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Wearables so far have a pretty limited audience overall in terms of the global consumer market, but they could become a lot more integral to the lives of average people in the future. On stage at Disrupt NY today, Jawbone CEO Hosain Rahman talked about what we might see in UP bands down the road, and there was a lot more than just activity tracking involved: worn tech knows you, he explained, and that means it can help other things know you, too.
Rahman described future wrist-worn devices that allow a user to interact with connected devices and connected homes to automate personalization of your environment and software, which is not something that Jawbone does currently, but is something that other startups have also started to pick up on. Nymi, the heart-rate sensing armband by Toronto startup Bionym, for instance, is building a wristband that uses your unique heartbeat signature to identify you in various settings, for instance, basically pitches their device based on exactly the kind of interconnected future Rahman described on stage.
Currently, Jawbone only tracks a limited number of data types, but it still builds gigantic databases. Rahman described its sleep tracking features as the largest open sleep study project in the world. All of this data doesn’t exist in isolation outside of context – it actually has value as a part of a larger identity signal, too. Jawbone is clearly preparing for a time when it goes beyond its current range of activity tracking, but it already has a tremendous amount of data tied to specific individual users, and that’s more than most startups interested in this space can say.
Rahman very clearly described the immediate next steps for Jawbone, which involve expanding the type of information gathered by its wearables, but also about building software and services that make that information relevant to users.
“Tomorrow is all about more information, more signals, more understanding of yourself, but then taking all of that and really crunching it,” he said. “Taking all that data, contextualizing it for the use and turning it that into understanding which leads to data [is the goal].”
That could provide some significant improvements in terms of attracting new users, but it’s only a first step. Wearable tech has yet to prove its usefulness to the broad consumer audience, but identification, authentication and automation are three axes that could change that. These devices need to add value, not just satisfy a mild curiosity, and it sounds like Jawbone and Rahman are aware of that and are planning the requisite next step as a result.


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When it comes to personalisation, it pays to be headless, according to Chris Cocca, vice president of digital experience at Four Seasons Hotels Resorts.
Speaking at Salesforce Connections 2019 in Chicago Tuesday, Cocca said the brand’s success in driving better digital engagement with its guests was down to a disciplined marketing approach that has a single content source for all Four Seasons’ channels, which he called its “headless CMS”.
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The new owners of eight Colorado Springs Arby’s Restaurants want to refresh the chain’s image locally and is starting with a $400,000 remodel of its store at 1312 N. Academy Blvd.
United Beef Corporation, which is the largest franchisee of Arby’s restaurants in the country, bought eight Colorado Springs locations in 2009, said Kim Thompson, vice president of human resources.
“We are trying to update our image in Colorado Springs,” she wrote in an e-mail.
The company also owns two restaurants in Pueblo.
It will begin remodeling efforts at its North Academy location Nov. 15 and is expected the project to be completed by the beginning of 2012.
Local contractor TN Parker Construction will be working on the project.


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Charger cuts emissions
The Evie Networks fast electric vehicle charger recently installed at Mosman Square Car Park is already making a significant impact on Mosman’s carbon footprint with more than 2000kg of CO2 emissions saved.
The fast charger has proven popular with Mosman motorists and Council expects its use to grow as more people opt for electric vehicles in coming years.
About 150kg in emissions has been saved every week since its installation in December last year.
Emissions savings are made because electricity supplied through the charger to electric vehicles is renewable, avoiding the burning of fossil fuels.
Council is currently assessing the need for more chargers as ownership grows.


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- US stocks rose Wednesday following a key Federal Reserve policy meeting and congressional testimony from big tech companies including Facebook and Amazon.
- The Federal Reserve held interest rates near zero, and again pledged to do whatever it takes to aid the US economy in recovery from the pandemic recession.
- Starbucks and AMD shares climbed after earnings releases. Boeing and General Motors shares also ticked up after earnings reports.
- Later this week, Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet are set to report quarterly earnings.
- Read more on Business Insider.
US stocks rose Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled it will provide continued stimulus to the economy amid the pandemic recession.
The Federal Reserve held interest rates near zero on Wednesday, and reiterated that it would do whatever it takes to support the US economic recovery. In a speech, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the recent uptick in coronavirus cases is beginning to weigh on the recovery.
"If anything, there was more mention of fiscal policy than monetary policy in Powell's speech," said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors. "Certainly, while investors ears were leaning into Powell's comments, their minds will likely also be trained on discussions currently underway in Congress about the forthcoming fiscal cliff."
Also on Wednesday, the CEOs of big tech companies including Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google parent Alphabet gave testimony before the House Antitrust Subcommittee addressing how they are handling antitrust challenges from regulators. Tech stocks, which have outperformed this year, held onto gains through the start of the hearing.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET market close on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 3,258.60, up 1.25%
- Dow Jones industrial average: 26,541.97, up 0.61% (163 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 10,542.95 up 1.35%
Read more: Jason Tauber is crushing the market this year by finding the tech companies enabling the biggest disruptions. He told us how he's adjusting his game plan as valuations soar - and 7 of his top picks today.
Earnings season continued. Shares of AMD surged Wednesday following a better-than-expected earnings release Tuesday. Starbucks rose after its CEO Kevin Johnson said that same-store sales for open locations turned positive in July, a sign of recovery from pandemic-related lockdowns.
General Motors and Boeing also ticked up after releasing quarterly results Wednesday before the opening bell. Shares of Tesla gained about 3% after Morgan Stanley boosted its price target for the second time this month.
Investors will be awaiting further earnings report scheduled this week. Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet are set to report quarterly earnings on Thursday, giving further information about how the companies have fared amid the pandemic, ensuing lockdowns, and a recent uptick in new COVID-19 cases.


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Trader Joe's confirmed Tuesday morning it will open a second area location later this year in Mandarin.
The Monrovia, Calif.-based chain said it will lease about 13,700 square feet at 11112 San Jose Blvd. in the Claire Lane Shopping Center.
Its first area store opened in October 2014 at the South Beach Regional shopping center in Jacksonville Beach.
Trader Joe’s describes itself as a neighborhood grocery store with foods and beverages ranging from the everyday to the exotic.
It began in 1958 in the Los Angeles area and has expanded to more than 460 stores in 41 states.
The Mandarin site is at Claire Lane and San Jose Boulevard, south of Interstate 295. The center is owned by Sleiman Enterprises.
Building plans filed with the city Monday show 13,746 square feet will be renovated for Trader Joe’s at Claire Lane Center.
The city is reviewing plans for a shell and facade renovation to the building. TCI Construction Co. is the contractor for the $387,400 project.
The grocery store build-out would be permitted separately. While not identified on the plans, Trader Joe’s is identified in the compliance certificates filed with them.
The Claire Lane Center site plan on the Sleiman Enterprises website indicates space large enough for Trader Joe’s near the Miller’s Ale House Mandarin.
Trader Joe’s said it would open in the second half of the year, but did not specify beyond that. It declined to say how many employees it will hire or how many work at the Jacksonville Beach store.
Trader Joe’s said Tuesday the "Trader" in Trader Joe’s refers to the way the company looks around the world for values and distinctive products.
Store employees are called crew members and some wear brightly colored Hawaiian-themed shirts.
It says it offers about 4,000 items under the Trader Joe’s private label, such as Trader Jose’s salsas, Trader Ming’s fried rice, Trader Giotto’s marinara sauces, and others.
It purchases from manufacturers when possible and often takes a brand-name product and removes artificial preservatives, flavors and colors and puts it under the Trader Joe’s label.
It introduces about a dozen new items every month.
Area residents can expect to receive a copy of Trader Joe’s “Fearless Flyer” in their mailboxes after the store opens that describes and highlights products.
The company said it carries domestic and imported foods and beverages, including artisan breads, Arabica bean coffees, international frozen entrees, 100 percent juices, crop nuts, deli items, vitamins and more. It also carries grocery basics, such as milk and eggs.
It says all of its prices are everyday prices that don’t change unless costs change. There are no promotions, discount cards or “couponing wars.”


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Blockbuster is continuing its attempts to soak up any leftover gamers from the GAME fallout, by launching a new reward scheme. Offering points that can be redeemed for rewards that include free rentals, discount vouchers or potentially free hardware if there are enough points to go around.
Points are earned in a variety of ways. The most basic is by spending money with Blockbuster. For every £1 you hand over, you'll earn 100 points. Simply signing up for an account at the moment earns you 2,500, or you could watch a few trailers for 10 points each. Entering a competition? That's another 15 points. Pre-ordering Max Payne 3? That's 500 points right there.
Agreeing to receive newsletters, upgrading your accounts and linking up with the iPhone app can earn a few extra points too.
"We know gamers and are sure that they will find our reward scheme better than anything they have seen before," head of marketing Cat Kebbeh said in a statement. "In this competitive market, customers demand the best and we want to engage with them and reward their loyalty with us."
Blockbuster was initially criticsed for its, some would say, tasteless exploitation of GAME's troubled situation earlier this year. However, since then many companies have jumped on the bandwagon, including big supermarkets as well as other specialist retailers.


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Reader's Digest Association is on the block, seeking a price of around $1 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, which says the company may sell off piece by piece rather than as a whole.
Articles by Caysey Welton
When the mass market magazine industry plunged into recession in 2008, city and regionals were an oasis in the waste land of magazine advertising, thanks in part to a clientele that wasn’t as eager as national advertisers to jump into digital.
While Newsweek‘s July 4 "Diana" issue may have been a disappointment on the advertising side, regional title Hamptons Magazine claims its July 4 issue was the largest not only in the magazine’s history but also the largest in the history of publisher Niche Media.
Digital magazine and newsstand provider Zinio is cashing in on the discount phenomenon with a new collaborative project with Groupon.
Ebony and Jet publisher Johnson Publishing has sold a minority stake to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Johnson will put the funds toward its growth plan,
Many publishers are moving to leaner editorial staffs while relying on more contributors (some paid, many not) to generate digital content.
Newsweek‘s July 4 cover featuring a simulated Princess Di next to Kate Middleton as part of piece in which editor Tina Brown imagines the late princess at age 50 (an illustration of Diana holding an iPhone is part of the package) provoked critics who claimed the image was in poor taste but the issue also underperformed with advertisers just as Newsweek seemed to be gaining traction on the business side.
Access Intelligence, publisher of CableFAX, announced today that it has acquired Cynopsis Media, which produces daily and weekly eletters for the television, digital media, kids marketing and sports media markets.
In the meat grinder of digital content, search results, link journalism and aggregators can often blur the origins of a story, let alone the identity of the author behind it. Now Google is launching a program that highlights the people creating the content in search results.
This post is republished with permission and originally appears here. …is a scraper! Or at least scrapers that aren’t monetized properly.


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QNAP's NMP1000 network media player starts streaming to Japan
QNAP NMP1000 network media player, and it's a good long while past its supposed shipping date. But, shipping it is (finally), now hitting Japanese stores according to Akihabara News. Initially we were only told that the thing would cost "somewhere under $10,000," and we're glad to say it's way under: ¥45,000, or about $470. For that you get an HDMI 1.3-toting HD media streamer, which sports room for a 3.5-inch HDD, a gigabit Ethernet port, and the ability to not only stream media but also to act as a NAS, meaning this one didn't fall far from the 'ol family tree. Still no word on a US release, but hopefully that'll be well under $10,000 as well. Soothing demonstration video to tide you over after the break.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.


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Hyundai Capital America plans to return to the securitization market with a $1.5 billion auto loan deal to be issued from its auto receivables trust.
The deal, Hyundai Auto Receivables Trust 2013-B, will offer investors four tranches of class A notes, one B tranche, one C tranche and on D tranche, according to a deal prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The notes had not yet been rated.
The main sources for payments of the notes are collections on a pool of motor vehicle retail installment sale contracts that are secured by new and used automobiles, light-duty trucks and minivans and monies on deposit in a reserve account.
Credit enhancement will consist of a reserve account with an initial deposit of $3,786,329.33, excess interest and for each class of notes, subordination of all other classes of notes bearing a subsequent designation in alphabetical order, the yield supplement overcollateralization amount and overcollateralization (in addition to the yield supplement overcollateralization amount.
Credit Suisse, BofA Merrill Lynch , Credit Agricole and RBC Capital Markets are managers on the deal.
Hyundai last came to market with a prime auto loan deal in January with its $1.31 billion HART 2013-A.
Auto ABS issuance has this month moved toward more auto leases and subprime loan deals. Wells Fargo said in a securitzation report in May that the slowdown in new vehicle sales may reduce the need for securitization as a financing alternative among prime auto lenders.
Also the analysts noted that widening in prime auto ABS spreads from Q4 2012 through early April 2013, after a long stretch of spread tightening that started in early 2012, makes securitization a more expensive option compared with other forms of financing for auto lenders.
“We expect spread fluctuations to continue to influence the behavior of auto ABS issuers that have ready access to other forms of funding, such as bank credit lines or corporate bonds,” said analysts.


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'It's the right timing': Poundland boss defends March float
IPO expected to value the discount retailer between £700m and £800m
Tuesday 18 February 2014
Poundland's chief has defended the High Street discount chain’s decision to join the horde of UK retailers rushing to the London Stock Exchange.
Jim McCarthy, who today announced long-awaited plans for the firm to float, said: “I think it’s the right timing. Investors are like consumers and have plenty of choice but we are the only discounter on the market.
McCarthy, who is one of 155 employees who will earn huge windfalls from the expected £700 million flotation next month, added: “The market conditions are attractive and we don’t worry about anyone else and concentrate on what we do.”
Poundland opened its first store in 1990, in Burton-on-Trent, and has grown to more than 500 stores in the UK and Ireland as shoppers snap up its thousands of products, all sold for a pound.
Revenues for the nine months to the end of December hit £758.3 million, up 13 per cent from the same period the year before.
McCarthy also revealed the company plans to open 10 stores in Spain this year, hoping to cash in on the country’s increased appetite for a bargain.
Poundland bolstered its board with four new non-executive directors today, including former Carpetright boss and former Sainsbury’s finance director Darren Shapland, once touted as a possible replacement for Justin King at the supermarket.
It brings him into the boardroom with chairman Andrew Higginson, who was previously his counterpart as finance director at rival Tesco.
The other non-executives added are Grant Hearn, former chief executive of Travelodge; Tea Colaianni, human resources director at Merlin Entertainments; and Trevor Bond, president and chief customer officer at Cadbury’s owner Mondelez International.
Management have already said they want to double the number of stores in the UK to around 1000, and have eyed several markets across Europe aside from Spain.
McCarthy said: “We could have gone to any of those markets where we can have even more success, but Spain was the most obvious... consumers are keen on value because the economy has been difficult and we think the value we can bring to that market can be profound.”
Newsagents McColl’s and online white goods business AO.com are among the retailers to have recently announced floats, while Pets at Home, DFS, House of Fraser, internet clothing firm boohoo.com and B&M Bargains are all planning listings.
- 1 Keira Knightley topless: Usually conservative actress does own take on #Freethenipple campaign for Interview Magazine
- 2 Oil tanker with $100 million cargo goes missing off Texas coast
- 3 George Galloway left with severe bruising after attack in Notting Hill by man 'shouting about the Holocaust'
- 4 A teacher speaks out: 'I'm effectively being forced out of a career that I wanted to love'
- 5 Lady al-Qa’ida: On the trail of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, the world’s most wanted prisoner
YouTube video posted by Isis militants shows 'execution of 250 Syrian soldiers'
Keira Knightley topless: Usually conservative actress does own take on #Freethenipple campaign for Interview Magazine
Oil tanker with $100 million cargo goes missing off Texas coast
George Galloway left with severe bruising after attack in Notting Hill by man 'shouting about the Holocaust'
A teacher speaks out: 'I'm effectively being forced out of a career that I wanted to love'
Robin Williams Emmys tribute led by Billy Crystal criticised for including 'racist' joke about Muslim woman
The Rotherham child abuse scandal is a tale of apologists, misogyny and double standards
What do immigrants really think of Britain? Polish immigrant's Reddit post goes viral
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Presenting the best full-year sales figures in its history, BMW promised that the earnings figures, when they're announced in March, will also be record-breaking.
Looking good: the BMW 7-series
Luxury-car maker BMW AG on Monday looked back on another record year, and presented an upbeat outlook for the year to come, despite the current market difficulties.
"We're expecting the company to continue along the current growth path," said BMW's outgoing chief executive, Joachim Milberg.
Analysts noted that the car maker's sales figure for 2001 showed that the final quarter of the year brought a slowdown in growth.
But 2001 still emerged as the best year in the company's history, with full-year sales of 37.85 billion euros, up 7.1% on the year.
Unit sales rose 10% to 905,657. The group's medium-term aim is to lift its annual vehicles sales to 1.2 million.
Despite the sale of Rover, revenue from the sale of cars rose 13% to 33.5 billion euros.
The loss-making U.K. unit had contributed 3.9 billion euros to the 2000 sales revenue of 29.6 billion euros. Sales revenue from motor cycles rose 14% to 1.06 billion euros.
Earnings figures will not be presented until 19 March, but BMW said its profit figures would also show a year-on-year improvement, with return on sales "clearly above 6%".
HypoVereinsbank analyst Georg Stürzer estimates that the final figure for return on sales will be 7%.
But he's not expecting 2002 to bring a further improvement, saying high investments in new models and in the construction of a plant in the eastern German city of Leipzig would weigh on the result.
In 2001, BMW's investments came in at 2.8 billion euros, some 33% up on the year.
Among the major projects here was an almost twofold increase in production capacity for the X5 sports utility vehicle at the plant in Spartanburg in the United States.
nother area where capacity has been raised – by 25% – is at the plant in the British city of Oxford, where the new Mini is assembled.
Since summer 2001, just over 42,000 of the small cars have been assembled, and the increase in capacity to an annual output of 125,000 is aimed at meeting the strong demand.
BMW said it's satisfied with the market response to its new flagship, the 7 series, whose design has made it the subject of some controversy.
ome 3,000 of the 7 series have already been delivered since its market debut in November. BMW shares on Monday closed at 40.28 euros, up 4.65%.
It was helped in this respect by Morgan Stanley's decision to upgrade the stock toStrong Buy, its highest category.


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Dublin, Ireland—The nutraceutical market is on the rise, according to a new report from Research and Markets. An aging population and an increase in chronic diseases, the report says, are encouraging manufacturers to produce nutrition-rich products, which also plays into a growing consumer desire for fortified or functional foods.
That said, high costs associated with these products and consumer skepticism are projected to hinder the market.
The beverage segment is witnessing the fastest growth: Sports drinks, energy drinks, ready-to-drink tea and coffee-based beverages, and juices are in high demand. Protein-based beverages, too, are seeing increased demand, as are other fortified/functional beverages.
Related: Exploring 5 Top Trends in Food Science
Market for Functional Kids’ Drinks Wide Open, Suggests Makers of Wellmune
OmniActive Named Best Nutraceutical Company at World Quality Congress
The proteins & amino acids segment is projected to hold the largest market share during the forecast period, thanks to protein’s ability to increase nutritional levels. Amino acids may help build muscular tissues and optimize the immune system, leading to their increased usage in snacks and convenience foods.
North America is projected to account for the largest market share, due to increasing awareness among consumers about the health benefits of prebiotics, proteins & amino acids, and omega fatty acids.
Major players include Kraft Heinz Company, the Hain Celestial Group, Conagra, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Nature’s Bounty, and Nestlé.
The report can be purchased here.


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Goodwill Investors’ Education initiative! Goodwill’s Eagle Eyes!
Analysts have picked up these top 10 buzzing stocks having good potentials for watch:
Multiplex operators |
Theatres in Maharashtra will open after October 22 while observing all COVID safety protocols and a standard operating procedure is in the works and will be declared soon.
Biocon | The company said the US Food and Drug Administration has issued six observations after the inspection of the manufacturing facility of its Malaysian subsidiary Biocon Sdn Bhd.
Dalmia Bharat | The company has announced the commencement of commercial production of Line 2, having a capacity of 2.25 million tonnes at its Kapilas Cement Manufacturing Works Unit near Cuttack, Odisha.
Shoppers Stop | Private labels and the beauty businesses will be among the growth drivers for the company, which aims to launch new private labels that would cater to emerging lifestyle needs and more than double that business over the next 12 months. On the beauty front, it will launch 50 new brands in the next 12 months, while doubling its online beauty business.
HDFC Bank | The private bank announced that it will double its rural reach to 2 lakh villages in the next 18-24 months. The lender plans this expansion through a combination of branch network, business correspondents, business facilitators, CSC partners, virtual relationship management and digital outreach platforms.
Nucleus Software Exports | The board of directors has approved the proposal to buy back its own fully paid equity shares at a price of Rs 700 per share, through the tender offer route.
Alankit | The company entered into a project from Punjab National Bank related to a request for proposal for engagement of corporate business correspondents for financial inclusion by providing banking services through kiosks. For this, Alankit will receive from Punjab National Bank a substantial amount.
Finolex Cables | The boards of two major corporate shareholders of the company will meet today to assess the situation after two proxy advisory firms raised corporate governance issues.
Vodafone Idea | The company’s Managing Director and CEO Ravinder Takkar said he has had several interactions across various parts of the government leading up to the announcement of telecom reforms. In all his conversations, it was absolutely clear that the government has no interest in owning or acquiring or running any other telecom company, Takkar added, as per reports.
Shriram City Union Finance | Acacia II Partners LP and others sold 3 lakh shares in the company through open market on September 17, reducing shareholding to 3.01 percent from 3.46 percent earlier
For continuous learning about the market and the trends, watch the inputs in www.gwcindia.in
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I’ve worked at a lot of different jobs in my life, but there are a few I’d never like to try: picking crops on a farm, working in a chicken processing plant, and working in any kind of factory. The relentless assembly lines and the noise of the machines would be hard to deal with. Even those factories without deafening machines still seem like harsh places to work, if only because of the cadence they impose on employees.
TNS today revealed ten trends that are set to disrupt the technology landscape in China and beyond over the next five years. TNS has identified these trends based on ‘World of Convergence’, an extensive study of over 5,900 people in China to understand what they are most looking for from gadgets and tech services. “Our study highlights a real opportunity for tech companies, if they look beyond technology-led innovation.” says Chris Bonsi, CEO Greater China, TNS, “We’ve found that if you start with what people are actually looking to do with their devices – rather than the pure technology potential – you open up a whole new world of convergence opportunities.”
I can see why Lei Jun doesn’t want to be called the Steve Jobs of China. If you look at his history, he’s more like a quasi-Bill Gates with a hint of Jeff Bezos, with Marc Andreesen tendencies, and only a soupçon of Steve Jobs. Given what we know of Lei Jun’s history and numbers, you would be hard pressed to make a deeper comparison of Lei Jun and Steve Jobs that goes beyond black shirts, blue jeans, and smartphone icons.
The worldwide integrated infrastructure and platforms market increased revenues by 28.1% on year to US$2.3 billion during the third quarter of 2014, according to the IDC. The market generated more than 898PB (petabytes) of new storage capacity shipments during the quarter, which was up 46.6% compared to same period a year ago.
The global interest towards South East Asian economies is going steady in spite of competitors from countries like India and China. This is powered by recent innovations in healthcare, information technology, automation& electronics and chemical markets. This report highlights the key trends and the innovation climate in these industries in South East Asian countries.
Tencent is China’s second-biggest internet company, recently stripped of its number one spot by Alibaba. It’s also one of the country’s most active venture capitalists. While Alibaba made headlines with massive investments into big established companies, Tencent got down and dirty with early stage investments into nascent startups.
The Foxconn Group needs to hire more talent from outside to accomplish its goal of transforming its operations from manufacturing to a trading-centric approach, according to industry sources. To reach the goal of sustainable growth, the group is currently promoting the establishment of a corporate culture that will be based on innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, and therefore is mapping plans to hire more talent, revealed the sources.
China and India are two of the most lucrative markets in the world for smartphone makers. But even though both are developing countries, there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy to tackle them both. China’s massive, well-established mobile mobile market is nearing saturation, while India is just getting started.
NEW DELHI: Growing internet penetration and a large youth population has helped world’s largest social network platform Facebook expand its userbase in India to 112 million — the second largest after the US. US-based Facebook, which had about 100 million users in April this year, saw its monthly active users (MAUs) base touching 112 million at the end of September. The number of daily active users (DAUs) from India now stands at 52 million.
With rapid change a constant in the IT sector, it can sometimes be tough to discern long-term trends from marketing hype. However, on the doorstep of 2015, I believe there are three ‘hot buttons’ that will have a significant impact in the year ahead:
Taiwanese companies have higher-than-average maturity in cloud computing and big data analysis in the Asia-Pacific region due to their skilled employees and high standards for process control, according to research firm IDC. In a survey released Dec. 11, IDC divides companies into five phases — Ad Hoc, Opportunistic, Repeatable, Managed and Optimized — based on their adoption of cloud-based computing technology and analysis capability of huge sets of complex information, as well as the business values they have created with these applications.
MUMBAI: India companies lost around $4 billion due to cyber attacks in 2013 and the amount is set for a 30% jump this year, according to experts. Vadodara-based, BSE listed Deepak Nitrite was surprised that one of its old customers didn’t pay even after receiving its consignment. It transpired that the client had received an email just a few days informing it of a change in account details.
China now has 386 million daily active Android users, according to data from Baidu, China’s top search engine. This is the first time we’ve had an update on this figure since Q3 2013, when the search giant said the country had 270 million active Android users each day. A Baidu representative issued the figure to Tech in Asia, explaining that the new 386 million number was compiled for the company’s Q2 Mobile Distribution Report but was not actually included in the document.
TAIPEI — Taiwanese companies have higher-than-average maturity in cloud computing and big data analysis in the Asia-Pacific region due to their skilled employees and high standards for process control, according to research firm IDC. In a survey released Dec. 11, IDC divides companies into five phases — Ad Hoc, Opportunistic, Repeatable, Managed and Optimized — based on their adoption of cloud-based computing technology and analysis capability of huge sets of complex information, as well as the business values they have created with these applications.
More than half (57 percent) of the enterprises in Hong Kong experienced data loss and downtime in the last twelve months, causing a total loss of US$2.2 billion. These were the findings from EMC Corporation’s ‘Global Data Protection Index’. The study surveyed 3,300 IT decision makers from mid-size to enterprise-class businesses across 24 countries, of which 125 respondents were from Hong Kong.
5G mobile network adoption is predicted to be much slower than 4G. A lack of unifying standards, complex technology and spectrum auctions, alongside a lack of necessity will only see it mainstreamed by 2023, according to a new report. ABI research believes it will take more than five years for 5G to reach the 100 million subscriber mark – two years longer than 4G.
The total number of TD-LTE subscribers around the world will keep increasing to 96.1 million at the end of 2014, accounting for 21.6% of the global total number of LTE (4G) users. 81.8% of the total will be users in China, 8% in Saudi Arabia and 6.9% in Japan, according to Digitimes Research. Of the number of LTE networks around the world, 87% will be FDD LTE networks and 13% TD-LTE networks in 2014, Digitimes Research indicated.
Server hardware shipments in the Chinese market increased by 15.63% year-on-year, according to latest data from Gartner. Market research firm Gartner recently published a report on the server market for the third quarter of 2014 which showed the global server shipment increased by 1% year-on-year to 2.53 million units, showing weak growth. Among various regional markets, only China maintained a high growth rate of 15.63% and the total shipments reached 498,000 units.
China Daily/Asia News Network– Shopping via mobile phones is fast becoming the main option for spending money in China, with transactions from the not-so-developed western region of the country being the driving force, a report said on Monday. The report, prepared by Alipay, the payment arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., said more than half of all online payment transactions were made with mobile phones so far this year.
Chief executive officers in the Asia Pacific are demanding more of their finance chiefs but many are concerned their CFOs aren’t up to the challenge, according to a survey released Tuesday. Nearly three-quarters of CEOs said they expected the CFO role would grow more important over the next three years, but about a third said their CFOs did not understand or help them address issues facing their companies, according to a survey for KPMG’s Asia Pacific branch.


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Tajikistan’s economy to expand by 3.5 percent in 2021, says the Word Bank report
5 months ago Web Desk 0
The economy of Tajikistan is expected to expand 3.5 percent this year and 5.5 percent in 2022, the World Bank says in its January 2021 Global Economic Prospects.
In Central Asia, growth is reportedly expected to recover to 3% this year, supported by a modest rise in commodity prices and foreign direct investment as the subregion deepens its integration with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The report says the global economy is expected to expand 4% in 2021, assuming an initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout becomes widespread throughout the year.
Although the global economy is growing again after a 4.3% contraction in 2020, the pandemic has caused a heavy toll of deaths and illness, plunged millions into poverty, and may depress economic activity and incomes for a prolonged period.
Aggregate GDP in emerging market and developing economies, including China, is reportedly expected to grow 5% in 2021, after a contraction of 2.6% in 2020. Among low-income economies, activity is projected to increase 3.3% in 2021, after a contraction of 0.9% in 2020.
The recovery in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region is forecast to be a modest 3.3 percent in 2021 as the region recovers from the current rapid acceleration in COVID-19 cases.
Growth is then expected to rise to 3.9 percent in 2022 as the impact of the pandemic wanes and domestic demand strengthens.
Growth in Russia is envisioned to pick up only modestly in 2021, to 2.6 percent, as the country grapples with a renewed acceleration in COVID19 infections. Vaccine deployment in early 2021, however, is expected to aid the recovery, with growth eventually rising to 3 percent in 2022.
Source: Asia Plus


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Global stocks edged lower on Tuesday for a third consecutive day, as a stinging warning came from German chemicals giant BASF about the effects of the global trade war, while the traders hedged bets on a hefty US interest rate cut later this month.
Also, the negative performance of Apple during the latest Wall Street trading session also affected the stocks of its suppliers and the semiconductor manufacturers as a whole.
Investors continue to look forward to Wednesday’s upcoming speech of the US Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell. He will comment on recent US labor market data that outpaced market expectations and darkened the hopes of shrinking key interest rates at the end of the month.
Asian markets recap
Most of the stock indexes in the Asia-Pacific region ended today’s trading session with declines as economists forecast a slowdown in the growth of the Chinese gross domestic product to 6.2%.
In China, the mainland index Shanghai Composite dropped by 0.22% to 2,927.03 points. The declined comes amid the expectations of the economists for a slowdown in the Chinese gross domestic product in Q2 2019 to 6.2%. The main reason for the forecast is the negative impact that the trade war will continue with the United States on the strongest Asian economy.
Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng dropped by 196.32 points, or 0.69%, to 28,135.37 points. Hong Kong’s extradition bill, which sparked the biggest political crisis for decades, was officially revoked. The proposal provided an opportunity for the extradition of Hong Kong nationals to be sued mainland China. This prompted huge protests, which carried violence.
In Japan, the blue-chip index Nikkei 225 30.80 points, or 0.14%, to 21,565.15 points. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Yahoo Japan (+4.38%), Familymart Ltd (+4.1%) and JX Holdings (+2.73%), while on the flipside were Taiyo Yuden Co (-3.96%), Suzuki Motor (-3.32%) and Yaskawa Electric Corp (-3.22%).
In South Korea, the local index Kospi slid by 0.59% to 2052.03 points. South Korean chip makers and Japanese chemical industry suppliers are trying to bypass the tighter export control imposed by the Japanese side, amid a sudden escalation of the bilateral diplomatic dispute between Seoul and Tokyo. Last week, Japan said it would stop the preferential treatment of South Korea’s shipments for materials related to chip technology, requiring exporters to get permission for each delivery. This permission takes about 90 days. Tokyo’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has imposed tougher restrictions on exports of raw materials such as fluorinated polyamide and hydrogen fluoride. They are important in the production of chips and other industrial processes where Japanese suppliers have a dominant market share. Restrictions will pose a serious threat to some of the most important South Korean companies, including Samsung and its major competitor SK Hynix. The escalating dispute threatens to cause chaos in the supply chain. Despite the tension, the shares of Samsung Electronics rose by 1.58%, while those of SK Hynix added 3.56%.
Australian index S&P ASX 200 declined by 0.10% to 6,665.70 points.
European markets mid-session recap
European stocks fell on Tuesday amid negative corporate news, which worsened the sentiment of investors. The pan-European index Stoxx 600 index is down by 0.86% to 386.55 points. Autos and chemicals stocks each shedding 2.2% as the vast majority of sectors traded in negative territory.
German index DAX 30 declined by 156.50 points, or 1.25%, to 12,387.01 points at 10:00 GMT. The stocks of the chemicals giant BASF are down by 6% after on Monday the company warned that profit would fall well below forecasts for the second quarter of the year, and warned of a slowdown in the automotive sector. The news also impacted Bayer spin-off Covestro, which fell 5.1%. Meanwhile, the stocks of Deutsche Bank continued to tumble a further 5.0% Tuesday after news that workers began to leave offices in New York, London, Sydney and Tokyo Monday as the German lender started to slash 18,000 jobs in a 7.4 billion EUR (8.3 billion USD) restructuring.
French index CAC 40 is down by 0.60% to 5,555.83 points at mid-session trading. The automotive supplier Faurecia tumbled 5.5% after the warning of BASF. The stocks of carmakers are deep into the red with Renault declining by 3.2% and Peugeot down by 2.7%.
British index FTSE 100 edged lower by 0.18% to 7,535.36 points. The mining stocks fell amid easing copper prices, while the software firm Micro Focus dropped after its half-year results. Shares of Melrose Industries fell 6.7%, heading for their worst day in five years. However, online supermarket Ocado saw its shares rise of 5.2% after issuing a confident outlook with its first-half results.
Wall Street pre-session recap
Wall Street stock index futures were lower on Tuesday morning, as traders waited to hear from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
At around 06:00 a.m. ET, Dow futures slipped 124 points, indicating a negative open of more than 131 points. Futures on the S&P and Nasdaq were also lower, pointing for negative open by 14.35 points and 54.29 points, respectively.
A new NFIB survey will be out at 6 a.m. and a new JOLTS report will be released at 10 a.m. ET.
In the corporate world, PepsiCo and Levi Strauss will update investors on their latest performance.


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The high penetration of mobile phone usage in most African countries, particularly in Nigeria, has resulted in the rise of remittance rates and payments for goods and services. According to the World Bank, Africa’s largest economy is one of the six largest recipients of remittances in the world, attracting $24 billion in 2019, which made up 5% of the country’s GDP.
The financial market turmoil triggered by COVID-19 has definitely changed the way Nigerians view the whole financial system, as data also obtained from Google trend, shows Nigeria leading the pack around the world in Bitcoin searches.
So, it not surprising that a significant number of young Nigerians, and small business owners avoid Nigerian banks, because of their stringent capital controls on outflows, relatively high transaction costs, and inflexible exchange rate system. However, in the crypto-verse, an entity can move over $250,000, with a transaction charge of less than $5, that can be received in minutes anywhere in the world.
Jens Ischebeck, a renowned Fintech publisher, in a note shared with Nairametrics, gave vital insights on why Africans are fast adopting crypto, and the advantages that crypto assets bring:
“Most African citizens have started shifting their hopes to the use of crypto, to escape numerous constraints faced with the traditional money transfer services, including cost, speed, and inconveniences.
“The main benefit is the overall lower cost to the end customer, which allows migrant workers to send substantial amounts of money to their loved ones in their home countries, at fairer prices. Also, there is a high unpredictability in the local currencies in most African countries; for instance, when South African rand became a volatile currency, most people switched to crypto, to seek security.
Recent statistics obtained from Useful Tulips, a BTC analytic data provider, stated that Nigeria leads Africa Bitcoin’s peer to peer lending in 2020, posting weekly P2P volumes of about $8 million, followed by South Africa and Kenya posting about $2 million weekly.
Nena Nwachukwu, Nigeria’s Regional Manager at Paxful, in an exclusive interview with Nairametrics, spoke on why many Nigerians are now turning to crypto as the viable option for transactions and store of value.
“This year, Cryptocurrency popularity and usage by Nigerians have grown by leaps and bounds. With the COVID-19 pandemic and CBN’s Naira devaluation, more people are actively searching for means to secure their wealth.
“As traditional investment tools like Real Estate, Stocks, Treasury bills etc. are too complicated to understand & acquire, Crypto-currency is the next best choice as it is very easy to access from any internet-enabled device.
“According to a recent Crypto Adoption Index report published by Chainanalysis, Nigeria currently ranks number 8 out of 154 countries in the use of Cryptocurrency; this comes as no surprise considering the urgent need for Nigerians to protect the value of their money.”
She also spoke on the high intellectual know-how, many Nigerian millennials have on using crypto.
“Our Nigerian customers are also very knowledgeable and have evolved from using crypto/Bitcoin as only a form of speculative investment to making online payments, cross-border remittances, freelancer payments, and E-Commerce.
“With our second cryptocurrency (Tether USDT, a stablecoin pegged to the US Dollar) our customers are learning to further secure their Bitcoins from volatility, by converting BTC to USDT and lock its fiat value.”
It’s fair to say that the present complexity prevalent in Africa’s banking industry or arbitrary misappropriation of capital by some African governments has made young African millennials attracted to the most disruptive financial asset in the modern era.


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Monday marked National French Fry Day, one of the more popular of the arbitrary food holidays celebrated annually. (It was followed by National Grand Marnier Day on Tuesday and National Tapioca Pudding Day Wednesday – who knew?)
While most of these foodie festivals pass by without much fanfare, Americans’ particular love for the deep-fried potato drives many restaurants to mark the occasion, typically by offering free fries on the holiday.
While such a reward is likely to drive visits, restaurants should be prepared to see a drop in overall check size. When a medium-sized fast casual chain used free fries as a reward during a We Miss You campaign, they saw a 3.55% lift in visits, but a 1.34% drop in spend. […]
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this July 4th holiday was anticipated to be, in relative terms, one of the weakest Independence Day travel periods in the last 50 years. But while overall travel was down, the percentage of Americans traveling by car was projected to be higher than usual, a prediction that appears to be supported by fuel sales data.
Comparing 2020 and 2019 data is more difficult than usual; this year the 4th fell on Saturday but the holiday was observed on Friday. Last year, it fell and was observed on Thursday. The charts below show the gas sales (measured in gallons) over the holiday period and in the weeks running up to the holiday.
On each chart the solid lines are the sales on that day, the dotted lines are the same day the previous week as a comparison. We can see some key similarities and differences in the data between the 2 years:
In both years we see a run up in sales above the previous week, beginning a few days before the holiday (excluding the Tuesday in 2019) as people fuel up their cars in advance of planned trips. This indicates that holiday celebrations still involved travel in 2020. […]
Moody Street in Waltham has long been a key restaurant destination for the Boston area. The storefronts are packed with eateries, most smaller but a few chains as well. In response to the pandemic, the City of Waltham shut down Moody Street to cars and gave it over to the restaurants, turning it into a pedestrian-only boulevard with outdoor seating.
The response has been nothing less than spectacular, […]
Of all of the changes COVID-19 will usher into society, one of the most lasting and most prominent will is likely to be an aversion to touching shared surfaces, from door handles to pin pads. That aversion has only been part of the national zeitgeist for a few months, but has already accelerated the trend toward touchless payments.
About 47% of American consumers are expected to use mobile wallets in 2020. Even two years ago, half of the United States’ stores – approximately 5 million locations – accepted Apple Pay, and 4 million accepted Google Pay.
Before the pandemic, contactless payments’ biggest hurdle to overcome was security concerns, despite being more secure than traditional payment methods; but as public health concerns become society’s primary focus, lesser fears over security are likely to fall by the wayside.
The most common form of contactless payment, via the mobile wallet, has big upsides for businesses even beyond public health and consumer comfort. Digital loyalty cards can be seamlessly linked to the mobile wallet, positively impacting penetration rates. Digital payments will enable pay-at-table features and make on-the-go transactions more convenient. And stored-value mobile cards, like the ones Starbucks popularized, will become more mainstream, providing businesses with small, interest-free loans.
For more information on the benefits of touchless payments, check out this webinar: Is Touchless Payment the New Normal?


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Huawei’s latest flagship device, the Huawei P10, is already up for pre-orders in Spain and Netherlands, but if you’re residing in Germany and wants to get your hands on the device, there’s a better news for you.
An online retailer Sparhandy already has the silver Huawei P10 in stock carrying a price tag of €599 which is €50 below Huawei’s recommended price. The retailer is also offering the handset with carrier contracts as well.
Unfortunately, only the silver color variant is available at the moment. The black and prestige gold color variant is set to launch on March 20th while the Dazzling Blue variant will only arrive on April 18.
There’s a 5.1-inch display sporting a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, HiSilicon 960 processor paired with 4GB of RAM, 32/64GB of internal storage, 20MP camera for photos and videos, an 8MP front-facing camera, a 3,200 mAh battery and ships with Android 7.0 Nougat as its operating system with Emotion UI 5.1 on top of it.
Anyone interested in picking up the Huawei P10? Sound off in the comments below.
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Tablets Galaxy Tab S3 Samsung announces 2 Sep
September 1, as we already know, Samsung will celebrate the Day of knowledge, the announcement of smart watches Gear S3. As it became known, the next day the Korean giant will introduce another new product — the Galaxy Tab S3.
More likely, it will be two new items, as the device should come in two models with different diagonals screens. The announcement coincides with the start of sales of smartphone Note7 in Europe.
It is known that the novelty will receive a more efficient single chip system. Recall, the updated version of the Tab S2 based on SoC Snapdragon processor 652, so that new leaders may expect either a Snapdragon 820 or Exynos 8890.


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Cause for optimism in soft drinks
Glucose stimulant drinks, flavoured water and “cold hot drinks” were the bright spots in the soft drinks market in 2012, according to a new market report from Pepsi and J2O supplier Britvic.
Its annual Soft Drinks Review also highlighted smoothies and sports drinks as the only sub-categories to see a decline in value sales over the course of the year in the off-trade.
Grocery and convenience sales totalled £7.2 billion, up 2.8%, based on Nielsen market data, but volumes were down 0.8%.
Value sales of glucose stimulant drinks were ahead by 9.9% to £860 million, while what Britvic terms the “water-plus” segment rose 7.7% to £199 million.
Cold hot drinks – which includes brands such as Britvic’s own Lipton Iced Tea – rose 42.3% off a relatively small base to stand at £34 million.
Paul Graham, customer management director at Britvic, said: “Even though our golden summer of sport didn’t quite drive the level of soft drinks sales expected by some, there are still many reasons to be optimistic about the future. It’s about evolution and meeting new consumer needs in an engaging way.”


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Bargain prices can lure needed visitors to S.F.
A year ago, San Francisco businesses were feeling pretty smug. The economy was tanking elsewhere, but this is everybody's favorite city, right?
With tourism - the No. 1 business - booming, there was talk that this town was "bulletproof."
Bad news. New bullets.
After years of economy-defying upward trends of tourist dollars, the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau announced the harsh reality this week at its annual luncheon.
"Next year's total (2009) will be down," said bureau President Joe D'Alessandro. "The last time that happened was 2001-2002, when everyone was afraid to fly."
Time for a reality check. San Francisco has always prided itself on being a world-class city. But as D'Alessandro says, we are in denial if we think Euro-dollars are going to load up the city's coffers this year. England is having its own economic problems, and so is Japan - two countries that had a huge tourist presence last year.
"I don't think there was any question that we were somewhat invulnerable last summer because the euro was so strong," said Kevin Westlye, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. "Through September, most restaurants were ahead of the previous year. And then, on Oct. 1, the bottom fell out, and there was major panic."
Who will take up the slack? How about that family of four from San Mateo? Or the empty nesters over in Concord? The Convention and Visitors Bureau is pitching an "Escape to the City," hoping to encourage those in the rest of the Bay Area to make the city a (local) destination vacation.
"We want them to realize they can come to a place like Fisherman's Wharf and spend $5 or $500," said Rodney Fong, the incoming chairman of the visitors bureau board of directors and president of the wharf's Wax Museum. "You've even got free entertainment."
Frankly, the wharf can still seem like a tourist trap, but it isn't the only choice. We may scoff at the shivering visitors from Des Moines, wearing shorts and a tank top while they stand in line in the fog and chill at the cable car turnaround at Powell Street, but it isn't all kitsch. The refurbished California Academy of Sciences is a sensational choice, and if you have the time after that, walk over to the redone de Young. (If the King Tut exhibition is too crowded, at least go to the top floor and check out the treetop view of Golden Gate Park.)
And honestly, when was the last time you took the trip to Alcatraz? Admit it, you haven't, have you? Still one of the area's best attractions, although it may be the least visited by locals.
Something better happen or the city's famous social service safety net is going to be in big trouble. In 2008, tourism contributed $527 million in taxes - and the city still faced a $483 million budget deficit.
So this isn't a time when the city can afford to turn up its nose at the locals. We may only stay a night or two in a hotel instead of a week, but every head in every bed helps. D'Alessandro said the occupancy rate for hotels is still 80 percent, but that is largely because rates have dropped. Check out rooms in boutique hotels around Union Square for less that $150 a night.
"Now we can make the case that San Francisco might be a value for you," he said, "where it hasn't been before."
"But hopefully," said Fong, "not for long."


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Can Starbucks Teach Facebook & Apple Thing Or 2 About Mobile Payments?
A recent survey painted a poor picture for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)’s mobile payment system, Apple Pay as only 20 percent of survey respondents indicated they had used Apple Pay at least once. Naturally, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) is paying close attention to Apple’s successes and failures ahead of its own anticipated mobile payment system, if recent reports hold true that the company is looking to enter the space.
However, if Facebook is taking lessons from Apple, it is looking in the wrong direction. In fact, both Facebook and Apple should betaking a close look at Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX).
According to Bloomberg’s Shire Ovide, Starbucks, not Apple, is “the only U.S. company that has cracked mobile payments” as 21 percent of all transactions in its company-owned locations are mobile generated.
Ovide noted that Starbucks’ record is even more impressive when considering the fact that only 2.1 percent of all U.S. retail sales last year originated from a mobile device.
So, what lessons can Apple and Facebook learn from Starbucks? For starters, “bribery works” as Starbucks’ consumers are bribed with goodies like free coffee after using the mobile app payment often enough. Apple could similarly bribe its users with a free Apple Pay credit or iTunes song download for a certain amount of purchases made through its system.
“That would persuade a lot of newbies to try Apple Pay and then use it repeatedly,” Ovide wrote.
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


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As it has fairly regularly, Telstra is lifting payment on payphones across Australia, allowing to you call friends and family in a phone box for free.
There’s good news if you’re keen to call friends and family this Christmas and New Year, and don’t have a phone to use: Telstra is lifting the payment from phone boxes from today, December 24, all the way to January 1, 2021.
Across Australia, there are over 15,000 phone boxes in use, with Telstra advising 11 million phone calls are made each and every year, with a good 200,000 of those going to emergency services. Typically phone boxes charge money for calls to anyone who isn’t on an emergency services line, but over the holiday season, it has become a rather quaint tradition for Telstra to lift the payment and make things free, such as it has in prior years.
And in 2020, that appears to be back once more, as Telstra switches off the charges from December 24 to January 1 again, provided you’re not making an international call, a 1234, 123456, mobile satellite, or premium service (19x) call. Basically, if you’re calling friends and family inside Australia and plan to use a phone box for the next week, it’s free.
Telstra is also opening access for the same time to its Telstra Air WiFi, which runs from its phone boxes, meaning there’s also free internet from Telstra for the next week, as well.
Given the year we’ve largely had, a bit of free is likely going to be very helpful for some people, but with the coronavirus in mind, if you do plan to use a phone box, we’d probably carry some wet wipes and hand sanitiser with you, so you can wipe down the payphone and/or your hands and ears, feeling a little safer about the whole freebie in this year of learning how to stay a little more clean in a remarkably more contagious world.


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Another day, another beer drinker upset that his mass-produced beer isn’t as fancy as he thought it was. According to Reuters, optometrist Henry Vasquez says the packaging for Leffe beer—one of the Belgian imports in Anheuser-Busch InBev’s vast catalogue—is deceptive and thus has caused him to “overpay” for the beverage.
While beer nerds balk at the notion that Leffe is as artisanal as true Trappist ales like Orval, Vasquez might have a point. He claims that he was tricked into believing that the Leffe line was brewed in a Belgian abbey, not “mass produced in an automated factory that also makes Stella Artois.” Vasquez argues that Anheuser misleads customers by putting an abbey bell tower bottles and saying that Leffe is a premium beer “brewed and perfected by Belgian monks.” The brewery has not been at an abbey since 1794, when the Abbaye de Leffe was destroyed in the French Revolution.
Goes hand in hand with AB-InBev’s other advert, “This is not a hobby.” Right, it’s industrial. https://t.co/5jGRXhr95O
— Mike Carroll (@cmcarrolljr) April 5, 2016
The lawsuit, which seeks to be a class-action case, is asking for punitive and compensatory damages, plus a declaration by the beer company that “Leffe is not made in an abbey or by monks.” The lawyer on the case, Natalie Rico, notes: “Their marketing quite clearly shows Leffe to be a specialty craft beer. Consumers believe they are buying something that is limited quantity and very high quality. That is not the case.” Instead, the beer is produced in a plant in Belgium that can brew up to 238 million gallons each year.
Vasquez is the most recent frustrated beer drinker to sue a major producer over misleading marketing. Last year, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Miami against Beck’s. Many consumers believed that the beer was brewed in Germany, although it has actually been made in the good ol’ USA since 2012. Just months before that, a man sued Blue Moon for falsely advertising itself as a craft beer, even though its owned by mega-beer corporation MillerCoors. Eventually, a judge ruled that Blue Moon can still be considered as craft beer due to lack of regulations around the definition of craft.


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Updated Here's our breakdown of everything you need to know about the Meta Quest 3, from its expected features to potential price.
Microsoft is rolling out an update to Windows 11 that brings its much-hyped AI assistant, Copilot, to the operating system. Here's how to install it.
Here are some of the announcements we expect to hear at Meta Connect 2023.
Could a ‘superhuman’ AI-powered Alexa be worth paying extra for? Amazon believes it will…
There’s been a ‘pretty big update’ for one of the main modes of operation for the Bing chatbot.
Here’s what else is coming with today’s Windows 11 update – and there’s some big stuff aside from Microsoft’s Copilot AI.
Voice chat and image capabilities are coming to ChatGPT - so you can show the bot photos and have a fun chat.
It looks like Microsoft is falling out of love with Surface hardware – but it could lead to a better Windows 12.
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Wendy’s was based in Ohio in 1969 and has a menu which incorporates hamburgers, breakfast burgers, and pretzel burgers. Five Guys, which first opened in the UK in 2013, now has ninety five eating places with three extra set to open this 12 months. The Dave’s Single burger, made with a quarter-pound of beef, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, ketchup and mayo might be he headliner of the menu. “We’ll get about five company eating places open within the UK in 2021,” added Penegor.
Three-quarters of a pound of beef, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup, mayo, and onion. The Baconator will set you back about $6.09 in the US, with its combo meal a pricier $8.09. There is no triple option on the menu, so perhaps the powers that be at Wendy’s thought that was sufficient for anyone. Specific details of the UK menu aren’t yet identified, nevertheless it’s probably it’s going to provide a lot of the favourites available on the US version. It has a commitment to utilizing contemporary ingredients and stresses food shall be cooked fresh when it’s ordered. There’s an ‘unsubscribe’ button on the backside of each newsletter we ship out.
Although yet to open its first restaurant, Wendy’s already has its sights set on a second location in Oxford. The well-liked US fast-meals chain is about to open its doorways in Reading and it has now confirmed four gadgets Brits will finally be capable of get their paws on. In November 2010, a series of commercials aired featuring the company’s namesake, Wendy Thomas, which marked the primary time she had appeared in a Wendy’s commercial. In April 2012, Morgan Smith Goodwin began appearing because the redhead in adverts with the slogan “Now that’s better.” In 2013, social media advertising featuring Nick Lachey directed at millennials promoted the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger. After Dave Thomas’ dying in 2002, Wendy’s struggled to find a new promoting marketing campaign.
- Chicken-lovers can tuck into Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich, made with chicken breast marinated and breaded in a mix of peppers and spices, served with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise in a toasted bun.
- Before that, they shut up their UK operation virtually 20 years ago (their flagship store was where the McDonald’s is on Oxford Street now).
- Now, this is not really the primary time Wendy’s have had restaurants within the UK – back within the 90s, there were a handful of Wendy’s within the UK, but the last one shut down in 2000.
- US fast food chain Wendy’s is trying to open 20 eating places in the UK inside the subsequent few years.
But there was a giant trace that the model had their eyes firmly fixed on a return to British waters way back to 2017 after they launched a four hour pop-up in London with the promise that they’d be again if issues went well. The firm did in fact find yourself offering Wilkerson with sufficient free hen nuggets to last the year. US quick-food big, Wendy’s, is about to open in the UK later this year, the corporate has announced.
Purple Carnation Resorts’ Jonathan Raggett On How The Worldwide Brand Has Survived And Thrived By Way Of Lockdown
Reading is set to be residence to the firm’s first branch – virtually 20 years after it closed its UK retailers to focus on its North American base. The chain first got here to the UK within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties, however closed all of its stores right here in 2000. Chicken-lovers can tuck into Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich, made with rooster breast marinated and breaded in a mix of peppers and spices, served with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise in a toasted bun. First up is the Dave Single Burger, which is a contemporary beef quarter pounder, loaded with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onions, mayonnaise and ketchup on a toasted bun. Wendy’s has confirmed some of the menu gadgets that will be available when it opens its first UK branch in additional than twenty years. “Our first location might be in Reading and I also can verify that we’ll open a restaurant in Oxford.


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Qualcomm , the world's largest mobile chip maker, is currently mulling a split of its chip-making and patent-licensing businesses. Could Intel , the world's largest maker of PC and server chips, step up and acquire Qualcomm's mobile chip-making unit to become a chip-making superpower?
Several Wall Street analysts believe that it's possible. Cowen and Co. analyst Timothy Arcuri told Reuters that it would be a "chip deal to end all chip deals." Ascendiant Capital Markets analyst Cody Acree stated that a merger would give Intel much-needed "diversity away from PCs." Let's weigh the pros and cons of a potential megamerger and discuss whether or not Qualcomm will split its businesses.
Why a merger might work
If Intel buys Qualcomm's chip-making business, it would instantly dominate the market for mobile application processors and wireless modems. Last year, Qualcomm controlled 51% of the mobile application processor market and 64% of the wireless modem market, according to Strategy Analytics.
ARM Holdings - licensed processor designs, like Qualcomm's, power 95% of smartphones and the majority of tablets worldwide. As for wireless modems, Intel controlled just 1% of the market last year.
To gain ground in mobile devices, Intel has subsidized OEMs with steep discounts on chips, co-marketing agreements, and financial assistance in redesigning logic boards for its chips. Those subsidies, known as " contra revenues ," caused Intel's mobile operating loss to widen from $3.1 billion in 2013 to $4.2 billion last year. Buying Qualcomm's chip-making unit could eliminate the need for such subsidies.
Qualcomm's chip-making business is highly dependent on orders from the top few smartphone and tablet vendors . Qualcomm is also losing ground to smaller Asian rivals like MediaTekand Rockchip , which sell ARM-based mobile chips at lower prices. As a result, Qualcomm's chip-making revenue fell 22% annually last quarter and the unit's earnings before taxes plunged 74%.
The estimated value of Qualcomm's chip-making business is $30 billion to $40 billion. That's a hefty price tag for a business that's heavily dependent on two main customers, losing ground to cheaper rivals, and posting top- and bottom-line declines. It would also be Intel's largest acquisition ever, dwarfing its $16.7 billion acquisition of Altera .
Will a split even happen?
These pro and con arguments are meaningless if Qualcomm never splits up. The main problem is that Qualcomm's chip-making business is much less profitable than its patent-licensing one. The licensing business generated just a third of Qualcomm's revenue last quarter, but it raked in 85% of its segment profit.
By contrast, the chip-making business, which generated the remaining two-thirds of its revenue, only accounted for 15% of segment profit. As a result, Qualcomm supports R&D at its chip-making unit with patent-licensing profits.
Drexel Hamilton analyst Richard Whittington told Reuters that he couldn't see how Qualcomm could "possibly segregate the two" units and that short-term gains through a sale would be offset by "a permanent loss of market share" in mobile devices, especially after more of its wireless patents expire. Whittington suggested that Qualcomm should partner with Intel or smaller Asian companies instead of splitting its business in two.
I believe that the idea of Intel evolving into a chip-making superpower by absorbing Qualcomm's chip-making unit is wishful thinking. First, it's doubtful that a split will even occur, despite recent activist pressure from Jana Partners. Even if Intel were to buy the business after a split, it would expose itself to the fierce competition that is eating up Qualcomm's revenue, profit, and market share.
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A new club night is launching in Plymouth and revellers will be treated to unlimited free toast and toppings.
The appropriately named 'Toast' student night is linked with Revolution at Derry's Cross and will be operating out of the venue in September.
Little detail is known but Toast has said they are 'bready' to 'butter up' the people of Plymouth.
A spokesperson for Toast told Plymouth Live that there will be competitions every week with different prizes to make sure that their event "doesn't get stale".
The spokesperson added: "We are a new student night launching at the venue in September, as you might of guessed the night is called Toast and we serve free Toast with toppings all night long!
"It’s an 18+ event so it will be past the little ones breadtime and it will also be midweek, so if you work throughout the week you might have to butter up your boss for a day off.
"Every week we will give out a different big prize ranging from Ibiza holidays to trips to Disneyland as well as hot tubs and more just to make sure our event doesn’t get stale.
"We don’t want to give away too much more right now, but crust us this is definitely going to be good! We can’t wait to party with you all in Plymouth."
Let us know what your favourite toast topping is in the poll above.
More details can be found on the Toast Facebook page, here.
The new event comes after several venues in the vicinity have had refurbishments.
Popworld, on Union Street installed a kiss cam just like people will be used to seeing at American sports games and held its launch night last weekend.
A light up dancefloor replaces the old barred in pole and is the perfect place for people to bop away to hits from the likes of S Club 7, Journey and of course that Disney medley.
There is also plenty of bright lights around the bar, lip booths for weary legs to be rested and if people look up they will see colourful slinky's dangling from the ceiling.
However the visual refurbishment to the sports bar, with more screen and the addition of VIP booths isn't the only change the Union Street venue has made to its offerings.
With a brand new food and drinks menu, Glenn Chilcott and his team have been working tirelessly to make Walkabout a prime daytime venue as well as a clubbing hotspot.


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How Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget ticked all the right boxes
Despite these challenges, GoI has promised a fiscal consolidation path to 4.5% by 2026 and commitment to 5.9% fiscal deficit for FY2024, while increasing capital expenditure to 3.3% of GDP (and 4.5% if you include interest-free loans to states). This is, indeed, laudable and much needed.
Diamond production down by 21%; 10,000 workers lose jobs, salary cuts for others
According to the union's rough estimate some 10,000 diamond workers have lost their jobs in the last few months because of production cuts and small units closing down.
20,000 jobs lost in Surat as diamond demand fades
Surat, the main centre of India's diamond industry, offers employment to some 800,000 workers in its 4,000-odd cutting and polishing units. But work has been drying up, forcing the units to work at 60-70% capacity, said Damji Mavani, secretary of Surat Diamond Association (SDA). It also means fewer workers are needed.
Be ready for 'big battle': Suvendu Adhikari to BJP workers ahead of rural polls
"You decide the names of candidates from the villages and we will ensure that they are able to file their nominations,"Suvendu Adhikari told the BJP workers. "I will hold a huge rally in this district again this month," he said.
Textile and diamond units to cut working days, extend holidays
In the financial year ended March 31, 2022, exports from Tirupur totalled ₹33,525 crore, compared with around ₹25,000 crore the year before. According to the TEA, as much as 40% of the shipments from the region were to the US and 35% to Europe last fiscal year.
In line with Mamata's 'Didi Ke Bolo', Abhishek Banerjee launches helpline numberAbhishek's outreach programme, "Ek Daake Abhishek" (Abhishek at one phone call), is along the lines of "Didi Ke Bolo" which provided a platform for the people of the state to directly lodge complaints to the Mamata Banerjee who is also the TMC supremo. He said, "As your representative, I promise to redress every concern that is raised and incorporate every feedback that is shared. Your honest suggestions will help take Diamond Harbour to greater heights. Together, we will build a model constituency for the rest of India!"
Lab-grown diamonds come to the rescue of 2.5 lakh workers in SuratExports of lab-grown diamonds have increased by 108.27 per cent in FY22 as compared to FY21. The diamond trade has also urged the commerce minister to bring lab-grown diamond under PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme as it has an export potential of Rs 40,000 crore within next five years.
Gujarat's diamond industry hit hard by Russia-Ukraine warDue to shortage of supply of small-size rough diamonds from Russia, businessmen in Gujarat are forced to buy the raw material from African countries and other places, affecting their profits.
Ukraine impact: About 250,000 workers in Surat's diamond units sent on leave, job losses loomThe US Treasury had slapped sanctions on Alrosa on April 8, potentially cutting off about 30% of the world's supply of rough diamonds.
How diamond baron Govind Dholakia got Rs 920 for first trade!Dholakia, founder and chairman of diamond manufacturing and exporting company Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt.Ltd., strongly believes that high morals and values helped him largely in making the right decisions in life.
Fresh sanctions on Russia cut Gujarat diamond workers, tooWorking hours have been reduced to eight hours from 12 and units have declared two days off weekly, which is having a bearing on the wages of 800,000-1 million workers engaged in cutting and polishing. Diamantaires have cut production as the supply of roughs from Russia has fallen.
Surat: Sharp increase in rough diamond prices is impacting workersAs a result, in some cases, workers are being deployed for only three days a week. Rough diamond prices had started increasing from July onwards and the outbreak of Omicron in diamond mining regions of South Africa and Botswana pushed up prices another 20%.
Labour-intensive units step up vigil to allay workers' fearsThe Noida cluster houses 3,000 units and the annual exports are around ₹30,000 crore. Nearly 900,000 workers are engaged at the export cluster.
Polished stones may pinch with Surat in long vacation modeCut and polished diamonds are a major revenue earner for India. The overall gross exports of cut and polished diamonds stood at ₹91,489.2 crore in the April-September period, up 122.62% from the year earlier.
Customers put sustainability on par with price, design while purchasing diamonds, says reportThe report takes an in-depth look at the topic of sustainability in the diamond sector, including how sustainability considerations are influencing consumer decisions relating to natural diamonds, how the diamond industry is already a leader in many areas relating to sustainability, and how the industry must build on its momentum and continue to place sustainability at the heart of its value proposition to meet consumer expectations for the future.
Diamond industry lands in the rough on labour shortageDiamond exporters were expecting them to return after the kharif sowing was over. Before Covid broke out, there were 600,000 workers in Surat’s diamond trade. The number has fallen to around 475,000.
Nearly 30,000 women join diamond trade in Surat, Saurashtra since April“Women were steadily coming into diamond cutting and polishing over the last five years. But the flow has increased post-Covid as they want to ensure financial stability at home,” Damjibhai G Mavani, secretary, Surat Diamond Association, told ET.
Diamantaires hike wages up to 10% to woo migrantsThough the decline in production has helped the industry maintain steady prices of polished diamonds, they fear as demand increases in the global markets in coming months they may face problem on the workforce front as migrant workers, who left during the second wave of the pandemic will only return after the kharif sowing is over.
Small diamond production in Gujarat takes hit due to cyclone TauktaeNavadiya said there is still a 20% shortage of workers in Surat, the major diamond cutting and polishing hub of the country. “Those migrant workers who had left during the second wave of Covid-19 are yet to return in full. Some have come while many of them are still staying in their hometowns. Covid numbers have started declining and vaccination is picking up across the country. Soon these workers will return.”
Migrant workers return to Surat's diamond quartersDiamond production, which had dwindled by 30% in the first half of May, has recovered and leading diamond exporters say that production is now down by only 10-15%. They are upbeat that it will recover by the first week of June as Covid-19 cases come down and the vaccination drive picks up.
Production of polished diamonds in Surat declines by 25% in AprilProduction has taken a hit at a time when the trade is witnessing strong demand from the US and Chinese markets, diamantaires said.
Coronavirus impacts Surat's diamond trade“The migrant workers are going to their hometowns to keep their families. They are taking 10 or 15-day breaks and they will definitely return. Nearly 20 per cent to 25 per cent workers have left. But this is a temporary thing,” said Dinesh Navadiya, regional chairman (Gujarat), GJEPC.
Surging Covid-19 cases a cause for concern for Surat’s diamond workersThe industry fears another lockdown would impact production and about 20 million migrants who had returned to the diamond hub after restrictions were withdrawn following easing of restrictions last year may leave again.
Diamantaires offering perks to skilled cutters and polishers amid massive manpower shortage in Surat“There is a shortage of manpower at the diamond cutting and polishing units. Diamantaires have in many cases increased labour charges and they are willing to pay more. Demand has picked up and the trade wants to leverage this and meet the orders,” Dinesh Navadiya, regional chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council of Gujarat, told ET.
Surat’s diamond workers see Diwali vac cut to a week from three weeks on export revivalThe demand revival for polished diamonds has been “encouraging” with exports in October slated to be equal to a year ago in value terms, Shah said. October 2019 saw India exporting polished diamonds worth $1.95 bn.
Diamond hub Surat likely to buzz with activity after Diwali as migrant workers set to return“Demand has revived and the trade is getting good orders from the US, China, Gulf countries and some parts of Europe. There is good demand in India too,” said Colin Shah, chairman, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). “The worst is behind us hopefully. The workers are also returning to join their work as well.”
Diwali expects to bring back sparkle to global diamond hub SuratWith polished diamond prices going up and demand reviving in China and the United States production is gradually returning to the pre-Covid-19 level, raising hopes among workers as well as diamond manufacturers.Load More
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ANYDOKO has partnered with the Hong Kong Tourism Board to create an online video series that explores Hong Kong’s unexpected art and culture scene.
In the hour-long series, viewers can explore the different art and cultural experiences in the city and create their own interactive adventures.
The video series was released as Hong Kong has seen a dramatic increase in visitors and is making a push to promote Art and Culture beyond the traditional Chinese experiences.
The series features iconic and unknown Hong Kong Art and Culture spots, from the new landmark M+ Museum to the street art in beach town Sai Kung, artsy food at the new Ho Lee Fook restaurant by Black Sheep Restaurants, film photography sessions at revitalised prison Tai Kwun and many more hidden and famous Hong Kong spots. The videos are hosted by Jamia Ha, known online as @jamie.xia, and feature a range of local experts such as television presenter Aaron Stadlin-Robbie and artist Samantha Cheung.
The series is created by ANYDOKO Studios, which is based in Hong Kong and Sydney and creates original content for its own online channel ‘ANYDOKO’, as well as television programs, commercials and online series for travel, food, and hospitality brands.
“It’s great to be back with our third interactive online series for Hong Kong Tourism Board. The city has so many unexpected art and culture experiences which are great to put in the spotlight. We’ve taken this third instalment of our series to the next level with lots of amazing locations, guest hosts and experiences. Like the last two series on nightlife and food, it’s great to have the support of the tourism board to create something we believe in. To produce an online series that feels more like a television show than a social video.” shared Vikash Autar, creative director at ANYDOKO.
Creative Director & Writer: Vikash Autar Cinematographer: Zell Cheung Camera Operator: Mathew Lee Producer: Janet Ho
Editor: Mart Sarmiento Colourist: Chung Chow Sound Mixing: Anthony Marsh
Client: Hong Kong Tourism Board
Creative Production Agency: ANYDOKO Studios
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Last year, Siddarth Shrikanth published The Case for Nature: Pioneering Solutions for the Other Planetary Crisis. Catherine de Clare caught up with him at the Jaipur Literary Festival in India this year. Shrikanth currently works as a director on the Investment team at Just Climate, a sustainability-focused investment fund chaired by former US vice president Al […]


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Backend houses continue to enjoy strong demand for processing IP camera chips and CMOS image sensor (CIS) chips, with their order visibility clear through the fourth quarter of 2021, according to industry sources.
The notebook market has been robust in recent months thanks to stay-at-home needs. Chromebook shipments are expected to rise sharply in 2021. Apart from Intel, some other chip vendors, such as MediaTek and Elan, are poised to see robust growths in reenues from the Chromebook segment. ODM Wistron saw its notebook shipments spiked 52% on year in first-quarter 2021. The smatphone market is also recovering, and Apple is expected to adopt teh more power-efficient LTPO backplane technology for OLED displays in the premium models of its next-generation iPhone lineup.
Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai) founder Terry Gou will invest in EirGenix, a Taiwan-based contract development and manufacturing operator (CDMO) for biotechnological pharmaceuticals, to become its biggest shareholder.
Vietnam has joined the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) and RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership), and has signed FTAs (free-trade agreements) with the EU and the UK. These deals have positioned Vietnam as a preferred location for manufacturers seeking to disperse their capacity deployments amid the US-China trade disputes.
IC testing interface solution provider Chunghwa Precision Test (CHPT) has upgraded its factory in northern Taiwan into 5G-based smart facility through cooperation with Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), its parent company, according to CHPT.
Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has set aside a budget of NT$8.5 billion (US$299 million) for 2021-2024 to promote development and production of electric buses, and use of such buses in public transportation.
Production regionalization is fast gaining momentum as an inevitable trend for ICT players, particularly those with heavy investments in China, as clients have increasingly asked them to relocate production amid impacts of the pandemic and US-China trade tensions, according to industry sources.
TSMC has aggressive plans for expanding its fab capacity. In a recent letter sent to clients about canceling discounts for foundry service quotes, TSMC discloses it plans to spend US$100 billion on capacity expansions for the next three years - an annually average that is more than its 2021 capex budget. Chip shortages have been sending vendors in many sectors scrambling for supply - from manufacturing services, components to devices. Notebook ODMs describe the volumes of orders they have been receiving as "ridiculously" big, clearly as a result of overbooking by clients who just keep placing orders, despite possibilities that end-market demand could chill overnight. And chip shortages may not ease until at least first-half 2022, according to Arm Taiwan's president.
Inventec expects its automotive electronics business revenues to grow to NT$25 billion (US$868.35 million) by 2024, accounting for 5% of the company's overall amount, up from 1% currently, according to company president Maurice Wu.
Power supply maker and energy management solution provider Delta Electronics has upgraded a plant in Taiwan to a smart factory based on 5G private network through cooperation with Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), Microsoft and PTC, according to Delta.
The current short supply of semiconductor fab capacity is not normal, as the overall capacity should be more than enough to satisfy all demand in normal times, according TSMC chairman Mark Liu, who describes as "economically unrealistic" attempts by the US and Europe to expand their own fab capacity to satisfy all of their needs. But the short supply has been sending foundry quotes rising, with UMC and PSMC set to adjust upward their quotes by 10-20% starting April for rush orders. The eletric vehicle (EV) industry has seen fast development with rosy long-term outlook, thanks to government policy support, according to industry experts speaking at a forum on future cars held in Taipei.
The pandemic has been accelerating digital transformation at enterprises and industries worldwide with over 65% of global GDP estimated to come from digital products and services in 2022, and many sectors including healthcare, catering, manufacturing and retail are fast creating brand-new digital business models via AI and 5G applications, according to Terence Liao, general manager at Dell Taiwan.
Notebook brand vendors are planning to raise prices for their upcoming new products to reflect increasing costs from raw materials, ICs and transportation, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
Despite the pandemic-induced impacts, global electric vehicle (EV) shipments reached as high as 2.5 million units in 2020 - an achievement that has encouraged governments in advanced economies to accelerate policy formation that will be favorable to the advancement of the EV industry, according to industry experts.
Quanta Computer expects to post a double-digit increase in notebook shipments this year, while fellow ODM firms including Compal Electronics, Wistron and Inventec are also positive about their notebook shipments in 2021.
Many handset and component manufacturers that have participated in India's five-year production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme have urged the Indian government to push back the program's timeline by a year as pandemic-induced impacts have disrupted their production targets.
Judging from orders on hand and end-market demand, Compal Electronics expects its notebook and non-notebook shipments to experience double-digit growth in 2021, according to company president Martin Wong.


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Perry’s Announcing Even More Flavors For Summer 2022
It was only a couple of weeks ago that we told you about Perry's new flavors. Now they've announced even more new flavors for 2022.
Perry's has been making ice cream and distributing it to corner stores and homes for over 100 years right here in Western New York. Their story is a pretty cool one about a man named H. Morton Perry who had an at-home dairy delivery business. He was asked to provide ice cream to Akron High School by the cafeteria manager there. So he started to make up small batches on his stove at home. Now, they are one of the premiere ice cream brands around Western New York and beyond. And they still use nearly 100% milk from farms here.
So when they come out with new flavors, it's exciting knowing that not only are they going to help out our local farmers...but we get to eat all the new ice cream.
They just announced that they will be releasing 3 gallon tubs of the new flavors to scoop shops and food service restaurants this spring. The new flavors are:
- Blueberry Cheesecake: Cheesecake ice cream with blueberry swirls and cheesecake pieces
- Coffee & Donuts: Coffee ice cream with vanilla cream swirls and donut pieces
- Blue Moon: A cosmic blue colored mystery flavor with hints of fruit, spice, and vanilla
Something that Nichole Buryta, Senior Brand Manager at Perry’s always points out is that the flavors are a result of listening to consumer feedback. That's why they chose to bring back the Blueberry Cheesecake flavor that is a favorite in the area.
It looks like these ones won't be available to stock your freezer with, but you'll find them at your favorite local shops.


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The total market capitalization of Chinese listed Internet companies by the end of the first quarter of 2022 fell 20.2% from the end of last year to 9.9 trillion yuan (about $ 1.47 trillion) . Such data are contained in a report released on Thursday by the Chinese Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT).
A decrease in this indicator was also recorded in the third and fourth quarters of 2021 by 27.8% and 8.8%, respectively.
By the end of March this year, 78.6% of the total market value came from the top 10 internet companies. The top three included Tencent, Alibaba and Meituan.
According to the report, more than half of the world’s top 30 Internet companies are currently in the United States (17). China has nine companies, Singapore, Brazil, Japan and South Korea – one each.
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Microsoft has missed its deadline for launching an Azure region in South Africa after announcing in May 2017 that it was building two data centres in the country – one in Johannesburg and one in Cape Town.
South Africa is not the only country where Azure is expanding to. However, it is the only region were Microsoft has not met its internal project timelines.
Microsoft has announced new Azure regions in the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and Norway. It also has two new Azure regions in development in Germany, which will join the two already launched in the country.
All of these were announced in 2018 and are set to launch in 2019.
Microsoft also launched several Azure regions in 2018, including in China, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
Like South Africa, the Azure data centres for Australia were announced in 2017. Unlike South Africa, Australia already had data centres on the continent prior to the announcement.
Regardless, South Africa is an outlier when it comes to Microsoft’s announcement and delivery of Azure cloud infrastructure.
“There have not been changes to announced timelines in other geographies,” Microsoft confirmed to MyBroadband.
Queried about whether there was something unique about the South African build that resulted in the deadline slipping, Microsoft did not provide details.
“We’re building an unprecedented level of infrastructure to support our new enterprise-grade cloud data centers in South Africa,” Microsoft said.
“We’re focused on building the right solutions for our customers and are working towards availability of our new enterprise-grade cloud data centers in South Africa in 2019.”
The delay in launching the data centres has allowed Huawei to beat Microsoft to the punch. Huawei confirmed its intentions to launch a South African data centre in October, and by November it said it was ready to launch by the end of 2018.
Huawei said it also plans to unveil more regions in Africa.
Azure in South Africa
Despite the data centre delay, many Azure services are already available and are seeing adoption in South Africa.
For example, MultiChoice used Azure to pilot the live streaming of sporting events in UHD. It streamed the last four matches of the FIFA World Cup over DStv Now in UHD at 50 frames per second.
Teraco also launched Azure ExpressRoute services in the middle of 2018, while Liquid Telecom extended the availability of Microsoft Azure across its network footprint in Africa.
The rollout of a data centre from one of the top global cloud providers in South Africa will be seen as a major milestone, and will only add to these services.
Although disappointing that it didn’t launch on time, it is still encouraging that Microsoft’s Azure data centre builds for South Africa are proceeding.