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Tesla appears to be rushing toward its seemingly impossible goal to have 10,000 Superchargers online by the end of the year. In recent days and weeks, the company has been opening mega Supercharger stations with record numbers of stalls.
The latest is a new 50-stall Supercharger station in China, which makes it the biggest in the world equal to another station in China.
The news follows the launch of Tesla’s two new 40-stall stations in the US yesterday.
Tesla already had a 50-stall station in China, which became the biggest in the world when it opened in Shanghai last month. Now, Tesla updated its Supercharger station at the Baolong Plaza in Beijing from 20 stalls to 50 stalls.
Jason Man, a Tesla owner in China, keeps updated on the local Tesla charging infrastructure and says that a new impressive picture of the giant updated charging station started to make the rounds on Chinese social media:
It makes sense that Tesla is focusing on expanding its Chinese charging infrastructure since China is already the biggest market for electric vehicles, or any vehicles for that matter, and Tesla profited from the demand by tripling its sales to over $1 billion in the country in 2016.
Tesla continues to have strong sales in the country this year, where it leads foreign electric car sales with no close second.
The company keeps growing in the market with Model S and Model X alone by expanding its presence with more stores, service centers, and Superchargers, but local manufacturing and Model 3 are expected to be needed to take the automaker to the next level in China.
Earlier this month, CEO Elon Musk said that he expects that Tesla will have a factory running in China in about 3 years.
With this new station, over the space of just a few weeks, Tesla opened 4 new record-breaking Supercharging stations – now bringing the total number of Supercharger stalls to over 7,500.
Tesla is still a long way from their goal of 10,000 Superchargers by the end of the year, but they currently have over 80 stations under construction and several of them have 20+ stalls, according to Supercharge.info.
If they can bring most of them online over the next month, they should get pretty close to their goal.
Furthermore, Tesla recently demonstrated the ability to bring Superchargers online rather quickly. They added over 50 stations and 600 stalls over the last month and they deployed the new Supercharger corridor going to its giant Powerpack project in Australia in just 2 weeks.
I find it hard to believe that they will reach their goal with just about 6 weeks left in the year, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it is impossible – especially if they keep opening those new giant Supercharger stations like those in California and China.
See, we’ve been expecting an electric truck from Tesla for a few months now and we expected it to be, well, a truck that runs on electricity. What we didn’t expect was what is possibly the most powerful, highway-legal truck in the world and what could soon be the fastest production car in the world.
First, let’s look at the stats of the Semi:
0-60 mph (96 kph): 5 seconds
0-60 mph with an 80,000 lb (over 36 tonnes): 20 seconds
Range: 500 miles (over 800 km)
Guarantee: 1 million miles (1.6 million km)
Charging speed: 30 minutes for 400 km range
And all of this awesomeness is packed into a Class 8 semi-truck with a drag coefficient that’s lower than that of the $2 mn Bugatti Chiron with a 6.5-foot cab that you can stand in.
This is, frankly, incredible. It’s a vehicle that’s more exciting than any car we’ve ever seen. And it even comes with Autopilot.
The truck is, according to Elon Musk, a big contributor to pollution. They’re large, toxic machines that pollute the Earth. The Tesla Semi, as Musk puts it, runs on sunlight.
The six-wheeled semi is powered by four independent electric motors that draw power from a battery bank in the base of the vehicle. These are the same motors that power the Tesla Model 3, so we are, in effect, looking at a 1000 hp powertrain. As Wired notes in its preview of the vehicle, torque is more important for trucks, and that’s a figure that’s not been disclosed yet.
Regardless, the staggering acceleration and power figures for the vehicle, and the fact that it’s running on a massive, electric powertrain, mean that torque must be, for lack of a better word, chunkmungous.
Musk claims that the vehicle can hit 60 mph in 5 seconds when unladen, and that it will hit that same speed in 20 seconds even when fully laden (around 36 tonnes, according to various highway codes in America). The vehicle will also comfortably manage 65 mph (104 kph), where diesel trucks will only hit 45 mph (72 kph) on average.
The range of 500 miles (804 km) was also a surprise, as was the charging rate. Musk claims that the vehicle will give you 400 miles (643 km) of range after 30 minutes of charging via one of Tesla’s new Megachargers. And yes, these are more powerful than the Superchargers for the Tesla cars.
Thirty minutes might seem like a long time, but Musk shares a different perspective on the matter. He points out that topping up a diesel truck takes about 15 minutes anyway, and that drivers will usually need to stop for about 30 minutes when loading and unloading the vehicle. He also points out that 400 miles of range translates to about 6-7 hours of driving, after which a driver must anyway make a mandatory rest stop.
Another interesting observation was that 80 percent of the routes in America involve less than 250 miles (402 km) of travel. The driver can thus travel to the back of beyond and still make his way back.
From the outside, the front of the truck looks vaguely like an inverted boat hull: It’s shaped like a rounded wedge. The rear wheels are encased in a cowl of sorts and massive fins enclose the gap between the cab and the trailer, further improving aerodynamics.
On the safety front, the vehicle is sorted. All trucks will come with Autopilot, which will do things like automatic braking, lane assist and all the other Autopilot features.
Driver comfort is another factor that’s important and judging by the interior, there can’t possibly be much to complain about. The six-and-a-half-foot cab is tall enough for the average person to stand in and the interior layout seats the driver towards the front-centre of the vehicle. A jump-seat is present in the rear. Tesla claims that the design of the cab allows the vehicle to see the point where the truck front meets the road.
The control column is very similar to the Tesla Model 3. It’s a minimalistic design featuring a central driving wheel and two large, 15-inch touchscreens on either side. The touchscreens provide all the information a driver needs and even double as side-view mirrors. In fact, there are no mirrors on the outside of the vehicle. Obviously, the driver need not bother with gears or a clutch.
Cost of ownership
While it’s perfectly fine for geeks like us to drool over the vehicle, it’s the folk who operate trucks that are eventually going to buy the vehicle. To that end, Tesla claims that the cost of ownership of the truck will be at worst 20 percent less than that of a diesel truck. Better yet, the Semi can operate in convoy mode, trailing other Semis, resulting in a 50 percent saving as compared to a diesel.
The vehicle will enter production by 2019, says Musk.
The second most desirable vehicle?
Ah, yes. The truck revealed today is amazing and exciting and was, for all of 10 minutes, the most desirable vehicle on the planet. It had to relinquish that title, however, to the new Tesla Roadster that rolled out of the back of the truck at the end of the presentation.
An announcement that took everyone by surprise. The Roadster is not ready for production yet but even at this stage, puts every other gasoline-powered car to shame.
If you thought the truck was awesome, the Roadster is staggering. Musk is promising a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, 0-100 mph in 4.2 seconds and the quarter mile (402 metres) in 8.9 seconds!
It features a 200 kWh battery, a 650 mile range (1,046 km), seating for two adults and two small people (kids, dwarfs, midgets, take your pick). Better yet, the roof comes off and Musk also promises a “capacious” boot. That battery is twice the size of the one in the Model 3.
It’s almost seems like the perfect family car, and Telsa promises that it will be the most powerful production car ever made. And did we mention that it’s designed to hit a top speed of over 250 mph (400+ kph)?
And get this, this superfast Roadster is just the base model.
Lest we forget, Tesla also hinted at an upcoming Tesla Pickup truck, but teased no more than an image.
Published Date: Nov 17, 2017 11:58 am | Updated Date: Nov 17, 2017 12:12 pm
Tesla has opened its largest U.S. Superchargers with an integrated and first of-its-kind customer lounge, food services and areas designated for families. The 40-stall Supercharger station in Kettleman City and Baker, CA are strategically located at halfway points between popular travel routes, connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco and Los Angeles with Las Vegas, respectively. Each Supercharger station will include access to food and craft beverages, a kid’s play wall, pet relief area, and outdoor space for families, according a Tesla spokesperson.
In addition to the amenities aimed at providing comfort for drivers, families and their pets while charging, the new Supercharger stations will incorporate a small apparel and accessories section where people can purchase Tesla-branded items, while also learning more about the company’s line of energy products through self-guided kiosks.
The “mega” Supercharger locations follow the installation of the world’s largest Supercharger station that recently came online in Shanghai, and arrives before the busy holiday travel season. Tesla’s high-powered charging stations in Kettleman City and Baker each have a solar canopy and Tesla’s Powerpack battery storage units.
Tesla indicates that the new customer lounges will be accessible 24/7 to Tesla drivers and accessible via a building code that will be displayed on their vehicle’s touchscreen.
The new locations are also adorned with a large overhead sign bearing Tesla’s logo and the word “Supercharger”.
The California-based electric car maker is committed to expanding its network of charging stations in the U.S. and abroad. Tesla has committed to installing 1,000 Superchargers in China by the end of this year, as it looks to expand its footprint in theworld’s largest auto market. The company also began to augment its Supercharger network that’s been traditionally aimed at long-distance travel with new urban Superchargers designed for inner city and local travel. Teslarati was able to capture a detailed first look at Tesla’s urban Supercharger at the North Columbus Drive station in Chicago.
Is this the new semi truck Tesla is set to unveil at the end of this month? The truck, posted to Reddit (then deleted, then re-posted) bears more than a passing resemblance to the image shared in a teaser released by the automaker itself (via The Verge). The sleek angled front also looks like something you’d expect to be electrically powered, if that makes any sense.
You can compare it yourself to the mostly shadowy teaser image shared by Tesla itself, but the main unifying factor here might be those flared fenders and angled headlights, which you can pretty clearly make out in the Reddit spy shot, too. The photo above was taken “somewhere in California,” where apparently Tesla has been known to test vehicles in the past.
Tesla’s officially revealing its semi truck on October 26, at an event teased by Elon Musk himself. The truck is rumored to have a range of between 200 and 300 miles on a single charge, which would be very impressive for an all-electric heavy-duty transport vehicle, though not something that’s suitable for long-haul trips. The big question will be how it charges – and how fast.
Tesla has a new way to demonstrate the possibilities of its home solar products to potential customers – using a ‘tiny house’ on wheels, which it can tow on a rolling tour with a Tesla Model X. The Tesla Tiny House made its official debut in Australia (via Electrek), where it will welcome visitors at Melbourne’s Federation Square, before taking off for a cross-country Australian tour.
The towable Tiny House is reminiscent of the mobile design studio it introduced last September, which was a reconfigured Airstream that let people build their own Tesla vehicle as a kind of mobile virtual studio. These solar-focused demonstration trailers also feature mobile design studios and configurators within, but for Tesla’s solar products, including solar panels and its Powerwall energy storage battery for the home.
The Tiny House has actual siding this time around, which is made up of sustainable timber with not artificial chemical treatments. It weighs 2 tonnes (around 4,400 pounds) and has 2kW solar generation capacity using 6 panels, which can feed the single Powerwall battery mounted on the side.
Put this one in the “You can do that, but why would you want to do that?” file: Tesla is talking to the music industry about creating its own streaming music service.
Music industry sources say the carmaker has had talks with all of the major labels about licensing a proprietary music service that would come bundled with its cars, which already come equipped with a high-tech dashboard and internet connectivity.
Label sources aren’t clear about the full scope of Tesla’s ambitions, but believe it is interested in offering multiple tiers of service, starting with a Pandora-like web radio offering.
The bigger question: Why doesn’t Tesla simply integrate existing services, like Spotify or Apple Music, into all of its cars from the start — especially since Tesla already does a deal with Spotify for Teslas sold outside the U.S.?
“We believe it’s important to have an exceptional in-car experience so our customers can listen to the music they want from whatever source they choose,” a Tesla spokesperson said. “Our goal is to simply achieve maximum happiness for our customers.”
But if Tesla does want to provide music to its customers — it delivered over 100,000 cars as of January and has taken 400,000 preorders for the Model 3, due out this summer — the labels are happy to sell their stuff to the company.
They would like as many customers as possible and don’t want to end up in a world dominated by a handful of streaming outlets. Right now, Spotify and Apple have the clear lead: Spotify says it has at least 50 million paying subscribers for its service, and Apple says it has 27 million.
Joshua Brown’s Tesla warned him seven times to put his hands back on the wheel before he plowed into a truck.
A National Transportation Safety Board report on the deadly crash also found that Brown had his hands on the wheel of the Tesla Model S for 25 seconds out of 37 minutes that the car was on autopilot.
The crash, near Gainesville, Florida, in May 2016, drew attention because of the questions it raised about the safety of self-driving cars.
An earlier investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that the crash was not the result of any defect in Tesla’s autopilot feature, which can keep a car in a lane and brake to avoid traffic and other obstacles.
In this case, the car hit the trailer of a truck that pulled across its lanes of traffic at an intersection.
The NTSB cautioned that its report was only fact-finding about the crash. The agency said it was not drawing conclusions about why the crash happened.
For the first time, a power utility has teamed up with Tesla to use its battery packs for extra grid power during peak usage times. Vermont’s Green Mountain Power (GMP) is not only installing Tesla’s industrial Powerpacks on utility land, it’s also subsidizing home Powerwall 2s for up to 2,000 customers. Rather than firing up polluting diesel generators, the utility can use them to provide electricity around the state. At night, when power usage is low, they’re charged back up again.
Green Mountain Power said the idea started after a power outage knocked out over 15,000 homes. “Three customers who had Powerwalls never lost power, so it carried their home through,” GMP CEO Mary Powell told WCAX-TV. “And unlike a generator, they didn’t have to worry about hooking it up, they didn’t have to worry about whether it was fueled.”
Once in operation, the Powerwalls will stay charged in your home. During times of peak electricity usage when its normal power sources (hydro, nuclear, wind, etc.) max out, GMP will draw from its Powerpacks and the consumer-installed Powerwalls. At night, when demand is low, the batteries are recharged.
Tesla says GMP is the first utility to do such a large-scale “grid-smoothing” installation. “There hasn’t been any really successful large-scale trial, so that’s why this is so exciting,” said Tesla CTO J.B. Straubel. “It’s been in development at Tesla for quite some time, but this is our first real deployment.”
GMP is offering 7kW Powerwalls for $15 a month or a flat fee of $1,500. That’s quite a bargain compared to the regular $3,000 price, but again, it’s only available for 2,000 homes. That’s presumably enough, however, to provide peak power backup in conjunction with the company’s industrial Powerpacks.
GMP thinks the Tesla batteries are not only less polluting than regular generators, but more economical too. “[Backup generators] are some of the dirtiest and … costliest forms of generation,” says Powell. “So when we can produce 10 megawatts of energy, that is an alternative to that peaking generation, that has tremendous economic value.”
Tesla China tripled its sales in 2016 to over $1 billion with over 11,000 deliveries and they continued their streak during the first quarter 2017 with a record quarter.
In order to support its growth, the company is expanding in the country with new Supercharger stations and new stores.
The automaker announced yesterday that it opened three new stores and completed the expansion of Asia’s largest Supercharger station over the last week alone.
They wrote in a press release (translated from Chinese):
“In the fourth year since our introduction in China, Tesla continues to strengthen its commitment to investing and expanding the service network and facilities in order to allow more Chinese customers to join us and to experience intelligent, convenient and environmentally friendly pure electric mobility.”
One of the new stores they opened last week is located at the ‘Galaxy COCO Park’ in Shezhen:
It’s the fourth store in the Shezhen region. They are also adding 3 more Supercharger stations around the city.
Finally, Tesla is also continuing its Supercharger expansion in the country.
Last month, the automaker announced a greater than anticipated expansion of its fast-charging network, which especially involves installing more charging stalls per station.
Tesla’s Supercharger stations had an average of 6 stalls per station and the biggest ones had between 8 and 12 stalls. A few had up to 20 stations, but now Tesla is planning stations with dozens of Superchargers – even some with between 50 and 100 stalls.
In China, they have 530 Superchargers at 110 different stations. Last week, Tesla expanded the Supercharger located in Beijing Huamao Center to 20 stalls – making it the largest in Asia.
It looks like China remains an important market for Tesla in the short-term, especially since the recent success that they have been having the country. In the long-term, it will likely involve local production, which has been rumored for years, and the introduction of the Model 3.
Tesla has started taking orders for traditional-looking glass roof tiles that soak up solar power to generate electricity.
Installations are to start next month, beginning with California and gradually rolling out to other U.S. markets, Tesla said. Overseas markets will be added to the mix next year, said Elon Musk, Tesla’s billionaire CEO.
“I think it will be great,” Musk tweeted.
In a blog posting, Tesla said “the typical homeowner can expect to pay $21.85 per square foot” for the product it calls Solar Roof. That’s significantly more than the cost of a traditional asphalt roof, based on Consumer Reports’ estimates, but closer to competitive in price when the anticipated electric-bill savings are factored in.
For a 3,000-square-foot roof in the Seattle area, the estimated cost is $79,500, plus $7,000 for a Powerwall battery system. (The math works out to more than $21.85 per square foot because there’s a higher proportion of power-generating tiles.)
Anticipated savings include a $21,000 tax credit and $41,900 in reduced electricity bills. Net cost over 30 years: $23,600.
That’s close to Consumer Reports’ estimated cost of $20,000 for a 3,000-square-foot asphalt roof, although estimates for the Seattle area could be less.
To check the estimates for your house, try Tesla’s Solar Roof Calculator.
Solar Roof builds on the solar-panel installation business set up by SolarCity, which merged with the Tesla electric-car company last year. Musk had a significant interest in both ventures, and he has repeatedly touted the synergy that comes from integrating solar energy systems with Tesla’s Powerwall batteries and electric cars.
The roof tiles are due to be made on a pilot basis at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, Calif., and production is expected to ramp up in the months ahead at a new facility in Buffalo, N.Y. Installation will be performed by SolarCity, which is now a Tesla subsidiary.
“Black glass smooth and textured will be first,” Musk said in a follow-up tweet. “Tuscan and French Slate in about six months.”
Musk discussed the roof tile design, and the business model behind it, last month during a TED talk in Vancouver, B.C.:
“You can adjust the texture and the colorto a very fine-grained level,and then there’s sort of micro-louvers in the glass,such that when you’re looking at the roof from street level or close to street level,all the tiles look the samewhether there is a solar cell behind it or not.So you have an even colorfrom the ground level.If you were to look at it from a helicopter,you would be actually able to look through and seethat some of the glass tiles have a solar cell behind them and some do not.You can’t tell from street level. …
“A solar glass roof will be less than the cost of a normal roofplus the cost of electricity.So in other words,this will be economically a no-brainer,we think it will look great,and it will last. We thought about having the warranty be infinity,but then people thought,well, that might sound like we’re just talking rubbish,but actually this is toughened glass.Well after the house has collapsedand there’s nothing there,the glass tiles will still be there.”
Musk said that in most areas of the U.S., houses should have enough roof area to provide power for all of the household’s needs.
“If you, say, were to fast-forwardto say 15 years from now,it will be unusual to have a roof that does not have solar,” he said.
The development of electricity-generating roof tiles is part of a dizzying array of technological initiatives that Musk has been juggling over the past few years.
Other initiatives include Tesla’s Model 3, an electric car designed for the mass market, and a soon-to-be-unveiled all-electric truck; SpaceX’s crew-capable Dragon capsule and super-sized Falcon Heavy rocket; the Hyperloop mass-transit concept; an effort to develop lower-cost tunnel boring equipment; and the Neuralink venture to implant wirelessly connected computer chips in human brains.
In a span of less than four months, Tesla Motors (TSLA) founder and CEO Elon Musk has added $2.3 billion to his personal wealth . Musk is now worth more than $13 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, but it could have worked out very differently.
In fact, a crucial decision Elon Musk was forced to make in 2010 when, by his own account, the billionaire was broke, is one of the reasons Musk has been able to cash in on Tesla’s rapid share rise this year: Musk held on to shares at the very moment when a sale to raise cash would have made financial sense.
Musk, who had $200 million in cash at one point, invested “his last cent in his businesses” and said in a 2010 divorce proceeding, “About four months ago, I ran out of cash.” Musk told the New York Times’ DealBook at that time, “I could have either done a rushed private stock sale or borrowed money from friends.”
It’s a dilemma that many entrepreneurs face, but there is a big difference between the options available to Musk and the options available to most business owners. Musk was able to live on $200,000 a month in loans from billionaire friends — while still flying in a private jet — rather than sell any of his Tesla stake. Though the root of the problem is the same: intangible assets or, in other words, a business owner who is “asset rich” and “cash poor.” And it can lead business owners to the most difficult decision of all: having to sell a piece or even all of their company.
This is not a problem limited to founders of technology start-ups based in California.
“It’s really one of those tough scenarios with no good answers,” said Richard Stumpf, CFP and managing partner of Wichita, Kansas-based Financial Benefits. Stumpf has worked with farmers in this situation, and sometimes for reasons that are similar to what drove Musk to admit he was broke: divorce.
“It happens all the time here,” he said. “Farming 2,000 acres … asset-rich, cash-poor. And the options are limited, quite frankly.”
Even if you have friends as nice as Elon’s, borrowing money can cause problems. Years ago a friend of Stumpf’s, who owned a heavy road construction company, got into a bind and borrowed money from buddies. He eventually paid them back, but got behind and risked ruining relationships. In the end the business survived better than his strained friendships.
Even for business owners with collateral to back the loan, the cash flow needs to be coming in to meet debt payments. And in many cases lenders are picky about asset types they will accept. Intangible assets are not the type of collateral that a typical commercial lender will accept, said Andrew Sherman, partner at Seyfarth Shaw, who has worked with companies at all stages of development.
“The bank is in the business of collecting interest, not foreclosing on collateral,” Stumpf said. “Selling the business or some of the ground that you don’t want to sell can be the only way to survive,” he said.
This can be a good problem for business owners who have contracts lined up that will create significant cash flow but for which expansion is first needed. But selling equity to fund expansion is often a dreaded decision — and for good reason.
“You don’t want to go the way of angel investors, because you know you’re giving away a whole lot more than you’re getting,” Stumpf said. “In a fast-growing business, you sell 10 percent for cash to make it continue to grow, but when you’re growing 30 percent to 40 percent a year, that’s a heck of a return on capital” being given to someone else. “It’s a shame when that happens with a viable business,” Stumpf added.
Sherman said many entrepreneurs need to turn to the equity markets to solve cash flow problems, reaching out to angels, angel networks, online funding or private placements, especially when they lack real estate or inventory or equipment to pledge as collateral. In the short term it can be attractive, since it does not need to be paid back, but in the medium and long run it can be “a very costly source of capital” for a business that is growing and can expect its equity to increase in value, Sherman said.
One hybrid strategy is to partner with an angel for a bank loan, where the angel provides a guaranty with its personal balance sheet to secure the loan and receives equity or warrants in return. The business owner is still giving up equity, but far less equity than in a straight sale, since the risk to the investor is much lower, Sherman said.
There is an operating principle of entrepreneurship that makes it likely that business founders will face this situation at some point in a company’s development. Owners plow profits back into a business, and the business itself is often 80 percent to 90 percent of their net worth, Stumpf estimated. In a fast-growth business, retained earnings should be low because the owner is reinvesting in the business.
“They will do whatever they can to keep the business alive,” Stumpf said. His prime example is himself. “What I took out of paycheck in the first few years was insignificant. I was buying new computers or subscribing to information services or doing marketing programs. I don’t have a million dollars’ worth of a factory behind me, but I was still doing same thing — reinvesting in the business rather than taking big paychecks home.”
As CEO and co-founder of small-business finance company Biz2Credit, Rohit Arora has a lot of experience with business founders facing the decision to sell as a result of early success. Owners of quickly growing business are barely paying themselves and can only withstand so much of a lack of equity in the business before it becomes a cash flow challenge. “While you’re doing great on paper, just to keep operating at the expanding scale, we have seen owners have to get an equity infusion,” Arora said.
Entrepreneurs can raise money in the debt market, but after a certain point debt gets very expensive. “It’s a classic mousetrap,” Arora said. “A growing business that looks good and there’s lots of money going in and out, plenty of cash flow, but any time there is a hiccup, all the cash flow gets sucked up.”
One of Arora’s clients, an entrepreneur in his 30s who rapidly grew a series of franchised smartphone stories in New York City, borrowed often from the Biz2Credit platform as the business grew to 50 stores over four years. The expansion was so swift that it turned into an asset-rich, cash-poor situation, with the entrepreneur needing more money to run the 50 stores, and for reasons from payroll to stocking expensive smartphones. The notorious Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fire recall put this owner in an immediate cash crunch — he had to wait three to four months for compensation from Samsung.
He really only had two options: Sell a stake or sell the entire operation. He ended up doing both, initially selling a stake but ultimately selling the entire business to a large distributor of phone accessories who was keen to reach customers directly.
“I’ve seen it so many times,” Arora said. “He needed to give up equity, and once he got it, it stabilized the company. But as an entrepreneur, it was difficult working for someone else. He decided it was better to get totally out.”
“In any high-growth business, I don’t think you can do anything much different to avoid it,” Arora said, though he does suggest that geographic expansion beyond an existing successful footprint be considered with caution.
For entrepreneurs, the good news is that there’s always another business to create with the proceeds from a sale. The smartphone store entrepreneur could have sold to a bigger chain or even at a higher price if his hand hadn’t been forced, Arora said. But he made good money and is now back with several new businesses, including one in the smartphone accessories market.
He took what he learned about selling accessories and doing smartphone repairs to the online world, where margins and volume are higher. And instead of lamenting the loss of physical stores, the entrepreneur has eliminated the risk of a cash crunch associated with retail locations.
The Tesla workers who are key to ensuring the automaker meets its lofty production targets are threatening to strike, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The German industrial trade union IG Metall is calling for a worker strike at Grohmann Engineering, the German engineering company Tesla bought in November, claiming workers have been making 30% below union wages since Tesla acquired the company, according to the report. IG Metall could decide by late Tuesday whether it will call for a strike to negotiate new wages.
Tesla denied the claim that Grohmann workers were making 30% below union wages.
“We continue to work directly with Tesla Grohmann employees and are prepared in the event there is an action initiated by the union,” a Tesla representative wrote in a statement to Business Insider. “We don’t anticipate any impact on the Model 3 timeline.”
The California-based automaker acquired Grohmann as part of an effort to further automate its factories and speed up production.
In the past, Tesla has experienced severe manufacturing issues, most notably with the Model X, which suffered three years of delays. (The Model S also faced delays and was delivered in mid-2011 instead of 2010.)
The Model 3 will serve as Tesla’s greatest test yet, and it is scheduled to begin rolling off assembly lines by the end of this year. Tesla ultimately hopes to sell 500,000 vehicles a year starting in 2018.
The electric-car maker missed on deliveries in 2016 (it shipped 76,230 cars, versus its forecast for 80,000 to 90,000) and must now contend with the Model 3 on top of Model S and Model X production.
There’s a lot of pressure for Tesla to execute on the Model 3. The company is valued as high as Ford and GM despite selling a fraction of the vehicles.
Tesla factory workers in Fremont, California, are looking to form a union because of what they say are difficult work conditions and “excessive mandatory overtime.”
Some owners of electric cars have made it a habit to use charging stations as parking spots well after their charge is complete, and other electric car drivers are getting sick of it.
One took the problem straight to Tesla CEO Elon Musk last week when he tweeted to him, “The San Mateo supercharger is always full with idiots who leave their tesla for hours even if already charged.” Within minutes, Musk replied: “You’re right, this is becoming an issue. Supercharger spots are meant for charging, not parking. Will take action.” Six days later he did, and while some are debating the merits of his solution, others are applauding his fast response, as strategy consultant Richard Jhang did when he wrote on LinkedIn: “Idea to execution in 6 days. Copy that.” To remedy the problem, the company is “introducing a fleet-wide idle fee that aims to increase Supercharger availability,” per a Tesla blog post.
“For every additional minute a car remains connected to the Supercharger, it will incur a $0.40 idle fee.” If the car is moved within five minutes, the fee is waived.
(An app alerts Tesla owners when the charge is nearly complete.) Inc.com calls it exemplary customer service, while Loic Le Meur, the man whose tweet got the ball rolling, writes on Medium that it was Musk’s personal response that won him over.
“That is one of the reasons he is so successful,” he writes. “He manages a 30,000 employee public company like an agile startup.”


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Netflix announced that it will release an all original anime series titled Godzilla Singular Point. It is scheduled to stream globally in 2021.
Anime studio bones (My Hero Academia), in partnership with studio Orange, (Beastars and Land of the Lustrous) will produce the anime series, combining hand-drawn and CG animation styles.
Netflix also announced key staff for the upcoming project, including:
- Director: Atsushi Takahashi
- Music Composer: Kan Sawada
- Character Designs: Kazue Kato
- Kaiju Design: Eiji Yamamori
- Writer: Toh Enjoe
Source: press release

domain: news


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GLOBAL: Brewers tumble on Russia grain ban
Brewers' shares weaken on grain price fears
Russian media reported yesterday (5 August) that the country's Government has slapped a ban on all grain exports until the end of 2010. Its move is an attempt to conserve domestic stocks following a prolonged drought.
Investors fear that the move will significantly increase cost pressures on multinational brewers. Russia is one of the biggest grain exporters in the world, supplying almost a quarter of all traded wheat in 2009, and the Government's decision has caused a leap in commodity market futures prices.
All major brewers reported share price erosion today. Carlsberg was the biggest loser, down by 5%, while Anheuser-Busch InBev fell by 3%, Heineken fell by 4% and SABMiller fell by almost 2%.
Some analysts warned that the threat of rising costs has been exaggerated. "We see no reason to panic," said Sanford C Bernstein analyst Trevor Stirling in a note yesterday (5 August).
He said that global supply and demand was in better balance compared to the last time grain prices spiked, between 2007 and 2008. "Although it is likely that we will see higher input costs from mid-2011 onwards, the scale of these rises is likely to be much lower [than 2007/08]," he said.
"We estimate that brewers would require approx a little over a 2% price increase in mid-2011 to recover the surge in input costs," said Stirling.
Several multinational brewers have expressed difficulty in achieving price increases on their beers over the last year. Depressed consumer confidence across recession-hit western markets has reduced brewers' room to manoeuvre on margins.
Yet, Stirling, who previously worked at Guinness, said that brewers would cope with a grain price increase. "We remain confident that the brewers have the pricing power to pass through this order of price increase, especially in what is likely to be a much improved demand environment in 2011," he said.
There are sound reasons behind Anheuser-Busch InBev's foray into the cider market with Stella Cidre, but the brand needs to be clear about what it's trying to do if it's going to survive as a latecome...
The Chilean drinks giant part-owned by Heineken, Compania Cervecerias Unidas, has recorded a drop in full-year profits following the sale of its stake in Aguas CCU Nestle....
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Vom Fass, the upscale German off-licence group, intends to open up to 50 UK stores by the end of 2006.
The retailer, which operates franchised outlets, plans three shops in 'prestigious locations' in London and Glasgow. A store at Bournemouth, Dorset, is slated for the end of this year, with a further 12 to 15 openings next year.
According to UK franchise holder Richard Mosconi, the business aims to double its store portfolio in 2006. 'We are going to begin serious expansion in the UK, and we hope to open two stores each month,' he said. Vom Fass also has ambitions to push into Ireland.
The retailer, which stocks herbs and vinegars alongside wines and spirits, opened its first UK shop in Notting Hill in 2000. There are now six stores and four concessions, at Selfridges in London, Birmingham and Manchester.
Vom Fass has 150 shops internationally, mainly in its domestic market.


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Start-ups Dropbox and Box reach for the cloud. Correction: Dropbox CEO Drew Houston graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
An earlier version of this story mischaracterized his graduation status. SAN FRANCISCO — They are polar opposites, but two of Silicon Valley's hottest start-ups share similar names, market, adversaries and ambitions — perhaps with wishful eyes on going public next year. Privately held Box and Dropbox are competing for a slice of personal cloud storage computing, a solution to the growth of Internet-connected mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets and the rise of storing files online so that consumers and businesses can retrieve data from anywhere they are on any device they choose. PHOTOS: A look at Box's new headquarters "We want to create the next great enterprise-software company," says Aaron Levie, the voluble, energetic CEO of Box. Dropbox CEO Drew Houston is more laconic.
Box has a gong and cow bell to celebrate big sales wins and new hires. Crowded in the consumer market. Company - Report - Big data: The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity - May 2011. The amount of data in our world has been exploding, and analyzing large data sets—so-called big data—will become a key basis of competition, underpinning new waves of productivity growth, innovation, and consumer surplus, according to research by MGI and McKinsey's Business Technology Office.
Leaders in every sector will have to grapple with the implications of big data, not just a few data-oriented managers. The increasing volume and detail of information captured by enterprises, the rise of multimedia, social media, and the Internet of Things will fuel exponential growth in data for the foreseeable future. MGI studied big data in five domains—healthcare in the United States, the public sector in Europe, retail in the United States, and manufacturing and personal-location data globally. Big data can generate value in each. For example, a retailer using big data to the full could increase its operating margin by more than 60 percent. 1. 2.
Podcast 3. Sponsors Cloud Mafia, Founded by Loggly, DotCloud and NewRelic. PocketCloud Hits Emerging Mobile Cloud Market. (Reuters) – U.S. firm Wyse Technology on Wednesday rolled out a new version of its PocketCloud application, enabling free sharing of music and videos between consumers’ mobile devices.
Instead of saving content to far-away servers and then downloading it every time it is used, PocketCloud links devices with each other — for example allowing users to access music downloaded on their iPad from their iPhone. Research firm Juniper expects the annual consumer market for remote, so-called cloud, mobile services to grow to $6.5 billion by 2016 as technology industry heavyweights Amazon, Google and Apple boost the market. Juniper expects music and video storage or acquisition services such as Amazon’s Cloud Drive and the forthcoming Apple iCloud to gain rapid traction with substantial adoption on phones and tablets. “There is a great opportunity,” said David Nagy, director of product marketing for Wyse’s mobile cloud business unit.
Zetta Seals $9M For Enterprise Cloud Storage. Enterprise cloud storage startup Zetta has closed on $9 million in a third round from investors including Foundation Capital and Sigma Partners.
The company has inked a total of $31.5 million to date, and is using the new cash to bulk up sales, marketing and product development efforts. PRESS RELEASE Enterprise cloud storage provider Zetta today announced that it has raised $9 million in its third round of funding, bringing the total funding to $31.5 million. Both existing investors Foundation Capital and Sigma Partners participated. Wozniak-backed startup challenges storage giants. By Georgina Prodhan BRIGHTON, England Fri Apr 8, 2011 10:43am EDT BRIGHTON, England (Reuters) - U.S. startup Fusion-io, backed by computing pioneers Steve Wozniak and Michael Dell, says it can outwit computer-storage incumbents like EMC which have too much invested in old technology.
Fusion-io, which has filed for a U.S. initial public offering, believes its fresh approach to speeding up data retrieval coupled with a first-mover advantage mean it can win deals over rivals concerned with bigger things. "Established companies go after known markets. Cisco To Acquire Cloud Startup NewScale. Cisco Systems said Tuesday it will acquire privately-held newScale Inc., developer of a service catalog and portal for IT organizations to select cloud services.
No financial terms were disclosed. NewScale, based in San Mateo, Calif., lets customers provision their own systems and infrastructure on an as-needed basis. The acquisition is to close in the second half of Cisco’s fiscal 2011. SAN JOSE, Calif. – March 29, 2011 – Cisco today announced its intent to acquire privately-held newScale Inc., a leading provider of software that delivers a service catalog and self-service portal for IT organizations to select and quickly deploy cloud services within their businesses. Based in San Mateo, Calif., newScale allows commercial and enterprise customers to initiate the provisioning of their own systems and infrastructure on an as-needed basis.
Financial terms of the transaction are undisclosed. About Cisco Systems. Management Team. Pehub. Scality (fka Bizanga Store), a French developer of object storage software for email and cloud storage applications, has raised $5 million in first-round funding.
Credit Agricole Private Equity and Galileo Partners co-led the round, and were joined by individual angels and company management. PRESS RELEASE Bizanga Store, the developer of massively scalable object storage software for email and cloud storage applications today announced its transformation into “Scality” as the new company and brand name. Scality further announced the scality logo smallcompletion of the initial capitalization of the company in a US $5M funding round led by institutional investors Credit Agricole Private Equity and Galileo that included business angels, Scality management and employees.
Scality was founded with the goal of solving a very real and pressing problem of exponential storage demand for the World’s largest Email and Internet service providers. CEO Jerome Lecat added.
Cloud company Cirtas Emerges from Stealth with $10M from NEA, Lightspeed and Amazon. Further evidence that the cloud space is heating up comes this morning from Cirtas Systems.
The San Jose, Calif. INTERVIEW-Start-up sector seen thriving on tech advances. Thu Dec 16, 2010 8:48am EST * Cloud computing cuts capital spending for start-ups * Large VCs setting up seed funds for small investments By Tova Cohen TEL AVIV, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Technological advances enabling companies to significantly cut costs have led to strong global growth in start-up activity, an American venture capital pioneer told Reuters.
Inc News: Survey: Cloud computing confusion decreasing. Survey: Cloud computing confusion decreasing - 11/23/2010 A recent study indicates that confusion about the term "cloud computing" has decreased in the last 12 months, while a growing number of organizations have decided to adopt cloud computing solutions.
The study, conducted by Chadwick Martin Bailey, found 28 percent of organizations surveyed had aggressive plans to shift to cloud computing architectures. In addition, the study found organizations with cloud computing infrastructures in place expect their cloud-based workload volume to double within the next two years. The study surveyed 247 information technology professionals based in the United States during the month of August 2010, as part of a series of CBM surveys. Chris Neal, vice president of CBM's technology and telecom practice, claimed the survey results indicate a convergence of industry hype and practice in the field. CBM conducted a similar survey last year. Panzura scores $12M to make cloud apps better, faster, more productive. Wed Dec 8, 2010 1:16am EST Cloud storage provider Panzura has raised $12 million in a second round of funding. The San Jose, Calif., company aims to provide Web-connected cloud storage that is faster than storage devices attached directly to locally hosted servers.
The startup debuted its Application Cloud Controller hardware in June. Its controller works by inspecting data packets and then using hardware acceleration to fetch or store data quickly. For security-conscious corporate users, it also encrypts data so it can be sent over the network safely. The product also works with Microsoft SharePoint collaboration software, which it says can speed as much as 20 times when division offices are sharing the same data.


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Sprint says it's cutting ties with location brokers
Sprint has ringed in on the remote area information debate, saying it cut ties with information merchant LocationSmart May 25.
It additionally says it's started cutting ties with merchants who got information on its clients' areas.
Prior, Verizon said it would end an area sharing project in the midst of debate over a jail phone organization that started offering client following to prison guards without a court arrange. AT&T has reacted to Sen. Ron Wyden with its own particular guarantee to quit offering area information.
T-Mobile boss John Legere has just answered so far on Twitter (natch): "Sounds like word hasn't gotten to you, @RonWyden. I've by and by assessed this issue and have promised that @TMobile won't offer client area information to shady go betweens. Your customer promotion is commendable and we stay focused on buyer security."
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TypingDNA, a four-year-old company with a 18-person startup that was founded in Bucharest, Romania and more recently moved its headquarters to Brooklyn in New York; has closed on $7 million funding for AI-driven technology apparently capable of recognising people based on the way they type, both on their laptops and mobile devices.
In 2018 and early last year they closed on €1.3 million in seed funding and had so far raised $5.25 million toward that goal. I’ve since connected with the company’s co-founder and reached out to their CEO, Raul Popa, who confirms the entire amount has been raised for the project.
Gradient Ventures, which is Google’s nearly three-year-old, AI-focused venture group, led the round; as it too was joined by the company’s previous backers, including Techstars Ventures and GapMinder Venture Partners, a venture outfit based in Amsterdam.
The typing biometrics hold the detailed timing information that describes exactly when each key is pressed and released as a way to identify the unique person at the keyboard based on their key strokes. The idea and concept is apparently not brand new either.
According to a new source I’ve recently read that an article says research in this field for typing biometrics dates back 20 years. It also says that inaccuracies have kept the technology from being used as a widespread way to authenticate individuals. TypingDNA meanwhile asserts that the typing pattern recognition technology has developed with progress and has an accuracy rate of between 99% and upwards of 99.9%.
According to Popa, TypingDNA is currently working with banks, financial and payment apps, online education platforms, enterprise apps, consumer apps, and government apps that are concerned with identity and fraud prevention.
On the education front, for example, it helps organisations to ensure they’re giving the right students credit for the work they receive.
Worth noting: its API is open to anyone, especially developers which means its likely opensource or under similar licensing and looking into integrate the technology with their products and apps. I asked how the company will use its new round, Popa says
the plan involves “focusing on developers more, and coming up with typing biometrics based products that can easily be integrated to solve various use cases, and helping banks and tech companies where regulation asks for biometrics as a second factor.”
As for what TypingDNA is doing that wasn’t previously possible, Popa then says
his team doesn’t need a huge body of work to draw conclusions, that they’re “able to look at very short and few samples of text in order to authenticate people with great accuracy.” The mobile tech, he says, “needs even less data than on desktop, because we also look at other sensors in the device.”
From an AI point of view, TypingDNA is apparently combining pattern recognition, anomaly detection, and what Popa calls one-shot learning techniques. Some of which are “completely novel,” he says. Indeed, if all goes as planned, it might eventually be applied to other technologies, as well as to improve binary classification quality when few training samples are used.
While it might be a while before this type of technology is solely trusted as an alternative algorithm to determine which individual is sitting at the PC or the device being used. It may so happen that this new software may also be used in conjunction with already existing functionality to add clarity to which user is currently logging into a PC, Mobile or any other computer device. And since it is already working with Banks, and other companies I believe we will be seen a lot more of TypingDNA and its algorithm.


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Dogecoin, the parody cryptocurrency that Elon Musk helped propel to stardom, has gotten a boost from his purchase of Twitter. After the Tesla billionaire sealed the $44 billion deal, the value of dogecoin doubled. On October 27th, when Musk tweeted “the bird is liberated” to reveal his ownership, the stock was trading for roughly $0.07. After five days, it dropped to $0.16.
While that may not seem like much, data platform CoinGecko reports that it pushed the market value of the extremely volatile cryptocurrency over $21 billion. Not bad for a token named after a Shiba Inu internet meme that was originally intended as a satire of irrational trading in the cryptocurrency market.
According to Matthew Dibb, COO of Singapore-based crypto investment management Stack Funds, “trading dogecoin around Elon tweets has become a lucrative kind of speculation.” Since its humorous launch by two software developers in 2013, Musk has had a significant influence on dogecoin’s meteoric rise. Because of his tweets praising the coin and even dubbing it the “people’s crypto,” its value increased by almost 400% in 2021.
Investors’ hopes that Musk might integrate doge into Twitter’s payment system fueled the most recent price increase, according to cryptocurrency market observers. Many people believe that Twitter can serve as a “test bed” for the widespread acceptance and exploration of doge’s many potential applications, as Dibb pointed out.
Dogecoin has subsequently given up some of its gains and is currently trading at around $0.12, making it the eighth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, with a valuation of around $16 billion as of writing on CoinGecko. Meme coin’s price peaked at $0.63 in May of last year, but macro gloom and investor apathy toward risky markets have since smashed it, along with other major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether. Doge is still down 57% in the past year, even after the recent surge.
Cryptocurrency market news site Coindesk, however, said in October that doge’s double price made it the best performance among 150 digital assets in its CoinDesk Market Index. According to CoinMarketCap, its portion of the global crypto market cap was 1% as of the end of October, a much smaller percentage than bitcoin’s 39%. It is currently at 1.58%.
— Sir Doge of the Coin ⚔ (@dogeofficialceo) November 3, 2022
Doge has paved the way for a slew of other canine-themed cryptocurrencies, most notably Shiba Inu, which shares doge’s focus on the Japanese shiba inu breed and is also built for use on the Ethereum blockchain. Shib’s price, which normally trades at $0.00001, increased by a third in the days following Musk’s Twitter transaction closure. Doge and shib, in contrast to bitcoin, have nearly infinite quantities, so it would require more than just speculative stockpiling to drive their prices up.
Last week, Musk tweeted a photo of his Shiba Inu dog dressed in a Twitter T-shirt, sparking rumors that he would eventually enable dog tokens to be used as payment in his cryptocurrency ecosystem. Despite this, the initial gain has since stopped, leaving many crypto investors confused as to whether or not he is indeed serious about dogecoin.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022
For example, in May of last year, the price of dogecoin plummeted after the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, dubbed it a “hustle” on a talk show. Soon after, in January of this year, dogecoin became a valid form of payment for a selection of Tesla’s wares, like “Giga Texas” belt buckles and miniature versions of the company’s electric vehicles. Musk’s latest fragrance, “Burnt Hair,” may be purchased using doge.
Dogecoin, the parody cryptocurrency that Elon Musk helped propel to stardom, has gotten a boost from his purchase of Twitter. After the Tesla billionaire sealed the $44 billion deal, the value of dogecoin doubled. Please forward this information to your friends and family and continue to check Smartnewszone.com.


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Hyundai Motor India Ltd. has been fined 87 crores by the Competition Commission of India for indulging in anti-competitive practices by capping the amount of discount its dealers could offer. Thereby stifling dealers’ ability to compete freely in the market and trying to maintain a minimum sale price.
In a 44-page order, the Competition Commission of India, said, “When a minimum resale price maintenance is imposed by the manufacturer of a particular brand, distributors are prevented from decreasing the sale prices. In other words, the mechanism does not allow the dealers to compete effectively on price. The stifling of intra-brand competition results in higher prices for consumers.’’
It further went on to state, “The infringing anti-competitive conduct of HMIL in the instant case included putting in place arrangements, which resulted into resale price maintenance by way of monitoring of maximum permissible discount level through a discount control mechanism and a penalty mechanism for non-compliance of the discount scheme. Such conduct pertains to and emanates out of sale of motor vehicles.”
While it is heartening to see the Competition Commission of India acting on behalf of consumer rights and trying to ensure manufacturers do not fix minimum resale price. A lot more needs to be done, especially against the electronic and consumer goods companies, which are known to act against online retailers and distributors, who offer products at cheaper than minimum specified price.
We certainly hope, CCI will look into those companies as well and ensure, we as consumer can get maximum discount that we can, dictacted not by a manufacturer, rather by the open and competitive market!


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List view / Grid view
Compared to just two years ago, StatsCan estimates that 512,000 more Canadian households feel food insecure because of COVID-19, with things predicted to get worse. Dr Sylvain Charlebois explores the challenges being experienced in Canada and the potential roads ahead.
Reports of panic-buying have been heard all across the globe and supermarkets are seeing products selling faster than ever before. Here, Dr Sylvain Charlebois explains that the panic-buying could have knock-on effects for the entire global supply chain and perhaps even present some opportunity.
The United Nations has declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health. Here, Dr Sylvain Charlebois takes a look at how important this really is for the planet and for ensuring a sustainable supply of food across the entire globe.
Predictions in the report by Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph are allegedly made using historical data sources, machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics tools.
A cold and wet autumn has negatively impacted crop yields among potato farmers in North America, and concerns amongst processors are growing. Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, from Dalhousie University, explores the potential consequences and how the shrinkflation of fries and chips is a possibility.
Supermarkets in Canada have launched sustainability initiatives to reduce the amount of packaging being used in the food industry. But will consumers respond to the environmental ambitions? Here, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University takes a look.
With deforestation and depleting resources at the forefront of the coffee-growing industry, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois explores how synthetic lab-produced coffee is developing as an alternative.
"Only a handful of countries are fishing in the high seas and the fish they catch are not feeding those most in need."


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OnePlus officially confirmed today the existence of the Nord 2, its next-generation mid-range smartphone that was rumored in March to pack a MediaTek Dimensity 1200 SoC. Today's announcement corroborates that speculation along with a few bits of information about the device.
The Nord 2 will be powered by a Dimensity 1200 AI processor, and as the name suggests, it will introduce a bunch of artificial intelligence features. OnePlus noted that the Dimensity 1200 AI brings support for AI-powered imaging, display enhancements, and a faster gaming experience.
MediaTek's new processor is presumably an upgraded version of the Dimensity 1200 chipset it launched in January. It features a premium Cortex-A78 core clocked at 3.0GHz, three performance Cortex-A78 cores at 2.6GHz, and four Cortex-A55 cores at 2GHz.
That chipset falls under the high end category, although the Nord 2 is a mid-range phone. OnePlus dabbled in this segment last year with the launch of the first Nord device, powered by a Snapdragon 765G chipset to cut on costs. What's interesting about the latest phone is it's the first mid-range OnePlus handset to feature a MediaTek chipset. The previous phones under the Nord branding always had Qualcomm Snapdragon processors.
Details about the key specs and release date for the Nord 2 are not known at the moment. That said, OnePlus is expected to continue disclosing more information about the phone in a drip-feed in the lead-up to its unveiling.


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On Thursday, February 4, the NFL, in conjunction with ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and San Francisco Bay-area law-enforcement agencies, held a press conference on Operation Team Player, a combined effort to crackdown on counterfeit merchandise and Super Bowl 50 tickets.
During the press conference, NFL Counsel, Dolores DiBella, announced the league “renewed its extended partnership with OpSec Security, ensuring that all NFL or Club-licensed products will carry an authentication hologram label or hangtag, so consumers can continue to rely on these hallmarks of NFL authenticity at the point of sale.”
All products with the NFL logo or other NFL trademark, or the trademarks of the thirty-two NFL Member Clubs, carry an authentication label or hangtag produced by OpSec. Utilizing proprietary technologies, OpSec has created advanced security labeling that is used by law enforcement and investigators to quickly identify authentic products, while ensuring that counterfeiters will be unable to replicate the security features.
In addition, OpSec provided a major component to the Super Bowl ticket security. “Importantly,” DiBella continued, “…on the back of each ticket is a true-color OpSec hologram – this year, with the skyline of downtown San Francisco, the gold 50, and the commemorative Duke football.”
“We’re proud to extend our long-standing relationship with the National Football League and look forward to the expansion of our partnership,” said Rich Cremona, CEO of OpSec Security.
About OpSec Security
OpSec Security is the market leader in fighting counterfeits for brands, transaction cards and government documents and currency. OpSec delivers a comprehensive suite of end-to-end solutions, including advanced physical security technologies, supply chain track and trace services, and online and e-commerce monitoring and analysis for more than 400 companies across industry sectors and 50 governments worldwide. OpSec is a wholly-owned division of OpSec Security Group Limited and operates manufacturing and software development facilities and laboratories in the USA, the UK, and Germany and has sales operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.opsecsecurity.com. Follow OpSec on Twitter@OpSecSecurity, Facebook and LinkedIn.
OpSec Security, Inc.
Director of Corporate Communications


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Articles by Palmer, Kimberly
Avoid scams and fraudulent charges before the virtual checkout line
The recent hacker attack at the bookseller should inspire shoppers to take action.
More than any other group, Americans in their late 30s say they’re not confident they can afford retirement.
A few key purchases can generate cost savings in the long run.
As they anticipate widowhood, women prepare by boosting their own financial-management skills.
Costume swaps, repurposing outfits, and do-it-yourself projects can help cut costs.
New report suggests singles face unique money stresses, including lower income and less savings.
Americans shift in favor of the president in the wake of positive economic numbers.
The government stopped mailing out annual benefit statements, but most Americans still haven’t logged in online.


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Raj Comics has joined hands with the Hindi Newspaper group Rajasthan Patrika. A dedicated Comics portal comics.patrika.com has been launched that contains free web comics from Raj Comics. Please stay tuned for more on this.
I am pleased to announce the launch of Raj Comics on Vodafone.
All Vodafone customers can send ‘Comic’ to 111 to download and read their favorite Raj Comics on their mobile phones or by directly visiting the vodafone Live portal. Each comics has been priced at Rs.15 for an entire story and Rs.2 for short comic clips.
The application provides a cool 3D user experience for browsing the Comic content catalog and reading the Comics in an animated way which is the closest feeling a user can get to reading a real comic on his/her mobile. To further add to the exceptional user experience we have also gone ahead and added special effects such as:
As always we would like to hear your feedback on this initiative and look for guidance and suggestion on improvements.
Discuss this article on the forums
News article published in Hindustan Times Business section on Feb 15 2010


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Week in Review: July 31
Welcome to the Week in Review – where we look at the books being released every week and highlight which ones have potential to heat up online.
This week is a Wednesday warrior’s wet dream with numerous comics getting attention online. The first one is Canto #2, which has started to sell just above cover price. The first printing of this book (released this week) has sold out at the distribution level and IDW has already solicited a second printing. This book has a 1 in 10 variant cover that has been selling for $25 to $30.
Another IDW title that comes out this week that started selling well online last week is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #96. This is assumed to feature the first full appearance of Jennika as the new yellow turtle. TMNT #96 has two regular covers and a 1 in 10 variant – the regular cover has been selling for $10 to $13 while the 1 in 10 variant has been averaging $50 to $60. Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, told comicbook.com that Jennika’s transformation has been something the Turtles team has been working on for three years – suggesting the character will be sticking around in the turtle universe.
This week sees the release of Gutt Ghost: Till We Meet Again #1 (one-shot) from Scout Comics. Gutt Ghost was first published in a one-shot mini-comic by creator Enzo Garza, the first mini-comic was published in June of 2016 and went into various printings. Gutt Ghost eventually appeared in Heavy Metal Magazine issue 288. The new Scout Comics one-shot had an 9-page black and white preview ashcan – Enzo is selling the remaining copies of the ashcan on his website (right now he only has “rare skull variant” ashcans available). There is also a Scout Comics website exclusive “skull variant”. The Scout Comics issue has five sales at $10.
One Last book that I want to talk about this week is Knights Temporal #1 from Aftershock Comics. Typically when a first issue from Aftershock Comics gets hot it doesn’t sustain value, with that being said, this book has been selling for $6 to $10 online and seems to be trending up.
That is your week in review! Let me know in the comments (or on social media) if I missed any books you think are spec worthy!
Make sure to check out the Comic Book Scalping Instagram Account CBS_Daily
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Cranberry area residents now have another place to grab parts for their cars.
After months of construction, the AutoZone store on Route 19 opened last Wednesday.
AutoZone spokesman Ray Pohlman said employees will dispense trustworthy advice, as well as automobile parts, to customers in the 8,000-square-foot store.
“Our sweet spot is the do-it-yourself customer,” he said
Pohlman said AutoZone is the leading national retailer and distributer of automotive replacement parts, accessories and chemicals. He added the store in Cranberry will employ about 10 people.
The AutoZone property once held a Dunkin' Donuts (which has since moved to a new location on Route 19) and the Reasy Laundromat. That building was demolished to make way for the auto parts store.
Pohlman said AutoZone plans to open about 150 new stores across the country this year. He attributed the company's growth to more people holding on to their cars in difficult economic times.
This requires preventative maintenance to the older cars as well as repairs when something goes wrong with the vehicle, Pohlman said.
“That’ been very good news for us and the products and services that we provide,” he said.
The location in Cranberry joins 22 other AutoZone stores in western Pennsylvania, Pohlman said.
Are you excited for the AutoZone's opening? Do you miss the Laundromat? Tell us in comments.


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Chromebooks Stories July 28
Chrome OS tablets aren’t everywhere, but the platform has been preparing for them for quite some time. In one of its latest updates, Google has added a new “Bordered Key” style to the on-screen keyboard in Chrome OS to give it a better style.
Chromebooks Stories July 17
Over the years, Chrome OS has landed on a wide variety of form factors like laptops, desktops, all-in-ones, tablets, and more. New evidence suggests Google is looking at bringing Chrome OS to another form factor — dual-touchscreen Chromebooks.
Chromebooks Stories July 15
Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox browser, has announced that it’s bringing a private VPN to Android, Chromebook, and Windows as a standalone service.
Chromebooks Stories July 8
How to turn off Google Assistant on Android, Chromebook, more
Having a digital assistant on your phone can be handy, but whether it’s a concern of privacy or just something you don’t want to use, you can always turn them off. Here’s how to turn off Google Assistant on Android phones, Chromebooks, and even smart speakers.
Chromebooks Stories June 22
Are you in the market for a new laptop? If so, have you considered a Chromebook?
Chromebooks Stories June 16
The biggest complaint for many regarding Google’s Chrome OS platform has been app support, but that’s apparently changing in the near future. Thanks to an official partnership between Google and Parallels, full apps from Windows are coming to Chrome OS.


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You know Smokey Robinson for such classics as My Girl and I Second That Emotion. Now get ready to see the legendary singer in a different light — as skincare founder. Robinson just announced his-and-her line with wife Frances. “My Girl,” for women, and “Get Ready,” for men, were created for people with darker complexions. “This is our first time [working together] and we’re definitely on the same page,” Smokey, 76, told the AP. Shopping/info: www.skinphonic.com
Miley Cyrus’ days of twerking seem to be thankfully behind her. But no one ever said those sexy moves weren’t great exercise. Over at Miami Dance Studio, instructor/former Miami Heat dancer Tiffany Jackson, is teaching locals during her “Bootywork” sessions how to, um, werk, what their mama gave them, but in a less public setting than say, the VMAs. Thursdays, 8:30-9:30 p.m. www.miadancestudio.com
Molly Sims loves her summer whites. We’re talking wine here, folks. The actress-model recently posted to her Instagram account a picture of three bottles of her latest faves from the direct to consumer online winery, Winc (formerly Club W). Prices start at $13 and there are various reds to choose from as well.


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SYDNEY: Advertising expenditure in Australia will decline by 2.4% in 2009 as the credit crunch bites – with traditional media sliding by some 5% – according to Finola Burke, media analyst at financial services giant Credit Suisse.
Higher lending costs and rising interest rates are said to be among the main contributors to this situation, which is increasingly likened to the 1991 and 2001 recessions.
The country's metropolitan TV networks – including Consolidated Media, owned by James Packer, and its rival Channel Ten – are forecast to be most at risk, as they rely on national advertisers.
Ad revenues at Ten are predicted to decline by 9% next year, after its TV income fell by around 10% in the company's last financial year.
"The risk" for Ten, Burke opines, "is that the network won't be able to reduce its cost base as fast as revenues fall."
She also forecasts that Consolidated Media will post a 10.5% decline in advertising income for the twelve months from June 2008, with a recovery likely to begin only in 2010–11.
The company's pay-TV unit Foxtel is also likely to see ad revenues and customer income fall, as consumers seek to cutback on spending.
Overall, Burke says: "Based on our forecasts, operational cashflow from the core divisions of magazines, television and ticketing may fall short of being able to meet the expected interest payments."
According to Credit Suisse, media firms with strong regional operations – like Austar and Prime Media – may benefit, as local advertising appears to be a beneficiary of the downturn.
Merrill Lynch, however, predicts market growth of 5% in 2008, and 3% next year, while Goldman Sachs expects advertising sales to flatten out for the year ending June 2009.
Data sourced from Sydney Morning Herald; additional content by WARC staff


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LONDON (AP) – Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency slowed to 6.9 per cent in March, the lowest level in a year, with food costs still on the rise while energy prices fell, making a sharp turnaround after months of punishing increases.
Consumer prices in the eurozone dropped from the 8.5 per cent recorded in February, according to data released yesterday by the European Union’s (EU) statistics agency Eurostat. The inflation dropped to its lowest level in a year since since peaking at 10.6 per cent in October.
But prices for food rose by a painful 15.4 per cent, faster than the previous month’s 15 per cent, in a sign that European consumers are still getting squeezed.
Energy prices fell 0.9 per cent – an abrupt change of direction after rising at double-digit rates over the past year. The situation in Ukraine pushed up prices for natural gas used to heat homes and generate electricity, fuelling overall inflation.


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I am pleased to be writing this post from the Omniture Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah where you can meet some members of the Compete team at the Partners Showcase at booth 105.
This morning, Compete announced an exciting partnership with Omniture, the leading provider of online business optimization software, to help marketers more efficiently analyze and take action on new online insights.Â By integrating Compete’s Web-wide competitive intelligence data with Omniture’s deep Web site analytics, the partnership puts the information marketers need to better develop, optimize and monetize Web sites at their fingertips.
This new integration allows Compete PRO Entrprise customers to view Compete’s competitive intelligence data through Omniture’s Site Catalyst web analytics platform!
If you’re attending the summit, stop by our booth and we’ll fill you in on all the details. If not, read the full press release.
Drew is responsible for strategy and execution of marketing initiatives for Compete.com, including affiliate, blog, email, lead generation, paid search, and social media. Before Compete, Drew worked for office supply giant, Staples, Inc. where he had the opportunity to manage multiple online marketing channels for Staples.com, including affiliate, SEO/SEM, and comparison shopping engines. Follow Drew on Twitter or link him on LinkedIn.


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Growing tensions between the U.S. and China could knock the nearly 40% rally in the U.S. stock market off course as billions of dollars of trade and supply chain ties hang in the balance, potentially compounding the harm inflicted by the coronavirus.
President Donald Trump in recent weeks has escalated his finger-pointing at Beijing for what he sees as its role in the spread of the coronavirus, threatening to impose tariffs or withdraw from the "phase one" trade agreement under which the U.S. agreed to roll back tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing purchasing hundreds of billions of dollars of additional U.S. goods over the next two years. Most recently, the administration said it would bar Chinese airlines from flying to the U.S. starting in mid-June.
And China has not sat idly by. The Chinese government told two state-run agricultural companies to pause purchases of U.S. soybeans, pork and other farm goods after the White House accused China of a "cover-up" over the spread of the coronavirus and moves to end Hong Kong's special trade status as it no longer considers the territory autonomous from China. It also is far behind on its purchase commitments under the phase one deal.
"The economic ties that bind China and the U.S. together are coming under attack," Erik Lundh, senior economist for the Conference Board, said in an interview. "It loosens the cannon even more on the deck. I'm fairly pessimistic on the relationship over the coming months."
If more tariffs are piled on, the impact on U.S. businesses and consumers could prompt a correction in equity markets, James Knightley, chief international economist for ING Economics, said in an interview and a follow-up email.
"If we see trade tensions escalate and tariffs hiked, then I think it could easily knock 5 to 10% off equities, given corporate America is already facing immense upheaval given the economic consequences of COVID-19," Knightley said. "There is already a disconnection between equities (back at levels of last November) and an economy that is likely to have experienced the steepest peak-to-trough fall in output since World War II. Trade tariffs could be the catalyst for a reappraisal of this." The S&P 500 rallied by 39.6% as of June 3 since its coronavirus-era trough March 23.
Before the coronavirus became recognized as a pandemic, U.S.-China trade tensions were a major driver of markets since 2018, with news of dealmaking spurring modest gains but word of tariff escalation preceding steep falls. On Aug. 23, 2019, after Trump threatened to raise tariffs to 30% from 25% on $250 billion of Chinese goods in a little over a month, the S&P 500 fell 2.59%. When the phase one deal was announced in December 2019, stocks instantly rallied, though the gains fizzled out later in the day.
Beth Ann Bovino, U.S. chief economist for S&P Global Ratings, agreed that a setback in the U.S.-China trade relationship could damage markets' outlook for an economic recovery in the short term.
"The re-escalation of trade tensions between the U.S. and China will heighten market concerns that tit-for-tat protectionist actions will once again heat up," Bovino said in an interview. "This adds even more uncertainty to an already slow economic recovery, something markets don’t want to see."
Cost of tariffs
Even with the phase one deal, those economic ties were already fraying before the recent back-and-forth. In 2019, after several rounds of tariffs from both sides, total trade between the countries declined by $100 billion, to $558.87 billion, from 2018's peak, according to Census Bureau data. Purchases of Chinese goods, which amounted to 11.9% of U.S. consumption in 2018, fell to 9.5% in 2019 as tariffs made those goods more expensive.
"When you are attempting to get the economy back on its feet, you want all areas of spending to be strengthening," said Jay Bryson, managing director and acting chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities. "Something that exerts headwinds on growth at this time would be counterproductive to that objective."
Additional tariffs could further the push for labor-intensive production to move from China to South and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa as manufacturing global value chains are under enormous pressure and sourcing is at a premium. Picking up and moving supply chains would drive up costs for importers at a time when U.S. manufacturing and production is stressed after a 13.7% month-over-month fall in April.
The U.S. tariffs of 2018-2019 that were levied on Chinese goods added $52.9 billion in annual cost burdens to U.S. consumers, according to a report from the American Action Forum, a self-described "center-right" economic think tank led by former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
But not all are concerned.
Because the U.S. is importing less from China due to the virus, the administration has the latitude to raise tariffs with more minimal impact, Clete Willems, a partner at law firm Akin Gump and former deputy director of the National Economic Council in the Trump administration, said in an interview. When the economy is strong, it can to some degree absorb the price cost. It's the middle zone where concern grows, he said.
"Most folks nervous about the economic impact would argue in favor of raising the existing tariffs as opposed to new product tariffs," Willems said. "We're in a situation where we have a global economic slowdown and a lot less commerce between the U.S. and China at the moment, and the impact of tariffs is less than it otherwise would have been. If we're not buying that many iPhones right now, it's not that big of a deal."
Harm to US exporters
A withdrawal from the phase one deal — over which Trump said he was "very torn" in early May — would mean further sourcing troubles for industries already reeling from reduced demand and upended supply chains that were supposed to see relief from Beijing's promise to more than double its imports of a basket of 548 U.S. goods. In the first three months of 2020, China was already $21 billion off the pace needed to hit its commitments under phase one, according to Panjiva.
And China's reported order to state-run companies to halt farm purchases will only further muddy the waters for agriculture exporters caught in the crosshairs of the various U.S. trade conflicts. The U.S. Trade Representative's Office and White House did not immediately return requests for comment.
The deal's chapters on approvals of varieties of genetically modified organisms; establishment of a process to approve sanitary regulation issues with poultry, meat and dairy; and other non-tariff barriers were widely seen as a win for U.S. companies.
"It would be a huge mistake to terminate the agreement," Joe Glauber, senior research fellow for the International Food Policy Research Institute and the former chief U.S. economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said in an interview, adding a withdrawal could mean "volatility" for the farm sector. "There are parts that are quite important to U.S. agriculture and most importantly, it marks a cease-fire in the destructive trade war which has been so damaging to U.S. agriculture."
The American Action Forum says that the phase one deal would have saved U.S. consumers $43.4 billion per year, though that analysis assumed that Chinese purchases would meet commitments.
Panjiva is a business line of S&P Global Market Intelligence, a division of S&P Global Inc.


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Former veterans of Ultima, Wing Commander, Deus Ex, Stubbs the Zombie,
and Medal of Honor
games have announced the formation of a new Austin development house called Pixel Mine, with a mission statement to "reinvent the game development and publishing business model."
The company says it will bring a "new approach to game development with innovative short play titles that focus on community and maintaining high production values."
The company is due to debut a new community based portal through its website, with an account management and micro-payment system, as well as its first yet-unannounced game during the forthcoming Austin GDC.
Said company president David Reese, “Publishers and developers today have to satisfy stockholders, retailers and even their accounting departments before they even think about the games. At Pixel Mine, we're committed to keeping our games fun while keeping our community involved in the process."


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BlackBerry is still alive and kicking in the smartphone market, at least in terms of intentions if not market share, and the company will be launching a major handset by the name of Passport this September.
This phone was previously known as "Windermere", and the spec was rumoured last month, with the handset boasting a 4.5-inch screen with a 1440 x 1440 resolution, offering a very sharp 453 dpi.
A shipment of OnePlus One smartphones heading for Europe has been delayed for two weeks due to having incorrect font on the back of the handsets.
In a somewhat embarrassing setback, Android World reported that the company explained to consumers the reasons for the delay to the prototype shipment in an e-mail sent this week.
This is the week of the Surface Pro 3. Brian had already attended the launch event earlier in the month, and has provided an essential list of hardware and software purchasers need to grab for the best all round experience -- he even goes as far as suggesting that it's better than a MacBook Air. Even before launch there was an update available for the tablet-cum-laptop, and there was also news that the Intel Core i3 and i7 models would be shipping earlier than previously expected. But not all of the products we looked at this week were quite so "every day". There was the wifi doorbell complete with camera, and also the prospect of charging your phone wirelessly with your pants -- yes you did read that correctly.
The Windows Phone market is dominated by Nokia, but a new batch of handsets has been unveiled by Indian manufacturer Micromax. If Android is your mobile OS of choice, you may be thinking about venturing into the rooted world. This week a new tool was released that makes the process as quick and painless as possible, opening up a whole new breed of apps and options. Joe decided to take a walk on the wild side and adopt the Nokia Lumia Icon as his phone of choice. In the Android arena, a new contender entered -- the Amazon Fire Phone. Will a kill switch be added? Microsoft and Google have agreed to add it to their mobile operating systems.
Looking for a way to access programs on your desktop or laptop from your mobile? You could go down the route of installing something like TeamViewer, but with the best will in the world, trying to control your entire Windows or Mac desktop from your mobile is a fiddly experience at best.
A more practical solution can be found by going down the Parallels Access route, and it’s one that’s just been made even better with the release of version 2.0.
Both Microsoft and Google have agreed to add a kill switch their mobile operating systems. Following an agreement with the New York Attorney General, the next versions of Windows Phone and Android will include a feature that will render handsets useless if they are stolen. The attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, published a report yesterday outlining the importance of such a feature, and revealed that two of the biggest names in technology are on-board.
It's something that authorities have been calling for for some time now, citing the sheer number of mobile phone thefts taking place around the world. Schneiderman's report points to Apple as proof of the efficacy of a kill switch. Thefts of iPhones dropped by 17 percent in New York City after the introduction of a remote wiping and locking feature. The Secure Our Smartphones report took fire at Samsung. The company had opted not to include a kill switch, and thefts of Samsung handsets jumped by 40 percent in NYC. "Reactivation Lock" has since been implemented on a small number of new Galaxy handsets.
Less than a month after the last Android update launched, Google is now treating Nexus users to another iteration of KitKat. It made its way to the factory images repository first, but is also slowly rolling out over-the-air to compatible smartphones and tablets.
Android 4.4.4 KitKat, build version KTU84P, is available, through a corresponding factory image, for the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, 2012 Wi-Fi Nexus 7, 2013 Wi-Fi Nexus 7, and Nexus 10. The Nexus 7 slates with cellular connectivity (3G and 4G, launched in 2012 and 2013, respectively) have yet to receive the same treatment.
While there are many fairly specialized mobile apps out there, Yo, which was just launched by Life Before Us, takes the cake for being the narrowest-focused messaging service available on Android and iOS now.
Why? Because Yo can only be used to say "Yo" to your contacts. As you can imagine, it does not even trigger a keyboard when you want to hit a friend with a message, as a touch of a button will do the trick (Life Before Us touts this as a feature, in case you are wondering why the heck I am mentioning it).
You might recall that we recently reviewed the ChargeKey and ChargeCard USB charging gadgets. These are now being relaunched with an updated design using more durable materials and have had a name change to NomadKey and NomadCard -- though we’re guessing they won't recharge your camel.
There's also an extra product, the carabiner-style NomadClip that you can fit on your key chain, belt or anywhere else to ensure you’re never without a charger. It’s non-load bearing but with a steel frame and polycarbonate outer shell it should be tough enough to survive life's day-to-day knocks.
I was quite a fan of the Huawei Ascend P7 when I reviewed it last month, noting that it was a worthy flagship phone. At the high-end of the market, Huawei's problem is less what it does with its handsets, and more the profile it gets as a company in competition with the likes of Sony, Samsung and HTC.
The Ascend G6 is not a flagship handset. It is currently available for around £225 SIM-free as a 4G handset, and an otherwise identical 3G version will be around £185. It is a good comparator for the new £235 HTC Desire 610.
Amazon today unveiled the latest entrant to the smartphone race -- the Fire phone. The handset continues the Fire name that is more readily associated with Amazon's range of Android tablets, and it has a few tricks up its sleeve to make it stand out from the competition. A press event in Seattle brought to an end weeks of rumor and speculation as the phone, which features Dynamic Perspective that allows for maps and other images to be displayed in three dimensions, was revealed.
Run by four ultra-low power specialized cameras and four infrared LEDs, Dynamic Perspective has numerous uses. One application makes it possible for users to gain a different perspective on an image or object on screen by moving their heads. In games, a move of the head can be used to switch views, and there is scope for unique navigation options within apps. Some applications are slightly simpler, and mimic those found in other handsets such as Samsung's Galaxy range. For example, auto-scroll allows for easy reading of lengthy documents and web pages without the need for swiping.
Canadian mobile maker BlackBerry may have just cracked its biggest problem -- the weak BlackBerry 10 OS ecosystem -- as it just signed a licensing agreement with Amazon, which will bring the Android Appstore to its ailing smartphone operating system.
When the upcoming BlackBerry 10.3 OS launches this fall, more than 200,000 new apps will be available on the platform, on top of what BlackBerry World already offers. The latter is likely to feature more apps that leverage BlackBerry 10 features, while the former will take on the role of filling the biggest gaps, caused by missing popular titles like Candy Crush Saga, Netflix and Minecraft, among others.
The Lumia Cyan software upgrade, which is set to roll out this summer, brings Windows Phone 8.1 to the crop of Nokia-branded Windows Phone 8 smartphones. Hardly surprising, the latest firmware will come bearing other gifts on top of a better operating system, among which are a slew of changes designed to squeeze extra performance out of high-end PureView cameras.
In a Q&A session on Nokia Conversations, when asked about the firmware's imaging changes, Microsoft's Juha Alakarhu reveals that the Lumia Icon, Lumia 930 and Lumia 1520 cameras are the Windows Phone 8, PureView-equipped devices that benefit from Lumia Cyan. Here are the sort of improvements users can expect to see.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 can get easily lost in a crowd of Android flagships. Compared to any of its well-known rivals, like the HTC One (M8) and Sony Xperia Z2, it fails to differentiate itself when it comes to screen resolution, processor choice and RAM capacity. And, compared to the more recent LG G3, it clearly loses the fight.
Some folks expected Samsung to release the Galaxy S5 with Qualcomm's mighty Snapdragon 805 processor and a higher resolution display, which would have given it the edge over the increasingly fierce competition. Now, the South Korean maker is doing just that, by adding a better version of its flagship smartphone to the lineup. Meet the Galaxy S5 LTE-A.
Second in a series. Sunday started an unexpected journey long anticipated. I walked out of Microsoft Store San Diego holding my first Nokia since abandoning the brand in 2009. Before Nokia imploded, first unable to respond to Apple innovations and next by adopting Windows Phone as primary platform, I preferred the handsets -- using over the years the N95, N96, N79, N97, and N900.
I am the proud owner of the Lumia Icon, which marks my family's slow migration to Verizon from T-Mobile. AT&T would make more sense, since the iPhones my daughter and father-in-law use would work unlocked. If the Lumia 930 were available, I could go to the Blue rather than Red network from Pink (which becomes Yellow if purchased by Sprint). My initial reaction is surprisingly good, of the handset and Windows Phone 8.
In Mid-May, Motorola made the entry-level Moto G Android smartphone even more appealing to consumers on a budget by announcing the still-affordable 4G LTE-toting model. The faster cellular connectivity has been an oft-requested feature as more and more mobile operators roll out compatible networks across the globe.
This enables subscribers to experience faster data speeds, leading to an improved experience when it comes to things like web browsing and video streaming. Costing just $219, the 4G LTE Moto G is now ready to offer these kind of benefits to a large pool of potential buyers, as it goes on sale in US.


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Sail America exists to promote the health and growth of the Sailing Industry and its stakeholders. We will do so by promoting the enrichment of their businesses, broadening the education of their members, and creating opportunities for networking.
- Sail America Virtual Event- Stay tuned.
- Sail America Industry Conference- Thank you for joining us in Newport, RI. Stay tuned for the next SAIC in 2024!
The 2022 Sailing Industry Economic Outlook Report is available!
Sail America released the 2022 Sailing Industry Economic Outlook Report. The report shows progress from 2021, with many sectors reporting positively. Confidence in the economy and the future of sailing remains high, even though economic uncertainty was reported as the main concern facing the industry in the next year.
The report is free to Sail America members. Those attending Sail America’s upcoming virtual events will also receive a free copy. Meanwhile, non-members and others can purchase a copy for $30 by emailing firstname.lastname@example.org


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WORLD : Japan Bans Import of African Ivory
Japan, the world’s largest consumer of ivory, will ban ivory imports from Africa next week, the International Trade and Industry Ministry said today.
Masahiko Isono, a ministry official, said the ban will last at least until the end of the year.
Japan has been under pressure to ban imports of ivory products to protect elephants, which are hunted for their ivory tusks. The United States, Britain, France and West Germany have banned ivory imports. Isono said Japan imported 106 tons of ivory last year, compared with 143 tons in 1987. In 1983, Japan imported 475 tons, Isono said.


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Kyrgyzstan hat two postal operators, Kirghiz Postacy State Corporation since independence of Kyrgyzstan. On December 7, 2012 Kyrgyz Express Post (KEP) was granted the status of the second designated postal operator of Kyrgyzstan. The status allows KEP to issue postage stamps and use them as real payment instrument for all kinds of postal services, as well as satisfy the needs of philatelists. This status is officially confirmed by the Universal Postal Union International Bureau circular 83 of 21 May 2013.
On November 18th 2014, Kyrgyz Express Post issued its first postage stamps and souvenir sheet. The issue was dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the UPU. Stamps depict the history of the Kyrgyz postal service, namely the means of postal transportation.
The stamps are printed in miniaturesheets of four stamps:
25.00 Postman on horseback
50.00 Mail delivery by train
250.00 Mail delivery by car
500.00 Mail delivery by plane