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Streaming Media West Connect is Next Week
We've got speakers from Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, Comcast, and more talking about all things OTT and streaming video next week. Registration is free! Read on to find out more.
Moving Picture, Audio, and Data Coding by Artificial Intelligence: "A New Way to Make Money"
New standards body MPAI plans to develop new specifications for data coding, using AI to bridge the gap between technology and licensing.
IBC: 5G Live Broadcast Demo Shows Work Needs To Be Done
An ambitious demo for IBC's Showcase brought together multiple broadcasters and vendors to demonstrate 5G's potential for remote production, but showed that it's a long way from ready for primetime
AVOD Services' Appeal is Growing, says Tubi/OnePoll Study
New research shows one in four Americans ages 18-34 have canceled a subscription service in favor of using a free service in the past few months, with 37% also stating that they would try a streaming service with ads to watch something new
Verizon Media Partners with the NFL on Two New Fan Experiences This Season
"Watch Together" Co-Viewing Experience Enables Fans to Video Chat on Their Phones with Friends While Watching Live Local and Primetime Games in the Yahoo Sports App for Free; New "Yahoo Sports PlayAR" Game Center Experience Enhanced with NFL's Next Gen Stats
New Qumu App Transforms Zoom Into Large-Scale Broadcasting Platform for Enterprises
Qumu Stream, Record, and Manage is now available at no charge as part of all Zoom corporate licensing plans
Vote Now for the 2020 Readers' Choice Awards!
Let the competition begin! The polls are open for the streaming video industry awards that matter most—because winners are chosen by the community itself. And you'll be entered to win a HuddleCamHD Pro IP NDI Webcam when you cast your vote!
Consumers Go to Streaming Before Pay TV: Hub Research
Netflix and other OTT services are now the first stop when consumers are looking for something to watch
Bingie Spotlights Word-of-Mouth Streaming Recommendations
The app, which launches on iOS today, aims to improve search and discovery by putting focus on friends, family, and other trusted sources
Take the State of the Streaming Fall 2020 Survey
How has the streaming industry changed in the last 6 months, and what's in store for the future? Take our Fall 2020 State of the Streaming Industry survey and get a copy of the exclusive report before anyone else.
SourceStream Launches First Interactive Political Streaming Network
Featuring hosts with viewpoints across the political spectrum, the interactive network launched on SourceStreamLive.com, Twitch, Facebook Live, and YouTube on August 17
Upstream Broadband Usage, Faster Speeds Spike Higher in 2020, says OpenVault
Overall demand has fallen off from Q1, but remains higher than pre-COVID levels, according to the broadband tech solution provider
Mux Gets $37 Million Series C Funding
With this round, led by Andreesen Horowitz, the company has raised $69 million
OTT TV & Video Revenues Reached $83 Billion in 2019
SVOD accounted for the lion's share of revenue—$12 billion or 58%
Pirate Subscription Services Now a Billion-Dollar U.S. Industry, Joint Digital Citizens Alliance-NAGRA Report Finds
New report called "Money for Nothing" exposes that an estimated 9 million fixed broadband subscribers in the U.S. use a pirated IPTV service, which can be found on more than 3,500 websites, social media pages, and online stores.
New Conviva Data Shows Drop in Ad Demand, Rise in Quality
Conviva's Q2 2020 State of Streaming Report Highlights Impact of COVID-19, YouTube's Move to the TV Screen and the Rise of Smart TVs
Nominate Now for the 2020 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards
What's your favorite streaming tool, tech, or service? It's time to make your nominations for the only awards in the online video industry that are chosen by end users.
Pocket.watch Premieres "Smiles & Smarts" Enrichment Content Package on Hulu
Series features 100 episodes of learning-themed kids entertainment, including Jillian's Mystery Craftbox and Ryan's World specials.
Etisalat Goes Live with Cloud OTT Service Using Synamedia’s Infinite Platform
Synamedia announced today that its Infinite cloud TV platform and award-winning Video Network portfolio were selected by Etisalat, the largest operator in the UAE and leading telco for emerging markets
82% Believe 5G Networks Will Replace Traditional Broadcast Distribution
However, half of broadcasters anticipate network issues to be 5G's biggest challenge


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salvatore ferragamo green leather pointed toe pumps heels, Salvatore Ferragamo Men’s Belts
January 10, 2016
Salvatore Ferragamo Fights Fakes
Salvatore Ferragamo is constant its anti-counterfeiting efforts, that are especially centered on China and the web.
The company stated that in 2015 it intercepted and blocked 91,000 online ads for counterfeit merchandise. In addition, 140 domain names and unlawful Websites, mainly managed by Chinese language people, had been recovered or cancelled.
Associated Salvatore Ferragamo Announces Major Strategy salvatore ferragamo green leather pointed toe pumps heels Changes, Sees Drop in Shares
“In 2015, we further expanded the number salvatore ferragamo green leather pointed toe pumps heels of e-commerce sites that we monitor,” said Ferragamo Group chairman Ferruccio Ferragamo. “On the Chinese language market, we’ve continued and ramped up our offline checks, concentrating on trade gala’s and resellers particularly.” Ferragamo added that the corporate had additionally completed the official course of for recognition as a well-known brand in China, a key law enforcement device, which is able to help the company saving money and time within the counterfeit battle.
Beginning with the pre-fall 2014 assortment, the company has been inserting microchips into the women’s sneakers, guaranteeing product authenticity, in addition to the chance to track products. The model additionally prolonged using the microchip to men’s shoes with the Cruise 2015 collection, whereas this has been inserted in women’s small leather-based goods, luggage and bags with the fall 2015 range.
An additional success in Salvatore Ferragamo’s measures in opposition to fakes was the seizure and destruction of more than 12,500 Magdalena_Frąckowiak counterfeit products. The Chinese customs authorities confiscated more than 12,four hundred pretend goods leaving the country and seized in excess of 34,000 counterfeit merchandise in 2015. The estimated worth of the goods exceeds $17 million. Belts accounted 60 percent of the seized products.

domain: news


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According to recent reports, NVIDIA is currently preparing a new variant of the GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card. This particular card will be featuring double the memory capacity to tackle the current gaming graphics card availability issue.
It was from Videocardz that we found the details about the production and availability of the GeForce RTX 2060 and further reports states that NVIDIA is planning to produce a large stock of its RTX 2060 GPUs for launch in January 2022. The reason is plain and simple, to tackle the graphics card and imminent GPU shortages that are expected in the first half of 2022.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 was already slated to be resumed for production twice to meet the demand of gamers and ECafe’s within Asian Pacific markets. However, NVIDIA further decided to focus on the Ampere GPUs such as the GeForce RTX 3060 and RTX 3060 Ti as they got better in terms of availability hence postponing the production of the RTX 2060 cards.
However, a recent report has emerged suggesting that there is a looming crisis shortage of the old Turing card. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the 2nd best gaming graphics card on the Steam database, the card is only surpassed by the GeForce GTX 1060 that came before it.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 features the TU106-300 GPU and has been succeeded by the GA106 based GeForce RTX 3060. however, the latest of the cards are now being exploited for crypto mining so it’s a good idea for NVIDIA to start the production of its GeForce RTX 2060 to meet the demands of gamers but this time with twice the memory.
NVIDIA is reportedly planning to feature 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on the RTX 2060 graphics card and the first graphics cards are expected to land in January 2022 as said to board partners by NVIDIA itself.


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Every year we organise events and exhibit at trade fairs to build the knowledge of Britain among key influencers and buyers by delivering workshops, seminars and meetings. Discover some of the highlights from our recent events.
Skift Report on UK business events
A new report has been launched by Skift on how UK cities excel at hosting conferences in advanced and creative industries.
The report, produced in collaboration with VisitBritain, looks at a number of areas including how city leaders are supporting conference planners, and how the UK convention bureaus and cities are bringing value to attendees.
Targeting European International Association Conference organisers
In December 2017 we hosted three European lunch events in Paris, Geneva and Brussels to provide a sales platform for UK destinations to meet International Association Conference organisers with strong potential of bringing events of 200 to 6000 delegates to Britain.
The lunches helped facilitate business meetings between 34 organisers and UK destinations from across Britain to discuss the potential for hosting international conferences
This marks the beginning of our new Business Events presence in Europe, selling the UK’s business events product to international association and corporate event planners and agencies.
Reaching Business Events buyers at IBTM World
We were joined by 24 English suppliers at IBTM World in Barcelona 28-30 November 2017.
We welcomed over 650 buyers from the Meeting, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition (MICE) industry to the stand that resulted in 400 unique buyer leads for our England stand partners, a new record for any of our business events.
We were also delighted to receive the Best Stand Personnel Award out of 150 exhibitors at the event.
Visit Wales also partnered with us as part of the wider British stand.


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There may be a buck in the current trend of hardware shortages and inflated prices, as PC gamers might be able to upgrade their RAM for cheaper in the near future.
- READ MORE: What caused the pandemic on Shura’s feet to start streaming?
Using the latest report from the Nanya Technology Corporation, world’s fourth largest dynamic RAM (DRAM) manufacturer, the company will use it as a computer simulator to provide the ultimate result.
The company says the demand for data for DRAM is closing quickly from Q4 2021, but then has a sharp increase in demand and the decline in market confidence. There are a lot of bad news to the manufacturers, but a lot of good news to the consumers, as well.
Image credit: Getty Images / nazarethman.
In contrast, it dominates the hardware market, where demand and the number of semiconductors and computer chips has increased, resulting in an increase in ephia, the impact of the pandemic has spread across several industries, including the GPU and CPUs used in the latest generation of games consoles.
The AMDs, in the final month, expressed optimism about supply in 2022, but still expected that that will be difficult for the remainder of this year.
A second example, the analyst said the chip shortage won’t only return to normal in 2022, but could be avoided by 2023.
Outsiders, the developer of theSkyrim Script Extender warned that the upcoming update of the Anniversary Edition will be disruptive for the modding community.
They claim that the update will break all the tools that the community had built to maintain all of the mods working on Skyrim Special Edition. The problem is that addresses will need to be found again from scratch, and asked modders to delete this version of the update and disable them.


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Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi-led ministerial panel on incentivizing digital payments under GST will meet on May 11 to assuage concerns expressed by some states, especially West Bengal.
To incentivise digital transaction, the GST Council had last week discussed giving a concession of 2 per cent in GST rate (where the tax rate is 3 per cent or more) to consumers making payment through cheque or digital mode. The ceiling for the discount would be capped at Rs 100 per transaction.
While most of the states in the GST Council were agreeable to the proposal, West Bengal had voiced concerns saying that the poor people will suffer because they still find cash as a viable mode for transaction, an official said.
“While 98 per cent of the states supported the idea, West Bengal opposed to it saying the poor would suffer. We will discuss the concerns and hope to achieve a consensus in the May 11 meeting,” the official added.
The Modi-led Group of Ministers (GoM) has been tasked with submitting its report to the GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising his state counterparts, within 15 days.
The five member GoM include Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, Haryana Excise & Taxation Minister Capt Abhimanyu and Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal .
Source: Economic Times
We have launched Single Platform on GST Compliances In India, assisting in 4 areas – 1) Migration, 2) GST Compliance, 3) Training and 4) Transition & Implementation. Click this link for any assistance.


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If there’s a common refrain going around the gaming industry right now, it’s that both the PS4 and Xbox One lack “system sellers,” games that by themselves make either console worth buying. Instead both
Updated @ 7:50 a.m. on Nov. 29 with statement from Sega. Many Sega Dreamcast fans have an undying passion for one of that platform’s biggest franchises, and that passion is going to continue to go unfulfilled.
A new paper in American Psychologist, the flagship journal of the American Psychological Association, looks at the positive effects of video game play. I’ve already written about the 5 reasons I’m buying
Amazon.com isn’t just for shopping anymore! Thanks to its new political comedy series Alpha House and Cuban actress, Yara Martinez, the site is getting into the online TV game. Martinez, who co-stars Mark


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Located on the Upper Lachine Road near Belgrave, Marché Ami is still a welcome food oasis for hundreds, if not a couple of thousand people who live in the ‘South-Side’ food dessert below the tracks in NDG.
We’ve been here for almost 38 years,” said NDG’s Giovanna Cassin, “...and we’re not going anywhere.”
As her store is already a local institution, the district’s older residents still remember the days when Cassin used to help her parents run the local grocery store.
“It was a family business,” said Cassin. “My father was the butcher, my mother took care of the cash, and whenever we weren’t in school, we worked in the store.”
Twenty years ago, during the city’s epic ice-storm, the little store earned the community’s affection when it happened to be one of the few buildings in the city that kept its power when everyone else was blacked out due to all of the damage done to Hydro-Québec’s extensive transmission facilities. Not only was the store able to provide all kinds of necessities – food, milk, toilet paper, diapers and baby food that made all the difference in the world – but they extended credit to whomever needed it because most – if not all – of the city’s banks were closed. Cassin recalls how grateful everybody was and how everybody paid their bills as soon as they could once the emergency was over. Married with children, Cassin began to raise a family while she and Raymond, her husband, continued to work at the family store. Following her father’s death, she began to manage the store, but within a few years, she began to notice that Raymond was making a lot of very basic mistakes – the kind of mistakes that soon began to define Raymond’s early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
“Those were hard times,” said Cassin. “Very hard, but I kept the store open because I had to keep busy.”
While she took care of her husband, Giovanna’s brother and her sons came in to help her run the family’s business. Aside from all of the store’s normal fare, Sylvina Di Marco still serves up her special ‘Gino’ sandwiches ($5.00) that have become a minor legend within the district. As ever, Cassin makes a point of keeping the store open on Christmas eve, Christmas day and during the New Year’s holiday after which the only time she closed it was to take the time she needed for Raymond’s funeral.
Three years later, the store is now called Marché Ami, and it’s still open all day up until 9.00 in the evening.
“We’re a family business,” she said. “We’re still here, and we’re not going anywhere,”


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INDIA: Diageo introduces Captain Morgan rum
The launch is the latest move from the UK-based drinks giant to bolster its product offering in India.
Santosh Kanekar, marketing director for Diageo India, said: "The taste of this spiced gold rum, the first of its kind here, is sure to take India by storm."
Diageo has been busy upping its presence in India since last year's tie-up with local spirits group Radico Khaitan to develop Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brands.
In January, the company launched a "super-premium" Smirnoff variant, Smirnoff Black No. 55, to tap into growing demand for high-end spirits among India's ever-wealthier middle classes. Last September, Diageo launched Shark Tooth, a mainstream vodka aimed at male consumers.
Diageo officials were unavailable for further comment on the launch of Captain Morgan as just-drinks went to press.
The Scotch whisky category is booming globally thanks to demand in Asia and the BRIC countries, particularly for blends, but mature markets in Europe are proving more sluggish. In this month's Just th...
Acquisitions have transformed CL Financial from the owner of one very famous but small-scale bitters brand into a player on the world spirits stage. Having recently shored up two contrasting acquisiti...
It takes a brave man to question the assumptions of a business that, to all intents and purposes, is riding the crest of a wave, but that is what happened in Scotland this month, Chris Brook-Carter re...
Davide Campari-Milano is hoping to feed off scraps from the potential sale of Vin & Sprit, according to a recent interview....
Diageo has completed the first stage in its Scotch whisky investment programme....
Diageo has announced changes to its board of directors....
Global drinks force Diageo is backing the "We Don't Serve Teens" campaign, aimed at reducing teen access to alcohol, as it rolls out in Arizona....
Diageo has declared that this week's US interest rate cut would give a boost to consumers, but there had been minimal impact from any slowdown on its drinks, according to reports....
- Key trends for the alcohol category in 2017
- Heineken goes from strength to strength - Analysis
- Key trends for the beer category in 2017 - Focus
- Heineken 2012-2016 - results data
- Interview Berry Bros & Rudd CEO Dan Jago - Part I
- Beam Suntory revamps Bowmore whisky packaging
- Bacardi lines up Canadian bottling plant closure
- Pernod unveils new St Patrick's Day Jameson bottle
- Asahi Group lifts 2016 sales, profits
- Non-alcoholic Heineken set to hit Europe - CEO
- Global vodka insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends
- Global Scotch insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends
- Global rum insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends
- Global Cognac insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends
- Global gin insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends


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Latest Noise Stories
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ZTEC Instruments (http://www.ztecinstruments.com), announced today that they have released the next instrument in the Company's RF & Wireless Communication product line.
Researchers at Empa, in cooperation with textile designer Annette Douglas and silk weavers Weisbrod-ZÃ¼rrer AG, have developed lightweight, translucent curtain materials, which are excellent at absorbing sound.
LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, April 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- See Note Music announces the launch of a new music entertainment network at http://www.SeeNoteMusic.com.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Exclusive technology from Bybee Labs, Inc. reduces unwanted power supply noise by up to 45dB or by a factor of nearly 200 times.
HAMBURG, Germany, April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- - Amazingly Better Acoustics Aircraft noise is one of the biggest environmental concerns. But in the interior of aircrafts, passengers and the crew also have to be relieved from noise emissions.
LOS ALTOS, Calif., April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Developing test and measurement tools for QoE (Quality of Experience) applications, QoE Systems, Inc., today releases its next generation Q-Master2(TM) Video quality analyzer system.
QuietFiber is unique among Acoustiblok's range of sound reducing products because of it's easy installation. QuietFiber is Acoustiblok's first totally DIY noise abatement material. Tampa, FL (PRWEB) March 24, 2011 Acoustiblok, Inc.
A Purdue University researcher is leading an effort to create a new scientific field that will use sound as a way to understand the ecological characteristics of a landscape and to reconnect people with the importance of natural sounds.
Using underwater speakers to play noise at levels similar to those produced by recreational speedboats, the researchers found that three-spined sticklebacks exposed to even brief noise playback made more foraging mistakes and were less efficient at consuming the available food compared to those in quiet conditions.
When people think unpleasant events are over, they remember them as being less painful or annoying than when they expect them to happen again, pointing to the power of expectation to help people brace for the worst.


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Skinny jeans can cause severe nerve damage
Recently we told you some good news about skinny jeans.
"According to a new survey by Qualtrics, a market research company, skinny jean wearers are actually happier than their boyfriend, bootcut, or even flare wearing counterparts."Well, now reports say they may also be harmful to your health.
The Associated Press reports a 35-year-old woman in Australia was admitted to the hospital for four days because of muscle damage and nerve blockage in her legs. She reportedly fell victim to the fashion trend while helping a friend move. The several hours of squatting caused her jeans to grow tighter and her feet to become numb.
Fortunately the woman made it out of the hospital with just a little bit of weakness in her legs. Her pants didn't make it back with her. Probably for the best.
Doctors published a report about her case online Monday, explaining tight jeans may reduce blood supply to the calves and thighs, resulting in some not so sexy legs.
To avoid a trip to the hospital and still look good -- doctors recommend getting pants with more elasticity.
See the celebs safely rocking the skinny jean trend:


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This week’s #privacy news: Supremes uphold 4th Amendment rights in rental car search, debates on FERPA and student privacy, data leaks at Facebook & Chili’s, tracking firm reveals location of every smartphone user in US, encryption backdoors, eFail, and more.
The 5/11 #privacy news roundup: Stop Saying Privacy, Start Saying Data Protection; tracking the poor and imprisoned; NSA ramps up #surveillance, automating inequality, genetic data for the taking, the Equifax breach by the numbers, and more.
The May 4 privacy news roundup, with a focus on Choose Privacy Week, privacy and social justice, corporate surveillance, minors’ privacy, and more.
We sometimes forget about the data we collect and how we store it. There are many places where we collect data that we may not always think about. We need to be aware of our data storage practices and make it easy for patrons to know how we use & store their data.
We often hear that Big Brother is watching you, but there are a lot of “Little Brothers” as well that wittingly or unwittingly funnel data to databases. Unfortunately, libraries and related organizations are a part of this surveillance environment, including the ALA.
Librarians don’t have to be a privacy expert in order to help people learn to protect their privacy online and sometimes it helps if you aren’t. Helping people understand privacy helps them make better choices more tailored to their own lives and their information needs.
Technology and digital data have made it easier to provide personalized online experiences. But people are often surprised to discover how much privacy they trade for those personalized experiences. How do libraries find that balance between customer service and privacy?
“Now is the time for us to tout the virtues of the library as a privacy haven to our patrons. We are not Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Google; and we should never strive to be. Our patrons are not our products. That is a huge difference between public institutions like libraries and private industries like social networks and tech conglomerates who derive their earnings from advertising.”


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Out in the Open: A Blogging Tool That Lets You Actually Own What You Post on Facebook
All that stuff you post to Facebook and Twitter and so many other social media sites? Ben Werdmuller and Erin Richey want put it back in your hands. Werdmuller and Richey are part of the Indie Web movement, a loose knit group of hackers and designers reclaiming control over their online lives, grabbing them back […]
Vine Grows Up, Lets You Edit and Upload Existing Video
The biggest change is that people can now dip into their camera rolls and use existing videos they've recorded for Vines.
The Weird Reasons Why People Make Up False Identities on the Internet
Amina Arraf, a 35-year-old lesbian woman, became prominent blogger in Syria during the beginning of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. After she was kidnapped, the outcry from news organizations around the world was immediate. But once someone began to question Arraf’s identity, the illusion shattered.
The App That Lets You Spy on Yourself and Sell Your Own Data
Citizenme is trying to help users make money from their own data. The company hopes to eventually enable you to sell that data directly to advertisers and others of your choosing.
Everything You Need to Know About Facebook’s Controversial Emotion Experiment
Facebook conducted a study for one week in 2012 testing the effects of manipulating News Feed based on emotions. The results have hit the media like a bomb. What did the study find? Was it ethical? And what could or should have been changed?
A Crafty Machine That Can Decipher Images on Pinterest and Instagram
Curalate is trying to solve that problem with a image recognition platform its founders say can see images in much the same way the human brain does. But the company isn't building a search engine. It's building a platform to help marketers at companies like the GAP and Urban Outfitters learn more about how their customers use images of their products on social networks like Instagram and Pinterest.
Twitter’s in Trouble. Here’s How It Can Avoid Becoming the Next AOL
Users are abandoning the service, growth has been stagnant and social media pundits wonder if Twitter is heading toward irrelevance. Here's what it can do to fix it.
Here’s How to Delete Comments and Correct Typos on Instagram
Yes, you can delete comments in Instagram. Judging by the amount of comment spam, "follow me" begs, and typo self-shaming I see on a daily basis, its clear to me that most people don't know this.
Inside the Science That Delivers Your Scary-Smart Facebook and Twitter Feeds
An inside look at the algorithms and formulas Twitter and Facebook use to build the perfect feed.
Twitter’s Next Big Cash Cow: Your Data
Twitter just agreed to buy its long-time partner Gnip, a data company that anaylizes and sells Twitter data to a host of third parties companies. Gnip is the largest provider of social data in the world. In its announcement, Twitter’s VP of Global Business Development and Platform Jana Messerschmidt writes: Public Tweets can reveal a […]


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The evolution of crypto is movement to mainstream trusted brands. We conducted this global study to evaluate exactly how consumer perceptions of trust, engagement, and utility have shifted over the ...
The evolution of crypto is movement to mainstream trusted brands.
We conducted this global study to evaluate exactly how consumer perceptions of trust, engagement, and utility have shifted over the past 12 months. What we learned is that consumers resoundingly want to engage in crypto and digital assets, but ‘Trust Matters’.
This study – the first of its kind – provides definitive data on consumer behavior in relation to crypto. The data clearly shows that, despite some of the challenges of the past year, crypto is here to stay: consumers are maintaining or increasing their engagement, they are holding their providers to higher standards, and traditional brands are seeing upside from integrating crypto into their offering. A tangible illustration of this is how Zero Hash powers
Stripe’s crypto payments experience, making it easier to interact with web3 merchants and apps, through a checkout flow as simple as making a purchase on Amazon.
The most impactful conclusion from the study is the fundamental shift in how consumers want to access crypto. Consumers resoundingly want to engage with brands they know and trust. The boundaries between traditional finance and crypto are blurring, as consumers look to traditional companies to access Web3 products that offer greater speed, security, and flexibility.
There is a trend of convergence of companies building and launching crypto offerings to their large customer bases. PayPal and Cash App’s recent revenue announcements have demonstrated continued appetite from consumers to engage in crypto. More fundamentally around cryptograph technology, the aggregate transaction value of fiat-backed stablecoins surpassed the transaction volume of Mastercard and PayPal combined1. By the end of 2023, it’s expected that on-chain stablecoin volumes will surpass Visa volumes2. Or take cross border payments, a $190tr global industry. 25% of US cross-border remittance senders use crypto3 to benefit from faster, cheaper, and more secure payments.
Another burgeoning use case where we expect the convergence of traditional companies is in the use case of cross border payments, specifically, payroll. Crypto payments are attractive to people who use cryptocurrencies as a hedge against local currency instability, those whose outdated local banking systems slow down payroll, and people who are adding cryptocurrencies to their investment portfolio.
In this report we sought insight and expertise from companies including Stripe, tastytrade, Circle, Plaid, WorldPay, Shift4, Tap Global and Brazil Crypto Report, who believe as we do that trust, simplicity and utility are the essential keys to driving the next wave of adoption and unlocking the potential of crypto and blockchain technology.
Founder & CEO


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Visa has approved Research In Motion’s Secure Element Manager (SEM), a backend solution for carriers that can securely manage credentials on SIM cards installed in all types of NFC-capable mobile devices. SEM is being used by Canadian carrier joint venture EnStream to manage secure credentials on NFC phones.
- Manhattan skyscraper secures fire safety system with tamper-evident NFC tags
- NFC mobile payments roll out in Saudi Arabia
- VTB switches on Huawei Pay at retail outlets across Russia
- P2P payments gain acceptance across all US age groups
- Malibu adds NFC tags to 300,000 bottles for ‘Because Summer’ campaign


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Just before US Congress concluded on January 3rd, both the Senate and House of Representatives voted to override President Trump’s veto of the annual defence spending bill, the first such override during Trump’s time in office. Within the bill were provisions that will see stricter regulations implemented on the antiquities market, which has long been speculated to be rife with money laundering and illicit activities.
Trump’s objection to additions to the 2021 National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) became a moot point after the House and the Senate overrode his veto, on December 28th and January 1st, respectively. The bill introduced legislation that will extend the 1970 Bank Secrecy Act to include the antiquities market meaning there will be federal oversight for financial transactions involving antiquities.
Perhaps the biggest change will be transparency on who is selling and purchasing antiquities, parties who have traditionally been able to remain anonymous. For this reason, the market is speculated to have been a prime place for illicit activities, aiding a growing black market for illegally acquired artefacts.
New protocols to be adopted were first introduced by New York Representative Carolyn B. Maloney in 2019 as part of the Corporate Transparency Act. As one might expect, the regulations proposed by the 2019 act were not popular amongst antiquities dealers as it would require them to disclose client information and will create new hoops for business. There are also those who believe concerns about illicit activities within the antiquities market have been over exaggerated.
“Virtually all transactions of high-dollar amounts in the ancient art business are handled through financial institutions and instruments already covered by the Bank Secrecy Act,” antiquities dealer and president of the American Council for the Preservation of Cultural Property Randall A. Hixenbaugh told The New York Times. Hixenbaugh, who believes illegal activity in the market isn’t as rampant as reported, continued: “Criminals seeking to launder ill-gotten funds could hardly pick a worse commodity than antiquities.”
For others, the news is welcome and necessary. “We believe this type of legislation is long overdue,” John Byrne, an anti-money-laundering lawyer with three decades of experience, said in The New York Times. “This is an area where clearly organized crime, terrorists, and oligarchs have used cultural artifacts to move illicit funds.” Tighter regulations may become even more important with an increase in online transactions due to the pandemic. Last year, UNESCO warned that more online sales would lead to more illegal activity facilitating black market transactions.
Kinks in the NDAA will still need ironing and over the next year, the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network will work to determine the reach of new regulations. In reality, it is expected that regulations will look similar to those to regulate the sale of precious metals and jewellery, which flag suspicious activity to be investigated. The use of shell companies will also likely be under scrutiny.
The progress of the new NDAA guidelines will be of interest to those in the antiquities market but also those in the broader art market. As research continues on the link between money laundering, the black market, and the antiquities and art markets, auction houses and dealers may be faced with stricter regulations regarding the sale of artworks, too.


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IPS writes that “in a world where governments are increasingly subservient to global finance capital, multinationals are gaining ground in the fight against state regulations that aim to protect the environment, public health or social policies.” So for all of those thinking that things are slowly but surely getting better Continue reading
Catastrophic oil spills and big speeches on what we should do are on the order of the day. Little action follows them. Sometimes, however, justice is done.
Remember the documentary Crude? Let’s find out how the story of the Amazon people against Chevron continued.
For those who are not familiar with the case: Chevron (early known as Texaco) used horrific practices to extract oil in Ecuador. For over three decades, their presence in the Ecuadorian Amazon has brought Continue reading
“It is not about legal or illegal anymore, it is about what is ethical and what is unethical”, a lady says when describing the companies producing flowers in Kenya. The heavy use of water of the industry Continue reading


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China was an ideal business destination for global retailing giants in the 1990s. However, changing conditions now make the journey here less easy.
In the past two years, chain store operators have reported the lowest year-on-year growth rates in 10 years.
International brick-and-mortar retailing giants are facing unprecedented difficulties in China, including increasing rental costs, fast-growing Chinese counterparts and competition from e-commerce, industrial experts said.
In 2012, the average sales growth of top 100 large retail companies in China was 8 per cent year-on-year, down 10.5 percentage points from 2011, according to the China National Commercial Information Center.
In addition, the centre reported that the international brick-and-mortar retailing giants closed about 26 stores in China in 2012.
In contrast, the year-on-year growth of total retail sales in China was 14.3 per cent last year from 18.12 trillion yuan (S$3.6 trillion) in 2011, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
Weak economic conditions and rising market competition caused many foreign retailers to suffer in 2012 and forced them to reconsider their development policies in China.
"China is the most challenging market for international retailers. You can find retailers such as Carrefour and Auchan. Everybody is here," said Paul Ritchie, chief executive officer of Tesco China.
The departure of Media Markt China Ltd has become the most recent case to suggest foreign retailers' overseas successes might not be easily replicated in China. The German retailing giant closed all its seven stores in the country on March 11. In contrast with Best Buy Inc, which operated in China for five years, it only survived in China for less than three years.
"The decision to close the stores was made in response to the highly competitive market environment and associated high investment of building and operating the necessary sales," said a statement from Media Markt China Ltd on Feb 27.
Media Markt is not the only foreign retailer to adjust its strategy in response to changing market conditions.


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WASHINGTON, D.C.— Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV today commended the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for releasing a staff report, which he requested in October 2011, on facial recognition technologies and what they mean for consumers.
“Facial recognition technologies can have obvious benefits for consumers but also pose serious privacy concerns – especially online,” said Rockefeller. “The FTC report highlights these potential dangers, such as specifically recognizing and tagging otherwise anonymous people in photographs, and gives companies practical advice on how to use facial recognition technologies. I hope companies will heed this advice and implement best practices that place a premium on consumer privacy, especially protecting the basic privacy of individuals who haven’t even consented to the company’s use of facial recognition. As Chairman of the Commerce Committee, I fully intend to monitor how facial recognition technologies are increasingly adopted and used as a commercial practice.”


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OCMs, OEMs sharing data creates a win-win.
Unfortunately, improving quality can be expensive and time-consuming because companies across the supply chain are often reluctant to share data in the interest of protecting IP, and that needs to change. "Testing in silos across the electronics value chain is no longer a viable option," said Schuldenfrei in a recent phone interview. The good news, he added, is that Optimal+ has analyzed more than enough customer data to conclude that there are proof points that clearly indicate that data sharing creates win-win situations for both suppliers and customers.
Data sharing, he said, can lower RMA costs through board-to-chip correlations that can speed root-cause analysis, can reduce NTF rates, and can facilitate proactive targeted recalls. It can also improve time to quality by reducing the time needed to reach board-level DPPM goals through escape prevention and outlier detection, and it can support enhanced functional safety (in accordance with ISO 26262 in the automotive industry, for example).
Further, data sharing can improve system performance, he said, by supporting smart pairing--selecting the right chip for the right board. Finally, data sharing can enable adaptive test-testing "suspect" parts more and "perfect" parts less.
The data-sharing challenges, Schuldenfrei said, center on data-flow, data-management, and integration concerns as well as IP protection and the possible perception of a "customer wins, supplier loses" situation. In addition, each member of the supply chain may lack the cross-domain expertise necessary to analyze the shared data.
The Optimal+ solution is what the company is now calling a "Shared Quality Network," or SQN, based on a trusted third-party SQN hub, which handles implementation and application details and maintains traceability. With the SQN approach, the hub provides the analytics expertise necessary to identify issues, and only data relevant to resolving identified issues is shared. Then, each supply chain member leverages its own expertise to resolve issues (Figure 1).
Even shared data can be obfuscated, Schuldenfrei emphasized. The SQN hub might identify an issue with an OCM's IDDQ test, for example, but the shared data might simply refer to an issue with regard to "Test A." SQN data sources, he said, can range from full test data to partial genealogy information at the IC level and include parametric test data and MES information at the board level. Finally, data from SMT/pick-and-place machines can establish a linkage between component and board.
Schuldenfrei outlined how SQN might work. Given a specific failure mode at the board level, apply machine-learning techniques to look for correlations in test data from the relevant ICs. Significant correlation would suggest that additional ICs with similar test characteristics should be eliminated from the board-assembly process. Lack of correlation would suggest that the failures are not related to the ICs (or that the IC test is insufficient) and may lie in the board assembly and test process.
Schuldenfrei cited the automotive industry as an obvious use case where SQN can add value. He noted that semiconductors in cars are increasing exponentially, not just in autonomous vehicles but in sensor-laden connected cars as well.
The consequences for quality are clear. According to the J.D. Power 2017 Vehicle Dependability Study, "Continuing increases in technology-related problems have contributed to dependability worsening in the industry for a second consecutive year.... The audio/ communication/entertainment/navigation (ACEN) category continues to be the most problematic area, accounting for 22% of all problems reported--up from 20% last year."
Schuldenfrei cited Audi estimates that if a premium car has 7,000 semiconductor devices with 1-ppm failure rates, the company would experience seven failures per 1,000 cars. For a production rate of 4,000 cars per day, that would translate to one failure per hour. In contrast, the industry is pursuing quality targets of zero failures at 0 km and field failures of less than 10 ppm/year.
Automakers can't solve the quality-related problems themselves. "There's no magic bullet," he said. "Customers need multiple methods to reduce quality issues, and we recommend sharing data across the supply chain."
He added that SQN can support data sharing not only between semiconductor makers and their customers but among tier 2 and tier 1 suppliers and the automakers, and so on.
Optimal+ highlighted the benefits of SQN at SEMICON West and the co-located Test Vision 2020 in San Francisco in July and will make its case to the automotive industry at the Automotive Testing Expo October 24-26 in Novi, MI. EE
By Rick Nelson, Executive Editor
Caption: Figure 1. The proposed "Shared Quality Network," or SQN
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|Title Annotation:||TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS; original component manufacturers; original equipment manufacturers|
|Date:||Oct 1, 2017|
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Uber cuts jobs, Lime adds mopeds, and Uber Eats grabs prescriptions. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
Uber gives with one hand and takes away with the other, while Lime adds mopeds and people get crazy over masks. We’ve got it all in This Week in Rideshare.
Uber slashed Postmates workforce only three months after the acquisition. Business Insider reported:
Among the 185 people exiting the company are Postmates founder and CEO Bastian Lehmann, as well as most of the other executives, three people familiar with the decision told the Times.
The job cuts at Postmates are in contrast to many other delivery services and fast food restaurants, which have taken on extra workers to meet accelerated demand during the pandemic. On just one day in March, Pizza Hut and Papa John’s announced about 30,000 new roles across the US.
An Uber driver was assaulted by his passenger for simply asking him to wear his mask. FOX 31 in Denver reported:
Video shows that rider asking McManus if he’s “afraid of the corona,” before telling him he’d put a mask on if they were pulled over by police.
The rider then smacks McManus on his arm while swearing at him repeatedly.
“Next thing I know, he hit me in the shoulder, and I look back and his wife, girlfriend, whatever — she was trying to hold him back,” says McManus. “Last night would have been quite different, I believe, if she hadn’t been in the car.”
First bikes, then scooters and now…mopeds. Lime adds new motorized mobility to its inventory. The Verge explains:
The mopeds are being offered as part of a pilot program to test whether Lime’s customers prefer vehicles that are faster, heavier, and arguably riskier to ride than your average kick scooter.
The mopeds can be rented via Lime’s smartphone app, just like the company’s e-scooters. Lime is still finalizing the price per mile for the mopeds, but it intends for it to be competitive with other shared mobility services.
On Thursday, Uber announced a new campaign aimed at identifying and preventing human trafficking. WFLA reported:
Uber teamed up with Polaris to develop a video that focuses on educating users about human trafficking. The video discusses how and why trafficking presents itself, the myths and misconceptions of the crime, and how to reach out to the National Human Trafficking Hotline if they need help or see something alarming.
It looks like Uber is taking on a new delivery: Prescriptions. Progressive Grocer explains:
Powered by technology platform Nimble, Uber Eats can now connect New Yorkers with prescription delivery, enabling them to easily transfer existing prescriptions — or fulfill new ones — from neighborhood pharmacies right from an app.
Customers can manage their medications with the tap of a button, directly from the Uber Eats app, and follow their prescriptions at every step of the journey: from phone to pharmacy to doorstep.


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Carnival Build’s World’s Largest Cruise Ship Made Of Canned Food
Carnival Cruise Line capped off a Holiday Food & Fund drive in New Orleans benefiting the Second Harvest Food Bank by constructing the world’s largest cruise ship made of canned food which was displayed at a New Orleans Saints game.
Carnival is the “Official Cruise Line of the New Orleans Saints” and the 30 ft. long cruise ship built from more than 17,000 cans of food was the culmination of a Holiday Food & Fund drive involving New Orleans-area schools that was sponsored by Carnival and the NFL franchise.
The can structure was built in consultation with the New Orleans chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and required more than 100 volunteers who expertly positioned the cans – one at a time – to create a reproduction of a Carnival cruise ship featuring such design elements as the line’s signature winged funnel, running lights and more.
Both Carnival and the New Orleans Saints provided incentives to students in New Orleans-area schools to participate in the food drive by awarding classroom prizes including free pizza parties, Saints lithograph footballs and free cruises to schools who collected the most cans of food. The winning schools were announced during half-time at the game. The joint initiative provided more than 75,000 meals for those in need in the greater New Orleans area over the holiday season.


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Intrinsic, a robotics company founded by Alphabet in 2022, announced its first product on Monday. Intrinsic Flowstate is a web-based developer environment that allows users to build robotic applications from concept to deployment.
Flowstate is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, even for developers with no prior experience in robotics. The platform provides a graphical interface for authoring sequences and laying out workcells, as well as a simulation environment for testing and validating solutions. Flowstate also includes a library of pre-loaded skills that can be used to quickly build complex applications.
Intrinsic believes that Flowstate will make robots more accessible to a wider range of businesses and developers. The company is targeting a variety of industries, including manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare.
“We see a future where robots are used by everyone, not just experts,” said Intrinsic CEO Will Mason. “Flowstate is a key step in making that future a reality.”
Intrinsic is currently in private beta with a select group of developers. The company plans to release Flowstate to the public later this year.
Here are some of the key features of Intrinsic Flowstate:
- Intuitive, web-based user interface
- Graphical process builder for authoring sequences
- Simulation environment for testing and validating solutions
- Library of pre-loaded skills
- Support for a variety of robots and sensors
Intrinsic Flowstate is a significant development in the field of robotics. The platform has the potential to make robots more accessible to a wider range of businesses and developers, which could lead to widespread adoption of robotics in a variety of industries.


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Anonymous Apple enthusiast found that Apple has been experimenting using ultra fast, light-based Li-Fi wireless data for the future iDevices. He confirms that he found a reference to Li-Fi in the library cache file alongside other hardware and software capability declarations of the recent version iOS 9.1.
In terms of speed, Li-Fi can be 100X faster than current generation of Wi-Fi. The speed of Li-Fi transfer data theoretically can reach up to 224 Gigabits per second, while the fastest Wi-Fi at this moment can only reach 1.3 Gigabits per second in average. Data is transmitted by modulating a light source, and then received with a light sensor before being reassembled into an electronic signal.
Li-Fi is still in the experimental phase, but a number of companies are working to commercialize the technology. At least India-based Velmenni technologies has already begun real-world testing.
Apple is famous with their initiative technology, for instance, the Thunderbolt technology on Mac, which was new at that time, and only Apple has it. But, then the market responded it well by the present of the compatible device with that port. If the iPhone is equipped with this technology, it means the transfer big data era is about to develop.


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On February 27, Brookside Gardens convenes its annual Green Matters Symposium. This year’s topic is “Protecting our Pollinators.”
Read more about the event at Brookside Gardens’ website
Takoma Park will become the first area government entity to implement a comprehensive ban on Styrofoam cups, to-go packaging and other polystyrene eating ware in restaurants and retailers such as supermarkets.
See the rest of this article here
Gracefully Green, LLC is among 60 businesses in Montgomery County that have been certified as Green Businesses by the County, after a rigorous application process to confirm that our practices conserve water and energy and protect the environment. The County is celebrating this achievement by displaying the business logos on county buses. Keep your eyes peeled for Gracefully Green!
For more information, see this press release


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- Amtrak just introduced a new discount for group bookings on train travel.
- The company announced that customers traveling with companions can save up to 35% on their tickets.
If you've been struggling to find the budget to get out of town, Amtrak has some news that might help. Whether you're interested in a scenic train ride or you're looking for the ultimate, most beautiful train ride in America, the railroad corporation just announced that it's introducing a new discount on group bookings—which means you can save a significant amount of cash when you travel with friends or loved ones.
The new discount, known as Share Fares, allows customers to save up to 35% on their train ticket bookings if they're traveling with up to four companions. The new discount is available starting today (April 24), and will be valid for travel after April 27, applying to destinations across Amtrak's national network.
The structure of the offer means that the size of the discount increases with the number of travelers: The first traveler pays full price, while the second traveler gets a 15 percent discount. The third gets a 60 percent discount, and the fourth gets a 70 percent discount. That works out to be an average of a 35 percent discount for the entire group, assuming four people split the cost of the booking equally.
More From Oprah Daily
The discount is valid for travel on the Northeast Regional line from Washington DC to Baltimore, as well as many of the company's most popular trains. These include the California Zephyr (Chicago to Oakland), the Southwest Chief (Chicago to Los Angeles), the Coast Starlight (Seattle to Los Angeles), the Texas Eagle (Chicago to San Antonio) and the Crescent (New York to New Orleans).
Visit Amtrak's website for the full list of covered and excluded routes.
For more stories like this, sign up for our newsletter.
Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.


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Copenhagen, Denmark — Making products like mobile phones and other consumer goods last longer and easier to repair and reuse will be key to the shift towards a more resource-efficient circular economy. A new European Environment Agency (EEA) report stresses that ‘circular’ business models cannot rely on smarter product design alone, but will also require the development of related support services and recycling infrastructure.
Launched at the World Circular Economy Forum in Helsinki, the EEA report „Circular by design – Products in the circular economy“ looks specifically at what drives product design and how emerging production and consumption trends can enhance or hamper more circular and more efficient material use.
Currently, product design is based on the linear „make-use-dispose“ model of production, which is heavily dependent on relatively cheap and abundant raw materials and energy. This has led to growing environmental problems including increased waste, carbon emissions and loss of biodiversity.
The circular economy holds the promise of more efficient and sustainable material use. In this context, resource efficiency and reducing waste by improving the ability to reuse, repair, or recycle products are key. The EEA report stresses that improving the ability to reuse and refurbish goods can offer significant environmental and economic benefits by encouraging, for example, innovations in the design of less environmentally harmful products and product-based services.
Although the linear economy may be deeply entrenched, emerging production and consumption trends indicate that the role of products in society is changing, with potential benefits for circular material use. For example, new technologies, such as 3D printing, can reduce the number of materials used in a product and can be used to print spare parts, stimulating the repair of products. However, such developments can also be a barrier for recycling if the technology leads to complex mixtures of different materials being integrated into one product.
The report shows that the overall picture for the examined trends is rather unclear. Much will depend on governance and financial incentives to turn the most promising niche activities into mainstream economic models. The report also stresses that for such governance to be effective, better knowledge is needed about the links between products, their underlying business model and consumer behaviour.
The report on „Circular by design – Products in the circular economy“ can be downloaded under eea.europa.eu.
Source: European Environment Agency (EEA)


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Brett Lee to walk the ramp for Indian designer
New Delhi, June 17 : Australian fast bowler Brett Lee is set to walk the ramp for designer Rajesh Pratap Singh at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend to be held June 23-25 in Toronto, Canada.
The organisers announced that designers Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Rajesh Pratap Singh and Vikram Phadnis will showcase their respective collections at the IIFA Rocks, a fashion extravaganza high on style and music.
"While Bipasha Basu will walk the ramp for Sabyasachi, Kunal Kapoor, Rahul Khanna and Brett Lee will be the showstoppers for Rajesh Pratap Singh. However, the showstoppers for Vikram's show are a surprise," Sabas Joseph, director, Wizcraft International Entertainment, the IIFA organiser, said at a press conference here.
Musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy will play live music during the fashion event.
IIFA Rocks raises funds for the IIFA Foundation, which has been set up by IIFA to support families of the film industry workers who have been adversely affected during the production of films. (IANS)


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Pragmatic Play has extended its presence in the Italian market by signing a new deal with the leading operator, Betpoint. Players at Betpoint will now have access to huge parts of Pragmatic Play’s extensive slot and live casino catalogues.
Pragmatic Play is constantly looking to expand into new markets and bolster its presence in pre-existing ones. Italy has proven to be a popular destination for the developer so far. It already works with Planetwin365 and Sportbet in the country, and this new deal will help further cement it as a popular choice among players.
Betpoint customers will be able to enjoy popular slot games from the developers such as Gates of Olympus, The Dog House, Candy Stars, and more. It will also have access to Pragmatic Play’s newer releases, with the developer producing up to seven new titles a month.
It’s not just slots that players at Betpoint will have access to. The company’s live casino platform and products will also be available. This includes traditional live casino offerings like blackjack, roulette and baccarat, as well as unique titles like Boom City and Sweet Bonanza Candyland.
Both Pragmatic Play and Betpoint have released statements expressing their excitement at the move. Irina Dordines, the Chief Operating Office at Pragmatic Play said that they were delighted to be providing their slots and live casino offerings to Betpoint. They highlighted the importance of the Italian market and said that they will bring quality, entertainment, and choice to Betpoint customers.
Betpoint was also excited to have Pragmatic Play on board. Giuseppe Simone, the company’s director, said that this continues the operator’s path of selective enrichment. They said that Betpoint has no interest in simply increasing the number of slots that they offer. They want to focus on bringing the best quality slots and products to their customers, and they believe that Pragmatic Play helps them achieve that.
Pragmatic Play has certainly had a busy month in January. The developer has kicked 2023 off in style, increasing its presence in several key markets with important partnerships. Latin America has been a particular focus for the developer.
It recently announced a new deal with Nekobet, as well as Betbastet and Aposta Certa in Brazil. These will both help the developer expand its footprint in the region. In Europe, Switzerland has had a lot of attention, with the developer penning deals with Grand Casino Bern and Pasino.CH, both of which are established operators in the country.
Pragmatic Play is one of the industry’s leading software developers. It supplies slots, live casino, virtual sports, and sports betting products in over 20 licensed jurisdictions. You can find many of its top slots reviewed here at GoodLuckMate.


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Since Pacific Magazines took back digital rights from Yahoo last year, the company’s publishing arm Pacific Magazines has spent a lot of time and energy in reinvigorating its offering online.
“We’ve started the year with a bang,” the GM of fashion, beauty and health at Pac Mags, Jackie Frank, told Mediaweek. “We are future-proofing the business and going through a lot of transformation.”
In mid-2016 Mediaweek spoke to the man who spearheaded the digital transformation for the business, Darren Kerry. (To read the article, go to Mediaweek.com.au and search “Darren Kerry”.) By the end of 2016, Kerry and his team of more than 80 people had rolled out over 12 new websites for Pacific Magazines’ print titles. Among them was a website for its premium fashion title, marie claire, launched as a minimum viable product. It has undergone a redesign this year to offer more comprehensive content. Along with this, the title has recently signed 13 new influencers to its Style Network, which includes styledbymarieclaire.com.au and marieclaire.com.au.
The Styled By marie claire brand is celebrating its one-year anniversary this month. The launch of the online destination marked Pacific Magazines’ move into online retailing. Anna Saunders, marie claire’s executive editor for digital, leads marie claire’s online assets: “We’ve been pleased with the Styled By marie claire, particularly since mid-last year, when we changed our content strategy and we really managed grow our traffic. We’re up to about 8,000 UBs a day, which puts us ahead of our competitors.”
Frank added: “It’s the only real, pure play e-commerce fashion site out there. What is really interesting is that we’ve been able to overtake some of the fashion magazines’ sites.”
Emphasising the importance of Styled By to the overall fashion brand, the website is also embedded on the home page of the main marie claire website.
To tie all of its offerings together and work with influential personalities in the fashion industry who have made a name for themselves thanks to the world of user-generated content, marie claire launched The Style Network at the end of last year. According to Saunders, all the influencers in the network have a combined reach of about two million.
“It’s great for our audience and it’s great for advertisers,” she said.
“Styled By marie claire is driven by content produced here. It’s all about creating looks for women. Our fashion editors put together looks daily and we have new stories every day about fashion and how to get the look. It’s very much a model that is driven by the editors’ individual style. You can go on Styled By and if you like the style or the aesthetic of a particular style, you can pick up the outfit that the editors put online. By introducing the influencers into this ecosystem, we really can extend the reach of the website. We can also extend the offering, because all our influencers have really different aesthetics.
“What it basically means is that our audience can go to Styled By and they will definitely find something that they really like.”
By aligning with influencers, the reach of marie claire’s content is increased by using both its own social channels as well as the influencers’ social presence, Saunders said: “That is important for a website that is relatively new.”
Frank said, “What we are also seeing is that, as the traffic’s grown, so has the affiliate revenue.
“It’s a great content and e-commerce model.”
When Styled By marie claire was launched, marie claire did not have its own website. Its online home was operated by Yahoo. Frank credited Styled By with allowing marie claire to create a mark in the online realm as a one-stop shop and destination for all things fashion.
“The great thing with digital is the agility that you have and the opportunity to be able to move with the market when you start to learn,” she said. “That’s what we’ve been doing in the last 12 months – really scrutinising it, watching it and moving it around.”
Saunders said: “The fact that we had time to consider Styled By [while marie claire was managed by Yahoo] was really brilliant – both sites are performing well.”
The influencers who have been recruited to contribute across the marie claire properties have been carefully assessed and handpicked by the magazine editor, Nicky Briger, as well as Saunders and team.
“We’ve got some women on there who are about very high-end fashion,” Saunders said. “We’ve got other women on there who are hipsters, and hipster mums with young kids – that’s a different market again.”
Advertisers want to associate themselves with bloggers more to reach out to mass audiences. By having influencers on its side, marie claire is able to appeal to that market as well. However, Saunders said, a lot of advertisers are also uncertain about which influencers to associate themselves with. Therefore, the influencers working with marie claire help advertisers recognise some of the more credible bloggers in the market.
“When clients work with us they get the trust of working with a brand like marie claire, plus they can also have the added engagement brought by the influencers,” Saunders said.
Bauer to buy Pac Mags?
Rumours have been flying around for some time now that German publisher Bauer Media has approached Seven West Media to purchase its publishing arm Pacific Magazines.
However, Frank said, she hasn’t heard anything about it. Asked if she would continue to work with the publisher if that were to happen, Frank said: “I have no idea if Bauer is buying us or not. I have been owned by two people already and so I suppose a third would be welcomed!
“I go where the brands go.”
How the influencers are handpicked
When companies are choosing who they should align themselves with on social media and in the blogosphere, the number of followers that a person or a profile has plays a huge part. Marie claire’s relationship with its influencers is a two-way street: the brand uses the influencers’ social following to boost its reach and the influencers use marie claire as a platform to increase their profile.
Therefore, who the marie claire team chooses to work with takes a lot of consideration, Saunders said. “When it comes to influencers, we not only look at influencers who have big numbers, but you also have to look at who those followers are.
“We are looking at their Australian audience, their engagement and their aesthetic, as well as their styling credentials.”
Frank added: “You’ve got to have the integrity that marries with marie claire’s brand integrity as well.”


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PROVIDENCIALES, TCI – interCaribbean Airways is pleased to announce the acceptance of PayPal as a new form of payment for customers booking their initial journey at interCaribbean.com.
With over 280 million PayPal account subscribers worldwide and an industry-leading easy process to make a purchase online for account holders, PayPal leads in ease and speed of payment.
interCaribbean customers from all over the world can use their PayPal account funds, or their credit or debit cards or a bank account tied to the users’ PayPal account for making the payment. With PayPal no need to type the card number or expose financial information saving time and increasing security while expediting the booking.
Payment convenience is a key important element in delivering to our customers, with multiple forms of payments worldwide ensuring what works for customers is important said Trevor Sadler, chief executive officer, interCaribbean Airways Ltd.
Customers who make changes online at interCaribbean.com may also pay by PayPal. For those travelers who do not yet have a PayPal account, you can sign up at Paypal.com, or in the booking process selecting PayPal as payment option and open a new account in the booking process.


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Turf wars: Which Birmingham cities are spending the most on incentives?
Being the biggest city in the region has its benefits for Birmingham in the competitive battle over local economic development projects.
But those benefits come with a hefty price tag.
The city of Birmingham has approved more than $11.7 million in incentives since 2009 to entice companies to move their operations into the city from other local municipalities or to keep its existing companies from leaving the Magic City. That's about 75 percent of the $16 million local cities have spent on incentives for businesses within the metro.
The bulk of Birmingham's incentives were approved to protect its turf and keep companies in the city. Ground zero for that battle are automotive dealerships, coveted by governments for their impact on the tax base.
Auto dealers accounted for about $8.6 million in incentives alone – the biggest going to Serra Chevrolet and related companies at $5.2 million.
By contrast, Birmingham spent just less than $2 million on recruiting companies from other metro cities and about $1.1 million to keep other types of businesses in town.
But Birmingham isn't the only local city involved in the action. The city was reportedly facing competition from suburbs for the auto dealerships it ponied up incentives to keep. Also, Gardendale gave Dewey Barber Chevrolet about $1.3 million in incentives to move from Warrior.
And, despite its status as the largest city in the metro, Birmingham hasn't always emerged on the winning end. Hibbett Sports got about $1.9 million in incentives to relocate its Birmingham distribution center to a new site in Alabaster.
In tomorrow's edition –which will be the debut of our revamped print product – our cover story will explore the incentives issue in-depth. We'll also continue our series of digital posts on the topic, looking at the pros and cons of the current system based on insight from the key players.
Ty West is the managing editor for the Birmingham Business Journal. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
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Pixel Vault secures $100m to fund NFT platform
Velvet Sea Ventures and 01 Advisors co-led the round to help build the firms crypto-native communities
Web3-centric media startup Pixel Vault has raised $100m (£73m) in fresh capital to support the growth of its crypto-native communities and help artists with ownership of their digital content.
Velvet Sea Ventures co-led the round together with 01 Advisors, the venture firm founded by former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and COO Adam Bain. It’s the second time the two venture capital firms have collaborated after following a joint $25m Series A investment into NFT marketplace Autograph.
A “multi-franchise NFT development platform”
Pixel Vault said that the funding will help support the creation of a “multi-franchise NFT development” that will allow artists and creators to participate in the ownership of digital assets, as well expand into new verticals such as movies and video games.
The almost one-year-old startup has witnessed significant growth over the past year as interest in NFTs skyrocketed in a record-breaking year. According to DappRadar, NFT sales topped $25bn in 2021.
The firm has generated almost 100,000 in ethereum in primary and secondary transactions, making it one of the most popular NFT collectible projects in history, and has since inked partnerships with firms including Fractional.art and Adidas Originals.
“Pixel Vault projects are built with the key tenets of Web3 at the center – community empowerment, decentralised governance, and true digital ownership,” said Pixel Vault founder and CEO Sean Gearin.
“We do not look at the fan as the customer – our fans are the owner and the builder.”


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There’s good news for pumpkin-spice haters: the trend appears to finally, finally be starting its slow decline. Is there anywhere it can go but down, when places like McDonald’s hops on the bandwagon with offerings like pumpkin spice french fries?
But really. There’s actual, backing data that pumpkin spice is on the downward trend, and it comes from the hawks at Pinterest. According to their numbers, saved pins for pumpkin spice lattes are down 15 percent from last year. Anthony Bourdain will be overjoyed.
Don’t think this is the end of the bright orange drink era, though. Because taking its place, maybe, possibly, according to the data: the turmeric latte. As of September, people have been saving two times the pins for turmeric latte recipes.
Turmeric. Latte. Let that sink in. Turmeric is that orangey-yellow powder you’ve had lurking in the back of your spice cupboard since the last time you tried to make curry. It stains everything. It tastes like earth. And it’s set to become the next big drink flavoring.
The reason for this trend is much more about health than flavor. The Guardian speculates that the rise in the spice’s popularity is due to increased awareness of its health benefits – proponents believe it aids in everything from coughs and fevers to cancer. The market research firm Mintel named the root one of its foods to watch in 2016. Gwenyth Paltrow loves her some turmeric.
But…in a latte?
Actually, turmeric lattes aren’t what you think they are. For one thing, there is no coffee involved – just turmeric and milk, along with a few other flavoring spices and optional sweetener. They’re very similar to something called, haldi doodh (literally, turmeric milk), a south Asian drink women traditionally consume for the touted skin-lightening benefits. Haldi doodh recipes usually include turmeric powder, milk, and a dash of pepper, along with an optional addition of ghee, says the Guardian.
Turmeric lattes, then, are a slightly more spiced-up version of haldi doodh. And of course I couldn’t write an article about the trend without trying it myself.


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iPhone X and iPhone 8/Plus announced
On the 10th anniversary of their smartphones, Apple has launched two new smartphones during their event at Steve Jobs Theatre in California. Alongside the new flagship model iPhone X, Apple also presented the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, 5th -gen 4K Apple TV and Apple Watch 3.
New iPhone X is all screen, 5.8-inch Super Retina HDR Display while iPhone 8 Plus will have 5.5″ and 4.7″ Retina display. Instead of the aluminum case, both models have an all-glass enclosure. Apple stated that this is the most durable glass in the smartphone world. Known as Corning Gorilla Glass 5, it should sustain harder punishment and will be twice as good at resisting scratches.
New iPhones are powered by A11 Bionic chipset will be available in two storage 64GB and 256GB sizes. As expected, Apple decided to remove the home button from the iPhone X but it will stay on the iPhone 8/Plus devices.
The biggest innovation for iPhone X is the TrueDepth camera which allows you to unlock your phone with Face ID. Face ID is Apple’s facial recognition system that can map the user’s face even with a low light environment.
Apple also presented their AirPower charging pad that will charge an iPhone and an iWatch simultaneously. Along with the Airpower charging pad, iPhone also supports Belkin and Mophie devices for wireless charging.
iPhone 8 and Plus models will become available for pre-order on 15 September while the iPhone X will become available for pre-order on 27 October. The first shipment of the Iphone X will start on November 3rd.
The price of the iPhone X for the 64GB model will be $999.00, while the 256GB model will cost $1,149.00.


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The Samsung Infuse 4G might have been out for awhile, and so has Android Gingerbread, but it looks like today the two finally get to meet (officially). While custom Gingerbread ROMs have already been out for awhile, AT&T has announced today that the official Gingerbread update for the Infuse 4G will start rolling out. The update brings the phone up to Android 2.3.6, which should keep people happy until an Ice Cream Sandwich update is released (if it does arrive).
The Infuse 4G Gingerbread update includes improved copy and paste functionality, redesigned multi-touch software keyboard, download manager for long running HTTP downloads, improved power management and app control, flight mode added and silent removed, new font options, Traffic widget, menu changes, new apps and more. The promotional preloaded Angry Birds has also been removed, so you’ll need to redownload it from the Market and start again.
Unfortunately the link to the Samsung page to download the update hasn’t gone live yet, but you can keep checking back to see when it finally does.
- 2014-04-14: Samsung Galaxy K Could Be Announced On 29th April
- 2014-04-14: T-Mobile CEO Reveals Gold Samsung Galaxy S5
- 2014-04-13: Samsung Galaxy S5 Zoom (K Zoom) Hits The FCC
- 2014-04-13: Samsung Galaxy S5 Active Has 277 Apps Already (Rumor)
- 2014-04-13: Galaxy S5 Launch Day Sales Beat Galaxy S4 [Report]
- 2012-02-07: Samsung Infuse 4G Gingerbread update put on hold
- 2012-01-10: Samsung Captivate (finally) gets Android 2.3 Gingerbread
- 2011-11-30: Samsung DROID Charge receives Gingerbread
- 2011-11-22: T-Mobile to launch white Samsung Galaxy S2 hopefully in time for a white Christmas
- 2011-08-14: Samsung Infuse 4G to get Gingerbread this month


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The Walking Co., a specialty shoe retailer, is opening a new store at Kahala Mall.
The store will move into part of the space vacated by Banana Republic, which moved to another spot in the mall last year.
The North Carolina-based shoe company has two other locations on Oahu, at Ala Moana Center and the Royal Hawaiian Center. It also has three Maui stores and another on the Big Island.
The Walking Co. says its stores carry more than 40 "premium comfort" footwear brands, and feature a digital foot-scanning technology to help customers identify their foot type and pressure points.
The Walking Co. is owned by Big Dog Holdings (Nasdaq: BDOG), and has more than 150 stores nationwide.


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Fat Brands is preparing to take Twin Peaks public next year, with plans to significantly expand the 103-unit “sports lodge” concept through both conversions and new builds.
The company aired its IPO plans in June and confirmed them Thursday. The exact size and timing of the offering will depend on the market, Fat Brands Chairman Andy Wiederhorn said. The company plans to remain the majority owner of the brand.
The bulk of the IPO proceeds will be used to pay down Fat Brands’ debt, Wiederhorn said, as well as develop new company-owned Twin Peaks locations.
Fat Brands acquired Twin Peaks in 2021 for $300 million and has continued to expand the concept since then. It expects to open 18 to 20 new locations this year for a total of 115, and believes it can grow the brand to 200 stores over the next several years.
To speed that growth, Fat Brands will look to acquire similar concepts and convert the restaurants to Twin Peaks signature “lodges,” shaving 1.5 years off the normal development process.
“If we're able to convert some of these second-generation restaurants—and we've done a bunch of conversions in the past quite successfully, a whole bunch of them in the Twin Peaks portfolio—then we think it'll dramatically accelerate the opening,” Wiederhorn said, according to a transcript on financial service site Sentieo/AlphaSense.
He estimated 33% to 50% of new openings over the next few years could be conversions. “We have our eye on a number of those opportunities and hope to announce those in the near future,” he added.
It also plans to open more franchised Twin Peaks, increasing the mix of franchised stores from 70% to 80%. And the bigger the restaurant, the better.
“In the fast-casual business, you want to build smaller restaurants,” Wiederhorn said. “In the polished-casual business, you want to build bigger restaurants. Because if you can manage the throughput, you really take advantage of that and, especially, having a second bar.”
Twin Peaks was founded in 2005 by restaurateurs Randy DeWitt and Scott Gordon in Texas. It serves sports-bar fare in cabin-like restaurants with scantily clad female waitstaff.
The brand is somewhat unique within Fat Brands’ portfolio, which consists mainly of QSR concepts like Fazoli’s, Johnny Rockets and Fatburger. But the company has been pleased with its performance since the acquisition. Unit volumes grew 8.3% last year to about $6 million, according to data from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic, and system sales grew 22.6%.
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This week we have fresh hops at BridgePort, brewing at House Spirits, nine years at The BeerMongers along with the rest of the beer events for Labor Day Weekend 2018.
Fresh hop season is officially open… BridgePort Brewmaster Jeff Edgerton — he and then-brewmaster Karl Ockert brewed Hop Harvest, one of Oregon’s earliest fresh hop beers back in 2000 — took a group to Crosby Hop Farms to haul the 280 or so pounds of fresh hops going into the first batch of BridgePort’s Hoptoberfest Marzen-Style Fresh Hop IPA…the first of three batches dry-wet-hopped with different hop varieties: “This beer is already such a money maker.” Edgerton joked, “that we wanted to make the brewing process as difficult as possible…”
To that end, his crew brewed up a Marzen and they’ll divide into three batches, each of which has been fermenting already. Then each of those batches will be poured into a fermenter loaded with about 300 pounds of wet hop cones: the first batch used cascade hops, the second and the third will ferment on mt. hood hops, then all three batches will blend together. Among the various fresh hop events coming up, add BridgePort’s second Hoptoberfest on Saturday, October 6 to your calendar…
Brewing at House Spirits
The saying is that it takes a lot of good beer to make wine, but that’s literally true for distillers: whiskey starts out as a wash — basically strong, un-hopped beer. House Spirits used to buy whiskey wash from brewer friends, including Roots and Breakside — with whom they still do a barrel exchange program. But when House Spirits moved to its new digs three years ago (65 SE Washington St.;) a 30-barrel Triple A brewhouse was part of the spec for the handsome new space, and this year, they’re brewing 500 barrels a week of what’s basically a strong golden ale of about 8 percent, which becomes the basis for the breweries popular Westward American Single malt Whiskey. How popular? Next year, they plan on brewing 700 barrels a week to keep up with demand…here are some pics from a recent tour of the distillery:
Fresh Hop Fridays Each Friday in September, Uptown Market, 6620 SW Scholls Ferry Rd., Beaverton;
Uptown Market plans to have a new roster of fresh hop beers each Friday in September.
Heater Allen Bobtoberfest Noon-6 p.m. Monday Sept. 3, Heater Allen Tasting Room, 907 NE 10th Ave., McMinnville;
Rick Allen and crew release their popular Bobtoberfest, which is named after Allen’s late brother and brewing inspiration, in the newly expanded taproom.(air conditioned inside, a big porch, six Heater Allen beers on tap, and mannerly dogs and kids permitted…)
Here’s what Rick Allen has to say about the day: “We brew Bobtoberfest in honor of Bob and it is a beer that we pay special attention to in the process. The finest ingredients, extended lagering time, racking off sediment, and a special dose of the Grateful Dead (whom Bob loved) are all part of the deal…We will be bottling Bob on Friday and it should start showing up in Portland area stores shortly after Labor Day. Relative to a lot of beers out there, we don’t make very much (although it seems like a lot to us!), so it’s usually only available for a limited time. The first chance to try (and buy) Bob will be in our Tap Room on September 4th (Labor Day) from Noon to 6. We’ll probably have some Grateful Dead in the playlist, our friends at R&R Catering will be here selling sausages and other German fare, and if you bring an official Heater Allen 10-year Anniversary mug, your first beer is free. Please join us in celebrating Bob and the end of summer.”
The BeerMongers Ninth Anniversary Bottle Share party 5-9 pm Wednesday Sept. 5, The BeerMongers, 1125 SE Division St.;
Wednesday is just the start of party at my favorite beer spot. There’s a vintage-beer cellar sale on Thursday Sept. 6 and events right through the weekend. For Wednesday, bring a bottle — 5 years or more old — to share with the BeerMongers crowd.
John Foyston is Oregon's longest serving beer writer, and wrote a
weekly beer column for The Oregonian until just recently. His
work has appeared on CNN, and in Beer Connoisseur, Celebrator Beer
News, Oregon Beer Growler, Mix Magazine and other publications and
will occasionally appear on these pages, at least until Angelo and DJ
get tired of him too...He can be followed on Twitter at @beerherejohnny.


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One in five smartphone owners say they don’t see a need for 5G technology or will wait until it is proven before upgrading, according to a new 5G smartphone pricing report from Strategy Analytics.
The major barrier to the upgrade, according to the research firm, is the price of 5G capable devices, which are around $1,000 or more. Seven-in-10 of those surveyed cited price as a barrier to upgrading. However, almost half of those with $1,000 phones today, who Smart Analytics classifies as premium buyers, are willing to pay more.
5G Smartphone Pricing Report
Among the survey’s other findings:
- One-quarter of African Americans and a slightly lower percentage (23%) of Hispanics expect to buy a 5G device in next five months
- One-quarter of those surveyed see 5G as an important feature
- The top features smartphone buyers seek are reliable connectivity and guaranteed quality
“Three in four expect 5G to increase smartphone prices but an element of sticker shock is likely as one third expect prices to rise less than 10%,” said David Kerr, Strategy Analytics senior vice president, in a prepared statement. “The reality of 5G device prices in 2019 is likely to be closer to $1000. Only about 7% of buyers spend that much today.”
Kerr added: “The industry has created a 5G problem where one in five think they have 5G already. Even among Apple fans, 27% believe their flagship device is already 5G despite the fact that Apple does not yet have such a device.”
Ken Hyers, Strategy Analytics director, said: “Privacy/Security, Exclusive Apps and WOW features importance grow with 5G familiarity while faster download/upload speeds are table stakes. Work life balance and time management are emerging trends impacting replacement behavior and may offer opportunities for differentiation once table stakes items are addressed.”


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Photo by Chloe Aftel
Photo courtesy of Airbnb
An Airbnb in Park City, Utah
He helped Airbnb become a household name. Now he's making sure the company stays true to its roots.
Article continues below advertisement
Airbnb’s first challenge was to get strangers to open their doors to other strangers. Mission accomplished: The number of properties on the home-sharing site skyrocketed from 500,000 to 2.3 million in the last three years, and 100 million guests around the world have stayed at an Airbnb. Since its launch in 2008, Airbnb has become an iconic global brand and a household name.
Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Mildenhall played a key role in that growth, launching campaigns such as “Never a Stranger,” which followed a New Yorker named Ellie as she traveled around the world on Airbnb and demonstrated how any city can feel like home when you’re staying with an Airbnb host.
Mildenhall, having grown up as a gay, mixed-race, working-class kid in the projects of northern England, is no stranger to discrimination, and as such is well suited to the job of shaping the company’s public image on the issue.
“I don’t shy away from uncomfortable truths,” says Mildenhall. “I lean into them and try to build narratives that address them head on. That’s just the way that I’m wired.”
Airbnb’s “#HostWithPride” video, which tells stories of personal struggles and acceptance from Airbnb hosts and guests who are members of the LGBT community, launched during National Pride Month this year. “Is ManKind?,” a simple ad showing a baby walking toward a door with a voiceover about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, aired during the broadcast of ESPN’s ESPY Awards after Caitlin Jenner’s speech.
“Brian [Chesky] talks about a world of increasing isolation,” says Mildenhall, “and he believes that Airbnb can push against that isolation and create a world of more belonging. As a marketer, to have this as my motivation was a dream.”
more from afar


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HomeNewsNew Monkey Island and Tomb Raider games and E3 is CANCELLED
April 7, 2022
New Monkey Island and Tomb Raider games and E3 is CANCELLED
This week in gaming news
E3 Is Cancelled This year’s E3 has gone from in-person to online-only to completely cancelled per a report from IGN. The games industry trade mega-show has suffered from pandemic-related issues in the last couple of years and this year is no different with the show being completely cancelled for the 2nd time in 3 years. The news comes less than two weeks after this year’s Game Developer Conference went ahead in-person despite online criticism. Geoff Keighley, front-man for The Game Awards, quickly stepped in after the news to promote the fact that his Summer Game Fest event will be going ahead this year.
Unreal Engine 5 Releases Epic Games has finally released the much-anticipated Unreal Engine 5 to the public. The latest version of the popular game engine was announced more than 2 years ago and has seen use in some in-house projects like Fortnite and The Matrix Awakens, but this is the first time the toolkit has been available to developers and hobbyists at large. Epic promises that Unreal 5 comes with major technical improvements and new features ready for the next generation of consoles and game development. The engine ships with free access to resources such as Lyra, a multiplayer shooter game which developers can use as the base for their own projects, and a huge library of assets from The Matrix Awakens. Epic Game’s controversial royalty model will remain in place although Epic has announced alongside the release that they will waive their customary 5% royalty fees on the first US$1M in revenue that a game generates.
New Tomb Raider Game Coming One of the first major games to be announced on Epic’s new Unreal Engine 5 is a brand new entry in the Tomb Raider franchise from developer Crystal Dynamics. Not much is known about the new game which will be the first since 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but Crystal Dynamics are excited about the gameplay opportunities the new engine opens up. Other titles set to develop on Unreal Engine 5 include future installments in the Gears of War and The Witcher franchises.
New Monkey Island Announced For Later This Year Another show-stopper sequel has just been announced, Return to Monkey Island, a brand new installment in the classic adventure game franchise, is set to release later this year. The game was initially announced on April Fools to the initial disappointment of much of the gaming world, but the first trailer has now released and confirmed that the game is for real. Not only that but development is being headed up by the creator of the original franchise, Ron Gilbert, with help of much of his original team from the LucasArts days under the banner of Gilbert’s studio Terrible Toybox. Gilbert has apparently been working on the game in secret for the last two years leading up to this announcement, which came as a shock to many fans of the series as it’s been nearly 13 years since the release of the last installment by Telltale Games.
Upcoming Releases Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition [Switch] – April 7 Demeo: PC Edition [PC] – April 7 Green Hell VR [Quest] – April 7 Slipstream [PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch] – April 7
Dreamvibe [PC] – April 8
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim [Switch] – April 12 Back 4 Blood: Tunnels of Terror DLC [PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO] – April 12 B.I.O.T.A. [PC] – April 12 Planet Zoo: Wetlands Animal Pack DLC [PC] – April 12 Uragun [PC] – April 12


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PlayStation VR2 is off to a stronger start than previous reports indicated, as Sony revealed that the virtual reality headset has a better launch than the original PSVR.
subscribed to Job offerSony revealed that the first six weeks of PSVR 2 outperformed the first six weeks of the original PSVR, reaching just under 600,000 units sold. The exact numbers are not clear in the graph provided (below), but the original PSVR approached 500,000.
Sony also described the period as a “strong launch for the PlayStation VR2”, contradicting a report in March that said the console was expected to sell just 270,000 units in roughly the same six-week period. An industry analyst said Sony would need to lower the price of the PSVR 2 to avoid a “total disaster”.
The headset launched on February 22 with 42 games, including the main title Horizon: Call of the Mountain and a variety of VR updates for critically acclaimed games like Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village.
Sony announced another batch of games in the first PlayStation State of Play of 2023, including sci-fi western The Foglands, arcade shooter Synapse, and more. A major PlayStation showcase is happening later today, however, promising more AAA ads for the headset.
In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “With first-class visual quality and immersive sensory consoles, PlayStation VR2 marks a quantum leap over its predecessor, setting a new standard for virtual reality gaming.”
Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance journalist for IGN and acts as the UK’s acting news editor. He’ll be talking about The Witcher all day.
“Alcohol maven. Evil bacon lover. Wannabe social media geek. Travel guru. Amateur introvert. Pop culture nerd.”


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Prolific Sunderland shoplifter took over £2,000 worth of make-up, electrical items, underwear and candles
A prolific shoplifter has been put behind bars after a high-value stealing spree.
Suzanne Innes, who has 51 previous convictions for theft, took over £2,000 worth of make-up, electrical items, underwear and candles from stores between August and December last year.
The 35-year-old was on supervision from a previous jail term, a suspended sentence and a condition discharge for similar offending at the time.
At Newcastle Crown Court Innes, of Close Street, Sunderland, admitted six offences of theft.
Mr Recorder Shakil Najib sentenced her to 30 weeks behind bars and told her: "It is clear you have been given many chances, over and over and you have shown over and over you will continue to re-offend and the public must be protected from you.
"You are a prolific shoplifter with a long history of shoplifting.
"You have been given chance after chance and time after time you have wasted it.
"It is not appropriate to give you any more chances."
The court heard Innes had targeted Boots at the Metro Centre in Gateshead on August 11 last year and took £1,070 worth of Smashbox make-up.
She returned a week later and took make-up worth £372.
On September 19 she went to TK Maxx in the Gilesgate Shopping Centre in Durham and took £261 worth of ladies underwear.
On December 16 she took Yankee candles worth £127 from Clintons card store and £50 worth from Collectables, both in Sunderland.
On the same day she went to Superdrug in Sunderland and took electrical items worth £167.
The court heard Innes has been the victim of domestic violence and would sometimes shoplift to pay off drug debts.