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Elon Musk believes Apple has declined a meeting to buy Tesla
Elon Musk said Tuesday that he tried to sell Tesla to Apple during the “darkest days” of the Model 3 launch but that CEO Tim Cook “refused” to take the meeting.
In response to a tweet about how Apple recently reignited its intention to produce and sell a hybrid, autonomous vehicle, Musk spoke about the deal. He noted that Tesla was worth only one-tenth of what it is now when the business of electric vehicles finished a historic year in which it became the most profitable automaker on the planet thanks to a meteoric stock price run. Of course, Tesla was already hemorrhaging cash in 2017 and had not yet produced a high-volume electric car.
Musk has previously said that Tesla was away from bankruptcy in 2017 “single-digit weeks” as he focused all the energy of the business towards ramping up production of the Model 3 sedan. Ultimately, Tesla survived and has since begun rolling out the Model Y SUV and announcing new vehicles such as the Cybertruck.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment immediately.
With an entry into the realms of electric and self-driving vehicles, Apple has spent the last half-decade playing, but before this week it was considered to be focused on designing apps and other technology that could be marketed to other businesses. But on Monday, Reuters announced that its focus on creating a hybrid, autonomous vehicle for general customers has been retrained by the Silicon Valley giant.
One of the reasons Apple supposedly changed course again is that it has made strides concerning the battery on a possible breakthrough. Apple has been designing a lithium iron phosphate battery, according to Reuters, which can be packed more closely in the car’s battery pack, minimizing weight while increasing the possible energy density.
On Twitter on Tuesday, Musk found out that Tesla still uses iron phosphate batteries in some of the cars it makes in China.
“Strange, if true,” he wrote.
Over the past decade, Tesla and Apple have traded lots of talent. Musk joked that Apple was a “Tesla graveyard” when rumors of an “Apple car” first appeared in 2015.
“If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I’m not kidding,” he said.
Musk said at the time that “the next logical thing” for Cook and Apple to collaborate on was an electric car.
“It’s good that Apple is moving and investing in this direction. But cars are very complex compared to phones or smartwatches,” Musk said.


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2.7m sq ft of new UK shopping centre space to hit the market in the next 12-18 months
The UK shopping centre development market, boosted by the recent success of Trinity Leeds which launched 90 per cent pre-let last month (with 5 per cent in solicitors’ hands), is set to benefit from around 2.7 million sq ft of new space in the next 12-18 months as a flurry of projects edge closer to completion – according to research by Cushman & Wakefield.
With eight brand new centres and extensions to 11 existing schemes in the pipeline, the near future looks promising for shopping centre development in the UK.
Schemes which are expected to open this year include New Square in West Bromwich (475,000 sq ft); the Whiteley Shopping Centre in Fareham (300,000 sq ft), on the site of the former Whiteley Village factory outlet centre; and the refurbished Lewis’s Building in Liverpool city centre (170,000 sq ft), which forms part of the Central Village development. The largest scheme under construction which is set to open in 2014 is the Hereford Retail Quarter (310,000 sq ft).
However, the encouraging pipeline of shopping centre development in 2013 and 2014 is in stark contrast to the market’s performance over the last 12 months. In 2012, the UK recorded the lowest level of shopping centre development activity since 1962 with less than 400,000 sq ft of new shopping centre space was added to the market last
Cushman & Wakefield’s head of shopping centre development, Toby Sykes, said: “The demand from quality retailers we have seen recently at Trinity Leeds simply confirms the appetite for prime retail space which can offer the right tenant mix. UK shopping centres are evolving and continuously adapting to the ever-changing nature of consumer behaviour – this will lead to increased development in the medium-term.”

domain: news


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All articles by BRAIN Staff
ORANGE, Calif. (BRAIN) — Triathlon Business International is accepting nominations for best-of races in six event categories, as well as the top five triathlon highlights of 2014 for its Triathletes Choice awards. The winners will be honored at the 2015 Triathlon Business International conference, to be held Jan.
DENVER (BRAIN) — Gates Corporation, maker of the Gates Carbon Drive system for bicycles, is launching a series of limited-edition red belts called Carbon Drive Red.
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. (Calif.) — Scott Sharples has joined Bell Helmets as its new marketing manager for its bicycle business. Sharples has more than 25 years of industry experience. A former World Cup downhill racer, he most recently was product manager for Felt Bicycles.
KELOWNA, British Columbia (BRAIN) — A developmental road team coached by Axel Merckx will have a new name and a new bike sponsor for the 2015 season.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (BRAIN) — Selle San Marco North America has added EP Group's Erik Solberg and Bill Carson to its outside sales team.
PORTLAND, Ore. (BRAIN) — Rapha North America has hired Sophie Ballo as its new marketing manager, and Matthew Beaudin as its social media and content manager.
Ballo comes to Rapha from Specialized, where she worked as a marketing communications specialist and most recently as recruiter.
STOCKHOLM (BRAIN) — POC has been awarded a prestigious Swedish design award for AVIP, the concept behind the brand's road cycling gear, introduced in 2013. The Design S award has been presented every second year since 2006; this year's winners were announced Nov.
BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Launched in 2010 as a campaign by Bikes Belong, PeopleForBikes said it reached its goal of one million pledging members and supporters Thursday.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (BRAIN) — Tim Krueger, who most recently served as product manager at QBP's Salsa Cycles, has joined Bikerumor.com as a full-time writer.


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The Krispy Kreme #VoteForGlaze campaign has been created by the brand as a way for fans of the brand to have their say in the conversation about the new Glazed Doughnut flavor. The promotion will run from January 16 to the 22 with the new flavor set to be announced on January 25.
The promotion has been created with four new flavors including 'Caramel,' 'Blueberry,' 'Maple' and 'Lemon,' which can be voted for by going to voteforglaze.com to ensure you have your say. The new doughnut will be made available by the brand in the spring at participating locations for one week only.
The Krispy Kreme #VoteForGlaze Glazed Doughnut campaign identifies how brands are looking to incorporate consumers into the product planning process to keep them excited about the brand.


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Turkish-made carpets are the new favorites of the American continent as hygiene becomes more important than ever before due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The carpet exports to the continent have jumped by 34.6% year-on-year during the first 10 months of 2020, reaching $750.5 million (TL 6 billion).
Turkey Exporters Assembly (TIM) Carpet Industries Board Chairperson Salahattin Kaplan told Anadolu Agency (AA) Tuesday that the sector has been improving itself in terms of foreign sales in recent years and is surviving the pandemic period very well.
Kaplan emphasized that hygiene came as an important factor in the increase in exports.
“A carpet is a must-have for hygienic places,” he said.
“Turkish carpet has now become the preferred brand of the American market,” he said, noting that carpet exports are made to nearly all parts of the world.
The U.S. has secured the top place in terms of Turkish carpet imports. The country was followed by Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Egypt, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Libya, Iran and Belgium, Kaplan said, noting that the sector is not working as a single-market oriented industry but exports to the whole world.
He added that they work to improve and preserve the existing markets while keeping an eye out for alternative businesses.


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Remember that mysterious Motorola device that showed up in a benchmark, rumors, and at the FCC back in May/June/July on its way to Verizon under the codename “Kinzie” and model number XT1585? It’s the DROID Turbo 2, in case you were wondering. Why it hasn’t arrived yet is beyond us, but we have learned some additional details about the device today. (more…)
Last week, we caught wind of a new Motorola device called the Moto X Force that was said to be on its way to the US as a new DROID Turbo 2. This week, @upleaks posted a photo of this alleged device, DROID branding included. The famed leaker also mentioned that it’s coming to Verizon exclusively – no shocker there. (more…)
During Motorola’s launch event for the Moto X Pure Edition, Style, Play, and G (3rd gen), the company told us to expect even more phone options later on in the year. We assumed they meant new DROID phones (like the DROID MAXX 2) would arrive, but leaker @upleaks may have revealed another to be on the lookout for. (more…)
Verizon’s DROID MAXX 2, aka the version of Motorola’s Moto X Play that appears to be the only X Play coming to the US, is starting to leak left and right these days. The phone is not official by any means, but it just can’t seem to stay out of sight until Motorola and Verizon have a chance to do that.
Thanks to new images, we now know just about everything, outside of a price and launch date. Here’s what we have. (more…)
You know how we were all disappointed to learn that Motorola’s Moto X Play was skipping the US and instead stopping off at all of our surrounding countries? That’s because it’s more than likely showing up here as the DROID MAXX 2 with Verizon exclusivity. This news shouldn’t shock you, since Motorola made mention during their big event last month that US customers would get other options later in the year. (more…)
Even though the DROID Turbo only began receiving an update to Android 5.1 three weeks ago, another update for the phone is ready this morning. A number of our readers received an invite to a soak test for the update through Motorola’s Feedback Network last night and at least one non-soak tester already received it this morning. (more…)
Welcome to 2015, where your brand new phone will probably look like that guy’s brand new phone and your mom’s brand new phone and your co-worker’s new phone and the bus driver’s new phone and the homeless guy’s new phone, all of which are made by different manufacturers.
Good job, OEMs. (more…)
Yesterday, the folks at HelloMotoHK gave us a look at what they described as the back cover to a new DROID phone from Motorola. This morning, they posted at even bigger image, this time with four different phone backs said to be of (in order, left-to-right) a new DROID Mini, Moto G (3rd gen), the DROID from yesterday, and the new Moto X (3rd gen). While we have no proof as to what any of these phones may or may not be, one thing is for sure, Motorola appears to have settled on a similar design theme for 2015. (more…)


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The index, published today, showed jobs in the retail sector are up 49% compared to November 2012. Construction and property jobs are also up 69% in the same period, mirroring the dramatic turnaround in the UK's property market this year.
The monthly job index, which is compiled using data from more than 160,000 vacancies advertised on Reed.co.uk, 28% higher than in November 2012.
The latest figures follow a number of record-breaking rises for the index during 2013, and show many businesses are actively planning to take on additional staff in the New Year.
James Reed, chairman of Reed, said: "Christmas is a crucial time of year for many businesses and a strong performance over the period can be the difference between a good year and a bad one.
"After a few years of disappointing Christmas performance, it's encouraging to see businesses recruiting with confidence as they once again look to the festive season as a cornerstone of this year's trading.
"However, the latest figures are not just a seasonal fillip. Core industries, such as manufacturing, continue to show strong jobs figures, adding weight to a growing body of evidence that growth will accelerate next year."


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SodaStream confident banned TV ad will return in 'Coronation Street slot'
SodaStream's UK managing director has expressed her confidence that an ad banned last year will air again in the coming months.
Fiona Hope, formerly the brand’s marketing director, said she expected the legal battle between the company and ad watchdog Clearcast to be resolved ‘in the next few weeks’.
Last November, the brand was forced to pull its ‘Soda-Stream effect’ spot, which formed part of an £11m global ad campaign, after Clearcast claimed it ‘denigrated’ the bottled-drinks market.
Hope said she had ‘every intention’ of airing the ad in a ‘Coronation Street slot’ should the ban be lifted. While the ad has racked up 2.5m views on YouTube, SodaStream wants to take its sustainability message to a wider, mainstream TV audience.
Hope admitted that the ban had slowed the progress of SodaStream’s brand repositioning, which will move on to a ‘health and wellness’ focus later in the year.
Reflecting on Clearcast’s reasons for banning the ad, Hope added: ‘No other country has found that [it deni-grated the bottled-drinks industry] and it’s aired in 39 countries. I’m confident that we will win through.’
This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk
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- Channel 4 to drop 4oD for digital service All 4
- FT to reveal first design overhaul in seven years
- David Hasselhoff to join Sorrell, Naughton and Shing at IAB Engage 2014
- Sky boosts Sky AdSmart's targeting capabilities for advertisers
- 5 key trends from Dmexco 2014
- Bosch secures sponsorship deal with Channel 4's Sunday Brunch


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Microsoft x EA Games?
This week, Polygon posted an article, examining Microsoft’s struggles to draw interest to their exclusive titles. With the exception of Gears of War, Halo, Crackdown and Forza; most gamers like ourselves, have used the console for third-party online play.
As Sony gets ready for their biggest year to date of PlayStation 4 titles, Polygon alleges that >Microsoft is attempting to acquire Valve, PUBG Corp, and Electronic Arts.
The reliable source, confirmed that the company is having preliminary discussions, that will lead to an eventual acquisition of EA Games. Currently, EA is believed to be worth upwards of $35 billion, with Microsoft having $130 billion in their cash reserve to make an outright acquisition.
This means Microsoft could potentially have Madden, FIFA, Battlefield, NHL, UFC, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour and Star Wars titles exclusively on Xbox One X and Windows PC platforms.
Considering the unlimited funds we expect The Big M to dish out, the next few months of this industry could get insane before the PlayStation 5 reveal at June’s e3 in Los Angeles.
Let us know in the comments what you think.


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Buick launched a new car line for the 1955 model year; Century was the name for what internally was known as the Buick Series 60.
With a contingent of around 1,000 vehicles ranging from farm tractors to muscle cars, Mecum’s sixth annual Dallas auction seems to fulfill “something for everyone”
German online auction house Auctionata wanted to do something unique, so it staged a sale including only 1950s and ’60s American cars.
Also in concours and event news, indoors custom cars in Buffalo, a new concours weekend in Florida and misfit cars in Sonoma
The Pick of the Day is a rare Virage coupe with a manual transmission
AC cars do very well at British sale
First Alpine A110 on an auction docket and collection of motor scooters highlight 12th annual sale in Paris
The latest dream-car off-roaders will be rolled out for this year’s back-country festival in Moab, Utah


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Primark exec says some of its customers will spend less as its prices rise
Primark’s finance chief has said that some of the budget-focused chain’s customers will cut back on spending with the business due to it being forced to raise prices in the face of surging costs.
John Bason said in a BBC interview that he regrets the company having to lift its prices and that it's still committed to “affordability for everyone”.
He said that there are “some consumers who would normally be spending more and probably would come into Primark, and I think there would be those that have very, very constrained budgets and probably would shop less with us as a result of this”.
A number of fashion retail chains have openly said that they'll be raising prices (including Next and Superdry), but Primark has committed to maintaining price levels for its spring and summer offer. It will only start charging higher prices from the autumn season and these will be “selective".
And so far, — ahead of those price rises — it seems that Primark isn't seeing a “major impact” from the cost if living crisis.
In fact, he insisted that overall footfall and like-for-like sales in the UK at least have been "on a strongly improving trend this year" as the company continues to recover from the pandemic.
The business isn't quite back where it was pre-pandemic but he said it's seeing a "big pick-up in sales" relating to renewed activities such as travelling, the return to the office and socialising.
However, Bason said price rises are unavoidable. He explained that “Russia's invasion of Ukraine has really changed the economic environment and inflation in particular” but that the company will be maintaining its price gap compared to other retailers.
He also thinks that people predicting the demise of physical shopping are wide of the mark given the revival of in-person shopping since lockdowns ended.
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Texans have been regular visitors to Colorado Springs, the state’s ski resorts and other tourist attractions for decades. Other Lone Star state residents spend their summers in Colorado to get out of Texas’ sweltering heat or move here altogether.
Now, there’s a flurry of activity on the part of Texas-based retailers and other businesses who are galloping into Colorado Springs. Among them:
– Garden Ridge, a home décor superstore, opened in October in the former Target store at Academy Boulevard and Platte Avenue.
– First Choice Emergency Room, which operates free-standing emergency rooms, opened its first area location last year in a former Blockbuster video store at Powers Boulevard and Constitution Avenue, and is remodeling another former Blockbuster at Woodmen Road and Rangewood Drive for a second location.
– Cavender’s Western Outfitters, a family-owned chain of Western apparel stores, is completing construction of its first Springs store on the northwest corner of Powers and South Carefree Circle.
– Golfsmith will open its first Colorado Springs superstore in April, southwest of Academy and Briargate boulevards.
– And Conn’s Inc., an electronics and appliance retailer, is coming to Colorado Springs, and targeting a location in the former Circuit City store at Academy and Platte, although a company official says the deal hasn’t yet been completed.
Patrick Kerscher, a retail specialist with the Springs office of national real estate company CBRE, said it might be a coincidence that there are so many Texas businesses moving into Colorado Springs at the moment. And yet, their arrival is an expansion of what Texas retailers and businesses always have done.
“Texas-based companies usually do well with the Western culture,” Kerscher said. “They have distribution networks set up to support vast areas of Texas. So as they expand, they expand north and to the west. So they hit Oklahoma and Nebraska, Kansas, and then, to the west, it’s a New Mexico-Colorado-Arizona function. We sit squarely in most expansion areas for Texas-based businesses.”
Retail team members in CBRE’s Houston office often coordinate deals with their Colorado counterparts involving Texas and Colorado companies, Kerscher said.
“The markets are similar,” he said. “The demographics are similar. So it’s pretty easy to convince a group from Houston that they’ll do well in Denver or Colorado Springs just because they’re used to those markets.”


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An all-electric, community car club has been launched this week in St Andrews. The project is being run by the University in partnership with Transport Scotland and operators E-Car.
Students, businesses and residents will all have the opportunity to rent one of the 10 electric cars that will be available in St Andrews. There are three charging locations for the cars which are located at Agnes Blackadder Hall, David Russell Apartments and the Gateway.
Members of the club, which costs £50 to join, will be able to rent the cars at a cost of £4.50 per hour, or £35 for a day.
Members will be supplied with a membership card and pin number which they can use to book the use of a car; either online or by phone. When the vehicle is booked, the card can be used to unlock the car. The member then enters their pin number into the on-board computer and the keys will be released.
The cars can travel for around 65-90 miles on a single charge and there are more charging locations in places such as Dundee and Edinburgh.
A spokesperson for the University explained that the scheme is intended to “improve local mobility, whilst reducing parking and congestion issues in an environmentally-friendly and affordable way.”
Patrick Cresswell, marketing manager for E-Car, the company running the scheme, emphasised the improvements to local mobility and congestion the cars could bring to St Andrews. “We’re really keen for people to use the cars to explore Fife and beyond,” he told The Saint.
“What we’re trying to achieve is a reduction in private car ownership because, for the individual, owning a car is a great expense,” he added. “For the local community, private car ownership causes parking issues and congestion issues, so if we can take more cars off the road we’re improving the slickness of everywhere in which we operate.”
“Car-sharing in general is really good as it can reduce costs for people,” said Tracy Mckenna, a representative of Transport Scotland speaking to The Saint. “Another important thing about the cars is that they don’t have any tailpipe emissions, so hopefully it should help the air quality in St Andrews.”
Matthew Eastwood, a car club development manager with Carplus who are helping to fund the scheme, also spoke about the environmental and financial benefits of the cars. He said: “The Scottish Government has set some very ambitious targets for de-carbonising road transport by 2050, and car clubs like this give people convenient and affordable access to a car without the need to own one.
“Each car club car takes 15 cars off the road, as a proportion of car club members, once they join, they sell their own car or defer the purchase of a car.”
Mr Eastwood also spoke about how the car club will benefit the local St Andrews environment. “It frees up road space and parking space by making sure there are less cars on the road,” he said.
Members of the town community also expressed excitement about the new scheme, with St Andrews resident Anna Kucharska saying that it “would be a good idea for the future” and she would definitely consider using the service.
Transition St Andrews, a group working to promote efforts to tackle climate change and protect the environment in St Andrews, also gave their support to the project. Paul White, a project officer with the group, is one of those helping to coordinate the car club.
“Transition is all about getting people to reduce their carbon footprint,” he told The Saint. “Transport contributes quite a lot to your average person’s carbon footprint, so being able to access a car club, where you don’t have to own your own car, you can share with others, reduces your carbon footprint,” he added.
“And also the fact these are electric vehicles and they have no emissions means that we’re preventing more CO2 emissions which is really key to what Transition does.”
Transition initiatives already underway include a “grow your own” food co-op, a home energy advice scheme targeting rural households and a town wide bike maintenance and rental programme.


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There is no reason to hate Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies because of their volatility
In the modern context, technologically challenging things such as Bitcoins find greater favour with common people compared with gold.
“The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.”―Robert Frost
In the past few years, cryptocurrencies (especially Bitcoin) have gained material importance in the global financial system. Though the character of Bitcoin (or cryptocurrencies for that matter) is still evolving and it is not certain if it will assume the character of a currency; end up just being a collectible asset like art, wine, vintage vehicles, old coins, etc.; or just end like a bad dream. I feel, it is a debate that will continue for many more years and no one will remain unaffected by it. Almost everyone who transacts in money or is part of the global economic system will need to deal with it at some point in time.
To give this debate a context, the present value of all cryptocurrencies in circulation is over $1.6 trillion; out of which bitcoin alone accounts for about $750 billion. This compares with $5.8 trillion of monetary base (M0) of the US). The average daily trading value of bitcoins alone is over US$23 bn. It is clear that Bitcoin is emerging as a serious challenger to Gold as an alternative currency or medium for exchange of value. Two large global corporations Tesla (again!) and Amazon have expressed the intent to accept Bitcoin as valid payment for transactions.
The Indian context
In the Indian context, the money market regulator (The Reserve Bank of India or RBI) has taken a guarded view of cryptocurrencies. It has refrained from terming it as illegal. However, some attempts have been made to discourage the use and ownership of cryptocurrencies. The Supreme Court of India has disagreed with some of these measures, and paved the way for legal ownership of cryptocurrencies. However, the regulatory and taxation regime is still evolving and may take some time to get established.
RBI v/s Supreme Court
The RBI issued a circular in 2018 directing all entities regulated by it (Banks and NBFCs) not to deal virtual currencies or provide services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling those; thus virtually banning the use of cryptocurrencies in India.
The Supreme Court quashed the said RBI circular in March 2020, on the appeal of the Internet and Mobile Association of India, representing various cryptocurrency exchanges. The SC accepted the argument of the appellant that in the absence of any specific law banning cryptocurrencies, dealing in these is a “legitimate” activity; hence RBI’s circular banning these is untenable.
In August 2020 various media reports suggested that a “note” had been forwarded to the concerned ministries for inter-ministerial consultation to promulgate legislation banning the use of cryptocurrencies in India. Reportedly, the inter-ministerial committee headed by the former Finance and Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary, Subhash Chandra Garg (who has been in news recently for criticising the government for backtracking on reforms) had drafted the Bill of the law to ban the cryptocurrencies. In the meantime, as per various media reports, since March 2020 SC order quashing the 2018 RBI circular, the local crypto exchanges have reported as much as 20x trading volume growth and a significant increase in the number of signups.
The aggressive marketing campaigns by these ventures however are focusing on promoting Bitcoin ownership for vanity purposes, palpably as a substitute for gold.
NITI Aayog initiative on blockchain recognizing its importance
In January 2020, NITI Aayog (the think tank of the government of India on policy matters), had released part 1 of the discussion paper on “Blockchain: The India Strategy”. The well-researched and well-presented paper unambiguously stated that the government recognizes the opportunity, importance and need for blockchain-based cryptocurrencies.
The paper recognised that “‘Blockchain’ has emerged to become a potentially transformative force in multiple aspects of government and private sector operations. Its potential has been recognized globally, with a variety of international organizations and technology companies highlighting the benefits of its application in reducing costs of operation and compliance, as well as in improving efficiencies.”
It is admitted that “Blockchain is a frontier technology that continues to evolve. In order to ensure that India remains ahead of the learning curve, it is important to understand the opportunities it presents, steps to leverage its full potential and such necessary steps that are required to help develop the requisite ecosystem.” And “Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize interactions between governments, businesses and citizens in a manner that was unfathomable just a decade ago.”
The paper candidly admits that “Blockchain is seen as a technology with the potential to transform almost all industries and economies. It is estimated that blockchain could generate USD3 trillion per year in business value by 2030.”
Bitcoin Ticks Most Boxes
Given the nascent stage of the evolution of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies based on it, the cautious approach is understandable. However, the caution must be pragmatic and should not transgress to typical dogmatic paradigm.
In my view, the real debate is whether the world needs an independent reserve currency for cross border transactions; given that the unmindful printing of fiat currency by the respective large central banks in the past two decades has perhaps diminished the credibility of the popular global currencies USD and EUR.
A broad evaluation of Bitcoin (or any other widely accepted cryptocurrency for that matter) highlights that Bitcoin may meet all prerequisites of a good currency — e.g., medium of exchange, store of value and unit of measurement.
As evident from the following evaluation table, the advantages of Bitcoin, as an evolved independent digital currency, outscore gold on some parameters. It also outweighs any fiat currency that is not backed by real assets. Insofar as the criticism of Bitcoin for its volatility and opaqueness is concerned, I note that 100yrs ago, USD was not much-coveted asset outside the USA. Aluminium, Gold, Silver, Slaves, cows, etc., have all reigned as widely accepted currencies in history.
Gold v/s Bitcoin
For many centuries, Gold was the most popular currency — store of value, medium of exchange and unit of measurement. However, with evolution of paper currencies and metric system, the usage of gold as a medium of exchange and unit of measurement declined significantly.
The demand for gold as a store of value is a deeply complex matter. In the past gold had been a preferred asset to store value both during economic (especially hyperinflation) as well as political (including geopolitical) crises.
In 1970s the world faced serious stagflation as the demand generated by post-WWII reconstruction activities faded and the Iranian revolution created a worldwide energy crisis. Gold jumped 10x in real terms during the decade of 1970–1980), to give back most of the gains in the following two decades.
Again in the decade of 2000s, as the dotcom bubble hit the global economy, interest rates crashed leading to sub-prime crisis that culminated in a major global financial crisis. The gold jumped 5x in real terms during this decade (2001–2011).
Presently, the gold prices are only marginally higher than the highs recorded in 2011. Whereas Bitcoin has risen almost 1000 percent since 2011. Like gold in 2001–2011, Bitcoin has risen 5x since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, whereas gold is higher by about 5 percent in this period.
The question is whether unconsciously markets are replacing Gold with Bitcoin.
Is Bitcoin Replacing Gold ?
It is a natural instinct of human beings to look up to the skies for guidance when all our efforts fail. Religion has therefore been an inextricable part of human life since the beginning of civilisation. Most ancient cultures, China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley etc. have believed in continuation of life after death. Gold being an indestructible (and therefore sacred) object had always been an important part of their religion, culture, traditions and beliefs. It naturally evolved as a symbol of power and prestige over time. The church & temples, kings & feudal lords hoarded and displayed gold to assert their power and status.
In past one century, especially the past three decades, the factors like popularity and spread of technology in common man’s life; rising fascist and communist tendencies due to worsening socio-economic disparities; rise in electronic transactions (personal, social and commercial) thus lower risk (less travel, less physical transactions and deliveries); emergence of new articles of luxury to serve the vanity needs of the affluent; stronger and deeper social security programs; demise of monarchy and feudalism; popularity of spiritualism over rituals; dissipation of church & temples, etc., have all led to sustainable decline in traditional demand and pre-eminence of gold.
In the modern context, technologically challenging things, e.g., Bitcoins, find greater favour with common people as compared to gold.
To conclude, I would say that the ultra-loose monetary policy prevalent in most developed countries shall have to end at some point in time in the foreseeable future. This suppression of savers and the poor cannot continue into perpetuity. However, ending this tiger ride may not be easy and would require some innovative measures.
One of the plausible scenarios could be that the US Government and Fed decide to correct the fiscal and monetary indulgences of the past couple of decades, by material devaluation of USD and letting USD retire as global reserve currency; settle trade and currency dispute with China agreeing to restore the global trade balance. Global commodities are no longer priced predominantly in USD. The share of neutral currencies (cryptocurrencies) increases substantially in global trade.
There could be many similar or different solutions to end this tiger ride of quantitative easing, negative rates, and suppression of the poor (people, economies and regions).


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Optimism surrounds Twitter IPO
Monday, October 07, 2013 3:43 PM
Some fund managers say that Twitter Inc.'s $12.8 billion valuation is set to get much higher, Bloomberg reported. The $12.8 billion figure is derived from the fair value that Twitter put on its shares in an initial public offering filing last week, but Ironfire Capital LLC and Gamco Investors Inc. project that the company will be worth $15 billion to $20 billion once it begins trading. The firms expect that Twitter can increase revenue at a quick pace as it expands globally and obtains advertising from companies. The social media site has more than doubled revenue annually as companies advertise on the service, but it still isn't turning a profit.


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New York-listed gaming operator Bally's Corporation has acquired UK-based front-end development agency Degree 53 for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition of the user experience (UX) design and software development specialist will enable Bally’s to enhance its omni-channel offering, providing key functionality to integrate Gamesys' player account management and iGaming solution, in [...]
Marketing and engagement solutions provider OtherLevels has partnered with FireKeepers Casino to deploy its data-led engagement tools.
OtherLevels will provide online messaging capabilities to the Michigan-based casino’s digital gaming and sportsbook operations, combining live game data, user actions and CRM data to create marketing messages for players.
“We are proud to work [...]
After several months of negotiations, members of the Ukrainian Gambling Council have signed a memorandum on gambling advertising in the country.
The agreement forms the basis of a joint approach to advertising by online and retail gambling operators in the country based on responsible gambling and corporate social responsibility principles.
The memorandum [...]
iGaming solutions provider EveryMatrix has announced the launch of its Managed Services unit to assist iGaming and sportsbook clients.
The new division, which was established earlier this year and is led by Tom Dyson, will provide support to iGaming operators, helping them to improve brand performance through acquisition and retention marketing and [...]
European betting and gaming operator Stanleybet Group has chosen Fast Track CRM to provide player engagement solutions for its online operations.
Using Fast Track CRM’s real-time data feed will enable the operator to implement smarter retention strategies based on deeper insights into player behaviour, and to handle complex segmentation related to [...]
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against A&S Leisure Group’s Napoleons Casinos for creating the impression that consumers could gamble without limits or restrictions at its venues.
A post on the Napoleons-casinos.co.uk site in August stated on the home page, “Enjoy unlimited gambling in all of our [...]
European casino operator Trans World Hotels and Entertainment (TWHE), a division of Hong Kong-listed Far East Consortium International, has selected Fast Track CRM to provide customer engagement solutions for its first online casino.
Partnering with Fast Track CRM will enable the operator to use real-time, on-site engagements to communicate with online [...]
The Philadelphia Eagles have partnered with Genius Sports to provide sports betting odds and data to fans at Lincoln Financial Field.
The new partnership leverages Genius Sports’ designation as the NFL's exclusive distributor of real-time play-by-play statistics, proprietary Next Gen Stats (NGS) data and official sports betting data to help drive [...]
Rising costs and Brexit-related complications have led to calls for the annual ICE gaming expo to be moved from London’s ExCel exhibition centre to mainland Europe.
The annual gathering of the gambling industry is the biggest show of its kind in Europe and attracts tens of thousands of attendees, and is [...]
Sports-focused customer acquisition specialist Chalkline has closed a $2.7m Series A funding round led by Parlay Capital Holdings and Patrick Conroy.
The new investment will support Chalkline's product development and the commercial growth of its player acquisition and retention solutions into new markets.
Chalkline provides freeplay and real money games to the [...]
New York-listed sportsbook and casino operator Bally's Corporation has acquired Los Angeles-based real-time fan engagement specialist Telescope for an undisclosed amount.
Telescope's live streaming, contests and sweepstakes, and second screen and play along products will enhance the Bally Bet and Bally Sports brands, enabling viewers and players to have an integrated [...]
Betting and gaming operator BetMGM has agreed a marketing partnership with MLB's Pittsburgh Pirates.
The partnership gives BetMGM brand exposure throughout the Pirates’ PNC Park, most prominently on the left field wall and behind home plate for maximum global exposure, with BetMGM content also integrated across the Pirates’ digital and social [...]


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Egypt’s non-oil private sector economy experienced a softer decline in business conditions in May, according to S&P Global Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released on Monday.
It indicated that progress towards a stable demand environment led to a slower, but still solid contraction in activity levels. While higher prices continued to dent sales, output, and purchasing, firms signalled that inflationary pressures were much softer than the highs seen at the turn of the year. Nevertheless, ongoing challenges for non-oil companies meant that the activity outlook remained subdued, and employment levels were cut again.
David Owen, Senior Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “The Egypt PMI remained in negative territory in May but showed further promise that current economic headwinds were beginning to dissipate. The headline index rose for the second month running to 47.8, while the two main sub-indices of Output and New Orders rose to their highest levels in 17 and seven months, respectively.”
The headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Egypt Purchasing Managers’ IndexTM (PMITM) rose from 47.3 in April to 47.8 in May, its highest level since February 2022. Although remaining below the 50.0 no-change mark, the index showed that economic headwinds were starting to dissipate.
S&P Global indicated that Business activity levels continued to fall in the survey period, reflecting sustained efforts by companies to reduce output in line with weaker sales volumes. However, the rate of decline was the softest registered in almost a year and a half, helped by near stabilizations in the manufacturing and services sectors.
Similarly, receipts of new orders at non-oil businesses declined to a lesser extent in May, with this index picking up to its highest for seven months. While firms continued to report subdued demand attributed to inflation, some respondents began to see a recovery in client orders. Notably, new business intakes in the services economy grew for the second time in three months. Additionally, sales to foreign clients decreased at the softest rate in 2023 so far.
S&P Global May survey data showed that inflationary pressures have softened from the multi-year highs recorded in late-2022 and early-2023. A broad steadying of exchange rates meant that purchase prices rose at a pace largely unchanged from April’s 12-month low, albeit still sharply overall. Selling prices rose at a solid and quicker pace, but one that was also much weaker compared to those seen recently.
Nonetheless, the toll of rising input prices and weak demand meant that purchasing activity at non-oil businesses continued to decline, leading to a further contraction in firms’ input inventories. The pace at which input purchases decreased was the slowest seen since last October, however. Ongoing import restrictions meant that lead times on inputs lengthened, albeit only mildly.
“Companies signalled that input cost pressures were again much softer than at the beginning of the year, as a period of stabilization in the Egyptian pound versus the US dollar helped to cool import markets. This led to another relatively soft rise in selling charges, providing some hope that consumer price inflation will fall again in May,” Owen added.
Furthermore, employment cuts were also recorded in May, marking the sixth consecutive month of job losses, according to S&P Global. Firms noted that low sales and difficulties paying staff due to a lack of liquidity were behind the reduction, which accelerated from April but was only marginal overall. Despite the decline in staffing capacity, backlogs of work continued to decrease.
Finally, business expectations towards the next 12 months picked up in May, following a survey-record low at the start of the second quarter. Despite the improvement, confidence levels were still among the lowest ever recorded, amid continued concerns about demand conditions, inflationary pressures, and supply-side challenges. Only 6% of companies were hopeful that output levels will expand over the coming year.
According to Owen, positivity in the services economy – where new business intakes rose for the second time in three months – suggests that demand could make further strides towards a recovery in the coming months.
“Nevertheless, confidence levels remain broadly subdued, with just 6% of respondents expecting a rise in activity over the next 12 months. Although this was still better than the survey-record low registered in April,” he indicated.
Source : Dailynewsegypt


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NUI Galway’s Insight Centre’s Dr Martin Serrano believes the value of the internet of things (IoT) to come is incalculable. That said, nations such as Ireland should prepare themselves for the rapid arrival and adoption of IoT technologies.
As Serrano, a research fellow at NUI’s Insight Centre (formerly DERI) sees it, the internet of things is a modern concept and marketing slogan to understand the world of everyday devices; ‘things’ working in collaboration, using the internet as a communication channel, to serve a specific goal or purpose for improving people’ lives in the form of new services.
The internet of things concept, first introduced a bit more than a decade ago, “is the technological realisation of the concept-idea that the immense world of physical electronic devices (appliances, smartphones, sensors) can be worldwide identified and can communicate with each other to exchange information using a common communication channel (internet) and universal language (semantics) and/or protocols for producing intelligent interactions and results in the form of applications or services (web services),” Serrano said.
Putting a value on the internet of things
Cisco estimates the internet of things generated US$613bn worth of global profits last year alone. But Serrano believes the economic impact smart technologies have in the market is immense and incalculable.
”If we consider all the electronic devices that have internet connection capacity (that were sold last year) are potentially components of the realisation of a worldwide internet of things (from a smartphone or tablet to a home appliance), just by this consideration, the worth estimations about IoT has been easily overtaken.”
Many countries are organising their efforts to secure an edge in the IoT economy. The UK is spending stg£45m on research and Ireland has mentioned its strategic importance in its latest jobs action plan.
For Ireland to keep its edge in the IoT, Serrano believes it needs to move fast.
“Every country has different necessities; likewise every society has a different way to adopt technology and as consequence see the return for investing in that particular technology.
“Prepared or not, in the internet of things, Ireland should plan for education and a rapid adoption on associated IoT technologies alike investing in the immersion of systems that can be easily adaptive to the evolution of the technology and the expansion of the offered services.
“By establishing national strategies to involve industry and academia, the internet of things solutions can be potentially developed to the extent that can be easily adopted.
“By focusing on the IoT, mobile development and the adaptation of IoT technology, the presence of the country in the generation of market-ready solutions about IoT can be potentially expanded.”
The race for the internet of things
The world of IoT is moving fast, Serrano points out. “Samsung with their smart home project, IBM/Ford last year and early this year AT&T with their connected car project too, however those systems work as isolated solutions incapable for sharing information to third parties for generating additional services.
“Would it not be great to have an IoT service provider that can gather data from worldwide distributed devices (sensors) to create a network of virtually linked systems offering enhanced capacity for processing data and generate intelligent services based on service information?
“Examples like the OpenIoT middleware can motivate the developments towards the realisation of open and market products and the future of enterprise solutions.”
Serrano’s advice to business leaders, employers and policy-makers keen to be part of this evolution of the internet and devices is to just get involved.
“Get involved in the evolution of the internet of things, either business or academic research groups; the race to find the killer service or killer application for the internet of things has just started.
“The solution to these searches can be in your own company’s requirements and the implemented solution can be the result of your development teams. Think of expanding your capacity and offer service openness and interoperability in your solutions. This is the way for an easy adoption in the every day more competitive industry market.”
Internet of things image via Shutterstock


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Weyerhaeuser expects Q2 4c aftertax charge (5:16 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Weyerhaeuser said after the bell Friday that it expects to take a $10.5 million, or 4-cents a share after-tax, charge against second-quarter earnings because of a Portland, Ore. court's verdict in an antitrust case relating to the lumber market. The company will appeal part of the verdict, according to a statement.
JLG Industries falls after Q3 earnings miss estimates (10:34 AM ET) NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- JLG Industries
Wet Seal shares slump on Q2 loss outlook (10:19 AM ET) NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Wet Seal WTSLA fell 8 percent to $5.46 after the Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based specialty retailer reported a first-quarter loss of $20.3 million, or 68 cents per share, wider than its loss of $8.5 million, or 29 cents per share, a year ago. The latest results include a loss of 15 cents per share for its discontinued Zutopia division. The average analyst estimate as polled by Thomson First Call was for a loss of 56 cents per share in the April period. Same-store sales fell 17.2 percent in the quarter. CEO Peter Whitford said the company was not "anticipating a significant change in momentum in our business until the third quarter, when we expect to see the full benefits of our new merchandise assortment and all of our planned marketing initiatives." The company forecast a loss from continuing operations of between 47 and 51 cents per share for the second quarter, wider than Wall Street's current consensus estimate for a loss of 33 cents per share.
Restoration Hardware soars on forecast-beating Q1 (10:17 AM ET) NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Restoration Hardware RSTO soared 12.8 percent to $6.01 as investors cheered a narrower-than-expected first quarter loss. The home decor retailer reported a net loss of $4 million, or 12 cents a share, beating the company's own forecast of a 13 to 16 cent a share loss, and a Thomson First Call average estimate of a loss of 14 cents a share. In the first quarter of 2003, the company reported a net loss of $5.2 million, or 17 cents a share. Quarterly revenue rose 21 percent to $98.9 million from $81.8 million, with same-store sales for the period jumping 9 percent. Looking ahead, Restoration Hardware said it is forecasting a second quarter net loss in the range of 6 cents to 7 cents a share, on same-store sales growth in the "low to mid-single digits." The First Call average estimate is for a loss of 6 cents a share.
Hilton four-month pre-tax up 106%, led by betting unit (2:31 AM ET) LONDON (CBS.MW) -- U.K. hotel and gamiing group Hilton(UK:HG)on Friday said pre-tax profits before goodwill amortization and exceptional items rose 106 percent in the four months ending April 30, on continuing growth in the Betting and Gaming division, some recovery in the Hotels division from last year's low base and lower interest expenses. In hotels, where RevPAR rose 8.2 percent, Hilton has seen some signs of recovery in many parts of the world although late booking patterns persist. Going forward, it said prospects for the Betting and Gaming division remain strong, while in Hotels, a background of continuing global uncertainties means that growth needs to be sustained over several months to provide a platform for enhanced rate growth towards the end of this year and, particularly, in 2005.
Dr Pepper, diet drinks, new gum to lift Cadbury 1H (2:21 AM ET) LONDON (CBS.MW) -- Confectionary and beverage maker Cadbury Schweppes
Tomkins Q1 pre-tax falls, hit by dollar, automakers (2:14 AM ET) LONDON (CBS.MW) -- U.K. engineering group Tomkins(UK:TOMK)on Friday said first quarter pre-tax profits dipped 11.6 percent to 53.9 million pounds, as sales fell 6 percent to 769.7 million pounds, hit by weakness in the dollar. It said underlying profits in its largest unit, the Industrial & Automotive division, rose 1.1 percent, with a strong upturn in industrial markets offset by slightly lower automotive original equipment manufacturer production and the short-term effects of some stock realignment in the aftermarket distribution chain. "As the year progresses, we expect to see the increasing effect of previous actions to improve the cost base which, together with better conditions in a number of our markets and price increases to offset upward movement in raw material costs, provide us with confidence that we will achieve a continuing improvement in the underlying performance," it said.


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It might be time to panic: some Taco Bell restaurants are being affected by a tortilla shortage.
In response to reports of a national tortilla shortage, Taco Bell told Fox News that they are working hard to replenish the supply at affected restaurants. The company did not confirm how many stores are being affected, only saying that “some Taco Bell restaurants” have been affected.
The shortage is apparently due to an issue with the company’s supplier, according to a statement obtained by Fox News.
Meanwhile, several posts have appeared on Reddit claiming that the issue is much larger and could affect restaurants on a national scale. According to a post from someone claiming to be an employee, the company is dealing with a nationwide warehouse shortage on 10” tortillas, which are used in many of the restaurant’s offerings, including burritos, quesadillas and other similar items.
Yet another post from another user claiming to be an employee says that the shortage is expected to last through the “first couple of weeks of July” and that the company has a “goal of July 28 to be at normal stock.”
A spokesperson for Taco Bell supplied Fox News with the following statement: “While some Taco Bell restaurants are experiencing supplier shortages, we are working diligently to replenish the supply of our tortillas (used for products like quesadillas and burritos) in those restaurants and encourage fans to try the Chalupa Cravings Box in the meantime. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause and appreciate our customers’ patience.”


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Price reductions of VND1-2 million have been quoted for some versions of iPhone 14.
iPhone 14 128GB has seen the price decrease from VND21.99 million to VND19.9 million, and iPhone 14 Plus from VND23.99 million to VND22.99 million. iPhone 14 Pro went from VND28 million to VND26.99 million.
Meanwhile, the price of iPhone 14 Pro Max has dropped from VND31 million to VND29.5 million.
The iPhone 13 is now selling at VND17.99 million instead of VND19 million.
“In general, Apple lowers selling prices in June, in the middle of a product life cycle. However, it has done different things this year. The decrease is unexpected, and unprecedented,” said Nguyen Lac Huy from CellphoneS, a large retail chain.
With the new prices, the retail chain predicted that the purchasing power of the iPhone would grow by 20-50 percent. The competitive prices have put pressure on high-end Android-based products.
A retailer told VietNamNet that the price adjustment was made because of the high inventory level of iPhone 14, and lower demand. Also, the decision to cut prices may be Apple's strategy to obtain bigger market share and compete with newly released Android-based models.
The price reductions were made after Samsung marketed Galaxy S23, priced at VND22.99-44.99 million. However, with preferences, the prices may be VND3-8 million lower.
iPhone 14’s prices began decreasing before Tet, but the price reductions were made by retailers.
In general, pre-Tet days are the time when the mobile phone market becomes most bustling. But things were different this year. Some retailers confirmed that the demand for electronic products, including mobile phones, has dropped since late 2022.
In the first week of 2023, some genuine iPhone 14 versions decreased sharply in prices. The prices of iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, the two bestselling versions, decreased by VND1-3 million compared with the end of 2022.
Some Apple Authorized Resellers (AAR) said in early January that Apple had allocated a large amount of iPhone 14 models to the Vietnamese market. The plentiful supply, plus the limited purchasing power, forced retailers to adjust selling prices.
A retailer said more purple iPhone 14s have arrived. This was the bestselling version when the iPhone hit the market.


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Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Top News in the A.M.
Didi Chuxing has raised $4.5 billion in a round of funding that values it at close to $28 billion, according to Bloomberg, giving China’s leading ride-sharing company more firepower to battle Uber. More here.
Expect More M&A, Says Marc Andreessen
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen spoke at the Bloomberg Technology conference yesterday afternoon, and he said he expects far more M&A than the tech industry has seen in recent years.
The conversation stemmed in large part from questions about LinkedIn’s announced acquisition by Microsoft, which disclosed Monday that it is paying$26.2 billion in cash for the business networking platform.
Asked his opinion about the deal, Andreessen — who was interrupted by the clang of a falling tray (“I hope that was not a symbolic sound effect,” he joked) — said the deal “eliminates the guesswork about how much [a company is] worth when someone pays $26 billion in cash ” for it.
But he also said that, on a higher level, it conveys something about the industry right now. “We see more M&A happening in the pipeline – meaning companies in consideration or negotiation — than in the last four years.”
There are a few reasons for it, he suggested, saying that in recent years, a lot of “public companies sat back and watched the drama play out in the Valley . . . and the constant drumbeat of ‘bubble, bubble, bubble.’” Now, with many private company valuations down from their peaks last year, along with public companies that “now have to go shopping to fill in gaps in their portfolio,” Andreessen said to expect a “run of M&A the rest of this year and next year.”
The buyers won’t necessarily be Facebook, Microsoft, and Google, he noted. “A lot more nontraditional buyers — Fortune 500 companies outside [of tech are] going shopping, [including] the car industry, other consumer products companies, clothing companies.” (Andreessen didn’t say so, but private equity firms also plainly see an opportunity to do some shopping right now.)
In fact, Andreessen’s firm, Andreessen Horowitz, is trying to prep its portfolio companies for an exit by establishing what he described as an IPO preparedness team that’s working with founders on what’s required to go public, from accounting and legal, to building a governance team, to selecting the right CFO.
B2X, a nine-year-old, Munich, Germany-based startup behind a customer care platform for smartphones and IoT device makers, has raised €6 million ($6.7 million) from Harbert European Growth Capital. More here.
Fenqile, a three-year-old Shenzhen, China -based installment payment e-commerce platform targeting Chinese millennials, has raised $235 million in Series C funding from Huasheng Capital, the venture capital unit of local investment banking firm China Renaissance Partners; CoBuilder Partners; and an unnamed Chinese insurer. China Money Network has more here.
Huizuche, a two-year-old, Shanghai, China-based car rental startup that provides services for outbound Chinese tourists, has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by the Asia-focused private equity firm H&Q Asia Pacific. DealStreetAsia has more here.
Loggly, a seven-year-old, San Francisco-based cloud-based log management company, has raised $11.5 million in new funding led by True Ventures, with participation from Matrix Partners, Cisco, Trinity Ventures, Harmony Partners and Data Collective. More here.
Lumus, a 16-year-old, Rehovot, Israel-based company that makes transparent near-to-eye displays for augmented reality and mixed reality, has raised $15 million in Series B funding from the investment firm Shanda Group and from Crystal-Optech, a Chinese optical imaging company. TechCrunch has more here.
Procured Health, a four-year-old, Chicago-based health IT business started with the goal of helping hospitals to reduce medical device purchasing costs, has raised $10 million in Series B funding from Heritage Group, a venture-capital firm backed by some of the nation’s leading healthcare companies, with participation from Health Insight Capital, a subsidiary of HCA. MedCity News has more here.
Qloo, a four-year-old, New York-based cultural recommendation engine, has raised $4.5 million in Series A funding from actor Leonardo DiCaprio; Starwood Hotels founder Barry Sternlicht; Pierre Lagrange of GLG Partners; and Adriaan Ligtenberg’s AllMobile Fund, along with other individual angel investors. TechCrunch has more here. TechCrunch has more here.
Rgenix, a six-year-old, New York-based cancer therapeutics company developing drugs that target novel cancer pathways, has raised $33 million in Series B funding led by Novo A/S and Sofinnova Partners, with participation from earlier backers, including Partnership Fund for New York City, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Conegliano Ventures.
Saavn, a nine-year-old, New York-based digital music service that TechCrunch has likened to India’s Spotify, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Guy Oseary, a high-profile entertainment industry executive who manages U2, Madonna, Alicia Keys, Britney Spears and other top music acts.More here.
Sapho, a two-year-old, San Bruno, Ca.-based startup that makes “micro apps” that send notifications to employees and execs whenever data is updated or projects are completed, has raised $9.5 million in Series A funding led by Alsop Louie Partners, with participation from SoftTech VC, Caffeinated Capital, Morado Ventures, AME Cloud and Bloomberg Beta. More here.
Smarter Micro, a four-year-old Chinese semiconductor company, has raised $14 million in Series C funding led by China’s Tsing Capital, with participation from earlier backers GSR Ventures and Vertex Ventures. China Money Network has more here.
SoundCloud, the nine-year-old, Berlin-based music service, is raising a $100 million round, according to Recode, and Twitter has invested around $70 million in the company as part of that financing. Twitter had reportedly wanted to acquire SoundCloud in 2014. Much more here.
Uber, the seven-year-old, San Francisco-based ride-share juggernaut, is turning to the leveraged-loan market for the first time to raise as much as $2 billion, reports the WSJ. The outlet says Uber has hired Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs to get a deal done. More here.
Philadelphia-based 1315 Capital, a two-year-old expansion and growth equity firm that invests in commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical, medical technology, and healthcare services companies, has announced the final closing of its $200 million inaugural fund. More here.
FirstMark Capital, an eight-year-old, New York-based investment firm, has raised $480 million across two new funds: one a $275 million early-stage fund (FirstMark’s fourth), and the other a $205 millionopportunity fund for FirstMark’s maturing investments (which is its second growth-stage fund). The firm now has $1.5 billion under management. TechCrunch has more here.
Singapore-based Golden Gate Ventures has closed a new $60 million fund for Southeast Asia’s rapidly-growing startup ecosystem. The firm first announced its new fund last summer, when it closed on $35 million in capital commitments from investors including Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek and Naver, the Korea-based owner of soon-to-go-public chat app Line. Its newest investors include Korea’s Hanwha Life Insurance, Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank, and Germany’s Hubert Burda Media. TechCrunch has more here.
Bed Bath & Beyond has bought venture-backed One Kings Lane, a home-goods website that, at its peak, was valued at more than $900 million. Terms aren’t being disclosed. Bed Bath & Beyond, which generated $12 billion in net sales in its most recent fiscal year, said that the purchase price was “not material.” One Kings Lane had raised more than $225 million in venture capital from investors, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Institutional Venture Partners. Business Insider has more here.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hosted a live video Q&A on Facebook yesterday and Jerry Seinfeld showed up.
Capital One Ventures is looking for a manager (which is akin to an associate position). The job is in San Francisco.
Why Apple doesn’t have a venture capital arm.
China’s co-living boom puts hundreds of millennials under one roof. More here.
The Colombian hit man who became a YouTube star.
Ten extremely precise words for emotions you didn’t even know you had.
How to do visual comedy.
In what may tell you something about San Francisco’s ever-so-slightly cooling housing market, San Francisco’s second most expensive home was just marked down by $3 million. (You have to check out the views.)


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NFLPA selling LGBT pride shirts with players’ names on them
The NFLPA has taken another major step toward advocating for human rights with its latest line of T-shirts. On Wednesday, the organization announced the release of LGBT pride shirts, which can be purchased for $24.99. Proceeds from sales of the shirts will benefit Athlete Ally, a group founded by former Maryland wrestler Hudson Taylor.
The shirts can currently be purchased with several current and former players’ names on them. So far, the list includes Brendon Ayanbadejo, Scott Fujita, Connor Barwin, Terrell Suggs, Chris Gocong, Chris Kluwe, Steve Gleason and Donte Stallworth. You can buy the shirts by visiting the NFLPA’s official shop.
Ayanbadejo and other players have taken tremendous strides toward supporting gay NFL players over the past year or so. The NFLPA’s new shirts are one of the most powerful gestures to date.
Thanks to Dan Steinberg of DC Sports Bog for the heads up


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After years of relentless campaign against the ethnic Hungarian beer manufacturer by Heineken, Hungarophobe Romanian officials that are always ready to attack ethnic Hungarian businesses in Romania banned the manufacture of Csíki beer.
The beer manufacturer however, fought back and relaunched the brand under different name calling it "Real banned beer" (TILTOTT IGAZI SÖR).
The news was announced by the manufacturer on Facebook.
(alfahir.hu – Facebook - hungarianambiance.com)
The Prime Minister’s Office stands in solidarity with the banned Csíki beer manufacturer
The government source stressed that the Dutch multinational colluded with Romanian authorities against a Hungarian brand. Heineken is surely aware of the difficulties ethnic Hungarians have to endure if they want to start a business in Romania.
Meanwhile the city of Hódmezővásárhely kicked off a nationwide boycott of Heineken product.
Meanwhile, Rock Marathon Festival organizers announced that Heineken products won't be sold at this year's events; the boycott also targets products manufactured in the company's Hungarian plant.- pestisracok.hu


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MeeGo! Nokia’s hope for the future is developing at a quick pace, and considering the rather lukewarm reception of Nokia’s Symbian^3 devices, that quick pace is more than justified. MeeGo got a big boost today with AMD announcing support for the platform. The company puts its money where its mouth is, too.
AMD announced at the MeeGo conference that the chip maker will join The Linux Foundation’s MeeGo project, pledging not just encouragement but also engineering expertise – which hopefully means developers and plain ol’ cash.
“MeeGo represents an exciting, open-source mobile operating system we expect to be adopted by mobile and embedded device makers over time,” said Ben Bar-Haim, AMD’s corporate vice president of software development, “We are glad to provide engineering resources to joint industry efforts like MeeGo and expect that this operating system will help drive our embedded plans and create expanded market opportunities for our forthcoming Accelerated Processing Units.”
Of course, this is not entirely altruistic, as Bar-Haim already hints at. AMD pretty much missed the netbook revolution, doesn’t play a role in smartphones, and they’re not playing much of a role in the tablet frenzy either. By expressing support for MeeGo and maybe even dedicating some actual resources to it, they are probably hoping to grease the wheels a bit in this department.
Altruism or no, The Linux Foundation is rightfully happy with AMD’s support. “Built from the ground up for a whole new class of mobile computing devices, MeeGo gives companies like AMD and its partners unlimited opportunities to accelerate innovation for the next generation of computing,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation, “As an existing Linux Foundation member, AMD will be an important and valuable contributor to the MeeGo Project.”
Hopefully, this will help MeeGo mature even faster. New platforms means more competition, and more competition is always good for us consumers.


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Last year at CES, Neutrogena introduced an iPhone accessory – Skin360 – that scans the user's faces to assess the skin's condition and moisture level. At this year's show, the company is building that device to create custom face masks through a new iOS app called MaskiD.
Skin360 is not required to use the app, although Neutrogena says it will provide a more accurate assessment of users' skin needs. But the app relies on the TrueDepth camera in the iPhone X, XS and XR to capture a 3D image of users' faces, the idea is that each mask is customized to fit each person. The eye clumps match the eyes of a single user, for example, making the mouth opening.
The company will offer five main ingredients to begin with: stabilized vitamin C, purified hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, feverfew and N-acetylglucosamine. Each mask has six zones, including the forehead, eye area, cheeks, nose, chin and chin of the cheek, and the ingredients in each area can be selected from the users' concerns. For example, if your cheeks are particularly boring, you can choose to use stabilized vitamin C in this area. The masks are colored for now, to showcase the different zones, but it can be changed before the app and masks are released.
In general, it is not surprising to see that Neutrogena continues to focus on personalization. It has been a priority for beauty companies, which we saw last year at CES, with products such as shampoo and conditioner designed to cope with the customer's specific hair problems. Neutrogena sells thousands of products, and Skin360 was designed to help consumers make sense of the company's massive range – which in turn sells more product. MaskiD, on the other hand, gives customers a better feeling and more control over what they put on their faces.
The company will eventually use artificial intelligence to detect when the skin changes and make recommendations based on the condition, according to Michael Southall, research director and global leader of beauty technology at Neutrogena. But to do that, Neutrogena will need many user data, as it slowly amasses through apps like Skin360 and MaskiD.
The company says it encrypts the user's data and images, but also uses the data to improve its products. The company cannot force users to buy and rely on a Skin360, but it will certainly prefer to use one – not just for better recommendations, but also for the data it provides.


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Services: Cable TV, high-speed Internet, telephone
Strengths: Most widely available with most high-definition and movie options
Brand: FiTV, FiPhone, FiSpeed Internet
Services: VIdeo, phone, high-speed Internet
Strengths: All fiber optic network for fastest dual speed Internet
Brand: U-Verse TV
Services: Internet protocol television, high-speed Internet and telephone
Strengths: Internet links allow interactive video services
America may have invented the Internet, but the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates the United States now trails at least 14 other countries in the share of homes or businesses with high-speed broadband service.
Chattanooga's telephone, cable TV and electrical providers are each trying to boost local broadband coverage this year with new and enhanced services, making the Scenic City one of the most competitive for consumers looking to get faster computer links on the Information Superhighway.
Comcast Corp., the dominant cable TV provider, upgraded the Chattanooga market to an all-digital system last year and rebranded its product to the Xfinity name in February.
"Comcast is innovating products across many platforms, giving customers even more choice and control over the entertainment, communications and information they want," Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said in his announcement of Xfinity.
Along with the new brand, Comcast is adding five more high-definition channels in Chattanooga to bring the total number of HD channels to 96, Comcast's Chattanooga public affairs manager Laurie Shipley said.
But Comcast is facing new competition from its once monopoly control of the cable TV market.
EPB launched its all- fiber-optic network last September and has already signed up more than 10,000 customers who want their new video, phone or Internet connections.
EPB, which has provided electricity service to Chattanooga since 1939, expanded into telecommunications as an outgrowth of fiber-optic lines the utility laid to read meters and control power flows for its electric system.
EPB is spending $219 million on its fiber-optic system in Chattanooga to install smart meters at every home -- and to provide fiber-optic telecom services for residential customers wanting video, phone or Internet via EPB.
The electric utility is now offering its telecom services to nearly every residence in Chattanooga, East Ridge and Red Bank and should cover the rest of its service territory within the next two years.
"At the beginning of our initiative, we made a commitment to make our 100 percent fiber-optic services accessible to every home in our customer service area, and we are working hard to do just that, as quickly as we can," said Katie Espeseth, vice president of EPB Fiber Optics.
The newest entry into the telecom turf wars is telephone giant AT&T, which is launching its U-verse TV service this summer. The AT&T video service uses Internet protocol to deliver television channels and interactive video via AT&T's phone lines. AT&T is already the leading phone provider and DSL Internet provider in the market.
Greg Morton, president of AT&T Tennessee, said the Internet-protocol television gives the consumer more options about when programs are available and interactive choices. Mr. Morgan said the technology "will allow new services and features our competitors won't be able to deliver."
EPB President Harold DePriest said the competition should be good for the consumer. "May the best product win," he said.


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“What Ford has made here with this Mustang, you’d be lying if you said this thing isn’t beautiful,” said Joey Logano, who currently drives a Ford Mustang for Team Penske. “It looks aggressive, neat, just like what you see on the street. I think any Mustang enthusiast, Ford lover, would absolutely approve of what we’re going to bring to the racetrack.”
Part of the redesign was made possible by starting from scratch – a clean sheet – even to the point of changing the dimensions of the car’s footprint.
“It’s the body, what we are able to do by coming up with new proportions for it,” said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance. “This screams ‘Mustang’ to me, just the proportions of the car. With the low roof, the long hood, the short deck, those are Mustang proportions. That jumps out immediately.”
Similar changes were evident in the Camaro and Camry.
“Some of the excitement for Chevrolet and some of the main highlights is that the Next Gen Camaro ZL1 is even closer to the production Camaro ZL1,” said General Motors’ Director of NASCAR Operations Eric Warren. A lot of the features are the lower roof line, really the streamlined look of the greenhouse and the short deck lid really brings forward that coupe styling that we see in the production Camaro ZL1.”
Warren pointed out a number of similarities under the hood as well, such as the fact that both the production Camaro and Next Gen version are rear-drive coupes.


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Economy in U.S. Preserves Biggest Gain in Six Years
The U.S. economy expanded at a 5.6 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2009, and corporate profits climbed, setting the stage for gains in employment that may broaden and preserve the expansion.
The rise in gross domestic product, while smaller than the government’s previous estimate issued last month, marked the best performance in six years, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. Company earnings increased 8 percent, capping the biggest year-over-year gain in a quarter century.
“Profits are a leading indicator of the economy and suggest continued growth and likely job gains in the second quarter of this year,” John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, said in a note to clients after the report.
Caterpillar Inc. and Boeing Co. are among manufacturers seeing demand strengthen as business investment, consumer purchases and exports keep climbing, indicating the recovery is being maintained this year. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, citing “weak” labor and housing markets, yesterday said the world’s largest economy still needs low interest rates to sustain growth.
Stock-index futures trimmed earlier gains following the report. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.3 percent to 1,165.8 at 9:02 a.m. in New York. Treasury securities were little changed.
Less Than Anticipated
The economy was forecast to grow at a 5.9 percent annual pace, the same as the government estimated in February, according to the median estimate of 76 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from gains of 5.5 percent to 6 percent.
The downward revision last quarter reflected larger decreases in commercial construction and stockpiles, and a smaller gain in consumer spending than estimated last month.
For all of 2009, the economy shrank 2.4 percent, the worst single-year performance since 1946.
Fourth-quarter corporate profits, reported today for the first time, increased by $108.7 billion to $1.47 trillion. Earnings jumped 31 percent from the same period in 2008, the biggest such increase since 1984.
Efforts to stabilize inventories provided the biggest boost to growth last quarter, contributing 3.8 percentage points to GDP.
Business investment in new equipment advanced at a 19 percent pace last quarter, the biggest gain since 1998. Spending on structures, including office buildings and factories, dropped at an 18 percent pace.
A Commerce Department report this week showed companies ordered more long-lasting goods from factories in February, driven primarily by bookings for commercial aircraft, machinery and metals. The gains suggest the manufacturing rebound will keep propelling the recovery even as commercial construction continues to slump.
Boeing, seeking to reclaim its title as the world’s biggest commercial-plane maker, said this month it will boost production of its largest jets to meet increasing demand. There has been a “dramatic pickup” in air-freight shipments and passenger travel in the past four to five months, marketing chief Randy Tinseth said in a March 19 interview.
Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, also said this month it plans to hire 500 workers starting this year to expand a generator plant in Newberry, South Carolina. Caterpillar has started recalling some workers in Indiana and other states after cutting more than 19,000 jobs last year amid the recession.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, rose at a 1.6 percent pace last quarter, compared with the 1.7 percent rate forecast by economists and a 2.8 percent gain in the prior three months. Spending added 1.2 percentage points to GDP. Household purchases dropped 0.6 percent last year, the biggest decrease since 1974.
Purchases in the third quarter received a boost from the government’s auto-incentive program that offered buyers discounts to trade in older cars and trucks for new, more fuel- efficient vehicles. The plan expired in August.
Auto sales this month may exceed a 12 million annualized pace, an improvement from February, according to analysts at J.D. Power & Associates and Edmunds.com. Gains in retail sales for January and February signal consumer spending will contribute more to GDP in the first quarter of 2010.
The job market is one part of the economy where a recovery has yet to take hold. Payrolls fell by 36,000 last month after a 26,000 drop in January. The U.S. has lost 8.4 million since the start of the recession in December 2007, the most of any slowdown in the post-World War II era.
Payrolls probably increased this month, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed before a Labor Department report due April 2.
“The economy continues to require the support of accommodative monetary policies,” Bernanke said yesterday in testimony to the House Financial Services Committee.
Responding to questions, Bernanke said the “unemployment situation is very weak,” with 40 percent of the jobless being out of work for a long time, and the housing market is “still quite weak.” Policy makers this month reiterated a pledge to keep the target interest rate on overnight loans between banks low for “an extended period.”


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A vehicle flagged for a potentially fatal flaw in April 2016 has been linked to hundreds of needless accidents and injuries and now a death. Actor Anton Yelchin, 27, was killed two months after the automaker issued a recall notice on the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Yelchin owned one and was driving it from his Los Angeles home, where the accident occurred. He exited the vehicle after presumably placing it in park and was struck by it after it rolled down his driveway and crushed him against a brick pillar. He dies of blunt force asphyxia.
The recall issued by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles affects more than one million vehicles besides the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The problem stems from an electronic shifter described as a monostable gear selector that fails to warn the operator when the vehicle is in gear and the driver’s door is opened. As explained on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Web site, the monostable gear selector “has a single neutral position that it snaps back to when the driver releases the shift knob” and “has an unfamiliar movement that does not provide the tactile or visual feedback that drivers are accustomed to receiving from conventional shifters.”
“Drivers thinking that their vehicle’s transmission is in the park position may be struck by the vehicle and injured if they attempt to get out of the vehicle while the engine is running and the parking brake is not engaged,” the recall notice states.
The consequences unfortunately turned deadly. Yelchin was known for his role as Chekov in the popular new Star Trek series.
FCA’s submission of a Defect Information Report to the NHTSA was preceded by an August 2015 alert by the federal agency about the dangerous rollaway problem, prompting a consumer-advocacy group to cry foul.
“There was no sense of urgency on Chrysler’s part or NHTSA’s part given the potential for death or injury,” Clarence Ditlow, of the Center for Auto Safety, told The New York Times in an article titled “Anton Yelchin’s Death Highlights a Known Issue With Jeeps.”
So the complaints kept coming in, and to date there are 241 and counting, including this one from the driver of another 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee: “Shift lever design does not properly allow selection of gears, i.e. park vs. reverse vs. drive. Have experienced situations where improper gear was selected, leading to unanticipated vehicle movement. Vehicle has been inadvertently in reverse, when thought to be in park, button was pushed to stop engine, but kept on running; started to exit and vehicle almost crashed into garage door.”
The recall includes 2012, 2013 and 2014 Dodge Chargers and Chrysler 300s and 2014 and 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Repairs have been few and far between, reported CNN Money in an article titled “Jeep that killed ‘Star Trek’ actor Anton Yelchin was flagged for safety problems.”
“Car owners haven’t gotten an official recall notice yet, but they did receive a notice warning about the problem in May,” the article states. “Fiat Chrysler has to wait for replacement parts to become available before it can start repairs, according to its filing with safety regulators. At that point it will send a recall notice telling owners to bring the car in for free repairs.”
Meantime, consumers are advised to double check their vehicle is in park prior to exiting and apply the parking brake for additional safety.


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VAIO Corporation has launched its first VAIO Phone (VA-10J) in Japan. The Vaio Phone (VA-10J) smartphone will go on sale on 20th March for JPY 51,000 (approximately Rs. 26,350) for the unlocked model and for JPY 4,000 (approximately Rs. 2,070) on a two year contract with Japanese telecom carrier B-mobile.
The Vaio Phone (VA-10J) features a 5-inch HD display with 720 x 1280 pixels resolution. The VA-10J is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor coupled with 2 GB of RAM. The smartphone has a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5 MP front camera. The device supports 1080p video recording. It comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, expandable up to 64 GB via microSD card. The Vaio Phone runs Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box.
Connectivity options included in the Vaio Phone (VA-10J) are 4G LTE, Bluetooth, GPS/ A-GPS, Wi-Fi, and Micro-USB. It is backed by a 2500mAh non-removable battery that according to company claims delivers 13 hours of talk time and 500 hours of standby time. It comes with inbuilt proximity, Accelerometer, gyroscope and Ambient light sensors. The smartphone has sleek dimensions of 71.3×141.5×7.95mm and weighs 130 grams. The Vaio Phone (VA-10J) will be available in Black colour.
The Vaio Phone (VA-10J) supports a similar design and specifications as the Panasonic Eluga U2 unveiled last month in Taiwan at TWD 7,990 (approximately Rs. 15,700). No information has been given about the smartphones global release.


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Stocks continued to slide Monday, as China slapped steep import penalties on American food companies and President Trump reignited his war of words with Amazon.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 459 points, or about 1.9%, landing at 23,645 points at the closing bell. It was down as much as 758 points earlier in the day.
Online retail giant Amazon saw its stock drop a whopping 5.2% to $1,372, marking a significant dent in its $1,600 per share that it peaked at last month. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq both followed suit, tumbling 59 points, or 2.2%, and 193 points, or 2.7%, respectively.
The stock market upset came after China announced sweeping tariffs on 120 U.S. food products, including a 25% penalty on frozen pork products. Beijing's move, which set off renewed fears of a global trade war, responds to Trump's announcement last month that his administration will enact harsh import tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum.
Market analysts were concerned by the tariff tussle.
"The fact that a country has actually raised tariffs in retaliation is an important step in the wrong direction," said Kate Warne, an investment strategist for Edward Jones.
While stocks skidded, Trump once again attacked Amazon over Twitter.
"Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon," Trump tweeted before taking to the White House lawn to celebrate the annual Easter egg roll. "THEY LOSE A FORTUNE, and this will be changed. Also, our fully tax paying retailers are closing stores all over the country…not a level playing field!"
But some critics say Trump's Amazon accusations are dubious at best.
Amazon pays the same bulk shipping rate as other retailers, and some suspect that Trump has beef with the retailer because its owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, also owns The Washington Post. Trump has a penchant for accusing the newspaper of peddling in "fake news."
Eric Schiffer, CEO of New York-based investment firm Patriarch, said Trump's repeated attacks on Amazon take on multiple layers.
"Donald Trump scores many political points here: He's pushing his pro-America agenda, he's advocating for small and medium-sized businesses and he's taking a shot at someone who he feels has injured his brand," Schiffer told the Daily News, referring to Bezos.
Schiffer wasn't surprised by the Amazon stock plummet.
"People would rather go and invest in something that isn't under White House assault," Schiffer said. "Investors get scared because there's a perception of a thirst for war."


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Wall Street Completes a Mostly Upbeat Session in Positive Terrain
Oil tumbled and the upturn fizzled just short of record closures in the national indices as the trading session ended June 15, 2016.
The HVACR Business Stock Index rose 12.76 points, or 1.09 percent, and closed at 1182.63. Advancing issues climbed past declining issues at a 21-to-11 count.
The Institute for Supply Management reported that their manufacturing index improved to 51.3 in May, from 50.8 in April, boosted by a weaker dollar.
A.O. Smith reached an all-time high on June 9 of 85.39; AOS has a price target of $129.53 on its stock. The company is slated to report upcoming earnings on July 28. AOS increased 5.39 points, or 6.89 percent, and closed at 83.64.
Fiat Chrysler slid 1.09 points, or 14.25 percent. The company said its sales rose just 1 percent in May, typically the strongest month of the year for car-buying, and recent reports have shown a drop-off in car sales.
Dover Corp gained 4.74 points, or 7.30 percent. Dover announced plans to purchase Wayne Fueling for $780 million in cash.
U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for April 2016 shifted slightly to 366,436 units from 366,540 units shipped in April 2015, an overall 0.0 percent change.
Commercial gas storage water heater shipments decreased 7.3 percent in April 2016 to 9,030 units, down from 9,746 units shipped in April 2015.
Year-to-date combined shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps decreased 3.7 percent to 2,218,866 units, down from 2,304,783 units shipped in April 2015.


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Transactions in Muse are becoming difficult as Chinese banks have frozen over 1,000 bank accounts with estimated deposits of Ks40 billion belonging to Burmese traders.
“They started freezing our bank accounts on June 14. Most were locked the next day,” said a trader.
Although Chinese banks have blocked bank accounts in the past, it has never been done on such a large scale before.
“They freeze the bank accounts of exporters and importers. For instance, if we transfer money to buy goods, the Chinese trader, who accepts the transfer, is also banned so we cannot issue the goods. We heard that the authorities froze the bank accounts linked with internet gambling and smuggled goods. Now more accounts are frozen. Previously, they only froze accounts which are associated with bean, rice, sugar and maize exporters or money changers. Now the importers who open accounts at Chinese banks to buy goods are included in the banned list. Some have opened their accounts for medical treatment,” said a trader from Muse.
Normally the Chinese banks can settle a bank account within six months if it is frozen. However, some can be frozen for years. Muse accounts for about 70 per cent of total border trade and the government should prevent financial loss for its traders, business representatives said.
“It mostly happens when we use illegal money transfers in China. Both governments need to negotiate officially permitting exports from Myanmar. The Chinese didn’t freeze the bank accounts of traders from other countries. They are only doing it to us. Many of us use illegal money transfers as they are cheaper than transfer services approved by the Chinese. The bank accounts frozen by the Chinese are often of money earned legally,” said a trader.
Traders say they will ask the government to make money transfer services official to protect them against Chinese government action and to register all exports to avoid seizures.


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Commvault (a publicly-traded data management and data protection software company headquartered in New York) has quite recently filed Patent Infringement lawsuits against Rubrik (a California-based cloud data management company) and Cohesity (a privately held IT company headquartered in San Jose, California) in federal court in Delaware. Commvault has stated that the companies have altogether infringed upon its seven patents, which correspond to a plethora of widely used data management technologies such as data deduplication, cloud, security, snapshots, virtualization, and search. To be specific, Commvault has claimed that both Cohesity and Rubrik have appropriated its patented technologies to short-circuit their development processes and reduce the investment needed, corresponding to building competitive products.
The Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property (IP) Counsel at Commvault, Marcus Muller, has said that the lawsuits hold the responsibility of safeguarding a company’s employees and investors, and also bring about fairness when it comes to competing in the global market. He further mentioned that for over two decades now, Commvault has been successfully delivering solutions to its customers and has become the pioneer in this space. By investing even more than $1 billion in its innovations and inventions, Commvault, at present, owns 900 patents across the globe and over 350 pending patents.
Commvault’s General Counsel, Warren Mondschein, mentioned in a recent statement that Commvault is not at all a litigious company; however when companies like Cohesity and Rubrik commit willful patent infringement, then it is the company’s responsibility to file such lawsuits and take a stand for the protection of its innovations and IP assets.
Lynn Lucas, the Chief Marketing Officer at Cohesity, has said that it is not unusual for legacy vendors to come forward and disrupt the market by filing frivolous lawsuits in an attempt to suppress sales and innovation. Coming to this matter, he stated that Cohesity came to know about the patent infringement lawsuit, not by Commvault’s representatives but through the media. He believes that there is no merit to the lawsuit filed as it is only an attempt to slow down Cohesity’s rapid growth and obstruct its accelerating success.
In an unattributed statement, Rubrik only stated that it doesn’t comment on any pending litigation.
When Commvault was asked why it is filing patent infringement lawsuits against Rubrik and Cohesity corresponding to widely implemented storage software capabilities such as cloud, search, virtualization, to name a few, Muller said the company is not claiming on all the aspects in these technologies and is looking at specific patents. He further declined to speculate about whether the company would file similar lawsuits against other such competitors in the market or not.
Commvault, Cohesity, and Rubrik compete vigorously for data protection and management business in the market. On the one hand, Commvault is a long-established vendor, while Cohesity and Rubrik, on the other hand, are well-funded and rapidly emerging new companies on the block. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com
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How the Internet of Things changes business
Round table by the Internet of Things Association
Topic: What smart cities start with and what is the IoT role in the digital economy development.
Moderator: Gleb Pyzhov, Deputy Director of the IoT Association.
Participants: Dmitriy Poltorak (Lartech), Evgeny Akhmadishin (WAVIOT), Alexander Minov (Russian National Research Institute of Technology and Communications – NIITS).
Prospects of Industrial Internet of Things in manufacturing industry
The fourth international forum – Internet of Things – will take place in Moscow on October 31 and November 1 at Sokolniki ECC, pavilion 7-A.
A ticket to the conference allows to attend the exhibition area, lectures, and workshops within 2 days.


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