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Today, all kinds of screen based devices such as tablets, TV, laptops, computers and smart phones are common in daily life.
The average time adults spend on the screens is 11 hours, according to a 2014 Nielsen report, a global information, data and measurement company in the UK.
Screens might affect your health in different ways, such as brain, vision, sleep, weight and more. And being on the phone too much is one of the common problems in college students.
“I’m on my phone a lot, and I have to admit it is really bad,” junior public relation major Naomi Acosta said. “I have been trying to keep distracting myself from my phone more now.”
When she studies, she always tries to put her phone on ‘do not disturb’, so she can avoid binging on using her phone.
One of the consequences that a large amount of screens has on adults is a restructuring of the matter that makes up your brain. Those electronic devices have become such a huge part of the daily live that it is hard for people to put them down, even bed time. The fact is technology affects sleep in many ways.
“It is really bad for your brain if you go to bed with the phone next to you,” Acosta said. “The radiation is not good for your mind.”
University of Gothenburg psychologist Sara Thomée, one study’s lead researcher, says the blue light from digital devices suppresses the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, keeping us from having restful sleep. Reducing melatonin makes it harder to fall and stay asleep.
Most Americans admit to using electronics a few nights a week within an hour before bedtime, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
“I am on the phone the moment I wake up till the end of the day,” Acosta said. “For me, going to the gym is one of the ways I do to keep myself away from using the phone.”
Acosta also suggested students should find a hobby to distract themselves from their phones and focus on what they need to do rather than being on the phone.
“Whenever I study, I try to leave my phone at home,” she said. “I only touch it when I get home.”
Junior public relation and TV and video production major Paola Sarante finds herself being in the same situation. She has trouble with spending too much time on the screens.
“I use my phone to text my mom and check my mails 10 times a day,” she said. “I think I spend 10 hours on my phone per day.”
Sarante feels like she is not connecting much with outside because of the time she spends on the screen.
“My eyes also got worse from this,” she said. “They got much worse, comparing to my freshman year.
People who are on the phone too much are often familiar with the symptoms: strained, dry eyes, blurred vision, and headaches, and poor posture can also cause neck and shoulder pain, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
“I would try to give my phone to my friends whenever I need to do my work and stay away from my phone,” Sarante said.
She also encourage students to ride a bike or go out for a walk and leave their phones at home, even only for 30 minutes.
“Nothing is going to happen in 30 minutes,” Sarante said. “It does not need an urgent attention.”
Email Hilly Nguyen at email@example.com


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JamboPay acquires Nutanix to improve service delivery
24 March 2017
JamboPay, a service provider that helps Nairobi County in revenue collection, has acquired Nutanix Computing Platform.
JamboPay which allows customers to make electronic payments through eJiji, entered into a contract with Lenovo Kenya for the supply and installation of the Nutanix xtreme computing platform for its data Centres.
Nutanix xtreme is a powerful Hyper Converged computing and storage infrastructure, which is highly scalable with simplified resources management and security capabilities.
In a statement, JamboPay CEO Danson Muchemi said that they acquired Nutanix to support its rapid growth as it deepens its local payments services and expands across the continent.
‘’We are excited to work with Lenovo and Nutanix. Their technology allows for maximum availability, performance and scalability of our services,” said Mr Muchemi.
JamboPay is among the first Companies in Africa to acquire the Technology.

domain: news


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Time for the weekly recap of Amazon news! It's always good to keep up with events related to the fast-moving world of the Amazon ecosystem. I select the most important news updates to share with subscribers each week, which you can sign up to receive right here.
Retailers embrace ‘co-opetition’ with Amazon
I hear a lot from brands who are cagey about selling their products on Amazon due to a fear of cannibalizing sales from other strategic channels, or a general fear of letting the wolf into the henhouse. But here is a great example of a major retailer who has made a strategic decision to sell on Amazon which has paid off. “Co-opetition with Amazon works for The Children’s Place”, RetailWire January 15.
Amazon has over 560 million product listings
Scrapehero is a web crawler that calculates how many products listings are on Amazon. The estimate as of January 2018 is that Amazon has 560 million product listings. This is actually 17 million fewer products than the month prior.
Given the number of product variants in the category, it’s not surprising that clothing, shoes & jewelry have the largest number of products of all the categories. Also interesting is how quickly the number of Alexa Skills is growing. Currently, there are 30K skills, with 7K added just in the last month.
Amazon - the next big advertising player in 2018?
An opinion piece on Medium shares a few different platform that Amazon will leverage to become a significant player in the digital advertising space. We’re not just talking about Sponsored Product Ads here. Alexa, Amazon’s display network, AWS, even Amazon prime will all contribute to Amazon’s uprising in the lucrative advertising sector.
This piece echoes the sentiments that I shared in an article on Practical Ecommerce last week. Currently, the digital advertising space is a duopoly shared by Google and Facebook. Amazon will be disrupting that dynamic in the coming years, and we’re at a tipping point where brands are recognizing the significance of Amazon’s stage in the consumer purchase lifecycle.
An in-depth article about Amazon’s advertising goals on DigiDay also points out that 63 brand marketers plan to increase their spending on Amazon over the next year (research by GroupM’s Catalyst).
Alexa…is this thing on?
Having gifted myself an Echo at Christmas, I’ve been on a rabbit hole learning about the technology, how people are using it, and what voice will mean for commerce in the future. This article from Wired is a deep dive on the product development team and story behind Alexa. Remarkable stuff.
And in this unexpected interview with a VP of Alexa Experience and Echo Devices at Amazon, there’s confirmation(for now at least) that advertising is not coming to Alexa.
Amazon “uniquely positioned” to innovate in the beauty market
According to this Bloomberg article, “Amazon has won 21 percent of online cosmetics sales, putting pressure on beauty brands that want to restrict the sales of their products to upscale channels”.
Upscale beauty brands have dismissed Amazon’s utilitarian shopping experience in the past, but it seems like the retail giant has some tricks up its sleeves to become a bigger force in the category.
This is all the news I have to share with you this week. Stay tuned for my next update!


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Wheels Magazine recently reported that BMW Australia CEO Marc Werner had slammed the Turnbull Government for failing to provide a framework for electric vehicle consumption in Australia.
Calling out the lack of incentives for EV ownership, including financial incentives and infrastructure, Werner said the “time for talking” was over.
“It’s time for some action. We need to break Australia’s embarrassing silence on environmental topics and start doing something,” he told a group of motoring journalists.
“No more discussions. I call on Mr Malcolm Turnbull and the Federal Government to finally action robust policy to support the introduction of low emission vehicles to the Australian market,” said Mr Werner.
Mr Werner said car manufacturers are investing billions of dollars to bring alternative fuel technology and overseas experience shows consumers are willing to change their behaviour towards a cleaner future.
“But that needs to go hand in hand with some substantial investment on the infrastructure side which can only be provided through some government action”.
He pointed out countries such as Norway and New Zealand where EV uptake has improved since their introduced necessary financial incentives, such as tax and fee reductions for low emissions cars.
A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment and Energy told Wheels that the Government was exploring ways to address vehicle emissions, including concessions for EVs with the Luxury Car Tax (LCT).
However, Werner said the LCT was now redundant because of the end of local car production and added that now was the time to overhaul vehicle taxes to provide further incentives.
“We would love to see a more intelligent way of incentivising low emissions vehicles.
Werner said despite the lack of government action, BMW isn’t holding back with sales of its hybrid and electric vehicles, but won’t set targets in line with the company’s ambitious international forecasts until there is the necessary government framework.
“We have a really substantial model lineup as far as BMW i and BMW iPerformance vehicles are concerned so that we can take the next step.”


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Removing stalks on the Tesla steering wheel in favor of touch controls has driven people mad. | Image: tesla
Car makers in Europe are being encouraged to stop using touchscreens for basic functions like turn signals and wipers in an attempt to promote safer driving. As reported by the Times, the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) — an independent and well-regarded safety body for the automotive industry — is set to introduce new rules in January 2026 that require the vehicles it assesses to have physical controls to receive a full five-star safety rating.
While Euro NCAP testing is voluntary, it is widely backed by several EU governments with companies like Tesla, Volvo, VW, and BMW using their five-star scores to boast about the safety of their vehicles to potential buyers.


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“Going digital” isn’t a passing trend. Companies are learning — and proving — that building a flexible, integrated agency with a digital emphasis is essential. And that lesson is still being learned the hard way, even at the world’s most prestigious organizations.
BuzzFeed leaked an internal report from The New York Times this week, providing an intimate look into how one of the world’s leading journalistic institutions is struggling with the exact same problem most agencies are: integrating digital into its existing company structure.
So, what can this teach the rest of the world?
It shows that combining traditional and online media isn’t easy for any company, and even the most prestigious of organizations make common mistakes, including treating it as something that’s separate — and often secondary — from the rest of operations.
Digital Dividing Lines
Although many companies have employees who specifically focus on online media, all employees need to think about it. Whether they’re focused on strategy, creative, or media, they need to know the landscape inside and out.
Why? Because digital isn’t a department; it’s a way of thinking.
When digital was new, it was used as a buzzword to set innovative agencies apart from those that weren’t savvy.
That’s not true anymore. Today, it’s a given. When you tell a client your marketing firm does digital, it’s like telling them that newspapers have writers on staff. Duh.
Most clients now realize that a mix of channels and strategies — including digital — is the most effective way to communicate with customers. They know that most potential customers don’t just wander into a store to shop. Instead, consumers start their search online. Digital helps your clients snag customers earlier in the sales cycle.
But there’s a benefit to using digital marketing, such as landing pages and YouTube videos: It’s usually easier to measure and track, so it makes learning about a client’s customers and tailoring campaigns to their behavior much easier.
Designing Your Strategy
How can agencies integrate digital into their traditional offline strategies? Here are three ways to do digital right:
- Integrate your digital “department” with the rest of your company. Take a cue from The New York Times. Separating different disciplines doesn’t just keep your employees from communicating; it keeps them from collaborating. Remember, every employee needs to be digitally savvy. Start this process by letting them work together and learn from one another.
- Attend digital conferences to stay informed. Then, create a series of lunch-and-learns. Make sure every team member learns something new and shares it with the rest of your employees.
- Think holistically. Don’t artificially create digital opportunities. Instead, let them come about naturally. Map out a client’s sales funnel, and identify the digital and traditional opportunities you have. Then, build a marketing plan around those.
When my company promotes Agency Management Institute workshops, we use email marketing, targeted online ads, and SEO to drive traffic to our landing pages. But we don’t just use online media to promote our events. We also use direct mail, speak at conferences, and encourage our past customers to generate buzz.
Why do we utilize so many marketing avenues? Because you never know when — or how — a potential customer will hear about your client. Seamless integration between traditional and digital media allows customers to move from one type of media to another, just like they do in their everyday lives.
Ending the Digital Division
Digital is the way your clients’ customers connect to the rest of the world. That’s why “digital” isn’t a relevant term anymore. It’s simply how things are done in your customers’ lives and at a successful agency.
This is the most important lesson of The New York Times’ innovation report: If you and your clients are going to beat the competition, you need to change your company’s structure to accommodate the online world. That means ending the division between digital and traditional in favor of an approach that’s completely integrated.
Don’t live in the past, when online marketing was a novelty. Take “digital” out of your campaigns and company structure and join the modern world — one that transitions between digital and traditional media seamlessly.
This article was written by Drew McLellan for LinkedIn.


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BBM is coming to Android
BlackBerry has announced that their BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) feature is coming to Android & iOS this summer.
It will initially come packing the features it’s been known for and will later be followed up with some of the newer features that BlackBerry 10 brings. It will be made available as an app from the new adopters respected app stores.
This is surprising as BlackBerry previously stated that it would keep BBM a BlackBerry exclusive feature/app.
Will this mean that those who have stayed with BlackBerry only because of BBM will now make the switch to Android or iOS? It sure has me wondering what this will bring once the app hits these other OS’s.
What are you thoughts on the subject? Let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to hear from you.
ANDROID IS THE FUTURE


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Italy adopts new law to slash food waste
“The new laws make it easier for shops and restaurants to give excess food away to charitable causes,” Democratic Party politician, Maria Chiara Gadda, who championed the bill, told La Repubblica.
Bureaucracy has been streamlined, allowing businesses to donate their excess by filling out a simple monthly form noting any donations made. New laws also allow them to donate food that is passed its sell-by date, without risking sanctions for health and safety violations.
To further encourage businesses to give away their un-needed food, donors will get generous reductions in their waste taxes in line with how much they give away.
But the new laws will have implications for consumers too, mostly for those who eat at restaurants.
A new €1 million campaign will see the government push restaurants to provide so-called 'family bags' so that diners can take their unfinished food home.
The widespread use of 'doggy bags' isn't really part of Italian food culture, but the scheme has been successfully piloted in the Veneto region over the last year and will now be rolled-out nationwide
Italy's Agriculture Ministry will invest €1 million to research new ways to package foods in a bid to protect them better in transit and boost their shelf-life, while state broadcaster RAI will embark on a public information campaign to get citizens to waste less food. ■


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Silicon Valley Swap: Apple Gets Back Top Engineer From TeslaNewser — Jenn Gidman
One Silicon Valley wheel just circled back to its starting point. A top Apple engineer who left in 2013 to join Tesla as its chief vehicle engineer is back with his former employer.
Reuters and John Gruber at Daring Fireball got first confirmation on the development from Apple, along with whispers that Field is now working on Apple's hush-hush Project Titan self-driving car initiative (Apple didn't confirm that part).
VentureBeat calls Project Titan Apple's "unusually open secret," with claims "that Apple has flip-flopped between advancing and scaling back the project." Gruber says he's not ready to make too much of Field's return—and he notes that Apple and Tesla regularly swap employees—but he says it's an "interesting" move, as it suggests Apple might still be planning to churn out autonomous vehicles itself rather than simply making systems to place in other companies' vehicles.
"That rumor never really made sense to me anyway," Gruber writes. "Apple's modus operandi has always been to make the whole widget."
- Most Americans Will Get the Same Text Next Thursday
- Breitbart Posts Video of Google Execs' Reaction to Trump Win
- Here's What Apple Debuted at Today's Event
This article originally appeared on Newser: Silicon Valley Swap: Apple Gets Back Top Engineer From Tesla


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Canada has some of the slowest internet speeds in the developed world.
According to data from broadband research company Ookla, Canadians on average had the 38th fastest internet speeds in the world. Among developed countries, only a handful had slower internet speeds than Canada, among them Australia, New Zealand and Italy.
That represents a fall of five spots since this spring, when Canada ranked 33rd in Ookla’s survey.
Ookla crowdsources data from SpeedTest.net, a site that allows web users to test the speed of their connections. The research firm used millions of these tests to compile its data on internet speeds around the world. The numbers represent an aggregate of actual internet speeds, not speeds as advertised by providers.
The average internet speed in Canada was 18.94 Mbps over the past six months, up from 16.6 Mbps this spring. But despite the apparent improvement, Canada slipped on the rankings as other countries saw larger increases in internet speed.
Canadians' average is speed is less than a third of world-leading Hong Kong, at 70.91 Mbps.
Story continues below
Internet Download Speed By Country (2013)
How a country ranks on the listings depends not only on the quality of the internet infrastructure, but also on affordability: If internet services are too expensive, consumers will opt for lower-speed services, and average speeds will be lower.
Canada ranks 30th on Ookla’s list of lowest internet costs. At $3.61 per Mbps on average, Canada is slightly cheaper than the U.S. ($3.82) and slightly more expensive than Sweden ($3.55).
The CRTC’s latest survey of broadband services finds broadband is now available to 99 per cent of Canadian households, including 95 per cent of households in rural areas.
The availability of ultra-high-speed internet (100 Mbps+) has increased considerably, with about a third of Canadian households having the option to order the service. That’s up from only around 10 per cent in 2009.
The number of households with broadband grew to 13.5 million in 2012, up from 13 million in 2010, the CRTC reported.


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The Misfit Vapor is a smartwatch with an interesting background. It was first announced at CES with its own proprietary OS, but the company later decided to delay it and swap that out for Android Wear. Now, after months of missed goals and dozens of “vaporware” jokes, the company seems to finally be putting the watch on sale, and Amazon may have jumped the gun a little bit.
Android Wear Stories Yesterday
Android Wear Stories October 10
Google can bring new features to Android Wear through the Play Store
Android Wear 2.0 is far from perfect, and fans really haven’t been loving it like they did the original. It’s important that Google takes steps with 2.0 to improve it at this point, and one of the more recent additions to the platform may make that a bit easier…
Android Wear Stories October 4
Today’s Google event focused on phones, speakers, and AI over all else. What’s interesting is that the company not even one time mentioned Android Wear. Well, that story gets a bit more interesting when you look closer at the Google Store. After today’s new releases went up for pre-order, the store got a fresh coat of paint, and Android Wear disappeared from it completely without anyone noticing…
Everyone can use an Echo Dot: Just $50!
Android Wear Stories October 2
Android Wear Stories September 25
Android Wear Stories September 7
If you’re in the market for a new Android Wear smartwatch, the majority of options available to you come from fashion brands rather than tech-centric OEMs. Companies like Louis Vuitton and Fossil have already released Android Wear watches so far this year, and today, you can now order Micahel Kors’ two latest options — the Access Sofie and Access Grayson.


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Your favorite Apple, iPhone, iPad, iOS, Jailbreak, and Cydia site.
02-12-2010, 11:55 PM #1
IBM takes Lotus to Apple for Mac, iPhone, iPod
IBM is coming to Macs, iPods, and iPhones with a new version of its popular Lotus collaboration and social software suite.
Revealed just before the start of the weekend at Macworld, IBM isn't saying much about the release for now, except that the segue into Apple territory will likely be viewed fondly by many - particularly those hoping that the iPhone will continue to replace the Blackberry as the ultimately mobile business phone, resource, and professional tool.
Today's news underscores IBM's commitment to expanding its software to support the increasing global mobile work force and popular consumer devices.
In case you're wondering, IBM also hinted at a forthcoming effort to build Lotus apps for the iPad.
The aforementioned software suite remains in beta stages, but when formally rolled out, Mac users can anticipate a pretty nifty "Microsoft Office alternative sporting spreadsheet, document, and presentation applications that support most Microsoft Office features."
Image via IBM
02-13-2010, 01:59 AM #2
Welcome to the party IBM.
02-13-2010, 02:36 AM #3
This has been long overdue...can't wait for the release to take blackberry completely out of the equation
02-13-2010, 04:06 AM #4
They already have a number of iPhone products out there like Notes client, sametime client
02-13-2010, 07:19 AM #5
Don't forget notes traveler is already out. I'm already using my iPhone exactly like a blackberry but 100x better. It pushes my contacts, calendar, and e-mail.
02-13-2010, 07:22 AM #6
I know there are various other products out there, but this article is talking about products directly sold by IBM, and currently the only thing from IBM in the app store is IBM lotus notes traveler companion. Having IBM make a strong presence on the iphone platform is a very welcome development...and one I'm sure Apple would be happy about
02-13-2010, 08:11 AM #7
Welcome to the club, IBM. Glad to have you.Asking for help is different from being stupid. Fanboys can rot in @#$%!
02-13-2010, 11:00 AM #8
02-13-2010, 01:55 PM #9
IBM should stick to what it does best...outsourcing jobs and firing. Leave the half-baked Lotus stuff far away from my iPhone please.Really?
02-14-2010, 09:25 PM #10
good newskillall Terminal


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Amplifi, the Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) media-investment arm, announced the APAC launch of a strategic partnership with Spotify.
The offering, called The Audio Stack, combines panel survey data from DAN's M1 platform with Spotify’s first-party listening data. The "platform agnostic" audio-planning tool allows clients and brands to more accurately plan and optimise spending on radio and digital audio both online and offline, while eliminating duplication, according to DAN.
It will roll out in Singapore and Australia this month, with Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam on the slate for 2019.
“The audio landscape is evolving rapidly and there is a disconnect on where we spend our audio budget versus where we spend our time listening," Sunil Yadav, president of Amplifi Asia Pacific said in a release. "We need to shift our focus back to being ‘audience first’ instead of ‘radio first’. Putting this into play, we partnered with Spotify to develop The Audio Stack, to ensure effective targeting through a close study of audience behavioural patterns."
The Audio Stack allows Spotify to make its inventory and data available in a secure environment, giving advertisers the ability to deliver ads in real-time to registered users during key moments when they consume audio content, Sunita Kaur, VP of advertising for Spotify APAC, said in the release.
In addition, DAN said it will develop a strategic creative offering with voice technology and Spotify 3D audio. This project, involving the iProspect VoiceLab, a connected room built by iProspect in partnership with Google, will demonstrate the impact of audio creative for clients, according to the company.


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One of the case studies in Tarun Khanna’s Trust: Creating the Foundation for Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries is about Dr Devi Shetty, founder of Narayana Health and a pioneer of affordable healthcare. In that, Khanna shares a story that connects the green buildings and ‘progressive’ taxation.
He writes: “In Mysore, a two-hour drive from Bangalore, a new low-cost tertiary care hospital is being constructed, with a design reimagined entirely anew. It is all on a single level, with entirely natural air- and water-cooled spaces, except for certain areas where refrigeration is needed, such as operating theaters and critical-care units. Natural materials are used wherever possible. Construction costs are miraculously lower by 80 percent than they are for conventional hospitals. Dr. Shetty estimates that he will be able to halve the already fabulously low cost per patient for cardiac surgery at his hospital over the next few years. Equally important, the single-floor natural structure blends beautifully into its surrounding village and is not alien to the hapless sick who live nearby.
“Costs can be saved in endless and surprising ways if one develops the right orientation. Even fighting a tax proposed by the Indian government on all air-conditioned facilities might be an opportunity to ensure cost savings. The reasoning for the tax, no doubt, was that the rich have access to air conditioning, so taxing them is a way for a country like India to honour its socialist principles (the Indian Constitution, memorably, declares India to be a socialist republic). Unfortunately, and ironically, this means that all hospitals would be taxed further, thus putting healthcare further out of reach of the poor. Dr. Shetty has organized sit-ins all over the country to protest this tax, centered on the numerous facilities opened by Narayana Hospitals. ‘Ultimately, the tax was withdrawn completely,’ he proudly exclaims. ‘But I’d rather expend all that energy directed to sit-ins in taking care of the sick and the poor.’”
The story also highlights the difficulties involved in building institutions.
The resignation of Pratap Bhanu Mehta from Ashoka University is yet another example.
Join us at the Founding Fuel Club on Monday at 9 pm (IST) to engage with some stellar speakers when they talk about the people who built some of the iconic institutions in India, including IIT, IIM, IISc, IRMA and TIFR.
The guests include S Sivakumar (ITC), Rishikesha Krishnan (Director, IIM-Bangalore), Ashok Misra (Fellow, National Academy of Sciences & Former Director, IIT Bombay), Meeta Sengupta (Founder, Centre for Education Strategy), Sanjoy Bhattacharyya (Partner at Fortuna Capital) and P Hari (senior journalist).
And do share this link with those on ClubHouse and may be interested: https://ios.joinclubhouse.com/event/PDjd6NnO
Have a great week ahead.
In this issue
- What reformers can learn from the history of medicine
- The downside of low prices
- The downside of webinars
What reformers can learn from the history of medicine
Wired has a story on how evidence-based policing—based on running controlled trials to see which interventions work, and which don't—can make policing more fair. It captures in some detail the work of Lawrence Sherman, director of the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology, who has been pushing for this approach. Towards the end, the story has an interesting nugget from the history of medicine.
“Sherman believes that medicine’s history has instructive tales for the future of policing. As Sherman has pointed out, Ignaz Semmelweis, the doctor who discovered that hand-washing could reduce deaths in childbirth, was ridiculed and lost his job. The American College of Surgeons felt so threatened by the first performance rankings of US hospitals in 1919 that they immediately scorched the report in the furnace of the New York hotel where they had convened. ‘Science is like that,’ says Barnes, who recently started a new job as deputy director of the Metropolitan Police’s strategic insights unit. ‘It starts out with lots of petty jealousies. The police are maybe, at best, 20 years into this, and that is being generous.’
“Sherman is playing the long game. He’s confident that his work chimes with the scientific currents of our age and remains the most effective path to a better, more just policing system.”
The downside of low prices
India has had its share of fights against Amazon. Recently, Amazon delivery executives in Pune went on a strike demanding better compensation. Paying more could impact the prices of goods sold on the platform.
The New Yorker profiles a bookstore that publicises its higher price compared to Amazon. It argues there is a reason why paying more is better. Local businesses take care of local communities in a way Amazon cannot.
Here’s an interesting extract from the story.
“Whatever happens with pricing, Caine emphasized, there will always be other reasons to shop locally. His bookstore will never surreptitiously record your family conversations via Alexa or sell your browsing history to the highest bidder, he noted, and it will invest in Lawrence in ways that a company like Amazon does not. For years, Caine pointed out, Amazon did not collect any sales taxes, depriving local and state governments of their share of its take, and it still pays shockingly low and often nonexistent federal income taxes, while enjoying tax breaks from municipalities desperate to attract its fulfillment centers—one of which will be opening soon in nearby Kansas City.
“By contrast, the Raven supports both the local community and local authors. The store has helped sustain the careers of Kansas writers, such as the novelist Bryn Greenwood and the journalist Sarah Smarsh, whose first book tour, for her memoir Heartland, included an event in Lawrence with several hundred locals. Eight years ago, a decade and a half after she started working at the Raven, Kelly Barth published her first book, My Almost Certainly Real Imaginary Jesus, and had a launch party at the store. The Raven’s best-selling book of all time is Ladybird, Collected, an essay collection by Meg Heriford, who owns the Ladybird Diner in town. The bookstore donates its profits to Heriford’s community meal programme, and each book covers four of the free sack lunches that the Ladybird has been distributing since the diner closed during the coronavirus pandemic.”
The downside of webinars
We organized a Masterclass on the Future of MBA with a panel including Srikant Datar, Senior Associate Dean (and now, Dean) Harvard Business School, and author of Rethinking the MBA; Ajit Rangnekar, Former Dean, ISB, and Partner, SVP India; Nitin Paranjpe, Global COO, Unilever; and Pramath Sinha, Founder, Harappa Education, Ashoka University, Vedica Scholars. The session was anchored by Meeta Sengupta, Founder, Centre for Education Strategy. Watch: Masterclass: The Future of the MBA
ICYMI: Slow, steady lifestyle changes, gadgets and other tips on how to get the best sleep (and when to seek medical help). Read: FF Recommends: Better Sleep
Not just Amazon, all platform businesses are hitting the headlines these days. In August 2019, Harsh Vardhan wrote about the Zomato Gold membership programme. It was a runaway success, but the inherent conflict at the heart of the scheme sparked off a huge battle between the aggregator and restaurants. Read: Zomato Gold: A crisis that was waiting to happen
Tell us what you think and find noteworthy.
And if you missed previous editions of this newsletter, they’re all archived here.
Bookmark Founding Fuel’s special section on Thriving in Volatile Times. All our stories on how individuals and businesses are responding to the pandemic until now are posted there.
Team Founding Fuel
(Note: Founding Fuel may earn commissions for purchases made through the Amazon affiliate links in this article.)


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Volta Trucks has confirmed that the first Volta Zero vehicles will be manufactured in Steyr, Austria, by Steyr Automotive, formerly MAN Truck and Bus Austria.
The announcement follows a wide-ranging competitive tender process with potential suppliers throughout Europe.
Steyr Automotive were appointed based on their extensive experience of commercial vehicle manufacturing, existing manufacturing infrastructure and consequent speed to market.
This will allow Volta Trucks to confidently start series production in late 2022, following customer trials of Pilot Fleet vehicles that will commence mid-next year.
The announcement to partner with Steyr Automotive provides Volta Trucks with more than 100 years of manufacturing experience building large commercial vehicles.
Over time, the contract will create up to 500 jobs in the region in addition to an estimated 2000 positions within the supply chain.
Volta Trucks is planning to manufacture vehicles close to the markets in which they will be sold, reducing the environmental footprint of vehicle distribution.
With London and Paris identified as the initial launch cities, and a Europe-first city-specific roll out strategy, the plant in Austria is perfectly situated close to the initial markets, supporting the accelerated roll-out of full-electric commercial vehicles to customers.
Confirming the announcement, co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Volta Trucks, Kjell Waloen, said; “The partnership with Steyr Automotive marks a significant milestone for Volta Trucks, and one of the important milestones ahead of us starting to build full electric trucks by the end of 2022.
“The team at Steyr Automotive has demonstrable capability to manufacture the Volta Zero with decades of previous premium truck-building experience. Building our trucks in Austria, in the heart of our European launch region, will accelerate our time to market and minimise the environmental footprint of our operations, supporting our sustainability ambitions – a key factor in our decision-making process.
“The partnership will now allow Volta Trucks to quickly ramp up our production as we look to meet the demands of our customers who need to replace their fleets with zero emission vehicles as soon as possible.”
Siegfried Wolf, Chairman of the Board of Steyr Automotive, said: “We are very pleased and excited that Volta Trucks selected Steyr Automotive for the manufacturing for the new electric Volta Zero.
“With the expertise and experience of our team in Steyr, we are looking forward to a long-lasting successful partnership with Volta Trucks.”
Image: courtesy Volta Trucks


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Two Primary Pointers to Recession are Rapidly Diving Deeper
One who was a solitary voice in claiming the year began in a recession has now been joined by several significant voices claiming the recession is here; it will hit like a hurricane; and it will be deep, long and difficult to get out ofâ€¦.
We've gone from my being almost a lone voice at the start of the year, proclaiming a recession had begun, to a number of people now saying we are already in recession: David Rosenberg, Eric King and Egon von Greyerz, Danielle DiMartino Booth, John Williams (actually he strongly implied it, at least, back in February), Elon Musk, Zero Hedge, and Richard Feld (Director of the Institute for Financial Transparency). All have finally said we are very likely already in a recession.
Even Jamie Dimon has gone from "We're facing storm clouds that might dissipate" to were "going into a hurricane," and a recent poll by The Economist says, "Fifty-five percent of surveyed adults believe the US is currently experiencing an economic recession." You can count on the common people close to the earth to figure it out long before the Fed or government agencies do in their marbled halls.
Not too surprisingly, Peter Schiff says, we may already be in one, too.
With clarion voice, I have consistently claimed since the start of the year, we ARE in a recession -- no maybes, no hedging my bet or caveats. I've laid out the reasons why, and I even claimed Q4's high GDP print was an anomaly we would not see again in the next quarter. Then the first quarter's negative GDP result came in and proved that to be true.
GDP evidence is falling head-over heals into recession, not showing any evidence of climbing out
As we await the next quarter's GDP report for official proof, note that things are falling fast now, rather than getting better as they would have to if we were going to avoid a second quarter of negative GDP "growth."
In my last post only a few days ago, I wrote,
This past week, even the Federal Reserve moved closer to my own view. The Atlanta Fed revised its GDPNow forecast for the present quarter downward considerably to +1.3%; and, as you see, itâ€™s been revising it down for four out of its last five revised estimates:
I presented the following graph:
And then I made the following comment about how this was likely to progress:
You may recall, when I was forecasting last year that GDP would turn negative in the first quarter, I kept pointing out how the Atlanta Fed was slowly catching down with its own Q1 prediction towards what I was predicting until it revised its forecast all the way down to zero GDP growth. Even then I brashly claimed they were overly optimistic and that the real number would come in negative
It did. And now, just as I anticipated, the Atlanta Fed published the following revision of its forecast for second-quarter GDP:
Only a week after my claim that they would almost assuredly quickly revise further down, they are already revising their forecast for real GDP in the second quarter down to 0.9% growth. They are now less than a percentage point away from nothing, and they are still optimistic as far as I'm concerned.
As I said in the last article, the Fed likes to be optimistic in these things because it doesn't usually want to raise unnecessary alarms. However, even if real GDPNow merely holds where the Fed has it to the end of the quarter and then the actual report comes in as the Fed is predicting, that will average out with the 1st quarter as -0.5% over the two quarters.
That would still constitute a recession in my book, though I don't know how the NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) would call it. Neither do they, as they will have to meet to talk about that. The NBER, which officially calls recessions, generally looks for two negative quarters; however, even they state that they do not hold hard and fast to that as the only way to determine a recession.
My claim on that basis would be that a graph of total GDP would show a slump lasting two quarters because total GDP wouldn't even have recovered back to the point from which it declined. So, a two-quarter slump is a recession.
Consumer conditions are receding, not improving
HOWEVER, I don't anticipate having to rely on that kind of technicality because the American consumer is not looking like they can hang on a lot longer in this kind of inflation without making some serious spending cuts, which may already be happening. One of the other things I reported two articles back to verify my claim that we are already in a recession was that consumer credit is rising at the fastest clip in history. I showed the following graph:
To confirm what Iâ€™ve extrapolated about the condition of the consumer, the growth in credit-card debt has never looked anywhere near this extreme: (It is clearly way beyond the rate of population growth.)
Well, look at where we are now:
Here are the shocking numbers: in April one month after the jarring March print again came in more than double the $25 billion expected to $52.435 billion, in April consumer credit again exploded to a ridiculous $38.1 billion, again blowing away expectations of a $35 billion increase (and not much lower than last month's downward revised $47.3 billion).
That is three months of rocketing reliance on consumer credit that looks notably worse than the first quarter. That said, the total amount of credit consumers have taken out is not as high as the total was before the last two crashes, though even the total of all their credit balances is close to what it was before those crashes. Adjusted for inflation and population growth, it is at a safe level ... as in not looking like people have exhausted all credit available to them.
However, the rate of rise in credit use is by far the steepest it has been in three decades! If the present month comes out around that same level on credit expansion, that will make a full quarter that show's a lot more reliance on credit than the previous quarter. How is that likely to be less recessionary than the last quarter?
The increased reliance on credit indicates consumers have apparently tapped out most of their checking and savings and are now reaching into credit to maintain their purchasing at the level they have come to like ... or to buy less stuff while paying more for each item. When consumers start finding they have to turn to more credit use, they typically start looking for ways to consume less.
The above is all for types of consumer credit, but look at where just revolving credit now is:
Right back up to its peak before the Covidcrash, and climbing faster than anytime before that with the rate of climb steepening parabolically. At that rate, it will only be a matter of weeks until -- even adjusted for population growth since the Covidcrash -- consumers will have exceeded the last summit. In fact, graphing those credit balances out in terms of how rapidly they are changing year on year, looks like this:
The main thing to get from all this is not whether people have maxed out their available credit, but the fact that the rapid increase in credit use indicates people have maxed out their savings and checking and monthly cash flow. If that were not the case, why would they choose to rapidly increase their use of available credit lines just as the Fed is going into large interest hikes and as interest is already rising on all forms of credit? As their purchases are forced to diminish, we will press even deeper into recession.
Imports still not important
I also noted in those recent posts that the Fed notes many people mistakenly claim that imports are jockeying the GDP growth rate around because of a common misconception. They see that imports get subtracted out of GDP at the bottom, but they don't realize that all those imports were also included in all the other GDP factors add ini above that line.
If the only thing being subtracted out is truly what was embedded in the other numbers (as is purported to be the case if all is calculated in a timely and correct manner) that just makes imports a wash (intentionally because they should never be included in gross domestic product). If that bottom number being subtracted out had not been as large as it was, the positive (albeit unseen) numbers that are embedded in all the GDP additions, also would not have been as large as they were. (I explained how all that works in the last article).
I bring that up here, because many were basing their hopes that the negative Q1 GDP report was a one-off on the belief that imports would be falling in Q2 because the supposedly anomalous restocking from imports that happened in Q1 would not repeat itself. Therefore, imports (based on the very common misunderstanding of how that works) would not be subtracting as much from GDP in the present quarter.
It turns out the were right about imports "falling off a cliff."
Inbound container volumes to the US are reverting to pre-pandemic levels. The latest ocean container bookings data reveals that despite the strong levels of inbound cargo during the first five months of 2022, import demand is not just softening â€” itâ€™s dropping off a cliff. Because capacity on the trans-Pacific has remained relatively stable, Freightosâ€™ container spot rates from China to the West Coast have plunged 38% month-over-month.
Just remember, according to the Fed and the BEA, imports are a wash. The subtraction is merely an accounting reconciliation to remove imports that were included in all the other numbers that quarter. Even so, imports are likely down now only because China closed some of its major ports over the past month, and those have just reopened, so expect a new flood of imports soon, not that it matters for GDP, which only measures domestic production.
So, you may hear some saying the decline in imports will mean a higher GDP print; but if we get a higher print, that will not likely be why, assuming the reconciliation is accurate.
Heading for subhyperinflation
The consumer is tapped out due to soaring inflation, and the Fed's own GDP forecast is now continuously falling.
You may naturally think that combo will be immediately deflationary, and I have long thought the present recession would start with high inflation like we now have but eventually turn deflationary as recessions most often due. Then, this week, one of those revelatory moments happened in which I realized a powerful mechanism that is different right now than in previous recessions, other than in the seventies -- a basic financial mechanism now revving up that can be a great accelerator of inflation. It is much more in play right now than it was in the seventies when it drove inflation. While I don't think (at this point) we're in danger of going full Zimbabwe or Weimar, it could rapidly push us well beyond any inflation the US has ever experienced -- like the seventies on steroids. It could even go full hyperinflation if the Fed goes full retard.
Here I will finally hedge my prediction. It's a new thought (for me anyway), so I'm not as sure of it as I was about the present high inflation and the death of the bull market and recession I assured everyone the present cycle of inflation would cause; but it is a compelling thought about the present financial chemistry; so I will lay it out for you in my next article. I'm not being alarmist, as I think you'll find the straightforward reasoning makes a great deal of sense, and it is something we've never experienced with this kind of breadth on a national level here in the US that actually looks probable at the moment. But I'll need space to make my case, so this is all for now.


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AMSTERDAM—As industry trade shows return to the scene after two years of pandemic lockdowns, one of the industry’s largest broadcast tech vendors thinks the events are more vital than ever.
Louis Hernandez, CEO and founder of Black Dragon Capital, owner of Grass Valley, emphasized how important it is that the vendors continue to support the organizations behind major shows like the NAB Show and IBC that use the revenues from the events to promote the future of media and entertainment technology.
(The NAB Show is hosted by the U.S. broadcast industry's largest lobbying organization while the IBC Show is owned by SMPTE, IABM, IEEE, RTS, SCTE and SMPTE, industry associations that support and promote the media industry through education, research and standards development.)
“You have to support the communities that supported us. These associations aren't just about making money from vendors and customers, it's really about the lobbying efforts,” Hernandez said during Grass Valley’s press conference ahead of the opening of the 2022 IBC Show. “It's about fighting for the rights of an industry that we all care about.”
“That's why we never diminished our efforts and will continue to support these organizations, they're supporting us, we need to support them.”
Hernandez added that the M&E tech industry thrives when organizations go to bat for the issues that impact how media companies produce and distribute content.
“For example, NAB is fighting for IP rights and has spent a lot of money on an issue that’s very important to our clients,” he said. “And if we don’t support them and they don’t have the income stream to fight for these issues, our industry is going to be in trouble.”
Hernandez also noted the impact the pandemic of the past two years has had on how vendors interact with their customers and how that affects the future of trade shows as well.
“When we're talking to those leaders, we're saying, ‘listen, we have to recognize that engagement with our partners is going to change over time, and you need to change with it… but we're going to be there for you,’ because we need to play a broader role for the ecosystem and we can't abandon our friends. And we think it was wrong for anybody to use cost savings as a reason for pulling out of some of these events when this is the time they need us most, even though we're all going through this transition.”
Read more about GV’s IBC news here.
Tom has covered the broadcast technology market for the past 25 years, including three years handling member communications for the National Association of Broadcasters followed by a year as editor of Video Technology News and DTV Business executive newsletters for Phillips Publishing. In 1999 he launched digitalbroadcasting.com for internet B2B portal Verticalnet. He is also a charter member of the CTA's Academy of Digital TV Pioneers. Since 2001, he has been editor-in-chief of TV Tech (www.tvtech.com), the leading source of news and information on broadcast and related media technology and is a frequent contributor and moderator to the brand’s Tech Leadership events.
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With the Russian invasion of Ukraine showing no signs of stopping, Big Tech companies are stepping up to do what they can. This includes halting sales, services, and shipping to Russia. This list includes some of the largest players of the industries such as Google, Nike, Ford, Harley-Davidson, and now, Apple has joined the party and stands in solidarity with its fellow titans against the invasion.
After it imposed limitations for Apple Pay in Russia and removed several Russian news apps from the App Store outside of the country, the Cupertino-based tech giant has decided to freeze the sales of all Apple products in Russia.
This means that if you try to purchase an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or other Apple devices from the Russian store, you will see a “delivery unavailable” result when trying to add a new product to the cart.
This is a fallout from the ongoing invasion, which is set to be one week long tomorrow, and has already claimed numerous casualties. Talks between the two countries yielded no effect, and the Indian government is scrambling to evacuate Indian students from the war-torn nation.
Apple confirmed the halt of its product sales, saying that it stands “with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence.”
This also comes after Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov published an open letter to Apple, urging the tech giant to cut Russia off from its products, services, and App Store. He also urged the company to close the App Store in Russia, something the company has not done (yet). For now, all exports into Apple’s sales channel in the country has been stopped.
Apple is, by no means, the first company to make such a decision. MSC and Maersk, the largest shipping lines in the world, have already suspended container shipping to Russia, and Harley-Davidson has suspended its business and shipping bikes to the country. Ford has walked down a similar road, while Nokia said it would stop deliveries to Russia to comply with sanctions imposed.
Additionally, Netflix said that it will not be adding state-run channels to its Russian service. Russian regulations had required it to carry 20 free-to-air news, sports and entertainment channels in the country.
In an official statement, Apple said that it was deeply concerned about the invasion and are supporting humanitarian efforts, providing aid for the unfolding refugee crisis, and doing all it can to support its teams in the region. Apart from putting a halt to product sales, the company has also removed the Russian Today (RT) and Sputnik apps (Russian news apps) from the App Store.
Like Google, it has also disabled traffic data for Maps users in Ukraine (including live incidents) as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens.
Google has removed the Russian news apps as well, and soon, mobile banking apps in Russia may not function fully on devices using Apple’s iOS operating system. Going forwards, Apple will continue to evaluate the situation and is communicating with the governments of affected countries.
Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted similar sentiments in a letter sent out to employees, providing information on how Apple employees could make donations.
Apple will be matching all donations at a rate of 2:1 for eligible organizations, retroactive for donations made since February 25.


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Google has come a long way in its eleven-year history, from its humble beginning as a Stanford University research project in 1998, to the global, multi-billion dollar online presence Google enjoys today.
Earlier this week, the company celebrated its 11th birthday and choose to mark the occasion with an all new Google Doodle, a fun take on their colorful identity. The unique logo illustrated Google’s eleven years in operation by adding an extra L to the company’s name to form a number eleven.
Google’s actual founding date is subject to debate. There are those who think that Google should bring out the cake on the September 4, the day in 1998 that Google filed its incorporation papers and officially became Google, Inc. Still others think that Google should recognize September 15, 1997 as its founding date, as that is when Google registered the google.com domain. But despite the debate, Google has celebrated its anniversary on September 27 for the past few years now, making the date somewhat official.
Any birthday offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past, so just what has Google been up to in the last eleven years?
With a makeshift office in place, Google made it official and filed for incorporation as “Google Technology Inc” on September 4, 1998. As the rest of year played out, Google began to receive positive support in the press, and the company also hired their first employee, Craig Silverstein.
Money And Moving: 1999
Thanks to its growing workforce, the fledgling company moved twice in 1999. Google outgrew its modest garage and relocated briefly to a more suitable location in Palo Alto. In June, the company released its very first press release, detailing how the firm had secured $25 million of funding.
During the second half of the year, as the company reached forty employees, Google moved once again to offices in Mountain View, with an in-house chef included. This year also saw Google drop the exclamation mark from their logo and settling with its now world-famous branding.
Growth & Expansion: 2000
2000 was a year of growth, as along with the search engine reaching a milestone of one billion pages indexed, the website also expanded to support over fifteen languages including Chinese, French, German, Japanese and more.
How things change. This year (2000) also saw Yahoo! reveal that they will be using Google as their default search provider. At the time this was a big deal, as Yahoo! was once one of the darlings of search, which Google had originally set their eyes on to compete with; mission accomplished? Of course today paints a very different picture as now both Yahoo! and Microsoft are collectively attempting to compete with the search giant that Google has become.
Before the year was out Google also found time to launch the immensely successful AdWords program, and their Toolbar browser plug-in. With the year drawing to a close it was pretty clear that the search engine was on a meteoric rise, as Google was now handling nearly 100 million search queries a day.
Going Global: 2001
With the search engine now available in over twenty-five languages, it only seemed right that the company would expand on a global level with the opening of its first international office in Tokyo. 2001 also saw Google hire ex-Novell chief executive Eric Schmidt, who started at Google as the Chairman of the Board, before quickly moving on to become the CEO.
With the Google search index approaching three billion webpages, it seemed the perfect time to tackle a new type of search: Images. Google launched its Image Search service in July, and initially had an index of over 250 million images.
Getting Geeky: 2002
2002 saw Google launch a range of new products, including the shopping tool Froogle, the experimental Google Labs, and the popular Google News service, a product of the company’s so-called “twenty percent time“. Geeky Google also decided to offer a Klingon translation of the site for all those Star Trek fans out there, bringing the total number of supports languages to over seventy. Spiderman, Warcraft 3 and pop star Shakira were amongst the most common search terms of the year.
The Written Word: 2003
2003 was one verbose year for the search-engine giant. It began in February when Google acquired Pyra Labs, creators of the Blogger service, which allowed the masses to publish their thoughts online with ease. Soon after the acquisition, Google’s company name was announced as a recognized verb, to “google it” had become synonymous with search, however Google strived to steer clear of dictonaries and protect their strong brand.
In December the controversial Google Print was launched: Now known as Google Book Search, the service allows users to view excerpts from thousands of books in digital form. Classic books and their film adaptations, such as Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter, were some of the most searched for terms on Google in 2003.
Email, Google Style: 2004
Without a doubt 2004 biggest Google news was the introduction of Gmail. The beta launched on April Fools Day, but Google made sure that Gmails was no joke, offering a then-unheard-of 1GB of storage along with a speedy user experience and the beauty of Google’s search technology built right in to your inbox. The service launched as a strictly invite-only affair, which resulted in an online gold rush of those hoping to land an invitation. After five years, Gmail finally disposed of its beta status early in June of 2009.
2004 also saw Google move to its Mountain View, California “Googleplex” headquarters, where the company still resides today. In addition, Google opened a research and development center in Tokyo and a European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. With over three thousand employees, a range or products under its belt and over eight billion items in its search index Google’s growth continued to amaze.
Mapping The World: 2005
In 2005, Google’s ongoing effort to organize the world’s information continued as
they released Google Maps. Since then, Google has continually improved the mapping service, adding new features such as satellite views and directions, as well as increasing the number of new searchable locations. Google Earth, a 3D satellite photography-based mapping application, soon followed, further complimenting Google’s range of location services.
2005 also saw the release of the iGoogle customizable home page, Google Reader RSS feed manager and Google Analytics. Optimized mobile versions of Gmail, Blogger, and Search were also released.
Oh, and could you imagine naming your newborn baby “Google”? It happened.
The year started with Google expanding into new territories once again, with Google Maps making its way to Australia and the Google Docs suite of tools being made available in several additional languages. Gmail was also made available to all, no longer requiring an invitation.
The biggest innovation from Google in 2007 was the addition of street level photography to Google Maps. Dubbed Street View, the service lets you view and explore a number of US locations at street level. Naturally, Street View’s introduction caused some controversy as it raised quite a few privacy concerns.
Popular search terms in 2007 included the iPhone, Facebook and Second Life. Since Google acquired YouTube in 2006, the popular video site has grown into an outright juggernaut: Even the Queen of England has her own YouTube channel.
Going Full Circle: 2008
Last year Google celebrated their tenth year in operation, and showed no signs of slowing down. The company released its first iPhone application, expanded Street View’s coverage to include a number of additional countries, revealed a new version of its Picasa photo management app, and launched Knol, a Wikipedia-type service.
Google also unveiled its Wave service in May of this year. Wave combines a range of communication and social networking activities into a single web application and is expected to be available to the masses later this year.
The biggest news from Google this year came when the firm announced that it plans to release an operating system. Google Chrome OS is expected to land next year, and will initially be aimed at low end devices such as netbooks. Several hints at what the OS could look like have leaked online, but Google have yet to comment on any supposed screenshots.


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[APPLE] – Will we see Apple rise even more as they make the Beats music service available through iOS early 2015?
In yet another product launch this year, following the two versions of iPhone 6 and the new iOS operating system, now Apple turns its attention to user provision, giving iPhone and iPad users the chance to get Beats through iOS, possibly by March 2015.
Back in May, Apple announced the acquisition of the subscription streaming music service Beats Music, and Beats Electronics, which makes designer-styled and designer-priced Beats headphones, speakers and audio software. As part of the acquisition, Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre joined Apple. The price tag was $3 billion, consisting of a purchase price of approximately $2.6 billion and approximately $400 million that will vest over time.
At the time of the acquisition, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO said, “we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world."
At present iTunes downloads are decreasing and artists are starting to question the validity and economics of streaming, but by making the decision to bundle the Beats subscription into iOS, Apple will be able to compete with Spotify, the music streaming company with 10 million subscribers, through targeting the 200 million estimated active iTunes customers. By covering three music stands – downloads, iTunes and iTunes Radio – Apple are determined to take the lion’s share of the music streaming market, maybe taking out the smaller but hugely popular Pandora and Soundcloud in the process.
At present APPLE have risen steadily from mid-October’s figure of 95.11 up to today’s 114.62.
[APPLE] chart on MT4
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SIXTH form students at Ruthin’s Ysgol Brynhyfryd are preparing to strut their stuff on the catwalk – though their chosen garments could not exactly be called haute couture!
As part of a project to raise awareness of issues faced by looked-after children, pupils have teamed up with Cyfle Barnardo’s to present a fashion show for officers within the county council’s social services and lifelong learning departments.
Their garments will be made out of bin bags in order to highlight the fact that many looked-after children are expected to move their belongings between placements using only the plastic containers.
The team of 14 students have one month to arrange the fashion show, design and make clothes, and put together their presentation for a conference at St Asaph’s Oriel House.
Stephanie Colborne, one of the students involved, said: “At present many children and young people do not have a suitcase to move their precious possessions from one foster home to another. Instead, all they have to use is bin bags.”
Another youngster, Lee Garratt, added: “We wanted to raise awareness of the situation and make other people aware of what is going on. We want to help make other young people’s lives better.”
Barnardo’s young people’s involvement worker Purdy Edwards said: “The pupils have really engaged with the project and worked hard to put on the show. Their fashion show will highlight an issue that affects many looked-after children and young people.”


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Study: Consumers pick healthier options when looking at activity-labeled menu
Last Updated: 230 days ago
Many fast food restaurants list the calorie count for menu items. But a new study suggests that showing the amount of time it takes to burn off those calories makes it more likely for customers to choose healthier options.
Researchers learned that if consumers are aware of the number of minutes they would have to exercise to work off the calories they are eating, they are more likely to order the lower-calorie options.
Participants who ordered off the activity-labed menu ordered 139 fewer calories than those who chose from a calorie-labeled menu.
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) ll now be able to send money using their 12-digit Aadhaar number at places where Aadhaar is listed as a payment option. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based app will get biometric-based Aadhaar Pay option as well. The feature is expected to roll out in the coming weeks. In our case, we were able to make payments using our verified Aadhaar card number. Apart from Aadhaar-based payment option, users can pay using Mobile/Payment Address and Account +IFSC.
Currently, the government has 14 banks on-board to facilitate payments via Aadhaar Pay, with more to join soon. According to a report, 1.11 billion people in India have already registered with Aadhaar, and close to 390 million bank accounts are linked to Aadhaar number. With the launch of biometric-based Aadhaar Pay, payment via BHIM app will become simpler as it only requires verifying your biometrics.
As of now, two PINs are required for a successful BHIM transaction. One is the app PIN which is stored locally on the phone and is required every time a person starts BHIM. The other is the UPI PIN with which you set up an UPI account or a VPA, which is required only when a transaction is taking place or you request to see your account balance on the BHIM app.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the digital payments app BHIM from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on December 30 last year. The digital payments app topped Google Play Store free apps chart in just three days. Within a month, it was downloaded more than 5 million times on Android. Aadhaar Pay option was anticipated since the app was launched. BHIM is different to mobile wallets such as Paytm and MobiKwik as it also allows sending money to people who don’t have the app. The UPI integration to USSD payments can work on feature phones and offline as well.


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At the Mobile World Congress 2019 which held this year in February, Taiwanese tech giant, Xiaomi announced the Mi LED Smart Bulb. A few days ago, Xiaomi India announced the Mi LED Smart Bulb in India. The company also went on to unveil the price of its latest IoT product as the crowdfunding took off at 12 noon IST via Mi.com.
The new Mi LED Smart Bulb can display up to 16 million colors and it has a life span of about eleven years. The smart bulb supports the Mi Home app which can be used to control it. It also comes with some added features which allow you to control it using voice assistants such as. Amazon Alexa and Google Home. The company says that the Mi LED Smart Bulb does not need a bridge or hub for wireless connectivity. Thanks to the Mi Home app, users will be able to get full control of the Mi LED Smart Bulb. Via the app, users get features like options to turn on and off, set schedules, brightness, and color changes. Mi LED Smart Bulb supports 16 million colors and can last for straight 11 years.
Xiaomi has announced the price of the Mi LED Smart Bulb to start from Rs. 999 in India up to the first 4,000 orders, with 10 days to go. Just as is written on the listing page, after the first 4,000 units are ordered, the price of the smart bulb will go up to Rs. 1,299. Also, note that Xiaomi will begin the shipments of the first orders from the 20th of next month.
Xiaomi has also launched its new set of smartphones, the new Redmi Y3 and Redmi 7 smartphones in India alongside the Mi LED Smart Bulb.
Based on what you’ve seen on the Mi LED Smart Bulb, do you think it’s a justifiable purchase for Rs. 1,299? Share your thoughts in the comments below.


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just the Round-Up - The week in drinks
The week in drinks
The top ten stories published on just-drinks this week:
Treasury Wine Estates is targeting savings of AUD35m (US$32.7m) in its next fiscal year as the firm looks to turn around its performance.
The Coca-Cola Co plans to boost its range of 'Freestyle' self-serve beverage dispensers in the US to include more low- and no-calorie options.
The finance director at Heineken's Asia Pacific unit has moved to head up several of the brewer's Asian markets following the departure of its regional director for Singapore, Indochina and Exports.
European countries are being urged to do more to stop the import of cheaper Indian 'whisky' into the EU as they undercut “genuine” whiskies.
Anheuser-Busch has said it is “pleased” after a US jury found the company did not discriminate against its former top female executive who claimed she was paid half as much as her male predecessor.
The Association of Lithuanian Trade Enterprises has attacked its country's Government for making Lithuania the first European Union (EU) country to ban the sale of energy drinks to consumers aged under 18.
The chief marketing officer of William Grant & Sons is set to leave the company later this year.
Treasury Wine Estates has received - and rejected - a takeover offer from private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Britvic has continued its turnaround as rising sales in the UK and France saw first-half profits jump.
SABMiller has reported a slip in full-year sales, but growth in its developing markets helped deliver a slight lift in profits as its Europe struggles continued.
The company is looking to enhance its core capabilities of consumer marketing, commercial leadership, franchise leadership, and bottling and distribution operations to drive its sales growth and profi...
Coca-Cola face a challenging situation in which economic recovery is fragile in developed markets, while China and Brazil are seeing a slowdown in sales. Consumers’ desire for diverse and healthy beve...
Africa is the final frontier for beer, according to Euromonitor International's latest global briefing 'Africa: The Final Frontier for Beer'....
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ReneSola Ltd , the leading global solar wafers to solar modules manufacturer and provider, today announced that it will report financial results ended March 31, the first of the Unaudited vuosineljänneksen2011 prior to the opening of the US market on Thursday, 28 April, 2011.
ReneSola’s management will hold merit, Thursday, 28 April 2011 at the latest 8 conference call I am US Eastern Time (8 pm Beijing-time Hong Kong s.a.r.).
Dial-up connection to the data on earnings conference call are as follows:
Hong Kong S.A.R:
Paying for 10 minutes before the call is to begin and to provide the call identifier of the package. The code is “renesola Call”.
A replay of the Conference call telephone number can be used, 5. until May 2011:
In addition, the live and archived webcasts from the Conference call will be available on the website at: ReneSola n-http://www.renesola.com Investor Relations section.
ReneSola is a leading global solar wafers and solar products manufacturer, is based on the Chinese producer. Economies of proprietary technologies, cheap production opportunities and technological innovation and knowledge, an abbreviation of its company ReneSola suppeata Virgin olive oils of polysilicon and solar cell and module production potential to offer high-quality, cost-competitive solar-wafer processing of the products and services. The company holds a global network of suppliers and customers, which includes some of the leading global manufacturers of solar cells and modules. ReneSola’s ADS are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the COMPANY: SOL).


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STRATACACHE this week announced it has intensified its Asia-Pacific growth strategy by launching its digital media technologies into the India marketplace.
To meet the growing customer demand in the region, STRATACACHE has appointed Manish Kumar as Vice President. An expert in the field, Manish joins STRATACACHE with an impressive background in technology management, international business, and strategic business planning.
Manish will be responsible for overseeing the sales, development, customer relations and operations for India.
“India is centric to STRATACACHE’s global growth strategy,” said Chris Riegel, STRATACACHE CEO. “By launching STRATACACHE digital media solutions in the India market, we are able to expand our business operations into one of the most promising new markets in the region.”
Riegel continued, “With Manish spearheading the expansion, we are equipped with the necessary personnel to strengthen and grow local partnerships, allowing us to drive enhanced profitably in the region.”
Operating around the globe, STRATACACHE has other regional sales and service office offices in Australia and Japan and a technical support and sales office in Hong Kong. Upcoming Asia-Pacific facilities will further support STRATACACHE’s ongoing global growth strategy and offer sales and support services for its digital media solutions including Digital Menu Boards, Digital Interactive and Customer Service technologies.


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$EA 1Q16 Q&A: Handler of MKM Partners about convert, Blake commented that original value of the convert, $633MM, that has to be settled in cash and the upside component of that settled in stock. Right now at the avg. stock price for the quarter, $61.61, that would equal 6.6MM shares of stock that would be used to settle the convert.
The latest earnings report by $VZ shows how it is losing customers despite offering the unlimited data plans, a record for the company.
$BEBE is closing down all its stores by the end of May.
$WFC agreed to hike its payout in a class-action settlement over unauthorized accounts by $32 million to $142 million for its retail sales practices. The settlement will now include customers who were impacted as early as May 2002.


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The HTC 10 is leaps and bounds better than the M9 was, and it looks like people are getting rightly excited about this device. The 10 beat out the GS7 in a recent AP poll, in fact. Now Verizon customers can put their money where their mouths are and pre-order HTC's make-or-break smartphone. Sprint has announced details too, but you'll have to wait a little longer. Read More
Sometimes you have to wait a long time to get the announcement that the latest version of Android is coming to a device that you own. That period of time can be agonizing, especially when you have your eyes set on a particular feature.
The experience is only made worse when the announcement doesn't bring an update any closer. Read More
Owners of the Verizon Galaxy Note 4 have been stuck with a non-unlockable bootloader since the device came out more than a year ago, but that's changing thanks to noted modder Beaups. With a few ADB commands, you can unlock the bootloader and open up a whole world of modding possibilities. Of course, you might also break everything. So, proceed at your own risk. Read More
The times they are a-changing. A few years ago Verizon infamously stabbed a dagger in the back of Google Wallet in favor of its own carrier-partnered mobile payment system, Isis. Now Wallet is more or less gone, Isis has been rebranded (thanks to, well, ISIS) as Softcard, Google has bought up its technology, and Verizon would really like you to consider using Wallet’s spiritual successor, Android Pay. In other news, my spec script for a soap opera based on the machinations of the US mobile industry still hasn’t been optioned. Read More
Over the past week, CyanogenMod 13 nightlies have been released for several Android phones and tablets, breathing new life into what can be now considered old hardware. Most of the devices had CM12.1 prior, meaning that the jump they're witnessing is just from Lollipop 5.1 to Marshmallow 6.0, but the Verizon Galaxy S5 never had CM12, it was on CM 11 (KitKat) prior to this update. That must feel like a quantum leap.
Alright, now to the meat of the matter. The devices with new CM13 nightlies are:
- Motorola Moto Maxx "quark"
- Samsung Galaxy S4 (T-Mobile) "jfltetmo"
- Samsung Galaxy S5 (Verizon) "kltevzw"
- Galaxy Note 8 (GSM) "n5100"
- Galaxy Note 8 (Wi-Fi) "n5110."
These being nightlies, expect bugs and instability so you may be better off flashing them on devices that aren't your daily drivers. Read More
Patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to the fickle world of yearly hardware upgrades. If you're willing to wait a bit for that fancy new phone, you can save an insane amount of money. For example, a brand new version of 2014's flagship Samsung phone, still only a year and a half old, can now be had for less than half of its original price. And from two different vendors, no less! Read More
HTC has just announced its latest flagship, the HTC 10. This phone is seen by many as the company's last chance to get back on track. It's not off to an amazing start, though. AT&T, a long time partner of HTC, won't be carrying the HTC 10. That has to sting. It's only going to be sold directly by Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Read More
It's update season at Verizon at the moment, with lots of phones on the network getting updates to Marshmallow. The latest is Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge+, receiving a build which takes it from the Lollipop-based LMY47X to the all-new MMB29K. The update includes WiFi Calling, a feature which has been in Marshmallow updates for other Samsung devices on Verizon, improvements to the Edge panel, and Live Broadcast, and standard Marshmallow features such as on-demand permissions, Doze, and Now on Tap.
Edge Panel sees news features, including Apps Edge and Task Edge, meaning users can now dock apps or certain tasks to the edge of the screen. Read More
We've already told you about the LG G5 being available from AT&T for $688. And if you've been following the coverage, you know it was only a matter of time before the phone went live on other carriers' sites too. Well, it has. The G5 is now ready for purchase from all five major carriers in the US. Read More
This is no April Fools joke: Verizon has updated the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge software pages with details of the Marshmallow OTAs for the two devices. They currently run Lollipop, so the update will be very welcome to S6 owners on Verizon; Samsung started to roll out Marshmallow for the S6 and S6 Edge in February, so Verizon isn't that far behind. It does come almost a month after Sprint initiated the update for their S6 and S6 Edge, though.
The update brings all the features you'd expect of a Galaxy device with Marshmallow. Now on Tap is there, as are on-demand permissions, which were both introduced as part of the overall 6.0 update from Google. Read More


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Welcome to Gaming After Hours: A freelancing website where future journalist express themselves and get noticed.
More and more news of the upcoming Smash series seems to be coming by the mega loads. The latest tidbit comes from the “Official Nintendo Magazine” as told by Sakurai himself. Apparently the new Smash Bros started off on the Nintendo 3DS do to concerns that the series couldn’t evolve any further and felt that a handheld could possibly solve this. But due to the size of the screen, placed limitations as to what they could be done.
Nintendo eventually decided to create two games instead of making the latest Smash a 3DS only title. Sakurai said,
“Even though the characters will be the same in the version Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, the arena will be completely different. In the 3DS version, they are based on games released on portable consoles, while Wii U, arenas are based on articles on home console games.”
We personally wonder if it really did start off as a Nintendo 3DS title only Satoru announced a new Smash Bros game during E3 2011. But keep in mind that development hadn’t even started back yet and naturally things do change as games are go through development process.
For all things Smash, keep it right hereofficial nintendo magazine


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online fitness and nutrition platform, Fittr, has launched a campaign titled ‘Become Who You Were Born To Be’ to convey the message that anyone can start their fitness journey, within a with Fittr’s tailor-made fitness experiences for everyone. Conceptualised by Tikdi Entertainment, the film features Tinkesh Kaushik, a triple amputee, who won Fittr’s transformation challenge in the specially-abled category.
The film begins with Kaushik giving his all to exercise and create a fitness routine, despite his disability. He is seen lifting weights, and doing all other forms of exercise that would ordinarily not be expected by him. Towards the end, he’s seen socialising with other differently-abled children, giving them the hope to become who they were born to be.
The campaign is being rolled out across cinema and the brand’s digital and social media platforms.


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This week, Enterprise Florida (EFI) held its export sales mission to Panama City, Panama.
Enterprise Florida led a delegation consisting of Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue, representatives from five Florida seaports and 20 Florida companies and community partners.
“Enterprise Florida is proud to lead such a robust delegation of Florida companies and leaders to Panama,” said Enterprise Florida Deputy Secretary of Commerce Laura DiBella. “These missions provide unparalleled opportunities for Florida companies to showcase their goods and services to the world and allow Florida leaders to continue to strengthen relationships with our international trading partners. We look forward to a productive mission and are honored to support initiatives that highlight Florida’s companies on a global stage.”
The export sales mission to Panama was a three-day trip that included one-on-one meetings between Florida companies and potential Panamanian representatives and distributors. Additionally, a parallel agenda focused on technology, innovation, and transportation was offered to delegates.
“Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ leadership and historic infrastructure funding in the 2022-2023 Freedom First Budget, the Florida Department of Transportation is making strategic investments in our transportation network, particularly in our seaports,” said Perdue “As Florida moves forward with increasing capacity at our facilities, our economic output will continue to outpace other states and the nation will feel the relief from supply chain disruption. Florida’s seaports are the gateway for the delivery of goods to and from the United States and our investments will increase the number of ships able to traverse our ports, increase access for larger vessels, and create a more seamless transfer of goods to our network of rail and roads to get goods to consumers faster. We look forward to deepening our relationship with our trading partners in Panama and all over the world, as well as showcasing how our infrastructure enhancements continue to benefit Floridians.”
The Florida delegation consisted of:
Port Tampa Bay
Pinellas County Economic Development
Tampa Bay Economic Development Council
Global Tampa Bay
3 Daughters Brewing
Beutlich Pharmaceuticals, LLC
Brew Bus Brewing Inc.
Yo Mama’s Foods
New Century International
Organic Farms Vitamins
Pole Star Defense
Royal Snacks, Inc.
Sanitation Products of America
“Panama, like Florida, is a gateway to the world,” said TJ Villamil, the SVP of International Trade and Development at Enterprise Florida. “As Florida continues to thrive under our Governor’s leadership, it is critical we share the story of Florida’s economic growth with partner countries abroad. Bringing Florida companies and Florida leadership to Panama will strengthen ties and produce positive economic outcomes for the Sunshine State for years to come.”
The United States is Panama’s strongest trading partner. In 2021, Florida accounted for 14% of the $8.3 billion worth of U.S. exports to Panama. Panama also ranked as Florida’s 13th largest total trade partner among Latin American and Caribbean countries in 2021.
EFI maintains an extensive schedule of trade missions and exhibitions worldwide. Last year, merchandise trade valued at $164 billion flowed through Florida’s seaports and airports with Florida-origin exports reaching $55 billion, and Florida exported goods to more than 200 countries, making the state one of the world’s leaders in international trade.
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The government may eliminate the afternoon prohibition on alcohol sales to enhance its tourism promotion efforts.
The Minister of Public Health, Cholnan Srikaew, plans to propose to the government’s alcohol control committee a review of a request from an association of alcohol businesses to lift the restriction preventing the sale of alcohol from 2pm to 5pm.
As the committee’s chair, Dr. Cholnan intends to initiate discussions about the petition from the Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association (TABBA).
Dr. Cholnan mentioned that the afternoon restriction on alcohol sales is not actually included in the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, but rather was a measure introduced by a coup leader in 1972.
He noted, “The committee will need to determine its next steps if it agrees that the 2pm–5pm alcohol sale ban should be lifted for the sake of the government’s tourism promotion policy”.
A committee insider revealed that a decision is anticipated at the committee’s next meeting on February 15.
Despite TABBA’s suggestion aligning with the government’s tourism strategy, the insider emphasized the need for enhanced safeguards, particularly to protect minors, against the risks that may arise from lifting the ban.
Should the alcohol control panel endorse TABBA’s request, the decision will be passed to the national alcohol policy committee for final approval, according to the insider.
This national committee is typically led by the prime minister or one of their deputies, the insider mentioned.
Following approval from the national committee, the Ministry of Health will issue a new directive allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages from 2pm to 5pm, the insider stated.
The implementation of this change might be expedited to take effect by early April, just in time for the annual Songkran festival, as noted by the insider.
Thanakorn Kuptajit, an advisor to TABBA, pointed out that a recent Interior Ministry regulation allowing entertainment venues in Bangkok, Phuket, and Chon Buri to remain open until 4am, which became effective on December 15, has not fully benefited these establishments due to the afternoon sales ban.
According to Mr. Thanakorn, this regulation is a setback, and its removal is crucial for the government to fully support its tourism objectives.
In addition to seeking the repeal of the 2pm–5pm ban, TABBA advocates for stricter enforcement of laws to prevent alcohol-related road incidents and the illegal sale of alcohol to individuals under 20 years of age, Mr. Thanakorn added.
The forthcoming visa-free entry scheme for Thai-Chinese tourists, starting March 1, is expected to attract more Chinese visitors. Loosening alcohol restrictions is seen as a move that could further increase tourism revenue, Mr. Thanakorn suggested.
“Regulations that hinder tourism or are unnecessary should be adjusted to align with the government’s tourism promotion. This alcohol sale ban is one of those regulations”, he said.
He noted that tourists from various countries, including China, often expect to enjoy alcoholic drinks with their meals, especially dinner.
Mr. Thanakorn revealed that TABBA has formally requested the repeal of the afternoon alcohol sale ban in a petition to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsutin, and Dr. Cholnan.


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The project aims to make smart speakers’ singular responses a thing of the past.
TOKYO (July 30, 2019) – Yukai Engineering Inc., a Tokyo-based robotics startup known for creating robots that bring joy to life, and Seaman Artificial Intelligence Research Center of Tokyo have announced their partnership to develop a conversation engine for Yukai’s new-generation communication robot, BOCCO emo. The partnership brings together Yukai’s robotics expertise and Seaman’s deep know-how in building conversation algorithms that enable robots to “read between the lines” in interacting with users, empathize with them and generate natural responses. BOCCO emo, which will be equipped with the new conversation-generating engine, is expected to be able to carry on rich, emotive and continuous dialogues with users.
Yukai and Seaman will use Ogilby, an autonomous conversation engine being developed by Seaman, as the base for BOCCO emo’s conversation generator. Separately from the BOCCO emo project, Seaman will further develop Ogilby as a turnkey solution for various interface devices, with plans to release it in 2020. Under the partnership agreement, Yukai will serve as the distributor of Ogilby.
BOCCO emo is a new generation model of Yukai Engineering’s flagship family communication robot, BOCCO. Planned for a market release in the spring of 2020, BOCCO emo blushes, shakes its head and makes cute sounds in response to the emotional contents of messages exchanged via the device. In partnership with Seaman, Yukai hopes to bring BOCCO emo’s responsiveness to new heights previously unseen in the market.
“We believe our new conversation engine will completely change consumers’ expectations for what smart speakers can do. Unlike Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant that respond to their users one question at a time, BOCCO will be able to carry on a seamless conversation with users in casual and natural language,” Yukai Engineering CEO Shunsuke Aoki said.
“We are excited about this partnership, which enables us to build on our years of experience in developing algorithms that recognize subtle differences in the tones of users’ voices and generate appropriate responses. We cannot wait to see consumers enjoying meaningful conversations with their robots,” Seaman Artificial Intelligence Research Center CEO Yutaka Saito said.
Empathetic Conversation Engine that Learns and Grows
Distribution of Ogilby
In 2017, Seaman Artificial Intelligence Research Center began working on the development of Ogilby, an autonomous conversation engine. The company plans to design it as a turnkey solution for various interface devices. Yukai Engineering will take advantage of its marketing expertise and network to distribute Ogilby, which is scheduled for a market release in 2020.
About BOCCO and BOCCO emo
Launched at CES 2015, the original BOCCO has enjoyed commercial success in Japan as an everyday communication tool for families to exchange voice/text messages and remotely take care of their loved ones, including seniors. Capable of connecting to both sensors and the Internet, BOCCO enables users to monitor and control their home environment.
BOCCO emo moves its head and says hello when sensing the user nearby. It also lights up its eyes, shakes its antenna and makes cute sounds in response to emotional words – such as “happy” and “tired,” plus emojis – in outgoing/incoming text messages, and when called by its nickname the user has given to their robot.
About Seaman Artificial Intelligence Research Center
Seaman Artificial Intelligence Research Center is a Tokyo-based computer software and AI development company. Founded in 2017 solely with private funding, it aims to develop robotic conversation generators for the Japanese language. While the conventional smart speakers can provide human-like responses, it is a mere mimicry and cannot carry a contextualized conversation. As the developer of “Seaman,” a virtual pet video game that’s sold 2 million copies worldwide, Seaman has the know-how to develop an engine that can generate a meaningful conversation. Seaman strives to apply the knowledge gained through its experience in the entertainment field to build an autonomous conversation engine for non-entertainment uses, such as voice-command devices, and make it available through licensing. The company hopes to secure additional funding to release bundle services to share the technology with partnering businesses in 2020.
Address: 1-4-38 Nishi Azabu, Chitose Bldg. 3rd floor


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Mondelez India’s brand Cadbury 5Star has rolled out a new campaign that brings together the fusion of indulgence and technology while manifesting the brands prevailing ‘Do Nothing’ proposition. In partnership with Google and conceptualised by Ogilvy, the brand has introduced the ‘5Star Do Nothing Assistant’, the AI that helps one do nothing.
The campaign tells everyone that while most mobile assistants help them become more productive, the 5Star Do Nothing mode on every android device with Google Assistant gives them more perspective and does the exact reverse. All they need to do is, say "Ok Google, eat a 5Star" to get their Google Assistant to lean back, relax, and motivate them to do nothing as well.
It also highlights that the AI has hundreds of built-in responses and is trained to answer any question one might have with a cheeky response that makes one rethink their plans and wonder if they are better off just doing nothing. The roll out of the campaign will be supported by a 360-degree communication approach, designed to encourage the youth to get a first-hand experience of the latest feature at the back of digital films, radio, social media and influencer-led activations.
Anil Viswanathan, senior director, marketing, insights and analytics, Mondelez India, said, “With the ‘Do Nothing’ campaign, our focus has been to generate some light-hearted relief in serious times and reiterate the most important message of today to unwind and take a break. This campaign is a testimony of 5Star’s brand persona of being witty and quirky which perfectly resonates with Gen Z who are increasingly getting inclined towards all things tech.”
Sukesh Nayak, chief creative officer, Ogilvy India, said, “Today’s digitally native youth are always hungry to pack more into their day and AI assistants help them multitask and do more. However, at times, it’s also good to just chill. So, we helped people do just that. Say “Ok Google. Eat a 5Star" and enter the ‘Do Nothing Mode’ and then enjoy the Google Assistant helping you do nothing."