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Pandora Turns to Pay TV in Selecting New CEO Roger Lynch
August 16, 2017
In the wake of Pandora Media hiring a new chief executive, Roger Lynch, the company’s stock rose 4.7 percent on shareholder optimism that the new leader would take the struggling online music service in a better direction. Lynch, who most recently led Sling TV and was previously at Dish Network since 2009, is Pandora’s fourth chief executive in less than two years. Pandora fell from its No. 1 position in music streaming services as it faced competition from Spotify and Apple Music, both of which boast huge song catalogs.
Bloomberg reports that, “Pandora was late to build a competing service, introducing Pandora Premium earlier this year,” after its stock had already declined 38 percent. To raise the money, the company sold its ticketing business and “a large minority stake” to Sirius, the satellite radio company, which now holds three seats and the leadership of Pandora’s board.
“A well-regarded CEO is an important first step,” said FBR Capital Markets & Co. analyst Barton Crockett. “As a ‘founding CEO’ of Sling, the 54-year-old Lynch spearheaded the January 2015 launch that made Sling a credible first mover and leader in over-the-top skinny video bundles.” Lynch begins work on September 18.
After jumping up “as much as 4.7 percent on Tuesday, the most intraday in more than six weeks,” Pandora’s stock “was trading up 3.1 percent to $8.32 as of 9:48 a.m. in New York.” In addition to the Lynch hire, Sony Entertainment former chief executive Michael Lynton is joining Pandora’s board.
“There weren’t a lot of people being floated as candidates, but it’s surprising they’d take someone from pay TV,” commented Macquarie Capital USA analyst Amy Yong. “If they were trying to be standalone for a while, they’d make a statement hire.”
Lynch succeeds interim chief executive Naveen Chopra, who replaced company co-founder Tim Westergren who left in June “after a little more than a year in the top job.” Chopra will return to his former position as chief financial officer. Pandora’s first order of business is to focus on “repairing its relations with record labels and artists” as well as increase advertising sales.
Lynch is also a musician, playing lead guitar in The Merger, a band that will play at the Aspen Jazz Festival.
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Investment Aims to Drive Further Expansion in Supply Chain and Logistics Technology to Meet
Rising Consumer Ecommerce Demand
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (April 5, 2021) – Mainsail Partners announced today the recapitalization of its portfolio company 3PL Central including a new $45 million capital commitment for the cloud-based warehouse management system (WMS) provider. Mainsail was joined in the round by some of its limited partner investors, as well as new investors. The new capital is expected to help the company accelerate product innovation, enhance the customer experience and support strategic M&A.
“We believe this is an amazing opportunity to invest more capital behind a trusted team in an industry that has been experiencing positive secular tailwinds for some time,” said Jason Payne, Co-founder and Senior Advisor at Mainsail Partners. “The increase in ecommerce volume and omnichannel fulfilment over the past year has accelerated the adoption of technology by third-party logistics (3PL) warehouses to meet customer demand from ecommerce merchants and improve satisfaction of end consumers. We believe 3PL Central is well positioned to deliver even greater value to customers as part of this technology cycle.”
According to the 2020 Warehouse Management System Market – Global Forecast to 2025 report, the WMS market grew from $1.5 Billion in 2017 to $2.5 Billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at an 18% compounded annual rate between 2020 and 2025. The segment of the market adopting cloud-based WMS software is expected to grow even faster as warehouses strive for increased efficiency and greater visibility into operations.
3PL Central delivers technology that helps 3PL warehouses build a modern, intelligent warehouse, striving to make increasingly complex operations easier to manage. The benefits to warehouse managers are numerous, including automatically capturing billable activities and calculating recurring charges; providing a hands-free and paperless experience; automating best practice workflows for high volume ecommerce packing and shipping operations; and allowing carriers to easily book appointments with warehouses through a self-service portal.
“We have found Mainsail to be a valuable partner throughout our growth journey, providing operational support early in our partnership, and now providing strategic and additional financial support which will allow us to pursue M&A opportunities on top of our accelerating organic growth,” said Andy Lloyd, CEO of 3PL Central. “Customer order volumes going through 3PL Warehouse Manager were up 46% year-over-year in 2020 and that growth has accelerated through Q1 of 2021 with a nearly 63% year over year increase.”
Lloyd added, “Consumer behavior has changed and that has put even more pressure on the supply chain to respond with solutions that scale and optimize existing logistics networks. This fresh capital will allow us to continue our efforts to innovate, invest in product adjacencies, and enhance our customer experience to meet the growing needs of the 3PL warehouse community and their customers.”
Mainsail first invested in 3PL Central in 2015. In 2016, 3PL Central bolstered its solution through the acquisition of iTraker. Mainsail also helped build out the management team, including the hiring of CEO Andy Lloyd, a former NetSuite executive. The company has grown its employees by 300% from the time that Mainsail originally invested in the company.
3PL Central has been recognized and included in numerous industry “Top” lists, including the Inc. 5000, Built-In’s Best Places to Work in LA, Inbound Logistics Top 100 Logistics IT Providers, and Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s SDCE 100 Top Supply Chain Projects for 2020.
Mainsail Partners is a San Francisco-based growth equity firm that invests exclusively in fast-growing, bootstrapped software companies. The firm has raised over $1.2 billion and invested in more than 50 growing companies since 2003. Mainsail prioritizes investments in B2B software companies with compelling business models in growing markets. The firm’s approach to driving value creation is anchored in a dedicated Operations Team that is purpose-built to help founders scale their businesses and accelerate growth. These women and men include former software company operators who leverage real-world experience, well-established best practices, and a true partnership ethos to support management teams. For more information, visit mainsailpartners.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.
About 3PL Central
3PL Central is a leader in cloud-based warehouse management system (WMS) solutions built to meet the unique needs of the 3PL warehousing community. Serving as the backbone of our customer’s operations, our platform aims to quickly transforms paper-based, error-prone businesses into service leaders who can focus on customer satisfaction, operate more efficiently, and grow faster. Offering a comprehensive warehouse management platform, we endeavor to make it easy for 3PLs to manage inventory, automate routine tasks, and deliver complete visibility to their customers. As an industry leader for over a decade, 3PL Central manages billions of dollars in inventory and processes more than 1 million orders a week from our customers’ and their customers’ systems. To learn more, please visit https://3plcentral.com/.

domain: news


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The Anheuser-Busch dynasty could come to an end this weekend as Belgian giant InBev upped its offer for the St. Louis-based brewer, which has come under intense pressure from shareholders including billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Sources close to the talks said InBev has raised its offer to $70 a share, or $50 billion, and the two sides will use the weekend to hammer out the details of a transaction.
InBev, the maker of Stella Artois, Beck’s and Labatt Blue, has offered to put some Anheuser representatives on the combined company’s board and the Budweiser brewer is likely to demand that InBev make certain guarantees to employees.
Anheuser officially spurned InBev’s $65-a-share offer two weeks ago, saying it “substantially undervalues” the company. It also filed a lawsuit against InBev earlier this week claiming the company intentionally leaked information to the media about its hostile offer and made misleading statements about the financing involved in the offer.
But Anheuser CEO August Busch IV has come under increasing pressure to from shareholders in recent days, especially after the lawsuit was filed, sources said.
“The board has a fiduciary duty to its shareholders and I think they sensed the tide was turning against them,” said one large Anheuser shareholder.
InBev chief Carlos Brito was moving quickly to oust the board of Anheuser if they continued to refuse to meet with him about a deal.
Brito scored big when he persuaded one of Anheuser’s own respected kin, long time securities executive Adolphus A. Busch IV, 56, who’s favored a sale for a while, for its slate of nominees.
A deal, which could still fall apart, could be announced as soon as Monday.
Anheuser shares rose about 8 percent Friday to $65.96.


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News & Press
Pittsburgh, PA, January 1st, 2013– GiftCards.com’s creative math puts its CEO and some of his team members on the bitter cold waters of Deep Creek Lake, MD.
GiftCards.com™, the online leader in gift cards, sold 1 million gift cards in 2012. Late in the fall, the company CEO promised his team that if the company sold 1 million gift cards for 2012, he’d jump into Deep Creek Lake in January.
As the clock hit midnight on December 31st, 2012, the company had sold exactly 1,000,200 gift cards.
“It is ironic that we surpassed the mark by exactly 200, which is the http status code for success,” explains GiftCards.com President & CEO, Jason Wolfe. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), the foundation of data for the worldwide web, has several codes to identify a variety of statuses. The status code 200 stands for success and indicates that the request was successful and the server was able to deliver on the request.
Wolfe takes this symbolism at heart, and now it’s his time to deliver. He will be joined by a handful of his teammates to jump into the bitter cold Deep Creek Lake this January 6th at 11:00 a.m. with estimated water temperatures of 38.75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Surpassing the 1 million mark by the 200 symbolic success code puts us into 38-degree waters,” comments Wolfe, “not sure what algorithm that math responds to, but if we hit our 2 million goal for 2013, I may have to take the team to Iceland next.”
GiftCards.com™ is the online leader in gift cards, corporate incentives, group gifts, and discount gift cards to hundreds of today’s most popular retailers. GiftCards.com is the exclusive website to offer payment association branded gift cards to over 4 million local retailers, including restaurants, apparel retailers, car washes and more.


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Mobile commerce, or m-commerce, will drive an estimated $516 billion in sales over the next three years, accounting for more than 70 percent of all mobile Internet revenue.
Check out the hottest mobile IT news for August 19, including the inclusion of smart armbands in the workforce, the huge expected bump in mobile commerce, the top three telematics companies, what mobile device JetBlue just furnished its in-flight crew with and the growth of the mobile app market.
Consumer fears over security and privacy continue to haunt mobile commerce, with a new study finding that nearly half of all consumers would never use mobile payment and banking apps.
Not only are consumers visiting retail store websites on their smartphones more frequently than in years past, they're completing more purchases from mobile devices as well.
U.S. mobile commerce sales are exploding, soaring 19-fold from 2010 to 2013, according to the Custora E-commerce Pulse Mobile Report.
Check out the hottest mobile IT stories for July 10, including the latest numbers on Jello Labs funding, the expected growth of smartphones for 2018, what kind of product makes up the majority of wearables, the technology TechNavio says is fueling software sales and what the big tech companies will do next to track customers.
Major retailer Walmart is enhancing its mobile platform by adding e-receipts as an alternative to the normal paper slip usually given to customers.
Consumers are increasingly using smartphones to shop and order goods at retailers' websites.
Radio frequency identification, or RFID, was once seen as the future of supply chain efficiency, but these days it seems RFID's real value may be found in the storefront and not in the back room.
The number and total value of merger and acquisition activity in the mobile payments sector dropped significantly last year, but the sector is poised for strong growth, says Mooreland Partners.


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Apple has sent out invites for its upcoming event on 21st March in Cupertino, California for its much awaited mini iPhone — a four-inch “iPhone 5SE.” The company has sent invitations to the media for a special event on Thursday, with the words “Let us loop you in.”
The company is widely expected to launch a smaller sized iPhone which would be same as iPhone 5S in terms of size. However, on the features front it may have the same features as the latest devices like iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s like the camera system from the iPhone 6, NFC and Apple Pay support.. iPhone 5SE or “Special Edition” phone may have rounded edges, a Touch ID home button and an on/off button on the right-hand side of the device.
If the reports are to be believed, Apple may be launching yet another device along with the smaller sibling iPhone 5SE. This may be a smaller iPad Pro, new Apple watch bands and software updates for its devices.Both of these devices will likely be available within a matter of days, not weeks, after the event.
Apple will live stream the event on its website and through the Apple TV. Click here to follow the live stream of the event.
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BARTOW — As soon as the caller says it, the elderly person who took the call must be swooning with excitement, because they just got told they had won the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. Suddenly, it would seem, they’ve become instant millionaires.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is warning that if it sounds too good to be true, well, guess what.
Today, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd sent out a warning that a new scam is being reported more frequently, one using the prominent name of the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes to prey on elderly victims.
“Scams like this have one common theme — the caller is insistent that you will be the recipient of great rewards, in the form of cash or prizes, and the caller continues to insist that you comply with his demands,” Judd noted. “Don’t fall for this.”
The way this scam works, Judd said, is a phone call is made from someone who knows the elderly victim’s full name. The victim is told they’re the lucky winner of the nationally-recognized Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, but to claim their prize, they first need to purchase a Green Dot Moneypak and put several hundred dollars on it. That Moneypak card needs to be sent to the caller, although the victim is assured that once this transaction takes place, they’re going to receive all their sweepstakes earnings.
One caller was even told that the FBI, police, and Sweepstakes officials would come to his home and drive him to CVS to purchase the Moneypak, then drive him to the bank to put money on it.
But it sounded suspicious to the elderly man, who instead opted to call the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and report the call.
“This incident could have turned into a robbery, had the victim complied with the scam artist’s demands,” noted Carrie Eleazer, the public information officer for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Eleazer said a second victim, an elderly woman, “was notified by mail that she was a sweepstakes winner. Between January and May 2012, she purchased approximately $5,000 worth of Moneypaks and provided them over the telephone to the scam artist. That money cannot be recovered.”
To avoid becoming a victim of any telephone or email scam, the sheriff’s office is urging residents to never give their Social Security number or any personal information over the phone or online unless they were the ones who initiated the contact.
They should also be deeply suspicious of any telephone call or e-mail that comes with urgent requests for their personal financial information, and they should avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages that request any personal information.
They should also routinely check their bank, credit, and debit card statements to make sure there are no unauthorized transactions.
“First, try to identify who the caller is, and get a callback number,” Judd said. “Secondly, call law enforcement and report it.”
A MoneyPak can be purchased at major retailers like Walmart, Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, Rite Aid, and Kmart. The person who buys one can add any amount they want on it, from $20 to $500 at most retailers, and up to $1,000 at Walmart.
Moneypak’s Web site has even posted a notice to its customers, titled “How to Stop A Scam,” which notes: “Use your MoneyPak number only with businesses on our approved list. If anyone else asks for your MoneyPak number or information from your receipt, it’s probably a scam. Don’t give your MoneyPak number to pay for something you buy through the classifieds or to collect a prize or sweepstakes. Do not give away your receipt information to another party, either. If you give your MoneyPak number or information about the purchase transaction to a criminal, Green Dot is not responsible for paying you back. Your MoneyPak is not a bank account. The funds are not insured against loss.”
Judd also advised residents to use the Internet to do their own research on companies that make calls claiming to be ones that awards prizes, including cash.
Simply by typing in the words ‘SCAM’ or ‘FRAUD,’ the Internet user can find out more about who is contacting them — including whether other complaints have been filed against the callers, Judd said.
“The Internet is a valuable tool for learning about the latest scams,” he said. “You can help us stop scam artists, and avoid falling prey to a scam like this. Educate yourself, and report anything suspicious.
Contact us at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Sipping a soda could give you more than just a refreshing fizz. That’s because more than a year after Pepsi promised to deal with a potential carcinogen in its soda products, independent tests discovered that the dangerous contaminant still resides in many Pepsi products.
The compound, called 4-methylimidazole, or 4- MEI, has been found in connection with cancer, and is found in the artificial caramel food coloring seen in the soda, a direct byproduct of caramel made with ammonium compounds, acids, or even alkalis. Though the chemical has already been taken out of Pepsi products in California, which has stricter laws on chemicals found in sodas and pushed soda manufacturers to, at the very least, begin including a warning label on its cans, recent tests given by the Center for Environmental Health discovered certain Pepsi products from outside of California still carry dangerous amounts of 4- MEI.
Fortunately, there might be a way out. In 2012, the state placed ammonia-caramel coloring as a carcinogen under its Proposition 65 law. Now, soda filled with more than 29 micrograms of 4- MEI in the state must have a warning label saying so.
In other areas of California, though, there weren’t laws that protected soda sippers. But after the Center for Food Safety found certain Coke and Pepsi products carrying up to a shocking 150 micrograms of the dangerous chemical in just one can of soda, both corporations promised to decrease the amount found in their products across the nation. The Center for Environmental Health indicates Coke kept its promise, but Pepsi failed to do so thus far.
“This shows how California’s Proposition 65 law can make products safer for all Californians, and in some cases for all Americas,” says Michael Green, executive director of CEH. “We applaud Coke for taking this health protective action for consumers nationwide. Pepsi’s delay is inexplicable. We urge the company to take swift action to provide all Americans with the same safer product they’re selling in California.”
Ammonia caramel food coloring can be spotted in many other food products, too, such as Worcestershire and soy sauces. It’s oftentimes used to darken breads, beer, gravy, and even meat, the Center for Science in the Public Interest proclaims.
Always consult your chiropractor or primary care physician for all your health related advice.
This article is made available for general, entertainment and educational purposes only. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of The Joint Corp (or its franchisees and affiliates). You should always seek the advice of a licensed healthcare professional.


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Quanta Computer management is convinced of this.
The DigiTimes resource continues to keep a watch even during the New Year holidays according to the Chinese lunar calendar, thanks to which the site’s subscribers have the opportunity to study an interview with Quanta Computer CEO CC Leung (CC Leung). This PC and server contract manufacturer believes that market conditions will not improve until the second half of the year, and a rise in demand for services from such companies should not be expected this year at all.
Image Source: DigiTimes
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13700K deševle 40 tr v Regarde
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Accordingly, the volume of contract manufacturing of laptops and server systems will not grow until 2024. The tendency to transfer production capacities from China to Vietnam will also continue, since there is no need to wait for an improvement in relations between the United States and China, and the supply of Chinese-assembled equipment to the first of the countries may be accompanied by various protective measures such as increased duties.


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According to a report from Bloomberg, the rest of the device’s capabilities will include standard Apple TV box features like watching videos and playing games, as well as using smart speakers like playing music and using Apple’s Siri digital assistant. If released, it would be Apple’s most ambitious smart home hardware offering to date.
(Also read: Good news! 70 thousand premium smartphones for just Rs 29,999, will get two screens and many more features)
The Cupertino, California-based tech giant is launching a high-end touchscreen speaker to compete with market leaders Google and Amazon. This type of device combines an iPad with HomePod speakers and includes a camera for video chats.
Apple has explored connecting the iPad to a speaker with a robotic arm that can move to follow users across a room, similar to Amazon’s latest Echo Show device. The development of both Apple products is still in the early stages and the company cannot decide to release them or change key features.
(Also read: Such a big mistake happens once in a million, but this uniquely designed iPhone was sold for 2 lakhs, see photo)
Apple discontinued its high-end HomePod in March, while the Apple TV box hasn’t been updated in over three years. Last year the company launched the HomePod Mini, which has fared better for its low price.undefined
tags: apple, Technology news, hindi tech news
PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME : April 13, 2021, 11:58 IST


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EVGA and NVIDIA To Split: EVGA Won’t Make Next-Gen NVIDIA Cards
In a move that will have significant repercussions for the video card industry in North America and Europe, EVGA today has announced that the company is parting ways from NVIDIA. As a result, the company will not be producing video cards based on NVIDIA’s next-generation of GPUs – and won’t be immediately switching allegiance to AMD or Intel, either. Consequently, NVIDIA is losing their largest add-in board (AIB) in North America, and the broader North American video card market is losing one of its biggest and best-known vendors.
In a brief announcement posted on EVGA’s forums, the company outlined their parting from NVIDIA, while underscoring that this affects the next-generation of video cards, and that EVGA will continue to provide current-gen products and support existing customers.
Source: Recent News


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By Ignatius Okorocha
Disturbed by the dwindling operations of the Capital Market in the last few years in Nigeria, the Senate on Wednesday, promised to put legislations in place that would revolutionize the sector.
This was as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said that it was set to introduce financial technology to strengthen the capital market in Nigeria.
Speaking at the an interactive session with stakeholders from the capital market sector, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, promised that the Senate would make laws to strengthen the sector.
He said that the meeting became very imperative as the country’s economy had been facing serious challenges occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and the recent EndSars protests across the country.
According to him, the Senate is not unaware of some of the challenges facing the growth of the Nigerian Capital Market, assuring that the Committee, which oversights the industry would support with necessary legislations to address the problems and propel the Nigerian Capital Market into greatness.
Amosun further stressed that there was need to strengthen the Commodity Exchanges (CX) and make the market robust and functional.
“As stakeholders in the capital market, I urge you all to see this interactive session as an avenue for us to brainstorm on ways we can collaborate to meaningfully strengthen the capital market so that it can continue to function as the gateway to economic development of our nation.
“This interactive meeting is very apt, especially coming at a time like this when concerted efforts are required to revive our economy, which has been negatively affected due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and the recent EndSars protest.
“This is the most crucial moment for our economy, as Nigeria and indeed the whole world continue to grapple with economic hardships – such that has not been witnessed before.
“Consequently, it behooves on us as stakeholders to come together with a view to reviving the economy and strengthening the confidence of the much needed investors in the capital market.
“The Senate is not unaware of some of the challenges facing the growth of the Nigerian Capital Market. It is our desire as the committee saddled with the Oversight responsibility to support you with necessary legislation to propel the Nigerian Capital Market into greatness. Please be assured that we will expedite action on the passage of relevant laws, amend, and enact new laws where necessary.
“There is equally the need to strengthen our Commodity Exchanges (CX) and make the market robust and functional.
“Furthermore, it is our firm belief that we can work towards domestication of our product to encourage local investors. The Capital Market needs to re-activate our alternate Market, and bring on board unlisted multinational companies, in order to develop a robust Capital Market.
“These informal sectors as we are all aware is a driving force that will dominate our nation’s economy. I encourage all the stakeholders present here to strategise on how to encourage Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and multinational companies to participate in the Nigeria Capital Market.
“Let me remind us that, the money market is already dominating the capital market due to reasons such as; system failure, lack of transparency in operations, insider abuse, etc. To this end, the Investments and Securities Act (IST) will be reviewed. We urge all the stakeholders as a matter of urgency to intimate us all areas that require legislation in order to promote the Capital Market.
“The issue of unclaimed Dividends must be thoroughly dealt with by SEC and CSCS, for investors’ confidence and growth of the Capital Market. Public enlightenment and awareness of operations/dealings within the Nigerian Capital Market must be seriously emphasized, taking into cognizance the need to sensitize the general public on their roles”.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lamido Yuguda, at the event, stated that the Capital Market would soon be strengthened with Finance Technology.
According to him, Fintech relates to any business that uses technology to enhance or automate financial services and processes; thereby fixing problems in financial infrastructure.
He explained that Fintech companies operate by receiving information from customers before helping them make payment, refund a sale, look up details of a transaction, and set up a billing plan among other things.
Yuguda said: “2020 saw the rise of fintech startups in Nigeria. In October, American fintech giant, PayStripe acquired a Nigerian counterpart, Paystack for over $200 million to expand into the African Continent”.
On plans to launch into fintech, the SEC DG said: “we are implementing the Fintech road map. We are also contextualising the regulatory independent framework to on board Fintech into the capital market.
“We have just released draft rules for the crowdfunding in our regulation. We have received set of comments from the market and very soon we will be releasing these rules to the public.”


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26 May 2021 | David Young
Production of fifth-generation high-voltage batteries and battery modules for use in the BMW iX and BMW i4 is now underway at the Competence Centre for E-Drive Production in Dingolfing
At the same time, the company is also increasing production capacity for its fifth-generation electric motor, which has been built in Dingolfing for the BMW iX3 since 2020 and will also power the BMW iX and BMW i4.
"We expect at least 50 percent of the vehicles we deliver to our customers worldwide to be electrified by 2030. To achieve this, we are relying on our extensive in-house drive train expertise: We are increasing capacity at existing drive train production locations – like here in Dingolfing – and developing capabilities at others – like recently in Regensburg and Leipzig," explained Dr Michael Nikolaides, senior vice president, production engines and e-drives, BMW Group.
The BMW Group is investing more than 500 million euros in expanding production capacity for e-drives at its Dingolfing location alone between 2020 and 2022. From 2022, it will produce e-drives for more than half a million electrified vehicles.
The BMW Group will invest a total of around 790 million euros in expanding capacity for electric powertrain components at its Dingolfing, Leipzig, Regensburg and Steyr locations between 2020 and 2022.
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The CBO is now forecasting a 38% drop in Q2 US GDP and the CBO doesn’t expect the economy to fully recover until next year. Trading Futures, options on futures and retail off-exchange foreign currency.
Both camps use bitcoin walmart in their own interests, changing the direction of the bitcoin market in a matter of days or even in a few hours from positive to negative or vice versa. And they manipulate the moods of people using, for example, information about bitcoin walmart. bitcoin walmart today. When bitcoin appeared, then bitcoin walmart appeared and began to gain momentum. In the.
26/05/2016 · A surprising number of major corporations have begun accepting payments for products in Bitcoin. Even the Republican Party of Louisiana accepts Bitcoin donations.
Bitcoin Xapo Instant 25 Feb 2020. Seamless and instant: A brief introduction to crypto cards. Xapo's card, on the other hand, was allegedly the first to allow users to. Womens Ms Bitcoin Ms. Wilkins is the Bank of Canada's G20 and G7 Deputy. Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award by the Women's Executive
The forthcoming Bitcoin halving will definitely impact Bitcoin mining and price in a big way. I will warn investors not to invest with small companies because It will cause a massive shake in the mining industry which will sieve out the smaller operators to make more room for larger mining operators who have access to cheaper energy supply. Contact; [email protected] . com If.
16 Nov 2018.
As Venezuela is in the grip of hyperinflation, a large local Wal-Mart-like department store has started to accept bitcoin for goods.
25 Mar 2020.
Let's find out who accepts Bitcoin payments, and which retailers are highly popular.
The list of partners is pretty large (Walmart, Jet, Groupon, Overstock, Godaddy,
Gyft is a gift website where you can buy a gift for Bitcoins.
Xbox Bitcoin Mining 29 Jun 2013. We take a Butterfly Labs Bitcoin miner, plug it in, and make it (virtually) rain. 27 Dec 2017. A virus that turns victims' computers into a cryptocurrency miner without their knowledge is spreading across Facebook Messenger, security. 30 Dec 2019. In 2020, factors like new hardware, the
You could get a prepaid bitcoin credit card through someone like Coinbase or LocalCoin. Load your Visa card with BTC and spend in your chosen currency. It’s pretty simple. BUT.
there is a way to get part of your online purchases at Walmart back in.
A directory of shops, pubs, websites and other places in the UK that accept bitcoins. Quickly jump to places in London, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Birmingham and Leeds. Looking to buy bitcoin? View our recommendations on how to buy bitcoins in the UK. Tempest Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Specialists featured. Seymour Locksmiths featured.
Although futures are pointing higher this morning, yesterday’s retracement meant the German DAX finished the session in the.
04/09/2018 · Now lets see if Walmart accepts bitcoin for their coveted milk chocolate coins soon or a possible WalmartCoin is next. They sure have gone after the blockchain technology benefits for business with multiple patents , but it remains to see if DLT’s greatest and strongest gift will truly be a new financial frontier led by a virtual currency known as Bitcoin.
eGifter accepts bitcoin for almost all transactions on our website at eGifter.com, and in our.
The vast majority of our eGift Cards can be purchased with bitcoin.
As the world unites for an investigation into the origins of the Pandemic, China is getting more aggressive in its war of.
Square’s core Seller ecosystem will continue to drive strong growth for the company, and the advent of its status as an.
5 Aug 2019.
A senior policy analyst has predicted that Walmart will have an easier time getting regulatory approval for its proposed cryptocurrency than.
Bitcoin Flapper Download Ledger Nano S Bitcoin Wallet Address Ledger Nano S Wallet Review: Features and How-to-Use Guide . Ledger Nano S is a product of the company Ledger and its idea is based on the BOLOS platform and a Secure Element. This hardware device is highly rated because of its ability to
In October 2008, under the name Satoshi Nakamoto, an article was published on the Internet that will have a tremendous impact.


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New “Guilty Gear” coming in 2020
At EVO 2019, Arc System Works announced that a new installment of their one-on-one fighter Guilty Gear is indeed coming our way. Daisuke Ishiwatari presented the reveal trailer himself, which you can watch below.
Series mainstays Sol and Ky are back, and the trailer also revealed a mysterious brand new fighter. The series’ aesthetic flare is back in spades, both visually an in the tunes department, and there appear to be stage transitions this time around. Otherwise, there’s very little confirmed about the game- but it’s scheduled to release sometime in 2020.
Source: Event Hubs


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The car was travelling way over the speed limit on one of the busiest highways in Alberta.
Companies can lose hundreds of billions and still be worth more than entire countries or continents.
A caravan of protestors demanding increased pay and COVID-19 protections disrupted business at an Amazon Distribution Center in the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday.
The makers of the Autoblow are back, with an attachment accessory for self-driving self-pleasure.
The Golden Driller is Oklahoma's state monument and represents an oil worker. Now, it's a 75-foot-tall idol representing Elon Musk.
"If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me."
"We’ve been working on developing our own ventilator design that’s heavily based on Tesla car parts."
Tesla is getting more aggressive in revoking paid software features on used cars, raising the stakes in a battle over what used Teslas can do that has raged for years.
The “fight between men,” as Musk’s lawyer put it, started when Musk designed a kid-sized submarine to rescue 12 Thai boys trapped in an underwater cave.
Would you let a horny billionaire hit it in this thing?
"When this burns out, you wake up to a black screen."
A judge has found Elon Musk in violation of labor law numerous times. This makes sense considering how unsafe his factory is.


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Stone sculptors who spoke to The Zimbabwean last week said they faced numerous challenges in marketing their products. Limit Muchini said the decline in tourist arrivals had adversely affected their business, saying the majority of locals did not appreciate the importance of sculpture.
“Most of our clients used to be South Africans. With the multicurrency system, they say our products are now very expensive,” said Muchini, who carves the Big Five – elephant, lion, giraffe, rhino and buffalo.
Muchini said the sculptors also faced transport problems when fetching raw stone from Mashava.
“The stones we use (soapstone and serpentine) are only found in Mashava. We hire private operators and they charge us a lot of money to transport it,” he said.
Another sculptor, Henry Rambanepasi, urged the government to come up with policies that effectively attracted tourists, as a way of supporting stone sculpture.
He appealed to the government to consider the arts industry when allocating money to small- to- medium-scale businesses.
“This is our livelihood and the government should support us so that we can afford to look after our families. In other countries the arts industry is big business and it receives support from both the government and the corporate world,” he said.
“We pay $75 to the Umzimgwane Rural District Council every month. We also need to pay rent where we stay. If things continue like this I might consider relocating to Victoria Falls where business is said to be more viable,” said Marvellous Ncube, whose pieces range from $5 to $700.Post published in: Arts


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Only one in five small to medium enterprises (SME) surveyed in a recent study expect economic conditions to improve within the next year.
A survey of 1004 business owners and managers by business software provider MYOB showed confidence and revenue growth among SMEs was still lacklustre.
Fewer than one-fifth (19 per cent) of the businesses expected the local economy to improve within the next 12 months.
This was largely unchanged from MYOB's March survey, which was the lowest percentage recorded since March 2009, amid the global financial crisis.
Only 18 per cent of businesses reported an increase in revenue over the past 12 months, compared with 20 per cent in the prior report.
Construction and trade businesses fared the worst, with 52 per cent experiencing a revenue loss in the past year.
However, 55 per cent of businesses said they would keep their prices and margins the same this year, despite the onset of the carbon tax.
"This indicates that many will simply cop the carbon tax related cost increases on the chin," MYOB chief executive Tim Reed said in a statement.
He recommended business owners to consider whether this was the best course of action in attracting and keeping customers.
"Frequently, good service rates above price in a customer's mind," he said.


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Obama administration relaunches its mobile platform, adds app features.
The White House relaunched its mobile program Tuesday, redesigning Whitehouse.gov’s mobile website and adding features to its iPhone and Android applications.
New features to its mobile apps include an updated design, screen alerts for live events and a new search feature. For the first time, the apps are now fully compatible with the iPad and Android tablets. The mobile website includes 99 percent of the standard site’s content.
Additional app features include a save to favorites option, as well as high-resolution photos tailored for viewing on the iPad’s retina display.
The White House announced the updates because more people are viewing its Web content through mobile devices. Fifteen percent of Whitehouse.gov’s visitors access the site through mobile devices.
The Obama administration also made the apps’ source code available to anyone “from civic hackers and local organizations to federal agencies” through GitHub .
In a video to promote the relaunch, the White House boasted the app “puts 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the palm of your hand.”


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Logitech began selling the Harmony Link hub in 2011… and now the company has announced that if you have one it’ll stop working on March 16, 2018.
The Harmony Link is a device that lets you use an iPhone, iPad, or Android device as a universal remote. It can control TVs, cable boxes, DVD players and other gadgets. But it’s an internet-connected device… and since Logitech is shutting down the cloud service that powers the Harmony Link, it’ll effectively stop working in a few months.
Update: Logitech has changed course, and now promises to offer free upgrades to a newer model for all Harmony Link users.
The rest of the original article continues below.
Logitech is telling folks who own a product that’s still under warranty that they can upgrade to a newer Harmony Hub for free. But if you’e got an out-of-warranty device, the best Logitech is doing is offering a 35 percent discount on the new model.
The company is making no promises that it won’t remotely disable the Harmony Hub in a few years though.
With a growing number of household gadgets relying on cloud services, it’s likely that we’ll see this sort of thing happen more and more often. In some ways, I suppose remotely bricking a device might be more responsible than just ceasing to offer updates at all. It’s kind of sobering to think of all the WiFi routers in the world that will never be updated to protect users from the latest security vulnerabilities (I don’t know about you, but I know a lot of people who haven’t bought a new router in 10+ years).
Still, I don’t blame annoyed customers who feel like they were just “renting” equipment from Logitech when they thought they were buying it.


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A comparison between now and the dotcom bubble
Alan Kohler catches up with the founder and former CEO of www.consult throughout the late 1990s and current venture capitalist, Ramin Marzbani, to discuss how markets are acting now compared with what they experienced in the dotcom bubble, the recent influx of retail investors and the hysteria surrounding Afterpay.
Today I'm speaking with Ramin Marzbani, who I used to know in the 90s. He had a consulting firm called www.consult and he was in the middle of all of the dotcom bubble of the time, helping with IPOs and so on and knew everything that was going on.
He’s still around, he’s doing venture capital now on a lot of boards, so I thought it’d be good to catch up with him to see what he thinks are the similarities between what we’re seeing now and what he saw then.
Here’s my old friend, Ramin Marzbani.
Table of contents:
Similarities between now and the late 1990s
Will companies survive the crash unlike 2000
The medical technology front
Thoughts on Afterpay
Sitting on cash
Comparison of the influx of retail investors
Ramin, obviously you were around deep in the tech sector in the late 1990s with your consulting firm, www.consult. Are there any similarities, do you think, between what you’re seeing now and what you saw then?
Well, technology continues to grow and affect every part of our lives and every industry imaginable, so seeing technology grow is one of the themes. We’re also seeing the cost of entry for technology and technology tools continue to go down, so it’s become even more accessible than it was back then. Lastly, we’re also seeing a lot of companies continue with the big dreams of innovation and developing new products and new services. Although, we see a much broader range of industries like the medical industry right now is kind of like the reincarnation of the old dotcom world, but the themes are very similar.
It’s interesting that obviously there was the big crash in 2000 around the world really, but later a lot of the companies that didn’t crash started winning, like Amazon, Facebook, Google and so on. Do you think we’ll see something similar this time or are we seeing the companies now that will survive?
That’s a really good question. The crash was really a stock market crash and it didn’t weed out a lot of the crazy ideas like Furniture.com that had no business and just had a domain name. The stock market crash just weeded out the non-serious players and there were a lot of casualties that were unintended from that stock market crash, good businesses that were doing well and could have done even better with funding and the funding dried up. The stock market crash didn’t really alter the course of technology adoption, whether it was social media or email or higher speed internet or wireless internet.
None of those things were affected and I suspect that stock market crashes in the technology sector just kind of weed out people who shouldn’t have been there or people who were on the edge. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t other factors like COVID that are going to affect the world and the economy and the stock markets, but technology itself kind of ploughed through the stock market crash with barely a hiccup. We just had a young cohort of people and dreamers who were hoping that they would become all millionaires and billionaires, whose dreams didn’t come through. But technology never stopped moving forward and the pace of technological change really wasn’t affected. At the worst, it was a hiccup.
As you say, the way the stock market affected all that was the funding for them which exploded in the late 90s and then dried up, right?
Correct, and the funding exploded to a much smaller degree than anything we’re seeing today. The explosion in what we saw as funding was really crazy valuations on the stock market for start-up businesses that had no business at all. That’s a little bit different to today because in the last 20 years we’ve gone through a couple of cycles and stock markets no longer value a business based on an idea or a concept or a domain name. They become savvier and stock markets have learned and adapted themselves over time at least on the broader technology front. But now, we’re moving into the medical technology front and that’s unknown to most people and you may see a similar recurrence there.
Well, if I’ve got a great new technology on the medical side, that’s going to either deal with COVID or slowdown COVID or make things cleaner or whatever it may be, I can get a lot of people interested in backing it, putting money in and we can kickstart the business and get it going best we can and do the R&D. The market may take a punt and say, well look, we don’t know these guys from a bar of soap but if they make it big they’re going to make it very big, so let’s throw some cash at them. That’s all that’s going to continue to happen in any new field that is of relevance and interest and has got a product with a big market demand.
You say the market’s a bit more selective or smarter these days, but they’re still putting a lot of valuation on companies that lose money.
Yes, that happens, it happens in Australia, it happens in the US and that’s a complicated issue. If you’re dealing with investment funds for retirement superannuation and you’ve got to put the money by mandate into sectors of the market or into equities, the money stays there, it doesn’t come out quickly like it would have done maybe 40 years ago. Today, the money that goes into equities has to stay there by rule, by mandate, by design or by something else and that obviously complicates a lot of things and definitely makes the traditional valuation models less applicable because the money has to go somewhere.
I’m not a particularly savvy investor, but I’ve been sitting at almost all cash for a couple of years now, mainly because I could wake up tomorrow and hear the news that the stock market in the US is down 20 per cent and Australia is going to go down 20 per cent and no one in the world would be surprised. Just as likely, I could wake up tomorrow and someone says the US market’s up 35 per cent and no one’s going to be particularly surprised either. We live in a world where the relationship with what happens on valuations on a day to day basis in stock markets and the economy seems to be disconnected. I’ll ask you the question, Alan, if you woke up this morning and the headline news was, ‘Dow Jones Down 22 Per Cent’, would you be particularly surprised or not really?
No, not really. I’m getting old and semi-retired and I’m reasonably okay with not making income or capital gains and put my efforts into things I understand like running businesses and that’s the knitting that I’m good at, and I’m very comfortable with that. I don’t have to worry about markets moving on a day to day basis. Things like Afterpay, look, it’s really interesting. In the same way, there’s a lot of technologies, like Google Search just fed off the carcasses of Yellow Pages around the world in terms of helping people find things and discover things and make contact with suppliers, we’re seeing a very similar thing happen again with new technologies feeding off the carcasses of banks.
Banks are still standing and they’ll be standing and the Yellow Pages were standing up for quite a while. The only thing that will always save the banks is the extra regulations that protect them, that are there for everyone’s benefit, including the word you said, ‘trust’, society trusting in money. But there’s going to be a lot of start-ups that will feed off banks for many years. They have been doing it for a while and they’ll continue to do it because there’s just such a giant honey pot there that everyone can dip their paws in and get some honey out.
Do you think without regulation, the banks would be carcasses?
Definitely, absolutely. I don’t understand what I pay the monthly fees to my bank for at all, to be quite honest. I’ve got dormant accounts that have no activity and I’ve still got to pay every month. I used to be a consultant for a mob called Booz Allen & Hamilton when they used to exist at Booz Allen & Hamilton and banks were very interesting customers. There’s just so much profitability there and as markets become more competitive, you’d expect that to happen. The credit cards are still raking it in left, right and centre. Anyone who thinks that they can chip away at them will probably be successful because there’s just so much money in that space.
One of the things that people are commenting on at the moment is the rise of retail investors through platforms like Robinhood in the US and in general, a lot of ordinary investors are jumping into the market now. Is that also similar to what happened in the late 90s? Was there a lot of retail investing then? What happened to it, did it go away after 2000?
Retail investing in the late 90s was really just starting, we had the platforms like E-Trade and CommSec starting to grow just to make a brokerage more affordable and there was no mystique around buying what buying and selling shares were. If you go back 10 years before that, you needed to know a broker to actually be able to buy and sell shares, with a few exceptions of course. What’s happened though, is a lot of the investors are sort of thinking, look, my broker either isn’t adding enough value or he’s not active enough, because they’ve started to figure out that brokers have thousands of customers. By and large, a lot of consumers feel that they’re just as well off gambling their own money away or betting their own money than a broker doing it for them. That’s not just technology assisted in terms of the transaction, but also in terms of the information.
There really was no hiccup even through the dotcom bubble bursting in 2000 with investors speculating with trading shares, whether it was on the ASX or the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange or anywhere else. The big issue today is that everyone’s competing on technology. We’ve got the dark pools and the algorithmic trades that are going on in the background and the retail investor, by and large, unless they’ve got some great insight or some inside information, is going to have a really tough time outperforming anyone.
You’re obviously running a venture capital fund at the moment as well as being on a few boards. What sort of things do you like that you’re investing in through your fund?
We’re probably very old fashioned. We’re really thinking that we’re going to be going more for traditional manufacturing and products and brands and services businesses are still quite interesting to us. There’s a lot of Australian companies that are combining technology and people to deliver services, so…
Away from the pure technology plays.
What sort of things do you mean?
I don’t want to mention them by name only because it’s private, but there’s Australian companies providing technology-assisted services for smaller, medium-sized businesses out of the Philippines. One of them is called Cloudstaff – so I did mention it…
And there’s a company that works with creating health products for dogs and cats called Innovative Pet Products. They make a thing called the LickiMat, it could actually be a global brand.
Right, the LickiMat?
Very good, okay, it’s been great talking to you, Ramin, thanks very much.
Thank you, Alan, always nice talking to you.
That was Ramin Marzbani.


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KINGSTON, Jamaica, Monday December 24, 2018 – Minister in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Daryl Vaz says Government is looking to strengthen aspects of the law applicable where breaches of the ban on single-use plastics, which takes effect in the New Year, may be committed.
noting fines ranging from J$50,000 (US$389) to over J$1 million (US$7,794) for
breaches of stipulations under the Natural Resources Conservation Authority and
Trade Acts, he contended that, “too often [in several instances] we are using
archaic outdated legislation and laws that are totally inadequate in terms of
the consequences through fines and imprisonment, and whatever else”.
are looking at that… [and] I can assure the public that there will be teeth [in
the law],” he added.
January 1, the Government will commence imposition of the ban on the
importation, manufacture, distribution and use of specific categories of
plastic packaging material.
They include single-use plastic carrier/shopping bags; expanded polystyrene, commonly called Styrofoam; and plastic drinking straws, which are often improperly discarded, causing significant harm to the environment.


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American fast food giant Wendy's has revealed it will open its Reading store early next year.
BerkshireLive revealed the company was looking to open one of its first UK stores in the town in a unit in Station Road last month, and now the company has confirmed it is likely to open in the early part of 2021.
More planning applications for the former home of Nationwide in Station Road were received last week.
Find out how you can get the latest news from BerkshireLive delivered straight to your inbox.
Applications were submitted to Reading Borough Council on behalf of Wendy's UK for a new frontage to the unit and new signage.
If the council is minded to approve this, then work will continue to convert the empty unit before its opening next year.
The company announced it was looking to enter the UK market in October 2019 and confirmed it was coming to Reading on Friday, June 26.
A spokeswoman said: "The brand is very much looking forward to it and excited about the future as we enter this market."
Separate plans submitted in June could also see the empty office space above the unit converted into new homes.


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Honda BR-V Crossover is a seven seater car based on the Brio platform.
Datsun Go-Cross shares platform with the existing Go hatchback and the Go+ MPV.
Mahindra TUV300 was successfully launched in India earlier this year in September.
The bike is based on R15's platform but gets a new USD front fork.
DC Avanti was launched a few months ago.
The vehicle will be sold in Turkey by Bajaj's official distributor Kuralkan Holding.
Amitabh Bachchan and his scooter diaries.
Price of Maruti Celerio with optional airbags and ABS starts from INR 4.16 lakh...


text: LeEco is a giant conglomerate in China. The company offers a range of services -- from online streaming service, to smartphones, to TV, to electric cars. On top of that, the company has been aggressively expanding into different markets with India and the United States being the two notable ones. How does it make so much cash? You wonder. It doesn't actually, according to the CEO, who has informed the employees that the company is quickly running out of cash. An anonymous reader shares a Bloomberg report: The billionaire chairman of China's LeEco has admitted his technology empire is running out of cash to sustain a headlong rush into businesses from electric cars to smartphones. In a lengthy letter to employees, company co-founder Jia Yueting apologized to shareholders and pledged to slash his income to 1 yuan (15 cents), slow LeEco's madcap pace of expansion, and move the company toward a more moderate phase of growth. LeEco is the umbrella holding company for a sprawling family of businesses that includes sports media, automobiles, smartphones and TVs. The company known for its LeTV streaming service has aggressively pursued funding and placed bets on new ventures, from an electric car plant in Nevada to a $2 billion acquisition of California TV maker Vizio Inc. "No company has had such an experience, a simultaneous time in ice and fire," Jia wrote in a letter, obtained by Bloomberg News, describing LeEco's rise and subsequent issues. "We blindly sped ahead, and our cash demand ballooned. We got over-extended in our global strategy. At the same time, our capital and resources were in fact limited."


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22 results were returned
This is the 17th in a series of articles written by members of our International Trade Secrets Group, highlighting points of note regarding the protection of Trade Secrets in various jurisdictions.
On 21 March 2019 the German parliament adopted a new national regime on trade secrets.
The principle focus of these articles is countries in which law has recently been implemented in order to comply with the Trade Secrets Directive, and if so, to also consider practical implementation outcomes.
Implementation of the Trade Secret Directive – some comments from Finland
Processes, pricing, commercial & technical know-how… there's a lot of information that makes up your business.
The new German Trade Secrets Act (TSA) has been the subject of numerous publications for the last few months. Among other significant changes, the TSA declares reverse engineering of a product as generally permissible ...
In the third of our series of articles written by members of our International Trade Secrets Group, and intended to highlight particular points to note relating to the protection of Trade Secrets in various different ...
Dispute Resolution analysis: How should practitioners deal with a situation where a client wishes to restrict disclosure?
The UK IPO today published the Government's response to the consultation on the draft Trade Secrets Regulations which will implement the Trade Secrets Directive.
Constantin Eikel provides an update on the Implementation of the Trade Secrets Directive in Germany.


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It is fair to conclude that sustainable investments, the rise of AI and gamification were among the most inspiring trends in the wealth management sector during the past year. The gloomy economic outlook of 2023 is likely to continue challenging businesses in the year to follow. The geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges are not closer to any resolution, leaving the wealth management sector to focus on clever applications of technology to ease the pressure on the margins and comply with an ever-growing number of transparency requirements.
For instance, in the UK, wealth managers are expected to meet the Consumer Duty demands by the FCA. In the context of sustainable finance, fund managers are expected to be focused on implementing the FCA's Sustainability Disclosure Requirements.
Apart from tougher regulations, generative AI was one of the key topics discussed last year in wealth management firms and across the global economy. According to Statista, the market size of the technology providers is projected to reach $66.2bn in 2024 and will reach a value of $207bn by 2030. The appeal of the technology is growing among financial institutions, too. In fact, per Finastra’s annual global State of the Nation Survey released at the end of 2023, the core technologies the financial services sector invests in are generative AI, embedded finance and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS). This indicates the continuation of the digitalisation trend – and the focus is on building seamless and personalised experiences.
Let’s dive into the top trends that will set the tone for the sector for the first quarter of 2024 and consequently, the rest of the year.
Embedded finance offers an opportunity for companies from various sectors to effortlessly integrate financial products into their customer journeys. Embedded finance grew to a $2.6 trillion industry in 2021 in the US alone, with nearly 5% of financial transactions embedded into e-commerce and other software platforms. According to Bain & Company research, by 2026, the share of embedded finance transactions will exceed $7 trillion, representing 10% of total transactions. The major catalysts for this growth are the sector’s ability to improve customer experiences and financial access, along with cost- and risk-reduction benefits throughout the value chain.
Embedded wealth providers help firms reach new customer segments by enabling access to capital markets, and offerring lower-cost access to portfolio management. It’s easy to see how 70% of banking executives believe that embedded finance will either become core or complementary technology to their business strategies, according to an IBM report. As Fredrik Daveus, CEO of Kidbrooke® put it, “Embedded finance has a far-reaching impact. It extends across various industries and reshapes the landscape of financial services. It democratises access to financial tools, making them more accessible to a broader audience. It also fosters innovation in how financial services are delivered and consumed.”
In a detailed post, Davéus elaborated on how implementing embedded finance includes but is not limited to partnering with payments and banking providers, offering pension, protection and investment financial services for corporate employees, and, offering personalised and relevant investment services to individuals thus democratising the industry at scale.
In modern wealth management where a hybrid approach in physical versus digital debate became an accepted consensus during the pandemic years, the importance of consistency in decision-making among the channels cannot be overstated. A McKinsey study showed that digital adoption has moved from a question to a concrete reality, with approximately 73% of global interactions with banks now taking place through digital channels, forcing relationship managers to develop new strategies to ensure a seamless experience.
When it comes to the entire investment journey, a customer often touches different parts of an organisation's applications — covering financial planning, trading and reporting —built on a range of platforms or acquired from third-party vendors. As a result, these legacy systems often communicate poorly with each other. Such a fragmented experience can erode trust and potentially lead to client attrition. In contrast, consistent financial planning experiences with a seamless information flows across all channels foster customer loyalty and trust in the brand.
Wealth managers can consider a scalable solution with unified data analytics at its core to achieve consistency in the entire investment journey, allowing cross-functional data access across the firm. Kidbrooke®’s unified, balance sheet-based approach can analyse different aspects of financial decision-making - regulatory requirements, taxes, savings, and pensions, among others, Daveus explained. This approach to analytics can bring the quality of the omnichannel experiences to the next level, helping firms provide a more comprehensive and seamless service. In fact, according to McKinsey, optimising consistency in customer journey experiences can lead to increased revenue and decrease the service costs by as much as 20%.
Many financial institutions emphasise the importance of data readiness prior to initiating digital transformation. Given the high stakes involved in financial services, accurate and reliable approach to data management is paramount, not only for operational efficiency but also for maintaining regulatory compliance and customer trust. However, trying to get the data into the perfect state in a large financial institution with a long history and infrastructural debt can hinder an institution's ability to adapt to the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
A more pragmatic strategy is to begin innovating with the current state of data, however imperfect it may be. This approach implies the development of digital customer journeys step-by-step. By releasing digital services incrementally and gathering customer feedback, financial institutions can refine their offerings and update the critical parts of the infrastructure as they go. This method allows for practical insights into what customers value and which data is most critical, thereby improving future predictions and advice.
Adopting this approach requires a shift in mindset from viewing data readiness as a one-time prerequisite to a continuous, evolving process. This perspective pays more heed to customer preferences and technological capabilities and encourages wealth managers to maintain agility and responsiveness in their efforts.
Consistently updating and innovating your tech tools, streamlining data collection, and refining digital services based on customer feedback and market trends is the silver bullet to staying relevant.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Microsoft drops open-source birthday gift with FAST
As birthdays go, it's not a bad present. Microsoft's decision to sacrifice FAST's Enterprise Search Platform (ESP) development on Linux and Unix for Windows potentially gives open-source search providers like Lucid Imagination a free pass.
In announcing the news Monday, FAST chief technology officer Bjørn Olstad was clearly cognizant of the implications of the move. Olstad tried to preempt the potential customer hemorrhage with a standard commitment to interoperability with Linux and Unix and vague references to some "hosted solutions."
"Many of our customers run FAST ESP on Linux and Unix today, and we recognize that our future focus on Windows means change," Olstad wrote. Microsoft is giving you until 2018 to stick with the existing versions of ESP - the date when extended support ends.
Olstad is right to be concerned. Customers interested in open-source search are moving to Apache Software Foundation's (ASF's) Lucene and Solr, and Lucid has spend the first year of its life charging people to provide support along with consulting to get the move right.
On Tuesday. Lucid's chief executive Eric Gries claimed 80 per cent of the FAST's customer base ran on Linux or Unix, and Microsoft's decision will simply mean those who'd been previously unsure, concerned about the future under Microsoft, or interested in using an open-source architecture like Lucene or Solr will now move elsewhere.
"This news is the final nail in the coffin," Gries said of FAST. "I'm puzzled by the thinking at Microsoft. But for us it definitely helps. Customers who were on the fence thinking about staying with FAST and Linux and moving to Solr - their decision is very clear."
Lucid counts those who've moved to Lucid or Solr in the last year as Fortune 500s that don't want be tied to a single company's roadmap or paying expensive licensing fees. Microsoft's plan with FAST is to integrate the search capabilities into Office and SharePoint 2010. Since January 2009, Lucid has picked up Ford, Nike, Sears, and Macy's.
Lucid's average annual subscription charge is $30,000, which gives customers pre-integration and support for these ASF-based projects. It targets those who like open-source but don't want to get their hands dirty and that want the comfort of having somebody to call or help build their system. Lucid's services include updates and sweeps of customers' installations to look for bottlenecks and check the accuracy of the data.
There are other alternatives to those who don't want to become dependent on Window, Office, or SharePoint or be locked into a single vendor such as Microsoft or even rival Oracle that offers its Secure Enterprise Search. These options include Google's Search Appliance and also Sphinx.


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As we head into fall Harry Brelsford of SMB Nation sits down with Ben Baker to find out what he is hearing, seeing, and predicting for the close of 2022. Ben and Harry touch on the great resignation, what companies are currently doing with their funds, the recession and the potential opportunities it will bring and much more in this brief podcast.
With the 2022 Conference schedule in full swing, and 2023 just around the corner Harry Brelsford of SMB Nation sits down with John Hill of TechSage Solutions to discuss how the end of the conference season is wrapping up and what conferences you do not want to miss.
At the CompTIA Channelcon 2022 Conference CEO Todd Thibodeaux announced the launch of a new program to foster more careers in technology. With the need for jobs in most sectors of the economy CompTIA is looking to supercharge individuals to be ready to launch full force into the IT industry. Harry Brelsford of SMB Nation sits down with Dave Sobel to discuss this new initiative as well as the CompTIA Channelcon Conference as a whole.
Despite global efforts the number of cyber attacks get worse each year. While the statistics seem dreadful, nearly every industry has had to embrace new solutions and prepare for the future. Although many have embraced cyber security, it is still the number one concern for many business owners today. This concern puts MSP’s in a great position to address these apprehensions, and add cybersecurity services to their offerings.
By Gary Audin
Subscription revenue is very attractive. The Managed Service Provider (MSP) business plans call for continuing and expanding subscription services. Developing these services requires capital, new staff, is risky, and can take a long time to be successful. This encourages the MSP to look for services they can resell. Does the MSP white label a service or sell a branded service?
Marketing during the pandemic was a shift for many businesses, as we went from in person handshakes to digital marketing and communication. With these fluctuations it probably comes to no surprise that consumer behavior shifted during the pandemic, with businesses shutting their doors, and face to face interactions becoming nearly nonexistent. Now that the world is opening up many businesses are looking back at the long term implications of the pandemic in terms of how they market themselves.


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TOKYO - Sony will put off the release of its much awaited PlayStation 3 console until November from its planned spring debut because more work is needed on its next-generation DVD technology, the company said Wednesday.
Ken Kutaragi, the head Sony's video games division, made the announcement at a hastily called news conference after reports of the delay surfaced in the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun and other papers.
The PlayStation 3 is critical for Sony Corp.'s profits and brand image, so the delay is a major setback for the Japanese electronics and entertainment company as it struggles to mount a recovery after several years of poor earnings.
The reports sent Sony's stock tumbling 1.8 percent to $46 Wednesday. Kutaragi announced the decision after the close of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
In the United States, however, Sony's American depositary shares rose as much as 2.2 percent and finished up 17 cents at $46.68 on the New York Stock Exchange, off a four-year high of about $51 from late January.
U.S. analysts said Sony's announcement likely alleviated investors' concerns that the PlayStation 3 wouldn't reach the U.S. marketplace until 2007. The new timeline means that the PlayStation 3 will hit store shelves simultaneously in Japan, North America and Europe, just in time for Christmas.
"We believe the news will come as a relief to investors who had feared that Sony would not launch the console in Japan until November, followed by a typical four- to five-month lag into the U.S. market," Brendan McCabe of CIBC World Markets wrote in a research note.
Kutaragi said Sony is still trying to finalize the copyright protection technology and other standards for the Blu-ray DVD disc, the format for PlayStation 3, and next-generation video for the company's electronics gadgets in the works.
"I'd like to apologize for the delay," Kutaragi said at a Tokyo hotel. "I have been cautious because many people in various areas are banking on the potential of the next-generation DVD."
Blu-ray preparations were initially to have been completed by last September, but now won't be finalized until next month, he said.
The delay comes at a time when competition in next-generation game consoles is heating up with U.S. software maker Microsoft Corp. already putting the Xbox 360 on sale last year. Nintendo Co., the Japanese manufacture of Game Boy machines and Pokemon and Super Mario game software, is also planning its version called Revolution later this year.
The PlayStation series is now the dominant brand for home consoles, helping support Sony's bottom line in recent years, and controlling about 60 percent of the global market, according to Kutaragi. Sony has shipped nearly 204 million machines worldwide when combining shipments for the original PlayStation and its upgrade PlayStation 2.
Toshiaki Nishimura, analyst for Yasuda Asset Management Co., said the delay is likely to hurt game revenue for Sony, but the announcement wasn't a big surprise for the market, which had anticipated a delay. Speculation about a possible delay had been growing in the last few months.
But further delays that could force Sony to miss Christmas entirely would be detrimental, he said.
In a research note, Merrill Lynch analyst Hitoshi Kuriyama said Sony "still has a number of obstacles to surmount before it can achieve a simultaneous global launch of PS3 in November. We will need to keep close tabs on whether any further delays emerge because postponing the launch will worsen the company's competitive position."
Nonetheless, Nishimura said, "Sony is merely at the starting point of a race." He said more time is needed to assess PlayStation 3 and the advanced gadgets that will run on the same computer chip called "cell" that Sony is developing with Toshiba Corp. and IBM Corp.


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December is like the preview to what will happen the next year on the Automotive circuit and accordingly this is the time speculation and rumors start to fly. Included in that frenzy this year is the Fiat 500 and the potential for an electric version to come to market. According to our green experts over at GreenCarReports.com, the rumor of an EV version of the Fiat 500 has been floating out in the ether for a couple of months now. Now, it is said that Chrysler will be bringing an EV Fiat 500 and a Lancia Delta, sporting a Chrysler badge, to the 2010 Detroit Auto Show next month.
2009 fiat 500 convertible 500c 2 009
2009 fiat 500 convertible 500c 2 025
An EV version of the Fiat 500 would definitely round out the pack of small cars set to go on sale late in 2010. In case you missed it, the current information says the Fiat 500 line up will be as follows: the standard 500 hatchback, the 500C cabriolet, and the “hot-hatch” 500 Abarth. All production of the Fiat 500 models is planned for the Chrysler plant in Toluca, Mexico with the 1.4-liter engines being produced in Dundee, Michigan.
Micro-Vett electric Fiat 500 from NICE Car Company, 2008 London Motor Show
Bottom line—I might have to buy all four versions if they indeed go into production. Given all the praise the Fiat 500 has received in Europe, the MINI Cooper might have its work cut out for it to stay on top of the “mini” car market.
Be sure to cruise on over to John Voelcker’s in-depth report on the Fiat 500 EV and e500 conversions at GreenCarReports.com. Also, check out our report from October.


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Google tells Microsoft to shut down its YouTube app for Windows Phone
App allegedly strips advertisements, lets users download videos
Google on Wednesday demanded that Microsoft yank its YouTube app for Windows Phone from the market and disable any downloaded copies of the app, according to Wired.com, which received a copy of Google’s cease and desist letter.
Microsoft has until May 22 to comply, according to the story by Wired’s Mat Honan.
The Microsoft-written YouTube app violates YouTube’s service terms in two ways: it strips out the ads in the videos and lets users download content from the video site. Users can download the Microsoft app from the Windows Phone App Store.
UPDATE 1: But there are at least three other Windows Phone apps, available on Microsoft’s online app store, that also appear to violate one or the other of these restrictions. All three let users download videos to their phones. A paid version of one of them lets the user block advertisements.
Here’s the list:
Tube Pro, free, by Fast Code; the WindowsPhone Store listing offers an email address for support and questions. “If you want to remove adverts, Please buy the paid version.”
YouTube Downloader, free, by AnKo Software, which seems to be a Russian developer; on Twitter @AnKo_software
YouTube Downloader, $2.49, by AutoExpert Net. No vendor contact information available, but it was the only vendor that posted a disclaimer about downloading content: “AutoExpert Net does NOT in any way endorse and is NOT responsible for downloading copyrighted material from YouTube. This application should only be used for non-copyrighted material and/or for educational purposes. All the rights of the videos/audios are the property of their respective owners. By using this application you agree to abide by local and national copyright laws.”
“Network World” emailed AutoExpert Net. and tweeted AnKo Software for comment.
“These features directly harm our content creators and clearly violate our Terms of Service,” according to Google’s letter. “We request that you immediately withdraw this application from the Windows Phone Store and disable existing downloads of the application by Wednesday, May 22, 2013.”
“Just today, during his presentation at the Google I/O keynote, Google CEO Larry Page decried Microsoft for “milking off” of Google’s innovations,” Honan writes.
The Wired story includes the full text of the letter, dated May 15. It was sent to Todd Brix, Microsoft general manager, Windows Phone apps and store. It was signed by Francisco Vareta, director, global platform partnership, for Youtube.
Wired contacted both Google and Microsoft for comment. As of this posting, Wired apparently has received none.
Comments are closed.


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Oppo not too long ago launched a brand new smartphone in its A-series lineup, dubbed the Oppo A52. Now the corporate has added one other telephone, referred to as the Oppo A92, and launched it in Malaysia. The specs of this new smartphone are similar to the rumoured Oppo A72 telephone which was not too long ago noticed on-line, suggesting that Oppo might launch the identical telephone as A72 in choose markets and as A92 in others. The brand new Oppo A92 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC and carries an enormous battery.
Oppo A92 value
The brand new Oppo A92 is listed on Oppo’s official web site for pre-orders. The brand new Oppo A92 is priced at MYR 1199 (roughly Rs. 21,000). The Oppo A92 is offered in Twilight Black and Shining White color variants. The official gross sales are stated to start from Could 9.
Oppo A92 specs
The brand new Oppo A92 sports activities a 6.5-inch full-HD+ show with a hole-punch design. It’s powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC and packs 8GB RAM in addition to 128GB of storage. The brand new smartphone runs ColourOS 7.1, primarily based on Android 10. It additionally packs twin stereo audio system and has Dirac Stereo 2.zero sound impact.
The smartphone carries a 5,000mAh battery and has help for 18W quick charging. It has a quad-camera setup on the again consisting of a 48-megapixel main digital camera with an f/1.7 aperture, a 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle digital camera with a 119-degree field-of-view, and two 2-megapixel cameras, one for monochrome pictures and the opposite for depth. Oppo additionally provides a side-mounted fingerprint scanner on the brand new Oppo A92.


text: This week, meat chain Arby’s, a.k.a. Jon Stewart’s number one frenemy, opened just its second location in New York at 32 East 23rd Street. And while people seem to generally be grossed out by Arby’s, they haven’t — for some reason — been able to resist the allure of fast-food venison. Its venison sandwich, which debuted back in October, has regularly sold out at the select locations where it’s sold, with customers going so far as to start lining up at 9 a.m. — as if it isn’t a deer-meat sandwich sold by the “We Have the Meats™” people. In the past, it’d been sold at locations in “heavy deer-hunting areas” because, yeah; but to celebrate this new location, Arby’s will bring the sandwich to New York. It’ll be offered this Saturday in limited quantities, and the restaurant is near Madison Park — where you can, uh, pretend you’re in nature? — so everyone who is interested in the intersection of game meats and fast food: mark your calendars.


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The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE, Predator Helios 300, and the wide-ranging Nitro 5 series laptops were revealed at CES 2022 this week. These machines all roll with the newest in new top-tier gaming gear, including AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA processing power under their hoods, as well as high refresh rate displays and a wide variety of options for included specifications.
If there's one word that can be used to describe the Galaxy S22 as we know it through rumors, it would be "confusing." Although most rumors seem to agree on some of the key aspects of the three phones, they have so far turned out to be a mixed bag of disappointment and hope. Even more confusing, however, is the situation with Samsung's own Exynos 2200 vis-a-vis the Snapdragon 898. At least one part of the uncertainty might finally be put to rest when Samsung announces its graphics-focused silicon next week.
Samsung is expected to soon announce what could be the biggest upgrade to its Exynos chips in years. The partnership it started with AMD a few years back is anticipated to level up the silicon's graphics game, utilizing AMD's rDNA technology for the benefit of mobile users. There has been some uncertainty, however, about which devices will be betting this Exynos 2200, especially with the ongoing chip shortage. The latest word gives a small amount of relief to would-be Galaxy S22 buyers, but the actual availability of this chip might still be in question.
Even though most of the Halo series is now on PC, Halo Infinite will mark the first time in series history that a Halo game launches on Xbox and PC at the same time. Today, Microsoft offered an in-depth look at the game's PC version, listing the features it'll support at launch and what it took to get those features up and running. Microsoft also announced new partnerships with AMD, Discord, and Razer for Halo Infinite.
It seems that the big game in the consumer tech market these days is for companies to design their own silicon in one form or another. Apple has, of course, been making the Apple A series of chips for iPhones and iPads far longer than its rivals, but Google has apparently started to catch on. Even Vivo jumped in on the game with its own V1 imagine signal processor. It's really no surprise that Microsoft might be joining the bandwagon, though its exact plans are still up for much speculation and debate.
The rollout of Windows 11 has been relatively quiet, which isn't surprising considering the small number of PCs that are receiving it or are compatible with it. Incompatible computers don't even get the upgrade, so Microsoft is practically gatekeeping the upgrade anyway. That said, things aren't as quiet over at the AMD camp with confirmed performance issues with some supported CPUs, a problem that was ironically exacerbated by Windows 11's first Patch Tuesday.
Windows 11 is officially out, and if you're in the market for a new PC, there are a handful already available with Microsoft's latest OS pre-installed. Most people, however, will most likely just be upgrading their Windows 10 PCs, which can bring some uncertainty over the minimum specs required by Windows 11. Unfortunately, even if your computer does meet those requirements, it doesn't always mean that the process and experience will be smooth and painless, as owners of devices running on some AMD processors are finding out to their dismay.
Anyone using a computer that runs AMD Ryzen hardware needs to apply the latest driver updates to secure their computer systems. Last month, AMD launched a driver to patch a critical security flaw without mentioning which vulnerability the patch was meant to address. However, a recent report published by security researchers disclosed a significant vulnerability in the driver.
Apple just launched the iPhone 13 with its new A15 Bionic processor, and, naturally, it's already being hailed as the fastest in the mobile market, especially in graphics performance. That might not matter much to Android manufacturers who can't use the chip anyway, so Samsung, Xiaomi, and others are fighting in a different arena. At least for Samsung, that might not be an issue if this new information about the upcoming Exynos 2200 with AMD graphics is right on the mark.
Although it's hard to take them at face value, benchmark sightings, especially on Geekbench, have often become indirect sources of information for upcoming phones and computers. They mostly reveal information about the device's processor and RAM, but they might also hold clues about other specs. At the very least, they can give an idea of how powerful or weak an upcoming device might be. That seems to be the case with this Geekbench entry for what is believed to be the Samsung Galaxy S22+, provided you take the numbers with a grain of salt.
Despite the somewhat controversial UI changes, interest in Windows 11 has mostly been positive. Unfortunately, Microsoft botched that early on with its rather confusing set of minimum system requirements as well as an equally confusing PC Health Check app. Since then, the company has been working to clarify the baseline for PCs that are eligible for a Windows 11 update. It is now more or less setting its foot down on computers with older processors, but a "loophole" will give ineligible users a chance to run Windows 11 at their own risk.


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Toyota truck-sales forecast calls for modest growth, analysts say
- W. Scott Bailey
Despite continued concerns about the economy and the unpredictability of gas prices long-term, multiple auto industry analysts say they believe that Toyota can generate a modest but steady increase in its truck sales over the next few years.
San Antonio is counting on Toyota to rebound fully from its series of vehicle recalls and to sell enough trucks so that the automaker can maximize production capacity at its Alamo City assembly facility. That optimism is tied in large part to the Tacoma, which Alamo City Toyota workers began building this summer.
Tracy Handler, a Michigan-based analyst for IHS Automotive, says Toyota should expect “slow, steady growth” for its truck sales.
“It won’t be anything out of this world,” says Handler about that forecasted growth. “But I don’t see any hiccups either.”
Through the first eight months of 2010, Toyota sold 61,722 Tundra pickup trucks. That’s a 23.3 percent improvement over the same period in 2009.
“Gas prices have stabilized a little, so we have seen some growth in the Tundra,” Handler says. She attributes that growth, at least in part, to an uptick in commercial sales.
“Companies that had been putting off buying new trucks are now replacing vehicles that were on their last leg,” she says. “That will hopefully continue if construction starts to pick up in the next six months or so and the full-size truck segment can stay fairly strong.”
Jack Plunkett, CEO of Houston-based Plunkett Research Ltd., agrees that Toyota has benefited from a boost in commercial sales.
“There is some pent-up demand on the commercial side from people whose trucks were tired and old ... ,” he says. “I think that’s where some of the light truck bounce came from.”
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Back in 2016 when we drove the Ford Kuga in Philippines, Ford had positively denied any plans to bring the SUV to India. Now, just over a year and a few months later, we have our sources telling us that Ford is developing a brand new SUV based on the Kuga which is also known as the Escape in a few markets.
Internationally, the Ford Kuga/Escape is a Hyundai Tucson rival, a premium five-seater SUV. It sits below the Ford Endeavour-equivalent and is a powerful and comfortable urban SUV. Ford has realised that bringing the Escape to India as it is, would not be ideal because of the quantum of the segment. Despite being a margin product, the lack of volumes does not make a business case and especially with the struggling volume products in Ford’s India line-up, the American giant wouldn’t want another slow-mover on its shelf.
What makes us believe in this is that the new Escape-based SUV will then certainly sit a step lower than the Tuscon, competing against the likes of the Creta and the Jeep Compass across its range. The Hyundai Creta averages about 8,000 units a month while the Jeep Compass rings more than 2,000 every month which makes it a 10,000 unit segment. If Ford manages to breach this segment, especially with no likely rival from Maruti anytime soon, it certainly gets to have a bite of the mighty margin pie.
This new SUV might be called the Ford Escape as it fits like a glove with the Ecosport and the Endeavour nomenclature. It should ideally measure between 4300mm to 4400mm in length and will be a five-seater. Ford should certainly go for brawn in terms of styling because that is what sells. In terms of features, the new Ecosport has shown what Ford is capable of and we are certainly impressed.
If we get the Ford Escape (or whatever Ford decides to call it) later this year, we always have a chance of getting the Kuga later to complete Ford’s SUV portfolio in India from a sub-four metre SUV to the seven-seater big boys.


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New York's taxi authority is to vote on whether or not the city's iconic yellow cabs should accept bookings via smartphone apps.
A plethora of apps, such as Uber and Hailo, have been released to help commuters track down available cabs.
But some taxi companies are concerned about the impact these apps could have on their business.
Taxi-hailing apps have been widely adopted in other cities around the world.
In New York, where taxi operators are highly regulated, several companies have written to the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) calling for plans to allow the use of the apps to be rejected.We knew the invention of the wheel was a mixed blessing. Next, the customers will want to carry 20 oz. sodas!


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At the Bangladesh Innovation Award 2023, bKash, the nation’s largest MFS provider, earned the innovation award in four categories.
According to a press statement issued here today, it won accolades across a number of categories for its innovative and creative services, including digital savings through bKash, remittance service through Payoneer, and bKash payment speakers.
“Best Innovation in Community Engagement” award for freelancer community involvement effort on “Payoneer to bKash” service. “Best Process Innovation” award for unique services like savings at three banks and one financial institution using the bKash app.
Also, it received awards for “Best Innovation (Product Development)” and “Best Innovation (Finance Innovation in Other Financial Institutions)” for the services of Payoneer remittance export and “bKash Payment Speaker,” respectively.
At a ceremony held at a city hotel yesterday, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the state minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), presented the prizes to Chief Product and Technology Officer Mohammad Azmal Huda, Chief Communications Officer Mahfuz Sadique, and other top executives of bKash.
The awards, presented by Bangladesh Innovation Conclave, honor inventions and concepts that have improved people’s lives.
As a result, out of 16 categories this year, bKash has received prizes in four of them.
It should be mentioned that in past iterations of the Bangladesh Innovation Award, bKash also won the best prize in a range of categories for a range of innovative services.


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The Tata HBX mini-SUV concept was initially unveiled at the Auto Expo 2020 while the production variant of the SUV is now expected to be launched in Nepal by the end of this year during the festive period around Deepawali. The Tata HBX is based on the brand’s H2X concept that was revealed back at the Geneva International Motor Show held in 2019.
The reports also suggest that the Tata HBX will be launched with a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine in addition to the 1.2-litre, naturally-aspirated petrol engine that was showcased back in the concept variant. As the name suggests, the turbo engine will offer higher performance when compared to the naturally-aspirated engine.
The Tata HBX is the second product from the brand that is based on the ALFA platform. The mini-SUV has been imparted an edgy design when it comes to the muscular profile and a compact outlook. The brand has equipped the HBX with an accentuating front fascia that compliments an upright profile.
The production variant of the Tata HBX mini-SUV is expected to feature almost identical dashboard design with all the key features as seen on the concept version. One can expect the SUV to feature a floating touchscreen infotainment unit in addition to getting a semi-digital instrument console.
The electronics package is expected to feature automatic climate control, dual front airbags, remote key start and more. The brand is expected to offer the SUV a 5-speed manual gearbox in addition to offering an audio system sourced from Harman.Once launched in Nepal, the Tata HBX production variant will compete in the markets against the likes of Maruti Suzuki S-Presso, Maruti Suzuki Ignis, Mahindra KUV100 and the 2020 Renault Kwid.