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Digital TV News: Widevine
TF1 implements Irdeto Control to protect World Cup streams
Dec 6, 2022 – Irdeto has announce that Irdeto Control has been implemented to secure the OTT platform of TF1. The integration was completed for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, one of the most watched sports events in the world.
News categories: Irdeto, TF1, Richard Frankland, Thierry Bonhomme, Digital TV, DRM, France, Streaming
SEI and Amlogic develop Android TV set-top-box for FTP in Vietnam
Nov 9, 2022 – SEI Robotics and Amlogic have cooperated to roll out the 4K Android TV IPTV/OTT set-top-box for FPT. The box runs on an Amlogic S905Y4 chipset and supports on-demand and linear broadcasting for the Vietnam market.
News categories: SEI Robotics, Amlogic, FPT, Android TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Vietnam
castLabs partners with SDMC on Widevine CAS integration
Nov 7, 2022 – castLabs has announced a collaboration with SDMC to simplify operator deployments of Widevine CAS protected content streaming with lower integration cost and turnaround time than today's practices.
News categories: castLabs, SDMC, Michael Stattmann, Ryan Yan, Android TV, Digital TV, DRM, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Worldwide
SEI and SERAPHIC collaborate on 4K Android TV hybrid set-top-box
Sep 8, 2022 – SEI Robotics and SERAPHIC have partnered to roll out a 4K Android TV hybrid set-top-box. The SEI STB can support DVB-T/S/C, ISDB-T and other digital TV standards, while supporting the Google TIF framework and Google Widevine CAS.
News categories: SERAPHIC, SEI Robotics, Jeff Yin, Android TV, Digital TV, IBC2022, Semiconductor, Set Top Box, Worldwide
Irdeto and Broadpeak power Tata Play Binge OTT aggregation service
May 30, 2022 – Irdeto has announce that Tata Play has implemented Broadpeak BkS350 Origin Packager pre-integrated with Irdeto Control and Irdeto Media Manager to power their OTT aggregation platform, Tata Play Binge.
News categories: Irdeto, Broadpeak, Tata, Shane McCarthy, Jacques Le Mancq, Content Distribution, Content Protection, Digital TV, India, Satellite
MwareTV integrates Irdeto DRM for MultTV in Brazil
Feb 22, 2022 – Irdeto has announced that its Irdeto Control DRM solution has been integrated into MwareTV's IPTV/OTT distribution platform. The first implementation of Irdeto with MwareTV will be rolled out at shared services provider MultTV in Brazil.
News categories: MwareTV, Irdeto, MultTV, Sander Kerstens, Doug Lowther, Brazil, Content Distribution, Digital TV, DRM, IPTV
Viaccess-Orca powers Android TV offering at Orange Slovensko
Feb 21, 2022 – Viaccess-Orca (VO) has announced that Orange Slovensko has launched an Android TV offering with VO's DRM solutions. VO provides Orange Slovensko with solutions for content protection and multi-DRM management on its Android TV set-top boxes.
News categories: Viaccess-Orca, Orange Slovensko, Pierre-Alexandre Bidard, Martin Lednár, Android TV, Digital TV, DRM, IPTV, Set Top Box, Slovenia
Irdeto and TASS introduce multi-DRM solution including China DRM
Feb 14, 2022 – Irdeto has collaborated with Beijing Jiangnan Tianan Technology (TASS) to introduce a multi-DRM solution that includes China DRM and supports all the leading commercial DRMs, enabling Chinese operators to deploy services in China and worldwide.
News categories: Irdeto, TASS, Shane McCarthy, Deng Xiaosi, China, Digital TV, DRM, Streaming, Worldwide
castLabs DRM protects online content for PBS
Jan 12, 2022 – castLabs has announced a partnership with Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The broadcaster will use castLabs’ cloud digital rights management (DRM), DRMtoday, solution to protect its online video content.
News categories: castLabs, PBS, Alec Henthorne, Scott Nourse, Digital TV, DRM, Streaming, USA
- SeaChange to power streaming for FOX Sports Mexico
- Limited growth for APAC ex-China pay-TV revenues to 2027
- Shahid streaming platform now available on KONKA Smart TVs
- JPIX partners with Cisco and Qwilt for streaming delivery in Japan
- ZTE helps América Móvil migrate from AOSP to Android TV
- Veira Group starts production of webOS Hub 2.0 Smart TVs
- NextGen TV launched in Champaign and Springfield-Decatur
- Innovid integrates Kinetiq ad-occurrence data
- TF1 implements Irdeto Control to protect World Cup streams
- Premium online video rebounds in Southeast Asia
- Magyar Telekom selects ThinkAnalytics for content discovery and targeted promotions
- NextGen TV launches on seven local TV stations in Birmingham, AL
- Helwa TV channel launches on Arabsat's BADR-6
- Discovery+ launches on DIRECTV and DIRECTV STREAM
- AWS Clean Rooms launched
- Prime Video heads Parks Associates list of top U.S. SVOD services
- VIDAA brings football to Google TV and Android TV
- Deloitte predicts ads on all streaming services
- Hybrid AVOD/SVOD to drive major subscription platforms
- Consumer VR shipments in China to approach 7 million units in 2026


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UK consumers are increasingly using mobile apps to manage their finances, according to a new report by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA).
The use of phone, internet and mobile banking have all increased in recent years, but by far the biggest rise in digital services is the use of mobile apps, the report said.
We now use mobile banking apps more than 7,610 times a minute, or 4 billion times a year. Meanwhile, internet banking logins have fallen slightly as consumers switch to mobile banking.
For the first time, customers are choosing to use mobile apps more than banks’ websites.
The huge rise in the popularity of mobile apps is down to the speed with which people can access their information and make payments, according to the BBA.
Last year UK consumers made 347 million payments via banking apps, a rise of 54% since 2014, and 417 million payments via internet banking, up 2%.
The Way We Bank Now report was produced by the BBA and supported by professional services firm EY.
Commenting on the findings, Robert Cubbage, UK Banking and Capital Markets leader at EY, said:
“It’s a challenging but truly transformational time for banking. The sector is evolving fast, with almost all areas of financial management becoming simpler, more accessible and more dynamic for consumers. And as the report shows, customers are increasingly making use of all the banking channels available to them.
“For the banks themselves this means there are now more opportunities than ever before to engage with customers. And so there are crucial decisions to be made about how they manage these increased touch-points through internet banking, mobile payments or their branches, and the quality of those interactions.
“Transformation is not without its challenges, but banks that can make the most of the new opportunities available to engage with their customers through digital, and the use of analytics and technology will be highly competitive in the new environment.”

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Grapevine Craft Brewery launched its first beer, the Lakefire Rye Pale Ale, on Nov. 27 in various bars and restaurants in Northeast Tarrant County and Dallas. But its big coming-out event in Tarrant was a launch party Thursday night at Southlake’s Wildwood Grill.
It was also our first time to try the beer (an earlier attempt at another restaurant turned out to be premature -- the place got it on tap too days after our Nov. 27 visit). The DFW.com North Texas Craft Beer Battle has been going on since early November, well before the Lakefire made its debut, but had it been around, it would have been a contender.
It’s a hoppy beer, but it would fit just as easily into the “Easy Drinking” region, thanks to a malty start and a subtle finish -- there was some bitterness, but nowhere near as aggressive as in some other hoppy beers we tried during the Beer Battle. It’s what a lot of brewers have told us they’re aiming for -- a beer that won’t scare off novices but will please aficionados.
“The hop character in the Lakefire is very forward,” GCB founder Gary Humble says. “You get it in the nose, and you get it up front. The little bit of bitterness you get on the end is mostly spice from the rye malt. The reason it goes away so clean and so quickly is because it’s malt.”
Response at Wildwood and elsewhere has been good, he adds.
“We’re getting a lot of check-ins on Untappd, the beer app,” Humble says. “Some of the beer nerds are looking for, ‘Where’s the hops?,’ but then they’ll say, ‘But man, for their first beer, amazing.’ And I appreciate those comments. It’s hard to come out with a great product the first time out, but I feel like we accomplished that.”
Currently, the Lakefire is GCB’s only beer. But Humble says that the brewery’s Monarch Classic American Wheat is awaiting Texas Alcoholic Beverage label approval, and he expects to launch that beer before year-end. He’s got a March target date for his other two beers, the Sir Williams English Brown Ale and the Nightwatch Dry Oatmeal Stout.
“We went back and forth quite a bit about releasing the stout in the spring,” Humble says. “But our stout’s a year-round stout. It’s a foreign stout, it’s 6 percent, it’s light-bodied, it’s easy-drinking, so we’re going to go for it, see what happens. Make all the year-round drinkers happy.”
GCB is still brewing out of a facility in Farmers Branch, but Humble says that he hopes to begin construction of his Grapevine brewery in January. If all goes well, the brewery -- about a block off of Grapevine’s popular Main Street -- will open by mid-summer.
“We own the land,” Humble says. “We’re gunning hard. Grapevine Craft Brewery belongs in Grapevine. We have our permits, everybody’s behind us, we just have to get our finances in place. It’s a great spot, and we’re determined to get over every obstacle.”


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On May 26, 2010, the GAO submitted testimony to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, entitled “Herbal Dietary Supplements: Examples of Deceptive or Questionable Marketing Practices and Potentially Dangerous Advice.” The testimony was requested by the Special Committee on Aging, because “recent studies have shown that use of herbal dietary supplements…by the elderly within the United States has increased substantially.”
According to the report, “the GAO was asked to determine (1) whether sellers of herbal dietary supplements are using deceptive or questionable marketing practices and (2) whether selected herbal dietary supplements are contaminated with harmful substances.”
The GAO concluded that “certain dietary supplements commonly used by the elderly were deceptively or questionably marketed,” with claims the supplements could treat, prevent, or cure conditions such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol or Alzheimer’s disease—claims that, under the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, and related FDA implementing regulations, are not permitted for use in the labeling or marketing of dietary supplements. The GAO referred the names of companies that made these claims to FDA and the FTC “for appropriate action.”
The GAO’s testimony also states that while the GAO “found trace amounts of at least one potentially hazardous contaminant in 37 of the 40 herbal dietary supplements products tested,” no contaminants were found “in amounts considered to pose an acute toxicity hazard.” The GAO noted that “the levels of heavy metals found do not exceed any FDA or Environmental Protection Agency EPA) regulations governing dietary supplements or their raw ingredients, and FDA and EPA officials did not express concern regarding any immediate negative health consequences from consuming [the tested] supplements.”
Click here for more information about the GAO’s study, including a full copy of the testimony.


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The recent analysis of automobile movement in Mexican ports during the first two months of the year reveals a mixed picture. Although there is a 17.6% increase in national automobile movement compared to the same period last year, the ports of Lázaro Cárdenas and Veracruz show less encouraging figures.
In particular, the Pacific ports have experienced significant growth, with a 29.0% increase in automobile movement. However, Lázaro Cárdenas has suffered a 9.8% decline in the reception of new units and a modest 5% growth in exports.
On the other hand, in the Gulf of Mexico-Caribbean, despite the decrease in imports in Veracruz, the port of Altamira has shown a significant increase of 64.5% in automobile movement, which has boosted exports through this route.
At the national level, automobile companies have experienced increases in both sales and production, as well as exports, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).
These trends highlight the importance of closely monitoring automobile movement in Mexican ports, especially in a context where the automotive industry continues to be a fundamental pillar of the national economy.
To read the full article: https://t21.com.mx/puertos-de-lazaro-cardenas-y-veracruz-con-caidas-en-movimiento-de-automoviles/


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The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Google and Dish Network were in talks to possibly launch a brand new wireless service in the US. A Google-branded call carrier has been the dream of tech enthusiasts since the G1 launched back in 2008, but how likely is this idea to really get off the ground? And would you be willing to jump from your current provider to Google?
The WSJ is saying that the talks could amount to nothing, and that’s often the case when big companies get together and throw around crazy ideas – more often than not, nothing comes of them. But this situation is a little different, and here’s why:
- Dish Network has a ton of wireless spectrum that it’s not currently using. AT&T and Verizon Wireless are constantly moaning about a spectrum shortage, while companies like Dish (and Clearwire, and LightSquared) are sitting on enough to make them cry. T-Mobile even tried to get the FCC to force Dish to give some up, at one point. In other words, since Dish hasn’t given any indications that it is actually going to sell or give up any of its spectrum, we should expect the company to begin using it for something very soon.
- Google has a ton of money. It’s also got experience being an ISP provider, a VOIP provider (Google Voice and Gmail calling), and it’s slowly figuring out how to provide somewhat decent customer service through the Play Store.
- Once T-Mobile’s merger with MetroPCS is complete, the new company will be a strong GSM competitor to AT&T. It would also be the perfect partner for Google and Dish, since the network infrastructure would already been there. After all, building a brand new wireless network from the ground up is quite a hefty task – Google and Dish would probably have the money to do it themselves, but they can’t really afford the time. Partnering with an existing carrier therefore makes sense – and since Google doesn’t seem to like CDMA carriers as of late, and Deutsche Telekom has long expressed interested in exiting the US market, Google and Dish seem like the best suitors.
However, keep in mind that this is all speculation at this point. There have been no official announcements, and Dish could choose to partner with someone else. However, the prospect here is quite exciting, and a Google-branded wireless carrier would most likely scare AT&T and Verizon into offering unlimited data once more. Therefore, this would probably have huge ramifications for people who stay with their current carriers, as well.
But how about you? Would you consider letting Google run yet another part of your life?[Wall Street Journal via The Verge]


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Coveted Award from MSC.Software Worldwide recognizes INCAT’s efforts in growing MSC.Software’s Business
Pune, 10 September 2008: The Indian operation of INCAT, a global leader in Engineering Services Outsourcing (ESO) and a leading provider of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, has been awarded the Asia-Pacific Business Partner Excellence Award 2007 by MSC.Software Asia Pacific. In a ceremony held in Phuket, Thailand on July 18th, 2008 the award was presented by Dr. Reza Sadeghi, Chief Technology Officer, MSC.Software, to Wishwas Julka, Business Manager, PLM Sales Asia-Pacific.
Commenting on this milestone, Mr. Samir Yajnik, COO INCAT Asia-Pacific, said: “We are thrilled to have won this significant recognition from MSC.Software. It is the result of the tremendous effort put in over the past year by our dedicated and focused team. The award is a boost for the team and an encouragement to perform even better in the future.”
INCAT India was one of four MSC.Software’s Business Partners in the Asia-Pacific region to win this annual award.
2007 was INCAT’s first year as an MSC.Software partner in India and despite the relationship being operative for only the final 8 months of the year, INCAT succeeded in meeting 120% of its annual target in India for the company, expanding business with existing customers and adding new customers to the roster of MSC.Software users in India.
“The Business Partner Awards allows MSC.Software the opportunity to recognize our business partners who have gone above and beyond to help customers reach their full business potential,” said Mr. Frank Kovacs, Vice President, Global Partners & Alliances, MSC.Software. “INCAT delivered significant value to our customers as part of the renowned and talented MSC.Software partner ecosystem. Our partners are the pinnacle of real engineering talent around the world. We look forward to working with INCAT to continue to raise the bar for customers to derive real value and benefit from our engineering solutions across various industries and applications.”
INCAT, founded in 1989, is a Tata Technologies company. The company is a global leader in Enterprise IT Services and Engineering Services Outsourcing (ESO) to the global manufacturing industry. INCAT, through its pragmatic approach to engineering and manufacturing processes and its unique-in-the-industry Global Delivery Model, delivers best-in-class solutions for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) and Application Development and Maintenance (ADM) to the world’s leading automotive, aerospace and durable goods manufacturers and their suppliers. INCAT is headquartered in the United States (Novi, Michigan), India (Pune) and Germany (Stuttgart). Tata Technologies is headquartered in Singapore. INCAT has a combined global work force of more than 3,000 employees serving clients worldwide from facilities in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. For additional information, please visit
About MSC.Software Corporation
MSC.Software (NASDAQ:MSCS) is the global leader of enterprise simulation solutions that help companies make money, save time and reduce costs associated with designing and testing manufactured products. MSC.Software works with thousands of companies in hundreds of industries to develop better products faster by utilizing information technology, software, services and systems. MSC.Software employs 1100 people in 23 countries. For additional information about MSC Software's products and services, please visit
For further information, please contact: India, Asia-Pacific:
+91 20 66529044 / 9090
Head of Corporate Communications – Tata Technologies
+65 9694 8975


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WeChat (called Weixin in China) has just surpassed 438.2 million active users according to WeChat owner Tencent’s latest quarterly report. That’s up from 396 million active users in May and represents continued (albeit slowing) growth for China’s star communication platform.
This new count represents a 57 per cent year-on-year and an 11 per cent increase compared to the prior quarter, adding 46 million users in three months. By comparison, WhatsApp had 500 million users as of April, pitting the Facebook-owned company at near neck-and-neck with WeChat.
The company said it had “enhanced the community and payment functionalities of Weixin, and broadened the breadth and reach of Weixin’s service offerings by connecting our core capabilities with those of our strategic partners”.
WeChat is continuing to focus on “driving user engagement in selected international markets”
WeChat has been pushing its gaming platform and has plans to plans to bring Fruit Ninja and Cookie Run to WeChat this year. Gaming revenue grew 7 percent compared to he prior quarter to reach CNY11.1 billion. WeChat has also been cracking down on WeChat accounts registered under fake names.
The company added that it is continuing to focus on “driving user engagement in selected international markets” for WeChat and that it has “built a significant revenue base and established a strong market position in publishing” of mobile games.
WeChat is available for most major mobile platforms.


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Panel sends measures to House floor Beer, cigarette, gasoline tax hikes gain
A move to apply state and city sales taxes to beer and cigarettes and increase the gasoline tax by two cents a gallon began gathering steam in the Legislature today.
If enacted, all the tax changes would increase state and local revenues by $65 million a year.
The action came in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee, which passed the three taxing measures out and sent them to the floor for a vote.
The committee action had the approval of veteran chairman William P. Willis, D-Tahlequah, a former speaker who has long had a record of bottling up legislation that would affect state revenue.
The committee this morning approved HB 1325, which would apply the sales tax to beer and tobacco products. That would mean $16.2 million annually in sales tax to the state. The beer tax alone would yield $7 million a year.
Removing the exemption would permit cities to collect sales tax, too, which likely would amount to another $16.2 million.
On a narrow 7-5 vote Tuesday, the committee had approved HB 1424 which would raise the state's gasoline tax from 6.58 cents to 8.58 cents.
This would raise $36 million a year, with 50 percent of the money going to county roads, 40 percent to cities and 10 percent to the county road equipment revolving fund.
The beer and cigarette tax bill passed the committee, 13-5, indicating a response to the growing sales tax crisis in the Human Services Department.
With cigarettes now selling at some places for $1 per package, the state would be collecting an additional two cents per pack. Cities with a two-cent tax would also collect two cents, said J.L. Merrill, tax commission member.
The state already collects 18 cents a pack on cigarettes, and the new federal tax is 16 cents.
Merrill said a sales tax on beer would amount to about a penny per can for the state and a like amount for cities.
Sandy Shaffer of the Oklahoma Malt Beverage Association said a six-pack is now selling for $3.25, and the combination of the federal excise tax, the state's $10 per barrel tax and the sales tax would increase the price by 48 cents.
Most of the debate centered around objections to inclusion of tobacco in the bill. Rep. Mike Fair, R-Oklahoma City, said, "Consumers are paying a pretty heavy tax on cigarettes right now."
Willis agreed with Fair, predicting "cigarettes would come out of it."
The committee's action today is a reversal from last week when it defeated a bill by Rep. David Riggs, D-Sand Springs, placing the tax on beer. Earlier this week, House Speaker Dan Draper indicated the Legislature could reach the point where it would have to take a look at all sales tax exemptions.
If that is done, Draper said, "Beer would be my first choice." BIOG: NAME:
Archive ID: 111471


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23 February 2016
23 February 2016
Quickstep Holdings has received full global signoff from the Ford Motor Company to manufacture an innovative air duct for the Ford Falcon XR6 Sprint making Ford Quickstep’s first automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) client.
Quickstep explains that the Falcon XR6 Sprint will be the first global mass-produced Ford to feature a carbon fibre air intake system, providing a showcase for Quickstep’s automotive capability and the role of carbon fibre in the automotive industry.
“We are delighted to work with Ford on its groundbreaking technology. During design and development we qualified materials, resins and processes that replace a thick walled, injection moulding plastic component with a very thin-walled carbon fibre part. We are excited by this signature contract and believe the automotive growth opportunities for Quickstep will be significant,” said Quickstep Managing Director, David Marino.
According to Quickstep, the air intake system was designed by Premcar, engineered and tested by Ford, and manufactured by its automotive business area. It will be manufactured at it’s Waurn Ponds automotive facility and production has already commenced.
Scigrip has expanded its agreement with Biesterfeld Spezialchemie to include France and the French territories in Northern Africa, with immediate effect.
EconCore will unveil the latest developments in its thermoplastic honeycomb core production technology at NPE2018 on 7-11 May in Orlando, Florida, US.
Advanced Engineering 2018, the UK exhibition for advanced engineering professionals, is celebrating its 10th birthday by being bigger and better than ever, according to show organiser Easyfairs.


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Ford (NYSE:F) became a lightning rod of the 2016 presidential race, as Donald Trump hammered the automaker for expanding its manufacturing operations in Mexico. The president-elect also targeted other automakers and manufacturers for doing the same—part of Trump’s broader criticisms of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The top car-producing states in the nation ultimately sided with Trump, who swept through the Rust Belt on Election Day.
In Michigan, the epicenter of America’s auto industry, Trump won a state that hadn’t supported a Republican candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988. The Republican nominee also took Ohio, the second-largest car producer among the 50 states, with relative ease. A similar story played out in Indiana, whose vehicle production is slightly ahead of Kentucky this year.
Overall, the seven states that have manufactured the most cars so far this year all lined up behind Trump: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri.
It was apparent that Trump’s message resonated with voters who work in manufacturing. According to Fox News exit polls, union households supported Hillary Clinton by an eight-point margin, below President Barack Obama’s lead of 18 points in 2012. The results marked the lowest union support for a Democrat in the past 20 years.
Trump carried 52% of the union vote in the battleground state of Ohio, far better than former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s 37% support. About half of Ohio voters believe trade with other countries costs American jobs, while 32% said trade creates jobs. Among those who think trade hurts jobs, 67% backed Trump.
An internal poll by the United Auto Workers union showed 28% support for Trump before the election, and another 6% of members were undecided. However, during a press conference following Trump’s victory, UAW President Dennis Williams conceded that the union’s poll may not have accurately reflected Trump’s overall support among auto workers.
Consider that Trump likely garnered support from voters who have lost their jobs in the manufacturing sector, including car factories.
Trump successfully reached those Americans by targeting NAFTA and what he characterized as imbalanced trade deals that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas. For car companies, Mexico has become another critical region for manufacturing, particularly for small cars. Compacts generate smaller profits at their price point, so companies such as Ford have moved production of most small cars to Mexico.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) has gone a step further. The Italian-American firm will stop building the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart in two plants in Michigan and Illinois at the end of this year. CEO Sergio Marchionne was seeking a partnership with another car maker who could make the midsize sedans, but no deal has materialized.
Ford made its own move official in September, announcing that all small cars would be produced in Mexico. Earlier this year, Ford detailed plans to invest $1.6 billion to build a new assembly plant in the country.
Trump has threatened to push for tariffs as high as 35% on cars imported from Mexico, arguing that a tax is necessary to encourage companies to focus on building cars in the U.S. Ford CEO Mark Fields defended the company’s record, arguing that manufacturing moved to Mexico was replaced with other models built in the U.S. Chairman Bill Ford revealed in October that he met with Trump to discuss the matter.
After Trump’s victory, Ford released a statement saying it agrees with Trump “that it is really important to unite the country – and we look forward to working together to support economic growth and jobs.” Likewise, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Republicans will focus on adjusting U.S. taxes on border adjustments rather than imposing tariffs.
A group representing the industry has already reached out to Trump’s transition team to suggest changes to federal fuel-efficiency rules that are seen as overly burdensome, among other proposals.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which includes top automakers like Ford and General Motors (NYSE:GM), said the regulations are a “substantial challenge” for car companies, according to a letter cited by multiple reports.
Also, Williams expressed a willingness to work with the Trump administration on trade policies, saying his position on the issue is “right on.”


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The all new PlayStation 5 is slated to release on November 20, 2020. Gamers everywhere are saving the date in their calendars.
With the release of this console, gaming graphics fidelity once again rises to new heights. A fast AMD processor and graphics processor are at the heart of this console, rivaling even the best PCs available today. These major leaps in processing power allow games to run at 4K and 60 frames per second, leaving the older PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the dust. Additionally, ultra fast storage results in faster loading times, meaning more time playing and less time waiting.
Sony Entertainment recently shared pictures of the new model of their consoles, and controllers. Most importantly everyone has been talking about the new Spider-Man game that is going to be launched alongside the PlayStation 5. Other games like Gran Turismo 7, Zero Dawn and other exclusive games that will be playable on the new system.
While we await the release of this new game console, lots of memes on social media have been made about how fans are going to obtain one, so called “PS5 Secured” memes.
The PlayStation 5 will release in time for the Holiday Season 2020, with pricing rumored to start at $499.


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A French wine brand has debuted a CBD-infused product based on a high-quality “petit verdot” varietal from the Bordeaux wine-growing region. The CBD adds a relaxing effect to the classic effect of the alcohol, said Raphael De Pablo, the developer of the brand, called Burdi W. DePablo said the wine includes blackcurrant to counteract the strong CBD taste. A Burdi W crowdfunding effort attracted more than 1,000 backers, and De Pablo said he has already sold 8,000 bottles at €34 ($41) each, with most buyers from France.
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BNPL fintech Jifiti launches split payment solution
Founded in 2011, Jifiti is a technology company that powers point-of-sale financing for banks, lenders and merchants with its white-labeled BNPL platform and end-to-end solution.
Recently the company has launched what it describes as the ‘first-of-its-kind’ white-labeled Split Payment solution, which will round out their existing platform of BNPL offerings.
Jifiti clients can now offer Split Payments under their own brand without involving a direct-to-consumer fintech, retaining full ownership of their customer experience, data, and brand equity.
"Split Payment facilitation is a vital step in enabling companies to offer the full suite of accessible and affordable financing solutions to consumers in a responsible manner. We're proud to be powering this payment revolution with our partners across international markets," stated Yaacov Martin, CEO and Co-Founder of Jifiti.
Offering split payments to customers
Jifiti is in the process of rolling out with multiple partners across multiple markets and is going live with Universo, the financial services company of Sonae, in the first quarter of 2022. Universo is implementing its Split Payment solution, UNI flex powered by Jifiti, across multiple retail brands.
''We are proud to be offering split payments to retail customers as an additional, innovative payment method. By using Jifiti's technology, we are able to provide all customers with innovative payment methods while retaining brand and data ownership at checkout," explained Carlos B. David, Chief Operating Officer of Universo.
The Split Payment solution is ready for immediate implementation and supports the full spectrum of integration options, including zero-integration virtual card technology enabled by Mastercard.
The growing BNPL market
Throughout the pandemic, in a time of economic uncertainty, many people turned to BNPL solutions. This allowed customers to pay in installments over a certain period of time. One out of three UK consumers used these payments more often than before in early 2020.
Although BNPL options can offer a quick solution at the time, there are downsides as well. Which? found that people aged 39 and younger were more likely to report having missed a BNPL payment, while three-quarters of those who had missed a payment had experienced a challenging life event in the last 12 months. Some had their BNPL accounts frozen as a result.
According to research, 42% of Gen Z and 69% of Millennials are more likely to shop if a BNPL service is offered, and nearly half of them would not buy from a retailer that did not offer BNPL payment options.
Despite this, the global BNPL market is expected to reach $20.4bn by 2028 and over $1tn in annual gross merchandise volume (GMV) by 2025.
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In this era of information hyper-overload, leaders in business and government rely more than ever on reputable sources to identify proven high-performance companies to partner with.
The number of websites on the Internet recently hit 1 billion. Members of business social network LinkedIn now number almost 500 million. Here in South Africa, the Advertising Standards Authority – the guardian of authentic marketing – is under business review. In this frothing soup of companies freely promoting their products and services, how do you know which ones to invest your trust in – let alone your venture capital?
“Before they’ll even look at another company, today’s business decision-makers require a solid reputation with a proven ability to deliver.”
So says Lance Fanaroff. Joint CEO and co-founder of Integr8, the largest privately-owned ICT management company in Africa, he leads this year’s National Business Awards’ panel of judges. Fanaroff knows all about awards; he holds several himself, while Integr8 has won the Innovation through Technology Award at the National Business Awards, as well as being a Technology Top 100 Companies winner, Cisco Service Delivery Partner of the Year winner and ranking as a top 50 Managed Service Providers, globally, in the MSP rankings.
In an information-saturated marketplace, where shrewdly-placed Facebook and Google ads jostle for position on every street corner of the Internet, businesses like Integr8 realise the strategic advantage of selectively harnessing the credibility of reputable business awards.
“These awards, for example, have built a reputation over the years, of encapsulating only
the finest talent and businesses that South Africa has to offer.”
Fanaroff says that success these days hinges on credibility, authenticity and proven ability.
“Big business wants to work with industry leaders and to differentiate themselves as leaders in their respective fields. Reputation and credibility is essential for the success of any business, big or small,” Fanaroff says.
Awards should be seen and not hoarded
Winning an award is one thing, Fanaroff says. The trick is to leverage it.
Statistics back this up. An international academic study has shown that three years after receiving an award, 120 award winning companies outperformed comparison companies by an average of 17% for sales and 36% for share value.
“It’s more about what companies do with their award, and the mileage and marketing they can leverage from winning, or being a finalist, than the actual award,” he says.
“At Integr8 we ensure that our clients, potential clients, suppliers, business partners and everyone we work with know about the awards and accolades bestowed upon us. This gives them a sense of comfort that they are working with the industry leaders, who have a proven ability to deliver.”
Through the last 14 years of the National Business Awards, many companies seemed almost bashful about promoting their accolades. Now more are realising the value of marketing their hard-earned success via social media platforms and in their marketing mix, by using the digital certificates and accreditation badges rushed to finalists, and later winners, upon verification.
Such awards also serve a higher function, says Fanaroff. By contributing to the winners’ and finalists’ growth and success they help towards job creation, skills development, growing the economy and setting a benchmark towards which other companies, entrepreneurs and business leaders can continuously strive to better themselves.
Meanwhile, at Topco Media (the organisation behind the National Business Awards, CEO Ralf Fletcher underscores the power of external accreditation over ”marketing speak” (which is often met by sceptical eye in the marketplace):
“In the current tight economic climate, acknowledgement by an outside organisation that your business has thrived against fierce competition by other successful businesses, can go a long way towards boosting credibility externally, as well as confidence and staff morale internally.”
“A business award prominently displayed on your company website, or up on the wall in reception, can be a very powerful publicity tool with evergreen impact. Its perceived value extends long beyond the night of the awards, or the year in which it was bestowed. Many of our past finalists and winners have fed back to say they’re still experiencing a positive impact from their award 3,4 or 5 years into the future.”
Now in its 15th year, the National Business Awards has its roots in 2002, before the second age of digital disruption; a time when companies still flowed much of their marketing spend into traditional channels like print and radio, with unknowable outcomes. “Now”, says Fletcher, “the companies we speak with want to engage their target market through more focused platforms while wielding genuine marketing gold – credibility – to open the conversation.”
Some of the organisations who have invested their confidence in the vision of this year’s National Business Awards awards include sponsors GreenMatter, Richards Bay Industrial Development and Public Sector Manager manager.
National Business Awards winners will be announced at Emperor’s Palace on 16 November.
Contact details: Rose Setshoge, Rose.Setshoge@topco.co.za, 0860 009 590


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Birnin Kebbi â€”Â The Kebbi State Butchers Association, yesterday, in Birnin Kebbi demanded the provision of coldrooms to ensure healthy preservation.
Chairman of the association, Mr Hassan Dangwa, told newsmenÂ that the lack of cold rooms had forced butchers to find alternatives which they did not consider very healthy.
â€œLack of coldrooms has left us with no alternatives than to imrpovise and we feel that is unhealthy,â€ Dangwa said.
According to him, an average of 20 cows are slaughtered daily inÂ Birnin Kebbi, adding that the lack of modern beef conveyance vans hadÂ exposed the commodity to possible contamination.
The chairman said conveying beef on motorcycles covered with cellopane was unhygienic and unhealthy.
He said the association would monitor the activities of members to ensure that beef provided for public consumption was healthy, adding: â€œWe will ensure that our members do not engage in unlawful slaughtering and sale of beef. â€
Lerama said the suspects would be charged to court once investigations were concluded.


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“Perhaps the biggest pandemic trend was this: The rich got richer — and they also bought bigger”: Olshan Realty.
By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET.
We knew this was coming: The huge bout of global money-printing and interest-rate repression that created historic asset price inflation and made a small portion of rich people immensely richer has had a big impact on luxury real estate in Manhattan. “Luxury” in Manhattan is defined as $4 million or more for a condo, co-op, or townhouse.
The impact was on sales volume – lots of deals were made. Many of those units had been sitting on the market for years. And many deals were made after sizeable haircuts as global investors unloaded, and as developers were finally able to sell new units they’d been sitting on for years.
And “mostly New York metro area buyers” stepped in, according to Olshan Realty, “riding the wave of lower prices, low interest rates, and surging stock market, and the belief that New York would come back.”
The Pandemic had pulled the rug out from under the luxury market in the spring of 2020 and accelerated the climb-down process from the prior money-printing euphoria in 2013 through 2015. During the climb-down process, the number of signed contracts collapsed by over half, from 1,344 in 2015 to 935 in 2019, and finally to 645 contracts in 2020. But in November 2020, the floodgates opened.
Signed contracts of Manhattan luxury condos, co-ops, and townhouses with prices of $4 million or more in 2021 spiked by 191% from 2020 and by 101% from 2019, to a record 1,877 contracts, according to data by Olshan Realty, easily blowing past the prior money-printing euphoria from 2013 through 2015:
“Perhaps the biggest pandemic trend was this: The rich got richer — and they also bought bigger. Size mattered more than ever as offices and schools shifted to the home. During the pandemic years of 2020-2021, the average size of a luxury condo deal was over 2,900 square feet, 5% larger than the previous 7 years,” Olshan said.
“The demand for size spilled into the townhouse market with 212 signed contracts, far surpassing the record of 153 deals in 2014. And the trophy market, defined as $10 million and above, with most of those properties over 4,300 square feet, clocked in at 400 contracts, blowing away the 2014 record of 270 contracts,” Olshan said.
Trophy properties – those with final asking prices of $10 million or more, appealing to folks that had benefited the most from the money-printing during the pandemic – had a huge year, with 400 signed contracts, leaving in the dust the prior euphoria record in 2014 of 270 contracts:
But the average and median asking prices just before the deals were signed have not moved much over the years. Big asking prices got cut multiple times until buyers emerged. Across all 1,877 contracts, the average price cut from initial asking price when the unit was put on the market, to final asking price at contract signing was 9%.
Most of the details at this nosebleed altitude are kept secret by the parties involved, including the actual price paid, and instead of the unavailable sold prices, Olshan tracks the final asking price at contract signing.
The average final asking price before contract signing was $8.46 million in 2021, up by only 7.8% from 2013; and the median final asking price was $6.54 million, down a tad from 2020, and up only 2.7% from 2013:
By comparison, overall condo prices of all price categories in the vast New York metro, according to the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, have surged 37% since 2013, with a spike this year, after languishing for three years in a row:
The average number of days on the market before a sale occurred dipped to 566 days, the second worst in the data going back to 2012, just behind 589 days in 2020, and over triple the number of days during the euphoria year 2013 (172 days). The fact that the average sold unit had been sitting on the market for 1.5 years shows that a lot of units had been sitting on the market for several years before they finally sold!
And so draws to a close a year that was marked by the mega-effects of super-charged money-printing, now including the worst inflation in forty years. And it was just what the luxury housing market in Manhattan, that had fallen on hard times, needed the most.
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The UK Government has launched a consultation on its planned introduction of an emissions-based carbon border adjustment mechanism (UK CBAM) for imports.
Plans for the UK scheme, which is set to come into force from January 2027, were initially announced in December last year. Documents published this week provide details of the proposed legislation, clarifying differences with the EU CBAM launched in October last year.
Interested parties, including importers of iron and steel products, can share their views on the UK CBAM proposal until June 13, 2024.
CBAM’s ‘additional burden’
MEPS market analyst Jonathon Carruthers-Green said: “As we saw when the EU recently introduced similar measures, the iron and steel sector will make up the largest share of products affected by the UK CBAM scheme. This places additional administrative and financial burdens on importers of these products.
“The consultation scheme is designed so that importers can provide feedback and insights into the implementation of the scheme. They would be well advised to make their views on these issues known to help shape the scheme’s final structure and hopefully mitigate some of the anticipated challenges.”
The UK CBAM scheme aims to place a carbon price on some of the most emissions-intensive industrial goods imported to the UK. This will initially cover aluminium, cement, ceramics, fertiliser, glass, hydrogen, and iron and steel products.
The scheme is designed to work alongside existing limits to carbon emissions produced in the UK, which are currently governed by the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS).
The UK ETS operates on a “cap and trade” principle and places a price on greenhouse gases emitted by domestic producers. This additional cost gives an incentive to UK companies to move carbon-intensive production abroad, to take advantage of lower standards. This is known as “carbon leakage”.
Avoiding carbon leakage
The UK CBAM scheme will extend the “polluter pays” principle to emissions produced outside of the country, by placing a border tariff on goods as they enter the country. This will be calculated based on the quantity of goods imported and the amount of emissions emitted during their production.
Among the imported goods that will be subject to duties under the proposed UK CBAM scheme are products from highly polluting sectors where carbon leakage is most likely to occur.
In future, these regulations will likely be extended to other industries as the UK moves closer to its goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
The UK CBAM scheme will differ from the European Commission’s implementation by targeting glass and ceramic products. Conversely, electricity has been removed from the list of goods covered by the UK CBAM scheme.
The UK government has set up a survey form to record responses to the consultation. This can be accessed until June 13, 2024.


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News / MSC Cruises becomes first international cruise line to resume operations from mainland China home port
Cruise line confirms Winter 2024-25 deployment in China
MSC Cruises marked its resumption of service in mainland China with a special event on board MSC Bellissima in Shanghai, making the Company the first international cruise line to resume sailings from the region since the pandemic. To celebrate this milestone, the cruise line invited government officials, travel agents, media and partners on board to experience its Asian flagship.
World-renowned chefs Enrico & Roberto Cerea, from acclaimed restaurant DA VITTORIO, crafted a special menu for the ceremony and the ship’s first sailing. Guests also enjoyed a stunning drone show and entertainment around the ship to help celebrate MSC Bellissima’s arrival in Shanghai.
MSC Bellissima will home port in Shanghai, Keelung and Shenzhen throughout summer 2024. The cruise line also used the event to announce Winter 2024-25 deployment in China that will see MSC Splendida operating from Shenzhen and Xiamen between December 2024 and April 2025, while MSC Bellissima will return to her home port in Shanghai in January 2025.
This makes MSC Cruises the only international cruise brand to deploy two ships, operating from four major ports, within the first year of returning to the region.


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Target Axes CIO as Part of IT Security Overhaul
[caption id="attachment_17935" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Target CIO Beth Jacobs resigned March 5 following a massive data breach in December.[/caption] Target's chief information officer Beth Jacob has resigned on the eve of a major IT security overhaul, following a massive breach of Target's datacenters that netted hackers data from 110 million customer accounts. The company will appoint an interim CIO to oversee a $100 million IT overhaul, according to a statement attributed to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel that was released to the Associated Press March 5. The company will also hire a chief information-security officer (CISO) to oversee technical and operational security issues, as well as a chief compliance officer (CCO) who will be responsible for risk-assurance analysis and the company's compliance with federal financial reporting regulations, in addition to frameworks such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS), compliance with which is required of any company dealing with major credit- and debit-card payments. The new chief compliance officer will replace Target's existing compliance chief, who is going through with previous plans to retire at the end of March. The CISO position will be new, and will consolidate IT security functions previously spread out among several other executives, according to the company. Target has hired financial risk-management and compliance consultancy Promontory Financial Group to help take it through the transition, its accelerated $100 million migration to chip-based payment cards, overhaul of its IT security and infrastructure, and continuing certification with PCI DSS requirements. Following revelation of the data breach, many security analysts pointed to the uncertain state of Target's PCI compliance as a contributing factor. The breach now appears to have been caused by the infection of many of Target's Windows-based point-of-sale systems by the BlackPOS malware, which scrapes data from system memory as the card is scanned, before the encryption and security procedures required by PCI might have prevented the interception. Target has not made public enough information to evaluate its PCI compliance status, but has insisted it was in full compliance with all federal and PCI regulations at the time of the breach. Target sales dropped off immediately following news of the attack, but have recovered somewhat, according to the company. In its Feb. 26 earnings announcement, Target reported its profit for the fourth quarter of 2013 was 46 percent below the previous year, though revenue declined only 5.3 percent. "During the first half of the fourth quarter, our guest-focused holiday merchandising and marketing plans drove better-than-expected sales. However, results softened meaningfully following our December announcement of a data breach," Steinhafel is quoted as saying in the earnings announcement. As CIO, Jacob led an intercontinental IT staff of nearly 4,000 employees, split between the company's retail stores and Minneapolis headquarters in the U.S. and development sites in Bangalore, India. She is credited with overhauling the IT organization to make it more agile and effective after taking over as CIO in 2008, increasing its capacity for large-scale IT projects and for taking a more strategic approach to IT, including moving management of the Target.com site in-house, according to a Sept. 2012 profile in the Minneapolist/St. Paul Business Journal. She has an undergraduate degree in retail merchandising, as well as an MBA from the University of Minnesota. Jacob was not a traditional IT career executive, however. She started with Target in 1984 as an assistant buyer in its Dayton, Ohio department-store division, left in 1986 and returned in 2002 as director of guest contact centers – the company's front-line customer-service contact point. She was promoted to VP of guest operations in 2006, promoted again to senior VP and CIO in 2008 and yet again in 2010 to Executive VP of Target Technology Services and CIO. The role of either Jacob or Target's IT staff played in the breach has not been determined, but pundits have been predicting her departure since soon after the breach. "While security is ultimately her responsibility," wrote Forbes blogger and CIO Next community manager Howard Baldwin a week after the breach was announced, "it would be a shame for someone of her vision to be felled by a lapse – intentional or unintentional – within her ranks, if that's indeed what happened." Jacob also led projects including a discount called Cartwheel that attracted 2 million members and a push toward mobile web access to support the 30 percent of Target traffic that came from mobile devices, according to a Nov. 2013 profile in ZDNet. Jacob focused much of her effort on using IT to drive programs to deliver specific benefits or conveniences to customers to enhance customer loyalty, a goal she referred to as "brand love." Ironically, she also oversaw the update and overhaul of Target's point-of-sale systems, which were perceived as clunky and annoying to customers. "When you shop Target you can swipe your card before the transaction is complete," Jacob told ZDNet's Larry Dignan. "It’s a small, but important innovation that we patented a long time ago, that allows our check out experience to be really easy and really fast. Another place that we’ve innovated in point of sale is that we have our guests able to keep their coupons on their mobile phone. They might have several coupons and with a single barcode scan they’re able to capture the value of all of those coupons at point of sale." In her letter of resignation, which Target also circulated, Jacob called her resignation a "difficult decision," but didn't mention the data breach specifically. "This was a time of significant transformation for the retail industry and for Target," she wrote. Image: Target Corp.


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Google, is working on a new accessibility feature for Android that will allow users to control their phones with facial expressions such as a smile or raised brows.
According to The Verge, the ‘Camera Switch’ feature is now available in version 12 of Android’s ‘Accessibility Suite’ app, which was released alongside the fourth beta of Android 12.
Although the new version of the app is not yet available on Google Play, reports indicate that there is an APK available for side-loading if you want to give it a shot.
Facial expressions (which include looking left, right, or up) can be used to access a variety of controls, including scrolling, returning to the home screen, and viewing quick settings or notifications.
Users can adjust the software’s sensitivity to recognise expressions, which should help prevent accidental activations.
However, there is a warning that the feature is power-intensive and that phones should be plugged in when not in use.
It’s easy to see how this feature could be beneficial to anyone who has difficulty with certain touch controls. In comparison to voice commands, facial expressions are silent, which may make them easier to use in public or in quieter environments.
Android’s recent releases include a number of accessibility features, such as these facial expression controls, aimed at making the phones more accessible to people with disabilities.
Android 11, for instance, improved the operating system’s voice control feature in last year’s release. Earlier this year, Google released a slew of additional accessibility updates, including customizable ‘Action Blocks’ that allow users to assign custom actions to large on-screen buttons.
The new feature’s inclusion alongside the latest Android 12 beta suggests that it will be made available as part of the operating system’s official release later this year.
However, as reported by The Verge, this latest version of the Accessibility Suite app appears to be backwards compatible with Android 11, implying that it may not be an Android 12 exclusive.
Visit www.mixpoint.in for more interesting stories.


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Chinese retailer Miniso Group Holding Ltd., whose products range from lifestyle to household goods, raised $608 million on its first day of trading at the New York Stock Exchange.
Miniso in its Wall Street Initial Public Offering was initially looking to raise over $560 million in its first day of trading and surpassed its earlier target.
The Guangzhou-based company on October 15 announced the pricing of some 30,400,000 American Depositary Shares at an IPO price of $20 per share.
The company under the ticker MNSO began trading on Thursday (October 15) in a statement released to the media. Pricing of American Depositary Shares per piece is well above the earlier estimates of $16.50 to $18.50 per share.
The Chinese company’s stocks opened at $24.40 and capped the day with shares up nearly 12% at $22.33 apiece.
Miniso is just one among many Chinese companies braving to conduct IPOs in the United States despite ongoing trade tensions between the US and China.
The US stock markets remain an attractive place for IPOs for many Chinese companies amid tensions in trade and technology including Miniso’s backer Tencent which saw its WeChat application banned by the US government last month.
Chinese technology giant Tencent owns a significant stake in Miniso but the majority of the shares are owned by company founder Ye Guofu, who currently owns an 80% stake in the retail company.
Ye Guofu is also set to become a billionaire following Thursday’s Wall Street listing with a net worth of about $4 billion. He will also own 65% of Miniso following the IPO.
Miniso to expand with more stores
In an interview by the Associated Press, Ye said they chose to conduct an IPO in the US instead of Hong Kong’s stock exchange or Shanghai’s STAR Market because many global companies have continued to be listed on Wall Street.
As Miniso aims to expand its market globally, Ye said it is only apt for them to set their sights not only in Asia but in other regions as well.
The Chinese consumer goods retailer, whose fierce competitor include Japan’s Muji, Daiso, and Uniqlo, has been selling consumer and household products like stationery, cosmetics, snacks, fragrances, accessories, household supplies, and small consumer electronics.
Since Ye founded the company, it has expanded to over 80 countries in Asia, Europe, Oceania, Africa, North America, and South America with over 4,200 stores worldwide with a Gross Market Value of 19 billion yuan ($2.8 billion). There are currently 2,500 Miniso stores in China and over 1,680 stores in other countries and regions.
Since it was founded in 2013, the company which is patterned after Japanese brick-and-mortar novelties stores have reported revenue amounting to $1.3 billion ending June 30.
Miniso has also collaborated with world-famous brands including Coca-Cola, Marvel, Hello Kitty, Sesame Street, Mickey and Minnie, Pink Panther, We Bare Bears, and Beijing’s Palace Museum.
In their registration statement at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Miniso disclosed their financial report which showed revenue decreasing by 4.4% from 9.3 billion Yuan ending June 30. Gross profit, however, increased by 8.8 percent to $386.8 million.
The decline in earnings in the first half of the year is mostly blamed on the coronavirus pandemic which saw many of Miniso’s stores closed due to lockdowns.
However, Ye remains optimistic the retail market will pick up by the end of the year as stores reopen. Miniso also plans to use the IPO proceeds to expand its logistics network and open new stores.
Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and BofA Securities, Inc. acted as joint book-runners and underwriter representatives for the initial public offering.
Read More Stories: Goldman Sachs Reports Strong Profits for the Third Quarter of 2020


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Taylor Swift released her comeback single Look What You Made Me Do to iTunes and streaming services today. The track dropped late last night in the US (11.30pm ET).
Look What You Made Me Do is the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation, out on November 10. A “sneak peak” of the video will air on Good Morning America today.
Within two hours of release, the Vertigo-style lyric video was approaching 500,000 views on YouTube. (Update: by 9.30am, the track had reached No.1 on iTunes and notched up 2.3 million YouTube views). Look What You Made Me Do marks a departure from the pop of her 2014 album 1989. With a darker, Lorde-style sound and lyrical content, the track features orchestral elements alongside beats, dance production and a moody vocal. Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff is credited as co-writer of the song, which also interpolates elements of Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy.
Spotify is streaming the track and has launched a marketing campaign around the release, including poster sites at Westfield Stratford shopping centre in London and London Underground sites.
Her previous album 1989 was a streaming holdout so the industry will be closely watching the Spotify strategy for Reputation. Following the appearance of the new single on the platform, Swift could be ready to utilise the streaming service’s new policy of allowing albums to be windowed on its premium service before appearing on the free tier. That release option is part of Spotify’s new deal with Universal Music Group. Swift’s label, Big Machine, is distributed by Universal. In the UK, she’s released on Virgin EMI.
Swift pulled her music from Spotify three years ago as a protest at the free tier. She later embraced the Apple Music premium service. The singer returned to Spotify this summer and now has more than 17 million monthly listeners. Swift’s return was first predicted in a Music Week interview with Spotify UK head of content programming George Ergatoudis last year.
Swift has been teasing fans in recent days by wiping her social media accounts and then posting a series of snake gifs. On Wednesday (August 25), the comeback was officially announced via her Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Swift is also releasing collectible magazines featuring poetry and paintings, handwritten lyrics and personal photos, as well as a copy of the album. Target is the exclusive US stockist; a UK release has not yet been confirmed.


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(Article by Rocket Media, Digital Marketing agency based in Newcastle)
The popular NE1 Restaurant Week kicked off this week as some of Newcastle’s biggest and best eateries offered a significant discount over the week.
As a Westoe based taxi company, we get a lot of local people going into Newcastle for various reasons.
Over the course of NE1 Restaurant week, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of customers asking for rides to restaurant’s offering the discounts under the NE1 Restaurant Week banner and we thought we would do a quick mention about the event.
The event was initially setup to give a boost to the restaurant industry who normally found their trade much slower in January. Westoe Taxis are strong on supporting local businesses and the local community and we are enthusiastic about any project that aims to help the north east region.
Similar schemes have been setup in the cities of Milton Keynes and Sheffield with the support of local taxi companies, including Milton Keynes taxis and Sheffield Taxis. However, the Newcastle version has been termed as a bigger success!
The benefits of the week have also spilled over to other businesses, like our very own taxi company. For many businesses even outside the food trade, the event has become a significant thing to look forward to and plan for. For more information on Newcastle Restaurant Week, it’s worth getting in touch with Rocket Media, an SEO company based in Newcastle who are well associated with the NE1 Restaurant Week initiative.
Among the various eateries offering discounts this year, we’ve seen a significant amount of dessert places added.
We sent one of our drivers down to a dessert place in Newcastle (for the benefit of impartiality, we won’t mention the name) and he was able to get a massive 50% off his desserts, which included whipped Cream (made by MOSA Cream Chargers).
Many of the restaurants are offering a full 3 course meal at a significant saving.
The restaurant week this year has run from January 20th until January the 26th and this years edition has seen over 100 restaurants sign up to take part. Most of the eateries are offering specially designed bespoke menus that start from £10 per person and with a secondary menu starting at £15 per person.
It’s a great chance to taste some new delicacies you might not have tried before at a significantly reduced rate and who knows, you might find a new favorite place.
Wafi Lounge, a Lebanese restaurant in the city centre were also offering a massive 50% off! One of our drivers went to try their famed Shawarma followed by a smoke at this sisha lounge upstairs and he was also thoroughly impressed.
The so-called Big Boys of Newcastle are also taking part with Branches in Jesmond and Aveika in the city centre also taking part.
The event has been running for a few years now and it’s now become a regular feature in Newcastle.
(Credit: Rocket Media, Newcastle SEO experts)


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Solar Thin Films to acquire Solar Portables Business
Aug 28, 2013 - US-based firm Solar Thin Films Inc (OTCMKTS:SLTZ) said today it had agreed to take over thin solar products maker Solar Portables Business Inc, seeking to boost its revenues and product offering.
The purchase includes USD 4 million (EUR 3m) in ongoing projects plus USD 1 million in finished goods. Financial details were not disclosed.
Solar Thin Films is active in the waste-to-energy and solar power sectors, while it also makes shipping containers using the patented fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) technology. The buyer explained that the acquisition deal will fetch revenue in the current year when some of Solar Portables Business' work in progress is finalised. Furthermore the target company’s product is expected to enhance the value of the FRP shipping containers that Solar Thin Films is to produce for the Department of Defense and other customers as it will allow for the powering of the containers’ tracking and locking systems.
Closing of the transaction is expected in 30 to 45 days, subject to final documentation and other factors.
Earlier in August, Solar Thin Films said it would acquire domestic solar tracking technology firm KLC Green Energy Corp.


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Many of us depend on our Facebook page, to share our everyday lives with friends, and just as importantly to keep up with others.
So imagine if Facebook told you its planning to shut down your page.
Several Don't Waste Your Money viewers have received that threat, in a frightening message in recent weeks. It claims you've made "copyright violations" on your page, and says if you do not respond in 48 hours "your page will be suspended."
Click the link to respond, and you go to a page asking for your:
- Facebook password.
Scam to steal your login
But the site Hoax Slayer says it is all a sophisticated phishing scam to steal your login credentials.
Hoax Slayer says your Facebook page will likely be hijacked, if you provide all that information.
That's what happened to two women, Bev and Jennifer, earlier this year, when their Facebook pages started spamming their friends about bogus government grants. "I didn't send those messages," Jennifer told us.
If your page is hijacked, you'll say "doesn't that stink?"
Never share your Facebook login, even if it seems Mark Zuckerberg is threatening to shut your page down.
That way you don't waste your money.
Don't Waste Your Money" is a registered trademark of Scripps Media, Inc. ("Scripps").
Follow John on Twitter (@JohnMatarese)
For more consumer news and money saving advice, go to www.dontwasteyourmoney.com


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Bloomberg Sports Completes Joint Venture Partnership Deal With IMG
Bloomberg Sports has completed a joint venture partnership deal with IMG in which the global sports and entertainment company has acquired a minority stake in Bloomberg's fast-growing fantasy and professional sports management operation. Financial terms were not disclosed, but industry sources pegged the deal in the $6-8M range, with IMG acquiring roughly a third of the company and Bloomberg retaining majority control. The alignment, several months in development and first reported in April by SportsBusiness Journal, is designed foremost to accelerate an international expansion of Bloomberg's sports-oriented analytics products. "We're very excited to have this done and be able to look to the next phase of our company's growth," said Head of Bloomberg Sports Bill Squadron, head of IMG Media's interactive operations in North America from '04-'06. "We think there's a huge opportunity for us in both Europe and Asia in things like soccer and cricket." Bloomberg Sports, in operation for nearly four years, has built a two-pronged operation in which it sells a variety of analytics products to fantasy sports enthusiasts, and also has developed professional-grade products used by more than 20 MLB clubs to evaluate players and opponents. Inner Circle Sports advised Bloomberg Sports on the deal. "Bloomberg is a renowned global brand, and we are very excited about our investment," said IMG Senior VP/Strategic Planning & Financial Operations Rob Ponger. "We believe the field of data analytics has enormous growth potential and IMG's presence around the world can play an important role in the success of this partnership going forward." Bloomberg Sports will retain its brand name, as well as existing offices in both N.Y. and London.


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Halfway out of sight in one of the meeting rooms of the May Memorial Library, a cast of characters had assembled.
Gem merchants convened with zombie and alien slayers, while fairy tale bards fought Japan’s fiercest Kaiju.
They were all assembled for a common purpose: to celebrate games on International TableTop Day.
Saturday was the fourth annual International TableTop Day, founded to bring fans of tabletop games — including card games, board games, miniatures war games, tile-based games and dice games — together. Thousands of events were organized across the globe, including two in Burlington.
Clever Head Games, a group of self-described game lovers who meet at least two to three times a month to play board games, organized an event at the library to demo games, introduce people to new games and raffle off prizes.
“As a board game group we wanted to do something special,” said Jason Witherspoon, Clever Head Games founder and organizer.
Games, he said, can be a great equalizer.
“For kids, adults, introverts, extroverts, it brings people to the table,” Witherspoon said.
Dawn Perry and her husband have been staples at the Clever Head Games sessions, which are organized through Meetup and Facebook.
These groups “blow away clichés,” she said. “We’re not all living in our mother’s basements. It’s a great way to reconnect with families and kids. It’s just a lot of fun.”
On the other side of town, at the hobby and game store HyperMind, gaming enthusiasts demoed the Settlers of Catan board game or played pick-up games of the Magic: The Gathering card game, while other patrons browsed the board game section of the store.
“One thing is we really encourage a family friendly environment and encourage people to bring their kids,” said HyperMind employee Josh Holley, whose favorite board game is Risk 2210 AD.
Throughout the day, the store held raffles and offered a discount to anyone purchasing a board game.
Rachel and Talos Tsui traveled to HyperMind from Greensboro to learn more about the games and check out the shop. Meanwhile, Brynn Diebold, 12, has been a regular at the shop, including during the store’s weekly Dungeons and Dragons sessions.
“You have to use problem-solving skills, and one small move could make everything go wrong,” she said. “It’s really fun, and you get to make new friends.”


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Sainsbury's pay row director 'to quit'
KEITH Butler-Wheelhouse is expected to quit as head of J Sainsbury's remuneration committee in an attempt to defuse the row over a proposed £2.4m bonus for ousted chairman Sir Peter Davis.
The supermarkets group now says that it has no intention of paying the bonus to Davis, who was forced out ten days ago after a second profits warning in four months.
But a major shareholder revolt over Sainsbury's remuneration report is still expected at tomorrow's annual general meeting.
Butler-Wheelhouse, who is chief executive of engineering group Smiths, declined to comment.
But senior sources at Sainsbury admitted he was 'coming under a lot of pressure' to resign. Butler-Wheelhouse is not up for re-election at this year's annual meeting, so he cannot be voted out by angry investors.
However Lord Levene, the company's senior non-executive director, faces a shareholder vote and could be a lightning rod for their fury.
Levene will chair the AGM because newly appointed chairman Philip Hampton does not start in the job for another week.
Levene tried to broker a deal with City investors over Davis's windfall - awarded even though Sainsbury's profits fell from £667m to £610m last year - but he was sent empty-handed back to the boardroom.
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury refused to comment on Butler-Wheelhouse's likely actions, but a company insider said: 'I would expect something to happen on the back of the AGM.'
The matter of Davis's payment is now in the hands of lawyers.
In addition to £2.4m in shares that he was granted for last year when he earned £850,000 as chief executive, Davis was also due to receive more shares this year when his salary dropped to half a million pounds on becoming chairman.
Under his contract, Davis is also entitled to a pay-off equivalent to 1.75 times his £850,000 salary.
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The County Line Sales Barn agreed last week to join with the Hunger Relief Alliance, the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association and Farmers Feeding the World to provide one-pound packages of ground beef to help feed the hungry.
The sale barn has agreed to provide five cents for every cow they sell to the programs. The barn sells between 10,000 and 12,000 head of cattle a year.
Michelle Shope, Food Sourcing and Logistics Director of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, said the organization has provided 27,000 servings of ground beef in the last year. It was formed in 2017.
“It’s very exciting the way the cattle industry has embraced this project,” she said at a presentation last week at the sale barn.
The project was brought to the attention of sale barn owners by John Paul Pendergrass, a cattleman living in the Peter Pender area north of the sale barn, according to Ron Koch, one of the sale barn owners.
According to Shope, protein is an important part of a healthy diet, yet most low income Arkansans cannot afford to buy meat on a regular basis. When they can buy meat, it often has a very high fat content, she said. Similarly, food banks don’t have reliable sources for affordable meat protein, she said. The Arkansas Beef Project, a program from the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance in partnership with the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association and Farmers Feeding the World, offers cattle ranchers a unique opportunity to provide a much needed source of protein to many Arkansas children and families in need, she said.
Shope said there are three ways people can get involved. They are:
Cash donations. Money is used to purchase domestic ground beef and process donated animals. Donate a live cow/bull. An adult cow/bull is transported to a USDA approved facility where it is processed. Donate a calf. It can be raised by a cattleman or cattlewoman, then donated to the program.
All donated beef is distributed in one-pound portions to food banks and food pantries across the state to help food insecure Arkansans have a reliable source of protein.
Shope said this project helps those seniors and almost 20 percent of Arkansans who aren’t sure where they will find their next meal.


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Photo: Afton Mayor Bill Palmquist celebrates new downtown
'We’re going to save a bunch of lives': Opioid response bill makes it out in final hours
New Life Academy names interim head
Walz, legislative leaders strike budget deal, drop gas tax hike
Ellsworth police looking for male suspect in connection with armed robbery
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Boys Lacrosse: East Ridge wins key non-conference game
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Washington County Parks begins campfire program May 25
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May 6, 2019
St. Paul man pleads not guilty to involvement in Hudson holiday thefts
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April 24, 2019
Minnesota trio face charges in connection to Hudson holiday season thefts
A Woodbury, Minn., man charged with six counts of felony retail theft was bound over for trial at an April 23 preliminary hearing in St. Croix...
April 24, 2019 - 11:22am
May 11, 2018
'Dayton's monkey' to be on display at the Science Museum in St. Paul
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January 25, 2018
Woodbury Babies ‘R’ Us among hundreds of stores slated to close
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Duluth Trading Company opens in Woodbury
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Woodbury Costco to open mid-November
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New Uses is latest Woodbury store to announce closure
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The lead article in today's New York Times, "F.D.A. Offers Broad New Rules to Fight Food Contamination," discussed requirements the federal agency may impose on food producers across the country. As I read about how the FDA may require producers to ensure that contaminated food not come into contact with other food or how farm workers may be mandated to wash their hands after going to the bathroom, all I could think was, "You mean this isn't required ALREADY?!?"
And the Tea Party thinks there's too MUCH government regulation?!?
According to the article, the FDA estimates that these new rules will prevent about 1.75 million illnesses each year--which sounds impressive, until you notice that the article also says that, each year, one in six Americans becomes ill as a result of food contamination. That's 50 million people! Seems to me that maybe the FDA needs to consider some other strategy.
Also, these rules--many of which focus on the need to keep food away from what we might call human "leavings" would primarily focus on fruits and vegetables that tend to be eaten raw. "Vegetables that are much more likely to be consumed cooked, like potatoes and artichokes, would be exempt from the rules." In other words, when you check out those big, juicy Idaho browns at the supermarket, just remember: The FDA has said you're on your own.


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Sounders fans scramble to secure match tickets, travel plans for MLS Cup final
SEATTLE - The Sounders are returning to the MLS Cup final to defend their championship.
Fans are scrambling to secure everything from tickets to travel plans to Toronto for the MLS title match
Die-hard Sounders fan Westley Lashley can't believe his beloved team is going to the MLS Cup again.
“It’s so exciting. Second year in a row. This is stuff dreams are made of,” said Lashley.
He was there in Toronto last year when the Sounders faced off against Toronto FC.
“It's nothing like anything I ever experienced. 1,500 of my closest friends in 25 degree weather for four hours. When it was done, I’ve never seen so many grown men cry in my life,” said Lashley.
As stores stock up on Sounders gear, some fans are still trying to score a match ticket. Right now, tickets are going for about $105 through official outlets.
Season ticket holder Chris Anderson also watched the Sounders in Toronto last year and wants to go again.
“Ready to do it. We did it last year. Ready to do it again,” said Anderson. “I'm hoping to go. I already got approval from the wife."
Here's what you need to know to go:
- A select number of seats are reserved for club members.
- Gorilla FC or ECS (Emerald City Supporters)offered tickets through a drawing Friday.
- There's also a lottery for season ticket holders.
Anderson was waiting and watching when we met up with him at his home in Bellevue on Friday.
“To get a ticket, you have to enter the lottery, put $25 down. And if you are chosen, they automatically charge your card and give you the ticket,” said Lashley.
Both fans offer this advice if you're lucky enough to snatch up a ticket and travel to Toronto.
“It's a large expenditure on short notice,” said Anderson.
“I got my tickets through a supporter group. I got Alaska tickets with reward miles. I got an AirBNB,” said Lashley.
Flights could cost up to $1,600. So if you can, book using rewards points. Or, consider flying into Buffalo, N.Y. and then drive the rest of the way to Toronto, which takes less than two hours. Hotels could run about $250 a night. So again, use points to help cut down on the cost or room sharing sites like AirBNB and VBRO.
Lastly, bundle up.
“We spent six hours outside,” said Anderson.
“For dress. I would say wear thick socks and layers, lot of warm clothes. Expect to be out there for awhile,” said Lashley.
Sounders FC and Delta Airlines will offer 11 winning fans a chance to attend the match for free. “The Championship Flyaway Contest” ends Monday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m.


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Vietnam’s socialist-oriented market economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, said Anjaiah, who is also a senior journalist at the Jakarta Post, adding that last year, it grew 2.91 percent, one of the highest in the world, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
|Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, as ASEAN Chair 2020, delivers a closing speech at the 37th ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Hanoi on November 15. Photo for illustration|
“It is expected to grow again around 7 percent this year because Vietnam signed recently several free trade agreements such as the European Union -Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement and the newly-concluded United Kingdom-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVTA),” he told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s reporter in Jakarta.
The Indonesian researcher went on to highlight Vietnam’s successful ASEAN chairmanship in 2020 with the theme of “Cohesive and Responsive” despite huge challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said as ASEAN Chair, Vietnam emphasized on the need for ASEAN unity and centrality. The country promoted dialogue and cooperation, made efforts to prevent conflicts, built confidence and tried to form a regional architecture that is open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based.
Under the chairmanship of Vietnam, ASEAN leaders agreed to adopt the Mid-term Review of the ASEAN Community Blueprints 2025 last year. Vietnam has also prepared a regional action plan to mitigate impacts from COVID-19.
The Hanoi Declaration on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision adopted at the 37th ASEAN Summit aims to create a solid foundation for the road ahead for the ASEAN community.
He stressed that the biggest outcome of the 37th ASEAN Summit and related meetings in 2020 during the Vietnam’s chairmanship was the signing of the RCEP Agreement by 15 countries, which creates the world’s largest trade bloc.
Vietnam has achieved a huge success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, he continued, through early quick response, proactive and preventive measures resulted in a low number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
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Indonesian researcher hails Vietnam’s economic development have 463 words, post on en.qdnd.vn at January 21, 2021. This is cached page on Talk Vietnam. If you want remove this page, please contact us.


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Brewer Lasko Gearing Up for Sale of Publisher Delo
Laško, 6 July - Beverage company Pivovarna Lasko is preparing to sell its 80.8% stake in publisher Delo, the company confirmed for the STA on Tuesday, adding that a call for bids was expected to be published in the autumn.
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WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) - The head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission says the agency should be doing a better job dealing with safety problems.
Her comments come a day after the agency announced the largest-ever crib recall. More than 2.1 million drop-side cribs are being recalled after reports that four babies suffocated.
The recall CPSC chairman Inez Tenenbaum is now advising consumers against using any drop-side cribs. She's urging people to order plastic kits from the manufacturer to immobilize the crib sides. The concern is that the drop-side can detach, creating a dangerous space that can trap a child.
Tenenbaum is also vowing that her agency will enforce a law passed last year giving it greater regulatory authority. She appeared on the morning news shows. ed cribs are made by Stork Craft Manufacturing of Canada.


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DELL announces that it officially ceases all its activity in Russia
Again another company decides to move away from this country. Today August 29 DELL announces that it officially ceases all its activity in Russia
Since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine, there have been many brands, large companies and companies of all kinds that have ceased their activities with Russia. Although not all (but enough to drown Russia), there are still a few to join the rest.
Six months ago, at the end of February, Dell suspended the supply of its equipment to the Russian market. The company is one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world. However, in Russia, Dell servers were the most popular – the company took first place in their supply. After the departure of the corporation, its place will be taken by Russian and Chinese manufacturers.
But it is not only the supply of all kinds of material, unfortunately the people will also be affected, since the company has reported that the staff will receive up to eight salaries at the time of dismissal. According to their estimates, Dell’s Russian representative office employs about 50 people. All salespeople, the marketing department, and technical specialists.
In Moscow, the corporation had a sales office, and in St. Petersburg – a development office. In addition, around 400 software developers for various enterprise-grade products (Unity, PowerStore, DLm, etc.) will be laid off from Dell’s development office upon agreement of the parties.
According to a former DELL employee in Russia, employees are given equipment (laptops, monitors) free of charge, but the corporation deletes all data from corporate hard drives and phones.


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Taiwan market: Leotek aims at 10% market share for LED bulbs by end of 2014
Julian Ho, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES
Leotek Electronics, a Lite-On Technology subsidiary, has entered the residential LED lighting market in Taiwan with a goal of attaining a market share of 10% for LED light bulbs by the end of 2014, according to New Business Development CEO Danny Liao...
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The coronavirus outbreak has disrupted production and weakened consumer confidence, with all ICT sectors bracing for major declines in shipments. Digitimes Research has conducted analyses on three mobile device sectors, namely notebooks, smartphones and tablets in the wake of the outbreak.


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American adventure travel magazine Outside has come up with a special iPad-exclusive edition of the magazine - Outside+ -- the November issue of which is available for free via the iTunes store.
The December 2010 issue will be available for $3.99 per issue.
The iPad application, powered by Adobe, features enhanced stories, videos, photo galleries offering 360-degree views, and interactive articles.
The magazine claims that its November iPad edition features 25 per cent more content than Outside's print issue, including six videos, several of which are produced by the Outside Television Network, the magazine's national television network.
It also features a primer on "meteorological mysteries" such as powder prediction, flash floods and El Niño, as well as survivor accounts of difficult scenarios such as lightning, avalanches, angry mobs and bear attacks.


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Hot on the heels of Google announcing that they’re going to spend $12.5 billion on acquiring Motorola Mobility, Samsung has just picked up one of, if not the, most knowledge minds in the Android community: Steve Kondik, better known as the guy behind CyanogenMod. The work that he and his contributors have done on Google’s mobile operating system spans from the addition of FLAC support to the bundled music player, to a totally redone notification menu. What exactly is Steve going to do at Samsung? We’re hoping he’ll give the team who developed TouchWIZ a good sit down and explain to them that their funky icons need to get trashed, that and convince Samsung that future Android devices need to ship unlocked so people can throw on whatever custom ROM they wish to use. Realistically speaking, Steve will likely be put in a position to oversee the management of software updates to Samsung’s growing portfolio of Android smartphones.
Back to the Google Motorola deal, if our favorite search engine company actually decides to start making their own mobile phones, then folks like Samsung, LG, HTC, and Sony Ericsson, will need to work even harder on differentiating themselves. That’s both a good and a bad thing since Android is likely to get even more fragmented, but at the same time we’ll finally start seeing companies taking risks with their user experiences. Of course Android’s future isn’t exactly certain, and hardware vendors are probably jamming Microsoft’s phone lines right now, but we remain hopeful that because Samsung hired a guy like Steve, they see Android as something that has a lot of life left in it, despite the fact that it’s an operating system made by a company who also now competes with them on hardware. After all, Samsung competes with Apple, yet also makes several key components that they use in their products.