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Like many, the aftermarket sector is one that’s still adapting to Brexit (the consequences of the UK’s departure from the EU have still not washed through); dealing with the after-effects of the pandemic (still a problem while Chinese shutdowns threaten component supplies); and now grappling with inflation; the effects of the Ukraine war on supply chains and energy costs; and the fallout from the global chip shortage (diagnostic equipment is just one victim).
If all that weren’t enough, there’s a skills shortage to address )across the board, incidentally and not just at the technical level); electrification to plan for; and ensuring the sector has the ear of the government as it reviews the Block Exemption Regulations (BER). These ensure the sector has ‘right to repair’ access to tools and vehicle data held by car makers and are due to be renewed in 2023. It’s a troubling topic.
“I’d like the IAAF and other interested parties to join the DfT [Department for Transport] as it reviews BER so they can see what struggles our members face in terms of accessing information,” said Field.
While there, he’d also like to push the case for retention of the annual MOT. “We have some of the safest roads in Europe, but still the government talks about moving to a biennial test.”
Field and Ince say that Brexit’s biggest impact so far has been an increase in paperwork. To lighten the load, some firms are establishing offices in the EU.
Regarding disruptions to supplies from China, more companies are ‘nearshoring’ – the buzz term for sourcing product closer to home.
“The aftermarket has always been agile,” said Field. “Whatever the challenge, it quickly adapts to meet it.”


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- The San Francisco-based payments company raised an additional $250 million in equity from Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz and other venture investors.
- The new cash injection puts Stripe’s valuation above two of the most well-known Silicon Valley start-ups: Airbnb and Palantir.
- Co-founder John Collison tells CNBC that Stripe is "still very much in the early stages" of expansion and has "no plans" to go public right away.
Fintech company Stripe is climbing the ranks of the most valuable Silicon Valley companies.
Stripe, a San Francisco-based payments company that competes with Jack Dorsey's Square, announced an additional $250 million funding round on Thursday, bringing its valuation to an eye-popping $35 billion. Venture capital firms Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz General Catalyst, among other investors, participated in the equity round.
The company makes software that allows businesses to accept payments over the internet. Stripe processes payments for a long list of companies, including Airbnb, Lyft and Shopify.
It has been one of the most popular venture investments in Silicon Valley as consumers overwhelmingly move to online payments. Its major backers include Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Google's venture arm Capital G, among others, according to PitchBook.
Stripe has long been the most valuable private financial technology, and was last valued at $22.5 billion after its last funding round. Thursday's announcement launches it beyond two of the most well-known and valuable Silicon Valley start-ups: Airbnb and Palantir Technologies.
The new cash injection, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, will be used to expand its global presence, accelerate growth and add new product developments, according to Stripe.
"We're investing now to build the infrastructure that'll power internet commerce in 2030 -- and beyond," John Collison, president and co-founder of Stripe, said. "If we get it right, we can help the internet fulfill its potential as an engine for global economic progress."
Stripe was founded in 2010 by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison. CEO Patrick Collison announced on Twitter earlier this year that former Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene was being added to the board.
The company announced the launch of a lending arm called Stripe Capital earlier in September, which is meant to help online companies borrow money to grow their businesses. It also announced a corporate card.
Despite the late stage Series G round, co-founder John Collison told CNBC that Stripe was "still very much in the early stages" of expansion — especially internationally. Stripe recently expanded into eight new countries. Collison also said Stripe has seen increased demand from larger customers like Uber and Amazon. It announced the RealReal, Twilio, Wayfair and Airbnb as new customers Thursday.
As for an IPO, Collison said the company has "no plans" to go public right away.
"We're very happy as a private company," Collison said in a phone interview. "We're quite early in this opportunity."

domain: news


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Pegasus pin sales kick off Kentucky Derby Festival
It may still be winter, but Kentucky Derby Festival events kicked off Thursday.
The 42nd edition of the Pegasus pin was unveiled at the Hard Rock Cafe and pins are now for sale.
The tradition began in 1973 and is now one the four primary sources of funding for the Derby festival.
This year's design is a holographic image of the Louisville skyline that looks slightly different in different light.
The Pegasus pin is a ticket to more than 30 events and concerts during the festival.
New this year, every pin makes the holder eligible for a one of eight weekly grand prizes.
A coveted gold pin makes the holder eligible for the big grand prize, a Honda CR-V.
After purchasing a pin, head to PegasusPins.com and register. That's how you become eligible to win one of the eight weekly grand prizes and the Honda CR-V.
"With the winter and all the snow, people are just looking for something that tells me spring is right around the corner, Derby Festival is coming, something warmer is coming. So, I think that helps when they see the Pegasus pin they know. When they see the jackets, we're getting ready to warm up and have fun and the snow is getting ready to melt," said Kentucky Derby Festival spokeswoman Aimee Boyd.
Pegasus pins are on sale at the Hard Rock Cafe until March 2. After that you can purchase them pretty much anywhere. They cost $5 a piece.
At 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Festival Unveiled will showcase several elements of this year's events.
The official 2014 poster will be unveiled.
That event is at the ice house in downtown Louisville.
The festival expects to have a $127 million economic impact on our area.


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This summer, would-be sweltering college campuses and festivals across the Southeast had the chance to cool down with ice-cold
Made up of 15 “experiences” – stops – the tour lasted nine weeks, during which CCBCC distributed approximately 11,250 Ice Bottles. Fans had the chance to “Taste the Feeling of cold,” take photos and share their #IceBottle stories across social media.
Fans fell hard for the bottles, lining up for the chance to get their hands on one and spreading the word on social media. Many wanted to know if the bottles would be available for purchase (Currently, there are no plans to release the ice-cold packs commercially).
“The Ice Bottles are a unique, once-in-a-lifetime – or once in a summer – experience and the epitome of experiential marketing that incorporates touch, feel, see and, most importantly, taste," said Carmen Cousin, CCBCC’s experiential brand manager.
More on Journey
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Coca-ColaFoundation Release Report on New World Program’s Progress and Its Contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Watch: How The
Coca-ColaCompany and its Competitors are Taking Calories and Sugar Out of Their Drinks
- POWERADE Connects Young Footballers With Pro Scouts in California Showcase
- Pump It, Werk It, Move It: Introducing vitaminwater active
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Dec. 30, 2017 - The manufacturing floor is a complex place. Every day simple materials are being transformed into finished goods and shipped all over the world. Waste, in all forms, is one of the biggest adversaries a manufacturing floor faces in their battle to maximum profitability, but what is waste?
Nov. 29, 2017 - The mass production of footwear and apparel used to make sense for the fashion industry — the idea being the more product you could make, the more product you could sell. But the industry has evolved.
Nov. 6, 2017 - Manufacturing automation and lean manufacturing both have the same goals — to satisfy your customers at the lowest cost possible. To meet these goals, both approaches are aligned toward completely removing any non-value or low-value activities, cutting down on wastage and still maintaining a good standard of quality.
Apr. 19, 2017 - At GE Healthcare’s 280,000-square-foot repair operations centre in Milwaukee, Wis., a fleet of OTTO self-driving vehicles are used to deliver parts to workstation cells to handle over 2,000 repairs of medical devices weekly.
Mar. 26, 2017 - The Cloud-based lean manufacturing solution provider Leading2Lean helped West Liberty Foods save $2 million in maintenance costs over the past two years with its implementation of Leading2Lean at three of its plants.
Jun. 3, 2016 - In the beer business, it’s tough to be the little guy. Fighting for market share against huge companies with much larger budgets and much deeper pockets is an uphill battle.
Apr. 3, 2018 - Taking collective action on climate change has never been as critical as it is today. From floods to severe storms, Ontarians are already experiencing the impact of climate change.
Mar. 28, 2018 - SoftBank Group Corp. Chief Executive Masayoshi Son announced Wednesday a $200-billion solar power project in Saudi Arabia, which he described as “the world’s biggest solar power generation.”
Mar. 20, 2018 - The company behind the golden arches wants to get greener.
Mar. 16, 2018 - BASF has chosen to power its Canadian corporate headquarters and production facilities across the country with green electricity from Bullfrog Power, a move that is predicted to reduce the company’s CO2 emissions footprint by approximately 1,520 tonnes on an annual basis.
Feb. 28, 2018 - Inefficient machinery, which increases wasteful energy use, is a key area of improvement for many businesses. You can’t manage what you can’t measure, so the first step toward the efficient management of energy is analysis of unique energy requirements.
Feb. 19, 2018 - Nestlé, in partnership with EDP Renewables, has announced a 15-year power purchase agreement that will provide approximately 80 per cent of the electricity load for five facilities in southeastern Pennsylvania. The agreement is a step forward for Nestlé’s goal to procure 100 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources.
October 17, 2018 – Traditional material handling processes focused on moving products by the case or pallet from distribution centres to brick-and-mortar retail stores, where customers would do their shopping. Today, with the convenience of e-commerce, people are shopping over the internet more frequently and buying fewer items at a time. E-commerce has turned the traditional material handling and logistics landscape on its head, compelling us to rethink the overall approach to intralogistics operations within the four walls of the fulfillment centre.
Jun. 24, 2018 - When drives cause movement in machines and heavy rollers and blades rotate, there are multiple hazards that must be guarded against. It is not products alone that make machines safe, productive and easy to operate; integrated automation and safety solutions are required.
Apr. 16, 2018 - Tapematic USA is preparing for the installation of two additional PST Lines at an independent cosmetic decoration facility in the North East of the United States, which is expected to help the company offer larger quantities and reduced turnaround times to their customers.
Mar. 29, 2018 - The forklift manufacturer Crown relies heavily on robotic welding automation for fabrication/production of its equipment in the Roding, Germany, facility.
Mar. 27, 2018 - Successful manufacturers understand that in order to make productivity improvements, they need a clear picture of what is happening on the plant floor. Massiv Die-Form is no exception. The Brampton, Ontario-based company, a division of Magna International, knows how important plant productivity and shop floor transparency are when it comes to fulfilling orders and meeting the demands of its customers, such as automotive manufacturers like Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda and General Motors. With 24/7 operations, it’s critical that the producer of doors, hoods, body sides, hot stamp tooling and more keeps track of what’s happening on the shop floor, so that it can prevent costly downtime and determine opportunities for improvement.
Mar. 13, 2018 - Schneider Electric has helped Dow Corning, a global provider of silicon-based technology, upgrade its distributed control systems.
November 14, 2018 – Manufacturing is rapidly changing, driven by trends such as low volume/high mix, shorter lifecycles, changing labour dynamics and other global factors. One way industry is responding to these trends is by changing the way humans and machines safely work together, enabled by updated standards and new technologies including safety communications.
October 25, 2018 – Give and Go Prepared Foods Corporation, a manufacturer of baked goods, has been fined $60,000 by the Ontario Ministry of Labour after a worker was permanently injured at Give and Go's Brampton, Ontario plant.
October 25, 2018 – Each year, Workplace Safety North (WSN) – the provincial health and safety association for mining, forestry, and paper, printing, and converting sectors – recognizes Ontario workplaces with a strong safety culture.
October 22, 2018 – K-G Spray-Pak Inc., a manufacturer and packager of aerosol products, has been fined $75,000 by the Ministry of Labour after pleading guilty in a case that involved a worker being injured after being caught in a conveyor belt at the company's plant.
October 17, 2018 – Uponor Infra, a Hamilton, Ontario company that manufactures plastic piping, has been fined $80,000 after pleading guilty to an offence that involved a worker suffering critical injuries after being pulled into a machine while it was still in operation.
October 16, 2018 – October is Fire Prevention Month, and Johnson Controls has shared some tips with us on how you can mitigate the risk of fire hazards in your plant and promote occupant safety.


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ART testing to Covid insurance: All you need to know before booking a VTL flight out of S’pore
Software engineer creates site for M’sians to check if their fav F&B’s workers are vaxxed
A vaccine passport could save M’sian businesses, but here are 4 concerns to address first
S’pore aims to fully vaccinate two-thirds of population by National Day: are we there yet?
S’pore tightens dining-in rules to 2 per group from July 19, exceptions for fully vaccinated
Group sizes of 8 instead of 5: S’pore may set varying Covid-19 measures for those vaccinated
Covid-19: S’pore to allow dining in for up to 5 pax from July 12, weddings can also resume
Free coffee to cheaper rides: here are some deals for those who have been vaccinated in S’pore
Each S’pore household to get free oximeter from Temasek Foundation, collection starts July 5
What to expect before, during, and after the #CucukMyAZ vaccination at these 3 PPVs
AirAsia to deploy over 1k Allstars at PPVs to speed up Malaysia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout
Not your average influencer: M’sian docs share verified, jargon-free health info on IG
Got your COVID-19 vaccine? Great, these brands in M’sia have freebies and promos for you.
7 reasons why companies should sign up for SELangkah’s Sinovac programme ASAP
A comprehensive guide for M’sian employers to get Sinovac for their company via SELangkah
BioNTech to set up regional HQ in S’pore to produce mRNA vaccines, will create up to 80 jobs
All S’poreans Can Now Book COVID-19 Vaccination Slots From June 2021
Apple Users Can Now Register Dependants For The COVID-19 Vaccine On MySejahtera
The COVID-19 Vaccines In M’sia & Their Status Against The Recent UK & Nigerian Variants
Steps To Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine In M’sia, From Registering To Reporting Side Effects
10 Sceptic Questions On The COVID-19 Vaccine, Answered By An Immunopathology Expert
S’pore To Have A Community Vaccination Centre Across 24 HDB Towns By March 2021
The COVID-19 Vaccine Is Free & Voluntary For M’sians, Plus 6 Other Facts To Know About It
Singapore has undoubtedly been a bright spot for the global startup landscape in recent years, and is home to a number of unicorns.
In recent years, there has been a rise in the popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) and governments have released policies and grants aimed at boosting its adoption.
Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, e-commerce has boomed in popularity, with consumers buying everything from home appliances to groceries online.
foodpanda is a leading delivery platform in Asia dedicated to bringing consumers a wide range of food, groceries and more, quickly and conveniently.
Amid soaring demand for online and mobile alternatives, new digital players are transforming banking for individuals and companies.
Interest in cryptocurrency is at an all-time high, and Singapore has emerged as a key blockchain and crypto hub in Asia.
A look at how the Singapore government has been harnessing technology to improve lives for all.
The global pandemic has disrupted lifestyles, healthcare, workplace cultures, business operations, and more.
Vulcan Post aims to be the knowledge hub of Singapore and Malaysia.
© 2021 GRVTY Media Pte. Ltd.(UEN 201431998C.)


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After identifying a desire to focus more on professional contractor customers in the final quarter of 2018, home improvement retailer Lowe’s said its strategic initiatives in the pro segment are “gaining traction.” In the company’s first quarter 2019 earnings conference call, Lowe’s announced pro sales “significantly outperformed” DIY sales and helped the retailer achieve U.S. home improvement sales growth of 4.2% year over year (YOY) in the quarter.
Lowe’s posted mixed results in the fourth quarter of 2018 after a tumultuous year for the retailer and at the time president and CEO Marvin Ellison said one of the priorities for the company moving forward would be better serving the professional customer. Competitor Home Depot has outperformed Lowe’s in the pro customer segment and Lowe’s hoped to bridge the gap between the two.
Ellison said he was pleased with the company’s sales and customer service improvements to the pro market segment. Joseph McFarland, executive vice president of stores, said the improvement with the pro customer was driven by executing on five key steps:
Lowe’s first addressed its out-of-stock issues and inventory presentation “with a commitment to improving our job lot quantities and our product presentation under the Pro Canopy,” McFarland said. Lowe’s then aimed to improve its store level service to ensure pro customers could find what they were looking for and get out of the store quickly. To meet this end, Lowe’s added dedicated loaders and established preferred parking under its Pro Canopy. Lowe’s also staffed its Pro desk with dedicated associates and began deploying department supervisors at all pro areas of the store. The retailer redesigned its filed structure, adding 15 regional pro managers and began recruiting leaders to focus on in-store and outside pro sales. McFarland said his department also worked with the merchandising department to “communicate a consistent volume pricing message” to pros and “improved our product presentation” in the pro areas of stores.
McFarland also cited Lowe’s sponsorship deal with the National Football League (NFL) as a way to improve its appeal to the pro market.
“We ran pro-focused national advertising during the NFL draft, this was an extension of our do it right for less campaign, reinforcing that Lowe’s offers the job site delivery and job lot quantities pros need as well as designated for supervisors equipped to help our customers,” McFarland said. “Although we are pleased that our first quarter pro comp significantly outperformed our DIY comp, we are still in the early stages of our transformation with this customer.”


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Amazon Prime Video is having a bit of fun with the recent news of Twitter’s gradual removal of blue checkmarks for all legacy users, posting a rather humourous meme from the hit show The Boys.
The meme depicts the character Homelander (who is labelled as Twitter) pushing his son (depicted as Twitter’s blue check mark) off a roof. Prime Video posted the photo to its Twitter account, captioned, “Well… he can do what he wants 🤷 #TheBoys.”
Take a look for yourself.
Well… he can do what he wants 🤷 #TheBoys pic.twitter.com/acW2IyI2Kb
— Prime Video UK (@primevideouk) April 21, 2023
The Boys premiered on the streaming service in 2019, and much of the show’s filming is done in Toronto.
Amazon Prime Video was not the only notable account to comment on CEO Elon Musk’s push to persuade users to join Twitter Blue. Stephen King’s blue check remained intact, with the author claiming he had not paid for verification.
However, Musk answered by stating that he has been paying for some notable figures blue checkmarks, such as William Shatner and LeBron James.
Just Shatner, LeBron and King
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2023
Even with jokes from companies like Amazon, some users have not taken kindly to Musk’s recent moves, with actor Ben Stiller saying it was “quite possibly” time to get off Twitter.
In other Twitter news, the site has removed the ‘Government-funded’ labels from news organizations’ accounts.
Image credit: Amazon Studios
Source: @PrimeVideoUK Via: Deadline


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NEW DELHI: The high-level Group of Ministers (GOM) on Covid-19 has agreed to the well being ministry’s proposal to permit the export of indigenously made ventilators. The choice was taken as India continues to keep up a progressively declining low […]
The choice was taken as India continues to keep up a progressively declining low price of fatality amongst Covid-19 sufferers, which at present stands at 2.15 per cent, “which suggests fewer numbers of lively circumstances are on ventilators”, the Union well being ministry mentioned in a press release.
As on July 31, solely 0.22 per cent of the lively circumstances had been on ventilators throughout the nation, it said.
The well being ministry mentioned the GoM’s determination has been communicated to the Director Normal of International Commerce (DGFT) for additional motion wanted to facilitate the export of indigenously manufactured ventilators.
“Now with the export of ventilators having been allowed, it’s hoped that home ventilators can be able to seek out new markets in international nations,” it mentioned, including that there was substantial progress within the home manufacturing capability of ventilators.
In comparison with January, there are greater than 20 home producers of ventilators.
A prohibition/restriction on the export of ventilators was imposed in March to make sure home availability of the machines to successfully combat Covid-19. All kinds of ventilators had been prohibited for export vide DGFT notification with impact from March 24.


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Derivatives are the Achilles heel…
Dave Kranzler on Palisades Gold Radio
We’ve been seeing a sluggish regular shift away from the greenback for the previous decade. China has been using its personal foreign money in bilateral commerce for a while. China has elevated the scale of its Asian buying and selling markets so they’re now much less reliant on commerce with the US.
The derivatives markets are the Achilles heel of the system. An instance is the paper ‘gold’ derivatives versus the precise bodily markets. They depend on traders leaving their ‘steel’ on the exchanges. Their worst nightmare can be for quite a few funds and traders to demand supply.
He discusses what occurs when basic traders begin transferring into the miners and the outsized returns one can count on.
FULL SHOW NOTES AND LINKS HERE


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A high-end energy drink called Rockstar has been introduced to the Nigerian market.
At this year’s Pepsi Rhythm Unplugged music concert at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos last week, Rockstar Energy Drink was officially introduced to a niche audience of varying demographics. It is produced and bottled by Seven-Up Bottling Company (SBC), a leading non-alcoholic beverage company.
When introducing the company to the crowd, Nancy Isime, an actress, model, and media personality, said that Rockstar Energy Drink is a unique type of energy drink because it gives those who are driven, enthusiastic, and dedicated to their careers a boost of energy.
Rockstar Energy Drink encourages consumers to take charge and be in total control at critical moments in their daily activities to achieve the ultimate result.
Segun Ogunleye, General Manager, Marketing, Seven-Up Bottling Company, commented on the brand’s launch by saying: “We are thrilled to offer our esteemed consumers another premium brand of energy drink in response to the tremendous acceptance of Supa Komando Energy drink since it was introduced two years ago.
Rockstar Energy Drink carries on the Seven-Up Bottling Company’s legacy of promoting culture and inclusivity while launching innovations that appeal to customers of all ages.
It is a high-end aspirational energy drink that provides young, hardworking people with a bold, invigorating boost as they strive to achieve the pinnacle of their careers with energy.
Rockstars, which comes in 50cl PET black bottle contains natural ginseng extracts, essential vitamins, and other ingredients for a stronger body.


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John Kerr posted in cigarettes • plain packaging • public health • tobacco • tobacco control • World No Tobacco Day on May 31st, 2016.
Draft regulations for introducing plain packaging for cigarettes have been revealed by the Government. Associate Health Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga today released the draft regulations and a consultation document outlining how a law requiring plain packaging would be implemented. Plain packaging policies aim to reduce the appeal of cigarettes by requiring standardised packaging that removes […]
Continue reading “Plain packaging regulations revealed – In the news”


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The Birmingham-based Industry Forum is taking engineering firms to learn the secrets of Japanese manufacturing first hand.
The visit to Japan in November will be the 10th in a programme of best practice visits.
Delegates, made up of industry executives from a wide range of sectors, will visit some of Japan’s top flight manufacturing companies, including a trip to a Toyota factory, Mitsuba engine plant, Yokohama Rubber tyre plant, Honda’s piston foundry and Nittan Valves
The visit will be condensed to eight days – down from its normal two-week programme – in recognition of the fact that senior executives can find it difficult to get away from their desks in challenging business times.
The focus for the visit will be on total productive maintenance – the Japanese system of continuous shopfloor and process improvement – and some of the companies to be visited are international award winners in this sphere.
The visits have been running for six years. In that time delegates from the automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical, food processing, white goods and other sectors have been given unprecedented access to manufacturing processes which are the envy of the world and are rarely duplicated outside Japan with total effectiveness.
The visit programme has been made possible by a network of contacts made by Industry Forum director Arthur David, who formerly worked for Nissan and General Motors, and Industry Forum executive co-ordinator Koji Wanaka who was a senior official at Honda.
The visit will include detailed briefings by senior management at Japanese automotive plants and their major suppliers.
Delegates will also get detailed lectures from world-renowned Japanese experts on quality and TPM, as well as a presentation and reception at the British Embassy in Tokyo.
Darren Williams, engineering and quality director at Birmingham-based Lander Automotive said: “It is impossible to understand what can be achieved by just reading about the subject. Only seeing can create that understanding.”
Mark Brennan, manufacturing engineer at Leyland Trucks, said: “This was a life-changing experience both personally and professionally. There are so many opportunties to learn, from small lessons to significant strategies.”
The next visit takes place from November 26 to December 4. The cost of the programme is £5,750 plus VAT which includes accommodation at top Japanese hotels, flights, internal transport, all visits, interpreters and support from Industry Forum staff.
Industry Forum director Arthur David said: “The Japanese never stay still in business and all of the latest thinking in terms of lean manufacturing, quality, waste elimination, cost, efficiency and delivery originates in Japan. There’s no better way than learning first hand from the best in the world.”
The Industry Forum – based on Birmingham Business Park – was set up in 1996 to drive for the achievement of world-leading competitiveness in the UK-based vehicle and components industry. It is a results based organisation set up by the automotive industry for the automotive industry.
The forum’s hands-on practical programmes have led to major improvements by automotive suppliers across the UK and are now being used in other industry sectors including aerospace, food processing and the construction equipment industry.
* For more detrails call Arthur David at the Industry Forum on 0121 717 6613


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Truecaller has announced an agreement to integrate Google Duo within the Truecaller app.
This will add a crucial communications layer that strengthens the value of Truecaller’s wildly popular dialer, caller ID, and spam blocking app already used by more than 250 million users globally.
Along with news of this integration, Truecaller announced a completely new redesign of the Android app, and now with a broader array of useful features including:
- SMS: Instantly see who’s SMS’ing you and filter out all spam messages. Spam SMS account for 15% of all SMS messages sent globally, and represents 1.2 trillion spam messages each year.
- Flash Messaging: which allows you to send quick pre-defined messages to any Truecaller user to let them know if you’re in distress, you’re on your way, your location, or that you’ve reached home.
“From the very beginning we have worked relentlessly to build a product that helps simplify communications for consumers across the globe, and help them address important needs such knowing the identity of those calling, and blocking unwanted numbers. With valuable partners like Google, we are excited to take the next step in our journey, bringing all your mobile communications under one roof and giving you the safest, most efficient, and most convenient experience possible without having to switch back and forth,” said Nami Zarringhalam, Co-founder and CSO of Truecaller.
“Video calling should work for everybody, regardless of what platform they are on. Our aim is to make video calling simple, fast, and available to everyone,” said Amit Fulay, Head of Duo at Google. “With this Truecaller integration, we’re able to bring a better video calling experience to millions of new users.”
The new look and feel of Truecaller is consistent with its ongoing commitment to provide a safe and efficient experience for millions of mobile users who’ve become increasingly frustrated by the growing problem of spam calls and texts from unknown users. Now as one of the fastest growing mobile apps in the world, Truecaller sits at the center of your mobile phone experience helping you connect with the people who matter, in the way you want to communicate, while avoiding calls and texts from those you don’t.
Google Duo is a simple video calling app that takes the complexity out of video calling. The service has been built to be fast and reliable, with a single button push for connecting with other users.
Truecaller integration with Google Duo will be available in the coming months for Android and iOS as a permission-based service, where users will be able to opt-in and out at any time.
Huawei Mate 20 unveils ‘higher intelligence’
The new Mate 20 series, launching in South Africa today, includes a 7.2″ handset, and promises improved AI.
Huawei Consumer Business Group today launches the Huawei Mate 20 Series in South Africa.
The phones are powered by Huawei’s densest and highest performing system on chip (SoC) to date, the Kirin 980. Manufactured with the 7nm process, incorporating the Cortex-A76-based CPU and Mali-G76 GPU, the SoC offers improved performance and, according to Huawei, “an unprecedented smooth user experience”.
The new 40W Huawei SuperCharge, 15W Huawei Wireless Quick Charge, and large batteries work in tandem to provide users with improved battery life. A Matrix Camera System includes a Leica Ultra Wide Angle Lens that lets users see both wider and closer, with a new macro distance capability. The camera system adopts a Four-Point Design that gives the device a distinct visual identity.
The Mate 20 Series is available in 6.53-inch, 6.39-inch and 7.2-inch sizes, across four devices: Huawei Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20 X and Porsche Design Huawei Mate 20 RS. They ship with the customisable Android P-based EMUI 9 operating system.
“Smartphones are an important entrance to the digital world,” said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer BG, at the global launch in London last week. “The Huawei Mate 20 Series is designed to be the best ‘mate’ of consumers, accompanying and empowering them to enjoy a richer, more fulfilled life with their higher intelligence, unparalleled battery lives and powerful camera performance.”
The SoC fits 6.9 billion transistors within a die the size of a fingernail. Compared to Kirin 970, the latest chipset is equipped with a CPU that is claimed to be 75 percent more powerful, a GPU that is 46 percent more powerful and an NPU (neural processing unit) that is 226 percent more powerful. The efficiency of the components has also been elevated: the CPU is claimed to be 58 percent more efficient, the GPU 178 percent more efficient, and the NPU 182 percent more efficient. The Kirin 980 is the world’s first commercial SoC to use the Cortex-A76-based cores.
Huawei has designed a three-tier architecture that consists of two ultra-large cores, two large cores and four small cores. This allows the CPU to allocate the optimal amount of resources to heavy, medium and light tasks for greater efficiency, improving the performance of the SoC while enhancing battery life. The Kirin 980 is also the industry’s first SoC to be equipped with Dual-NPU, giving it higher On-Device AI processing capability to support AI applications.
Read more about the Mate 20 Pro’s connectivity, battery and camera on the next page.
How Quantum computing will change … everything?
Research labs, government agencies (NASA) and tech giants like Microsoft, IBM and Google are all focused on developing quantum theories first put forward in the 1970s. What’s more, a growing start-up quantum computing ecosystem is attracting hundreds of millions of investor dollars. Given this scenario, Forrester believes it is time for IT leaders to pay attention.
“We expect CIOs in life sciences, energy, defence, and manufacturing to see a deluge of hype from vendors and the media in the coming months,” says Forrester’s Brian Hopkins, VP, principal analyst serving CIOs and lead author of a report: A First Look at Quantum Computing. “Financial services, supply-chain, and healthcare firms will feel some of this as well. We see a market emerging, media interest on the rise, and client interest trickling in. It’s time for CIOs to take notice.”
The Forrester report gives some practical applications for quantum computing which helps contextualise its potential:
- Security could massively benefit from quantum computing. Factoring very large integers could break RSA-encrypted data, but could also be used to protect systems against malicious attempts.
- Supply chain managers could use quantum computing to gather and act on price information using minute-by-minute fluctuations in supply and demand
- Robotics engineers could determine the best parameters to use in deep-learning models that recognise and react to objects in computer vision
- Quantum computing could be used to discover revolutionary new molecules making use of the petabytes of data that studies are now producing. This would significantly benefit many organisations in the material and life sciences verticals – particularly those trying to create more cost-effective electric car batteries which still depend on expensive and rare materials.
Continue reading to find out how Quantum computing differs.


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Update: Visa's Web site is down.
The folks who launched an internet hacking campaign that apparently took down the website for Mastercard for several hours today, are now targeting Visa's website.
"WE ARE ATTACKING WWW.VISA.COM IN AN HOUR!" the twitter account for Operation Payback announced.
The co-ordinated distributed denial of service attacks have apparently been launched in retribution against financial companies that have cut-off WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was arrested Tuesday in London.
Operation Payback has been linked in the media to the influential internet messageboard 4Chan, which has been blamed for attacks on other websites in the past.


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Apr. 9, 2019 8:47 PM ET
Eddie Lampert will take Sears (OTCPK:SHLDQ) public again.
Sears plans to shrink the size of existing Sears stores to smaller and more profitable version.
Sears is heavy investing and doing business with Amazon and other major retailers.
Lampert says he plans to shrink the size of existing Sears stores and Sears Holdings Corporation (OTCPK:SHLDQ) will open more small-format locations and make more space in stores to selling tools and appliances in Sears’ Shop Your Way loyalty program.
“Shop Your Way has always been our answer for how we’re going to be more relevant,” Lampert told the Journal.
ESL is already the largest shareholder in Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores with 58.8 percent of its stock as of Dec. 6, according to a regulatory filing. The retailer sells appliances, hardware, tools and lawn and garden equipment under the Sears Hometown, Sears Hardware, Sears Home Appliance Showroom and Sears Outlet brands.
Transform Holdco offered $2.25 per share, which it said was a 23.6 percent above the price over the five days leading up to its offer.
Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores say Eddie Lampert wants to buy the 40 percent of the company he doesn't already own for about $21 million.
and buy more shares to increase investors confidence. We think that a huge buy back of shares will drive Sears Holdings Corporation (OTCPK:SHLDQ) above $2 a share and get compliance notification from NASDAQ.
This is a great opportunity to BUY this stock at this cheap levels.
Wall Street Research believes that with smaller stores, new partnerships with Amazon ( NASDAQ:AMZ) converting the stock to public and being more profitable can take Sears to new high levels at $5 - $10 a share within a year.


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Black women are known for their commanding versatility and limitless creativity through the art of hairstyling. Whether exploring a new cut and color or diving into cornrows, lace wigs or traditional sew-in weaves, we have generationally mastered the ability to become shapeshifters with cutting-edge looks that set cultural trends for months, years and even decades after they make their stylish debut on the social scene.
Parallel to the online and offline chatter of contemporary and classic hairstyles, however, is another topic of conversation that has become increasingly taboo within the Black community: hair loss. The revelation from United States Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley in sharing her alopecia areatajourney in 2020 – a condition which causes patches of hair loss that can eventually lead to baldness – is one public example of hair conditions that adversely affect the Black community. “People may lie, but hair doesn’t,” explains Ohnica Thomas of HAIR BY OHNICA®, a seasoned haircare professional based in Trinidad and Tobago who specializes in hair health for her clients. “Traction alopecia, improper chemical application and poor techniques of braids, weaves and other styles, as well as insufficient hair routines, are among the causes of hair loss that I’ve noticed throughout my career. Knowing the right products for you and understanding that hair care takes time is critical to good hair and scalp health,” she shares.
One recent study from the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology even highlighted that African Americans are experiencing alopecia at a higher rate than other ethnic groups. And, with lifestyle causes at the root for women (including hair loss caused by postpartum hormone changes, extreme stress, genetics, poor haircare routines, unhealthy diet and age-related realities), Black women and men are now seeking more permanent medical solutions for hair loss.
For many around the world, the cost-effective answer to this ongoing issue lies across the Mediterranean – in the Republic of Türkiye. The ultra-luxe medical tourism hair transplant and restoration scene in this country has exploded in recent years, and among scores of clinic options, casual online research may lead you to the doors of EsteNove – a premier, qualified hair transplant clinic. Located in the nation’s capital, Istanbul, it has established a partnership with Harvard Medical School in the United States. Boasting a 90-95% success rate, the medical company is committed to quality results, designed according to an individual patient’s needs-based analysis and performed using the latest cutting-edge technology available on the market. But for the head of the medical team, Zafer Çetinkaya, MD, the end result is one layer. Knowledge, training and expertise are of paramount importance to the success of any hair transplant that requires careful pre-, during and post-operative care.
“We have very qualified doctors and technicians here at our facility in Türkiye, which is the reason we have so many patients coming,” he explains during our visit to the medical facility in the heart of Istanbul, with the help of a staff translator. Çetinkaya, who is a certified professional and has worked extensively in the industry for nearly a decade alongside a large team of nurses, technicians, operations and administrative staff, uses techniques such as follicular unit extraction and ICE direct hair implementation. He estimates that out of 100 persons who undergo the major operation at EsteNove in Türkiye, about 30 of them are of African descent.
With modern medical breakthroughs, hair transplant procedures in Türkiye can potentially be a viable option to offer relief to Black women, and open new doors of confidence to those who often suffer from this condition, according to Murat Alsaç, co-founder of EsteNove. “Recognizing that hair transplants are a major decision made by persons from all backgrounds, our specialization comes in two parts: our skilled team and our customer service. One journey here doesn’t take just five hours. Think about starting the conversation, then application and of course seeing the full results – it takes about 24 months,” he underscores, noting that women can now also explore solutions that suit their needs. He also notes that hair transplants are increasingly becoming socially acceptable, with social media hashtags garnering millions of views and comments on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. “Especially for Afro-American and Caribbean hair types and the rise in popularity for hair transplants, the procedure reinforces the need for a specially-qualified expertise. We have patients coming from Africa, America, the United Kingdom and Europe, and other parts of the world. We are a service country, and our company puts a lot of effort into making sure that people know that Türkiye is your top choice for hair transplants.”
When asked about the difference in the process for African-American and Afro-Caribbean patients, Çetinkaya explains that special attention is paid to the curl pattern varying kinds of Black hair, which can have a greater density than patients of other ethnicities. “Before the operation, we assess and plan through individual consultations because of the curl pattern. Some of the patients want a straighter hairline, while others want a more curved finish,” he notes. General consultations for all patients also include a preliminary health assessment, which includes patients disclosing information on existing chronic conditions. Ailments such as thyroid disease, blood disorders or cancer, Çetinkaya notes, can affect the results of hair transplant surgery, and stresses the importance of being truthful in the assessments.
“Sometimes, we have to tell patients that we can’t do the hair transplant operation. For example, some people are cancer survivors and come to us after surgery or treatment for the cancer, such as chemotherapy,” he says. “If the treatments happened in the last year, we advise them to wait at least two years before undergoing hair transplant surgery. Most importantly, during surgery we take our time with the extraction process, which requires more care and precision.”
The extraction process means that hair is usually taken from the back of a patient’s head, known as the “donor area.” Hair follicles are harvested under local anaesthesia with the assistance of special micro-punches, which are then grafted and transplanted to thinning or balding areas of the scalp. Twenty-four hours after the procedure, the bandages are removed and the hair is washed by medical staff with a special foam to stimulate and cleanse the scalp. While individual cases may vary, overall, the healing journey can take up to 12 months, with the first 12-14 days after surgery being the most important for routine and convenient virtual check-ins with the medical support team (mostly via Whatsapp) after a patient has left Türkiye.
While the increase in demand largely lies in the 25 to 34-year-old age range at EsteNove, accounting for over 40% of the company’s procedures, there is still a disproportionate ratio of male to female patients, with men accounting for over 95% of its patient roster. The increasing demand for hair transplant surgery overseas is also tied into the affordability of the procedure. While in the U.S., pricing can be as high as $25,000. In Türkiye, a hair transplant can cost around $4,500, which is over 80% cheaper than what is offered in North America. The attractive economic considerations statistically add up. In June 2022, there was a reported 115% increase in foreign visitors in June 2022 compared to the previous year.
EsteNove is widely known as a “one-stop luxury travel shop” for hair transplant patients around the world, which removes the burden of trip-planning from patients and offers travelers a real opportunity to explore the best of the medical and vacationing world. The company offers VIP transportation, four- and five-star accommodations, patent-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, required medications, an after-care kit, and year-long post operative assistance from Nova Care. And with Turkish Airlines celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2023, as well as Türkiye commemorating 100 years as a Republic, there are a few tempting travel perks if adventurers decide to make their way to Atatürk International Airport, cleverly known on social media as “the hairport.” With the Istanbul “Stopover” program, the national airline carrier will now provide a two-night stay in a four-star hotel for economy class travelers and a three-night stay in a five-star hotel for business class passengers with a hotel voucher that can be redeemed online once flights have been booked. It’s no surprise, therefore, that Türkiye’s hospitality goodwill makes it a tourism force on the global stage, as the country ranks in the top 10 most visited countries in the world, according to its investment office.
As one of hundreds of clinics scattered across Istanbul, the unique convenience makes the country an attractive destination to engage in touristic activities such as sightseeing and shopping while in the city for hair transplant surgery, since an outpatient’s recovery time is relatively quick. It’s a bonus offering that has put EsteNove on the map as a preferred clinic of choice for new and existing patients. “Sometimes, my patients return to Istanbul for routine check-ups, and you truly see the difference in them – not just in their hair, but in their confidence. It’s almost like watching a new person,” Çetinkaya states with great pride. “It is a rewarding feeling to see that change and it’s the best part of the job for me…to see people happy.”
Tenille Clarke is an avid storyteller, seasoned publicist and cultural enthusiast from Trinidad and Tobago who often pens about her ongoing love affair with travel, entertainment and culture through a Caribbean lens. Follow her digital journey @tenilleclarke1 on Instagram and Twitter.


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As I expected, Google has taken its Urchin acquisition and launched free website traffic analytics. While there have long been free traffic stats packages, most of them were clunky, too hard to install, and were not integrated with marketing/ad campaigns via Adwords. All of that changes now with news this morning that Google has taken the excellent Urchin service and made it free.
Who is this bad for? Other would-be advertising networks, like Microsoft and Yahoo, that don’t offer their own advanced analytics. It is also bad for other vendors of analytics products (e.g., WebSideStory, Coremetrics, Webtrends, etc.), despite the almost inevitable nattering from them about how this “legitimates” their market.
So, is there anything bad about the new service from Google? Yes: While launched, it’s already not available. While the site says it’s down for maintenance, I’m guessing that over-enthusiastic traffic has blown it out and the company is frantically trying to pull together more servers to handle the crush at the door. That’s not going to give would-be users warm and fuzzy feelings about the service’s resilience.


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Burger King customer orders an $80 Whopper
At Burger King, you truly can have it your way.
A writer for Japanese and Asian news site Rocket News 24 ordered a burger topped with around 9,000 yen (about $80) worth of pickles. The fast-food chain complied, serving up the burger that is at least 95% pickle.
"Obviously, the towering almost-entirely-pickles-Whopper was far too big to eat like a regular burger, so the whole sad, mutated mass had to be disassembled and eaten piecemeal by everyone in the office - so basically, one guy ended up just eating a regular Whopper and everyone else walked away with hundreds of pickles," reports Rocket News.
Compared to these other monster creations, the pickle burger looks downright appealing.
- SIMPLY PUT: What happened before India got Freedom@Midnight
- Here’s how much banks have increased home loan interest rates
- Avatar 2, Black Panther 2, Ant Man — Here is a complete list of Hollywood movies expected to hit Indian theaters in the next 6-7 months
- Qmin has been profitable business for IHCL from day one, says Jehangir Press
- India's foreign exchange reserves fall to $573 bn


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GM creates more jobs
GM has announced that it has invested $131 million in the Bowling Green plant in Kentucky where the world-class sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette is constructed. The investment in the plant is to support the next generation Corvette and will add about 250 jobs to the plant. GM notes that with the most recent investment it has now invested $3.4 billion in the US and made about 9000 jobs for workers.
The plant at Bowling Green is set to continue building the Corvette for the next two years including the 2012 Corvette set to start construction this summer. This single plant makes all of the Corvette versions including the Coupe, Convertible, Grand Sport, Z06, and ZR1. The plant has nearly 400 workers on a single shift working 10-hour days Monday through Thursday.
The plant also hosts tourists that come from all over to see where all Corvettes are born. The visitors are able to get a glimpse of the manufacturing process and watch the car get built before taking delivery at the National Corvette museum.
How To: Buy a Pokemon Go Plus
My Take: It’s good to see Chevrolet continuing investment in a sports car like the Corvette.


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As expected, Apple has announced it is winding down its iPhone 4 free bumper program at the end of the month, although it appears a bumper would still be available to those who file a complaint with AppleCare. According to a statement on its website,
We now know that the iPhone 4 antenna attenuation issue is even smaller than we originally thought. A small percentage of iPhone 4 users need a case, and we want to continue providing them a Bumper case for free. For everyone else, we are discontinuing the free case program on all iPhone 4s sold after September 30, 2010. We are also returning to our normal returns policy for all iPhone 4s sold after September 30. Users experiencing antenna issues should call AppleCare to request a free Bumper case.
Although Apple claims the antenna attenuation issue is insignificant, we reported last week that customers can now see for themselves precisely how the signal strength of the phone is affected by the manner in which the device is gripped. It is unclear what has changed since July to cause Apple to discontinue this program. As PC World asks,
Without knowing the real numbers behind how many users are impacted, though, it seems that it is in Apple’s best interests to simply continue the free case program. If the number of affected users is truly so small, what is the harm in extending the free case offer?
If you own an iPhone 4, and are interested in participating in our lawsuit against Apple and AT&T, please email me at firstname.lastname@example.org. I look forward to hearing from you.


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AI at IBC 2023: The GenAI Is Out of the Bottle
AI dominates IBC discussion but application remains thin on the ground
Update from IBC 2023 – Warner Bros. Discovery Eyes “Massive Opportunity” for Ad-Lite VOD
Adrian Pennington reports from IBC about Warner Bros. Discovery's new "ad-lite" VOD approach, with its launch of an ad-lite version of Discovery+ in Germany and its new TNT Sports venture. He also reports on the recent YouTube Primetime European launch.
Take Streaming Media's Autumn 2023 State of Streaming Survey
The teams at StreamingMedia.com and Help Me Stream Research Foundation are getting a jump on fall by releasing the Autumn 2023 edition of the State of Streaming survey. This survey is our twice-annual look at the overall streaming industry. Take the survey today and help us understand just how the streaming landscape has shifted in the past six months.
Vote in the 2023 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards
Voting HAS BEEN EXTENDED until September 30 in 18 categories. Cast your vote today!
Take Streaming Media's Live Streaming Technology Trends Survey
New survey launches today covering live event market
How FOX Teamed Up with AWS for AI-powered Highlights
Groundbreaking Recap Feature, Catch Up With Highlights, Built with Amazon Media Replay Engine (MRE)
Warner Bros. Discovery Announces Six-Second Pre-Roll Ad Product Across WBD Sports Digital Platforms
The Offering Unlocks Exclusive Inventory for Partners to Seamlessly Reach Fans on Bleacher Report and House of Highlights
Not So FAST? Spring 2023 State of Streaming Survey Says...
New 2023 Spring edition of State of Streaming survey launches, shows shifting focus
Premier Media Thought Leader Evan Shapiro to Present Closing Keynote Address at Streaming Media East 2023
At this year's Streaming Media East, well-regarded entertainment industry "media cartographer" Evan Shapiro will present the closing keynote address, "The Mind Of The Modern Media Consumer," where he will discuss the latest data and context from the media ecosystem and offer a good sense of where the industry is likely headed next.
Take Streaming Media's Spring 2023 State of Streaming Survey
The teams at StreamingMedia.com and Help Me Stream Research Foundation are getting a jump on spring by releasing the Spring 2023 edition of the State of Streaming survey. This survey is our twice-annual look at the overall streaming industry. Take the survey today and help us understand just how the streaming landscape has shifted in the past six months.
No Laughing Matter: Synamedia Finds Comedy Is the Most Pirated Genre
Value of entertainment piracy is 300% greater than sports with $400m+ revenue up for grabs in US alone by stopping piracy of ‘Spider Man: No Way Home', according to new data from Ampere Analysis
New Survey: Americans Utilizing Streaming Services More Than Ever Before for Super Bowl LVII
Streaming viewers expected to surpass both broadcast & cable, plus ocial gatherings are again growing post-pandemic
State of Streaming Autumn 2022 Report Launched
New report expands on details provided during recent Streaming Media West keynote
Roundup: Streaming Industry Predictions for 2023
Predictions gathered here from industry experts and analysts for the streaming industry 2023 in five categories: Monetization, AVOD, Hybrid, and FAST; CTV and OTT; Rights, Piracy, Security, and Privacy; Expansion and Contraction; Gaming and Esports; Content Delivery; and "2023 Will Be The Year Of..."
Gambling on Sports Is a Sure Bet for Streamers
The travails of FuboTV aside, streamers are advancing on incorporating Sportsbooks into their live product
Real-Time Streaming Business Value Report Launched
Report delves into ways to deliver, monetize real-time streaming
Vote in the 2022 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards
Voting is open until September 26 in 22 categories. Cast your vote today!
Nominate Now for the 2022 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards
What's your favorite streaming tool, tech, or service? What is the year's biggest innovation? It's time to make your nominations for the only awards in the online video industry that are chosen by end users.
State of Streaming Spring 2022 Report Launches
New report expands on trends revealed during Streaming Media East 2022 Research Keynote
Research Brief Exposes File-Transfer Challenges and Opportunities
Legacy solutions don't address overall workflow complexities, especially in the face of partner growth, increased production scale, and disparate storage and workforce locations. This new survey-based research brief highlights the complexity of delivering and tracking file transfers, and provides insights into current industry trends.


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Halloween is right around the corner and you know what that means: parties, pumpkins, costumes, and candy! With so many things happening on and around campus, it’s hard to keep track of everything Halloween-themed. To help you out, the Tribune has created a handy-dandy list of sure-to-please events right here in Montreal.
Starting off the exciting Halloween season is 4Floors, presented by the Students’ Society of McGill University. On Thursday, Oct. 25, the SSMU Building will be transformed and filled with DJs, mandatory costumes, and awesome drink deals starting at 10 p.m. The event is sold out, so keep an eye out for tickets on Facebook/Twitter if you’re still trying to attend McGill’s biggest campus party this year.
McGill’s branch of the Canadian charity is organizing the “WaterCan Halloween Party” at the Telus Theatre (1280 rue Saint-Denis) on Friday Oct. 26. This year’s WaterCan is an all-you-can-drink event, featuring special guests DJ Matt Goulet, Michael Giorgio, and electro/pop producer Robotaki. This is WaterCan’s 25th anniversary, so tickets have been selling fast, but check their Facebook event for more information on last-minute sales.
TKO’s Seven Deadly Sins Halloween Rager at Gerts
On Saturday Oct. 27, TKO’s Seven Deadly Sins Halloween Rager is taking over McGill’s campus bar. Show up any time after 9 p.m., in your best Halloween costume. The party is going to include black lights, strobe lights, and themed drinks for all to enjoy. Tickets are $5, including coat check, and ensuring an awesome Saturday night!
Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween Ball is a classic event that screams Halloween. In Montreal, the event takes place at the Imperial Cinema (1432 Rue de Bleury). The attraction boasts three screenigs—Oct. 26, 27, and 31—and two showings, at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. If you’re not familiar with the film, it follows a young couple on their way to visit an old teacher when they get lost, and end up at a mad scientist’s mansion. The beauty of the film, reknowned as a guaranteed good time, is its heavy reliance on audience participation. Costumes, dancing, yelling, and throwing props are required in order to get the full experience of the Horror Show. You can purchase tickets online, at the door (limited amount), or in person to receive a student discount (only applicable to showings on Oct. 31st). For more information, check out the website at www.rockyhorrormontreal.com.
If you decide pre-planned Halloween parties aren’t your thing and want some other options, Halloween in Montreal has tons to offer. Most of your favourite bars and clubs will likely be having special Halloween nights this weekend so you can still look forward to costumes and themed drinks. If you’re checking out St. Laurent; Rouge, Ye Olde Orchard, and Tokyo all have theme nights planned. If you’re headed west of campus to Crescent; Sir Winston Churchill bar, Entourage, and Light Ultra Club also have Halloween events scheduled (check their respective websites for more details).
Halloween in Montreal isn’t an event to pass up on, so grab some friends, find a costume, and have a great time!


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2nd > November > 2012 Archive
Apple updated its iOS mobile operating system on Thursday – and no, it didn't fix the deservedly maligned Maps app – along with an update for its Safari web browser for OS X 10.7.5 Lion and OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion .
The Data Storage Institute (DSI), one of the many research groups at Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and research (A*STAR), has taken the wraps off a hybrid disk drive said to consume less power than a comparable solid state disk while also being small and light enough enough to satisfy Intel's specs for use in Ultrabooks.
APAC IT leaders have been urged to begin their Big Data planning now to ensure they have the right technology, skills and processes in place to tap the business benefits of a market set to be worth over $1.7bn by 2016.
Antonios 'Tony' Sajih Mokbel is not, by many accounts including the Australian TV series Underbelly, a very nice chap.
First FondleApple's iPad Mini is not easy to hold in one hand.
Hong Kong (animal emblem: White Dolphin) could be losing its grip on the hearts, minds and wallets of multinationals looking for a suitable location to stick their main Asian bit barn, as continued restrictions make alternative locations more attractive.
Nationwide Building Society will become the first big UK banking firm to pull its core computing functions off mainframe computers and run them on SAP servers in the next few weeks.
Government IT projects must consider using open and interoperable software and data systems or face not receiving funding, under new Cabinet Office rules.
Panasonic has become the latest Japanese tech giant to fall on hard times, announcing projected losses for 2012 of ¥765bn (£5.9bn) and a hasty decision to pull out of the European smartphone market after just a year.
ExclusiveCost-cutting in the public sector has serious implications for service delivery: just ask the SME IT suppliers counting the expense of bidding for a mega software and services agreement that may now be scrapped.
Quantum's share price is dropping, dropping and dropping, despite positive product announcements and a general swing in opinion about tape storage products. So what lies behind its loss of 62 per cent of share value and market capitalisation in nine months?
Featuring in that new James Bond film, the Sony Xperia T may not be 007’s most advanced piece of kit, but it is one piece of Skyfall hardware that you can actually buy. Sony is clearly throwing the kitchen sink at the publicity effort, plastering bill board ads with the device and paying what must surely be an awful lot to be spied with the spy.
Live ChatMicrosoft calls Windows Server 2012 part of its “cloud operating system”. In a field loaded with subjective and loaded terms, Microsoft is surely adding to the confusion.
New York University's collection of thousands of laboratory mice and rats drowned during Hurricane Sandy's ferocious storms.
ArchaeologicPersonal computing may have originally been more ‘computing’ than ‘personal, but that changed in the late 1970s in the US and, in the UK, during the early 1980s.
AnalysisPlug “data scientist” into Google and it is clear the job title has finally come of age and, suddenly there is a huge skills shortage.
A World War II German Enigma cipher machine is on the block at Bonhams, the London auction house, this month.
UpdatedEE has filed notice with Ofcom of its intention to transfer 30MHz of spectrum to Three, but as expected it will be hanging onto the bands until the last possible moment.
QuizAs the dust settles on on our recent round of Bond polls - in which readers voted Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Sean Connery and Casino Royale the vilest Bond villain, the ultimate movie Bond and the best Bond film, respectively - we're offering fans the chance to see if they've really got what it takes to hold the coveted 00 number.
Episode 10"The printer's jammed again," the Director's PA says, ducking into Mission Control for a brief status update.
Half of the channel firms EMC expects to hoist into its cloud partner programme next year will be resellers, an exec at the storage giant has predicted.
A Greek journalist who published the names of 2,000 suspected tax evaders has been cleared of privacy violations.
Storage specialist Seagate has joined the organisation behind the universal online movie locker service UltraViolet.
US giant Systemax is shuttering its PC factory and axing the CompUSA and Circuit City brands. The reseller, which also runs Misco.co.uk, signalled it will cut its workforce in Europe after ploughing into the red in Q3 2012.
The Register has exclusively learned that the next James Bond movie outing will pit 007 against a truly sinister blond madman "who'll make Javier Bardem look like your kindly maiden aunt playing Mother Teresa for the benefit of kids in a Rwandan orphange", as our inside source put it.
The US government has reportedly been advised by the Federal Trade Commission to sue Google for breaching competition law, because of the ad giant's requests to US courts to prevent the sale of goods it claims infringe its essential patents.
QuotWThis was the week when Hurricane Sandy barrelled into the US East Coast, killing more than 90 people, causing widespread flooding and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
Asus has confirmed that the Google Nexus 7 tablet will be getting Android 4.2 “in the very near future”.
William Shatner, the "world-renowned performer and writer", is offering the fanbois the chance to assemble pre-recorded words straight from Kirk's mouth into "Shatisms" - phrases "played out in Shatner's voice".
Astonishing queues at times reached as far as several feet from the tills in Glasgow's Apple store, as the Wi-Fi version of the iPad mini launched in the UK.
The words "espresso" and "cappuccino" are too confusing for customers, says high-street retailer Debenhams. The department store chain will instead introduce moron-friendly descriptions, such as "frothy coffee", in its 160 cafes.
Google may have a love-hate relationship with China, but local reports suggest it still sees huge potential in the People’s Republic, claiming that it recently snapped up 18 key domain names under the internationalised suffix ‘.中国’.
LinkedIn has once again proved that a social network can make money, just as long as it's got more than one way for the cash to roll in.
Apple is willing to pay to use Googorola's patented wireless technology - as long as it's no more than $1 per iPhone.
AnalysisOracle and Fujitsu may be partners when it comes to Solaris, but they are going their own separate ways when it comes to processor and system development.
Something for the Weekend, Sir?“Is this the train to Faversham?” asks a woman as she boards.
Apple's iPad Mini and the fourth-generation refresh of its bigger brother hit stores today as analysts forecast lower than usual sales - for the opening weekend, at least.
AnalysisRumours refuse to die about a Surface-like smartphone coming from Microsoft.
Scientists operating the Fermi gamma wave telescope have published the results of a four-year study into the light that shines in the universe from current and past stars.
Facebook is still trying to work out how to convince more people to agree to having their locations tracked by the dominant free-content ad network, so that it can make even more piles of cash out of advertising.
Windows Server 2012 – "Cloud OS" as Microsoft sometimes refers to it, and "WS2012" as we'll call it for short – is the result of the deepest and broadest developer effort in the history of Microsoft server products: 10,000 engineers working for four years. Comments from testers and early adopters have included "jaw-dropping", "game-changing" and "the competitors better watch out".
The Pentagon has joined the US Immigration and Customers in shifting away from RIM's BlackBerry as the aging platform becomes so uncool that even civil servants eschew it.
A captive Asian elephant called Koshik can do more with his trunk than just spray water at zoo visitors - he can use it to speak KOREAN.
Virgin has updated its PAYG deals to - it claims - undercut all of its operator rivals by offering unlimited data for a mere £10 top up.
Apple will have to apologise for its rubbish apology as well its patent infringement claims against Samsung when it publishes a statement on its UK website tomorrow.
Our popular post-pub nosh deathmatch series takes a decidedly Pennsylvania Dutch turn this chilly November, as we present for your drunken dining pleasure two stateside dishes suggested by our gourmet readers.
A gay smut production company has won a $1.5m award against a bloke who shared ten of its movies via the Bittorrent protocol.
Engineers are being kidnapped in Mexico, not for ransom but to build and maintain Los Zetas' radio network, as criminal gangs need reliable connectivity just like everyone else.
SCC chief exec James Rigby has talked up a "programme of investment" for his company as it waves goodbye to its wholesale arm, Specialist Distribution Group, that was sold to Tech Data for £220m.
A 17-year-old Londoner has launched a new app that summarises news stories for smartphones after getting over $1m in funding.
Cash is raining down on cloud storage startups - and now Nasuni has netted a $20m wad of C-round funding.
Nuclear Mars truck Curiosity has paused in its scientific exploration of the Martian environment to snap a little self-portrait.
Apple has lost the right to use the word "iPhone" in Mexico after its trademark lawsuit against Mexican telco iFone backfired.
Open ... and ShutOpen source used to be about copycatting popular proprietary products. In today's emerging markets of Big Data and cloud computing, however, open source drives innovation while proprietary products play catch-up. It is surprising, then, that the industry's other major market, mobile, is a comparative wasteland for open source.
An MIT professor has developed an algorithm to predict what's going to be big on Twitter before it's big on Twitter – for those that care about such things. Twitter will care, he predicts.
One in seven home networks in North America are infected with malware, a recent study has revealed.
The economy in the United States added 171,000 net new jobs in October according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, higher than many economists had expected. Even better, more people were added to the payroll in August and September than the BLS had originally expected.
A hactivist crew has launched a cyber-offensive against Russia with the leak of 2.5 million records, which it claims to have obtained from hacked government and corporate servers.
CommentThere used to be a popular saying in the industry: "Microsoft doesn't get it right until version 3.0."
TeardownWhen the new fourth-generation iPad made its debut at the iPad mini roll-out event late last month, it was a surprise to many – especially those who had recently opened their wallets for "the new iPad" released just this March.
It has been more than two years since Freescale Semiconductor, IBM, Samsung, ST-Ericsson, and Texas Instruments formed a non-profit software company called Linaro to help focus the disparate efforts to get Linux running well on ARM processors and system-on-chip designs. A slew of companies, some new to the ARM racket, have joined the Linaro effort – and as of Thursday afternoon, so has social media juggernaut Facebook.
The US Navy's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, has set sail on her last mission before being consigned to the scrap heap.
Build 2012Microsoft has announced general availability of Team Foundation Service (TFS), its new, cloud-based portal for code hosting and software development project management, along with a free subscription plan for small teams.
When someone says that math makes their head hurt, they may not be speaking metaphorically. A new study has shown that math anxiety can cause actual, physical pain.
A new study suggests that having the right kind of asteroid belt in a solar system could be essential to finding intelligent life in the universe – including here on Earth.
Microsoft's ongoing fight to transfer its lucrative government business from software to the cloud has received a major boost with a deal to sell 25,000 Office 365 licenses to the Environmental Protection Agency.


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It appears some Wall Street analysts are starting to forget the pain of past disappointments and are beginning to give Groupon Inc. the benefit of the doubt ahead of its earnings report Wednesday.
Groupon's stock, which is up 60 percent in the past 90 days to nearly $9 per share, was upgraded to "equal weight" Aug. 2 by Ken Sena of Evercore Partners in New York. Though he finds daily deals still aren't a good idea for all businesses, Mr. Sena tells investors that Groupon is stepping up its game: "When we speak to merchants (including the 50-plus in New York City and California), they are generally pleased with the Groupon product offering."
Groupon software and its deal marketplace are allowing merchants to better target customers. Mr. Sena finds the deep discount required still is sometimes hard to justify on pure economics, but is improving over time.
More bullish is Dallas-based analyst Arvind Bhatia of Sterne Agee, who raised his price target on Groupon to $12 per share from $9.
"We continue to like Groupon as a turnaround story. We think Groupon remains well-positioned to benefit from two powerful secular trends in ecommerce: local and mobile. We believe Groupon's addressable opportunity is larger, and its potential to grow billings is higher, than most realize. At the same time, we recognize there is inherent volatility in Groupon's quarterly trends."
Edward Woo, of Ascendiant Capital Markets in Santa Monica, Calif., is more guarded. He still rates Groupon a "sell," writing this morning: "Groupon's share price has increased significantly in 2013 (more than 75 percent so far this year), based on improvements in its business. While we acknowledge that its business outlook has improved, we are not yet convinced that the company is on a consistent path toward growth and profitability.
"We believe uncertainties with Groupon remain due to staff turnover, competition and increased investments. In our view, the slowing growth and weak margins are likely to bolster continued skepticism as to Groupon's valuation, growth prospects and profit potential despite its lower valuation and multiples."
Groupon ended the day up 3.1 percent at $8.97.


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Avalanche Studios Wipes 20 From Its Workforce
Avalanche Studios, developers of upcoming multiplatform game Just Cause 2, has announced that they have given roughly 20 employees three month’s notice that they will be laid off. Yet despite the large layoff (this would be roughly a fifth of their supposed workforce), Just Cause 2 is still on track to be released sometime in Q3 2009.
CEO Christofer Sundberg had this to say with regards to the planned layoffs:
“It is a difficult business climate, but this is not nearly on the scale of the redundancies last year…As any other company we need to manage risks and sometimes that unfortunately means that we have to give notice and lay off staff. It’s not more complicated than that.”
The “redundancies last year” he is referring to is last October, when 77 staff members were laid off. Publisher Eidos has also confirmed that Just Cause 2 will continue development. The company is also continuing work on “The Hunter,” a free-to-play PC game, and a third untitled game which already has secured a publisher.


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Servos slug ‘captive’ premium fuel buyers at the bowser
Geoff Chambers, 01 March 2016
Motorists are being slugged 20c a litre extra for Premium 98 petrol compared with E10, delivering fuel suppliers a big profit margin.
Data obtained by The Australian reveals that Sydney drivers with cars that take premium fuel are experiencing the widest gap between premium and regular petrol in more than a decade.
And Brisbane motorists have experienced similar price gaps: Premium 98 is almost 20c a litre dearer than E10.
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said, while drivers had experienced cheaper petrol in recent weeks, the increase in fuel categories was “concerning”.
“The hidden story is the increase in the gap between premium prices and regular unleaded. The gap now between E10 and Premium 98 is the highest it’s been for over 14 years,” he said.
“The NRMA is concerned oil companies know 98 users are a captured market because they need to use 98.
“The extra cost of making 98 … is approximately 2c to 3c a litre, and it in no way justifies a huge gap between the retail prices.”
Sales manager Belinda Macpherson, who drives a Toyota GTS86, said she usually shopped around for the best prices. “It’s really frustrating when people are filling up their cars for $30 and I have to fill up at $60,” said Ms Macpherson, from the Brisbane suburb of Bulimba. “With my car, it is the only option I have to fill up. What I’ve found is some of the independents are better priced than the bigger operators.”
Data supplied by the NRMA reveals a substantial gap in prices between Premium 95 and 98, as well as regular and E10 fuels, since 2012. Queenslanders consistently have paid more at the bowser than drivers in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, according to ACCC and RACQ data.
After seven years of exorbitant petrol costs, Brisbane and Gold Coast prices have fallen to 10-year lows in the past week. E10 averaged at 94.2c a litre yesterday.
“Prices could go up at any time … service stations in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast are selling at wholesale, if not below, so they’re currently relying on sales through the store to make their money. So the low prices won’t last,” RACQ spokeswoman Renee Smith said.
“Prices will likely jump by at least 20c per litre when they do go up so we’re telling people not to get used to the low prices.”
The Palaszczuk government is under pressure to adopt reforms in the fuel industry, and will host a roundtable summit tomorrow.
Ms Smith said the RACQ would urge the government to look at ways of “increasing transparency on fuel pricing”.
The RACQ has called on the ACCC investigate higher fuel prices between Brisbane and Cairns.
Extracted in full from The Australian.


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The Cyberverse cartoon debuted in 2018, and while it got off to a slow start by the time the episodes finished in 2020 the show had elevated itself far beyond the scope of the first season. With the third season ended last year, it seemed the Cyberverse tale was over, but the toy line has continued to move forward on toy store shelves and now, it looks like fans will get another animated adventure set in that universe! A message posted on the Official Transformers Youtube Page says simply Transformers Cyberverse ⭐ NEW Netflix Special Out Nov 21! ⭐.
No more information is available at this time about the story, but when I find out more you bet I'll post it here!


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The newest SUPRA retail location celebrated its grand opening last night in Santa Monica. Attendees such as pro skaters Jim Greco, Chad Muska, Terry Kennedy and Boo Johnson, DJ Ill Will, grammy award winning producer Hitboy, Odd Future, and star of Dallas, Jesse Metcalfe were treated to the sounds of DJ Spider and a spectacular performance by RL Grime. Guests enjoyed an open bar courtesy of Stoli Vodka and Heineken. The celebration continues tomorrow (Saturday, April 27) with the release of the Skytop III “LA” which is available exclusively at SUPRA Santa Monica (strictly limited to 100 pairs).
Be sure to visit Www.suprafootwear.com to check out the latest products!
DJ Ill Will
Chad Muska and the Skytop III “LA”
Cara Santana and Jesse Metcalfe
Photo credit: Chris Velasco.


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Sony Ericsson is one of the few major mobile manufacturers that is still deploying the pre-historic Donut build of Android. Most of the manufactures, including HTC and Motorola, have already moved on to Froyo (Android 2.2), while Google is preparing for the release of Gingerbread (Android 3.0).
The update, which was confirmed on multiple occasions (the most recent occasion being yesterday’s tweet by Sony Ericsson UK) to be launching in Q3, will introduce a host of new features to the Xperia line of smartphones besides the standard Ã‰clair goodies. Here’s a quick glimpse from the official SE announcement:
HD video recording with continuous auto-focus for high quality videos
Upgrade of the Android platform to Android 2.1
New back up and restore application, with extended content back up
5 homescreens for apps, widgets, shortcuts and folders
Social phonebook which automatically syncs contact pictures from Facebook and shows when your friends are online
Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro:
Improved Bluetooth functionality with support for sending and receiving pictures, contacts and more
New backup and restore application with extended content back up
Automatic synchronization of your contact pictures between Facebook and your phone book
Improved ways of handling pictures, audio, text and numbers in your messages
Upgrade of the Android platform to Android platform 2.1
Sony Ericsson has promised to provide visual and video examples of the new feautures soon. In the meanwhile, you can check out the leaked preview video of Android 2.1 running on Xperia X10.
Quite a while ago, Sony Ericsson had promised that the whole Xperia X10 family will be getting the Android 2.1 upgrade love by Q3 of this year. The company had also stated that the Ã‰clair update with bring with it many new features to the X10 like 720p HD video recording with continuous auto focus. Many X10 owners must have anticipated that they will be getting the Android 2.2 update sometime in Q1 next year.
However, a leaked Xperia upgrade document suggests otherwise. According to the leaked document, the 2.1x update will be the last software/Android update for the whole Xperia Android family. According to the leaked document, the last update (2.1x) will update the TimeScape and MediaScape applications on the Xperia handsets. This update will also add DLNA feature to the X10.
It might be possible that the document may have a second page whose snapshot did not leak on the Internet. Hopefully, Sony Ericsson will bring Android 2.2 to the X10 and its siblings.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 was among the first Android phones to hit the market with a 4-inch TFT screen, an 8MP camera and a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. However, the biggest problem with the Xperia X10 in fact with all the Xperia Android based handsets – is that they run on Android 1.6 (Donut). Sony Ericsson had promised that the X10 will get the Android 2.1 update sometime in Q3. With already a week and half in to September, it won’t be long before Sony Ericsson starts rolling out the Ã‰clair update across various regions of the world.
Until that X10 owners should suffice their 2.1 desire with this new video of X10 running Android 2.1 :
As it can be seen from the video above, Sony Ericsson has replaced their older lock skin with a themed version of the original Android lock screen. The Android 2.1 update will also bring with it 720p HD recording to the X10.
Hopefully, the Android 2.1 update will also fix the nasty Wi-Fi bug which currently plagues the X10.
Sony Ericsson promised earlier that the update to Android 2.1 for Xperia family will release in Q4 2010. This didn’t went down well with the X10 owners. Finally, Sony Ericsson decided to roll out the update before end of September this year.
Sony Ericsson UK via their twitter account confirmed this news. Sony Ericsson for rolling out the Android 2.1 update in September, decided to delay the Mediascape and Timescape update for Q4 2010. This was a good decision by them because both these applications are missing common must have features, few X10 users actually use them.
Finally, for those who own a X10, you don’t have to wait longer for Android 2.1 to come on your device.
After teasing us for the past few hours, Sony Ericsson has revealed that the Xperia X10 will be available in the US through AT&T from August 15. The Xperia X10 is Sony Ericssson’s flagship Android device, which runs on a 1 GHz snapdragon processor and sports a 4 inch TFT screen.
The good news is that the X10 will be available for a lot less than other Android handsets with similar hardware configuration. The catch is that you will have to do with the horribly outdated Android 1.6 operating system. Sony Ericsson has promised to deliver Android 2.1 in Q3-Q4. However, even then, the X10 will be outdated as HTC and Motorola have already begun rolling out Android 2.2 (Froyo).
Other features in the Xperia X10 include custom Timescape (social networking) and Mediascape (multimedia) apps, 8.1 megapixel camera and 2 GB in-box memory card (expandable up to 32 GB). Support for 720p HD video recording will be introduced with the Android 2.1 update.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 will be available from AT&T for $149.99 with a 2 year contract. However, if you pick it up from a Sony Style store, you will get it for $129.99. Even better, a week later, the handset will be available on Amazon.com for $49.99.
It looks like Sony Ericsson have something up their sleeves. The Japanese company has put a countdown timer on their website with the Smarter is comingtagline. Below the countdown timer is the image of a mysterious Xperia device. According to GSMArena, this mysterious Xperia device is none other than the Xperia X10.
The folks increased the brightness of the image in a photo editing software, and compared the picture to an Xperia X10. The similarity between the two devices were more than enough to confirm that the mysterious device is the Xperia X10. Maybe Sony Ericsson is talking about the Android 2.1 update for the Xperia X10 here? After all, the update to the Android 2.1 OS will bring with it tons of new features to the X10. The Android 2.1 update will surely make the Xperia X10 smarter.
Sony Ericsson has already promised 720p HD video recording, DLNA and improved Timescape and MediaScape with the Android 2.1 update. The company promised to release the update sometime in Q3 of this year. We will come to know about this in 13 hours from now. Keep patience until then folks!
Sony Ericsson’s flagship device, the Xperia X10, got rooted a couple of months back. While the root procedure described in our original post isn’t complicated, it definitely involves more effort than most iPhone/iPad jailbreak solutions. The good news is that a much simpler technique is now available.
If you have been putting off rooting your phone because you found the entire process to be too time consuming, go ahead and give the new method a spin. The app also comes with the option of “unrooting” your phone.
Universal Androot is known to work with multiple handsets including Motorola Milestone, HTC Hero, HTC Magic, Dell Streak and Acer Liquid. However, there is a major known issue with this approach. Multiple users have reported that ADB (Android Debug Bridge) doesn’t work after using the Universal Androot app. Stick to the old method, if you need the debug bridge.
Last week we reported that Sony Ericsson had begun rolling out a firmware update to the Xperia X10. The new firmware – R2BA026, introduced further performance improvements and made the entire user interface more responsive. However, according to reports coming in from multiple users, the new firmware also introduces a particularly annoying bug.
As demonstrated in the video embedded below, whenever your network signal drops to zero and then bounces back, the Wi-Fi gets automatically disabled. What makes this blunder even more unforgivable is the fact that the very same bug was also present in R1FA016 and was fixed later on. It definitely seems that Sony Ericsson needs better regression testers. If haven’t yet updated to the latest firmware, you might want to hold on till Sony Ericsson squashes this maddening bug through another software update.
Update: It seems that the R2BA026 update also suffers from fluctuating in-call volumes. According to reports on XDA, if you change the call volume during a call, the volume gets automatically reset to 50% after the call.
Xperia X10 users around the world are reporting that they have begun receiving the R2BA026 firmware. As always, this update can be downloaded through Sony Ericsson Update Service (SEUS). Regions which have been confirmed to have already received the firmware update include UK, India, Canada and Australia.
Since, Sony Ericsson doesn’t provide change logs, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what has changed. However, several users are reporting significant performance improvements. In particular, Timescape and Mediascape apps appear to be a lot more responsive.
Ã‰clair for the X10 is still several weeks away. In the meantime, the barrage of minor firmware updates are likely to continue. According to PTCRB, R1EA029 firmware has already been certified.
While HTC has already begun rolling out Froyo, Sony Ericsson is still trying to get Android 2.1 out of the door. Android 2.1 is expected to arrive on Sony Ericsson handsets in Q3, which essentially means within the next couple of months. However, an xda forum member has already managed to get his hands on an X10 running an internal Ã‰clair build.
The Android 2.1 update will introduce live wallpapers, 16M colors, improved application support and hopefully improved performance. Besides the standard Ã‰clair improvements, the new ROM will also feature HD video recording. The aforementioned xda forum member was kind enough to record a sample video for our viewing pleasure. To be honest, the video quality is nothing spectacular. It’s not bad by any means, but the frame rate could have definitely been better. Let’s hope that finished ROM will fix the current deficiencies.
Xperia X10 HD Video Recording Sample: Click here to download the uncompressed video.


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The exhibition scale of this Canton Fair reached a new high, with a total venue area of 1.55 million square meters, a total of 74,000 booths, and 28,533 exhibiting companies. Data from the China Foreign Trade Center showed that as of 17:00 that day, more than 50,000 overseas buyers from more than 200 countries and regions around the world had attended the conference, a significant increase compared with the previous session.
Jiangsu Farrand Generator looks forward to your visit!
Time: October 15-19, 2023
Location: Area D, China Import and Export Fair Complex


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Everspace – Stellar Edition Flies Onto The Switch This December
Everspace – Stellar Edition is on its way to the Nintendo Switch. It’s expected this December both on cartridge and digitally via the eShop. The physical edition will include the base game, the expansion, an art book and a complete soundtrack with over 60 musical selections. Check out the footage that aired on today’s Indie Highlights video (10 minutes, 11 seconds in):
Hamburg-based independent developer ROCKFISH Games will present EVERSPACE™, a roguelike 3D space shooter and surprise hit on PC and console, to the public for the first time, as well as for the first time on portable console Nintendo® Switch™, at this year’s Gamescom in the Nindie Area at the Nintendo booth. The Nintendo Switch “Stellar Edition” release, which will contain the base game, the expansion, the EVERSPACE art book and the complete soundtrack with over 60 titles, is scheduled for digital and physical retail release in December 2018.
“Over the past four years we’ve managed to build a passionate community of sci-fi and space shooter fans, so we are delighted to recruit even more on Nintendo Switch”, said Michael Schade, CEO at ROCKFISH games. “Thanks to the fast-paced and easy-to-pick up gameplay, with comparatively short game sessions and automatic savegames, EVERSPACE is also a perfect match for playing on the mobile Switch console without losing long-term motivation. Players can easily pause the game and pick up right where they left off later when on the go.”
EVERSPACE is ROCKFISH Games’ debut title and was first released for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, pre-financed by a successful kickstarter campaign in 2015. The two studio founders and games veterans Michael Schade and Christian Lohr, together with their 12-man team, the creators of the mobile games shooter Galaxy on Fire 1 and 2, were able to collect more than 420,000 EUR and sell more than 600,000 units to date.
The roguelike space shooter takes daring space pilots on a challenging journey through six sectors, each featuring dozens of procedurally-generated levels full of dangers and treasures. In each run, they will face entirely new situations, continuously testing their skills, experience, and talent for improvisation. Great piloting skills will be needed to stand a chance against various enemies, along with a keen eye for loot and mineable resources, which are used to repair damaged ship components or to craft new equipment and modifications, giving players an advantage in combat and a better chance of making it out of a sticky situation alive.
About EVERSPACE™ – Encounters
EVERSPACE™ – Encounters adds about 10 hours of new gameplay, featuring five new questlines that blend seamlessly into the base game, all-new factory space stations which add further gameplay mechanics by offering special on-the-fly services, like refining and converting resources, upgrading ship capabilities or minor repair jobs, and a new player ship coming with sophisticated electronic warfare as well as a plethora of new weapons, devices and consumables to fool, distract, and defeat enemies in new ways. Furthermore, daring space pilots can pay the Okkar Homeworld a visit, too.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.


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LONDON (CBS.MW) -- Associated British Foods ABF, +0.34% on Monday said second half operating profit for the fiscal year ending on Friday to be broadly the same as the first half rise of 14 percent to 204 million pounds, an improvement from its earlier guidance. It said British Sugar's profit benefited in the second half from the effect of the strength of the euro on sugar prices, George Weston Foods underlying trading has strengthened with lower overheads and improved operating performances from the milling & baking and meat & dairy businesses, Mazola has performed as anticipated and like-for-like sales growth at Primark has been broadly similar to the first half performance, when it had 7 percent growth.
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Rumor: Disney's Hollywood Studios parades closed due to wireless technology interference?
Apr 8, 2013
Two parades at Disney's Hollywood Studios performed for the last time this weekend - the Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun! parade and the Disney Channel Rocks parade/show. These were cancelled on fairly short notice, and nothing has been announced to take their place. Typically, when announcing a closure, Disney would also announce the coming of a new show/parade and several weeks after the first one shut down, the new attraction would debut. According to this thread on the DISboards, there is a possibility that the two parades were cancelled because of interference between the parades' electronics and performers' wireless microphones with the RFID card readers at the front gates. The original poster on the thread said, "The Pixar Parade would come in close to the entry gates; the Disney Channel Rocks would both come in and depart close to the entry gates." The new turnstiles use RFID (radio frequency ID) technology to scan guests' ticket media for park admission. This poster also mentioned that the same thing is happening at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The electronics in that parade are interfering with the RFID payment devices in the merchandise locations. As of now, this is all speculation. Other thoughts are that the parade cancellation is due to budget cuts, lack of popularity, or the addition of a new attraction.