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According to data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs show that from the beginning of the year until the end of the month 5/2013, exports of plastics has grossed 706.4 million dollars, up 12.23% compared with the same period in 2012 .
TOP 10 markets to import plastic products, plastic bags from Vietnam are Japan, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Cambodia, France, Italy and Sweden. By this time, there were 9/10 market turnover reached over $ 1 million.
First 5 months of 2013, export growth of Vietnam's plastics markets have slowed but still achieve satisfactory turnover. In particular, exports to the Japanese market reached 163.6 million, an increase of 17.77% - the market is considered one of Vietnam's plastics industry. Next, the United States ranked second with 76.6 million, Cambodia 3rd market, turnover of 60.1 million. In addition to the above three major markets Vietnam also exported to markets such as Germany (44.1 million); Netherlands (35.3 million); English (32.7 million); Indonesia 27.9 million) ...
Notably, exports to the Russian market turnover but only $ 4.7 million, but the market has strong growth, increased 221.17% over the same period last year.
To date Vietnam plastic products exported are quite diverse, ranging from plastic bags, plastic products used in packaging and transportation, industrial plastic products, plastic household products ... Particularly plastic bags of Vietnam has been in nearly 60 markets around the world.
Statistics TOP 10 import and export market of Vietnam plastic products 5 May 2013
% so sánh
(Data source: GDC Vietnam)
According VTIC, current demand of plastic products worldwide is growing, especially in the Southeast Asian market, is expected to reach $ 100 billion per year. To seize this opportunity, domestic plastic industry to improve and better compete with China plastics and India. In Europe, demand for plastic products in Vietnam, especially the pipe is high. It is estimated that the EU market will consume about 275 million plastic products this year, up 36.5% over last year. The export turnover of Vietnam plastic industry in 2013 is expected to have an average growth rate of 11 to 13.5% compared to 2012, reaching $ 2.2 billion.
Regarding market opportunities, according to the technique Vietnam, forecast in the next few months, exports goods of plastic products to the market will return to growth, such as the Japanese market demand due date The higher high, 5 months, though exports of plastic products to India just reached over 5 million but India is considered as a potential market and promising export plastic products for Vietnam in future. The reason is that the use of plastic products in the industry of India is expanding demand for packaging increased, the explosion of infrastructure, agricultural modernization, increasing disposable income and the concentration of population in urban areas ... the demand for plastic products industry and consumers increased. Or as Cambodia 10 years ago as the market for plastic goods, now Thailand Vietnam rose to dominate. Forecast exports products to market Cambodia plastic bags will also increase demand for plastic products of this large market.
In 10 years, exports of plastic products in Vietnam continuous positive growth, competitiveness is increasingly high and is one of 10 state sector development priorities. Yet today, the plastics are still heavily dependent on imported raw materials. Meanwhile, input costs continued to increase, due to competitive factors, the products can not increase production costs, making more difficult now to capital, especially small and medium enterprises. Turnover from exports of these products despite good growth but in fact, profits are not adequate ...


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Apple is reportedly adding augmented reality content into Apple TV+, its subscription streaming video service.
According to Bloomberg, the feature will debut next year and allow viewers to access optional AR content – like characters and objects from Apple TV+ shows – through their iPhones or iPads.
Augmented reality could potentially help attract more subscribers to Apple TV+, which last week also revealed a new discounted bundle featuring CBS All Access and Showtime for Apple TV+ subscribers, who pay $4.99/month for the service. The announcement confirmed a report earlier this month from Bloomberg, which suggested that Apple is relying on discounted service bundles to make up for Apple TV+’s lack of library content. Apple is reportedly later this year launching a bigger push into service bundles, called “Apple One.”
An AR feature for Apple TV+ would likely build off other reported efforts for Apple in the AR/VR space. According to Bloomberg, the company is planning to release a mixed AR/VR headset in 2022 and an AR headset in 2023.
Apple this week also acquired Spaces, a location-based virtual reality startup that was spun off from DreamWorks Animation, according to a report from Protocol.
Earlier this year, Apple acquired NextVR, a technology startup that produces live virtual reality broadcasts of sporting events, concerts and more.
Financial details were not disclosed but 9to5Mac, which first reported the deal last month, said the transaction could be valued at $100 million. NextVR, which Bloomberg said officially shut down in May, closed its website too and said it’s “heading in a new direction.”
“Streaming specialist NextVR could allow Apple to translate original content on Apple TV+ into the VR format. Although VR-based streaming is a niche area now, competition is increasing. Google and Disney are already active in this space (with YouTube VR and Hulu VR, respectively) and Apple will have its work hard to catch up,” said Rupantar Guha, senior analyst for thematic research at GlobalData.

domain: news


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- Binance and Polygon have invested in AlterVerse’s metaverse game Sky City.
- The investment comes at the back of the blockchain game developer’s inclusion in Binance’s incubator program.
- AlterVerse is now ready to launch a preview of Sky City to the world.
AlterVerse has received an investment from Binance Labs and Polygon Ventures. The blockchain game developer said it is now ready to launch a preview of its metaverse game Sky City. The fundraising also received backing from Ankr, Baselayer Capital, and EnjinStarter.
AlterVerse’s fundraising comes hot on the heels of completing the Binance Incubation Program.
Funds from the yet-to-be-completed private round will be used to expand the AletrVerse ecosystem and accelerate the roadmap. AlterVerse said it is still in discussion with other high-profile funds to back its aggressive gaming strategy.
“AlterVerse is a beautiful amalgamation of real-world experiences and high-end gaming in the metaverse. The vision and scale of the project is impressive, and what has already been developed is stunning. I look forward to continuing to support the AlterVerse team on this journey,” Shashwat Gupta, Co-Founder of Baselayer Capital and CEO & Founder of Altcoin Buzz commented.
AlterVerse is developing an interconnected gaming experience that will feature interconnected gaming worlds, games, and communities. The game will also be built using Epic Games’ next-generation gaming software Unreal Engine 5.
Sky City is only the first of a phased gaming experience that will also feature Outpost, Rekt, and City Servers. Players will be able to carry assets from one phase to the next, all the way to City Servers.
The gaming mechanism sounds very similar to what Illuvium Co-Founder, Kieran Warwick shared during the Token2049 event in Singapore.
Illuvium is another blockchain gaming developer looking to usher in the next generation of web3 gaming. The company’s interconnected web3 game will allow users to carry their assets to the next game in a linked gaming experience powered by the $ILV token.
Just like Illuvium, AlterVerse’s interconnected game will be powered by its native token $ACE, which will be used for in-game transactions, currency, and player rewards. The token will be launched on the BNB Chain alongside metaverse land and NFT skins, AlterVerse company wrote in a blog post on Medium.
The company plans to enrich its gaming platform with an NFT marketplace that can be integrated with multiple blockchains including Polygon, BNB Smart Chain, and Effinity, among others.
Sam Stebbins, Alterverse Advisor and CEO of Space Misfits commented: “AlterVerse is bringing AAA quality gaming, combined with a metaverse that is nothing short of beautiful.”
Stay up to date:


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UpStar Labs and Swiss EP Announce Strategic Partnership
Ho Chi Minh City, March 5th, 2020 – UpStar Labs and Swiss EP are pleased to announce that they have entered into a strategic partnership, combining UpStar Labs’ IT industry-leading expertise with Swiss EP’s world-class entrepreneurial ecosystem development program.
UpStar Labs, startup incubation and investment arm of KMS Technology, was founded with the aim of building world-renowned software products using Vietnam-based engineering talents and investing in high-impact startups in the US and Vietnam.
Through this partnership, Swiss EP will help UpStar Labs improve its incubation framework and support UpStar Labs incubated product teams via Swiss EP’s global network of experienced startup mentors and entrepreneurs in residence. Swiss EP and UpStar Labs also plan to co-organize startup and product development events and workshops to benefit the startup community in Ho Chi Minh City.
About UpStar Labs
UpStar Labs is the incubation and investment arm of KMS Technology, a global technology company with over 1,200 people in 6 offices in the US and Vietnam. The company has incubated successful products since 2011, including QASymphony – one of the leading agile testing tools in the world when it was merged with Tricentis, a Europe technology unicorn; Kobiton – a mobile device cloud that recently raised $5.2M and has over 500 enterprise customers including Office Depot, Frontier Airlines, and Capgemini; and Katalon – a leading test automation platform with over 300K users.
Address: 290/26 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, Ward 8, District 3, HCMC
About Swiss EP
The Swiss Entrepreneurship Program (Swiss EP Vietnam) with funding from the Swiss Government was launched in 2015 for the purpose of strengthening the local entrepreneurial ecosystem to drive job creation and facilitate sustainable economic growth.
Our work emphasizes the “downloading” of state-of-the-art tools, methodologies, and approaches to partners and ensures that they have the best information, lessons, and skills available to identify and implement initiatives to achieve sustainable results. With a presence in 7 countries, Swiss EP has been recognized as a leading organization in providing support for key drivers of entrepreneurship ecosystems. We believe that entrepreneurs are the foundation of growth in developing economies and that stronger economies lead to a thriving world.
Address: 21 Nguyen Trung Ngan Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, HCMC


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Jazmin Kim signs off on everything leaving S.M.N.’s Los Angeles factory.
The designer and founder is serious about quality and when she talks about her men’s brand being a premium denim company, she wants people to know it.
“S.M.N. Studio is a little studio and we want to manage from A to Z here so that’s the real difference — the quality control and I think that’s the real premium denim instead of producing a big quantity from Mexico,” Kim said. “We’re overseeing everything. As a designer, I see what’s shipping out and then I make sure it’s the same quality from what I developed. Country of origin [where it’s made] makes a huge difference. When everyone’s moving their production to China or Mexico to meet that sweet spot retail price point, we’re not doing that.”
S.M.N. (Simple Modern Nonpareil) was founded in 2015, with its first collection launched for fall 2016 and sold exclusively at Ron Herman.
The Vernon, Calif.-based company is now sold at a number of specialty retailers including Fred Segal, Brooklyn Clothing, Blue in Green, Brooklyn Denim Co., Khaki & Black, American Rag and Ron Herman among others.
Reorders are giving the brand confidence it’s doing something right in a market where the term premium denim is overused and doesn’t necessarily mean premium anymore.
“Launching a new brand can be very tricky and difficult, especially shipping new product to retailers and getting a good response,” said Mark Tourgeman, the company’s brand strategist. “In the last two or three months, we’re getting consistent reorders, which I haven’t seen since probably 2005, 2006 when the business was good.”
About 1 percent of the line, a novelty collection, is made in Japan and sells at a higher price point. Everything else from S.M.N. is made in Los Angeles with Italian hardware and Japanese denim that’s cut and sewn in the factory and laundered in Gardena, Calif.
Price points typically range from around $189 and go up to about $275 for the main collection, with the Japanese-made capsule consisting of $450 jeans and jackets retailing for about $600. S.M.N. exists at the midpoint, a cross between the trucker, workwear-inspired denim of a label like Levi’s and the rawness akin to a brand such as A.P.C.
The two denim veterans met at Hudson Jeans nearly a decade ago with Kim also having clocked time as a designer at GoldSign, AG Jeans and Citizens of Humanity. Meanwhile, Tourgeman started off in retail in the Eighties and was the first denim and sportswear buyer for American Rag. He went on to open his own stores selling vintage denim before jumping to the manufacturing side working at Hudson, Rock and Republic and William Rast before launching the Strom brand. He joined Kim about a year ago to build S.M.N.
The two are taking their knowledge of denim and applying it to a customer base that’s now more discerning and smarter about their denim ABCs.
“My interest is mainly in fabric development and the technical side,” Kim said. “Back then [in 2004] it was all about the back pocket. It was all about the branding. If you have those pockets, then it’s sales. People would pay $200 or $300 per pair. Now, I think customers are a little more denim smart. Technology is such a big thing over Instagram. Back in the day, nobody cared about selvedge denim, but now the customer shopping at Fred Segal or Ron Herman, they’re looking for selvedge denim and their knowledge level is crazy. I’m trying to target that niche market, the customer who doesn’t want crazy exterior branding.”
Their timing is right as the market searches for a new generation of denim brands, Tourgeman said.
“Top retailers are looking for something new and something special. If you look at the trends and go back through the decades, when I was around in the Eighties, the shelf life was 10 years and then they go into mass production [overseas] and that’s what’s happening now and so there’s a void in the contemporary market now,” he said. “Lines like ours and I would say even in the women’s arena [Revolve’s] Grlfrnd, they’re starting to come out doing something a little different. You see it in the washes. It’s different. It’s new and it’s done right. I feel like we’re the new brands that are starting to get real estate in the stores and it’s being pushed by the consumer.”
The company recently released sweatshirts retailing for $179, dabbling a bit outside of denim, but Kim is more measured about any sort of expansion even if Tourgeman sees opportunity through retailers knocking on the company’s door to produce more.
If they were to do women’s, it would be to test at one or two retailers and the earliest that might happen is for spring 2018, Tourgeman said.
Kim, for her part, said her interest remains focused on men’s and it’s largely for practical reasons.
“The men’s customers are more loyal. They’re not trend-driven. Girls they see some picture on Instagram and say ‘Oh, I want this.’ They’ll place an order online based on a picture,” Kim said. “Guys don’t do that. Guys go to the store and if they like the fit and they like the fabric, they’ll ask their wives or girlfriends to pick up another pair.”
Continuing to build out the wholesale business, at least for now, is also important for S.M.N. rather than turning to direct-to-consumer. Going the direct route via online would seem to be the antithesis of the premium denim experience the two are looking to build out, which is a focus on a niche, specialty consumer. The market, they say, would seem poised for them to grab share doing just that.
“When we see these reorders come in, that’s stuff that hasn’t happened since before the recession,” Tourgeman said. “So I think there’s definitely a need and I think the bigger retailers will finally wake up and smell the coffee. A lot of these buyers are so scared to test anything new, but if they don’t start, they’re going to start closing a lot more brick-and-mortar stores like what a lot of these other chains are doing now. There’s no newness.”
For More Denim Coverage in WWD:


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Cruise Giveaway Celebrates Carnival Partnership
Free cruise for two awaits one lucky WinterFest on the Wisconsin guest.
Norfolk, Va. (Dec.1, 2022)— To celebrate the recent announcement that the Carnival Magic will sail from Norfolk for six months in 2023, Nauticus and Carnival Cruise Line have teamed up to present the WinterFest on the Wisconsin Great Cruise Giveaway. Throughout the month of December, all guests who purchase an online ticket toWinterFest will automatically be entered to win a free six-day cruise departing from Norfolk in 2023. The lucky winner will cruise aboard the 4,000-passenger Carnival Magic, the largest vessel to ever homeport from Virginia.
“Nauticus is the only museum in the country that also manages a cruise ship program,” said Stephen E. Kirkland, Nauticus executive director. “WinterFest on the Wisconsin has become a holiday tradition for Hampton Roads and so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make a vacation dream come true.”
All guests 21 years or older who book their WinterFest on the Wisconsin tickets online during the month of December will automatically be eligible to win the six-day cruise. Tickets purchased onsite at Nauticus will not be eligible for the giveaway. Some restrictions and black-out dates apply. For more information on the WinterFest on the Wisconsin Great Cruise Giveaway, guests are encouraged to visit https://www.winterfestonthewisconsin.com/carnivalcruisegiveaway.
WinterFest on the Wisconsin features more than one million holiday lights, live entertainment, tree lighting ceremonies, and seasonal shopping. This season WinterFest nearly doubles in size with an all-new experience called Mistletoe Marina – an immersive waterfront journey featuring lights, beautifully-decorated boats, interactive fun, and two shows nightly.
Plan Your Visit
WinterFest on the Wisconsin runs November 9, 2022, to January 1, 2023, and is open each Wednesday – Sunday, in addition to select Mondays and Tuesdays throughout the holiday season. General admission pricing is $18.50 for adults and $16.50 for children. Nauticus members receive a discounted rate. Visit www.winterfestonthewisconsin.com


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Ruby Tuesday, Inc. (NYSE: RT) will be presenting at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2013 Consumer & Retail Conference in New York City on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
The Company will also be presenting at the 2013 UBS Global Consumer Conference in Boston on Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time.
Both presentations will be presented live and archived for two weeks following the events on the Investor Relations page of the Company’s website:
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New orders for U.S. manufactured goods slumped by slightly more than expected in the month of January, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday.
The Commerce Department said factory orders tumbled by 1.4 percent in January after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.8 percent in December.
Economists had expected factory orders to drop by 1.3 percent compared to the 1.7 percent spike originally reported for the previous month.
The sharp pullback in factory orders was primarily due to a steep decline in orders for durable goods, which plunged by 3.6 percent in January after surging up by 2.7 percent in December.
Orders for transportation equipment led the decrease in durable goods orders, plunging by 10.0 percent in January after jumping by 6.6 percent in December.
On the other hand, the report said orders for non-durable goods climbed by 0.8 percent in January following a 0.9 percent increase in the previous month.
The Commerce Department also said shipments of manufactured goods rose by 0.6 percent, while inventories of manufactured goods increased by 0.3 percent.
The inventories-to-shipments ratio subsequently came in at 1.35 in January, unchanged from the previous month.


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Samsung’s efforts in updating its Android handsets have been rather impressive lately, as it tries to live up to its promise of providing consumers with competent software support. With that said, the company’s Galaxy A42 5G has begun receiving the latest May 2022 security patch, which is currently available for download for users in Taiwan.
The new update comes with build number A426BXXU3DVE2, and comes with fixes for several security and privacy issues. Earlier this year, the phone received the latest Android 12 OS version alongside One UI 4.1.
The Samsung Galaxy A42 5G was originally launched back in 2020. It came with a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED display, a 5,000 mAh battery, and was powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 750 5G chipset. The phone also came with a quad-camera array, which included a 48 MP main camera, an 8 MP ultrawide lens, a 5 MP macro lens, and a 5 MP depth sensor.
Samsung has recently been active in releasing consistent software updates for its phones across different price ranges. While not all its handsets receive major OS upgrades like Android 12, a considerable number of smartphones have received monthly security and software patches. You can check if your phone is eligible for the update by going into your Settings app, and navigating to the “Software Update” section.


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Ex-Tacoda chief Curt Viebranz apparently has been pushed off the AOL platform. The head of AOL’s new Platform A advertising unit since September, Viebranz is leaving the firm, but not on his own volition, according to a source familiar with the situation. He’ll be replaced by Lynda Clarizio, president of AOL’s giant ad network, Advertising.com, as part of a consolidation effort.
Platform A, a unit created late last year to integrate AOL’s ad technology properties, includes the Advertising.com network and behavioral targeting firm Tacoda, acquired in July 2007. Clarizio will report to Ron Grant, AOL president and COO. When the new ad division launched, Clarizio reported to Viebranz, who also reported to Grant. Viebranz wasn’t available for comment.
In addition to ad network powerhouse Advertising.com and Tacoda, Platform A brings together AOL properties including mobile ad network Third Screen Media, text ad network Quigo, and ad management firm AdTech.
Viebranz’s departure from his short-term home comes almost exactly a month after his former colleague, Tacoda founder Dave Morgan, left AOL, where he’d been serving as EVP of global advertising strategy. A perennial entrepreneur, Morgan left on his own accord to ponder his next startup. Last month he told ClickZ News he planned to launch a new Web firm, and expected to stay in close contact with AOL, which he said could take an interest in his venture-to-be.
Kathy Kayse, former VP of marketing solutions for Platform A, has also left the AOL building. Last month the Time Warner vet left for a gig as EVP of digital media sales for Discovery Communications. She also reported to Viebranz. News of Kayse’s resignation came soon after AOL owner Time Warner announced it will divide AOL into separate ISP and ad units.
The executive shifts at AOL reflect the disruption in the overall online ad industry. By collapsing its ad properties and streamlining its staff, AOL hopes to better compete with Google and what could become a much-stronger Yahoo, if Microsoft’s bid for the company comes to fruition. To stave off the Microsoft grab, Time Warner is rumored to have discussed a possible merger of AOL and Yahoo.
On Thursday, Twitter reported its earnings for Q4 2016, and the results have raised questions about the company's long-term future.
From its $1.5 billion air cargo hub to its growing network of contract last-mile delivery drivers, Amazon is increasingly looking like a logistics company; but shipping and logistics giant FedEx isn't sitting idly by.
Havas Group's Meaningful Brands report delivers sobering news for brands: consumers wouldn't care if 74% of the brands they use disappeared off the face of the earth.
Last week, PageFair released its 2017 Adblock Report, and the news was not good for publishers and advertisers.


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Chinese battery and electric car manufacturer, Kandi, which is a US registered company, is in early discussions with several partners, including local government agencies from the U.S. – Mexico border, according to international news organisation Reuters. At this stage it’s not definite that a production plant will be built, but discussions are taking place as the demand for electric cars and pick-ups in the U.S. continues to grow.
Kandi already offer its K27 and K23 models in the U.S. market. The sale price of the cheaper K23 is $20,499 but this falls to $12,999 after federal tax credit. This makes it the cheapest electric car available in the U.S. at this point. It features a 17.69 kWh battery pack that is said to offer a range of around 100 miles (160km).
Kandi are hoping to forge a position in the North American car market by offering its low cost electric cars and vehicles, and provide further savings by removing tariffs and shipping costs. The brand has already seen success in the thriving electric car arena in its home country of China and plans to replicate this in North America.
Kandi Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hu Xiaoming, said: “We have achieved initial success with our strategic decision to expand to the US electric vehicle market. Over the near term, we are confident we can meet the growing North American demand with our existing manufacturing facilities in China. Longer term, however, we are actively exploring the possibility of manufacturing EVs and off the road vehicles locally, as we plan to more aggressively target the fast growing North American market.”


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New sailings for Nieuw Statendam, pair of Vista-class vessels also on line’s voyage agenda
It’s been an exciting couple of weeks for Holland America Line (cruise.center/holland) — so much so that this is the third time I’m updating this week’s column. Before the Seattle-based line announces anything else that’s new and noteworthy, let me tell you about what you can look forward to in the next year or so.
First, the big news: Holland America is going to be starting its first cruises to Cuba this December, with seven-, 11- and 12-day itineraries that include Cuba as part of a broader Caribbean sailing program that will also include stops in a variety of ports in the Western and Eastern Caribbean.
While most itineraries will include an extended call on Havana, Holland America Line is also featuring stops in the pretty seaside city of Cienfuegos on select sailings. These Cuban sailings will operate until April 2018, and the line expects demand for these voyages to be extremely high.
“For many, travel is about seeking new places to explore and discovering meaningful new cultural opportunities, and Cuba is one of the most sought-after new destinations for many of our guests,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line. “We are excited to finally be able to include Cuba in our itineraries, and our guests and travel partners have been anxiously awaiting a premium cruise experience to this relatively undiscovered Caribbean treasure.”
Bookings literally just opened for these cruises, which will sail round-trip from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., aboard the fabulous 1,350-guest Veendam. Built in 1996, she has been heavily refitted over the years but is still one of my favourite Holland America Line ships thanks to her spacious public rooms, wide-open decks, and uncrowded nature. With most new ships carrying 3,000 or more passengers, a sailing aboard a ship that carries just over a thousand people is a decidedly more relaxing experience.
Speaking of new ships, bookings are now open for Holland America’s newest ship, Nieuw Statendam, which will make her debut in late 2018, with her maiden voyage — a 14-day transatlantic crossing from Rome to Fort Lauderdale. Departing on Dec. 5, 2018, this Premiere Voyage will probably sell out quickly, so I wouldn’t wait to snag a stateroom or suite on Nieuw Statendam’s first crossing.
Once she arrives in the United States, Nieuw Statendam will sail a program of Caribbean cruises for the winter 2018-19 season. Most of these will be a week in duration, but Holland America tells me there will also be a handful of three-, four- and 10-day voyages.
While Nieuw Statendam will be similar to her direct sister ship, Koningsdam, she will have her own distinctive decor (as all Holland America Line ships do) that will differentiate her. Heading up the design team are Adam D. Tihany and longtime cruise ship designer and architect, Bjørn Storbraaten.
Finally, Holland America has announced more West Coast sailing options this winter, as it positions both Oosterdam (pronounced oh-sterdam) and her sister, Westerdam, out of San Diego for an increased program of Mexican Riviera voyages.
These two Vista-class ships will offer week-long cruises that call on Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta, coupled with a total of three days at sea. This is the “classic” Mexican Riviera run — one that offers plenty for folks who are interested in history, culture, or who just want to kick back in the sand and surf.
In addition to Westerdam’s regularly published schedule, Oosterdam will offer an additional 11 week-long voyages to the Mexican Riviera. These start this coming Sept. 30, with two back-to-back sailings. You can even sail from Vancouver down to the Mexican Riviera on Sept. 25 by pairing the Oosterdam’s Pacific Coast repositioning cruise with her first week-long sailing from San Diego. Voyages operate on a handful of dates between September and February 2018.
I sailed to the Mexican Riviera last year aboard Westerdam and was impressed at the evolution of Holland America’s product in Mexico. On-board cultural events such as dance classes, authentic cuisines and language lessons really enhanced what was already a great product. The line plans to introduce even more of these features with its new Explorations Central concept, which was just refitted onto Westerdam this spring.
Visit portsandbows.com, sponsored by Expedia CruiseShipCenters, 1-800-707-7327, http://www.cruiseshipcenters.com, for daily updates on the latest cruise news, best deals and behind-the-scenes stories from the industry. You can also sign up for an email newsletter on the site for even more cruise information. Aaron Saunders may be contacted directly at email@example.com


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Only today, Google sent out invites to the tech media world for a special Android themed event on October 29 to be held in New York City starting 10 am. Reportedly, the Android creator has also informed that the event will go live on YouTube with the tagline of the invite received says, “The playground is open.”
With the tagline, tech experts are assuming, that the event will showcase the launch of next Nexus smartphone, however, it remains unclear, whether it will be the leaked Nexus 4 or multiple Nexus handsets swirling in tech media world rumors, speculated to be manufactured by major global phone makers.
Also, it is to be noted that Google is holding the event on October 29, that is, the same day when Microsoft has sent out invites to release the Windows Phone 8 OS. Hence, analysts are predicting that Google could unveil the next version of Android as well.
Google's product portfolio always tends towards the manic, with new ideas appearing and vanishing at a pace that would stun Microsoft and Apple. In order of consumer interest, here's what most is expected.


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At the World of Concrete 2020, approximately 55,000 registered professionals participated in the event at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The event featured 1,300 companies on over 700,000 sq. ft.
"Last year, unfortunately, we were unable to participate in the event due to Corona," said Rob Verschuren, Director of the Verbo Group." The event in 2018, 2019 and 2020 were very successful and inspiring for us. Therefore, we are happy to participate again in WOC 2022. We are looking forward to it!"
V-PRO is 1 of 240 companies participating that are not from the United States. "As a foreign company, you want to be at this event to meet and get to know new people" said Emilio Couwenberg. "At WOC, you get to know a tremendous amount of inspiring people who work in the same industry as you. You learn a lot from this."
The World of Concrete 2022 will be held from January 18 to 20 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
V-PRO would love to tell you more about our different floor protection products and what benefits we can offer you.
We would love to show you our products, and we look forward to talking to you.
If you would like to connect with us now, you can fill out the form to become a distributor.
You can visit the site of WOC for more information.


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THE Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, has commended three government agencies for their contributions to make Ghana's corridor a prefered choice for transit trade within the West African sub-region.
These agencies, the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA), Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), are doing the best under the circumstances to grow the transit business which has slumped to a record low due to a combination of factors. One of the major factors for the decline is the diversion of goods meant for landlocked countries onto the local market, which results in the loss of revenue to the state.
Mr Titus-Glover made the comment at a seminar on transit trade jointly organised by the GSA and GRA on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 in Accra.
The seminar, which was on the theme: "Streamlining processes for the growth of Transit Trade in Ghana,” seeks to redefine operational requirements and re-emphasise effective customs control within the dual objective of revenue assurance and trade facilitation.
To complement efforts by the three agencies, Mr Titus-Glover observed that the government would this year step up efforts to crack down on criminals involved in transit goods diversion and it related activities.
"This year is an action year and I am warning the criminals and their associates that when the law catches them they should not ask me to plead on their behalf because I would not be able to help them. We know the nation wreckers because they use service providers in the ports. Let me warn you. When you are caught, do not call any politician," he said.
In the name of transit, the Commissioner of the Customs Division of GRA, Mr Isaac Crentsil, indicated that goods had been imported into Ghana, processed under the transit regime purportedly in transit to either Burkina Faso, Niger or Mali, only to be diverted into the local market.
“These goods, which are most often high duty goods, are either discharged on the way in Kumasi or even discharged in some remote corners in Accra.
“The unfortunate and damaging effect these diversions are causing the Ghanaian economy is that it denies the government the much needed revenue for development,” he said.
Another effect of the diversions, he noted, was that “it gives the government false statistics, which is very dangerous for planning purposes. It gives wrong figures for goods purported to have been imported into the country and those transiting Ghana for a particular year. Customs has taken several steps to halt these abuses but in vain. From human escorts to tracking machines, the offenders have continued to outwit customs and to deny the government of revenue. It has, therefore, become necessary to change gear, take further steps to streamline the transit trade processes,” he said.
Benefits from transit business
The Chief Executive Officer of the GSA, Ms Benonita Bismarck, stated that the transit business over the years had become a significant component of Ghana’s seaborne trade and had delivered tangible benefits to the economy of Ghana.
She said contrary to the widely held perception that Ghana did not derive any benefits from the transit trade through its corridors, the outcome of a GSA study in 2015 showed that tangible financial benefits accrued to operators along the transit logistics chain.
Transit trade volumes in the said year accounted for approximately one million metric tons out of Ghana’s cargo throughput of 17 million metric tons.
The study showed an estimated total revenue of US$24 million (GH¢94 million) accrued to the Ghanaian economy from some of the quantifiable services provided by various operators involved in the delivery of transit services
"These were payments for services in relation to the handling of transit cargo from both Tema and Takoradi Ports, State Insurance Company (SIC) - the national guarantor for the bond value, fees to Ghanaian haulage truckers, operators of the electronic tracking device and for freight forwarders services.
Ms Bismarck observed that there were a number of other entities that benefited directly from transit trade, including fuel outlets, hotels and restaurants operators.
"All these help boost the economy and enhance the livelihood of Ghanaians," she added.


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KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 – A Singaporean durian seller has cunningly poked fun at a modest yet “sophisticated” work of art by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan which was displayed at the Art Basel show in Miami Beach in the US over the weekend.
The art piece, titled Comedian, was nothing but a single piece of banana duct-taped to the gallery wall.
The artwork quickly became the most talked-about shortly after it was sold to a French collector for a whopping US$120,000 (RM500,000).
But much to the surprise of spectators, Georgian-born American artist David Datuna walked up to the extortionately-priced banana and removed it from the wall.
He then calmly peeled the fruit and took a bite in front of a group of seemingly shocked bystanders.
Following the drama that has been circulating online since the weekend, 99 Old Trees – Durians and Desserts café in Singapore took to Facebook to poke fun at the artwork by duct-taping a durian to the wall.
The shop owner has also jokingly put up the thorny masterpiece titled “Durian Tape to White Wall” for sale at SG$163,056 (RM498,940).
The Facebook post, which has been shared over 1,100 times, also accompanies a cheeky caption that says, “Looks like Art, Smells like Fart”.
It also says the artwork comes with duct tape and Pahang Mao Shan Wang 2.15kg (Wall not included).
In the comment section, many Facebook users found the joke hilarious and even praised the shop owner for the humour.
Many social media users also fired up their artistic flare to come up with their own version of duct tape-inspired artwork.


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Odfjell Holdings, a Norwegian shipping firm, is investing $37 million in a new distribution facility in Charleston County, South Carolina. The company will build deep draft marine, rail, and truck access along the Cooper River shipping channel.
"The new terminal site in Charleston will consist of 40 tanks with deep draft marine, rail, and truck accessibility. This will be a great supplement to our existing terminal in Houston and our worldwide tank terminal network. When combined with our shipping network this facility will provide additional distribution options for our customers delivering even more efficiency to their supply chains," said David A. Ellis, president of Odfjell Holdings (US) Inc.
The expansion will create 12 jobs within the next three years. Odfjell expects to complete the facility by 2013.


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This morning Epic announced that Robot Entertainment's upcoming co-op dungeon crawler ReadySet Heroes, initially announced for PlayStation 4, is now available for pre-order on the Epic Games Store.
This is a big deal because it seems to be the first Sony-published game to debut on the storefront, lending weight to Sony Interactive Entertainment frontman Shawn Layden's recent suggestion that some Sony games may go multi-platform in an effort to build a bigger install base.
While Layden was speaking specifically about games from Sony-owned studios (like the recently-acquired Insomniac Games), which Robot is not, the fact that a Sony-published game is now up for pre-order on the Epic Games Store and not on Steam (at least, for now) is another indicator that Epic's efforts to lure devs to its young storefront are compelling enough to sway even major platform-holding publishers.`


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This week in leadership updates, Match names Ayni Raimondi as VP of brand, WarnerMedia CMO Chris Spadaccini steps down and Genius Brands appoints Marc Rosenberg as president of global brands and CMO.
Match Appoints Ayni Raimondi As Vice President Of Brand
Ayni Raimondi has joined Match as its new VP of brand, Adweek reports. The move comes as the dating service celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Prior to Match, Raimondi held senior marketing roles at Airbnb over the course of six years.
WarnerMedia Chief Marketing Officer Chris Spadaccini Exits
Chris Spadaccini, WarnerMedia Entertainment’s CMO since 2019, is stepping down, according to Deadline.
Prior to becoming WarnerMedia CMO, Spadaccini spent two decades at HBO. His departure comes as WarnerMedia continues to restructure the company.
Genius Brands Appoints Marc Rosenberg Chief Marketing Officer
Marc Rosenberg is joining Genius Brands International, Inc. as the company’s president of global brands and CMO.
Rosenberg joins from Zizzle, where he recently served as CMO.
Prior to Zizzle, he held various marketing leadership roles in the children’s space, including head of marketing at Hasbro Toys and Tiger Electronics.


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Police seize firecrackers
Police yesterday seized 225 kilograms of firecrackers and fireworks intended for illegal sale to villagers and holidaymakers to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
The consignment in 30 cartons were found in three village houses including a snack shop in Lee Uk Village, Tai Po. The 65-year-old snack shop owner was arrested and later released on $5,000 bail. Police said the haul included rockets and flares from Dongguan in Guangdong and was worth about $50,000.


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APL Logistics said its employees are retracting earlier statements they made last week regarding "K" Line's financial position.
U.S. gross domestic product increased 1.4 percent in the second quarter of 2016, according to the “third” estimate from the Department of Commerce, following a revised increase of just 0.8 percent in the first quarter.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., sent a letter to the heads of the Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration asking DOT to study potential methods for reducing the combustib
Registration takes less than 1 minute.
Edward Greenberg, the association’s general council, said the Federal Maritime Commission’s revision would offer "much needed flexibility" to non-vessel-operating common carriers when including rate and surcharge changes in their service arrangements.
Online freight rate marketplace Freightos acquired air cargo management provider WebCargoNet, which will provide Freightos with a broader range of airfreight rates to complement its existing database of air and ocean rates.
The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service said China has decided that vessels originating from the United States, other than the state of Florida, do not require disinsection certification.


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Chrome will automatically block Flash ads starting September 1
On September 1, Google Chrome will turn the lights out on Flash for good.
By Joel Hruska
Google emerges from 19-month FTC antitrust investigation nearly unscathed
At some point, you might've noticed that Google occupies quite a large section of the internet. From its search engine, to its text, voice, and video chats, to its turn-by-turn navigation app, to its email offering, if it's a digital thing people use, Google generally has a worthwhile and free version of it. Because of that, some might say that Google doesn't make it easy on the small guys, and doesn't help promote a fair economic ecosystem. About 19 months ago, the Federal Trade Commission looked into that, launching an antitrust investigation. Now, the FTC closed it, and Google came out relatively unharmed.
By James Plafke


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The floor of the New York Stock Exchange (GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/SPENCER PLATT)
The New York Stock Exchange ended lower Friday at its lowest level in two months, fears of FedEx’s earnings warning and the prospect of a series of further sharp interest rate hikes cast doubt on the viability of the US economy. to land slowly.
The Dow Jones lost 0.45%, to 30,822.43 points, the Nasdaq index fell 0.90%, to 11,448.40 points, and the S&P 500 index fell 0.72%, to 3,873.33 points.
Since its summer peak in mid-August, the S&P 500 has lost nearly 11% and is down 19% since the start of the year.
“Markets remain jittery,” Schwab analysts said in a note, a statement “made worse by the dire picture painted by FedEx.”
The courier group published Thursday, after the stock market and in advance, the results were below expectations. The FedEx title was cut, losing 21.39% in one session, to 161.04 dollars.
Managing Director Raj Subramaniam spoke about the deteriorating macroeconomic environment at the end of the accounting quarter, which ended at the end of August. “We are seeing a decline in volumes in all segments, globally,” said the manager, in an interview with CNBC.
He said he expected the world economy to soon go into a recession. Due to uncertainty about the state of the economy, the group withdrew its annual forecasts.
“The FedEx warning is a significant factor today,” said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management.
For him, it adds to a series of lackluster macroeconomic indicators, including retail sales on Thursday, which fell 0.3% in a month excluding the sale of cars and spare parts.
“The data trend is going in the wrong direction,” says Tom Cahill. “It looks like consumers are starting to relax” in their spending.
Consumption accounts for more than two-thirds of America’s gross domestic product (GDP), a proportion higher than that of all other major countries.
The state of the day did not improve the index of consumer confidence, published by the University of Michigan, which is from August, but analysts were disappointed.
Wall Street is watching with concern the rise in bond yields, which picked up speed this week with the recalibration of operators’ expectations for monetary policy, convinced that the American central bank (Fed) hit even harder than expected.
The yield on 10-year US government bonds tightened slightly, to 3.45%, against 3.44% the previous day.
Built on a model of continuous growth, technology companies are very sensitive to funding conditions, which have been particularly strained by the Fed’s key rate hikes.
Many tech stocks fell to their lowest levels of the year on Friday, such as Alphabet (-0.26%) or Meta (-2.18%), which have not seen these valuation levels since the start of the pandemic of the coronavirus.
On the other hand, the so-called defensive stocks, ie less sensitive to the economic situation, held their own, especially the cable operator Comcast (+1.53%), McDonald’s (+0.57%), Johnson and Johnson ( +1.53%). or Merck (+1.12%).
Uber fell significantly (-3.62% to 31.93 dollars) after the group reported a “cybersecurity incident”. According to the New York Times, an 18-year-old hacker broke into the car reservation platform’s internal network and gained access to source code and emails, among other things.
The failures of its competitor in the market for cars with a driver (VTC) also punished Lyft (-4.24%).
Similarly, UPS joined the fall of FedEx and fell 4.48% to $176.71.
General Electric suffered (-3.66% to 66.39 dollars) from the statements of its chief financial officer, Carolina Dybeck, who indicated that the conglomerate continues to suffer from supply and supply chain problems, which may limit group benefits.
The action of the photo agency Getty Images collapsed (-36.40% to 8.49 dollars) after the publication of a document before a capital increase with the market regulatory authority, the SEC.


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With the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held next year, the reserve bank has released a report on the economy of India. 48% of those who had participated in the research have opined that in 2018, the Indian economy has faced huge downfall.
While in December 2016, in a similar research, only 38% had said that the economy was worse while now, in May 2018, it has been already revealed that 48% have negative response to the economic growth. The same percentage of people who gave thumbs down for Indian economy in 2017 was 44%. 88% people have said that the prices for f essential goods have increased in the past 1 year, while 83% have said that the prices are set to increase in the next 6 months.
Due to inflation and many other
reasons the economy is all set to be damaged further, and this will impact
people even more as per the research results. This research was conducted in
the cities of Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi, and
this survey had more than 5000 people participating.
Hyderabad Police booked 12 Websites for publishing defamatory article Hyderabad sources made a statement that after taking swift action on websites that posted news of a rumored affair between film actor Prabhas and Y.S. Sharmila, sister of YSRCP chief Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy, the Hyderabad Police sent notices to 12 websites which have published such defamatory articles and videos.
- GHMC shelving its plan to revise property tax rates
- Again old rupee notes in Chennai!
- World's first genetically modified child!
- Edappadi checks food quality!
- Will DMK intervene in Mekedatu project?
- Prakash Raj to contest election as an Independent from Bengaluru-Central constituency
- Religion politics have not fared well in the South
- Paytm's New Feature adds benefit to Partner Merchants
- Deepika Padukone titled World's Most Beautiful Bride
- Amazon's New Year Sale delivery makes Record!!!
- Lord Vishnu statue carved from a monolithic block reached Singarapettai
- Jio New Year Offer recharges done between December 28, 2018, to January 31, 2019
- 437 CCTV Cameras installed in Chennai, Kilpauk Jurisdiction
- High Court Justice orders 37 ISPs to block 12,000 Websites
- Trump cancelled his own participation in Davos, citing row over his proposed wall


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Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,421,369 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 161,912 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.01% of Costco Wholesale Corporation worth $707,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Delta Asset Management LLC TN grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation during the 2nd quarter worth $101,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation during the 2nd quarter worth $107,000. Mercer Capital Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 687 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ledyard National Bank grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 810 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 72.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
In related news, Director John W. Meisenbach sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.59, for a total transaction of $157,590.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,099,032.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Paul G. Moulton sold 4,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.16, for a total value of $736,708.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 52,858 shares in the company, valued at $8,888,601.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,731 shares of company stock worth $3,214,389. 0.74% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Deutsche Bank AG reissued a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Citigroup Inc. increased their price target on Costco Wholesale Corporation from $155.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reissued a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation in a research report on Thursday, August 31st. Morgan Stanley downgraded Costco Wholesale Corporation from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded Costco Wholesale Corporation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.34.
Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ COST) opened at $171.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $74,882.54, a PE ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.93. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $145.38 and a 1-year high of $183.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 5th. The retailer reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $42.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.55 billion. Costco Wholesale Corporation had a return on equity of 22.21% and a net margin of 2.08%. Costco Wholesale Corporation’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. Costco Wholesale Corporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.89%.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITY NOTICE: This article was reported by The Ledger Gazette and is the sole property of of The Ledger Gazette. If you are accessing this article on another publication, it was illegally copied and reposted in violation of United States & international copyright & trademark laws. The original version of this article can be read at https://ledgergazette.com/2017/11/13/costco-wholesale-corporation-cost-shares-sold-by-ameriprise-financial-inc.html.
Costco Wholesale Corporation Company Profile
Costco Wholesale Corporation is engaged in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States and Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Spain, and through its subsidiaries in Taiwan and Korea. As of August 28, 2016, the Company operated 715 warehouses across the world.
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Critics hit out over BBC's HTML5 stance
Content delivery company accuses broadcaster of double standards
The BBC has been branded "eccentric" for its refusal to adopt HTML5 for online video.
Last week, BBC technology chief Erik Huggers used a blog post to justify the corporation’s continuing commitment to Flash for delivering video, claiming that the HTML5 may be "sailing off course".
HTML5 is an open standard that's being supported by all of the major browsers, but Huggers expressed concern that browser makers and other companies appeared to be pushing the standard toward proprietary implementations.
The BBC isn’t prepared to embrace HTML5 until there is a single open implementation, but there’s no single open implementation of Adobe Flash either
Following yesterday’s Google announcement that the company had started to use the HTML5 video tag for mobile YouTube, content delivery firm Volantis has launched a scathing attack on Huggers.
“The launch of YouTube’s HTML5 mobile site will surely, finally, silence the media voices, who have been claiming that the standard may not be the future of the mobile internet,” said Mark Watson, CEO of Volantis. “No-one is going to be able to say that pressing ahead with HTML5 development is eccentric when the world’s dominant video site is backing it, alongside Microsoft, Apple, and Google.
“Indeed, it’s the BBC’s stance on this issue that is eccentric or suggests a vested interest. At the very least, Erik Huggers’ recent blog post defending the corporation’s use of Adobe Flash revealed a double standard.”
According to Watson, the video delivery industry doesn't need to wait for a single open version of HTML5, as long as different versions work properly together and that forcing development companies into one-size-fits-all would be counter productive.
“The BBC, Huggers says, isn’t prepared to embrace HTML5 until there is a single open implementation, but there’s no single open implementation of Adobe Flash either,” said Watson. “As Mr Huggers almost certainly knows, forcing the single open implementation that he’s supposedly waiting for can only damage or hold back HTML5 which is currently thriving in the open.”


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For companies hoping to make a fortune from sports fans attending the Rio Olympics, expectation is turning to desperation.
As the clock counts down to the opening ceremony in the Maracana Stadium on Friday night, last-minute travellers to the Games can pick up some remarkable bargains – to the fury of sports fans who paid a fortune months or years ago to attend Rio 2016 and now find they wasted thousands of pounds.
Each Olympiad for several decades has followed the same pattern in terms of pricing for flights and accommodation. Airlines and hoteliers set their prices astronomically high. They find some takers who mistakenly believe that seats and beds will be in short supply. Anyone who waits patiently until a few weeks or days before the Games can be confident of snapping up plane tickets and hotel rooms for the same, or less than the usual price in a non-Olympic year.
That phenomenon has been accentuated this year by the spread of the Zika virus and the state of the Brazilian economy. The virus has deterred some prospective competitors and overseas visitors, while the demand from Brazilians from other parts of the country has not met expectations.
At the start of this year, a typical short-stay package sold through an official Olympics agent cost around £2,500, excluding air fares. It included three nights in a three-star hotel and tickets for athletics and volleyball events. The same deal, assembled online, could cost as little as £500 today, even after the post-referendum collapse of sterling.
Flights on the only airline with a non-stop service from the UK to Rio, British Airways, remain expensive – £2,000 or more for an economy return, with some dates completely sold out. But connecting services are widely available for far less.
The Independent has been tracking fares from the UK to Rio over the past month. Travellers prepared to take a convoluted route, perhaps with two changes of plane, can find fares from London under £1,000 for a return, while good connections on high-quality airlines from a range of UK airports are going for around £1,200.
There has been no last-minute rush for available seats. In contrast, it appears that airlines are making more space available in the cheaper booking classes in a bid to extract at least some revenue from still-empty seats.
Many top-end hotels are full, with media and officials block-booked into the city’s best rooms but mid-range properties have plenty of space at now-reasonable prices. A good quality budget hotel such as the Ibis Rio Porto Atlantico has rooms available almost every night of the Olympics at £100 for a double. Many hostels are selling beds in dorms for around the £20 mark.
Tickets for many events have proved embarrassingly hard to sell. For less popular sports, tickets are readily available at £9 – sharply lower than prices for London 2012. Touts who were hoping to make a fortune are now desperate to offload their ticket stock for whatever they can get. They find themselves in competition with the organisers, who still have good seats available even for key athletics finals at the Estadio Nilton Santos at the equivalent of £120.
A welcome bonus for travellers keen to enjoy the city’s cultural and tourist highlights is that visitor numbers will be lower than normal, meaning no queues for the cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain or the funicular to the statue of Christ the Redeemer.
The Santa Teresa colonial quarter, art galleries and natural wonders of the self-styled “marvellous city” can be enjoyed in some tranquillity, although Olympics events have taken over the very best stretches of beach.
As with London 2012, tables at the city’s best restaurants could be surprisingly easy to find, enabling the visitor to enjoy some culinary surprises, including possibly the finest Japanese food on the continent at Sushi Leblon.
Feijoada, the meat-heavy stew that is Brazil’s version of a Sunday roast, is a Rio essential, though it is unlikely to find favour with the world’s finest athletes.
One group of entrepreneurs still looking forward to handsome profits are the criminals who are converging on Rio from across Brazil and the rest of South America. The city’s crime rates are expected to soar. The Foreign Office advises British travellers to “Be ready to hand over your valuables if threatened; do not attempt to resist attackers”. Visitors are advised to keep a spare credit card for emergencies in the hotel safe, preferably in a sealed envelope “to indicate fraudulent access to the safe”.
The city authorities are hoping the heavy police presence will deter robbers, and that the dip in tourism will be offset by the high profile Rio gains worldwide.
In years to come, it may be but the other certainty for Olympic hosts over the years is that immediately after the closing ceremony, there is an almighty slump in visitor numbers. The post-Games lull before the Paralympics begins is likely to see the lowest air fares and hotel rates in years.
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U.S. lawmakers and industry advocates need to do more to address a “critical” shortage of skilled truck technicians and mechanics, according to Bill Graves, CEO of American Trucking Associations.
The car company announced it will make the switch from the Port of Brunswick to the Port of Jacksonville as its new port of entry for the Southeastern United States effective October 2015.
The global shipping industry has reduced total carbon dioxide emissions by more than 10 percent since 2007, according to the International Chamber of Shipping.
TOTE says "While this reflects that the ship was caught in rough seas and extreme weather, it is in no way indicative of the ship’s fate."
Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn., introduced a bill that would restore Ex-Im Bank’s operations and include various reforms, but will require a "discharge process" to reach the House floor for a vote.
The company’s minority investment in e-commerce specialist Ally Commerce Inc. is more about research than revenues, according to Rimas Kapeskas, head of UPS’s strategic enterprise fund.


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EBay and Icahn: What’s ‘the Truth About Skype’?
Activist investor Carl Icahn is continuing to wage his public battle against certain executives on eBay’s (NASDAQ:EBAY) board in advance of an upcoming stockholders meeting. Icahn, who recently took a 0.8 percent economic interest in eBay, has called for board members Marc Andreessen and Scott Cook to step down from eBay’s board and has accused CEO John Donahoe of allowing for the company’s poor corporate governance. “We have found ourselves in many troubling situations over the years, but the complete disregard for accountability at eBay is the most blatant we have ever seen,” Icahn said in the first shareholder letter.
“I have a message for eBay’s board: You may be able to duck and weave when it comes to the media, but in a few short weeks you will have no choice but to face your stockholders at the annual meeting. We all deserve to know the truth about what really happened with Skype,” Icahn said in his latest letter issued to shareholders on Monday.
Icahn issued several letters to eBay shareholders last week, outlining his claims that eBay board members Andreessen and Cook have investments in companies that compete with eBay and are maintaining conflicts of interest that have been damaging for eBay’s shareholders.
Icahn uses what he refers to as “the Skype fiasco” as the reason Andreessen should be asked to leave the company’s board. EBay bought the messaging service Skype back in 2005 and sold a controlling interest in the business to Andreessen’s venture capital firm, which in turn sold Skype to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) for a huge profit. Icahn believes that eBay shareholders were cheated out of the cash they deserved in the sale of Skype. EBay has claimed that it “explored all possible options” with the Skype sale.
Andreessen defended himself in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday. Though he wouldn’t address Icahn’s claims directly, he said: “If I’m on a public board and that public company is looking at buying a company in a certain space and one of my startups is in that space, I will not be part of that conversation. This has been established over decades of corporate governance and there’s nothing unique to tech about it.”
On Monday, Andreessen finally released his own statement addressing the matter directly. “I dispute all accusations that I have violated any of my duties to eBay shareholders,” he wrote. “Throughout the eBay board’s process of divesting Skype, I fully disclosed my potential interest and recused myself from all deliberations on the transaction, including all discussions, negotiations, and decisions. I was uninvolved in eBay’s decision to spin off Skype and in eBay’s decision to choose to partner with the Silver Lake syndicate.”
EBay and company founder Pierre Omidyar have issued their own statements defending the company’s board members and business practices. The most recent note from the company, titled “The Truth About Skype,” reiterates eBay’s version of what happened with the sale of Skype, and calls Icahn’s claims “false and misleading information.”
Icahn’s end goal is for eBay to spin off its PayPal electronic payments service, which he believes will be much more successful if it’s not owned by an online retailer, as other e-commerce sites would be less hesitant to adopt the platform. Icahn is known for using his strong-arm techniques to influence the companies he has investments in, and he isn’t likely to back down from this battle any time soon. We’ll see which Skype story eBay’s stockholders believe at the upcoming shareholders meeting.
More from Wall St. Cheat Sheet:
- Andreessen Defends Himself Against Icahn
- Icahn’s Battle With eBay Will Only Get Uglier
- EBay and Icahn Continue Public War of Words
- Icahn Rips EBay Board a New One in Latest Letter
Follow Jacqueline on Twitter @Jacqui_WSCS


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Credit rating agency $MCO posted a 20% YoverY drop in 1Q16 net income to $184.4MM, or $0.93 per diluted share. Revenue fell 6% to $816.1MM, with foreign currency translation unfavorably impacted revenue by 2%. Reduced global bond issuance in the quarter weighed on Moody's financial performance, the company said.
The latest earnings report by $VZ shows how it is losing customers despite offering the unlimited data plans, a record for the company.
$BEBE is closing down all its stores by the end of May.
$WFC agreed to hike its payout in a class-action settlement over unauthorized accounts by $32 million to $142 million for its retail sales practices. The settlement will now include customers who were impacted as early as May 2002.


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Photos published on Saturday depict what are claimed to be rear shells for Apple's "iPhone 7" and "7 Plus" — and particularly, evidence of the new camera technology the devices are using.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Right out of the box, you can tell that DJI's Phantom 4 is a complete reimagining of the entry-level lineup. From the sleek chassis to advanced automated controls, DJI has set a new standard, leaving competitors and its own legacy models in the dust.
With WWDC wrapped up for another year, attention turned back to future product rumors — and for once, the iPhone 7 didn't dominate the discussion.
Friday, June 24, 2016
Yesterday's referendum on the United Kingdom exiting the European Union was widely expected to fail, but instead surprised markets globally by narrowly passing. The Euro and British Pound both subsequently dropped significantly, and markets worldwide recoiled in shock. Here's a look at how will this affect Apple going forward.
Apple on Friday was slapped with yet another patent lawsuit leveled by a non-practicing entity, this time a renewed complaint dealing with VoIP technologies targeting FaceTime video and audio software.
As part of efforts to generate clean energy at its Campus 2 headquarters, Apple is investing in an array of environmentally friendly fuel cells installed by Bloom Energy, the same manufacturer that supplied units for the company's Maiden, N.C., data center.
Customers looking to purchase apps, music or e-books through found themselves out of luck on Friday as a handful of Apple's internet services were hit by an hours-long outage, the third such downtime to hit Apple's services this month.
The new data collection method set to roll out in iOS 10 will require users to opt in, and will be limited to four specific system functions, according to Apple.
FeatureInside watchOS 3: Apple Watch gets new apps for Reminders, Home, Find My Friends & heart rate
The number of default Apple Watch apps will grow with the upcoming release of watchOS 3, gaining Reminders, Home, Find My Friends, as well as a separate heart rate app, and also adding watch face complications for each.
Despite killing the Thunderbolt Display without a replacement this week, Apple is still working on a successor — one that will reportedly have its own separate integrated graphics card, likely to push a high-resolution Retina display.
Honda on Friday announced that the 2017 Accord, going on sale June 27, will be available with an upgrade supporting Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto.
Apple surprised many this week by abruptly discontinuing the Thunderbolt Display without announcing a replacement. But, as Apple pointed out, "there are a number of great third-party options available for Mac users." With that said, AppleInsider has compiled a list of the top Thunderbolt-alternative displays for Macs that are available today.
Putting itself in direct competition with Facebook and Twitter, YouTube is now in the beginning stages of rolling out live video streaming from its main mobile app.
Starting with iOS 10, the Photos app on your iPhone and iPad will automatically scan your pictures for faces and places, making it easier to find the shots you're looking for. It'll even group them into collections, and quickly automate creation of a view to relive your memories. AppleInsider offers a closer look at how it all works.
Netflix is developing a long-awaited option to download some content for offline viewing, according to an executive described as an industry insider.
While this year's Apple Watch upgrade is expected to feature largely the same OLED display as its predecessor, the wearable smartwatch could see a major overhaul next year, with Apple said to be investigating micro LED technology for a future model.
This week on the AppleInsider Neil and Victor to talk about his experiences with beta iOS 10 and watchOS 3 features. They also wrap up all the current iPhone rumors.
Grammy Award-winner Adele's latest album, "25," was made available for streaming through a variety of services at midnight on Friday, including Apple Music and Spotify, some seven months after initial release.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Huawei, the second largest Android phone maker in market share behind Samsung, is "secretly developing an alternative mobile operating system" in a bid to hedge its bets against Google's increasingly assertive control over Android.
In an addition to its developer resources mini-site on Thursday, Apple posted a profile of "Lifeline" developer 3 Minute Games, highlighting how the studio found success with the iOS App Store's paid business model.
After going years without update, Apple has decided to discontinue the Thunderbolt Display, marking an end to the company's current first-party monitor product line and sparking speculation that a high-resolution replacement is in the offing.
The new Apple File System announced at WWDC highlights how the company is planning for the future. Here's a look under the hood at what the company will use to replace HFS+ on Macs, iOS, Apple Watch and Apple TV.
Apple issued beta versions of Safari 10 for OS X 10.11 El Capitan and OS X 10.10 Yosemite on Thursday, granting developers access to new features like enhanced Safari Extensions, a redesigned Bookmarks interface and more.
Apple could be on the verge of filling a major hole in its Apple Music international coverage, as reports on Thursday claim contracts have been signed to bring the streaming service to South Korea.
Apple's forthcoming iOS 10 update will improve multitasking on the iPad by offering a new split-screen mode in Safari, allowing users to have two tabs open side-by-side simultaneously.
A questionable rumor on Thursday reiterated the claim that Apple will sell 256-gigabyte versions of its upcoming "iPhone 7" and "iPhone 7 Plus," while further suggesting there could be an even more expensive "Pro" lineup.
Apple is hunting for feedback on streaming video, presumably to help decide on a future direction for the Apple TV and/or video in general, AppleInsider learned on Thursday.
T-Mobile on Thursday launched a pair of initiatives aimed at American travelers. In the first, the carrier is giving an hour of Gogo in-flight internet service to all domestic U.S. fliers, including what the company calls "those long-abused AT&T and Verizon customers."
Apple's will debut its fifth store in Hong Kong on June 30, reflecting the importance of both the city and the Chinese market in general.
While True Tone technology is currently exclusive to Apple's latest flagship iPad, a new patent application signals it has interest in expanding the color management capabilities to other devices, potentially ranging from as small as an Apple Watch to as large as an iMac.
Though prices on activity trackers continue to drop, average selling prices on wearable devices still saw a major increase in the first quarter of 2016, boosted in large part by the availability of the premium-priced Apple Watch, according to new research.
Apple's chief design officer, Jonathan Ive, was one of nine "distinguished" people to receive an honorary doctorate on Wednesday from the University of Oxford.
A pair of Apple patent applications published Thursday indicate research into alternative input methods for iOS, namely a touch sensitive stylus and a device capable of customizing a user interface based on whether a user is holding it in their left or right hand.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Responding to speculation as to why the iOS 10 beta kernel was left unencrypted, Apple on Wednesday confirmed the move was made deliberately to streamline system performance.
NASA on Wednesday added a tvOS app to its growing stable of digital media properties, bringing high-definition video streams, satellite and telescope imagery, mission updates and more to the living room.
The middle of the week brings about a plethora of deals on Apple Macs and iPads. Score a 128GB 9.7-inch iPad Pro for $699 or a 13-inch MacBook Air for $799.99. Plus, save $350 on the 2015 12-inch MacBook with 512GB of storage, $35-$70 off new 2016 12-inch MacBooks and $149 off a 27-inch iMac 5K with a Retina Display.
Unlike past tick-tock iPhone refresh cycles, Apple's upcoming "iPhone 7" is expected to feature a design largely similar to the current iPhone 6 series, but internal component changes like a "dual specification" ambient light sensor could render existing cases and protective films incompatible.
A team of ex-Apple employees, led by former global data center network manager Jason Forrester, are aiming to overturn the ancient regime of proprietary standards for basic switches and routers and replace it with truly open-source standards that any user can customize.
One subtly important improvement in iOS 10 is support for multilingual typing, letting people use several languages in the same sentence without unwanted autocorrections.
- Samsung, Sharp plan to ramp up OLED production ahead of Apple's rumored all-glass 2017 iPhone
- Dropbox introduces new productivity tools including text scanner for Apple's iOS
- Chinese firm that had iPhone 6 sales suspended in Beijing 'barely exists,' investigation finds
- Amazon launches thinner, lighter $80 Kindle e-reader with double storage
- Apple's HomeKit smarthome platform picks up new device types & controls
- Inside iOS 10: Control Center expands to three panes, offering quick access to Music & Home
- Apple's new Swift Playgrounds for iPad is a killer app for teaching code
- Apple Pay gains support from 44 new US banks and credit unions
- Apple leaves iOS 10 beta kernel unencrypted in potential bug discovery effort
- Judge tosses lawsuit over 'Error 53' triggered by Touch ID repairs
- Apple TV universal search integrates content from A&E, History, Food Network, more
- New FAA drone rules open up US skies to limited commercial flights
- UE updates Boom 2, Megaboom Bluetooth speakers with Siri trigger support
- Inside iOS 10: New 'Bedtime' feature helps you get a proper night's sleep
- Apple issues third developer & public betas of iOS 9.3.3, OS X 10.11.6, tvOS 9.2.2
- This year's 'iPhone 7' will lack major design changes as Apple awaits improved technology - report
- Twitter, Vine expand video limit to 140 seconds
- Former Apple employees reveal iPhone-connected aftermarket car backup camera
- Giveaway: Win an iPhone case and keyless lock bundle from Dog and Bone
- Microsoft SharePoint for iOS arrives on Apple's App Store
- Apple opens registrations for children's Apple Camps at US retail stores
- New rules may put up barriers to games on Apple's App Store in China
- Browser-based Apple Pay predicted to chip away at PayPal's dominance with both consumers & merchants
- Inside watchOS 3: Customize your Apple Watch display on a workout-by-workout basis
- Adobe updates Creative Cloud with deep Stock integration, content-aware crop for Photoshop CC and more
- Apple customers to receive $400M iBooks settlement payments on Tuesday
- Apple's differential privacy analyzes the group, protects the individual
- Apple's 'iPhone 7' rumored to ship with standard EarPods, Lightning adapter
- More evidence of iOS 10 'dark mode' emerges, hints at cellular toggle in Control Center
- Tim Cook to host fundraiser for House Speaker Paul Ryan, other Republicans
- Inside iOS 10: 3D Touch allows renaming folders, clearing all notifications, sharing apps
- Apple Music rival Spotify tops 100 million subscribers, 30 million paid listeners
- Sketchy rumor suggests Apple's 'iPhone 7' will retain headphone jack, support dual SIM
- Apple pulls legacy non-Retina MacBook Pro from retail store displays
- Inside watchOS 3: Apple Watch adds new iOS-style swipe-up Control Center
- India eases rules on local sourcing, paves way for country's first Apple Stores
- Inside iOS 10: With Game Center app gone, invites are managed by Messages
- Apple Maps picks up public transit directions for Denver, Colorado
- Select Bank of America ATMs now processing Apple Pay withdrawals
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016


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Forget The Fed, Short-Term Funding Costs For American Business Are The Highest In 8 Years
Since its lows in May of 2014, short-term USD borrowing costs (1M Libor) have quadrupled. As the 100%-priced-in December rate-hike looms, the cost of funding for American businesses is once again on the rise, now at its highest since December 2008.
For now, it seems, the most levered US equity market ever appears ignorant of this rapid tightening of financial conditions…
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Nov 25, 2016.


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During the past eight months, major mobile payments initiatives have been announced by some of the tech industry's most significant players. At the forefront are Apple and Google with Apple Pay and Android Pay, respectively. Additional offerings from Samsung, PayPal and others are expected to reach market in the near term.
The Aite Group, an independent research and advisory firm focused on business, technology, and regulatory issues related to the financial services industry, expects this rapid proliferation in mobile payment options to translate into tremendous gains for in-store mobile payments in the U.S. over the next five years. Aite forecasts that, after a projected $7.6 billion in sales this year, 2016 sales will grow to $22.4 billion and then roughly double yearly through 2020, when sales are expected to reach $487 billion.1 Such rapid change means merchants and consumers will have to adapt—fast.
Merchants Buy In
At Apple's developer conference earlier this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple Pay would be accepted at more than one million locations in the U.S. by the end of July. That is five times the number of locations available at the launch of the service just last October, and it's indicative of the rapid acceptance that contactless mobile payments are seeing among merchants. And when Android Pay launches this summer on more than half of all Android devices, it will work on the same terminals as Apple Pay—both rely on NFC (Near-Field Communication) technology. That's a boon for the potential user base; together, Android and Apple comprise 95 percent of the smartphone market.2
An EMV liability shift coming in October, which will place the liability for fraudulent credit card charges on whichever party—card issuer or merchant—that does not support EMV, will continue to drive point-of-sale (POS) upgrades as well; mobile payments are often supported by EMV-compliant terminals. The coming ubiquity of mobile-ready POS terminals3 also promises to take the guesswork out of whether and where mobile payment services can be used—a significant challenge in the past.
Consumers struggled to adopt earlier mobile payment options due to limited availability across devices and platforms as a result of wireless carrier restrictions and lack of NFC hardware. The field is different now: Companies like Discover are supporting both Apple Pay and Android Pay—as opposed to aligning with one or the other—so consumers won't be left wondering whether they have the option to use a given mobile payment service with their existing card.
Apple Pay will come pre-installed on all Apple devices and Android Pay will be on most Android devices, clearing another hurdle faced by earlier mobile payment offerings, like Google's own Wallet (consumers previously had to opt to download it). Consumers will find it simple to add their cards to the payment services as Apple Pay can utilize the same credit card associated with a user's iTunes account, and Google is following suit by making Android Pay the payment method for its own store, Google Play. Such frictionless onboarding processes and payment-method pairings (where consumers use the credit cards they already use, and are comfortable using) are crucial for consumer adoption.
Simplicity and Speed
Simplicity and speed are the most straightforward selling points for consumers and will likely drive much of the projected growth early on. Beyond streamlining the actual payment process, both Apple Pay and Android Pay will launch loyalty cards later this year, rewarding consumers with time savings (no digging for physical cards) and merchants with increased consumer engagement thanks to this ease of use. Starbucks has been a leader in this space over the last several years, increasing its mobile spend volume from $471 million in 2012 to $1.6 billion in 2014.4 To its benefit, the coffee giant created a checkout process faster than swiping a card while simultaneously integrating a loyalty program.
Coupled with additional mobile functionality like Bluetooth and geolocation, it is clear that mobile payments are poised to afford merchants unprecedented insight into their customers' needs and habits, which they can leverage to drive incremental sales and discourage defections to competitors.
While convenience is a key factor for growth, the security available through mobile payments is crucial as well. Troy Bernard, Director of Mobile Products at Discover, is optimistic about the potential security enhancements available through mobile payments.
“Tokens, biometrics, geolocation, IP address, and other types of customer data can be used to determine that the right person is using the right phone in the right place,” Bernard explained. “The trick is to close the vulnerabilities while leveraging the enhanced data that the phone provides.”
Tokenization is key, eschewing credit card numbers in favor of a unique set of numbers or characters (used by both Apple Pay and Android Pay). Tokenization protects both sides—consumers do not actually turn their credit card information over to merchants, and as a result merchants aren't tasked with storing sensitive credit card data.
Perhaps what the mobile payments industry has been missing until recently was clarity of vision on implementation. Now, with the two largest players gravitating to near-identical solutions, and Discover and other major credit cards on board for both, all signs point to explosive expansion in the coming years.
See More From Discover


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Greyhound Expands Bus Service to Mexico
Photo via Wikipedia
Greyhound is already the largest provider of intercity bus transportation in North America, but the company has once again expanded its reach to include service in Mexico.
According to Greyhound, service to and from Mexico began on June 15 with 23 departures per day, connecting major cities like Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. The addition of new cities in Mexico brings the bus company’s total number of destinations internationally to around 3,800.
With the addition of the new routes, Greyhound becomes the first bus company based in the United States to operate domestic service within Mexico.
Greyhound CEO Dave Leach released a statement, saying, “Service in Mexico has long been an aspiration of Greyhound, making the launch an especially meaningful event. As an iconic American brand that has more than 100 years of experience providing the gold standard of bus travel to our customers, we’re looking forward to bringing our high-quality service, safety and convenience to Mexico.”
Greyhound passengers can expect big things from the private terminals that were recently built in both Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo. The company operates safe and clean terminals to make customers happy, and added amenities like free Wi-Fi and charging stations to keep them entertained.
Both Mexican terminals will also feature an abundance of free short-term parking spaces and paid long-term parking for those traveling for long periods of time. The buses themselves have also improved, including free on-board Wi-Fi, power outlets, leather seats, on-board restrooms and much more.
More by Donald Wood
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We're excited to announce a significant change in our editorial team. Beginning with our Fall 2017 issue which will be…Read More
What a great summer! We've been busy covering amazing Toyota Truck, Cruiser, and SUV adventure... Download this issue now to read…Read More
Overland Expo West 2017 set up at a new venue just south of downtownFlagstaff - the Fort Tuthill County Park. We…Read More
The informal Texas Overland Facebook group was launched by several Toyota off-roaders from the Austin, TX area back in 2015.…Read More
Just like you we're getting ready for the 2011 wheeling season, and there's no better way to get your FJ ready than browsing the 2011 FJ Cruiser All Vendor Catalog!
This year we’ve included over 30 manufacturers,and we're featuring over 150 products!
Bumpers, lifts, armor, and accessories can all be found inside. We have just about every manufacturer and brand, so you’re sure to find something that works for you.


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As opportunities surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT) continue to grow, Cambridge-based LogiSense is growing along with them.
The company, which specializes in monetizing IoT information transactions, says it has seen 40 per cent growth year-over-year and expects to hire about 30 more employees in the next year, bringing the total number of workers to 100.
A good portion of that is in software development, said CEO Flavio Gomes, but it also includes project managers, solutions consultants, sales and marketing.
“We’re growing in all areas of our business,” said Gomes, seated inside his office at 278 Pinebush Rd. He's considering opening offices in British Columbia and Europe, and may need to find more space locally as well.
In many ways, the company’s expansion mirrors the growth of IoT.
Last year, technology consulting firm Gartner, Inc. predicted there could be as many as 20.8 billion connected devices in the world by 2020 (about triple the estimated 6.4 billion this year), while Ericsson Mobility estimates that number could be around 28 billion by 2021.
Others still have predicted the number could actually hit 50 billion.
Regardless of which figure turns out to be correct, the IoT market will be significant, and LogiSense expects about $10 million in revenue this year alone.
“It’s absolutely huge,” he said, citing industry expectations that IoT could impact the economy by as much as $14 trillion by 2030. “That’s a lot of money.”
And while much of the IoT discussion has been centred on connected devices for the home, such as smart light bulbs, smoke detectors, garage door openers and so on, LogiSense has been focused on industrial and business applications of the technology.
Flavio Gomes, CEO of LogiSense, may soon be looking for a larger office due to
rapid growth. (Photo: James Jackson)
Gomes and his team have spent close to a decade building LogiSense into a company ready to cash in on that market – all without relying on venture capital investment to grow the business. Founded in 1998, LogiSense serves more than 40 customers in six countries.
“We’re organically grown. We’re driven by our own revenues,” he said, though they have taken advantage of some government grants.
His company makes it easier for businesses to organize and monetize the billions of transactions, also referred to as “events,” that occur whenever connected devices are turned on or communicate to each other.
Whether it’s a shipping pallet communicating with the head office to help co-ordinate inventory and supply chain management, or a sensor in a restaurant fryer informing the oil company about the quality of that oil so they know exactly when to replace it, LogiSense helps companies make sense of all that data and bill their customers accordingly through a platform called EngageIP.
“We’ve developed state-of-the-art billing capabilities that allow (companies) to monetize all of these events, all of these transactions,” he said.
Companies charge their customers a subscription fee to access the cloud-based software platform as well as a fee for each transaction or event.
It’s all part of a larger societal shift towards what LogiSense has coined the “usage economy” – charging customers for what they actually use.
Rates vary based on the time of day, the type of application being used and how frequently the devices communicate, and the pricing model leads to more dependable revenue streams for companies, Gomes said.
“Everyone wants recurring revenue,” he said, “it’s easier to predict revenue and cash flow.”
LogiSense has clients around the globe, including big names like Garmin, Vonage and Ingenu – a world leader in the development of machine-to-machine communications that is building a network in the United States and have licensed their technology to countries outside the U.S.
Ingenu CEO John Horn said LogiSense provided an easy-to-use billing platform in a timeframe their competitors just couldn’t match.
“LogiSense was very nimble and knew what we needed,” said Horn. “We’re excited to have them as a partner and we’re going to build something fun together.”
Gomes said the next big market will be in the residential sector of IoT, but it needs critical mass before it can be successful.
The public sees IoT connectivity as an “extravagant remote control” that allows you to set your alarm when you’re not at home or dim the lights using your smartphone, he said.
Yet he predicts the future will include IoT fridges that know what groceries you need and when you need them, and grocery stores will bid on the contracts to fill those orders.
When the time is right, LogiSense could shift into the consumer household market if they choose to, Gomes said.
“It wouldn’t take much to repurpose our platform for carriers servicing the house, or utilities servicing the house,” he said.


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Pearl Abyss has announced that Black Desert Mobile pre-registration has just hit another milestone at two millions players.
This means that everyone will get more items when the game launches later this year, and it is interested to see if they will be able to make it three millions!
The global version of Black Desert Mobile will offer the same core combat and customization gameplay that millions of players across the world have experienced through PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
In addition to the combat and in-depth character customization system, Black Desert Mobile offers life skills to upgrade camps, challenges with world bosses, and PvP content such as Node Wars. Black Desert Mobile reinterprets the renowned Black Desert SEA and optimizes it for the mobile platform with advanced actions, intuitive controls, and unprecedented gameplay systems.
The mobile version of the Black Desert IP has seen immense popularity as the number of downloads has exceeded 10 million. Adventurers can begin their new adventures by choosing from five character classes: Warrior, Ranger, Giant, Witch, or Valkyrie
About Black Desert
Black Desert is Pearl Abyss’ open-world action MMORPG with cutting-edge visuals and skill-based combat that redefines the genre. With the most developed character customization system of any game currently on the market, users can break out of the norm and make unique characters that truly represent themselves. Its intuitive controls, beautifully designed world, and extensive lore will excite both newcomers and veterans of MMO games and action RPGs.