text:
The cost of PlayStation Plus, Sony’s paid PlayStation Network online gaming service, will increase next month, the company announced today.
Starting on September 22nd, the cost of a 12 month PlayStation Plus membership will increase to $69.99, up from its current $49.99 price. The three-month membership, meanwhile, will increase to $29.99, up from its current $17.99 price point. On a per month basis, PlayStation Plus will cost $11.99 moving forward.
Current members will be forced to pay the new fees when they renew their subscription on or after September 22. According to Sony, this is the first time the company has raised the price of PlayStation Plus since it introduced the service back in 2010.
The company did not provide much in the way of explanation for the increase, other than stating, “The new pricing reflects the current market conditions while enabling us to continue providing exceptional value to our members.”
If there’s any consolidation for Canadian consumers, it’s that Sony is raising the price of PlayStation Plus in the U.S., as well.
PlayStation Plus allows PlayStation consoles owners access to online multiplayer, exclusive store discounts and a number of free games each month.


text:
What's Pulling Investors To Enterprise Focused Startups Encouraged by the success and evolution of cheer leaders like Freshdesk, entrepreneurs are also seen to be investing their time and talent into this space.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
With consumer-focused startups losing their sheen to markdowns and numerous market copy-cats, investors are showing greater interest for enterprise-focused businesses. Industry experts believe that B2B startups are helping them fetch faster returns for their cash, at a time when VCs are craving for quicker returns on investments.
Encouraged by the success and evolution of cheer leaders like Freshdesk, entrepreneurs are also seen to be investing their time and talent into this space. The B2B space has drawn close to $217 million in funding this year. Moglix, an e-commerce company specialising in B2B procurement of industrial products, got funded by Ratan Tata, earlier this year.
What is really drawing VC Money?
According to industry experts, investors have always equally vested their interests in both, the B2B and B2C space. Consumer focused companies have been grappling with market share woes at the expense of investor money. However, with the recent series of markdowns and a galore of market copy-cats, the focus has shifted to business-focused companies.
On the other hand, B2B firms have the benefit of not having to focus on customer retention, cash burn and steep discounts – three being the biggest concerns for B2C companies these days.
"Last couple of years has seen many B2C companies busy grabbing market share and in doing so they burnt heavily, making some of the business unviable without further funding," Anil Joshi, Managing Partner at Unicorn India Ventures said.Investors have become choosier about companies."
"Compared to B2C startups, B2B companies may have lower total customer acquisition costs. The unit customer acquisition cost may be higher, but the quantity of customers is lower, so the overall costs are lower, Brett Stevens, VP at Jaarvis Accelerator said. Mohan Kumar, Partner at Norwest Venture Partners said, "B2B was not in favour with investors who were looking for hyper growth and quick increase in valuation in a short time."
So what are investors actually looking for in a B2B company?
Even though there is significant amount of demand for enterprise-focused businesses, not every startup out there is eligible to get the comfort of VC money. Expectation of a market ready product, higher margins and a product market fit are some of the key checks made by investors in this space.
"There's a definitive trend of VCs heeding more attention to companies that are revenue generating from day one instead of focusing on companies that are more interested in customer acquisition," Harshil Mathur, one of the co-founders of Razorpay said.
"Investors probably anticipate higher margins, through higher revenues and lower costs, for B2B businesses, and therefore higher valuations in the long term. For some products, every B2B transaction can be many times larger than B2C transactions, especially for enterprise solutions," Brett Stevens of Jaarvis Accelerator said. "A good B2B solution will identify and server a niche early on. A good B2B
product grows with its customer base. It should spread within every company it touches, to the point where an employee from any of these companies would not think of working with any other product in their second company," Shashank Kumar, co-founder of Razorpay said.
(Originally published in Entrepreneur India magazine's July 2016 edition)

domain: news


text:
Businesses offering edible fare see business pick up as Thanksgiving approaches
Rick Cook makes a pie crust for a pumpkin pie Friday at Icing Bakery & Cafe in Boonsboro. (November 18, 2012)
“We’ve gotten preliminary Thanksgiving stuff such as turkey and stuffing,” said Williams, 65. “We’ve also started to test pumpkin pie recipes. It’ll be nice to be home for the week.”
Thanksgiving preparations for many area residents and businesses began well ahead of time. With the holiday approaching, bakeries, meat markets and grocery stores prepared for an onslaught of customers.
“It’s a very good time of year,” Holsinger’s Meats and Deli Manager Robby Holsinger said. “You have times when you’re busy and things could be hectic, but our business wouldn’t do well without it.”
Leading up to Thanksgiving, fresh turkeys that have never been frozen from a poultry supplier in York, Pa., along with sausages, beef, pork roasts, fresh oysters and boneless leg of lamb are all popular products at the shop, Holsinger said.
“It’s a wide variety of meat and food people are purchasing this time of year,” he said.
At Hoffman’s Quality Meats, owner Mike Trippett said this Thanksgiving season has been busy.
The business, which gets turkeys from a farm south of Harrisburg, Pa., begins preparing for Thanksgiving as early as August, he said. The turkeys are smoked in a wood smoker, and the sausages are hand-stuffed and made daily.
“Right now it’s probably a little more busy than it has been in the past, and sales are starting to increase,” Trippett said. “It’s a blessing and a curse. We’re very thankful for the business we receive, but at the same time we’re working around the clock.”
The holiday feast involves more than turkey. Cooks also are in the market for cranberry sauce, pies and other sweets.
Hagerstown resident Linda Strite, 64, completed much of her Thanksgiving grocery shopping last week.
“I’ve gotten the turkey, pie crust, pumpkin, stuffing and cherry pie,” she said. “I enjoy getting things on sale and look forward to getting things the family likes.”
Amber Sharps, who is going to visit her parents in Ellicott City, Md., for Thanksgiving, mentioned items on her shopping list.
“On a yearly basis I get stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole,” she said. “My sociology class is also doing Thanksgiving for the homeless people in The Salvation Army through HCC (Hagerstown Community College), so I got some extra stuff.”
A big dinner with all the trimmings is likely to end with dessert, so bakeries tend to see a spike in business prior to Thanksgiving.
Rick Cook, manager at Icing Bakery & Cafe in Boonsboro, said that by this week, the shop was beginning to prepare for pie orders and was gathering apples.
“We sell pies, apple dumplings and some cakes around this time,” he said. “There’s apple, cherry, pumpkin, pecan and chocolate pies.”
Cook said it can get frustrating working this time of year because of how busy the bakery gets, but it can also be fun.
“You’re moving away from the normal stuff and getting into other things,” he said. “You might get an order for something you don’t usually do.”
Alisha Hanlin, manager at Safron Bakery, said she expected business to grow hectic by the end of the week.
“I think people are waiting a little bit longer,” she said. “We’re starting to get calls about breads and pie. Everybody always wants rolls, apple pie and pumpkin pie.”
Save-A-Lot Grocery Store Manager Evangeline Neff said the store on Maryland Avenue was experiencing increased sales of seasonal items.
“We’re picking up a little bit in pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, ham and turkey, but there’s been no Thanksgiving rush,” she said. “We expect more on the weekend.”


text:
Vinyl records sales boom in Singapore, worldwide
People in Singapore may be eyeing a new record. No, like, actually looking at an actual record. According to a report by Luminate Data, a provider of data for the music industry, vinyl record sales have steadily grown for over a decade. This growth can be seen in the increasing number of record shops popping up in areas such as Kampung Glam, Peninsula Plaza, and Joo Chiat in Singapore.
Data shows that the trend is seen around the world. In the UK, vinyl outsold CDs for the first time in 35 years. Similarly, in the US, people are buying more vinyl than CDs for the first time in 30 years.
The popularity of special editions helps keep shoppers buying in the age of digital music streaming. Instead of just the traditional record in a cardboard sleeve, record companies are releasing elaborate box sets and limited edition packaging, often with “goodie bags” of additional merchandise. These items often become collectable and then have a much higher resale value.
The phenomenon of stan culture, which emerged in the late 2010s and became more commonplace during the middle of the decade, has also played a role in the resurgence of vinyl. The term is based on the Eminem song “Stan” and combines the words “stalker” and “fan” to describe superfans, the sort who will drop plenty of cash collecting anything related to their favourite bands or artists.
After blowing up online, stan culture now drives physical sales for musicians to sell all sorts of products, including vinyl. The New York Times says the desire to have a tangible object from the bands they love is the main factor to push an album to No.1 in the charts.
Roxy Records & Trading is the oldest record store in Singapore, launched in 1962. They are relishing the record renaissance. Fluidity has helped keep the family business running for over six decades. They currently are thriving with a vinyl ordering service and monthly shipments of the coolest new albums that younger generations are after.
Ashley Wong, the 19 year old owner of hip record store Wildflower Wax Co, attributes around 40% of her sales to stans buying strictly pop albums. One of the second-generation owners of Roxy Records described the lifecycle of vinyl collectors.
“Vinyl records became popular again and then pop artists start producing records to meet the demand and it just keeps rising.”
Singapore has had a healthy vinyl music industry since the 1960s. A major pressing plant in the country used to pump out one million records a month. Some of these records are still being traded in second-hand stores, introducing a wider variety of music to new young vinyl collectors. Music in Cantonese, Malay, and Mandarin is also growing in popularity due to record sales, as is Japanese music.
The Wildflower Wax Co record shop owner, who started the shop as a side gig while studying, expressed the warm nostalgia felt by her customers.
“From what I’ve seen from my customers, young people want to immortalise their feelings in some sort of tangible, physical art. Some people want nostalgia purely, but some also see vinyl as a way to increase their understanding/connection to their favourite artists. Feeling a record with your fingers, which may be hailed from 1971 – it’s just a beautiful thing to see.”
Join the conversation and have your say on Thailand news published on The Thaiger.
Thaiger Talk is our new Thaiger Community where you can join the discussion on everything happening in Thailand right now.
Please note that articles are not posted to the forum instantly and can take up to 20 min before being visible. Click for more information and the Thaiger Talk Guidelines.


text:
The difficult moment continues for Meta which, after having had to say goodbye to its cryptocurrency project, greeted an important executive who leaves the company, also had to proceed to downsize some hardware projects that he really cared about.
The last few weeks have proved to be full of great changes for Meta, the Facebook parental company, with the well-known hi-tech giant of Menlo Park which, hit by several management changes, has also decided to downsize some of its ambitions in terms of hardware.
In recent days, around the same time that Guy Rosen took over as head of cybersecurity for Meta, a well-known executive of the same company announced his farewell, after 15 years of service alongside Zuckerberg, whom he met in 2007 when the person in question worked for Google as the vice president for global online operations and sales: this is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg who, specifically, in dedicating herself to her charitable projects in the near future, leaves behind a colossus from over 2 billion users who made a turnover of some 118 billion dollars last year alone.
Meanwhile, Meta is redefining its objectives also for what concerns the hardware. In the past few hours, Bloomberg magazine has published a series of interesting rumors relating to a particular Menlo Park project. Apparently, the $ 349 smartwatch, which should have debuted in the spring of 2023, will not be done: the data sheet that emerged in this regard included a wearable with a removable case, two physical buttons, GPS, Wi-Fi, and up to 18 hours of autonomy, equipped with two cameras.
One, front, 5 megapixel, would be used for video calls, while the other, on the pulse, 12 megapixel, would have captured photos and videos, to be shared via Instagram or WhatsApp. The reasons for the stop to the development of the watch, which would also have made it possible to manage music on Spotify, receive notifications, track heart rate, breathing and sports activities, include the cost cuts to the Reality Labs division and technical difficulties, perhaps dictated by the fact that the dorsal camera, to be used with the watch capsule extracted, could have interfered with the functions related to electromyography (detection of nerve impulses to be transformed into digital inputs for the control of one’s avatar in the Metaverse) . According to the source, Meta is still committed to the development of other wearable devices also to free itself from Google and Apple, with users who are forced to use their smartwatches to access its services. On the Metaverse side, according to JP Morgan, Meta has signed an agreement with Broadcom Inc to use its ASIC chips in its hardware destined for the Metaverse.
According to The Verge, there would be changes in the AR glasses as well. Specifically, Meta has decided that the “Orion” model, which could also have reached consumer users, will be reserved for developers only as its technical limitations (dim display, for example) would not have allowed such sales to be achieved. to justify its large-scale production. The plans for two other smart glasses will proceed as before: in 2023 the “Hypernova” model could make its debut, destined to work in tandem with a smartwatch while, according to a timeline not yet defined, a range model should make its debut taller, “Artemis”, less bulky and with better image display technology.
Finally, from Variety and The Information, rumors related to Portal devices would come. Here Meta would have decided to relegate them only to corporate users while, for the consumer one, no new models will be produced, limiting itself to providing assistance for those already in circulation as long as available stocks are exhausted. According to what emerges, this decision would be dictated by a series of circumstances: in particular, during the coronavirus restrictions, many companies would have taken to using the Portal (e.g. recent models compatible with Zoom and Microsoft teams) to keep employees in contact distributed here and there at their own residences, while sales for consumer users would have been nothing short of bad (600,000 Portal sold in 2020, 800,000 in 2021).


text:
NEOPINa one-stop crypto finance platform and blockchain subsidiary of NEOWIZ Holdings (KOSDAQ: 042420), announced on July 7 that it has signed a strategic partnership with Cube Entertainment (hereafter “Cube”) to establish a global blockchain ecosystem.
The two entities plan to cooperate in all areas of the blockchain business and ecosystem through the exchange of information on blockchain technology, cooperation in the development of services and marketing campaigns to each other. develop in the global market.
Cube, one of the biggest entertainment companies in South Korea with top artists such as BTOB, (G)I-DLE and PENTAGON, added blockchain to its business portfolio and founded AniCube Entertainment in last February as a joint venture with Animoca Brands—the parent company of a metaverse platform provider, “the Sandbox.” The first NFT airdrop hosted by Cube last April captured the attention of the blockchain industry, attracting over 2.3 million applicants. Cube plans to introduce new ventures, including the “Music Metaverse”—an open K-pop platform—and a Korean cultural complex within the “Sandbox Game” in the second half.
Launched last January, NEOPIN is an open blockchain platform that offers staking services for cryptocurrencies including TRX, KLAY, and NPT, and yield farming services for tokens earned in P2E games such as “Crypto Golf Impact” and “Brave Nine”. NEOPLY, the parent company of NEOPIN, is known to have a strong technical background and vast experience in the field of blockchain; Besides its experience operating nodes since 2018, NEOPLY has participated in Klaytn’s Governance Council and has been operating a virtual asset wallet service named “nBlocks” since 2019. NPT (Neopin Token), a key currency within the NEOPIN ecosystem, is listed on a number of major exchanges, namely Global Huobi, Gate.io, World MEXC, Global bittrex, bitgetand Global Probit.
“We expect a synergistic effect between NEOPIN’s DeFi technology and Cube’s entertainment-based IP and metaverse platform,” a NEOPIN representative said. “With both business entities playing complementary roles, we will accelerate our progress in establishing a global blockchain ecosystem.”
A Cube representative added, “Our partnership with NEOPIN will allow us to develop a DeFi ecosystem alongside our metaverse blockchain ecosystem. We look forward to globally launching an open metaverse enterprise based on advanced blockchain technology.


text:
Gary Lineker’s weekend TV striptease is a social media win for underwear brand Sunspel
Sports broadcaster Gary Lineker lost a bet over the weekend and stripped down to his skivvies on British TV. The moment was an instant hit on Twitter, where his fans when went into a frenzy.
But the host of “Match of The Day” wasn’t the only winner on social media. Underwear brand Sunspel, which makes the £30 ($38) cotton boxer shorts, scored too.
According to Sunspel, the niche brand saw its Instagram following boosted by 1 percent. Its own post about Gary Lineker was its third most-liked ever, while the hashtag #garyspants received 45 percent more engagement than its usual hashtags.
The stunt came after Lineker, an ex-footballer, promised to strip down to his undies on the show if his team, Leicester FC, won the 2016 Premier League. Leicester claimed the title in May after beating odds 5,000-1. He made good on his promise during the Saturday night broadcast on BBC One.
According to data from Brandwatch, the #garyspants hashtag had a total of 8,860 Twitter mentions over the weekend. A tweet from the BBC show saw over 17,000 likes and over 15,000 retweets. While Lineker’s own post — which name checked Sunspel — racked up over 36,000 likes on Instagram.
He is a man of his word… #MOTD #garyspants https://t.co/vFw3kWFiWA
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) August 13, 2016
In response, Sunspel updated its homepage with, you guessed it, white cotton boxers. While size XXL is sold out, the brand declined to reveal if sales had seen a boost.
The brand was started in 1860, but it is best-known for bringing boxer shorts from the U.S. to the U.K. market in 1947. As a small-scale retailer, it manufactures all its garments from its factory in Long Eaton, in the north of England.
But while the the boxers were a hit with many, some Twitter remained unmoved by Lineker’s stunt, suggesting he didn’t live up to the, well, brief.
Now I don’t like to split hairs BUT we were promised these…Not oversized shorts @GaryLineker #MOTD #garyspants pic.twitter.com/PPDEiDNHKC
— Natalie Pinkham (@NataliePinkham) August 13, 2016
‘Its inevitable’: Domino’s hungers for attention and context
Attention-based buying is turning into a legendary tale of patient and nonchalance. So when there’s a glimpse of progress, marketers tend to take notice. Domino’s being one of them.
Why Cars.com is driving away from performance marketing and toward influencers
To boost brand awareness, Cars.com is doubling down on its influencer marketing efforts.
Why Unity Technologies is leaning into AI as economic headwinds pick up
As one of the largest gaming companies listed on New York Stock Exchange, Unity Technologies leaned into AI during its May 10 earnings call, with Unity CEO John S. Ricciatello stressing Unity’s “competitive advantages in and around AI.”
SponsoredWhat the measurement and currency discussion really means to TV advertisers
Ali Mack, head of TV and agency, Experian Major streaming video providers have recently made headlines by adopting new currencies for ad measurement, threatening Nielsen’s long-standing TV ratings monopoly. NBCUniversal, for example, has certified iSpot and VideoAmp as currencies for advanced audiences and formed the Joint Industry Committee with Paramount, TelevisaUnivision and Warner Bros. Discovery. […]
Dopamine rush to deeper engagement: short-form video boom fuels brands’ embrace of longer-form content
Audiences craving more are now being treated to captivating longer-form narratives. It’s the addictive nature of those quick hits that has fueled this transformation.
How gamers’ engagement with short-form video is changing
To better understand how modern gamers are engaging with short-form video, Digiday teamed up with Gamesight to pull key points from an exclusive report on gamers’ shifting video consumption preferences.


text:
•He discouraged the farmers from selling all their harvests and asked them to keep some for domestic consumption
•This comes barely two weeks after President William Ruto acknowledged that the agriculture sector has been faced with a myriad of challenges
The government has allocated Sh900 million to the Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC), Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said.
Gachagua who was speaking in Trans Nzoia on Sunday said the move seeks to ensure to prices of milk in the country are stabilised.
The funds are allocated to KCC to buy the milk to stop prices from dropping due to a surplus in production.
As a result, milk prices are expected to rise to Sh50 per litre up from Sh45 beginning March 1, 2024.
The Deputy President said they seek to increase the prices to over Sh60 per litre in the coming months.
“As a government, we released Sh900 million to stabilise the prices in the milk sector after a glut following the heavy rains," Gachagua said.
"The prices at KCC will be raised from Sh45 per litre to Sh50 from March 1 and up to Sh60 in the coming months,” the DP noted.
The DP asked dairy farmers to supply milk to the New KCC to earn more.
The DP further called on farmers in Trans Nzoia to increase acreage under maize.
He noted that the government had released adequate subsidized fertilizer which is being sold at Sh2,500 per 50kg bag.
“Trans Nzoia County is important in our country’s food security. The subsidized fertilizer is readily available here," Gachagua said.
"We thank Governor George Natembeya for ensuring the last-mile distribution of the fertilizer,” he said.
He discouraged the farmers from selling all their harvests and asked them to keep some for domestic consumption.
This comes barely two weeks after President William Ruto acknowledged that the agriculture sector has been faced with a myriad of challenges.
Ruto reiterated the government's commitment to streamline the sector.
For instance, he noted that the issues which were threatening the operations at KCC had been resolved, with the farmers expected to get better payment rates beginning March 1.
He said the farmers will now be getting Sh50 per litre of milk they supply to KCC.
"Farmers who are important are paid Sh30 per litre, consumers pay Sh120 for the same in shops; this mathematics is not making sense," Ruto said.


text:
Huawei CEO, Richard Yu, has revealed in an interview with a select few journalists that the brand is considering to equip upcoming Mate series smartphones with 5G connectivity. He also added that the latter part of 2019 would be 5G-driven for Huawei.
Answering to why hasn’t the brand equipped the recently launched P30 and the P30 Pro smartphones with 5G connectivity, Richard said that it had nothing to do with the lack of technology, but more with the state of the network. According to him, the 5G network is not ready yet; it is still in construction. Richard says that the 5G network will be ready by the time they launch the next Mate series smartphones, suggesting two things – first, their decision to omit 5G in P30 series was correct as it wouldn’t matter in a lot of markets due to the lack of 5G networks; second, they want to time the launch of their 5G smartphone in sync with 5G rollout in major markets later this year. FYI, Huawei currently has two 5G-equipped smartphones – the Mate X and the Mate 20 X.
Huawei P30 Expected Launch Schedule
During the above-stated interview, Huawei CEO Richard Yu said “I think [5G will be ready] this fall. Ready for the Mate series” confirming that the Mate 30 series smartphones will launch during this fall. Apart from this, one of Huawei’s executives has revealed that Mate 30 devices will launch sometime in September — this release schedule falls in line with previous Mate-series smartphone launches.
Huawei P30 Expected Specifications
So far, there isn’t much we know about the upcoming Mate 30 devices. However, a recent leak has revealed the name of Huawei’s next flagship smartphone chipset – the brand is calling it the Kirin 985. Most likely, Mate 30 smartphones will feature this chipset. The Kirin 985 might feature 4K video recording at 60 frames per second. So, it is possible that the Mate 30 smartphones will be the first from Huawei to features 4K 60FPS video recording. Speaking of imaging, the Mate 30 series could carry forward the quad-camera setup from the recently launched P30 smartphones. Expect the Mate 30 Pro to feature an AMOLED display with QHD+ resolution, a battery capacity of above 4200mAh, 40W fast charging, wireless charging with reverse power, USB Type-C port, IP68 water and dust resistance, stereo speakers, and an under-display fingerprint scanner.


text:
To help increase technology adoption among the continent’s SMEs, the research emphasizes the significance of sharing best practices to enable better decision-making and cost-effectiveness.
Nearly 70% of Africa’s small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) have invested in technology in the last year to assist enhance growth and resilience, indicating that SMEs are recognizing technology’s positive impact.
There are numerous opportunities to realize the full potential of digitalisation for these businesses and the continent, which requires addressing barriers such as infrastructure, connectivity, and the high cost of implementing technology, as well as developing best practice frameworks for improved collaboration.
These are the conclusions of a new report titled ‘Levelling the SME Playing Field’, which was jointly launched by Vodacom Group, Vodafone Group, and Safaricom.
The report is the sixth research paper in the Africa.connected campaign, which seeks to create sustainable development by bridging digital barriers in Africa’s core economic sectors through strategic collaborations.
“This research delves into the specific issues that SMEs confront in Africa and outlines what needs to be done to assist these entrepreneurs in overcoming these barriers. “Our findings highlight the significant role that technology can play in helping small businesses tap into new opportunities, access finance, increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve their competitiveness,” says Shameel Joosub, CEO of Vodacom Group.
The adoption of technology by African SMEs poses distinct problems. Aside from poor infrastructure and connectivity, the data suggest that the largest challenge for SMEs is the high cost of technology upgrades and renewals (58.3%), which can prohibit small enterprises from keeping up with the newest technological breakthroughs. Almost one-third of SMEs (32%) are concerned about a lack of digital skills and knowledge to fully utilize technology solutions. Furthermore, the study identifies regulatory and compliance difficulties as stumbling hurdles in SMEs’ efforts to digitalize.
The study is based on talks with 400 SMEs in eight African nations (South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Lesotho), with sizes ranging from one to 200 employees. These surveys were carried out in collaboration with World Wide Worx, a South African market research firm that specializes in information technology and telecommunications.
In Africa, digitization has been a game changer for SMEs, with respondents citing technology’s beneficial impact on growth, efficiency, competitiveness, and customer service. Furthermore, by leveraging e-commerce platforms, social media, and digital payment systems like M-Pesa, SMEs may broaden their reach, gain significant data insights, and optimize operations.
To help encourage technology adoption among the continent’s SMEs, the research emphasizes the necessity of sharing best practices in order to improve decision-making and cost-effectiveness. In terms of knowledge-sharing, these standards promote a learning culture by assisting in the identification of gaps in understanding and making it simpler to apply creative ideas, as well as providing an internal knowledge base and preventing know-how loss. Furthermore, using established processes and technology is faster and safer than developing new ones.
“Digital solutions and tools open possibilities for entrepreneurs and small business owners to connect and discuss best practices so that they can learn from each other’s experiences, mitigate common hurdles and maximise their potential. We at Vodacom are keen to partner with small businesses and support them on their journey to success. As a purpose-driven business, our goal is to utilise our networks and our technical capabilities to help SMEs innovate so that together we can create a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future for Africa,” says Joosub.


text:
Cutting out waste
Boughton’s Coffee House has been reporting the recyclability of coffee capsules for several years now, and we think Nespresso’s new collaboration with Victorinox is a unique way to recycle capsules. The limited edition Pioneer Livanto Swiss Army knife is produced using 24 melted-down capsules to create its handle.
Nespresso has been criticised for creating a huge environmental disaster, with billions of capsules ending up in landfill each year. To its credit, the brand has responded by partnering with both collection and recycling companies, and approached the maker of the famous multi-tool knife last year. The sample product used 24 melted-down capsules for its handle, and became sufficiently popular to go into production. It costs £49 and is available online at www.victorinox.com
A fascinating scare story from America’s NBC suggests that it is unhealthy to drink tea or coffee on a plane. The channel’s Business Insider programme reports that flight attendants will never drink hot water, plain coffee or plain tea while in the air. The reason, said the channel, is that the water for inflight tea and coffee comes from a tap, not from a bottle, and in a sample of water from 158 planes, 13 per cent contained unwanted bacteria, two had E.coli in their water, and one in every eight planes fails the American environmental protection agency’s standards for water safety. There are regulations covering water-testing by airlines, but an airline staff association says they are neither followed nor enforced… which is why the cabin attendants don’t drink their own coffee.
The secret to Tim Hortons’ successful opening in Glasgow
The reason the giant Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons chose Glasgow for its first European cafe is that the chain’s chairman comes from the city. But with this being the first European opening in the company’s 150th anniversary year, what will make it stand out among the Scottish coffee scene? One patron has given a unique opinion on the matter.
When the Glasgow store opened at the beginning of June, it offered a prize to the first customer through the door – one chap camped outside for 15 hours, and won a year’s worth of free coffee. Coffee trade marketeers might not be entirely impressed with that customer’s assessment of why Horton’s could do well in Scotland, which may be thought accurate if a little damning: “they will do really well in Glasgow because the type of food that they sell is really popular here. Everyone knows how well Krispy Kreme has done, which shows that people really like the whole junk food and coffee dynamic.”


text:
Passengers can now travel in style and comfort on the London-Brussels route
The e320, which has been operating successfully on the London-Paris route since November 2015, is proving very popular with customers who appreciate the enhanced features and technology of the new trains.
Designed by the world-famous Italian design house, Pininfarina, renowned for its iconic car designs, the e320 boasts 20 per cent more capacity than the original Eurostar trains. With a bold design, chic interiors as well as wifi connectivity and 300 hours of onboard entertainment streamed to customers’ personal devices, the new trains provide an unprecedented level of style and comfort.
The introduction of the e320 on the London-Brussels service also follows an extensive renovation of the Eurostar terminal in Brussels Midi. This has created an expanded departure area and a more efficient check-in space which will be further enhanced by the introduction of facial recognition e-passport gate technology for the peak summer holiday period.
Following the succesful launch of the e320, Eurostar has also entered the final stages of planning for a new direct Netherlands service.
The train company is at an exciting stage in its development as it expands its reach further into Europe. With its new e320 trains, which are interoperable and can operate on the European high-speed network beyond the UK, France and Belgium, the company is in the final stages of preparation for the launch of its new direct service to Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
With over three million leisure and business passengers travelling by air between London and Amsterdam, this is one of Europe’s most important routes. The introduction of a fast, comfortable point-to-point Eurostar service will greatly enhance the links between the UK and the Netherlands, revolutionising travel between these key financial and tourist hubs.


text:
Just a few weeks after Oculus announced the release of its virtual reality headset, Microsoft has brought forth even more exciting news: Starting from March 30, 2016, the tech giant will be releasing its trial batch of HoloLens that will allow users to appear anywhere, anytime.
HoloLens will make new gaming and other exciting applications possible like virtual battles with 3D opponents right in your home. See video below.
Holoportation, a derivative of virtual reality, is a technology that allows a person to create virtual copies of individuals and objects and interact with them just like they are real.
To enter a virtual reality world or be able to holoport, a person has to wear a special headset with lenses and speakers. It takes only a few seconds to trick the mind into accepting that what you are seeing is real. The machine will then take you to any of the pre-loaded sceneries that you choose and recreate images of people and things as if they are right there beside you.
Holoportation vs. Mainstream Virtual Reality
The difference between the mainstream virtual reality equipment (such as Oculus Rift) and those of holoportation (such as HoloLens) is that the former takes you completely away from the physical world, while the latter enables you to create illusionary objects and fix them in the existing environment.
If you were to try out each of these kits, a sample application in Oculus Rift would create the illusion that you are on a trek in the depths of an Amazon forest, while HoloLens will holoport your wife and young son into your hotel room while you’re on a work trip so you can feel that you’re not really 10,000 kilometers away them. Both technologies open up amazing possibilities for gaming and communication, and in the future it would be expected that VR companies will develop devices that can switch between these two possibilities.
A Short History of Virtual Reality
Public interest in virtual reality started as early as the 1990’s. Two prominent companies back then, Forte Technologies Inc. and Sony, developed the first brands of virtual headsets for gaming. However, poor computer hardware at the time contributed to unsatisfactory performance of this equipment, and soon they fell out of favor with users. Dreams of a virtual reality world would then vanish – until in 2012 when they were revived by an online community of gamers.
A public fundraiser in the same year led to the birth of Oculus, a company whose owners promised to come up with advanced yet affordable VR kits. Noticing people’s ambitions, Microsoft and other corporations also joined the bandwagon and have vigorously engaged in VR research since then.
The Oculus Rift and Microsoft’s HoloLens are arguably the most outstanding VR kits ever built. I must add, however, that a lot of intensive research is ongoing; even before the year ends, more advanced inventions might spring up and significantly overshadow existing VRs.
Top Hi-Tech Companies Dive into VR technology
Today, many tech companies are getting involved in the virtual reality world: Google Cardboard is an android-compatible VR kit containing simple components that users assemble to make virtual headsets; Samsung’s Gear VR is specifically made for Samsung mobile phones; HTC produces HTC Vive headsets for their gadgets. And with these two new additions, the future of VR looks good.
Oculus Rift vs. HoloLens: Which One is Better?
If you are going to buy HoloLens in its trial phase, you probably will not enjoy it much due to the limited number of applications it supports at the moment. The batch that will go on sale in March will mostly be bought by programmers so that they can develop applications for the device and fine tune it. Oculus is a better option for now because it already has hundreds of games.
Another factor that might push buyers away from HoloLens is its high price. The trial kits cost a whopping $3,000 – five times the cost of Oculus Rift.
On the other hand, the HoloLens is worth the price if you consider that you won’t have to sit in front of a computer when using it. It has everything integrated within it, so you can carry your headset with you to the streets. Oculus Rift, on the other hand, must be attached to a Windows desktop or laptop for it to function.
In addition, HoloLens is already integrated with Skype, so you can create virtual images of your friends and talk to them “side-by-side”. Such a feature is not yet possible with Oculus. So, which is your pick?


text:
If Toshiba's stand here at CEATEC is all about its Cell Regza technology, Panasonic is pinning its colours on a 3D future for TV, and a greener future for consumer electronics.
But it isn't without a taste of even bigger and better things to come: it's showing a huge TV displaying images in the 4k2k standard – the Super Hi-Vision standard currently being worked on by broadcasters such as Japan's NHK.
And while the big 103in screen showing 3840x2160-pixel images is impressive enough, both with the usual 'trains chugging through snowy landcsape' stuff and some high-speed drag-racing action, Panasonic is saying even this resolution isn't the destination, but merely a stop along the way.
The target? 7680x4320-pixel TV...
And as company president Fumio Ohtsubo made clear in his keynote speech here yesterday, Panasonic is also being driven by green considerations: "Eco will be the centre of our all our activities," he said.
He compared the need for a change in thinking with the Industrial Revolution and the way information technology changed the 20th century, saying that "The 21st century needs a great revolution to realise sustainable growth and break our dependence on oil."
That thinking extends from the new developments in TVs - the company's latest NeoPDP plasma display panels offer the same brightness while offering huge energy savings - to intelligent ways of reducing energy consumption in the home, and more efficient power supply systems.
That includes the fuel-cell technology the company has shown in the past, but also uses Viera Link technology to control complete systems, thus optimising power consumption.
The 3D offering here majors on the company's tie-up with James Cameron's Avatar movie, but is also about the feasibility of the system for home entertainment, covering everything from sports to movies.
Consumers are able to view content on a number of 50in 3D plasma displays, as well as experiencing clips from Avatar in a dedicated 3D cinema.
I'll be covering 3D, and just how big it is to Panasonic, in a future blog – for now, click here to watch our video giving a brief look at the Panasonic CEATEC stand.


text:
Search Result For
Result(s) found: 278
Apparel Sourcing Paris focuses on clothing production
The 16th edition of the Apparel Sourcing and Shawls&Scarves Paris shows, with 366 and 26 exhibitors respectively, demonstrated their immense importance for clothing production and textile accessories in global terms.
VJTI’s VASTRA 2019 – A huge success
The 16th edition of the annual technical summit VASTRA 2019 was celebrated on the February 15-16, 2019. VASTRA’19, organised by the Textile Manufacturers Department of VJTI Mumbai, is a national level technical and fashion summit.
Best Replica Omega watches Review
The Government will start trend forecasting for textiles sector soon, using commercial intelligence to determine what could be in vogue in near future, as India gears up to influence global fashion trends.
Govt to start textiles trend forecasting this month
The government will start “trend forecasting” for textiles sector this month, using commercial intelligence to determine what could be in vogue in near future, as India gears up to influence global fashion trends.
“Smarter Textile. Better Life” in ShanghaiTex 2019
Textile means more than just a piece of clothing today, it has always been closely related to our daily life. Since more consumers are eager to buy unique, creative and functional clothing, innovative technologies are being adopted in a broad range of applications in the textile and fashion market.
GRADO to showcase designs at LFW
Well revered for its quality and a leading name in the fabric and apparel industry, GRADO from the House of GBTL and OCM is all set to take the fashion industry by storm with its first-ever showcase for menswear at Lakme Fashion Week Summer/ Resort’19’.
Advertise Here [300 W x 250 H pixels]


text:
CECIL, Wis. (WFRV) – There was another explosion of beautiful art on display in Cecil over the weekend.
Fields and fields of sunflowers opened to the public at Bergsbaken Farms annual sunflower fest.
Visitors could take home a fresh cut flower, get their photo taken among the big yellow blossoms or just stroll through the trails of sunflower fields.
Although scaled down a bit due to the coronavirus pandemic, owners say sunflower fest just give people a chance to get out and enjoy one of nature’s most beautiful displays.
“Part of the ag tourism brings people out, show them the sunflowers a little part of the world,” Dale Bergsbaken of Bergsbaken Farms.
Primarily grown for the seeds, sunflowers are also used for sunflower oil, which Bergsbaken Farms does press and sell locally.
- Who won the Trump-Biden debate? 6 key moments from the final showdown
- Warren Gerds/Critic at Large: Students prepare original pandemic-themed plays at Oshkosh school
- New quarry causing tension in Door County
- Local Veteran surprised with gift of car
- Man arrested in North Carolina in May accused of threatening to kill Joe Biden


text:
Adairs Archives - Inside Retail
Homewares retailer acquires Mocka for $80 million.
New Zealand offer to be used as a model for future expansions.
Homewares retailer issues another earnings downgrade.
CEO flags a potential drop in consumer spending.
Bedding retailer to focus on new categories, larger stores and online.
Retailer sees sales boost from more frequent purchases.
Private equity firm sells down Adairs stake.
Bedding retailer upgrades guidance, again.
Bedding retailer benefits from reshaped product mix.
Bedding retailer set to avoid a repeat of its horror first-half result last year.
Retail veteran joins retailer’s board, eyes growth opportunities.
Bedding retailer looks overseas, plans new international website.


text:
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.- ReversingLabs, the market leader in software supply chain security, today announced it has teamed up with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (a limited liability partnership incorporated in England) (“PwC”)) to help businesses gain visibility and control over their software supply chain. PwC provides market leading advisory and managed services in Third Party Risk Management (TPRM) and works with many of the world’s largest and most complex organizations. Working together, ReversingLabs and PwC will help customers modernize traditional TPRM programs that struggle to keep pace with the complexities and interconnectedness of the modern software supply chain.
“Organizations have never been more reliant on their supplier base than they are today. As a result, automation is needed to help assess the risk of these relationships at speed and scale. That is particularly true as commercial software suppliers come to rely on open source code, which is increasingly exploited by malicious actors,” said Mario Vuksan, CEO and Co-founder, ReversingLabs. “At the same time TPRM teams need solutions to not only manage emerging and existing threats from the supply chain, but other challenges, including regulatory scrutiny, access to talent, and the convergence of various risk domains.”
Available now and strongly positioned to help businesses thwart the growing security risks inherent in third party software, this alliance will help advance TPRM initiatives, enabling greater visibility and control over software supply chains. By combining PwC’s advisory capabilities and executive managed service to design and operationalize TPRM programs with ReversingLabs’ automated platform to quickly detect and mitigate threats within software, organizations can better protect themselves from sophisticated attacks on the software supply chain.
The partnership will help customers:
- Increase visibility into software - Visualize the components that make up the software supply chain and the risk they present to the business.
- Automate software assurance testing - Eliminate manual questionnaire-based testing required for software suppliers.
- Protect the software supply chain end-to-end - Reduce the likelihood and impact of malware and tampering attacks on the supply chain across the software development and use lifecycles.
- Reduce dependencies on supplier cooperation - Obtain security assurance over software consumed using just a binary package (no access to source code is needed).
- Streamline risk remediation - Prioritize security remediation efforts to those critical risk issues that most significantly impact your business.
“Modern software supply chain security demands that organizations not only address issues specific to the development of software applications, but also to the consumption of commercial software, where suppliers' reliance on external components like third-party libraries introduces additional risks,” Vuksan continued.
“The way firms must think about their supply chain continues to evolve and it’s clear now that with such a high dependency on software and technology, getting visibility into software security is no longer a nice-to-have activity,” said Penny Flint, Partner, PwC UK.
“This alliance will enable PwC to enhance its best-in-class TPRM services and provide clients with the visibility they need to understand and reduce third-party risks to their software supply chain,” added Ian Trinder, Director, PwC UK.
To learn more about the combination of PwC’s advisory capabilities with ReversingLabs’ automated platform to quickly detect and mitigate threats within software, visit https://www.reversinglabs.com/third-party-software-supply-chain-risk-alliance.


text:
To add to its ongoing efforts to help Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients in making the right, healthy food choices while shopping at corner stones, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service publishes a guide to help corner store owners to sell healthier foods.
While US FDA’s guideline on healthy food labeling and sales in supermarkets assures a healthier food alternative for a major portion of the population, the access to healthier food for another population cluster still remains restricted to the neighborhood. For low-income communities that rely solely on corner stores for groceries, healthier, fresher, and nutritious food alternatives are not always available or in fact, financially unaffordable.
For Supplemental Nutritious Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients or precisely corner store shoppers, the USDA has made an effort to broaden the availability of healthier foods without cutting on their nutritional value and taste. According to Food and Nutrition Sciences (FNS), the federal agency coordinating the SNAP program, there should be no reason for SNAP recipients to suffer from inadequate healthy foods supply. FNS further expands the information to Spanish users through a public assistance program.
USDA believes that healthier corner stores will influence the community health positively by selling fresh foods and vegetables, frozen fruits and vegetables, low-fat high-quality dairy products, and whole grain snacks. The newly published guide includes simple yet valuable information to help food and nutrition organizations as well as corner store owners to figure out on resources and strategies for getting healthier foods and beverages to corner stores for sale within respective communities.
The Healthy Corner Stores Guide elaborates on sourcing, placing, marketing, displaying, and selling the right way. The objective of this guide remains to educate and encourage store owners and small business owners on improving their access to healthy food products and sell them in corner stores. Some store owners have already started their move toward the transformation; whereas, others are most likely to take a step forward to benefit from the USDA C-stores guide for healthier foods.


text:
Apple won a small reprieve on the matter of its biggest PR problem this week as the Fair Labor Association announced that the tech giant has slightly improved conditions at its now-infamous Foxconn plants in mainland China. The catch? Auditors stress that “the toughest tasks lay ahead.”
Prodded into action by pressure over a series of not-quite-positive stories in The New York Times, Apple has taken some steps to improve its standing among global labor advocates by reducing hours, raising wages and, apparently, improving general work conditions from “suicide-inducing” to “somehow tolerable!”
This is what we call progress. But it’s not like Apple really had a choice in the matter.


text:
Small business owners rise to the challenge in Michigan Women Forward pitch competition
Three small business owners will receive a boost in capital following their performances in Michigan Women Forward's audio pitch competition.
Among the winners is Celeste Belanger, owner of The Mustard House in Detroit, an upcoming specialty food shop and cafe focusing on Detroit and Michigan-made products, wine, and beer.
"This impressive list of finalists is a testament to the power and resilience of Michigan women," Michigan Women Forward Chief Lending Officer Alexis Dishman said in a statement.
Read the full story on on Crain's Detroit.


text:
It's no secret that iPhone owners in the US are often unhappy with their AT&T service. Dropped calls, low signal, and totally slow-data 3G data speed are all part of the iPhone experience. But if you live in Charlotte, NC, we have good news! AT&T just started rolling out its 3G MicroCell in the Charlotte market, with other areas presumably to follow. This is how it works: you buy a 3G MicroCell adapter which connects to your DSL/cable router (or presumably your Ethernet connection at work).
Archives for September 2009
New Moon, the second film in the Twilight saga, is still two months away from theaters, but it’s easily one of the more hyped up films we’ve ever seen on the Web. There have already been a number of trailers leaked, and when we hosted two stars from the film on Mashchat, it pushed our app to the limit as thousands of fans flocked to it. Now, news of the film’s soundtrack has been released, exclusively on MySpace.
As Yahoo works to reposition itself as a more consumer facing company, it is looking to some of the businesses it has acquired over the years and how they fit. One of them that doesn't appear to have a place in the new Yahoo is Zimbra, which, according to Kara Swisher at AllThingsD, is up for sale. Yahoo acquired the open-source e-mail company back in September of 2007 for $350 million.
It's a brand new week, which means it's time for Mashable’s guide to upcoming social media and web events, parties, and conferences. For more upcoming event listings, check out Mashable's Events section. Is your event not on this list? Contact us at least one month before your event and let’s establish a media partnership. Mashable's Weekly Social Media and Marketing Event Guide is proudly supported by Eventbrite, the Web's Event Marketplace.
PayPal has been embracing a whole new direction for its business. In July, the company announced PayPal X, its new initiative to give 3rd party app developers the tools and APIs to help them integrate payment systems into their social media products. How is the payments company going about this, though? Why, by launching a developer challenge, of course! Or maybe it's more like a PayPal scavenger hunt.
CBS and Katie Couric are no strangers to using the web to compliment broadcast news. Last year they streamed their coverage of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions to the web, with Couric playing anchor, and earlier this year Couric used Facebook to challenge followers to submit video clips. Now the network is working with the primetime news personality to launch a live web-based show where Couric will delve deeper into issues with one-on-one guest interviews.
This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. Name: Localist Quick Pitch: A licensable, branded social calendaring platform.
The day of Twitter reckoning is upon us! Again. For every tweet, there is a unique number or identifier. Back in June, once tweet number 2,147,483,647 hit, some high profile apps broke because they were not designed to handle tweets with that large of an identifier. Two weeks ago, we reported that the Twitpocalypse was coming back - specifically, on September 11th.
One of the biggest reasons that some companies still avoid social media is because they think it’s too hard to measure the return on investment. Facebook is set to announce a plan to tackle this issue head-on, through a partnership with Nielsen. According to The Wall Street Journal, the companies will be unveiling a product called Brand Lift on Tuesday. Brand Lift will “measure the impact of … ads on Facebook through polls that Facebook will show its users who have seen the ads.
We love how the Mashable community uses Twitter to discuss and share our stories, but until now there's been no way to connect with Mashable readers who Tweet.
Hello again, music fans! We have yet another Free Music Monday for your ears this week. If you've been with us before, you'll know this feature celebrates the #musicmonday tradition on Twitter. We pick 10 tracks, albums or playlists from around the web and either embed them whenever possible or point you to the download or streaming links.
Who says Twitter is full of pointless babble? Certainly not Artwiculate, a new Twitter-based "Word of the Day" competition that aims to help us learn new words and earn points for using them cleverly. Every day a new word is chosen, and simply sending a tweet containing that word will enable your update to appear on the Artwiculate site. Once there, other users can vote whether your usage was "liked" or whether it was inaccurate.
We've been following the Netflix Prize as it's unfolded, with over 40,000 teams from 186 countries competing to improve the video rental and streaming service's recommendations engine by 10% or more. Back in July when the contest officially ended, the race was still too close to call, with two qualifying lead teams submitting their results in the very last 20 minutes of the competition.
We've had some pretty close races lately in our Lunchtime Poll feature, which got us thinking of the obvious question: which one of these contestants would win in a fantasy fight? So we decided to pit some of these services and software head-to-head in a knock-down, drag-out cage match. There may even be jello involved. We're asking you, dear readers, to cast your vote for the ultimate winner in this 1 v.
Microsoft retail stores are coming this fall, and the company has publicly stated that they're going to build their stores right next to the competition — Apple stores. It makes perfect sense then that Microsoft would also go after Apple store staffers. And according to The Loop, that's exactly what's happening.
A survey conducted by Crowd Science gives us some insight into the habits of Twitter users, compared to users of other social media sites. While far from unexpected, some of the results of the survey are quite scary. For example, 11% of Twitter users admitted they're accessing social media while driving, compared to 5% of other social media users. 29% of Twitter users claim they had accessed social media from a car at least once before.
Of all the companies in the web startup world, Zoho is perhaps the most persistent. Their office suite competes with the biggest player in the market, Google, but they tirelessly innovate, presenting new products and features on a monthly basis. That said, lately they've been focused on integrating and improving their existing services, and they haven't launched a new product in about a year.
Fresh off of its homepage redesign (and the Microsoft search deal), Yahoo has launched a full revamp of its search results page. The new search page, which is now active for all users, adds a new discovery bar just under the search box, adds a left-hand navigation column (not unlike Bing), and aligns more with the functionality and color scheme of the new widget-based Yahoo homepage.
LiveJournal has never struck me as the blogging platform that users go to for serious commercial blogging. Nonetheless, the site, which was launched all the way back in 1999 and has been through multiple owners in recent years, is now allowing its users to make money through Google AdSense. The program – called “Your Journal – Your Money” – lets LiveJournal users insert ads into their blog and keep 100 percent of the earnings, after Google takes their cut.
You'll see a lot of You on the internet in the following weeks, courtesy of Yahoo's new global brand campaign. As Elisa Steele, Yahoo! executive vice president and chief marketing officer, put it "Our new branding will focus on people—the power and promise of you." “This is much more than an advertising campaign,” she adds. Well, it depends on how you look at it.
One of the best parts of owning a BlackBerry is the instant-access e-mail service. With the advent of push messaging, more and more devices (and mail servers) are starting to offer push capabilities, giving that instant-access BlackBerry experience to other smartphones. One holdout in the push mail space has been Google. Users, especially iPhone users, have requested Gmail and Google Apps mail push support for years, but IMAP (which can be similar, but not as instant) was the best that they could get.
Digsby, the social media IM client that integrates with everything from AIM to MySpace, has had a Twitter integration built-in for a long time. In fact, their most recent update allows for simultaneous status updates to Twitter and other social networks. Still, the Digsby Twitter app is lacking - it's clunky and nowhere near as feature-rich as TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop. Digsby isn't oblivious to this, and they've gone all-out on Twitter in their most recent Digsby upgrade, launching today.
Mapping applications are becoming increasingly more relevant to our mobile lifestyles. With GPS enabled phones, we can use mobile mapping apps to better navigate the real-world. The problem is that even Google Maps and its many mobile competitors have one giant flaw — they tell you very little about what's inside buildings.
Susan Payton is the Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & Public Relations, an Internet marketing firm specializing in blogger outreach, social media, and PR. She is also the blogger behind The Marketing Eggspert Blog. With more than 300 million active users, Facebook is nearly the size of the United States in terms of population. In fact, odds are that you're a Facebook user, perhaps using it to keep in touch with family and friends, with a dash of business thrown in for good measure.
Hewlett Packard is taking another stab at the virtual video conferencing market dominated by the likes of GoToMeeting and WebEx. The company unveiled SkyRoom, a PC desktop program that combines aspects of video conferencing, Skype, and IM. The product, launched simultaneously at the Intel Developers Conference and DEMO, is at the core a two-way video conferencing system. It has similarities to Halo, HP's teleconferencing solution, but it seems focused on smaller businesses and consumers.
We've crossed an important threshold in press, media, and brand relations. Big companies and brands now know that online voices and bloggers can be just as important, if not more so, than traditional journalists. As such, the demand to understand the space and find the influencers is higher than ever.
We're here at the 140TC Twitter Conference in Los Angeles, and in a developer track session Twitter's platform lead Alex Payne just indicated that the upcoming Twitter Local functionality will be going live in the API "any day now." All the hard work is now done, and the platform team is simply waiting for the final go ahead to ship it live.
Even though we firmly believe IE6 must die, it’s not going away any time soon. Now, however, Google has come up with a creative way to improve the experience of Internet Explorer users, without making them actually upgrade or switch to another browser.
About a month ago, Twitter announced Project Retweet and its plan to officially support retweeting as a feature. Over the weekend, we presented arguments for and against Twitter's plan to standardize the retweet concept. For many, whether the system is a good or bad idea can only be determined by seeing it in action.
Soren Gordhamer writes and consults on ways we can more creatively and effectively use the technologies of our age, including social media. He is the author of "Wisdom 2.0" (HarperOne, 2009). You can follow him on Twitter at @SorenG. Social media is helping to forge a new era in business transparency and engagement, creating both new challenges and opportunities.


text:
|amazon.co.uk||Print Page Close Window|
|Premier League matches to be available on Prime Video in the UK, at no extra cost to a Prime membership|
Amazon Prime Video secures rights from 2019/20 season in 3-year deal
Every Premier League club will be featured across two full rounds of 20 matches per season, including Bank Holiday fixtures, plus weekly highlights throughout the season
Deal will represent the first time a full round of Premier League fixtures will be broadcast live in the UK
All available to Prime members in the UK at no extra cost to their membership
London – 7 June, 2018 – Amazon and the Premier League today announces that from 2019, live and exclusive Premier League matches, and weekly highlights packages, will be available on Prime Video in the UK at no extra cost to a Prime membership.
The Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, and from the 2019/20 season UK Prime members will have exclusive access to watch 20 matches per season, comprising two full fixture rounds – the first December midweek round and the festive Bank Holiday round - featuring live coverage of every Premier League team. This will be the first time a full round of Premier League fixtures will be broadcast live in the UK. In addition, Prime members will be able to watch weekly highlights of all Premier League matches throughout the season.
The Premier League joins Prime Video’s growing stable of live sports, including US Open Tennis, ATP World Tour Tennis events and NFL games, all currently available to watch on Prime Video in the UK at no extra cost to a Prime membership. Premier League matches will also be available alongside Prime Video’s critically acclaimed and award winning Prime Original drama, comedy and sports docu-series.
“We are always looking to add more value to Prime, and we’re delighted to now offer, for the first time, live Premier League matches to Prime members at no extra cost to their membership,” said Jay Marine, Vice President of Prime Video in Europe. “The Premier League is the most watched sports league in the world. Over these two December fixture rounds Prime members will be able to watch every team, every game, so no matter which Premier League team you support, you’re guaranteed to see them play live on Prime Video.”
Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore said: “Amazon is an exciting new partner for the Premier League and we are very pleased they have chosen to invest in these rights.
“Prime Video will be an excellent service on which fans can consume live Premier League football – including for the first time in the UK a full round of matches – and we look forward to working with them from season 2019/20 onwards.”
There are more than 100 million Prime members worldwide, including millions of Prime members in the UK. In addition to access to thousands of movies and TV episodes available to stream and download through Prime Video, including critically acclaimed and award winning Prime Original series like The Grand Tour, Transparent, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and The Man In The High Castle, Prime members in the UK enjoy benefits including One-Day delivery on millions of items along with exclusive early access to Amazon Lightning Deals; more than 2 million songs available to stream and download through Prime Music; access to ebooks, recent magazine issues, comics, Kindle Singles, and more through Prime Reading; exclusive discounts on pre-order boxed video games and bonus game content with Twitch Prime; and unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos; all for just £7.99/month, or best value annual membership of £79/year. Find out more at www.amazon.co.uk/prime.
Premier League Press Office: W: email@example.com
Notes To Editors
Sport on Prime Video
About Prime Video
In addition to Prime Video, the Prime membership includes unlimited fast free delivery options across all categories available on Amazon, more than two million songs and thousands of playlists and stations with Prime Music, secure photo storage with Prime Photos, unlimited access to a rotating selection of thousands of books and magazines with Prime Reading, unlimited access to a digital audiobook catalogue with Audible Channels for Prime, a rotating selection of free digital games and in-game loot with Twitch Prime, early access to select Lightning Deals, and more. To sign-up for Prime or to find out more visit: www.amazon.co.uk/prime.
About the Premier League
|"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Amazon.co.uk Ltd's business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.|


text:
A pioneering firm in California’s ill-fated competitive retail electricity market, Costa Mesa, CA-based Commerce Energy Group Inc., hired an investment banking unit with the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) earlier in September to assess the national energy retailer’s options for selling or partnering with another firm in the industry. A letter and subsequent financial filing by Commerce’s largest shareholder prompted the action.
Commerce issued a one-paragraph announcement Sept. 18, confirming that it had hired RBC Capital Markets Corp. to provide “general and strategic advisory services” to the energy company’s board, looking at the broad category of “strategic alternatives for enhancing stockholder value.”
David Zeff, of Zeff Capital Partners, in August filed with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) urging that the company pursue being sold off. Zeff is the largest stockholder of Commerce Energy, holding about 10% of the outstanding shares, according to a Commerce spokesperson.
Commerce currently has slightly more than 200,000 electricity and natural gas retail customers in 10 states, including its core of 54,000 customers in California that it cannot add to with the current state restrictions in effect regarding direct access electricity deals. Texas is Commerce’s major market for electricity, and its Maryland and Ohio operations are ranked second and third for electric and gas service, respectively, the spokesperson said.
The other six states in which Commerce is active are Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada, Georgia and Florida.
In its Aug. 13 SEC filing, Commerce described a letter three days earlier that Zeff had sent to Commerce Chairman Robert Perkins, in which he submitted a nominee to serve on the board, asked for Perkins’ resignation from the board, and urged “careful consideration of the sale of the company.” Zeff holds approximately 10.7% of Commerce common stock.
Earlier this year, Commerce said it expected to receive $6.5 million as part of its share of a settlement with Santa Clara, CA-based APX Inc. by FERC. Under a different name, Commerce was one of the first independent retailers to enter California’s restructured electricity market in the late 1990s.
In the settlement period in question — 2000 through June 20, 2001 — Commerce Energy bought, sold and scheduled power in California’s wholesale energy markets using APX’s services. Later, Commerce became involved in various proceedings at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The cases involved the now-defunct California Power Exchange and the California Independent System Operator.
Commerce was one of the 30 settling parties filing a settlement agreement with FERC last Jan. 5 that was subsequently approved March 1.
In September last year, Commerce closed a $4 million acquisition of 300 commercial/industrial (C/I) natural gas customer accounts from Houston Energy Services Co. (HESCO). The customers have accounts in California, Florida, Nevada, Kentucky and Texas with an estimated collective load of 12 Bcf/year, effectively tripling Commerce’s natural gas sales volumes.
As part of the purchase, Commerce concurrently finalized an agreement for a “multi-year, strategic supply relationship” with Sumitomo Corp.’s Newport Beach, CA-based subsidiary Pacific Summit Energy LLC to become the exclusive supplier of natural gas for the acquired C/I customers. Pacific Summit is Commerce’s current gas supplier, and is a leading integrated trading and investing firm and a major distributor of energy commodities.
In addition at the time, Commerce Energy signed an agreement with Houston-based, Advanta Energy Corp. to provide marketing services to the existing and acquired C/I customer segment as well as expanding that segment in the future.
©Copyright 2007Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.
© 2020 Natural Gas Intelligence. All rights reserved.
ISSN © 2577-9877 | ISSN © 1532-1266 |


text:
In Flipkart's early years, young, passionate people, with little experience, were best fit: Binny Bansal
We realised raw talent with the ability to learn far outweighed experience. We had a couple of bad instances, where we hired seasoned veterans from product management, marketing, sales and it did not work for us. I remember this disaster, where we hired an offline bookstore expert and he got us completely wrong, says co-founder
Fresh from the Walmart deal, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has said the homegrown ecommerce giant will no longer proactively look to invest in companies, unless it is strategic to the business.
"After the successful sale of various Khadi products on Amazon.in, UP government is in talks with Flipkart. Stress is being laid on online marketing.
NutriHealth has been promoting the concept of nutrigenetics, a combination of modern medicine techniques and ayurvedic principles, in preparing personalised diet programmes.
Sachin Bansal was the group chairman of Flipkart after he stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2016 and was deeply involved in the negotiations with Walmart.
The separate wing comprising officials from the industry department and the Enforcement Directorate will handle any violations, strengthening the implementation and enforcement of the guidelines.
Flush with funds, ecommerce companies are looking at new ways and avenues to tap the needle forward in the multi-billion Indian market.
Alongwith Flipkart, a few sellers on the online marketplace and other vendors, MarcoWagon has been embrolied in a legal battle with US footwear maker Skechers for alleged selling of counterfiet Skechers shoes.
On May 9, Walmart bought a 77% stake in Flipkart for $16 billion, pitting it directly against Amazon, which launched India operations in June 2013.
Amazon India, on the other hand, is expected to reach $17 billion in GMV in 2020 and $23 billion in 2021, according to a May report by Citi Research.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), a body of traders, today organised mass protests in different parts of the country against the Walmart-Flipkart deal.
Several traders and retailers have taken to the streets across 500 cities to protest against US retail giant Walmart’s potential acquisition of online retailer Flipkart.
Walmart has given itself time till June 7, 2019, to close the deal, failing which it will have to repay a significant portion of the bond issue even as the Bentonville-based retailer remains confident of completing the transaction before the end of 2018.
Walmart India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Walmart Inc, operates 21 cash and carry stores here under the brand name of 'Best Price' in 9 states across the country.
Plastic packaging accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste globally, and much of it is thrown away within just a few minutes of its first use, according to the United Nations.
New members from sectors such as software, logistics and financial tech, as number poised to touch 20 this year.
Editor's Picks ›
Walmart India to remove single-use plastic shrink wrap in all its stores / TCNS Clothing Co. IPO to open on July 18 / H&M India sales grew 19% jump during Dec-May / USL acquires 26% in start up firm Hip Bar for Rs27 crore / McDonald's goes green, replaces plastic with biodegradable alternatives / Brand Factory eyes Rs 500 cr GMV from new campaign / Arvind to open 55 Arrow outlets this fiscal / Shoppers Stop appoints Rajiv Suri as its new MD / BSH to start refrigerator manufacturing facility in India / HUL to merge foods and refreshments division


text:
Brothers Motorsports expands to 371 North
Brothers Motorsports is adding a location at the former Johnson Rental Property on Highway 371 North.
The site, on Novotny Road, is next to Lewie's RV. The business is Brothers 371 Motorsports.
Steve Vandeputte, Brothers Motorsports owner/general manager, said the plan is to be up and running next week. Brothers Motorsports has been in Brainerd since 1989 and has a second site in Crosslake.
Vandeputte describes the new Highway 371 location as a power sports convenience store, which will serve clients using the highway corridor, including weekenders and tourists.
"The idea is to catch you on your way up north and provide accessories, fast moving parts, rentals, clothing, machines," Vandeputte said.
The 371 shop will be a drop-off location for service needs, which will continue to be handled at Brothers Motorsports main location just off Highway 210 in Baxter between the Westport Mall and the Paul Bunyan Trail.
Brothers Motorsports employs about 30. And the added location is expected to mean more jobs down the, uh, trail.
"The minute I can grow this thing, I'm looking to add more employees," Vandeputte said. "I'm looking to add more employees in the near future."
This snowy December may be part of a sea change for outdoor sports with a winter focus in an area where snowmobiles once reigned supreme and brought tourist dollars into the community.
Vandeputte said ATV sales have fallen 60 percent, but snowmobiles have seen a resurgence, with a 12-percent increase in the last two years.
"Snowmobiling is definitely on the way back," Vandeputte said. "Brainerd used to be, when I was a kid in the late 60s and early 70s, was known as the snowmobile capital of the world. We're due to cycle back in the snowmobiling."
Rivers Edge Auto recently opened on Highway 371 south of Pine River. The business is owned by Dale and Judy Rieger. Their son, Corey, also assists with the business.
Dale Rieger has a 20-year history in the car business. He said the auto business that used to be at the site closed in 2007. Rieger said he previously worked with Osterloh's and Tanner Motors and was general manager at Marine Max in Walker for eight years. Rieger said he plans to put all that experience to play for his new business.
"It's more of a need-based economy," Rieger said, so his focus is on affordable vehicle. He's working with consignment, buying, selling and trades. And he's already been hunting for vehicles based on customer requests.
"I can find just about anything," Rieger said.
The most expensive vehicle on his lot is $14,900, Rieger said, adding most are below $7,000.
The Berrywood Apartments, developed by Navillus Land Co., is going up along Berrywood Drive just off College Road in Baxter.
Kuepers Inc. Architects and Builders of Baxter is the builder/designer on the project, which calls for a 29-unit apartment building.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center reports receiving complaints on several scams - such as one telling potential victims a hit was taken out on them and they need to pay $150,000 to $200,000 to call off the hit. The money not only will end the hit but the potential victim will get a tape of evidence against the person who hired the hit in the first place. Another scam preys upon people who are looking to adopt with the claim of an overseas orphaned child that needs a home. The perpetrators say they will ship the child upon receipt of money. Of course, no child was provided for adoption and the money was gone.
Minuteman Press moved from Washington Street in the mall by Rafferty's Pizza and Domino's Pizza near the Fourth Street Northwest intersection to 422 Charles Street.
The Phone Zone is now an exclusive direct dealer with T-Mobile. The business, in the strip mall by the Minnesota Vacuum and Sewing Center at the intersection of Washington and North Fourth streets in west Brainerd. The store is owned by Nate Froeschle and Felix Weissberg is the store manager.
RENEE RICHARDSON, senior reporter, may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org or 855-5852.


text:
Microsoft has paused the rollout of Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809), the latest version of the Windows 10 operating system , which Microsoft released this week, on Tuesday, October 2. It's a pretty serious issue, and one Microsoft hasn't said much about, though it's been widely reported on Reddit and support forums, according to The Verge .
Moving on to the review, Unwire is generally positive, saying that the increased size (up from 6 inches to 6.3 inches) doesn't make the phone any more hard to hold, that the OLED display is "good", that the dual lens front camera is impressive, and that fast wireless charging support has been added.
In total, all video accounts for 58% of the total volume of downstream internet traffic, followed by web browsing (17%), gaming (7.8%) and social media (5.1%). For example, a downloaded copy of Call of Duty Black Ops uses up to 101GB of data, the equivalent of 14 hours of 4K video. The report also found regional variations in the type of content preferred.
The LG V40 offers specs that are mostly found on premium smartphones. LG uses Silky Blast process that etches the tempered glass back with microscopic pits for offering smoother matte finish. When it comes to cameras , the LG V40 ThinQ has a three-camera configuration at the rear, comprising a 16-Megapixel 107-degree wide-angle camera, a 12-Megapixel standard camera, and a 12-Megapixel 2x zoom telephoto camera.
The patent was filed on March 16, 2018, showcasing a smartphone clipped into the back of a foldable hard casing in the style of a Game Boy . At present, there's no word on a release date for the Game Boy case, and it's also unclear which devices it will be compatible with - the patent shows fitted corners on the inside of the case to hold devices tight, suggesting this won't be a one-size-fits-all affair.
The Data Saver option may already be available on your phone if the Twitter app updated recently. You can just turn on a new "Data Saver" mode available in the setting on your Android and iOS apps. One change is managing group chat members has been made easy. In case, while browsing, the user needs to view a particular image in high definition, he can tap on the hamburger menu on the top of the screen and change the settings for that specific picture by selecting "Load High Quality".
They argue that the federal Communications Act of 1934 expressly prohibits states from regulating services like Internet access that cross state boundaries. California Governor Jerry Brown, on Sunday, signed a law that re-established net neutrality in his state. These state laws have not been challenged in court.
Both the iPhone XS and the XS Max are available in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB configurations with the Max starting at AED 4,649- about AED 420 more than the iPhone XS. The iPhone Xs and Xs Max certainly boast significant improvements over their predecessor in the camera department with their Smart HDR feature that's supposed to help produce a good exposure under nearly every circumstance.
Rather than limiting your interactions to preset commands through a digital assistant, Voice Access is created to replace every tap on a touchscreen with a voice option. Android phone owners with the Voice Access app can use spoken commands such as "scroll down" or "go back" to navigate around their other apps and to compose and edit text.
The fingerprint sensor is still on the back, a clear hint that the dual camera setup on the front doesn't also do 3D face recognition. The LG V40 ThinQ features a rear camera module with three different lenses: 16MP super wide-angle, 12MP standard angle and 12MP telephoto.
Over on the U.S. list, meanwhile, Kourtney Kardashian and Rose Byrne were flagged alongside the likes of actress Marion Cotillard , original Wonder Woman Lynda Carter and Amber Heard . That top 10 also included Bruno Mars, Carly Rae Jepsen, Zayn Malik, Celine Dion, Calvin Harris, Justin Bieber, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Katy Perry and Beyonce.
Along with the smartphone, two companion audio accessories - Nokia True Wireless Earbuds and Nokia Pro Wireless Earphones - have also been unveiled. Elsewhere, the handset has a dual-camera system on the back that combines a 12-megapixel and a 5-megapixel sensor. For selfies, there is an 8MP fixed focus camera with f/2.0 aperture.
The chips, which have been the subject of a top secret United States government investigation, according to the report, were used for gathering intellectual property and trade secrets from US companies, and may have been introduced by a Chinese server company called Super Micro that assembled machines used in the centers.
At the very least, it seems like the cloud saves system is on the modern side. Unless you decide you're done with Nintendo's online service for good, in which case they are definitely gone forever. On this, Nintendo's statement reads, "in certain games this feature would make it possible to, for example, regain items that had been traded to other players, or revert to a higher online multiplayer ranking that had been lost".
According to a leak from Evan Blass , we now have a fairly good idea. As previous reports have already indicated, the rear-camera setup could consist of a telephoto, ultra-wide angle, and regular lens. This isn't the only LG V40 ThinQ news though, as the phone has also now received Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) certification. Besides that, there are five camera lenses teased at the end of the video, which is obviously pointing out that the V40 will have 5 cameras in total.
The redesigned app includes a bunch of other perks, such as bigger visuals and animations, new controls and sliders to help you manage the smart gadgets in your home, and an interactive messaging interface that will support quick editing. With the Google Assistant redesign, now when you send a query, you will be able to interact with images, sliders, and buttons. Use dials to adjust lights, or sliders to adjust volume of your home speaker.
The company has released a new teaser for the Pixel 3 , and this one shows a laughably small phone. The new teaser trailer was shared on the company's Japanese YouTube channel . " Android 9 Pie launched two months ago and is receiving its second update with the October security patch". RAM and storage may well get a boost too, but Google will no doubt also emphasise the importance of AI and the cloud in ensuring the smooth performance of the Pixels.
This means Windows 10 PCs with the October 2018 Update installed are now capable of supporting real-time ray tracing - as opposed to pre-rendered sequences - providing their GPU also supports this tech. Besides that, the company has introduced a Windows Mixed Reality flashlight feature too, alongside revamped AI inking and 3D features for Microsoft Office.
Aside from Stories, Facebook had always been content to let Instagram run fairly autonomously. She also sought to downplay the impact of last week's data breach, in which hackers gained complete access to 50 million Facebook accounts by stealing their login tokens.
The web has evolved into an engine of inequity and division; swayed by powerful forces who use it for their own agendas. This critical tipping point he speaks of can be seen in the many news stories of misuse, breaches or manipulation of online data that have become commonplace in our daily lives and has, arguably, resulted in the creation of the GDPR .
However, this year's iPhone XS brings its LTE A-game. Cellular Insights attenuated a strong -85 dBm LTE signal and decreased it slowly until all four devices stopped downloading data. But as signal gets weaker, the XS Max really competes, showing that it's well tuned. The iPhone XS Max LTE speed is almost double that of the iPhone X under good conditions.
CNN explained that the test is "not a political message, but an emergency test message sent from Donald as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's system to warn the public in cases of national emergencies". "That would allow the President or the executive branch to get emergency information out to the public in a timely manner". The " Presidential Alert " will use the same special tone and vibration as Tornado Warnings and AMBER Alerts.
In terms of pricing, Microsoft has reportedly lowered the prices of the Surface Laptop 2 and Surface Pro 6 . Both the Surface Pro 6 and the Surface Laptop 2 will be pre-installed in the consumer versions of Windows 10 in S-mode. Users will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 Home for free, but not to Windows 10 Professional. It wasn't until a year ago that Microsoft launched different colored devices again with the Surface Laptop, but black wasn't among the options offered.
As a result, apart from a fraction more width, the interior is the same size, with the same ratio of space front and rear. From launch, the new BMW 3 Series will be available in two non-metallic colours and ten metallic ones. Pricing hasn't been confirmed for Australia just yet, but the current 3 Series range costs between $63,400 and $91,200 before on-road charges. So, you're up to speed on the new BMW 3 Series .
Prior to this, we'd received a total of just 10 minutes of footage in 2 years. Here's our commentary from the games first gameplay trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2. This includes compliments, taking the mick out of your gang members' looks, and letting you know that you smell. Either the people playing on PSN are developers/employees of Rockstar who obviously have access to the game , someone from press (media) got a review copy early (kind of unlikely given how far off we are from ...
Simply putting your name forward is not enough to guarantee you'll be given a OnePlus 6T , for instance. OnePlus should not change its 16 and 20-megapixel sensors from the OnePlus 6 . Here's the problem, though: to make space for the bigger battery, OnePlus had to get rid of the headphone jack on the device. Here are the equivalent cases for the current OnePlus 6, the textures should be the same or at least similar.
Samsung's flagship from the Galaxy Note 9 has been released for a month now, and a month is quite enough to give it a full review, and a verdict! "However, the Note 9 does seem to be better when it comes to impact and shock resistance". This brings to a total of four colours available for the phone in the USA, in addition to the Lavender Purple and Ocean Blue colours launched in late August.
This feature will work with Spotify, Google Play Music , and even Apple Music, with Spotify even letting you quickly browse through content without having to switch to the full app interface. Google Maps just added additional tools created to make long commutes more tolerable. Today, the company announced a new update that brings in a number of commuting features and the integration of Spotify, Google Play Music, and Apple Music.
Game-streaming services are still in their infancy, but the idea applies the standard "cloud computing" thinking to video games. Google's Project Stream goes into a semi-public beta on October 5, offering a "limited number of participants" the opportunity to test out the tech for free.
We're hearing - and now seeing - reports that Google's New Chromecast is already on shelves in major retailers in the U.S., with some Best Buy customers even able to buy and take home the new devices which haven't even been announced yet.


text:
Tech wrap: Reliance Mubadala investment, Microsoft Surface laptops, Indian app store & more
We also saw Microsoft’s Outlook service suffering a global outage and Samsung launching its budget smartphone running Android Go.
This edition of daily tech wrap includes smartphone launches and a couple of laptops coming from Microsoft as well. What's interesting was the news mentioning about an app store that will be an alternative to Google Play Store and Apple App Store. We also saw Microsoft's Outlook service suffering a global outage and Samsung launching its budget smartphone running Android Go.
Mubadala picks 1.4% stake in Reliance Retail for Rs 6,247.5 cr
Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co will invest Rs 6,247.5 crore to buy a 1.4% stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's retail arm -- the billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led firm's third such deal in less than two days. Mubadala will be the fourth investor in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL).
Microsoft launches its affordable Surface Laptop Go and updated Surface Pro X: Price, specs and more
Microsoft today launched its most affordable Surface laptop starting at $549 in the US. Called Surface Laptop Go, the device is aimed at students and those with tight pockets. With this the company plans to offer the best of Microsoft software services and apps. It also launched the upgraded Microsoft Surface Pro X priced at $1,499.99.
India plans launch of own app store as alternative to Google, Apple: Report
India is planning to launch its own app store as an alternate to the ones offered by Apple and Alphabet-owned Google, in a bid to make the country more self-reliant, ET Now reported on Thursday, citing government sources.
Microsoft Outlook suffered a global outage
Microsoft's Outlook service today faced a global outage. Users were unable to use services such as Outlook on the web, Outlook.com, and Outlook. The service interruption appeared to have affected both desktop and mobile users. Microsoft later acknowledged issues with Outlook services.
Samsung Galaxy A3 Core with Android Go launched, check specs, price
Samsung has launched a new Android Go smartphone, Galaxy A3 Core. The smartphone has been made official in Nigeria, and it costs NGN 32,500 which translates to roughly Rs. 6,200. There's no word on when and if Samsung will launch this phone in India.
Xiaomi's Mi 10T series goes official: Check price, key specs, and features
Xiaomi has officially announced the launch of Mi 10T series of premium smartphones. The lineup consists of Mi 10T Lite, Mi 10T, and Mi 10T Pro. All the phones come with 5G connectivity.


text:
The prices of N100 masks have skyrocketed in recent months due to the ongoing pandemic. N100 masks are a type of respirator mask that are designed to filter out at least 99.97% of airborne particles. They are considered to be the most effective type of face mask for preventing the spread of airborne illnesses, such as the coronavirus.
The demand for N100 masks has increased significantly since the start of the pandemic, leading to a shortage of the masks and a subsequent increase in prices. The average price of an N100 mask has increased from around $1.50 to over $5.00 in some areas. This is a significant increase, and it has caused many people to struggle to afford the masks.
The increase in prices is due to a combination of factors. First, the demand for N100 masks has increased significantly due to the pandemic. This has caused a shortage of the masks, leading to higher prices. Second, the cost of production for N100 masks has also increased due to the need for more advanced materials and technology. Finally, some companies have taken advantage of the situation by raising prices to increase their profits.
It is important to note that the increased prices of N100 masks are not necessarily a bad thing. The higher prices are helping to ensure that the masks are available to those who need them most. Additionally, the increased prices are helping to incentivize companies to produce more masks and to invest in better technology and materials.
However, the increased prices of N100 masks can be a burden for those who cannot afford them. If you are in this situation, there are a few things you can do. First, you can look for alternative face masks that are more affordable. Second, you can look for discounts or coupons that may be available. Finally, you can contact your local government or health department to see if they have any programs that can help you get the masks you need.
In conclusion, the prices of N100 masks have skyrocketed due to the pandemic. This has caused a burden for many people who cannot afford the masks. However, it is important to remember that the increased prices are helping to ensure that the masks are available to those who need them most. If you are struggling to afford N100 masks, there are a few things you can do to help.