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Major SaaS vendor Trimble just announced it will be acquiring transportation management vendor Kuebix. The deal is set to close in Q1 of 2020, pending customary closing conditions, but financial terms were not disclosed.
This is a major acquisition that has the potential to drastically alter the supply chain space for years to come. The acquisition will merge Trimble’s 1.3 million commercial trucks in North America with Kuebix's community of more than 21,000 shipping companies.
On top of this, 85% of the top 200 carriers are Trimble customers.
According to the press release from Kuebix:
“This move will essentially create the largest connected network of shippers and carriers in the North American transportation supply chain.”
Image courtesy of Kuebix
Trimble's acquisition will not only create an incredibly extensive network of shippers and carriers, but it will also create a single streamlined transportation management software (TMS) that will make it easier for users to strategize their supply chain.
Once released, users will have increased visibility into this new TMS as well as access to every asset and shipment across their supply chain.
Trimble’s steady growth
Mergers and acquisitions have been a big part of Trimble's strategy over the past two years. In 2019 alone, Trimble acquired five different companies.
Some of the acquisitions have been focused on establishing the company as a leader in the construction space, while others have been more focused on solidifying itself as a leading provider of enterprise asset management software.
Steven W. Berglund, president and CEO of Trimble, had this to say on the acquisitions in the construction space:
"The acquisitions are strategically significant and position us to play a unique and central market role in providing comprehensive enterprise and project solutions. They also provide significant financial opportunity and contribute strong growth trajectories.”
CFRA research analyst David Holt stated that Trimble had an 18% jump in revenue in 2018; and 6 of those 18 percentage points can be attributed to the company's acquisitions.
In addition to this recent acquisition of Kuebix, Trimble also rolled out two other transportation management systems: TMW.Suite and TruckMate.
Trimble is heavily focusing on supply chain and logistics software because the transportation sector is showing great promise for the vendor.
In fact, in the last quarter alone, the transportation management sector reported $198.3 million in sales. The figure was up 4.2% year over year and accounted for 25.3% of total revenues. A good chunk of profit that Trimble is hoping for will only increase with the acquisition of Kuebix.
Can Trimble help Kuebix become the market leader in TMS software?
However, with Trimble’s acquisition, we can see the partnership catapulting Kuebix up into a more visible position on G2’s TMS Grid®.


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Arturo Elizondo was talking on video chat about the tasteless, odorless, nearly colorless, highly soluble and nutritious animal-free egg protein his company made through fermentation.
But the animated video on the slide stole the show. It was a pilsner of beer, complete with a foamy head. A protein powder dropped on top, and a long spoon stirred it.
Yes, he said with a laugh — that was a video of his company's new ClearEgg protein being added to a beer. And no, he said, it doesn't impact the experience of drinking beer.
"We've talked to a couple of alcoholic beverage companies, as well as companies who make green tea and different teas and different juices," Elizondo said. "So many of them are really struggling in terms of: 'How do we innovate on these products in some of these dying categories?' "
While most consumers don't think of grabbing a beer as a way to increase their protein intake, ClearEgg can make it possible, Elizondo said. It's one of a host of proteins traditionally produced by animals that his company, formerly known as Clara Foods and rebranded today as The Every Company, is working to bring to food.
Elizondo and David Anchel founded the company in 2014 to recreate the proteins in egg whites through fermentation, without involving animals. Its first ingredient, animal-free pepsin, debuted in March and is being distributed through the company's partnership with Ingredion. ClearEgg is the company's first ingredient that replicates something found in eggs.
Elizondo, CEO of The Every Company, said it has more animal-free egg proteins in development, but its scope is broadening to be seen more as a protein powerhouse. Clara Foods initially got its name from the Spanish word for egg white, while the new name of The Every Company is emblematic of the company's broader mission of democratizing protein, he said.
"'Every' speaks to, ultimately, the possibility of what food can be — that we no longer have to compromise around having it be sustainable and having it be tasty, or having it be healthy, but having it be vegan," Elizondo said. "Ultimately, I saw that there's an opportunity for us to showcase not just the mission of why we exist, but also the power of what it means to use deep tech to fundamentally reshape the food system. And what better way to bring that to life than having a protein that can go into every kind of application where protein today can't go?"
Using food tech to improve on animal-based options
More than 100 different proteins make up egg whites, Elizondo said. They are naturally present in different ratios and have unique qualities. Some are well suited for foaming, binding and gelling — reasons why eggs are a ubiqutious ingredient in a lot of cooking — while others are nutritional powerhouses.
The Every Company uses precision fermentation — modifying yeasts so they produce different proteins when fermented — to remake some of these egg proteins. Elizondo decided to start with a protein called s-albumen, which is in ClearEgg. This protein has no eggy smell or taste, but a lot of bioavailable protein, he said. It's nearly undetectable when mixed into liquid, giving water a slight off-hue the color of an egg white. It's also soluble and remains dissolved once mixed in. Its sole effect is increasing a food or beverage's protein profile, he said.
Elizondo wanted to start with protein because although it in such high demand among consumers, existing ingredients tend to negatively impact the taste and mouthfeel of products. And the more protein that a manufacturer adds, the worse they often taste, he said. It's also nearly impossible to find a high-protein product that doesn't need a strong flavor of something like chocolate or peanut butter to mask the off-flavors.
Elizondo said this ingredient is perfect for beverage applications that had traditionally been lacking protein. These includes drinks like beer that aren't typically high in the nutrient, and those like plant-based milk that need more protein to compete in their category.
"Now you can actually have plant-based milks that have more protein than cow milk without having to add all the corresponding sugar to mask that flavor, or all these gums to keep it soluble, because plant proteins are just notoriously insoluble," he said.
But there's another important reason The Every Company is starting with this protein, Elizondo said: It's not something that anyone could actually make out of chicken eggs. S-albumen is one of the less plentiful proteins in egg whites. Elizondo said it would take thousands of eggs to make one kilogram of this protein, making it cost-prohibitive for egg ingredient companies to develop. The only cost-effective way to do it is through fermentation, he said.
There is a lot of talk in the alternative protein space now of getting to the "next generation" of products: items that use technology to do something that their animal-derived counterparts cannot. ClearEgg puts this idea into a product.
"We have technology now that we can do better," Elizondo said. "Why settle for just replacing what's already out there when we can go beyond mimicking, and create products that fundamentally are not only better for the planet and better for the animals, but also better for people?"
ClearEgg is stable at different temperatures and would also work well in other applications, including bakery items and pasta, Elizondo said. The company is starting by targeting beverage companies because the ingredient meets that segment's specific needs in protein: high solubility, high protein and no taste or texture changes.
ClearEgg is now available to manufacturers. Elizondo said that about 40 companies — makers of products ranging from carbonated drinks to protein shakes to juice — have samples of the ingredient to evaluate. The Every Company is in advanced stages of talking with some of them, and Elizondo said products containing ClearEgg are likely to make it to consumers in coming months.
The Every Company currently has a strong manufacturing pipeline to make ClearEgg, Elizondo said. It partnered with AB InBev's venture and innovation arm ZX Ventures earlier this year to develop a way to ferment these types of proteins at greater scale. Elizondo said they just ramped up their scale, and can produce tens of thousands of metric tons every couple of months.
Because ClearEgg offers an alternative to a protein that is scarce in chicken eggs, it is naturally less expensive than its animal-derived counterpart. Elizondo said that in general, The Every Company's products will tend to be more costly than animal-derived options at the beginning. It is a long-range goal to produce egg white proteins at comparable costs to those from chickens, but that will take some time, he said. For the first couple years, The Every Company plans to keep its launches at a more limited level. But the company does have aggressive plans to expand capacity in the next six months, he said.
"'Every' speaks to, ultimately, the possibility of what food can be — that we no longer have to compromise around having it be sustainable and having it be tasty, or having it be healthy, but having it be vegan. Ultimately, I saw that there's an opportunity for us to showcase not just the mission of why we exist, but also the power of what it means to use deep tech to fundamentally reshape the food system. "
Co-founder and CEO, The Every Company
"We know that capacity is the bottleneck," Elizondo said. "...We're not going to have a hard time selling the product. It's really can we produce enough to satiate the needs of the market?"
A more conventional egg white protein product that demonstrates the functional attributes of chicken eggs is still on deck from The Every Company, Elizondo said. It is likely to launch in the next quarter.
Because The Every Company is an ingredient provider rather than a CPG company, Elizondo said it plans to have an on-package symbol that indicates to consumers the product was made with animal-free eggs. ClearEgg will be described on products' ingredients label as "non-animal egg white protein," he said.
Elizondo is excited about how this product launch and the rebrand are driving the company and the food system forward. Now could be the time when people start looking at access to high-protein food differently, he said.
"We're committed to make product as affordable and accessible and ubiquitous as possible," he said. "And that's why we're a B2B company: to enable everyone, not just one or two brands, but truly brands across the world that cater to specific audiences."

domain: news


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Radfeld/Österreich, 16. Mai 2023. The Nagel-Group has opened a new logistics site in Radfeld, Austria. The new transshipment warehouse for the fresh produce sector has been built on a site area of around 20,000 square meters directly on the A12 freeway. The food logistics company has invested 14.5 million euros in the construction of the new site in Tyrol.
“Austria is one of our focus markets, and the development in recent years has been very positive and gratifying,” said Carsten Taucke, CEO of the Nagel-Group, at the opening of the site on Saturday, May 14, 2023. “We are growing and further expanding our nationwide network with this site. This state-of-the-art facility creates new capacity for our customers, is equipped with a photovoltaic system and built to the latest standards.”
In Radfeld near Kufstein, the Nagel-Group handles the goods of its customers from Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Salzburg and South Tyrol, supplies the Tyrol region with foodstuffs and distributes the products of local manufacturers throughout Austria and Europe. Primarily dairy products and meat and sausage products are distributed by the approximately 80 employees to large central warehouses or even smaller supermarkets.
“We are delighted to be working for our customers in these beautiful new logistics halls,” said Markus Raffeiner, who manages the Radfeld branch, at the opening ceremony, to which customers, partners and project participants were invited, as well as employees and their families. “We have managed this construction project well together, with the help of our construction department from Nagel Real Estate, our partners here from the region and thanks to the support from local politics.”
The new branch in Austria has been in operation since the beginning of May, and the construction project is part of the most extensive modernization program in the company’s history. The Nagel-Group is currently investing heavily in its network of locations with site expansions or new buildings in Germany, Denmark, Poland and Austria.
About the Nagel-Group
The Nagel-Group, which specialises in food logistics and operates throughout Europe, is headquartered in Versmold and employs over 11,500 people at more than 130 locations. Most recently, the company achieved a turnover of 2.1 billion euros. Every day, the group of companies moves foodstuffs in all consignment sizes and temperature classes. Whether frozen products, meat, dairy products, coffee or confectionery – day after day, the Nagel-Group contributes on behalf of industry and trade to ensuring that consumers throughout Europe find the right goods at the right time and in the right quality at the point of sale. In this way, the Nagel-Group makes a significant contribution to the success of its customers.


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CounteR is participating in the world’s leading trade show for industrial technology from May 30 to June 2, 2022 in Germany: the Hannover Messe.
The Hannover Messe is the leading knowledge and networking platform for the manufacturing, energy and logistics industries. From AI and robotics to automation technology, logistics IT and industrial software to batteries and fuel cells: under the guiding theme “Industrial Transformation”, industry thought leaders present their technologies and ideas for the factories, energy systems and supply chains of the future.
This year, the prestigious fair features more than 2,500 exhibitors and over 7,600 products from around the world. “From the participation in #HM22, we hope to gain a better understanding of CounteR’s potential competition, understand the state-of-the-art in our main technological areas, and find new networking and cooperation opportunities”, CounteR’s Project Coordinator Catalin Trufin from ASSIST Software commented.
This year, the fair’s leading theme is “Let’s create the industry of tomorrow”. The opening ceremony is scheduled for May 29 in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.


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SuperMoney wins the FinTech Breakthrough Award for "2023 Best Financial Product Comparison Service"
SANTA ANA, Calif., March 28, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- SuperMoney, a leading financial services comparison marketplace, today announced it was awarded the FinTech Breakthrough Award for "2023 Best Financial Product Comparison Service".
Now in its 7th year, the FinTech Breakthrough Awards program recognizes the top companies, technologies, and products in the global FinTech market.
The honor follows a breakthrough year of recognitions for SuperMoney which include a spot on Inc. Magazine's prestigious Inc 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the United States, Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 list of fastest-growing technology companies in North America, and Tearsheet's Embedded Award for Best Example of Customer Implementation of Embedded Finance.
SuperMoney offers consumers a comprehensive comparison platform for a wide range of financial products, including loans, credit cards, checking & savings accounts, insurance, and more. The platform allows users to compare rates, terms, and fees from multiple financial service providers, helping them make informed decisions about their finances.
"We are honored to receive the Best Financial Product Comparison Service Award from FinTech Breakthrough," said Miron Lulic, founder, and CEO of SuperMoney. "At SuperMoney, we are committed to empowering consumers with the information and tools they need to make smart financial decisions. This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, and we are thrilled to be recognized as a leader in the financial technology industry."
The FinTech Breakthrough Awards program evaluates nominations from companies worldwide, with winners selected by a panel of independent experts in the financial technology industry. Categories include banking, lending, payments, personal finance, and more.
SuperMoney's comparison platform is a game-changer for consumers looking to make informed decisions about their financial products. Their dedication to providing a transparent, comprehensive, and user-friendly platform, combined with their commitment to transparency and excellence, has earned them the "Best Financial Product Comparison Service" award.
Founded in 2013, SuperMoney is a leading platform for financial decision-making. Through its financial services marketplace and embedded finance solutions, SuperMoney provides a one-stop platform for consumers to discover, compare, and transact with leading financial service providers such as Chase, Citi, PNC Bank, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, and Penfed Credit Union. SuperMoney's marketplace is built to reach every American consumer in a way that gives them more choices, greater transparency, and the chance to build long-term financial health. SuperMoney was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies for 2021 and 2022 and Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 list of fastest-growing technology companies in North America for 2022. SuperMoney is SOC2/Type II certified for data security by the AICPA. Learn more at http://www.supermoney.com.
Media Contact, SuperMoney, 1 800-524-5175, [email protected]


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Hanshow Joins Intel and Microsoft to Accelerate Industry Innovation
September 2022, Hanshow, a professional digital store solution provider (SP), has officially released a whitepaper called “Hanshow Works with Intel and Microsoft to Accelerate Smart Retail Innovation”，written jointly by Hanshow, Intel, and Microsoft. It summarizes changes in the global retail industry and best practices in the retail + AI sector. By examining Hanshow’s partners in China, Japan, and Europe, the whitepaper also illustrates how smart retail technology in the AI era works for global retailers and describes the future development and application trend of AI technology in the retail industry.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220907005647/en/
Smart store powered by Hanshow (Photo: Business Wire)
AI Technology Innovation Improves Business & Customer Experience
Digitalization is reshaping the global retail industry. Innovative technologies, including AI, computer vision, and the Internet of Things (IoT), are therefore becoming the core tools helping retailers reduce operating costs, improve efficiency, and bring unique shopping experiences to customers. More retailers are using AI technology as a key element to improve business, increase revenue, gain insights into consumer preferences, and optimize store operations.
Liangyan Li SVP, Head of Global Sales, Hanshow, said “Hanshow shall cooperate with leading international companies such as Intel and Microsoft to continuously explore the evolution of AI + retail, unlock the value of data, provide more retailers with better products and solutions, and contribute to the transformation of the global retail market.”
Hanshow Joins Intel and Microsoft to Launch AI Retail Program
Together with Intel and Microsoft, Hanshow therefore has launched AI solutions for the retail industry, focusing on smart shelf management and self-service cashier loss prevention. The use of technology, such as AI cameras and robots, enables retailers to determine the amount of displayed and out-of-stock products with an accuracy of over 95%, by collecting data through commodity identification, and stock inspection. Meanwhile, the edge devices in the scheme solve the problem of sensitive data protection, as well as collect and transmit relevant data for further processing to help businesses find trends and make decisions.
Long-Term Transformative Benefits of AI Solutions for the Retail Industry
The partnership among Hanshow, Intel, and Microsoft in the retail sector has successfully driven the application of AI in the industry. Especially in the post-pandemic period, the digital transformation of the retail industry will help retailers to provide users with a unique and personalized offline service experience to regain their interest and achieve higher business growth.
Guo Wei, General Manager of NEX and Channel DCAI Sales team, PRC Sales Organization, Intel, said " With digital technologies such as AI, virtualization, IoT, and edge computing realizing the upgrade of personalized consumer experiences and the reshaping of innovation-driven retail, the industry is experiencing a lot of changes. ”
Rashmi Misra, General Manager, Microsoft AI & Emerging Technologies, said "AI and IoT are transforming business models by helping companies move from simply making products and services, to companies that give their customers desired outcomes and impeccable experience."
Raj Raguneethan, Regional Business Lead, Retail & Consumer Goods, Microsoft Asia, said “Through the extensive application of AI, retail can become smart, providing better operational excellence, intelligent supply chain, and stronger business intelligence."
Hanshow is a global leader in developing and manufacturing electronic shelf labels and digital store solutions, offering global customers a series of world-class customized IoT touchpoints and digital store solutions that deliver customer-centric insights. Hanshow is used by over 30,000 stores in more than 50 countries, helping retailers streamline operations, optimize pricing strategies, and offer consumers a more personalized experience. Learn more: www.hanshow.com
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Turkey is Calling Europe for Flight Trainings30.9.2022 10:30:00 EEST | Press release
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Home Posts tagged Diageo
Tag: celebrity endorsement, charity, charity partnership, content marketing, Diageo, entertainment marketing, equality, ethical marketing, gender issues, gender pay gap, gender stereotyping, mobile, music, online, partnership, partnership marketing, partnerships, Smirnoff, social media, spirits, Spotify, streaming, streaming services
Smirnoff and Spotify let users ‘equalize’ their playlists
Mar 12, 2018
Diageo-owned global vodka brand Smirnoff is working with music streaming platform Spotify to promote equality for women musicians around the world through the launch of...
Read moreComments Off on Smirnoff and Spotify let users ‘equalize’ their playlists
Baileys launches ‘Treat Stop’ indulgent pop-up in Covent Garden
Dec 07, 2017
Baileys has launched Baileys Treat Stop, a pop-up featuring the Diageo liqueur brand’s first customisable bar menu, where people can transform lattes, hot chocolates...


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JOLIET, Ill., Aug. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Customers who have been shopping for a new car or Mazda have never had a better time to buy than right now at Bill Jacobs Mazda. The dealership is holding the Mazda Summer Drive sales event from now until July 31st and is offering plenty of great deals on 2012 and 2013 Mazda vehicles. Not only will many Mazda cars be available for great deals, but the 2013 Mazda CX-5 in Joliet will also be available for a great price. Stop in at Bill Jacobs Mazda soon for one of these fantastic deals.
The 2012 Mazda3 four-door with Skyactiv Technology is available during the Summer Drive event for a great deal. This car can be had with zero percent APR for a limited term and with $250 APR cash plus no payment for up to 90 days. This sedan is perfect for anyone who does commuting or wants a nice car for everyday driving. The Mazda3 with Skyactiv gets up to 40 miles per gallon on the highway and looks incredibly sharp. Check out this great deal in Joliet at our store.
In addition to the 2012 models, the 2013 Mazda CX-5 with Skyactiv Technology is available with zero percent APR financing for a limited term as well. This small crossover has the best gas mileage out of any SUV on the road at 35 miles per gallon. Stop in and see one of the largest selections of the CX-5 in the area at Bill Jacobs Mazda
People from all over the Chicago area should stop by and see all of the vehicles at the Mazda Summer Drive event. Aurora Mazda shoppers regularly come to Bill Jacobs for their Mazda vehicles and people looking for a Mazda dealership in Tinley Park, IL are encouraged to attend as well.
For more information please visit www.billjacobsmazda.com or call (866) 619-0069.
Media Contact: Chris Hill Bill Jacobs Mazda, (866) 619-0069, email@example.com
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SOURCE Bill Jacobs Mazda


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Bunting, with corporate headquarters in Newton, Kansas, has promoted Alan Why to the position of U.K. sales manager. He will oversee all external sales activity for the company for products that include magnets, magnetic separators and metal detectors.
Why has developed magnet-related business for Bunting, which has European manufacturing facilities in Redditch and Berkhamsted in the United Kingdom, over a seven-year period, the company says.
Bunting is a leading designer and manufacturer of magnetic separators, metal detectors, magnets, magnetic assemblies and magnetizing equipment.
Since joining Bunting in 2013, Why has grown business for magnet-related products in the automotive, mechanical and electrical industries, according to the company.
Why’s engineering career began as a radio-frequency (RF) electronics design engineer and evolved into the role of sales and marketing director of a small electronics company serving the defense electronics market.
As the U.K. sales manager, his responsibilities cover an expanded industrial and geographical area. As well as continuing to support customers with magnet-related requirements, Why also will work on projects in the recycling, quarrying and process industries.
“This is a very exciting opportunity,” Why says. “The Bunting brand has never been stronger in the U.K., and I am looking forward to coordinating the strategy and implementing the plans to further expand our customer base.”
“Alan is a well-respected and experienced member of our sales team and has the vision to take us forward,” says Simon Ayling, Bunting European Managing Director. “We believe that having a strong external sales team is important. Alan has the necessary experience and skills to further develop that sales team.”


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With offerings aimed at the young, manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Huawei and Tecno have garnered plaudits for their models enabling high-definition videos and gaming while boasting quality speakers.
Ramadhan Hassan, the marketing manager at Xiaomi Kenya, said that since the company opened its first online store in Kenya in 2019, its products have taken root in the market.
By opening online and offline stores, the company has managed to increase the range of products it offers. Customers can now pick up TV boxes, smart switches, smart lights and a host of WiFi accessories, Hassan said.
Focusing on innovation to cater to the diverse needs of customers has driven the increased popularity of the brand to young people, he said.
The marketing manager said that in the past month alone, Xiaomi has released more models in the East African market, including 5G-enabled phones.
Some of the products, such as the Xiaomi 12 series, cater to the upper end of the market while others hold sway at the entry and midrange levels, Hassan said.
He also points out that the average selling price for Xiaomi phones is up to 75 percent cheaper than rivals’ offerings.
Martin Githinji, who lives in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, said he likes Chinese technology products for their innovation and pricing.
“I use a lot of Chinese products. I have been for a very long time using Oppo phones. Right now I am switching to Tecno. I have experienced Huawei phones as well,” Githinji told Xinhua News Agency.
Githinji, a 30-year-old digital content creator, said the entry of Chinese products has helped in his work.
Cavince Adhere, a Kenyan scholar of international relations, said the Chinese companies in Africa are making a headway because they appeal to trends followed by young people.
“Young Africans are hungry for technological connectivity and digital inclusion. Chinese companies like Huawei and Xiaomi have become major partners for Africa in modernizing infrastructure related to digital connectivity,” he said.
Adhere said Chinese companies have been at the heart of Africa’s technological advancement by constructing data centers, laying fiber optic cables and piloting 5G technologies. This is widely appreciated by young people in Africa who yearn for lower connectivity costs, he said.


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Producer prices in Portugal increased 1 percent year-on-year in February of 2019, easing from an upwardly revised 1.3 percent rise in the previous month. It was the lowest producer inflation since November of 2016, when prices showed no growth. Cost slowed for intermediate goods (1.5 percent from 2.6 percent in January) and went up at the same pace for investment goods (0.4 percent, the same as in January). On the other hand, prices rose faster for energy (1.1 percent from 1 percent) and consumer goods (0.7 percent from 0.5 percent), led by both durable (2 percent from 1.1 percent) and non-durable consumer goods (0.5 percent from 0.4 percent). On a monthly basis, producer prices were unchanged in February, after a 0.4 percent decrease in January. Producer Prices Change in Portugal averaged 1.44 percent from 2006 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 7.80 percent in February of 2011 and a record low of -7.30 percent in July of 2009.
Producer Prices Change in Portugal is expected to be 1.50 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Producer Prices Change in Portugal to stand at 1.80 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Portugal Producer Prices Change is projected to trend around 2.00 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.


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Steve Ballmer, fresh off his keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show, sat down for a grilling with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo.
According to a transcript of the interview provided by CNBC, Bartiromo asked the Microsoft CEO why Mr. Softie hasn’t been more aggressive about acquisitions. Analysts — and even our own Deal Yenta — have suggested Microsoft should buy Blackberry maker Research in Motion, or Nokia, to boost Microsoft’s smart phone business.
BARTIROMO: You’ve got more than 40 billion on the balance sheet. You want to have a substantial market share in smartphones. Why not just acquire RIM?


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The White House Tuesday announced a task force focused on short-term supply chain disruptions. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was named co-chair of the task force, along with the Secretaries of Commerce and Transportation. The Department of Agriculture says the task force will convene stakeholders to diagnose problems and find solutions that could help alleviate bottlenecks and supply constraints related to the economy’s reopening. Specifically, it will focus on areas where a mismatch between supply and demand has been evident, including homebuilding and construction, semiconductors, transportation, and agriculture and food.
The White House also released key findings from a review stemming from a supply chain focused executive order. The 100-day study focuses on semiconductors, batteries for electric vehicles, critical minerals and materials and pharmaceuticals. The Interior Department and USDA, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, will also establish a working group. The group will identify sites where critical minerals could be produced and processed in the United States.


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Fashion Delivers will be collecting new clothing and home products to help fellow Americans who have been affected by the devastating tornados in the Midwest. The charity is working with local community organizations in the region who are responding immediately to the critical needs of families who are suffering from the recent tragedy.
“Fashion Delivers is striving to meet the needs of the tornado victims and has the capacity to deliver new clothing and home goods to help our fellow Americans suffering from the devastations in theMidwest. We are looking to the apparel and home furnishing industries to support our efforts during this critical time. Fashion Delivers will pick up and deliver product directly to the agencies serving people in need” says Allan Ellinger, Chairman of the Board of Fashion Delivers.
More than 17 million people have been affected by the tornados ranging from Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Families displaced from their homes are seeking new clothing and home products including bedding, towels and personal care items to help them through this terrible tragedy.
Over the past seven years, Fashion Delivers has responded to Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, the Haitian earthquake crisis and other disasters in the United States and around the world.
To donate product, please contact Carolyn Pride, Agency & Donor Relations Manager, 646.786.2684 or email Carolyn@fashiondelivers.org.


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Indians at great risk of UAE legal abuse after new enforcement agreement with UAE
Indian nationals comprise close to 30% of the population of the United Arab Emirates, and Indian business people are by far the largest entrepreneurial group in the country. It is safe to say that there is not a single development, industrial, or commercial project in the UAE that is not made possible by Indian skills, supplies, and services. Being the largest, and most integral business community in the Emirates, expat Indians are naturally the most exposed to the systemic risks of doing business in the UAE.
When suppliers run late on payments or local partners misuse company funds, Indian business people – like anyone else – may fall behind on loan instalments, or even go into default. Easy lines of credit come with the requirement to submit security cheques which the bank can then present for payment the moment a debtor fails to meet the scheduled instalments. Bounced cheques are a crime in the UAE, and even the most responsible professionals and business owners can abruptly find themselves under arrest and facing substantial prison sentences.
The only option has been for Indian expats to go home, try to carry on their business, and negotiate new plans with their creditors to avoid incarceration and the subsequent impossibility of earning the money necessary to pay back outstanding loans. A new agreement between the UAE and India just eliminated this option.
It was announced this week by the Indian Ministry of Law and Justice that it recognised the UAE as a “reciprocating territory” and would enforce Emirates’ civil decrees in India.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, said this policy has extended the de facto jurisdiction of the UAE courts to India, “Bounced cheques and unavoidable loan defaults are branded as ‘fraud’ in the UAE; regardless of mitigating circumstances. Wrongful judgments by UAE courts are now enforceable in India. There is no legal obligation imposed upon banks to renegotiate payments when debtors face difficulties, but are genuinely trying to avoid default. If their business suffers unforeseeable interruptions or problems that temporarily impact their ability to fulfil their agreements with creditors, they will be prosecuted as criminals, now in India just as in the UAE. Indi


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Opinions expressed by Contractor the contributors are theirs.
We have seen that 2021 is a banner year for investments in startups and private companies funded by VC. This vast global liquidity has caught the eye of non-traditional investors, including sovereign wealth funds and limited partners, both of which seek to increase returns with direct investments. This makes it a buyer’s market for startups, and the best entrepreneurs have access to what seems like unlimited capital.
Let’s take a closer look at why strategic capital thrives in today’s venture capital environment, how startups can benefit from strategic capital, and how business leaders investing in startups can make their organizations more innovative.
Related: What every investor should know before 2022
2021 turned out to be a good year for entrepreneurs and investors. We are seeing record levels of investment with numerous deals across the world, spanning a variety of technology sectors. Activity appears to be robust at all stages of investing, with significant activity from traditional venture capitalists and corporate investors – not to mention mutual funds, private equity and hedge funds. Startups and investors benefit from a robust IPO and M&A market.
the NVCA Venture Monitor Pitchbook Report stresses that the venture capital industry is resilient and contributes greatly to the country’s economic recovery. The US public market is healthier than ever. A strong third quarter of 3,518 deals generated $238.7 billion invested year-to-date. The report says public venture capital-based listings generated $513.6 billion in exit value; in fact, venture capital-backed IPOs accounted for more than two-thirds of total U.S. listings year-to-date, underscoring the importance of venture capital to our economy.
Why Strategic Capital Thrives
More than ever, it makes sense for startups to raise funds by seeking strategic capital, including venture capital. An increasingly popular investment model – known as venture capital as a service – is used by Pegasus Tech Ventures. This model allows companies to outsource their start-up investments by partnering with an experienced venture capital firm.
By connecting startups to businesses, startups gain financial capital and, just as importantly, they gain access to an experienced network of business leaders. These investors have the knowledge and experience to help startups grow their business smartly. Corporate investors – who have sometimes avoided early-stage investing in the past – are now investing through a range of stages. Investing allows them to introduce technological innovation into their businesses; such innovation is difficult to create or find without a venture capital partner.
Related: 5 ways this crisis is changing venture capital investment strategy
How investors add value
Given the recent hype in the market and the influx of investors, we advise entrepreneurs to be selective and investors to do their due diligence. Investors should strive to stand out and add value to the startups in which they invest. This means helping startups with staffing, positioning, decision-making, and launching products or services. Investors – including those using the venture capital-as-a-service model – should offer their knowledge and experience to benefit the startups in which they have invested.
Corporate investors have solid experience, so they are perfectly placed to advise startups at every stage of their journey. Offering advice and sharing connections helps entrepreneurs avoid mistakes that startups often make. At Pegasus, since we manage investments on behalf of companies, we strive to schedule regular meetings with our business partners, usually with the CEO’s office or the innovation office. Understanding their vision and focus areas helps us find the right kind of startups for investment.
Investment in various sectors
We have seen a wide range of sectors attract investment in 2021. This includes life sciences, wellness, space exploration, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, metaverse, food technology, agricultural technology and entertainment. According to the Pitchbook NVCA report, Software performed particularly well with 156 releases during Q3 2021, just slightly less than Q1 (163 releases) and Q2 (171 releases).
As global concerns about climate change grow more serious, we’ve seen startups and investors focus more on hydrogen fuel cell technology, battery technology for electric transportation, climate technology and cleantech. . Climate technology is generally defined as technology that addresses climate change and mitigates the impacts of global greenhouse gas emissions. Clean technology refers to technology that increases production performance or efficiency while minimizing negative environmental impacts.
Related: Why is it time to invest in climate technology
The impact of SPACs
The main attraction of SPAC – Special Purpose Acquisition Companies – is that they avoid many of the costs and complications of traditional IPO and listing processes. They can reduce the time and cost of private company acquisitions and IPOs. Although SPACs have been around since the early 2000s, they had a growing impact during the third quarter of 2021.
Pitchbook and NVCA report that 413 SPAC vehicles have raised $109.4 billion through Q3 2021, and the mergers are still happening. However, the report indicates a large sell-off since February 2021, which, combined with the underperformance of SPACs, raises doubts about the long-term performance of these vehicles as an alternative to IPOs. The recent actions of US Securities and Exchange Commission are likely to have a chilling effect on SPACs, so we don’t necessarily expect their role in the market to continue to grow.
What awaits us?
Now is the time for entrepreneurs and investors to ride the wave of prosperity. We’ve seen $96 billion raised by venture capitalists in the past nine months, and there’s no clear sign of it slowing down. We recommend that startup founders think carefully about how much investment they need and what kind of investors. Despite the strength of the market, it’s still essential to refine your business positioning, thinking carefully about your unique value proposition and how your product or service benefits customers. This helps ensure the success of startups and investors.


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Volkswagen sales tumble in Oct.Plagued by the ongoing emissions-rigging scandal, Volkswagen saw its sales plunge in October.
The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (Kaida) said on Thursday that Volkswagen’s sales in the last month dropped by 67.4 percent since September, from 2,901 to 947. It was the first time in 46 months that Volkswagen’s monthly sales fell below 1,000 units.
October’s year-on-year sales also dropped by 46 percent.
Volkswagen’s Tiguan 2.0 TDI Bluemotion SUV was the bestselling import in September with 771 sold, but the SUV didn’t even make the top 10 in October.
Audi, which is also under Volkswagen Group, saw similar results. Its sales dropped 27 percent month on month, from 3,401 to 2,482 units.
Impacted by sluggish sales at the two popular German brands, total import sales also dropped 14.5 percent month on month to 17,423 units - the lowest since February. The industry also saw the 66.3 percent share of the imported car market held by the Germans in September shrink to 60.9 percent last month.
By brand, Mercedes-Benz was the most popular import in October with 8,713 units sold, followed by BMW (3,156), Audi (2,482), Peugeot (1,071) and Volkswagen (947). By fuel, the market share of diesels declined by 4.3 percent from September, or from 13,826 to 11,057 units sold.
Meanwhile, the number of Volkswagen and Audi owners seeking compensation against Volkswagen Group has surpassed 1,000. Earlier this week, attorney Ha Jong-sun of Barun Law, which is representing the angry owners, said an additional 393 owners of vehicles equipped with either a 2.0 TDI, 1.6 TDI or 1.2 TDI diesel engine have joined the case on Monday, making the total number of plaintiffs 1,136.
“About 400 to 500 people will file a petition per week in next few weeks,” Ha said. “About 5,500 Audi and Volkswagen owners have sent the necessary documents for the case.”
The Korean consumers will demand the automaker refund the money they paid for their cars.
The scandal has only gotten bigger, with Volkswagen Group’s headquarters recently admitting to having found inconsistent emissions tests for the first time in its gasoline vehicles. It said about 800,000 cars had “unexplained inconsistencies” concerning their carbon dioxide output.
Volkswagen Korea has said there’s no way to determine whether or not these cars were sold in Korea until the automaker’s headquarters finishes its investigation.
BY KWON SANG-SOO [firstname.lastname@example.org]


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Deadline: March 1, 2017
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), Africa’s largest business incubator is now accepting applications from African entrepreneurs, with business ideas that can transform Africa. Successful applicants will join the third cycle of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, TEF’s 10-year, $100 million commitment to train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs in every African country. Since inception in 2015, the Programme has assisted nearly 2,000 entrepreneurs and created hundreds of jobs across the continent.
The Programme provides critical tools for entrepreneurial success, including:
- Training:12 weeks of intensive training on setting-up and managing businesses
- Mentoring:A mentor will guide successful applicants in creating a robust business plan
- Seed Capital:$5,000 in non-returnable seed capital and access to a $5,000 convertible loan
To be eligible:
- Business must be based in Africa
- Business must be for profit
- Business must be 0-3 years’ old
- Applicants must be at least 18 and a legal resident or citizen of an African country
1,000 entrepreneurs will be selected based on the viability of their idea, including:
- market opportunity;
- financial understanding;
- scalability; and
- leadership and entrepreneurial skills demonstrated in the application.
To apply, complete the online application at www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/programme.
For more information, visit Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme.


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China’s exports declined by 1 per cent in August 2019 as its sales to the US tumbled amid the escalating trade war between the two countries. The country’s imports too dipped by 5.6 per cent, leaving a trade surplus of $34.8 billion Economists had forecast these exports to grow by 2.2 per cent, while imports to shrink by 6.4 per cent. Shipments to the US fell 16 per cent from a year earlier.
Weak exports add pressure on China’s already-slowing economy and point to an increased need for its policymakers to beef up stimulus measures. The central bank plans to cut the amount of cash banks must hold as reserves to the lowest level since 2007, injecting liquidity into the economy with the goal of stimulating demand.
The US administration had raised tariffs on Chinese goods at the start of the month, and is set to ratchet up levies further in October and again in December if there is no breakthrough. China and the US will hold face-to-face trade negotiations in Washington in the coming weeks, after a rapid deterioration in relations last month left global investors reeling amid increasing evidence the conflict is harming both countries.


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Langton Capital – 2020-12-24 – PREMIUM – Tier Four additions, the consumer, MARS, WTB, hotels & other:
Tier Four additions, the consumer, MARS, WTB, hotels & other:
PREMIUM EMAIL – PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD:
A DAY IN THE LIFE:
The holiday period is nearly upon us & this is the last Langton Capital email of 2020.
It just remains to wish as Merry a Christmas as possible to one and all, to express the heartfelt wish that 2021 will be better than 2020 for all of us and to move on to the news:
ADVERTISE WITH US:
Langton’s free email now carries adverts. See front page of website for today’s copy & contact us for further details.
PUBS & RESTAURANTS:
• The government has announced that around six million more people in the south east of England will go into Tier Four on Boxing Day. People will be told to stay at home and non-essential shops will close.
• Concerns have been growing that the new variant of Covid-19 could spread the disease more rapidly across the population. The government yesterday announced that 744 people died with Covid-19 in the UK in the prior 24hrs, the largest death toll since the third week of April.
• Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Downing St briefing that the old tiering system was not enough to bring the situation under control.
• Mr Hancock has been repeating the government line that people are responsible for their own behaviour. The crowds on Oxford St last week and at London train stations on Saturday were the fault of the individuals themselves and not hasty political U-turns. It has been suggested that this is a softening up ahead of what may be further bad mortality figures and a new year lockdown.
• Several areas have moved from Tier Two to Tier Three including Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, including the North Somerset council area, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest and Northamptonshire as well as Cheshire and Warrington. Cornwall and Herefordshire will move into tier two.
Trade body & company response:
• The BBPA says ‘the update on the virus and associated tier restrictions today is yet another blow to a sector already on its knees. It is clear that it is going to be the longest winter in living memory for Britain’s pubs and brewers. Unless there is a greater package of financial support from the Government to secure our pubs and the brewers that supply them, a wave of business failures in the New Year is inevitable.’
• The BBPA says ‘we desperately need the Prime Minister to step up to the plate and commit to an enhanced package of measure for pubs and brewers. If the Government acts now they can still secure pubs and jobs by giving locals in England the sort of support those in Wales and Scotland are getting. Without this the outlook is very bleak indeed.’
• Operators have pointed out that stock levels would normally be higher than usual at this time of year meaning that closures could lead to more wastage. In addition, delivery concern re the Tunnel and fears of a no-deal Brexit could have led to stocking up.
• UKH’s Kate Nicholls tweets ‘with no parts of the country in tier 1 the best any open business can manage is just 15% of normal revenues. Over 95% hospitality closed. 80% by law and the remainder because it isn’t possible to trade. It means hospitality has only traded normally for 9 weeks in 2020.’
• UKH continues to tweet ‘industry now facing collapse – with whole country subject to travel restrictions and severe restrictions, it cannot continue to maintain a cash burn of £0.5bn and a loss of £11bn sales in Dec. Support needed to sustain 3rd largest employer and export earner #hospitalitymatters.’
• It adds ‘for hospitality, the Boxing Day announcements put the sector into lockdown across the country but the support simply isn’t there to get businesses through what will be a very bleak New Year. Vat and rates extended beyond March now urgently needed.’
• Founder and Chairman of Loungers, Alex Reilley tweets ‘ten days ago it felt like we were three-quarters of the way through this. Today it feels more like two-thirds.’
• UKH has said ‘we estimate 82% of pubs are now in Tier 3 & 4 and 94% of all pub businesses are unviable. Not such a Merry Christmas. We need urgent support now to prevent business failure.’
• Alex Reilley of Loungers says it has reopened its units in Bristol & North Somerset. It says it is ‘restocking from a standing start & our staff proudly putting in the effort to make their sites shine & look lovely & festive.’ He adds ‘this government don’t care & Hancock is intoxicated on the drama.’
Other Covid & trading news:
• The British Beer & Pub Association has said that there will be 39 million fewer pints and 5 million fewer Christmas dinners enjoyed in pubs over the festive period from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. Since the BBPA calculated the above, a number of areas have moved from Tier Two to Three. Pubs moving from Three to Four will not be subject to additional measures as they are closed already.
• The BBPA says ‘this Christmas will be the quietest year on record for our pubs. The current restrictions were devastating enough but now with the introduction of tier four and a tightening of the rules over Christmas, consumer confidence will be hit further, leading to cancellations and greater financial woes for pubs and brewers.’
• The BBPA, UKH, the BII, CAMRA, the IFBB and others have combined to call on the government to provide more support. The trade associations say that ‘the average pub would expect to take £47,000 in December. Much of this would see them through January and February when trade is typically quieter. With 85% closed or unviable now, and the likelihood of an extended period of full closure and tighter restrictive measures, the certainty provided by a proper financial support and economic bridge to the Spring is critical for the survival of thousands of pubs.’
• Mintel has reported ‘that British consumers have been remarkably resilient in the face of unprecedented turmoil. After the initial spike in concerns over the risks posed by the new virus, we’ve adapted to the new normal. Or, more accurately, a series of ‘next normals’.
• Whilst consumers have muddled through by using online services and accessing off-trade sales, the downside for operators has not been shared evenly. Some operators have adapted more readily than others.
• Here’s hoping for a better 2021. Though Mintel says ‘any empty shelves will shake consumer confidence, particularly when combined with already elevated concerns over the possible impact of Brexit. And although Brexit planning will help retailers manage the impact on stock availability, using up those contingency supplies will have a knock-on effect if we do end up with further disruption on 1 January.’
• Some 4,000 lorries, and thousands of smaller small vans, are now backed up and waiting to cross the Channel.
• A special cargo flight has landed in Yorkshire with 80 tonnes of fruit and vegetables on board.
• Marston’s announcement yesterday that it was to take over the operation of Brain’s c150 pubs has received a favourable press. It is deemed a win-win, though Brain’s had been placed in a difficult position due to closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• CAMRA says ‘while we still need to see the detail of this deal, at first glance it appears a positive move.’ CAMRA says the deal brought hope the pubs would survive. It says ‘this could be the first of many hospitality businesses forced to take drastic action to survive.’
• Unilever reports it has expanded its partnership with Burger King to supply its plant-based burgers
• Italian online marketplace Deliveristo has closed a €4.5m Series A funding.
• See comments on Whitbread below
HOTELS & LEISURE TRAVEL:
• Whitbread, operator of the largely freehold Premier Inn chain of budget hotels, has written to all of its landlords saying it will pay half its December quarter rent. It is calling on its landlords to ‘provide a proportionate degree of temporary financial support.’
• WTB says ‘throughout this period, we have however continued to pay all our landlords our rent commitments in full, even when our sites were closed for over 12 weeks during the first lockdown period. This is in stark contrast to some of our competitors, some of whom have received the benefit of rent reductions through a CVA process.’
• Cruise body CLIA has suggested that two thirds of cruise holiday veterans are willing to cruise in the next year and almost six in 10 first-timers would still consider a cruise in the future.
• STR reports that occupancy across European hotels in November was down 70% on last year (at 21%) with daily rates down 32%. REVPAR was some 81% lower.
• New York City has introduced a 14 day quarantine for international travellers following the discovery of new Covid variants in several countries including the UK.
• Hollywood studio MGM is reported to be for sale at more than $5bn
• The radio and arts sectors are to benefit from a multi-million pound government funding to ‘tackle loneliness’ during the winter.
FINANCE & MARKETS:
• A UK / EU trade deal is expected to be announced as having been agreed later today.
• The SMMT reports that the number of cars made in the UK fell by 1.4% this November compared with last year. For the year to date, production is down by 31%. The SMMT says this is ‘yet another decline for UK car production is of course concerning, but not nearly as concerning as the New Year nightmare facing the automotive industry if we do not get a Brexit deal that works for the sector.’
• Sterling up at $1.3554 and €1.1105. Oil higher at $51.43. UK 10yr gilt yield up 10bps in anticipation of a trade deal at 0.29%. World markets better yesterday with London set to open up around 34pts.
RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:
Today’s Market: Wall Street was up by 0.4% at the close last night (as measured by the Dow Jones index), but the FTSE 100 index is expected to be only modestly up this morning (there is a half-day of trading), with the market not sure to celebrate the last-minute Brexit deal or fret about the impact of the strength of sterling (according to the Proactive private investor website), with the index set to open 35 points up at 8am at c6530, according to the spread betting firms. Sterling is trading up a bit at around $1.357…
Today’s Press: The news that another 6m people will be moving into Tier 4 on Boxing Day (including Oxford and Cambridge) is knocked off the front pages today by the news of a last-minute Brexit deal: the Daily Express screams “The deal is done!”, the Daily Mail exults “Hallelujah! It’s a Merry Brexmas”, the Daily Telegraph runs with “Johnson poised to seal Brexit trade deal”, the Times reports that “Britain and EU on brink of signing Brexit deal” and the FT goes with “UK-EU on cusp of historic trade deal”.


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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is eyeing offline digital payment solutions to enable transactions without the need for internet connection in an effort to boost financial inclusion in off-grid areas.
Governor Diokno said that while an effective and reliable internet connectivity is a necessary condition for digital finance to flourish, the central bank is also pursuing digital solutions to enable ‘offline payments.’
The BSP is working on this initiative under the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap (DPTR) which aims to convert 50 percent of the volume of retail payments into digital form and onboard 70 percent of Filipino adults to the formal financial system by 2023.
The Governor discussed digital reforms during the Philippine Economic Society’s (PES) virtual conference themed, “Building Back Better: Harnessing Digitalization Towards a Transformed Philippines.”
Representatives from the private and public sectors, members of the academe from local and international institutions, and students across the country attended the three-day virtual conference.
PES is a non-stock and non-profit organization whose primary purpose is to encourage professional relations among economists and seek to improve the standards of economic research and instruction in the Philippines.


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WASHINGTON (WDVM) — Customs Border Patrol has seized counterfeit and unapproved COVID-19 products. In the last two weeks, nearly 1,200 pills, including Hydroxychloroquine sulfate, and 100 unapproved test kits were seized in Washington, D.C., according to CBP officers.
In Baltimore, Border Patrol agents found more than 600 facemasks that had counterfeit trademarked logos representing brands like Nike, Adidas and Fila.
Since June 5, officers in the Mid-Atlantic region have completed eleven seizures that included the following:
- 145 unapproved or counterfeit COVID-19 test kits
- 337 unapproved or counterfeit COVID-19 antibody diagnostic kits
- 792 unapproved or counterfeit N95 respirator masks and other face masks
- 1,188 doses of Hydroxychloroquine sulfate, Dipyridmole, Doxycycline, Metformin
- 960 doses of Lianhua Qingwen Jianonangcee and Lianhua Qingwen Pian capsules
Border Patrol says the products came from Ghana, Hong Kong, Kenya, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom and were sent to addresses in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
“Predatory scammers continue to prey on consumer fear by peddling these counterfeit or unapproved and potentially dangerous products as legitimate COVID-19 protective equipment or medicines,” said Casey Durst, CBP’s Director of Field Operations in Baltimore. “Customs and Border Protection officers will continue to work with our consumer safety partners to identify and seize products that could potentially harm American citizens.”
MORE NEWS FROM WDVM
- DCPS announces first-ever Family Advocacy and Leadership Summit
- Officers pulling overtime hours, National Guard mobilized as country awaits Chauvin verdict
- Street Smart launches spring campaign, works with police to decrease pedestrian fatalities
- Biden seeks GOP input, hopes to reach bipartisan agreement on infrastructure package
- How the standardized testing waiver could impact student success rates


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Innovation in Artificial intelligence (AI) had a landmark year in 2023, with generative AI both “creating" (quite literally writing news articles) and making the headlines.
If you look beyond OpenAI’s ChatGPT and text-to-image tool Midjourney, the next big bet is AI you can wear and carry around in your everyday life. From devices that can be worn like a necklace to smart glasses, the race to integrate AI in physical devices is heating up.
AI hardware is, of course, still in a nascent stage. But AI devices are expected to take on exciting form factors. In September, for instance, Microsoft patented the idea of a backpack with built-in AI.
Here are some AI devices currently out and slated to be showcased next year.
Amazon Echo Frames
The Alexa AI-powered smart eyewear can connect to multiple devices and comes with a host of media playback, notification and privacy features. Available on amazon.com; starting $269.99 (around ₹22,500).
Health tracker NOWATCH will release its AI-powered NOWATCH Insights feature along with its new line of Chronos designer timepiece faces at CES 2024, in Las Vegas. Insights is like an AI companion that will give users personalised daily recaps and wellness recommendations.
V-Touch WHSP RING
South Korean company V-Touch says this wearable ring enables users to have everyday conversations with AI. The “whisper" technology makes it easier for users to talk in noisy environments while providing privacy. The personal AI device will be showcased at CES 2024.
Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses
Integrated with Meta AI, these smart glasses allow users to livestream on Facebook or Instagram. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 Platform, they also have a 12 MP ultrawide camera. Available on meta.com and ray-ban.com; $299.
MORE FROM THIS SECTIONview all
From the makers of the personalised AI app Rewind, Pendant— which can be worn like a locket—captures what you say and hear in the real world and then transcribes, encrypts, and stores it locally on your smartphone. More details on rewind.ai
Humane AI Pin
The much-anticipated Humane AI Pin can be worn on clothes. Tap on the screen-free wearable and you can talk to the virtual assistant, among other features, which will run on technologies from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft. Available on hu.ma.ne/shop; $699.
Powered by OpenAI, WHOOP Coach is an AI feature that works in tandem with the WHOOP fitness wearable. With WHOOP Coach, users can get individualised, conversational responses to their health, and wellness questions through the WHOOP app. Details on whoop.com
According to a video posted on X by founder Avi Schiffman, a web developer known for his coronavirus dashboard tracker nCoV2019.live, Tab is a wearable that can listen to your daily conversations. It is supported by an AI chatbot app, running on OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, that can converse with users. Available for pre-order on mytab.ai; $600.
- FIRST PUBLISHED29.12.2023 | 01:30 PM IST


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Why Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 interface announcement is only the start, and what's likely to come next.
500 words into the future
Unapologetically opinionated views on technology, in the office and out
Simon Bisson is a freelance technology journalist. He specialises in architecture and enterprise IT. He ran one of the UK's first national ISPs and moved to writing around the time of the collapse of the first dotcom boom. He still writes code.
Mary Branscombe is a freelance tech journalist. Mary has been a technology writer for nearly two decades, covering everything from early versions of Windows and Office to the first smartphones, the arrival of the web and most things inbetween.
For Windows Server, keeping up to date with Azure perhaps the most important thing,
As we move into a world of ubiquitous computing, we need to decide what it means.
Tumblr is a very well designed mini publishing platform, but more ads, sooner, could have made it the Huffington Post of personal publishing.
Three months after buying a Surface Pro in the middle of a Canadian blizzard, how's it holding up as my everyday laptop?
Taking out the trash is a vital element of keeping your Java virtual machine running smoothly.
Snap mode — the best feature in Windows RT no-one talks about, and why cheap tablets are like cut-price sewing machines.
Cloud computing has turned us into hardware agnostics demanding access to our files anytime and anywhere.
Wireless charging could be a good way to say goodbye to the mess of cables on every desk - here's some creative ways the technology has been used.
Picking apart Microsoft's latest financials shows you can't split the company neatly between home and business any more, thanks to the cloud.


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In a survey of 2,000 British car owners in September 2022, the used-car marketplace Motorway revealed the leading causes of unexpected vehicle damage outside of wear and tear or road incidents.
Potholes came out top, with 55% experiencing pothole-associated damage in the last year alone – set to increase following a record-breaking hot summer which will see UK roads contract this winter.
This was closely followed by pigeon droppings wrecking paintwork (44%), debris on the road (40%), and stones impacting tyres (38%). Adverse weather conditions (22%) and low-hanging branches (20%) showed nature isn’t always on the driver’s side when it comes to other top causes of unexpected damage. Other obscure answers came from shopping trolleys, acorns and conkers, and deer lost in the road.
With a tough winter ahead, 80% of Brits are concerned about the cost of car maintenance, with over a fifth open to selling their vehicle. However, 65% are worried about how the damage has affected the value of their car, with 70% seeking out at-home fixes to avoid forking out on repairs.
Though it might be tempting to opt for a quick fix, Alex Buttle, co-founder of Motorway, said of the findings: “When it comes to retaining the value of your car, it’s important to keep on top of regular maintenance and have repairs made as and when needed. While it can be frustrating to spend the money at the time, ultimately car owners will be maximising the future value of their car, which is always important when it’s time to sell.”
Top 10 most common causes of unexpected vehicle damage:
- Potholes (55%)
- Bird excrement (44%)
- Debris on the road (40%)
- Stones in tyres (38%)
- Adverse weather conditions (22%)
- Low hanging trees (20%)
- Sea salt (8%)
- Sun damage such as bleaching upholstery (8%)
- Conkers (7%)
- Chewing gum (6%)
To find out more and for a no-obligation quote, visit Motorway.co.uk to find out what you could get for your car.


text:
James Mason, a Stanford University computer science/ blockchain student, says that he has cracked the ‘Magic Code’ transforming the economic trajectory of Black people in America. His “20 Year Master Plan” features a blockchain component, proprietary platform, one billion Black Gold Dynasty (BGD) cryptocurrency tokens, a worldwide online marketplace and much more – all designed to advance the economic status of Black People in America using the “Buy Black Movement” as it’s vehicle.
Mason comments, “It has taken me 10 years to figure this out and it’s all possible now thanks to blockchain technology and artificial intelligence.”
However, Mr. Mason assures us that the real genius lies in the “secret sauce” which he plans to reveal at a later time. He also feels that other eminent elements include criminal justice reform, reparations, repatriation, and a real economic reboot are all eminent as well.
To execute the plan, the company is raising $50 million (USD) in an SEC Compliant, Security Token Offering (STO) and $50 million (USD) in an ICO (Utility Token) under the Black Gold Dynasty (BGD) brand asset, cryptocurrency, and ecosystem.
To learn more, visit Black-Gold-Dynasty.com
For press inquiries contact James Mason at James@Black-Gold-Dynasty.com


text:
|By PR Newswire||
|November 27, 2012 02:00 AM EST||
BANGALORE, November 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
The inaugural edition of MobiSparks, a unique conference and showcase of Indian mobile startups, ended on an energetic note in Bangalore today. Over 300 attendees attended the packed event, sponsored by Sequoia Capital, Vodafone, One97 Mobility Fund and UK Trade and Investment.
YourStory.in has built upon its unique relationships with startups as well as investors to bring together an outstanding forum focused purely on mobile innovation in India, explained Shradha Sharma, YourStory.in founder.
An authoritative report, MobiSparks 2012, was also released at the event, featuring the Top 15 mobile startups and apps in India chosen by an expert selection committee.
"In the next 12-18 months we will see major global mobile startups emerging from India. Mobile remittances are big in India. Interesting problems waiting for innovative mobile solutions are discovery, healthcare, education, payments and enterprise mobility," observed Mohit Bhatnagar, MD, Sequoia Capital India.
Buzz and hype about the mobile industry has been alive in India for at least a dozen years, said Sanjay Anandram, an investor, mentor and author. "India is now a supplier as well as a market, and access prices are falling for mobile," said Anandram.
"Indian startups are getting distracted by how to get investments," cautioned Sandeep Amar, who heads apps, WAP, ad server business at One97.
More Indian startups need to go beyond cut-and-paste and do original work. "There's a lot of stuff that can be opened up for the mass market in India via mobiles. Unfortunately, the rural market is not considered sexy by many urban mobile developers," observed Jonathan Bill, SVP, Vodafone India.
"Enterprise mobility, especially for SMEs, is a bigger opportunity in India than in any other country," advised Bill. Vodafone India's revenue share is 70% with content providers and developers, but the share offered by other Indian mobile operators is much lower.
"We are close to many problems in India, we need to innovate right here," said Ramesh Krishnan, head of User Experience Practice in MphasiS.
"In India everything is the next big thing, from e-commerce onwards. But app developers in India need better improvement in design, beyond functionality," said Ashwin Venkatraman, Director & Head, Developer Platform at InMobi.
Hot mobile trends identified by the expert panel at MobiSparks include: home automation, personalised infotainment, commerce, local deal apps and healthcare.
Ravi Gururaj, Vice President of Products and Cloud Platforms at Citrix Systems, offered five brainstorming techniques for startups to build on a core app idea: flip, tangent, enhance, disrupt, and fuse.
Rohit Singal, Founder & CEO, Sourcebits, delivered an extremely relevant and insightful workshop on how to successfully build and monetize apps, covering everything from ideation and execution to marketing and pivoting.
MobiSparks adds to the YourStory's annual lineup of startup showcases, which includes TechSparks, aimed at product technology startups that has run successfully for four editions, and e-Sparks, aimed at e-commerce startups that is one edition old.
"If you want a good overview of key developments in mobile this year, and upcoming trends and shifts in 2013 and beyond, the MobiSparks report is the best place to start," said Dr Madanmohan Rao, research editor at YourStory, and curator of the report.
The top Indian mobile startups picked at the event are: IQLECT, Grene Robotics, Visarity Technology, App Me In, SectorQube Technolabs, Uniphore, AstralPad, Rhapsody Labs, Jana Care, Remo Software, MintM Loyalty Services, AirGol.com, MobileCozy Solutions, and RainingClouds Technologies.
The leading mobile apps from India for 2012 are: Twaang, Hubbl, WooMe, LoReMo and PhonOn. There were also pitches by four new apps being recently launched: InTouchApp for contact management, DeckApp for making presentations from mobile devices,
Native5 cloud platform that allows development and management of apps, and Robotics-Live featuring robots controllable by smartphones.
Details on these startups and apps, along with the comprehensive MobiSparks report on India's mobile market, are available here.
For more details, contact:
Twitter account: @MobiSparks Hashtag: #msparks
SOURCE YourStory Media Pvt. Ltd,
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The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly in the process of breaking from its heretofore relatively obscure enterprise applications (such as plant floor control and supply chain management) and going mainstream into the consumer space. More and more creative folks are interconnecting everyday products such as household items, mobile devices, appliances and cars, and unleashing new and imaginative scenarios. We are seeing a lot of excitement around applications in home automation, personal fitness,...
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Security can create serious friction for DevOps processes. We've come up with an approach to alleviate the friction and provide security value to DevOps teams. In her session at DevOps Summit, Shannon Lietz, Senior Manager of DevSecOps at Intuit, will discuss how DevSecOps got started and how it has evolved. Shannon Lietz has over two decades of experience pursuing next generation security solutions. She is currently the DevSecOps Leader for Intuit where she is responsible for setting and driv...
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A pawn store in South geographical area has poked fun at Dick’s Sporting Goods using a sign marketing the small business is selling assault rifles as opposed to the major merchant.
The Crossroads Pawn and Sound in Little River, S.C., placed up a sign last week saying, “We sell AR-15’s because we’re not Dick’s.”
The sign was actually a tongue-in-cheek dig towards the sporting goods merchant, which announced in March that it would no longer offer assault-style weapons after the fatal Parkland school shooting. The retailer also proclaimed it would suspend the sales of all firearms to anybody below 21. Following the retailer’s choice to stop attempting to sell the guns, several major gun makers announced they were cutting ties with the business.
The pawn shop added up the sign prior to the fatal school shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas, WPDE stated. The sign was greeted with repercussion from residents who felt the sign was offensive.
“I believe it’s very offensive,” Ernest Carson of Socastee told WPDE-TV.
However, a couple of citizens felt the sign was comical.
“I love it, it’s funny and gets the point across,” a social mass media customer wrote on Facebook.
Despite the backlash, the small business said it has gained additional business soon after the sign.
“We have a couple of people, you know, who were not in favor of the sign but our favorable feedback genuinely outweighed that negative feedback,” Barbara Davey, the store’s supervisor, told WPDE.
Davey pointed out a few individuals were annoyed with the sign due to the fact the store was located down the route from North Myrtle Beach High School.
“I think they are upset due to the fact we are, you know, in a somewhat close distance to the high school. But in absolutely no way do we advocate or support the tragedies that are going on inside this country,” Davey said.
She continued that the sign was inserted up to support the Second Amendment.
“We intend to be able to help the community keep their families safe, to keep themselves safe, to recommend, you know, accountable firearm ownership,” Davey said.
The store published a declaration on their Facebook page with regards to the sign.


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Dairy Farmers of Canada is trying harder to track how well its marketing efforts boost milk sales, after Ontario members pulled promotion funding over a lack of information.
Dairy Farmers of Canada’s (DFC) policy conference this week in Ottawa included a presentation by Don Mayo, global managing partner for IMI, an organization that measures media campaigns around the world.
Mayo is partway through a multi-year project to measure how well DFC campaigns reach consumers, and to present return on investment for marketing spending.
The results for the 2017 campaign were exceptional in brand awareness, although Mayo will need more campaigns in 2018 before he will be able to report on return on investment.
Milk is a strange outlier in the beverage market, as in Canada it doesn’t have one commercial brand, compared to other large beverage brands like Coke.
Here’s some of what Mayo’s research found:
- Milk ranked third in unaided awareness of brand advertising in surveys of consumers. That’s above Tim Horton’s, Apple and McDonald’s. Canadian Tire didn’t make the top 10 and neither did any of the banks, said Mayo.
- “There is no doubt it (the milk brand) has broken through,” Mayo said, but “there’s no guarantee it will be there next year.”
- Milk also comes in third in unaided memory of advertising in the beverage category after Coke and Pepsi.
- The 2017 milk campaigns included a cheese campaign about an animated father and daughter who make cheese, run digitally, and large national campaigns that included sports players pouring a “tall cold one” of milk, and several spots that played on the “crying over spilt milk” theme. There were also other initiatives that focused on nutrition, which performed well in surveys.
- DFC also introduced a new logo in 2017 that focused more on modern messaging, with a modern cow and new colouring that replaced an older logo with a cartoonish cow. Farmers were attached to what was known as the “little blue cow” but Mayo says the number of Canadians who remember seeing the logo rose from 45 per cent in 2016 to 70 per cent in 2017. The new logo and colour were heavily integrated into marketing campaigns and the number of companies using it has increased since the logo was modernized.
- Traditional advertising, especially on television, continues to perform significantly better than digital ads, which is what is being found across many campaigns. “You are beating the biggest beer brands in this race,” Mayo said.
David Janssens, a dairy farmer from British Columbia and a member of the DFC board, said promotion funds from his farm alone are $100,000. He expressed concern that funding for promotion is increasingly fractioned across the country.
“It is truly a serious issue,” he said. Dairy producers at the policy conference were going to discuss the issue in a closed session.
Ontario’s decision to pull out of national dairy product promotion continues to have repercussions for DFC and how Canadians will see dairy products.
The decision by Dairy Farmers of Ontario last June and in place January 2018, meant a delayed 2018 budget as DFC reworked its staffing and commitments based on the reality of losing $37.5 million in 2018 out of what was an $89 million budget in 2017.
A large proportion of the DFC budget goes to the national promotion and education campaigns that dairy farmers have undertaken for years.
DFC has also been in a period of fluctuation in staff with the departure of its executive director last summer as well as other staff. The organization hired Jacques Lefebvre as its new executive director in January.
Sorting out the new budgetary reality will continue with the 2019 budget, with a potential complete budget overhaul, said Sylvie LaRose, DFC’s director of finance.
Ontario’s concerns with marketing and promotion at DFC started about six years ago, said Dairy Farmers of Ontario board chair Ralph Dietrich, a DFC board member. There was an increase in promotion fees to producers at that time.
“There were questions on this from the producers’ perspective,” Dietrich said. “They agreed with it, but conditionally, and one of the conditions was to see how the money was being spent and what is the return on the investments.”
The request for that information was made, but “unfortunately we did get what was required. We needed it as a board to pass it on to producers who were asking us for it.”
The lines of communication remain open and Ontario will continue to work with DFC on some promotion projects. DFO has expressed strong support for the rest of DFC’s mandate.
— John Greig is a field editor for Glacier FarmMedia based at Ailsa Craig, Ont. Follow him at @jgreig on Twitter.