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This smartphone boasts some of the most ultra-tight security measures without breaking the bank. However, its top-notch functionality has a catch.
A smartphone made by software company Sikur offers state-of-the-art security measures without breaking the bank. However, although its features make it one of the most secure handsets on the market, it does have a catch. With hacking exploits becoming universal these days, it is becoming increasingly difficult for users to regularly trust their smartphones.
This is where Sikur comes in, a cybersecurity company created in 2014, specializing in the development “military grade protectionIn addition to helping organizations combat cyber threats, the company has also been producing smartphones since 2015, offering hack-proof models such as the Granite Phone and SikurPhone. These handsets turned out to be a nightmare for hackers. but now Sikur is working on a model that might make physical key logins unnecessary.
According to Engadget, the company’s latest smartphone, dubbed the Sikur One, runs Android 11, but with stricter security measures. It uses an authentication token system that removes the need for passwords, called Sikur ID, considered a zero-trust system. It comes with a 6.5-inch screen, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of expandable storage, an octa-core processor, a triple-lens primary shooter, a 3MP secondary camera, and a hefty 4,000 battery. mAh. The handset also supports dual SIM cards, but connectivity is limited to 4G. Sikur One would cost around $274, which includes a one-year license.
How good is the security of the Sikur One smartphone?
Even Google is worried, given how some malicious hacks are making themselves felt. Having a smartphone capable of protecting against such attacks is becoming more crucial than ever. To enhance security, Sikur One uses Sikur Messenger, a communication platform that stores data in a private cloud. It also incorporates a mobile device management (MDM) system to determine which apps are safe to download. The company claims that the smartphone remains protected even when connected to public networks, such as airport terminals.
Besides having a built-in virtual private network, Sikur One also automatically removes bloatware, disables location services by default, and comes with security measures that prevent manipulation of its operating system. If the device is stolen or compromised, the owner can also erase their data remotely and recover it securely via Sikur’s cloud. Unfortunately, to keep its security safe from the most common exploits, the phone will have no way to transfer files over USB. Additionally, users will have to pay $145 per year after their license expires to continue using its Sikur Messaging and MDM features. Sikur One could be ideal for users who manage various highly sensitive accounts, especially since two-factor authentication may not be enough. Of course, the smartphone is mainly for organizations, but individuals who still insist on getting such a smartphone will have to assess whether or not it’s worth the extra hassle that comes with it.
Next: Massive Security Hole Allows Anyone To Email From Official Uber Domain
First Look at Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna in Weird Al
About the Author


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Pointers at Glance
- Indegene is helping biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca scale up its omnichannel operations across the globe to bring in a more personalized customer experience.
- The acquisition comes when business and the regulatory environment for medical and healthcare products and services are highly complicated.
AstraZeneca has signed up with life sciences commercialization supporter Indegene to scale up and help the British-based Big Pharma with its omnichannel operations.
In a nutshell, the deal sees Indegene, located in Bangalore, help manage AZ’s brand presence across multiple channels, including websites, apps, and social media, all the while trying to create a seamless experience throughout the customer journey.
Indegene said in a press release that it would help AZ scale up its omnichannel operations worldwide to create a more personalized customer experience.
It added in the release that to do this; it will tap its healthcare domain expertise and experience in operating digital centers of excellence to help streamline the client’s global content supply chain.
Sanjay Parikh, Executive Director and EVP of Indegene, said that as patients and physicians progressively engage with life sciences companies through various communication channels, omnichannel operations are vital to creating personalized experiences at scale. They are excited at the opportunity to apply their healthcare domain expertise and technology accelerators to enable and empower life sciences companies on their omnichannel journey.
Specific details on how Indegene can help and worth of the contract were not disclosed.
It comes just two weeks after Indegene snapped up CultHealth, a full-service healthcare marketing agency, in an unpriced deal aimed at boosting Indegene’s clientele, expanding its brand and marketing capabilities, and increasing its patient engagement platforms.
Commercialization service providers like Indegene seek marketing expertise as they explore data-driven ways to launch successful campaigns and omnichannel engagement with physicians and patients.

domain: news


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Developer Joe Ieracitano has proposed building five luxury townhomes on property along the Intracoastal Waterway west of the Hillsboro Club.
To meet town code and zoning requirements, Ieracitano must add 4,300 square feet of land to the development and is hoping to lease land from the state - most of which is under water - to do so. He is asking town commissioners to approve his plans to lease the state land.
Pending the approval, the developer has agreed to construct a seawall of coral to help solve an erosion problem undermining the town's existing seawall. "The seawall helps support the Hillsboro Inlet bridge and A1A so the [coral) seawall would help solve the problem for the town as well," Ieracitano said at a recent commission meeting.
Ieracitano, of Pompano Beach, hopes that building large boat docks on the underwater property for the "million dollar townhomes" project will enable him to meet the footage requirements.
Commissioners did not say whether they believed the project was feasible or desirable. The matter must come before the commission again for final approval.
More parking spaces needed
The City Commission has passed an ordinance calling for more parking spaces for future shopping centers.
The minimum number of parking spaces required for a new shopping center must equal the number of spaces required for the center's most active store when it is filled to capacity. The code went from requiring one parking space for every 250 square feet to one space for every 175 square feet of retail space.
The change was in response to residents' complaints about parking at a proposed Albertsons plaza.


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A strong performance from its portfolio of international brands boosted first-half sales at Alliance Pharma plc (LON:APH).
Turnover rose by 10% to £54.5m (2017: £49.4m) with scar tissue treatment Kelo-cote seeing sales rise by 77% while eye supplement Macushield was 22% ahead of a year ago.
Alliance recently boosted its ‘star’ brand portfolio with the acquisition of dandruff shampoo Nizoral and head lice treatment Vamousse, while pregnancy nausea aid Xonvea goes on sale this winter.
Reflecting the strength of the 'stars', sales were good in Europe and international markets, especially China, but smaller brands held back the UK
Alliance has decided to write-off its anti-malarial brands at a cost of £4.3mln after weak first-half sales, while there was also an impact from an increase in the regulated pharmacy product rebate.
Underlying profits rose by 2% to £12.1mln, but fell to £10.9mln from £16.9mln including one-off items. The interim dividend rose by 10% to 0,487p.
Peter Butterfield, chief executive, said the second half of the year has started well and based on trading performance in the year to date revenues and underlying profit before tax for the current financial year should be in line with expectations.
“Strategically, the priorities for the Group continue to be the delivery of organic growth, planning and starting to execute the integration of Nizoral and preparing for the UK launch of Xonvea in Q4 2018.
“We continue to evaluate bolt-on acquisitions with the objective of further driving our growth. Our ability to conclude such acquisitions is facilitated by our good cash generation and operational infrastructure.”
Shares were unchanged at 91p.


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There’s a box on a shelf in my closet stuffed with smart smoke detectors, old smartphones, chargers, battery cases, fitness trackers, a Kindle that I sat on and broke and various sensors that have long ceased to detect anything.
This is my pile of smart garbage. And it’s getting bigger every year.
It’s fair to assume that I have accrued more than the average person because I write about new technology for a living and have a penchant for new, shiny things that promise to perform never-before-seen functions. But I would be willing to wager that most people have a pile somewhere, and that it is only going to become larger over the next couple of years.
Many people already own sophisticated, Internet-connected devices, including gaming machines, web-connected televisions, tablets, computers and phones, but some analysts think that the next several billion devices to go online will be everyday objects in our homes, stores, schools, cars and workplaces.
The current hardware economy is exploding. Venture capitalists have poured money into the category. In 2013, investors wrote checks worth $1.1 billion across 153 deals to companies that are developing connected technology products, according to CB Insights, a research firm that follows venture money.
In January, Google agreed to pay $3.2 billion to acquire Nest, which in turn paid $555 million to acquire Dropcam, a company that sells wireless web cameras. Most recently, there were rumors that Samsung, the phone maker, was looking to pay big money for SmartThings, a start-up that makes and sells home monitoring kits.
But the next generation of smart hardware is just beginning to come online.
Companies like Withings, Nest, Canary, August, Philips, Quirky, Jawbone and Belkin are making smart devices for the home, as are AT&T, Time Warner Cable and Lowe’s, the retail chain. Digital art screens, sensor-enabled kitchenware, smart locks, wearable alarm clocks, air quality sensors and Internet-connected hearing devices are in production or available.
Even jewelry has become more aware. A start-up called Ringly makes jewelry and accessories that light up or vibrate when the wearer receives a text message or social media alert.
By some measures, we are witnessing a rapid change in computing and the swift evolution of relationships between humans and automated helpers. A vision of the future is materializing before our very eyes, the development of networked helper bots that will manage every aspect of our lives, automating it and, theoretically, improving it by simplifying it.
But what happens when those devices go into disrepair — or worse, obsolescence — and their sleeker, faster successors go on sale, as part of the relentless cycle common among most major hardware companies?
Is smart garbage the next booming category of electronic waste?
The most recent data available on the Environmental Protection Agency’s website is from 2009, when the agency estimated that five million tons of electronics was in storage and 2.37 million was ready for disposal. Only a quarter was recycled; the rest most likely went into landfills or incinerators.
A secondary economy of fixers — people who swiftly become adept and skilled at fixing our broken gadgetry — may crop up and companies may introduce their own recycling systems to deal with electronic refuse that customers no longer want.
Apple, for example, already has such a trade-in program for old iPods, iPhones and iPads. Gazelle, a company that buys and resells used hardware, said that it had purchased upward of two million devices from over a million people. Most items are Apple and Android phones.
Israel Ganot, the chief executive of Gazelle, said that “so far, we’ve seen very little consumer interest for a trade-in option for wearable devices, like fitness trackers or smartwatches.”
Amanda Peyton, a founder of Grand St., an online electronics shop that was recently acquired by Etsy, said that the smart object phenomenon was still relatively new enough that people had not yet ditched their newest smart gear.
“The category is so new that I think people are still in the fascination phase,” she said. “Though I wonder how quickly this will change.”


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Swedish audio streaming service Spotify has entered into partnership with Telkom Kenya Ltd and the East African Breweries Ltd, just a month after making entry into Kenya and four other African countries.
The deal will enable Telkom Kenya Ltd and the EABL to ride on Sportify’s ad-supported free tier to reach more potential customers.
“Fully localised, the Spotify platform offers advertisers a diverse selection of ad experiences based on campaign goals and how users are engaging with the platform, including audio, video and display,” it said in a statement.
The firm, which launched in Kenya February, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Kenyans join the over 345 million monthly active listeners to stream popular music and podcasts on the free platform. The platform also has a premium subscription that offers ad-free streaming.
Unlike other popular web-based services such as Google and Facebook, the service has geographical restriction with consumers accessing its services where the Swedish firm has set shop. This is partly because the company licenses content producers and artistes which requires physical presence.
Before coming to Kenya, Spotify was only available in South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia, where it started operations in 2018, on the continent.
The firm has also expanded to Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania as it looks to enter other markets in the region.
Aside from Telkom and the EABL, the entertainment company has partnered with Tanzania and Uganda, Guinness Nigeria Limited in Nigeria, and Guinness Ghana Breweries in Ghana.
These select brands will adversise on Sportify free in the region.
Spotify joins other streaming apps in the market including Apple Music, BoomPlay and Deezer.
The company, founded in Sweden in 2008, streams across 93 markets spread in all the continents.
It has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to boost its podcast range, which now has more than 2.2 million podcast titles, including “The Michelle Obama Podcast” and one by Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan.
Afcacia seeks to be a powerful tech mouthpiece, giving a voice to your products and services in a way that has never seen before.


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Tues, August 18 at 1pm ET / 10am PTSponsored By: TripActions
Thurs, August 20 at 11am ET / 8am PTSponsored By: American Express Global Business Travel
Mon, August 24 at 11am ET / 8am PTSponsored By: TripActions
Virtual Event - September 9-10, 2020
Virtual Event - September 14, 2020
Convene: 225 Liberty Street - October 22-23, 2020
Filter in or out as many as 200 cities, as well as hotel and car rental class and meals of the day and watch as the per-diem calculator automatically adjusts per diems to your program. Drill down into cost breakdowns and export the results.
American Express Business Travel's report on business travel in 2009 offers wide variances on cost expectations but forecasts overall total trip costs (air, hotel and car rental) globally to increase 2.8 percent year over year (to $1,139) for domestic trips and 4.3 percent (to $3,556) for international trips.
Unlike some others in the travel management field, Amex said it sees possible airfare declines in 2009, given challenging economic conditions, tighter corporate controls on business travel and the substantial jump in airfares during 2008. On the other hand, the company pointed to capacity cuts, ticketing restrictions, potential industry consolidation "and tighter controls over contract performance measurement" as drivers of upward pressure on airfares.
Average hotel rates, according to the Amex report issued this month, will rise but not as much as in years past, as occupancy levels fall. Rate growth or decline, the company noted, will vary greatly by market, depending on supply and demand trends.
Meanwhile, average car rental prices also are expected to inch up slightly, despite higher fleet costs, as rental firms compete vigorously for corporate accounts, Amex explained.
"We'll see the halt of the steady upward climb in travel costs that we have seen in recent years, which, of course, presents good opportunities for travel buyers to realize savings," said vice president and general manager for Amex's Global Advisory Services and Meetings Solutions Hervé Sedky. "We expect the economy to not recover until 2010. We do expect business travel to be weaker in 2009."
That weakness, he said, would be driven generally by an unfavorable economy and continued corporate mergers and acquisitions. "Senior management increasingly is scrutinizing this spend category and really looking at travel as an investment," Sedky explained. "The biggest opportunities organizations have today are around demand management, behavior and compliance." Simply stated, that means fewer nonrevenue producing and nonessential business trips and meetings.
Amex officials also said organizations should carefully monitor other travel-related costs, including transportation to and from airports, airport parking, meals, shipping and webconferencing. These costs, on average, can total "$400 per trip," Sedky said, "but in some corporations they can actually double the cost of a trip." Other extra costs not factored directly into the Amex forecast are ancillary airline fees, like charges for checked baggage, which, according to company officials, can add 15 percent to the cost of an airline ticket and possibly 2 percent to 3 percent to total travel program costs.
The American Express Business Travel forecast, delayed nearly a month to "reassess the financial market activity," followed those issued earlier this month by BCD Travel consulting arm Advitoand last month by Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
For global airfares, Amex predicted a year-over-year change of between a 1 percent decrease and a 6 percent increase for domestic, short-haul, economy ticket prices. CWT forecast an 8 percent to 12 percent increase for domestic U.S. 2009 airfares. For international, long-haul, business fares, Amex predicted a 2 percent to 7 percent increase. CWT expects an international fare jump of 16 percent to 20 percent. Overall, Advito said 2009 average airfares would increase between 6 percent and 8 percent.
In terms of global hotel rates, Amex predicted a change of between a 1 percent decrease and a 6 percent increase. CWT projected an increase of 2 percent to 3 percent, and Advito's forecast anticipated a 4 percent to 8 percent increase.
Amex predicted that the Japan, Asia Pacific and Australia region would have the largest increase in total trip costs: 5.6 percent for both domestic and international itineraries. Regional hotel rates are expected to rise as much as 12 percent for midrange properties and 13 percent for upper-range properties "as demand continues to outstrip supply, and the regional economy holds fast against the global storm." China may see some of the larger price hikes of up to 8 percent for domestic economy airfares and up to 10 percent for international business class airfares--as well as double-digit percentage jumps in hotel rates. On the other end of the spectrum, Amex predicted that domestic airfares in India may decline as much as 3 percent, while Japanese hotel rates are expected to rise only a few percentage points.
In North America, "there is a good likelihood we'll see a reduction in domestic economy fares," according to North America vice president of Global Advisory Services Frank Schnur. Amex predicted that domestic economy fares could shrink by as much as 3 percent year over year or grow as much as 5 percent, while long-haul, business-class fares would increase between 1 percent and 6 percent.
Midrange hotel rates in North America, Amex said, could decline slightly or increase as much as 6 percent. Upper-range hotel rates could drop as much as 2 percent or rise by more than 4 percent. Airline capacity cuts, particularly in smaller markets, "will have an impact" on hotel demand, Schnur said. In such larger markets as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., rate increases likely will be more pronounced, "but not like years past, where rates were going up significantly, double digits in some cases," Schnur said.
In Europe, Amex projected total trip costs (air, hotel, car rental) would rise nearly 3 percent for domestic itineraries and 5 percent for international ones. While short-haul economy fares could rise by 4 percent year over year and long-haul business fares by as much 9 percent, "there potentially will be higher airfare increases on long-haul routes to Asian destinations, where business demand is still strong," said Joakim Johansson, EMEA vice president of Global Advisory Services.
For hotels, Johansson said there will be "continued strong demand in cities with prominent oil and natural gas sectors or gateway cities linked to these sectors," including Moscow; Aberdeen, Scotland; and Oslo, Norway. But just as with air traffic, slowing demand would apply downward hotel pricing pressure "in places, such as London and Frankfurt, that have exposure to the financial sector." He noted that "many" European organizations are "shifting from upper-range hotels to midrange hotels."
In Latin America, airfares are expected to rise by a few percentage points, with larger increases in Argentina and Brazil. Brazil also is expected to show the region's largest jump in average hotel rates, by as much as 9 percent. Schnur noted that "many" Latin American companies are "using demand management practices, like requiring one-day trips."
Travel managers worldwide must take immediate action to ensure their European travelers’ personal data...
Aeromexico is increasing operations by 20 percent, representing about 1,200 additional flights, in...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has lifted a ban on New York residents joining and renewing...


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Hyundai has released its latest campaign to promote the motoring company and Australia’s first fully electric small SUV.
Created by Innocean Australia, the national campaign sees the return of the successful car wash characters – known as the ‘Mopsters’ – and showcases how the new Kona Electric is setting the pace with cutting-edge technology, which includes a 450km real-world range, instant acceleration, clever regenerative breaking and a battery that can charge while you sleep.
Proving that electric cars can be more than just eco-friendly, the campaign shows that the Kona Electric is fun to drive, stylish and accessible to mainstream audiences.
Innocean Australia executive creative director, Steve Jackson, said: “The first campaign saw our lovable heroes follow the new Kona out of the car wash to dance and twerk up against the object of their desire.
“The second saw them pursuing it through the city.
“Our latest iteration is just as fun and proves that green isn’t boring.
“And, if the car is completely electric, then our campaign should be electric too.”
Directed by Sweetshop’s Alexander Brown, the campaign’s futuristic look and feel is applied almost entirely using in-camera effects, including the use of projection mapping.
The car never physically moves in any shot so the sense of movement and energy is created by Brown and his team.
With the aim to demonstrate the forward-thinking and ambitious qualities of the electric SUV, Brown said: “We’re so familiar with car commercials – a car gliding along a pacific highway or through an urban jungle – but with Kona, we wanted to remind people of the flavour of the fantastical and the futuristic.”
Hyundai Australia director of marketing, Bill Thomas adds: “I’m delighted with this campaign.
“We want to make eco-friendly vehicles appealing to mainstream audiences and I think this new campaign does that.
“Our Kona model positioning fits well with the fun you can have in an electric vehicle, so it does a great job for the Kona small SUV on a broader scale.”
The Kona Electric campaign will roll out on broadcast, digital, press and across point of sale advertising.
Client: Hyundai Motor Company
Director of Marketing: Bill Thomas
GM, Marketing Comms: Andrew Knox
Product Marketing Manager: Helen Gilmartin
Marketing Specialist: Lisa Yau
ECD: Steve Jackson
Creative Director: Paul Bruce
Art Director: Rod Soares
Writer: Rod Cunha
Group Business Director: Philip Sherar
Senior Business Director: Jo Movizio
Agency Executive Producer: Craig Sloane
Production Company: Sweetshop
Director: Alexander Brown
Managing Director: Edward Pontifex
Post Production: Heckler
Original Music Composition: Mika Abadie (Son of Kick)
Sound Design: Nylon Studios
There are big changes coming for anyone who creates marketing material for financial products. The Design and Distribution Obligations (DDO) are set to come into effect on 5 October 2021. The DDO changes are all about ensuring financial products are being targeted at the right people. Under the new legislation, issuers are required to make, […]
Australian fashion brand Witchery has partnered with B Corp GlamCorner as part of GlamCorner’s subscription box offering as the demand for everyday essentials soars. This partnership marks another milestone for the Australian fashion industry towards becoming more circular and introducing more paths to reduce textile waste. Customers nationally will be able to rent more of […]
The media, marketing and creative industries are being encouraged to host their own ‘Curry Club for COVID’ before 30th June to help meet the ambitious $100k target set by its organisers. Curry Club for COVID, which was conceived by long-time adtech executive Peter Bray, sales director at Impact, and is powered by industry social purpose organisation […]
The UnLtd Cup is returning for its tenth consecutive year, marking a decade of soccer shenanigans that’s raised nearly $500,000 for children’s mental health charity, KidsXpress. On July 22-23rd, 28 teams from across the industry will battle it out on the soccer field in the two-day tournament at Sydney University Sports and Fitness Centre, Darlington. […]
Australian-bred company Ultra Commerce has acquired New Zealand-based company Vesta eCommerce, a global software business providing leading product data management solutions. The recent acquisition is a significant move for the business, which is Australian born, owned, and headquartered, but has built out a global presence as it pursues rapid growth in the eCommerce market. Connecting […]
Canteen’s latest campaign features the combined talents of Director Luna Laure and creative agency Crater. The campaign strives to raise awareness for young people affected by cancer. The awareness campaign centres around Harry Barentson, who at 12 years of age found out his pregnant mum had cancer. The campaign aims to bring awareness to Canteen’s […]
In partnership with storytelling agency Enthral, AFL star Kevin Sheedy has voiced a video ‘Love Letter to Victoria’ using visuals to showcase the state’s natural beauty and culture. Victoria has been hit with the worst of the coronavirus pandemic compared with any other Aussie state experiencing four lockdowns. Sheedy has partnered with Ethral to share […]
Telstra’s lower-cost telco, Belong, has awarded its strategy and creative account to Howatson + White, and has reappointed OMD to its media buying account, after a competitive pitch process. Howatson + White will handle strategy, planning, creative and CRM, while former agency Clemenger will continue to have a relationship with Belong, managing PR and retail activation. […]
Coca-Cola Australia has rolled out its new campaign ‘Turn Up Your Break’. The campaign will be led by a TVC that encourages people to truly pause with a Coke on their break so they can walk away feeling refreshed and uplifted. The TVC features two busy chefs stepping outside for a break, the bustling kitchen […]
Nova 919’s Ben & Liam breakfast show announced that they’ll be throwing their support behind and raising awareness for a cause very close to their hearts, mental health. On Monday 21 June Ben Harvey and Liam Stapleton will be locked in a purpose-built glass structure, in the middle of Rundle Mall, for an entire week […]


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Edit (May 3): Apple could also be bringing its own 5G modem to the iPhone 15, according to fresh reporting.
All eyes are on the iPhone 14 series at the moment, but we're already hearing rumors about what the iPhone 15 range might have to offer — starting with under-display Face ID.
That's according to sources speaking to Korean site The Elec, who say Apple could team up with Samsung to offer an under-display Face ID system in the iPhone 15 Pro. This design change would apparently see Face ID live underneath the screen, with only a single hole to give the front camera an unobstructed view.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve already seen rumors this might happen with the iPhone 14 Pro. However, more recently we’ve been hearing speculation that the next Pro iPhone will instead opt for two separate cutouts: A hole-punch cutout for the front camera, and a pill-shaped cutout for Face ID sensors.
According to The Elec, the iPhone 15 Pro could use the same technology employed in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. In that device, Samsung concealed a selfie camera under the display which, while usable, doesn’t offer the same level of quality as a hole-punch design.
However, since Face ID doesn’t come with an expectation of picture quality, the screen being in the way shouldn’t make too much of an issue. All Apple would need to do is ensure that all the necessary light can pass through the screen, and that the phone could identify faces with the same level of security as unobscured Face ID sensors.
The Elec also claims that Samsung plans to use the technology on the Galaxy Z Fold 5, which would arrive sometime next year if all goes to plan; the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is expected in 2022. It’s not clear from the report whether this tech would be intended to improve Samsung’s under-display camera, or whether the company has plans to launch its own version of under-display Face ID.
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Unfortunately, this rumor won't be verified any time soon, with the iPhone 15 range not expected until fall 2023. However, these aren't the first hints we've heard about the phone even at this early stage.
For instance, there's speculation that the phone could finally ditch physical SIM cards, while other rumors claim that it could come with a periscope camera that would offer a major boost to optical zoom.
We'll bring you more on the iPhone 15, and iPhone 14 of course, as and when we hear it.
Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.


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Ruth Maguire MSP has welcomed flexibility offered by the Scottish Government to allow cafes, restaurants and bars to resume service in an outdoor setting.
Adjustments are being made as businesses in outdoor hospitality in Scotland are able to resume trading from today in line with the Scottish Government’s route map out of lockdown.
In order to comply with physical distancing guidelines, regulations on planning are being temporarily relaxed in order to allow businesses to use outdoor spaces, helping the industry recover safely.
Areas such as public footpaths may be used for seating, and could also include structures such as open-sided gazebos.
New measures to ensure the health and safety of customers and staff will also be in place including the collection of customer’s contact details to allow contact tracing if necessary.
Anyone planning on sitting-in during a trip to a beer garden or outdoor café will be asked to provide their name and contact telephone number to the business as well as logging the date and time of their visit.
The SNP MSP said: “The relaxing of planning controls on a temporary basis are a sensible measure to allow businesses to reopen safely. These measures will provide a safe and pleasant environment for customers.
“Allowing a degree of flexibility for the hospitality industry in this sense will help these businesses to function and restore a further degree of normality in our local communities.”
Planning Minister, Kevin Stewart said:
“Scotland’s hospitality industry is vital to our economy which is why we took immediate steps to address the financial impact of COVID-19, including a £320 million support package specifically aimed at the tourism and hospitality sector.
“Local authorities are responsible for planning and we are already encouraging them to facilitate the use of open outdoor spaces which pubs and restaurants can use. We have also issued guidance to local licensing boards about how to sensitively and pragmatically deal with requests to use outdoor space for the sale of alcohol.”
This updated guidance builds on previous public information that was included in a letter from the Chief Planner and Minister for Planning on May 29. – https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19—planning-procedures—chief-planner-letter-may-2020/
Any uses of land and temporary structures being allowed through the planning system will still need to comply with continued physical distancing restrictions. Businesses will also need to comply with any other non-planning requirements, such as licensing.


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State of Illinois Announces Second Round of BIG Grant Funding
September 17, 2020
WOODSTOCK, Ill. – The State has announced a second round of Business Interruption Grant (BIG) funds to help all types of small businesses with a focus on disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs) and heavily distressed industries, such as movie theatres, performing arts venues, concert venues, indoor recreation and amusement parks.
With the first round of BIG grants, the State awarded nearly half a million in funding to 31 McHenry County small businesses, including restaurants, personal care services, gyms and fitness clubs hit hardest by COVID-19. Those local businesses were among nearly 2,800 total small businesses across the state to receive these grants.
According to the State, the first round of grants averaged $17,000, and the majority of funds were deployed to businesses in economically distressed communities. As a result of the equity-centric approach to the program, more than half of the first-round grants went to minority-owned businesses. The McHenry County grant recipients received either $10,000 or $20,000. View list of Business Interruption Grant (BIG) Awardees.
McHenry County Board Chairman Jack Franks said, “The survival of our businesses is critical to the local economy. Businesses need all the help they can get to overcome the extreme challenges placed on them from the COVID-19 pandemic. These grants will provide some relief to those hardest hit, but I urge all residents to continue to do what they can to support our local businesses by shopping and dining locally – especially as we head into the winter months when it will get even more challenging.”
The State will prioritize funding for the second round of BIG grants to disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs) and heavily impacted industry and regions – representing businesses that have been unable to reopen or operating at a severely diminished capacity since the spring. According to the State, DIAs are defined by zip codes and identified by the General Assembly for communities that are most economically distressed and vulnerable to COVID-19. In McHenry County, that includes Harvard and Richmond areas.
Applications for the $220 million in new BIG grants will be available Sept. 17.
McHenry County EDC President Jim McConoughey said, “Time is of the essence. I encourage McHenry County businesses to take advantage of this funding opportunity. Employers can view application information, including a list of required documents on the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) website. DCEO will also be hosting a series of webinars on the program.”
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Business Interruption Grants Program (BIG) website:
President, McHenry County EDC


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In Spain the augmented reality of Google search has more and more options. Already at the beginning of the year we saw how it allowed us to show 3D animals in the middle of our room directly from Google search.
This feature has been expanding to more and more areas, being able to see dinosaurs or even fictional characters like Baby Yoda when searching. Google is starting to roll out a new feature that, while not that fun, can be very practical.
Cars in life-size augmented reality
Although Google announced this function some time ago, it was not until today that it began to roll out it for everyone. In the same way as the rest of the experiences available, both from the Google application and in web search.
Google has added more than 250 cars to its search engine, cars that are rendered in the Google cloud to, according to Rajan Patel (VP of engineering at Google), offer the most photorealistic experience possible.
To do this, it is necessary to have an ARCore-compatible mobile and look for one of the available models (in our case, we have tested with the Volvo XC40 Recharge). In Google search the button will appearView in 3D that we will have to press.
Once we press we can see the car in three dimensions. If we pressSee in your space, using the mobile camera we can superimpose it in the real world. This function allows us, among other things, to see the car in the real world to be able to check how much space it would occupy in the garage.
On Android, we launched our first cloud streamed 3D content in Search, enabling users to see cars in high fidelity and with a set of cinematic 3D backgrounds to get the most photorealistic 3D experience to date. Check out the Corvette, 2020 Audi R8, or 250+ more models now! pic.twitter.com/v6iWMvWsDT
– Rajan Patel (@rajanpatel) December 18, 2020
In addition to this possibility, within the Google application we can see the car in different scenarios, change car models or even see the same model with any of the available colors, being quite impressive.
The entry Life-size cars in augmented reality: the latest Google novelty appears first in The Free Android.


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For decades, one of the most foundational principles of cyber security has remained the same: Always update and patch your software. But for most people,...read more
Does Optane SSD deserve your data?
This month, Intel unveiled a revolutionary new type of hard drive that can work as either a storage or RAM unit, while offering faster performance...read more
Firewalls: hardware vs. software
Most people have a vague idea of what a network firewall does. But some business owners are easily fooled by promises of quick and easy...read more


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Uponor Unveils New Venture Development Business Function
To further enhance Uponor North America’s ability to deliver innovative plumbing and heating solutions to its customers, the company has announced the creation of a new business function. This new business function will be led by Vice President Doug Fulton and called New Venture Development.
Reporting directly to President Bill Gray, Fulton will lead the exploration, incubation and integration of new products into Uponor’s existing business offerings, while also forging external partnerships. The overarching goal is to expand the company’s growth opportunities in ways that align with Uponor’s business strategy and customer insights.
“With the creation of our New Venture Development function, Uponor is doubling down on innovation,” says Gray. “We are emphasizing more than ever our commitment to providing innovative plumbing, heating and fire safety solutions to our customers.”


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COVID-19 reduces new-vehicle sales in Africa, says auto manufacturers
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on new-vehicle sales in Africa, which are expected to drop from 1.16-million units in 2019, to a current forecast of 830 000 units this year, the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) has said.
According to AAAM, this is a 28 per cent reduction, which is quite significant.
However, it said the market will recover and believes that new-vehicle sales on the continent can increase to five million units per annum in the medium term.
Chief Executive Officer, AAAM, Dave Coffey, said the manufacturers are actively promoting the rollout of vehicle manufacturing value-chains in Africa, which requires intervention from governments to curb illegal, grey, and second-hand imports, as well as the drafting of policies to support local vehicle and parts assembly.
Coffey says second-hand and grey vehicle imports constitute more than 80 per cent of vehicle sales in Africa.
“With an effective auto ecosystem, this can be reduced to an acceptable ratio that enables integrated auto manufacturing, whilst ensuring the safety of the consumer without major disruption to the existing used-car market.
“Ultimately, all second-hand vehicles should come from vehicles that were assembled on the continent, or that were imported as new vehicles, as part of an automotive programme.”
Coffey, who spoke at an AAAM and Deloitte Africa Automotive Forum, recently, said the automotive industry plays a “disproportionately small role” in manufacturing Africa.
“In 2019, new-vehicles sales in Africa represented 1.3 per cent of global demand, while Africa has 17.2 per cent of the world’s population.”
The economic benefits of having a full-fledged integrated auto manufacturing sector are considerable adds Coffey.
“It requires advanced manufacturing technologies, while it also creates a deep value chain and skilled employment.
“The significant growth to five-million vehicles sold in Africa requires the implementation of effective automotive policy – the core focus of the AAAM.
“The opportunities for growth exist if one considers the young population, rapid urbanisation, and extremely low rate of motorisation in Africa; the potential is huge.”


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Dec. 25, 2018News
Arecont Vision Costar announces that COM-TECH Systems, Inc. has joined as a new Authorized Manufacturer’s Representative for the US Southeast region.
Nov. 19, 2018Webcast
“Our initial customers are already benefiting from use of the new ConteraIP family in a variety of application environments and VMS choices,” said Brad Donaldson, Vice President of Product Development for Arecont Vision. ...
Nov. 01, 2018News
Arecont Vision Costar announces the promotion of a key staff member and the addition of skilled new sales resources to improve customer and partner support across several international growth regions.
Oct. 05, 2018News
Arecont Vision Costar announced its key product portfolio, business plans, and executive leadership team following the initial launch of the business in July, 2018.
Aug. 29, 2018News
Eagle Eye Networks and Arecont Vision Costar have announced a partnership for supporting next generation Arecont Vision MegaIP cameras on the Eagle Eye Cloud VMS.
Aug. 17, 2018Webcast
Take a look at the whole installation process of the Arecont SurroundVideo G3 camera. Brad Donaldson, VP of Product Development at Arecont Vision, walks you through the steps to install the camera.
Jul. 02, 2018Products
Arecont Vision demonstrated the company’s new Total Video Solution at IFSEC International 2018.
Jun. 22, 2018Webcast
IFSEC International 2018 at ExCeL London was a great success. GIT SECURITY explored topics, trends and exhibitors for you! Product launches, product demonstrations and interesting discussions accompanied us through the exhibition.
Jun. 07, 2018Topstories
Known as a pioneer in the field of multisensor and megapixel cameras, Arecont just recently announced important changes in the executive leadership team to better position the company for continued growth. At intersec and after ISC West ...
Apr. 25, 2018Products
Arecont Vision announces the new Contera megapixel camera family.
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- President Barack Obama said Thursday that Chrysler LLC will be tossed into bankruptcy to ease its crushing debt burden, a move taken after some of the company's key creditors rejected a sweetened cash offer.
"The necessary steps have been taken to give one of America's most storied automakers, Chrysler, a new lease on life," Obama said.
Obama spoke at the White House following the completion of a deal with Fiat (F) giving the Italian company a beginning 20% stake in Chrysler that would rise to 35% as milestones are reached.
“'No one should be confused about what a bankruptcy process means. This is not a sign of weakness but rather one more step on a clearly charted path to Chrysler's revival.'”
An administration official said he expected Chrysler's bankruptcy, after a filing in New York, to last between 30 and 60 days and added that the process won't affect Chrysler's day-to-day business of selling cars and covering warranties.
Obama sought to dispel any notion that the filing meant Chrysler had one foot in the grave.
"No one should be confused about what a bankruptcy process means. This is not a sign of weakness but rather one more step on a clearly charted path to Chrysler's revival," said Obama.
Messy process seen
But David Silver, an auto-industry analyst at WStreet.com, said that the process, contrary to government assurances, will likely end up being messy.
"There are a lot of people that have laid claims to Chrysler, and it seems that there is just not enough to go around," he said. "I do not think that Chrysler will ever regain the aura it once had, and I doubt it will be a major player on the world stage in the years to come."
The Treasury Department, in a last-ditch effort to avoid the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, increased its most recent offer to Chrysler's lenders Wednesday by $250 million to a total of $2.25 billion, with the banks and hedge funds in turn agreeing to forgive $6.9 billion in debt. See related story.
Obama blasted hedge funds for turning down the offer.
"A group of investment firms and hedge funds decided to hold out for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout," Obama said.
"They were hoping that everybody else would make sacrifices and they would have to make none," he said. "I don't stand with them."
Obama also said the government would give GMAC, the bank holding company that finances General Motors, money to finance new Chrysler sales.
Chrysler was initially told by the government to reach a deal with Fiat by the deadline or face bankruptcy. But now it has become more apparent that ridding the company of debt and shuttering dealerships through bankruptcy made Chrysler a more attractive partner and facilitated the merger.
Obama said Wednesday night that he was "very hopeful" Chrysler and the government would reach a deal to ensure the company's viability. Marking his first 100 days in office in a prime-time news conference, Obama said he didn't want the government to run auto companies or operate banks.
"I've got two wars I've got to run already. I've got more than enough to do. So the sooner we can get out of that business, the better off we're going to be," he said.
The company will eventually be led by a new chief, according to current CEO Bob Nardelli, who said he plans to step down after seeing Chrysler through bankruptcy.
"My number one priority has been to preserve Chrysler and the thousands of people who depend on its success," he said. "While I am excited about the creation of the global alliance, I am personally disappointed that today Chrysler has filed for Chapter 11. This was not my first choice."
Behind the bailout
Chrysler had been keeping its assembly lines running on $4 billion in emergency U.S. government loans doled out at the start of 2009. That was Chrysler's second federal bailout -- the first took place back in 1980, when the government provided the company with $1.5 billion and Lee Iacocca was handed the top job.
Daimler AG DAI on Monday announced plans to unload what was left of its failed marriage with Chrysler, shedding its remaining 19.9% stake and forgiving repayment of loans previously extended. Cerberus bought an 80% stake in Chrysler back in 2007, leaving the rest with Daimler.
Chrysler's bankruptcy comes in the midst of a historic automotive-industry slump and could serve as a preview of what's on tap for rival General Motors Corp.
GM shares added 5.5% to $1.91 following the announcement.
Auto sales have plunged to levels not seen in almost three decades, sending the Detroit trio deep into red ink. Chrysler, specifically, lost $8 billion last year, according to its restructuring plan, as sales were cut by a third to $1.45 million cars and trucks.


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Amateur Photographer (AP) has won a consumer magazine of the year award for the fourth time in five years.
UK retailers and manufacturers voted AP their favourite publication in annual awards hosted by the publishers of weekly photographic trade magazine Pixel.
Commenting on the win, AP Editor Damien Demolder said: ?It is always nice to receive awards, but this one is especially important, as it was camera and photographic manufacturers, distributors and retailers from across the country that decided the result.
?In basic terms these are our advertisers and the people who sell the products that we test and feature in the magazine.
?By voting for us they are saying that AP is the most worthwhile magazine on the market. That is touching enough, but actually it means that the people who spend their money with us believe it is money well spent and that we have the respect of the whole trade.?
The award was presented at a ceremony held at The Grove, a golf and spa resort in Hertfordshire, on Friday evening.


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AUSTIN, Texas — With TV screens and social networking in mind, the music video site VEVO has launched a significant redesign.
The new VEVO features a bigger player, continuous playback of videos and personalized playlists synced with user iTunes libraries and Facebook pages.
VEVO, which is co-owned by Sony Music and Universal Music, debuted the new design Friday.
The Facebook integration will likely further stoke rumors that the social network is interested in purchasing VEVO. Michael Cerda, senior vice president of product at VEVO, declined to comment on those reports.
Cerda said the new VEVO was designed to transition the site from a “snackable” website to “a personalized, social and long form experience.”
Cerda also said VEVO is planning to do “a lot” to migrate to TV screens, a prospect that will likely further comparisons of VEVO — in its focus on videos and live performance– to a young MTV. VEVO is currently piped to TVs via Boxee and Google TV, but Cerda said VEVO will soon be connected to “other connected devices” like the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation.
In January, VEVO had about 717 million streams, according to ComScore.


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- Will GM still sell cars in Australia?
- Is Tesla worth more than GM?
- How many cars has GM built?
- Is Tesla overvalued?
- Did GM stockholders lose their stock?
- Is General Motors losing money?
- What is the future of General Motors?
- What happen to GM?
- Is it good time to buy stocks?
- How high will GM stock go?
- Why is GM closed in India?
- Is GM a good buy right now?
- What did GM announce today?
- Why did General Motors fail?
- Who is the CEO of Holden Australia?
- Where does GM sell the most cars?
- How much money does GM make a day?
- Is GM going out of business?
Will GM still sell cars in Australia?
Joshua Dowling US car giant General Motors will retain a presence in Australia with a range of specialist vehicles including the Chevrolet Silverado pick-up and Corvette sports-car from the US, Holden has confirmed today..
Is Tesla worth more than GM?
Tesla, which has never had a profitable year, is now worth more than GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. … Among the world’s automakers, Tesla, with a market value Tuesday just shy of $160 billion, ranks behind only Toyota, at $232 billion.
How many cars has GM built?
This statistic shows the number of General Motors vehicles sold worldwide between 2010 and 2019. In 2019, General Motors sold about 7.7 million vehicles. This compares to around 8.4 million units in 2018, representing a decline of around eight percent.
Is Tesla overvalued?
Tesla Shares Are ‘Dramatically Overvalued,’ JPMorgan Says The analyst pointed out that in the past two years Tesla shares have risen over 800%. Analysts have raised their price targets by about 450%, and also simultaneously lowered their earnings estimates for the company for the years 2020 through 2024.
Did GM stockholders lose their stock?
GM got a bailout, but its shareholders didn’t. … Each share of GM stock became a share in Motors Liquidation. While it was widely reported that the shares were worthless, those shares still traded, then and now, over the counter.
Is General Motors losing money?
General Motors lost $806 million and burned through billions of dollars of cash in the second quarter in what is expected to be the worst three months of the year for the auto industry as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered factories and devastated sales.
What is the future of General Motors?
GM will spend $20 billion between now and 2025, about $3 billion a year, on EV development, Barra said. Here are the upcoming GM EV plans: A new version of the Chevrolet Bolt will launch later this year. A 2022 Chevrolet Bolt electric utility vehicle will launch in summer of 2021.
What happen to GM?
General Motors is 110 years old. Founded in 1908, GM rose to dominate the US auto industry. But it declined in the 1980s and 1990s, and in 2009 it was bailed out and went bankrupt. By 2019, however, the definitive American corporation had recovered.
Is it good time to buy stocks?
The stock market is richly valued today, but there are still good deals to be found. Over the long term, stocks are a sound way to profit from future inflation and the growing earnings of a well-run company. Now is a great time to buy for the long term. Investors should have a time horizon of at least five to 10 years.
How high will GM stock go?
General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) The 15 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for General Motors Co have a median target of 50.00, with a high estimate of 72.00 and a low estimate of 40.00. The median estimate represents a +20.08% increase from the last price of 41.64.
Why is GM closed in India?
GM’s exit from India in 2017 was especially notable, in part because the massive country has a rising economy and growing automotive market. … GM opened two factories in the country and introduced a number of products tailored to the value-conscious Indian buyer.
Is GM a good buy right now?
General Motors Company – Buy Valuation metrics show that General Motors Company may be undervalued. Its Value Score of A indicates it would be a good pick for value investors. The financial health and growth prospects of GM, demonstrate its potential to outperform the market. It currently has a Growth Score of B.
What did GM announce today?
GM has committed to an additional $7 billion in funding for electric car and autonomous vehicle programs and will launch 30 new EV models globally through 2025, CEO Mary Barra announced today.
Why did General Motors fail?
Production quality fell because of a hostile UAW workforce that didn’t particularly take pride in building the world’s best cars. And there were so many competing models and brands, with little product differentiation, causing confusion among customers. GM’s market share fall steadily.
Who is the CEO of Holden Australia?
Dave Buttner (Aug 1, 2018–)Holden/CEODave Buttner Biography Dave is widely regarded as a leader in the automotive industry. His experience spans over 40 years, commencing with Ford Motor Company before moving to Toyota Australia in 1987.
Where does GM sell the most cars?
ChinaChina was the largest single target market for General Motors in 2019. During the 2019 fiscal year, the Detroit company and its associations sold more than three million motor vehicles to customers in China, the world’s largest automobile market.
How much money does GM make a day?
Googling shows GM produced 9.8 million cars world-wide in 2015. Typically 250 production days a year, but overtime, downtime, model changeover, etc may modify this on a plant by plant basis. Division gives 39 200 vehicles per day (this includes light truck, SUV, crossovers, not just cars).
Is GM going out of business?
General Motors filed for bankruptcy early Monday, marking the end of an era for GM, as the troubled automaker now represents the largest bankruptcy in history. … GM will shed its Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab brands and cut off more than 2,000 of its 6,000 U.S. dealerships by next year.


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Don't-Miss Display Stories
Tritton's SEE2 Extreme connects additional DVI or VGA displays using USB 2.0.
The XPJ projector is extremely inexpensive, and aimed at gamers.
Nvidia has unveiled its new GeForce GTX 200 series graphics processors.
ATI has introduced a new Radeon HD card for Mac gamers and professional users who use Mac Pros; the company claims it's faster than Nvidia's rival GeForce 8800 card.
Hewlett-Packard says its 24-inch DreamColor LP2480zx will deliver true colors because of its ability to display 30-bit color, which can provide up to one billion colors.
Starbucks’ Web site was overwhelmed with customers trying to sign up for a new program that will offer them some free Wi-Fi.
Kensington is offering a dual monitor adapter that uses USB.
Sanyo is offering two new portable LCD projectors that feature an active filtration system.
Epson's new EX90 projector is aimed at small businesses and features 1024 x 768 native resolution.
Nvidia has won a court decision filed against creditors of 3dfx Interactive, which Nvidia bought the assets of in 2001.
The MacBook Air is spurring the use of LED backlights in notebook PCs, thanks to its ultra-thin design.
Sanyo's newest "SuperBright" projectors, aimed at the educational and business market, can be operated by remote control via a Web browser using an optional module.
Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GT card is now available as an upgrade kit for first-generation Mac Pros.
Iogear is offering a new gadget that enables you to move a DVI display up to 100 feet away from your Mac, using Ethernet cabling.
DisplayLink's beta drivers let monitors work on Mac over USB, but they could be better, if Apple cooperated.


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Courtesy of BRGNS
Okemo volunteers Sarah, Heather, Dan and Michelle collect food from skiers at the Okemo base lodge on March 29.
LUDLOW — On Sunday, March 29, Okemo held their annual Cares and Shares spring food drive. On a beautiful Sunday morning, Okemo Mountain Ambassadors helped collect nonperishable food items and cash in exchange for discounted lift tickets. Altogether, skiers and riders donated over 60 boxes of food for the Black River Good Neighbor Services (BRGNS) food shelves and a substantial amount of cash.
“We look forward to Okemo’s spring Cares and Shares food drive each year,” said Audrey Bridge, executive director at BRGNS. “It helps us to fill our food shelves for the coming spring and summer months. Hunger knows no season, and it is a big assist to have a partner like Okemo.”
Twice each ski season Okemo holds the food drive, which gives skiers and riders a significant discount on a ticket price in return for a few cans, jars or boxes of food.
Black River Good Neighbor Services operates the food shelf all year for residents of Ludlow, Cavendish, Plymouth and Mount Holly. It also operates a thrift store to defray the cost of the food shelf and other assistance programs.


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Can Facebook Make Money From Chat Stickers?
Following in the footsteps of popular chat apps like Line, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has started adding beefed-up emoticons called stickers to its Facebook Messenger.
You can now download sticker packs from Facebook to use to spice up Facebook chatting. Two of the sticker packs available include one of the minions from the Universal Studios Inc. — which is a subsidiary of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) — film Despicable Me 2 and one of a cartoon version of Mark Zuckerberg’s sheepdog Beast.
While some people think that chat stickers are incredibly irrelevant, others believe they help extend chat communication beyond text alone. Facebook currently has about 15 sticker packs available for free within the smiley button in Facebook and the Messenger app in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS or Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android devices.
Line sells sticker packs for its chat application, and earned $17.6 million in revenue during the first quarter alone from selling stickers. Facebook probably couldn’t get away with selling stickers the way Line does, but it could develop a way to allow businesses to create stickers to use for advertising. Even though Universal didn’t pay Facebook for them, the Despicable Me stickers are a perfect example of that possibility. The little yellow minions are cute, funny, and promote the Despicable Me sequel all at the same time.
The key to gaining a revenue stream from the stickers would be for Facebook to identify businesses and ad campaigns with identifiable characters that could add to chat conversations while still being linked to a product or brand, like the Despicable Me minions. If Facebook’s stickers grow in popularity, brands might be willing to pay either a lump sum or a per-use fee for their imagery to be available in one of the sticker packs. The strategy of giving stickers away, rather than charging for them like Line, also helps Facebook stay ahead of competition from other chatting options like Google Hangouts.
For now, Facebook is just testing the waters by giving away stickers, but the world’s biggest social network could soon get businesses to pay for their imagery to be a part of Facebook messaging.
Don’t Miss: Facebook App Coming for Windows 8!
Follow Jacqueline on Twitter @Jacqui_WSCS


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My pet frog Gunther is clamped inside a latex-covered fist. His skinny leg sticks out the side and flails helplessly. Another gloved hand moves in and slips a cotton swab over his leg and between his toes; Gunther does not appear to be enjoying this. He wriggles free and splashes into a tub of water, but the ordeal isn't over yet, and the hands grab him again. Despite several more escape attempts, including a few desperate hops across the lab table, they eventually manage to swab Gunther's belly, backside and both legs.
"The gloves are not to protect him from me or me from him, but to protect the frogs from each other," explains biocultural anthropologist Eben Kirksey of the City University of New York Graduate Center. He has just finished testing my frog for chytrid fungus—a skin disease that is wreaking havoc in frog and salamander populations around the world. "This frog species is sort of like the Typhoid Mary of amphibians," Kirksey says. "It is the likely culprit for bringing the disease around the world initially. What's not known is whether it's still spreading the disease."
That's why Gunther and roughly 50 other African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) are taking part in Kirksey's experiment; he wants to find out whether frogs from local pet stores are carrying the fungus. If they are, they may still be introducing the disease into wild populations. On July 14 around a dozen New Yorkers brought their pet frogs in for testing at the Proteus Gowanus gallery in Brooklyn to help out with the study.
"A lot of people are wondering whether the pet trade is exacerbating the spread of [the fungus]," says Lisa Schloegel, a wildlife disease ecologist with EcoHealth Alliance. "It's definitely something that should be investigated."
Chytridiomycosis has devastated at least 200 amphibian species globally. It is caused by a microscopic fungus named Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Infection triggers lethargy, weight loss, sloughing of the skin and, often, death. "Bd may be responsible for the greatest disease-caused loss of biodiversity in recorded history," biologists Kellie Whittaker and Vance Vredenburg wrote on the Web site AmphibiaWeb.
Reid Harris, an ecologist at James Madison University, said that although the precise origins of Bd are uncertain, ample evidence indicates that the disease is native to Africa. The earliest known case (pdf) of chytridiomycosis was documented in an X. laevis individual that had been collected in South Africa in 1938. Beginning in the 1930s large numbers of the species were shipped from Africa to labs in England, the U.S. and Australia, where they became essential in pregnancy tests and laboratory research (pdf). Scientists believe that the fungus traveled with the frogs as they were shipped around the world.
In the wild, 5 to 10 percent of X. laevis harbor Bd on their skin without exhibiting symptoms of disease. (North American bullfrogs are also tolerant of the fungus, suggesting that they may have helped to spread it, too.) Once these carriers bring the fungus to previously unexposed species the disease spreads like wildfire. More than 50 percent of amphibian species become locally extinct within six months of Bd's arrival in an area. Even for species that survive, 80 percent of individuals die. The disease has been detected in nearly every state in the U.S., including in several threatened and endangered species, and on every continent except Antarctica.
Still widely used in genetics and developmental biology research, X. laevis remain popular pets. "This is one of the very cheap pets you might give a five-year-old," Kirksey says. "But people at the pet stores usually don't tell you, 'Hey, this frog's going to live 15 years, and it'll be as big as your hand when it's fully grown.' So a lot of them get thrown in the toilet or let go into streams."
According to Kirksey's research, some frog wholesalers breed and store the animals on a mass scale. "We're talking about hundreds of thousands, if not millions of frogs living on top of each other," he says. And if one frog has a chytrid infection, he says, it’'s likely that all of its tank-mates have it, too.
Evidence does suggest that pet store frogs may be infected. In a study of imported bullfrogs sold live in U.S. food markets, 62 percent tested positive for Bd. Another study found that more than a quarter of amphibians in Japanese pet stores (pdf) may be carrying the fungus. Kirksey says that if chytrid is common in New York City pet stores, he intends to find out which frog wholesalers are moving the fungus around.
"There's no legislation on selling frogs with Bd at this point in time," Schloegel says, and pet wholesalers are not required to test for Bd. Mike Khadavi, a former director of the Amphibian Steward Network who has been collaborating with Kirksey on the project, expects that some pet suppliers may not want to test their frogs because they won't want to spend the money to quarantine and treat the frogs.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering legislation to prevent the importation of Bd. The act would classify amphibians infected with chytrid as "injurious wildlife" and would require traders to certify that their amphibians are chytrid-free before they could import the animals into the country or transport them across state lines.
"The pet industry is actually very aware of the problem, and they're doing a lot to minimize the threat," Schloegel says. In 2007 the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council launched their "Bd-Free" campaign, which aimed to educate pet industry personnel and consumers about the dangers of the fungus.
Still, not all pet traders are aware that there's a problem. When Kirksey, Khadavi and I visited a locally owned pet shop in Brooklyn, the owner said he didn't know anything about the fungus, but he didn't object to having his frogs tested. "Basically we have these little Q-tips," Kirksey explained, "and we can run it on the frog and test it, and if the frog does have the disease, then there's a way to cure them of it"—namely, with inexpensive antifungal baths.
"If the frogs were tested on a regular basis to make sure they are disease-free, I think that would solve the problem," Schloegel says. "There needs to be a little more oversight in monitoring the disease."
Harris says it is particularly important to prevent the spread of Bd in light of recent research, which suggests that the deadly fungus arose when two non-virulent strains of fungus mated. By limiting the movement of the fungus, the pet industry may be able to prevent a similar such unholy union from occurring again in future, he says.
Gunther's skin swab was sent to a testing lab in San Diego. It could take up to two weeks for the results to come back. In the meantime it occurs to me that I'm flushing chytrid spores down the drain and into the local environment every time I change Gunther's water. If my frog does carry the fungus, he'll have to spend about 10 days in an antifungal bath—a moderately unpleasant treatment which will cure him of the infection, but which is not available to his millions of wild relatives.


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Recently, Rannvijay Singha was seen hosting a show titled Shark Tank. After the show, the host then decided to invest in Shark Tank India’s pitchers Sameer Mirjakar and Viraj Sawant’s startup. Sharing the news on his Instagram, Rannvijay has posted a video which says, “You saw them in Shark Tank! The sharks loved them. An all shark deal!. I’m happy and excited to announce that Your boy, i.e. me has also invested in (the company name)”. Sharing the video, he captioned, “@sameer.mirajkar05 and @sommelier_viraj_sawant I am so happy and proud to be a part of your entrepreneurial journey with @inacancocktails .We’ll work together and take this to the next level. Cheers!”
View this post on Instagram
Talking about the show, Shark Tank is the Indian franchise of the American show Shark Tank. It shows entrepreneurs making business presentations to a panel of five investors or sharks, who decide whether to invest in their company. In this show, many businessmen and businesswomen come up with unique and new business idea. Hosted by Rannvijay Singha, the show contains six judges including Namita Thapar of Emcure Pharma, Anupam Mittal of Shaadi.com, Ghazal Alagh of Mamaearth, Peyush Bansal of Lenskart, Aman Gupta of Boat, and Vineeta Singh of Sugar Cosmetics.
Earlier, Rannvijay Singha had also opened up about his exit from Roadies. He said, “The channel has been a key pillar of my journey and I’ll be doing interesting work with them. On this edition of Roadies, things didn’t work out from both sides. Our dates were not matching and it is disheartening.”


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Looks like a merger is on the menu for Burger King 🙂 It’s currently in talks to merge with Canadian company Tim Hortons and move its headquarters up here to Canada 😀 Tim Hortons is a quick service coffee chain that has a strong Canadian identity. Here’s a drive thru window at a typical Tim Hortons.
Last year I blogged about buying some Tim Hortons shares and how investing in the coffee industry is the best idea ever! Thankfully my investment paid off because each share today is worth about 62% more than when I purchased them. Tim Hortons’ performance has beaten the overall stock market index in both Canada and the U.S. 🙂
If the acquisition is successful Burger King and Tim Hortons would continue to operate as individual franchises. You won’t find Timbits in your Whopper, and you won’t be offered fries with your coffee, haha 😆
The merger would benefit both companies. Right now Tim Hortons sells most of its coffee in Canada because it faces tough competition in the U.S. from Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. But Burger King is already established in the U.S. and also has locations in Latin America and Europe, so Tim Hortons can use those valuable business channels to expand its brand awareness, and gain better access to global markets. Meanwhile Burger King would benefit from the high margin coffee business and also save money via tax inversion.
Tax inversion is when a U.S. company that has large overseas markets moves its main corporate office into a lower tax country. This allows the company to reposition itself as a foreign corporation so it can return foreign profits to stockholders without double taxation. This means if the merger is successful Burger King will get to pay a lower income tax, which will leave more after tax profits for its shareholders 😀
This is great news for Canadians because it will create jobs in Ontario where the new headquarters will be. Burger King will essentially renounce its U.S. citizenship and become incorporated as a Canadian company 🙂
This is why it’s important to buy shares or ownership in a business. Company boards and CEOs spend all day hiring the best lawyers and accountants to discover creative new ways to make money for their shareholders. Individuals like you and I don’t have the resource, time, or energy to create vast amounts of wealth. But in just one trading session yesterday Tim Hortons shares rose 19%, and Burger King shares rose almost 20%. Large corporations have some of the smartest people working for them trying to maximize value and growth. We don’t need to be smart to get rich. We just need to own those corporations 🙂
Even Warren Buffett is getting in on this business deal. Buffett is extending financing to Burger King for its planned takeover of Tim Hortons. If the Oracle of Omaha is giving his blessing for the merger then it must be a good investment right? 😉
But it’s not as easy as rolling up the rim to win. We must consider the risk of government intervention 😐 The Canadian government has stopped many foreign takeovers before. And in the U.S. tax inversion is a hot political issue. The IRS loses $700 billion of tax revenue each year due to many other companies already using this loop hole to pay lower corporate taxes than they should. President Obama has condemned this business practice to be “unpatriotic” and the White House has been calling on congress to prevent future tax inversion deals like this from happening. Talk about a taxing situation 😕
For Tim Hortons or Burger King shareholders, just sit back and enjoy the ride 🙂 If the acquisition succeeds Tim Hortons shares will probably go higher and then most likely be converted into Burger King shares. For example if Burger King is $30 per share and Tim Hortons is $90 per share at the time of merger then each THI share you own will be replaced by three BKW shares. If nothing comes out of this deal at least you still own a profitable company (^_^)
For Tim Hortons employees I wouldn’t expect anything major but maybe you’ll receive better health benefits, or Burger King discounts.
For investors thinking about whether Tim Hortons is still a good buy today, it depends on what you think the outcome will be. If the deal goes through then Tim Hortons shares will most likely increase further. But if the negotiations fail then both companies would be considered overvalued today. Will Burger King and Tim Hortons get to have it their way? I guess we will have to wait and see 😀
Random Useless Fact:
Personalized license plates in Ontario costs $250 to 340 each.
It will be interesting to see what happens to Wendy’s here too, as in Ontario anyways, there are many shared locations of Timmies and Wendy’s… I personally enjoy BK from time to time, so I’m good with it ;). Have not owned any THI, directly in the past, so oh well missed some good uptick on that one… Now interestingly last time we saw higher profile mergers in the media, which seem to be on the upswing, the markets turned negative… a foreboding perhaps 😉 – Cheers.
Yes, interesting that it was once owned by Wendy’s, a U.S. restaurant. I’m glad that Tim Hortons continues to feel like a very Canadian company throughout all the management changes over the years 🙂
Hey u recoo THI to me. Not too shabby up 50%. Who nows Canadian government might shoot this merger down to protect our national identity lol. We will see how this pans out!
Because Canadians need another stereotype: donuts and coffee, lol.
I remember your post on buying Tim Hortons and the increase in coffee consumption. I guess Burger King is getting in on the coffee act too 😀
I hope that’s their plan. Although I heard an interview with Tim Hortons’ CEO and he said they don’t plan to bring Timmies coffee into Burger King restaurants at this time, but I’m sure they’re thinking about other ways to work together.
I could see the US government putting in a regulation to prevent companies from doing this.
Then maybe I should sell my Tim Hortons stocks now and quit while I’m ahead 😐
The tax inversion wont work… they discussed that on the Exchange last night, the 15% is only federal tax, the net tax rate would only be about 1% lower here…
Nice bit of info, Ben 🙂 I wonder what the real reason for the merger is then. Maybe it’s for strategic reasons after all. By the way are you the famous stand up comedian Ben Morrison?
I believe Tim Horton’s thinks this will help them grown in the US as they believe they do not have much room for expansion in Canada. The major issue I believe that they are not catching on in the states is that the donuts are not made fresh in the stores. The donuts are made frozen in a distribution plant now ever since Wendy’s bought them in 1995. Ron Joyce said he would not sold the company if he knew they were going to make the donuts in a distribution plant
Wendy’s and TIm Horton’ still share the same building for some of their stand alone locations.
Burger King is not very poplar like it used to be.. The quality of their food as gone way down and I heard they have the most amount food poisonings for the fast food restaurants..
Disclosure: own THI
I haven’t been in a Burger King in years. I think that company is losing value in its brand because of poor food quality like you mentioned, which is probably why it wants to acquire Tim Hortons which everyone knows makes excellent coffee 🙂
So glad that I own some Timms shares. My portfolio gained more than $1000 on August 25 with this news.
What is your plan? are you going to cash out or accept new company shares to reduce tax?
Great job man 🙂 I only have 20 shares but still really happy about the run up. I’m probably going to cash out a little bit and convert the rest to new company shares. Haven’t decided yet.
It’s about time a US company merge with a Canadian one!
Maybe Timmies was looking for a burger joint? I remember seeing Wendy’s and Tim Hortons sharing the same space all the time, Recently I have seen the Wendy’s that were next to Timmies close down so don’t know if that has anything to do with Burger King,
And this is the best kind of merger because a U.S. and Canadian company because Burger King will essentially become a Canadian company and a Canadian brand 🙂
Sounds like you made an awesome deal by buying Tim Hortons last year, congrats! 🙂
On the topic of tax inversion: it’s been highly debated in Europe for years already. Currently Belgium is a tax haven for multinational companies. The French Bernard Arnault relocated his holding to a Belgian shadow company to avoid French taxes and Belgian taxes at the same time.
I don’t think one country can save this issue, but governments will have to start working together to avoid these loopholes. However, if not even the EU is able to pull some weight on an economic issue of this size it’s highly unlikely that other countries can as a group.
I’ve heard about the high taxes in France. Good thing Belgium is more business friendly. Now if only individuals in your country can get the same tax breaks as multinational companies 🙂 My suggestion for all policy makers around the world is to just make a flat tax for every corporation so there won’t be any incentives to move businesses offshore and governments don’t have to deal with these kinds of loop holes anymore.
Haha, love the puns 😀
I think it’s unpatriotic to waste taxpayers money. Once governments streamline their own dysfunctions, they can look at companies that provide jobs to people even if low paying (whatever happened to the saying “a job is a job”). The US has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. Why would anyone blame them for trying to legally avoid taxes? We all do that. Obama is playing a political game by saying that, nothing more. Making headlines to catch the interest of the low information voters.
[…] Corporate mergers. – Mergers and acquisitions worldwide totaled $4.8 trillion in 2015, a new record. This may not be a big deal to some, but it has real implications for stock investors. For example, it’s how I made a large profit when Burger King bought Tim Hortons. […]


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Wunderkind and Fender to Discuss Success, Share Tips for Brand Growth at CommerceNext
Wunderkind, a leading consumer engagement platform that scales one-to-one messages for top brands, today revealed the marked success it has helped achieve for valued partner and iconic musical instrument-making brand, Fender. With Wunderkind’s support, Fender launched Fender Play, a subscription service for acoustic and electric guitars, bass and ukuleles, and to-date has grown its audience 5X to nearly one million users.
The two companies will detail their partnership, key success metrics achieved and tips for other brands during a fireside chat today, September 29 at CommerceNext IRL, a leading retail and eCommerce conference. Molly Bruttomesso, SVP of Client Success at Wunderkind, and Matt Annerino, VP of Growth, CRM & Media at Fender, will host the session.
Like many brands, Fender has long focused on driving customers into brick-and-mortar retail locations. Forced to pivot due to COVID-19, Fender partnered with Wunderkind as part of its long-standing efforts to address the “guitar retention problem” and hyper-personalize its communication to reach the right guitar player at the right time, with the right message.
Marketing Technology News: Axle ai Management Team Posts 3-minute Power Pitch Video
Fender launched Fender Play in 2017, a subscription service and complete learning app for guitar, bass and ukulele. In 2020, the “Play Through” campaign was launched as an act of goodwill during the initial pandemic lockdown during which Fender offered three months of free lessons to 1 million people. As a result of the strategy and Wunderkind’s platform, Fender was able to use targeted, real-time SMS and email engagement with its customers to grow the Fender Play user base 5X, from more than 150,000 people in March 2020 to nearly one million in the app at the time of the Play Through initiative.
Fender’s mission to get more people through the initial phase of learning to play guitar drove Wunderkind’s approach to identifying more use“Retailers are increasingly embracing digital to engage their consumers. Top brands understand that prioritizing consumer engagement online is critical to driving loyalty,” said Molly Bruttomesso, SVP of Customer Success at Wunderkind. “Wunderkind’s platform was able to support Fender in building a loyal community of musicians by using real-time engagement and personalized messaging.”rs on Fender’s site and understanding their playing abilities, ultimately achieving a 4X boost in Fender Play sign-ups after going live. In addition to growing Fender’s audience to nearly one million users, the success of the campaign also resulted in a 6.4X performance over return on ad spend projection (ROAS) and provided Fender an opportunity to leverage community commerce as a brand engagement strategy.
“One of our biggest initiatives over the next three years is welcoming new and aspiring players by simplifying and demystifying the guitar buying process,” said Matt Annerino, VP of Growth, CRM & Media at Fender. “Wunderkind’s powerful capabilities have already helped us grow our Fender Play member base by over 4X, and we look forward to working with them to achieve our goals and make an even bigger impact in 2022.”
Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Gregory Zakowicz, Director of Content, Omnisend


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Tag - BlackPad
Apple is poised to control the tablet market for at least the next year, Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley said today. He estimated that Apple would ship 13.4 million iPads in 2010 and 25.5 million in 2011. The next closest, Samsung's Galaxy Tab, would reach 1.5 million by the end of the year and move another six million in 2011.
RIM's opening DevCon presentations won't show any actual BlackBerrry tablet hardware but may talk about its software, sources mentioned today. Both BGR and Electronista have unofficially heard that the events on Monday won't be product unveilings and will stick to the development focus of the San Francisco conference. The BGR tip added that RIM would talk about the platform, though to what extent wasn't said.
(Update: hardware details) RIM may use BlackBerry DevCon to unveil its repeatedly rumored BlackBerry-related tablet. A San Francisco event on Monday, before the conference in earnest, is said to be very secretive by ZDNet and might precede the actual keynotes for the event, which start with co-CEO Mike Lazaridis' presentation at Moscone Center West. While not necessarily a revelation by itself, it would come just as major companies like Citrix are reportedly promoting services and other products that would support a RIM tablet when ready.
RIM has fueled speculation about its BlackBerry-influenced tablet with a recently discovered trademark filing. An application at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) for a SurfBook name is vague about the uses of the name but would cover all of the likely devices RIM could make, such as a tablet, a computer or a smartphone. A matching trademark hasn't the US, but it's unknown if RIM is simply waiting or is considering using different names in different countries.
The iPad should keep a majority hold on the tablet market for at least the next two years, iSuppli said in a new estimate today. Apple's slate should get 74.1 percent of the market in 2010 and is still predicted to hold on to a dominating 61.7 percent of the market by 2012. Such a lead would come even with the entire Windows tablet PC market in play as well as a wave of new challengers expected to hit in 2011.
Best Buy's mobile lead Shawn Score in an interview on Friday said the store would "make tablets a focus" for the holiday this year. The big-box chain hopes to associate itself with tablets and will put more attention on the iPad and its yet-to-ship competitors. Alternatives to Apple would be important, Score told Forbes, as those who use Android or BlackBerry phones might want tablets based on the same platform.
RIM's BlackPad tablet may drop any attempt to use BlackBerry 6 when it ships, insiders said this morning. It would instead take advantage of the buyout of QNX to use an entirely fresh platform. Bloomberg's sources maintain that it would still tap into BlackBerry e-mail but wouldn't have the legacy code holding back the BlackBerry 6 platform.
The upcoming BlackPad tablet from RIM will purportedly be manufactured by Taiwan's Quanta Computer. Digitimes reports that the device will be powered by Android, though this is unlikely as RIM has always used its proprietary operating systems. The report also has the tablet launching as early as November, or earlier than originally anticipated.
A potentially major rumor today has pinpointed the launch of RIM's BlackBerry tablet to November. A pair of sources said the BlackPad name registered earlier is the final name and that its screen will be roughly similar in size to the iPad. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi would let it tether to a BlackBerry to get online, though Bloomberg didn't say how independent the device would be.
RIM's plans for a BlackBerry tablet were corroborated today as the company is now known to have registered BlackPad.com. A WHOIS check on the domain showed that it was bought just a few days ago on behalf of RIM by CSC, a company specializing in corporate branding. The domain had been owned by others but had gone unused since 2002.
Now AAPL Stock: 100.35 ( -0.06 )
Trade-up program expands in Europe
Smartphone users in France, Italy, and Spain will have until at least August of this year to trade in old iPhone, Windows Phone, or Android models at Apple Stores, and put the reward towards a new iPhone -- thanks to an expansion of Apple's trade-in program into those countries. The money given for the trade-in must be applied towards a new iPhone on a two-year payment plane, and traders must qualify under a credit check as part of the program. Interested customers can apply for the trade-in at their nearest Apple Store. http://bit.ly/1qPsldD
NBCUniversal adds Bravo, Syfy, E! to Apple TV
NBCUniversal has launched three new apps channels for Apple TV users. Bravo Now, Syfy Now and E! Now brings users access full seasons of current and past episodes of most of NBCUniversal's catalog. The Bravo Now app includes shows like "The Real Housewives of New York Cit," "Below Deck Mediterranean," comedy "Odd Mom Out" and "Top Chef." The Syfy Now app offers up shows like "The Magicians," thriller "12 Monkeys" and the reality show "Face Off." The E! Now app serves up shows like "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," "Botched," "#RichKids of Beverly Hills," Caitlyn Jenner's "I Am Cait," and "WAGS." While some content is free, most content requires users to authenticate via their cable satellite or telco TV provider. http://bit.ly/20K4Pea
Apple rolls out Arabic version of Apple.com
Apple has rolled out a new version of its Apple.com website for Arabic language users in the United Arab Emirates. The site utilizes a right-to-left reading format where it has been updated, although the upgrade is still in progress with a number of page links still in the original English language left-to-right format. Of particular note is that the site debuts an all-new custom Arabic font created by the Tarek Atrissi Design agency, giving it a highly contemporary look and feel. The new support for Arabic on its host website follows the introduction of full support for right-to-left languages in iOS 9, and the addition of Arabic support to Siri late last year. http://apple.co/20JHGIM
Adobe previews Photoshop content-aware crop
Adobe has previewed a new 'content-aware crop' feature from the next version of its Photoshop CC. The new feature is similar to its 'content-aware fill' from the current version of Photoshop CC, and potentially saves users time when cropping photos in a way that might otherwise leave blank white space in the frame. Adobe's 'content-aware' tech automatically assesses the blank space and seamlessly fills the blank space with the nearest related content in the space when a photo is expanded or rotated without the need to manually clone that part of the image. The feature allows users to move a horizon by adding more sky or ground, change the aspect ratio by adding content around the edges of the image and fill in the corners of an image when rotated during a crop. Adobe says the feature is coming soon and will be automatically available to Creative Cloud subscribers. http://adobe.ly/20JDFEu
Markzware updates Q2ID for QuarkXPress 12 files
Graphic design file conversion tool maker Markzware has launched a new version of its Q2ID tool. The InDesign plugin enables users to open QuarkXPress files within a new InDesign (INDD) document, without rebuilding the QXP document from scratch -- the new version includes support for QuarkXPress 12 files. Q2ID Subscription members can download the new version as part of their annual plan. A single-user can purchase the plugin for $200, with other licensing options available. http://bit.ly/1Z4dS9t
PopChar X 7.5 arrives
Ergonis Software has released PopChar X 7.5, an improved version of the company's tool for finding and inserting special characters and exploring fonts. PopChar X 7.5 adds support for combined emojis in the Apple Color Emoji font, enhances the "Font Info" view, and adds many further enhancements that improve overall speed and stability. PopChar X 7.5 retails for €30 ($34), and is free for anyone who owns a license for PopChar X 7 or purchased a license for PopChar X 6 on or after March 1, 2014 [4.5MB]
Safari Technology Preview release 5 arrives


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High tech, low life: Homeless man takes credit card payments via smartphone
Brother can you spare... a card? Technology is transforming panhandling for “Honest Abe,” the Detroit, Michigan man who may well be the only homeless person in the US to take cash, credit or debit using a card reader on his phone.
Abe Hagenston hasn’t had a steady place to live for seven years, and currently resides under an 8 Mile overpass in Detroit.
"Honest Abe" Hagensten may be "only homeless guy taking credit and debit cards" w/a cell phone "cube." More @WWJ950. pic.twitter.com/K0zxb7M8Fp— Mike Campbell (@reportermikec) January 28, 2016
When he needed a new pair of eyeglasses, Hagenston looked forward to shoveling snow to help foot the bill. Unfortunately for him, Detroit has had a relatively mild winter.
However, Hagenston is a web designer who occasionally works the odd digital job as well, putting him in a uniquely tech-savvy position compared to your typical homeless person.
He decided to organize a “union” of homeless people, scheduling times and places for individuals to panhandle to avoid stepping on each other's toes. Perhaps more remarkably, he also came up with a way to digitally receive charity from passersby, using a smartphone attachment that reads credit cards.
“I take VISA, MasterCard, American Express,” Hagenston told Detroit’s WWJ-AM radio. “I’m the only homeless guy in America who can take a credit card. It’s all done safely and securely through square.com.”
Hagenston has a free smartphone through the government's Lifeline Assistance program (also known as the "Obamaphone"), and uses the free Wi-Fi from a nearby McDonald's, according to WWJ reporter Mike Campbell.
Square card readers only cost about $10 each, and charge a 2.75 percent vendor fee every time they’re used. The company behind the device was founded by Jack Dorsey, who is also the founder and CEO of Twitter.
By rough estimates following a count last year, Detroit had 2,700 people living on the streets.
Meet Homeless Web Designer, Job Matchmaker Abe Hagenston » http://t.co/z2697njZwF via @reportermikec#Detroitpic.twitter.com/8qCgcM8zUt— WWJ950 (@WWJ950) March 16, 2015