for the fiscal year behind sales growth and operating margin improvement. Net earnings were up 33% for the quarter to $3 billion and 17% for 2008 to $12.1 billion.
Beauty net sales increased 11% during the quarter to $5 billion. According to P&G, cosmetics volume grew by high-single digits behind the Cover Girl Lash Blast mascara initiative. Skin care volume grew mid-single digits behind strong growth in developing regions. Hair care volume grew low-single digits as strong growth from Head & Shoulders and Nice ‘N Easy were partially offset by declines in professional hair care. Net earnings for beauty were flat during the quarter at $569 million.
Fabric care and home care net sales increased 13% during the quarter to $6.1 billion. Fabric care volume was up by mid-single digits from Tide, Ariel, Gain and Downy. Home care volume grew by high-single digits as a result of continued success of Febreze initiatives and trade inventory increases prior to announced price increases.


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新加坡博彩公司总行地址（www.99cx.vip）:Singapore's Sea sees single-day market value surge of US$9bil
While growth is decelerating, the pathway to profitability for Sea’s eCommerce arm Shopee is “becoming clear,” says a Morgan Stanley analyst.免费足球贴士（www.hgbbs.vip）是国内最权威的足球赛事报道、预测平台。免费提供赛事直播,免费足球贴士,免费足球推介,免费专家贴士,免费足球推荐,最专业的免费足球贴士网。
SINGAPORE: Sea Ltd shares rose 36% in its biggest-ever single-day jump after the gaming and eCommerce company posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, helped by drastic cost cuts.
Sea has cut about 7,000 jobs, or roughly 10% of its workforce, in the past six months, according to a source.
It has also closed down operations in India and some European and Latin American markets to trim costs.
Headcount reduction is an “ongoing exercise,” chief corporate officer Yanjun Wang said on a conference call, signalling more cuts may be in the works. While growth is decelerating, the pathway to profitability for Sea’s eCommerce arm Shopee is “becoming clear,” said Morgan Stanley analyst Mark Goodridge in a note to investors.
The company has said that it would “work toward” breaking even for Shopee on an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation basis by the end of next year.
Sea’s adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation widened to US$357.7mil (RM1.61bil) from US$165.5mil (RM746.8mil) a year ago, the company said on Tuesday.,
Analysts had estimated US$457.4mil (RM2.06bil) on average. The net loss stood at about US$569mil (RM2.57bil), little changed from a year earlier. Sales at Shopee climbed 32% to US$1.9bil (RM8.57bil).
The results prompted CGS-CIMB analyst Khang Chuen Ong to raise his recommendation on the company to “add” from “hold.”
Sea’s market valuation climbed to US$35bil (RM158bil) after the report, adding US$9bil (RM40.6bil) in a single day. That’s still far below its peak valuation of more than US$200bil (RM902.5bil) last year.
South-East Asia’s largest tech company continues to adjust to a fallout in demand for its core games operations. Revenue at its digital-entertainment arm Garena tumbled 19% in the biggest year-on-year drop ever, as hit mobile game Free Fire’s momentum wanes.
Sea cut its full-year forecast for Garena’s bookings to between US$2.6bil (RM11.7bil) and US$2.8bil (RM12.6bil) from its previous guidance of US$2.9bil (RM13.1bil) to US$3.1bil (RM14bil), set to be its first annual decline ever. It said it isn’t providing financial guidance for 2023.
The decision of management to not provide future guidance will “no doubt” add more uncertainty on future forecast, said Citi analyst Alicia Yap in a note to investors. —Bloomberg


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CVS Health president and chief executive Larry Merlo reveals to TheStreet's Brittany Umar whether a tax inversion deal could be in the company's future. The company just announced it's pulling tobacco products out of stores today, a month earlier than planned, and changing its name from CVS Caremark to CVS Health. After ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, Merlo explains what lead to the company's decision to remove tobacco products sooner than expected and how its smoking cessation segment is growing. Merlo also reveals how ending tobacco sales will impact CVS' ability to partner with traditional health care providers in the era of the Affordable Care Act.
Stocks in this video:


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Amazon has just further slashed various already discounted games across multiple gaming platforms for its Cyber Monday sale! If you still have not picked up enough games during Black Friday 2020, you can save even more on those titles that have been on sale since Black Friday.
Note: The additional discounts will be applied to your order summary unless the deals end.
Check out the deals below here:
There are various games that have been on sale since Black Friday getting further discounts for multiple gaming platforms at Amazon right now! If you still haven’t bought these games on Black Friday, make sure you check them out, bookmark our site, and check back here for more gaming deal updates.


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On April 29th 2024, the UK will make history as the first country in the world to introduce ground-breaking protections for consumers using connectable devices, from smart phones and games consoles to smart doorbells, connected appliances and home systems.
The regulatory regime, introduced through the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act (PSTI) 2022 and the PSTI Regulations 2023, will position the UK as the global pioneer in enforcing new minimum cyber security standards, signalling a substantial leap forward in consumer protection.
The Act and Regulations introduce a raft of new, common-sense protections like eliminating universal and easily guessable default passwords, providing a way to report issues to the manufacturers and ensuring manufacturers are transparent about how long a product will receive security updates. Manufacturers, retailers and importers of smart devices must now ensure they comply with the law and all products must carry a ‘Statement of Compliance’ at all stages of the supply chain.
Unsure if your company or your products are in scope? Need help from the experts to guarantee your compliance and continued access to the UK market? Want to avoid a £10m penalty (or 4% of global turnover whichever is greater) if you aren’t compliant after April 29th? Get in touch today and we can help immediately with a free call with one of our dedicated experts.


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Unisys to lay off 1,300 in cost-cutting move
(7:09 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Unisys Corp.
said Monday evening that it plans to take "agressive actions" to reduce costs, which will include laying off about 1,300 workers. In a statement, the IT services company said it will also seek reductions in third-party expenses, facility consolidations and a suspension of company matching contributions to the U.S. 401(k) plan. The company also said it will forgo 2009 salary increases in most of its markets. Unisys said it will take a restructuring charge of $80 million to $85 million in the fourth quarter as a result of the cost reductions.
Red Hat earnings grow nearly 20% in third quarter
(4:12 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Red Hat Inc.
said Monday afternoon that earnings for the third fiscal quarter grew nearly 20% despite a hit to revenue from unfavorable exchange rates. For the period ended Nov. 30, the company reported net income of $24.3 million, or 12 cents per share, compared to earnings of $20.3 million, or 10 cents per share, for the same period last year. Excluding stock-based compensation and other charges, the company said it would have earned $48.4 million, or 24 cents a share, for the recent period. Revenue grew 22% to $165.3 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of 18 cents a share on revenue of $166.4 million, according to estimates from Thomson Reuters.
St. Jude Medical acquires MediGuide
(8:53 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- St. Jude Medical Inc.
said Monday that it acquired all of the outstanding shares of MediGuide Inc., including the 41.3% stake owned by Elbit Systems Ltd.
for $283 million in cash and the assumption of net liabilities of about $17 million. Under terms of the deal, St. Jude will pay $138 million of the purchase price in December and then make payments of $111 million in November 2009 and up to $34 million in April 2010. St. Jude will record a special fourth-quarter charge of about $300 million; excluding that charge, the deal does not affect the company's profit forecast for 2008 or 2009.
Aaron Rents raises 2009 profit forecast
(8:48 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Aaron Rents Inc.
on Monday raised its 2009 earnings forecast to a range of $1.70 to $1.85 a share from its prior view of $1.65 to $1.80 a share, citing strength in business trends. On average, analysts polled by FactSet Research were looking for earnings of $1.73 a share. The Atlanta-based company, which rents and sells furniture and appliances, also said it expects fourth-quarter same-store revenue to rise 5% to 7% from the year-ago period, although its earnings forecast for the quarter and fiscal year 2008 remains unchanged. "Unlike many other
specialty retailers, our business has been thriving in this economic
environment," said Robert Loudermilk, chief executive officer. "We give customers the ability to obtain necessary home furnishings through non-credit based lease plans not available to them at traditional retail outlets."
Sysco warns of lagging second quarter
(8:26 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Sysco Corp.
said Monday that it expects flat to slightly negative year-on-year sales for its second quarter of fiscal year 2009, which ends Dec. 27. Sysco also said that for the second quarter through November it has seen about a $45 million fall in the cash surrender value of corporate-owned life insurance. "These investments, which are used to fund certain of Sysco's retirement plans, will continue to fluctuate as the underlying securities are primarily tied to market performance," said the firm in a statement.
Roper Industries cuts fourth-quarter earnings forecast
(8:26 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Roper Industries Inc.
on Monday lowered its fourth-quarter earnings forecast to a range of 73 cents to 76 cents a share, compared to its prior view of 83 cents to 86 cents a share, citing lower demand in certain units as well as unfavorable effects from foreign exchange. On average, analysts polled by FactSet Research were looking for earnings of 82 cents a share in the period. For the full year, the company expects to report earnings of $3.03 to $3.06 a share, excluding a previously reported charge of 2 cents a share. Analysts are looking for $3.12 a share in the period, according to FactSet. The Sarasota, Fla., maker of fluid handling, industrial control and analytical instrumentation products raised its guidance for full-year operating cash flow to at least $415 million, up from $344 million in 2007.
Visa pours $1.1 billion into escrow account
(8:16 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Visa Inc
said Monday that it has deposited $1.1 billion into a previously-established litigation escrow account. The account is part of a plan set up when Visa went public. It provides coverage and a payment mechanism for judgments or settlements in specific U.S. legal cases, protecting Visa and its Class A and Class C shareholders from any direct losses. Under terms of the plan, money deposited in the account is at the expense of Class B shareholders, via a reduction in their as-converted share count. "This transaction not only adds the necessary funds to our litigation escrow, but effectively acts as a $1.1 billion Class B share repurchase program," said Joseph Saunders, chairman and chief executive officer.
Steelcase posts lower third-quarter profit
(7:42 AM ET) NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Steelcase Inc.
said Monday that its third-quarter profit fell to $0.4 million, or break-even on a per-share basis, from $31.3 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. For the quarter ended Nov. 28, revenue declined to $811.3 million from $885.9 million. The Grand Rapids, Mich., office-furniture maker said it expects to report a fourth-quarter net loss of 4 cents to 10 cents a share, including restructuring costs. Shares of Steelcase closed Friday at $5.73.
Park Electrochemical posts lower quarterly sales, profit
(6:52 AM ET) WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Park Electrochemical Corp.
reported net income of $2.9 million, or 14 cents a share, for the third quarter ended Nov. 30, down from $8.8 million, or 43 cents, earned in the year-earlier period. Quarterly sales generated by the Melville, N.Y.-based supplier of advanced materials fell to $49.2 million from the prior year's $63.7 million.


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London Collections: Men Autumn/Winter 2015 marks the sixth anniversary of showcasing British and International menswear designers within a dedicated week. But why is that London Collections: Men has become one of the most anticipated fashion weeks on the calendar? Is it that LCM is a space for emerging and established designers alike to share their work? Or is it to do with a boom in the UK menswear market since 2008? Or, you know, is it not as anticipated for others as it is in the Spindle studio?
The first day of London Collections: Men showcase is done and dusted with yesterday marking the starting point exhibiting A/W ‘15 collections of 70 designers. Chair and Editor of GQ, Dylan Jones OBE, welcomed designers, guests, press and photographers alike to the four-day celebration of menswear design. Beginning his speech by voicing his condolences for those involved in the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, articulating how “expression is at the heart of everything this industry stands for and without this freedom of expression none of us would be here today. Ideas can be captured in ink, speech, paint, film, music and, of course, in cloth”. These next few days should be used to show there is no better time to express the freedom of creativeness we are surrounded by everyday than the present.
Going from having one dedicated day to menswear during London Fashion Week to an entire event based on the innovative designers who are continually committed to producing fashion for men across the globe says something in itself. That LCM has a demand, and is growing and expanding to fulfill it. This showcase is one that is continually expanding, going from three days to four in recent years, and looking at this year specifically, the Designer Showrooms have overflowed from the Hospital Club into The Annexe next door to provide adequate space.
This year sees 3 official venues being used for London Collections: Men: The Hospital Club, The Old Sorting Office, and Victoria House. There will be 37 presentations on the official schedule with 400 seats in the Victoria House Show Space. 70 designers have and will exhibit in the Designer Showrooms, with 32 catwalk shows to watch. All of which press and buyers from 28 countries will be attending. And if that doesn’t show a growth in the demand for menswear and the industry that surrounds it then this figure will: the UK menswear market has grown by 18% between 2008-2013 to reach £12.9 billion… During which time menswear designers have had a dedicated week to exhibit and showcase their designs at London Collections: Men. Is it possible that there is a connection between the two? I’m not sure, as I’m not a figure analyst… But one can make an assumption can’t one?
Here’s to a further three days of men, menswear, menswear designers and all those involved in the making of London Collections: Men. Now ssh, the Lee Roach show is about the begin…


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Governments Highlight Funded Activities for Manitoba Agri-Processors
Winnipeg, Manitoba – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: Manitoba's agri-processors are now able to access funding for activities under the Ag Action Manitoba program as the Canadian Agricultural Partnership continues to be implemented, Federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced.
"The agri-food processing sector helps drive Manitoba's economy and create well-paying jobs for the middle class. The Government of Canada is proud to invest in Manitoba's processing industry to help it increase access to new technologies, commercialize new products and adopt best practices that will help build public trust and enable new market opportunities," said Lawrence MacAulay, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.
"Manitoba's agri-processors are a growing part of our industry, creating opportunities for growth, innovation and economic development. The funding available under Ag Action Manitoba will help attract investment, expand capacity and create new jobs for Manitobans," said Ralph Eichler, Minister of Manitoba Agriculture.


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Tech talk: High tech options for family game night
Tech Talk: New Streaming Devices
Tech Talk: Black Friday tech deals
Mike Agerbo contributed to this Global BC News at 6 segment about the rise in assaults due to high demand for next generation video game consoles which recently launched and are extremely hard to come by.
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Hotel points up for grabs with Foursquare checkins
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Starwood has become the latest hotel chain to link up with a location-based check-in service to offer free points to consumers.
The chain, which operates brands including Westin, W Hotels, Sheraton and Le Meridien, said last week that Foursquare users could earn points for Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) by checking in at its properties internationally.
Anyone with a confirmed reservation who checks in between May and July can earn 250 points, said Starwood, with one free resort night every day in May hidden at one of the brand's 1,000 properties.
The user which manages the greatest number of Foursquare check-ins will be recognized as the SPG Mayor, earning them extra (as yet unnamed) perks and an invitation to share their experience on Starwood's Foursquare tips page.
Additional Foursquare promotions are planned for later in the year.
Starwood is now fairly unusual in choosing to deal with FourSquare alone - several other major chains have opted to jump into bed with TopGuest, a service that allows users to check-in using various services (including FourSquare, Gowalla, Twitter and Facebook) to earn points at their hotels.
Hilton, Holiday Inn, Kimpton, InterContinental, Wyndham and indecently loyalty program Voila are among the brands signed up to the TopGuest service.
Sign up for the program here: http://www.spgpromos.com/socialcheckins/
TopGuest : http://www.topguest.com
The Independent travel offers: Discover a world of inspiring destinations
- 1 Three of Pope Francis' relatives die in Argentina car crash, including two young great-nephews
- 2 Michael Brown shooting: Amnesty International sends team within US for first time as National Guard deployed
- 3 Reading Festival 2014: Tesco branch replaces salad with Jager and potatoes for vodka as campsite opens tomorrow
- 4 Here’s the damning letter Robin Williams wrote to his Mrs Doubtfire co-star's principal after they expelled her
- 5 Ferguson protests: 90-year-old Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein ‘arrested’ by police during St Louis demonstrations
Isis threat: Cameron wants an alliance with Iran
Crisis? What crisis? A visiting US doctor gives the NHS a rave review
Ukip MEP calls for reintroduction of death penalty on fiftieth anniversary of last deaths
Russell Brand calls for Israel boycott: Comedian urges big businesses that 'facilitate the oppression of people in Gaza' to pull funding
Michael Brown shooting: Chaos erupts on the streets of Ferguson after autopsy shows teenager was shot six times – twice in the head
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ZTE’s Grand S smartphone may feature some premium specs, but it will at least feature a fairly reasonable price that won’t break the bank too much— well for those living in China at least. According to mobile division lead He Shiyou, the smartphone will be priced somewhere between ¥3,000 to ¥3,500 (about $481 to $561 USD), which can be considered an absolute steal considering the device has features such as a 5-inch 1080p display, 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chip and a whopping 13MP camera. As exciting as that tidbit of news is, there’s no word on whether or not the same pricing will apply to other markets outside of China. Here’s hoping that we do end up seeing the Grand S having a low price because after all— the low, low pricing will certainly help the brand get some added exposure out in places like the States that it is looking for and all.
Today at MWC, HP announced its entry into the 7-inch tablet market with the HP Slate 7. The Slate 7 runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, has a 1024 x 600 display, features a 1.6 GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage with a micro-SD card slot for expandable storage. The Slate 7 also features a 3-megapixel camera on the back and a VGA camera on the front along with Beats Audio. To top it all off, the device weighs 13 oz all together.
What do you guys think of HP’s entry into the 7-inch tablet market? Check out the press release below and let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Don’t forget to check out our complete MWC coverage here.
Recent reports from Korea suggest that LG is planning to manufacture its own processors for its upcoming LG Optimus G2. This comes from a telephone conversation from an anonymous LG official in Korea:
LG Electronics is going to mass-produce the Odin processors by using finer 28-nanometer level processing, applying high-k metal gate (HKMG) technology. The processors will be used in LG’s next flagship Optimus smartphone ― the Optimus GII ― which will probably be unveiled in this fall’s IFA trade fair
Huwaei just made the Ascend P2 official, which is of course the follow up to last year’s Ascend P1. It will feature a 4.7-inch 720p (1280 x 720) Infinity Edge display at 315ppi, a quad-core 1.5GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 13 MP BSI rear-facing camera with HDR, a 1.3 MP front-facing camera, 2,420 mAh battery, and Android 4.1. It comes in at 8.4mm thick and is touted as the fastest LTE phone on earth with up to 150Mbps utilizing LTE Cat4. Just like all Huwaei phones, it will feature their own Emotion UI on top of stock Android.
We probably won’t see this one hit the U.S., but for those of you in Europe, you should be able to get your hands on one during the 2nd quarter for roughly €399 ($526). Hit the break for the full presser.
For our complete coverage of this year’s MWC, click here.
[image courtesy of CNET]
On the heels of the Galaxy Note 8.0 announcement, Samsung announced a new cloud storage solution called HomeSync. It provides a connected media experience for the entire family. It includes a 1TB drive that will sync multiple devices and allows for eight separate accounts to cover the whole family. Family members can upload and download content from multiple devices and share with other family members. Each family member’s area is kept private via their specific ID and password along with file encryption.
It also allows you to stream content from Galaxy devices to the TV wirelessly. The included Jelly Bean media player brings the familiar Android experience to the TV, and gives users access to the Play Store and all their apps.
It will be available in April 2013 in select countries. No pricing was announced.
Click here for our complete MWC 2013 coverage.
Full press release after the break:
As expected, Samsung just made the Galaxy Note 8.0 official. Although it will be considered a tablet by most, the international version will be able to make phone calls. Just like the Note 10.1, it will include an IR blaster along with the Peel remote software. Of course, since it’s a Note device, it will include the S Pen.
Samsung is including Awesome Note for the first time in an Android tablet. It’s an integrated application that is capable of unlimited note-taking uses including Memo, Diary, and Must-remember lists. Also for the first time in the Galaxy Note line, the included S Pen can control the physical menu/back buttons on the device with WACOM technology. Many of the other applications available on other Samsung Note devices are present such as Pop up Note, Pop Up Video, Dual View multi-window support, and Air View.
MWC officially begins tomorrow, but today images of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 were spotted ahead of Samsung’s official press conference announcing the device. Various pictures were leaked of people holding the device as well as what looks like an official poster from Samsung about the device. It looks just like previously leaked images, but this time we get to see the S Pen. Not much else is known at this point so stick around with TalkAndroid for all the news to come at MWC. A video of some models sporting the device surfaced as well, so hit the break to see it.
We’ve seen Motorola release some time frames for updates to its device before, but more often than not, they’ve failed to keep those promises. Motorola’s Punit Soni did promise to make some changes to that behavior recently, and I think we’re starting to see some results from that.
Motorola has redone their device update page, which now allows you to sort out your device by country, carrier, and device. Once you’ve found your device, you can easily when it’s slated to receive an update, and when the last update was rolled out. Pretty handy, and significantly better than the huge page of cluttered information that it used to be. You can also sign up for emails to be notified when your device is set to receive an update.
And good news for Droid RAZR and RAZR MAXX owners, the new update page firmly states that both devices are set to receive Jelly Bean in Q1. We’re coming to the end of Q1, so you shouldn’t have to wait too much longer on the update, but we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as it becomes available.
Google Music is one of our favorite music applications for Android, and Google is aiming to make it just a little bit better. According to reports, Google is in talks with major music companies to launch a music service similar to Spotify, which would allow you to listen to any song you wanted, on-demand, without needing to buy and store all of your music somewhere. Personally, I think the service would integrate nicely into Google Music, similar to what Samsung does with their Music Hub application.
It’s expected that this music streaming service would launch with a free and paid subscription option, and it would give Google the leg up on Amazon and Apple, the two closest competitors who haven’t moved into music streaming yet. It would put Google in competition with companies like Spotify, who have a strong grip on the market already. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out. Hit the source below to find out a few more details.
Google formally announced their Google I/O last December and told us registration for the event would be revealed in February. Thanks to some leaked pages earlier from Google, we’ve got the details on when you can sign up.
The registration will open at 10 AM EST on March 15th, and the tickets will run $900 bucks for general admission and $300 for academic attendees. And, if it’s anything like last year, those tickets aren’t going to last long, even at those prices. Google recommends setting up your Google Wallet account ahead of time to pay for the tickets, and to keep an eye on their Google Plus page for more details leading up to the event.
Google I/O will take place in San Francisco from May 15th to May 17th, and we’re sure to see some really cool products from Google. Keep an eye out for our coverage on the event as we get closer to May.
source: 9to5 Google


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Herbalife Wins Dismissal of Belgian ‘Pyramid Scheme’ SuitJoel Rosenblatt
Herbalife Ltd. won a Belgian appeals court ruling rejecting claims the company is a pyramid scheme, and concluding that income its distributors earn from others recruited to buy or sell its products isn’t a violation of European consumer protection laws.
The ruling, from the Court of Appeal in Brussels, reverses a decision by a Belgian judge that would have blocked compensation at Herbalife derived primarily from the introduction of new consumers into its sales system, rather than from sale or consumption of its products. A copy of the ruling, which couldn’t be independently verified in court records, was provided by Herbalife.
“The fact that the earned remuneration is based on sales of products by other participants in the network, namely ‘downline’ distributors, does not constitute a violation” of the consumer protection and market practices law at issue, the appeals court said in its Dec. 2 ruling.
The allegations presented by Test-Aankoop, a nonprofit consumer organization, “does not lead to the conclusion that we are dealing with a prohibited pyramid scheme,” the court ruled.
Herbalife has been under scrutiny amid allegations by hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman that the company is a pyramid scheme. While Herbalife has consistently denied Ackman’s claims, the activist investor last month said he will take his bet against the company “to the end of the earth.”
The Los Angeles-based supplement seller, which has reported 16 straight quarters of sales growth, earlier this year hired PricewaterhouseCoopers LP to audit its books for 2010 through 2012 after its previous auditor resigned because of alleged insider trading. Herbalife has said the review will be completed by the end of this month.
“Herbalife always believed that the first judgment contained factual errors and was based on misinterpretations of its direct-selling sales method, and was confident that the original judgment would be overturned on appeal,” the company said in a statement.
A representative of Test-Aankoop in Brussels couldn’t be reached after regular business hours for comment on the ruling.
In October, Herbalife lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles brought by a former California distributor of its nutrition products who alleged the company’s business model is a “pyramid scheme” that didn’t allow him to make a profit.
The case is N.V. Herbalife International Belgium v. Test-Aankoop, No. 2012/AR/736, Court of Appeal of Brussels.
The Los Angeles case is Bostick v. Herbalife International of America Inc., 13-cv-02488, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).


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- Allplants is a vegan meal delivery startup based in London.
- The B-corp was founded in 2017 by brothers Jonathan and Alex Petrides.
- Today, Allplants announced a £3.4 million crowdfunding round.
Allplants is a London-based vegan meal delivery startup, founded on the principle that the world would be better off if we ate more plants. The company aims to provide 100% plant-based meals that are tasty, easy and convenient. The delivery service is not just aimed at vegans but anyone looking for sustainable plant-based food. The company states “We believe we don’t need a handful of people being perfectly sustainable. Instead, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”
Allplants employes over 90 people and recently celebrated delivering 1 million meals to customers around the UK. The startup has also received Great Taste Gold Star Awards for its dishes including Fiery Jerk Jackfruit and Cauli Tikka Masala.
How Does it Work?
The online platform allows you to build a plant-based food box of six meals, choosing from over 22 recipes. They are delivered frozen from their London-based kitchen with use of preservatives. Allplants charges £40.50 for a box of 6 meals on subscription or £46.02 for a one-off box. A box containing double servings costs £59.88 on subscription or £68.04, and delivery is free during the week.
The company places sustainability at the forefront of their business values. Allplants is a Certified B Corporation (B-Corp) and pledges to use the business to solve social and environmental problems. Their meals use no palm oil or GMO, and all packaging is either recyclable or compostable. They also run a carbon-neutral delivery service.
£3.4 million Raised in Crowdfunding
Today, the plant-based company announced the completion of a £3.4 million funding round on investment platform Seedrs. Allplants attracted over 1,800 investors in this crowdfunding campaign in addition to from venture capital backing. In 2019, Allplants announced £7.5 million in Series A funding led by Octopus Ventures. The VC firm was also an early backer for Graze, a health-focused snack delivery company. In what has been hailed the UK’s largest vegan crowdfund, it is surprising to discover that 76% of investors are not vegan. In polling, Allplants found that 75% invested in support of sustainable businesses benefitting the planet.
Founder, Jonathan Petrides says “Most allplants customers aren’t veggie or vegan, they’re curious and hunting for convenient, healthy ways to boost their busy lives. This investment will help us fuel the plant-based movement forward”. In 2020, Allplants plans significant growth involving both new products and new markets. The funds for this round will be used to expand into new food categories and serve over 60,000 meals per week from the Allplants’ kitchen. A larger institutional Series B funding round is also planned for the end of the year. By 2025, Allplants aims to launch in new markets in Europe and North America.


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A new managing director has been apointed by milk bottle specialist Nampak Plastics Europe replacing Eric Collins.
Arnold Mitterer is joining the company from Nampak competitor Alpla, which joined in 2001 and where he is currently general manager. In this capacity he has successfully led major operational interventions and secured contracts with major multinationals, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Arla Foods, L’Oreal and SC Johnson.
Mitterer will start at Nampak early next year.
Following a phone call from Packaging News to Nampak, the company issued the following statement: “We can confirm that Arnold Mitterer will be joining Nampak Plastics Europe in early 2017. In the interim period Alan Terhoven, is acting managing director until such time.”
During the phone call a Nampak spokesperson confirmed that Collins had left the company.
It’s understood that the move was facillitated by Vitae Selection.
By Tony Corbin
Source: Packaging News
Synthomer announced the appointment of Lily Liu as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Lily will take up the role no later than 1 July 2022, succeeding Steve Bennett who announced in August 2021 that he would step down once a suitable successor was in place.
Westlake Chemical (Houston, Texas) has reached agreement to acquire Hexion’s (Columbus, Ohio) epoxy business for approximately $1.2 billion. Westlake says the deal enhances chlorine and olefins integration and brings attractive opportunities in high-growth epoxy markets, including wind turbine blades, automotive lightweighting, aerospace and consumer coating applications.
Tetra Pak Iberia is launching a gamified app experience in partnership with digital studio Appetite Creative. The technology is enabled though scannable QR codes printed on drinking cartons and available to all brands in Southern Europe.


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Madden NFL 21 is enjoying excellent sales numbers, this despite players slamming the game all over the internet and leaving negative reviews. Publishers Electronic Arts revealed this information via a press release. The game also seems to be doing better than last year’s Madden NFL 20.
Madden NFL 21 Seems To Be More Popular Than Last Year’s Iteration
“Players have played nearly 50 percent more games in Madden NFL 21 compared to the first week of Madden NFL 20,” reads the press release. Seann Graddy, Executive Producer, EA SPORTS Madden NFL also seems quite happy with the game’s launch.
“After the most successful year in franchise history, fans are now playing more Madden than ever before. In the last weeks, players have shown their passion for Madden with a lot of great feedback and stellar engagement in Madden NFL 21,” he said. He also mentioned that they will be updating the game throughout its release.
New Game Mode Has Seen Millions Of Games Already
This year’s version of the game introduced a brand-new backyard football-inspired game mode called “The Yard”. Conceptually it seems quite similar to VOLTA, a mode that EA Sports introduced in FIFA 20. This press release mentions that players have played more than 17 million games in this mode already.
This will likely disappoint players who are unhappy with what EA Sports has put out this year. One common criticism of their yearly releases tends to be that each year’s game is the same as the one they released a year prior.
Negative User Reviews Have Not Hurt Madden NFL 21’s Commercial Success
The only things that change are the squad rosters and the teams’ kits. All of the backlash that this game is getting seems to be centred around that issue. Madden NFL 21 has the worst user review score of any video game on Metacritic. It only has a rating of 0.3/10. On top of that, 3,680 out of the 3,755 total user reviews for this game are negative.
I doubt that this level of backlash is going to change much for EA Sports. I’m sure they’d like it if players like their game. However, at the end of the day, those same players are still buying it, regardless of quality.


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Other available languages: none
Brussels, 4 September 2014
Agriculture and Fisheries Council, 5th September 2014
The Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting of September 2014 will take place in Brussels on 5th September 2014, starting at 2pm. The Commission will be represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Cioloş. A press conference will be held at the end of the discussions and can be followed by video streaming: http://video.consilium.europa.eu
EU Ministers will have a detailed discussion on the potential impact of the Russian import ban on certain EU agricultural products and on the policy response. It is the only issue on the agenda.
As soon as the Russian measures were announced on August 6, the Commission acted swiftly to coordinate the EU reaction. Having set up a task force of Commission experts, a meeting with Member State experts was organised - and a monitoring system has now been established which allows the Commission to follow the price for every "banned" product every week in every Member State. Similar meetings take place every week at technical level, but this Council will be the first full political discussion.
Based on an extensive analysis prepared by the Commission looking at the potential impact of the measures, Commissioner Cioloş is likely to underline the short-Term market support measures which have already been adopted for peaches & nectarines (see IP/14/920), other perishable fruit & vegetables (see IP/14/932) and in the dairy sector primarily through private storage aid for butter, skimmed Milk powder and cheese (see IP/14/954). These measures are primarily aimed at reducing oversupply on the EU market.
In the medium term, as a way of creating potential new sales outlets, Commissioner Cioloş announced this week that additional funding (+30 million€) will be available for promotion programmes starting in 2015 which are submitted to member states by the end of this month (see IP/14/961).
While the Commission remains optimistic that the EU agricultural sector will be resilient and be able to adapt and find other markets, it is clear that there will be some producers in some sectors in some member states who will not be able to find alternative outlets and therefore risk going out of business. Commissioner Cioloş will ask Ministers to discuss what targeted compensation measures could be used to address this and how these could be financed.
The Commission has set up a special website with more detailed information about markets and policy decisions.
Roger Waite + 32 2 296 14 04 – firstname.lastname@example.org
Mădălina Chiriac +32 2 297 44 13 – email@example.com


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Lincoln expects half of its car sales to be all-electric models by 2026
Ford Motor’s luxury carmaker brand Lincoln, expects at least 50% of its sales to come from all-electric cars by 2026.
The company plans to offer new EVs across its portfolio of vehicles within the next decade.
Ford announced in April that it would accelerate the rollout of EVs under a new restructuring plan, called "Ford+", led by CEO Jim Farley. The plan aims to bring in 40% of Ford’s global sales volume via EVs by 2030.
“Lincoln will usher in a new era of electrified vehicles and connected experiences globally, and we plan to deliver a full portfolio of electrified Lincoln vehicles globally by the end of the decade,” Lincoln President Joy Falotico said during a media briefing.
Lincoln said it will debut a new EV for China and North America next year as the brand celebrates its 100th anniversary.
It also said its plans to launch four new EVs in the near future. It is unclear when the launches will be made.


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The New York International Auto Show is making its annual pit stop at top morning talk show “Live with Kelly and Ryan.” This week, a wide variety of top-of-the-line vehicles from the 2018 exhibition are featured on “Live” as “New York Auto Show Week” returns to the program.
Kicking off the week with sports cars, followed by crossovers and SUVs, and the hottest new green cars, “Live” will continue the week on Thursday, April 5 with a look at “rugged yet refined” vehicles, including the world debut of the Range Rover SV Coupe. And the week will wrap up on Friday, April 6 with a spotlight on the most exciting new sedans, including the highly-anticipated 2019 Nissan Altima.
About Live with Kelly and Ryan
“Live with Kelly and Ryan” is distributed in national syndication by Disney | ABC Home Entertainment and TV Distribution. The show is produced by WABC-TV in New York and executive produced by Michael Gelman, Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Visit “Live” on the web (KellyandRyan.com), Facebook and Instagram (@LiveKellyandRyan), and Twitter and SnapChat (@LiveKellyRyan).
About the New York Auto Show
The New York International Automobile Show is an awesome combination of new ideas, technological innovation, exceptional concept cars and nearly 1,000 of the latest new cars and trucks. Over one million visitors are expected to visit the Show this year to see what is truly possible from the automotive industry. The New York International Auto Show is owned and produced by the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association and has an economic impact on New York City of some $300 million.


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Target To Sell Games, T-Shirts From EGP
Minneapolis-based big-box retailer Target will begin selling indie games from the Experimental Gameplay Project, bundled with fashionable T-shirts.
Details of the agreement between Target and EGP Apparel are scarce, but the clothing and independently developed games are being sold as $12 bundles that include a T-shirt and a Windows-only install disc of one of eight unique titles.
An creative initiative that began in 2005 at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, the Experimental Gameplay Project has attracted attention for recent titles like World of Goo and IGF favorite Crayon Physics.
Source: Boing Boing Gadgets
I checked for these in my local Target on Friday, and they hadn't arrived yet. I anticipate buying the complete set.