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The New Year is just around the corner, so as per tradition, we're reviewing all the things that have made 2014 a year to remember in the Diabetes World and here at the 'Mine.
Yup, we've had some big moments this past year -- with the FDA dominating a lot of the news with approvals for multiple diabetes devices and new meds to its many new efforts to interact with our D-Community. There were also some amazing initiatives in our online advocacy universe, and we're celebrating some key milestones ourselves, as we move into 2015.
Here's a look at what stood out to us in 2014, month-by-month (and yes, we are keeping this post up for Tuesday and Wednesday):
This was a year of diabetes data partnerships, and Asante Solutions became the first insulin pump company to sign on with Tidepool, the enterprising California-based nonprofit that's breaking the diabetes data and device world wide open with its efforts to create a cloud-based platform for D-data and apps.
And in case you forgot where we were with regard to diabetes technology at this time last year, we had shared a number of D-Tech'spectations at the beginning of 2014 -- and many have materialized for the best!
Google announced it is working on smart contact lenses that could monitor glucose levels! Well, it will be partnering with companies that can develop this advanced med-tech. Exciting, but the proof is in the pupils, so to speak...
After years of talk without much action, FDA finally published draft guidance on glucose meter and test strip accuracy, on which community comments came pouring in.
Diabetes educators are cherished members of our D-management team, but they don't always agree with each other. We learned about a new CDE professional group that had broken off from the established AADE (American Association of Diabetes Educators) due to a difference in opinion about the who and how of certification.
Kris Freeman, T1D Olympic cross-country skier, was getting ready to compete in the 2014 winter games. (He ended up placing: 52nd in men's 15km classic, 54th in men's skiathlon 30km, 57th in men's 50km freestyle.)
New insulin pumps designed specifically for people with type 2 diabetes were in the news. Despite almost 500 likes on Facebook, almost all of the products featured in this post are still on the market :(
"Miss Manners" Judith Martin shocked the Diabetes World with her seemingly insensitive advice about being "discreet" with your diabetes testing. Turns out, she has an adult son with T1D who agrees with her (?).
Abbott announced a huge recall of FreeStyle test strips, that impacted ALL OmniPod users, which prompted a hot discussion about how these recalls are handled and communicated to the patient community. Our take: "What's key in this day and age is the need for swift action and transparency by the manufacturers."
William Sansum Diabetes Center in Santa Barbara, CA, (formerly Sansum Diabetes Research Institute) made a bold investment in reinventing itself by hiring Dr. David Kerr out of the UK as their first-ever Director of Diabetes Research and Innovation.
The Euro inventors behind the nifty insulin pen cap reminder Timesulin launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring this handy gadget to the U.S. market -- with great success! They exceeded their $35,000 goal by 3%.
The #WeAreNotWaiting campaign solidifies! "It's the rally cry of folks in the diabetes community who are taking matters into their own hands; they're developing platforms and apps and cloud-based solutions, and reverse-engineering existing products when needed in order to help people with diabetes better utilize devices and health data for improved outcomes."
Another big advocacy push began on Medicare coverage of CGM (continuous glucose monitors). Many voices were raised!
We took a look at the "Rumor Mill" regarding next-gen CGM products in the development pipeline. Most predictions on Tandem, Dexcom, Animas Vibe, Roche, etc. have come to fruition.
We explored the possibility of "Puffing Glucagon Up Your Nose." Yup, Texas-based Xeris Pharmaceuticals is still studying its investigational liquid glucagon nasal doser known as AMG504-1.
The DiabetesMine Test Kitchen is launched, as the first-ever video product review hub created specifically by and for people whose lives are affected by diabetes. We're now up to 44 reviews of glucose meters, insulin pumps, logging tools and phone apps, snack items and more. Check it out!
The Diabetes Technology Society (DTS) hit first milestones with its post-market glucose meter accuracy surveillance program, while the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and American College of Endocrinologists (ACE) made some long-overdue updates to their official positions on broadening patient access to insulin pumps (!)
We took a deep dive into the novel CGM tech being developed by two California companies: an implantable CGM device from GlySens and a CGM sensor for non-diabetics from Glucovation. Spoiler alert: Dexcom filed a trade secrets lawsuit against Glucovation in June and the next-scheduled hearing is set for next month (January 2015).
Our community celebrated the fifth annual Diabetes Blog Week, kicking off with the very humble theme of "Changing the World." ;)
We welcomed T2Dance Crew to the D-scene, a healthy lifestyle campaign championed by Debbie Allen, producer and choreographer of the popular reality show So You Think You Can Dance.
MannKind's exciting new inhalable insulin Afrezza was approved by FDA (but let's not get too excited till we see how it performs in the real world, ay?).
Apple announces its HealthKit platform, with plans to target diabetes -- but do they really understand blood glucose?
The 2014 American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions took place in San Francisco, and we were there covering the product news and peeking in on sessions, which seemed to feature more patient input than ever before.
Medtronic was hot in the news, with its MiniMed Duo combo device launched in Europe and its aggressive marketing push in the U.S. to get customers to switch from competitor Dexcom to the new Medtronic 530G system with a promotional trade-in offer.
New studies shed light on the difference between diabetes depression and distress. In both cases, it's about recognizing those feelings and discovering the root cause, authorities say.
The Diabetes Hands Foundation hosted its first-ever Master Lab on successful patient advocacy at the Children with Diabetes conference in Orlando, FL. We shared insights from the excellent presenters and attendees.
ViaCyte submitted a strange-looking bandaid-sized implanatable diabetes device to FDA. If successful, this thing could potentially eliminate the need to check blood sugars, count carbs and dose for insulin through injections or a pump (wow).
Musical CEO chairs! The two biggest national D-advocacy orgs, ADA and JDRF, both announced new leadership.
Mike reported on the FDA filing for a new t:slim-G4 combo insulin pump-CGM device, after an on-site visit with Tandem Diabetes Care in San Diego, CA.
Fellow advocate and intermittent 'Mine correspondent Dan Fleshler in New York issued an eloquent Call to Action on CGM Medicare coverage.
We learned some interesting things about how the Affordable Care Act is impacting diabetes, at least according to presenters at the AADE (American Association of Diabetes Educators) annual meeting this year.
Abbott's new "hybrid" glucose monitoring system FreeStyle Libre was approved in Europe. It's a little round sensor worn on the skin, and a "receiver" that looks similar to a handheld PDM, which you wave over the sensor to wirelessly pick up data (no kidding!)
Palo Alto-based Livongo Health launched a new system that connects your glucose meter to a live call center where CDEs are ready to help. They can even alert EMTs in case of a low!
JDRF announced that it is backing and funding Tidepool to create a "Universal Device Uploader" for diabetes devices and data -- a huge step forward for the #WeAreNotWaiting initiative!
Got diabetes stigma? Yeah, we thought so. A new campaign called #WalkwithD encourages PWDs to share our stories that show the "real side" of diabetes -- and maybe, just maybe, we'll dissipate some of the existing myths and misconceptions in the process...
Dexcom SHARE was approved by FDA -- the first mobile device approval of its kind that allows data from a continuous glucose monitor to be beamed via Bluetooth wireless technology to as many as five smartphones anywhere!
Talk about #WeAreNotWaiting: Glooko launched another great workaround tool to let users easily download meter readings from a multitude of FDA-cleared glucose meters into their mobile device, called "MeterSync Blue" that will reportedly "Bluetooth-enable tens of millions of blood glucose meters worldwide" (!)
Medtronic made a move to get in on mobile health buzz with an announcement that its next-gen CGM will communicate directly by Bluetooth with your smartphone -- but for now, all they've got is an app.
Our fave advice columnist and sometime product reviewer Wil Dubois took a look at the new Accu-Chek Aviva Expert Meter, which supposedly has the mind of a pump. Sadly, he was still disappointed.
The FDA held an unprecedented open webinar with the diabetes patient community. It was so successful that we crashed the agency's IT system, and the session went down. More bandwidth next time, please!
Dexcom released its new, updated algorithm that's ready for use in future Artificial Pancreas systems. It's also said to provide improved accuracy in the here and now.
We hosted the DiabetesMine Innovation Summit at Stanford University School of Medicine, with the 2014 theme "Emerging Models for Improving Life with Diabetes." It really felt like the epicenter of change, as all the stakeholders gather to break down walls and accellerate progress. And the day prior was our Fall 2014 DiabetesMine D-Data ExChange event, bringing together a key group of innovators (and regulators) leading the charge on #WeAreNotWaiting efforts to open up tech protocols so patients can make better use of their D-data and devices.
Could diabetes be its own country? A group of advocates are claiming so, given that 343 million people worldwide have type 2 alone. They are lobbying the United Nations to recognize diabetes as its very own nation.
The Diabetes Technology Society held a "Payers Meeting" in Washington, DC, to get them on board with the glucose meter accuracy surveillance program. Only problem: barely any of these insurance companies were present.
A new online network called WeAreOne Diabetes was launched for people who both live with type 1 diabetes and work in the field. However, some see this as exclusive and cliquish.
With the FDA approval of Animas Vibe, we PWDs here in the States finally have a second option for an insulin pump-CGM integrated device besides Medtronic's system.
We announced that DiabetesMine is joining Healthline.com! In mid-January, this entire site will port over to their platform, providing us a refreshed online home. We're a little nervous, to be honest, and hope you'll support us through this transition that surely have a few bumps in the beginning -- but will hopefully bring a number of changes for the better, while keeping our hearts, minds, and advocacy goals right where they've always been.
We're looking forward to an exciting 2015 alongside all our Readers and Supporters!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making DiabetesMine a daily must-stop for diabetes news & views.
- Amy, Mike & the Gang


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Dunnhumby founders and Tesco share dividend
Dunnhumby, the data firm that founded the Tesco Clubcard scheme, is to share a £17m dividend between the husband and wife team that founded the business and Tesco.
Disposable income falls 4%
Disposable income will fall to the lowest rate in two years in the approach to Christmas, according to a report commissioned by Asda. Households’ average finances, after taxes and essential bills and food have been deducted, will be 4% less than last year.
Ocado to expand into northern England
Ocado, the online retailer, is set to agree a deal to build a £200m distribution centre, which will allow it to expand across central and northern England.
Confetti goes into administration
Wedding retail business Confetti has collapsed into administration and closed its five retail stores. It’s online operation remains active and the business is urgently seeking buyers.
From The Telegraph
Upturn in US sales
US retail sales were up 0.4% in July, reversing a downward trend, according to the US Commerce Department. The figures were boosted by strong sales of cars and motor fuel.
From The Independent
International performance boosts Walmart
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, said that although its second quarter sales dropped, it reported strong earnings in international markets including China, Mexico and Brazil.
From The Financial Times
H&M reports sharp sales rise in July
Hennes & Mauritz, the Swedish fashion chain has reported a sharp rise in sales during July. Like for like sales were up 10% while total sales, including new stores, increased 21%.
From The Times

domain: news


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Manufacturers meet the growing demand for better women's body armor with new designs, new technology and a unique line of new products
When BAE Systems set out to build better female body armor, the first thing the company did was create another, entirely new, company.
"We wanted a company where we could put 100 percent of our people and financial resources into research and development, into building the body armor from the ground up, for the woman," says Angela Milligan, brand manager for SAVVY Armor.
Devoting an entire company to one product might seem to be an unusual business strategy in this multi-tasking age of diversification, but Milligan says the growing number of women in policing makes it a good decision for SAVVY. Overall, she notes, law enforcement in the United States is already 15 percent female, and that figure runs as high as 25 percent in some cities. Dedicating a brand to female armor, and only female armor, Milligan says, "makes a difference in the designs and in how monies are allocated."
As a result, SAVVY did not attempt to revamp existing body armor products or look for new ways to turn men's vests into women's. "It wasn't about giving women something we already had," she says. "It was about providing them with what they told us they needed." The company's research and development team conducted hundreds of interviews with female officers to get an understanding of what on-the-job women really wanted from their body armor. Then SAVVY designers headed to the drawing board to create the company's own brand of brand-new body armor for women.
The most important information to come from the interviewing process was the fact that many female police officers reported having significant problems with coverage and comfort when it came to their tactical and concealable vests. Women felt "squashed" or "smashed" by the flat fronts of vests that had been designed for men. Alternately, vests that were manufactured with extra room in the front to accommodate women's chests and breasts sometimes revealed gaps in the ballistic fabric on the sides of the vests or under the officers' arms; as a result, women reported that their vests were either uncomfortable, didn't provide proper coverage of their torsos, or both.
Experts have long known that discomfort isn't the only problem caused by wearing a body armor vest that is too flat or snug in front. Wearing an ill-fitting vest for extended periods of time, such as the eight- to 10-hour shifts required by law enforcement, can actually pose a variety of unique health hazards if the wearer is female. Some women patrol officers have reported suffering intense pain after wearing vests for the entirety of their shifts, and in some cases it turned out the pain was caused by irreparable tears to a major ligament within the breast called the Cooper's ligament.
To address women's fit issues, SAVVY designers worked with three different shaping technologies that could be used in the design and manufacture of body armor vests. One of them — radial offset pleating technology — is being used in vests that SAVVY has available now; it was the inaugural technology of the company's October 2007 product-line launch. "The pleats go in a radial all the way from the bust to the bottom of the vest," explains Milligan. "This helps to form a true bust cup, which provides support, and allows for less bulk in the side areas."
In all, SAVVY's current line includes three concealable vests, a tactical vest, seven external carriers, and three specialized vests — one designed for corrections — an ultra-concealable vest for undercover assignments, and a vest for bicycle, personal transport vehicle and motorcycle officers.


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Global oil and gas companies have begun diversifying into renewable energy and EV charging assets over the past few years and now they’re practically tripping over each other to catch up with Tesla and other EV stakeholders. The latest example is BP, which just put up $5 million to jump into the EV charging market in Europe and the UK.
Okay, so $5 million is a drop in the bucket relative to BP’s size, but when one of the Earth’s sprawling fossil fuel giants puts some serious money into EV charging, that’s a tipping point.
BP Gets Serious About EV Charging
Last summer, BP made some rumbling noises about installing EV chargers at its gas stations, and it looks like this is the solution, or at least part of it.
In BP’s new electric vehicle venture, the $5 million pie will go to the US company FreeWire, which markets a clever little EV charging station on wheels called Mobi. You just plug it into any home outlet that can handle a major household appliance and you’re good to go.
Mobi comes equipped with onboard energy storage in the form of “second-life” EV batteries, so yes, electric vehicles are already eating themselves.
Considering that Mobi is about the size of a pushcart, it sounds like you’re not going to spend much time on installation, right? All you need is a place to park your Mobi and a place to plug it in. BP expects to send the little guys rolling into selected BP stations this year in the UK and Europe.
In a press release, Tufan Erginbilgic, chief executive of BP Downstream made the point that EV charging is the road BP is taking to lay claim to the title “fuel retailer of choice” at some future point, though he did hedge a little:
“EV charging will undoubtedly become an important part of our business, but customer demand and the technologies available are still evolving.”
That’s an interesting point, especially that part about customer demand. When Ford recently rolled out its ambitious $11 billion plan to electrify more of its cars, the company made noted that it was forging ahead even though its customers weren’t exactly clamoring for electric vehicles.
A recent survey of auto execs and auto buyers also suggests that the consumer market has yet to be completely sold on EVs, particularly not in the US (I know, right? Shocker!).
In that context, a fleet of cute little mobile charging stations sounds like a low-risk, high-impact way to pinpoint demand hotspots for EV charging and fill that demand with lightning speed, at relatively low cost. Here’s Erginbilgic enthusing over the potentials:
“Using FreeWire’s mobile system we can respond very quickly and provide charging facilities at forecourts where we see the greatest demand without needing to make significant investments in today’s fixed technologies and infrastructure. The opportunity also to explore options for providing charging services away from our existing retail sites makes FreeWire an ideal partner for BP.”
Yep, better get moving on that EV charging thing before Tesla beats you to the punch!
$5 Million For An EV Future — With Renewables!
If FreeWire rings a bell, that could be because CleanTechnica got wind of the company back in 2015, when it was competing in the SAFE Energy Security Prize. The company had some ambitious plans and now it looks like all that hard work is going to pay off. Here’s the FreeWire pitch from 2015:
“Mobis can also be used as grid resources while recharging by soaking up excess renewable power and modulating recharge rates in response to demand response events. Our diesel generator replacement version, Mobi Gen, delivers clean, quiet power wherever it’s needed, further reducing greenhouse gas emissions and demand for oil … using a core competency, mobile battery systems, to add value in multiple different markets allows us to play a major role in securing America’s future energy.”
Not too long ago, EV doubters raised the point that more electric vehicles translates into more demand for power generation, and consequently more demand for coal and nuclear energy. Baloney. The energy storage angle is the key to integrating more wind and solar into the grid.
For the record, BP met up with FreeWire through RocketSpace, a San Francisco–based accelerator that does exactly that: hook up huge corporations with startups.
Also for the record, BP is still on the hook for fallout from its fossil fuel legacy, but it has been ramping up its renewable energy transition.
Just two months ago BP sank $200 million investment in the solar developer LightSource, which is a big 180 from the company’s position on solar energy just a year or so ago.
Meanwhile, for the past several years, BP has been quietly building up its investment in a network of onshore wind farms in the US, so stay tuned for more on that score.
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Photo (cropped) via BP
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St Albans tip closure causes anger
- Credit: Archant
A ST Albans man was left fuming when he hauled a load of garden waste to the city tip, only to be turned away because the site was closed for redevelopment work.
To make matters worse he was unable to take his rubbish to nearby Harpenden on Monday as the town’s tip was closed too.
Herts county council (HCC) has apologised for the problem, brought about when the waste depot at Ronsons Way, St Albans, was shut for a week from Saturday, April 20.
It had recommended that residents instead dispose of household rubbish at its recycling centre in Harpenden or the Waterdale tip near Garston.
But the man, who did not wish to be named, said that he was told by a “grumpy” worker at the St Albans tip on Monday that Harpenden’s site had been forced to close because it could not cope with the increased volume of visitors from St Albans.
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He was told to travel instead to either Garston or Hemel Hempstead – which would have meant a round trip of up to 14 miles.
The man said: “I had to come back home with my boot full of garden waste. What would have happened if I was elderly?
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“They should have publicised the closure better.”
A spokeswoman for HCC apologised to residents for “any inconvenience that the temporary closure of St Albans household waste recycling centre may have caused.”
She added: “We are delighted that with the recent good weather people have been encouraged to recycle their household waste but this in turn has meant a busier than anticipated period.”
The spokeswoman said the council had been doing its best to ensure the suggested alternative sites remained open but increased usage had forced the temporary closure of Harpenden’s tip on Monday afternoon.
She said that as the town’s tip was located in a residential area, Harpenden has restrictions which only allow container exchanges to place during opening hours.
The St Albans site is being closed temporarily to allow for redevelopment including a new layout to improve accessibility and capacity.
The work is a joint venture between HCC and St Albans district council.


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Srinivasan K Swamy, convenor of the summit and immediate past chairman and world president said, "This Summit will focus on how many brands are synonymous with nations and how there is a symbiotic relationship between their growth and prominence.”
The list of speakers includes Tony Abbott, former Prime Minister of Australia, Peter Knapp, chairman Landor & Fitch UK, (who will speak on how destinations are branded), Ido Aharoni, founder Brand Israel (who will highlight how Israel became known as the "Start-up" nation).
A global report on ‘Nation Brands’ put together by Brand Finance of UK will be released by Amitabh Kant, G-20 Sherpa. This will provide the relative strength of Nation Brands that will place India in the right perspective and show what further is needed to surge ahead. Kant will then talk about the New India in the comity of Nations.
Sports celebrities like David Gower will speak about the evolution of Brand Cricket along with another cricketing icon Dilip Vengsarkar.
The Summit will highlight how France got to be known for luxury brands or perfume or wines or even cuisine; or how Belgium became the home of premium diamonds; or Swiss is famous for luxury watches. Similarly, a session on automobiles will connect the dots between countries and luxury or sports cars or even the new transformation to EV or digitalisation of vehicles.


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Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS) managed to beat estimates in its just-reported fiscal Q1 2013 results. For the quarter, the company's revenue was $475 million, or 12% higher than the $426 million of the same period one year ago. Non-GAAP net profit came in at $103 million ($0.67 per share), up 25% on a year-over-year basis from Q1 2012's $82 million ($0.56).
Those figures trumped market expectations. Analysts had been anticipating $473 million in top line and an EPS number of $0.55.
Synopsys' forward-looking financial targets also exceeded estimates. For the current quarter, the company expects $490 million to $500 million in revenue, and EPS of $0.63 to $0.65. Analysts have forecast $486 million and $0.56, respectively. For the entirety of fiscal 2013, the company believes it will post revenue of $1.96 billion to $1.98 billion and net $2.35 to $2.40 per share, against market expectations of $1.96 billion and $2.29, respectively.


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March 9 , 2011
Cheque hold periods to change, other measures announced by Minister of State for Finance
Ottawa--The federal government is "taking decisive action to protect the interests of Canadian consumers of financial products and services", including changing cheque clearing periods.
“The economy remains our government’s top priority,” said Minister Ted Menzies. “We’re protecting Canadian consumers by banning negative option billing for financial products, ensuring greater transparency and making sure consumers have timelier access to their own hard-earned money.”
The Access to Funds Regulations would reduce the maximum cheque hold period for consumers and small- and medium-sized enterprises. The maximum hold period is currently seven business days for all cheque amounts. This ould be reduced to four business days for cheques of $1,500 or less. The regulations would also provide consumers with immediate access to the first $100 deposited by cheque.
The Negative Option Billing Regulations would require federally regulated financial institutions to obtain consumers’ express consent before providing a new optional product or service. Consumers would receive in advance a summary of key information, including related fees and costs, before granting their express consent. The regulations would also prescribe additional disclosure when a consumer agrees to an optional product or service, and require financial institutions to refund charges on a prorated basis following cancellation.
“These measures will give Canadians more freedom and information to effectively manage their personal finances,” said Blaney.
Lower-income seniors, Canadians without significant balances in their accounts, younger Canadians who do not have a long banking history, and people who receive cheques from newer employers or clients are often subject to longer cheque hold periods. These are often the Canadians who most need quick access to their funds.
“The action our government is taking today will protect Canadians and their families from unexpected costs and provide clear information to help them make the right financial decisions,” added Minister Menzies.
The regulations will be published in the Canada Gazette on March 12 for a 30-day comment period. Contact information for forwarding comments is provided with the proposed regulations.


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The Programme of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK)
Opening of the event.
Welcoming words of the organizers.
Kostyantyn Ivanov, President of Chernihiv CCI
Guido Reinsch, Team Leader, GIZ
Word to partners
Seminar-presentation “Online services, platforms and marketplaces in Ukraine and the EU for sales and finding partners”
Larysa Tsygan, Vice president of Chernihiv CCI
Introduction of participants
Conducting negotiations in B2B format
(according to personal schedules of confirmed meetings)


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For those who came in late,.
On Wednesday, online retailer Amazon.com became the latest to declare its support for the victorious high-definition technology, announcing that it "will more prominently promote Blu-ray hardware and software products on its Web site." The company will not, however, discontinue its sales of HD DVD products.
"The high-definition landscape is rapidly changing, and consumers are looking for guidance on how to make the best high-definition buying decisions," Peter Faricy, Amazon's vice president of movies and music, said in a statement from the company. "Our customers have clearly voiced their support for the Blu-ray format."
But in a sense, Amazon is also an indicator that Blu-ray's struggles aren't quite over. With its, Amazon is among a number of major Web retailers that offer digital downloads of movies and TV shows. Some have said that with all the bickering over HD DVD and Blu-ray for so many months, digital downloads from companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Apple's iTunes were able to find a steadier footing.
Luckily for Blu-ray overlord Sony, your average digital movie download isn't nearly up to par in the quality department.


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Bethesda has said that it feels "vindicated" by gamers voting for Fallout: New Vegas as the Best RPG at the Golden Joystick Awards, admitting that the game triumphed in the category despite releasing with a large number of bugs and glitches.
The Obsidian-developed RPG beat out The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and Dragon Age II to take the category prize in its genre. Gamers, who usually balk at the sign of products with technical issues, vote for the winners at the Golden Joysticks, which lead to Fallout's win surprising the crowd on the evening.
When asked if the publisher was surprised at the win, European Managing Director Sean Brennan told SPOnG that "Nobody likes to put a game out that has bugs in it, at the end of the day. So, that was an issue, obviously.
"But I think that if people can transcend those issues, it becomes a fantastic game. I know a lot of people personally who really enjoyed it. So it vindicates it even more - the quality of the game and the brand itself - that people still voted this to be their Number 1, despite the issues that we had."
Brennan also waxed lyrical about upcoming blockbuster RPG Skyrim, adding that the latest Elder Scrolls game will "push the boundaries on not just what can be done but what is expected in the genre. A lot of people who never dreamed of playing a role-playing game before in their lives will fundamentally buy this and really enjoy it," he said, noting that the title will attract a large number of female gamers.
Skyrim won a Golden Joystick Award for "One to Watch," as voted by gamers. It will be released on the 11th November.


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Miami Heat Star Jimmy Butler Kicks Off Summer With Limited-Edition Big Face Coffee Ice Cream
The Miami Heat player is collaborating with ice cream company Van Leeuwen to add a frozen treat to his culturally shifting Big Face Coffee, Good Morning America reports. Butler and Van Leeuwen, which started as a yellow truck on the streets of New York City in 2008, are celebrating the release of a limited-release ice cream flavor called Big Face Coffee Affogato.
“Van Leeuwen as a whole is about bringing the best products to people, and I want to follow suit and be just like that, so this made all the sense in the world to me,” Butler said.
The new affogato flavor features cold brewed ice cream swirled with milk-flavored ice cream, according to Van Leeuwen co-founder Ben Van Leeuwen.
“Jimmy and I met in November, and within minutes I said, ‘Wow, this guy’s serious about coffee.’ Then I tasted the coffee and said they’ve got really good products,” which he ultimately knew would work well with their desserts, Van Leeuwen said.
Launched in Fall 2021, Big Face Coffee started organically and became a passion project for Butler. He introduced it to the Orlando NBA bubble during the 2020 season. Eventually, the brand expanded from a self-run cart to a variety of merchandise for everyone. Now, the brand will be brought to the masses in a unique way.
“We needed to make something that’s distinctly good, and that was really easy to do here because the coffee is so good,” Van Leeuwen said. “This was just sort of a side benefit, but Big Face’s creative and branding is some of the coolest I’ve ever seen and so unique — so that part of the collaboration seeing this little logo is really exciting.”
Van Leeuwen, well-known for its chill vegan flavors, has not yet announced plans to unveil a plant-based version of the limited-time flavor.
“The trial and error of us finding the right coffee, adding the sweet cream and ingredients, putting it all together — it was all a blessing. The Big Face team and the Van Leeuwen team really did something special, and I can’t wait to bring it to the world,” Butler said, per Front Office Sports.


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With the exception of a tactical ad in 2014, Ritz hasn't bothered advertising in the UK for 30 years.
This has done the brand no harm in terms of name recognition. But now, Mondelez International, Ritz’s parent, has invested £10 million in an integrated campaign to launch Crisp & Thin. Mother, Mondelez’s strategic and creative partner for Ritz, created the lead TV spot in which a man and a woman munch on Crisp & Thin and start dancing to Gregory Porter’s version of Puttin’ On The Ritz. The ad is backed by outdoor, digital, in-store and PR activity. Porter is releasing his recording on iTunes. The work was directed by Fredrik Bond through Sonny.


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WorldPay payments firm in $43bn sale to US rival
BusinessEconomy and Finance 18 March 2019 Arabia Day Newsdesk 0
A UK payment processing firm that used to be owned by Royal Bank of Scotland has been sold in a deal worth $43bn (£32bn).
WorldPay has been bought by Florida-based Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) for $35bn in cash and shares, plus WorldPay’s debt.
FIS provides electronic payments services and also software for the finance industry.
WorldPay was sold by RBS as a condition of the bank’s financial crisis bailout.
The stock market values RBS at £32bn – roughly the size of the deal to buy WorldPay.
Last October, BT poached WorldPay’s co-head Philip Jansen to replace Gavin Patterson as chief executive of the telecoms group.
Financial software firm FIS said buying WorldPay would help it sell more services to banks and other financial firms.
FIS chief executive Gary Norcross said “scale matters in our rapidly changing industry”.
The rise of financial technology firms, known as fintech, has seen technology firms taking on banks in a race for control of the digital payments market.
“The need to invest, to continue to modernise both the technology and application layers, and continue to innovate so our customers can continue to be disrupters, will be important for us,” FIS president and chief executive Gary Norcross told investors in a call on Monday.
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Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL) (FRA:MVL) has issued a statement regarding the findings of a recent lawsuit. On Wednesday, a Pennsylvania jury delivered its verdict in a suit against Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL) (FRA:MVL). Carnegie Mellon University filed the suit against the company and also Marvell Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Marvell Technology.
The university claimed that Marvell infringed on two of its patents, relating to a technique used to read channel detector technology, which Marvell said is not used in any of its chips. The statement from Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL) (FRA:MVL) said they “strongly believe the theoretical methods described in these patents cannot practically be built in silicon even using the most advanced techniques available today, let alone with the technology available a decade ago.”
Marvell said it uses its own patented read channel technology, which they developed. However the jury decided that Marvell did infringe on the university’s patent and awarded $1.17 billion in damages. Marvell said it will appeal the jury’s findings and seek to get them overturned, even taking it to the U.S. Court of Appeals if necessary.
The company also said it will assess the impact of the jury’s findings on its financial statements and “evaluate the likelihood of a successful appeal.” Then it will determine if the lawsuit will affect its finances and adjust its projections for the company’s fourth fiscal quarter, which ends Feb. 2, 2013.
In the meantime, Marvell Technology’s shareholders are taking a hit on the company’s stock. Today analysts at JMP Securities downgraded the stock as a result of the adverse jury decision. They have set the stock at Market Perform instead of Market Outperform. They set their price target at $7.40 per share.
On Wednesday, we noted that David Einhorn is one of those feeling the pinch in the drop of Marvell Technology’s stock, which is one of his top holdings. Shares of Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL) (FRA:MVL) are down another 4 percent in today’s morning trades.


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Sony has announced the pricing for its latest line of Bravia TVs which are 4K-capable, with the entry-level 49-inch model, the XBR-X850B starting off at $2,099.
Moving our way from the 49-inch model, we have the 55-inch XBR-X900B priced at $3,999. The 79-inch model will set you back $8,999 and if you have money that you simply need to burn, you can opt for the 85-inch model for $24,999. Each 4K-capable Bravia TV will be shipping in June. Sony's 4K media player, the FMP-X10, will be getting upgraded, but the company hasn't announced pricing on that just yet.
Last updated: Jun 16, 2020 at 04:29 pm CDT
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- Joe Raedle / Getty Images
- Walt Disney World and Disneyland raised ticket prices on Sunday.
- A one-day ticket to Disney World during the busiest time of year now costs $129, a $5 price increase.
- Some Disney fans say that it is becoming too expensive to visit the parks.
Walt Disney World and Disneyland just quietly increased how much it costs to visit the parks.
A regular, one-day ticket to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom now costs $119, a $4 increase, the Associated Press reported Sunday.
The cost of “value” tickets, sold during less crowded times of year, increased by $2 to $109 for adults. Peak ticket prices, for the busiest times of year, now cost $129 for adults, a $5 increase.
Disney also significantly increased how much Florida residents pay for annual passes. The premium Platinum pass now costs Floridians $729, up from $679.
Many Disney fans had already braced themselves for the price hike. Disney World and Disneyland have announced ticket price every February over the last several years.
But some people say that the latest price hike has contributed to making it too expensive for the average family to visit Disney’s theme parks.
As a longtime Disney family, I don’t like the price tag attached. It speaks to privilege! For families that save to come to Disney for the magical escape from reality it is a slap back into the haves and the have not‘s. Disney is should be magical for everyone equally!
— Julie Eckhoff (@JulieEckhoff) February 11, 2018
As long as the park fills up, Disney will continue to increase admission prices. The only way to stop the insanity is to quit going! My wife and I used to go to Dizzyland all the time until the price of admission made us more nauseous than the tea cups!
— Mojo Elliott (@MojoElliottLA) February 11, 2018
Price increases at Disney parks. The usual responds from the community pic.twitter.com/Vvv8pPO3EC
— Stingray☯ (@Stingray_travel) February 11, 2018
“People will need to start selling their kidneys on the black market to be able to afford a day at Disney,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Pathetic.”
So my Disney annual price went up $100+ I feel personally attacked. Good thing I have it until October so now it’s time to save up ????
— salv ???? (@salvuhdor) February 11, 2018
So with this latest increase in WDW AP prices, it makes it so it’s not worth it to renew my pass. And honestly, I’m ok with that. It’s apparent I’m no longer the demographic Disney wants or values.
— Jennifer Meyering (@Dizneydreamer) February 11, 2018
The price changes seem to be part of Disney’s plan to get people to visit the parks for as many days as possible. Tickets are cheaper if customers buy multi-day passes, dropping to $44.50 per day for adults getting a 10-day pass.
Last week, Disney reported that its parks and resorts generated $5.2 billion in the most recent quarter, an increase of 13%. Attendance grew 6% in the same period.


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With looming lawsuits and the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, disabled people ask whether Uber can do more to ensure they're not refused rides from drivers.
Check out CNET's coverage of the New York International Auto Show 2015.
Don't want to wait for Microsoft to push the update to your PC? Here's how to download the new OS immediately.
Ready to move on up to Windows 10? Here are all the steps you need for success.
Is Microsoft's new Edge browser faster than the competition?
The 3DS XL's improved 3D head-tracking is a big step up and its performance boost more makes a noticeable difference. A few head-scratching design choices prevent us from falling for the New 3DS XL, but this is still the best Nintendo portable to get.
Nintendo's New 3DS isn't much improved overall, but that new display alone almost makes the purchase worthwhile -- or will do, once it's available outside of Japan.
Microsoft confirms its console will play older Xbox 360 games and get a fresher user interface in November. Next up: TV recording capabilities in 2016.
For Road Trip 2015, CNET talks with the University of Michigan's Peter Sweatman about the rapid merging of computers and cars, and the fake city in Ann Arbor where it's being put to the test.
Worlds better than Internet Explorer, Edge is the newest way to go online with your Windows 10 computer. But can it beat Firefox and Chrome?
Three ways to install a clean version of Windows 10 onto any PC.


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Floridians have always taken pride in having one of the nation’s best supermarket chains. Publix usually enjoys a wonderful reputation based on its clean, well-stocked stores and its high level of customer service. In fact, Publix recently placed second in a Consumer Reports ranking of all supermarkets nationwide. Plus, their chicken fingers are the perfect remedy for a case of the munchies!
However, recent political contributions by Publix heiress, Carol Jenkins Barnett, is causing many advocates of medical marijuana to reconsider their support for this Florida grocery behemoth. Ms. Barnett recently donated $800,000 to help fund the anti-medical marijuana campaign in Florida. This donation comes as Floridians prepare to head to the polls for a crucial second chance vote to legalize medical cannabis. It will no doubt be used by anti-pot groups to fund advertising, which has been controversial for its dubious claims about the “dangers” of allowing legal access to patients.
So, next time you find yourself with the munchies, think about Ms. Barnett and consider Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s or another one of the shopping options available in our state.


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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- NIO Capital, an investment firm founded by leading Chinese EV maker NIO, announced on December 30 its US dollar fund (Eve ONE L.P.) has completed the first fundraising with over $200 million collected from a number of world's leading investors.
The investors are from a variety of blue-chip investment firms and industrial funds, including sovereign wealth funds, overseas pension funds, foreign insurance companies, fund of funds (FoF), multinational corporations and family foundations, said NIO Capital. The money raised has been used to invest in several leading startups focusing on automobile, energy and logistics.
（Photo source: NIO Capital)
NIO Capital said it has injected capital into quite a few autonomous driving startups, mobility service providers and energy solution developers, and most of them have yielded substantial technology fruits. For instance, Pony.ai has launched trial operation of robo-taxi service, and completed roughly 1-million-km autonomous driving tests; Momenta possesses the automotive-grade “Mpilot” autonomous driving solution available for mass production; Dida Chuxing is the world's first mobility service platform that achieves sustained scale profitability; Inception is the first one in China that is permitted to test autonomous driving trucks on trunk highways.
(Photo source: NIO)
The sponsor NIO shrugged off a string of woes in 2019 by launching its third production model, the EC6, and the all-new ES8 SUV with a longer range at its third NIO Day. The startup was once mired in predicament caused by car firing incidents, abortion of governmental investment and sales plunge. However, the delivery rebound for recent months somewhat lifted the industry's confidence in NIO future.
By December 28, 2019, NIO has owned 66 stores nationwide, including 22 NIO Houses and 44 NIO Spaces. The sales network covering 49 cities across the country is one of weapons spreading NIO's brand influence and consolidating consumers' loyalty.
“After five years of rapid growth, NIO has become more mature in corporate operations, product quality, sales performance, and user experience. We are very confident about the upcoming 2020.” said William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO.
Gasgoo not only offers timely news and profound insight about China auto industry, but also help with business connection and expansion for suppliers and purchasers via multiple channels and methods. Buyer service:firstname.lastname@example.orgSeller Service:email@example.com


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September 13 2017
The global proliferation of internet access has transformed societies, enabling online and financial inclusion in the developing world. But it has also empowered organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean, international officials warn.
With 43 percent of the world’s online community, Latin America and the Caribbean — home to some of the world’s most dominant criminal networks — has become even more vital to transnational crime, said Amado Philip de Andrés, the representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Central America and the Caribbean.
De Andrés cited the emergence of the “internet of things” — a term used to describe the web-enablement of mobile devices, consumer appliances, vehicles and infrastructure — as one trend reshaping how criminal networks operate. Research firm Gartner projects that the global number of connected devices will grow from 8.4 billion this year to 20 billion by 2020.


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WASHINGTON — Abrupt changes to the federal funds rate could stress the economy and financial markets, with steady and well-communicated increases preferable given the uncertainty about how hard and fast rate hikes will hit business and household spending, Kansas City Fed president Esther George said on Monday.
With inflation running at a 40-year high, “the case for continuing to remove policy accommodation is clear-cut,” George said in remarks prepared for delivery to a labor-management conference in Missouri.
But “the speed at which interest rates should rise…is an open question,” she said in remarks made as several of her colleagues have already endorsed a second consecutive three-quarter point increase at the upcoming July Fed meeting. George dissented against an increase of that size in June, preferring the half-point increase the public was expecting until the weekend before the meeting.
“The pace at which this path unfolds will need to be carefully balanced against the state of the economy and financial markets,” George said in what amounts to the bluntest warning yet from a policymaker that the central bank may be at risk of overdoing it.
The Fed since March has been raising interest rates to try to curb inflation, and in the space of three meetings has moved in quarter point then half point then three-quarter point increments. This has ignited a rapid shift in financial conditions seen in higher home mortgage rates and a reordering of bond and stock financial markets.
“This is already a historically swift pace of rate increases for households and businesses to adapt to, and more abrupt changes in interest rates could create strains, either in the economy or financial markets,” said George.
“Communicating the path for interest rates is likely far more consequential than the speed with which we get there,” George said, hinting she may be inclined against another three-quarter point hike when the Fed meets in July.
Financial markets currently expect that larger increase. But many investors and economists also have been flagging a heightened risk the central bank may raise interest rates so high it triggers a recession.
George said she found it “remarkable” a recession debate had emerged “just four months” after the Fed started raising rates, with some analysts even forecasting the Fed will need to begin cutting the federal funds rate next year, presumably because of an economic slowdown.
The Fed is at a sensitive point in its inflation fight. Headline data have given no clear evidence the battle has been won. Data to be released Wednesday is expected to show consumer prices rose at an 8.8% annual rate, the fastest since late 1981, and recent job market surveys show continued strong hiring and a historically outsized number of job openings.
In a survey released Monday the New York Fed said that consumer expectations for inflation over the next year hit a series high 6.8%.
Yet over a 3-year period household inflation expectations fell in the latest survey from 3.9% to 3.6% – still well above the Fed’s 2% target, but moving in the right direction.
Recent economic data has also shown consumption spending falling on an inflation-adjusted basis, and the outsized wage gains of the pandemic era beginning to moderate.
Overall economic growth may end up being negative for the April through June period, just as it was for the first three months of the year, a possibility that may add to recession warnings. (Reporting by Howard Schneider Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
So far this year, the Chinese market has released just 105 new games, compared with 755 titles in 2021, and more than 9,300 in 2017.
“Most of my friends like playing competitive first-person shooter games,” Zhang, a university student in Beijing, told Al Jazeera. “But we cannot find a game we all want to play these days. Having fewer games to choose from is really sad to me.”
Zhang’s frustration is reflected in falling sales across the sector.
Video game revenues in the first half of 2022 fell for the first time since data became available in 2008, declining 1.8 percent to 147.8 billion yuan ($21.9bn), according to industry figures published by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association and the Gaming Industry Research Institute of China. Excluding overseas sales, revenue shrank a steeper 4.25 percent.
China’s slowing economy under “zero COVID” has compounded the sector’s woes, with many young people finding they have less money for non-essential purchases such as video games.
The world’s second-largest economy barely avoided contraction in the last quarter, growing just 0.4 percent, as authorities continued to roll out harsh lockdowns to control the spread of COVID-19.
In June, youth unemployment hit 19.3 percent, the highest level on record.
For Jon, a 29-year-old Shanghai resident who often plays mobile games such as Honor of Kings, the dicey economic conditions have meant cutting back on his hobby.
“I spend less on games now than I used to, even though I earn more now than in previous years,” Jon, who asked to be referred to by his English first name, told Al Jazeera.
“That’s because I’m worried I’ll have to save more during these uncertain times, because I might be put under lockdown or face unemployment.”
Free-to-download games have not escaped the downturn either. Popular mobile titles such as Fate/Grand Order and Azur Lane rely on in-game purchases by players trying to get a leg up on their peers to make money.
“The economy and the job market are really bad,” Wang Liang, a 22-year-old university student in Beijing who enjoys first-person shooters, told Al Jazeera.
“So most gamers like me will inevitably have less disposable income to spend on games.”
The sector’s current difficulties follow an even rockier 2021. Under a sweeping regulatory crackdown on the sector, Beijing introduced time limits for online gaming by minors and real-name verification rules to prevent anonymous in-game purchases.
Although the end of a nine-month freeze on new titles in April provided a glimmer of hope for the industry, the number of releases has been a trickle compared with previous years.
The two biggest domestic players, Tencent Holdings and NetEase, which together account for about 60 percent of the market, and foreign publishers have yet to have a single title approved for release.
“Although many dozens of titles have been approved, these resourceful players who understand the Chinese gaming market and tastes of the players very well have not been able to launch new titles,” Nir Kshetri, an economics professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro who has researched China’s gaming industry, told Al Jazeera.
Once thriving industry
The industry’s declining fortunes mark a sharp reversal for the once thriving industry.
In 2017, China became the world’s gaming capital on the back of popular smartphone titles such as Honor of Kings and Fantasy Westward Journey, taking almost one-quarter of the $101.1bn global market, according to research by venture capital firm Atomico.
Despite the regulatory and economic challenges, China’s gaming market raked in 296.5 billion yuan ($46.6bn) in sales revenue in 2021 overall, up 6.4 percent from the previous year, according to official government data.
China’s e-sports sector the same year was worth an estimated $403.1m, making it the largest market on earth, according to research by Niko Partners.
Some industry figures see this strong foundation as cause to be optimistic about the future.
The co-founder and COO of a Tencent-owned gaming studio, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said greater regulation had been needed and the easing of the licensing freeze was a cause for hope.
“There are still many ways to stimulate the market,” the co-founder told Al Jazeera, pointing to in-app purchases and advertising, greater efficiency in production, and emerging technologies like VR and the metaverse as potential solutions.
He played down the negative effect of the economy on the outlook for the industry.
“Less disposable income means that people will be more cautious about spending on games. But it does not necessarily mean that they will spend less on games,” he said.
“Gamers will be more and more demanding, so poor-quality games can’t earn money as easily as they used to. Only high-quality games can attract gamers to continue to pay. Therefore, game companies need to follow trends, focus on improving the quality of games, create more high-quality content and explore more monetisation possibilities.”
Others suggest the industry will need a significant period to recover.
More than 14,000 gaming-affiliated companies shut down during the first six months of the licensing freeze, according to a report in the South China Morning Post in January. Many other firms in adjacent sectors such as merchandising, advertising and publishing also suffered heavy losses during the period.
“Chinese developers are likely to face significant challenges to monetise their games until the ecosystem is rebuilt again,” Kshetri said.
In the meantime, frustrated gamers like Zhang can only wait in hope for a loosening up of the government’s grip on the sector.
He also hopes that the current turmoil will give the industry a necessary shake-up, ultimately leading to better quality games.
“The most important thing for multiplayer competitive games is the game environment, even more so than the game content, I think,” he said. “So if the game makers can give a better environment to the player, that will definitely make them happy again.”
If the US avoids a recession, or at least a deep one, it will most likely be able to thank industrial companies.
While demand on the consumer side of the economy is weakening, it remains solid in the manufacturing sector and, more important, appears to be sustainable even if shoppers cut back further. Consider the outlook from a few companies most people pay little attention to.
Eaton Corp. Chief Executive Officer Craig Arnold said variations of “strong” and “strength” more than 45 times during a conference call with analysts on Aug. 2, and that’s not counting references to the dollar. “It feels positive, in some cases, too positive,” Arnold, whose company makes electrical gear for construction, power, autos and aerospace, among other goods. With a market value of about $60 billion, Eaton isn’t small.
Illinois Tool Works Inc., which is even larger than Eaton, said its organic sales were up 18% in July from a year earlier, the highest monthly growth rate all year. The company makes all kinds of products for the food service, test and measurement, welding, construction and auto industries, and most of those areas are “off to a really strong start in Q3.”
Companies as diverse as chemical maker DuPont de Nemours Inc., industrial distributor W.W. Grainger Inc. and a metal-bender like Arconic Corp. are saying the same thing: The manufacturing economy is sizzling.
“The industrial parts of the economy are certainly growing faster for us than the non-industrial parts right now,” said DG Macpherson, CEO of Grainger, which sells just about any industrial-related part or gadget you can think of.
While the strength of the industrial economy isn’t new, its ability to power through a downturn in consumer spending is a change from past cycles.
“We strongly believe that the industrial economy will decouple from the consumer economy,’’ Scott Davis, an analyst with Melius Research, said in an email. “There’s just too much pent-up demand for projects and megaprojects that are based more on secular changes than cyclical.”
The reasons for this decoupling are multifold. An obvious one is the recovery of investment in the oil and gas industry. Although some industrial companies pulled back exposure to energy, especially in activity closer to the wellhead, after oil prices sank in mid-2014, the increase in drilling reverberates broadly through the industrial economy with increased demand for steel, construction, trucks and safety equipment.
Another is that the makers of autos and heavy trucks are still struggling to keep up with demand and have huge holes in their inventories that will take a while to rebuild. There were 95,000 cars in inventory in June, down from a monthly average of 660,000 in 2019, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The number of Class 8 trucks, as the big rigs are known, in backlog as a ratio of the build rate was about 10 for the first six months this year, which is lower than last year when the computer-chip shortage was at its peak, but still higher than 6.6 in 2019, according to FTR Associates data. It’s the opposite problem from large retailers, which are grappling with too much inventory.Makers of commercial and private jets also have big backlogs to fill as people, restless from the Covid-19 shut-ins, are on the move again. Construction projects are moving forward, and even consumer-facing companies are continuing with projects to improve their logistics, an area where costs jumped during the pandemic.
The transition to cleaner energy also is also feeding the fire of industrial demand, and the climate change bill passed by the Senate over the weekend would keep those flames burning for some time — perhaps even through a consumer recession.
Eaton’s Arnold has positioned his company to ride the wave of electrical power demand as economies wean themselves off oil. The company has a long history of selling transformers and circuit breakers for power generation and transmission and recently made a push to become a key supplier to electric vehicle manufacturers. The company boosted its 2002 earnings-per-share guidance by 4 cents to a midpoint of $7.56 and increased its forecast for annual organic sales growth to as much as 13% from 11%.
“So despite all the talk about potential slowdown and downturn in the market, and we’ll be ready if we have one, we’re focused on investing to capitalize on what we see as the super growth cycle, driven by favorable trends in the recovery and some of our other end markets,’’ Arnold said on the call.
Eaton, DuPont and ITW, which raised its guidance in May, called out international weakness from the China lockdowns and Europe’s difficulties with soaring energy prices. Still, there are no signs the international weakness is bleeding over to the US. The year-over-year increase in US industrial production in June was more than 4%, a solid pace, and that comes on top of the big rebound of more than 9% in June last year.Ironically, the same supply chain snags that stoked inflation because demand wasn’t being met also kept a lid on the overbuilding of vehicles, homes, electronics and other goods that normally would occur and then cause a pullback in output. The trucking industry, for example, is notorious for the boom-and-bust cycles because companies buy too many trucks when freight demand is strong and then have too much capacity when cargo cools. Those truckers were never able to purchase all the trucks they wanted. There will be no big bust this cycle.
Add it all up, and it makes sense that the manufacturing industry can buoy the economy through a downturn in consumer spending.
More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:
• It’s (Still) Going to Be Hard to Get a Car: Anjani Trivedi
• Customer Demand Is There. Supply Still Isn’t: Brooke Sutherland
• New Chips Act Could Become a $280 Billion Boondoggle: Editorial
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Thomas Black is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering logistics and manufacturing. Previously, he covered U.S. industrial and transportation companies and Mexico’s industry, economy and government.
If you listen to the White House, you hear that the economy is strong. Others will tell you that it has already sunk into recession. Such “analytical” differences are common at almost all times and almost always reflect the speaker’s political agenda more than any straightforward reading of the statistical evidence. These days things look more ambiguous than usual. Statistics offer ammunition for both views. The president can point, and he does, to the robust growth in payrolls. Those with a less sanguine view of things can point to among other things two consecutive quarterly declines in the nation’s real gross domestic product (GDP). Although the balance of the evidence points clearly toward a weakening economy, it is also fair to admit that the statistics paint a strangely mixed picture.
The Labor Department’s monthly employment report illustrates. On the positive side, the July survey of employers showed a striking expansion in payrolls, a gain of 528,000 positions. Private payrolls expanded by 471,000 positions. Though these are not record increases, they are nonetheless beyond most historical experience and far beyond where consensus expectations were. But in the same report, the survey of households showed July jobs up only 179,000. This tells quite a different story from the employers’ tally. The jobs gain was not only much smaller but was insufficient to overcome the June decline in jobs so that over the two months June and July the nation by this measure shed some 136,000 jobs.
Despite this contrast – still unexplained by the Labor Department – what tips the balance to the negative side is the flow of information from elsewhere and from the rest of the department’s monthly report. True, the unemployment rate dipped slightly from 3.6% of the workforce in June to 3.5% in July, but department also reported that some 538,000 people dropped out of the workforce in July. Since they are neither working nor seeking work, this movement more than accounts for the fall in the unemployment rate. What is more, the average weekly hours worked remained unchanged in July at 34.6, still down from April’s measure.
Outside the Labor Department’s accounting, there are of course the first and second quarter declines in real GDP, precipitous declines in consumer confidence, and reporting by the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) of slowing overall and an outright decline in the new orders part of the measure. This list of negatives is of course far from complete, but it is nonetheless indicative.
Apart from the current statistics that point to economic decline, two other considerations weigh heavily on the economy’s prospects. One is the ongoing inflation. At last measure, for June, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 9.1% from year-ago levels. This kind of price pressure seems likely to last. Even if it abates some — say to 8% or 7% — it will remain sufficient to impair economic growth prospects by eroding business and consumer confidence and discouraging the saving and investment on which economic growth ultimately depends. These effects could bring on recession all on their own. It certainly would not be the first time in history that inflation did so.
A still more potent recessionary threat emerges from the Federal Reserve’s (Fed’s) fight against inflation. The Fed began this effort last March. Before then, it had pursued a pro-inflationary monetary policy. It had kept short-term interest rates near zero and poured new money into financial markets buying bonds directly – mostly treasuries and mortgages – a practice the Fed refers to as “quantitative easing.” But since the March policy shift, the Fed has drained money from financial markets by selling from the hoard of bonds it had previously acquired and by pushing up short-term interest rates some 1.75 percentage points. While these are standard anti-inflation moves, they also restrain economic activity. What is more, the Fed seems determined to take further steps along these lines in coming weeks and months – a pattern that will make recession still more likely.
If this assessment is correct – and it does seem likely – then the statistics on which the optimists rely – including the White House – will turn negative in coming months. The evidence of economic weakness, if not outright recession, will become overwhelming. Whether this resolution of the economic picture takes place in the next month or two remains uncertain, but it is hardly likely that the ambiguities will remain in place very much longer.
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iDenfy, a globally renowned RegTech company offering ID verification and fraud prevention tools, announced collaborating with Rawcaster, a social media platform designed for influencers and their fans. This partnership will help automatically assess risks related to fraudulent accounts, ensuring that all Rawcaster’s influencers and other social media users are protected against fraudulent attacks.
Social media platforms not only offer a good experience for the users but also can provide a huge risk due to the popularity of scammers who can easily manufacture a fake persona, for example, by checking into people’s profiles and pretending to be them replicating the age, interests, past purchases costing financial frauds and giving unreliable media experience to its users. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found that one in four people who reported losing money to fraud claimed it started on social media. Reported losses to scams on social media during the same period hit $2.7 billion last year.
iDenfy claims that there’s still a high level of anonymity on social platforms, and it fosters criminal behavior when individuals can operate without providing their government-issued identity documents. According to the KYC company’s research throughout the years, users online tend to operate differently when they remain anonymous than when they have to undergo a proper identity verification process.
Certain industries, such as cryptocurrency or social media, have a stigma regarding KYC. iDenfy further explains that many people online want to remain anonymous because they do not have complete trust in the platform’s security standards or want to remain anonymous due to the platform’s nature, for example, when building a social media profile on a dating site. Rawcaster agrees that encouraging people to share personal information online can be challenging. As a result, the social media company understood that the only way to overcome this challenge was to find a reliable KYC partner with a proven track record.
To protect social media platforms against internet scammers, Rawcaster decided to partner with the identity solution provider iDenfy. When selecting a partner for identity verification, Rawcaster recognized iDenfy as a credible and secure platform capable of verifying influencers and media users globally. Currently, Rawcaster is best known for its social media platform that provides a comprehensive social media experience, serving as the ultimate hub for influencers and their followers. The platform offers features such as chat, virtual meetings, talk shows, and content posting across video, audio, and text formats. The platform aims to stand out as a unique place catering to diverse social media needs.
Right now, Rawcaster uses iDenfy's identity verification service as the main solution, ensuring a robust and secure process for verifying the identities of influencers on its platform. This partnership allows Rawcaster to reserve profile information for the correct influencers accurately, thereby enhancing the overall security and reliability of the media platform. iDenfy is committed to actively checking social media registration and including any new system to fight against the global scam snares. As influencers play an increasingly vital role in shaping online conversations, this collaboration aims to create a safer and more positive digital space for users globally.
"Our partnership with iDenfy is rooted in our commitment to providing a secure and trustworthy environment for influencers and their fans. iDenfy's global coverage and robust identity verification solution align perfectly with our vision for Rawcaster," said Edith Viviana Gad, the Co-Founder and President of Rawcaster.
"This partnership shows our commitment to elevating security standards in the social media landscape. At the same time, with our streamlined approach to identity verification, we are able to help Rawcaster build the simplest onboarding flow for its fast-growing customer base,” added Domantas Ciulde, the CEO of iDenfy.
It’s worth noting that Rawcaster’s future plans consist of creating an even more secure environment for its growing user base, which consists of different types of influencers, including religious leaders, athletes, politicians, actors, activists, and more, helping them connect more closely with their followers. iDenfy’s role in this goal will help the company scale faster in a secure, compliant manner.


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Small businesses are the backbone of Southeast Asia’s economy, but many struggle to get working capital loans because they lack traditional credit records or collateral, Funding Societies founders say. Claiming to be the largest digital finance platform for SMEs in the region, the fintech uses alternative forms of credit scoring and has disbursed more than $2 billion in funding to MSMEs since its launch in 2015. Today Funding Societies announced that it has raised $144 million in an oversubscribed Series C+ equity round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with the participation of new investors such as VNG Corporation, Rapyd Ventures, EDBI, Indies Capital, K3 Ventures and Ascend Vietnam.
It also received $150 million in debt lines from institutional investors, some of which have been withdrawn since last year.
TechCrunch first covered Funding Societies when it increased its Series A in 2016. The company’s previous round was a $45 million Series C that was raised between 2020 and 2021. Some of its latest funding, or $16 million, will be distributed to former and existing employees through its stock option plan in the form of a share buyback.
The company was founded in 2015 by Kelvin Teo and Reynold Wijaya after they met at Harvard Business School. It is now licensed and registered in Singapore, Indonesia (where it is known as Modalku), Malaysia and Thailand. It recently launched in Vietnam and will use part of its Series C+ to enter the Philippines.
The platform provides online loans ranging in size from $500 to $1.5 million. Since its launch, it has disbursed more than $2 billion in corporate financing to SMEs through more than 4.9 million loan transactions. Funding Societies’ customers range in size from convenience stores and e-commerce merchants to medium-sized enterprises, such as high-growth startups and established companies, who want access to faster income-based financing than bank loans, which usually take about two to three months to pay out. , Teo tells TechCrunch.
A recent impact study, calculated using methodology by the Asian Development Bank, showed that finance-backed SMEs contributed $3.6 billion to GDP and 350,000 jobs.
Covering a wide range of businesses, Teo says Funding Societies has better client acquisition costs and loan-to-value ratios. It also collects data faster to train its data scoring models, which draw on traditional and alternative data sources. Traditional sources include bank statements and credit bureau information where available, while alternative sources may include transaction information, online ratings and supply chain data flow.
One of the benefits of Funding Societies is that some of its data sources are proprietary, while they have exclusive rights over others through partnerships. This gives the startup an edge over newer players, Teo says, as does the amount of loan repayment data Funding Societies has collected since launch. He added that Funding Societies’ default rate is between 1% and 2% even during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why it was able to receive debt lines from so many institutions.
Funding Societies’ interest rates are generally higher than banks, but lower or equal to credit cards – in fact, it offers a credit card with a debit line that serves as a substitute for corporate cards. It also partners with companies including e-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Bukalapak, accounting app BukuWarung, fintech Alterra and agritech platform Tanihub that provide access to working capital loans to their SME clients.
Teo and Wijaya say Funding Societies’ main competitors are not banks. Instead, Teo says many of his clients depended on loans from friends or family, their savings, and personal credit cards to fund their businesses. “The opportunity is huge because it’s a $300 billion US dollar funding shortfall,” he says.
In a prepared statement, Greg Moon, managing partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: “SMBs in Southeast Asia have traditionally struggled to access institutional funding and have instead been forced to rely primarily on personal funding to support growth. Funding Societies is building a bridge for these companies to access more sustainable and cheaper financing by building unique data sets about their performance and using AI-led technology to assess their creditworthiness more effectively than traditional models.”


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Of course if we look at the historical (in)accuracy of most pundit predictions, we can quickly discount most of the noise.
But here’s something you can hang your hat on: if the partnership between Apple and IBM—two huge companies with diametrically opposed cultures—succeeds in any material way, it will be disastrous for Google and most of the GMS (Google Mobile Services) OEMs who brand their phones as Android.
Let me tell you why.
Android Is Already as Profitable as It Will Ever Be, and That’s Not Saying Much
At Google I/O last month, Android & Chrome head, Sundar Pichai, triumphantly announced Android passed the 1 billion active user mark…and that doesn’t even include most of Chinese AOSP (Android Open Source Project) Android. Truly a remarkable feat of scale driven by logarithmic growth. The Android team should be proud.
But while all that is true, those numbers have not delivered as bountiful a return as Google, the Android OEM ecosystem, and developers would have hoped. Lets recap what many of you may already know:
App usage outstrips mobile web browsing by more than 4:1, reducing the search ad monetization potential for Google.
Though Apple devices trail significantly in market share, they still dominate mobile web browsing by a factor of 2:1. Luckily for Google, most of that ad revenue accrues to them anyway, but it is an indicator of how active the two user-bases are.
In addition to having more engaged users, iOS owners are also more lucrative. Despite the install-base advantage and a greater raw number of app downloads, iOS generates 85% more revenues for developers than Android. Many of those developers who took Fred Wilson’s advice to build Android first are still waiting for the payoff.
While Android leads in worldwide smartphone market share, Apple owns profit share. And it’s not even close. As the following chart from Asymco’s Horace Dediu shows, Apple has historically owned two-thirds of the smartphone market’s profit share. Samsung has generally owned the other third while all other Android OEMs were accumulating losses. Recently, LG eeked into profitability, but Samsung, the lone bastion of Android success, just had a horrific quarter.
But don’t worry, Android backers, good news is on the way. As Pichai stated at I/O, “…our goal is to reach the next 5 billion people in the world.”
But hold on a minute. Let’s look at that picture.
The blue dots represent the 5 billion people Google wants to sell Android phones to. By the process of deduction, the map’s gray areas represent the locations of the first 1-2 billion who have already bought smartphones. While those blue dots represent a lot of people, they’re almost all in developing countries. I’ll hazard to guess they represent markedly less buying power than the first couple of billion people have.
So if the first billion Android customers haven’t been that profitable for OEMs and developers, this next set of customers is going to be significantly less so. We’ve all heard the phrase “make it up in volume,” but sometimes you gotta get real.
It’s not likely the profit outlook will get better for Samsung and Android OEMs, either. To date Samsung has done a masterful job of both product copying development and distribution to become the largest smartphone manufacturer -- pioneering the phablet category and utilizing Android’s customization advantages.
But many of those benefits are likely to evaporate on September 9, when Apple launches its new iPhone line -- expected to have at least 1 SKU with a larger screen. Apple already owns two-thirds of the most profitable smartphone customers. With a larger screen and iOS 8 eliminating feature gaps such as widgets and custom keyboards (frequently cited as the reason people switch to Android), it’s quite possible many of Android’s most lucrative smartphone customers will return to Apple. Which would only put more margin pressure on Android OEMs.
And just one more thing…
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist quoting Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun. That cat can really turn a phrase.)
Speaking of Xiaomi, they (along with the other Chinese handset makers) represent a significant threat to Pichai’s plans.
See, most of those blue dots represent people living in Asia, with a combined population of 4.3 billion people (a third of which are in China). Companies like Xiaomi are gunning for all of those blue dots. And they’re beating companies like Samsung at their own game…competing on price by closely copying Apple hardware and interface designs while using a heavily modified fork Android AOSP and replacing many of Google’s GMS services with their own.
Overall, Xiaomi, Lenovo and others are putting pricing pressure on Samsung, Motorola, and LG from below while Apple attacks from above. Furthermore, the Chinese forking of Android blunts Google’s revenue and the loss of data eliminates any machine-learning opportunities.
The Enterprise Is the Last Hope for Profitable Android Customers
If your most profitable consumers are already spoken for, where do you find high volumes of profitable business? The Enterprise.
When it comes to mobile, Enterprises are only beginning to scratch the surface. Of those that have taken the first steps, only 34% have moved beyond mobile strategies that address email, contacts, and calendar, according to Maribel Lopez at Lopez Research. Even fewer have built a portfolio of apps to empower their workforce and reinvent business processes, though Lopez’ research shows that 75% intend to build 10+ apps over the next 12 months.
A recent IDC survey underscores the lack of mobile maturity in the enterprise:
Only 16% of companies take a clear, enterprise-led approach to mobility
41% of companies have an ongoing, enterprise-wide mobile budget
31% of companies have a comprehensive mobile technical staff
At Propelics, we see this time and again.
OK, back to IBM and Apple. This deal represents the first and only time Apple is looking to drive for market share. But they’re not doing it by selling cheap phones, as many analysts have implored. They’re going to do it for the same reason Bonnie and Clyde robbed banks -- because that’s where the money is.
During Apple’s Q3 2014 earnings call, Tim Cook stated:
"We also are in the—virtually all Fortune 500 companies, we are in 99% of them to be exact and 93% of the Global 500…[but] the penetration in business is low. It’s only 20%. And to put that in some kind of context, if you looked at penetration of notebooks in business, it would be over 60%. And so we think that there is a substantial upside in business. And this was one of the thinkings behind the partnership with IBM that we announced last week. We think that the core thing that unleashes this is a better go to market, which IBM clearly brings to the table.”
The deal with IBM, then, is a step-on-your-throat, run-up-the-score kind of move.
Apple’s Enterprise Sales team pales in comparison to IBM’s reach and presence in the Enterprise. IBM has a point of view on key verticals where Apple has none, while vertical customers are crying out for business process re-engineering and productivity enhancements. Mobile then becomes part of the equation for which IBM crafts the end-to-end solution.
And while this is a lot about tablets (and likely iPhones), it’s probably also about Macs (guess who hasn’t made ThinkPads for years?). Google and Samsung know this. Apple has sucked the air out of the high-end consumer segment. If Android similarly loses out the only other profitable segment -- big business -- they’ll be pretty screwed.
This explains why Google has been diligently closing their platform’s security holes over the past few years, along with explaining why they bought mobile device management start-up, Divide -- to burnish its security credentials and make Android friendlier to the Enterprise with its containerization-based solution.
This also explains why Samsung invested so heavily over the past several years into their Knox security platform -- to enable it to pass muster with large corporations and governmental agencies. Despite achieving government approval, unfortunately none of Samsung’s efforts bore fruit. According to a recent Forbes report, only 2% of their installed base adopted the security platform.
Just before Google I/O, Samsung announced they were donating the Knox code to the Android community. Was this because they were frustrated at the lack of progress after all they invested? Or maybe it was because they didn’t want to compete against Google in the Android security space after the Divide buy. Or was Google’s growing control over the Android experience limiting Samsung’s ability to differentiate against other Android OEMs? Or perhaps Samsung is shifting focus on its emerging Tizen operating system, which ships on its Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
How Can Google and Samsung Circle the Wagons if They’re Too Busy Shooting Each Other?
It’s as much intrigue as you’d expect in a teen drama. And if it continues it’s going to be hard on the ecosystem -- at both the operating system and device level -- to penetrate the Enterprise space in the face of an Apple-IBM alliance.
And if Android doesn’t succeed in the enterprise, if its OEMs lose the only remaining lucrative market, it may well serve the next 5 billion consumers. We may well see the Android One future Pichai put forward. But it will be an AOSP-forked Android future -- one that won’t be particularly profitable for OEMs and developers.
We shall see what we shall see. Perhaps now I’ve allowed you to see the Apple-IBM alliance in a different light.
Glenn Gruber is an Enterprise Mobile Strategist for Propelics.


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St. Simons Island, Ga.-based grocery seafood category leader SeaPak Shrimp and Seafood has added a new item to its branded program with beer king Budweiser.
SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Flounder Strips joins a lineup that also includes SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Cod, SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Shrimp, and SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Crab Poppers.
All items are sold in grocery perimeter seafood departments.
Rolled out nationally in January, SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Flounder Strips are a good source of protein and are the only beer-battered frozen flounder product on the market, according to SeaPak, which says the product “combines Americans’ love of beer-battered flavor with wild-caught flounder, a fish that’s quickly gaining popularity among diners.”
The suggested retail price is $10.99 a package and includes a classic tartar sauce to thaw and serve. Each serving contains just 200 calories and has 10 grams of protein.
“SeaPak is excited to introduce the new SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered Flounder Strips,” said Ciera Womack, director of marketing, seafood, for Rich’s Consumer Brands Division. “SeaPak executive chefs, in collaboration with Budweiser brewmasters, perfected these crunchy, pub-style recipes. And, like the famous Budweiser lager beer, our SeaPak Budweiser Beer Battered product line contains only the finest ingredients.”


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Dish Network Dec. 20 announced that its Hopper and Wally DVR receivers now support the Google Nest Hello Video doorbell. When the doorbell rings, Nest Hello sends on-screen notifications directly to the television.
Dish is the first pay-TV provider to integrate a Google Nest device into its ecosystem with the Device Access program. The Nest Hello announcement is the first in a series of Google Nest integrations coming to the Hopper platform.
“Google Nest on Hopper is about giving our customers added choice and control over their home environment — with the subtle on-screen alerts delivered by the Nest Hello, customers are better equipped to hit pause and take action right away,” Rob Sadler, director of product management, said in a statement. “This is just the beginning of a powerful relationship with Google Nest and their vast portfolio of products.”
After pairing their Google Nest account with their Dish Hopper or Wally receiver, customers will receive on-screen notifications, including an image, when their Nest Hello has been pressed.
In 2018, Dish introduced the ability for Google Assistant to control its Hopper receivers. It expanded that capability earlier this year, with the introduction of the Google Assistant-enabled Dish Voice Remote.
The Nest Hello feature is available to all broadband-connected Hopper and Wally receivers beginning today. Support for Joey (all clients) will begin rolling out in the following weeks.
Nest joins Dish’s suite of smart-home control options, including the Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Josh.ai.
The whole-home Hopper platform claims to lead the industry in DVR features and functionality. The Hopper 3 boasts 16 tuners, two terabytes of DVR storage, live and on-demand 4K compatibility, PrimeTime Anytime, AutoHop and integrated apps Netflix, YouTube, YouTube Kids, Pandora and Amazon Prime Video, among others.
Voice-control capabilities through Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and the DISH voice remote give customers easier access to their favorite programming. Hopper (all generations) gives customers access to live, on-demand and recorded content on Dish’s online streaming app, Dish Anywhere.


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© RTL Archiv / David Steichen
2021 saw more passengers travelling through Luxembourg Airport compared to the lockdowns in 2020, but numbers were still half those experienced in 2019.
In a statement published on Friday, Luxairport said around 2 million passengers were counted at Findel last year - some 41% more than in 2020, but 54% less than in 2019, before the global crisis took hold. Cargo flights, however, are booming with around 1.1 million tons of freight reported in 2021, a 19% increase on the previous year.
The airport does not expect passenger numbers to recover before 2024 at the earliest. In 2019, the airport counted around 4.4 million passengers, compared to 2.01 million in 2021 - a figure comparable to 2013, according to the statement.
In 2021, the demand for flights from Luxembourg was heavily influenced by pandemic measures and private travel, as well as extremely low demand on days outside of holiday periods. However, 2021 also saw more destinations added, as national airline Luxair expanded their network to places such as Dubai. 2022 will see this expansion continue, according to the air carrier.
Although business and tourist travel may appear less optimistic for the moment, Luxembourg's cargo offerings are increasing.
The challenges of the global logistics chains combined with the low supply of capacities on long-haul passenger flights also led to increased demand for full-freight flights in 2021. This resulted in a 19% increase in goods handled at Luxembourg Airport in 2021 compared to 2020. For the first time in its history, Luxembourg Airport achieved a volume of more than one million tons of cargo handled.