text:
Legal & General has brushed off the effect of the Brexit vote, Tory leadership nominations close at noon, Mark Carney speaks at 4pm. FT Opening Quote, with commentary by City Editor Jonathan Guthrie, is your early Square Mile briefing. You can sign up for the full newsletter here. Consumer confidence has slumped since the Brexit vote, according to a YouGov/CEBR poll. This suggests optimism has dropped to its lowest level since May 2013. Retail spending is likely to ebb, hurting shopkeepers. Mark Carney is giving a speech later today. It will be interesting to see whether he puts a brave face on the referendum result, having previously suggested a Brexit vote could trigger a recession. Bosses of quoted business who backed Remain may also have to reverse away from the alarmism that was the worst feature of that campaign. Legal & General kept its nose out of the debate and says disruption to its retirement division was “minimal”. Bulk annuity sales by the business were £3.6bn in the first half, compared with £2.4bn in the whole of 2015. Lifetime mortgage sales exceeded individual annuity sales 3i has received a series of approaches for its stake in Benelux-based discount retailer Action. The quoted private equity group says it has no plans to sell its investment or float the business.
Chris Nuttall considers the following as important: Opening Quote
This could be interesting, too:
Chris Nuttall writes FT Opening Quote – Unilever meets targets after failed bid
Chris Nuttall writes FT Opening Quote – Capita suspends dividend, warns on profits
Chris Nuttall writes FT Opening Quote – Zoopla’s right moves on the home market
Chris Nuttall writes FT Opening Quote – Pension and audit probes at Carillion
Legal & General has brushed off the effect of the Brexit vote, Tory leadership...


text:
Nov 2, 2020
Mairead McCaul, MSD Ireland joins Guaranteed Irish Board of Directors representing the Pharmaceutical sector.
Read more: Irish Pharmacy News.
04 Dec 2022 Guaranteed Irish Member Little Bliss’s owner Anna Daly was interviewed in the Sunday Independent on Sunday 4th December 2022,
2nd Dec 2022 Guaranteed Irish is urging consumers to buy local in the run up to Christmas by visiting Guaratneedirishgifts.ie and ‘getting

domain: news


text:
Casey Macioge representing AcousticSheep LLC wears a RunPhones headband, a moisture wicking headband with removable headphones at the "CES: Unveiled," media preview for International CES, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Jan. 5, 2014.
The world's largest consumer technology trade show, also known as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), runs from January 7 to 10.
Las VegasA Mother data monitoring system from France is shown during the first press event for "CES Unveiled."
DJI Innovations product manager Paul Pan demonstrates the company's DJI Phantom 2 Vision aerial system during at a press event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
The unit, available now for $1,199, has a 14-megapixel camera on board that can shoot raw photos and 1080p video.
It can be controlled with an iPhone or Android smart phone and has a 25-minute flight time.
The LG Electronics LG G Flex phone is shown at a press event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center for the 2014 International CES.
The company touts the unit as the world's first curved flexible smart phone featuring a 6-inch, curved P-OLED screen.
Liquid Image's EGO LS wearable camera is displayed during a press event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center for the 2014 International CES.
The 8-megapixel camera is WiFi enabled, has Bluetooth for remote control use and audio capability. It can be used with a module with 4G LTE so the user can live stream video anywhere. The camera will be available in June 2014 for $199 and the module will be sold separately, also for $199.
A Wellograph watch and activity tracker is displayed at a press event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
The watch works as a standalone device and displays information through an infographic interface. It can monitor the user's heart rate, work as a running watch and a pedometer, measure calories burned and contains all the information for up to four months.
Las VegasThe Shine physical activity monitor by Misfit is displayed at a press event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
The Sphero 2B robot from Orbotix is displayed at a press event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
The robot is controlled by Bluetooth and iOS or Android smart phone apps and can travel up to 14 feet per second over multiple surfaces.
Using infrared technology, users can play multiplayer games by remote control.
Las VegasA Parrot MiniDrone is shown in flight during a press event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
Las VegasThe Aha car media streaming platform by Harman is displayed at a press event at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.
Las VegasThe LG G Flex phone is presented during the first press event "CES Unveiled."
Las VegasNovasentis presents their Electro-Mechanical Polymer EMP, actuator technology, during the first press event at "CES Unveiled."
Las VegasA DJI Innovations DJI Phantom 2 Vision aerial system drone is shown during "CES: Unveiled."
The MX3 Meizu smartphone from Chinese company Future Technology Enterprise Ltd is displayed at "CES: Unveiled."
The MX3 is the latest Meizu smartphone using the Flyme 3.0 operating system which the company plans to release in U.S. markets later this year.
Las VegasLiquid Image's goggles with built-in cameras are displayed at "CES Unveiled."
The Discovery iQ 48 Dual-Fuel Range with a 7-inch Android 4.0 tablet built into the front panel from appliance maker Dacor is displayed at "CES: Unveiled."
The tablet runs apps and controls all the functions of the oven via the touchscreen and the included Discovery iQ app and also connects into the home network.


text:
With 800 million players worldwide, chess is more popular than ever. New technology platforms have introduced the “Game of Kings” to a whole new generation and secured its place in pop culture, from Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” to the growth of chess influencers on streaming platforms.
come in immortal gameThe Paris-based platform aims to leverage web3 and next-generation digital assets to improve the gaming experience for online chess players worldwide, who currently play over 20 million games daily. I’m here.
Founded in 2021 by Thomas Zepfel, David Singara When Geoffroy Mestralet, Immortal Game, was created in collaboration with a dedicated blockchain-powered chess community. The company is now launching its web3 chess platform and marketplace, for which he has raised $12 million in Series A funding.
The gaming startup uses the funding to accelerate product momentum and expand into key markets such as the US, Europe and India.
guided by TCG Cryptothe round includes several other leading technology and entertainment VC specialists such as Cassius, greenfield one, sparkle ventures (Supported by Sandbox Founders and Animoca Brands) by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman 35V, block wall, Kraken VenturesWhen spice capital.
Players can participate in live games, league tournaments, and a powerful set of learning tools and products. His 50 Grandmasters, who are Immortal Game Ambassadors, will also be on board and can be accessed regularly on the platform. Players monetize their time, game participation and skill development through a “play to earn” platform, his NFT with chess utility and unique play style, marketplace with live auctions and instant purchases There is also an option to
The company raised $3.5 million in seed funding earlier this year. Immortal Game has also partnered with Immutable X, a layer 2 game protocol, to bring their games to the public blockchain, Ethereum.
Immortal Game CEO Thomas Zaepffel said: Chess is a game that has benefited from this technology for centuries, preserving its legacy while attracting new groups of players as it continues to expand the reach of this incredible game. , fifty grand excited to support his master. ”


text:
MARAWI CITY, Oct. 22 (PIA) - The National Food Authority (NFA) in Lanao del Sur said it is buying palay from local farmers at P19 per kilo amid its plunging prices.
Khayamera Dialem, NFA Lanao del Sur administrative officer, said this is their way of 'helping local farmers who find it difficult to sell at the price they want.'
She said they received reports that private rice millers buy palay at only P12 to P15 per kilo.
"We buy dry and clean palay at 14 percent moisture content. But we still buy even if it's not at 14 percent moisture content. We will dry it as we have a mechanical dryer and solar dryer," she further said.
Dialem said they put in place a buying station in the municipality of Poona Bayabao. They also accept walk-in farmers in their warehouse in Marawi City.
Moreover, NFA personnel visits palay the producing municipalities in the province, namely Butig, Lumba-Bayabao, Poona-Bayabao, and Ditsaan-Ramain to pick-up the produce of farmers.
Meanwhile, Dialem urged local government units in the province to buy rice from NFA to help local farmers. "Kung mabilis po namin mabenta yung bigas namin, makakabili uli kami ng palay sa mga local farmers natin (If we can sell our rice quickly, we can buy palay again from our local farmers)," she added. (APB/PIA-ICIC)


text:
John Deaton, the lawyer representing over 75,000 XRP holders, believes that the long-running legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has negatively affected the adoption of XRP for online payments on platforms like Amazon Pay, Afterpay, and others.
XRP Adoption Hindered for Over 2 Years
Deaton expressed his concern over how the protracted legal dispute between Ripple Labs and the SEC has hampered the adoption of XRP. This lawsuit has notably obstructed the potential integration that could have enabled users to pay with XRP on Amazon Pay and others alike.
In a post on X, Deaton provided a case study of Bitpay, the leading crypto payment platform. Initially, they provided users in the U.S. with the option to make payments using XRP. However, this option was removed following the lawsuit in which the SEC tagged XRP as security.
Here’s is a small yet significant example of how the lawsuit hurt #XRP’s adoption. I was just purchasing an item over the internet and the payment options include: “Pay with cryptocurrency with @BitPay.”
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) September 3, 2023
Because of the SEC lawsuit, XRP was put at a disadvantage, which was the main point of an earlier thread on X. Deaton highlighted that Bitpay allows users to pay in Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), which are meme coins, created as jokes, while payments with XRP, which was created for payments, are not allowed.
Amazon Pay, which is the main focus here, has 27% of their digital payment users in the U.S. who prefer using Amazon Pay during checkout. This large market is being prevented from using and enjoying the benefits of XRP because of the SEC lawsuit.
The Destructive Legacy of the Ripple Lawsuit
These recent remarks echo the sentiment of his older thread on X, and this post specifically where he expressed his firm belief that the SEC used the lawsuit as a weapon against Ripple. He continued, saying that XRP could have received wider adoption.
Although Ripple has enjoyed immense success, especially outside the U.S., Deaton believes the lawsuit definitely hurt XRP and the development of the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
In the midst of all of this, Ripple has made good progress in the lawsuit with the SEC with a ruling in favor of XRP, resulting in various exchange listings.
Meanwhile, Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, is already planning a long overdue victory party, despite the SEC’s appeal of part of the court’s decision.


text:
Marc Metrick stepped off a freight elevator at Saks Fifth Avenue one recent afternoon and navigated his way past mangled wires and bare concrete beams, his Prada lace-ups crunching on broken glass.
"The staircase is going to come up here," he said, on the gutted fourth floor. Turning toward a jumble of boxes, he added, "And here's our fur business."
"It might look like nothing to you right now," said Mr. Metrick, the retail chain's president, "but to me, it's a passion project."
Department stores, as a class, are under siege: online retailers are making inroads into luxury, off-price outlets are peddling name brands at deep discounts, and there has been a shift in where and how people shop. But Saks, the 91-year-old department store chain that long defined American fashion and luxury, is betting that shoppers still care about glamour and is putting its hopes on a $250 million, three-year restoration of its Fifth Avenue flagship store.
Marilyn Monroe purchased dresses at Saks Fifth Avenue, and Elvis Presley his slick leather jacket. Saks helped introduce haute European fashion houses, like Givenchy, to elite American clientele. It introduced the Estée Lauder cosmetics line. It designed Lady Bird Johnson's red coat and dress for the 1965 inaugural parade.
But in more recent times, Saks has been adrift under the ownership of British American Tobacco and then the Southern regional department store chain Proffitt's. A patchy nationwide expansion saddled Saks with unprofitable mall locations. Heavy markdowns during the 2008 financial crisis tarnished its exclusive image. When the Canadian retail giant Hudson's Bay snapped up Saks in 2013 for $2.4 billion, its sales were dwarfed by those of rivals like Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.
Now turmoil is hitting the entire department store sector. Macy's and Nordstrom — two industry stalwarts — reported disappointingly weak traffic and sluggish sales heading into the holiday season. Over the last week, investors have erased almost $5 billion from their combined market values.
It has fallen on Mr. Metrick, a 42-year-old father of two, to undertake a Saks revival. He was not the first choice of the Hudson's Bay chairman, Richard A. Baker. The task initially was assigned to Marigay McKee, who led a turnaround at the British luxury department store Harrods. But in April, Ms. McKee was ousted after just 15 months on the job because of what insiders have described as a personality clash with top executives at Hudson's Bay, which also owns Lord & Taylor.
Mr. Metrick, who worked for almost two decades at Saks and Hudson's Bay in less glamorous positions like chief administrative officer, gives off the air of a corporate lifer who has long toiled for uninspired bosses and now unexpectedly finds himself in charge.
"You spend your whole life saying, 'If I was in charge, I would. If I was in charge, I would,'" Mr. Metrick said. "You have all these ideas. Then all of a sudden, I can."
When the merchants Horace Saks and Bernard Gimbel teamed up to open a luxury department store on the Fifth Avenue in 1924, it was still largely a quiet stretch of stately homes. It wasn't too long before Saks's designers were creating and stitching lavish gowns for Manhattan debutantes dressing for their coming-out balls. In 1935, Saks constructed an indoor ski slope where Scandinavian instructors offered lessons. Above the 50th Street marquee, an electric sign system was installed so that chauffeurs could be summoned to pick up society ladies laden with purchases.
"Saks had gravitas. For a long time, it was one of the leading department stores of New York City," said Marie Driscoll, chief executive of the retail consultancy Driscoll Advisors and a longtime luxury analyst. "But their positioning needs a refresh."
For Mr. Metrick, reinventing the flagship is a priority. A lavish, indulgent in-store shopping experience, he said, was something that online retailers could never replicate. But he said Saks, even its flagship store, needed to work on its game.
More from the New York Times:
"Look at this. People are moving around you, they're bumping into you, they're coming off the elevator," he said on the store's ground floor, a vast concourse populated by shiny cosmetics counters. "When you look at the store from the outside, it's huge, but when you go in, you almost can't tell that there are other floors."
Mr. Metrick complained about Saks's restaurant on the eighth floor, Cafe SFA. "I never thought it was a productive thing to have a restaurant back here," he said, waving his hand toward a lunchroom with customers seated at only a handful of tables. "See how it's empty?" And a terrace outside the shoe floor on eight, which overlooks Rockefeller Center, is currently in disuse, he grumbled. "What a waste. Imagine having dinner out here, or lunch. Or coming out here with a drink," he said, warming to the idea. "Shoes and booze!"
To open up the entire store to shoppers, Saks is making some radical changes. It is punching a hole through the ceiling of the ground floor to make way for a 23-foot-high spiral staircase, wrapped around a glass elevator. The beauty department will jump to the second floor, leaving the first floor to handbags and other accessories. About 55,000 square feet of back-room space in the basement will be transformed into a boutique for fine jewelry to be called the Vault. (Think of "million-dollar pieces," Mr. Metrick says.) To replace Cafe SFA, Saks is installing the Paris restaurant L'Avenue. It is also installing a champagne bar and a John Barrett beauty salon.
To some observers, the Saks overhaul is puzzling.
"Are there not enough people going upstairs? Then something's not working," said the department store historian and author Michael Lisicky. "And why would anyone want to buy expensive jewelry in the basement?" he said. "You have to know your shopper."
It is increasingly difficult to know who the Saks shopper is.
Saks's wealthy clientele seems to be prospering, as wealth becomes increasingly concentrated at the top and foreign money pours into major American cities.
But the luxury consumer is changing. The typical shopper today is rarely loyal to any particular store and hunts for value on favorite name brands, often mixing "high" and "low" labels. Harried consumers also look for efficiency. And e-commerce is altering the relationship between department stores and the brands they sell, as fashion houses like Chanel and Gucci start to sell directly to consumers online, and through online luxury retailers like Net-a-Porter.
The consulting firm McKinsey & Company estimates that e-commerce already accounts for about 4 percent of luxury sales, and is growing more than three times as fast as the wider luxury industry. And though department stores, including Saks, are redoubling their e-commerce offerings, they risk getting cut out of the picture.
Those concerns add to general hand-wringing over department stores, many of them once hubs that sold electronics, appliances, toys, books and furniture, along with fashion. Regional chains have fallen one by one, leaving nationwide names like Saks, Neiman Marcus and Macy's to battle it out. But now even those chains are struggling.
Saks is now altering how it sells fashion, adding ultra-high-end designers like Balmain and Balenciaga, but also shifting away from segregating the store by price, mixing high and low brands on the same floor. Saks has also hedged its bets by opening an off-price chain, Saks Off 5th, which sells excess designer inventory at deep discounts. Sales growth at Saks Off 5th, which is now run under a separate arm of Hudson's Bay, far outpaces growth at the Saks mainstay stores. But some analysts worry that the Off 5th stores will eventually start cannibalizing Saks's full-price offerings.
Even among full-price stores, Saks faces stiff competition on its home turf. Bergdorf Goodman, another Fifth Avenue stalwart, is going through its own revamp. Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom have said they will open their first Manhattan locations in 2018.
Saks, wary of this intrusion, is opening a second store in Manhattan, at Brookfield Place in the fast-growing financial district, and will follow with a third location, a men's-only store, also downtown. Across the country, Saks is opening seven stores, including new locations in Miami, Houston and Hawaii. Saks is also expanding into Canada.
"That's always the big challenge: How do you find a way to appeal to the next generation without alienating the current one?" said Arnold Aronson, a partner at Kurt Salmon and former Saks chief executive.
Saks sorely needs a turnaround. In the second quarter, Hudson's Bay booked sales of $2 billion, a 15.2 percent increase from last year. But sales at Saks Fifth Avenue were flat, compared with 12.7 percent growth in Saks Off 5th stores, and 4.9 percent growth at the group's other retailers, Lord & Taylor and Hudson's Bay.
Federica Levato, a principal at Bain & Company, the consulting firm, said that reinvigorating the flagship was a prudent move, especially if it diversified beyond apparel and beauty.
"But this will not be a game changer in the future of their core business," Ms. Levato said. People who are buying online or off-price, "will keep buying online or off-price," she said.
One way Hudson's Bay is tapping Saks is by monetizing the flagship's valuable real estate. In 2014, the company took out a loan against the Fifth Avenue location that valued the store at $3.7 billion, more than Hudson's Bay paid for the entire Saks chain.
Mr. Baker has said that he will use the new mortgage to pay down some of Hudson's Bay's debt and give it an infusion of cash. And there may be more real estate deals coming. Analysts have estimated the total value of the company's real estate at about $7 billion. Other retailers have explored similar moves, as the value of the ground beneath their stores looks enticing in a world of uncertain retail sales.
Mr. Metrick remains focused on Saks's retail business. When Hudson's Bay bought Saks in 2013, many senior executives quickly departed. Mr. Metrick, who had been wooed away by Mr. Baker the previous year, returned to Saks, becoming its chief administrative officer.
At times, it seems Mr. Metrick still cannot believe that he is now at Saks's helm. He recalls growing up on Long Island, and taking trips into the city.
"I wasn't a fashion guy, I didn't have a Saks nearby. But every year, right around this time of year, like all good Jewish families, we'd pile into the car and drive into the city. And we would see the Saks windows," he said. "We've come full circle now, because I'll be unveiling them in a few weeks. I think that's kind of cool."
On the Saks terrace, Mr. Metrick clambered onto an exposed ledge and leaned precariously over the street below, explaining that he had been photographed there the previous day.
"Don't!" his handler cried in alarm. Mr. Metrick climbed down, looking impish as a schoolboy caught in a reckless prank. He would never have done something like this as chief administrative officer. But as Saks president, he is taking liberties.


text:
Having spent the most of 2016 getting gamers familiar with the idea of its biggest franchises coming to their iPhone or Android device, video game maker Nintendo is ready to kick its smartphone releases into high gear in 2017. We’re only weeks into the year and the company has already announced its first new mobile title. Yesterday it revealed the Fire Emblem Heroes release for iPhone and devices running Android.
Fire Emblem Heroes is a role-playing game based on this seriously popular Fire Emblem franchise of games that have been on Nintendo’s consoles for years. The company is billing the RPG as having more of a “tactical” bent, forcing players to think about every decision that they make in its combat and beyond. When it launches later this year, it’ll be only the second of Nintendo’s franchises to make it to smartphones and tablets. For a long time, Nintendo resisted the urge to make any of its games available on any platforms that it didn’t directly control. The first franchise to make it to another platform was Mario with Super Mario Run, which launched late last year.
The Fire Emblem Heroes release date might just be this year’s first highly anticipated game launch. Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming title.
Fire Emblem Heroes Release Date
With the festive season now over, Nintendo and partner DeNA are ready to get back to work. How ready are they? Nintendo revealed Fire Emblem Heroes was in development last year, but didn’t speak much about the title until January 18th. The Fire Emblem Heroes release date is February 2nd, which isn’t very far off at all.
Fire Emblem Heroes will have a story of its own that builds off the other entries in the franchise, Nintendo promises. That story will include familiar characters and voice overs. A Training Tower, Arena Dueling and Hero Battles will be in the game.
There’s No Fire Emblem Heroes Exclusivity
With Super Mario Run, Nintendo wanted to make a big splash. As such, it partnered with Apple for the release of the game. Apple executives revealed the game on stage at an Apple Keynote for the latest iPhones. Even now, the iPhone and iPad are the only devices with access to the game. This fueled fears that Nintendo and Apple would continue to work together on all mobile releases. Those fears seem unfounded now.
On February 2nd, Fire Emblem Heroes will launch on both the iPhone and devices running Google’s Android operating system. That’s great news for anyone still wishing they had access to Super Mario Run.
Unfortunately, Nintendo hasn’t confirmed the requirements for the Fire Emblem Heroes release. That is, the company hasn’t said what devices will need to support the game. We don’t know if the game will require the latest version of iOS 9 or work with phones still running iOS 8. It’s the same situation on Android. We don’t yet have a clear picture of what kind of hardware the game will require your phone to have.
Fire Emblem Heroes Price
Fire Emblem Heroes has lots of changes to make it more mobile friendly. The actual grid that users battle on will be smaller to accommodate the lack of screen release date on most mobile devices, for example. Nintendo and DeNA have also adopted the game’s price and mechanics to make sense on smartphones.
Fire Emblem Heroes will be free to download when it launches in February. Anyone who wants to try the game can, at no cost. That’s very different from Super Mario Run, which offers a free experience but heavily encourages users to spend $9.99 to unlock all its content. Fire Emblem Heroes will use what’s called a free-to-play model. Basically, in exchange for getting the game free, Nintendo and DeNA will offer in-game items that players can purchase to enhance their experience.
Heroes will have optional upgrades, though we’re not entirely sure what that’ll entail just yet. In going to free-to-play, Nintendo is hoping to reach the biggest amount of users possible. It’s a trick that worked out for developer Niantic last year when it released Pokémon Go for iPhone and Android. Players spent millions on in-game items once they’d gotten addicted to the game.
What You Can Expect After the Fire Emblem Heroes Release
After the Fire Emblem Heroes release, Nintendo and DeNA plan to treat the game as a service. Rather than release the game and move on to another project, a team of developers will stay on. They’ll add new content and new features at regularly intervals, Nintendo says.
The Fire Emblem Heroes release date may now be a sure thing, but that doesn’t mean Nintendo’s mobile efforts are completely out of the spotlight just yet. We know of one more game set to arrive on iPhone and Android from the company. It’s an all-new Animal Crossing entry.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.


text:
Thursday 14th October, 2021
Poland has agreed this October to advance its B2B electronic invoicing project. The details of a new electronic invoicing system were published in a bill during February by the Ministry.
The new system will go live on January 2022 according to the law, and companies will have a year to prepare their management systems since they will all have to comply and issue electronic invoices through it as of 2023.
To promote the use of the new platform the government has announced a 1/3 reduction in VAT return times (20 days instead of 40 or 60) for its users and has exempted its users from having to declare the JPK_FA file. According to Edicom.
Companies must send all electronic invoices to the central government platform, The National Electronic Invoicing System (KSeF) where a digital time stamp will be applied. The invoices can be searched in the KSeF portal and downloaded in the original format or PDF. The Portal will also double as a storage device archiving electronic tax documents for 10 years.
KSeF Implementation Timeline:
October 2021: Beginning of test period. Companies that would like to volunteer to participate in system testing can do so.
January 2022: Voluntary phase. Companies that would like to can begin electronically invoicing.
January 2023: Mandatory use of the electronic invoice.


text:
Just like its predecessors, the upcoming version of iPhone has become a hot topic for all tech geeks. Apple has become synonymous toy the term, path-breaking. The new variant will be called iPhone 5 and has been assured by the company itself. Apple iPhone 5 would be the 5th generation of iPhone and expectations are very high. However, the demise of Steve Jobs has taken its toll and every critique is questioning the novelty of Apple. Apple didn’t volunteer for this year CES 2012 which has indeed uplifted curiosity quotient.
According to sources, the new iPhone will be the slimmest ever produced by the company. Company insiders, Katy Huberty have reportedly hinted the Apple will be using a novel touch panel technology in order to manufacture slimmer iPhone 5. First half of August has been predicted as iPhone 5 release date.
Huberty also dropped light on the use Qualcomm’s quad-mode chip which will enhance network versatility of slimmer iPhone 5. With the new iPhone, people will able to use any type of LTE network and 3G networks. Apart from that, no concrete information is available about the new phone.
Although, Huberty stressed upon the demand of iPhone 4S which is increasing day by day and looked quite content as she said “such huge demand has definitely surprised us but its adds confidence and has elevated our hopes of getting strong sales with the new model”. She also confirmed that the new iPad or iPad 3 will be launched in the first half of August.
Piper Jaffray also agreed with Huberty’s statement. He also predicted that first half of August will be iPhone 5 release date and added, “I am expecting huge demand for iPhone 5 with the enormous hype surrounding iPhone 5″.


text:
Agency probes brake lights on older Malibus, Auras
The Bottom Line
Other Business Features
Local Stories from ThisWeek
- Condo residents, others protest apartments plan
- Thompson to city of Whitehall: Close term-limit 'loophole'
- New Albany, United Steelworkers ink first deal
- Northland Plan update receives unanimous NCC vote of approval
DETROIT — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it’s checking into complaints about brake-light problems in the 2004 to 2011 Chevrolet Malibu and the 2007 to 2009 Saturn Aura — more than a million cars in all.
The safety agency said the brake lights might not come on when the pedal is pressed, while at other times, the lights can illuminate for no reason.
In 2009, General Motors recalled about 8,000 Pontiac G6 midsize cars from the 2005 model year for the same problem.
The Malibu and the Aura share many parts with the G6, but GM spokesmen were unsure yesterday whether all three cars have the same brake lights.


text:
10 Of The Biggest Advertising Fails of all Time
As we’ve witnessed last week, after the much-ridiculed ad from Pepsi, it can be all too easy to get advertising wrong. Grabbing the attention of consumers is becoming increasingly difficult so brands know that they need to be creative and push boundaries in order to increase their market share.
But the line between being controversial enough that you get people talking and just purely insensitive or offensive is a fine one and often difficult to get right. Not only are they a costly mistake to make, but they can really damage your reputation. So after recent events, we decided to take a look at 10 of the worst advertising campaigns that didn’t quite hit the mark.
We start with one of the most recent and biggest advertising mistakes talked about by people everywhere. The viral ad features reality TV star and model Kendall Jenner ending a heavily policed demonstration by approaching a police officer and handing him a can of Pepsi. Whilst Pepsi was trying to “project a global message of unity, peace and understanding”, the ad instead received backlash and accusations that the brand was trivialising recent protests across the US, in particular the Black Lives Matter movement. The video originally posted on YouTube, was removed less than 24 hours later and the brand has since apologised.
Another expensive and unsuccessful campaign was the 2006 Snickers TV advert featuring Mr T as BA Baracus from the popular TV series The A-Team. The ‘Get Some Nuts’ campaign features Mr T firing Snickers bars at a man speed walking in tight yellow shorts whilst yelling “Speed walking. I pity you fool. You a disgrace to the man race. It’s time to run like a real man.” The commercial, first broadcasted in the UK, was pulled by Mars after it received a large number of complaints from the US for being offensive to gay people and for suggesting that violence against LGBT people is acceptable. Interestingly, the ad was never shown in the US and no complaints were raised by the UK audience demonstrating the power of digital media.
E-commerce site Groupon aired a number of new advertisements during the 2011 Super Bowl but one ad quickly became the topic of conversation but for the wrong reasons. The commercial starring actor Timothy Hutton, began with him discussing the human rights issues in Tibet stating that “Their very culture is in jeopardy”. However he then follows this by saying “But they still whip up an amazing fish curry” whilst at a restaurant enjoying discounted Tibetan food purchased via Groupon. Understandably the ad received a lot of backlash for its exploitation of the tragedy in Tibet resulting in the ad being pulled just four days later.
After the detrimental 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, BP had a lot of damage control to undertake considering 100,000 barrels of oil were spewing into the Gulf of Mexico every day. Therefore, BP thought it would best for the CEO Tony Hayward to try and face some of the criticism. He filmed a short video in which he pledged that the company would take responsibility and address the damage caused. However, the advertisement came right after Hayward had made headlines by stating of the ongoing spill “There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I’d like my life back.” Undeniably the ad was not well received and was widely criticized by people who suggested it would be wiser to spend the money on clean-up efforts rather than advertising.
In 2007 the Department of Health released an anti-smoking TV campaign that featured a man with a fish hook piercing his cheek being dragged along to a shop with similar images used on posters and press adverts. The campaign was aimed at highlighting the dangers of being ‘hooked’ on cigarettes and the range of ways the NHS can help in kicking the habit. The ad drew 774 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority who subsequently banned the commercial. Most people objected that the campaign was not only offensive but frightening and distressing to children.
This next disastrous advertising campaign comes from another carmaker but this time from US brand Ford. The advert for the new Fido hatchback was aimed at promoting the trunk’s large space by showcasing that you are able to fit at least three women. However, it seems Ford failed to see the issues with having three women seemingly tied up and in distress being driven by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who can be seen grinning and flashing the peace sign. Ford was of course forced to issue an apology and the advert was not used commercially.
Back in 2013, the Korean automaker released a commercial that was in very bad taste. To promote the release of their new vehicle, the IX35 crossover, the ad depicts a failed suicide attempt in a garage thanks to the vehicle failing to produce enough harmful emissions. The offensive film quickly became viral and the backlash followed. Both Hyundai and the German agency involved apologised for the controversial ad and removed it from YouTube where it was released.
Another controversial campaign that garnered heavy criticism for its message was the 2015 print ad by Protein World. The slimming firm’s campaign consisted of a bikini-clad model with a tagline that read “Are you beach body ready?” The brand was criticized for encouraging body shaming and promoting an unrealistic body image. The Advertising Standards Authority received nearly 400 complaints in the UK alone and gathered a lot of negative attention on social media that resulted in an online petition with more than 70,000 signatures and a protest. The ASA banned the campaign in its current form and also began an investigation with regard to its health claims.
Back in 2003, the children’s charity Barnardo’s created a provocative campaign to raise awareness for child poverty. The shocking series of images portrayed babies in pain with various items in their mouths from cockroaches to harmful chemicals and syringes. The ASA received 92 complaints in less than 24 hours for causing widespread offence which prompted an immediate investigation that resulted in the ad being banned. In response to this, Diana Green, Director of Communications at Barnardo’s stated: “We make no apologies because we have raised the debate of child poverty”.
The last advertising fail comes from German skincare Nivea who had to remove their latest advert after receiving backlash on social media. The campaign created for their invisible deodorant range had the following slogan “White is Purity” printed across an image of a woman. Posted on the firm’s Facebook page, the ad was originally aimed at their followers in the Middle East however the brand failed to take into account their global following which stands at 19 million. The ad was widely criticised for its racist connotations prompting Nivea to apologise and delete the post.
Advertising that pushes the boundaries will always divide opinions and will undoubtedly land better with some people than others. Ultimately, we live in a time whereby topics such as race, gender, sexual orientation and human rights remain sensitive discussion points. Addressing these in your advertising campaigns will always be risky. So before you get too creative, consider all possible outcomes your campaign could have and be prepared to address these in such a way that doesn’t create any long-term damage for your brand.


text:
Further details about what Audi is bringing to CES 2015 have been released with the German company set to showcase its latest Matrix laser headlights and some of the advanced features of the latest-generation, 2016 Audi Q7.
Audi recently introduced its Matrix laser headlights to the market with the release of the Audi R8 LMX. While very few details have been given about the laser lights which the firm will be bringing to CES 2015, some developments can be expected.
Audi R8 LMX
Additionally, the new operating controls and display concept of the new Audi Q7 will be exhibited for the first time. Audi claims that they are “revolutionary”. Elsewhere, Audi will be bringing along the latest-generation TT Roadster, RS7 Sportback and R8 LMX to this year’s Consumer Electronics Show on January 6.
At the show, board member for technical development at Audi, Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg as well as head of development electric/electronics at the firm, Ricky Hudi, will also hold a press conference on January 6. During this conference, the two will be presenting the latest trends and products in the areas of Audi connect, piloted driving, user controls and displays. Additionally, future infotainment and lighting technologies will be discussed.
Also at CES 2015, the public Audi Tech Talk will be held at the convention centre where technology experts will provide the audience with an in-depth look into Audi Technical Development.


text:
It is fair to say that Ghost Tsushima was the most anticipated PC port from PlayStation, except Bloodborne. This game is quickly approaching its fourth anniversary, and Sony confirmed the grand arrival of its PC port yesterday.
It will be released on 16th May 2024, and the Steam page is already up. To no one’s surprise, right after pre-orders went up, the game took the 6th best-selling spot on Steam.
Why it matters: Games typically climb the Steam charts a week or two before release, but PlayStation’s PC port is still over two months away.
As shown in the image above, Ghost of Tsushima is at the 6th spot. What makes this so interesting is the fact that the PC port has even left Horizon Forbidden West behind, which is nowhere to be seen in the top 10 despite its March release.
We have excluded Steam Deck from this comparison since it isn’t a game and should be given a separate category. Free-to-play titles are also excluded, but Ghost of Tsushima has already come close to highly anticipated releases like Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Capcom’s RPG has made incredible progress of its own, but PlayStation’s announcement has nearly eclipsed this anticipation already. PC fans have been waiting for a long time for this game, so it is likely to break a few records on Steam come release day.
To reach this spot, the port has already beaten new releases like WWE 2K24. Furthermore, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Elden Ring have been left behind. The latter went through a resurgence recently, owing to the reveal of Shadow of the Erdtree.
Ghost of Tsushima has sold nearly 10 million copies on PlayStation consoles. While this number is massive, it has been nearly four years since the game was released.
The fact that PC gamers are so excited about a four-year-old game speaks volumes about its quality. More ports are also expected to follow, with a leaker hinting at The Last of Us Part 2.
Meanwhile, Sony may be gearing up for a Ghost of Tsushima 2 reveal this year for the PlayStation Showcase. Overall, there has never been a better time to be a fan of this IP and PC gaming.
Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔
Obaid is pursuing a Law degree, while working as a content writer. He has worked as a gaming writer for over a year because of his passion for the medium and reporting the latest updates in the industry. Having played hundreds of games, Obaid finds himself coming back to Elden Ring and Red Dead Redemption 2, with these games being among his favorites. He has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as Wccftech, Metro UK, PS Lifestyle, GamePressure, VGC, and Gamespot.


text:
Whip Media Inks Reaches Deal With Digital Product Placement Firm Ryff – Media Play News
July 12, 2022
Whip Media, an enterprise software platform and data provider for entertainment organizations, announced that Ryff, a technology company specializing in dynamic digital product placement, will use its consumer insights and data from commitment to develop targeted product placement opportunities for its brand partners.
Using CVM Insights, Whip Media’s proprietary data solution, Ryff will gain access to audience insights, allowing the Los Angeles-based company to better help brands aiming to place their products and messages in films, TV shows and advertisements to target audiences. Ryff’s Placer platform locates the right placement opportunity for clients looking to showcase their products on screen, according to a statement from Whip.
“Ryff’s distinctive and market-leading technology – allowing brands to digitally overlay their products directly onto content – will only be enhanced by audience data from Whip Media,” said Tara Alexander, vice president of management. of Whip Media’s global corporate accounts, in a statement. “The pairing will help Ryff customers reach the viewers they want faster and easier.”
Subscribe HERE to the FREE daily Media Play News newsletter!
Whip Media’s real-time viewing and engagement data covers more than 4 million TV episodes and movies across 130 countries and 1,900 platforms, according to the company.
“Having access to Whip Media’s global data and global audience panel of over 20 million viewers will provide our business with critical audience insights – including age and gender dynamics for certain content – to better engage audiences and grow our business,” Ryff’s CEO said. Roy Taylor in a statement.


text:
Intel Names Wachter 2021 Emerging Technology Partner of the Year
Wachter Recognized as Intel Channel Partner for Edge Growth Solutions
LENEXA, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#Intel–Nationwide solutions integrator Wachter, Inc. is an Intel US Channel Partner of the Year in 2021 for Emerging Technology.
Intel recognized Wachter for “delivering unique solutions to enterprises to incorporate IoT and edge technologies for companies of all sizes.”
Wachter strategically aligns itself with industry-leading partners like Intel.
“We’re proud to be Intel’s go-to partner for emerging technologies,” said Matt Tyler, Wachter’s director of IoT and emerging technologies. “This partnership allows Wachter to stay ahead the technology curve and provide our customers the most valuable and cost-effective technology solutions.”
Wachter, Inc. is a leading nationwide solutions integrator with over 90 years of technology innovation expertise. Wachter combines innovative technologies and leading-edge integrations with traditional systems and decades of expertise to create solutions that meet clients’ business needs today and grow with them into the future. And with a nationwide workforce of W2 employees, Wachter provides most any business technology or service, for any vertical market, anywhere in the U.S. — whether at one location or thousands.
Read more about Wachter » wachter.com/resources/news/
Jessica Martin, Wachter Marketing Manager


text:
Government officials and corporations from Vietnam and Cuba met in Hanoi on Tuesday to explore new trade and investment opportunities at the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) Conference. A Cuban business delegation led by the Cuban Chamber of Commerce General Secretary, Omar de Jesus Fernandez Menendez, attended the conference.
Vietnam is Cuba’s second largest trade partner in Asia after China. In 2018, bilateral trade stood at $336 million and is predicted to reach $500 million in the near future. The two countries signed a trade agreement last year.
Some of Vietnam’s largest companies are already active in the construction, tourism and renewable energy sectors in Cuba, including the Thai Binh, Viglacera,S.A, Hanel and Thin Thanh companies.
Government officials and business held the trade and investment conference as a lead up to the upcoming Vietnam International Trade Fair.
Cuba and Vietnam both say that bilateral ties between the two nations demonstrate immense potential. Cooperation in the health, biotechnology, sports, tourism, culture, agrifood, agriculture, construction, information technology, communications and industry sectors are in existence and can be further developed to the benefit of both.
Cuba is currently undergoing economic reform with more open policies. The nation is striving to increase trade and exports of goods and services in the food, hi-tech agriculture, rum, cigars and Dublin medical services sectors. The Caribbean Island is looking to Vietnam to increase exports for consumer goods, garments and textiles.
The Conference acknowledge the fact that there are problems. “There are some struggles, like geographical distance, the American blockade, the lack of knowledge between us, but our presence here and your attention is the most important way to start fostering the business relationship and overcome hardships.”
However, Phạm Thiết Hòa, Director of the ITPC acknowledged the relationship between Việt Nam and Cuba is growing nicely. Last year a visit by senior officials, headed by People’s Committee chairman Nguyễn Thành Phong, emphasized the growing economic and trade links.
Likewise, Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited Hanoi in March and November of 2018.
Cuban and Vietnamese business persons also had an opportunity to network at an exhibition at the Conference and promote their businesses and products.


text:
Scientists have found that all kinds of pathogens gather in coffee grounds and in used pod machine capsules.
According to the German News Agency (DPA), Fritz Titgemeyer, head of the Food Microbiology Laboratory at the Munster University of Applied Sciences in Germany, said that damp coffee grounds encourage the growth of germs.
If you leave a used coffee pod in the machine for a few days before throwing it out, some mould spores may remain in there and you may be adding them to your next brew.
Titgemeyer noted that a heat-stable poison may have developed, a so-called mycotoxin, and you will not be able to see or taste it.
The water containers and the plastic tubes in coffee machines are also a perfect breeding ground for bacteria if they are not cleaned properly. The expert said that bacteria can settle there in the form of biofilms. All removable components need to be cleaned thoroughly.
Titgemeyer added however disgusting it may be to imagine one's coffee machine full of microorganisms, they do not really pose a health risk.
"The water is heated to 80 degrees Celsius, which kills any germs present in the water tank," he said.
If you use the machine to make cold drinks, however, you may need to worry. Titgemeyer explained that in cold-extracted drinks like iced tea or iced coffee, all germs will remain. The good news is that many coffee machines include a self-cleaning program, but there are also extra things you can do to make sure you keep the germs at bay.


text:
You’ve seen the leaks, you’ve seen photos of them on sale in stores in distant lands, and you’ve probably even seen the teaser trailer recently released by the club…
Now finally, here are the first official photos of the Manchester City 2017/18 home shirt, courtesy of the team over at Voetbal Shirtjes.
These are photos of the ‘Authentic’ shirt, meaning the version that the players will actually wear on the pitch. You can already pre-order it online at the City Store, with the release date less than a week away.
What do you think of the new Manchester City home shirt?


text:
Wall Street has been selling what one lawyer calls a "mind-numbingly complex" deal to retail investors for years, but now, it may come back to bite big banks.
Bank of America's brokerage arm, operated by Merrill Lynch, has a growing number of investors suing it for a volatility-focused structured product which charged double-digit fees as it lost retail buyers millions, one lawyer said. Now, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Merrill's Strategic Return Notes, which it sold to retail investors years ago, has also earned the bank a potential Securities and Exchange Commission civil enforcement action after whistleblowers turned on their former employer.
The whistleblowers, a pair of Merrill Lynch brokers who sold the volatility structured product beginning in 2010, taped conversations with other bank staffers before tipping off investigators. All in all, Merrill clients lost most of their investments in a $150 million fund.


text:
Discover is giving all its cardholders free peeks at their FICO credit scores, expanding on a pilot program it launched in November for just Discover "it" cardholders.
The news highlights a new push by banks and FICO to help consumers understand their creditworthiness better. FICO credit scores predict the likelihood that a consumer will default over the next two years.
Discover said Thursday that the FICO credit scores will be available on cardholders' monthly statements and will be based on TransUnion credit reports. Additionally, the card issuer will include two key factors that affected the cardholder's credit score.
Discover joins Barclaycard and First National Bank of Omaha in offering free credit scores to all of its credit cardholders. The programs are made available through FICO's open access program designed to allow lenders to provide scores to consumers. The three issuers are the only U.S. issuers taking advantage of it so far, says FICO spokesman Anthony Sprauve.
The goal of the program is let consumers see the same scores their lenders are using to manage their accounts, Sprauve says.
"Lenders bought 10 billion FICO Scores last year and we are willing to make every single one of them available to consumers for free," he says.
Credit card issuers periodically pull cardholders' credit scores to determine if their current card terms should be adjusted to match the consumer's changing credit risk. Such changes include an increase or decrease in interest rate or a reduction or expansion of a credit limit.
Lenders also use credit scores to help approve or deny credit to a consumer and set terms on new loans.
Do you want access to your credit score for free? Would you actually take the time to check it?
Follow me on Twitter: @JannaHerron.


text:
While Phillips 66’s flagship station has always been a good spot to refuel, it is now now a fantastic place to recharge. And this is only the start.
The installation of ultrafast electric vehicle chargers at a convenience store close to Phillips 66’s Houston headquarters by FreeWire Technologies is the first of its kind at a Phillips 66 station.
To meet the rising demand from EV drivers for high-speed charging alternatives, Phillips 66 and FreeWire deployed new, ultrafast battery-integrated technology earlier this year. Phillips 66 will make use of its extensive network, which includes more than 7,000 US stations with the Phillips 66®, Conoco®, and 76® brands as well as other key locations. I’ll return to this arrangement later.
The recently installed Texas chargers are the first of their sort in the region.
According to Rod Palmer, vice president of US marketing at Phillips 66, “the installation of the first FreeWire EV chargers at our Phillips 66 flagship fuel station signals an important step in our EV charging journey as well as our commitment to pursue lower-carbon solutions.” The Phillips 66-branded network of filling stations places the chargers at already-existing, well-located venues, giving consumers the fast-charging experience they desire.
According to Phillips 66, the company’s recent launch of EV chargers demonstrates its commitment to meeting the world’s energy needs sustainably as one of the four pillars of its Emerging Energy and Sustainability business strategy, which also includes hydrogen, batteries, carbon capture, and renewable fuels.
For websites interested in adding EV charging capabilities, the FreeWire Boost Charger is a more practical choice. It does away with the need for expensive building and permissions by linking to already-existing infrastructure. The battery charges at off-peak hours when electricity is less expensive, cutting operational costs while still giving customers a quick charge.
Arcady Sosinov, founder and CEO of FreeWire, said, “We are thrilled to recognize this milestone with Phillips 66 and to make our fast-charging solution accessible to more EV users. Our battery-integrated chargers provide the simplified, shovel-ready solution that many people entering the EV charging industry are looking for as charging demand continues to soar.
THE VERY FIRST OF PHILLIPS 66


text:
- September 28, 2022 Technology
That’s So SiC: China Aims to Master an EV Chip You Haven’t Heard Of
About the Series
China’s recent tech pivot marks a dramatic departure from the stellar run of the private sector-driven platform economy over the past long decade. In this new era, hardware reigns supreme. Toward that end, Beijing is already realigning investments, talent, and institutions, manifest in the very visible hand of industrial policy.
While much attention has been devoted to China chasing the technologies of tomorrow—from advanced chips to quantum computing—what’s equally important to Beijing is securing the technologies of today.
The latter is the focus of our “Tech Pivot in Practice” series because tech supply chains aren’t built with frontier technologies but rather with relatively mature, non-leading-edge technologies that have immediate commercial applications.
These technologies are crucial inputs into end products that few pay attention to because they don’t make the front pages. Yet these are the arenas in which China can dethrone market incumbents without having to invent the future. It simply has to deploy the present at scale to outcompete rivals on cost and market share.
The pivot’s success is far from assured and ultimately rests on the technologies, companies, and people behind it. This series examines the pivot’s peril and promise through these prisms.
The first of the series looks at material science’s rising importance in the tech pivot as China aims to master the silicon carbide power chip. In the second case, we examine the miniaturization of hardware, particularly cameras, and China’s bid to become the dominant supplier to the automotive industry.
These days, an inordinate amount of attention focuses on chips at the frontier, whether it’s on ever decreasing nanometers or on how China’s SMIC might close the gap with Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung.
What flies under the radar, however, are the workhorse chips that aren’t at the leading edge but are poised to see wider applications and rising market share.
Silicon carbide (SiC) power chips are a prime example. These chips are quite literally under the hood, as they are essential for controlling the flow of power in an electric vehicle (EV). Not only are these chips attractive to the automotive industry, their superior properties relative to the prevailing silicon power chips also make them optimized for use in the infrastructure needed to support EVs (e.g. charging stations, smart grids, and energy storage).
One leading indicator of SiC’s potential came in 2017, when Tesla switched to it in the Model 3. The move set off what is now expected to be a broader shift from silicon to SiC power chips, potentially making them a key component in the decarbonization drive in transport and energy infrastructure.
That market potential has not gone unnoticed in China. The development of the SiC chip made it into China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, which means it will be a recipient of Chinese state support. Like other targets of Chinese industrial policy, the SiC chip is a product for which China has much domestic demand but little domestic supply. Indeed, as the largest EV market in the world, China currently relies predominantly on foreign suppliers for SiC chips.
While these dynamics make the SiC chip ripe for throwing capital and people behind it to achieve some notion of “self-reliance,” China’s semiconductor industry has also been a cautionary tale on the limits of state largesse.
Take the recent scandal in China’s $51 billion “big fund” for chips. The misuse of central government funds led to heads rolling all the way up to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology—ironically the main practitioner of industrial policy. That wasn’t the only instance of funny business in China’s semiconductor industry either. A fledgling chip startup HSMC apparently swindled billions from the Wuhan government in recent years.
What has become clearer to industrial policy mandarins in Beijing is that what’s core to core innovation like chips isn’t just capital, but human capital and commercialization. Throwing good money after bad products or those that lack market potential has not been a recipe for success.
But SiC chips will likely be different. For one, there is obvious product-market fit for SiC chips, with the EV industry likely to switch en masse. Two, SiC isn’t a new technology, as the technical bottleneck is largely about scaling—and China has a good track record of scaling the living daylights out of existing technologies. Three, there’s more runway for new Chinese entrants to compete because current market leaders are still struggling to meet demand.
This case study is the first in a “Tech Pivot in Practice” series that examines Beijing’s bet on SiC chips and whether public-private partnerships (PPPs) can help China overcome the talent and commercialization challenges that could hobble the pivot.
Future case studies in this series will analyze technology areas where the intersection of firms, market, and state can shed light on the promise and peril of China’s march toward mastering core innovation.
The BaSiCs: A Ready-made Product-Market Fit
While internal combustion engines require gas lines to supply it liquid fuel, EV motors rely on inverters to control the flow of electricity and cooling throughout a vehicle. Power chips are integrated into the inverters to manage its functions (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Inverters Control The Flow Of Electricity in EVs
Note: Inverter is part of the power electronics controller.
Source: US Department of Energy.
Most power chips today are standard silicon, but using SiC semiconductors in the inverter can improve power management efficiency, prolong battery life, and reduce the EV’s weight by relying on a smaller battery. For instance, SiC chips enable the standard 75-kilowatt-hour (Kwh) battery in a Tesla Model 3 to be replaced with a 68 Kwh battery without compromising on range.
These benefits are a result of innovation in material science that has produced superior properties in SiC, chief among them durability and conductivity at higher heat. SiC has more strength per unit of area so they’re like the chip version of reinforced concrete. Moreover, SiC chips can tolerate heat up to 400°C, about 2.5x higher than standard silicon.
These properties make SiC more optimized for applications in EVs, with heat management a perennial concern because batteries get very hot. Moreover, because SiC chips work better at higher voltages, that also incentivizes EV manufacturers to switch from 400v to 800v inverters that offer better performance in terms of efficiency, faster charging, and greater range. For example, by using a 900v inverter with SiC chips in its Air Dream luxury sedan, EV startup Lucid claims it can achieve a range of over 500 miles and charge up to 300 miles in just 20 minutes, the fastest of any car.
Although using all SiC chips in an inverter (dozens are needed) would cost roughly $500 more than using standard silicon, that could be offset by cost savings elsewhere. For instance, integrating SiC chips into higher voltage inverters could lead to the removal of more than 100 pounds of copper wiring. That could save the EV manufacturer hundreds if not thousands of dollars and reduce the EV’s weight.
A chip with superior performance that saves the EV manufacturer on copper? That’s an easy sell, and it’s little wonder that major players like Tesla, BYD, Hyundai, and Toyota are all opting for SiC chips in their latest models.
This industry-wide switching is expected to support the SiC market’s growth. According to estimates, SiC’s market value in China, the world’s largest EV market, will be near parity with standard silicon chips by 2030 (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. SiC Expected To Challenge Traditional Silicon Chips in the China Market
Note: IGBT = insulated-gate bipolar transistor, which is basically the technical term for traditional silicon.
Source: Goldman Sachs “The Green Technology Cycle SiC Equity” Report.
While the benefits of switching to SiC chips are obvious, scaling is the main constraint. In fact, supply-side bottlenecks suggest that these estimates of SiC chips’ growth are more conservative than they would be without such constraints.
These constraints on reaching economies of scale, a result of SiC’s comparatively immature and complex production process, will likely lead to demand and supply mismatches as soon as 2023 (see Figure 3).
However, this projection may need to be taken with a grain of salt because it doesn’t account for new Chinese entrants that are aiming to overcome the scaling bottleneck and narrow this gap.
Figure 3. Global Demand for SiC Wafers Set to Far Surpass Supply
Source: Canaccord Genuity.
The Scaling Bottleneck
The main obstacle to scaling SiC chips is making ever larger SiC wafers, which make up 47% of SiC chips’ cost (see Figure 4). Wafers are the vinyl records shaped discs on which chips are built—in other words, the “petri dish” of the chip fabrication process. They’re made from slicing SiC crystal ingots, which are grown under very high heat.
Figure 4. SiC Wafers Are The Most Costly Stage In SiC Chip Production
Note: substrate = wafer.
Source: Karlsson, O. & Robertsson S., (2022). Securing supply of silicon carbide semiconductors. Report No. E2021:145.
While the process of manufacturing pure silicon wafers has been mastered, SiC wafers are more difficult for a number of reasons. For one, slicing SiC ingots into wafers is tougher because they are both thinner and harder—the 50% silicon and 50% carbon composition make SiC one of the hardest materials on earth, second only to diamond. Slicing SiC ingots takes between 10-20 times longer than regular silicon ingots.
Two, growing SiC crystal ingots requires much higher heat than regular silicon (1,200 centigrade vs. 2,000-2,500 centigrade for SiC wafers), which means specialized furnaces are needed. Such furnaces are generally developed in-house by the SiC wafer manufacturer rather than being readily available on the market.
Three, handling these astronomical temperatures requires different techniques for SiC crystal growth that are less reliable compared to silicon ingots. This also tends to lead to lower yields for SiC due to a higher defect rate.
In addition to constraining volume, these factors make it more difficult to increase the size of wafers, with the current frontier at eight inches (generally, a two-inch increase in the wafer size translates into twice as many chips on a single wafer). In comparison, today’s most common silicon wafer is ~12 inches in diameter.
The limitation on wafer size inhibits the ability to scale up to meet growing demand. For instance, even global SiC leaders like US-based Wolfspeed and II-VI are just on the cusp of mass producing 8-inch wafers, with the more mature 6-inch wafers likely to dominate the market for the foreseeable future.
While increasing wafer size is a time-consuming and iterative process that requires considerable capital, it is also not rocket science. It is not nearly as difficult as reducing nodes at microscopic levels on the most advanced chips that a company like TSMC produces.
For example, Chinese firm Sanan Optoelectronics already announced plans to begin production of its first 8-inch SiC wafers at its Hunan plant by 2024. While commencing production and scaling production will still be separated by a number of years, the catch-up cycle for SiCs is nonetheless faster relative to the most advanced chips. This is likely a key reason behind China’s focused approach to carving out significant market share in SiCs.
China Aims To Climb the Ranks of SiC Manufacturing
China is still an insignificant player in SiC chips for the time being, but it has several things going for it (see Figure 5). One, it will have extant domestic demand for these chips because it is the world’s largest EV market. Two, it is adept at scaling existing technology and driving down costs. Three, it’s an area where industrial policy might prove useful. Four, the political mandate of reducing reliance on foreign technology supply chains adds impetus to developing a semiconductor product where China appears to be closer to the current frontier.
Figure 5. Chinese SiC Wafer Suppliers Want to Crack Foreign Dominance
Source: Yole; company estimates for 2021.
Investments are already pouring in, as China’s demand for SiC wafers is forecasted to more than double from around 7% of global demand in 2019 to 16% by 2025. The capital is mainly coming from Chinese companies riding the domestic EV market growth, with the likes of NIO, Xpeng, Li Auto, and BYD among the investors (see Figure 6). Even telecom giant Huawei, eyeing potential for SiC in its 5G infrastructure business, has gotten into the action.
Figure 6. SiC Investments Largely Correlate with China’s EV Production
Note: Data includes plug-in hybrid EV and battery EV.
Source: China Association of Automobile Manufacturers; ITJuzi; Qianzhan Industrial Research Institute.
In short, there doesn’t appear to be a shortage of private capital in SiC production. The potential addressable market, as well as the lack of strong market incumbents, make SiC chips a more promising investment than many of the other core innovation verticals that China has identified.
But China still has some catching up to do to get to 8-inch wafers. And here’s where a nudge from industrial policy in the form of PPPs might be effective in closing the technology gap.
State Innovates, Private Sector Commercializes
Unlike in other chip verticals where Chinese government largesse would throw money at flagship projects, such as the now embattled chips “big fund,” the state is instead leveraging the talent in its universities and labs to support the private sector’s drive to scale up SiC production.
Although this is a reversal of China’s usual industrial policy practices, it is an approach similar to how WolfSpeed, current SiC market leader, was spun out of a university research institute in North Carolina. Founded by a group of researchers at North Carolina State University in 1987, WolfSpeed was formed to commercialize their discoveries in SiC technology.
It appears Beijing hopes that a souped up and deliberately focused PPP model will spawn a dozen WolfSpeeds. That’s because state research institutes and universities hold considerable patents on SiC manufacturing that can boost yields and lower defect rates, as well as patents on integrating SiCs across various applications from EVs and renewable energy to infrastructure.
Since 2012, Chinese players have become some of the most prolific filers of SiC patents, which have been traditionally dominated by Japanese companies (see Figure 7). Various institutes under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as Shandong University and Xidian University, have played instrumental roles in SiC research and development (R&D) and have even jointly filed patents with companies. This is unsurprising considering the greater concentration of Chinese STEM doctorates in academia.
Figure 7. China Dominates SiC Patent Filings after a Decade
Source: KnowMade Power SiC June 2022.
So, instead of technology transfers from foreign entities, China’s own state labs and research institutes can execute technology transfers to the private sector to commercialize. This allows private companies to devote resources to commercialization and scaling—an emphasis that’s currently lacking among core innovation firms—because they can essentially outsource R&D to state institutions.
One such example is SICC, a company spun out of China’s Shandong University, a leading material science institution owing to the late Jiang Minhua, who is largely credited as the “godfather” of SiC in China.
After Jiang passed away in 2011, his work’s commercial potential was still not realized. While many of his colleagues were reluctant to pick up that slack, one of Jiang’s younger contemporaries from nearby Qilu University, Zong Yanmin, was less reticent. Zong seized the opportunity to purchase Jiang’s patents with his own capital and created SICC with himself controlling an 80% stake.
By 2021, SICC already was making 40,000 6-inch SiC wafers annually and aims to quadruple the volume to 300,000 in five years across its operations. After listing on the Shanghai Star Market in 2021, the company is now valued at over 45 billion yuan ($6.3 billion).
SICC isn’t an isolated case either. Of the 30 key projects targeted for scaling SiC production to ~4 million wafers per year by 2026, over half of these projects have been supported by state and academic institutions via talent or technology transfers (see Figure 8).
Figure 8. State-backed Research Drives Chinese SiC Production Expansion
Note: Historic data on state-supported production unavailable. Capacity estimates based on companies’ announced plans and may not reflect actual production.
Source: Semiconductor Material Industry Association; China Business Information Network; Oriental Fortune Securities Research Institute; company announcements.
Ramping up the PPP model is ultimately aimed at replicating a tech manufacturing ecosystem that China has achieved in sectors such as batteries and solar panels. That ecosystem, in Beijing’s vision, would center along the Shanghai-Suzhou corridor to create something of a “silicon carbide valley.” For instance, the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology just attracted two Australian-Chinese returnees in material science to bolster talent in this area.
While it took WolfSpeed around a decade to transition from 6-inch to 8-inch wafers, Chinese speed hopes to cut that time significantly, as already demonstrated by a company like SICC (see Figure 9). Not only does China’s PPP model leverage top talents from state institutions to shorten that development cycle, having the world’s largest EV market means that there’s strong incentive for the private sector to scale this technology to meet demand.
Figure 9. SICC’s Catch-Up Cycle Was Shorter Than Current US Leaders
Source: Author calculations.
If all goes accordingly, China will likely accelerate SiC development and become a leading player in the power chip market. Such success would notch the Chinese leadership a major “win” under the banner of technology self-reliance because China will have mastered a chip that is increasingly crucial to the energy transition in transport.
AJ Cortese is a senior research associate at MacroPolo. You can find his work on industrial technology, semiconductors, the digital economy, and other topics here.
Get Our Stuff
Get on our mailing list to keep up with our analysis and new products.Subscribe


text:
Say what you may, Microsoft has had it tough when it comes to hardware launches. More specifically, its Surface Pro line of tablet has had to contend with supply issues ever since it launched earlier this year.
And something similar seems to be on the cards for the Surface Pro 2.
October 22 is the big day when Microsoft plans to officially start shipping the second generation Surface tablets to customers across the length and breadth of the United States. But now it appears that those of you that wanted to get in on some high capacity action will have to wait a fair while.
The two top-of-the range models — 256GB and 512GB — of the Surface Pro are now expected to start shipping on December 15.
According to a notification posted on Microsoft’s official website, both these variants are currently going through some supply issues, and both models will now ship in the very middle of December.
However, the 64GB and 128GB versions of the Surface Pro are fine — they will be shipped on October 22, as originally planned. Power users will want nothing less than the 256GB or 512GB variants, but regular users will be fine with 128GB capacity.
Surface 2 is on the most exotic Windows 8.1 tablets on the market right now, and the refreshed slates now come with hardware upgrades including faster processors, much improved battery life and up to 8GB of memory for maximum performance on the go.
At the same time, other hardware makers like Dell, Toshiba, HP and Lenovo are also ready to unleash their Windows 8.1 Pro devices, including a few Surface Pro 2 rivals.
Here is hoping these delays do not affect the overall Surface Pro 2 sales too much.


text:
Nitro-Net.com – A Global Marketing Group Company
Comedy Central made news seven years ago when it gave the heave-ho to its iconic tower logo, replacing it with something so minimal people wondered if it could possibly be right. That cool planet with the skyscrapers bursting out was suddenly reduced to a simple “c” nesting inside a larger, inverted “C.” Critics called it boring, “not funny” and joked that the old logo had had lipo.
What many of the naysayers failed to grasp was that the new logo was born out of the network’s need to change with the times, and quickly. Far from the scrappy upstart it had been in 1991 when it aired low-budget clip shows like Short Attention Span Theater, Comedy Central’s lineup boasted big-league programs like Tosh.0, South Park and The Daily Show. Plus, it was 2011, people! This social media stuff was really taking off.
Which may be why there’s something of a feeling of deja vu going on down at Viacom headquarters these days. Because not only has the network kept adding headliners—Corporate, The Jim Jeffries Show—but this social media thing really did turn into a big deal, morphing into bona fide video-distribution platforms. It’s why the network recently went back to the drawing board to overhaul its visual identity, debuting not just a new logo, but a propriety typeface, a signature color palette and new standards for how these assets can be used on screens big and small.
The new trade dress isn’t just a response to the ever-changing times, however. As Comedy Central has grown and diversified across multiple media platforms, the branding had lost some of its old consistency, mandating not just fresh visual treatments, but guidelines for how to use them consistently.
“Since 2011, we’ve learned so much from the different platforms, and we wanted to use this as an opportunity to take all that information and apply it,” said evp of marketing and creative Josh Line. “I wouldn’t call it a brand refresh—I’d call it a brand reinvention.”
“This rebrand isn’t just a new coat of paint,” added David Herbruck, president and co-founder of Loyalkaspar, the firm that developed the creative assets. “What [we] proposed was a new way of thinking—a strategic, less-is-more system for promoting the brand.”
Indeed, the minimalist look of the new trade dress belies the thinking behind all of its components.
Though it had its critics, Comedy Central’s 2011 “C” mark was a bold departure, and one that slowly built up a base of fans. Last surveyed, the mark had a 50 percent unaided recall and a 70 percent aided recall. Not bad for a logo that many dismissed as a rip-off of the copyright symbol. So the basic “C” mark had to stay.
“We’d built up some equity in it and didn’t want to toss that aside,” Line said. Instead, Loyalkaspar streamlined it while also muscling up its lines, giving the mark more “strength and confidence,” he added.
Modifying the 2011 logo also allowed Comedy Central to retain its kinetic functionality. When the network promotes its programming, the “C” will often spin like a gear, seeming to crank up other terms that appear on screen. Loyalkaspar art director Nadia Husain calls this “a distinctive motion language that captures the attention of the viewer without taking away from the impact of the content.”
The “C” mark is actually only the graphic half of the official mark; the other part is the word mark, that now appears in a new typeface.
Obviously, Comedy Central’s word mark is always going to read “Comedy Central,” but the old font, which is called Brandon Grotesque, had to go. It’s not that it was a bad font; it’s that it was such a good font that a slew of other brands began using it in the years after the network did.


text:
To boost its Azure platform and increase growth in gaming sector, Microsoft has bought startup Playfab. This will help the company’s game developers launch their titles online more quickly with simplified back-end services.
PlayFab offers game developers a platform to host and operate online games and the analytical tools to help understand and monetize users. This do a wide extent cuts down the developers work needed to launch a title widely with infrastructure that could handle a global player base. Additionally, Playfab also has much larger and influential customers, including Disney, NBCUniversal, Rovio and Capcom.
Although no official terms of the said deal has been disclosed by both the parties, in a blog post Microsoft’s corporate VP of gaming, Kareem Choudhry, writes, “Together, Azure and PlayFab will further unlock the power of the intelligent cloud for the gaming industry, enabling game developers and delighting gamers around the world.”
On the other hand, Playfab’s CEO wrote in his blog post, ” Matt and I launched PlayFab four years ago to solve a burning need. Games were rapidly shifting from packaged goods, sold in boxes, to “always on” digital services, requiring sophisticated server-based infrastructure to host and operate. Built well, these backend systems enabled games to engage, retain, and monetize players like never before, with longevity in the top grossing charts measured in years. Built poorly, they crashed and burned on launch day.”
The deal will mean more business for both the companies. Microsoft is always making efforts to stay at par with the latest tech in online gaming services. It has also been active in more consumer-facing gaming acquisitions. With business moves like this Microsoft is definitely here to stay in the online gaming sector.
more recommended stories
Apple orders an array of new shows
Apple has reportedly ordered a.
Samsung launches a more conversational version of Bixby
Samsung this morning showed of.
Google terminates Alex Jones’ page for “violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines”
Google has blocked Alex Jones’.
Huawei becomes the second biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world
The Verge recently reported that Chinese smartphone.


text:
Hello Baby, a modern vegan food kiosk, opened this month inside of the bustling Chinatown Street Market in Singapore. The kiosk—which previously operated as a pop-up—serves street food such as jackfruit-based Cubano sandwiches, vegan waffles topped with caraway maple syrup, egg-free frittatas, burgers, twice-baked potatoes, coconut-based ice cream and milkshakes, and a plant-based take on local favorite “chili crab”—made with enoki mushrooms slathered in a spicy sauce and served in a traditional mantou steamed bun. “We are redefining and challenging your ideas of veganism. You don’t have to be vegan to eat vegan,” the company’s motto states. “You don’t have to be vegan to like our food. You don’t even have to like vegetables. We’re grubby, delicious, and fun. Our food just happens to be vegan.”
Wedding bells! You’re going to fall in love with VeganWeddings.com — a new website from the editors of VegNews.


text:
Jennifer Lopez has had a pretty busy 2019. From her epic turn on the Versace catwalk to receiving the CFDA Fashion Awards icon honor to starring in the film Hustlers and possibly earning an Oscar nomination, J.Lo has been on fire. And it looks like 2020 will be just as monumental since the multi-hyphenate was just named Coach’s latest global ambassador.
Starting in Spring 2020, Jennifer will appear in the luxury label’s campaigns. The casting makes total sense since the brand is no stranger to celeb ambassadors — Michael B. Jordan, Selena Gomez and Yara Shahidi have all used their star power to promote the fashion house. (Selena even designed clothes and bags for the brand.)
So why add Jennifer to such a distinguished list? “Jennifer is so authentic. She’s determined and she’s an original who has followed her own path to do things her own way — she embodies the attitude of Coach,” Coach Creative Director Stuart Vevers declared on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
We wonder if Jennifer will sneak in a Coach look for her halftime performance at the Super Bowl.


text:
There is now a new way for foodies to send virtual tips to staff at their favourite Manchester restaurants and bars to show their support as the sector continues to suffer.
Called Tipjar, the online tipping system has been created to help Manchester’s hospitality staff as people begin to lose zero-hour contracts and struggle to make ends meet as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
As new research shows some publicans estimate having to lay off 75% of their staff, it provides people in Manchester a way to donate directly to bar and restaurant workers in need.
Set up by BrewDog’s retail director James Brown, Tipjar is providing a way to support hospitality staff during their hour of need after they have been let down by the government this week.
“This industry built so many of us, we wanted to do what we could to help in return, and we had access to the technology to do so,” said James.
“We have partnered with Hospitality Action and have built a platform for businesses and communities to donate funds for workers in their city or town, or if they want to raise money for staff in their specific local pub they can apply to do so.”
100% of donations to the Hospitality Workers Emergency Fund will go straight to the charity Hospitality Action and be distributed amongst hospitality staff currently facing hugely daunting prospects of financial insecurity.
People who want to help can visit the website or scan a bespoke QR code to make a donation.