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THE number of new businesses registered in the Kingdom rose nearly 30 percent last year, compared to 2009.
Data obtained from the Ministry of Commerce yesterday showed that 2,572 new businesses were noted in 2010, up from 2,003 in 2009 – a rise of 28 percent. Of this, between 30 to 40 percent were foreign companies, a rise of about 10 percent.
“The global economy slightly impacted our economy. Significantly, we were very politically stable —that’s why both local and foreign investors felt confident in putting down their money for ... enlarging businesses here,” said Hum Hean, director of the Ministry’s business registration department.
“I noticed that there was a sharp increase for small and medium-sized enterprises last year,” he added.
Foreign subsidiaries also went up to 46, from 31, while representative offices registrations increased to 32 from 11.
Many foreign companies registering hailed from the region, and were involved in agriculture, services and tourism, he said.
Hum Hean expected the registrations would keep growing this year.
In 2009, the number of new registrations declined by 27 percent over 2008.


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The Spanish footwear company Pikolinos, which operates under the eponymous brand and the Martinelli label, plans to be carbon neutral in July. It claims to have already reduced its carbon footprint by 65 percent since 2016 at its headquarters and Pikolog logistics hub.
The company’s sustainability policy focuses on emissions, energy consumption, packaging and product development. Pikolinos pointed out that all the power it consumes is from renewable sources, that it joined the Leather Working Group in 2020, that its shoe boxes are made from recycled cardboard and paper and that it has fully eliminated plastic from its packaging.
Its long-term target is to ensure that 85 percent of non-leather components are produced from recycled or sustainable materials.
In 2020, Pikolinos posted sales of €128 million, in line with the previous year.

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Smartphone makers have been working hard to bring notchless and bezel-less displays in an attempt to make phones more immersive for consuming multimedia content on. However, in all their attempts the phone's front camera has remained a roadblock that many phone makers have creatively tried to work around.
Oppo, Vivo, Samsung, Asus and even OnePlus have all used pop-up cameras to make their displays look bigger and better. And now, Xiaomi and Oppo, two of the major brands in the smartphone industry have come up with a more innovative solution to find a fix to the front camera conundrum.
The two brands are looking at keeping Samsung like punch-hole displays on their phones, but these will be cleverly hidden beneath the display -- as we've seen on in-display fingerprint scanners.
Both smartphone makers have taken to social media to reveal their take on under-display selfie cameras. From what has been revealed, Oppo's under display camera will hide under the active pixels on the display. In a video also shared by Oppo's VP, Brian Shen on Weibo he explains that it is not the easiest for under-screen cameras to produce the same kind of quality as punch-hole cameras or ones sitting on an elevating mechanism.
However, he claims that the new technology will be developed to perfection to overcome any issues. While the company has shown off the technology, it has not commented on when or which phone it will finally make an appearance on.
Not to be left behind, Xiaomi too has announced that it's working on a similar under-display front camera module for its future phones. In a video shared on Twitter, the company has revealed that it's using the technology on a Mi 9. Taking to social media, Xiaomi’s co-founder Lin Bin has claimed that the new display which can support the under-display camera will be released soon. However, he did not give any definite timeline.
While this is the same as Oppo, Xiaomi did, however, explain how the technology will work. As Xiaomi explains, when taking a selfie, the area of the display above the front camera will turn transparent thereby allowing the sensor to capture an image. As per Xiaomi to facilitate this, the glass used on the display is a “low reflection and high permeability” one.
Xiaomi has also claimed this technology is their “independent intellectual property,” thereby quashing all suggestions that this technology will in any way be like the one being shown off by Oppo.


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Queenstown Lakes looks likely to be the next part of New Zealand to soon have average house values of $1 million or more, after Auckland reached the million-dollar milestone last month.
QV data released yesterday showed Queenstown Lakes average house prices rose 27.2 per cent to $930,154 in the year ended August.
Queenstown realtor Kelvin Collins, the boss of Highland Real Estate-Harcourts, says the market continues to rise. In the past three months, average house prices have risen by 6.3 per cent, stronger than the Auckland quarterly rise of 6.1 per cent.
Queenstown Lakes average home prices are now up 35.3 per cent since the 2007 market peak and Central Otago prices are nearly 25 per cent higher.
Collins predicts it would be another 18 months before the stressed market would start to show signs of easing prices, when Jack’s Point sections hit the market.
Until then, he wouldn’t be surprised to see the average house price slip above $1m.
There were more sales at the higher-than-$1 million mark than below $700,000 in Queenstown Lakes, he says.
People in the lower price bracket can’t afford to sell and buy a more expensive house, so they are
As Queenstown Lakes house prices rise, people there are being forced to Cromwell.
Instead of paying $800,000 for a house, through the Kawarau Gorge they can buy a family home for about $500,000.
Cromwell people, meanwhile, are moving to Alexandra for a bargain – where they can buy a home for $350,000, with people being more prepared to commute to their jobs from their more affordable houses.
Central Otago average house prices rose 19.4 per cent to $395,861.
In Queenstown Lakes, no one is building houses at the cheaper end of the market, Collins says.
A house being built in Mosgiel for about $600,000 is costing up to $900,000 in Queenstown Lakes.
The soaring population growth is putting pressure on house prices. Queenstown Airport’s staff numbers rose last year from 350 people to 500, adding 150 people to those already wanting houses.
The retail complex at Frankton Flat employed about 1000 people. People are paying whatever they could afford to get into a house, Collins says.
Asked who was buying the houses at the top of the market, Collins says tradespeople, those in the construction industry and middle managers.
People in the service industries can’t afford to buy but most of them are happy to flat for about six months to a year, have a good time and move on.
But the pressure on the housing market has sent rentals rising 20 per cent in the past year.
Queenstown Lakes has not yet had the second home or lifestyle home surge in buying, which is probably helping to keep prices down, Collins says.
But as people continue to do well around New Zealand and overseas, they would still want to come to Queenstown.
Low interest rates are the new normal and home prices have adjusted to a new level of affordability, he says.
People are trying to buy better quality houses instead of buying something needing $5000 a year of maintenance. The extra $5000 is going towards higher mortgage repayments.
The Auckland house price market increased 15.9 per cent year-on-year, QV data released yesterday shows, pushing average values of houses in the Auckland region above $1 million.
Auckland values are now 85.5 per cent higher than the previous peak of 2007.
Otago Daily Times


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Entry-level Samsung SM-J100F spotted on GFXBench website revealing specifications
Lately, Samsung announced that it will be cutting down on the number of smartphone models that it will be launching in the next year. But, almost every now and then we are witnessing leaks regarding new models revealing their possible specifications tipping that they are in works. The latest one that has got leaked is the Samsung SM-J100F that tips that the vendor is prepping an all new Galaxy J lineup of smartphones.
Though it is not confirmed, a new report that has spotted the leaked benchmark of the J100F arrives at a conclusion of the moniker from the Galaxy A device, all having A in their model numbers. May be, the previously leaked SM-E500F smartphone could then be the Galaxy E lineup.
Talking of the leaked specifications of the SM-J100F, the smartphone would arrive with Android 4.4.4 KitKat and come bestowed with a 4.8-inch WVGA display with resolution of 480 x 800 pixels.
The device is likely to incorporate a 64-bit quad core Marvell PXA1908 chipset clocked at 1.2GHz coupled with 1GB of RAM. The device is said to use a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP front camera, both with support for Full HD 1080p video shooting.
The Galaxy J handset is likely to bundle 4GB of native storage capacity and connectivity features including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS. From these specifications, it is pretty clear that this new smartphone could be a low end offering.
If this report is to be believed, Samsung could launch a new lineup called Galaxy J in order to restructure its portfolio in the next year.


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The Charleston region's second new shopping center of 2018 will break ground Monday in Mount Pleasant.
First proposed nearly three years ago, The Market at Mill Creek will be anchored by Lowes Foods at S.C. Highway 41 and Wood Park Drive. The sale of the 16-acre property closed Friday.
The 50,000-square-foot supermarket is set to open early 2019, giving a nearby Harris Teeter store a direct competitor.
Another Lowes Foods is being planned for Mount Pleasant, but the location has not been announced, a spokesman for the North Carolina-based chain said. The grocer is not affiliated with the Lowe's home improvement chain.
The $20-million-plus retail center, a joint project of Charleston-based Adams Property Group and Armada Hoffler Properties of Virginia, will include 24,000 square feet of retail space and a 12-pump fueling station near the entrance to The Gates at Dune West subdivision.
Signed tenants include Marco’s Pizza, Agaves Cantina, Hwy 41 Wine and Spirits, Nail Club and Sea Island Urgent Care. Others are expected to be announced soon, according to the developers.
"The strong demographics and rapid population growth in Mount Pleasant has led to a high demand for retail space in the area, with limited space available to rent," said Jack Coupland of Adams Property Group.
Neighbors on the rapidly developing two-lane Highway 41 had expressed concerns about traffic congestion related to the project after it was first announced, according to Christiane Farrell, assistant town administrator. The road is scheduled to be widened, but work is still at least four years away from starting.
Farrell said the developers worked with the town to alleviate traffic concerns. They agreed to help pay for a new traffic signal, install turning lanes and build other improvements for the intersection next to the future shopping center.
The development also will be shielded from the highway with a 50-foot buffer and include a 35-foot setback from wetlands.
The Mount Pleasant project is one of two new shopping centers announced so far this year in the Lowcountry. North Charleston-based RealtyLink Commercial broke ground a few weeks ago on its $40 million Nexton Square near a fast-growing area of Summerville.


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Local media outlets are reporting that several well-known South Korean companies are holding cryptocurrencies as intangible assets, demonstrating the growth of the market.
The Korea Herald reported that at least 23 companies in the nation are holding one or more cryptocurrencies as intangible assets. The financial reports of these 23 entities, filed with the Financial Supervisory Service last year. Companies that hold more than 10 billion won in cryptocurrencies include Dunami, Kakao, Bithumb Korea, and Coinone.
Dunamu’s holdings are worth roughly $41.2 million, which includes Bitcoin and Ethereum. In 2020 alone, the company bought 742 BTC. The Korean internet company Kakao holds 17.6 billion won in cryptocurrency and made a profit of 390 million won after selling some last year.
But the holdings are not limited to large, well-known companies. The report notes that a restaurant company called Sikui had one billion won in crypto.
With the way the market is moving, there is a good chance that more local businesses will make crypto a part of their holdings. Furthermore, South Korea has also been offering more clarity on regulation, which plays a large part in convincing or deterring companies to enter the market. It very recently brought about new tax guidelines for the market, though some investors have scoffed at the regulations.
Experts quoted in the report all agree that cryptocurrencies are becoming part of the mainstream. They remark that it serves diversification well and is an “inevitable trend.”
Crypto becoming part of the mainstream
The market has matured to the point where several businesses are turning to crypto assets. Last year, Microstrategy and Square put millions into BTC, which helped spur the market’s bull run.
One argument presented by some of these companies is that bitcoin is a good hedge against inflation. Indeed, bitcoin is the best performing asset since its birth. Some criticize this meteoric rise, but the woes surrounding inflation continue to persist.
This year, Tesla put a whopping $1.5 billion into Bitcoin, some of which it has liquidated, resulting in a $101 million profit. The arrival of such large companies has imparted legitimacy to the market, which in recent months has been attracting more retail and institutional investors.
In adherence to the Trust Project guidelines, BeInCrypto is committed to unbiased, transparent reporting. This news article aims to provide accurate, timely information. However, readers are advised to verify facts independently and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.


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The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW), is adding three additional distributor data feeds to their distribution sales and inventory analytics platform, SCOPE DLX. Updates to the platform, which already tracked more than 65 percent of all new and imported firearms, will go live, August 16, 2023.
“The industry's most accurate and expansive data set keeps getting better,” said NASGW President, Kenyon Gleason. “This update will add more distributor data and inventory to our DLX platform as well as continue to enhance our robust data tagging matching nearly 99% of the available firearms UPCs.”
The new distributors that are now contributing data include new members Primary Arms and 2nd Amendment Wholesale as well as longtime member MGE Wholesale, which was previously limited in their ability to share data. Manufacturers will also be able to automate reports for their products from all 21 distributors.
"We continue to look for ways to expand and improve SCOPE for the benefit of our subscribers and the shooting sports industry," said Tom Hopper, NASGW's Senior Data Analyst. “We have seen incredible adoption of our members utilizing the data to understand the market and strategize ways to capitalize on future opportunities. SCOPE is becoming an increasingly valuable tool for those businesses who are leveraging data within their business operations."
In addition to increased distributor data, the August 16 update will include an update of UPC tagging, resulting in the most current and accurate categorization of products. This round of data attribute enhancements has been an ongoing effort to catalog and map existing UPCs that were missing standardized attributes that most products across the industry include. These attributes help with data segmentation, reporting, and product comparisons. Accurate attribute tagging is one of the key features that sets SCOPE apart from other industry data platforms. Accuracy of the data is crucial to creating quality reports that users and the industry can rely on. When the products are not cataloged consistently it makes it difficult, if not impossible to collect accurate data. This attribute update is a big step forward in SCOPE's progressive development.
The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers is comprised of wholesalers, manufacturers, independent sales reps, media, and service providers - both national and international - all of whom are primarily focused on shooting sports equipment and accessories. As a trade association representing the business interests of its members, NASGW's mission is to bring shooting sports buyers and sellers together. For more information about the NASGW, visit the association's website at www.nasgw.org.
NASGW SCOPE™ is an industry-owned, distributor-led initiative to collect and analyze data that strengthens shooting sports businesses. SCOPE utilizes data from NASGW distributors and as well as shooting sports dealers/retailers from across the country, to compile the industry's largest and most accurate data sample. SCOPE provides unmatched business intelligence and industry insight. For more information about SCOPE, visit the website at www.scopenasgw.org.
For More Information, Please Contact Us At:
National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers


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Saputo Dairy Australia and Fonterra Australia have joined other processors by breaking the $9 a kilogram milk solids barrier.
Saputo advised suppliers on Tuesday its opening weighted average milk price for non-exclusive supply would increase to $9.10/kgMS.
The company said it was an increase of 21c/kg of butterfat and 42c/kg of protein.
Saputo opened in May with an average minimum price of $8.50kg/MS.
Fonterra followed suit on Wednesday with an average price of $9.10/kgMS, bumping it up from $8.80/kgMS.
Fonterra managing director René Dedoncker said the price would be made up of 25c/kg butterfat and 35c/kg protein.
"We appreciate there's a lot to weigh up with the milk price movements we've seen over the last few weeks, and I encourage you to speak to your area manager to find out what this price means for your farm," Mr Dedoncker said.
Milk supply agreements are due to be signed by July 1.
The counter offers from the big processors followed Bega Cheese which also went to $9.10kg/MS for its Victorian and south-east SA suppliers.
Northern Victorian and Riverina suppliers will get $9.25kg/MS under Bega.
Bega executive chairman Barry Irvin told the company's suppliers their opening average milk price would increase 30 cents.
"Whilst market fundamentals remain stable for our product returns, the competitive market for milk supply is very strong with many companies adjusting their milk prices over recent weeks impacting our competitive position," Mr Irvin said.
"We will endeavour to improve milk pricing should market circumstances allow and will continue to review milk pricing to ensure we are making a competitive offer to our suppliers for their milk."
Colac-based milk processor Bulla Dairy Foods remains atop of the processors' farmgate milk price pack
It has offered farmers up to $9.50kg/MS
The Australian Dairy Farmers Corporation lifted its average price to $9.30kg/MS, while Coles was offering up to $9.65kg/MS for the 2022-23 season.
Lactalis also pushed its farmgate milk price to $9.20-$9.30/kgMS.
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You'd probably never know it, but Richard Nixon has been picking your pockets.
Ever since the former president agreed in 1971 to suspend the dollar's convertibility into gold, the value of the greenback has been backed simply by the capitalistic vision that is America -- more specifically, the government's ability to tax citizens like you. Without anything tangible backing its value, you might be stuffing your wallet with confetti, for all you know.
OK, that's an elephant of an exaggeration. Tricky Dick isn't pillaging your bank account, and he was probably looking out for America's best interests when he decided to take those drastic actions. He isn't at all responsible for the dollar's current misgivings. He died more than a decade ago, making pocket-picking somewhat difficult, but that's beside the point.
Here's the real issue: Ever since we ditched the gold standard, the government has found it far too easy to create cash, and we've become complacent, printing money like it's nobody's business. Gargantuan trade deficits and unbalanced budgets have left the value of the greenback withering away, compared to its global peers. That, my friends, can cost you some serious coin.
The Cleavers ain't got nothing on us
The globalized economy has become one, big happy family. Countries are as reliant on each other as they've ever been for economic prosperity. Shanghai relies on Seattle to buy its knicknacks, Dublin needs Detroit to crank out pickup trucks, and Raleigh counts on Riyadh to produce oil. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.
When the value of the dollar falls, two things happen in the global economy:
- The goods America produces and sells to other countries get cheaper and more competitive.
- The price of goods America buys from other countries become more expensive for us here at home.
The first part of the equation can benefit you and me. As my Foolish colleague Bill Mann pointed out earlier this year, a falling dollar can be a boon for companies like eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY ) and Boeing (NYSE: BA ) , who sell "stuff" to our pals overseas. Multinational behemoths like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG ) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO ) derive a solid chunk of revenue outside the U.S., so a weak dollar might seem like a pretty sweet proposition, right?
It's the economy, stupid
Kind of. The bad news comes when you factor in the second part of the equation: Most U.S. citizens aren't multinational corporations. They're typical nine-to-fivers who, partially because of the falling dollar, have been saddled with soaring energy bills, surging prices at the grocery store, and a reliance on cheap, imported goods for everything from hairbrushes to cell phones.
The next time you go to a Best Buy (NYSE: BBY ) or Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT ) , read the fine print on the back of the products you buy. How many of them are made in the USA? Not a heck of a lot. We buy a lot more "stuff" overseas than we export there, to the tune of nearly $2 billion every single day.
While our economy as a whole trumps all others in terms of GDP, we rely on the rest of the globe to produce a tremendous amount of what we consume. The United States is on pace to import more than $400 billion of oil this year. And since oil and other commodities are priced in dollars in nearly every financial market around the world, a weaker dollar translates into higher prices for you and me here at home. For consumers already facing economic indigestion, that can really burn.
Makin' a run for the broader
But there's a broader reason why you shouldn't welcome the weak dollar, besides higher prices. We're not just addicted to foreign merchandise; we're hooked on foreign money, too. When Citigroup (NYSE: C ) hit a sour patch late last year, Abu Dhabi came to the rescue. When Morgan Stanley needed an extra shot of cash, China stepped up to the plate. Who's going to fund our multibillion-dollar federal budget black holes? Not us. We don't save any money. It'll have to be the foreigners.
That is, as long as investing in the United States remains worth their while. In the past five years, the dollar has lost roughly one-third of its value against the euro. In less than a year, the dollar has tanked almost 20% against the Japanese yen. If our currency continues to undermine returns, foreign investors may conclude that the USA isn't the de facto choice for international capital, and take their cash elsewhere. Sound scary? I agree.
P. Diddy was right: It's all about the Benjamins, baby. Next time you hear someone spout off the glorious benefits a weak currency brings, remember that no economy has ever failed because its currency was too strong. Many, however, have bitten the dust over weak ones.


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DPD urges retailers to consider bringing forward collections and talk to
customers about possible delays.
Many retailers are still underestimating the extent of the disruption that could result from the Olympic Games this summer, according to leading parcel delivery company DPD.
DPD is calling on all retailers to talk to their delivery companies about arranging additional collections or bringing forward their main collection by an hour as well as talking to customers about potential delays between the peak period of mid July and mid September.
Dwain McDonald, DPD’s CEO said, "We are fast approaching the period of likely disruption. In our plans we are estimating the maximum period for potential disruption to deliveries to certain postcodes to be up to 50 days between mid July and mid September. Sites like Westfield shopping centre are now "locked down" and the organisers are starting to change road layouts to prepare the Olympic Route Network which will have a significant impact in the coming weeks.
"We have been talking to retailers at length about the impacts and it is clear that many are still playing down the possible disruption both in terms of the seriousness and the period of time. Companies with Head Offices in London are generally being more realistic. Outside London awareness of the potential impact is much lower.
"We have been simulating our revised route network and delivery schedules in recent weeks to understand the exact impact on deliveries and collections. We are very confident in the plans we have drawn up. However, one of the main challenges is likely to be getting the goods from companies at the end of the day to the main London parcel hubs early enough each night to guarantee they can be processed and ready for next day delivery. We are urging online retailers to consider earlier collections and are working with them to build effective plans.
"There is huge potential for delays and inconvenience for customers so it is important that online retailers communicate clearly with customers about arrangements during the Olympic period, especially if they are going to introduce earlier cut-off times for next day delivery or if they are located in the areas likely to be most affected by disruption.
"With three million additional journeys anticipated on peak days and the Olympic Route Network affecting 109 miles of road, the impact during peak times will be very severe."
For a copy of DPD’s Olympic Matrix or the company’s Olympic Bulletin visit www.dpd.co.uk


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COMMERCE OFFERING FUNDS. Virginia Beach-based Commerce Bank will offer annuities and mutual funds under a new agreement with the investment management companies Independent Financial Securities Inc. and Independent Financial Marketing Group Inc.
HEILIG-MEYERS IN TALKS. Richmond-based Home furnishings retailer Heilig-Meyers Co. said Wednesday it is negotiating to acquire McMahan's Furniture Co., a 92-store chain based in Carlsbad, Calif. If it is successful in buying McMahan's, Heilig-Meyers likely would be the country's third-largest furniture retailer based on sales, up from No. 5 last year. McMahan's has stores in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada and Colorado.
PLANT IN THE BAG. A new plastic grocery bag plant will create 100 jobs and is expected to produce up to 2 billion bags a year in eastern Henrico County. Work has begun on a $10 million, 70,000-square-foot plant for St. Louis-based Vanguard Plastics Inc.
WILLIAMS RESTRUCTURES DEBT. Falls Church-based Williams Industries Inc., a nationwide construction firm, said this week it expects to lay off about 100 of its 900 employees. One major provision of its debrt restructuring would allow Williams to reduce the overall amount it must repay its banks from $24.1 million to $15 million.


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Posts Tagged «reram»
Western Digital’s HGST division creates new phase-change SSD that’s orders of magnitude faster than any NAND flash drive on the market August 6, 2014 at 9:02 am
HGST is demonstrating a new type of phase change memory array that’s orders of magnitude faster than NAND — so fast, they had to redesign PCI-Express to make the protocol work.
ReRAM, the memory tech that will eventually replace NAND flash, finally comes to market August 5, 2013 at 8:00 am
A new ReRAM technology company is prepping designs that move the new standard one step closer to widespread commercial deployment — and the SSDs and mobile products of the future.
Japanese team boosts NAND flash durability and performance with ReRAM buffer June 18, 2012 at 10:47 am
Researchers in Japan have demonstrated a new, hybrid SSD that would use a ReRAM buffer to improve SSD write endurance. The project is in early stages, but looks quite promising.
SanDisk co-founder: Flash to squeeze out hard drives and DRAM by 2020 February 23, 2012 at 8:08 am
The co-founder of SanDisk and one of the illustrious fathers of flash memory, Eli Harari, says that flash memory will “checkmate” hard drives by 2020.


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A new report from GreenRoad says 19% of fleet managers are using some kind of mobile app or related smartphone capabilities to actively deal with fleet management tasks. In addition, 37% of survey respondents cited in the report said they expect to see an increase in the use of apps for fleet management.
Beyond fleet managers using these devices, 28% of managers with fleet-related responsibilities are actively using smartphones in some capacity. In addition, 8% are using iPads or another type of tablet computer, the company’s “Connected Fleet” survey stated.
When it comes to the technologies fleet professionals plan to deploy for the purposes of fleet management, 31% said they will be using Web-based services, 25% plan to use iPads or some other kind of tablet device, and 22% plan to purchase more smartphones.
Another recent survey on mobile device use by mobile workforce solutions iPass also supports just how prevalent using a range of mobile devices is becoming in the workplace, with an average of 3.5 devices per employee.
Although desktop software has long been a staple in fleet management, of those surveyed, less than half (41%) said they are still using PC-based software that doesn’t have Web access, showing growth in the use of Software as a Service (SaaS) fleet management applications. Only 12% are using proprietary handheld mobile devices. Out of the survey's respondents, 57% of fleets have deployed Web-based fleet management solutions.
Fleet professionals said drivers of fleet vehicles are also adopting new types of mobile technologies, with 25% of respondents saying their drivers are using a “job-specific” smartphone or other mobile app, and that 14% intend to increase driver smartphone and mobile app deployments.
GreenRoad conducted its survey in February 2012 and received responses from 178 participants from fleets of all types and sizes. The company said respondents recommend, approve or influence fleet technology purchases.
As more devices and mobile technology becomes available, companies do need to keep in mind the liabilities that can come with such technologies. Click here for an article on creating and implementing an effective cell phone policy for your fleet.
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The CAD/CAM software provider Planit Holdings Ltd. has agreed to sell its Fusion retail business to 20-20 Technologies Inc., which is headquartered in North America. The decision to divest was in line with Planit’s strategy to focus on its core activities and become the global market leader in the provision of CAD/CAM solutions to manufacturers worldwide.
The deal is worth approximately $38 million (£19 million) excluding related transaction costs.
Planit CEO Bryan Pryce commented: “Planit is already a very strong player within the CAD/CAM sector of the manufacturing industry, and we will continue to grow our brands in markets across the globe. Therefore, reflecting on this strategy and the commercial sense that the 20-20 deal represents, I believe we are now extremely well positioned to take full advantage of the opportunities that our world-class software solutions present.”
Planit is the world’s largest supplier of design and manufacturing software for the engineering, woodworking, and stone-cutting industries, with more than 85,000 industrial seats installed around the world. Its respected Alphacam, Cabinet Vision, Cabnetware, Edgecam, Jobshop, and Radan solutions provide companies in various markets with the means to improve machine tool productivity, shorten design and manufacturing cycles, optimize material usage, and help deliver high-quality goods and services to customers.
20-20 Technologies is a global provider of CAD, business, and manufacturing software solutions targeted at the interior design and furniture industries. It operates in 13 countries and employs more than 500 people.


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Does the added value of Guangdong’s manufacturing industry surpass 90% of other countries?Don’t be complacent we are far from the top of the world
Guangdong has become the first province in China to surpass the 12 trillion yuan mark with an 8% growth rate of 12.4 trillion yuan, once again taking the top spot in China’s GDP.What does 12 trillion mean? According to the prediction of foreign media, guangdong’s GDP level has surpassed Italy’s in the world and ranks among the world’s top 10, with the added value of manufacturing surpassing 90% of the world’s countries.It is no exaggeration to say that Nowadays Guangdong is extremely rich.Of course, if we only look at the data, the rapid progress of Guangdong is really worth our pride and pride.But don’t forget we are still a developing country, we and the world leading level in many fields and there is a big gap, although GDP represents the regional economic level and development condition, but the real hard power depending on science and technology, education, health care, culture and other aspects of comprehensive comparison, although we have achieved good grades, can be proud of, but not complacent.We are in the laser industry, which is one of the manufacturing industries with rapid development in China in recent years. Guangdong also has a great influence in the laser field, including the industry leader of large laser, whose headquarters is in Shenzhen.Although the scale of our laser industry has not lost to foreign countries, but high-end technology, or to see Germany and the United States, Germany trumpf laser equipment is recognized as the top of the industry, such as the convergence of countless cutting-edge technology lithography machine, its internal laser accessories, its main supplier is Germany Trumpf.The experience of the laser industry is a microcosm of the manufacturing industry, but also the plight of the domestic manufacturing industry in general — although there is an advantage in scale, but not in technology and brand.In recent years, industrial upgrading, which is often mentioned, is one of the solutions to the industry’s difficulties.In addition to high and new technology, unbalanced regional development is also a problem we need to face when it comes to the guangdong economic development, the government has repeatedly stressed that guangdong is the highest province in the national economy, but also the most unbalanced regional development in the province, guangdong “eldest brother” although with shenzhen, guangzhou, foshan, the city of dongguan 4 trillions, but in guangdong, west, north guangdong,There are also several cities with lower economic levels, or even lower than the national average.Looking at the manufacturing sector, it is even more so. Within the pearl River Delta cities, the well-known related enterprises in Guangdong are mainly concentrated in Shenzhen and Guangzhong, and the remaining small number of enterprises are distributed in Foshan, Dongguan and Zhuhai. The rest are huizhou, Zhongshan and other places, and the manufacturing industry is mainly composed of small and medium-sized enterprises.The road to rise is difficult and tortuous. The right way is to be down-to-earth.Manufacturing rare shortcut, only real accumulation to achieve thorough boom, the industry’s leading supplier of foreign majority has dozens of hundreds of years of history, although we hard work, but also can’t suddenly catch up the gap of a few decades, the success is to be proud, but the gap in order to catch up in the face.


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Evercore Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) by 18.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,705 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,317 shares during the quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WBA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71,970.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,640,855 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $848,617,000 after purchasing an additional 11,624,703 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,789,390 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,369,796,000 after acquiring an additional 3,318,524 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.5% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 11,183,914 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $815,307,000 after acquiring an additional 2,479,681 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 41.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,640,694 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $411,206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,665,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 11.5% during the second quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 11,110,617 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $666,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.59% of the company’s stock.
WBA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 25th. ValuEngine upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, September 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 11th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 12th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.11.
In related news, SVP Kimberly R. Scardino sold 11,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.79, for a total value of $955,086.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 52,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.77, for a total value of $4,096,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,386,356.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,756 shares of company stock valued at $5,824,194. 14.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $81.19 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc has a twelve month low of $59.07 and a twelve month high of $86.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.38.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 11th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 21.75% and a net margin of 3.82%. The company had revenue of $33.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.64 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 12th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 8th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.24%.
WARNING: This report was first posted by American Banking News and is owned by of American Banking News. If you are reading this report on another website, it was copied illegally and reposted in violation of US & international copyright and trademark law. The original version of this report can be accessed at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2018/12/08/evercore-wealth-management-llc-sells-3317-shares-of-walgreens-boots-alliance-inc-wba.html.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Company Profile
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a pharmacy-led health and wellbeing company. It operates through three segments: Retail Pharmacy USA, Retail Pharmacy International, and Pharmaceutical Wholesale. The Retail Pharmacy USA segment sells prescription drugs and an assortment of retail products, including health, beauty, personal care, consumable, and general merchandise products through its retail drugstores and convenient care clinics.
Read More: Correction
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The next-gen mobile OS for Apple's mobile communications devices will bring Bluetooth connectivity, turn-by-turn GPS navigation, and greater integration with external peripherals, as well as cut and paste, improved sync, and support for MMS messages.
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CSR is claiming it is possible to simplify and speed the development of Bluetooth headsets with high quality stereo audio with a new type of software development kit.
24 Jul 20083 Jul 2008
Even in a weak phone market, rising acceptance of connectivity technology should benefit semiconductor suppliers.
In a move that could give a welcome, if short-lived, boost to consumer electronics makers and retailers, consumers up and down the West Coast are snapping up headsets that let them talk on cell phones while driving íVand stay in compliance with a law that took effect in California and Washington state on July 1. The law, which stipulates penalties for driving while talking on a handheld cell phone, is a boon for Bluetooth wireless connectivity.


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Rogers users have a new option in the stable in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Spica.
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Watch Behold II Man and his “amazing” adventures.
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From being home to South-East Asia’s highest peak Mount Kinabalu to the diving haven of Sipadan, Sabah has many untapped natural attractions and with next week’s launch of the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC), tourism looks set to be the leading economic driver.
To the local industry players, tourism is the most sustainable economic sector compared with manufacturing or agriculture.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, who strongly believes that tourism will always remain a product that will bring in foreign exchange and provide steady income, said: “If you look at it, we have seen factories fold up and investors leave for cheaper labour markets like Vietnam or China, agriculture has its limits in terms of land available and locals hardly benefit from jobs in these sectors, unlike in tourism where the industry is driven by locals, basically in every aspect of the sector.
“This is where tourism will be sustainable and will bring direct and indirect benefits to the people in urban or rural areas,” Masidi said in an interview ahead of the launch of the SDC on Jan 29.
Currently the tourism sector employs 14,000 people directly and with greater focus on tourism under the SDC, the impact would be far reaching and affect other sectors particularly the service industry.
“The sectors that will feel the immediate effects are accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, entertainment and retail .
“The private sector is playing the lead role in developing the tourism sector while the state and federal governments are the facilitator and regulators by providing infrastructure, incentives and policy guidelines,” he said.
He noted that tourism in rural areas like Pekan Nabalu (near Mount Kinabalu) had benefited local folks who sold handicrafts, local fruits and honey. Sales of local handicraft amounted to RM138.7mil last year.
“This is the positive side of unreported expenditure and the money is returned to the local economy with great multiplier effect,” he added.
Remaining buoyant about Sabah’s tourism growth, Masidi said tourist arrivals increased by 14.4% growing from 1.8 million in 2004 to 2.2 million in 2007, he said, adding that they were targeting 2.6 million visitors by 2010.
Sabah has 115 direct flights a week from 15 cities across Asia and is now focusing on increasing the number of flights once the Kota Kinabalu International Airport renovation is completed by May 2009.
The state hopes to make its tourism products sustainable and open up more attractions for visitors to spend more time in the state.
The key challenge will be to increase physical development of appropriate tourism products especially in the rural areas to cater for the anticipated increase in arrivals.
“What is most important in our move to improve and beautify the environment is that we should be careful not to destroy coral reefs, wildlife habitats and ecosystems.
“Sabah’s tourism assets are its environment. We must preserve it for the long-term and we should not undertake environmentally damaging projects like the coal-fired power plant that could damage our coral reefs in Darvel Bay,” he added.
He said the state wanted to see more people investing in eco-tourism products of quality and value which not only protect and conserve the environment but generate employment and spin-off opportunities for the people.
“With the SDC, we are on gear five. We are on our way to become a major tourist destination with the heavy investments identified in the blueprint. We will be able to open up more islands in the east coast.
“There are 42 unexplored islands. We have more to offer than Sipadan,” said Masidi, adding that Sabah’s east coast tourism potential had hardly been exploited over the years.
Among the SDC’s highlights for development is to market Sabah as an exclusive holiday home destination, develop new tourism products anchored by signature resorts, encourage rural participation through community-based tourism, develop a one-district one-product programme, make the state a centre of excellence for tropical biodiversity research and to set up an arts and culture fund.
It has identified areas for immediate action, including providing basic tourism development infrastructure before moving into strengthening Sabah’s position as a premier eco-adventure destination through conservation, research and sustainable development of new tourism products.
The 18-year plan hopes to see Sabah being transformed into one of the most liveable places in Asia – a bustling metropolis in a tropical paradise.
Source : STAR
[tags : malaysiahotelnews hotels malaysia resorts news travel tourism travel vmy2008]


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TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Read our ethics statement.
In context: The return-to-work mandate is proving to be the tech industry's hot-button topic, with many employees resisting calls to come back into the office after more than two years of working from home. Apple is one of the industry giants experiencing this outrage as staff petition against plans to return to the workplace next month.
Apple CEO Tim Cook last week sent out a memo to all employees informing them that they must return to the office for at least three days a week starting September 5. Workers were told to come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a third day to vary depending on each team---a previous plan involved employees coming in on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Cook said in the memo that he wants to preserve the "in-person collaboration that is so essential to our culture."
Apple has long had a reputation for being a super-progressive company, but its views on working in the office are more traditional and a stark contrast to other Silicon Valley firms such as Facebook and Google, who, following the arrival of Covid lockdowns, mandated that employees could work from home permanently if they choose.
Future Forum Pulse survey
A group of Apple employees called Apple Together, formed last year, started circulating an internal petition on Sunday demanding "location flexible work." According to The Financial Times, the petition states, "We believe that Apple should encourage, not prohibit, flexible work to build a more diverse and successful company where we can feel comfortable to 'think different' together."
The petition also claims that the mandate fails to acknowledge the many compelling reasons why employees are "happier and more productive" working from home. The group is demanding Apple allows staff to decide their working arrangements with their managers.
Numerous surveys have shown that most people don't want to return to the office, full-time or otherwise, and some people are ready to quit their jobs over these demands or take pay cuts and lose benefits if it means staying at home. Most people consider themselves more productive when working remotely, too, though they don't always think so highly of their colleagues.
While Cook is in the minority of CEOs longing for the pre-Covid era of being in the office all day, one boss who seems to really hate remote work is Elon Musk. In June, the world's richest person told Tesla and SpaceX staff to spend 40 hours per week in the office or find other jobs, although some Tesla employees did find there weren't enough desks or parking spaces when they returned.


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Micron Technology (MU) announced that Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court in China has forbidden the company from selling its products in China. Micron’s rival United Microelectronics Corp (NYSE: UMC) reported about the court’s decision on July 3. Today, Micron stated that this ban would result in about 1% fall in its revenue for the fourth quarter. However, Micron expects revenue to come in the previously stated range of $8.0 to $8.4 billion.
Responding to the Chinese Court’s decision, Micron’s SVP of Legal Affairs Joel Poppen said, “Micron is disappointed with the ruling by the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court. We strongly believe that the patents are invalid and that Micron’s products do not infringe the patents. The Fuzhou Court issued this preliminary ruling before allowing Micron an opportunity to present its defense.”
Micron stated in its recent quarterly filing that the complaints filed by UMC and its partner Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co earlier this year sought an order requiring Micron to pay damages of 90 million Chinese yuan and 98 million Chinese yuan, respectively. Also, the company had mentioned in the filing that there is a risk of restriction or prevention from the Chinese government for the company to perform in the China market.
Micron said that it will ask the Fuzhou Court to revise the decision. Earlier, the Idaho-based semiconductor giant had alleged that the Taiwanese company UMC cooperated with Fujian Jinhua to steal Micron’s intellectual property rights and this lawsuit is still in progress.
Even though the company doesn’t report its revenue on a geographical basis, reports say that nearly half of Micron’s revenue comes from China. With the US-China trade war tensions hitting the semiconductor industry already, this ban resulted in Micron’s stock falling about 5% during the extended hours of trading on Tuesday. However, when the market opened today shares of the company were up about 2%, reflecting investors’ confidence in Micron.
The shares of Micron’s peers which fell on Tuesday, including Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Nvidia (NVDA), Applied Materials (AMAT), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Intel (INTL) were all up during today’s morning session.
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Dunedin tech executive Ina Kinski has summoned much-needed cashflow for Kaikoura retailers by creating a slick online platform which makes it easy for Kiwis to access Kaikoura’s shops. She wants the site to raise awareness that Kaikoura is open for business.
Natalie O’Donnell and Karla Lewis launched Napier-based vintage and rockabilly clothing label Two Lippy Ladies in January last year. The founders, both lovers of the 1950s aesthetic, walk the talk and have heaps of fun, yet they are also on a serious mission.
There has been a lot of talk about how the economies of provincial New Zealand are performing, with most of it centred on the doom and gloom of dairying. Infometrics senior economist Benje Patterson shares the latest results from Infometrics' Quarterly Economic Monitor and notes that while there's challenges in the regions, the results show they're far from one-trick ponies.


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As the successor to last year’s Galaxy M12, Samsung has revealed the Samsung Galaxy M13 smartphone in the M series. A 5000mAh battery, an Exynos 850 SoC, a 50MP triple camera configuration, Samsung One UI 4.1 based on Android 12, and a Samsung One UI 4.1 based on Android 12 are all included in the smartphone. Let’s take a closer look at the device’s specifications, pricing, and availability.
Samsung Galaxy M13: Specifications and Features
A 6.6-inch full HD+ Infinity-V display is featured on the phone. The smartphone has a notched display in the manner of a waterdrop.
The Exynos 850 SoC is combined with 4 GB of RAM in the Samsung Galaxy M13. The gadget has a native storage capacity of 64 GB or 128 GB. A microSD card can be used to expand the capacity up to 1TB.
The phone has a triple-back camera setup for photographs and movies. It sports a 50-megapixel primary camera with an aperture of f.18. A 5-megapixel ultra-wide sensor with an f/2.2 aperture, as well as a 2-megapixel depth sensor with an f/2.4 aperture, are also included. The device has an 8-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture for selfies and video calls.
The phone’s software is Android 12 with Samsung One UI 4.1. It comes with Samsung’s Knox security system. There’s also a 5,000mAh battery with a 15W fast charging capability. It has a fingerprint scanner on the side for added security. Face recognition is available on the phone as well.
On the connectivity front, the phone offers Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ax (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS + GLONASS. The phone also contains a USB Type-C port as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Samsung Galaxy M13: Price
The Galaxy M13’s price is yet to be determined, despite the fact that Samsung has listed the phone on its website. The Galaxy M12 was launched with a starting price of Rs 10,999, implying that the Galaxy M13 will be priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,000, as was the case with the Galaxy M12.


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New York Times and Center for an Urban Future studyby AARP Foundation
Work for Yourself@50+ was mentioned in the New York Times in September as part of a feature on the growing popularity among people in their 50s and 60s to start their own businesses, redefining a startup culture often “ruled by the young.”
The feature comes from a larger study from the Center for an Urban Future called Starting Later: Realizing the Promise of Older Entrepreneurs in New York City. Paolo Narciso, vice president of impact areas at AARP Foundation, is quoted in the study. “We would not have doubled the number [of sites] had we not seen results,” says Narciso. He adds that the program [Work for Yourself@50+] has so far exceeded its goal, serving more than 7,500 would-be entrepreneurs via its online workbooks and more than 2,500 who have attended workshops in person.


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By Aaron Smith
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The feverish demand for military-style rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines is outstripping supply, ahead of legislative efforts to ban them in the wake of mass shootings.
“Our phones are ringing every 10 seconds and people are saying, ‘Do you have any assault rifles?’” said Dennis Pratte, owner of My Gun Factory in Falls Church, Va., a store that also sells products online. “They’ve sold out of just about every gun shop nationwide and just about every distributor is out of stock.”
Online retailers are running out of semiautomatic rifles — known variously as assault weapons, tactical rifles or modern sporting rifles — and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.
Brick-and-mortar gun shops are also working furiously to meet demand. Semiautomatic rifles, which fire one round for every pull of the trigger, and high-capacity magazines are flying off the shelves.
“The retail market is completely sold out of anything with high-capacity magazines,” said Pratte. “We get people 20-deep waiting to buy.”
Pratte said that he sells AR-15s as soon as they arrive at his store, before he even has the time to display them on the wall. Handguns are also hot commodities, especially from popular makers such as Smith & Wesson, he said.
He said that prices are soaring, and not just for guns. High-capacity magazines, particularly the popular 30-round magazines, are going for $100 apiece on Gunbroker.com, a bidding site like Ebay. He said they used to sell for $15.
“Ammunition is hard to come by, as well,” Pratte said, noting that ammunition for military-style semiautomatic rifles has tripled in price to about one dollar per bullet.
Online retailers have depleted their stock of magazines containing 30, 60 or even 100 rounds.
“Due to tremendous demand, high-capacity magazine orders will be delayed,” reads a notice at Surefire.com, which has sold out of $179 banana-shaped magazines capable of holding 100 rounds.
Likewise, the ungainly-looking 100-round dual-drums, which resemble a pair of cans stuck together, have sold out at Cheaperthandirt.com and Impactguns.com.
Even the manufacturers are running dry. Beta Mag makes 100-round dual-drums for rifles and even handguns, including a drum for Glock, which was featured in the latest James Bond movie, “Skyfall.” But it has gotten difficult to order them through the company’s Web site, where the high-capacity drums are listed as “available for purchase” but “back ordered.”
The product’s popularity is matched only by its controversy. A 100-round drum was allegedly used as part of the four-gun arsenal of James Holmes, accused of shooting 70 people and killing 12 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., on July 20.
High-capacity magazines have been used in numerous mass shootings, including the Dec. 14 attack at a school in Newtown, Conn. Police said that Adam Lanza loaded his Bushmaster rifle with multiple 30-round magazines to shoot and kill 20 school children and six educators before committing suicide.
Later this week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, plans to reintroduce the assault weapon ban that expired in 2004. The ban, if it passes, would outlaw the sale and manufacture of certain semiautomatic rifles, handguns and shotguns, and well as magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.
President Obama has made it clear that he will support an assault weapon ban, and sales have soared since his re-election. But such a bill will have a tough time getting past Congress.
For now, retailers can’t keep tactical rifles in stock. The staff at Georgia Gun Store in Gainesville, Ga., is too busy even to take customer calls.
“Due to high sales volume we will not be answering the phone nor will we be returning phone calls,” said the Georgia Gun Store’s answering machine.


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Apple announced it today. It's a mini-Airport (10 users). It's a bridge to extend the Airport's range. It's a wireless USB printer connection. It's tiny.
And it has audio out. It's a wireless link between iTunes on your laptop and your stereo system or speakers. $129Posted by Dave at June 07, 2004 05:27 PM


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Tickets for Malawi national football team return leg against Madagascar in the Championship for African Nations (Chan) on Saturday at Bingu National Stadium will start being sold on Wednesday at strategic points across the country.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) Commercial and Marketing Director Limbani Matola said tickets would be sold at FAM’s Mpira Village in Blantyre, in Lilongwe and fans could also deposit money at any branche of FDH Bank across the country to redeem for ticket.
Matola said open stands advance would be sold at K1,500, covered stand K3,500 while VIP is priced at K7,500 but at the gate during the game the price will be higher with K2,000 for open stands, K5,000 for covered and K10,000 for VIP.
He appealed to soccer fans to buy advance tickets to enable them cheer on the team to the much needed victory to stay in the Chan competition as the team succumbed to a late goal on Saturday to lose 1-0 away in Antananarivo.
He also cautioned fraudsters against selling counterfeit tickets as the association had put up stringent mechanism to deal with the problem having had people arrested.
“Tickets will start be sold on Wednesday and would like to urge to buy the tickets to witness the Flames scorch Madagascar on home soil,” he said.
Meanwhile former Flames captain Joseph Kamwendo has been recalled to beef up the inexperienced team in a bid to turn the tables as the Belgian seeks to start with a high note.Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :


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Falling volumes led to another price increase in the same dealer sales retail used truck space in January, ACT Research announced Tuesday.
The company says its preliminary used Class 8 retail volumes shrank 8 percent month over month and were down 32 percent year over year. Comparatively, price was up 9 percent. Average miles and age were fairly steady, up 1 percent and down 1 percent month over month, respectively.
Compared to January of 2021, ACT Research says average retail used truck pricing is up 82 percent — average miles and age are up 6 percent.
"As is historically the case, preliminary same dealer retail sales nosedived in January, but not nearly as much as the expected 45 percent or so drop," says Steve Tam, ACT Research vice president "For various reasons, truck buyers are generally not in the market in the dead of winter, but clearly, used trucks are still in demand today."
Tam says at issue right now is the simple lack of inventory from which truckers can purchase.
"Despite the robust new truck build and sales figures that closed 2021, the used truck market is operating with less inventory than it has at almost any time in recent memory and perhaps ever," he says. "The combination of through-the-roof demand and severely limited inventory has driven prices to never-before-seen levels, and we are increasingly hearing stories of fleets with unseated, late model equipment opportunistically taking advantage of current market dynamics. Those with excess capacity are selling to frustrated, traditionally new truck buyers, who are having difficulty acquiring the units they need."


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After landing at the hospital behind his pot of farts business “90 Day Fiancé” Star, Stephanie Matto is now ready to sell popular jars like NFT.
Just days ago, Matto made headlines after being rushed to hospital with severe gastrointestinal issues from her fart business. She said she had been drinking three protein shakes and several bowls of black bean soup to meet the demand for farts when she began to experience severe chest pain. Doctors diagnosed her with extreme gas and told her that she was hurting her body.
Last year the 31 years decided to add farts to him in a jar Subscription platform for adults aged 18 and over. She said the customers would ask her to encapsulate her gas in mason jars and send it to them. At first she thought it was a joke. However, after doing a test batch of 97 jars for $ 500 per pop, it quickly sold out. Reality TV star says she raked $ 200,000 sell the jars. Unfortunately, when her health took a hit, she was forced to restructure her business model, which brought her into the world of NFT. She teamed up with a digital artist, and together they launched “Fart Jars NFT” to Wednesday.
“We teamed up and made some jars with some really cute animations,” Matto said in an interview with Insider. “And we’ve made them super personalized and personal, and some even come with unlockable traits.” Signed Underwear and Rare Physical Fart Jars are among the tradable items included with some of the NFTs.
Fans looking to get their hands on one of Matto’s unique NFTs will have to fork out 0.05 Ethereum ($ 186).


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The annual Cannes Film Festival, canceled last year due to COVID and moved back from May to July 6-17 this year for the same reason, is causing massive rescheduling headaches for hotels and other businesses in the south of France.
Uncertainties and angst surrounding international travel are expected to result in much smaller attendance than the record 12,527 people who flocked to the 2019 festival. And since the festival has shifted from May to the height of the summer high season, there’s a strain to find lodging — especially with the temporary closure of the iconic, 343-room Carlton Hotel in Cannes for renovation (until 2023). (Big spenders can still grab the last available single room at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in nearby Antibes for $2,152 a night, according to a recent listing on hotels.com.)
But there’s a bright side to the scramble for accommodations: At least you don’t have to worry too much about finding dock space for yachts at the Port of Cannes or other nearby docking locations, according to Rolf Smith, sales broker for Northrop & Johnson, a global yacht broker with offices in Beverly Hills, Newport Beach and elsewhere.
Smith estimated that only a quarter of the usual dock space would be occupied during the festival, based on current bookings. “I would just say we are in a surreal position, it’s a fluid situation — it’s not going to be on the scale of what it was two years ago,” Smith told TheWrap. “It’s all going to be up to the travel restrictions. Could another (COVID) surge shut it down again? That’s the risk.”
Yachts have been part of the Cannes mystique since the film festival began in September, 1946. In 2019, celebrity watchers such as the New York Post’s Page Six drooled over stars’ yachts as they began arriving in and around Cannes, including David Geffen’s $400-million, 454-foot megayacht the Rising Sun. A megayacht is defined as a recreational luxury over 260 feet in length; superyachts are a mere 78 feet and larger.
Steven Spielberg’s The Seven Seas, which has also been spotted at Cannes during the past decade, qualifies as a megayacht at 282 feet.
Geffen got himself into some hot water last year by posting on Instagram that he was “quarantining” on his yacht, “isolated in the Grenadines,” flaunting a social distancing choice that was not available for the average frontline worker.
Although there is less competition for a good place to dock in Cannes and its glamorous environs, Smith said recent easing of pandemic travel restrictions in France has led to a surge in bookings in the last four or five weeks, so the most desirable yachts for lease are going fast. “We have over 350 yachts under yacht charter management, so the market is just slammed,” he said.
Smith added those who own or lease luxury craft generally don’t ride the yacht to the location, but rather have someone pilot the craft to the desired location, and the owner or client travels by air to board the yacht and meet the crew that has already prepared the boat for the occupants. Under pandemic protocols, the crew remains on the yacht while designated crew members go ashore for necessary supplies. “If the owner is coming, he doesn’t want to get contaminated with his family,” Smith said.
While many of travelers take private jets to Cannes, Smith said, they are still limited by COVID rules that may not permit entry into the country. For that reason, many Hollywood industry travelers who might already have their boats waiting for them in the Mediterranean for the summer in previous years have been docking their yachts in East and West Coast locations such as Maine, Oregon or the Bahamas.
“This year, Katzenberg and those guys had their boats in down in Granada,” he said.
One irony of the pandemic Cannes season is that festival travelers usually book top hotels and yachts as much as a year in advance, so they’re already making plans for Cannes 2022. “I have two clients who are booking for next year,” he said. “And those yachts, the good ones, are already starting to get booked up in advance.”


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Xiaomi India has launched a router named as “Mi Router 3C”.
Mi Router 3C Features:
The Mi Router has four radio wires(antennas) (2X download and 2X transfer) and Xiaomi says it gives “a divider infiltrating reach” of 80 meters. With 64MB RAM, which is 8X than other router, it permits up to 64 gadgets to be connected at one time with it.
Mi Router 3C has a 300 Mbps transmission speed and comes with Mi Router applications for Android and iOS.
The switch is valued at INR 1,199 and will be available on Mi.com from 23rd May, and can likewise be pre-book it at http://www.mi.com/in/mi-router-3c/ from today.


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Capchase raised $280m. Tiko got $65m. ASTI robotics acquired.
July 26, 2021 • Issue #278
Google Cloud and Loyal Guru partner to accelerate digital transformation for retailers all over the world.
The Customer Data Platform, Loyal Guru, has partnered with Google Cloud to boost retailers’ and grocers’ customer data and loyalty operations.
As the volume of consumer data continues to exponentially grow across all channels, C-level executives in the retail industry are looking to centralize data and make it available to multi-disciplinary teams, with the goal of seamlessly and securely scaling their operations and driving more efficient business decisions.
Loyal Guru, built on top of Google Cloud, is the one-stop solution where retailers can collect online and offline data, and monetize it through flexible loyalty programs and personalized coupons. With an unbeatable time-to-market the Loyal Guru and Google Cloud’s partnership becomes a state-of-the-art combination to boost any retailer’s operation.
“We truly believe that any retailer can become a customer-centric organisation with the right tools. This partnership will allow us to reach more innovative retailers who are looking for cutting-edge solutions like ours to ultimately drive growth.” - Borja Sanfeliu, Co-Founder & CEO.
Startup funding news 💸
- Madrid and NYC-based SaaS financing startup Capchase was once again in the news. This time they announced a $280m round of equity and debt, led by i80 Group. Capchase made two interesting announcements: the launch of a buy-now-pay-later solution for the B2B segment, and a partnership with Microacquire to offer acquisition financing to SaaS entrepreneurs
- Madrid-based real estate iBuyer Tiko raised $65m from btov, Rocket Internet and Cabiedes & Partners
- Palencia-based Easycharger, developers of an electric vehicle charging solution, raised €25m from undisclosed investors
- Madrid-based insurtech company Asistensi raised $10.2m, from Mundi Ventures, 468 Capital and Nazca
- Madrid-based online therapy company TherapyChat raised €5m, led by Next Chance Group
- Valencia-based SaaS proptech company Qlip raised €3.5m, led by The Lab Venture Funds
- Madrid-based transportation company Meep raised €3m, led by Globalia
- Madrid-based Kaleidos raised €2.2m
- Barcelona-based employee mental health platform Oliva raised $2.2m pre-seed round led by Moonfire Ventures
- Barcelona-based Citibeats raised a bridge round of €2m from international investors to scale their social data platform in LATAM and the US
- Barcelona-based mortgage financing company Finteca raised €750k
- Valencia-based hyperloop developer Zeleros raised funding from Acciona and CAF
- Other rounds of funding: Inhala
M&A activity 🎊
- Burgos-based robotics company ASTI was acquired by Swiss giant ABB. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to La Informacion, ASTI had sales of €23m in 2019 and planned to reach $50m this year. The company was founded in 1982 and Veronica Pascual took over the family business a few years ago. Reuters has more details. ASTI makes autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), which can freely move around factory floors at up to 2 metres per second without following pre-installed tracks
- Madrid-based digital marketing firm Mio Group IPO'ed a few weeks ago, reaching a valuation of €30m. Here's an analysis of their business
- Ion lithium battery developer Endurance Motive went public on the BME Growth
- Vocento announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Premium Leads, a lead generation company launched by A Coruña-based IPGlobal
- American group Synthetic Neural Labs acquired neobank bnc10. Bnc10 announced a few weeks ago that it was shutting down
- UK lending company Outfund acquired Barcelona-based competitor Clicfunds
Investor & accelerator news 🚀
- The Spanish government announced plans to invest up to €4b in funds as well as through direct investments
- Javi Lopez, former co-founder of Erasmusu and now a business angel, published a must-read document about what he's learned about the startup investment world in the past three years. A great read for both current and future investors, as well as entrepreneurs to understand how investors think
- Nauta Capital invested in Croatian API analytics and monitoring platform Treblle
- Rocio Pillado of Adara Ventures wrote a blog post explaining their investment in Barcelona-based NFT infra company Freeverse
- Levels Up Ventures is a new Barcelona-based pledge fund that has backed 10 companies to date
- Lanzadera and LaLiga announced a partnership to back more companies that sell products and services to professional football teams
Startup news 💡
- According to this El Confidencial article, it could soon be possible to create a new Spanish company without visiting the notary, all through online processes
- El Confidencial wrote about the founders that have joined Pedro Sanchez in his Silicon Valley trip, featuring the founding teams of CARTO, Red Points, Wallbox, Adara Ventures and Rated Power
- Spanish cosmetics brand Cocunat announced that from 2019 to 2020 they increased their sales from €4m to €32m, with positive EBITDA of €2.3m
- ABC talked to Cristobal Viedma (Lingokids), Sonia Fernandez (Kibo) and Dario Villena (Kapita) about the edtech sector and what trends they're seeing in the market. From covid acceleration to the relevance of Asian markets
- Arengu, developers of a low-code user flow builder solution, launched on Product Hunt and also announced that they're currently participating in Y Combinator's latest batch. The first Galician startup to do so. Arengu is a K Fund portfolio company
- Barcelona-based payroll advancement startup Payflow is also participating in Y Combinator's current batch, as explained in this Launch HN submit. The company has recently started its international expansion, via Chile
- Former El Corte Ingles president Dimas Gimeno and Atitlan Capital announced plans to launch an Amazon ecommerce aggregator
- El Español profiled Treinta, a Colombia-based startup co-founded by Spanish entrepreneurs Lluís Cañadell and Men Hei Lou. Treinta recently raised more than $14m after going through Y Combinator
- French insurtech company Lovys announced a new round of funding and also the fact that they just launched in Spain
- Startup profiles: Agerpix
Join us on September 9, 2021 for a special online event dedicated to driving value for startups and scaleups. Some highlights include:
- Opening keynote from Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, X the moonshot factory - Behind the scenes insights from cutting-edge technologists - Lessons in building stronger teams through diversity and inclusion - Inspiring sessions about how startups are innovating with Google Cloud solutions
Register now and stay up-to-date as we reveal more over the next few weeks.
Big company news 🏦
- Correos (yes, the logistics company) plans to launch its own MVNO and a new cloud computing service aimed at government-owned entities. This is not something out of 'El Mundo Today', this seems to be genuine reporting
- Apple Spain has been in the press quite a bit in recent months. The company has now announced that in the past year it has hired 100 people in Spain and also officially disclosed the acquisition of Barcelona-based AI company Vilynx
Interesting reads 🤓
- Cyprien Hallé, VC at Samaipata, wrote a post about 'How to build a great tech team at seed stage'
- Simon Muñoz, platform product manager at Voicemod, published 'How to motivate a product team'. Simon also wrote another blog post on product development last week, this time about building a product development process
- Vicent Marti, co-founder and CMO of Streamloots, published an interesting thread about how to build and maintain an online community
- Diego Arroyo, co-founder of laagam, published a thread with sales numbers of Spanish DTC and ecommerce brands


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comScore’s December 2013 US search engine market share with Google leading the way owning 67.3&% of the search engine market share.
Meanwhile, Microsoft came in with 18.2 percent (up 0.1 percentage points) at the expense of Yahoo, which took 10.8% (down .5% over November).
Online bill of rights steps in the right direction but not enough according to Anonymizer. Anonymizer, Inc., a leader in consumer anonymity solutions, encourages consumers to take online privacy matters into their own hands by employing a comprehensive Internet security strategy. The recently announced consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and the browser-based Do Not Track button are designed to protect the online privacy of consumers but they still may not prevent advertisers from collecting and selling user data.
Online advertising revenues hit $7.3 billion in Q1 of 2011. Highest first-quarter revenue level on record according to new IAB and PwC study. Clearly, the 23% year-over-year increase validates the growing importance of digital marketing & advertising. This marks the highest first-quarter revenue level ever for the industry and a significant increase over last year’s first-quarter revenue level, which had been the highest on record to date.
comScore’s April 2011 U.S. search engine market share and rankings. The April 2011 qSearch data reflect the impact of Yahoo! Search Direct, Yahoo!’s new feature that delivers search results in real-time while users type their query. Yahoo! Search Direct was available only on Yahoo! U.S. Web Search for the month of April.
comScore Media Metrix ranks top 50 U.S. web properties for March 2011. Americans are exploring greener lifestyles for earth hour as gas prices climb. Warmer months induce traffic increases to travel sites. Car Rental sites grew 9 percent to 6.0 million unique visitors in March, with Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company taking the #1 spot with 3.3 million visitors (up 9 percent) and Avis Budget Group with 1.8 million (up 4 percent). Hertz came in third with 979,000 visitors, followed by Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. with 968,000 (up 19 percent) and CarRentals.com with 934,000 (up 31 percent).
Amazon, AT&T, Capital one, Target Department Store and Expedia are in the top 5. Kantar Media launches syndicated reporting of Paid Search Advertising. First media research company to provide insights on paid search activity as a syndicated service and the only to offer complete online ad activity monitoring including display, video, and ad networks. The new service will define for users those companies investing in paid search, expenditure allocated, keywords purchased, and the number of clicks keywords receive.


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Financial services is on the cusp of becoming an integral part of the API Economy. Market forces — both disruptive in terms of new offerings from FinTech and regulatory in the form of anti-competitive legislation — are resulting in an increasing number of financial service providers offering APIs. Read more
Posts Tagged: API economy
Guest Post by RapidAPI with benchmark data on 1,800 APIs
There’s big money in the API economy. Last year alone, $500 million was invested into API-driven companies. But the rise of this new economy begs some key pricing questions. Read more
Big news in the world of APIs! Today, the Open API Initiative (OAI) released its 3.0.0 version of the OpenAPI Specification. In case you missed our past coverage of this evolving specification, the OpenAPI Spec (OAS) has quickly become an industry standard method to describe web APIs. Read more
The European financial services industry is on the cusp of a technological revolution. Reforms like PSD2 and the CMA initiative in the UK are forcing traditional banking institutions to enter the API Economy as active participants.
Great news for the FinTech scene, one would think; at last the banking platforms are being opened up ready for third-parties to securely access a customer’s data without the need to screen scrape online banking interfaces (also frequently referred to as ‘direct access’). Read more
API providers are continually breaking new ground in securely providing valuable data to the applications that have become essential to the way we live our lives: The manner in which we can conduct so much confidential personal activity at arm’s length from the organizations we do business with, powered by APIs, would have been considered impossible even 15 years ago. Read more


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The border town across Phuentsholing town is thriving as Bhutanese customers gather in hordes to shop every day. However, the scenario in the adjacent Bhutanese town is still grim.
Despite the government lifting the restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic almost two years ago, business operators in Phuentsholing said that they are struggling to make ends meet.
A 33-year-old restaurant owner in Phuentsholing, Gita Maya Gurung has decided to close her business by the end of this month due to financial challenges. Her income has not been sufficient to cover the expenses including the monthly rent of Nu 25,000, leading her to rely on friends for rent support.
“In the past, many Indians used to visit my restaurant. Today, it is difficult to sustain. Sometimes, I hardly earn any income,” Gita Maya Gurung said.
She said that the reduction in foot traffic and sales have forced her to lay off an employee.
Cheychey, a grocer, said that sales are not satisfactory with customers still opting to purchase from Jaigaon despite competitive prices.
She said that the current exodus might have contributed to business challenges in the town. “I also have plans to move to Australia with my husband.”
Another shopkeeper, Norbu, operating a bar for six years, said that many vendors open their shops late and close early. “Our income has plunged.”
A few said that there are some signs of business revival.
Namsey Medical Supply has experienced improving sales. The store operator, Urmila Rai said, “After the lockdown, sales are picking up gradually. It is encouraging.”
Phuentsholing Thrompon, Uttar Kumar Rai, said the Thromde is trying to enhance business by collaborating with Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industry for a musical concert and planning a family night out programme. However, he said that the population decrease in Phuentsholing is a primary reason for business challenges.
He also said that the similarities between businesses in Phuentsholing and Jaigaon was another factor.
The thrompon said that high loan interest rates and construction costs make it unlikely for house rent to decline in Phuentsholing, affecting building owners as well.


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Implementing pharmaceutical serialization across a diverse
manufacturing environment – part 1
As the US and European deadlines for pharmaceutical serialization get closer, the challenge of implementing pharmaceutical serialization solution on time is greater than ever. In order to ensure full compliance when the new regulations come into force, manufacturers should already be considering the best approach to meet their requirements.
In an article for Manufacturing Chemist, Carlos Machado, serialization director at SEA Vision – partnering with Zenith Technologies, discusses the various challenges associated with developing and implementing an effective pharmaceutical serialization solution and the benefits that manufacturers will experience by taking a proactive approach.
The falsified medicines crisis is vast, costing the pharmaceutical industry time and money, as well as damaging its reputation and affecting patient safety. And, with statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) showing that the counterfeit drugs market is worth $75million annually the scale of the problem has been a key driver in the introduction of the new legislation.
With so many markets to consider when implementing pharmaceutical serialization solution, Carlos explains the importance of understanding the scope and impact of implementing a project of this magnitude and outlines the steps manufacturers should take to remain fully compliant.
To learn more about how to prepare for serialization, read the full article here.
Part two of the article will be featured in the March issue of Manufacturing Chemist.


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As Cyber Week comes to a close and the holiday shopping season continues, retailers trying to out-sell competitors are not only engaging consumers online with limited, customized discounts, but also enhancing their in-person shopping experience to help build brand awareness and create lasting customer connections. This integrated sales approach is known as omnichannel and is proving to be a success by providing more value to customers and growing retail revenue. However, it requires retailers to be extremely versatile both digitally and physically.
A recent JLL retail report Bagged or Boxed? The Future of 13 retail Categories shows how retailers who strive to create a seamless online-offline experience dominate. But why? What’s the secret ingredient? We found there’s no one recipe – the type of product, the length of delivery time, the customer’s personal shopping style and the price- all play important roles in the shopper’s choice between clicking vs. driving to the nearest store. But in this digital age, above are just the main ingredients. Below is a deeper dive into how shoppers value time, touch and money in the retail industry.
The lists above confirms how versatile and flexible retailers need to be to succeed. To learn more about how providing value and unique experiences are leading retail’s success, check out our Q3 2017 Retail Outlook. To continue exploring the evolution of the omnichannel shopper, don’t miss experiencing ICSC New York 2017 – National Deal Making event next week at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Dec. 5-7.
So what can retailers do in the near future to keep the momentum of the holidays?
- Online-only companies will continue to open more physical spaces to connect with consumers on a human level and start using physical locations as distributions centers.
- Traditional brick and mortar retailers are engaging customers technologically during their in-store visit to encourage people to buy online in the future.
- Once omnichannel shopping becomes comfortable for shoppers, retailers will need to expand their marketing and brand to ensure customer loyalty. As is the case with retailers such as Shinola, West Elm and Restoration Hardware who all have announced plans to open hotels.


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Chrysler has released a series of teaser images showing off what we can expect at this year’s SEMA Show in its traditionally large booth space.
The American automaker will be bringing over 20 Mopar-modified vehicles to Las Vegas this year, with models representing all its brands: Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Fiat and SRT. Based on the sketches released, Chrysler will have at the very least a custom Chrysler 300 sedan, Fiat 500L, Ram pickup and a modified 2014 Jeep Cherokee in its 15,300 square-foot exhibit.
SEE ALSO: 2013 SEMA Show Preview
Chrysler is also expected to release more teasers as we get closer to the show in November, and hopefully its SRT Viper this year will be a more impressive project than last year’s.
GALLERY: Chrysler 2013 SEMA Show Teasers
Discuss this story at JeepForum.com