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PayPal has entered the cryptocurrency market, announcing that its customers will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and other virtual currencies using their PayPal accounts.
Those virtual coins could then be used to buy things from the 26 million sellers which accept PayPal, it said.
PayPal plans to roll out buying options in the US over the next few weeks, with the full rollout due early next year.
Bitcoin prices rose alongside the news, breaking the $12,000 (£9,170) mark.
The other cryptocurrencies to be added first will be Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash (a spin-off from Bitcoin).
All could be stored “directly within the PayPal digital wallet”, the company said.
Other payment firms, such as Square’s Cash app and Revolut, have already offered cryptocurrencies for sale. But PayPal has one of the largest merchant networks in the world.
When it comes to using the virtual coins, PayPal will convert the cryptocurrency into the relevant national currency, so the company being paid will never receive the virtual coins – just the correct amount of pounds or dollars.
PayPal said the system meant there would be “certainty of value and no incremental fees”.
But using Bitcoin to pay at ordinary merchants is not due to launch until “early 2021”.


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Microsoft Corp has been ordered by a Chinese court to stop selling versions of its Windows operating systems that include fonts designed by a local company, citing a violation of licensing agreements.
The ruling, issued by Beijing's No. 1 Intermediate People's Court on Monday, is a blow for Microsoft as it seeks to expand its market share in China where it already faces problems of rampant software piracy.
In its ruling, the court said Microsoft violated the scope of licensing agreements between it and a Chinese technology company, Zhongyi Electronic, which designs Chinese character fonts.
Microsoft will have to stop selling the Chinese versions of its Windows 98, 2000, 2003 and Windows XP, according to the court. It is unclear when the ruling will take effect or how many copies are affected.
Microsoft said it will appeal the ruling.
Microsoft respects intellectual property rights. We use third party IPs only when we have a legitimate right to do so, the firm said in a statement.
Zhongyi Electronic said in a statement on its website that the agreements signed only permitted Microsoft to use its intellectual property in Windows 95, but that the U.S. tech giant used it in subsequent versions of its Chinese Windows operating systems.
China has long been the target of foreign firms seeking to protect their intellectual property, but roles are fast reversing as Chinese firms mature and become more aggressive in protecting their own designs.
By winning this case against an internationally well-known company like Microsoft, it shows that China, although still a developing country, is taking positive steps to protect intellectual property rights, said Ling Xin Yu, the lawyer for Zhongyi told Reuters.
Indeed, more litigation by Chinese companies is likely, according to Michael Vella, head of China litigation and intellectual property rights at Morrison & Foerster LLP.
(Chinese firms) are going to think of China as a place to have their own litigation strategy, I think that's a trend that's coming, said Vella.
We saw it in Taiwan -- at first, Taiwanese companies were always on the defensive, and in recent years we have seen them initiating litigation.
(Reporting by Melanie Lee, editing by Don Durfee and Ian Geoghegan)

domain: news


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Psst! Wanna Buy an iPhone?
Want to buy an iPhone in Beijing? Liu Yong is your man. Apple's (AAPL) hugely popular mobile device isn't legally available in China. Yet at Liu's electronics shop near the capital's premier universities, you can buy one for $680. Never mind that Apple hasn't authorized any Chinese cellular operator to offer the iPhone. Liu's iPhones have been hacked so they can be used locally, and inputting Chinese characters on its touch screen is a cinch.
There still is one big problem—that is, if the phone happens to break. "If there's a software problem, we can fix it for you," says Liu. "But if it drops and breaks, then you're out of luck." The handsets Liu sells were purchased abroad and then smuggled into the mainland. Other dealers market iPhone clones that were illegally made in China. Consumers who crave the comfort of warranties may have to bide their time until Apple inaugurates its first China store in time for the Beijing Olympics next summer.
For many Chinese, though, that's simply too long a wait. More than 160 million are now plugged into the Internet, which has helped stoke iPhone mania on the mainland. For status-conscious urbanites who regularly upgrade their phones, this is the must-have gadget. "The iPhone is considered by many Chinese to be the best phone out there," says Shaun Rein, marketing manager at China Market Research Group in Shanghai.
Strangely, Steve Jobs & Co. seem to be in no rush to leverage the iPhone's popularity in what is the world's biggest cellular market, with 528 million mobile users. The multimedia handset premiered in the U.S. in June and went on sale in Britain, Germany, and France last month. Apple plans to open a store in Beijing in mid-2008. And rumors are flying in Chinese tech and telecom circles that Apple is in talks with the country's No. 1 cellular operator, China Mobile. Neither of the companies would confirm that they are in negotiations over the iPhone.
If a deal is indeed in the works, count on China Mobile to drive a hard bargain when it comes to profit- sharing. China Mobile is the world's largest cellular carrier, with 369 million subscribers, equal to a 70% market share of the mainland. "There is no need for it to make the kind of deal that American and European operators have been making," says Dave Carini, an analyst with the Beijing-based research firm Maverick China.


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Few businesses will risk a ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ attitude unless, say, they are part of the power conditioning industry in India. In that case, their boldness is justified: They have unending demand in sight.
There is a growing need for power conditioners (devices that improve the quality of power) and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems because of outages as well as the low quality of power across the country. In both residential and commercial sectors, people are getting accustomed to the comforts of elevators and air conditioners or are investing in technologies that call for high-quality, uninterrupted power. This cycle promises to keep demand up even if India does manage to solve its power shortage problems in the coming years.
As Sriram Ramakrishnan, CEO of Consul Consolidated, likes to point out, total power outage in the US is just three minutes in a year and, yet, it is one of the largest markets for UPS. “This outage doesn’t take place in a stretch. There are 30-40 interruptions that add up to three minutes. But people want uninterrupted power supply. That kind of tells you something about this business,” he says. The People Behind It Consul was founded by N Ramesh Sankaran, KN Raja, K Sunder and NP Krishnan back in 1981. The four promoters had built a strong sales and services network across the country, a reputation among its industrial clients.
When Peepul Capital Advisors took a majority stake in Consul in 2012, it zeroed in on Sriram. “When we picked up a stake in Consul, it already had great people, a good reputation as well as a solid sales and service network,” says Venkat Shankar, investment director at Peepul. “What we wanted to do was scale it up.”
He adds, “In Sriram, we saw a happy convergence of the right kind of skill sets in terms of technology, strategy and business development.”
Sriram is an electrical engineer by training and profession. After getting his bachelor’s degree from India, he went to the US to study for a master’s in power electronics. He was subsequently hired by GE where he developed power products for medical imaging systems, aircraft and so on. He was also a part of the team that launched the company’s UPS business; he was, in fact, involved in the presentation of the plan to CEO Jack Welch. He only moved out in 2003 when he followed his boss, Ed Komoski, to Powerware, which was later acquired by Eaton Corporation Inc, a power management major. There, he built the data solutions business from scratch and took it to $120 million in three years.
After 15 years in the US, he moved to India in 2008, joining the Chennai-based Sanmar Group to run its industrial valves business; he helped capture 20 percent of the market share in the first two years.
Why It Is A Gem When Sriram joined Consul last year, his mandate was to grow the business five-fold, to Rs 500 crore, in five years. During the last several months, Sriram has been setting up the growth process.
Earlier this year, Consul acquired a majority stake in Pune-based Megatech, a UPS, inverter and solar power product manufacturer, a move that helped expand its product portfolio. In a relationship-driven business, a wider range of products means more cross-selling opportunities. Therefore, while it has largely catered to industrial customers so far, Consul is now expanding to the retail and residential segments. Its traditional markets are booming too. For example, as clinics invest in high-end medical equipment (there is mounting demand for refurbished equipment in India today), they also purchase power conditioning equipment (to manage voltage, for one).
Sriram, who himself holds four patents, has also stepped up research and development in order to customise products for Indian conditions.
Why It Was Hidden Till the investment by Peepul Capital Advisors, Consul was a typical, low-key, promoter-driven South Indian business. Since it primarily dealt with industrial customers, the brand was built more through relationships and service than through marketing. It was, of course, privately held.
The quiet approach is expected to change now.
Risks and challenges An IPO is not even on their minds yet, says Shankar. “The main focus now is to scale the business up to over Rs 500 crore.” But while the power conditioning sector has the potential to grow irrespective of the quality and quantum of power supply (as the demand in the US indicates), the business is too dependent on the robustness of the capital goods sector. A dip in demand there greatly affects the power conditioning product industry.
Consul is trying to spread its risk by looking at the retail and residential markets but those require a significantly different mindset. It means getting into a consumer-facing business and it is unclear how the company will fare in this new ball game. But, as Sriram says, “We can achieve our sales target with just the B2B business but we have this huge opportunity staring at us. And we cannot ignore it.”


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Created by "the Bureau" agency in 2013, the Digital Women’s Day (JFD) has been honoring and connecting women who are working to revolutionize the world through digital technology.
JFD aims to inspire and encourage women to reveal themselves and innovate. Each year the Margaret prize celebrates women who innovate for a better world.
Karen Vernet, E-Commerce Printemps.com development Director, is awarded the Margaret Intrapreneur Europe 2020 prize by the Digital Women's Day organization for the committed vision of Luxury Fashion-Creators resolutely inclusive,
exclusive and caring of the new website.


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IDH has rebranded as Mydentist
Integrated Dental Holdings, one of the largest dental corporates in Europe, has officially rebranded itself as Mydentist.
More than 204 practices around the UK have already been rebranded and another 500 practices are due to be rebranded this year.
‘The new brand is about more than a name, it’s about what we do every day in bringing the brand to life, demonstrating our values and our personality through our people,’ Annette Spindler, chief operating officer at Mydentist, said.
‘Mydentist has been built on our brand values of being trusted, honest, warm and welcoming, understanding, loyal and innovative.
‘We want to use these values to set new standards in the dental industry and deliver an excellent experience to our customers.
‘In the past five years, we’ve grown from 285 practices to 655.
‘And since May 2013 over 6,600 clinicians, nurses and staff have attended training sessions organised by our dental academy.
‘We’re committed to delivering world-class service to our patients and world-class training to our people.’
The new Mydentist website is accessible at www.mydentist.co.uk.


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Originally posted on pcworld.
But it’s not that bad—the app will be used as a dashboard for how well your PC is doing.
Microsoft said last week that it will soon begin pushing its controversial PC Health Check app to all PCs, partly to prepare them for the Windows 11 transition, but also to provide users with a dashboard to monitor the ongoing health of their devices.
The update, officially known as KB5005463 , will install PC Health Check on all Windows 10 devices via Windows Update—but, interestingly, not on devices that have already upgraded to Windows 11. (The update’s existence was previously reported by ONMSFT.com.) Microsoft does say, however, that PC Health Check can also be uninstalled after it downloads, via the Windows 10 Settings menu (Apps > Apps & Features > App list (Windows PC Health Check) > Uninstall).
It’s understandable if your first instinct is to remove PC Health Check, since that was one of the focal points of Microsoft’s heavily-scrutinized TPM requirement for Windows 11. PC Health Check was originally designed to provide a “pass/fail” recommendation for your PC, letting you know if it would be upgradable to Windows 11. Microsoft then went back and forth on its hardware requirements for Windows 11, eventually landing on a compromise that PCs without the “supported” hardware required by PC Health Check would be able to upgrade to Windows 11, but without updates. Well, some updates—anecdotal reports say some unsupported PCs are receiving Windows 11 updates, but they’re not guaranteed.
All of the confusion helped lead to our conclusion that you shouldn’t upgrade to Windows 11 for now. But Microsoft hopes that the added value offered by the other features of PC Health Check will inspire you to leave it alone for now. The company has published a list of features that PC Health Check will provide:
Windows 11 eligibility: Provides a comprehensive eligibility check based on the minimum system requirements for Windows 11.
Backup and sync: Sign in or create a Microsoft account to sync device preferences across devices and set up Microsoft OneDrive to protect your files.
Windows Update: Keep your device secure by always running the latest version of Windows 10.
Battery capacity: View the battery capacity relative to the original for devices that use a single or multiple batteries.
Storage capacity: View the storage usage for the main drive that contains files, apps, and Windows.
Startup time: Manage startup programs to improve startup time.
Tips on PC health: Provides additional tips to improve overall PC health and performance.
Most of these capabilities aren’t new; they’re simply found elsewhere in the operating system, usually within the Settings menu. All Microsoft is doing is pulling them out and organizing them into a specific dashboard. Will Microsoft push PC Health Check as a way to push people to Windows 11? It certainly appears so. But for now, Microsoft is trying to sweeten the deal with additional features.


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PHOENIX, Oct 5 (Xinhua) -- A federal jury in California on Monday ruled that Tesla had subjected former black employee Owen Middot Diaz to racially hostile work conditions and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent racial harassment, ordering the company to pay Diaz nearly $137 million in damages.
Diaz worked as an elevator operator at Tesla from June 2015 to May 2016. He claims in the complaint that he encountered racist abuse, discrimination and harassment at Tesla's Fremont, California, plant, including everyday racist modifiers such as. Diaz said in the lawsuit that the workers encountered scenes "directly from the Jim-Middot;Crow era." From 1876 to 1965, the United States introduced the Jim Middot; In those days, workers were often racially harassed, but the supervisors were indifferent.
"Tesla's progressive image is a layer of façade that masks its regressive and degrading treatment of African-American employees." The lawsuit says.
Lawrence A. Organ, a lawyer with the California Civil Rights Law Group, an employment law firm, confirmed the ruling Monday. Of the $137 million in damages, $6.9 million was for emotional depression and another $130 million for punitive damages, he said.
Tesla is likely to appeal. Tracey Kennedy, a Tesla lawyer from the law firm Shengzhi, has yet to comment. Tesla has yet to comment. (Author/Yu Yu)
For more first-hand news, download Phoenix News Client subscription to Phoenix Network Technology. For in-depth coverage, please search for "Phoenix Technology" (iFeng Technology).


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Nissan took the wraps off its revised 2019 Murano crossover in Los Angeles on Wednesday, showcasing a redesigned fascia that leans heavily on the brand’s “V-Motion” aesthetic and making its Safety Shield 360 technology suite available in certain grades.
The two-row CUV aimed squarely at the empty nester set keeps the third-generation label, which debuted for the 2015 model year. Like the new 2019 Maxima sedan, which also got a debut in L.A., the Murano gets a more pronounced front grille and redesigned LED headlights and taillights, LED fog lamps and new wheels — in this case, 18- or 20-inch aluminum-alloy designs. It’ll come with three new color choices when it goes on sale next month: Mocha Almond Pearl, Deep Blue Pearl and something called Sunset Drift Chromaflair. It keeps the 260-horsepower 3.5-liter V6.
There are some new interior upgrades available as well,
... read more at: https://www.autoblog.com/2018/11/28/2019-nissan-murano-la-auto-show/


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The issue opens on March 26, 2019 and is set to close on March 28,2019
Ahmedabad, 20th March, 2019: Aiming to strengthen its presence in Gujarat, Osia Hyper Retail Limited, a company engaged in organized retail through its Hypermarket brand – Osia Hypermart, is all set to launch its maiden Initial Public Offering (IPO). The IPO will comprise of 15,78,400 equity shares with a face value of Rs 10 each, which would be offered at a fixed price of Rs 252 per share. The IPO would be listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE)’s Emerge platform.
The issue is set to open for subscription on March 26, 2019 while it would close on March 28, 2019. The company has decided upon a minimum lot size of 400 shares. For High Networth Individuals (HNIs), the bid lot would be of 800 shares and in multiples of 400 shares thereon.The issue will constitute 26.52% of the post-issue paid-up equity-share capital of the company.
Osia Hyper Retail Limited, a six-year-old company, which is headquartered in Ahmedabad, aims to expand stores network, in other Tier III & IV cities across Gujarat in addition to addressing working capital requirements through their maiden public offering.
After getting incorporated in 2013, the company launched its first store in Ahmedabad in 2014. Over the years, it has expanded its footprint across Gujarat and as on date, its retail business is spread across 11 stores located in Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Gandhidham and Dehgam, apart from Ahmedabad.
Mr. Dhirendra Chopra, Managing Director, Osia Hyper Retail Limited, said, “ “We have successfully catered to the varying and diverse requirements of our customers by providing them with an array of products across different categories including apparels, accessories, FMCG, handicrafts and handloom, beauty and personal care products and even kitchen essentials and home décor products – all under one roof.”
The revenue of the company over the last five years increased at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 66.99%.
Commenting upon the company’s future plans, Mr Chopra said, “Through this IPO, we aim to upgrade our existing stores by procuring fit outs including mechanical, electrical, furniture and fixture, among various others. This will only add to the enhanced customer experience that is provided to each of our customers at our 11 stores but would also be addressing general working capital requirements through the sum raised through the IPO.”
“Going forward, we also plan to expand our operations and widen our distribution network in other parts of Gujarat. At the same time, we also intend to enhance our position in the retail hypermarket business in Ahmedabad by increasing our market penetration,” he added.
Ahmedabad-based Merchant Banker, Monarch Networth Capital Ltd, is the lead manager of this public issue.
For more information, please contact;
Mr. Dhirendra Gautam Chopra
Osia Hyper Retail Limited
Mobile: – 99250 28639


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It didn’t take Cisco long to slap Apple with a lawsuit over the use of the iPhone name, but Apple is not worried about the suit and believes it will win if taken to court.
“We think Cisco’s trademark lawsuit is silly,” Natalie Kerris, Apple’s Director of music public relations, told Macworld. “There are already several companies using the name iPhone for VOIP products, and we believe that Cisco’s U.S. trademark registration is tenuous at best.
The name iPhone is a registered trademark of Linksys, a division of Cisco. Apple and Cisco have reportedly been in negotiations for about two years over Apple’s desire to license the iPhone trademark, said Cisco spokesman John Noh. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone Tuesday at Expo, Cisco had not yet received a signed trademark licensing agreement from Apple, even though the two companies had been negotiating terms as recently as Monday night.
“We are the first company to ever use the iPhone name for a cell phone, and if Cisco wants to challenge us on it we are very confident we will prevail,” said Kerris.


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This December 2021 marked a strong end to an incredible year for the cellular agriculture field. Compared to conventional animal agriculture, cellular agriculture offers an alternative and more sustainable way to produce animal products directly from cell cultures. As a result, cellular agriculture can make a wide range of animal-derived products from meat to dairy.
With milestones throughout the year, 2021 will be remembered as an important building year for the field. From a new regulatory approval to technical scaling breakthroughs, the cellular agriculture field grew closer to becoming part of our future food system. This December also featured the largest cell-based meat funding round to date.
Future Meat Technologies announced the company raised an enormous $347 million in Series B funding to scale the production of its cell-based meat. Based in Israel, Future Meat Technologies uses its proprietary platform to produce a range of cell-based meats, including chicken and lamb.
The largest funding round to date for a cell-based meat company, Future Meat’s Series B round was co-led by ADM Ventures and an unnamed global tech investor. The funding round also featured an investment from meat corporate Tyson Foods.
The funding round brings Future Meat’s total funding to just under $390 million, the most disclosed funding to date by a cell-based meat company. Future Meat previously raised $21.75 million in February 2021, and, in October 2019, the company raised $14 million in its Series A funding round.
After launching its pilot plant in June 2021, Future Meat Technologies plans to use the funding round to build a larger cell-based production facility in the United States. According to the company, Future Meat aims to produce a 13,000 gallon (approx. 59,000 liters) production facility and is exploring both Boston and Minneapolis for the facility location. Pending regulatory approval, Future Meat aims to launch its first product in the US in 2022.
Along with the funding announcement, Future Meat shared that the company further reduced the cost of its cultured chicken breast to $1.70 per 110-gram chicken breast and almost a pound of its cultured chicken for $7.70 per pound. Earlier in May 2021, Future Meat shared the cost of its cultured chicken breast was $4 per 110 grams and, in February 2021, the price of a quarter-pound of its chicken was $7.50.
The Every Company raised a massive $175 million in Series C funding to scale the production of its animal-free egg proteins.
Formerly known as Clara Foods, The Every Company is a startup that uses cellular agriculture to produce animal-free proteins, specifically egg proteins. By designing yeast to make the same proteins found in an egg from a chicken, The Every Company aims to produce the same egg white. Without requiring the chicken.
The Every Company’s funding round was co-led by Rage Capital and investment firm McWin. The funding round also featured investments from Temasek, Grosvenor’s Wheatsheaf Group, TO Ventures, and Prosus Ventures.
According to the announcement, the new funding round brings The Every Company’s total funding to $233 million. After Perfect Day, The Every Company is the second cellular agriculture food company to raise a Series C funding round. The Every Company previously raised its Series B funding round in April 2019.
The funding round marks a solid end to an incredible year for The Every Company. In March 2021, the company launched its first commercial product: an animal-free pepsin protein. Traditionally sourced from animals like pigs, pepsin is a digestive enzyme commonly used as a processing aid for various products, including food, beverages, and dietary supplements.
In October, along with rebranding from Clara Foods to The Every Company, the company announced the launch of its next product: ClearEgg. According to the company, Clear Egg is a highly soluble and nearly tasteless protein that can be used to increase the protein content of various foods and beverages. The Every Company partnered with plant-based snack company Pressed to launch ClearEgg in a new Pressed juice smoothie in November.
Moving forward, The Every Company plans to use the new funding round to scale its production platform and commercialize its cell-cultured proteins into a range of new food applications. In April 2021, The Every Company partnered with global beer brewing company AB InBev through its venture and innovation arm ZX Ventures to scale production of its animal-free egg proteins using AB InBev’s expertise in fermentation at scale.
For cell-based meat production to reach a commercial scale, the field will need to develop large-scale bioreactors that do not yet exist. To help address the challenge, new startup Ark Biotech recently raised $2.5 million to develop bioreactors specifically for cell-based meat production.
The company is currently putting together a team to develop the infrastructure and software for the systems. Ark Biotech’s funding round included investments from Primary Venture Partners, who previously invested in cell-cultured human breast milk startup Helaina, and HCVC.
One year after receiving the historic first regulatory approval for cell-cultured chicken, Good Meat announced the Eat Just subsidiary received regulatory approval in Singapore to sell new types of its cell-cultured chicken products in Singapore.
One of the new products, a cell-cultured chicken breast, was presented at the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach in mid-December to a group of young people. Previously, Good Meat received regulatory approval for only its cell-cultured chicken bites. Good Meat also shared plans to launch its cell-cultured chicken at some of Singapore’s famed hawker centers in 2022, one of which will be Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice.
Along with the new product approval, Good Meat shared the company is working to increase the capacity of its production facility to enable large-scale production in Singapore. Good Meat aims to have all the equipment installed and operational in two years.
Good Meat also announced chef Jose Andres will join the company’s Board of Directors. A renowned chef that regulates more than 30 restaurants in the US, Andres pledged to serve cell-cultured chicken at one of his restaurants in the US following regulatory approval in the country.
Motif FoodWorks announced its new animal-free protein, myoglobin, has received regulatory approval and is now commercially available for large-scale distribution. Branding the product as HEMAMI, Motif’s myoglobin product aims to mimic the flavors of cooked ground meat in fresh and frozen plant-based burgers, patties, and sausages.
In addition to the flavor component, Motif FoodWorks also had to submit a color addition petition due to the protein’s red color. Motif FoodWorks first submitted a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) notification for its new myoglobin protein in September 2021.
According to the company, Motif’s animal-free protein can be labeled ‘myoglobin’ or ‘natural’ flavor on the packaging. The company also stated that the protein would trigger a bioengineered food label due to native proteins found in the host microorganism found in the myoglobin preparation.
South Korean cell-based meat startup CellMeat showcased the first cell-cultured Dokdo shrimp prototype. After sharing that the company removed fetal bovine serum (FBS) from its cell culture media formulation earlier in December, the cell-cultured Dokdo shrimp prototype was created using the animal-free media formulation. According to CellMeat, its serum-free cell culture media can grow cells faster than currently available serum-free media or formulations containing FBS.
Following the successful prototype, CellMeat aims to develop other cell-cultured seafood prototypes, including lobster and king crab meat. The company will also scale its production platform for its cell-cultured shrimp to be more cost-effective. In February 2021, CellMeat raised approximately $4.5 million in pre-Series A funding to produce its cell-based meat and seafood.
Cell-based meat company Upside Foods announced the development of a cell culture media formulation that is ‘Animal Component Free’ (ACF). Calling its cell culture media formulation the ‘cell feed,’ developing an inexpensive and animal-free cell culture media is a key cost and scaling hurdle for the field.
To demonstrate the versatility of its ACF media, Upside Foods used it to produce prototypes of two popular food items: cell-cultured chicken nuggets and hot dogs (chicken). While initially showing that the ACF cell feed works well to produce chicken products, Upside Foods is now integrating the cell culture media across its broader product portfolio. In November, Upside Foods announced the opening of their new cell-based meat facility in California.
At the same time Upside Foods announced its ACF media formula, reports emerged about the context and timing through which Upside Foods co-founder Nicholas Genovese left the company. According to the reports, Genovese and his team “achieved a significant scientific breakthrough: a novel cell-culture device that could produce lab-grown animal cells better than anything else Upside [Foods] had achieved before” before his departure. The company also filed a lawsuit over intellectual property over the technology platform with a former employee of Genovese’s team.
Cell-based meat startup Aleph Farms announced a partnership with German company Wacker to provide the startup with food-grade growth medium proteins for its cell culture media formulation. Having worked with Wacker to co-create streamlined processes to manufacture the essential growth medium proteins, Aleph Farms shared its partnership with Wacker is non-exclusive. The non-exclusivity of the partnership means that other cell-based meat startups can license the growth medium proteins to produce cell-based meat.
Developing an inexpensive and animal-free cell culture media is a key cost and scaling hurdle for the field, and it is promising to see Aleph Farms make its partnership with Wacker non-exclusive to help scale up the broader cell-based meat ecosystem. In July, Aleph Farms raised $105 million in Series B funding to scale its cell-based steak technology platform.
Cell-cultured seafood startup Wildtype announced that the startup signed distribution agreements with grocery store sushi bar operator Snowfox and the restaurant chain Pokeworks.
Once the company scales production, the partnerships pave the way for consumers to taste Wildtype’s cell-cultured salmon. When first coming to market, Wildtype shared its cell-cultured salmon will be first available in fine dining restaurants at a smaller scale. However, considering there is no regulatory approval yet in the US, it is unclear when the items will be available. In June 2021, Wildtype set up the first operational cell-based seafood pilot plant.
Beyond the food safety aspects of regulation, labeling has been one of the significant points of contention for cellular agriculture meat companies in the US. From livestock associations to nonprofits and cellular agriculture companies, a wide range of different stakeholders submitted comments to the US Department of Agriculture in response to its advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR).
While some groups argued that it is still too early to objectively verify some of the contentious labeling questions, such as equivalency with conventional meat, the cellular agriculture field shared various perspectives on the labeling question.
Within the cellular agriculture field, Upside Foods stated its preferred term is cultivated meat. In addition, following its market research, seafood company BlueNalu said its preferred term is cell-cultured seafood. The regulatory coalition AMPS Innovation acknowledged that its members had different viewpoints on how cellular agriculture meat and seafood products should be labeled.
US-based nonprofits, the Good Food Institute (GFI) and New Harvest, also highlighted key considerations into future labeling requirements with their comments. While GFI advocated that specific negative labeling terms should not be used to describe cell-cultured meat, New Harvest emphasized that there should be a required qualifier term for cell-cultured meat products to help consumers distinguish and recognize them.
Regulatory coalition AMPS Innovation first recommended conducting an ANPR in October 2020 to get more information and supporting data before deciding the labeling rules for cell-cultured meat.
Following its first regulatory white paper in September 2020, Cellular Agriculture Canada recently published a follow-on report featuring insights from Canadian regulators and experts on how cell-cultured meat would be regulated under the current novel foods pathway in the country.
Government regulation has been a major question moving forward for the field, and it is promising to see Canadian regulators proactively explore how regulation would look like in the country. Cellular Agriculture Canada previously published a white paper outlining initial steps of how a cell-cultured meat food product could be regulated under the current novel foods pathway in the country.
Disclosure: Ahmed is a co-founder of Cellular Agriculture Canada and contributed to Cellular Agriculture Canada’s regulatory white paper and supplement report.
With two of the largest funding rounds to date and new scaling breakthroughs, December marked a strong end to the year 2021 for cellular agriculture. After 2020 ended with the first regulatory approval for Eat Just in Singapore, the field came full circle to see Eat Just receive regulatory support for its following cultured chicken product in the country.
While no other cell-based meat company received regulatory approval in 2021, many different milestones were achieved throughout the year to show how cellular agriculture continued to grow.
With new product partnerships and launches by both Perfect Day and The Every Company in November 2021, Motif FoodWork’s regulatory approval indicates that there will be more acellular agriculture food product launches in the new year.
Future Meat’s strong end to the year epitomizes how 2021 has been an incredible year for the cellular agriculture field. From a record investment round to scaling milestones, the field continued to march forward to become part of the future of food.
Future Meat’s funding round also marks another historic milestone for the field. After the field reached the $2 billion total funding milestone over the summer, the cellular agriculture investment landscape has now reached $3 billion in total funding. With just under $2 billion raised in 2021 alone, this has been a momentous year for the field.
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No large sign out front. No sign of baristas. Foggy weather and fogginess in general at Starbucks on Thursday morning outside of the Riverwood Subdivision in Evans. Many cars patiently waited in line one by one and when they didn’t hear a response to their orders they drove up to the drive-thru window.
There, they saw a small sign apologizing that the store and drive-thru were closed.
Some headed a short ways away in the parking lot to the Rooted Coffee house where employees were busy taking orders at the drive-thru and in store and delivering food and specialty drinks to their patio.
Nearby McDonald’s was also open with no mask policy.
Earlier this week, the Chick-Fil-A operator Jason Adams from the Mullins Crossing store produced a video to inform the community that the restaurant was going back to drive-thru service only until further notice—and—closing time will now be 9 P.M. each evening, Monday-Thursday, with regular drive-thru hours on Friday and Saturday.
“Over the summer we had the help of our high school and returning college students throughout the day”. Thankfully they’ve been able to return back to school, said Adams. Our entire staff has been working extremely hard and many of them are working 50-60 hours per week in order to maintain the high level of service you have come to expect from us.
Covid and especially the Delta Variant, has caused us unexpected problems. It affects our suppliers and manufacturers and we have been dealing with shortages and allocations of many of our products,” Adams added.
Here is Adams 1 minute 51 second video in its entirety.


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posted better-than-expected third-quarter financial results, including an unexpected profit. But the company continues to see the effect on its business of restaurants’ and retailers’ struggle to emerge from the pandemic period.
For the quarter, the local business-recommendation website posted revenue of $269 million, up 22% from a year ago, ahead of both the company’s guidance range of $255 million to $265 million and the Street consensus of $261.8 million.
Yelp (ticker: YELP) earned $18 million in the quarter, or 23 cents a share, while the Street had projected a loss of a penny a share. Adjusted Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, was $71 million, up 34% from a year ago, and well ahead of both the guidance range of $45 million to $55 million, and the Wall Street consensus at $51 million.
“In the third quarter, our teams continued to make progress on our strategic initiatives through an elevated pace of product innovation,” Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said in a statement. “Net revenue matched our best quarterly performance ever,” he said.
For the fourth quarter, guidance was mixed relative to what analysts had expected—a scenario that CFO David Schwarzbach said in an interview was linked to how the pandemic is affecting consumers’ desire to go out, and supply-chain problems hitting both restaurants and retailers. Yelp is projecting revenue of $265 million to $275 million, with adjusted Ebitda in the $55 million to $65 million range. Street estimates call for $275 million in revenue and $51 million in adjusted Ebitda.
Yelp now sees full-year revenue of $1.02 billion to $1.03 billion, narrowing from a previous forecast of $1.01 billion to $1.03 billion. Yelp‘s revised full-year adjusted Ebitda guidance calls for $233 million to $243 million, up from a previous forecast of $200 million to $220 million.
Yelp had record revenue from services advertising in the quarter, while revenue from restaurants and retail remains below prepandemic levels, though it is growing. Services-related advertising was up 18% from a year ago, while ads from “restaurants, retail and other” were up 28% from a year ago and 8% higher sequentially, but still below 2019 levels.
Yelp said the number of paying advertising locations rose 7,000 in the quarter to 535,000, but that the spread of the Covid Delta variant and ongoing labor and supply-chain issues “slowed the pace of the recovery across the course of the quarter.” The company noted that the number of paying locations decreased slightly in August and September from July.
Yelp also said it shifted its San Francisco office to a smaller space in the quarter to reflect expectations that a significant portion of its workforce will work remotely on a full-time basis; Yelp said that should boost adjusted Ebitda by $15 million to $17 million a year.
Yelp’s CFO, Schwarzbach, told Barron’s that “the hard work on transforming the business, in particular on product and engineering, has continued to pay off,” with financial results ahead of guidance. He said the surprise profit reflects both higher revenue and tighter expense management.
Asked about the mixed outlook, Schwarzbach said that “we have seen over and over during Covid, that people go out when they’re confident, and when they’re less confident, they go out less.” He notes that the Delta valiant continues to have an impact on its business. Also affecting the outlook, he says, are restaurants struggling to find enough workers, and retailers with supply issues. The point is that business that don’t have enough goods to sell don’t have as much need to advertise.
Yelp in Thursday’s regular session was up 1.2%, to $39.91.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]


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A new Expedia.com Facebook app that lets users transform their travel pictures into moving video.
PlayGearz launches a new gaming platform where players can create their own mobile games content.
Manga artist Hirohiko Araki has designed Gucci’s new windows, which launched worldwide yesterday, Jan. 3.
New Twitter tool is designed to make it easier for all to review all their activity on trend-setting messaging service.
Facebook and Twitter hold promise in the fight against childhood obesity, according to the American Heart Association.
Onetest found that only four percent of respondents listed Twitter as their preferred social media channel.
The model provides many with a welcome alternative to struggling to obtain traditional funds, like grants.
WebCongress, Spain’s cutting edge event in terms of digital marketing is going to Miami.
Businesses and brands can have a huge influential power by focusing on their target audiences all on Facebook.
MobiPixie can convert mobile phone photos to customized greeting cards, including printing and mailing.
63 percent of online consumers have a Facebook account, while only 15 percent have a Pinterest account.
Zindigo's formula for leveraging social commerce connects fashion brands and consumers via social networks.
Members will participate in methods of team exposure, and will have access to an arsenal of publicity opportunities.
Instead of filling out a long application the landlord probably won’t read, applicants create a short profile on Cozy.
Using Rdio, artists can easily share their own music and their music recommendations with fans.
HipHopBistro aggregates all news, videos and trends on artists into a single convenient space.
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NEW YORK — Buying out Barnes & Noble would give its much smaller rival, Borders Group, a bigger and firmer stake in the digital world, but some analysts said combining the two largest companies in the shrinking realm of traditional book selling could hurt both — perhaps irreparably.
Activist investor William Ackman and his investment firm announced in a regulatory filing Monday that they had offered to finance a $963 million bid by Borders for Barnes & Noble.
Under the deal, Pershing Square Capital Management would sponsor a bid by Borders of $16 a share for more than 60 million outstanding Barnes & Noble shares.
Both booksellers face increasingly tough competition from much bigger merchants online and in stores, including Amazon.com, Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores. And both have said they are relying for growth on electronic books and readers, a still-small arena where another giant, Google, launched its own bookstore Monday.
Barnes & Noble, which is based in New York, debuted its reader, the Nook, last year and has invested heavily in its electronic bookstore, while Borders sells readers and e-books on a smaller scale through a partnership with Kobo.
The financing from Ackman, who owns 37 percent of Borders' outstanding shares, would let Borders make a "quantum leap" in the e-book space, Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom said.
Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis said the company, which is based in Ann Arbor, Mich., welcomes Ackman's "participation."
Barnes & Noble had no comment.
A combination could save the companies money through consolidation. But Simba Information analyst Michael Norris said combing would be a distraction to the companies in the short term and wouldn't help them with the larger challenges traditional book sellers face.
" (They) would spend a year thinking about what overlapping stores to close, and at least another year combining systems and operations while trying to hang on to talent with both hands," he said. "While that's going on, rivals like Amazon, Apple and Google will just be steaming ahead unimpeded."
Census data show sales at physical bookstores have hovered around $17 billion since 2005 and edged down less than 2 percent to $16.91 billion in 2008, the last year data for which is available.
Electronic books are expected to generate nearly $1 billion in U.S. sales this year and $1.7 billion by 2012 as more people buy readers and use tablets and other computers to read e-books, according to Forrester Research. But analysts said the price still might not be enough for the leaders and shareholders of a company that just won a bitter battle against billionaire investor's Ron Burkle's effort to increase his 19 percent stake in the company.
"In addition, we think a merger of the two bookstores would be unappealing to Barnes & Noble, which holds a digital advantage over Borders," Standard & Poor's analyst Michael Souers said in a note.


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JUL 27, 2021
The Delphi Podcast Host and GP of Delphi Ventures Tom Shaughnessy sits down with Jimmy McNelis, Co-founder and CEO at nft42, the company that built Nameless, a platform empowering brands and creators to launch professional, custom NFT projects in a completely visual way with zero code. The two discuss other NFT platforms, partner networks, traditional brands and NFT experiences, and more.
Every Delphi Podcast is dropped first as a video interview for Delphi Digital Subscribers. Our members also have access to full interview transcripts. Join today to gain exclusive early access to every new interview before it’s published.


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Samsung to take Galaxy M smartphones offline
Galaxy M has been an online exclusive smartphone series, but Samsung has decided to take it offline as well, heeding to demand from offline retail lobbies for smartphone makers to curb launch of online exclusive models and offers since these hurt their business.
Xiaomi reports record sales in offline trade
The company’s overall offline business grew by 70 per cent during this year festive season as co...
Apple tops India premium segment with 51.3% share in Q3: IDC
Maintaining its growth trajectory in the highly-congested premium smartphone seg...
Samsung Galaxy Fold review: Fragile, but a total head-turner
It's a novel, innovative concept and more of a collector’s item.
Samsung Electronics third-quarter net profit slumps 52%
"Earnings from the memory business slumped significantly year-on-year as memory chip prices continued its downward trend," the company said. Samsung also faces challenges from the US-China trade war and tough export restrictions imposed by Tokyo on key supplies as part of a dispute with Seoul over wartime forced labour.
OnePlus ‘ahead’ of target, hopes to make it big offline
Vikas Agarwal, general manager at OnePlus India, said the next phase of growth will be driven by the offline channel expansion, which started in the third quarter. OnePlus currently has 2,000 offline touchpoints largely through large format retail stores through its partnership with 10 retail chains and own exclusive experience store.
China’s Huawei forecasts smartphone growth despite Trump blacklisting
Huawei is approaching a critical juncture in its fight for survival, six months after Washington barred it from buying key US components and software without special licences. Those include Google’s Android operating system, semiconductor design tools from Synopsys Inc. and Cadence Design Systems Inc. and radio frequency chips made by Qorvo and Skyworks.
Samsung takes a leaf out of Apple's book; introduces 'slowfies' in new Galaxy S10 update
As of now, the update is available only in Germany and Switzerland.
Electronics companies run into entry-level pileup
While premium products like large screen televisions, frostfree refrigerators and fully automatic washing machines did sell in cities and large towns driven by plethora of consumer finance options and price cuts — sales of entry-level products which constitute the belly of the market — were a washout, several manufacturers said.
Dixon Technologies to manufacture mobile phones for Samsung
Samsung recently ended mobile telephone production in China due to intensifying competition from domestic rivals as it expands its facility in India. India now has 268 mobile manufacturing companies including some of the biggest players in industry.
Computer science gets the highest job offer of Rs 1.45 crore per annum at Indraprastha Institute of IT
The campus average compensation is Rs 16.33 lakh and median is Rs 14.85 lakh among both the under graduate and PG programmes. Some of the top firms which recruited from the campus include, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Goldman Sachs, Adobe, Qualcomm, Nvidia, Wadhwani AI, WDC, Tower Research, HSBC MathWorks, Harmon Kardon, RIL & Samsung.
Samsung India outsources production of some phones
Almost three years ahead of schedule, Samsung has already begun exporting India-made phones to a few countries owing to its fully exhausted existing capacity. Therefore, outsourcing production is a viable option in order to meet the high demand.
Xiaomi largest exclusive brand network in India's offline market: Study
In a study of 11 product-based industries, Samsung emerged the second most dominant player, followed by Cafe Coffee Day, Dominos, and Bata which made up the top five. The study showed that among the top five brands with the largest exclusive brand retail network in India - Xiaomi was 44% bigger than Samsung and over 48% bigger than CCD.
OnePlus takes TV offline to challenge Samsung, LG dominance
The company, which globally launched its smart televisions from India in August, claimed to have taken 42% share of the premium smart TV segment on online partner Amazon during the first few days of festive sales.
Copyright © 2019 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service


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(Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Bay Area News Group) People take photos in front of the Meta sign as an employee shuttle bus drives into the Meta Platforms headquarters complex in Menlo Park, October 2022.
Tech companies are eyeing layoffs that will eliminate jobs for thousands more workers in the Bay Area, a brutal new round of terminations poised to jolt the owner of the Facebook app, Amazon and Juul Labs.
All told, tech companies have decided to chop 2,564 more Bay Area jobs, according to official notices that the firms sent to the state labor agency.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms is cutting 2,202
→ Continue reading at Mercury News


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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – In Florida, the average credit card balance is just over $ 5,500 and experts say we risk creating more debt.
“We are going to see an explosion in credit card debt,” said Deanne Butchey, professor in the FIU’s finance department.
READ MORE: Weather in Miami: risk of showers persist during the weekend
Many people have benefited from stimulus funds, child care funds and other government programs, but those safety nets are ending or have ended.
Butchey told CBSMiami: âThe problem is, if you had savings, if you had stimulus money or tax credits, that was good, but very quickly that money ran out. So unfortunately people are going to accumulate this credit card debt. “
Americans owe $ 807 billion on nearly 506 million card accounts.
The median debt per American family is $ 2,700, while the average debt is $ 6,270. This Florida debt figure of $ 5,500 puts us ninth in the country.
READ MORE: Have you seen Jaliyah White? 12-year-old boy missing in Miami gardens
âWe have to recognize that the stimulus money has dried up. people need to finance their lifestyle and they probably will with credit card debt, âButchey said.
Then there’s inflation, which has driven prices up and we’re entering the holiday season, where plastic often flies in line.
âThe wonderful thing about Prime is that you spend $ 10 today, and tomorrow you spend an additional $ 10, those dollars add up. Add up on your credit card where the average credit card rate – compounded daily – is 18 and a quarter percent, which is very high when you compare it to auto loans and home loans.
A monthly credit card balance can quickly spiral out of control.
âPeople forget that credit card debt is extremely expensive,â Butchey said.
NO MORE NEWS: Experts: “The supply chain problems are the worst the non-war backup world has ever seen”
The good news is that people typically pay off their credit card debt, and the spike in delinquency that some analysts feared at the start of the pandemic has yet to materialize.


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May 14, 2020, Ottawa, Ont. – New data from a Payments Canada study on payment trends during COVID-19 reveals some dramatic shifts in Canadians’ payment preferences since the pandemic took affect in Canada.
The study compared spending behaviours pre-COVID-19 and at week five of the pandemic, uncovering higher use of contactless payments, electronic payments, e-commerce, online/mobile banking, and lower demand for cash.
Overall, 75 per cent of Canadians reported they were spending less than pre-COVID-19. On average, Canadians left home to go grocery shopping once a week, with 93 per cent indicating they stopped going out completely except for necessities.
For those who were leaving their homes, 42 per cent say they avoided shopping at places that did not accept contactless payments, and 52 per cent tried not to exceed the contactless limit when buying something in-store.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the convenience of everything digital, from video conferencing, on-demand entertainment, to digital payments,” said Tracey Black, president and CEO of Payments Canada. “Cash and cheque payments have declined dramatically, having been replaced with contactless payments and other types of electronic payments.
“While we have seen a continued shift towards digital payments over a number of years in Canada, there’s no doubt that the prevailing pandemic has accelerated this shift – and will likely act as a catalyst in transforming the Canadian payment landscape forever.”
A key driver for this decrease in spending is likely the impact the pandemic has had on Canadians’ personal finances. Nearly half (44 per cent) reported a decrease in income, and 51 per cent said the pandemic had a negative impact on their retirement savings or other investments. Additionally, 26 per cent of Canadians indicated there had been a negative impact on their ability to pay bills on time.
Beyond the overall reduction in spending, the study also revealed significant shifts in payment methods and buying behaviours since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic:
Payments Canada ensures that financial transactions in Canada are carried out safely and securely each day. The value of payments cleared and settled by Payments Canada in 2019 was more than $55 trillion or $218 billion each business day.
A Must Read for all food & beverages industry personnel
Canada’s national food & beverage processing authority
Serving the Canadian food & beverage processing industry for over 80 years!
FREE to qualified industry professionals


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Fiat unveiled the Fiat 500e with 42kWh battery that generates 118 horsepower and offers 320 kilometers of range starting at €37,500.
Koenigsegg Gemera with a 2.0-litre, three-cylinder engine and company’s first car to seat four passengers hybrid car that produces 1,700 horsepower.
BMW revealed the i4 Concept that comes in with Bigger Grille, More All-Electric Power and range of up to 270 miles.
California-based Czinger unveiled the 21C hybrid hypercar with a 2.88-litre V8 engine and battery-powered electric motors that offers top speed of 268 mph (432 kmph).
Nikola Motors unveils its first Fuel Cell Electric pickup truck called The Badger with all-electric battery that is claimed to offer up to 600 miles range.
Tata Nexon Electric SUV with a range of up to 312 kilometers launched in India starting at Rs. 13.99 lakhs.
Auto Expo 2020 will be held at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida from 7th February to 12th February, 2020. From Ticket booking, prices everything you need to know
Sony unveiled the Vision-S concept car with numerous sensors to make the car autonomous and multiple other technologies that the company works on.
TOGG, a group of companies in Turkey unveiled the country’s first homemade all-electric Crossover SUV will arrive in 2022.
MG Motors unveiled the MG ZS EV with range up to 340 kilometers in a single charge in India.


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If Apple expanded its e-commerce footprint by acquiring New York-based company, The Fancy, it would have much more success at e-commerce than Facebook has had, according to analyst firm Telsyte.
Business Insider reported that Apple is currently in talks to buy the social e-commerce website The Fancy, although Apple Australia declined to comment on the report.
Similar to Pinterest, The Fancy helps users make wish-lists of things, but The Fancy also enables users to buy some of the items able to be purchased through its site. The site, which is backed by co-founders of Facebook and Twitter, takes a 10 per cent cut from purchases.
The objective for Apple could be to market more products to its user base, beyond just applications and accessories, through its iTunes and Apple stores.
Apple wouldn't be the only technology company diving into e-commerce. Facebook facilitates retailers to set up shopfronts on its social media website, for example. But even with hundreds of millions of users worldwide, 'F-commerce' has yet to yield encouraging results.
Telsyte research director Foad Fadaghi saw Facebook and Apple as two very different animals. While Facebook had a strong and growing user base, its average revenue per user (ARPU) is much lower than Apple's.
"Social networks, themselves, try to monetise their user base, but I think it's interesting if Apple starts dabbling there, as well," Fadaghi told ZDNet. "People are used to spending money with Apple, and not so much on Facebook."
"Facebook is a social platform for interacting with family and friends, not somewhere you'd think off the top of your head to go purchase something from; and that is one of the biggest differences."
But even so, users of iTunes and Apple's App Store are more familiar with micro purchases that can be less than a dollar. Will they be comfortable with making bigger purchases through the same route?
To Fadaghi, the jump from micro to macro purchases is not difficult. After all, that loyal user base may already be forking out money for expensive Apple hardware and accessories.
"Utilising that high density and billing relationships that Apple has, to sell you other products and services, is potentially quite powerful," Fadaghi said.
With just 20 staff under its wing, The Fancy is significantly smaller than its rival, Pinterest. But Fadaghi believes it might be a worthwhile bet, especially since tiny e-commerce sites can grow very fast. The Fancy may be on the cusp of becoming insanely popular. If not, it might have something worthwhile that Apple can exploit, develop and turn it into something profitable.


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Looking cute online used to mean duck faces and Rio filters. But now that video games are our best approximation of socialization, digital avatars have become the hottest new medium of self-expression. And to build the perfect digital outfit on Animal Crossing, more people are turning to the pros.
But fashion in gaming goes way beyond Animal Crossing. Moschino collaborated with The Sims, and Fortnite partnered with Nike on Air Jordan outfits.
The play: With IRL shopping forever transformed, retailers are looking for ways to get in front of consumers. Some are trying podcasts, Spotify, and Instagram Lives. But getting into gaming can be difficult since many designers aren’t familiar with 3D modeling, a necessary but expensive technique.
Big picture: In 2019, digital game spending hit a record $109 billion, according to Nielsen. Fashion brands will be looking to capture a larger slice of that in 2020, when actual clothing matters little.
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Trump announces the launch of a new social media platform
Trump Media and Technology Group, former president Donald Trump’s company, announced on Wednesday the launch of a new social network named TRUTH Social. A beta version will be available to invited guests in November and a nationwide rollout is expected in the first quarter of 2022, according to a press release. The company says its mission is to "create a rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the 'Big Tech' companies of Silicon Valley."
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Farmers supplying Dutch dairy FrieslandCampina were paid a total of €14.1m for limiting their milk supply between January 1 and February 11 this year.
FrieslandCampina paid its member dairy farmers a ‘bonus’ of €2.00/kg if they limited supply within this time period.
The temporary measure resulted in a reduction of the milk supply of a total of about 35m kg of milk in the past six weeks.
There was insufficient processing capacity available at the dairy due to a stronger growth in milk supply than FrieslandCampina expected, thus, the measure was needed.
Some 60% of member dairy farmers participated in the arrangement.
Because of the temporary measure, combined with a number of other measures, FrieslandCampina was able to buy all the milk from the member dairy farmers during the past six weeks.
FreislandCampina said that this was with the exception a period of black ice in the north of the Netherlands.
It went on to say that now it has sufficient capacity again to collect all the raw milk, because extra processing capacity has been made available within and outside FrieslandCampina.
However, expectations are that the processing capacity will remain tight until the summer.
Meanwhile, the dairy announced that it is to develop new infant nutrition ingredients in a global partnership with US-based Glycosyn.
Both parties signed a technology and partnership agreement.
Glycosyn has developed a patented technology for the production of oligosaccharides from lactose. The partnership will produce and introduce these new ingredients onto the global market.


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Ford India dealers currently have about 1,000 vehicles in stock, which amounts to around Rs. 150 crores via inventory funding.
Earlier today, Ford announced that it would no longer manufacture its cars in India. This has come as a shock to the dealer community.
Mr. Vinkesh Gulati, President of Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), stated that the auto retail fraternity was shocked to hear another US auto major announcing its exit from the Indian market.
There are about 170 Ford dealers in the country with around 391 outlets. Dealers have invested approximately Rs. 2,000 crore in setting up their dealerships. While Ford India employs 4,000 people, dealerships are said to employ around 40,000 individuals.
Ford India dealers currently have about 1,000 vehicles in stock, which amounts to around Rs. 150 crores via inventory funding. The dealerships have hundreds of demo cars as well.
Mr. Anurag Mehrotra, President & MD, Ford India, has assured that the company would adequately compensate its dealers.
After General Motors, Man Trucks, Harley Davidson and UM Lohia, Ford is the 5th biggest exit from the Indian market since 2017.
Source: Read Full Article


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It would not be a wrong assertion to call the LG G2 one of the very best device of the year 2013. the phone kind of brought LG back in to the mobile game and later in the year the Nexus 5 certainly helped them establish as a major brand once again. As a result, obviously every major launch by LG now will be scrutinized because people expect good devices with plenty of innovation from LG. Hence, the next flagship from LG i.e. the LG G3 has already been under a lot of spotlight even before it has been spotted or released.
The Verge has got hold of some exclusive shots of what looks like the retail box of the LG G3 and the report claims that the device will come in a gold variant, a trend started by the iPhone 5s, and also would pack a QHD display. This is a big news because of all the major OEMs, LG would be the only one to bring QHD display to the board on its flagship as all of HTC M8, Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Sony Xperia Z2 are all packing a 1080 P Panel. According to the report, the phone is expected to bring exactly the same frontal design as the isai L24 which is expected to be released in Japan this summer.
Rest of the rumored specs include a Snapdragon 801 Quad Core SoC, 3 GB of RAM, 13 MP Camera and 32 GB of internal storage with expansion possible via Micro SD card. The phone is expected to come with Android 4.4.2 Kitkat and a redesigned Optimus UI too.


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The former owners of two Midlothian ice cream shops are now in the coffee business, after a shakeup at a new local roaster.
Bright Spot Coffee opened last month at 6114 Lakeside Ave. in Lakeside Towne Center, with Janine Thomas and John Watkins at the helm.
The married couple stepped in to take over Bright Spot after founder Eli Thompson decided to step away just prior to the shop’s opening.
Thompson founded Bright Spot in 2018, and ran it as an online business and wholesaler before signing on for the brick-and-mortar location in Lakeside last spring.
Thomas and Watkins owned two Bruster’s Ice Cream franchises in Midlothian for nearly 20 years. After selling the shops in June, Thomas said she wasn’t quite ready to sail off into retirement.
“John was happy to just chill for a while, and I’m not that person,” Thomas said. “I started thinking, ‘What do I do next?’ I started thinking about coffee shops being something to get into.”
Thomas said she and her husband knew Thompson through family connections and started talking to him about advice on the coffee industry. The conversation shifted after their initial meeting.
“The second time we talked to (Thompson), he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with (Bright Spot) and wasn’t sure he wanted to go forward with it,” Thomas said. “So I thought, ‘bingo,’ it’s an establishment that’s already here.”
In September, Thomas and Watkins bought Bright Spot’s assets, including its coffee roaster and espresso machine, and took over the lease in Lakeside.
They’ll run Bright Spot generally the same way Thompson had planned.
“We got a commercial oven custom-made and I’m doing the baking, and John had to learn how to roast coffee and started roasting,” Thomas said. “When we had the Bruster’s, I ran one and John ran the other. It was best to keep it separate and have a division of duties.”
In addition to coffee drinks and pastries, Bright Spot also serves sandwiches and other lunch options. Thomas said they’ve started wholesaling Bright Spot’s beans and plan to keep the online business going as well.
Elsewhere in Lakeside, food and smoothie truck Pulp Fiction RVA opened a cafe in July at 5411 Lakeside Ave.


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A third of adults in the UK are completely unable to account for more than £3,000 of their annual salary – equivalent to a sixth of their average income.
Monthly, that works out as £276 that a third of the people in the UK have no idea how they spend.
Two fifths of respondents to the survey said that they would like to bank the money that tended to disappear, adding that they are planning to change their approach to saving.
Just one fifth of the population said that their approach to savings was satisfactory.
“It’s clear that many of us would like to be better savers and the best way to get into the habit is to make regular monthly payments into a separate savings account – before we even get the opportunity to blow our spare cash on a big night out or a new pair of shoes catches our eye,” said Simon Ripton of Alliance & Leicester.
“People could make substantial savings just by changing the way they manage their money on a monthly basis – and who knows, after a year of regular saving you might have enough for a dream holiday as well as paying off those nagging debts.”
Would-be savers can find the best savings account rate online.
© Adfero Ltd


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WELCOME TO The small business REPORT
French Tech Bordeaux
Feature market insights and perspectives from top C-Level executives, elite technology influencers and thought leaders from your company here. This signature initiative has garnered immense support...
Involta | December 23, 2021
Global investment firm Carlyle announced today that the fund managed by Carlyle has agreed to acquire Involta. Involta is a data center company focused on hybrid IT and cloud infrastructure, including data center colocation, hybrid cloud, edge, fiber, and related products.
Involta owns and maintains 12 data centers and a 12,000-mile fiber network. They deliver mission-critical IT solutions to organizations across the US, along with strategic infrastructure services. Carlyle's ...
Insurance Business | February 25, 2020
CPP Secure, the managing general agent business of insurtech CPP Group UK, has allied with the UK retail division of insurance broker Gallagher to provide cyber protection to small business clients. Primarily a bolt-on addition for customers purchasing SME package insurance, the new cyber product is underwritten at Lloyd’s of London, is offered by CPP Secure, and will be accessed by Gallagher through the Acturis insurance administration and trading platform. “The partnership with CPP...
UC Today | April 21, 2020
Employees and team members working from home? You’re not alone. Even without pandemics like the coronavirus to think about, remote working trends are on the rise. Today’s small businesses have dozens of ways to benefit from a distributed lifestyle. After all, when your team members aren’t coming into the office, you have less money to spend on overheads, access to greater productivity, and all of the scalability of the cloud. Still, creating a remote working strategy does come ...
MARKETING AND NETWORKING, TECHNOLOGY
Thryv and Google | August 04, 2022
Thryv Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:THRY), the small business platform for growing small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), is pleased to announce a new integration with Google’s Business Messages to help streamline communication for small businesses who have a growing number of inbound contact options.
Thryv is a partner of Google’s Business Messages, a mobile conversational channel that combines entry points on Google Maps, Search and brand websites to create rich, asynchr...
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Contract frozen entrees processorOverhill Farms Inc., Vernon, Calif., said it hiredRobert Bruningas chief financial officer, effective February 24. Bruning will succeedTracy Quinn, who is resigning to spend more time with family, the company said.
Bruning previously was the chief financial officer of Okami,
Inc., a food processing and distribution company, from 2006 until it
was acquired by another firm in 2011. He also served as CFO at Zacky Farms, Inc. In the manufacturing sector he was chief financial officer of Coastcast Corporation, a precision manufacturing
company, and was a financial consultant to Kaiser Aluminum and several
Overhill said Quinn served Overhill Farms since September 2007, first as Interim CFO and later as CFO.


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Pariplay Relocates Head Office to Gibraltar Gaming technology seller Pariplay Ltd. established so it keeps moved both its hq and procedures heart in Gibraltar. The relocation emerged following the business obtained an isolated betting license from regional government.
Pariplay was actually previously headquartered in Douglas, the main city with the Isle of people. Technology providers described its relocation utilizing the strong gains it reported when it comes down to earlier twelve months. In addition, with Gibraltar considered one of several worldwide stores for all the planet’s gambling operators that are largest and providers, Pariplay officials noticed furthermore inspired to maneuver their primary offices around.
As previously mentioned above, the technology seller was awarded an isolated Gambling licenses by the HM Government of Gibraltar and was actually hence permitted to get in on the cluster of companies and operators becoming found in the Uk area, with Ladbrokes, bwin.party, NYX video gaming, and NetEnt are just some of these.
Launched this season, Pariplay possess loved a growth that is sustained days gone by several years, especially in the two key businesses the supply of gaming networks for both on the internet and land-based betting operators and also the improvement top-tier video games for B2B subscribers, like position games, abrasion notes, instant win video games, etc. The company has been stating a specially powerful gains since the 3rd one-fourth of 2015, a period of time during which it introduced brand-new games brands and goods and secured partnerships with a few fellow companies and betting operators. Sigue leyendo


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The first ‘scent message’ crossed the Atlantic via the Internet, say the creators of the oPhone, a new device capable of transmitting scents. The innovative messaging system attaches scents selected from a palette of aromas to photos and sends them via email, Skype or social networks.
The transmission took place on Tuesday at an art center in Paris and was received by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, writes the Livescience.com team that attended the event.
Christophe Laudamiel of the Le Laboratoire, a contemporary art and design center in Paris, photographed delicacies and the bottle of champagne opened at the presentation of the oPhone and sent a message to another oPhone device located in New York.
“With the oPhone, people will be able to share with anyone, anywhere, not just words, images and sounds, but sensory experience itself,” said Harvard professor and co-inventor of the scent-messaging system David Edwards.
Edwards and engineering student Rachel Field worked on the development of oPhone in Le Laboratoire to bring together science and art. To promote oPhone, Edwards founded the company Vapor Communications.
The scent messages, known as oNotes, are composed with the help of the iPhone application oSnap, available for download on the App Store. The user creates combinations of 32 basic aromas that can produce more than 300,000 different scents.
The message recipient can smell it through the oPhone device, which contains small cartridges with 32 basic aromas. Each scent lasts about 10 seconds, and if the message contains multiple scents, the device reproduces them one after another.
The mechanism of smell remains largely unknown. However, it is estimated that the human nose can distinguish more than one trillion scents. The inventors of the scent-messaging platform have launched an Indiegogo campaign and offer oPhone on preorder at a price of $ 149.
Hoping to attract the interest of food and catering business, the inventors are planning to demonstrate the capabilities of the innovative system at the American Museum of Natural History in July.
“In the near term, we’ll go where there are obvious business applications – places where the quality of aroma is associated with the quality of the product or experience,” says Edwards.
Awesome New Infrared Goggles Could Help Blind People ‘See’ Surroundings
People who are blind or deal with low vision face a unique number of challenges in their daily lives, ranging from accessing published material to holding a job or living on one’s own.
However, emerging infrared technology under research could help the blind and visually impaired navigate the world around them using a pair of innovative goggles.
In new research recently published and yet to be peer-reviewed, Manuel Zahn and Armaghan Ahmad Khan at Germany’s Technical University of Munich explored how their 3D camera and haptic feedback armband can assist people with low vision.
“Even in the present era, visually impaired people face a constant challenge of navigation,” the pair wrote. “The most common tool available to them is the cane. Although the cane allows good detection of objects in the user’s immediate vicinity, it lacks the ability to detect obstacles further away.”
The two students’ design deploys two infrared cameras placed in a 3D-printed goggles prototype to get a stereoscopic view that is transformed by a small computer into a map of the user’s surroundings. The infrared gear also works in the dark. The armband then uses 25 actuators arranged in a grid that vibrates when users come close to objects while also assisting them in their orientation. As users walk near obstacles, the vibration intensity of the actuators increases.
In tests, subjects enjoyed roughly 98 percent accuracy while getting through obstacle pathways, with all five participants completing the course in their first run. After two additional runs, the volunteers were able to navigate the obstacles more rapidly.
Zahn and Khan frequently cited Microsoft’s Kinect motion detection system for the Xbox in their study, but the pair are confident that their own setup will be far smaller, cheaper and less conspicuous than the gaming device.
The new headset could offer an interesting opportunity for blind and partially sighted people to clear the myriad obstacles they face when performing regular tasks or navigating the world around them.
Toddler Goes On $2000 Furniture-Shopping Spree On Mom’s Phone
A New Jersey mom learned that keeping your browser open may not be the best idea as children, and even infants, become increasingly tech savvy.
Madhu Kumar was browsing Walmart’s furniture selection on their website and had added some items to her shopping cart but never checked out. She was shocked and confused when she started to receive a steady stream of packages from the big-box retailer.
Madhu immediately turned to her husband and two older children to find out who ordered the packages.
“I need one or two, why would we need four?” Madhu asked.
As it turned out, her toddler Ayaansh Kumar – who, at 22 months old, was barely learning to count – had gone on a $2,000 shopping spree while playing on his mother’s phone.
“It is really hard to believe that he has done this, but that’s what happened,” Ayaansh’s dad, Pramod Kumar, told NBC New York.
Among the packages were some that could barely be squeezed through the family’s front door at their home in Monmouth Junction.
Purchases included accent chairs, flower stands and a range of other household items that arrived throughout the week.
“He’s so little, he’s so cute, we were laughing that he ordered all this stuff,” his mom remarked.
From birth, young Ayaansh had observantly watched his family members engage in a range of activities from home – including shopping, attending classes, and going to school. And as it the case for many kids of his generation, he knows the basics of operating a smartphone.
The parents are still waiting for all of the boxes to arrive so that they can return them to their local Walmart. The retailer has already told the Kumars that they are eligible for a refund, but the parents plan to save at least a few items to remind them of their son’s first e-commerce adventure.
“Moving forward, we will put tough passcodes or face recognition so when he picks up the phone he finds it in locked condition,” his father said.
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It will be interesting to see how this pans out and what Airtel and even Ookla has to say about the matter.
This news will become a boosting one for Jio as the new entrant is under pressure due to claims by India's top telecom analysts saying that Jio will start losing consumers after becoming paid. Considering the fact that Ookla is now the leader in the speedtest industry responsible for a significant amount of evaluations and leaderboards, this is quite a major flaw which has gone unnoticed for a long time.
Also, the survey revealed that the users of Airtel are the least ones who opted to make Jio as their primary SIM card, whereas the users of Vodafone India are highly willing to make Jio as their main number, which is followed by the subscribers of Idea Cellular. To claim this offer, customers need to go to the My Airtel App and then the data is credited soon after the customer claims the "Airtel Surprise".
Airtel, in particular, has been aggressively advertising its network as the "The Fastest 4G Network Ever" for over a year across the country.
An Airtel spokesperson stated that as represented in the advertisement, Ookla's findings are based on analysis of millions of internet speed tests logged on "modern devices" by mobile customers across India using its popular speed test app. Airtel apparently also uses the word "officially" to describe its fast network.
The notice read that Ookla's acts were not only reckless, but are also malicious and mala fide meant to bring into disrepute Jio and its network. This is clearly mentioned in the advertisement. Jio also has a Rs 499 Jio Prime recharge pack, which provides 56GB data to prepaid users, with daily cap of 2GB. "The results include all mobile tests, regardless of connection technology", he added. However, the claim of being India's fastest network has been defended by the Airtel. Meanwhile, a few weeks ago TRAI data revealed that the title for the fastest network of January actually belonged to Jio.
If you are using data on SIM 2 and if you do a speed test on their application, they will select the network present on SIM 1. This often results in different data for different services, yet when they feature on top of a list, telecom companies like to beat their drum and share these figures with consumers.


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China and India to become Russia's strategic trade partners
Russian business is looking to new strategic trade partners. By 2020 China and India will become priority markets for Russia just as the European Union is now. The government has approved the change of direction in Russia’s approach to foreign trade.
Russia sees a new trading status for countries, from Kazakhstan and Uzbekhistan to China and India. In just over a decade, it wants these countries to be among its main markets.Last year Russia exported goods worth 580 billion dollars. But most of this consisted of energy sales.
This doesn’t satisfy Russia’s prime minister Vladimir Putin who urged the Government to boost exports of other Russian products.
“Russia is dependent on exports of hydrocarbons and other raw materials. Russian goods and services are poorly presented on such growing markets like Latin America and Asia.”
Experts like Evegeny Nadorshin, Chief Economist at Trust Bank say new markets are essential for Russia if it is to diversify away from reliance on energy exports – and thereby broaden the base of its economy.
“Russia can sell to EU only energy. EU won’t accept Russian machinery because its not up to European standards. We need to search for external consumers if we want to diversify the economy.”
But some doubt that China will eagerly snap up Russia’s hi-tech products as the country develops its own innovation sector. The main markets for such goods will be members of the Eurasian economic community like Uzbekhistan and Kazakhstan. Experts say China will be still interested in Russian weapons, space technology and energy supplies.


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Airbnb in Zug: both sides hail good cooperation
The first agreement between a Swiss canton and online sharing platform Airbnb – that involves the collection of tourist tax - has been hailed a success by both sides.
The comments came in a statementExternal link on Friday to mark six months of cooperation between Airbnb and Zug Tourism, which concluded the contract on behalf of the canton of Zug. Since July 2017, Airbnb has been collecting tourist tax on rentals and passing them on to the tourist organisation - an arrangement that is working as agreed, the communique said.
There were 7,631 overnight stays in the first six months of the agreement. Zug Tourism is expecting further growth via the Airbnb platform for 2018. The statement did note, however, that at the moment overnight stays via Airbnb only accounted for 5% of overnight stays in the canton.
Zug was the first canton to conclude an agreement with Airbnb - a platform founded in the United States that allows people to rent flats and rooms - over the automatic collecting of tourist tax. According to Airbnb, it has similar agreements with 340 cities and towns worldwide.
In Switzerland, other cantons are keen to follow Zug’s example. French-speaking Fribourg has just concluded an agreement, Geneva and the southern canton of Ticino are also in the process, the Swiss news agency reports. Talks are being held with Bern and Valais, the most popular Airbnb destination in the country.
+Read more here about how cantons and parliamentarians want to regulate Airbnb
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According to reports, BMW is set to start mass-production of its first hydrogen-powered fuel cell SUV by 2025. BMW’s sales chief, Pieter Nota, hinted at there being a production version of BMW’s iX5 Hydrogen concept car in 2021, which has got two carbon fibre reinforced fuel tanks for a total of 6 kg for long-distance travel, with 275 kW of rear-driven power thanks to a secondary battery working with the hydrogen fuel cell.
According to BMW, 1 kg of hydrogen equals a range of 100 kilometres, so six kg of hydrogen will be enough to rival the combustion-powered BMW X5s in achieving the distance.
Pieter Nota said they are seeing that hydrogen fuel cell technology is mainly relevant for larger SUVs, and they believe in the importance of the different technologies, including battery electric vehicles, hydrogen, and efficient combustion engines, because they do not want to put all their investment in just one area.
The small-scale production of the BMW iX5 is all set to end by the end of 2022, which will expand into the complete production by the middle of the decade. The new SUV will likely use the knowledge from Toyota, as both BMW and Toyota are working on different projects since 2013, when the companies partnered on Z4/Supra sports cars.


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As the coronavirus outbreak spreads, the world's largest companies have begun to paint a bleak picture of broken supply chains, interrupted manufacturing, empty stores and demand for their products.
The ads of companies such as Mastercard, Microsoft, Apple and United Airlines offer a reading on how the virus is affecting consumer behavior and business sentiment. These corporate newsletters, and what executives do in response, could determine how much economic damage the outbreak causes and whether a recession is coming.
Some companies have expressed optimism that governments will curb new infections and that consumer spending in Europe and North America will be largely unharmed. But if executives see a threat beyond the first three months of the year, they can reduce planned investments and even start firing workers. That, in turn, would further reduce economic activity.
The stock market crash this week, the strongest since the financial crisis, suggests that investors prepare for much more bad news.
"Everything is slowing down even more, and that has not been fully appreciated," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading.
the The correction in the S,amp;P 500 stock index, a decrease of 10 percent or more from a recent peak, was the fastest. Amid the mass sale, Goldman Sachs analysts said they hoped that the companies that make up the S,amp;P 500 collectively would not show profit growth this year. The bank had previously forecast a 6 percent increase in earnings.
An important vulnerability for companies in the United States and Europe is their growing dependence on China as a supplier and customer in the last 10 or 20 years.
Since the Lunar New Year holiday in China a month ago, many workers have been confined to their homes, disrupting factories that assemble electronic products or manufacture auto parts. Microsoft He said this week that the virus had hindered the production of its laptops and tablets, and reduced its sales forecast for the division that manufactures those products, eliminating a projection it had issued only a few weeks earlier.
Supply chain problems have also begun to affect American homebuilders. A senior Toll Brothers executive said the virus It seemed to have delayed the supply of lighting parts.
At the same time, Chinese consumers are buying less. Apple said closing stores in China would depress sales of iPhones and other devices.
Mastercard reduced its growth forecast partly because people are making fewer international trips. The fear of the virus has led companies such as Amazon and Nestlé to suspend the international travel of some employees. That drop in demand, combined with their own concerns about the virus, has led United and other airlines in the United States and Europe to cancel flights to cities in China and other parts of Asia.
On Friday, United said an information session for investors scheduled for next week would be postponed until September. Citing concern about the virus, the airline said it "does not think it is practical to expect it to have a productive conversation focused on its long-term strategy."
Companies may also have difficulties because investors are increasingly reluctant to lend them money. The appetite for new bonds, especially those issued by less solvent businesses, has diminished. Banks may also have to tighten loan standards. In a sign that investors believe that coronavirus concerns could affect banks, the actions of the three largest US banks. The US, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America, have fallen much more than the S,amp;P 500 so far this year.
Of course, the coronavirus outbreak could end up resembling other brief shocks that have only caused blows in companies and the stock market. These include the fiscal battles of the previous decade that consumed Washington and Wall Street for weeks in a row.
And as recently as Friday, some companies predicted that their sales would remain well. Volkswagen, the German car giant, He said he expected deliveries this year to be "in line,quot; with 2019. And Apple said conditions were gradually returning to normal in China. "It seems to me that China is controlling the coronavirus," Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple, told Fox Business on Thursday. "When you look at the parts that are made in China, we have reopened the factories."
Some Wall Street analysts have expressed optimism that the Federal Reserve and other central banks will reduce interest rates to help offset the economic stress caused by the virus. Such cuts would help reduce loan costs, giving consumers a new incentive to spend and businesses to invest.
Those hopes were raised when Fed president Jerome H. Powell unexpectedly issued a statement Friday saying that the central bank "would act appropriately to support the economy." Bank of America economists wrote on Friday that they expected the Fed to reduce rates by half a percentage point at its March meeting "as a way to stop panic."
Some companies are already talking about how much business will open when the outbreak begins to recede, including Las Vegas Sands, which has great interests in Macau's Chinese gambling paradise.
"When it is resolved, Macao will be very, very busy," Robert G. Goldstein, the company's chief operating officer, said in a earnings call last month.
Some analysts seem to have a warmer spring weather to stop the spread of the virus. "Fear will diminish as the weather warms, hopefully," said Barry Bannister, head of capital strategy at Stifel.
However, for now, investors seem to expect things to get worse. After finishing 0.8 percent on Friday, the S,amp;P 500 lost about 11.5 percent of its value this week, its worst performance in a week since the financial crisis of 2008.
Some investors stay out of the way when they feel poorly equipped to assess financial risks.
A major concern is that the virus will spread rapidly in Europe and the United States, which will force consumers to stay home from work, not to mention avoiding stores, restaurants or other businesses.
In that case, an economic contraction could become inevitable. If a recession develops, Goldman analysts said, S,amp;P 500 companies' profits are likely to fall 13 percent this year. Such a decrease could force companies to lay off employees and postpone new investments.
Even before the outbreak of coronavirus, business investment was already pale in the United States. It fell in the last three quarters of 2019. Some analysts now hope that more companies can soon announce reductions in their capital expenditures. "I think they will see it when they report their Q1 numbers," said Mr. O'Rourke of JonesTrading.
Niraj Chokshi contributed reports.