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MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G SoC is new in house chip from the chipset maker that is designed to cater to budget phones. The company has announced this new chipset under its Dimensity 700 series. The new chipset follows the Dimensity 720 SoC, which was another 5G chipset from MediaTek, launched early this year. We have seen several models featuring the chipset.
MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G SoC — 5G on the go
The latest Dimensity chipset is built on a 7nm process. It claims to bring 5G to the mass markets, which could mean cheaper phones with 5G capabilities. The chipset packs in 5G Carrier Aggregation (2CC 5G-CA) and 5G dual SIM dual standby (DSDS). These tend to deliver users faster speeds and also brings Voice over New Radio (VoNR) capability for 5G. The quicker speeds include up to 2.77Gbps on 5G. The DSDS support on the chipset makes the device Dual 5G SIM capable as well.
The latest chipset features MediaTek’s Ultra Save technology which is said to improve efficiency and make users charge their smartphones less often, according to MediaTek.
MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G SoC — Technical Specifications
As suggested, the latest 7nm MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC is an octa-core processor. It is equipped with two ARM Cortex A-76 cores and ARM Cortex A55 cores both combine to deliver clock speeds of up to 2.2GHz. The chipset also incorporates Arm Mali-G57 MC2 for GPU.
In terms of storage, the chipset enables support for up to 12GB LPDDR4X RAM. The display support includes 2520 x 1080p resolution alongside 90Hz refresh rates as well. The connectivity options, on the other hand, include Dua 5G, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 and GPS.
For camera capabilities, the latest chipset can handle up to 64MP camera alongside dual 16MP secondary cameras. These cameras can additionally feature several AI Enhancements as well as improvements in 3D Noise Reduction. The video capabilities include recording/viewing up to 2K at 30fps.
Lastly, the MediaTek Dimeinsity 700 5G SoC supports multiple voice assistants on smartphones. All in all, the latest chipset brings in more capabilities that include — the much-anticipated 5G for the budget to mid-range phones. This chipset adds to the existing 5G chipset portfolio from MediaTek. We can expect this chipset to feature in phones that are slated to release in the first quarter of 2021.


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Ask.com announced that it has acquired Ask.fm, a social Q&A service, which has over 180 million global monthly users, according to the company.
Ask.fm is available on the web, and for Android and IOS.
A post on the Ask blog says:
Ask.com has been in the business of finding answering to questions from millions of people over the course of our 18 years, and we are proud that as a result we’ve built our brand to become synonymous with Q&A online. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that as Ask.fm started gaining increasingly significant traction over the past 18 months, we became concerned about the potential to confuse users. Accordingly, we considered, even pursued, several different courses of action; but all the while, becoming much more familiar with the product and its various use cases.
What we discovered was an incredibly engaged community, one growing growing rapidly all over the globe. Today, after just a few years in business, Ask.fm has an astounding 180 million users who are asking 20,000 questions per minute and making 670 posts every second – this puts Ask.fm on par with some of the biggest, most well-known social networks in the world.
What also was, and has been, abundantly clear, is that the need to materially enhance safety on the Ask.fm site is paramount – critical, really, to unlocking the service’s true potential. And the good news, is we’ve already started the process of making changes on the safety front, on day one of acquisition. – See more at: http://blog.ask.com/#sthash.tKjrF3ZH.dpuf
The company is putting in place a new leadership team aimed at instilling a “safety-first” philosophy. lya and Mark Terebin from Ask.fm will no longer be involved in the operations or ownership structure of the company, Ask says. They’ve hired Chief Trust and Safety Officer Catherine Teitelbaum, formerly Director of Safety at Yahoo, to “drive global Ask.fm trust and safety initiatives.”
More on safety-related efforts in the blog post.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
A couple years ago, Ask acquired About.com, another popular site providing answers to many of the world’s questions. The price on that one was $300 million
Image via Ask.fm

domain: news


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May 23, 2023
Vaping industry cannot afford to rest on its laurels when it comes to addressing youth vaping, a regulatory expert warned, following new research that found ‘no significant change’ in the proportion of 11-to-17-year-olds ‘currently vaping’ over the past year.
Though this is welcome news for the industry, Lee Bryan, founder and chief executive of Arcus Compliance, said ‘much more’ still needs to be done to address underage access and discourage those illegally selling to children.
“The latest evidence from ASH, while positive, is not an excuse for us to pat ourselves on the back and call it a day,” he said. “So long as anyone under the age of 18 is using e-cigarettes and even one retailer is willing to supply them to minors, the industry, enforcement officials and regulators still have a job to do.”
Bryan highlighted further findings from the ASH youth survey which revealed non-specialist shops like off-licenses and newsagents were the main source of vapes for underage buyers.
“These rogue traders just won’t feel pressured to stop if they think the worst punishment they’re going to get for breaking the law is a slap on the wrist or a three-digit fine,” he said.
“Ramping up on the ground policing and bringing down the hammer on the illicit market should be a top priority – we simply can’t allow cowboy retailers to turn a profit by peddling vapes to kids.”
Bryan highlighted recommendations from the UK Vaping Industry Association for fines of up-to £10,000 for those caught selling e-cigarettes to minors as an ‘effective’ and ‘much-needed’ strategy to discourage bad actors.
He also endorsed calls for a retail registration scheme that would see strict standards imposed on anyone stocking vapes, saying it would increase accountability and allow regulators to dish out ‘swift punishment’ on those flouting the rules.
The Association of Convenience Stores has also reiterated its support for tough enforcement action against those who sell vapes and other age restricted products to underage customers, while reminding retailers of their age checking responsibilities after the ASH survey has shown that teens buy vapes from corner shops the most.
However, the compliance expert said the most ‘pressing’ step right now was improving support for bodies like Trading Standards, warning that the battle to end youth access ‘begins and ends’ with enforcement officials.
“Trading Standards agents make up the front line in this critical, ongoing fight against illegal sellers and underage vaping,” Bryan said.
“They are the people visiting shops, organising test purchasing efforts, handing out penalties and following up on tip offs, but there’s only so much they can do without the proper resources.
“The UK government’s recently announced ‘crackdown’ on the sector included greater investment in enforcement and the formation of a dedicated task force – but this is not enough.
“If lawmakers want to get serious about curbing underage vaping, they need to back Trading Standards with everything they can.”


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Electronics and Semiconductor Manufacturing Poised for Big Gains in Coming Years
The electronics and semiconductor manufacturing landscape is expected to grow by leaps and bounds, and even despite the challenges faced due to COVID-19 and and Ukraine crisis, it doesn’t appear to be slowing.
For example, according to recent data from SEMI, an industry association representing the global electronics product design and manufacturing supply chain, global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment surged 44% to an all-time record of $102.6 billion from $71.2 billion in 2020. On one hand, such gains are not surprising given the introduction of 5G and the escalating demand for new technologies in nearly every market sector from manufacturing to consumer electronics. However, historically investments into such technologies typically take time to fully implement, often years. This implies that as rapid the increase has already been, it has not peaked.
“The 44% increase in manufacturing equipment spending in 2021 highlights the global semiconductor industry’s aggressive push to add capacity,” said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO, in a statement. “This drive to expand production capabilities extends beyond the current supply imbalance, as the industry continues to ramp up to address a wide range of emerging high-tech applications that will enable a smarter digital world with countless social benefits.”
China was cited as the largest market for semiconductor equipment, expiring a 58% annual increase in growth for 2021, while Korea saw semiconductor equipment sales increasing 55% and Taiwan 45%. Even the West, which has made recent shifts to support their own domestic manufacturing initiatives, experienced growth, with Europe seeing a 23% increase and the U.S. a 17% increase.
Even wafer production, which is critical to ASIC production but necessitates highly specialized and costly storage equipment, saw gains. Sales of wafer processing equipment rose 44% percent in 2021. Additionally, packaging equipment sales increased 87%, and test equipment sales rose 30%.
Taken together, these trends all indicate that electronics and semiconductor manufacturing plants are taking seriously the need to expand, innovate, and embrace the new technologies available in the marketplace. Inherently, this environment will favor the largest manufacturers, who can afford such investments. Small to mid-size manufacturers, however, may have to consider alternative solutions in order to maintain pace — or risk being overtaken. Third-party partners, for example, are ideal for adding additional innovations to any manufacturing supply chain, such as last time buy and storage strategies, without the need for upfront capital investment.


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Controversial brewery Brewdog has been accused of hypocrisy over its World Cup 'anti-sponsor' advertising campaign.
The chain, which has bars in Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Sheffield and York, has used the campaign to highlight human rights abuses in Qatar where the 2022 World Cup begins on November 20. Slogans include: 'Proud anti-sponsor of the World F*cup' and 'First Russia, Then Qatar. Can't Wait for North Korea'.
The Scottish 'punk' brewery said all profits from its Lost Lager sold during the World Cup would 'go towards fighting human rights abuse'. But critics have accused Brewdog, which will be showing Qatar 2022 games in its pubs, of hypocrisy.
Colin Millar tweeted: "BrewDog is an easy target (transparent PR campaign littered with unhelpful mistruths) but their faux outrage at Qatar while their product is sold there sums up capitalism in 2022. Profit from being seen to care about bad things & profit from not actually caring about bad things."
But Brewdog founder and CEO James Watt defended the campaign saying: "What an incredible reaction to our world cup campaign.
"And if a bit of the usual twitter hate is the price we have to pay for massively raising awareness of the continued human rights abuses in Qatar and the obvious corruption of FIFA, then so be it."
A Brewdog spokesperson told The Caterer: "We thought long and hard about whether we wanted to show matches in our bars but decided to do so for two reasons.
"One, if you love craft beer and you also love football you shouldn't be denied the chance to enjoy them together just because FIFA is corrupt.
"Two, all profits from Lost Lager sold during the tournament will be donated to human rights charities. We will raise a lot more money if we show the matches in our bars."
It isn't the first time Brewdog, which has been accused of having a 'culture of fear' among its employees, has been accused of hypocrisy. Watt came under fire after it was revealed he had bought £500,000 of shares in Heineken after publically slamming the Dutch brewing giant.
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Ola to deploy a million electric vehicles in India by 2021
The company plans to continue its experimentation with ways to optimise batteries and charging; developing a strong business model for electric vehicle (EV) deployment in India…
Ola has announced their plan to deploy a million electric vehicles (EVs) onto the roads of India by 2021, with a new platform named ‘Mission: Electric’.
The ride-hailing company has also committed to placing 10,000 E-rickshaws and electric auto-rickshaws into its service within the next 12 months.
From cycle rickshaws to shuttles to last-mile transport, three-wheelers continue to be a dominant form of daily transit for many people across the nation. Ola believes electrification can improve the outcomes for drivers, customers and its business model and plans to work with driver-partners, cities, vehicle manufacturers and battery companies to make sustainable technologies cost-effective and viable.
“Three-wheelers are a vital means of transportation and a source of livelihood for millions of people every day. They also represent an immediate opportunity to improve outcomes for all stakeholders while reducing pollution across towns and cities,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-Founder and CEO of Ola. “Less than a year ago, we launched India’s first multi-modal electric pilot in Nagpur. After more than 4 million electric kilometres travelled we are significantly expanding our commitment to electrify mobility in India.”
Ola launched its first electric vehicle project in Nagpur on 26 May 2017. The project includes electric cabs, electric auto rickshaws, electric buses, rooftop solar installations, charging stations and battery swapping experiments.
Ola is in discussion with several state governments to create an appropriate policy environment to deploy electric three-wheelers. The company is also talking to OEM partners and EV innovators globally to bring vehicles on the road in a planned and phased manner.


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Srinagar: A massive fire broke out at a commercial complex of electronic goods in Nowgam Budshah Nagar in Srinagar, causing extensive damage to the property, Fire and Emergency services said.
They said the fire broke out at a congested four-story commercial complex of Rather Electronic Stores of Havells Galaxy at Nowgam in uptown Srinagar early Sunday and engulfed the entire building.
Electronic goods of Air Conditions, Washing Machines, fans, wires besides other electric gadgets were extensively damaged due to the fire, they said.
It took six fire tenders to douse the flames, they said and added, no one was injured in the incident. The fire fighting operation lasted more than four hours.
The cause of the fire is believed to be the electric short circuit, they added.


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Global PC shipments suffered their steepest year-over-year decline since IDC began tracking the PC market's quarterly performance in 1994, the research firm reported Wednesday.
PC makers shipped 76.3 million units in the first three months of the year, a 13.9 percent decline from the same period in 2012, IDC reported(Opens in a new window). The research firm had anticipated a major year-over-year drop-off in PC shipments but reality far surpassed IDC's pre-quarter forecast for a 7.7 percent decline.
Analysts were mixed about the primary cause for the sluggishness of the PC market, with some pointing to the disappointing performance of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system as a main culprit. "At this point, unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only failed to provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market," IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell said.
"While some consumers appreciate the new form factors and touch capabilities of Windows 8, the radical changes to the UI, removal of the familiar Start button, and the costs associated with touch have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices. Microsoft will have to make some very tough decisions moving forward if it wants to help reinvigorate the PC market."
Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said other factors were more important to the decline in PC shipments.
"While the lackluster consumer reception of Windows 8 impacted Q1 sales, it isn't the primary reason for the slowdown. The slow economy, particularly in emerging regions, is the primary culprit," Moorhead told PCMag.
"Microsoft needs to double down on Blue and fix the positioning so when the economy does rebound, PCs will start growing again. Intel and AMD have delivered the right hardware technology platforms and now it's up to Microsoft."
Another indication that the PC market is at a crossroads came from IHS iSuppli report on semiconductor revenue for all of 2012, also released on Wednesday.
IHS described 2012 as "a miserable year for the semiconductor market and suppliers" in its report on 2012 sales figures for the Top 25 global chipmakers. Perhaps, but not for all of the companies tracked.
In fact, the breakdown of chipmakers which enjoyed growth in 2012 versus those which had a rough time offers yet more compelling evidence that as the PC market has shrunk, the mobile device market has grown.
Nine of the Top 25 semiconductor companies suffered double-digit declines in yearly sales as compared with their 2011 numbers, with many of those companies concentrated on developing products for the PC market. Among the handful of firms which enjoyed growth, most were focused or had a very strong presence in the mobile device market.
Qualcomm, for instance, enjoyed the strongest year-over-year revenue growth at 29.2 percent, as detailed in the chart below. Advanced Micro Devices, meanwhile, was the biggest loser in 2012, suffering a 17.6 percent decline in sales.
Companies like Intel and Nvidia play heavily in the PC market but also have diversified portfolios touching the data center, HPC space, and mobile. Intel managed to muddle through 2012 with a 2.7 percent decline in sales, while Nvidia actually grew its revenue by a robust 6 percent on the year, according to IHS.
In the declining market for PCs, Hewlett-Packard managed to hold onto its crown as the top vendor in the world market, according to IDC. HP captured a 15.7 percent share of the global PC market by shipping nearly 12 million units in the first quarter of 2013, though that represented a 23.7 percent decline from its shipments in the first quarter of 2012.
Lenovo, in second place, shipped 11.7 million units in the first quarter. That figure was flat against the company's performance in the first quarter of 2012, but given the tumbling numbers of the other members of IDC's top five list, Lenovo pretty much hit it out of the park.
Dell, the third-ranked PC maker in the first quarter, shipped just over 9 million units in the first three months of 2013, a 10.9 percent year-over-year decline. Rounding out the top five were Acer (6.2 million units shipped, down 31.3 percent) and Asus (4.3 million, down 19.2 percent), IDC reported.
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The Government Failed To Implement The Official Price: The Price Of LPG per kg In The Market Rise to Rs 255.
Lahore (Billinfo Latest. 09 January 2023): Big increase in the price of LPG by 50 rupees, the government failed to implement the official price, the price of LPG per kg in the market became 255 rupees. According to the details, due to the incompetence of the government, the people got another gift of inflation. According to the Chairman of the LPG Association, the black marketing mafia has increased the price of LPG by Rs 50 per kg, and LPG is being sold at Rs 250 to 255 per kg in the market.
The domestic cylinder has reached Rs 3000 and the commercial cylinder has reached Rs 11350 and the LPG price is likely to increase further in the next 24 hours. Chairman LPG Association Irfan Khokhar has said that Ogra had fixed the price of LPG at 204 rupees per kg for the month of January, the price of the domestic cylinder was fixed at 2411.43 rupees and the commercial cylinder at 9278 rupees. And in the guise of cold, the LPG mafia is active.
On the other hand, according to the weekly inflation report of the Institute of Statistics, the inflation rate increased by 1.09 per cent in one week. Due to this, the overall weekly inflation rate in the country was recorded at 30.60%, and the prices of 23 essential items increased in a week. The prices of 9 items became cheaper and the prices of 19 items remained stable. The report said that in one week the price of chicken has increased by Rs53 per K.g, the price of tota rice has increased by 6 rupees, a 20 kg bag of flour has become increased by 79 rupees, the price of onion has increased by 6 rupees this week. There has been an increase, Dal Mong, Mash 3 and Dal Channa have become increased by Rs 2 per kg, similarly the prices of salt, fresh milk and curd have also increased.
According to media reports, the prices of flour from Karachi to Khyber have gone out of control, due to which bread is also out of reach of the people. In Lahore, a bag of 15 kg flour has become more expensive by Rs 150, after which the price of a bag of 15 kg flour has increased to Rs 2050. In 2 weeks, a bag of 15 kg flour has become expensive up to Rs 300. Meanwhile, in Peshawar, a bag of 20 kg fine flour is being sold at Rs 2800 to Rs 3100 and the price of a bag of 20 kg mixed flour has increased from Rs 2700 to Rs 3 thousand. In Hyderabad too, flour has become Rs 160 per kg.


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Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny will be live from Apple's glitzy media event at BBC Television Centre this evening, where all the latest announcements straight out of Cupertino will be beamed to a ravenous gang of tech journos. Safe…
So, here we are, breath bated, to see what it is Sony are going to unveil. Judging by the handout we’ve just received you can expect tellies. Lots of them.
We start off with some talk about Jeopardy. Jeopardy was the first game show to be broadcast in high definition, fact fans. The relevance to today? Not entirely clear.
Tech Digest’s liveblog of iPhone launch day, with news, analysis and live on-the-spot reportage from New York’s Apple Store. Well, Susi badgering people in the queue, anyway… We’re in the UK, so all times are GMT.


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Friday, November 26, 2021-Caterpillar National Edition
Caterpillar now offers Cat Grade technology as an after-sales option to owners of Cat’s next-generation 6 to 10 ton mini hydraulic ex
Forestry equipment supplier adds Sany Heavy Equipment brand
WAUSUA, Wisconsin — Small excavator or skid steer? This is the "which is preferred" choice of Jason Thomas, owner of Promethean A
The EV ARC™ sustainable electric vehicle charging system is used to help establish an ADA barrier-free viewing platform in the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge
San Diego, November 18,
According to Thomas Blackmond, Blackmond Auctions now sells fewer products, but the third-generation business has ushered in a glorious year.
"This may be our best time in 20 years," said Bla
The EX2000-7 Hitachi excavator is a 1,000-horsepower excavator used for mining operations. As a shovel, its working weight is 427,697 pounds; in the excavator configuration it is 429,019 pounds.
New Delhi, December 14 (UNI) In the increasingly fierce debate about India’s eagerness to speed up and complete a series of free trade agreement negotiations, Minister of Commerce BVR Subrahmanya
You might say that the Rattlesnake window sill is too popular.
When it was hand-built between 2003 and 2004, planners estimated that the North Bend could accommodate up to 70,000 hikers each


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by Brooke Bobb– Vogue
When Lauren Arapage and Joshua Shaub started brainstorming their new swimwear label Anemone, they both landed on the exact same image. Comparing their individual mood boards, they discovered that they’d both pinned a photo of Kate Moss circa 1995 wearing a minimal, pastel yellow gown from Calvin Klein. “From there we started looking at more images of Kate Moss from the ’90s,” Shaub says. “The simplistic dressing at that time really seemed to mirror what we wanted to do with our swim—clean lines and nearly seamless style.” And so, just last week, their collection of sleek, hand-embroidered bikinis and one-piece suits launched exclusively on Moda Operandi, where Shaub once worked as a buyer (Arapage formerly worked in the press office at Stella McCartney). Just in time for a holiday vacation somewhere warm, the swimwear is priced between $200 and $300 and will also be available on the Anemone website, which is set to launch next month.
“From the earliest brainstorm, we knew we wanted something that would feel timeless, but also modern,” Shaub explains. “We wanted something that offered cuts that showed more skin but in a tasteful way that really highlights the body.” He adds, “We looked at Brazilian and Italian swim bodies and how much they differed from the U.S.-favored silhouettes. Ultimately, this led to our cheekier bottom and the smaller cups of our balconette top.” The entire collection is meant to be mixed and matched and also worn with a pair of jeans or shorts. The pieces are all made in Los Angeles, where Shaub and Arapage are now based full-time, though the fabric comes from Italy. “The materials are all eco-friendly and offer UV 50+ protection,” Shaub points out.
At heart, Anemone is a Southern California brand that pays homage to the surf and sand where both of the designers grew up. Though Kate Moss at the height of her waif-iness serves as the main source of inspiration to Shaub and Arapage, the pair also looked to the vibrant color palette of the Ellsworth Kelly painting Méditerranée. The name Anemone was born out of their favorite flower, likenesses of which are featured in their embroideries, along with poppies, ranunculus, and narcissi. “We realized that for our generation, there wasn’t anything like our mothers had with Eres,” Shaub says of the hole they hope to fill in the vast swim market. “We wanted to create a swimwear line that is both classic and cool.”


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Poort Technologies Integrates HomePod with the iPad as a Formidable Smart Home “Battery”
(Vancouver, Jan 4, 2018)
Poort Technologies has released an 9.7″ iPad enclosure that promises to marry Apple’s forthcoming HomePod smart speaker with hundreds of millions of legacy iPads, a tandem sure to cause concern among home automation competitors. A Poort enclosure mounts an iPad above a counter top, addressable by HomePod speakers within range. An iPad Pro will also be able to accept hand-offs from the HomePod over AirPlay2.
At its manufacturing release this fall, Poort CEO Dwight Jones asked in a press conference if an iPad Poort partnered with the HomePod didn’t form a more congruent partnership than any of the growing number of smart home contenders.
“Both the Amazon and Google speaker families are designed to monetize their respective ecosystems, as much as automate the home.” he stated. “I certainly welcome the HomePod as a power partner for the millions of legacy iPads – ignored so far in the smart home industry. They will form a best-of-breed team – whether for broad versatility, their app portfolio or great audio engineering. It’s time for the smart home conveners to invite iPads to the wedding – the Lost Legion of home automation is coming to the party.”
Jones also added: “Consider an older iPad Air mounted with a $50 Poort kit over your kitchen counter. Just say “Hey Siri, open YouTube, chicken recipes” and there they are – with video instructions for each dish. What can Google Home offer you – a voice synopsis? The same can be said of the limited functions of the Echo Show – to a designer these approaches are atavistic and contrived. Poorts do not claim counter space, do hide the cables, are always charged and pack an unbeatable app punch with that iPad aboard. They’re even fully portable. A HomePod complemented by an iPad for video hand-offs – like a baseball battery – will establish the dominant backbone network that kitchen automation has sought for decades.”
The new 9.7″ Poorts were announced at the recent BC Tech Summit in Vancouver and are distributed via Amazon.
Poort Technologies Inc. is a Northwest manufacturer of tablet enclosures. Press contact: (604) 836-7300 firstname.lastname@example.org


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This is the second article in a 3-part series on central banks. We begin with a look at how central banks are turning to digital solutions to address new risks, and conclude by asking, What if central banks screw this up?
Central bankers and senior executives at commercial banks cite the need for “interoperability” when they discuss digital sovereign currencies and stablecoins.
It’s a key factor in making central-bank digital currencies (CBDCs) relevant and useful in blockchain-based finance.
The starting point for central banks is to issue central bank money in digital format in order to render private stablecoins irrelevant. Central banks and senior executives at big commercial banks are skeptical of stablecoins because they are not regulated and are not adequately reserved, making them anything but “stable”.
But the allure of companies like Facebook issuing their own stablecoins is too big a threat to ignore. Therefore, central banks are now either launching CBDCs or taking a very close look. They are mulling design options, but also trying to determine if a CBDC is actually going to add value – by ensuring system security and stability, as well as by encouraging innovation.
Why interoperability matters
To that end, whether a CBDC is designed to be retail or wholesale, the bigger question is how it interacts with the rest of the world.
“Interoperability is critical,” said Tom Mutton, director of the Bank of England’s CBDC unit, at Sibos. “We must avoid fragmentation, [which] causes inefficiency and poor outcomes. Whether it’s a retail CBDC or wholesale CBDC for payments platforms, interoperability is crucial.”
- Read more:
- Central banks turn to digital to address new risks
- Central banks back CBDC project to affirm sovereignty
- What is digital identity used for in financial services?
Commercial bankers agree. “Interoperability is hard to crack, but it’s a prerequisite for [CBDCs] to be fully operational, and to be an efficient solution compared to what already exists,” said Florence Lubineau-Henric, head of central banks coverage at BNP Paribas in Paris.
But as central banks design digital versions of their currencies, do they make them compatible with private blockchains such as Ethereum? Or do they make their own bespoke systems?
Soon Chong Lim, group head of global transaction services at DBS, puts the question this way:
“Blockchain is a record of financial transactions and the data related to them is posted in many places simultaneously. This creates peer-to-peer networks that can transfer value or settle financial transactions across a range of instruments, including commercial-bank coins, CBDCs, stablecoins, securities, or [tokens representing illiquid assets]. All of these can exist on a blockchain network. Do CBDCs operate on the same blockchain networks as other forms of money, or do central banks orchestrate their own financial networks? [emphasis added] That is the question.”
Retail versus wholesale
The most basic design questions that central banks face is whether to keep a digital currency at the wholesale level or retail level. A wholesale CBDC would let them rely on commercial banks or other organizations to interface with merchants and consumers. A retail CBDC is essentially cash in digital form, issued directly by the central bank.
Although Cambodia has already launched a retail CBDC, most central banks are looking at wholesale structures. For monetary authorities, digital cash is a leap too far from a security and safety point of view, while they are skeptical it will provide innovation in payments that the private sector isn’t already developing. After all, telcos, banks and fintechs have been moving cash via mobile phones for years.
On the other hand, central banks are keen on digital currency as an efficient way to upgrade clearing and settlement for wholesale payments and for capital markets – partly because central banks already provide these functions in electronic form.
This raises the question of whether even a wholesale CBDC is necessary, or if existing electronic money can simply be placed on a closed, permissioned distributed ledger, if that enables banks to process tokenized assets.
Lubineau-Henric notes that banks can already fully net such instruments. The challenge is to settle the cash leg of tokenized assets, which by definition sits outside the blockchain unless the cash itself represented as a token too.
It’s about tokenizing assets
The lack of CBDCs is therefore an obstacle to asset tokenization, which can today only occur using stablecoins or other private currencies.
“Stablecoins are not optimal,” she said. “Their credit risk is not equal to that of central-bank money.” The cash leg can be settled off-chain, but then it doesn’t benefit from settling on the blockchain, sacrificing much of the efficiencies.
“This is why we are talking about wholesale CBDC, but this puts liquidity fragmentation at stake,” she said. “Multiple blockchains require multiple pockets of liquidity. Netting between blockchains is not yet possible, which fragments liquidity. Therefore banks need more cash and more collateral to conduct the same business we do already [traditionally]. We need interoperability, and smart tools to manage intraday funding.”
Government officials seem to agree: Howard Lee, deputy CEO at Hong Kong Monetary Authority, says of CBDCs: “At the wholesale level, if we have a currency that has the potential for delivery-versus-payment transactions with digital assets, we can support financial innovation.”
Sounds nice in theory
In practical terms, the idea of such interoperability is pure theory. Tony Mclaughlin, managing director at Citi, told Sibos the bank is advocating for the idea of a “regulated liability network” – a single distributed ledger in which central banks, commercial banks, and other authorized entities can manage tokens that represent central bank liabilities.
This is meant to avoid the fragmentation he sees now taking place, as Facebook, banks like J.P. Morgan, and fintechs are launching their own digital currencies. It is also meant to transform stablecoins into regulated assets, to ensure their safety and backing, as well as to mitigate the splintering of liquidity.
Crypto enthusiasts might point to Ethereum and the principle of a “world virtual machine” that underpins it. But within crypto there is now a bevy of competing blockchains with different consensus protocols that are meant to operate more efficiently, as Ethereum struggles with scale and speed – making it an unlikely candidate from the perspective of a bank or central bank.
The regulated world would be more interested in creating their own permissioned distributed ledger that has the qualities of immutable recordkeeping, time stamps, and enabling smart contracts.
It seems unlikely that the world’s governments will come together to form such a platform. The ECB has yet to decide if it is even allowed by its charter to launch a CBDC, while the United States Federal Reserve has shown little interest one way or the other.
Digital land grab
Those central banks that are keen are therefore launching their own CBDCs, as is the case with China, or forming consortia to create the building blocks that others can plug into.
It’s a strategy that combines first-mover advantage with a collaborative mentality.
For example, DBS, Temasek and J.P. Morgan launched Partior, which is meant to serve as core infrastructure for a future Singapore CBDC. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has also launched Project Dunbar, an experiment in CBDC interoperability with counterparts from Australia, South Africa, and Malaysia.
In Hong Kong, the HKMA is working with Bank of International Settlements and ConsenSys to develop its “M-CDBC bridge”, connecting with central banks of mainland China, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates – a project that includes a retail aspect of its currency, and aims to reduce Asia’s reliance on the dollar for trade and payments.
These initiatives underscore the importance of interoperability. Financial leaders in the West are right to highlight its importance. But Asia’s leading central banks are the ones building pilot versions – and thereby setting the standards for the future of tokenized finance.


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An English version of Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers has been listed on Indonesian retailer PSEGameShop, as well as a number of other websites, all of which have a 2021 release and some even dating the game for February 23, 2021. The retailers have also started taking pre-orders for the title.
@LocalizeP5S on Twitter delved into this listing more as Atlus and Omega Force has been cagey and unclear about a western release of Persona 5 Scramble ever since it released in Japan. The multiple listings originated with Indonesian retailer PSEGameShop who is apparently an official PlayStation partner and pre-orders were opened because their supplier told them that the game will be out in 2021, but didn’t give an exact date. Other listings com from Pakistan retailer Toyorgame and Singapore retailer Qisahn.
All of this isn’t confirmed right now, but fans have been clamouring for a release of the game in the West for a while now. The game even appeared on a financial report from Koei Tecmo, the parent company of Omega Force, listing a western PS4 release, so movement like retailers being informed does seem likely if the February date it true. Right now, we have to sit back and wait for an official confirmation from Atlus, but this has no doubt given hope to fans of Persona.
Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers is reportedly releasing in the West in 2021.


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LaLa, a brand of Dallas-based Borden Dairy (owned by Mexico’s Grupo LaLa), is taking its drinkable yogurts nationwide.
Sold in 7-ounce single-serve bottles (and smaller) and multipacks, the yogurt smoothies are carried by national retailers Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, Kroger, Tom Thumb and 7-Eleven.
There are 14 flavor combinations and a Greek Yogurt product. Flavors include Harvest Peach and Tropical Mango. The core brand has 5 grams of protein and the Greek line has 12 grams.
Listen to LaLa Director of Marketing Desiree Johnson
Director of Marketing Desiree Johnson told Dairy Foods that LaLa is coming out in July with two line extensions. One is called Healthies. These beverages have 10 grams of protein and 8 grams of whole grains. They are formulated for high satiety and designed to curb hunger. Johnson said the drinkable yogurts could be used as a meal replacement.
The second line extension is 100 Calorie, a snack product with 5 grams of protein. She hinted that more products are in the pipeline. The products are made by LaLa at its facility in Omaha, Neb.
The dairy processor is targeting the Millennial generation looking for a convenient, grab-and-go food. Johnson said that this demographic considers pouring a bowl of cereal to be too much work.
LaLa says it is the the No. 1 adult drinkable yogurt in the United States. In February, the dairy processor rolled out its first-ever national media campaign to support its U.S. expansion and launch of the brand's new yogurt smoothies.
Find LaLa's 30-second "yogurting" commeicals on Dairy Foods' YouTube channel.


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Mohsen Rezai, the secretary of the Expediency Council of Iran, warned that social and economic dissatisfaction are on a sharp rise in the country.
ILNA reports that at the launch of the book Economic Federalism, Rezai said: “The fact is that sense of social and economic dissatisfaction is rising amongst the people rapidly.”
The former Revolutionary Guards chief added, however: “The question is that while the Iranian nation has managed to surpass obstacles such as tyranny, invasions and war, it has not been able to make a leap beyond these barriers.”
Rezai went on to make a case for economic federalism, saying Iran can make an economic leap forward by allowing the various regions to act more independently in their economic development.
“Some are still wary of valuing the various ethnicities and fear giving executive powers to provinces and cities, but our country, before the era of Reza Shah, was managed federally, and Iranians already have such an experience,” Rezai maintained.


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This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
In Washington, Congress will again discuss the safety problems at Toyota. On Tuesday, a Senate committee will examine the recent safety recalls and the government's response.
The House of Representatives held two days of hearings this week. On Wednesday lawmakers questioned Akio Toyoda, the head of the company since June.
AKIO TOYODA: "I am deeply sorry for any accident that Toyota drivers have experienced."
Defects have been linked to at least thirty-nine deaths over the past several years. Toyota has recalled more than eight million vehicles worldwide over a risk of gaining speed suddenly and uncontrollably.
Toyota is Japan's biggest company and in two thousand eight it passed General Motors as the world's biggest carmaker. But Akio Toyoda said his company paid too much attention to growth and not enough to safety.
AKIO TOYODA: "Toyota has, for the past few years, been expanding its business rapidly. Quite frankly, I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick."
The grandson of the company's founder rejected the possibility that the acceleration problem is related to the electronic controls in his vehicles. The company has blamed problems with the accelerator pedal and badly positioned floor mats.
But this week, lawmakers released a company document showing Toyota had saved one hundred million dollars by negotiating a limited recall over the issue. The document listed that deal among several "wins" for Toyota.
The document added to criticisms that federal officials did not act aggressively enough against Toyota. But others say Toyota is being treated unfairly because the government now owns sixty percent of General Motors.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was questioned earlier in the day and dismissed that idea. He praised the agency that deals with auto industry recalls, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA.
RAY LAHOOD: "Over just the last three years, NHTSA’s defect and compliance investigations have resulted in five hundred twenty-four recalls involving twenty-three million vehicles. We haven't been sitting around on our hands. When people complain, we investigate."
Rhonda Smith of Tennessee described how in two thousand six her Toyota-made Lexus sped up for a time to one hundred sixty kilometers an hour.
RHONDA SMITH: "And I prayed to God to help me."
NHTSA blamed a floor mat, but she blames the electronics and says Toyota dismissed her concerns.
Ray LaHood says his department will investigate the electronics used by Toyota and other automakers. And Akio Toyoda promised a new level of openness and speed in dealing with safety issues.
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.


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Obansa Ibrahim, Lokoja
The permanent Secretary, Ministry of agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe on Saturday Commissioned the Agribusiness Incubation Center located at Federal University Lokoja.
The commissioning took place on Saturday during the 6th and 7th Convocation ceremony of the institution.
The permanent secretary, said that Government is ready and committed to sustain and ramp-up the momentum of the present growth in the agricultural sector by providing needed enabling environment to boost the entire efforts of the farmers, entrepreneurs and investors along the entire Agricultural Value Chain.
The permanent Secretary also baggage Doctorate Degree, honoris causa of the Federal University Lokoja.
Speaking further, he said more efforts are being channeled towards promoting local and foreign partnerships to boost the present level of trade and investment in agriculture as a veritable strategy for the economic diversification of our Great country
He noted that the Incubation centre is being established as a Special Centre of Excellence to support and promote food security in Nigeria, and to support youth and women empowerment as well as promote employment generation, wealth creation and poverty reduction through the development of viable agribusiness and entrepreneurship skills in different Agricultural Value Chains across the country.
His words, “The focus of the centre include; enhancing production capacity, value addition, quality control and standards, and opening access to local and international markets for our agricultural produce. The project is aimed at facilitating and attracting investments into the agricultural sector, ensuring survival and sustainability of agri-based businesses and increasing domestic food production and exports.
“The centres will serve as practical knowledge hubs where best practical skills, processes and inputs can be acquired on particular commodities. These centres will also produce young generation of successor farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs who can adapt new technologies and innovations across the segments of commodities enterprise/value chain of production, processing, storage and marketing.
“The centre is equipped to provide business basics through comprehensive training programmes along commodity Value chains and business start-ups including access to bank loans and other funds and guarantee programmes. The centre will support Market research, linkage to strategic partners, access to investors and the development of business plans and business networking etc.
He noted that it’s hoped that the Agribusiness Incubation Centre will serve as a practical and innovative approach to support and promote growth of Agribusiness, trade and investment not only in Kogi state but, in Nigeria at large. I am therefore hopeful that the University will explore this opportunity and make the best use of the centre and prove its support as a formidable institution in the concerted efforts of the government to grow the nation’s economy using the agricultural sector.
He therefore urged the management to embark on advocacy, awareness promotion and sensitization of youth, women and other beneficiaries across the university catchment area and even beyond to take advantage of this project.
Speaking also the Vice Chancellor of the University Lokoja, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi, said the university will put the Agribusiness Incubation Center to proper use in the advancement of agriculture in the Ivory tower.
He commended the ministry of agriculture for the initiative, saying that the center will help the students, particularly those majoring in Agriculture in their studies .


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Comments 0 case 조회 412 view 작성일 23-08-21 14:49
On June 1, KTL (Korea Testing Laboratory) under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy made an initial visit to the production site of Bontech.
KTL (ktl.re.kr) is a specialized public institution that provides various certifications for domestic and foreign procurement products, as well as test and evaluation of products in 26 fields including machinery, industrial convergence products, SW, renewable energy, nuclear power equipment, medical, secondary battery, electrical and electronic, aerospace, and environmental fields.
The purpose of this visit is to check the production site for the test evaluation of the <Dual Energy-based EOD X-ray System> of bontech (bontech.kr), which was developed for the first time in Korea.
Military EOD units, police commandos, and related organizations such as Incheon International Airport have been using only expensive foreign-made products or cheap Chinese products. The product, which was developed in-house two years ago, had been evaluated by the purchasing agency as superior to overseas competitors in terms of resolution and detection rate, but this time it will be officially certified with the K-mark by a nationally recognized organization.
In the future, there will be advantages such as weighting in domestic and overseas procurement, brand enhancement for product performance, and priority benefits for various government support projects such as the technology guarantee fund.
In the second half of this year, we plan to conduct a government-supported reliability evaluation test. Based on this, we agreed to jointly develop a government-supported project worth 10 billion won for more active overseas expansion next year. This is why this year is more important than ever.
- 이전글The 2023 KOICA IBS Support Program was held on June 8 (Thursday) at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises in Yeouido. 23.08.21
- 다음글An event to introduce an integrated system that equips Nurion's transmission system with bontech's EOD X-ray system at the front entrance of Army Headquarter. 23.08.21
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Arena today launches an iconic new look as part of its continued journey to become a global leader for large scale temporary infrastructure & integrated event solutions.
The company has unveiled a comprehensive brand refresh, including a modernized logo, redesigned website and a refreshed tone of voice, that better reflects its core values and aspirations.
The global re-brand was launched this morning at Arena’s 19 locations across the Americas, Middle East and Asia, and UK and Europe.
Georgina Rawlings, Group Director of Communications & Marketing at Arena, said:
“This significant transformation reflects our evolution as a company and embodies our new vision, mission and organisational values.
“Since our inception, Arena has been a leader in the supply of temporary environments. We’ve built a strong reputation for quality and innovation and have earned the trust of valued clients around the globe. However, we’re not content with simply resting on our laurels. We’re constantly striving to reach new heights and redefine what’s possible.
“Our new brand identity is more than just a visual change. It’s a tangible expression of our commitment to innovation, excellence, and exceeding client expectations. We believe it better reflects the dynamic, forward-thinking company we are today.”
Arena is a vertically integrated global supplier of temporary architecture and infrastructure delivering market-leading products and services across a variety of sectors. We deliver some of the world’s most iconic sporting and cultural events, including F1, PGA Golf, The Ryder Cup and Olympic and Commonwealth Games.


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By Katryna Perera (April 13, 2022, 5:46 PM EDT) – Hemp products maker CBD Universe LLC has settled allegations that it knew it was part of a plan to breach a contract with a competitor, a federal judge in New York announced on Wednesday.
In his order, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken said the court was told the parties had reached an agreement in principle. Accordingly, the action is dismissed without cost or prejudice unless a motion for relief is filed within 30 days.
The order did not provide any settlement details, and CBD Universe’s attorney and plaintiff SLS Brands LLC did not immediately respond to requests for…
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Danish bakery Ole & Steen has expanded its estate to 20 sites with a new location in London.
Located on Battersea’s Northcote Road, the pet-friendly bakery has seating for 47 and will serve the bakery’s full menu featuring freshly baked Danish bread, including three different types of rye loaf, and authentic Danish loaves such as Skagen (a wholegrain loaf with wheat, wholegrain wheat and rye flour, covered in chia, durum and sunflower seeds) and Ølander (a wholegrain loaf with biga sourdough and a Nordic protein rich ølander wheat). In addition, salads and sandwiches will be served alongside a selection of sweet treats including the bakery’s bestselling cinnamon social.
The bakery will be open seven days a week from 7:30am-9pm.
“Opening our 20th store is a huge milestone for us,” said Ole & Steen managing director Lee Nixon. “We look forward to finally being able to offer southwest shoppers and locals a daily dose of hygge happiness at our new Northcote Road Ole & Steen site. We pride ourselves on our true Scandinavian feel and authentic, high quality, delicious baked goods which we are now bringing across the capital.”
To mark the new opening, Ole & Steen offered the first 50 paying customers a chance to choose from a series of lucky envelopes containing various prizes including a ‘Guld Kort’ (gold card – worth £600 for a year’s supply of Ole & Steen treats), free hot drinks and free social slices. It also hid 20 bunches of Marguerite Daisies (Denmark’s national flower) in streets and parks around the new bakery. Anyone who found the flowers received a whole cinnamon social to share with friends and family, simply by bringing the flowers and card in-store.
Ole & Steen has expanded at pace over the past few years, growing from 13 stores at the start of 2021 and climbing up the ranking of British Baker’s Bakery Market Report.


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Argos's Christmas hangover while New Look springs back
Two of Britain’s best-known retailers presented a clear picture of the contrasting fortunes on the High Street during the crucial Christmas trading season.
Argos-owner Home Retail Group yesterday warned it would slash its full-year dividend following terrible festive sales, while troubled fashion chain New Look showed signs it has begun to turn around its fortunes.
It was poor demand for video games and music players that hurt Argos, whose cash-conscious shoppers reined in spending on all but the most essential items.
Contrasting fortunes: Argos and New Look
Home Retail, which also owns the Homebase DIY chain, posted an 8.8 per cent plunge in underlying sales at the 750-strong Argos chain for the 18 weeks to December 31.
But the business (down 4.25p to 83p) managed to cut costs, keeping it on course to meet the City’s forecast for profits of about £100million in the year to February 28.
Chief executive Terry Duddy is under pressure to turn the firm around as David Jeary, an analyst at broker Investec, warned that investors are fearful of a drawn out ‘Woolworths-esque’ decline at Argos.
Meanwhile, New Look, which is jointly controlled by private equity houses Apax and Permira, bucked the retail malaise to post a 3.4 per cent rise in underlying sales for the five weeks to December 31 excluding VAT.
However, some analysts say discounting accounted for a significant proportion of the chain’s additional Christmas sales.
New Look has endured a torrid two years. The youth-orientated store abandoned a £1.7billion float in February 2010 after a prolonged period of poor sales.
A year later, chief executive Carl McPhail and chairman John Gildersleeve left the business. McPhail has yet to be replaced.
Executive chairman Alistair McGeorge said New Look owed its good Christmas to improving its buying and merchandising teams – crucial in the market for cheap fashion items where the company operates.
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About the final handful of a long time, the improvement of blockchain know-how brought us new types of digital belongings these kinds of as stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. These improvements provide the foundations for developing new payment rails that can go worth throughout the world not only in serious-time but also at a much decreased value. Compared with cryptocurrencies this kind of as Bitcoin or Ethereum, stablecoins are drastically significantly less risky as they are commonly pegged to a fiat currency this sort of as the U.S. dollar. Stablecoins also pushed governments to speed up their exploration of central lender electronic currencies (CBDCs). Even though cryptocurrencies rely on decentralized networks for their functions, CBDCs would operate on community sector infrastructure and stand for a direct liability of the central financial institution — essentially “digital hard cash.”
There’s main potential below: electronic belongings and cryptocurrencies can help new companies and produce a lot more competition in money products and services. For one, they promise lower-price payments for each domestic and cross-border transfers. They can also aid serious-time payments, beating a sizeable shortcoming of the U.S. payment method. Moreover, these new assets help programmability, which can be utilized for conditional payments and a lot more complex apps these types of as escrow.
At the same time, these technologies — and how they threaten common financial intermediaries — has ignited a heated discussion. For case in point, a recent, extensively expected paper by the Federal Reserve Board acknowledges the significant advantages of digital currencies, but also raises concerns about privateness, operational, cybersecurity, and economical steadiness threats. Similarly, Gary Gensler, Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a short while ago nearly doubled his crypto enforcement staff to crack down on what he phone calls the “wrongdoing in the crypto markets.” The new collapse of UST, Terra’s Stablecoin — one particular of the greatest stablecoins — illustrates how a failure in a single of these units can cascade throughout the crypto ecosystem. Although several stablecoins derive their worth from getting entirely backed by reserves, that was not the circumstance for UST, which alternatively relied on an algorithm and a 2nd currency, Luna, for steadiness.
Even though modern gatherings underscore that the risks cryptocurrencies entail simply cannot be ignored, it is also crystal clear that the standing quo does not provide a satisfactory response. The problem is who carries the burden of an high priced, outdated, and sluggish payment procedure. This article surfaces the possible impression on modest and medium companies, which embed important repercussions for financial development and stability.
Tiny firms — including restaurants, plumbers, and dry cleaners — engage in a vital part in our financial system. They use about fifty percent of all performing People, amounting to a lot more than 60 million work opportunities. They designed 65% of net new positions from 2000 through 2019, characterize 97.5% of all exporting corporations in the U.S., and account for 32% of known exported benefit. Moreover, tiny companies are also an vital car or truck for intergenerational mobility and social inclusion, featuring upward mobility and economic prospect, specially for underrepresented groups such as minorities and immigrants.
Smaller companies are also finding new means to attain individuals outside the house their neighborhood communities by digital platforms this sort of as Shopify and Amazon, a distribution channel that was vital for them during the pandemic to counter the decline in retail revenue.
Yet, they have mostly been overlooked for the duration of the discussion around digital currencies. Although policymakers, economists, and authorities officials highlight the significance of making certain the resilience and expansion of smaller corporations, the way they could reward from greater and more competitive payments infrastructure is just about totally forgotten.
The Fiscal Fragility of Small Firms
Most smaller organizations work with razor-skinny money buffers. The typical little organization only retains ample funds to very last fewer than a thirty day period. This qualified prospects to considerable vulnerability to financial fluctuations, as illustrated by their collapse for the duration of the 2008 monetary disaster and, extra just lately, the Covid-19 disaster. The latter carried devastating consequences for small companies, forcing the authorities to situation an emergency Paycheck Security Software (PPP) to make certain they could stay afloat.
There are a lot of explanations for this, including their limited obtain to credit history and the fewer economic options they have relative to bigger companies. Smaller enterprises are usually thought of riskier for lenders for the reason that they battle to produce the varieties of quantifiable metrics big banking companies assume when evaluating creditworthiness. Whilst compact firms have relied extra on neighborhood financial institutions, financial institution consolidations have additional constrained this supply of funding.
1 of the most urgent challenges for tiny companies is payment delays. Significant customers, these kinds of as Walmart and Procter & Gamble, frequently use “buy now spend later” practices with their suppliers, with payment delays between 30 and 120 days. When implementing such practices, significant purchasers are essentially borrowing from modest organizations, noticeably rising their working capital needs and reducing their offered money buffers. In truth, survey proof suggests that practically 70% of small businesses that depend on invoices report funds movement troubles linked to these payment delays.
The worries in accessing credit score, put together with delayed payments make it tough for smaller firms to preserve wholesome dollars buffers, improve their publicity to financial shocks, and limit their potential to make investments. Improved competition and innovation in payments could improve their lengthy-lasting resiliency and opportunity for growth.
How Slow and Expensive Payments Damage Modest Enterprises
Now, most U.S. buyer payments are made via credit history cards, a development that accelerated in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. When completely invisible to prospects, merchants pay back charges — to card-issuing banks, card-community evaluation, and payment processors — that can attain higher than 3% of the transaction value, and are very likely to boost in the around future. On-line transactions, mostly by means of market platforms this kind of as Amazon or Shopify, can be even far more pricey. Additionally, it can get several days to essentially acquire the cash, which increases the functioning cash demands for small firms.
This puts little firms at a clear disadvantage, specifically presented their thin margins, minimal dollars buffers, and high-priced financing costs. Even though big businesses, these as Costco, can negotiate noticeably lessen charges when accepting digital payments, modest firms do not have substantially negotiating ability. Appropriate now, there are couple possibilities to the important card networks, meaning that modest corporations operating on little margins do not have a selection but to try to pass portion of the fees to clients as a result of greater selling prices, which lowers their capability to compete with deeper pocket rivals.
These problems are magnified when working with cross-border transfers, in which charges and delays are incredibly large. As of the 2nd quarter of 2021, the common value of sending a cross-border payment from the United States was 5.41 p.c, and SWIFT payments can consider between 1 to 5 business enterprise times. What’s more, fees are unpredictable, and corporations might incur additional expenses based on the quantity of correspondent banks associated in the transaction. The complexity of the payment chain helps make global payments also a worthwhile goal for frauds and fraud, additional growing its prices.
How Blockchain Technological know-how Can Aid
To transform this, we will need a more open up and competitive payments infrastructure. To obtain that, critically important community-sector initiatives these as FedNow and CDBCs have to have to be combined with non-public sector innovation — which include permissionless cryptocurrency networks. Public-sector efforts inevitably go at a glacial tempo, and there is a actual hazard that they will be seriously outpaced by innovation going on elsewhere, generally in “walled gardens” that lock people and businesses into non-interoperable services.
But this does not have to be the circumstance. The community sector can get edge of the technological progress going on within just the blockchain and cryptocurrency place to accelerate its journey to actual-time, low-cost payments.
An open payments program will push levels of competition, reduced transaction costs, and unbundle the companies that are at the moment aspect of all digital transactions — together with all those connected to reversibility and chargebacks, intermediation, transaction hazard assessment, and extra — encouraging enterprises pay only for what they actually will need. Preferably, many thanks to new types of interoperability among electronic wallets, financial institutions, and legacy payment and card rails, modest businesses would be in a position to do so without compromising which shoppers they can take payments from. Moreover, transferring resources immediately by way of a blockchain would profit domestic and cross-border payments by minimizing the variety of intermediaries in the photo.
If this evolution of payments is thriving, tiny enterprises would experience not only decreased expenditures but also quicker accessibility to cash. This would significantly strengthen their liquidity and money buffers, and support them endure destructive financial shocks and thrive.
By generating the proper disorders for a definitely open up and interoperable protocol for cash to emerge, incredibly a great deal like in the early times of the web, the general public sector can convey again competitiveness to payments, and give tiny organizations a great deal-essential choice.


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Dresses of the best Italian brands worn by VIP and relatives of the couple at the ceremony, confetti (nuptial sugared almonds) of Sulmona, Amalfi lemons for the wedding cake, Aquazzurra shoes for bridesmaids and more … Italian style, once again, reconfirms as emblem of elegance and high class. Some days have already passed by the…
The warm season has just gone and it’s time to make a summarization of the fashion trends animating the recent spring-summer 2013.
And looking at the trends proposed by designers in the spring-summer 2013 fashion collections, it’s easy to see that, this year, summer was dominated by just one key word: python.
Python skin ruled the
Creative elegance and respect for tradition, passed from generation to generation, have made our Made in Italy a source of pride for all of us in Italy. This pride is also embraced by those who, while living abroad, pay attention to the new trends and the new styles proposed by Italian designers, captivated by the sophisticated and elegant cuts of dresses, the high quality of the fabrics and by the
The fashion industry is all geared up for the beginning of September, an important month for all those interested in new trends, especially with regards to women’s fashion.
In fact, the long awaited festival dedicated to the new collections for Spring/Summer 2013 already began a few hours ago,
Starting together with Vogue Fashion’s Night Out 2012, from


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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday that it will attempt to do what a string of economists and urban planners couldn't: persuade lawmakers to raise the federal gasoline tax to pay for better roads.
The new push by the powerful business lobby, which includes a six-figure ad campaign, comes as Congress has begun debating how to pay for repairs to the nation's highways, bridges and mass-transit systems. Boosting the 18.4-cent federal tax on a gallon of gasoline by roughly 10 cents a gallon would cover the growing funding gap while creating jobs and improving mobility, Chamber officials said Wednesday.
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The road to self-driving vehicles sometimes is called the new California Gold Rush, and it is a surprisingly good analogy.
Research shows those who profited most from the rush that started in 1849 were not miners, but businesses that sold picks, shovels and mining-related products and services.
Levi Strauss became a household name selling denim jeans to the 49ers. John Studebaker made a fortune selling wheelbarrows and went on to become an automaker.
In the autonomous gold rush, suppliers also will be the ones raking in revenue for the next five or 10 years.
Tier 1 automotive suppliers such as Bosch, Continental, ZF TRW, Delphi and Denso likely will be system integrators along with automotive OEMs, working with mapping companies such as Here, Garmin and NNG. Automotive microcontroller suppliers such as NVIDIA and Renesas Electronics also will be winners, along with software suppliers, from Silicon Valley giants to small startups such as Altia, PolySync and NewFoundry.
This is why: Totally self-driving vehicles now being tested by Google and others will be technically possible by 2020, but they won’t be produced in high volume or affordable to the masses until after 2025, according to independent forecasters such as IHS.
However, autonomous features such as automatic emergency braking and pedestrian sensing already are being adopted rapidly and are expected to be mandated by 2020 in the largest automotive markets.
These requirements, along with increasing consumer demand for advanced driver-assist features, will translate into roaring sales for sensors, cameras, radar systems and everything else required for advanced driver-assist systems that make partial autonomy possible.
Bosch says its sales in the ADAS market will be more than $1 billion next year.
Sales of its sensors and power-steering units related to ADAS are soaring, and the supplier has almost tripled the number of engineers working on ADAS in just two years.
Supplier Continental predicts the total market for ADAS will hit $11.4 billion by 2020, mostly driven by new safety regulations and government mandates.
At least 10 automakers have agreed to work with NHTSA to develop a timeline for installing automatic emergency braking as a standard feature in the U.S.
We can speculate about which company will offer the first totally autonomous car and when, but the development costs of the technology and advanced artificial intelligence systems virtually guarantee the early generations will be money losers, much like today’s battery-electric vehicles.
For instance, despite average transaction prices of more than $100,000, EV superstar Tesla still loses thousands on every Model S it sells. CEO Elon Musk cannot predict when the company will show a profit.
And, while many surveys say consumers are interested in buying EVs, sales have lagged forecasts by a wide margin and account for less than 1% of U.S. sales despite compelling products and hugely generous government incentives and perks.
Considering the risks and potential liabilities, the market for fully autonomous vehicles is far more speculative than EVs even when they become affordable to the masses.
Like the possibility of the 49ers finding the mother lode, the chances of a tech company such as Google striking it rich immediately with purpose-built autonomous vehicles without steering wheels or any driver input is remote. But the reality of global mandates in the future requiring 100% of all vehicles to have ADAS features makes the success of suppliers a sure thing.
Drew Winter is a senior editor and director, content at WardsAuto.


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Local citrus growers suffer major losses due to winter storm
Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday requested a USDA Disaster Declaration for Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties over damaged citrus crops.
The losses are estimated at more than $300 million, some local growers are calling the season's crop a complete loss.
READ ALSO: Freezing temperatures damage local citrus crops
Vice President of Operations and Sales at Lone Star Citrus Growers in Mission T.J. Flowers said all of the grapefruits handing from the trees were frozen by Monday morning, when temperatures dipped into the 20s.
Flowers says the remaining fruit will become juice, but he says juicing the fruits makes less money.
The investment made expecting fresh fruit— lost.
"We spray for bugs, we apply herbicide, insecticide, to grow a beautiful piece of fruit," Flowers said. "With that level of investment, you don't want to squeeze any more fruit than you have to. That's why a freeze of this magnitude is devastating ."
Now what's left to be determined is how severe the impact was on the trees.
"Within the next couple of weeks when all the tree damage is fully realized, then we'll be able to make a determination as to how bad next year's crops [are] going to be affected."
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Razer has set in motion plans to go become a privately held company once again. Listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in November 2017 through an IPO, chairman and co-founder Min-Liang Tan and non-executive director Kaling Lim’s plan has been approved by an overwhelming 94.74 per cent of Razer shareholders at a recent meeting (PDF), comfortably exceeding the 75 per cent approval required for the intention to pass.
“I would like to thank our shareholders for their support of Razer as we expanded our unique gamer-centric ecosystem and market presence in recent years. We look forward to developing our ecosystem of hardware, software and services in our next phase as a private company,” said Tan.
The deal puts a $3.17 billion valuation on Razer, or $2.82 (HKD) per share, representing current market valuation. The stock debuted in 2017 at up to $4.31 (HKD) per share but had been trading as low as $0.98 (HKD) during global equities’ slump in March 2020, coinciding with the first wave of Covid.
Razer has done well in the two years since Covid. The company posted $1.6 billion revenue in 2021, up from $1.2 billion in 2020, and according to sources familiar with the matter, Razer may seek to list on US markets, where technology companies typically attract a higher valuation.
As a point of reference, rival Corsair’s valuation on April 28 stood at $1.46 billion while Logitech was valued at $11.40 billion, though it must be noted both companies are well off their 52-week peaks.


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MPOC recently organised a one-day seminar in conjunction with Monash University at the Sunway campus. The aim of the seminar was to engage academics, industry and NGOs in a public discourse about the environmental/sustainability issues surrounding palm oil. It was also a great opportunity to let students learn more about one of the biggest industries in the Malaysian economy.
There were a series of presentations and panel discussions amongst professionals from different fields of expertise. MPOC also included a cooking demonstration to showcase the use of palm oil to deep-fry and red palm oil to stir-fry.
The event was a huge success and hopefully we will see further iterations of similar events as we try to reach out to other universities and institutes of learning.
Monash University Programme – Palm Oil in Malaysia, Issues for the Next Decade
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GrowGeneration and Merida Capital Partners Expand Partnership to Aggressively Pursue Strategic Growth Opportunities
DENVER, CO / April 5, 2017 / GrowGeneration Corp. (GRWG), (“GrowGen” or the “Company”) one of the largest specialty retail hydroponic and organic gardening stores, selling to both the commercial and home cannabis growers, with currently 10 locations in Colorado, one location in California and one in Nevada, announced today, that as a follow up to its recently announced financing from Merida Capital Partners, a cannabis infrastructure fund, it has entered into a strategic partnership with Merida to pursue opportunities across the infrastructure and ancillary cannabis industry.
As part of the agreement:
|GrowGeneration will compensate Merida to provide advisory oversight and capital structuring for GrowGen’s rapidly expanding footprint in both the cannabis equipment and cultivation technology verticals.
|Merida will also be assisting in the launch of “GrowGeneration Home,” an initiative to target the home grower with an array of indoor growing products for growing plants for clean food, clean air and clean medicine, serving the organic food grower and home cannabis grower verticals simultaneously.
Further, the companies announced that Merida will also receive a Board seat, which will allow Merida a greater role in capital structuring and strategic oversight as they work closer with GrowGen to manage their pipeline of growth opportunities.
Darren Lampert, Co-Founder and CEO, said, “Merida’s connectivity to the cannabis space is vast, with relationships with the large cultivation facilities, strategic and complementary companies and investments in other strategic companies like New Frontier Data. Our company could not be more proud and excited to bring one of Merida’s principals on as a board member. Merida’s professionals have been successfully deploying capital in cannabis for nearly six years and their contribution to GrowGeneration, and our new GrowGeneration Home division will be invaluable as we continue to execute our expansion and growth plan.”
Merida’s Managing Partner, Mitch Baruchowitz, added, “We are excited to continue our work with GrowGeneration and collaborate with their team to use Merida’s resources to create additional value for the rapidly expanding GrowGen portfolio. We have had a front seat to the incredible growth of GrowGen over the last three years, and are excited to assist their pursuit of strategic opportunities. Our addition to their Board will bring a wealth of governance and strategic oversight to an already well-functioning executive team. With their forward looking revenue guidance of $15MM, we look forward to supporting GrowGeneration’s existing operations and movement into new verticals.”
About GrowGeneration Corp.:
GrowGeneration Corp. (“GrowGen”) owns and operates specialty retail hydroponic and organic gardening stores. Currently, GrowGen has 12 stores, which includes 10 locations in Colorado, 1 location in California and 1 location in Nevada. GrowGen carries and sells thousands of products, including organic nutrients and soils, advanced lighting technology and state of the art hydroponic equipment to be used indoors and outdoors by commercial and home growers. Our mission is to own and operate GrowGeneration branded stores in all of the major legalized cannabis states. Management estimates that roughly 1,000 hydroponic stores are in operation in the U.S. According to New Frontier Data, the U.S. cannabis market was $5.7 billion in 2015 and is expected to have reached $7.2 billion at the end of 2016. By 2020 the market is estimated to reach over $23 billion with a compound annual growth rate of 32%.
Forward Looking Statements:
This press release may include predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking within the meaning of applicable securities laws. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgments, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect our opinions only as of the date of this release. Please keep in mind that we are not obligating ourselves to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. When used herein, words such as “look forward,” “believe,” “continue,” “building,” or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statements made by us herein are often discussed in filings we make with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, available at: www.sec.gov, and on our website, at: www.growgeneration.com.


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Switcheo Network co founder Jack Yeu has announced that the NEO-based DEX platform is set to become the first ever ETH/NEO trading platform, offering services to support both frameworks with an all new trading interface and a new ERC-20 non-custodian trading platform to support Ethereum-based tokens.
New Switcheo Interface
In a blogpost, Yeu explained that the new Switcheo DEX platform will improve on its already intuitive nature by adding new features to boost user trade efficacy, including a new wallet manager that will enable users to manage and trade their tokens and digital assets across blockchains seamlessly.
He revealed that in the runup to the launch of the new platform over the coming few weeks, Switcheo will carry out periodic previews of the improvements and new features that will come with the update. According to Yeu, the changes and improvements were made in response to requests and feedback from active users and members of the Switcheo community.
Many of the changes made have been requested by our most active traders, and we are confident that this update will be very well received by all users.
Switcheo’s Growing Profile
In April, CryptoGlobe reported that Switcheo went live as the first decentralised exchange on the NEO blockchain, reportedly seeing a $2 million daily trading volume during its first week alone. After raising about $8.5 million in its ICO, Switcheo’s developers promised to devise a framework for implementing cross-chain functionality, which seems to be taking place now.
When the update goes live, holders of NEP-5 tokens based on NEO will be able to interact seamlessly with ERC-20 token holders, effectively forming a cross-chain link between Ethereum and NEO. Currently, there are 37 live trading pairs on the Switcheo platform, including trading pairs with NEO, GAS and its native SWH token.


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By NOAH RANKIN
Despite snowy conditions, the Commons’ construction and many students away for February break, Ithaca successfully held its sixteenth annual Chili Cook-off Saturday.
The event, which required two blocks of Cayuga street to be blocked off, featured about 20 local vendors that offered samples of their own chili recipes to attendees and competed in a taste test. Flavors included Scorpion Pepper and Chocolate Chipotle.
Thousands of people came through to Saturday’s event. (Noah Rankin / Sun Senior Writer)
A group of individuals sport red chile peppers at the Cook-Off. (Noah Rankin / Sun Senior Writer)
A woman dressed up in all gold makes an appearance at the Cook-Off. (Noah Rankin / Sun Senior Writer)
Since much of the Commons was blocked off due to construction, most tents were set up on Cayuga Street. (Noah Rankin / Sun Senior Writer)
Vendors from Banfi’s give out chili to attendants. (Noah Rankin / Sun Senior Writer)
People enjoy warm chili despite the cold weather. (Noah Rankin / Sun Senior Writer)
“Last year, I was a huge fan of Just a Taste’s beef brisket chili,” Justin Rosch grad said. “My favorite one this year is probably the Banfi’s one called Hellfire. It wasn’t actually that spicy, and it just had a really good taste to it.”
According to Rosch, who had been to the Cook-Off once before, Saturday’s snowy weather did not discourage him nor his friends from coming by.
“I actually think [the weather] is kind of nice. It was colder last year, and it was just really tough,” Rosch said. “This year it’s a little warmer out, and I like the atmosphere with the snow. I think it’s nice walking around and getting to talk to the local vendors and eat their chili. That’s the most fun part.”
Christina Alario ’09, manager of the Taverna Banfi restaurant in the Statler Hotel, who helped organize the Cook-Off, said the event lends itself well to supporting local products.
“It’s always a goal to use local products, even in our restaurant,” Alario said. “From the snow storm that just happened, we couldn’t get a lot of external products in, so we’ve been really lucky to use more local products.”
Many vendors also offered vegetarian chili options.
“I’d say most people in Ithaca are smart to have a vegetarian option, if not a vegan option,” Alario said. “[Banfi’s] does have a vegan option, and a lot of people just know to bring both. It’s just smart.”
Besides chili, vendors distributed various types of desserts, beer and wine. Volunteers from the Ithaca Community Harvest were also in attendance, selling cornbread to raise money for a local elementary school.
According to Jerry Dietz, one of the volunteers, the Harvest was raising money to give elementary students a fruit and snack during their school days.
“The money goes to a program at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School called the fresh fruit and vegetable snack program,” Dietz said. “We decided to help them, made ten trays of cornbread, sold it all in no time, and gave them a thousand dollars … this year we made 43 trays.”
In regard to turnout to the cook-off, which for the first time ever was held during a Cornell break, Alario said that she was pleasantly surprised by the number of attendees, which numbered in the thousands.
“[Turnout] is actually bigger than I expected because of the February Break, but it’s fairly comparable to last year,” Alario said. “We’re very happy about it.”


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Check out our review of the Ouya Android-based gaming console.
Tim Schafer spent ten years trying to get his studio Double Fine established on consoles. The studio’s pedigree was in PC gaming, but the money to be made was on PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox. So years, millions of dollars, and much sweat and tears were spent making Psychonauts, Brutal Lenged, Costume Quest, and others, all for meager returns. No wonder that Tim Schafer said in December that his studio is considering abandoning consoles in favor of PCs forever. Double Fine isn’t giving up consoles entirely, though. It may leave the industry’s biggest players, but one of its upcoming games is coming to the Android-powered OUYA.
At the D.I.C.E. Summit this week, OUYA boss Julie Uhrman talked up the large number of games coming to the device when it releases this spring. Hundreds of games are in the works according to Uhrman, including exclusive versions of games like Final Fantasy III by Square-Enix.
Amongst those exclusives is the Kickstarter phenomenon Double Fine Adventure. Double Fine raised more than $3 million for a new Schafer-penned adventure game in March 2012, with PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android versions promised at the time. Since an Android version was already in the works, an OUYA version of the game should be easy to produce, but it’s surprising to hear that the new device will be the only living room console to get the game.
Double Fine backed up Uhrman’s statements, confirming to Kotaku that the still unnamed adventure game—now codenamed Reds—will be a console exclusive for OUYA on launch day.
Launch day is an important distinction in this case, though. Double Fine has released a plethora of exclusives in the past. Its cult favorite platformer Psychonauts, for example, started life as a Microsoft-funded Xbox exclusive at the beginning of last decade before ultimately getting picked up by Majesco and ported over to both the PlayStation 2 and PC.
The open nature of OUYA may be what Double Fine’s been missing in the console business. “We’d still like to be active in that space, we care about consoles, but unless they open things up a lot more like what we have on Steam… if they opened things up more it would be a more friendly place from our perspective,” said Schafer in December, “We’re talking to them about this stuff, and you know, they hear us. They’re big companies and they can’t make changes overnight, but I think they’re taking that stuff into consideration. We’ll have to see what happens.”
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Status: 09.03.2023 10:15 a.m
Once again, Deutsche Post looks back on a year with better business. The shareholders should benefit from the billions in profits. In the dispute over the salaries of the workforce, the company is threatened with an indefinite strike.
Deutsche Post once again presented a record balance sheet for the past year. The group was able to achieve the operating earnings before interest and taxes of 8.4 billion euros forecast by the management, primarily through its international business. The company announced today that the previous year’s result had been exceeded by almost six percent.
Parcel boom and increased freight rates
In the past year, the Post was able to benefit above all from the high air and sea freight rates and the booming online trade, which led to strong business momentum on land routes.
The letter and parcel business in Germany, on the other hand, declined. “The structural decline in letter volumes has continued,” said the outgoing Post boss Frank Appel. Despite this, the logistics group was able to record an increase in sales of 15.5 percent to 94.4 billion euros for the year as a whole.
However, management assumes that momentum will weaken somewhat this year. However, this is heavily dependent on the overall economic development. In the medium term, the DAX Group is aiming to reach the record level of 2022 again. “We want to grow again by 2025 and we have the best prerequisites for this,” said Appel.
Is the boom over?
The group had originally planned to earn more than 8.5 billion euros from operations by 2024. However, analysts were already skeptical about this forecast in advance.
For the current year, Swiss Post assumes that the operating result will be between 6 and 7 billion euros, depending on the course of the economy. “We assume that the first half of the year will be particularly challenging,” said Appel. “The question, however, is how long it will take for the global economic recovery to regain momentum.”
Competitor UPS reported a drop in sales last quarter. The competitor Kuehne + Nagel had also announced the end of the “corona-related special boom”, which was triggered by high freight rates.
Higher dividend and more share buybacks
After a record year, Deutsche Post is increasing its dividend and expanding its share buyback program. The group announced that it would distribute a dividend of EUR 1.85 per share for the past year. In addition, the existing share buyback program will be increased by one billion euros, bringing the total volume of the program to up to three billion euros.
Meanwhile, the company has to prepare for an intensification of the collective bargaining dispute: The ver.di union is expected to announce the result of its ballot at the post office in the afternoon. If three quarters of the employees surveyed have rejected their employer’s collective bargaining offer, ver.di is likely to call an indefinite strike.


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AnyMind Group, an end-to-end commerce enablement company, has today announced that its Japan-based publisher trading desk subsidiary, FourM, has formed a strategic partnership with Fewcents, a Singapore-based media fintech startup that provides monetization support to online publishers, to enable FourM’s web publishers in Japan to leverage Fewcents technology to implement a micropayment monetization option on their sites. FourM publishers in Japan can now easily implement Fewcents’ paywall through the Fewcents plugin, which can be used on any Content Management System, including WordPress.In addition, FourM can provide consulting services on optimal placement of the paywall, pricing set up, and more. On this partnership, Abhishek Dadoo, CEO and co-founder of Fewcents, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with AnyMind and bring our technology to Japanese audiences, making content accessible and affordable.” Hitoshi Maruyama, Managing Director of Publisher Growth, AnyMind Group, said: “We are excited to partner with Fewcents to offer our clients a new way to monetize their digital content. Fewcents technology is best-in-class for micropayments, allowing our clients to access a new revenue stream.”
Our Indonesia team went for a team bonding workshop in Puncak!
December 1, 2023


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As the official sponsor of the 2015 IAAF World Championships, Adidas is fielding a strong team of track-and-field athletes from across the globe. There are Americans, Jamaicans, Kenyans and Trinidadians — and many of them will be facing off against each other in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium starting this weekend.
Representing the U.S. are two very fast ladies: sprinter Torie Bowie, who will compete in the 100 meters and 4×100-meter relay, and Ajee Wilson, who is doing triple duty in the 200 meters, 400 meters and 4×400-meter relay.
From Jamaica, Warren Weir will line up for the 200-meter race, possibly squaring off against his fellow countryman (and Puma spokesman) Usain Bolt. The two men are just 13 seconds apart in their season-best time for that event, so we could see them together in the final on Aug. 27.
One of Adidas’ brightest stars in Beijing is Kenyan middle-distance runner David Rudisha, who is the 800-meter world-record holder and London 2012 Olympic Games gold medalist. Rudisha is the man to beat in that event, though Brooks athlete Casimir Loxsom is hoping to mount a challenge.
Click through the slideshow to see some of these top athletes in action.
On the track, members of Team Adidas will likely be sporting the brand’s latest Adizero racing spikes that are outfitted with lightweight seamless uppers and durable TPU plates for stability. For pre-competition training, though, many have been working out in the Adidas Ultra Boost style, which recently debuted new colorways.
But Adidas will celebrate more than its own roster at the World Championships. In conjunction with the IAAF, the athletic brand will crown the Best Performer of the Day for each day of the competition, held Aug. 22-30, with help from fans. After each evening session, a panel of experts will select a shortlist of top contenders. The list will be posted on the IAAF website and on social media, where the public can vote for the winner. An overall winner will be announced on Sept. 4 and will recieve a special Golden Shoe Award from Adidas at the IAAF Gala in November.