text:
Google seeks to own the world with emerging markets: Here's How
Google may be pushing super-fast optical wire on random U.S. cities, the most recent being Austin, Texas and Provo, Utah, but it appears the Internet search giant is looking to provide wireless as well.
Only this time, Google isn't offering its new wireless networking services in the U.S., nor, even on the North American continent.
Google, allegedly, is planning to expand its wireless services to Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. At least, that's according to an article by The Wall Street Journal, which reports the company is partnering with local networking companies and governments to fund, build and run wireless networks in emerging markets. Google, according to the Journal, declined to comment on the story.
And there are a variety of ways Google could reach out and grab rural customers.
One of the more obvious solutions to getting wireless to rural customers is to use already established terrestrial airwaves. In particular, Google may try to take advantage of television airwaves - so long as government agencies allow - in order to spread networks out from urban centers. It's a technology that Google and other tech firms have been playing around with for years, and it may be deployed to reach more people.
Google could also opt to raise itself above the competition by flying high-altitude platforms - in the form of balloons or blimps - in order to connect wireless devices over a massive swath of land. This option could net Google the ability to provide wireless to hundreds of square miles of land. And, again, blimp-delivered wireless is another project that Google has been working on.
Then there's space. Google, with some obvious help from its rocket-connected friends, could help to craft a satellite-based wireless network which provides service to hard-to reach areas. It may sound farfetched, but then again, Google Maps and the Google Lunar X program may have been considered absurd not too long ago.
The emerging market - from South America, Africa and Southeast Asia - is set to explode onto the traditionally wealth-oriented tech scene. That, as TechCrunch notes, is why Google wants to be the benevolent company for the world: more Internet means more people online, more people online means more ad, app and business sales.
HTC Will Build Another Flagship Phone, Even After Billion-Dollar Deal with Google
HTC is showing signs of revival with the announcement of $1.1 billion smartphone business deal with Google.
Google Replacing Defective Nexus 6Ps with Pixel XL for Free
Owners of defective Nexus 6P units in the US and Canada are now receiving Google Pixel XL as free replacement.
Google Pixel Users on Oreo Complain of Unexpected Mobile Data Shutdown
Google has acknowledged mobile data issues with Pixels running on Oreo update via its official product forums.
Google Announces Permanent Shut Down of Drive App for PC and Mac
Google Drive app gets its end of support date for December 11 and the end of life date for March 12, 2018.
Android O Launching Today As "Android Oreo," Suggests Leaked Image: How to Watch Livestream
Google is all set to release its next mobile operating system aka Android O today.
MORE IN ITECHPOST
Biochip Advances Enable Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies
Biochips are essentially tiny laboratories designed to function inside living organisms, and they are driving next-generation DNA sequencing technologies. This powerful combination is capable of solving unique and important biological problems, such as single-cell, rare-cell or rare-molecule analysis, which next-generation sequencing can't do on its own.
Stanford Researchers Teach Robots what Humans Want
Told to optimize for speed while racing down a track in a computer game, a car pushes the pedal to the metal ... and proceeds to spin in a tight little circle. Nothing in the instructions told the car to drive straight, and so it improvised.

domain: news


text:
Illustration by Kristin deNeeve and Nick DeSantis / Getty / The Current
Thankfully, it’s finally time to move on from 2021. For marketers and advertisers, the past year was tumultuous, to say the least. The second year of an ongoing pandemic brought with it supply chain issues, further social unrest and the “great resignation,” all as brands, agencies and publishers continue to grapple with the eventual loss of cookies.
For many, 2022 is already looking much brighter. We asked industry experts to weigh in on what they predict the new year will bring across some of the most pressing topics the industry is facing — developing a new identity solution, the rise of retail media, the growth of CTV, and emerging trends and technologies that will shape consumer purchasing behavior.
Phil Duffield, Vice President, The Trade Desk U.K.
“A lot of the conversation around identity in 2021 focused on cookies. The bottom line is that cookies are an archaic technology that were never intended to do the work they do today. It’s now time to move the conversation on. 2022 is the year we need to come together as an industry and get identity right, once and for all, if we are to protect the future of the open internet. For marketers, the ability to accurately measure across different channels has never been more important.”
John Nardone, President, Mediaocean
“2022 will see mass adoption for creative automation and personalization tools inside walled gardens and across open web and CTV environments. Too many brands rely on native tools made available by each publisher and platform when they could be harnessing independent technology that deploys across channels while optimizing to marketer goals instead of media yield. 2022 is the year brands and their agency partners take back control.”
Lauren Adams, VP, Implementation, Division-D
“2022 will prove the defining year for ad tech companies — those who prioritize privacy safe solutions now will be poised for success, while those who don't could fall too far behind to catch up. As a growing number of advertisers test cookie-less strategies in 2022, they'll look to premium OTT supply as a proxy for quality inventory. Publishers with distinct audiences and simple-to-execute deal ID and PG (programmatic guaranteed) offerings stand to benefit and grow.”
Ben Hovaness, SVP, Marketplace Intelligence, Omnicom Media Group North America
“In 2022, continuing changes to the identity space aren’t merely a possibility — they are a certainty. We are expecting that Chrome will start broadcasting FLoCs for the first time since the origin trial ended, meaning that advertisers will be able to run in-market tests to see how well buying systems adapt to the identity change. We also anticipate that UID 2.0 adoption with gain momentum as publishers feel a sense of increased urgency as they get closer to the end of cookies.”
On retail media:
Paulo Claussen, Sr. Director Loyalty, Michaels
“Loyalty will continue to be a critical strategic imperative to support business growth as it enables first-party data activation, provides value to customers throughout their lifecycle, helps with channel integration, and it is the force behind personalization to ultimately create brand love and advocacy.”
Anjali Iyer, Director Insights, Strategy and Analytics, Marriott International
“COVID has accelerated adoption of digital technology and enhancements in technology across several industries. It has resulted in notable changes in consumer preferences and elevated their expectations on receiving relevant and customized experiences. Simply put, they expect that brands know what they want based on their preferences and data collection. These consumers will naturally gravitate towards brands that recognize their need and deliver experiences seamlessly.”
Mike Feldman, VP, Head of Commerce and Retail Media, Dentsu:
“With the continued capability explosion and rise of emerging retail media networks, we expect retail media to continue the trend of the last few years and maintain more than 25 percent year-over-year growth. We see this taking the form of new entrants to the retail media landscape, new capabilities including more Retail DSP and PMP self-service opportunities, and more spend within some of the existing top players based on improved performance as well as additional brand dollars being spent through the platforms.”
Adam Muscott, Senior Vice President, BAM Strategy
“The relationship between brands and retailers has dramatically changed. Retailers have shifted from being (simply) the place where products are purchased to also being a media partner. This means satisfying the needs of different players within both the marketing and retail organizations. Media budgets are being shifted to retail outlets to meet the requirements that are being placed in front of shopper marketing and buyer teams. Brands now have to show that they are investing in promoting themselves on or to retail platforms using advertising dollars. Furthermore, as brands continue to go direct to consumer, how do they delicately balance out the need to promote their store all the while not destroying relationships with the retailers?”
Tejinder Gill, General Manager, The Trade Desk India
“Today, Connected TV is like a trojan horse that is quietly but surely taking brands, agencies, publishers, and consumers from a digital-also mindset to a digital-first one. In 2022 and beyond, we can expect the shift from linear television to CTV to be far more significant than the digital transformation of any other content channels. As television has traditionally accounted for a huge percentage of the advertising spend, this transformation is one to watch in the new age of digital media. With CTV, brands can leverage the reach and the power of the open internet to reach younger consumers and cord cutters and link their CTV investment to business outcomes.”
Karen Benson, EVP, Director of Integrated Media, Deutsch NY
“CTV currently presents such a rich opportunity in terms of marrying both the rich sight, sound, and motion experience of linear TV combined with the enhanced targeting capabilities we’ve come to rely on digitally. And with the impending demise of the cookie, CTV presents an even greater opportunity as we expect contextual targeting to make a comeback – with the increasing scale in CTV we can also leverage the channel to lean into the content consumers are hungry for.”
Ashley Gordon, Group Media Director, Dagger
“The definition of TV has evolved. Consumers may not identify with CTV or linear platforms specifically, but they do identify with their favorite content and line up their subscriptions to match. They are flocking to buzz-worthy programming from the likes of Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu, creating subcultures that drive social conversation and push them into the mainstream. Brands and advertisers are following suit to reach those consumers across CTV utilizing robust targeting and leveraging cost efficiencies (when compared to linear TV). Our prediction is that the exponential growth in CTV consumption that we saw during the pandemic will continue trending positively well into 2022 and beyond.”
On emerging trends:
Andy Littlewood, Chief Knowledge Officer, Droga5 New York
“Take one look at the last round of earnings calls from major media and tech companies and you can see the rising tide of the metaverse. Still an embryonic idea, 2022 will see the development of the platforms (VR/AR) that will drive the metaverse. Expect to see more brands experiment across these new technology-driven canvases.”
Sinan Dagli, Executive Creative Director, BSSP
“I believe we will see more branded entertainment in the form of long-form content and, with the emergence of VR and Metaverse, immersive storytelling in VR and 360 experiences. Finally, with the additional agility gained working remotely during COVID, we will see creative work responding to the culture at lightning speed.”
John Terrana, EVP of Media, VaynerMedia
"I think 2022 is going to be the year that brands get serious about building community. And communities can take many forms—launching a Discord, leaning in further to Facebook groups, an SMS or text platform, an NFT project, or even building in the metaverse. Building community is an incredibly valuable opportunity for brands to own and form deeper relationships with customers and over the course of the next 12 months, you're going to start to hear metrics like ‘return on community.’ This is going to be a big push, that means brands have to act and engage differently and build valuable experiences that keep customers engaged. But the returns—both short and long term—can be massive.”
Toni Wallace, Co-Head of Global Music Brand Partnerships, UTA
“A major area of growth we will see in 2022 is the rise of co-owned brands with big advertisers and musicians. Historically big brands would often not invest in these companies until they were proven. Artists in many cases had to incubate these on their own, work through third parties, or relaunch challenger brands that big brands then purchased once they reached a certain threshold in the marketplace. Now, the opportunity cost is becoming much too high for big brands not to be a part of this from the beginning. Musicians also want to have more long-term equity in the brand partnerships they are participating in.”
Subscribe to The Current
Each week, The Current gives you a rundown of the biggest stories and latest trends from the world of data-driven marketing, including topics like Connected TV and the future of identity — all delivered directly to your inbox.
Follow the industry leaders who are embracing the latest digital concepts and doing data-driven advertising right.


text:
We recently gave you the 4-1-1 on JCPenney's CEO Ron Johnson's major reinvention plan and apparently it includes collaborating with Cosmo on a line of lingerie!
The mag's fashion director Michelle McCool has already made trips to the retailer's headquarters in Plano, Texas to work on the line, which will also include bags, jewelry and accessories when it drops this fall.
The plan is also likely to include TV content on Hearst's new fashion YouTube channel, Hello Style.
We'll admit it's an unlikely and very odd pairing, but when you think about what Cosmo publishes each month it kinda makes sense.
What do U think of the exciting partnership?!!
[Image courtesy of Cosmopolitan.]
Tags: collobrations, cosmo lingerie line, cosmopolitan, cosmpolitan magazine, hearst, hello style, jc penney, ron johnson, victorias secret, youtube


text:
Binh Thuan has 12 safe accommodations for tourists so far
Tuesday, 02/11/2021 16:20 (GMT+7)
Nine additional accommodation facilities in Phan Thiet city of Binh Thuan have met safety requirements for reopening for tourists, raising the number of such facilities in the south central coastal province to 12, according to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
A beach in Binh Thuan (Photo: VNA)
In addition to Centara Mirage Muine, Anantara Muine Resort and Pandanus Resort, which has resumed operations since October 24, other facilities such as The Cliff Resort & Residences, Victoria Hotel & Resort Phan Thiet, Muine Bay Resort, Poshanu Resort, Saigon Muine Resort, The Saiiling Bay Muine Resort, Sonata Resort & Spa, Aurora Resort and Hon Ba La Gi are expected to reopen in this November.
Earlier, the department issued temporary guidance on measures to safely and flexibly adapt to and effectively control COVID-19 in the tourism sector.
Accordingly, accommodation facilities and tourists must fully implement the Ministry of Health’s 5K message and other pandemic prevention and control regulations of the province. Meanwhile, all tourist will have to conduct COVID-19 tests on the first and seventh day of stay.
Along with supervising the implementation of safety measures of the accommodations, the department has supported them in the work by coordinating with the provincial Centre for Disease Control to hold training courses for 90 staff of local accommodations and restaurants in Phan Thiet city.
The Binh Thuan tourism sector has opened for tourists since October 24./.
CPV (Source: VNA)


text:
by Emma Dibdin
Mobile forecasters anticipate that Android will continue to lead the smartphone market over the next few years, the Guardian blog reports today.
The 2016 predicted stats from business forecaster Ovum are as follows: they expect Android to take a 38% market share, with Apple second at 17.5%, Windows Phone at 17.2% and BlackBerry OS at 16.5%. Other developing OS such as MeeGo will account for the remaining 10.8%.
As the Guardian’s Stuart Dredge points out, one of the most interesting aspects of these forecasts is their assertion that the Windows Phone won’t be the flop many are predicting.
It’s also notable that Android is predicted to lead by a wide margin, with the other three OS coming in with very comparable figures.
But the second set of predicted figures, from forecaster IDC, are even more surprising. They predict that Microsoft won’t only succeed with their smartphone, but they’ll even overtake Apple by 2015. They expect Android to lead with 45.4%, with Windows second at 20.9%, and Apple trailing well behind both at 15.3%.
To an Apple devotee such as myself, this is near blasphemy. Android’s lead is hardly surprising, as they took first place last year, but the idea of Microsoft’s much-derided Windows Phone outselling the iPhone is a much harder pill to swallow. But I’m far from a tech expert, and even further from a market analyst. Of course, these are only projected figures, and a lot will depend on whether the race continues to be a four-horse one, or whether a fifth major smartphone platform emerges.
What are your predictions for the smartphone future? Drop us a comment!


text:
Public debut of transformative Blaize Graph Streaming Processor architecture showcases partner and customer developed AI applications using Blaize platform
Blaize architecture gets first public debut at CES 2020, LVCC, South Hall 2, Booth #25332
Designed to process new computational workloads found in artificial intelligence; delivers unprecedented systems efficiency advantage over existing AI processing solutions
Set to accelerate AI at the edge for automotive, smart vision, smart retail, smart city and more
El DORADO HILLS, CA — December 18, 2019 — Blaize today announced plans for the first public demonstrations of its Blaize Graph Streaming Processor (GSPä) architecture at CES 2020. A next- generation computing architecture designed for AI workloads, the Blaize offering tackles the economic and technical barriers to widespread AI adoption, addressing energy, cost and complexity challenges.
Blaize products have broad applicability in automotive, smart vision, smart city, smart retail, and other markets with a growing demand for high performance, low power AI from the edge to the core. At CES, Blaize will showcase a range of existing and new AI use cases in the automotive and smart vision segments where the company has been engaged with early access customers for the past 12 months.
Featured Demos with Blaize Ecosystem
The Blaize booth will feature demonstrations by Blaize, partners, and customers that showcase applications using Blaize GSP architecture to overcome AI processing cost, size and efficiency barriers and provide competitive advantage.
Presentations and demonstrations at the Blaize booth will include:
- Automotive use cases including AI-powered cabin monitoring, advanced driver-assist, object detection, sensor fusion, and more.
- Smart vision use cases including robot/machine vision, multi-object detection, 3-D stereo camera vision, behavioral analysis, and more.


text:
Closets of Camelot, a children's consignment store in the Phoebus section of Hampton, will close its doors on July 15.
Until then, the store is hosting a large close-out sale to clear out inventory.
The store is located at 15 E. Mellen St., Hampton. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 722-3919.


text:
Toyota awards the top 47 European Retailers during an exclusive event in an Alpine castle
· 47 award-winning retailers recognised with the Ichiban 2022 award for providing outstanding customer experience and for “going beyond”.
Brussels, Belgium – 25th May 2022. “Ichiban” in Japanese means “Number One”. This is also the name of the prestigious award which Toyota Motor Europe (TME) awards every year to only few retailers.
Over 2,500 European Toyota Retailers compete for the honour to be one of 47 Ichiban winners each year, demonstrating a unique approach and a commitment to become the “Best Retailer in Town”.
This year, we have 47 retailers from 32 European countries winning this coveted award.
We were delighted to reward our Best Retailers in Europe, not only for their sales performance and customer experience but also for going beyond in areas of sustainability, mobility services and contributing to society.
The event was celebrated at Schloss Elmau, an exclusive Castle resort in the German Alps where G7 summits are held.
The winning retailers were invited to join the wider discussion, with access to Toyota Executives and inspiring guest speakers throughout the event.
Special guest speakers shared their passion and vision for the future with our Ichiban Winners. Victorien Erussard, founder and captain of Energy Observer, explained how his dream of a sustainable future and ecological transition turned into reality with the first hydrogen-powered, zero-emission vessel. Natalie Berg, retail expert, enlightened the audience with a vision of the future of retail and the evolution of customer behaviour.
During the ceremony the President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, Matt Harrison, recognised all retailers for their outstanding achievements, commenting,
You are the best of the best! You are role models in exceeding customer expectations, providing a memorable customer experience and adapting your business at speed to the changing market conditions. Congratulations to all of you.
Didier Gambart, Vice President, Sales, Marketing & Customer Experience, TME also commented on the retailers’ achievements,
After two years of virtual Ichiban due to COVID pandemic, we were honoured to physically celebrate and reward the best retailers in Europe for their sales performance and customer experience. After two years of virtual meetings, there is even a higher level of excitement to be together as one family!
We also celebrated our retailers’ resilience and agility in these turbulent moments, their energy to go beyond, finding new ways to constantly adapt ourselves in these uncertain times. Going the extra mile has never been easy, but all of us know that is worth it. Such an achievement does not come easily, and we compliment our winners on their hard work. Thank you and let's go beyond together.
Among the 47 Ichiban winners, 6 retailers received an additional special “Going Beyond Award’ for demonstrating excellence in specific areas:
Going Beyond Awards:
|Going Beyond Award
Auto Park Białystok
|Sustainability & Better Society
Toyota Plaza Boranlar
|Bosnia and Herzegovina
|Futura Auto d.o.o.
|Toyota Tago Car d.o.o.
|AH Furman d.o.o.
|Carcom Toyota Varna
|WESS Motors Berģi
|Toyota Absheron Center
|DOLÁK s.r.o. České Budějovice
|Autoklub, a. s.
|SDKbiler A/S, Aalborg
|Salon Passeliauto Oy
|Toys Motors La Roche / Yon
|Autohaus Schumacher GmbH
|Autohaus J. Reith GmbH
|Auto Saxe Niederlassung der Auto Weller GmbH & Co. KG
|Auto Kouvelis SA
|Danel Motors Ltd
|Fuji Auto S.r.l
|Marcante Automobili S.r.l.
|Toyota Center Aqtau
|Van Gent Autobedrijf Veenendaal B.V.
|Auto Park Białystok
|TC Nizhni Tagil
|TC Ufa Sever
|Biltrean i Uppsala AB
|Toyota Plaza Boranlar
|Ron Brooks (Ilkeston)
|John Roe (Grimsby)
|Toyota Center Lviv Diamant
Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA (TME) oversees the wholesale sales and marketing of Toyota, GR (GAZOO Racing) and Lexus vehicles and parts and accessories, as well as Toyota’s European manufacturing and engineering operations. Toyota directly employs over 27,000 people and has invested over EUR 10 billion in Europe since 1990. Its nine European manufacturing plants are located in Portugal, the UK, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Turkey and Russia. Today, there are approximately 16.5 million Toyota, GR and Lexus vehicles on European roads, whose drivers are supported by a network of 28 National Marketing and Sales Companies and around 2,800 retail sales outlets in 53 countries (EU, UK, EFTA countries + Russia, Israel, Turkey and other Eastern European countries). In 2021, TME sold 1,076,300 vehicles in Europe for a 6.4% market share. For more information, visit Facts & Figures (toyota.eu) and www.toyota-europe.com.
Toyota believes that when people are free to move, anything is possible. In the pursuit of "Mobility for All", Toyota aims to create safer, more connected, inclusive and sustainable mobility to achieve its mission of producing “Happiness for All”. In Europe, TME launched the KINTO mobility brand which offers a range of mobility services in 14 countries, and is growing its business-to-business sales of zero-emission fuel cell products and engineering support. Contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Toyota is working to achieve carbon neutrality in its entire business across Europe. A historic leader in CO2 reduction in Europe, TME aims to achieve 100% CO2 reduction in all new vehicles in Western Europe by 2035 and will continue to offer a full range of electrified powertrains to customers across the region with its hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery and fuel cell electric vehicles. When it comes to sustainability, Toyota is committed to going Beyond Zero.


text:
Today in unicorn beauty news: Too Faced co-founder Jerrod Blandino just teased a “#sneakypeek” of a brand-new product in an enigmatic Instagram video. And we have every reason to believe that it’s going to make even more of our mystical creature dreams come true.
“This is what happens when you melt a ?,” Blandino captioned the mesmerizing clip, which shows a thick opalescent violet liquid being stirred into swirls. (It’s not nearly as gross as it sounds, we promise. In fact, it’s quite soothing.) Judging by the “#InTheLab” hashtag and the uncanny resemblance, we’d bet our Unicorn Tears lipstick that what we’re seeing here is the making of a companion to our favorite La Crème. The color, the creamy texture, the iridescent sheen – they could be siblings, really. But the #twinning factor isn’t even the most incriminating piece of evidence in the case of the mysterious upcoming launch. Consider the fact that this teaser comes just a day after Blandino shared the news that the brand will launch new shades of its cult-favorite Melted liquid lipsticks come March. We’re putting together the pieces, and they all point toward us getting a Unicorn Tears liquid lippie in the very near future. Needless to say, we’re ready for it.


text:
Insider Buying: Jeffrey S. Schoen Purchases 1,389 Shares of Orchids Paper Products Stock (TIS)
Orchids Paper Products (NYSE:TIS) CEO Jeffrey S. Schoen purchased 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.60 per share, for a total transaction of $36,947.40. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $329,547. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.
Separately, analysts at Singular Research raised their price target on shares of Orchids Paper Products from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
Shares of Orchids Paper Products (NYSE:TIS) traded up 1.46% on Thursday, hitting $27.09. The stock had a trading volume of 70,685 shares. Orchids Paper Products has a one year low of $25.42 and a one year high of $34.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.90 and a 200-day moving average of $30.29. The company has a market cap of $237.3 million and a P/E ratio of 21.02.
Orchids Paper Products (NYSE:TIS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $29.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.44 million. On average, analysts predict that Orchids Paper Products will post $1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Orchids Paper Products Company is a manufacturer of tissue products serving the at-home tissue market.
Receive News & Ratings for Orchids Paper Products Inc Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Orchids Paper Products Inc and related companies with Analyst Ratings Network's FREE daily email newsletter.


text:
Aristocrat Gaming has taken another bold step to bolster the expansion of Anaxi, its world-class online real money gaming business, across Michigan markets. Back in February, the company announced that it was partnering with BetMGM, allowing the casino operator to host its products. The partnership made BetMGM Casino MI the first operator to feature Anaxi’s products in North America.
Since then, Anaxi has agreed to deals with Caesars Casino MI and, now, it has completed talks with FanDuel Casino. Anaxi will be adding all of its impressive casino titles to FanDuel’s catalog while plans for exclusive products are underway.


text:
Java Use Increases Among Developers Worldwide: Survey
According to a recent Evans Data survey, the use of the Java programming language has increased among developers around the world.Although Java has been recognized as the most popular and widely used programming language in the world, a new study from Evans Data indicates that Java use grew even more over the last year. According to Evans Data, Java enjoyed strong growth last year among developers in all regions. The largest increase is in the Asia-Pacific region where developers using Java at least some of the time has increased from 61 percent to 68 percent since the spring of 2010, Evans Data officials said. A similar increase of 7.6 percent occurred in North America. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, the number of total users has also increased, though to a smaller degree, Evans Data said.
"We're seeing a definite resurgence in Java development across all regions," Janel Garvin, CEO of Evans Data, said in a statement. This resurgence "correlates directly with the increasing importance of the smartphone as a development target," she added. "Java is the most widely used language for smartphone development, and is well-suited for most of the major platforms, including Android, Blackberry, Symbian and cross-platform Web development. Asia-Pacific developers are slightly out in front because smartphone development has been more deeply ingrained in that region."


text:
NOTE: The content below contains the first few paragraphs of the printed article and the titles of the sidebars and boxes, if applicable.
The Change Managers
BY DENISE MYSHKO
COMPANIES ARE FINDING THAT USING behavioral science IS AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES, DOCTORS, AND PATIENTS TO CHANGE INGRAINED BEHAVIORS. ABOVE ALL, AS SOME PHARMA COMPANIES HAVE FOUND, BEHAVIORAL MANAGEMENT CAN INCREASE PATIENT COMPLIANCE.
By applying tried-and-true behavior change techniques to the conversation between the constituents — payers, doctors, and patients — we can accelerate the adoption of brand preference, loyalty, and compliance. DAVE BULGER
Pharmaceutical companies always have reached out to their customers — doctors and patients — to build relationships and create awareness about their products. They’ve worked to increase patient compliance and educate consumers about diseases and treatment options. Now, they have an opportunity to take that one step further, to customize these programs for specific segments within these audiences as the rapid growth of the Internet makes the development of such programs easier and less expensive.
Whether the strategy is called behavioral marketing or relationship marketing or even developing lifetime customer value, the goal is to motivate people to shift their thinking and change their habits. What is required is a greater focus on, and understanding of, behavioral science, which is defined as a science that deals with human action and seeks to generalize human behavior in society.
“The point is to motivate and influence both adoption and compliance behavior, whether it be directed at patients, physicians, pharmacists, other healthcare professionals, or even pharmaceutical enterprises and their salesforces,” says Keith Yagnik, vertical practice leader for retail and pharmaceutical/life science markets at HarteHanks. “The contemporary use of behavioral management really started with the salesforces in terms of making sure they knew who they were calling on and understanding the script behavior patterns of the physician.”
Pharmaceutical companies now are trying to position themselves as healthcare partners rather than simply product manufacturers. As such, they are trying to construct a triangle where they are at one point, the patient is at another point, and the patient’s physician is at the third point, says Eric Bolesh, senior analyst at Cutting Edge Information.
“By facilitating communication between the patient and physician, the pharmaceutical company is providing a service to both,” Mr. Bolesh says. “The company has stepped out of the realm of just selling a drug into being a real healthcare provider. It wants to be seen as more of a service provider than just a distributor of products.”
Because improving compliance is an ongo ing challenge for the lifescience industry, Mr. Yagnik says there is growing recognition that just presenting facts in the form of patient education does not motivate people to change their behavior.
“A company that just tells people what it wants them to do rarely gets patients motivated,” he says. “Repeating unwanted advice alienates people. One of the weaknesses of the oldstyle monologue education efforts is that they do nothing to help the physician, the salesforce, or patients get past the natural human resistance to change.”
And behavioral change, Mr. Yagnik says, is not a single event, but a process enabled by dialogue where certain behavior patterns need to be unlearned and replaced with new ones.
Compliance with prescription drugs is a serious concern. As many as 30% of patients on medications for chronic conditions don’t refill their prescriptions, according to the Consumer Health Information Corp. About 10% to 20% of patients never get the initial prescription filled. And even if the medications are filled and refilled, up to 50% of all medi cations — more than 1 billion — are not taken correctly.
A well-constructed behavioral management program includes many of the elements of a traditional patient education program, with one significant difference: it contains messages and information on how individual patients can make positive changes in their lives.
“At the end of the day, this is health education being delivered via marketing channels,” says Dave Bulger, executive VP and behavioral strategist at DVC ActiveCare. “Marketers need to think in terms of patient wellness to adequately develop relationships with patients. We need to be health motiva tors first; brand lift will follow healthier patient behaviors.”
Traditional disease management programs, he says, are too heavily focused on patient education that doesn’t provide patients with tangible suggestions for changing unhealthy behaviors. “The assumption is that if patients read all the patienteducation materials, they’ll follow all the recommendations,” Mr. Bulger says. “That’s not necessarily true. Traditional pharmaceutical marketing has been focused on delivering enough information to impact the first script.”
Instead, he says, pharma companies have to reach individual patients and solve individual problems to create a compliant patient. Creating compliant patients in turn creates compliant doctors — and better returns for the brand.
Lifetime CustomerValue: Five Principles for Success
1. Launch and measure lifetime customer value programs. Not having formal objectives in place undermines customer initiatives. After the company and its employees embrace a customercentered focus, they must begin enterprise data collection, dissemination, and action.
2. Build better customer relationships through disease management programs. Diseasemanagement programs drive compliance while creating longterm relationships with customers. Integrated healthcare services empower specific customer populations over time, improve clinical outcomes, and lower costs — and also build loyalty to the company providing services.
3. Build a customer-focused corporate culture. Cultivating a corporate culture that appreciates the intangible benefits of stronger customer relationships is a chief challenge in realizing lifetime customer value.
4. Provide medical resources to support non sales physician relationships. Physicians and nurses still make up a pharmaceutical company’s largest and most valuable direct customer base.
5. Cultivate relationships with nonchronic endusers through healthmanagement and educational resources. One of the biggest challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry is its episodic interaction with nonchronic patients.With tools to pre serve customer relationships, pharma companies will drive compliance before shifting patients to health management tools.
Source:Cutting Edge Information, Durham,N.C. For more information, visit cuttingedgeinfo.com.
We would like to find a better way to communicate the idea of a tailored program to people. SAUL SHIFFMAN,PH.D.
In April 2003, Datamonitor released a new study that found that the over 55 population is becoming an increasingly attractive group for healthcare companies to target with online health information. Because of increasing life expectancy and the booming senior population in the United States and Europe, senior consumers are a highly desirable marketing group for healthcare companies.
Datamonitor’s consumer research, covering 4,500 consumers across the United States and Europe, shows that Internet use among seniors is continuing to grow, with more than 50% of seniors in the United States and United Kingdom having accessed the Internet.
Many seniors are taking an active interest in looking after their health, with up to 40% having looked for health information in the last 12 months.
Furthermore, seniors are far more likely to visit a physician than younger age groups.
High levels of Internet access among the current generation of 35 year olds to 54 year olds will drive Internet levels among seniors over the coming decades. Among seniors who are already using the Internet, about 50% are online for at least one hour per week for personal reasons such as email; in the United States this figure increases significantly to 68% among online seniors.
The booming senior pop Older Americans Heading to Internet for Health Information ulation will require longterm healthcare treat ments.With average life expectancy rates in the United States and Europe set to increase by up to two years during the next 20 years,and with the overall senior populations forecast to rise by as much as 40% in the same period, healthcare companies are gearing their marketing efforts toward the lucrative seniors market.
The strong relationship between age and the preva lence of diseases such as hypertension and type II dia betes, together with the increased risk of seniors devel oping other conditions, mean that seniors have a wide and growing range of information needs. Healthcare companies have the potential to forge long-term relationships with seniors in manag ing their healthcare requirements.
Many seniors take online heath information with them when visiting the doctor. Seniors visit a doctor more frequently than younger generations. Research shows that the average number of doctor visits per year in the United States increases steadily with age from just two per year among 15 year olds to 24 year olds to more than six per year in the over 75 age group.
The opportunity for senior patients to take an active role in their own health management is reflected in the numbers who are already asking their doctors about symptoms or treatment information for a disease because of something theyhave readon the Internet. In the United Kingdom, more than 25% of online seniors who are interested in health care information havediscussed information found on the Internet with their doctor.
Among those seniors who have looked for health information in the last 12 months, more than 50% are interested in information about living a healthy lifestyle. While interaction with a doctor remains the preferred channel for collecting health information among offline seniors, health information Websites now rank highly among online seniors as a popular source of information.
“There are already numerous Websites aimed at providing the senior population with healthcare information,” says Virginia Winters, healthcare strategy analyst at Datamonitor. “The aim of the majority of these Websites, in particular those provid ed by pharmaceutical companies, is to build a relationship with consumers, with the intention of raising awareness and cre ating a strong brand presence. In building relationships with consumers, successful Websites must develop marketing strategies around three stages: first, attracting consumers to the Website; second, encouraging consumers to use the information; and finally, to encourage consumers to return to the site on a regular basis.”
Source: Datamonitor report: Targeting Seniors: Strategies to Promote Online Marketing Relationships in Healthcare. For more information, contact Elisabeth Freeman by email at efree email@example.com.
Successful Websites must develop marketing strategies around three stages: first, attracting consumers to the Website; second, encouraging consumers to use the information; and finally, to encourage consumers to return to the site on a regular basis. VIRGINIA WINTERS
HIGH INTERNET USE AMONG 35 TO 54 YEAR OLDS WILL DRIVE THE FUTURE ONLINE SENIOR POPULATION
100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%
Germany UK US
18 34 35 54 55 and over Age (years) Internet penetration among seniors is set to rise sharply over the next 10 years as the 35-54 generation ages
IMPORTANCE OF THE WEB
The increased use of behavioral science as a way to motivate patients is a function of the digital world, consultants say.
“There are several attributes that make the digital world really attractive for this applica tion, one being a lower incremental cost,” says Craig Douglass, partner at the Cadient Group. “The legacy is that early diseasemanagement programs were done through direct mail and phone. But this is expensive. The margins just aren’t there for this type of tailored program.”
The Internet has allowed companies to cus tomize programs and target patients more precisely, Mr. Douglass says.
“Print is very expensive; it costs too much to have 50 different versions of a message,” he says. “But in the digital world, marketers can really hone the message to an individual patient.”
This is important, he says, because the triggers that eventually motivate a patient to change behavior vary depending upon personal preferences, beliefs, and history.
“Without the Internet, mar keters couldn’t possibly launch these types of programs on the scale that they are being launched,” Mr. Bolesh says. “It is so much easier for the average person to go online, sign up for a program, find out more about the product that they might be taking, enter their information, and actually get involved proactively in the program that the pharmaceutical companies are providing. This type of involvement allows the pharmaceutical company to provide a mass customized approach to patient management.”
The online population continues to grow. Research by Harris Interactive shows 67% of adults (140 million people) are now online, of whom 57% go online at home, 28% use the Internet at work, and 18% do so from a college, library, cyber-caf, or other location. Those adults going online grew from 17.5 million in 1995 to more than 50 million in 1997 and to more than 100 million in 1999, according to Harris Interactive. Latest data show that 140 million adults now go online.
And, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, consumers increasingly are using the Internet to find reliable health information. When the Pew Internet Program first inquired in March 2000 about online healthcare, 46 million Americans had used the Internet to find healthcare information. By October 2002, that number had grown to 73 million. Most look for information about specific illnesses, weight control, and prescription drugs.
Additionally, in April 2003 independent market analysis company, Datamonitor, released a report that found that the over 55 population is becoming an attractive group for healthcare companies to target with online health information. Increasing life expectancy and booming senior population in the United States and Europe combine to make senior consumers a desirable marketing group for healthcare companies.
While pharma companies can track prescription sales, assessing the impact of specific programs on patient behavior can be difficult. “Because of the speed of the Internet, by the time the question is asked about whether there is a return on investment, that moment in time is gone,” Mr. Douglass says. “To us, ROI is about accountability. It’s akin to port folio management. Portfolio management is much more appropriate because companies make an investment in these programs and then work to optimize the yield. It’s an ongoing process about optimizing.”
Mr. Bolesh says Merck and Lilly have successfully developed behavioral-marketing programs on the Internet.
Merck has developed Websites for both physicians and patients. MerckMedicus.com provides a medical library that includes Dorland’s medical dictionary, The Merck Manual, and best practice information; news and information, including a scan of medical journals; information on professional development, including CME information; patient resource; as well as information within various specialties. The news section can be customized to allow for individual preferences.
Merck also publishes an online news source for consumers. Merck Source.com contains a health library, resources for patients, and lifestyle management tools.
Lilly’s Website, LillyDiabetes.com, provides patients and their doctors with information and tools about diabetes and nutrition. Tools, including meal diaries and bloodsugar monitors, can be personalized for individual patients.
What the Internet provides, which isn’t available anywhere else, is timeliness, privacy, convenience, and the ability to handle complexity very simply. KEN NEHER
Because of the speed of the Internet, by the time you ask, “Did I get a return on my money?” that moment in time is gone. The online world is highly accountable and is a great place to play. CRAIG DOUGLASS
CHANGING PATIENT BEHAVIOR
Mr. Bulger says one of the best and earliest examples of a successful individually tailored behavior change program is GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare’s Committed Quitters. The program, begun in 1996, seeks to address the psychological and behavioral aspects associated with smoking. For instance, many smokers develop daily smoking rituals such as having a cigarette with morning coffee, socializing with coworkers during a smoking break, or lighting up after dinner. Helping smokers overcome their personal hurdles via tailored support materials offers an important behavioral adjunct to the nicotine replacement therapy’s weaning of the physical addiction.
The healthcare expenses associated with smoking cost the economy more than $150 billion a year in expenses and lost productivity between 1995 and 1999, including $81.9 billion in mortality-related productivity losses and $75.5 billion in excess medical expenditures, according to a report by the American Lung Association in June 2002. Although 70% of smokers want to stop smoking and 34% attempt to quit each year, only 2.5% succeed, according to the association.
Committed Quitters is a 10-week or 12-week individualized behavioral support program used in conjunction with the nicotine replacement products NicoDerm CQ, Nicorette, or the company’s new product Commit Lozenge. Participants can enroll by phone or email and respond to questions about their motives for quitting, risky situations that tempt them to smoke, and their personal barriers to quitting. That information is used to personalize a plan to quit smoking.
The company has worked with MicroMass Communications Inc., a relationship marketing agency founded by Mr. Bulger, since the inception of the Committed Quitters program to develop individualized materials that address a person’s own specific hurdles.
“The program has proven its worth in trials,” says Saul Shiffman, Ph.D., professor of psychology at University of Pittsburgh. “The program has an effect equal in magnitude to the nicotine replacement products themselves.”
In 2000, Dr. Shiffman published a report on the efficacy of the Committed Quitters Program for Nicorette gum. He found that those who participated in the GSK Consumer Healthcare program reported a 47% higher quit rate at 6 weeks and a 56% higher quit rate at 12 weeks than those who only used the smoking cessation product.
One challenge for the company, however, has been in getting consumers to take advantage of the Committed Quitters program. GSK Consumer Healthcare has found that less than half of those who buy a nicotine replacement product participate in the Committed Quitters program, says Ken Neher, associate director of relationship marketing and compliance at GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.
“From a marketing perspective, we are working on ways to get involvement in the Committed Quitters program even higher than it is today,” he says.
Dr. Shiffman points out that it is difficult for consumers to understand that these programs are tailored to their individual needs.
“Consumers are used to mail-merge types of programs and so when they receive a program that is printed nicely they incorrectly assume that it is a standard program and we’ve just stuck their name in there,” he says. “We would like to find a better way to communicate the idea of a tailored program to people.”
To address this need DVC ActiveCare this February introduced a “virtual interview” buddy system to be featured on GSK Health care’s Website quittingsupport.com. The site provides an integrated behavioral support system to help smokers address the issues to quit smoking.
Still, feedback suggests that those who do participate in the program have favorable responses. Mr. Neher says this knowledge helped the company to launch Quit.com last December, a nonbranded portal Website that provides information about what the quitting process will be like.
“With information from a pharmaceutical company, there is always skepticism about what we are trying to do,” Mr. Neher says. “We are trying to educate people about the need to quit smoking and orient them about the process to do so. Quit.com is based on a model called the stage of readiness, which helps people be more prepared to stop smoking.”
“The Internet has several advantages for a program such as Committed Quitters,” Mr. Neher says. “What the Internet provides, which isn’t available anywhere else, is timeliness, privacy, convenience, and the ability to handle complexity very simply and less expensively.”
These programs present real opportunities for the pharma industry, Mr. Neher says. “Building compliance programs is not only the right thing to do for consumers, but ultimately these initiatives provide consumer healthcare companies with increased revenue,” he says.
GSK Consumer Healthcare has created similar compliance programs, including one for OsCal, a calcium supplement (oscal.com), and Remifemin, a herbal supplement for the symptoms of menopause (remifemin.com). The Website for Remifemin includes tools for track ing symptoms, news on menopause, and expert opinions. The Website for OsCal includes news, information, and other resources.
Real Time Interview Feature with Arnold Palmer Hopes to Inspire Smokers to Quit
DVC ActiveCare, DVC World wide’s consumer health care marketing practice, in February 2003 introduced a “virtual interview” buddy system to be featured on GlaxoSmithKline ConsumerHealth care’s quittingsupport.com Website. The site, developed by sister practice area DVC Inter active, provides an integrated behavioral support system to help smokers address all the issues related to quitting smoking. The promotion combines DVC Active Care’s insight into con sumer behavior as it relates to smoking cessation and clinical research that shows that quitting with a “buddy” is more successful than quitting alone.
“DVC ActiveCare uses consumer behavior to create programs that will be effective for consumers and brands alike,” says Joseph Poggi, managing director at DVC ActiveCare. “A virtual interview enables the user to interact one-on-one with a buddy who is not only a celebrity, but also someone who knows what it’s like to quit smoking. This creates a more beneficial and effective outcome.”
DVC ActiveCare worked in partnership with DVCi, DVC Worldwide’s digital marketing practice, and Eidoserve, a spinoff of CarnegieMellon University, to execute the virtual interview technology.
It allows users to interface “real time” with Arnold Palmer, who had formed a similar support network to help win his battle with smoking, and Saul Shiffman,Ph.D., a leading expert in the field of smoking cessation. A customized question and answer format addresses issues about quitting smoking, health, golf, or which nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) product they recommend. The questions asked are then matched up to the answers from a previous interview and the “correct” or most appropriate answer is then video streamed for the user. This site marks the first time a virtual interview is being used in a consumer setting with an over-the-counter product.
“Quittingsupport.com features information on how to build-a-buddy system, including the best way to find a buddy, methods of keeping in touch with a buddy to keep them smoke-free, and triggers that could cause someone to relapse,”Mr. Poggi adds. The site, quittingsupport.com, was recently relaunched as part of the “Success Begins with the Right Support” promotion created by DVC for GlaxoSmithKline’s NRT portfolio of products: Nicorette Gum, Nicoderm CQ Patch, and the new Commit Lozenge.
A virtual interview enables the user to interact one-on-one with a buddy who is not only a celebrity, but also someone who knows what it’s like to quit smoking. JOE POGGI
The company has stepped out of the realm of just selling a drug into being a real healthcare provider. It wants to be seen as more of a service provider than just a distributor of products. ERIC BOLESH
Experts on this topic
ERIC BOLESH. Senior analyst, Cutting Edge Information, Durham,N.C.; Cutting Edge Information is a business intelligence firm providing primary and secondary research reports on a wide range of business subjects. For more information,visit cuttingedgeinfo.com.
DAVE BULGER. Executive VP, behavioral strategist, DVCActiveCare, Morristown, N.J.; DVCActiveCare, a practice area of DVC Worldwide, uses behavioral marketing to create programs that accelerate brand performance, targeting consumers, patients, and healthcare professionals. For more information, visit dvcworldwide.com.
CRAIG DOUGLASS. Partner, Cadient Group, Conshohocken, Pa.; Cadient is an online pharmaceutical marketing company that develops programs that address the behavioral patterns of consumers and healthcare professionals to move them to try, purchase, prescribe,and remain loyal specific brands. For more information,visit cadient.com.
KEN NEHER. Associate director, relationship marketing and compliance, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Pittsburgh; GlaxoSmith Kline is one of the world’s leading research based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies,with headquarters in the United Kingdom. For more information, visit gsk.com.
JOSEPH POGGI. Managing director, DVC ActiveCare, Morristown, N.J.; DVCActiveCare, a practice area of DVCWorldwide, uses behavioral marketing to create programs that accelerate brand performance, targeting consumers, patients, and healthcare professionals. For more information, visit dvcworldwide.com.
SAUL SHIFFMAN,PH.D. Professor of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh; the university’s 9,600 employees, including 3,800 faculty members,serve more than 32,000 students through the programs of 18 undergraduate, graduate, and to professional schools. For more information, visit pitt.edu.
VIRGINIA WINTERS. Healthcare strategy analyst, Datamonitor Plc., NewYork, London; Datamonitor is a business information company specializing in industry analysis for six industry sectors: automotive, consumer markets, energy, financial services, healthcare, and technology. For more information,visit datamonitor.com.
KEITHYAGNIK. Vertical practice leader for retail and pharmaceutical/lifescience markets, HarteHanks, San Antonio; HarteHanks is a worldwide, direct, and targeted marketing company that provides direct marketing services and shopper advertising opportunities to a wide range of local, regional, national, and international consumer and business-to-business marketers. For more information,visit hartehanks.com.
PharmaVoice welcomescommentsabout this article.Email us at firstname.lastname@example.org.


text:
After being used for over 20 years, Bugatti is saying farewell to the mighty 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 with the last units being fitted into the magnificent Mistral and track-only Bolide.
So what should we expect next from the Molsheim manufacturer?
Auto Express sat down and had a chat with Mate Rimac about what comes after the Chiron. Surprisingly, Rimac – which is known for its cutting-edge EV technology – started developing a combustion engine two years before merging with Bugatti. Touted as being a “hypercar rearranged as a hybrid,” the next masterpiece will have a “totally bonkers” ICE, and the company’s boss says we will all be “blown away” once the wraps will come off next year.
Mate continued to mention that the car will be completely new and “not one part” will be carried over from the Chiron or Nevera.
This sounds very exciting but we will have to be patient as it will only be seen on streets around the world closer to 2025.


text:
The Air Jordan 6 Doernbecher Retro is Limited to just 6000 Pairs!
Just like they did with the DB Jordan 3, it look like they’ll be giving us a retro of 2009’s Air Jordan 6, per sneaker leaker Py_rates.
It’s said to form part of the annual Doernbecher Freestyle 2018 Collection, which is set to release in November. Typically, there’s a new Jordan colorway each year, but the listed colors and silhouette are suggesting a retro release. it’s still unclear if it’s an entirely new colorway, a retro or if were getting a retro and an additional new DB Jordan release.
All we know thus far is that there’s a 6 on the way, the rest will surely unfold over the coming weeks.
Sources are reporting that this retro will be limited to only 6000 pairs, which are already on their way to Nike ahead of the scheduled November release.
Stay tuned for more details on the entire 2018 Doernbecher collection!
Air Jordan 6 Doernbecher
Color: Midnight Navy/Varsity Red-Metallic Gold-White
Release Date: December 2018
Where to Buy: Nike.com


text:
Chitika, the online advertising network, has released its latest Chikita Insights usage share data report for tablets for the March 2013 period. According to the company, based on US and Canadian tablet ad impressions running through the Chitika Ad Network, the iPad still overwhelmingly...
7digital, a UK-based online music store that offered the first DRM-free tracks from the four major music labels, has submitted an iPhone music store app to Apple, which is currently pending approval by Apple. The app, already available on Android and BlackBerry phones (it's the number one music...
Subscribe to Newsletter
Software Updatesmore updates
- ExpanDrive 4, more services and faster sync
- Apple adds iTunes Extras to Apple TV
- Spotify updates with new iPhone controls in time for summer BBQs
- iTunes U update will bring course creation and student discussion to iPad app
- Dropbox for iOS update adds new setup and file management options
- Amazon Instant Video app now offers free, ad-supported TV episodes, new HBO shows


text:
According to figures, you can find more participant From the world playing online poker and other online casino video games today as . The reason could be the advantages which
These couple months of lockdown showed us the real face of boredom. Having absolutely nothing to accomplish, becoming tired through the entire day, etc. we have found all of them.
Baccarat is just one among the absolute most widely used card games, and playing with it upon the internet platform would be the ideal thing. It’s because you may play
Streaming Apps Additionally, there are a lot of Streaming services that assist you to watch the NBA games on line. Once you never have a cable service, this could be


text:
Italian farmers are in crisis as low prices of wheat, desiccated land and big companies importing grain take their toll. But some have found a solution: growing cannabis.
Hemp cultivation has been legal in Italy since 2016, and over the last few years the amount of land dedicated to the plant has increased from 400 hectares (1,000 acres) in 2013 to 4,000 hectares today.
The law – which allows cultivation for non-pharmaceutical use of plants with up to 0.2% of the psychoactive compound THC – was introduced with the intention of increasing the development of industrial hemp production. Italians have taken advantage of the legal change to produce not only hemp ricotta and environmentally friendly bricks, but also hemp pasta and biscuits.
“The boom in the production of hemp is an excellent example of the ability of agricultural firms to discover new frontiers,” said Roberto Moncalvo, the president of Coldiretti, Italy’s largest farmers’ association. “We are in the middle of an opportunity for economic and employment growth.”
This solution to the crisis affecting Italian farmers can be seen in a small green oasis set in the arid interior of Sicily. Among the clay fields and sheaves of abandoned grain, a sign depicting a seven-point leaf hangs from a gate.
Beyond it is Salvo Scuderi, the president of the agricultural cooperative Colli Erei. The 41-year-old has just finished reaping part of his hemp harvest, which will be used to make pasta, oil and flour. This year, Scuderi and 20 other producers of Rete Canapa Sicilia, an association whose goal is to promote and market the use of hemp in the region, have together produced almost 150 tonnes.
“Hemp saved our business,” he said. “This year we earned 10 times more than what we used to earn with wheat and it has enabled us to hire four workers.”
Wheat yields a profit of €250 (£220) per hectare in today’s market, while hemp can generate net earnings in excess of €2,500 per hectare, according t Rete Canapa Sicilia. And there are many Sicilian farmers who, in order to breathe new life into the dry land and to improve their financial situation have substituted wheat with hemp.
In the countryside around Catenanuova, temperatures can reach the mid-40s in the summer. It is where the Italian car manufacturer Fiat used to test its prototypes under high temperatures, scorching weather would force trains to stopbecause of expanding rails. But it is not the heat alone that has caused the desiccation of the land.


text:
Experian Data Breach Resolution, an arm of the company best known for its credit information, recently released its fourth annual white paper looking at the cyber security problems business is likely to face in the year ahead.
The forecast is far from sunny.
The Data Breach Industry Forecast includes some chilling news for executives concerned about cyber risk. According to the report, as companies prepare stronger defenses, hackers are using even greater stealth to get around them. “While some tried and true attacks continue to serve as go-to methods for hackers, there are evolving tools and targets that are likely to become front page news in 2017,” the report says.
A rundown of the report’s key predictions follows:
- Prepare for aftershocks. Experian predicts “aftershocks” for companies that were previously breached. “As more and more personal credentials are compromised, the risk for users may extend far beyond the initial breach as attackers continue to sell old username and password information on the dark web, sometimes years after the credentials were originally stolen. As a result, companies that didn’t experience a first-hand data breach may see repeat unauthorized log-ins and be forced to notify their users that their information is being misused.” The report recommends companies use two-factor authentication to verify users and help solve the password reuse problem. Secondary authentication methods, the report says, could include tokens, SMS alerts, geo location confirmation or bio metrics.
- Nation-states will go to cyber war. Given the number of cyber attacks by foreign countries on U.S. government agencies in the last few years as well as hacks involving the 2016 presidential campaign, the report predicts that “an escalation in cyberattack conflict in 2017.” And business will likely be caught in the crossfire. According to the report, “as countries organize targeted cyberattacks, businesses should prepare for full-on disruption, particularly if they are a part of critical infrastructure. Organizations will need to stay vigilant about their potentially exposed information and take proactive steps to protect themselves, including purchasing proper insurance protection and shoring up their security measures.”
- Healthcare will be a high-value target. Hackers have focused on the healthcare industry because medical identity theft is lucrative and easily exploited, the report says. “Personal medical information remains one of the most valuable types of data for attackers to steal,” Experian writes, “and cyber criminals will continue to find a market for reselling this type of sensitive information on the dark web.” Ransomware – essentially hacking into a system, taking it over, and forcing an organization to pay a ransom to get it back – will be a top concern. “Ransomware presents an easier and safer way for hackers to cash out; given the potential disruption to a company, most organizations will opt to simply pay the ransom,” the report says.
- Payment-based attacks will rise. Attackers, the report says, are also going to use new techniques “to steal payment cards through well-coordinated and expansive use of different types of Point-of-Sale (POS) skimmers.” Though cards containing fraud-preventing EMV chips have been issued to many credit and debit card holders, adoption of the payment technology by business has been spotty. “We are likely,” the report says, “to see criminal gangs develop coordinated and widespread skimming operations to ensure the steady flow of payment cards continue to make a significant profit. We predict that at least one major national retailer will be hit with a significant skimming outbreak over the next year.”
- Multinationals will face headaches overseas. Multinational companies are likely to face a major international breach in 2017 – and those breaches will cause the most significant damage to their reputations. Two factors will exacerbate the problem for companies: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union and similar new laws in Canada and Australia are likely to trigger greater consumer awareness around breach notification, and many companies have not yet created a process to manage international data breach incidents. The report says “companies need to start working to comply with the new rules over the next year as scrutiny of their practices and consumer awareness is raised in more markets.”


text:
Sony Celebrates International Women’s Day with a New PS4 Theme Featuring PlayStation’s Female Icons
In celebration of International Women's Day, Sony has a new static PS4 theme available featuring many of PlayStation's iconic female characters.
As many know, today (March 8th) is International Women’s Day and as a way of celebrating the contributions that women have made across all walks of life, Sony is one of the companies looking to celebrate the occasion with a new theme that all gamers can enjoy.
For International Women’s Day, Sony has released a new static PS4 theme to commemorate the day, and in particular features many of the most iconic female heroines and characters that PlayStation gamers everywhere can identify. Specifically, it includes Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn, Chloe and Nadine from Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Kara from the upcoming Detroit: Become Human, Ellie from The Last of Us series, and an adorable pink bear that is featured in the upcoming Dreams.
The theme itself was illustrated by Media Molecule artist Maja-Lisa Kehlet, and is available as a free download to all PS4 users on the PlayStation Store. The theme is currently available in a few regions at the moment, such as the European store, but can be expected to roll out to other areas over the course of the day today.
For a closer look at the theme itself, you can look at the image above. To go along with today’s celebrations for International Women’s Day, you can also check out the new video that Sony released highlighting the numerous women that have contributed to the development of their titles below:


text:
Remnants from the beer brewing process feature components that could protect against dental diseases, according to a new study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (February 18, 2014) and reported online recently by The DrBicuspid Staff.
Hops, which give beer its acrid flavor and aroma (did someone say bitter beer face?), contain healthful antioxidants that could be used to battle caries and periodontal disease, say the researchers from Japan.
Earlier research found that antioxidant polyphenols in hop leaves (called bracts) could help fight caries and periodontal disease. And bracts found among the 30,000 tons of hops farmers harvest in the U.S. annually, are not used for making beer, rather are discarded instead.
Sounds like a potential gold mine of health benefits await a repurposing plan.
Does home brewing count?
Read more about the study findings at: https://www.drbicuspid.com/index.aspx?sec=sup&sub=hyg&pag=dis&itemid=315309&wf=1806


text:
3D Systems has announced a comprehensive seminar series to give businesses, entrepreneurs, educators, designers and other professionals a look at how 3D printing is changing manufacturing and to provide insights on the power of 3D printing in their own design-to-manufacture workflows. The seminars—hundreds worldwide with new locations posted weekly—will include demonstrations of the company’s latest 3D printers, design solutions and advanced materials that are at the core of a present-day manufacturing revolution. On the heels of last year’s seminars, totaling 600+, the 2015 seminar series consists of a number of regional events through December 2015 at reseller locations around the world. Each seminar will provide information pertaining to a wide range of industries, including automotive, aerospace, healthcare, consumer products and more.
“Last year’s seminar series was a resounding success. By partnering with 3D Systems, we have access to the widest spectrum of 3D printing technologies for a broad range of applications, from desktop prototyping to full-scale manufacturing,” said Dale Ford, President and CEO of Hawk Ridge Systems. “Again this year, we’re pleased to be a part of this global effort to champion 3D printing and help our clients create 3D printing-enhanced workflows.”
This seminar series will provide a close look at the diversity and power of 3DS’ 3D printers, as 3DS authorized resellers demonstrate many new products such as industrial-grade, professional full-color, and desktop 3D printers as well as advanced materials. Attendees will see how 3D printing spans the entire design and manufacturing process, including its use in:
- Quick, vibrant full-color concept models to convey design intent
- Functional prototypes to test ideas and improve product quality
- Pre-production tooling and parts to quickly get to market
- Production parts that are lighter weight, higher performing, simpler and more reliable
- Personalized healthcare solutions, including surgical guides and medical models.
“Each seminar is a great opportunity to experience a technology that’s transforming how we make, how we manufacture, how we convey ideas, and even how we play and learn.” said Michele Marchesan, Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, Professional Products, 3DS. “We want to help our customers find the right balance of 3D printing capabilities to drive them into a successful future.”
Register for the seminars and learn more about 3DS’ commitment to manufacturing the future today here.


text:
The Goldman Sachs technology M&A team, led by Sam Britton, has cashed in on its software focus and decades of experience to dominate 2019's biggest deals.Technologyread more
American small and medium-size companies that rely on China are scrambling to adjust their business plans in response to the escalating trade war.Traderead more
Here are the products that stand to be the most affected by China's new tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods.Marketsread more
The summit comes amid fears over a global economic slowdown, and U.S. tensions over trade allies, Iran and Russia.Politicsread more
The world's second biggest economy is past a point where it cannot ignore its enormous debt anymore, according to an analyst.China Economyread more
Carl Medlock used to work at Tesla. Now he's one of the few people in the U.S. that can fix the company's original Roadster electric vehicles.Technologyread more
Trump does have some powerful tools that would not require approval from U.S. Congress.Politicsread more
Stocks dropped after Donald Trump ordered that U.S. manufacturers find alternatives to their operations in China.US Marketsread more
As demand for lab monkeys continues to rise, U.S. scientists are reporting delays in research projects because they can't obtain enough animals, according to the National...Politicsread more
The European Union will respond in kind if the U.S. imposes tariffs on France over digital tax plan, EU chief Donald Tusk told G-7.Technologyread more
Trump said he will raise tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods to 30% and hike duties on another $300 billion in products to 15%.Politicsread more
When asked during a Wednesday earnings call if Tesla is considering launching an insurance program, Musk says the company is working on one.
"The answer is yes we are creating a Tesla insurance product and we hope to launch that in about a month. It will be much more compelling than anything else out there," he said.
In response to a subsequent question about the safety of Autopilot, Musk said Tesla gives more details about safety to insurance companies.
"We do give some more detailed information to insurance companies to help with rates. And obviously as we launch our own insurance product next month, we will certainly incorporate that information into the insurance rates," Musk said.
Tesla has access to "direct knowledge of the risk profile of customers based on the car," Musk said. This gives the company a significant "price sort of arbitrage or information arbitrage opportunity," he explained.
Musk said, if potential Tesla customers "want to buy Tesla insurance, they have to agree to not drive the car in a crazy way — or if they can, but then the insurance rate is higher."
A Tesla spokesperson said the company has no further information to share on the program at this time.
The comments come after Tesla reported a wider-than-expected loss in the first quarter. The company had previously warned that income for the quarter would "be negatively impacted" by "lower than expected delivery volumes and several pricing adjustments.
The stock was volatile after hours and was last seen about flat with its closing price as more than 1.8 million shares changed hands.


text:
Just when you thought you'd had enough of the Jedis and the Force, Lego has released a trailer for its upcoming video game, "Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens." The clip takes a gentle poke at the film.
Just as many in Germany are putting the finishing touches on their Finn and Darth Vader costumes ahead of Carnival celebrations this weekend, the Star Wars phenomenon has been empowered with fresh material. Lego released the official trailer to its upcoming Star Wars video game on Tuesday (02.02.2016).
The roughly 90-second clip traces the original film trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," opening with a sweating Finn popping up in the desert and the words "There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?" Exclusively created with Lego figures that will make you say "awww," the trailer follows the film version, albeit with a little twist here and there, not to mention a large-scale smiley.
The game "Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens," set for release on June 28, 2016, bridges "Return of the Jedi" and "The Force Awakens." It will be available for all the usual formats, including Xbox, PlayStation, Wii U, Windows, and Nintendo 3DS.


text:
Jun 10, 2013 Sean Albert
Everyone needs a method for managing their finances. Whether this means having a relationship with a traditional bank or using alternative financial services, every individual has a way of ensuring his or her money is safe. But one thing that is becoming increasingly apparent is that just because people need help to guarantee their financial situations remain positive doesn't mean they aren't picky about what kind of treatment and options they want. Today's customers want great customer service, and they'll embrace it wherever it's found.
What's the disconnect?
According to the 2013 World Retail Banking Report by Capgemini and Efma, many traditional financial institutions may not be doing enough to get ahead of their competition. One important factor in gaining customers is making people feel valued, and while the Customer Experience Index did improve from 2012 by 1.4 percent, many patrons are still not convinced that they want to stay with their bank. Among the more than 18,000 consumers surveyed, 10 percent responded that they plan to switch banks within the next six months, while nearly half - 40 percent - said they are unsure whether they will be using the same financial services provider in that same time period.
The research emphasized that customer satisfaction hinges on the quality of the entire banking experience, and it is especially dependent on positive experiences. When consumers have great interactions with these organizations, it builds up their levels of trust and also enhances their perception that the bank is understanding of their needs. Capgemini and Efma added, however, that satisfaction can be a deceptive indicator - some banks that rely purely on this factor to determine the likelihood that a customer will stay may be surprised to find that the holistic experience is more important.
"One of the biggest problems facing retail banks today is their inability to stand out in an increasingly commoditized and competitive marketplace," the report noted. "Few banks are forging innovation in developing new products. Nor are they connecting with customers in a personalized way as the role of the branch continues to diminish."
Innovation is the answer
The study emphasized that one of the ways in which financial services providers can differentiate themselves from competitors and retain customers is by releasing mobile apps. Especially when it comes to younger consumers, these tools are necessary to staying relevant as a banking option. However, one emerging challenge may be developing technologies that meet the needs of these discerning and experienced customers. While 78 percent of patrons 65 or older said they had positive experiences with their bank's solutions that were delivered via the internet, only 56 percent of those between 18 and 24 felt the same.
This battle to develop the best mobile app is likely to be an important one for banks. The report pointed out that by 2017, most regions worldwide will see fewer customers visiting branches and ATMs. In North America, the rate of branch usage is forecast to decrease by 3.5 percent.
While the perception of many business leaders has been that people are fearful of mobile options, this anxiety over consumer credit report-damaging identity theft may be dissipating. According to American Banker, a recent survey of 1,000 consumers from Mojiva found that 75 percent of respondents are as comfortable accessing their financial data from their smartphones and tablets as they are from their home computers. Nearly as many - 72 percent - use a mobile banking app or website on a weekly basis.
This newfound emphasis on customer experience may be good news for providers of alternative financial services. No longer are people tied to the idea of just a traditional bank - they want the best experience they can get. By striving to think outside the box and develop the most innovative money management options, less mainstream companies may be able to earn significant loyalty among the most discerning of customers.


text:
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Can Motorola Inc. maintain its momentum in wireless-phone sales? Investors will find out next week when the technology bellwether posts fourth-quarter results.
The Schaumburg, Ill.-based developer of communications equipment is the headline performer in a light schedule of industry earnings. Aside from Motorola
Motorola, which will issue results after U.S. markets close on Jan. 19, is expected to earn 34 cents a share on revenue of $10.5 billion. In the year-earlier quarter, the company earned 22 cents a share on revenue of $8.16 billion.
Shares of Motorola surged last year on sizzling performance in the company's wireless division, which accounts for around 60% of total revenue. Motorola's sleek Razr phone and its offshoots are among the most popular handsets on the market.
What's more, Motorola brought several phones to market before the Christmas holiday season and is coming out with a raft of new ones in early 2006. The company is also looking to build momentum overseas in fast-growing regions such as China and India.
Like Motorola, Alltel has been another solid performer in the telecom sector. The rural-based wireless, local and long-distance phone provider has developed a comfortable market niche and faces less competition than some of its larger rivals. As a result, its stock price has held up quite well over the past few years.
Alltel also plans to spin off its local-phone business later this year, making the company primarily a wireless operator. Yet the its fourth-quarter report, set to be issued next Friday, will include results from the landline division.
The Little Rock, Ark.-based company is expected to earn 83 cents a share on sales of $2.59 billion, down from profit of 89 cents a share on revenue of $2.14 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Alltel has spent more money to acquire new wireless assets and to integrate them into its network.


text:
Celebrity vegan chef kicks off campaign in lieu of November’s National Vegan Month
PRLog (Press Release) – Sep. 26, 2013 – PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia-based celebrity vegan Chef KESS (nee Kurt E. Smith) officially kicks off his ‘vegan awareness’ campaign in hopes of bringing awareness to the benefits for living a vegan lifestyle. Titled “This Too Is Vegan,” the campaign will emphasize the long-term benefits of adapting a vegan lifestyle. The name is a tongue-in-cheek response to those who believe that plant-based foods are tasteless and boring.
He ought to know: Chef KESS, who is an in-demand culinary vegan expert, prepares foods for well-known clientele, as well as corporate clients from both the east and west coasts. He is also a lifelong vegan due to health issues as a child, which became obsolete once he made the adjustment to veganism.
For Chef KESS, the campaign is no mere gimmick, but a complete lifestyle. And he’s not alone: there are nearly 12 million vegetarians and vegans in North America alone. However, adapting to the change can have drawbacks if not done correctly.
“Each year, more and more folks jump into vegetarian or veganism without a plan. But it’s important to prepare your mind and body for the transition. That’s where I come in. I focus on making a healthy transition to a new lifestyle.
“It’s important to note that veganism isn’t some fad or trend; it’s a beneficial way of life.”


text:
Bandai's "Tamashii Nations" lineup for collectors will be on display May 30th and 31st at Belle Salle Akihabara in the "Tamashii Summer Collection 2015" exhibition. Admission is free.
You'll be able to check out this summer's upcoming releases and see what's slated for the future in lineups like Robot SPirits and NXEdge Style, plus catch a new Metal Build announcement.
Also planned are a live review of the Robot Spirits Penelope, a special Super Robot Wars trailer, and more.
We managed to get a peek inside on the 29th, and put together an advance photo report!
Of course, just like last year, everything on show can be photographed.
Mega Hobby Expo 2015 Spring is also being held at Akihabara UDX on the 30th, with special collaboration events planned. And if you visit the nearby Tamashii Nations Akiba Showroom, you'll be able to participate in a digital stamp rally via the new Tamashii App, and get your hands on—literally—this summer's new releases!
Visit Tamashii Summer Collection 2015 this weekend, and see the newest collector's items in Akihabara!
For event details, check the
Tamashii Summer Collection 2015 page
©2014 Ishinomori Pro, TV Asahi, ADK, Toei
©Eiichiro Oda / Shueisha, Fuji TV, Toei Animation
©Masami Kurumada／Saint Seiya soul of gold Production committee
Tamashii Summer Collection 2015
[Hours] May 30th, 2015: 10:00 AM–8:00 PM (last admission 7:45)
May 31st, 2015: 10:00 AM–7:00 PM (last admission 6:45)
Venue: 1F Belle Salle Akihabara (3-12-9 Soto-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)


text:
CEO Sharon Price John says Build-A-Bear’s old e-commerce system is a big reason for disappointing online sales in December.
(Page 2 of 2)
Berglund says verifying each stage as the business builds is important because there are no blueprints to work from. “There is no one who has done it before, so you have to be clear every step of the way,” she says.
Orders from the web site come to a central database at the warehouse in Sommerville. The system places the orders into delivery routes, then creates lists for product picking. Once the products are picked, they are separated into orders for delivery. HomeRuns charges $5.95 per delivery, with free delivery on orders over $125. Minimum order is $50; a customer can’t check out until the order reaches $50. HomeRuns delivers from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
HomeRuns originally fulfilled orders out of a Hannaford Bros. distribution center near Boston. It outgrew that facility and built a distribution center in Brookline, then eventually moved to Sommerville.
Berglund says one of the reasons HomeRuns is succeeding is that it gets involved in its communities, just as real-world grocery stores and supermarkets do. HomeRuns sponsors amateur and semi-pro athletic teams, supports community festivals, sends executives to speak to community groups and even recruits people to have home parties where their friends can learn about HomeRuns. “We believe that community involvement is important and will continue to be important,” she says.
The market is there
Although HomeRuns is not profitable yet, Berglund says the company is heading in that direction. HomeRuns feels it has been successful enough in its original market that it is now ready to expand. Late last year it announced that it would be moving into Washington, D.C. HomeRuns believes it can succeed in Washington, Berglund says, because the market is similar to Boston. “The density of population, the level of computer use, the education level, all are similar to Boston,” Berglund says.
Online grocers who establish viable business models today will be in a good position to take advantage of the market as it develops-and many observers believe that market development is inevitable. What’s needed, they say, are pricing that consumers can accept, density of population so the number of deliveries per hour gets up and acceptable margin on products.
“Kozmo proved to the marketplace that there is demand for such a product,” says Roger McDonell, CEO of PackageQuest, which is developing package tracking software for online retailers, and former CEO of DeliverEtoday, a same-day delivery service that shut down earlier this year. “What no one has proven yet is that people will pay what it costs.”
For that reason, McDonell likes the WhyRunOut model. “They’ve separated themselves from the pack,” he says. “If they have deep enough pockets, they can get there.”


text:
Huawei recently climbed up as the world’s third largest smartphone maker in the world. In the US, it may not be so popular yet, but it definitely has taken over the Chinese market steadily over the past few years. Huawei’s major business is still their technology powering mobile networks, but their smartphone business is a rapidly growing one. Thinking about Huawei’s consumer devices from a lifestyle perspective, they have incorporated some really innovative technology in their smartwatch and smartphones.
Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona had a few interesting smartphone & wearable launches. Although, the number of wearable launches were much lesser than the past years MWCs. Most of the wearables were in the smart-watch form factor.
I am putting together a few important headlines around the Quantified Self movement every month, let me know in the comments if there is an important headline I missed out. Here are some interesting Quantified Self headlines & articles from November:
When we think about ‘lifelogging’, more often than not the gadgets envisioned as the tracking instruments take the form of a wearable device – such as a wrist, arm, or even a head band. The next plausible device to don the garb of a tracking device would be a smartphone.
But tracking with an iPad? That’s pushing things a little too far, right?
The mobile sector has always been indispensable without sensors. Once considered as novelty facets within a phone, sensors have upped their ante and have been responsible for key disruptions in mobile tech – be it in the form of specific applications developed, or features for operating systems. All in all, sensors are driving smartphone innovation in every aspect.
A couple of weeks back when the iPhone 7 was made official, it made quite a few headlines. The obvious variation over its predecessors was the removal of the headphone jack, along with the inclusion of beefier specifications, a dual-camera setup in the 7 Plus and a water resistant design to boot. Not bad for a flagship from Apple’s arsenal, we think.
IDC’s report for wearables in Q1 2016 is just in, wearable shipment are up 67%! It is a really interesting quarter for wearables with the Apple Watch expanding worldwide. The total shipments this quarter are at 19.7 million from 11.8 million in Q1 last year. In summary, it looks like Fitbit is still winning the fitness tracker market whereas Apple is dominating the smartwatch market. Xiaomi is still on no. 2 with its cheap fitness trackers.
Technology has pervaded all spheres of life. Education, design and even sports – all are getting their share of improvement owing to the inclusion of technological advancements and digitisation in the sectors. Healthcare too, has been one of the sectors which has seen a plethora of improvements owing to the incorporation of technological fundamentals within.


text:
Delhi Development Authority has provided a major relief to 50 thousand shop owners in Delhi. It dropped conversion charges in 100 top markets and relaxed norms for household industrial units in residential areas.
The civic body, in a meeting chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal yesterday, also approved converting 81 rural villages into urban villages and raising limit of amalgamation of land plots from earlier 64 square metres to 200 square metres.
In a tweet, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar termed the decison to abolish conversion charges as a huge relief for over 50 thousand shop owners. He said these shop owners can now work honestly without fear or favour.