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Freepost cheats make a monkey of the Royal Mail
CUSTOMERS are taking advantage of incompetence at the Royal Mail by sending letters free of charge to residential addresses across Britain by simply marking them “Freepost” — normally used by businesses that have paid for a licence.
The scam is thought to be used by a growing number of people and could be costing the postal service thousands of pounds a year in lost revenue.
Checks are so lax at Royal Mail sorting offices that some customers are even abusing the system to send out dozens of Christmas cards without a stamp every year.
Last week The Sunday Times posted 10 letters — unstamped but with the word “Freepost” either typed or handwritten on the envelopes — from two post boxes in London to residential addresses across the country, including Inverness and Bristol.
Nine arrived at their destinations the following day — the delivery target for all first-class post, which costs 28p for a


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Over the past 8 years alone, the value of the mobile application market has grown by more than 300%. Analysts assume that its value will reach USD 188.9 billion this year. This makes the application market one of the fastest growing industries. What’s more, there are no signs of it slowing down in the future either. It looks like 2020 will be another “mobile year”. Both consumers as well as enterprises will have more opportunities to use new technologies, develop their businesses and simplify everyday life. Here are the top mobile app development trends which will certainly dominate the industry this year.
Augmented reality is something that most people associate with the gaming industry. No wonder, considering that Pokemon GO broke its revenue record in 2019. The game earned USD 894 million, which is 10% more than the year in which it debuted on Google Play and the App Store. As of February 2019, the game has been downloaded by over 1 billion people worldwide. Such a phenomenon does not happen often, but game developers will definitely want to reach for AR more willingly. Moreover, the development of iOS and Android applications based on augmented reality is much easier since Apple and Google presented their proprietary solutions for software engineering – ARKit and ARCore. Dedicated tools will surely accelerate the pace of AR technology development in the mobile apps’ world.
Instant Apps (App Clips and Google Play Instant)
A few weeks ago, Apple unveiled a preview of iOS 14. One of its innovations is App Clips – mini versions of apps working on the device without having to be installed. In fact, it wasn’t anything new. A similar concept was presented by Google in 2017 as Google Play Instant. Both of these solutions have great potential but since Apple joined the game, we can count on the increase in popularity of this trend on both Android and iOS. Users will no longer have to download applications that they will only be using for a few minutes. Moreover, these applications will work on low-budget smartphones and will be a good solution for those who have limited data transfer. It’s the perfect example of digital transformation that makes mobile applications even more user-friendly, and where software engineering meets the needs of consumers.
M-commerce and mobile wallets
The last trend not to be missed is the dynamically growing m-commerce industry. Buying and selling products and services via mobile apps is still gaining popularity, not to mention traffic from websites that are visited from mobile browsers. Business Insider experts estimate that by 2024, m-commerce will reach 44% of the entire e-commerce market. Native applications created for online stores and brands will be another way to improve the shopping process and build bonds with customers who rarely take leave of their smartphones.

domain: news


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People across the UK are being invited to compete for the title of Great British Virtual Chef of the Year in a cooking competition designed to spread cheer this Christmas.
After a tough year which saw COVID-19 completely shut down some areas in the world, bars, restaurants, hotels and holiday destinations have been off the menu and people have been forced to entertain themselves in their own homes.
The Great British Virtual Cook-off aims to celebrate the efforts of those across the nation who used this time to advance their culinary skills, or home-cook for the first time.
Hosted by ethical brands Yorkshire Lean Meat and Wines 2U, the competition will go live on 14th December 2020 via Wines 2U’s website, where a free recipe card will be available to download.
A special ‘how-to-cook video’ by head chef tutor of The Cookery School at The Grand York, Andrew Dixon will also be broadcast live on Facebook on December 23 at 6.30pm.
This will allow families who aren’t able to gather under the Christmas household mixing rules to compete virtually and celebrate in a fun and luxurious way.
Entrants will be asked to prepare either a Ragu Beef Bolognese and homemade pasta or, as a vegetarian option, Stuffed Aubergine and Ratatouille.
When the meal is plated up and ready to serve, entrants must take a photograph and email or text their entry along with a paragraph explaining who their dream dinner date would be and why.
Three prizes including a luxury home wine and dine experience box as first prize, six bottles of fine wine as second prize, and one bottle of fine wine as third prize, will be awarded to the top three entries submitted before midnight on 28th December.
David Krushell, director and founder of Wines 2U, said: “2020 has been a year where people have had to deal with a complete change in their lifestyles, and bars and restaurants have been off the menu.
“We’ve noticed that a lot more people have started cooking at home – and have found a new talent – all because they haven’t been able to go out, so we wanted to do something which would unite people and also celebrate their cooking efforts over the year.
“Even though the new rules state we can mix over Christmas, for some this won’t be possible and sadly, Christmas is going to be very different for us all.
“Families who are apart and won’t be meeting up can take part virtually and watch the Facebook session together while they cook - and it beats squabbling over Monopoly!”
Creating exclusive fine wine and dine experiences every month for its members, Wines 2U is an ethical supplier of wine which ensures those with a palette for luxury can continue to enjoy good food and drink in a socially responsible and ethical way.
Through a monthly subscription model, its members benefit from a bottle of fine wine not available anywhere else on the market, and up to 30% off additional wines from the online shop.
To really recreate that fine wine and dine experience, members also receive recipe cards for easy to cook yet tasty meat or vegetarian meals, matched perfectly with the wine of the month.
Last week, Wines 2u announced their partnership with award-winning firm Yorkshire Lean Meat to deliver sustainably sourced produce to homes across the UK, providing diners with ethical restaurant quality meals in their own home.
The partnership enables food and drink lovers across the UK to order wine and dine boxes comprising hand-butchered, traceable and locally reared meat along with fresh vegetables and other produce, complemented by a specially chosen wine.
Ian Roberton, managing director of Yorkshire Lean Meat, said: “Fine dining at home is perfectly possible with the right ingredients and a little help, and the Great British Virtual Cook-off will even be a great opportunity for those who fancy cooking for the first time to have a go.
“We hope the competition will inspire people to come together virtually and cook while having some fun and some great food at the same time.”
The judging will take place during a Facebook Live on December 29 at 7pm when the winners will be announced.
For more details about the competition and how to enter go Competition — Wines 2U.


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Nintendo is gearing up for the release of Princess Peach Showtime! with a new set of Joy-Con controllers for the Nintendo Switch. The pastel pink controllers are set to hit the shelves on March 22, just in time for the launch of Princess Peach’s new adventure.
The new Joy-Con controllers are designed to complement Princess Peach’s iconic look, with the pastel pink color scheme that is synonymous with the beloved princess. While the price of the new controllers has not been confirmed, fans can expect them to be available for purchase on the same day as the release of Princess Peach Showtime!
In addition to the new Joy-Con controllers, Nintendo has also released a new trailer for Princess Peach Showtime! that showcases the princess’s various transformations in the game. Players will be able to see Peach take on the roles of a professional researcher, baker, swordswoman, Kung Fu master, and cowgirl, each with their own unique abilities.
The release of Princess Peach Showtime! is highly anticipated, and fans of the franchise are eagerly awaiting the chance to join Peach on her new adventure. With the new pastel pink Joy-Con controllers set to be available on the same day as the game’s release, Nintendo fans have even more reason to be excited for March 22.
Overall, the combination of the new Joy-Con controllers and the release of Princess Peach Showtime! is sure to be a hit among Nintendo Switch players. The pastel pink controllers are the perfect way to show off your love for Princess Peach, and with the game’s exciting new transformations, players are in for a treat when it comes to gameplay and visuals. Get ready to join Princess Peach on her latest adventure and add a touch of pink to your Nintendo Switch on March 22!
Entertainment, Gaming, Technology


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TAMPA, Feb. 9, 2013- National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) 2013 President Scott George said the most vital issue for his members is the drought impacting all sectors of the cattle and beef industry, a perspective that is reflected in the CattleFax 2013 Outlook.
Analysts reported that total cattle numbers have declined more than 7 million head in the past six years and are now below 90 million head for the first time since the early 1950s. CattleFax Senior Analyst Kevin Good predicted per-capita supply will decline 2.2 percent. The Wholesale Beef Demand Index will decline by 1 percent, due to a 1 percent decline in real income of consumers.
“The challenge will be commanding additional dollars from consumers through the supply reduction,” noted CattleFax during the NCBA’s 2013 Cattle Industry Convention. CattleFax analysts said a one percent decline in disposable incomes is forecast in 2013, which is the first decline in consumer incomes since the 2009 recession, “creating possibly the biggest threat to beef demand since that time.”
The low cattle numbers will mean higher prices and consumer preference for a cheaper product, noted George. He said the Beef Checkoff addresses this challenge by developing new products, like the Flatiron steak.
“Our checkoff addresses the consumer concerns,” he said. “And they’ll continue to get that message out to them about the nutrition and essential nutrients in beef.”
NCBA CEO Forrest Roberts told the Board of Directors that the goal over the next year will be to increase the beef consumption of the millennials, or those 80 million people ranging from age 13 to 33, from two times per week to three or more times per week.
Additionally, he said the millennial generation has more questions about how their food is raised. “Sustainable growth starts by building trust,” Roberts said. “You do that by being incredibly transparent.”
However, he acknowledged a “crossroads” for the industry, which includes significant challenges from Mother Nature over the past three to five years.
CattleFax noted that retailers will struggle to feature beef in advertisements due to higher prices and the industry should expect a four percent drop in beef advertising. “A fragile domestic economy and lagging consumer incomes will limit expansion,” the analysts projected.
The drought, which has affected more than 70 percent of cattle country, as well as decreased herd size and high feed and input costs will result in a guaranteed higher price for the consumer, noted 2012 NCBA President JD Alexander. “Record prices by no means guarantee profit,” he added. “We’re operating on most cases right now on pretty substantial losses.”
According to Professor Emeritus Art Douglas of Creighton University, dryness will likely persist in the West and Southern Plains this spring, due to continued La Nina conditions. He noted that there is a chance the eastern corn belt of the United States will see a return to more normal precipitation patterns during the upcoming growing season.
The difficult weather and economic conditions for the industry make it particularly important to pass legislation for haying and grazing on federal lands, noted George. The “Grazing Improvement Act.” introduced by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., last week extends Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service Livestock grazing permits from 10 to 20 years for permits completed under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), among other provisions.
“Our cattlemen are great stewards, providing benefits to society that some people don’t recognize,” said George, noting that some federal lands used by ranching cattlemen are “in better shape than they were 50 years ago.”
He said federal land usage is one of the biggest priorities for cattlemen in the West.
A dairyman as well as a beef producer, George runs his operation with two brothers and five nephews. “We have to do teamwork, we have to have some rise and up and take responsibility for certain things, and I see this opportunity at the national level,” he said. “NCBA has producers from all segments and all walks of life. It’s literally an effort of teamwork between the members and staffers,” he added. “We have staffers focused on building demand and we have staffers looking at laws and regulations.”
When it comes to regulatory agencies of the federal government, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Alexander said he “firmly believes they’ll be going full steam ahead” in the next four years. “Even these rules we’ve been successful in blocking before, I wouldn’t be surprised if they come up again.”
CEO Roberts said the NCBA policy team faces pressures “on a day-to-day basis” that consist of defending against “the actions of regulations” instead of the “the forming of legislation.”
“A good offense is not well-rounded unless you have a good defensive plan,” he said.
Alexander added that when it comes to choosing battles to fight for the industry, “we look at every aspect, good, bad and indifferent. We’re going to be there at every one,” he said. “Sometimes the most insignificant issues snowball into huge problems for the industry.”
Alexander handed off the NCBA presidency to George during Board of Directors meeting at the Cattle Industry Convention. “I loved every minute of it,” he said of his year serving as head of NCBA during an interview with Agri-Pulse. “The highlight was going to all the different states meeting producers of all walks of life. I like to say: we’re all in this together but we all do it different.”
For more news, go to www.agri-pulse.com


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KSA - Three Indicators drive Positive Outlook for Economy
Saturday, 05 23 2020, Category: Economy, Country: Saudi Arabia
An economic report released by Alkhabeer Capital, an investment service, has revealed the impact of the coronavirus on the Saudi economy.
The report cited three factors driving the positive outlook in future scenarios for the Saudi economy for the rest of 2020.
It explained that there are three possible scenarios based on the available economic data, movement restrictions and social distancing measures, as well as the challenges facing the Kingdom in light of low oil prices.
Titled “The Coronavirus and The Saudi Economy,” the report spots three main axes that affect the performance of the Saudi economy: the extent of social distancing measures, stimulus packages and austerity measures, and oil prices.
The coronavirus death rate in the Kingdom is considered one of the lowest in the world, reaching 0.94 percent compared to the global average of 7.01 percent.
According to the report, the low rate is considered a catalyst to loosen social distancing measures and reopen businesses gradually to help reduce the impact of the virus on the Kingdom's economy.
The report also stated that the incentive packages presented by the Kingdom’s government, which amounted to 177 billion riyals (equivalent to 6 percent of GDP), will help shore up the work of various companies and institutions in the Kingdom.
Nevertheless, austerity measures may obviously affect the level of consumption in the Kingdom for 2020.
Despite the Kingdom being able to diversify its sources of income, the report states that oil still plays a crucial role in supporting the local economy. The coronavirus crisis has caused a drop in the price of Brent crude by 67.8 percent due to the decline in global demand.
"The demand is expected to remain weak compared to last year, as long as the governments of the world continue to implement social distancing measures and place restrictions on the movement of commercial travel and tourism activities," the report said.
Taking all factors into consideration, the report presented three different scenarios of the impact of the coronavirus on the Saudi economy. The optimistic scenario assumes that the peak of virus infections will be reached at the end of May, followed by the easing of restrictions by governments which will contribute to the gradual economic recovery.
Source: Asharq Al-Awsat


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UPDATE: Sega has officially announced a PlayStation 4 version of Virtua Fighter: Ultimate Showdown, which is releasing June 1. That certainly lends credence to the rumor.
“Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown will launch worldwide as a PlayStation 4 digital exclusive. Remade for a new generation of fighting game fans as part of Sega’s 60th Anniversary project, the definitive edition of the fifth installment in Sega’s iconic Virtua Fighter series enters the ring on June 1, 2021.”
It’s almost June, and Sony is getting their ducks in a row with regards to their PlayStation Plus offerings for the month.
According to a report from Spanish site Areajugones, Virtua Fighter: Ultimate Showdown looks likely to be one of the PS Plus June 2021 free games included in the batch. Previously, the game launched for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, so this would mark the first time the game has been available in a native format for either the PlayStation 4 or 5.
A recent leak gave away that Sega is working on a “Virtua Fighter x esports” title that is suspected to launch in the not-too-distant future. Getting the franchise back into people’s consciousness by giving a previous version away seems like a no-brainer.
More will be revealed about the new esports title in a live stream on May 27, so the timing certainly works out.
Aside from Virtua Fighter, the rumor mill suggests that EA’s Star Wars: Squadrons will be getting into formation as part of the PS Plus June 2021 free games lineup, alongside the spy adventure Operation Tango.
We’ll await official confirmation of all of this, but if the rumors are true, you’ll be able to get back into the arena and go toe-to-toe with the likes of Wolf and Jeffry from June 1.


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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Consumer brands, especially those in mature industries, can find growth by diversifying their advertising to include the burgeoning market of Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States.
That was one of the key messages from Donna Speciale, the advertising veteran who last year joined Univision as president of sales and marketing, in a “fireside chat” at the Beet Retreat conference on March 16-18.
“It’s an audience that can’t be missed and I still cannot believe — because I did my homework — how many marketers and advertisers don’t lean into this audience,” she said in conversation with Sean Cunningham, president and chief executive of trade group VAB.
Since joining Univision, one of Speciale’s biggest undertakings has been to educate more advertisers about the opportunities in reaching Hispanic consumers with growing spending power. Her efforts are showing results, with 75 new advertisers that had never bought commercial time on Univision before.
“We see with a lot of the new advertisers coming along, and we obviously talked about business outcomes,” Speciale said. “We see it — I mean huge business growth because it’s a new audience.”
Univision is adding to its range of offerings as the company integrates operations with Televisa’s media and production assets following a merger. The streaming platforms of the combined company are being grouped together under the ViX global brand.
ViX currently offers ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) and this year will launch a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) tier called ViX+. Though ViX+ won’t have commercial breaks, advertisers will have opportunities to appear as sponsors of live sports programming.
As media buyers and sellers seek new ways to set the value of advertising transactions with improved audience-measurement methods, Speciale said she wants to see currencies that adequately reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the U.S. television audience.
“I’m really excited that we are talking about different currencies and measurement because I do think we need to get there, but I’m concerned,” Special said. “Before we even start talking about what currency should we use, is there the right representation in the data that we’re trying to use to actually represent what’s going on in the country?”
You are watching coverage from Beet Retreat San Juan 2022, presented by AppScience, Infillion, MadHive, SpringServe, Univision & VideoAmp. For more videos, please visit this page.


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Driven by globalization, intensifying competition and rising customer demand for more options and higher quality products, a connected plant floor has become a necessity. A new Manufacturing Vision Study by Zebra Technologies shows the number of organizations achieving a fully connected factory is expected to rise dramatically over the next five years.
“Manufacturers are entering a new era in which producing high-quality products is paramount to retaining and acquiring customers as well as capturing significant cost savings that impact the bottom line,” says Jeff Schmitz, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Zebra. “The results of Zebra’s 2017 Manufacturing Vision Study prove that IIoT has crossed the chasm, and savvy manufacturers are investing aggressively in technologies that will create a smarter, more connected plant floor to achieve greater operational visibility and enhance quality.”
Key survey findings include:
- Manufacturers will continue to adopt Industry 4.0 and the smart factory. Workers will use a combination of radio frequency identification (RFID), wearables, automated systems and other emerging technologies to monitor the physical processes of the plant and enable companies to make decentralized decisions. By 2022, 64 percent of manufacturers expect to be fully connected compared to just 43 percent today.
- One-half of manufacturers plan to adopt wearable technologies by 2022. And 55 percent of current wearable users expect to expand their level of usage in the next five years.
- Manual processes are expected to dramatically decline. Today, 62 percent use pen and paper to track vital manufacturing steps; this is expected to drop to one in five by 2022. The use of pen and paper to track work in progress (WIP) is highly inefficient and susceptible to error.
- Executives across all regions cited achieving quality assurance as their top priority over the next five years. Forward-looking manufacturers are embracing a quality-minded philosophy to drive growth, throughput and profitability. By 2022, only 34 percent expect to rate this as a top concern, signaling that improvements made by both suppliers and manufacturers will ultimately improve the quality of finished goods.
- Manufacturers stated investments in visibility will support growth across their operation. Sixty-three percent cited tracking as a core focus with a blend of technology (i.e. barcode scanning, RFID and real-time location systems (RTLS) expected to be deployed to achieve the desired visibility.
- Fifty-one percent of companies are planning to expand the use of voice technology in the next five years. The most dramatic growth for voice technology will be in the largest companies (greater than $1 Billion) with a reported use growing to 55 percent by 2022.
Peerless Insights interview 1,100 North American, Latin American, European and Asia Pacific decision makers who authorize or influence the purchase of relevant manufacturing technologies. The online survey was fielded in the first quarter of 2017 across a wide range of segments, including automotive, high tech, food and beverage, tobacco, and pharmaceuticals.


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Activities, characters win over segment
"Toy dollar sales are up 4% in the drug store channel," said David Luth, principal at Radian Group, a market research firm. "The chains that do the best in this category are those that make an intentional decision to be in the business. That doesn’t mean that they have to devote 80 ft. to the category, but if they devote 20 ft., they should do a great job with the space they give it. They have to have the right toys at competitive prices."
Activity toys are a key segment for the drug channel. Dollar sales of activity toys — which include action figures, vehicles, construction toys, and activity kits and crafts — increased 18% in the drug channel for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 25, 2012, according to GMDC /Nielsen Hierarchy Channel. Dollar sales of toy models were up 12% and educational toys were up 7%, according to the report.
"Construction toys are one of the biggest growth categories in the past two years," said Adrienne Appell, a spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Association. "Crafts continue to be very popular with both parents and kids." Crafts that allow kids to make their own art supplies or personalize their electronics or school supplies are a big trend. "For younger kids, anything with bling or sparkle is really popular," Appell said. "There are also a lot more crafts on the market aimed at tweens and teens. Hair and nail craft kits really appeal to this age group."
Licensing is also integral to the category, so a good toy department depends on on-trend licensed character products. Appell said that One Direction, My Little Pony and Cabbage Patch Kids products will all be popular this year. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, she said, are "back with a vengeance."
Creating a destination category means generating excitement for the category year round. "Toys naturally get more space around the holidays, but the category could also get an endcap during the summer months with a ‘summer fun’ promotion that includes activity kits or a ‘family fun’ promotion around games," Luth said.
Merchandising small travel activities near trial size health and beauty aids is another way to spark incremental sales, while giving toys a higher in-store profile. "When consumers are pressed for time, one-stop shopping is a big draw," Appell said. "Shoppers want to be able to pick up their prescription, some snacks and an inexpensive birthday gift for a party that their kid is attending tomorrow in one location."
Spray away bad behavior
OMAHA, Neb. — Sergeant’s Pet Care Products has created an innovative product called Vetscription PetSTOP! behavior correction spray for dogs and cats to help modify destructive or aggressive behavior. This new spray combines noise and a specially developed pheromone mist to provide quick, effective results. The spray’s patent-pending pheromone mist is longer-lasting than noise products alone, so it helps redirect the pet’s attention and behavior, and reminds pets not to re-engage in negative behavior, such as excessive barking, chewing or pulling on a leash.
Value, premium card segments open to growth
The pervasiveness of Facebook and Twitter has not killed the greeting card and gift wrap category. "Managers are telling us that the category continues to hold its own and, in some cases, is growing nicely," said Mark Deuschle, VP business development and chief marketing officer at the Global Marketing Development Center. "Greeting cards remain not only a top trip driver, but also one of the most profitable categories in the drug store environment," said Sabrina Wiewel, VP of Hallmark’s chain drug team. "Once a shopper is in our department, she leaves with a card 8-out-of-10 times."
A tight economy has shifted some market share in the category to the dollar channel, but more consumer interest in the value segment isn’t necessarily bad news for drug retailers. "Our data suggests that card sending seems to be a healthy trend with unit sales trending up, but there has been a shift to less expensive cards," Deuschle said. "At the same time, we’re also seeing growth in the premium segment."
Steven Gimbelman, president of Designer Greeting said that greeting cards are one of the most profitable categories in drug stores — third only after candy and gum, and prescriptions. In a tight economy, more focus on value greeting card programs can benefit the channel, according to Gimbelman. "These programs have resuscitated many drug stores that had been losing greeting card sales due to full price programs and limited title selection," he said. "We create high-turning planograms based on a retailer’s market demographics. We expertly tailor our controls to succeed for our accounts."
In the premium segment, innovation continues to drive category sales. Cards with sound, motion and even LCD screens give consumers a reason to shop the category. "Special treatments, such as foil stamping, faux gems, die-cutting, glitter and attachments, are more popular than ever," said Kathy Krassner, a spokeswoman for the Greeting Card Association.
Krassner said she sees a trend toward cards with a handcrafted feel, many of which use premium papers and rich textures. Cards with embellishments and attachments that can be removed and reused have done well for Hallmark. Designer Greetings is bringing embellishment to the value tier with the Designer Boutique upscale, handmade line that includes ribbon, gems and tip-ons, but it is still offered at value pricing.
The gift bag segment also has continued to grow at the expense of traditional wrap. "The real growth in wrap is in bags in new designs and materials," Deuschle said. "Consumers love the convenience of bags." Hallmark’s top-selling format in drug stores is a gift-bag-to-go concept, a gift bag that is already prefilled with tissue and has a gift tag attached. Solid-colored gift bags that are easy to coordinate with any gift and for any occasion also are seeing strong sales.
Retailers who adjust their mix to reflect the changes in the market have shown the best performance overall. Manufacturers are offering retailers more flexible fixtures to display the best mix of cards in departments that are easy to navigate and can integrate cards with other products.


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As Madonna, the undisputed QUEEN OF POP turns 60 this week, we look at her top 10, most played songs on YouTube.
Madonna is one of the best selling artists of all time. In fact, she’s the only female singer, according to Wikipedia, to have sold over 200 million records.
In the past year alone Madonna has racked up a whopping 570 million streams on YouTube – which is 1.6. million streams a day – 66,000 of those are from fans here in the UK.
So which are the most streamed videos/songs on Madonna’s own channel? Here they are ranked by popularity
- Vogue (84.1 million streams)
- Give Me All Your Luvin’ (Feat. M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj) (70.7 million streams)
- Papa Don’t Preach (60.1 million streams)
- Like a Virgin (49.9 million streams)
- La Isla Bonita (47.3 million streams)
- Live to Tell (44.8 million streams)
- Celebration (43.9 million streams)
- Girl Gone Wild (42.9 million streams)
- 4 Minutes (33.4 million streams)
- Open Your Heart (27.3 million streams)
Globally, the top 5 Madonna tracks on YouTube in the past year are:
In the UK, the top 5 Madonna tracks on YouTube in the past year are:
Where is Madonna most popular in the world?
Well, deep diving into YouTube’s analytics, Madonna’s most hardcore fans aren’t in the UK, not even in the US – no, apparently they can’t get enough of the Material Girl in Mexico, followed by Chile, followed by Brazil. The UK came sixth, after the French and followed by USA.
The news team for THEGAYUK. Got tips? Go to www.thegayuk.com/newsdesk to tell us something.
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On Sunday, March 27th, Shanghai officials announced a city-wide lockdown after an extreme surge in COVID-19 cases. This mandate follows a similar 7-day lockdown imposed on Shenzhen that just recently ended on the 20th.
Per one article, the details of the lockdown are as follows: “districts east of the Huangpu River, including the Pudong financial and commercial center, will be closed from Monday (March 28) to April 1 to enable testing to be carried out. Areas west of the Huangpu, including older city center districts such as Puxi, will be locked down and tested between April 1-5. All bridges and tunnels connecting the two sides of the Huangpu, including metro lines, will be shut the entire time.”
It is important to note that Shanghai ports Waigaoqiao and Yangshan, will remain open and operate per normal procedures. However, the local depots and warehouses are likely to slow, as well as landside transportation. Truckers traveling between Shanghai and other cities are being met with tight restrictions, thus making it difficult for manufacturers to move their products between the port and the airport in a timely manner.
That all considered, for the next 10 days, shippers can expect a noticeable disruption in freight movements.


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AIAI and FPCCI Signed MoU for Promotion of Indo-Pak Trade
AIAI on 8 October 2013 signed MoU with the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) for promoting Indo-Pak trade.
All-India Association of Industries (AIAI) on 8 October 2013 announced that it entered into an agreement with the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) in order to promote the trade between India and Pakistan. For this purpose, a memorandum of understanding was signed with a purpose of enhancing the trade and investments between the two nations.
The MoU also seeks to enhance the collaborations, joint ventures as well as technology transfers via an exchange of the business proposals. Apart from this, the MoU also aims to offer the mutual help in organisation of and participation in trade fairs and exhibitions.
The MoU was signed between President of FCPPI Zubair Ahmed Malik and with senior AIAI officials. With this, the AIAI’s list of the agreements like this with the fellow lobbies increased to 205.


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Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are reportedly laughing their heads off at the latest crazy Kardashian-Jenner Konspiracy that is suggesting the 20-year-old’s bodyguard,Tim Chung fathered their baby, Stormi Webster.
After months of theorist speculating that her ex Tyga helped conceive her three-month-old fans have now pointed their fingers at the most unlikely suspect.
Though a source recently told Hollywood Life that Kylie and Travis are apparently laughing at the suggestion. The insider said:
‘Kylie thinks it’s hilarious that fans think her bodyguard could be her baby daddy and not Travis. Travis even got a huge kick out of it and laughed at the outrageous meme. ‘Babies can look like anyone when they’re that young, so Kylie and Travis think it is stupid that people are drawing that connection and haven’t even given it a second thought.’


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The July 2011 edition of CrossTalk has been released. Once again, it’s filled with pertinent information, including a mix of news, free market research, for pay market research, and a listing of upcoming events. Essentially, it’s anything and everything for anyone interested in the events shaping the telecom and broadband industries. Get yours today, and stay connected!
How much is enough for Cupertino? With another record setting quarter, fueled by the unrelenting consumer demand for iPhones and iPads, Apple outpaced Wall Street expectations with room to spare (predictions: $5.85 a share, revenue $24.99 billion; actual results: $7.79 per share, revenue $28.57 billion). Even with declining iPod and less than expected Mac sales, the company continued its string of breakout results on the strength of iPhones (20.34 million sold during the quarter) and iPads (9.25 million, up 183% compared to Q3 2010). The bottom line? With Apple on its winning streak, Android nipping at its heels, and new products on the horizon from Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, and RIM, homes will be filled with new and varied networked devices. Will the telecom industry keep up?
For more information, go to http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/apple-q3-a-blowout-2034-million-iphones-925-million-ipads/52718
Actiontec announced the release of another free whitepaper, “The Service Gateway… The Future of Connected Home Applications.” With energy management and home automation applications becoming more and more prevalent, broadband providers need to differentiate their offerings to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace. One way to do this is to offer a service gateway, a dedicated home network add-on device designed to manage a smart home’s energy applications, home health monitors, and home automation, features that today’s gateways and broadband routers don’t support. Service gateways are also robust enough to handle any future application uses, so that consumers need not worry about outgrowing their device.
Actiontec released a new whitepaper recently, this one giving a detailed overview of Wi-Fi Direct. Titled “An Industry Look at Wi-Fi Direct,” the paper covers the salient points of the new standard from a perspective of the telecom industry, including applications and a market update. Wi-Fi Direct, for the uninitiated, allows devices to connect to one another directly without having to join a traditional network, and should be available as a software upgrade on Wi-Fi hardware devices. We recommend this whitepaper to anybody who needs to come up to speed quickly on the basics of Wi-Fi Direct.
To download this whitepaper (pdf), go to http://www.actiontec.com/crosstalk/AEI_whtppr_IndustryLookatWiFiDirect.pdf
As you’ve no doubt heard by now, Netflix raised their prices for their mailed-DVD/video streaming combo service from $9.99 a month to $15.98 a month. The 60% increase has set off a consumer firestorm, with massive numbers of Netflix customers threatening to quit one or more of the company’s services (44% of those surveyed by The Diffusion Group responded that they would probably cancel the DVD-by-mail service, 34% would cancel the streaming service, and 37% were looking to cancel their Netflix subscription altogether). Howerver, according to most pundits, Netflix is taking this tack to steer more users to streaming-only options, which the company sees as the direction it wants to take in the future.
For more information, see http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=o8uqg7bab&v=001MtBt-olyudkecW61TR-VV_UVVeL_036qJ1HX_rDiib3RR_48_DprkMv6mPI_Zg2ClheVU_2yGx_l3jz58YtR2hp7Phdv5YCpIj707_CxEs-Vp8Z5N7uJjK5Kh-5kxcjVOaqLd9vpUxLac5Ck6JG11beMExKDbyI-Sl54IkXEz41XrY8pX9f8tlAxeLwMKRYBGYNJWR9K3St_NpR_IMEMF0e007a4oHed4crlHZPW9PnGwVw28sznpL6ev9NKZUH8TgTVgw-noyRPghCDN_uvVrg2NlfxBwIstao_9-kwqWnqqmBqTNCKqw%3D%3D
Two free-of-charge studies hit the web recently. The first, from Pew Internet, covers smartphone ownership. In it, Pew finds that over 1/3 of adult Americans own a smartphone, with particularly high levels of ownership in demographics such as well-educated, non-white, and 45 years-old or younger. Meanwhile, of those who own smartphones, 68% access the Internet or email on their phones on a daily basis.
The other study is from our old friends at the FCC and concerns the current state of wireless competition. While the report comes to no conclusion as to whether or not there is not enough or too much competition, it contains valuable information about the wireless industry as a whole, including smartphone penetration, the cost of voice minutes, and the number of smartphone apps. Also, lots of charts.
For more, see http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Smartphones.aspx
Also, http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/us-wireless-industry-10-quick-charts?utm_source=FierceWireless-homepage-slideshow links to FCC
Parks Associates released a new report recently, titled “Consumer Technical Support Services.” The report is basically an overview of support offerings and their effect on companies’ bottom lines, positively or negatively. Also included is a forecast of various technical support services through 2015. Some interesting sections include “Consumer Attitudes about Technology,” “Television/Home Theater Set-up,” and “Remote Tech Support Vendors.” The report is priced at $3,200.
For more information, go to http://www.parksassociates.com/report/techsupport-2011
Frontier Communications expanded its partnership with Yahoo! by co-branding a Frontier/Yahoo! e-mail system as well as customizing the Yahoo! front page for its customers. Frontier also announced that subscribers will also be able to access Yahoo!’s digital content on web sites integrated with the e-mail service. This extended cooperation continues a relationship Frontier has developed with Yahoo! since 2008.
The good news for cable operators: more subscribers asked about lower-cost bundles in the first quarter of 2011, compared to the first quarter of 2010, to the tune of a 3% increase. This suggests that users are still interested in cable subscriptions, as well as triple-play bundles (voice, video, and data), which is an encouraging trend. The flip side, of course, is that those subscribers are looking to spend less on monthly cable bills by switching to lower-cost bundles. Centris, the research company that uncovered this data, also found that subscribers from some of the largest cable operators, such as AT&T, Verizon, and Cox, expect to save more than those with other service providers.
To learn more, go to http://www.fiercecable.com/story/good-news-bad-news-bundles-attracting-pay-tv-subscribers/2011-06-28?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
Also, see our white paper, “Leveraging Applications to Improve Retention and Increase ARPU” (pdf): http://www.actiontec.com/products/datasheets/AppsimproveARPU_whitepaper.pdf
A trio of reports concerning the viewing habits of the modern American family were released recently. The breakdown, as follows:
The first, a study by Yahoo, tracked viewers habits by time period during the day. They found that online viewing remained steady during the primetime evening hours in 2011, reversing an older trend that showed online viewers abandoning their gadgets during the 6-10 p.m. time frame, suggesting that, perhaps, the idea of cord-cutting, once far-fetched, may not be that far off for a majority of consumers.
Meanwhile, eMarketer finds that social media is changing the way we watch and comment on television shows. With viewers (particularly younger viewers) increasingly using Facebook and Twitter to broadcast their opinions before, during, and after a show airs, networks have begun to exploit this audience segment by displaying hash tags onscreen and encouraging performers to live-tweet.
Finally, the Leichtman Research Group released new consumer research study, “Cable, DBS, & Telcos: Competing for Customers 2011.” Among the study’s findings:
• 12% of non-subscribers paid to subscribe to a service in the past year
• Multi-channel video subscribers with annual household incomes over $75,000 spend 17% more per month than households with incomes under $30,000
• Average monthly multi-video service spending per household: $73.35
For more, see http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/29/online-video-shift-primetim/Also, see http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008468And http://www.leichtmanresearch.com/press/062311release.html
According to first quarter data from SNL Kagan, cable subscription numbers continued to fall, while telco TV rose. The hard numbers: cable subscriptions went from 24.1 million to 23.2 million; telco subscriptions rose to 4.4 million from 3.5 million. Satellite subscriptions remained flat. The largest multichannel markets were New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston, while Comcast remained the largest multichannel operator.
Skype is coming to the iPad. The company’s VoIP and video chat application is expected to debut on Apple’s best-selling tablet in the very near future. Taking advantage of the iPad 2′s dual camera set up, the video chat arm of Skype will allow users to take advantage of picture-in-picture capabilities, as well as a bigger view of their chat partner(s). For iPad 1 users, only VoIP will be available through the application. Skype, the current worldwide leader in video chat, will battle FaceTime, Apple’s home-grown video chat app, as well as an expected future Google play in this space.


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What you need to know
- Apple is reportedly readying a new iPad Pro Smart Keyboard accessory.
- It's said that the keyboard will have a built-in trackpad.
- The product will reportedly launch this year.
Apple is reportedly getting ready to launch its first iPad Pro Smart Keyboard accessory with a built-in trackpad. The company is "preparing the keyboard for mass production" according to The Information.
This would be the first time that Apple has shipped a keyboard that has a built-in trackpad after years of reminding everything that iPads are touch-first devices. That stance started to thaw when iOS 13 added an accessibility feature that allowed external pointing devices to be used. And now it appears that Apple is ready to take the next step by making trackpad input available to everyone willing to buy its accessory.
Apple is planning to release an iPad keyboard accessory later this year that will include a built-in trackpad, the latest step in its effort to position the tablet device as an alternative to laptop computers, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company will likely release the accessory alongside the next version of the iPad Pro expected later this year, the person added.
We don't yet know exactly when the trackpad-laden keyboard will arrive, but The Information suggests that we might see it alongside 2020's new iPad Pros. We've heard various rumors on that front, ranging from March to much later in the year.
Let's talk aesthetic Home screens, Apple Watches, iPhone 12, and more
It's been quite a busy September. We got new Apple Watches, iOS 14 and watchOS 7, new customization trends, and so much more. Let's dive in!
FAQ: TikTok & WeChat ban — why it’s happening and what it means for you
Are TikTok and WeChat really being banned? When does all of this take effect? Will I still be able to use these apps? All this and more answered in our FAQ regarding the latest U.S. orders.
Here's everything we know about the iPhone 12 so far
With the iPhone 12 reportedly just weeks away, here's everything we currently know about Apple's next flagship lineup!
All the Nintendo Switch accessories for Animal Crossing fans
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is finally out on Nintendo Switch. Go all out with your Animal Crossing love with these adorable-themed accessories.


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Ever since Microsoft introduced Game Pass in 2017, we’ve wondered when it would be paired up with the Xbox Live subscription. Now it sounds like the bundle deal will soon be an option for Xbox gamers.
According to Twitter user h0x0d, Game Pass Ultimate will arrive in the near future, packing both services together at a discounted price. Currently the regular price per month is $19.98, but GPU would cut that to $14.99. There’s no word on whether yearly prices would be available. Regular Game Pass only is available in monthly installments, but Xbox Live Gold can be purchased in 12-month bursts — usually for $60, but deals are fairly regular.
What does this mean for racing game fans? For starters, first-party headliner Forza Horizon 4 is a Game Pass title. F1 2018 recently joined the lineup too — handy, as its sequel is on the way this June. Outside of those, Game Pass features over 100 Xbox titles across a variety of genres.
According to The Verge, it’s likely Microsoft could make this official later this month, alongside the rumored disc-less Xbox One S hardware. It’s the latest service push by the American tech giant. Microsoft recently showed off a demo of its xCloud game streaming service, which looks to be its answer to Google’s Stadia. It even experimented with an all-in-one console-and-service bundle last year called Xbox All Access.
With E3 just over two months away, we expect to hear more on this evolution of Xbox Game Pass, as well as Project Scarlett.


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MDEC gets cracking on MSME E-Commerce Campaign under PENJANA Recovery Plan
By Digital News Asia July 1, 2020
- Co-funded by Malaysian government, campaign is set to benefit over 145,000 MSMEs
- MDEC to join forces with ten e-commerce partners to encourage e-commerce adoption
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) yesterday announced the roll out of the Micro and SMEs (MSMEs) E-Commerce Campaign, an initiative that is under the Malaysian government’s PENJANA Recovery Plan (specifically the 2nd trust, which is “Propel Businesses”).
The campaign, which kicked-off on 30 June and will run until the end of September 2020, will see MDEC joining forces with ten e-commerce partners to encourage e-commerce adoption among MSMEs.
The initial ten e-commerce partners participating in the MSME E-commerce Campaign are Boost, FashionValet, FAVE, Foodpanda, Grab, Lazada, Maybank, Shopee, Touch ‘n Go eWallet and Zalora.
MDEC is working closely with the government to finalise additional e-commerce partners to take part in this campaign. Further announcement on the added participating e-commerce partners will be made in due course.
Co-funded by the Government and e-commerce partners, over 145,000 MSMEs are expected to benefit from e-commerce onboarding training, seller subsidy and sales support.
As part of efforts to revitalise the Malaysian economy following the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent movement control order (MCO), the government allocated US$16.4 million (RM70 million) under PENJANA to implement the MSME E-commerce Campaign.
The initiative is to facilitate local businesses to sustain operations and gradually enhance productivity to spur short economic recovery.
The MSME E-commerce Campaign aims to encourage adoption of e-commerce by local businesses focusing on MSMEs to help widen their market reach. MDEC has been tasked to implement this initiative under PENJANA.
MDEC’s chief executive officer Surina Shukri highlights that the digital shift to e-commerce will help future-proof the economy in the “New Normal” that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought about, where an increasing number of consumers opt for online shopping instead of visiting physical stores.
With the uptake in online retail sales, the Southeast Asian e-commerce market is looking to be worth about US$153 billion by 2025, providing the opportunity to future-proof the Malaysian economy in these challenging times.
“Shifting to e-commerce will help MSMEs reduce operation costs, improve agility and be more responsive to new opportunities, allowing them to reach new customers within existing markets and expand to new markets. MDEC together with e-commerce partners are facilitating MSMEs’ shift to e-commerce and helping them to navigate in this new business environment,” she says.
“By transitioning to the online marketplace and embracing e-commerce, MSMEs are better positioned to strengthen their agility and build resilience against future aftershocks. While the intended key beneficiaries of this campaign are the local businesses and individuals with and without businesses registrations, the spill over effect will also benefit other local e-commerce players in the ecosystem such as digital marketing, delivery and e-payment services. Through the campaign the MSMEs’ transition to e-commerce will support a growing and sustainable MSME ecosystem, in line with our national digital transformation agenda,” she adds.
Aside from the MSME E-commerce campaign, the Malaysian government has also allocated another RM70 million to implement the Shop Malaysia Online initiative, the second e-commerce initiative under PENJANA that will run for two months from August this year.
The Shop Malaysia Online initiative is designed to spur economic recovery by stimulating online consumption through digital vouchers for the consumers.
MSMEs and local businesses who are interested to participate in the MSME E-commerce Campaign may register at www.go-ecommerce.my/PENJANA. Small businesses and individuals with and without business registrations are also eligible to participate in this campaign.


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Operations & Fulfillment: Fulfilling the Promise of E-Commerce
Belk, Inc. is making all the right moves around improving its warehouse and fulfillment operations to meet the needs of its growing e-commerce business.
Belk, based in Charlotte, N.C., has more than 300 fashion department stores in 16 Southern states, with sales totaling $3.7 billion in its latest fiscal year. It also has a thriving e-commerce business that has seen sales from the channel "increase 108 percent over last year," according to Bill Kiger, director of web operations at Belk.
Until recently, Belk fulfilled all of its direct-to-consumer business in-house via its e-commerce fulfillment center in Pineville, N.C. Last May, the facility was expanded to double its original size, roughly 250,000 square feet. However, because of its growing e-commerce business, Belk quickly realized it needed even more space.
"We expanded our facility in Pineville in 2011, but given the growth in our e-commerce business, we quickly realized we were going to need additional square footage to support our needs," says Debbie Fortnum, vice president of supply chain at Belk. "We did the expansion in our initial facility thinking the extra space would last us a couple of years, but by the end of the calendar year 2011, just several months after the expansion, we realized we needed additional space, and we needed it quickly."
Enter Belk's new 515,000-square-foot e-commerce fulfillment center located in Jonesville, S.C., which opened in June. The center, a $4.5 million capital investment, was formerly a direct-to-consumer fulfillment facility operated by Disney. The facility is being leased by Belk, and the company is expected to create at least 124 jobs at the center over the next five years.
"We were fortunate to find the center," says Fortnum. "It was well-suited to our business. It serves us well from a location perspective, and the available workforce in the area is really great." What's more, "there's high unemployment in Union County, where Jonesville is located, so we were happy to have an impact on that by hiring so many former Disney employees and others who were without jobs."
A Whole New Fulfillment Operation
"Getting the facility up and running in about six months was challenging on a number of levels," recalls Fortnum. Not only did Belk have to open the distribution center and train employees on the day-to-day operations quickly, it had to install a new order management system that would split the fulfillment of orders between the two facilities. Prior to the the new facility in Jonesville, the Pineville center processed all categories of e-commerce merchandise. Now home and shoe orders are being fulfilled at the Jonesville facility, while everything else is handled at the Pineville center. So if a customer buys both shoes and apparel from Belk.com, the retailer's new "Distributed Order Management" system, implemented in partnership with Manhattan Associates, is able to correctly and seamlessly communicate and split the order between the two facilities.
Wha's more, the new order management system will help facilitate another initiative in Belk's direct-to-consumer business. Launching in early 2013, Belk will have a new vendor-direct program that enables customers' orders that include merchandise not inventoried in one of Belk's fulfillment centers to be fulfilled and shipped directly by vendors. With the functionality of its order management system, vendors will receive order requests and will be able to act as extensions of Belk's own fulfillment centers.
"This program will give us the opportunity to expand upon the sizes, styles and product categories we already have on our website today," Kiger says. "We will fulfill orders from our Pineville or Jonesville facilities, as well as directly from our vendor partners, enabling us to offer a broader, more dynamic product assortment to customers.
"Currently, we may offer consumers a particular men's style shoe in regular sizes from seven to 12 only. But now, if we choose, we can offer additional fringe sizes such as 13, 14 or 15 of the same style shoe without having to stock the additional sizes in-house."


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* Forecasts 2017 op profit up 38 pct at a record 175 bln yen
* Plans to open around 100 new stores in Greater China
* 2016 op profit falls 23 pct, slightly better than firm's f'cast (Adds CEO's comments, results details)
By Naomi Tajitsu
TOKYO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Japan's Fast Retailing Co Ltd , the owner of the Uniqlo casual wear brand, is deepening a push into overseas markets that it expects will help offset tepid retail demand at home and rake in a record operating profit in this financial year.
As two decades of a struggling economy have slashed consumer demand in Japan, Asia's biggest clothing retailer by sales is expanding its market share in China and Southeast Asia, as well as trying to crack the North American market.
Fast Retailing said on Thursday it planned to increase the number of overseas Uniqlo stores to 1,104 by the end of August next year, focusing on Greater China and other Asian countries, from 958 in the year just ended, while keeping the number of its Japan stores unchanged.
The company, which began as a casual wear store in Hiroshima in 1984, has been expanding aggressively in Asia, and saw the number of overseas Uniqlo stores exceed domestic ones for the first time last year.
After sales at overseas stores grew at a faster pace than at home last year, the company plans to open around 100 new stores in Greater China in the coming year and expects a further pick-up in profit at its stores in China, Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Chief Executive Officer Tadashi Yanai, the richest person in Japan with a net worth of over $16 billion, according to Forbes' 2016 ranking, said that with growth prospects limited at home, the company was focusing on increasing operating profit internationally in the coming year.
"A big increase in domestic profit is unlikely given the domestic macroeconomic situation, with negative rates, the current financing situation and consumer trends," Yanai told reporters at a results briefing.
"Overseas, we're going to see a bigger move towards a global economy, where global players will compete. The ones that succeed globally will succeed in Japan."
Revenues from overseas Uniqlo stores comprised around 37 percent of the company's total revenues in the year just ended, compared with around 45 percent from domestic stores. The company also owns global brands, including the higher-end Theory and the lower priced GU.
Uniqlo, Japan's answer to cheap and cheerful fashion, competes with H&M, Zara and Gap Inc, among others. The brand focuses on affordable everyday staples, enlisting fashion designers including Jil Sander and, most recently Christophe Lemaire, to design collections.
Fast Retailing said it expected operating profit to jump 38 percent to a record high 175.0 billion yen ($1.70 billion) for the year ending in August 2017, a touch above the average estimate of 174.2 billion yen from 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S/.
Operating profit fell 23 percent to 127.3 billion yen in the year just ended, compared with the firm's forecast for 120 billion yen. Its first slide in full-year operating profit in five years was caused by currency related losses, while impairment losses linked to its J Brand denim brand and store closures at home and in the United States also weighed, the company said.
Having struggled for years to make a profit in the United States, the company has said it will continue to shutter unprofitable stores located in suburban malls and focus on opening more flagship stores in urban centres, It is also making a push into Canada, opening its first store there last month.
To expand its global presence, better control its supply chain and generate more sales at home, Fast Retailing is investing in a distribution centre on the outskirts of Tokyo which will serve as a distribution centre for its shops and what executives have referred to as a "virtual flagship store". ($1 = 102.9000 yen) (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Ritsuko Shimizu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)


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The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Thursday said it was investigating a rise in Cyclospora infections, likely due to the consumption of a salad served by McDonald’s Corp.
Apple’s worldwide Mac shipments grew 3 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the year-ago quarter, according to new preliminary PC shipping estimates shared today by Gartner.
During the quarter, Apple shipped an estimated 4.4 million Macs, compared to 4.26 million in the second quarter of 2017. Apple’s market share also saw slight growth, improving from 7 percent in Q2 2017 to 7.1 percent in Q2 2018.
Apple’s improved Mac sales come amid an overall increase in worldwide PC shipments, the first growth that’s been seen in the last six years. Worldwide PC shipments totaled an estimated 62.1 million units in Q2 2018, up from 61.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
Though Apple saw sales growth in Q2 2018, the company was ranked the number four PC vendor in the world, coming in behind Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Lenovo was the number one vendor with 13.6 million PCs shipped, followed by HP with just under 13.6 million and Dell with 10.5 million. Acer Group, the number five worldwide PC vendor, shipped 4 million PCs during the quarter.
Lenovo and HP are tied for 21.9 percent market share, followed by Dell at 16.8 percent and Apple, as previously mentioned, at 7.1 percent. All of the top five worldwide PC vendors saw shipment growth in Q2 2018 compared to last year.
“PC shipment growth in the second quarter of 2018 was driven by demand in the business market, which was offset by declining shipments in the consumer segment,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “In the consumer space, the fundamental market structure, due to changes on PC user behavior, still remains, and continues to impact market growth. Consumers are using their smartphones for even more daily tasks, such as checking social media, calendaring, banking and shopping, which is reducing the need for a consumer PC.
Apple saw less growth in the United States, shipping an estimated 1.84 million Macs, up from 1.81 in the year-ago quarter, an increase of 1.7 percent. Apple was also the number four vendor in the U.S., coming in behind HP (#1), Dell (#2), and Lenovo (#3). Apple holds 12.7 percent of the PC market in the United States, compared to 14.9 percent for Lenovo, 28.6 percent for Dell, and 29.3 percent for HP.
Apple’s Mac sales could grow significantly next quarter and through the end of 2018. Apple today introduced new 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with improved processors, more maximum RAM, higher-capacity SSDs, True Tone displays, and more.
The rest of Apple’s Mac lineup, including iMacs, MacBooks, and the Mac mini, is also expected to get a refresh before the end of 2018.
Discuss this article in our forums
Fans of the early-2000s era GameCube version of the original Animal Crossing likely remember the game including a handful of emulated NES titles that could be played by obtaining in-game items for your house. What players back then didn’t know is that the NES emulator in Animal Crossing can also be used to play any generic NES ROM stored on a GameCube memory card.
Security researcher James Chambers discovered the previously unused and undocumented feature buried in the original Animal Crossing game code and detailed his methodology and findings in a technically oriented Medium post this week.
The key to opening Animal Crossing‘s NES emulator is the game’s generic “NES console” item. Usually, this item simply tells players who try to use it that “I want to play my NES, but I don’t have any software” (separate in-game items are used to play the NES ROMs that are included on the Animal Crossing disc).
Back when he was campaigning for the presidency, Donald Trump said his administration would block the deal, and indeed, the DOJ sued to stop the merger, arguing it would hurt competition.
Last month, however, U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that the deal could move forward without conditions. He said from the bench, “The court has now spoken. … The defendants have won” — and the deal closed later that week.
The deal also seemed to set the stage for even more consolidation between telecom and media companies, leading Comcast to challenge Disney for ownership of Fox’s film and TV assets. (TechCrunch was already a very small part of this trend, since we’re owned by Verizon.)
“The Court’s decision could hardly have been more thorough, fact-based, and well-reasoned,” said AT&T General Counsel David McAtee in a statement. “While the losing party in litigation always has the right to appeal if it wishes, we are surprised that the DOJ has chosen to do so under these circumstances. We are ready to defend the Court’s decision at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.”


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- The government had scrapped five per cent import duties on open cells last October
- Samsung had started importing LED TVs from its Vietnam plant via the free trade agreement route
Dixon, in a stock market notice, has shared that it will be manufacturing LED TVs for Samsung in India. The former plans to utilise its Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh facility to do the same.
It is to be noted here that Samsung had started importing LED TVs from its Vietnam plant. The step had come after the government of India had imposed five per cent duties on import of LED TV panels.
The government had then scrapped five per cent import duties on open cells last October. Samsung had started importing LED TVs from its Vietnam plant via the free trade agreement route
Open cell or panels make for the majority of a TV’s cost
Open cells, or as they are more commonly referred to as panels, make up for the majority of costs included in manufacturing TVs. Estimates show that these account for 65 to 70 per cent of a TVs cost. India does not have any local players manufacturing these panels.
Dixon, apart from manufacturing LED TVs in India, has already been manufacturing washing machines and mobiles for Samsung. The former during October 2019 had announced that it will be responsible for manufacturing feature phones for the latter in India.
Dixon has been associated with Samsung’s home appliances business from last two years. In fact the company, not long ago, had celebrated 100,000 unit production milestone for Samsung here.
“Samsung is one of the most valuable technology brands in the world and a leading mobile phone brand as it has been constantly serving with innovative solutions to customers across all segments,” said Sunil Vachani, Executive Chairman of Dixon Technologies India Ltd had said earlier.


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Once In Your Lifetime, why You Should Experience Newsnow Nigeria At Least.
NewsNow Nigeria is a satellite channel that holds several information rumors from throughout the nation. It is the only African information stations that has been actually certified for television by the authorities of Nigeria.
The information network gives both African as well as non-Africans headlines. It has headlines from all over the planet, yet particularly Nigeria as well as South Africa. It also relays updates on autos, company, sporting activities as well as far more. It additionally deals with global information and also other subjects that are not dealt with in the United States.
The station is partly possessed by an exclusive provider, which likewise has the information site. NewsNow Nigeria likewise features worldwide news such as the New York Moments, CNN, Financial Times, and also several others.
In enhancement to headlines, the network likewise carries an amount of documentaries. You can find both British and Australian information on this stations.
NewsNow Nigeria likewise includes some real-time sports information. The sports segment can be located here. This is actually specifically really good updates for enthusiasts of sporting activities as they may keep up with their preferred staffs and also players within this channel.
If you are seeming for breaching news, at that point the ideal spot is actually the newsroom. This is also where all the information accounts, job interviews, video recordings are actually being generated.
The information report of this channel usually varies from the rest. You may likewise see exactly how the information is being actually provided online on air. You may pay attention to it on the broadcast network of Nigeria.
If you would like to know what is happening in your urban area or even state just before it happens, this is the channel for you. The headlines will give you all the info you require to make sure that you could be prepared. It will additionally deliver updates on any kind of significant development happening in your place. It will alert you on street and rail interruptions to ensure that you are able to prevent all of them. The most interesting component concerning the news network is actually that it will update you about something taking place also prior to any individual else performs. This is making it popular one of individuals in locations like Lagos as well as The Big Apple.
The report will also give you cutting headlines on various components of your lifestyle. This is why it has actually ended up being such a preferred terminal. It will certainly also give you along with global news. It is going to deal with every thing that worries Nigeria et cetera of Africa. It will additionally offer you the current info on world occasions.
One of the very most well-liked headlines accounts in this network is actually the one on the latest clashes between the federal authorities as well as the armed groups in Niger. The updates file reveals how the armed teams have actually been actually attempting to happen back to the Nigeria.
Nigerians have been commenting positively heading the channel is handling traits. It is today viewed as a reliable source of headlines as opposed to simply being a headlines network. There are actually additionally dialogues going on about the future of the network. It is being predicted that it is going to be relaunching very soon as there is enough audience for it.
NewsNow Nigeria is likewise giving yet another platform for advertisers to connect to their target market. The channel supplies advertising and marketing area to a number of business that would like to industry their companies and also products to the Nigerians. You can enroll your company’s particulars and area online adds making use of the system. You can position any sort of kind of ad you prefer as soon as you are actually enrolled. The ads will certainly be actually displayed on a dedicated area of the network, which is actually particularly targeted at Nigerians.
Since the launch of NewsNow, Nigeria has been considerably proceeding along with time. It is the 4th online news portal that is actually entirely working in Africa. It is an active platform that aggregates all the primary news organisation from across the globe, in addition to a platform where one can easily get info on globe activities, newest news and sports information. It is actually likewise a platform where numerous Nigerians may easily engage and also share point of views. It is indeed the future of African headlines as it supplies the appropriate mix of information, news as well as info to millions of consumers concurrently.
Considering that its own inception, NewsNow has actually brought in great progress, in regards to material and user-friendliness. Prima facie, it appears that it is a lot slower than the majority of present headlines networks. As you log on to it and go by means of the user interface, you will become aware that its own directory of information things is undoubtedly complete. It categorizes each story under the pertinent type and also therefore makes it easier to browse. Besides the broad categories, it additionally offers a checklist of the majority of online local flows.
It is in fact an on-line platform introduced through a Canadian company called Alarm Media, who likewise possess Cable. It was at that point obtained through a few various other financiers who had taken an equivalent amount of amount of money as well as made up a brand new company called Medi+power. The title of the brand-new firm was actually opted for after the owners learnt that Alarm Media had actually stopped working to combine online video information as portion of its own service. newsnow nigeria
Nevertheless, this issue was later on solved along with the launch of the brand-new headlines stations. The channel delivers online coverage of occasions in addition to a big store of newspaper article coming from around the planet.
NewsNow is an ideal platform for breaking updates. The organization possesses several reporters who state live from several locations throughout the country. It also delivers a variety of attribute videos that provide a sneak peek of what is actually occurring. The videos are all sourced from numerous news agencies; both government and also non-government ones.


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Big N Rumblings: What’s up Nintendo’s Sleeve?
Shortly after E3 2010, the bloggers and tweets strongly urged Nintendo to stick to its day job. A choppy main-stage presentation that culminated in a non-functional demo of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was bad, but next month “the big N” has something entirely different to tell us. This time, let’s hope it works.
It was reported yesterday by the Dow Jones that Nintendo will be holding a trade show on September 13th in Tokyo, and that details about the 3DS would be discussed therein. How ambiguous. It doesn’t take a mind reader to speculate on what will be discussed, and since I match that description here are some very possible points of business for the show:
3DS redesign and more
It’s a little out there, especially given the company’s less-than-stellar launch, but there are whispers that Nintendo might bring out a 3DS redesign, with the main improvement being the addition of a second joystick control. Whether this would resemble a peripheral or an entirely new system update remains to be seen.
That’s as grounded as the rumours come. There has also been speculation of additional games being announced, an amendment to the focus of the handheld platform so as to spotlight the core game mechanics and less 3D (but it’s in the name!) and even a follow up 3DS system. The last of the lot is scary to even think, could Nintendo do such a thing in their right minds without further alienating fans that purchased the system at launch?
Wii U Launch Details
Pricing in all regions? A solid launch line-up? Playable demos? There are still more questions than answers surrounding next year’s biggest news in console gaming. Could this be the opportunity to let consumers know the W5H of Wii U? With Tokyo Game Show taking place a few days after (and Nintendo’s absence from the event) it might not be a bad idea if their aim is to steal some thunder from TGS.
It’s a Hoax
Though this trade show has been reported by Dow Jones, Wall Street and other American media, Nintendo of America has not confirmed the event is even taking place. With most publishers gearing up for a strong holiday season, it’s very possible that this could be little more than an announcement blown out of proportion.
It’s a Bust
How funny would it be if all of these rumours were the hopes and dreams of disappointed consumers and Nintendo just wanted to let us know that there will be a green 3DS available this holiday season? The answer is not funny. Not funny at all. No news may be better than minor news for a company whose year has been plagued with luke-warm reception and long-term promises that less and less people are willing to buy into.
With the anticipated release of competing Playstation Vita, now is definitely not the time to disappoint. All eyes will be on Nintendo next month in Tokyo if they do indeed take the stage.


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YouTube said on Wednesday it hired former MTV executive Susanne Daniels to join its division that works toward creating original online series.
Daniels will manage the YouTube Originals development pipeline and oversee production, the video-sharing website said.
She will join as vice president, YouTube Orignals and report to Robert Kyncl, head of content & business operations at YouTube.
YouTube’s competitors Netflix Inc and Amazon.com are getting aggressive toward producing original online series and independent low-budget films as traditional media outlets suffer from dwindling audience numbers and falling advertising revenue. Earlier this year, Amazon announced its plans to produce close to 12 movies a year with budgets of between $5 million and $25 million. This was announced shortly after the e-commerce company signed director Woody Allen to create a TV series.
Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction.


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|By PR Newswire||
|November 14, 2012 03:16 PM EST||
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Cricket Communications, Inc. today announced the availability of its second 4G LTE smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S® III (R530). Cricket's Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone with its brilliant 4.8 inch display, and no contract, unlimited data, talk and text plans from $50 per month would make a stunning gift for the holidays. Find yours at Cricket company-owned stores, dealers and at www.mycricket.com by November 23, 2012 for $549.99 (MSRP).
"The Samsung Galaxy S III is a revolutionary 4G LTE smartphone and will be available at Cricket in time for the holidays," said Matt Stoiber, senior vice president of devices for Cricket. "As we continue to expand our 4G LTE network, the Galaxy S III excels in both our 4G and 3G LTE markets. We are very proud to offer our customers the highest level of wireless technology on one of the coolest devices in the market today."
The Galaxy S III comes with a brilliant 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED™ touch-screen, 1.5 GHz dual core processor, and runs on Android™ 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system. With a 2100 mAh Li-Ion battery and picture-in-picture technology, it has enough power to watch video and check email at the same time. Added functionality like S Voice™ technology makes using the device easier, simply raise the phone to your ear and dictate your request. Capture every moment without shutter lag and enjoy 8 megapixel photo clarity with added LED flash camera/camcorder and a 1.9 megapixel HD front facing camera.
The Samsung Galaxy S III is available on Cricket's new 4G LTE Android Double Data service plans that offer, for a limited time, double the monthly full speed data allowance offered in Cricket's 3G rate plans. The $50 4G LTE Android Double Data Rate Plan allows 2GB of full-speed data; the $60 plan allows 5GB of full-speed data and the $70 plan offers 10GB of full-speed data.
The introduction of the Samsung Galaxy S III follows the company's announcement today that 4G LTE service is now available in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Laredo, Corpus Christi and the Brownsville-McAllen-Harlingen market, Texas in addition to existing 4G LTE service in Las Vegas and Tucson. The company's LTE service now covers approximately 21 million potential customers.
Cricket is the pioneer and leader in delivering innovative value-rich prepaid wireless services with no long-term contracts. Cricket offers nationwide wireless voice and mobile data services over high-quality, all-digital 4G (LTE) and 3G CDMA wireless networks. Cricket's innovative products and services including the award-winning Muve Music® - the first music service designed for a wireless phone, are available nationwide at Cricket branded retail stores, dealers, national retailers and at www.mycricket.com. For more information about Cricket, please visit www.mycricket.com.
For more information about Cricket's dynamic service and newest device lineup and to check for availability, visit www.mycricket.com. To follow Cricket's latest news and updates online, visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/cricketwireless and Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cricketnation.
Samsung, Galaxy S, AMOLED and S-Voice are trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Other company names, product names and marks mentioned herein are property of their respective owners and may be trademarks or registered trademarks.
SOURCE Cricket Communications, Inc.
Almost everyone sees the potential of Internet of Things but how can businesses truly unlock that potential. The key will be in the ability to discover business insight in the midst of an ocean of Big Data generated from billions of embedded devices via Systems of Discover. Businesses will also need to ensure that they can sustain that insight by leveraging the cloud for global reach, scale and elasticity.
Oct. 27, 2016 12:00 AM EDT Reads: 11,125
In past @ThingsExpo presentations, Joseph di Paolantonio has explored how various Internet of Things (IoT) and data management and analytics (DMA) solution spaces will come together as sensor analytics ecosystems. This year, in his session at @ThingsExpo, Joseph di Paolantonio from DataArchon, will be adding the numerous Transportation areas, from autonomous vehicles to “Uber for containers.” While IoT data in any one area of Transportation will have a huge impact in that area, combining sensor...
Oct. 27, 2016 12:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,101
SYS-CON Media announced today that @WebRTCSummit Blog, the largest WebRTC resource in the world, has been launched. @WebRTCSummit Blog offers top articles, news stories, and blog posts from the world's well-known experts and guarantees better exposure for its authors than any other publication. @WebRTCSummit Blog can be bookmarked ▸ Here @WebRTCSummit conference site can be bookmarked ▸ Here
Oct. 26, 2016 11:30 PM EDT Reads: 9,746
Most people haven’t heard the word, “gamification,” even though they probably, and perhaps unwittingly, participate in it every day. Gamification is “the process of adding games or game-like elements to something (as a task) so as to encourage participation.” Further, gamification is about bringing game mechanics – rules, constructs, processes, and methods – into the real world in an effort to engage people. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Robert Endo, owner and engagement manager of Intrepid D...
Oct. 26, 2016 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 9,905
SYS-CON Events announced today that LeaseWeb USA, a cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider, will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. LeaseWeb is one of the world's largest hosting brands. The company helps customers define, develop and deploy IT infrastructure tailored to their exact business needs, by combining various kinds cloud solutions.
Oct. 26, 2016 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 3,917
Established in 1998, Calsoft is a leading software product engineering Services Company specializing in Storage, Networking, Virtualization and Cloud business verticals. Calsoft provides End-to-End Product Development, Quality Assurance Sustenance, Solution Engineering and Professional Services expertise to assist customers in achieving their product development and business goals. The company's deep domain knowledge of Storage, Virtualization, Networking and Cloud verticals helps in delivering ...
Oct. 26, 2016 09:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,132
SYS-CON Events announced today that CDS Global Cloud, an Infrastructure as a Service provider, will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. CDS Global Cloud is an IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) provider specializing in solutions for e-commerce, internet gaming, online education and other internet applications. With a growing number of data centers and network points around the world, ...
Oct. 26, 2016 09:45 PM EDT Reads: 3,663
In his general session at 19th Cloud Expo, Manish Dixit, VP of Product and Engineering at Dice, will discuss how Dice leverages data insights and tools to help both tech professionals and recruiters better understand how skills relate to each other and which skills are in high demand using interactive visualizations and salary indicator tools to maximize earning potential. Manish Dixit is VP of Product and Engineering at Dice. As the leader of the Product, Engineering and Data Sciences team a...
Oct. 26, 2016 09:30 PM EDT Reads: 671
SYS-CON Events announced today that Transparent Cloud Computing (T-Cloud) Consortium will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. The Transparent Cloud Computing Consortium (T-Cloud Consortium) will conduct research activities into changes in the computing model as a result of collaboration between "device" and "cloud" and the creation of new value and markets through organic data proces...
Oct. 26, 2016 08:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,475
In the next five to ten years, millions, if not billions of things will become smarter. This smartness goes beyond connected things in our homes like the fridge, thermostat and fancy lighting, and into heavily regulated industries including aerospace, pharmaceutical/medical devices and energy. “Smartness” will embed itself within individual products that are part of our daily lives. We will engage with smart products - learning from them, informing them, and communicating with them. Smart produc...
Oct. 26, 2016 08:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,575
SYS-CON Events announced today that Enzu will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Enzu’s mission is to be the leading provider of enterprise cloud solutions worldwide. Enzu enables online businesses to use its IT infrastructure to their competitive advantage. By offering a suite of proven hosting and management services, Enzu wants companies to focus on the core of their online busine...
Oct. 26, 2016 08:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,431
WebRTC adoption has generated a wave of creative uses of communications and collaboration through websites, sales apps, customer care and business applications. As WebRTC has become more mainstream it has evolved to use cases beyond the original peer-to-peer case, which has led to a repeating requirement for interoperability with existing infrastructures. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Graham Holt, Executive Vice President of Daitan Group, will cover implementation examples that have enabled ea...
Oct. 26, 2016 07:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,356
SYS-CON Events announced today that Coalfire will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Coalfire is the trusted leader in cybersecurity risk management and compliance services. Coalfire integrates advisory and technical assessments and recommendations to the corporate directors, executives, boards, and IT organizations for global brands and organizations in the technology, cloud, health...
Oct. 26, 2016 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,671
November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Penta Security is a leading vendor for data security solutions, including its encryption solution, D’Amo. By using FPE technology, D’Amo allows for the implementation of encryption technology to sensitive data fields without modification to schema in the database environment. With businesses having their data become increasingly more complicated in their mission-critical applications (such as ERP, CRM, HRM), continued ...
Oct. 26, 2016 06:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,156
SYS-CON Events announced today that Cloudbric, a leading website security provider, will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Cloudbric is an elite full service website protection solution specifically designed for IT novices, entrepreneurs, and small and medium businesses. First launched in 2015, Cloudbric is based on the enterprise level Web Application Firewall by Penta Security Sys...
Oct. 26, 2016 05:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,295
WebRTC sits at the intersection between VoIP and the Web. As such, it poses some interesting challenges for those developing services on top of it, but also for those who need to test and monitor these services. In his session at WebRTC Summit, Tsahi Levent-Levi, co-founder of testRTC, reviewed the various challenges posed by WebRTC when it comes to testing and monitoring and on ways to overcome them.
Oct. 26, 2016 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 4,213
"Matrix is an ambitious open standard and implementation that's set up to break down the fragmentation problems that exist in IP messaging and VoIP communication," explained John Woolf, Technical Evangelist at Matrix, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
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In his general session at 18th Cloud Expo, Lee Atchison, Principal Cloud Architect and Advocate at New Relic, discussed cloud as a ‘better data center’ and how it adds new capacity (faster) and improves application availability (redundancy). The cloud is a ‘Dynamic Tool for Dynamic Apps’ and resource allocation is an integral part of your application architecture, so use only the resources you need and allocate /de-allocate resources on the fly.
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DevOps is being widely accepted (if not fully adopted) as essential in enterprise IT. But as Enterprise DevOps gains maturity, expands scope, and increases velocity, the need for data-driven decisions across teams becomes more acute. DevOps teams in any modern business must wrangle the ‘digital exhaust’ from the delivery toolchain, "pervasive" and "cognitive" computing, APIs and services, mobile devices and applications, the Internet of Things, and now even blockchain. In this power panel at @...
Oct. 26, 2016 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,132
SYS-CON Events announced today that SoftNet Solutions will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. SoftNet Solutions specializes in Enterprise Solutions for Hadoop and Big Data. It offers customers the most open, robust, and value-conscious portfolio of solutions, services, and tools for the shortest route to success with Big Data. The unique differentiator is the ability to architect and ...
Oct. 26, 2016 03:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,095


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Social media users can relax: a new survey has found that people on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter do not experience more stress than digital refuseniks.
Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has defended his decision to condemn the recent terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine on free speech grounds, despite his company’s willingness to censor some content.
Snapchat is asking major retail brands for $750,000 a day for its new ads, Adweek reported Wednesday.
A new study ranks the most boastful states of social media users as coming from California, with the most modest being from Utah.
YouTube may be the king of online video with more than one billion monthly viewers, but Facebook is aiming to knock Google’s service off its perch in 2015.
Twitter is meeting with over 150 advertisers and ad agencies over the course of three days at Tweet Suite in Las Vegas.
The game beat Movies, Frozen, and PewDiePie in the rankings.
Smartphone messaging app WhatsApp has reached a new milestone: 700 million monthly active users, who are sending 30 billion messages every day.
Many children are growing up with apps and digital media as part of their lives, alongside reading, physical play, television and other forms of entertainment and learning.
Twitter users went into meltdown over weekend, using the hashtag #RIPTwitter to vent their fury at reports of changes to the way tweets will appear in users' timelines.
Facebook built the most popular social network on the backs of spendthrift college kids. It's turned into a $300 billion juggernaut thanks to the world's biggest brands.
Twitter has deleted more than 125,000 accounts linked to terrorists since mid-2015, the company announced, offering some of the most detailed insight yet of how Silicon Valley is collaborating with western governments in its fight against Islamic State.


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The lights are on
Read Current Issue
Final Fantasy XV
Gears of War 4
The GI Show
Boba Fett Was Almost The Main Villain In Return Of The Jedi
May 06 2016 12:05 PM
Captain America: Civil War Comes To Marvel Heroes
May 06 2016 10:37 AM
Microsoft Leaks Battlefield World War I Art Confirming Setting
May 06 2016 10:09 AM
Fallout 4's 1.5 Update, Survival Mode Now Live On Console
May 06 2016 09:54 AM
Two More Warcraft Characters, Widowmaker Nova Skin Coming To Heroes Of The Storm
May 06 2016 08:15 AM
What Happens When Sonic Sees His Own Future?
May 05 2016 08:49 PM
Star Wars Rogue One Trailer Gets Lego Stop Motion Remake
May 05 2016 07:45 PM
Destiny Registered Players Now ‘Nearly 30 Million’
May 05 2016 04:38 PM
Activision Revenues Up, Operating And Net Income Down In First Quarter
May 05 2016 03:36 PM
Devolver Digital Slashes Prices Up To 90 Percent In Steam Sale
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Mars' Chosen DLC Adds New Maps And Modes To Ryse: Son Of Rome
on March 01, 2014 at 02:16 PM
Xbox One's launch title Ryse: Son of Rome's Mars' Chosen DLC is now available. The DLC add-on adds a new survival mode, five new maps, and a new skin. The DLC is $8.99, but is included in the season pass if you already purchased it. The new survival mode is like a horde mode, where players...
Dead Rising 3 And Ryse Launch Trailers Continue The Build Towards Xbox One
on November 19, 2013 at 10:18 AM
We can count the days until Xbox One launches on one hand, and Microsoft is building excitement with launch trailers for two of its most anticipated and violent games. Both Dead Rising 3 and Ryse: Son of Rome are Xbox One exclusive launch games that will be available alongside the console on Friday....
Ryse: Son of Rome Season Pass Announced
on November 01, 2013 at 11:47 AM
Crytek's gladiator-themed launch title is getting four multiplayer-oriented DLC packs after release, available for a discounted price via the newly announced season pass. Today Microsoft revealed some details regarding Ryse's season pass, which focuses squarely on multiplayer content. There will...
Watch The Ryse: Son Of Rome E3 Gameplay Demo (Trailer Added)
on June 10, 2013 at 06:45 PM
Update: Crytek has released video of its E3 gameplay demo of Ryse: Son of Rome, which you can watch right now. Crytek also released a batch of new Ryse screenshots, which you can check out in the gallery below. Original Story: Crytek announced Ryse: Son of Rome at E3 2011 as a Kinect-based Xbox 360 game...
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January 4th, 2011, 10:59 AM
Power Balance admits false claims
The Australian government has cracked down on Power Balance, forced them to post that there is no credible scientific evidence that supports their claims, and to offer a full refund.
January 4th, 2011, 11:08 AM
Now that's some Australian government action I can actually get behind. Unfortunately I don't imagine it will have much effect of worldwide sales, unless it somehow gets more press. The Daily Mail seems to be the biggest outlet carrying the story so far.
January 4th, 2011, 12:01 PM
They (and their distributors) were also fined €350,000 ($465,000) in Italy for misleading advertising.
Did to not seem to impact them too much. People want to believe.