text:
22 December 2015
22 December 2015
Toho Tenax has agreed with Kawasaki Heavy Industries to jointly develop a carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) leaf spring that can be mass-produced for railcar trucks.
According to Toho Tenax, the leaf spring was initially developed in 2013 and is already used in Kawasaki’s new-generation railcar truck, the efWING. It says it will help establish an integrated system encompassing everything from the carbon fibre’s original yarn to the actual CFRP leaf springs. The new mass-production system will enable the efWING to be marketed on a global scale.
“Teijin Group is accelerating its downstream strategy by leveraging its high-performance carbon fibre, with one such result being this joint development with Kawasaki Heavy Industries,” says Teijin Group Executive Officer Takashi Yoshino, who is also General Manager of the group’s Carbon Fibres & Composites Business Unit and President of Toho Tenax. “Teijin Group aims to expand its carbon fibre and composite businesses by increasingly focusing on innovative transportation solutions, a key element focus of our downstream strategy.”
It explains that conventional railcar trucks use side frames and independent coil springs made of steel, but the efWING is the world’s first to combine these components in a simplified solution made of CFRP. The lighter materials and simplified design help to reduce the truck frame’s weight by some 900kg per railcar. Benefits include more efficient running costs and lower CO2 emissions, as well as the reduction in the risk of wheel derailment.
Photo provided by Teijin
3M is adding Scotch-Weld Multi-Material Composite Urethane Adhesives DP6310NS and DP6330NS to its portfolio of structural adhesives. These products are designed for lightweight assemblies in trucks, buses, RVs, speciality vehicles and passenger rail, and other markets like sporting goods and panels.
Aimplas is participating in the European project Mat4Rail: Designing the Railway of the Future: Fire Resistant Composite Materials and Smart Modular Design.
ThermHex Waben and EconCore will exhibit at the IAA Commercial Vehicles exhibition in Hannover, Germany, on 20-27 September 2018.


text:
RBI said that it is seriously thinking about developing a sovereign digital currency in the country and will be releasing it appropriately.
However, the RBI’s stance on the ban of private cryptocurrency still remains the same.
Furthermore, he said that RBI is against any private digital currency in the country.
However, the RBI has held internal meetings and discussions with central banks to potentially launch India’s own digital currency.
While Dubai, Venezuela, and few other countries have already made their plans official, India’s crypto plans and developments have rather been on a slow track.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated & summarized by a computer program and has not been created by StartupAround.
Advertise with us to boost your article, content pience, product, event, conference discovery to our readers which includes founders, startup enablers, investors and every key stakeholders from global startup eco-system.

domain: news


text:
Netflix Inc. is considering charging about $7 to $9 a month for its new advertising-supported plan, half of its current most-popular plan, which costs $15.49 monthly with no commercials.
The company plans to launch its budget-friendly option in the year’s final three months across at least half a dozen markets. However, as Bloomberg reported, the full rollout may have to wait until early next year.
The streaming giant plans to sell about four minutes of commercials per hour for the ad-supported service, far less than most of its peers, according to people familiar with the company’s plans.
The company will show advertisements before and during some programs, but not after. It’s also telling advertisers it wants to make smaller deals upfront, so it doesn’t overpromise and overwhelm viewers with the spots, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private.
Netflix has declined to comment on any specifics about its plans, and many advertisers, partners, and investors still have questions.
Netflix’s goal is to attract subscribers willing to watch some ads in exchange for a lower monthly rate. As the streaming TV pioneer prepares to introduce advertising, it’s trying to strike a careful balance between reaching a more cost-conscious consumer and offering a pleasant experience.
Microsoft Corp. will handle much of that work, which will be Netflix’s exclusive advertising technology and sales partner.
The new plan for ad-supported subscriptions comes after the company reported a loss of about 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter this year against rising inflation squeezing consumer spending.
Netflix is moving into advertising around the same time as Disney+, its biggest rival. While Disney is raising the price on its preliminary plan and keeping the current price for its ad-supported version, Netflix is lowering its service price.
Advertisers, meanwhile, are celebrating Netflix’s decision. The growth of ad-free services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ prompted an existential crisis among marketers. They worried that TV, once the most extensive advertising sector in the world, was being taken over by services that didn’t run advertising.
One agency projected that the number of time people spent watching the ad-supported video would decline by 6% by 2025. Now that Netflix and Disney+ are entering the field, they say it will increase by 1%.


text:
Seeking driving license will be simpler in Uttar Pradesh once Lok Sabha elections are over. Courtesy- introduction of online service. Taking a step ahead in e-Governance, UP government will launch online Driving License (DL) service for people in Lucknow and other cities.
It will not only allow online application for the license but also simplify submission of application and payment of fee. “Right from submission of application to payment of fee, the entire process will be online,” said sources in the department.
At present, though DL seekers can download the application from the transport department website, they have to submit it manually at the regional transport office. The new software, which is being tested by National Informatics Centre, Hyderabad, will make it possible to submit application and pay the fee online.
Once online DL becomes a reality, applicants will be visiting the RTO only to get their biometric details recorded. The new facility might be introduced in phases much like the smart card driving license (SCDL).
“It will be called Sarthi-on-web project,” said sources.
|Get a chance to meet who's who of Transport ecosystem in India including key policymakers from Central and State Governments. Join us at National Summit on ‘Strategy for Ports, Highways Infrastructure and Logistics Efficiency , New Delhi on Aug 13, 2018 to explore business opportunities. Like and connect with us on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.|


text:
For a moment, it was a strange ‘customer experience’ for the team at Information Age — as we read that the Information Age was ending. The panic was soon over, as we realised that this was no reference to us, that information is still important, but that in the field of customer experience, experts have concluded that emotion matters more.
And vanity is out too. It turns out that social media metrics such as likes, comments, shares, retweets, and posts are less important than many assume. It seems companies need to spend less time admiring the reflection of their activities by counting likes, and other vanity metrics, and measure social results in terms of real return, using it to answer questions like:
• Are we increasing customer satisfaction?
• Are we increasing revenue?
• Have we improved customer retention?”
Indeed, according to Gartner, 80% of their clients use vanity metrics to determine social success, when they should be focused on measuring the true business value derived from their social strategies.
The customer experience experts included gurus from Ocado, Virgin Trains, Thames Water, Government Digital Services, LinkedIn and Microsoft, who spoke at a conference organised by digital engagement platform Orlo.
The overall conclusion: As far as customers experience is concerned, emotion drives behaviour. If brands can be there instantly, effectively and meaningfully when customers need them most, they can ‘create amazing online experiences’ and inspire positive emotions, influencing behaviour at scale.
The future of customer experience: catering to new audiences with the right tools
Co-founder of Aircall, Jonathan Anguelov explains to Information Age the future of customer experience and why business leaders need to move away from siloed channels to a fully digitised system, allowing greater interaction.
So, what does that mean?
3.2 billion people worldwide are actively using different social media channels, and “sales and marketing teams now need to mirror consumers by moving easily between online communication channels and conversations, while retaining linked records of those conversations,” or so Orlo summarised.
Other conclusions included
- AI doesn’t have to eliminate human contact. Instead, it is making contact centre roles easier work by automating repetitive, low value tasks, leaving humans to handle more complex, niche situations. Information Age, that’s us, not the era that is supposedly ending, is fond of information to give detail to these statements and Orlo’s CTO and co-founder Ben Nimmo duly obliged. He said: “Not everything that can be automated, should be automated. At the heart of every great consumer experience is a perfect synergy between human empathy and digital engagement. Simple enquiries such as checking on the status of a delivery are prime candidates for a self-serve chatbot. However, a discrepancy with your bank account requires the reassurance and empathy that only an empathetic, customer service agent can provide. The challenge for brands will be achieving the perfect balance between ruthless efficiency and meaningful engagement.”
- By creating powerful experiences and inspiring positive emotions with customers, brands can influence behaviour at scale. According to research from Forrester, when customers feel valued, 87% become advocates and 74% remain with the brand.
- According to Ocado, making web chat its channel of choice has helped reduce customer effort when contacting the retailer, increase customer satisfaction and reduce costs. Ian Pattle, General Manager at Ocado said that using digital channels can help to push standards higher. While web chat is live conversation, it allows agents time to source the correct information without the immediate pressure to say the right thing compared to a phone call. Over the last three years, Ocado has seen a customer driven channel shift, with web chat outstripping social media as the communications platform of choice, and also reducing the number of calls, emails and social media queries.
- Andrew Clough, Director Public Sector Business Applications at Microsoft said that his team is increasingly seeing businesses focus on customer experience in their social media strategies, with over 75% of social business strategists rating it as their number one priority.
- Finally, a recent Orlo research study showed that 86% of large EU brands regard emotion as highly important to online customer experience. The research also revealed key emotional triggers that create positive customer emotions and powerful online customer experiences include having confidence in a brand (67%); simple, stress-free interactions (57%); and feeling safe and secure (52%). Respondents also highlighted key benefits in creating positive customer emotions – with 63% recognising high customer satisfaction, 61% customer loyalty and retention, and 53% building strong relationships as core benefits.
Boards look to IT and the CIO to improve customer experience


text:
Tractor Supply Is on Track to Open Up to 80 Stores This Year
September 18, 2020
Key stats: While few brands are reporting same-store sales due to pandemic disruptions, Tractor Supply’s rose 35% last quarter. And sales grew by double digits in every category—even apparel.
How did Tractor Supply plow ahead?
It started with geographic advantages. CEO Hal Lawton attributed some of Tractor Supply’s success to customers discovering its stores when they moved to more remote areas with fewer options.
But the retailer’s playbook also includes strategies any retailer can implement.
1. Knowing your niche. Tractor Supply’s core products are in its name. But it stocked its stores with ancillary lifestyle items and services, which could eliminate trips to competitors.
2. Adapting early. While department stores only discovered curbside enthusiasm this summer, Tractor Supply was already on season four. Tractor Supply implemented BOPIS and updated its e-comm app years ago—so when shoppers started demanding distanced shopping solutions, it wasn’t caught with its overalls off.


text:
HEWLETT-PACKARD tripled the size of its share repurchase programme to $12bn (£7.2bn), after a strong performance in China and improved profit margins in its services business helped boost quarterly earnings.
The US computer firm also posted fourth quarter earnings up 14 per cent after cost cuts.
The business reported a net profit of $2.4bn, up from $2.1bn in the year-ago period. Sales fell eight per cent to $30.8bn.
As it forecast earlier this month, HP expects full-year 2010 sales to be between $118 to $119bn.


text:
Toronto’s Flipp App Gains $61M Investment, Flyers Reach 50M People Weekly
Toronto-based flyer app Flipp has gained a new $61 million investment from General Atlantic, to further expand the company; the latter’s vice president, Zachary Kaplan, will soon join Flipp’s board of directors.
Flipp says content from the app now reaches over 50 million consumers weekly, with over 1 billion flyers read annually. The Flipp app now contains digital flyers from over 800 retailers and saves shoppers “20 to 40 percent” on their weekly shopping spend.
Wehuns Tan, CEO and co-founder, Flipp, said in a statement “General Atlantic’s expertise in global expansion and significant capital base will enable us to grow our footprint, extend our partnerships, and further accelerate how we deliver innovation into the hands of consumers around the world.”
Yesterday, Flipp was updated to allow the addition of loyalty cards, so you can use them directly at checkout right from the app.
Last fall, Flipp for iOS gained the ability to add to your shopping list with dictation, and later support for iPhone 6 models and a new beta nearby notifications feature. The company previously told us they expected their Canadian user base to hit between 5 to 6 million users by end of 2015.
Click here to download Flipp for iOS in the App Store. I don’t think there’s a better flyer app out there.


text:
Welsh football fans are furious as they prepare for their national team's first appearance in a major tournament for nearly 60 years.
With just weeks until the Euro 2016 tournament kicks off in France, supporters were pretty angry when they saw the England football shirt being advertised outside one sports store.
And as they vented their anger online about the adverts outside the JD Sports store in Cardiff Bay the posters disappeared.
They were spotted by Rhydian Bowen Phillips, who tweeted: "Hang on, I could've sworn that I woke up in Wales today?!?
"Outside JDsportsfashion in Cardiff Bay! C'mon mun."
In reply, one fan wrote: "No way! JD sports you should be ashamed."
Another said: "They sell England shirts everywhere. No need to advertise it, especially in Wales."
One just wrote: "Insulting."
Within an hour of Rhydian's tweet they had been removed, reports Wales Online.
Mr Bowen Phillips said: "I am so glad they have been taken down.
"I just couldn't believe it when I saw it this morning as it just seemed to show complete ignorance.
"There is no way you would see Welsh shirts being advertised outside English stores."
People have also been emailing the company to complain after the advert was shared widely on social media.


text:
- Sterling’s strong end to last week continued on Friday as it performed impressively against the euro and US dollar.
- The strength was due, in part, to Bank of England’s McCafferty suggesting that the Bank should consider winding down its quantitative easing programme. The MPC member also asserted that he would be voting for higher borrowing costs at then next BoE meeting.
- Sterling rallied to push back above the 1.14 level against the euro. GBP/EUR opened at 1.1347 before reaching a three-week high of 1.1433 before closing at 1.1415, representing a gain of 0.6% on the day.
- GBP/USD reached its best levels since September 2016 as it convincingly breached the 1.30 level that has been capping the pair for the last few months. Cable opened the day at 1.2937 and closed very near the highs of the day at 1.3101.
- Commentators are also claiming that the UK’s seemingly softer stance on its financial obligations after Brexit boosted the pound as it it seen as being positive for future Brexit discussions.
- This move was the result of not only sterling strength but of disappointing inflation and retail sales data from the US. CPI m/m and Core CPI m/m both missed expectations at 0.0% vs 0.1% and 0.1% vs 0.2%, respectively. Retail sales m/m and core retail sales m/m also missed at -0.2% vs 0.1% and -0.2% vs 0.2% expected, respectively.
- We had economic data released from China overnight with GDP q/q coming in as expected, industrial production y/y beating estimates at 7.6% vs 6.5% expected and fixed asset investment ytd/y matching expecations at 8.6%.
- Sterling strength on Friday caused GBP/NZD to above 1.78 and we remain above that level at the time of writing.
- We have a quiet day ahead in terms of economic data with the only pieces of note being final CPI from Europe at 10am and empire state manufacturing index from the US at 1.30pm.
- Later this evening we see CPI q/q from New Zealand at 11:45 UK time.
|Currency Pair||Interbank Rate||% Change on Day|
|ime (GMT)||Region||Data Release||Forecast||Previous|
|10:00||EUR||Final CPI y/y||1.3%||1.3%|
|13:30||CAD||Foreign Securities Purchases||9.78B||10.60B|
|13:30||USD||Empire State Manufacturing Index||15.2||19.8|


text:
Don't miss the latest stories
Watch: Why Apple Needs Samsung For The Production Of Its Flagship iPhone X
By Yoon Sann Wong, 26 Sep 2017
Apple and Samsung are well-known rivals in the smartphone industry. Some people might be less aware, though, that Samsung supplies Apple with the OLED screens used in its new flagship iPhone X.
In this short video, YouTube channel Nerdwriter1—dedicated to producing video essays weekly—explains why the Big A is dependent on its South Korean contender.
Many identify Samsung as the producer of smartphones, televisions, and even refrigerators, but “the largest part of its business is actually the components it builds for other companies, namely memory chips and displays, like the OLED display that’s going into the iPhone X.”
In July this year, Samsung overtook Intel as the world’s largest chip manufacturer, and you can be sure that the tech giant is looking to expand its piece of this pie.
Watch the video below to learn about Samsung’s monopoly in OLED production and how this impacts Apple.
[via Nerdwriter1, images via video screenshot]
More related news
Also check out these recent news


text:
Aptera has not been shy in showing their affection towards Tesla’s charging connector, having teased several times that they hope to use Tesla’s elegant solution for their electric vehicles (EVs). Now the company has taken it up a notch and has started a Change.org petition urging Congress to make it the charging standard for EVs in the US.
Aptera announced the petition on Twitter, posting a short video highlighting how bulky the CCS and CHAdeMO connectors are compared to Tesla’s connector, which it suggests is the gold standard.
— Aptera (@aptera_motors) July 13, 2022
Along with the petition, the company also launched a new page on their website, explaining why they think Tesla should be the new charging standard. Aptera highlights how the current common standard, CCS and CHAdeMO, are “clunky, cumbersome, and expensive.”
In contrast, Aptera says Tesla’s connector is “small, convenient, and universal for AC or DC fast charging.” The company also says Tesla’s Supercharger network provides the best EV charging experience, citing a recent study.
To help illustrate their point they also provided a mock-up showing the drastic difference in size between the three connectors.
To support their position, Aptera says making Tesla the standard could translate into expanding EV infrastructure “at a much reduced cost, saving $4 billion dollars on projected charging infrastructure spending through 2027.” The company cited recent paperwork from Texas which showed Supercharger costs one-fifth that of other networks.
Aptera hopes to use the Tesla connector on their three-wheeled EV which can last 1,000 miles on a single charge thanks in part to its built-in solar panels.
At the time of publication, the petition has already gathered more than 4,000 signatures in less than 24 hours since its launch. You can sign the petition here.


text:
ALTSMARK, LLC, a private capital portfolio management and services provider for the wealth management industry, has acquired London-based FINLIGHT, the ultra-high-net-worth solutions provider.
Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, has been appointed by St. James’s Place to manage a new GBP2.8 billion Global Absolute Return Multi-Strategy mandate.
A strong majority of advisers have called for a ban on both unregulated investments in SIPPs and unregulated pension introducers, new research reveals.
Against a backdrop of all-time highs when it comes to DIY investor numbers, Boring Money has announced its Best Buys for DIY ISA and Pension investors in 2022.
Quilter is rolling out a series of responsible investment training modules to help advisers, in line with FCA guidance, to accommodate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into their advice process.
Nearly a third (32 per cent) of families do not have any savings for a rainy day, highlighting the pressure that millions of households could be under with rising living costs, a survey of 2,000 UK adults has found.
Since the pandemic began, Covid-19 restrictions have reduced spending opportunities which has helped many households to boost their savings over the past two years.
New research published by Wealth Club shows that almost a third (31 per cent) of Venture Capital Trust (VCT) investments are into privately owned companies that are growing revenues at more than 50 per cent a year. This is compared to just 3.2 per cent of the UK’s top 350 listed businesses.
LGT, the private banking and asset management group owned by the Liechtenstein Princely Family, has launched a dedicated team for UK-based asset managers interested in setting up Liechtenstein-domiciled private label funds.
UK consumer savers and investors have GBP4trn invested and close to GBP200 billion saved report says
The "Consumer Savers and Investors Market Report 2022" report considers the market for consumer savings and investments, with a central focus on the types of savings and investment products consumers own, how much they are saving and investing and the environmental framework in which savings and investments are made. It looks at the size and structure of the market, recent trends and the future.
Commenting on energy price increases from the perspective of investing in the Gulf, Jubin Jose, manager of London-listed Gulf Investment Fund plc, writes that with the UK and much of Europe facing gas supply worries and surging energy prices as geo-political brinksmanship in Ukraine continues, which markets are set to benefit from this uneasy outlook?


text:
Group bookings set to double in 2012–13
NAPA — The scale of the recently opened $40 million expansion at The Meritage Resort & Spa — effectively doubling the size of it — already is contributing significantly to the ongoing resurgence of Napa Valley tourism.
In May, the number of rooms increased by 165 to 319 with a new three-story lodging building. That’s not including the affiliated 182-unit Vino Bello vacation housing complex across the parking lot. Meeting space expanded to 50,000 square feet with the new 7,300-square-foot Carneros Ballroom, divisible into 10 “salons” just as the 10,500-square-foot Meritage Ballroom in the existing hotel building is.
Also added were the Crush Ultra Lounge with six bowling lanes, 1,600-square-foot fitness room, Blend café and bistro, and outdoor meeting areas, croquet lawn and fireplace between the new buildings. The existing pool area also got a $500,000 upgrade, including a firepit and eight permanent cabanas.
The additional rooms and amenities are boosting group bookings by attracting functions the resort couldn’t before, namely companies or organizations wanting to reward star employees or customers, according to General Manager Michael Palmer. Attractions at the resort predating expansion have been the Siena fine dining restaurant, Spa Terra and Trinitas Cellars tasting room in a 22,000-square-foot cave bored under the landmark Grapecrusher statue overlooking the area.
“We were fortunate to do a lot of site tours before we opened, and that has allowed us to put a lot more heads in beds Sunday through Thursday with group bookings,” Mr. Palmer said. Such reservations help keep hotel occupancy up between waves of tourists making weekend trips to Wine Country.
In 2011, groups accounted for about 17,000 room nights at The Meritage, according to Mr. Palmer. The group total is on track to reach roughly 30,000 nights this year then expand to 40,000 nights in 2013.
The resort expansion is allowing existing group bookings to expand and get back ones that had taken their events out of Napa Valley, according to Mr. Palmer.
For example, a group that had reserved all the rooms in the resort in past years, instead moved the event to larger venues in San Francisco as of 2011. With The Meritage expansion, the group will be back, signing a multiyear contract to reserve the entire property, according to Mr. Palmer.
“That was the reason we added additional conference rooms and meeting space, because groups were outgrowing us,” he said.
In another example, a Silicon Valley group is doubling its bookings at The Meritage from reservations in 2012. In January, the group has reserved for four days all 319 rooms in the hotel and all 182 condos in Vino Bello.
That additional space and added guest rooms also are attracting association meetings from out-of-state locales such as Washington, D.C., and the Midwest, according to Mr. Palmer.
With more reservations, the resort has been expanding its resources to connect guests with other Napa Valley attractions.
“It’s not just about The Meritage,” Mr. Palmer said. “The entire valley is benefiting from the added guest and conference facility. We buy a lot locally, and every vendor we’re buying from — linens, food, beverages and wineries — we’re buying twice as much.”
The three-person concierge team in The Meritage lobby is being doubled to have that many on hand during the busiest times. To shorten the wait times in shuttling guests to downtown Napa restaurants, shops and tasting rooms about every 40 minutes between 4 and 10 p.m., the resort recently expanded the service from an eight-passenger van to a 24-passenger vehicle.
However, that van isn’t big enough to ferry increasing larger groups to wineries and other local destinations, so the added group business is spilling over into area transportation and events companies. Resort staff cater some off-site events too.
The resort expansion is forecast to increase its county transient occupancy tax to $1.3 million this year and $1.7 million in 2013 from $800,000 last year. The 2 percent Napa County Tourism Improvement District assessment is projected to rise to $215,000 this year and $300,000 in 2013 from $135,000 last year.
The Meritage expansion together with recent major renovations at local hotels such as Napa Valley Marriott, Embassy Suites Napa Valley and Meadowood are contributing to growth in tourism, according to Clay Gregory, president and chief executive officer of Napa Valley Destination Council. The valley has 2,300 hotel rooms, and 1,100 more are planned. [See "Napa hotel projects a sign of expanding tourism sector," Feb. 13.]
“Overall, tourism is doing very well in Napa Valley,” Mr. Gregory said, pointing to the latest year-over-year lodging statistics from Smith Travel.
In June, total room revenue increased 14 percent to $26 million from a year before, and first-half receipts increased 9.5 percent to $106 million. The average daily room rate increased nearly 2 percent to $248, and revenue per available room (revPAR) increased nearly 10 percent to $186. Average occupancy increased about 8 percent to 75.2 percent in June.
Average occupancy has initially dipped with the opening of The Meritage expansion. However, promotion by resort owner Pacific Hospitality Group over the 18-month expansion project, opening of a number of restaurants and tasting rooms in downtown Napa and the two years of marketing funds provided by the Napa Valley TID are credited with helping to spur tourism growth.
The Meritage first opened in 2006, followed by the opening of the subterranean spa a year later. The second phase was planned to quickly follow the first, but the global financial crisis stalled the expansion until 2010, when tourism noticeably started picking up in the North Coast.
Copyright © 1988–2015 North Bay Business Journal
View the policy for linking to website content.


text:
Rivals Carnival and Royal Caribbean have joined forces to sign a memorandum of understanding with the government of Saint Lucia.
The deal will see the formation of a joint venture to manage the existing cruise facilities on the island, and to design, construct and operate a new cruise port.
It was signed during a ceremony at the annual Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
As part of the memorandum, the trio will establish a long-term concession agreement to formalise the terms and responsibilities for the joint venture to manage and operate the current cruise pier and terminal facilities at the Port of Castries.
Additionally, the joint venture will design, finance, construct and operate a new cruise port in Vieux Fort on the southern part of the island.
The latter will be able to accommodate the latest ships in the cruise industry.
Prime minister of Saint Lucia, Allen Chastanet, called the signing of the deal “historic” and “a major step towards enhancing Saint Lucia’s tourism product”.
“Saint Lucia has had record breaking cruise arrivals over the past few years and we thank our partners Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean for their continued confidence in our amazing destination,” said…


text:
Suntrust’s Online Banking app has a big privacy issue
Suntrust online bank app has been accused of having a massive privacy breach that it has not been able to fix, despite a warning from regulators.
Read moreSuntrust online service provider has been ordered to stop using a feature that lets users set their banking account password to the email address of their choice, and a report in The Sun says the feature could allow attackers to gain access to a user’s account.
Suntrust has said that it is taking steps to address the problem and is working with its customer service team to fix the issue, which has not yet been confirmed.
The Sun also said that an internal audit of the company’s mobile app has found that a new feature is being used by hackers to gain entry into a user account.
The security vulnerability was discovered on Wednesday and has not made it into the official version of the app, which was released last week, according to a statement issued by Suntrust.
Suntrust said in the statement that the feature allows attackers to “execute arbitrary commands against the account without the user’s knowledge or consent”.
The feature is intended to allow users to set the email password for their online banking account and to enable a secure login process when they log in.
In a blog post, Suntrust CEO John Stowe said that the company was “investigating a security breach affecting Suntrust customers” and that it had made “significant changes to address this issue”.
He also said the company would work with regulators to address its security problems and had already fixed them.
SunTrust is not the only online bank that has been affected by a privacy breach.
A week ago, The Telegraph reported that a breach at Bank of America, which is one of the largest US online banks, resulted in the theft of customer credit card numbers and passwords.
Bank of American is currently under investigation by US regulators, including a criminal investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.
Bank of America said it was taking the security breach “very seriously”.
In a statement, Bank of Americans said: “Our commitment to customers is to maintain and improve customer security.
We have taken steps to secure all of our customers’ accounts and we are taking additional steps to protect them from identity theft.””
We are also investigating a security vulnerability affecting Bank of Americas customer accounts,” the bank said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


text:
- Pinduoduo, the e-commerce company that claims to be “China’s largest agricultural platform,” reported its first-ever quarterly profit when it announced its Q2 2021 results this week.
- Total revenue for the quarter stood at ¥23 billion ($1.36 billion), up 89% on Q2 2020. Pinduoduo also recorded an operating profit of ¥2 billion ($309 million) for the three months ending June 30, compared to the operating loss of ¥1.64 billion ($225 million) it reported for the same period last year.
- The Shanghai-based company said that profits from Q2 and future quarters will be allocated to its new ’10 Billion Agriculture Initiative’ which will “address critical needs in the agricultural sector and rural areas.” Re-investment of profits into the Initiative will continue until a total commitment of ¥10 billion ($1.54 billion) is met.
Why it matters:
Pinduoduo — which works with farmers to sell their produce online across China — said the Initiative will “not be driven by profit or commercial goals, but [will] strive to facilitate the advancement of agritech, promote digital inclusion, and provide [workers] with greater motivation and a sense of achievement.”
After overtaking Alibaba, ag marketplace Pinduoduo is focusing on foodtech – read more here
“Agriculture has long been at the core of Pinduoduo’s corporate mission and [the Initiative allows] us to deepen our support for agricultural modernization and rural vitalization,” chairman and CEO Lei Chen said in a statement. “Investing in agriculture pays off for everyone because agriculture is the nexus of food security and quality, public health, and environmental sustainability.”


text:
Oracle Corp, the American business software developer, released its profit forecast for the third quarter which didn’t exactly meet analysts’ expectations.
That resulted in the company’s shares falling 1 per cent in extended trading.
The tight margins with which the company is currently facing are the result of Oracle’s aggressive shift from licensing software to cloud-based subscriptions.
Oracle, like other established technology companies, has been moving its business to the cloud-based model, essentially providing services remotely via data centres rather than selling installed software.
"This is a softer outlook than the Street was expecting and speaks to the massive growth challenges ahead," FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives said.
Reuters (opens in new tab)reported that Oracle forecast third-quarter profit of about 63-66 cents per share, with revenue flat or up 3 per cent which translates to $9.33 billion-$9.61 billion.
Analysts on average were expecting profit of 65 cents per share on revenue of $9.28 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Oracle's second-quarter net income fell to $2.2 billion, or 51 cents per share, from $2.5 billion, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier.
This doesn’t seem to be bothering the company too much, according to what the chairman Larry Ellison said in a statement released together with the earnings release.
“We are still on-target to sell and book more than $1.5 billion of new SaaS and PaaS business this fiscal year. That is considerably more SaaS and PaaS new business than any other cloud services provider including Salesforce.com.”
According to Forbes (opens in new tab), investors may be trained to accept Oracle’ cloud growth story for this quarter and more, but the company doesn’t have much room to lose a step as all eyes watch whether Oracle can transition its new business to converge with its old without losing too much of the total in the process.


text:
European mPOS company SumUp has announced €10m (US$11.2m) in funding from investors including BBVA Ventures and Groupon, taking the company’s funding total to €50m. SumUp plans to use the investment to increase its footprint into 15 countries, roll out its payment platform that encompasses a payments gateway, in-house hardware and operations systems, and to support the development of new services.
- Gatwick Airport installs 2,000 BLE beacons for augmented reality wayfinding
- Lotte Card introduces ‘pay with your palm’
- Debit cards set to overtake cash in 2018, three years earlier than expected
- Digital, decisive and drone-ready: American Express commissioned study shows Gen Z’s customer experience expectations
- EU agency calls for action on IoT security


text:
After opening hundreds of Mi stores in India, China, and Greece, Xiaomi turns its attention to Italy. How do we know that Xiaomi Italy will be official soon? Well, recently, Xiaomi posted a picture on the official Xiaomi Global Facebook page. The picture says:
Although this picture was deleted soon, however, its purpose is already obvious.
Xiaomi Italy will mark a significant achievement in Xiaomi getting global. The new store will capture new audience and market as well. In a foreign country to open a store can provide local customers with warranty service. You do not need to be sent back the phone to the manufacturing country, in case of Xiaomi, it’s China. Thus, it increases efficiency and cost savings. So, we can conclude that a new store can:
There’s no answer from the officials about the news of making Xiaomi Italy official. If the store opens, it is very likely that the store will sell Mi, Redmi smartphones, and other related smartphone accessories.
Let’s see if the rumors turn out to be true.


text:
Posts Tagged «amd»
AMD leaks Microsoft’s plans for upcoming Windows 10 launch April 21, 2015 at 8:30 am
AMD may have leaked Microsoft’s plans for a Windows 10 launch. We could see the new OS debut by July if Lisa Su’s comments are accurate.
Rounding up GTA V on the PC: How do AMD, Intel, and Nvidia perform? April 21, 2015 at 7:30 am
Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V has finally come to the PC — we round up the results from across the Web that examine CPU, GPU, and various detail scaling. It’s the definitive graphical edition, but can everyone enjoy it?
Server woes: Final Itanium processor will be 32nm, AMD’s ARM servers delayed a full year April 20, 2015 at 3:30 pm
Both Intel and AMD are facing delays and possible part cancellations. AMD’s ARM server plans are AWOL, while Intel’s Itanium may be poised to fade into the night.
AMD takes a beating in Q1, abandons SeaMicro, dense server business April 17, 2015 at 8:35 am
AMD’s quarterly results for Q1 are in, and it’s an ugly situation overall. The company’s revenue has taken a hammering over the past 12 months, and its core GPU and CPU markets are the worst affected.
Xbox One vs. PS4: How the hardware specs compare (updated for 2015) April 16, 2015 at 2:05 pm
How do the PS4 and Xbox One compare with each other in 2015? If you’re thinking about buying one of these two consoles–or just want ammunition for bragging rights–here’s what you need to know.
Moore’s Law is dead, long live Moore’s Law April 16, 2015 at 11:23 am
Moore’s Law is dead. Moore’s Law is very much alive. As the nature of computing has changed over the past 50 years, the promises and potential of the semiconductor industry have changed as well.
Samsung, Nvidia may collaborate on 14nm GPUs — but on what type of silicon? April 14, 2015 at 12:07 pm
Samsung and Nvidia may be working together on a next-generation GPU design, if rumors are to be believed — but does Samsung have the foundry tech to build a high-end GPU?
Leaked details, if true, point to potent AMD Zen CPU April 11, 2015 at 10:00 am
New details on AMD’s Zen point to an absolute monster CPU core — but is the information too good to be true?
Intel’s erratic Core M performance leaves an opening for AMD April 9, 2015 at 8:45 am
A new report shows that Intel’s Core M performance depends a great deal on which OEM hardware you buy in the first place. While this has always been true to some extent, the gaps are significantly larger this generation.
DirectX 12, LiquidVR may breathe fresh life into AMD GPUs thanks to asynchronous shading April 1, 2015 at 9:54 am
With DirectX 12 and Vulkan both coming to games and Windows in the near future, AMD is arguing that features it baked into GCN as far back 2012 will finally prove useful now — thanks to DirectX 12’s ability to juggle multiple threads.


text:
August has seen a whirlwind of technological developments, including the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, fintech partnerships, and crypto developments. Here’s a look at the most impactful stories of the month.
PayPal Launches US Dollar Stablecoin
The biggest story of the last news cycle has been the launch of PayPal’s US dollar-denominated stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD). The digital asset is fully regulated and allows users to venture into the crypto world without navigating any legal rough waters.
PYUSD allows its holders to access Paypal’s network of merchants (touted at 29 million) and make transactions in a single click.
Ethics Take Center Stage at the WEF
A recent report from the World Economic Forum highlighted ethical dilemmas surrounding AI, including data privacy and algorithmic bias. The discussion has emphasized the need for transparent and auditable systems.
That said, the international consensus is that AI tech will continue to see capital inflows in the short-to-mid term, as speculations point to a total market capitalization of around $1.8 trillion by the end of the decade.
Nvidia’s Revenue Soars on the Back of Growing Demand for AI
Nvidia, a supplier of AI-oriented hardware and software, has reported significant revenue growth since the start of the year — thanks largely to the rising demand for AI technologies. The firm has seen its stock price increase by 40%, with reports showing that global machine learning and data science applications increasingly use Nvidia chipsets.
Revolut Halts Crypto Services in the US
Global neobank and fintech giant Revolut has announced that starting September 2, it will halt its US-based crypto services. Users will no longer be able to buy, sell, or transfer cryptocurrencies associated with their accounts, with access to be fully disabled on October 3.
In a recent interview, a Revolut representative attributed the move to “the evolving regulatory environment” in the country and crypto market uncertainties.
Global Fintech Funding Drops Drastically in 2023
Global auditing giant KPMG has released a report revealing that fintech funding dropped drastically in H1 2023. Investors have poured $52.4 billion into fintech startups in the first six months of 2023, 17% less than in the last half of 2022. Reasons cited include growing inflation rates, spiking interest rates, geopolitical tensions, and other factors like the collapse of various US banks.
Apple Card’s ‘Savings’ Feature Sees $10+ billion in Deposits in Just 4 Months
Apple’s high-yield savings account service, developed in collaboration with Goldman Sachs, has accumulated more than $10 billion in deposits in the four months following its launch. The service, accessible through Apple’s digital wallet, allows users to deposit rewards from Apple’s Daily Cash program automatically.
The service launched in April and garnered $1 billion in deposits within its first week. This achievement underscores the appeal of Apple’s financial offerings, which have expanded to include credit cards and tap-to-pay features in the UK.
Banking Giant HSBC Partners with Tradeshift
HSBC has poured $35 million into a venture with cloud-based supply chain platform Tradeshift. The investment is part of a larger funding scheme to develop inroads into the payments and fintech arena. Over the next few months, Tradeshift expects to raise $70 million for the venture, which reportedly will be released early next year.
Prime Trust Loses $8 Million to Shady Investments Deals
Fintech giant Prime Trust’s parent company reported a loss of $8 million as a result of its investments in TerraUSD. This incident sparked concerns about the stability and reliability of algorithmic stablecoins, often touted as safer alternatives to traditional cryptocurrencies.
Curve Finance Exploit Shakes DeFi Ecosystem
Last month, bad actors delivered a blow on the decentralized finance as leading DeFi platform Curve Finance reported a hack resulting in a $62 million loss. The exploit has raised serious questions about the efficacy and security of the platform’s protocols.
Saudi Arabia and UAE Heavily Invest in AI Tech
Saudi Arabia and the UAE governments have lapped up huge portions of Nvidia processors to bolster their AI adoption efforts. Saudi Arabia alone has acquired 3,000 flagship H100 processing chips specializing in generative AI processes. The likes of Google and Microsoft have also initiated similar large-scale acquisitions.
Ethereum Turns 8 Years Old
The Ethereum network marked its 8th birthday last month, reflecting on its journey from a small startup to the second-largest crypto asset with a market capitalization of more than $225 billion. The network has undergone significant upgrades since its debut, including its transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, considerable energy consumption reductions, and the introduction of its staking incentive feature.
Legal Problems Mount for Tornado Cash’s Founders
The co-founders of Tornado Cash are facing severe legal challenges, including allegations of money laundering and sanctions violations worth over $1 billion. These charges carry a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison, and the case could set a precedent for litigation against similar companies.
Mastercard Introduces Pilot for New CBDC Partner Program
Financial juggernaut Mastercard has announced the launch of a new central bank digital currency partner program to foster collaboration among key industry players. The project will see participation from Web3 software company Consensys, CBDC and token solution provider Fluency, and blockchain firm Ripple.
The program aims to understand CBDCs better and explore their long-term viability within mainstream markets.
$3 billion BTC Whale Sighted
Arkham Intelligence has identified the mysterious Bitcoin wallet that accrued over $3 billion in just three months as Robinhood: Jump Trading Custody. The wallet first received Bitcoin in early March but gathered nearly 120,000 BTC in just three months. The wallet is now the third largest Bitcoin holder in the world, following Binance and Bitfinex.


text:
News - Toyota - Sportivo Coupe concept
Aussie Toyota concept heads for Japan
Sportivo Coupe concept to go under the microscope at Toyota City
2 Jun 2004
By BRUCE NEWTON
TOYOTA Australia’s Melbourne motor show star, the Sportivo Coupe concept, will soon be winging its way to Japan for a close-up inspection by the company’s technical chiefs.
The car is due at the TMC Technical Centre at Toyota City, on the outskirts of Nagoya, in late July.
The request from HQ is a big win for Toyota Australia and its two-year-old design department, Toyota Style Australia.
The first concept produced by TSA, the X-Runner all-wheel drive utility, never made it to Japan.
"I think they have an overall interest in what Australia can do," TSA boss Paul Beranger said.
"Outside Toyota in Japan not a lot of this stuff has happened before. Australia is really demonstrating what Toyota and the component industry is capable of to our parent company." The Sportivo concept is a two-door four-seat sports coupe with locally designed exterior and interior, powered by a 180kW turbocharged version of the 2.4-litre 2AZ-FE engine from the four-cylinder Camry.
The underpinnings for the car are a ‘Hokkaido’ specification four-wheel drive Camry, uniquely mated to a five-speed manual transmission.
Toyota Australia heavily promoted the car’s electronics and telematics at the Melbourne motor show launch, labelling the system T-Link.
It developed the concept based on feedback from 14 to 18-year-olds, pitching it very much as a car for future generations of drivers.
Objectives of the Sportivo include the need to capture a younger audience, erasing its mundane image, a desire to promote the Sportivo brand name and the necessity to develop its design and engineering talent and capacity, and promote that ability here and overseas.
The car was built in just 30 weeks, that timetable able to be met because the project team did not do a full-size clay model of the car, instead designing the car virtually and producing two polystyrene verification models.
"That would be part of what we would show them because that is an unusual way of building a show car," Mr Beranger said.
"But we would really hope our head office would gain a better understanding of what the Australian capability is and a better understanding of what the Australian customer is all about, particularly from a youth point of view.
"Ultimately, it should give them more and more confidence in our ability to be self-sufficient." Toyota Australia already had some recognition for its styling ability in Japan.
It was given the job of facelifting the Aussie version of Avalon and TSA has produced a local facelift for the 380N Camry that is launched later this year.
The lead designer on Sportivo coupe, Nick Hogios, is currently in Japan working on the next all-new Camry due on sale in early 2006.
The Road to Recovery podcast series
Click to share
Motor industry news


text:
Thousands of sellers on China’s top two online shopping platforms, Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com, will roll out an extended seven-day, “no-questions-asked” return policy to mark the implementation of new regulations governing e-commerce in the PRC.
Set to go into effect on March 15, China’s Consumer Rights Day, regulations promulgated by the country’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce are the first set of codified rules governing of the mainland’s booming e-commerce industry. The regulations are part of a wider set of amendments made to China’s consumer protection law released last October.
The new rules, aimed at curtailing e-commerce fraud and establishing a baseline for acceptable customer-service standards, mandates that online merchants provide seven-day, no-questions-asked return policies. The rule excludes certain products such as perishables, customized items and downloadable goods.
In anticipation of the new rules, officials for Alibaba Group, owner of Tabao Marketplace and Tmall.com, said more than 15,000 Taobao Marketplace sellers have signed up to extend the period during which consumers can make returns beyond seven days.
Some sellers are offering buyers up to 15 days to return goods without a reason. Currently more than 90 percent of product listings on Taobao Marketplace come with a return period of at least seven days.
Tmall.com vendors were already required to offer seven-day returns as a condition of joining the platform.
“The refinements made to the law will enable the further healthy and sustainable development of online marketplaces in China,” said Taobao official Chen Hongliang in a statement. “We believe the implementation of the online shopping seven-day return policy will make online shopping more reliable, increase consumers’ trust in the online shopping space, raise the overall level of customer service and enable capable sellers to take advantage of this opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to buyers.”
Under the new regulations, return shipping costs will be borne by consumers; the costs of shipping replacement items are to be negotiated by buyers and sellers, the government decreed.
The new e-commerce rules also call for online marketplaces to verify the identity of vendors, and for merchants to ensure the descriptions of the products they sell are accurate and true—requirements already in place as a condition of selling on Taobao Marketplace and Tmall.com.
Alibaba Group said Taobao will set up a special committee to collect sellers’ views and suggestions and analyze the implications of the new consumer law.
In addition to the extended seven-day return policy, Taobao is also tightening rules surrounding the sale of maternal and infant products and cosmetics on its websites. Infant milk-powder sellers now have to register each powder’s “QS Certification Mark” with Taobao, and display relevant import certifications and the origins of the product in product descriptions. A cosmetic brand licensing system will also be developed by Taobao. Under Taobao’s new rules, maternal and infant product sellers and cosmetic sellers must give buyers a mandatory seven-day return policy.
An infant milk powder contamination scandal in 2008 that left thousands of infants sickened has spooked Chinese mothers into buying foreign branded milk powder whenever possible. This has made imported infant milk powder a booming category for online e-commerce platforms like Taobao Marketplace. The tighter rules in the maternal and infant category ensure that buyers’ rights in this category are protected, the company said in a press release.


text: Price Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn 3 Bitcoin Charts NOBODY Is Watching. Bitcoin has recently had a big correction or cryptocurrency crash, and it is very important to understand the big picture. Many people don’t know why we… Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Products You May LikeArticles You May Like Bitcoin ANCIENT TREND WITH 100% ACCURACY?! – Crypto Trading Analysis & BTC Cryptocurrency News 2019 What the Bitcoin RICH are Doing and Why You Should Follow | Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency News Bitcoin Hasn't Done THIS In A Year! March 2019 Price Prediction, News & Trade Analysis New Free Bitcoin Mining Site 2019 | Earn Daily 100$ Live Withdrawal Payment Proof 2019 BITCOIN Is STILL GOING TO Reach AT $250K In MERE MONTHS – Why TIM DRAPER is STILL BULLISH!


text:
Last year, the fourth International reached a prize pool of $18 million, the largest in e-sports history at the time. In 2016, the tournament for the battle arena game Dota 2 is looking to set another precedent, offering viewers around the world the option to tune in via VR, developer Valve announced in a blog post.
You'll be able to watch the world's best Dota 2 players on the Dota VR Hub, using compatible headsets to watch live matches and replays in VR. You'll have the option of watching as if you were in the crowd at the event, or, better yet, you can even watch from within the game itself.
"Put on a headset and join your friends and other Dota fans to watch live matches or replays in Dota VR Theater, where you can stand surrounded by heroes and watch the action unfold on an enormous screen. Immerse yourself further by jumping through the minimap into the game itself. Watch from a bird's-eye view or plant your feet on the ground to watch the battles rage around you at full scale," read the announcement.
It's still an in-progress project for Valve, who have asked fans to try it out before the tournament and provide feedback. Spectator VR is a smart move for the company behind the Steam platform, who have been working closely with HTC on the.
The International 2016 will run from August 8 to August 13.


text:
Oh, so when a mother bear and a cub break into a Krispy Kreme Donut delivery van, it’s a “cute accident,” but when I do it, it’s considered a “Class A misdemeanor.”
I’m, of course, joking that I got arrested for stealing donuts out of a Krispy Kreme truck. I do love their bakery products though (and their coffee is underrated), but apparently not as much as these Alaskan bears love their scrumptious donuts.
A mama bear and her cub were walking along and noticed that the back of a donut delivery truck was slightly ajar, so they decided to check it out. Once they waltzed over to it, they realized that they had hit the mother load, and started to dive right into the variety of donuts in the vehicle.
Once the delivery truck driver came back out and saw the bears rustling through the products in the back, he went back inside and told the store manager about what was unfolding. The bears had apparently been frequenting the area, and were probably ecstatic that they finally got their paws on some fresh baked goods.
Shelly Deano, the manager of the store located on a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, was shocked when she heard that some wild animals were fans of their world famous donuts. She told the local news station in an interview:
“You could hear them breaking open the packages. We were trying to beat on the van but they just kept eating all the doughnuts.
They ate 20 packages of the doughnut holes and I believe six packages of the three-pack chocolate doughnuts.”
The security team at the military base was called in to help handle the mother bear and her cub. Personnel that responded ended up blasting sirens towards the vehicles, which eventually led the bears to wrap up their gluttonous, all-you-can-eat buffet of donuts and stroll back into the woods.
Candice Sargeant, the general manager of the Krispy Kreme located on the military base, told the news outlet that she and her team had learned a lot from the close encounter with the donut-devouring bears:
“We’ll definitely be learning to slide up our ramp and close the doors to insure that bears don’t get back in there again.”
You can view the local news story that was produced around the hilarious situation in Alaska below:


text:
Goldman Sachs has come out and said president Donald Trump’s tariffs have had a bigger impact on consumer prices than originally thought. Additionally, the bank has said what the rest of us already know: the tariffs are being paid entirely by United States businesses and consumers; not the Chinese government.
Some sites have been warning that prices will spike on many items (food included) thanks to the taxes levied on imported Chinese goods and the mainstream media is finally admitting that taxation isn’t good for an economy. Goldman Sachs also said that the prices American consumers and businesses pay are higher because China is covering the cost of the additional tariffs.
“One might have expected that Chinese exporters of tariff-affected goods would have to lower their prices somewhat to compete in the US market, sharing in the cost of the tariffs,” Goldman said according to CNBC. But that’s not how business works. When the cost to make a good goes up, the cost to buy that good goes up to cover. Businesses don’t go into business to lose money and just because we’re talking about Chinese goods, that doesn’t change the finite laws of basic economics.
From the very beginning, Trump has repeatedly and inaccurately claimed that China will pay for tariffs imposed by the U.S. “However, analysis at the extremely detailed item level in the two new studies shows no decline in the prices (exclusive of tariffs) of imported goods from China that faced tariffs.”
Additionally, in order to cover the increased costs of goods, U.S. producers have even hiked their prices in response to protection from Chinese competitors, the bank said. Goldman Sachs predicts that the U.S. and China will come to some sort of an agreement later this year. “Our baseline expectation is that the U.S. and China will strike a deal later this year. We think this would come in the form of a gradual, staggered reduction in tariffs on a last-in, first-out schedule,” the bank said. “There is, however, a risk of further escalation,” Goldman said.
Further escalation could damage the economy and would make Trump’s reelection chances suffer.
The most recent round of trade talks, which ended on Friday with no final agreement, was overshadowed by President Donald Trump’s decision to more than double tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, from 10% to 25%.
White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow on Sunday said that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will likely meet at the June G-20 summit in Japan. He said that he expects China to retaliate against the U.S., and acknowledged that the U.S. will pay for China tariffs. –CNBC
Other investment banks are preparing clients for a “worst-case scenario.” According to “experts,” that scenario would be a fight that sends the S&P 500 into a correction, which would be 10% off that key indicator. The companies likely to be hardest hit, say the experts, are likely Boeing, Apple, and Caterpillar. They are all down about 5% this week already, according to another report CNBC.
Then the financial pain always ripples into the metals, mining, and automobiles sectors – passing on higher costs to the consumers, or cash strapped Americans. “Fasten your seatbelt and don’t hold your breath,” Bank of America strategists wrote in a note this week.


text:
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (BRAIN) — A new high-end road wheel brand is offering a fresh take on construction and aerodynamic features, as well as an international dream team of wheel and carbon fiber industry veterans as its founding executives.
Knight Composites is headed by CEO Beverly Lucas, a former Felt Bicycles and Enve executive; Jim Pfeil, the founder and original owner of the fork and wheel brand Reynolds Composites; and Kevin Quan, a former Cervélo designer and the head of an independent design firm that worked on frames for clients including Accell Group, BH, Parlee and NeilPryde.
Knight, which is launching here at Eurobike, will be offering three new carbon road clincher models, with rim depths of 35mm, 65mm and 95mm.
The rims feature something Knight calls TEAM (Trailing Edge Aerodynamic Manipulation) Technology, which focuses primarily on the trailing (rear) edge of the wheels. Knight claims the shape optimizes the aerodynamics of the aero-section downtubes on many modern bikes and provides a superior "sail effect" and "lift" in crosswinds of over 10 degrees
Knight is aiming to sell its 35mm- and 65mm-deep wheel sets for $2,600, and the 95mm-deep wheel for $2,900. The wheels use DT Swiss 240 hubs and Sapim CX-Ray spokes, and come with titanium skewers, brake pads, rim strips and tire levers.
The pricing is high-end, but still around $500 less than top-tier wheels from the likes of Enve and Zipp.
One reason for the competitive pricing is Knight's decision to have the rims made in a Taiwanese factory, Lucas noted in a recent interview with BRAIN.
"We never even considered making them in the U.S.," said Lucas, who is originally from the U.K. but now splits time between the U.S. and Australia.
She said the Knight founders used their experience in carbon frame manufacturing to identify a manufacturer that had the skills to manufacture a top-quality rim using technology similar to that used to make high-end carbon frames in Taiwan.
"Knight was fundamentally established with a global professional identity and we all agreed that it's the quality of the product that is the single most important thing to a consumer. So we chose an industry leader in Taiwan. We'd have been crazy not to partner with this kind of expertise," she said.
The first wheels are all clinchers and all made for rim brakes. Pfeil said Knight deals with the heat issues that can destroy some carbon clinchers in part by making the braking wall about twice as thick as most comparable rims: about 3mm thick.
Knight will likely make a 35mm-deep carbon tubular available later this year, for use in cyclocross or on the road. Disc brake wheels will be available next year.
Knight wheels will be sold through international distributors to IBDs. Lucas, a former bike shop owner herself, said the brand was not planning on selling through discount online retailers.
More information: knightcomposites.com.


text:
Ghana was the 4th largest importer of goods from China in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2021, UK based Economist Intelligence Unit has revealed.
The country’s imports from China were estimated at 5% of total imports from Sub-Saharan Africa.
The report said there is a broad range of drivers that are likely to push more Chinese trade and investment toward Africa in the decade ahead.
Ghana’s imports from China were estimated at about $2 billion in 2021. The imports ranged from Fast Moving Consumer Goods, electrical equipment, and construction materials.
However, the country did not make it among the top African countries that export to China.
The report further said African states and the Chinese government have lofty ambitions to push the level of their bilateral trade much higher and diversify trade further in the years ahead.
“African states and the Chinese government have lofty ambitions to push the level of their bilateral trade much higher and diversify trade further in the years ahead. China is actively seeking ways to consolidate its position as the largest single country trader with the continent in the medium and long term”
Again, China’s lending to Africa over the past two decades has largely targeted transport, power and mining projects and largely involved policy banks – including the Export-Import Bank of China and China Development Bank
Meanwhile, Nigeria was the biggest importer of China with a share of 16% of Africa’s imports from the Far East country.
It was followed by South Africa and Egypt in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
The top African exporters to China were however South Africa, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.


text:
(CNSNews.com) - Cuban leader Fidel Castro is dismissing suggestions that Cuba's recent purchase of American food is a political move, intended to support those in the United States who are lobbying Congress to lift the economic embargo against Cuba.
According to Radio Havana, Castro denied that the food purchase was a "political move on Cuba's part." He described it as "a polite response to a friendly offer of aid" from the United States government in the wake of a devastating hurricane.
Castro also said future food purchases from the United States depend entirely on the attitude of the Bush administration.
Castro has long complained about the economic embargo the U.S. imposed on Cuba following the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power. The delivery of American food to Cuba last weekend marked the first such transaction in over four decades.
Several American companies sold food to Cuba as part of a goodwill gesture, to help the communist nation recover from the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Michelle in November. The food shipment arrived in Havana last weekend.
Radio Havana quoted Castro as saying that the estimated $35 million purchase represents only 4 percent of the foodstuffs that Cuba acquires, mostly from other countries.
Congress passed a law last year allowing food and medicine sales to Cuba. But there's a catch. Cuba has to pay cash for those purchases, and it cannot obtain the financing it needs from U.S. sources. That essentially prevents Castro from buying U.S. food in most cases.
Castro left the door open to buying additional U.S. food shipments, saying, "Cuba will always politely respond to a friendly gesture, and will not respond crassly to a gross gesture."
Castro added that the recent food purchase has not created any illusions in Cuba that the U.S. economic embargo will be lifted. And certainly the Bush administration has given him no reason to think that the embargo will end.
President Bush, according to White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, remains opposed to lifting the economic embargo against the communist run nation.
"The president's solution remains unchanged on maintaining the sanctions against Cuba until it is free and until democratic elections are held," said Fleischer.
Earlier this week, Larry Cunningham, an executive with Archer Daniels Midland said he had the opportunity to "talk turkey" with Castro about future food purchases.
"The people of Cuba have a need to import food and for the foreseeable future will need to supplement their food supply with imports," Cunningham told Radio Havana.
"So, it's a winning opportunity for both the Cuban people who need the food and for the American people who need the business," said Cunningham, who is among those supporting U.S. food sales to Cuba.


text:
With the holidays fast approaching, Amazon's massive logistics network is being put to the test.In order to get those packages to customers on time, Amazon doesn't just rely on third-party carriers like the USPS, UPS and FedEx. Since building its first fulfillment centers in 1997, Amazon also now has its own fleet of trucks and cargo planes rushing to get customers their delivery time. It's also constantly adding new types of robotics to its warehouses, looking for ways to speed up the picking and package sortation process.
More grocery stores are realizing they need to build out standalone programs to fulfill digital orders. There are a few choices on the market currently, but one trend called micro-fulfillment is increasingly catching companies' eyes.
Over the last week, there's been a bunch of movement in the online grocery space. Uber bought a grocery delivery service, and FreshDirect is reportedly considering selling itself. The overall space is in the midst of a big transition -- here's where all the players stand right now.
California's new data privacy regulations are set to be enacted in the coming months. Some retailers are being caught flatfooted in the race to be compliant.
Multi-touch attribution has become the attribution method of choice for brands, especially direct-to-consumer ones, once they start advertising on more channels than just Facebook and Google. But switching to a multi-touch attribution model isn't as simple of a switch as transitioning from one software vendor to another. It is often a months-long project, that requires close communication between a brand's marketing and data science teams.
Attribution has been a sore spot for brands, especially those that are diversifying their marketing mixes, for years. There are many different methods to figuring out attribution. One that's increasingly popular is "fractional attribution." And for so-called DTC brands, who are now diversifying their ad spend beyond Facebook and Google, they're more likely to allocate their marketing dollars based on a fractional attribution model instead of last-click or click-based attribution model.
As direct-to-consumer brands have come to dominate the new retail landscape, they've also brought with them a new set of vocabulary. Many of these terms -- CAC, LTV, AOV -- are important for any retail company, regardless of whether or not they sell directly through their website or not. But they've become increasingly important to DTC companies, particularly the ones who have taken on venture capital funding.
Last week, Google released a redesigned version of Google Shopping, in its latest attempt to build a marketplace that can compete with Amazon. But that's not the only move Google has made over the past year to encourage more shoppers to stay on Google to discover products, instead of going to Amazon or Instagram.
Advertisers, in a marketplace transformed by creativity gone remote, how much of your campaign content is still in-house versus UGC? How are you using data to make choices and effectively target your campaign content? Take this survey and get the full results plus a $5 Starbucks gift card.
The Amazon Advertising Strategies Virtual Forum is a series of presentations, workshops and talks taking place over three mornings that’ll help you navigate and survive our current crisis and the acceleration of e-commerce that has come with it.Register Now


text:
If you're wondering just how much Cyberpunk 2077 changed over the past decade: well, up until 2016, it was a third-person game. Features that were originally envisioned (wall-running, flying cars, car ambushes) were cut along the way (not atypical in game development)
And if you're wondering why the police system in Cyberpunk 2077 is so janky: well, it was all done at the last minute. As is evident by the final product, it was unclear to some of the team why they were trying to make both an RPG and a GTA with a fraction of Rockstar's staff
In conclusion: Cyberpunk was announced eight years ago, but development didn't really start until 2016. In 2018, they had little but a (mostly) fake demo. Most of the staff knew and openly said it wouldn't be ready for release in 2020. But management believed in CD Projekt Magic
Fans and journalists were wowed by Cyberpunk 2077’s ambition and scale. What they didn’t know was that the demo was almost entirely fake. CD Projekt hadn’t yet finalized and coded the underlying gameplay systems, which is why so many features, such as car ambushes, were missing from the final product. Developers said they felt like the demo was a waste of months that should have gone toward making the game.
Even as the timeline looked increasingly unrealistic, management said delaying wasn’t an option. Their goal was to release Cyberpunk 2077 before new consoles from Microsoft and Sony, expected in the fall of 2020, were even announced. That way, the company could launch the game on existing PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, then “double dip” by releasing versions down the road for the next generation consoles.
- On9 管理層 set唔現實嘅deadline
- 管理混亂 有開發人員要一套著色 就有人整比佢
- 瘋狂OT chur盡員工
- 為左賺埋舊console錢趕住係20年年尾出 但其實員工認為2022年先出到
- AI 係last minute先整出黎
- 諗住No Man Sky/ FFXIV咁重生 (做左先先講)
諗住No Man Sky/ FFXIV咁重生 (做左先講)
呢個 point 真係痴線
即係想食兩轉錢, ps4 + ps5, 因為整好晒先出就得返 ps5 食
又係錢作怪, 所以買 game 真係唔好 pre-order


text:
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published its strategy on the future of farming, but we think it falls short on the urgent need to shift our food culture towards healthy and sustainable eating. They have launched a ten-week consultation - have your say.
Take a look at how the Eating Better alliance is making a real impact to create a fair, green, healthy future.
New EFRA Committee report warns that food trade under WTO rules post-Brexit could lead to cheaper imports, produced to lower standards, damaging British producers.
FAO has previously championed ‘climate smart’ livestock production but the time is right to call for a reduction in the consumption of meat and dairy.
As this year’s international Climate Change Conference (COP23) kicks off in Bonn, Eating Better is calling on global leaders to champion action to curb emissions from the food on our plates.
Hospital food should be healthy and ecologically sustainable, but often it is not. A new report from Medact looks at how to drive the shift to sustainable diets in the NHS - join their campaign to inspire change at your local hospital.
Eating Better says Brexit and new trade deals must mean high-standard Britain, particularly for meat and dairy foods. Read our 10 key recommendations for food and farming fit for the future.


text:
Replying to a query in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said that in 2015, as many as 43 pilots tested positive for alcohol, followed by 44 in 2016.
In 2017, the number stood at 45 and 49 such cases have come to the fore till November 2018, he said.
In November this year, Air India Captain Arvind Kathpalia, in charge of Director Operations, was sacked a day after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation suspended his license for three years for failing the breath analyser test.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Bottom Line
- Deep Dive
- RBI Asks Paytm to Reapply for Payment Aggregator Licence
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked Paytm to reapply for a payment aggregator licence within 120 days in response to its initial application.Festive Season not Over for EV Cos as Sales Hit Top Gear
The festive season may have ended but festivities are continuing for electric vehicle (EV) makers with November sales likely to match the record set last month amid Navratri and Diwali seasons.Oyo Ebitda Sees 8-fold Jump in Q2, Loss Narrows to ₹333 cr Sequentially
Hospitality chain Oyo reported an adjusted ebitda of ₹56 crore for the September quarter, up from ₹7 crore in the preceding three-month period.
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
ETPrime stories of the day
10 mins read
10 mins read
8 mins read


text:
The coupon service Groupon is, at least temporarily, no longer offering any firearms-related deals, sparking praise from many anti-gun activists and calls for a boycott from angry business owners and gun rights’ advocates. The policy decision was first reported by AOL’s Daily Finance and comes weeks after the deadly shooting in Newtown, CT.
A Groupon spokesperson told Daily Finance that the company put all “scheduled and current gun-related deals featured on Groupon North America, including shooting ranges, conceal-and-carry, and clay shooting” on hiatus while the company internally reviewed them. It was not clear if they will ever come back.
The news comes as the debate over gun control in the United States continues to heat up. Business owners, what would you do?


text:
Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn has been arrested for alleged financial misconduct. According to Reuters, he will be fired from the car company’s board this week. A whistleblower report says Ghosn was engaged in wrongdoing including personal use of company money. It also says he under-reported for...
According to Reuters, Nissan told Renault its Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa was unable to attend an Amsterdam meeting because he was assisting Tokyo prosecutors investigating alleged misconduct led by..
A Nissan Motor Co panel has failed to nominate a successor to Carlos Ghosn as chairman in the wake of his arrest and dismissal. Last month, Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo for alleged financial misconduct,..
According to a report by Reuters, on Friday, leaders of France and Japan attempted to avert a diplomatic row over the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, meeting for bilateral talks in the wake of the..
FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron is seen at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 27, 2018. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron met..
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan, the Japanese automaker under scrutiny after its former chairman Carlos Ghosn was arrested on suspicion of financial misconduct, is... SeattlePI.com - BusinessAlso reported by •Seattle Times
TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court confirmed Friday that it has approved extending the detention of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn for 10 more days. The Tokyo... Seattle Times - Front PageAlso reported by •Christian Science Monitor
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, the world's bestselling auto group last year, has reaffirmed its commitment to its alliance. The group issued a statement Thursday... SeattlePI.com - BusinessAlso reported by •Seattle Times •Christian Science Monitor


text:
Codemasters, the British video game developer has confirmed the upcoming F1 2019 title for the Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox and Windows. This incidentally will also be the tenth anniversary of the F1 games. Codemasters has confirmed that the game arrives on 28th June, much ahead in the season than any other F1 game in the previous years. But that is not the only good news.
The F1 2019 game will be available in the Anniversary Edition and also a Legends Edition: Senna And Prost. It is the latter which will relive the iconic rivalry between Senna and Prost. You will be able to drive Senna’s 1990 McLaren MP4/5B and Prost’s Ferrari F1-90 and race in eight challenges. If you buy the Anniversary Edition, you will additional get to race the Ferrari F10 which was driven by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in the 2010 Formula 1 season and the McLaren MP4-25 that Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button raced with in the 2010 season. These new additions will join the Red Bull RB6 from the same season, which is available in the current game as well.
F1 is focusing on rivalries for the covers of the Anniversary Edition of the game. Globally, you will be able to buy the game with the cover featuring Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, to signify them going head to head for this year’s drivers’ world championship as well. Codemasters also says that gamers in Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg will be able to buy the cover that features Dutch Max Verstappen facing off with Lewis Hamilton. In France, the F1 2019 Anniversary Edition cover will put young French drivers against each other—Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Pierre Gasly of Red Bull.
“Fans can see from the new cover art design that F1® 2019 has a strong theme of rivalry running through it, just like the main sport itself. As such, we are absolutely delighted to have resurrected F1’s greatest ever rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost,” said Paul Jeal, F1 Franchise Director at Codemasters.
But that is not all. Codemasters have confirmed that the FIA Formula 2 Championship will also be a part of the F1 2019 game. At the start, you will be able to relive the magic of the cars and the driver roster of the 2018 season of Formula 2, with the developer promising that the updated 2019 line-up will be added as an update later this year.


text:
Ethical business practices local craftsmanship boost Tunisian fashion trade while the rest of the world is embracing fast fashion trends, Tunisian designers like Mechri are opting for environmentally conscious materials, reports Associated Press.
They are ‘upcycling’ old or unwanted materials and incorporating high-quality fabrics into them. For instance, Mechri refurbishes old fabrics with local materials from Tataouine embroiderers. The designer says, fashion is an intelligent way to pay homage to local materials.
Hassen Ben Ayech, a 26-year-old former computer scientist, also values the importance of paying homage to one’s ancestry. Founder of the fledgling high-end brand Bardo, the designer aims to revive Tunisia’s heritage and traditional crafts to end the slow death of its culture in the face of globalization. The brand’s first collection is inspired by the famous Bardo palace and the rulers in the Tunisian monarchy that was abolished in 1957.
Weaving stories through organic materials
To expand the scale of sustainable fashion in Tunisia, Riad Trabelsi relaunched his French-Tunisian brand Basscoutur in 2018. The brand’s designs reflectEthical business practices local craftsmanship boost Tunisian fashion the complexity of modern Tunisian diaspora and see the sustainability concept become normative in the country. The brand has a growing client base in Japan and South Korea and plans to launch in Italy soon.
According to Sofia Guellaty, Founder, Mille World, an online platform spotlighting Arab youth culture, arts and fashion, Tunisian brands are using the concept of storytelling to make their garments stand out from the rest of the crowd. They are focusing on natural shapes and organic materials that are currently in demand in the international and local markets.
Flourishing textile trade to boost prospects
Though most Tunisian brands are not so eco-conscious, younger consumers are embracing sustainability to preserve their cultural identities. Tunisia has a flourishing textile industry which boosts businesses affected by the current pandemic. Balancing ethical industrial practices with community-driven craftmanship will reassure Tunisia of a better future.


text:
Nintendo Switch is back on stock at the official website and Argos
NINTENDO SWITCH STOCK UPDATE SEVEN - 8.00pm - March 15: Nintendo Switch consoles are still available to collect and reserve at hundreds of Argos stores across the UK.
The Grey version of the Switch is in stock to collect and reserve at 239 Argos stores, while the Neon version can be collected and reserved at 59 branches.
The stock first became available this morning and incredibly is still in stock at Argos after around 10 hours.
However, online retailer 365Games have now sold out of the Nintendo Switch Grey version.
The retailer began listing the Switch as available to purchase for £329.99 at 2.30pm - but it sold out three hours later.
The official Nintendo store also received a restock of the Grey and Neon Switch consoles, and began selling them again at around 10am.
However, those were quickly snapped up after an hour and a half - with the store now only offering pre-purchase on consoles that will be delivered later this month.
NINTENDO SWITCH STOCK UPDATE SIX - 5.00pm - March 15: Argos have issued a statement about their Nintendo Switch restock which dropped today.
Currently the Grey version of the Nintendo Switch is available to reserve and collect at 311 Argos stores nationally, while the Neon version can be reserved and collected at 86 stores.
Most retailers are currently awaiting more Nintendo Switch and have the item listed for pre-purchase - with it expected to ship later this month.
In a statement to Express.co.uk, an Argos spokesperson said: "Argos, like many other retailers, has seen huge demand for the Nintendo Switch since its recent launch.
"We continue to have more coming into stock, so would urge customers to keep checking our website and snap them up as soon as you see them available."
NINTENDO SWITCH STOCK UPDATE FIVE - 3.35pm - March 15: Another retailer have today updated their listings to show they have Nintendo Switch units in stock.
Online retailer 365Games have Grey Nintendo Switch consoles available - but they are selling the consoles for £329.99.
They also have copies of 1-2 Switch available for £32.99, Just Dance 2017 for £42.99 and Skylanders Imaginations Starter Pack for £49.99.
NINTENDO SWITCH STOCK UPDATE FOUR - 2.05pm - March 15: Huge news just in - Argos now have Nintendo Switch consoles in stock that you can reserve and collect at HUNDREDS of stores across the UK.
Argos have Nintendo Switch Grey consoles available to reserve and collect at 413 stores across the UK. While the retailer also have the Neon version available at 168 stores, according to Stock Informer.
They also have this handy guide which shows you which Argos stores have Nintendo Switch in stock.
But even if these stores are not near you, you can have Switch consoles delivered to a store near you when you choose reserve and collect on the Argos website.
Argos also have five special offers available for those looking to pick up at Switch - the deals are outlined below.
At the moment, Argos seem to be the British retailer with the most amount of Switch stock.
Express.co.uk have contacted Argos for more information.
NINTENDO SWITCH STOCK UPDATE THREE - 12.20pm - March 15: The official Nintendo store has now sold out of Grey and Neon versions of the Nintendo Switch, according to Stock Informer.
They page on the official Nintendo website says they are expecting further stock towards the end of March and customers who place orders now will receive their console once stock comes back in.
However, at Argos stock for both the Grey and Neon versions of the Nintendo Switch is still in stock and available to purchase.
The Grey version is available to reserve and collect at 51 stores across the UK.
While the Neon version, which comes with Red and Blue Joy-Cons, is available to reserve and collect at 10 stores.
NINTENDO SWITCH STOCK UPDATE TWO - 11.10am - March 15: It has been almost an hour since the Nintendo Switch came back in stock at Argos and the official Nintendo store and it is STILL in stock.
The console launched on March 3 and quickly sold out at most retailers acros the country. The Switch is available to pre-order at a number of retailers, like Game, ahead of their stock levels being replenished.
But if you want to pick one up today then it's time to act quick - as stock is surely set to be snapped up quickly.
The offical Nintendo store also have stock of launch titles and accessories.
Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, 1-2 Switch and the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller are all back in stock at the official Nintendo Switch store.
NINTENDO SWITCH STOCK UPDATE ONE - 10.50am - March 15: Argos are now listing the Nintendo Switch as able to reserve and collect and 71 stores across the UK.
This is an increase from the earlier 62 stores that people hoping to bag a Switch could pick the console up at.
Argos also have FIVE special offers available when you purchase a Nintendo Switch.
They are as follows:
• Buy the Nintendo Switch console and get Just Dance Switch for £26.99
• Buy the Nintendo Switch console and get Skylanders Imaginators Switch Starter Pack for £25
• Buy a Nintendo Switch console or a game and get 10 per cent off the Mario starter kit (Priced at £29.99)
• Buy a Nintendo Switch console and save £10 on Super Bomberman R (Priced at £44.99)
• Save £10 on selected Sandisk memory cards when you purchase a Nintendo Switch
ORIGINAL: Nintendo Switch stock at online retailers such as Amazon, GAME UK, Very.co.uk and Base.com are still in a pre-purchase state.
The console is selling for the RRP of £279.99 with free delivery.
Amazon Marketplace sellers are also selling the console by prices range upwards from £320.
They also have the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller in stock selling for £59.99.
At Argos you can reserve a grey Nintendo Switch at 62 stores across the UK, and the neon version at 12 stores.
While at the official Nintendo store you can get the console delivered straight to your door.
More Switch stock was anticipated after industry experts MCV said the new Nintendo Switch console had already sold 1.5million units worldwide.
The Nintendo Switch grey version is currently in stock on the official Nintendo store
Argos are now also stocking the grey version of the Nintendo Switch and a selection of games
UK Retailer GAME said: “At this time we have not received official confirmation of the next stock delivery of this product,” the GAME message reads.
“We are working extremely hard with Nintendo to receive more stock of the Nintendo Switch for customers.
“Until we have our stock delivery confirmed by Nintendo, a placeholder date of TBC has been put onto this product.
“This can change once the delivery of stock has been confirmed and the status of your order will change accordingly.”
While Amazon.co.uk have said they are expected to get Nintendo Switch stock back in store on March 31.
Nintendo had set a target of selling 2million Switch consoles by the end of the year, so it was expected that stores would be getting more stock in.
However, several UK retailers have told people hoping to snap up a Nintendo Switch that they were unsure when the console would come back in stock.


text:
The private equity firms that purchased Dallas-based Neiman Marcus in 2005 are considering putting it up for sale, or taking the company public.
Target and Neiman Marcus are joining forces this holiday season to offer shoppers an unprecedented collection featuring 24 of America’s hottest designers.
Taking a page from Neiman Marcus’ lavish holiday wish book–Fort Worth’s Cook Children’s Medical Center is being included in a national children’s hospital ‘wish list’ organized by the Children’s Miracle Network.
Dallas luxury retailer Neiman Marcus is offering up more wild gift ideas in its annual Christmas Book. This year’s book features $1 million timepieces and a special edition McLaren 12C Spider.
They may make an odd couple, but discounter Target and luxury merchant Neiman Marcus are jointly offering a collection ranging from fashion to sporting goods for the winter.
A Dallas woman who has found Neiman Marcus’ generous return policy lacking has filed a suit claiming fraud against the luxury retailer.
Upscale retailer Neiman Marcus said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter profit grew 35 percent, as stronger consumer demand allowed it to cut back on discounts.
There was no snow on the ground at DFW Airport Friday, but that didn’t stop the Snowball Express.
Dallas-based department store operator Neiman Marcus Inc.’s fiscal first-quarter net income surged 88-percent as shoppers continued to spend on luxury goods.
An annual animal rights protest at Neiman Marcus’ downtown Dallas flagship store ended with fake blood splattered across the iconic store’s front windows and two people in jail.
The formal arrival of the holiday season transformed the center of downtown into a boulevard of bold colors and a mass of smiling families Saturday.
Neiman Marcus said that revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 8 percent to $1 million in the fiscal first quarter.
- HP Byron Nelson Championship... NASCAR Sprint Cup Series... Tigers vs Rangers - May 19,... Tigers vs Rangers - May 18,...
- Tigers vs Rangers - May 17,... Dallas Comic Con 2013 Tigers vs Rangers - May 16,... Best Summer Dishes
- Severe Weather Aftermath: May... Severe Weather Pictures: May... CBS 2013-2014 Prime Time Show Rangers vs Athletics - May...
- Dallas Cowboys Rookie Camp -... Rangers vs Athletics – May... Flash Forward: Concept Cars... G-Bag Nation Live From...
Latest DFW News
- Texas Motor Speedway Firestone 550 Contest
- Rangers RHP Lewis: No Timetable After Rehab Start
- One North Texas Officer Says Ticket Quotas Do Exist…And It May Be A Ticket To A Trophy
- Parts of Granbury Evacuated Under Severe Weather Threats
- 8 Questions For Cowboys At OTAs
- Praise for Firefighter Stan Wilson Both On, Off-Duty
- Rangers Turn Lowe Loose To Make Room For Lindblom
- Tortorella Says There’s ‘No Give’ In Rangers As Series Shifts To N.Y.


text:
One major car insurance comparison site commissioned the research, which found that a substantial majority of motorists in the UK will conduct thorough research instead of just deciding on a the policy with the best car insurance rate. Additionally the survey found that 42 per cent of respondents said that they had become more informed as to the excesses and features of their policies after purchasing them online.
Out of the 2030 motorists that were surveyed, less than 1 out of every 10 remarked that they actually knew more about their policies when they used to arrange it via the phone. Moreover, just 1 out of every 20 motorists felt that securing car insurance cover through a broker was better for them, while 11 per cent of those surveyed reported only ever purchasing motor car insurance online.
These results may come as a shock to those who have made the suggestion that consumers value the lowest price when shopping around for the best deals. However, the survey did find that less than one out of every four consumers regularly compare their car insurance renewal documents to other offerings on the market to make sure they’re getting the best deal – despite 52 per cent expressing that they felt loyalty towards insurers goes unrewarded.
In the wake of the survey results, industry experts urged motorists to take better notice of their renewal prices, especially if their rates go up but their level of cover goes down. Only one third of UK motorists carefully check their renewals for any such changes, the survey discovered.


text:
With the world starting to see a light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel, the music industry is shaping up to be quite a different marketplace. Virtual Reality and streaming are certainly not new mediums for sharing music. However streaming has quickly become one of the most effective ways to bridge the gap between content creators and consumers. This has triggered a Wave of the industries top players finding brilliant new ways to create meaningful connections and experiences for music lovers all over the world. Namely, Scooter Braun, the man behind Justin Bieber’s Stardom. He is the latest to jump at the opportunity to strike while the iron is hot.
The newest development in music technology is being led by Bonnaroo co-producer Superfly, Twitch co-founder and former COO Alex Lin, and venture capital firm Griffin Gaming Partners. This corporate powerhouse is paving the way for their new virtual concert platform, Wave. However, the endorsements don’t end there. The platform has garnered the attention of an investment group among which the likes of the legendary Scooter Braun and MLBs Alex Rodriguez have pledged $30M to kick start the platform’s development.
Wave broadcasts feature high-quality, live audio from real-time performances. It incorporates innovative viewer experiences including digital avatars, stages, and virtual SFX. The experience will be unlike any virtual performance experience to date.
The news of Scooter Braun’s investment in the Wave platform comes in the midst of scrutiny about the relationship between Braun and Taylor Swift. The battle between Braun and Swift reached its peak about a year ago when a buyout deal landed Braun the rights to Taylor Swift’s most notable tunes. The deal has loomed over Swift’s career causing Swifties to lash out Braun and causing a savage reminder of just how cutthroat the music industry can be. Even for those at the top of their game.
Nevertheless, the announcement of Scooter Braun’s involvement in Wave is bound to have a massively positive impact on the advancement of the new platform. Having already successfully worked with over 20 artists to hold more than 50 virtual concerts the platform is well on it’s way to cementing its place in music’s “New Normal”. Past events have featured artists like Kill The Noise, TOKiMONSTA, and REZZ. The beta version of the Wave app is available on Steam, Oculus, and Discord. Check it out and share your thoughts in the comments.