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Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Monday, September 03, 2012
Russia is wary of Google's operating system, reportedly believing that data collected and stored in Google databases could find its way into the hands of the US government. This could, Russia believes, expose some of their most sensitive communications to the Americans.
The project has been in development for five years and the project's manager has said that it is completely hack proof. He also said that many Russians have little trust in Google's security and are afraid that details could very easily be leaked through using it.
It is largely intended for state officials, although it will be on sale to the public by the end of the year at a cost of 15,000 roubles (£291). The military version will be shock-proof and waterproof and will have all the functional capabilities of an Android operating system.
The project has been run out of a military research facility but is privately funded. It was presented in Berlin to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the military's technological innovation. This is not the first time that Russia has developed technological projects driven out of fears over US systems.
It developed the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), a rival of the Global Positioning System, devised to help generals train their missiles on targets. The concept initially suffered but the system was eventually included in the software of Apple's latest iPhone.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Calling the Olympics a source of inspiration, state-run China Daily newspaper said "the journey is more important than the destination". "For all athletes, as long as they have tried their best, they deserve the respect of spectators," it said.
"I think the general public was very happy with the result, with China finishing second after the US," Dong Jun, a journalist with China Radio International (CRI), told the BBC. "China's 2008 delegation was huge," David Yang, editor of the China Sports Review website, pointed out. "The delegation for London was roughly 60% the size."
"For a major sports nation like China, this was already a streamlined delegation - so their performance was splendid," Mr Yang said.
This includes questions over the record-breaking performance of female swimmer Ye Shiwen and the disqualification of two Chinese badminton players for match-throwing. Chinese players also hit out at refereeing in events such as gymnastics and track cycling.
People's Daily newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, published an editorial on Monday, saying athletes "faced naivety and bias from individual referees as they imposed punishments based on double standards".
And some netizens are very angry - it is not hard to find comments on China's Twitter-like weibo sites calling the London Games "a total failure". "London Olympics were the worst Olympics ever," said a Sina Weibo user in southern Guangdong province. "It has hosted the Games three times, but it was full of blunders."
"Britain, Germany, Japan and South Korea won shameless appeals, but China was always unfairly treated. I am so angry," said a Tencent Weibo user in northern Hebei province.
But there are some micro-blog comments that are positive, and China Sports Review's David Yang thinks perceived slights have been blown out of proportion. "I think it has happened at every Olympic Games in the past," said Mr Yang, who believes harsh comments are merely venting.
"All sports competitions - including the Fifa World Cup and the Uefa European Football Championships - all face the same problems. Refereeing is always a controversial issue in the media."
Friday, August 03, 2012
As part of a package of projects intended to boost tourism and the shipping industries at coastal cities, the Southeast China International Shipping Center package includes 10 projects led by the construction of the 100,000-ton luxury cruise liner. The package also includes building a cruise terminal and shipping business center in the city of Xiamen.
The cruise liner alone is said to cost approximately $487 million and leading international design firms are participating in the project.
According to Lin Shilin, an industry and investment official with Xiamen’s Haicang district, it could take up to 47 months to build the massive cruise liner. Once it’s complete, it will be able to carry more than 2,000 passengers and will be named, “Xiamen, China”. According to officials, the cruise liner won’t be ready to sail the waters until 2018.
Xiamen, China will be operated by a subsidiary of Beijing-based Shan Hai Shu Group, a conglomerate that already has an established partnership with US-based Royal Caribbean International.
Shan Hai Shu’s chief operational officer, Huang Ju, said, “With our own cruise liner, it will be easier to design cruise routes and develop our own tourism products.” The cruise liner is expected to further promote the city and help with economic growth in the region.
According to Xiamen’s tourism bureau, the city also plans to partner with global cruise tourism operators to build a world-class shopping and entertainment center on the cruise terminal. They hope to include the highest number of luxury stores in the world.
Locals hope that the city’s new industrial port belt, dubbed “Cruise City”, will allow “people arriving in Xiamen on cruises to have as much fun … as they do in Las Vegas.
Friday, July 27, 2012
From Pauper to Prince
Inside, the sixth-generation S-Class gets a completely redesigned dashboard with two large-format monitors, programmable instruments, extended voice and gesture control, head-up display, and knee and belt-integrated airbags. The long list of innovative driver aids includes dynamic LED headlights, the so-called Magic Carpet Ride chassis featuring a camera-based damper adjustment system, an ever-more-intelligent brake assist with cross traffic recognition, and a new active cruise control that can even execute lane changes and passing maneuvers.
From 2016 onwards (about a year after the car’s debut), Mercedes will start introducing the new in-line six-cylinder engines codenamed M256 (gas) and OM656 (diesel). The European S-Class launches with the familiar 2.1-, 3.0-, and 3.5-liter V-6 units, but it will switch to the more efficient straight sixes at the model-year changeover for 2017. The initial engine line-up should span from the 224-hp diesel installed in the S250 CDI to the mighty V-12 fitted to the S600 and the S65 AMG. The final metamorphosis of the outgoing V-6 is a 3.0-liter good for 333 hp. On the hybrid front, customers will be able to choose from three options: mild with a 41-hp electric motor, or one of two plug-in models with motors rated at either 68 hp or 109 hp. Even the least economical hybrid drivetrain returns a super-frugal 75mpg – but only because current European regulations ignore the energy used to charge the batteries.
2014 Audi A8: An Extensive Facelift
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Its panels will use "in-cell technology" integrating touch sensors into the LCD, it said.That makes a separate touch-screen layer unnecessary and reduces the screen thickness by about half a millimetre, Dow Jones quoted DisplaySearch analyst Hiroshi Hayase as saying.
The new technology will also boost displayed image quality, and help Apple cut costs as it would no longer have to buy touch panels and LCDs from separate suppliers, the report added.It said Japanese liquid crystal display makers Sharp and Japan Display Inc as well as South Korea's LG Display Co were currently mass producing panels for the next iPhone.
Apple is widely expected to launch the device in the third quarter of this year, around 12 months after the release of its hugely popular iPhone 4S -- the firm's first new product following the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the report or the next iPhone's release date when contacted by AFP.
The report came amid heated competition from rivals such as Samsung, whose flagship smartphone the Galaxy S III uses a 4.8-inch (12.2 centimetre) screen that is thinner than the current iPhone.Apple posted a $11.6 billion profit in the first three months this year, led by record sales of iPad tablet computers and iPhones -- the latter surging 88 percent year-on-year.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
The websites charge about $10 (£6.45) to register an individual device so that it can run iOS6 beta software. Apple has sent legal notices to web-hosting companies requesting that they disable the websites.
Apple offers the latest finished versions of its iOS mobile operating system free, but charges registered developers $99 (£65) to access beta versions.
This payment entitles developers to "activate" the Unique Device IDentifier (UDID) numbers of up to one hundred iOS devices with Apple so that they can run iOS 6 beta software. iOS6 is expected to be released later this year.
Activation websites register developer accounts and pay Apple for a hundred device activations, and then sell these off individually at a profit.
"We have paid the fees and done all the work. All you have to do is register your iOS device on our account. Once you register, you'll be able to download the beta firmware and install it on your device," promises one activation site.
Within the last month Apple has issued DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices to Fused, a Seattle-based web-hosting company, in relation to activation websites it hosts, according to Fused chief executive David McKendrick.
A DMCA takedown notice is a formal way for a copyright holder or their agent to demand removal of allegedly infringing content from the Internet.
The sites in question had been active for three months, Mr McKendrick said, and Apple claimed in the notices that they breached its developer agreement or facilitated copyright infringement.
"This is definitely a new move on Apple's part," he said. Apple prohibits developers from providing pre-release software to anyone other than their employees and contractors who have a "demonstrable" need to use it to develop and test applications on their behalf.
But Mr McKendrick added that Apple's action was unlikely to be effective, because many of the sites in question were in the process of moving their sites to hosting firms based outside the US.
"Apple is definitely fighting a losing battle on this one. Unless they go directly after the developer accounts abusing the process, they have little chance scrubbing these sites off the web," he said.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Two of the people said that the tablet's screen will likely be smaller than eight inches. The iPad's screen measures 9.7 inches, unchanged since the first model was released in 2010.
Officials at the component suppliers, who declined to be named, said this week that Apple has told them to prepare for mass production of the smaller tablet. The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Apple was testing such a device but hadn't yet decided whether to proceed with production.
One person said the screen makers Apple is working with include LG Display Co. LPL +4.44% of South Korea and Taiwan-based AU Optronics Co. AUO +1.24%
An Apple spokeswoman in California declined to comment.
Analysts said a smaller tablet could help Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple maintain its dominance in a market that keeps getting more crowded. Competitors include Samsung Electronics Co. 005930.SE +1.36% and Amazon.com Inc., AMZN +0.09% while Microsoft Corp. MSFT +0.65% and Google Inc. GOOG +1.27% recently unveiled tablet devices.
Last year, the iPad held a 62% share of the world-wide tablet market, according to market research firm IHS iSuppli, which expects overall tablet sales this year to surge 85% to 126.6 million units..
As the market continues to expand, consumers' choices—in size, technical specifications and price—are growing more varied. Last week, Google started taking orders for the Nexus 7, a tablet device with a seven-inch screen that will sell for $199. That matches the price of Amazon's Kindle Fire, which came out last year and also has a seven-inch screen.
Microsoft's Surface tablet, expected to debut this fall, has a 10.6-inch display, larger than the iPad. Microsoft's Windows Chief Steve Sinofsky said that it will be "priced like comparable tablets."
Friday, June 29, 2012
The 7in device, which will launch this summer, is not a direct competitor for the iPad, however. It aims to take a different, cheaper route, leaving the very premium end of the market available for manufacturers such as Samsung, who use Google's Android software, to compete with Apple's all-conquering, innovative device. Google has added TV, magazines and movie purchasing to the Play Store, its rival to iTunes, so that it can challenge Apple effectively. Indeed, Google described its new tablet as "built for Google Play".
Underlying the firm's ambitions to dominate the future of computing is Android. This time last year, there were already 100 million devices running Android. Today there are 400 million, with 1 million new ones added each day. That may be 12 per second, but Google knows that not many of those are tablets.
So Google has identified two ways to tackle Apple - the first is to improve how all Android devices run by offering a software upgrade called Jelly Bean for phones and tablets. The aim is that people who use an Android phone will enjoy the experience so much that they will want to complete the "ecosystem" with an Android tablet. Google has tried, under the codename Project Butter, to make the software smoother and, to borrow a word from Apple, consistently "delightful". It's an apparently subtle change that should make a big difference to how people feel their phone or tablet works. The brain, Google points out, can detect a lag of even 10 milliseconds in how a touchscreen works.
The second strand is more conspicuous: a new product called Q (for America only so far) offers media streaming, while elsewhere there are new features for phones and tablets. These improve the way the voice search or the camera works, predict the next word you want to type, or allow you to dictate to your phone.
Other features automate existing features - for example, phones are able to learn when you commute and will automatically suggest a better route or tell you when your next bus leaves. If you've searched the internet for a flight, you can now be kept updated on its status, and if you're travelling Google can make translation more accessible.
All of this points towards Google putting its set of products together in a cleverer way - but they still need the army of software developers that has so far congregated around Apple.
At the San Francisco conference, Google made it clear they know that: "There's never been a better time to be a developer - now you can take an idea and build businesses."
If that convinces people, then Google will be able to do for the mass market what Apple has already done for the elite of iPad and iPhone users.
Google's Nexus 7 tablet feels like the device that might just usurp the Kindle. It does everything that Amazon's device has done so successfully since it launched in 2007, but with Google you can now also watch videos, browse beautifully rendered magazines and the web, and of course check your email.
A Kindle costs from just pounds 89, but those extra functions are likely to persuade a huge number of people to part with pounds 159.
Indeed, it's the design of the product that makes Google's mass-market ambitions clear. Just as the iPad is not worried by Kindle sales, so it is unlikely to be worried by the Nexus 7. This is a device that feels coolly utilitarian, rather than luxurious.
But Google is not the web search engine for a minority of users; it has always aimed to be ubiquitous. And with Nexus 7, it wants to make the ubiquitous tablet. The 7in screen does everything it needs to with a resolution of 1280px x 700px, and at 340g it weighs enough to feel substantial without being burdensome.
There are nudges toward the future, however: press the button to get to a standard Google search page and, rather than a blank screen you get details about flights or films you've recently searched for. That ties web search in with everyday life, and it makes the web increasingly central to a wider range of functions.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The difficulty in striking this delicate balance became evident on Tuesday, when Microsoft officials spent the day at TechEd North America promoting Windows 8 in speeches, press conferences and demo sessions, while telling the 10,000 IT pros in attendance that their organizations, if they haven't done so already, should upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7.
But at the morning keynote, when Microsoft officials made an aggressive case for enterprise adoption of Windows 8, they portrayed Windows 7 as an aging OS designed before key changes in computing happened in recent years.
"Windows 8 is a bold new bet, and it's a generational change in Windows," said Antoine Leblond, corporate vice president of Windows Web Services. "Windows 8 first and foremost is a better Windows than Windows 7."
Leblond said Windows 7 is the last in a line of OSes that began with Windows 95, designed primarily for desktop PCs that are always connected to a power source and act as the main repository for users' applications, data and content.
On the other hand, Windows 8 is designed for the world's shift to mobile devices that run on batteries and to applications and content that live dispersed in a variety of web sites and must be constantly available.
Asked to comment about the way Windows 7 was portrayed in the morning keynote, Erwin Visser, senior director of the Windows Commercial Business Group, said at a press conference later in the day that Microsoft in no way wants enterprise customers to interrupt migrations to Windows 7 from Windows XP.
"In our conversations with enterprises, we don't want to discourage their deployments of Windows 7," he said.
Microsoft will end support for Windows XP in 2014, so migrating to Windows 7 now is the right thing to do, he said, adding that Windows 8 will co-exist side-by-side with Windows 7 in an organization.
Windows 8 has a new user interface called Metro, which is designed for touch-screen devices, like tablets, but which can also be used with keyboards and mice. The OS will also have a traditional Windows 7-like interface. The Metro interface, whose design and user experience are markedly different from the traditional Windows interface, has been the source of much criticism among beta testers and industry observers, who say it's inconvenient to use with a mouse, and find its overall navigation functionality confusing.
Windows 8 computers based on x86 chips from Intel and AMD will run Windows 7 applications, and will co-exist with Windows 7 machines on enterprise environments, Visser said.
"The investments [enterprise customers] are making today on Windows 7 from a hardware infrastructure and also in application compatibility carry forward into Windows 8," Visser said.
At the same time, Microsoft is "very proud and bullish" about the value of Windows 8 for enterprises, so it expects to see customers upgrade to it from Windows 7, he said.
Monday, June 04, 2012
straight years — and for eight years in its core television business.A strong yen, which erodes overseas income, and natural disasters at home and in Thailand, a key manufacturing hub, have added to its woes.
Sony's shares dipped to 990 yen before recovering slightly in trading Monday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Nikkei 225 stock average was down 2 percent after U.S. hiring slowed sharply in May.The company said it was first time that its stock price had traded below 1,000 yen since August 1980 — the year after it introduced the iconic Walkman portable cassette player to the world in 1979.
The stock had peaked at 16,950 yen in March 2000.Sony, whose businesses run from digital cameras and personal computers to PlayStation game consoles and movies such as "Bad Teacher," last month reported a record annual loss of 457 billion yen ($5.7 billion) for the year through March 2012.
The company is aiming for a comeback under Kazuo Hirai, appointed president earlier this year, who has headed the gaming division and built his career in the U.S. Sony forecast a return to profit for the fiscal year through March 2013 at 30 billion yen ($375 million), banking on the growing smartphone and tablet businesses.
Sony also plans to cut 10,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of its global work force.Widely admired in the 1980s as an innovative power, Sony fell behind when digital music players and flat TVs became hits. Its gadgets have lost popularity as consumers flock to products from Apple such as the iPhone and iPod.
It's also lost out in the TV market to South Korea's Samsung and other Asian competitors. Despite losses in that division, Hirai remains committed to TVs, and promised to cut costs to turn a profit in the division in the next two years.Sony also plans to seek new growth in emerging markets such as India and Mexico.In 2010, Sony stopped Japanese production of its Walkman, which sold 220 million units worldwide.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The train was developed by the institute in collaboration with the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, Hyundai Rotem and other companies since 2007 at a cost of W93.1 billion (US$1=W1,164). Last October, a test run reached a speed of 428.9 km/h.HEMU stands for Highspeed Electric Multiple Unit, but the acronym also means "auspicious sea fog" in Korean.
It will be the fourth fastest high-speed train in the world, after France (575 km/h), China (486 km/h) and Japan (443 km/h). It can travel from Seoul to Busan in 90 minutes. The global competition had been sluggish since Germany broke the 400 km/h mark in 1988 and Japan in 1996, but it was reignited when a French train exceeded 500 km/h in 2007. China unveiled a bullet train that manages 486 km/h in December 2010 and developed a prototype reaching a maximum speed of 500 km/h a year later.
"We will keep working on increasing the speed and make it possible for a production model to operate at speeds of up to 430km/h around this fall," said Hong Soon-man of the institute. A researcher there said it will be possible to reach a maximum speed of 500 km/h within three years. "The high-speed train market will increase to over W450 trillion," said Dr. Mok Jin-yong at the institute. "Since speed represents the level of technological advancement, we cannot afford to lag behind in the competition."
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Specifications 10.1in LED backlit WXGA 1280x800 touchscreen, Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, Bluetooth, WiFi, 1.2MP front camera, 8MP rear camera, 1x 2-in-1 audio jack (headphone/mic-in), 1x microHDMI port, 1x MicroSD card reader, 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x SD card reader, 10 hours battery life or 15 hours with dock, Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich
Pad only - 263x181x9.9mm, 635g
Dock only - 263x181x10.4mm, 546g
Pad with dock - 263x181x19.4mm, 1,181g
However, the combo feature just doesn't work as well as we'd hoped. The dock is not sturdy enough to bear the heavy tablet, resulting in a disappointing and overall fragile feel when put together.
Friday, May 11, 2012
The company told Reuters that vehicle demand increased 14.4 percent in April to 125,200. Sales of BMW brand models rose 7.4 percent to 121,476.
Munich-based BMW has long been the strongest of the big three luxury brands: BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz. A spokeswoman for Audi said that the last time the company out-sold BMW in a month was January 2011. Audi surpassed Mercedes-Benz in sales last year and hopes to take the lead by the end of the decade. Volkswagen, Audi's parent company, has a goal of doubling car deliveries to 2 million by 2020.
"Audi will remain the No. 1 challenger to BMW over the next four to five years," Frank Schwope, an analyst with NordLB in Hanover, told Reuters. "They're firmly rooted in lucrative markets and benefit greatly from VW resources."
Monday, May 07, 2012
Perhaps the most romantic are masted sailing yachts, which offer the charms of a relaxed, intimate atmosphere and the ability to moor in small harbors or drop anchor in secluded coves.
And what could be more thrilling than standing on deck looking up at billowing white sails... knowing you are never going to have to climb the rigging yourself? If you prefer - and if you have the budget - you can even experience the luxury of a super-yacht worthy of an oligarch in the Mediterranean.
Here is a variety of suggestions for those who want to sail away from the crowds...
Budding sea dogs might want to sail the Med on Star Clippers' five-masted Royal Clipper, where you can volunteer to help hoist the sails or climb a mast. A four-night cruise from Civitavecchia, the port that serves Rome, takes you to Corsica to moor overnight, Sardinia's Costa Smeralda and finally to Elba, where Napoleon was briefly held captive.
Travel is by Eurostar and sleeper train via Paris. The cost for departure on June 5 is from £1,319 per person.
On the three yachts of Windstar Cruises, there's no need for anyone - crew or passengers - to climb the rigging: the sails are fully automated. The sleek part-yacht, part-cruise ships have a casual dress code and the mood is laid-back luxury.
Wind Star - one of the two smaller vessels, with just 74 cabins - has a six-night cruise from Rome to Barcelona departing on July 15, costing from £2,859pp, including flights. You'll call at Elba, Porto Vecchio in Corsica, Alghero in Sardinia and Palma de Mallorca.
Alternatively, you can head to the Baltic Sea on the magnificent, five-masted Wind Surf, one of the two largest sail cruise ships in the world, on a week's cruise from Oslo to Stockholm leaving July 27.
Thursday, May 03, 2012
Atlas is a leading global provider of outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services and the contract with Etihad Airways is for one aircraft under a multi-year Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) agreement.
The delivery will take Etihad Cargo’s fleet to six aircraft. The airline already operates a Boeing B777F, two Airbus A330-200F, one Airbus A300-600F, and one McDonnell Douglas MD-11F.
Etihad Airways has an additional four freighters scheduled for delivery in 2013 and 2014, two Boeing B777F and two Airbus A330-200F.
James Hogan, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “In Atlas Air, we have found a first-rate partner focused on operational excellence, security and outstanding customer service. We look forward to a rewarding relationship that leverages each of our expertise to grow global trade.”
David Kerr, Etihad Airways Vice President Cargo, added: “We are strongly committed to building our presence in the cargo sector and to serving the growing demand from our customers around the world. We have the fortune of geography and being able to bridge many of the trade flows from producer to consumer markets.”
“We are delighted to add Etihad Airways to our portfolio of ACMI customers,” said William J. Flynn, President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlas Air Worldwide. “Atlas Air has the largest and most modern fleet in our industry, with a mix of cargo and passenger aircraft, serving customers who are leaders in their markets.
“Etihad Airways takes pride in providing reliable, high-quality service across its expanding international route network. We look forward to welcoming not only a new customer for Atlas Air, but also future opportunities for strategic expansion for both companies.”
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Proview Technology, based in the southern city of Shenzhen, has been locked in a protracted legal battle with Apple over ownership of the Chinese rights to the "iPad" trademark, which both claim as their own.
"Currently, Shenzhen Proview is still the legitimate registered owner of the iPad trademark," Fu Shuangjian, deputy minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, told reporters, according to an online transcript.
The Taiwanese affiliate of Proview Technology registered "iPad" as a trademark in several countries including China as early as 2000 -- years before Apple began selling its product.
The US titan subsequently bought the rights for global trademark -- including from the Taiwanese affiliate -- but Proview claims the deal did not include the rights for mainland China.
Last year, Apple took Proview to a Chinese court, claiming trademark infringement, but the court ruled the US company lacked "supporting facts and evidence" for its claim.
The US company is now appealing the case but debt-laden Proview, which makes computer monitors, has since filed trademark lawsuits against Apple in China and is also suing the technology giant in the United States.
Fu -- whose administration deals with IP infringement cases -- said that according to Chinese law, a trademark transfer must be approved by the Trademark Office. He implied that in this case, approval had not been given.
"Due to the huge impact of this case, the court's final ruling will directly affect ownership of the iPad trademark and Industrial and Commerce departments will carefully and properly handle the case," he said.
It is rare for a Chinese enterprise to accuse an overseas firm of trademark breaches -- although foreign companies frequently complain of intellectual property rights violations in China.
Apple is hugely popular in the Asian nation, where die-hard fans have been known to line up for days to get their hands on the latest offerings from the US giant.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Nokia switched from developing its own Symbian operating system for the as-yet untried Windows Phone software in February 2011 and is now stuck in a sales gulf between phasing out its old smartphones and ramping up production of the new ones.
Sales of the Lumia range that runs on Windows have fallen short of forecasts. Nokia issued a profit warning last week ahead of first quarter results due on Thursday and its shares fell below 3 euros this week, their lowest in 15 years.
In the meantime, Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy range, which runs on Google's Android system, continue to steam ahead in the smartphone market, leaving what was once the strongest brand in mobile phones way behind.
"Nokia should have bet on Android. That would have been a powerhouse in terms of mobility, search, etc," said one telecoms industry executive who has done business with Nokia for years.
"Elop had one bet to make and he made the wrong bet."
Elop joined Nokia from Microsoft in 2010. The following year, his previous employer said it would pay Nokia billions of dollars in their partnership and pay $US250 million a quarter to support the platform.
At first, critics said Nokia should have stayed with Symbian or done a deal with Android, which like Apple now has hundreds of thousands of apps available, against Windows Phone's 80,000.
Nokia also dropped its second operating system Meego which it only used in its full version on one Nokia phone.
Nokia says Windows gives it the best chance to stand out in the crowd of similar smartphone models on the market.
"Windows Phone provides Nokia with an attractive and vital point of differentiation," said Jo Harlow, chief of Nokia's smartphone business. "We are building something exciting. People who try a Lumia device are telling us loud and clear that they love the Windows Phone experience."
Analysts mostly came round to the idea that Microsoft could be the best bet and that business could pick up in 2012 but several European telecoms operators told Reuters this week they were unconvinced by the new Windows models.
"Windows is a great operating system, but it seems that customers aren't buying it," said Juhani Risku, a former innovation chief at Nokia, who left in 2009 and is now a designer and analyst. He is one of Nokia's most vocal critics.
"It is dangerous to go only with one system, even more so when it's not your own."
Giving up the upsside
Not having its own system could also cost Nokia the ability to make money from software development and services.
"They gave up the upside. Now they're a hardware producer," said Harry Jarn, CEO of Finnish virtual operator Cubio, who worked at Nokia for more than 13 years. "Nokia is, without a doubt, a much smaller firm in the future."
Nokia is still using Symbian in some smartphones but will only support it until 2016, which will put off buyers who tend to load their phones with apps and content that they want to keep for several years.
Analysts said any real sign of recovery for Nokia is now likely to come in 2013 at the earliest, rather than this year as previously hoped, and will depend on better products and improvements in the Microsoft software.
A new version of Windows Phone is due later this year. Microsoft also plans to use its phone design - with boxes that automatically update even if the app is shut - on computers, which should improve people's familiarity with the system.
"In the fall there will be new family of products which will put Nokia on the same line with rivals. Currently, there are still gaps in the high-end," said Nordea analyst Sami Sarkamies.
One bright spot is that Nokia's fight for recovery is forcing the Finnish company to move more quickly. While it used to take two years to develop a new model, Elop brought the first two Windows phones to market within a year.
"If Nokia could have demonstrated this speed in the last few years, some of its current problems may have been avoided," said Pete Cunningham at research firm Canalys.
He added that partnering with Android might have caused another problem as other phone makers using the system are struggling to compete with Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE, which are selling smartphones for as little as 100 euros, which leaves very little room to make any profit.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Live@edu is a hosted communication and collaboration service that offers e-mail, Microsoft Office Web Apps, instant messaging and storage to AICTE’s more than 7 million students and nearly 500,000 faculty members, for a total reach of 7.5 million users — roughly double the size of the Los Angeles population. Live@edu is the leading cloud suite for education, with more than 22 million people using the service worldwide. At 7.5 million users, the AICTE is Microsoft’s largest cloud customer ever.
“Microsoft’s cloud platform will make for a truly progressive ecosystem and contribute to the country’s technical education by providing a better communication and collaboration platform for institutes and students,” said Dr. S. S. Mantha, Chairman of AICTE.
AICTE is the governing body for technical education in India and is responsible for certifying and managing technical colleges and institutes. The technology industry and higher education are both becoming increasingly vital to the economy. To carry out its charge of evaluating the curriculum and quality of education for all technical institutes across the country, AICTE needed to have consistent and timely communication with these colleges, some of which are located in the remote districts of the country. Live@edu is the first step in AICTE’s deployment of Microsoft cloud computing for education. AICTE also plans to deploy Microsoft Office 365 for education when it becomes available later this year, providing access to Microsoft Exchange Online e-mail and calendar, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online and Microsoft Office Professional as the technical infrastructure to support member colleges and institutes.
Kapil Sibbal, Union Minister for HRD, said, “India is seeing rapid economic activity and growth. Developing India’s youth and their skills is going to play an important role in the country’s inclusive growth. The union budget also laid emphasis on skill development and so does the proposed 12th Five Year Plan with a National Policy on Skill development. The PPP model (public-private partnership) is most essential in running and managing training institutions to address the skill gap most efficiently. Microsoft’s commitment to empower students by deploying Microsoft Live@edu for 7.5 million users across the country with AICTE is commendable and a step towards an informed and developing India. I congratulate both AICTE and Microsoft on this significant milestone.”
The implementation is already underway and is being managed by Microsoft and a set of Live@edu partners. Full deployment is expected to be complete by summer 2012.
Saturday, April 07, 2012
In a high-stakes patent dispute, the court heard arguments about whether a federal trial judge acted correctly in December when she ruled that Apple failed to provide enough evidence to support an injunction of Samsung's Galaxy product line.
The court's judges reacted with skepticism to a premise put forward by Apple's lawyer that for the purpose of getting an injunction, Apple does not need to show a causal link between patent infringement and a loss of customers.
Apple's lawyer, Michael Jacobs, said it is enough to show that Samsung likely infringed on Apple patents used in products such as the iPhone, and that Apple is likely to be hurt. The trial judge found those things but not enough evidence of a causal link.
Judge William Bryson on Friday asked about a hypothetical case in which an automaker copied the design of a cupholder from a second automaker. Under Apple's argument, if the second automaker later lost market share, it could ask for an injunction against sales by the first automaker, Bryson said.
"Can that possibly be right?" he asked. Bryson is one of three judges who heard the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.Judge Sharon Prost said some evidence of a link is important. Harm such as lost customers, she said, "could have been for reasons completely different from the infringement."
The Apple-Samsung dispute is scheduled to go to trial in July in federal court in California.Apple, maker of the iPad and the iPhone, wants the immediate injunction because even if it wins at trial, it might not see the benefits of a verdict until late in 2012, Jacobs said.
An order to stop sales by South Korea-based Samsung would have the potential to affect settlement considerations.The two companies are fighting their legal battle worldwide, filing complaints in at least 10 countries as they struggle for market share in the tablet and smartphone markets.
The appellate judges on Friday wrestled with what evidence Apple would need to show that a competitor got ahead through unauthorized use of a patented Apple feature. For example, would it be enough for Apple to survey consumers about which features are important to them? How many consumers would matter?
That kind of requirement would make it all but impossible for a patent holder to win an injunction because it is difficult to get inside a consumer's mind, Jacobs said."We know it is a combination of elements that goes into any purchasing decision," Jacobs said.
One characteristic that the Apple and Samsung products share is the "snap-back," which affects how a user navigates the touch-screen on a tablet or smartphone.
Samsung did not copy the "snap-back" feature or any other patented part of Apple's design, but even if it did, that would not be a primary draw for a consumer, said Samsung lawyer Kathleen Sullivan.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
Recognize this experience? Somehow, voice recognition — despite some of technology's most awesome achievements (tablets! the remote control!) — remains an anathema. We still can't talk to computers like Captain Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Turns out building voice recognition to acknowledge a "yes" or "no" — let alone complex conversations — isn't so easy."There are 200 ways to say 'yes: Sure, okay, yeah, uh huh' " to name a few, says Alex Rudnicky, a speech recognition expert and researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn. "Getting that right is surprisingly difficult."
The foundations of most voice technology used today date back to the '70s. But with the proliferation of smartphones and new voice technology, devices like Apple's iPhone 4S have upped the ante on voice recognition.
Growing, billion-dollar business
At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, manufacturers including Samsung Electronics and Nuance Communications unveiled TVs with voice-activated functionality.
In fact, Nuance helps power the Siri "personal assistant" system on the Apple iPhone 4S. Nuance translates spoken words into text. Siri then analyzes the text, figures out what it means and translates the words to intended actions.
Voice recognition is a lucrative, yet decentralized market that spans everything from toys to healthcare. The voice-related enterprise space alone that includes automated customer service is a roughly $10-billion market, says Richard Mack, vice president of communications for Nuance. Clinical documentation is an estimated $15-billion market.
Mobile and consumer voice products including cars and electronics are estimated at $5 billion, adds Mack. That figure doesn't even include TVs or third-party developers, who are just gaining traction in the growing voice-recognition space.Next-generation speech recognition "is really going to be ubiquitous," says Seth Rosenblatt, a senior editor for CNET, which highlights tech trends and consumer-product reviews. But it won't happen overnight.
But soon after the new iPhone hit shelves in October 2011, some consumers experienced less success. Transcripts of dictated texts, for example, sometimes appeared jumbled. Consensus emerged that the voice technology, though ground-breaking, remained a work in progress.
Part of Siri's mixed reception stems from Forstall's demonstration."That great demo set expectations up pretty high," says author McFedries, also a technical writer. "A lot of people don't realize it's a beta product," he says. In a rare Apple move, the tech giant launched Siri as a developing beta product.
So why release Siri before it's ready? Apple needs consumers to road test the technology, and collect their data to fine tune its product. "The way voice recognition works, it needs a lot of data," McFedries says. "That's the only way to get this to be a really good product."
Friday, March 30, 2012
Formally there are two fashion shows for each of the trade shows, but they are put on in series on the Monday night of the trade show. The Halloween part - which is all sexy “adult party” attire, not the kinds of ghosts, witches and monsters costumes you can get at Wal-Mart - is put on first, and this year included 58 different clothes in a show lasting nearly 45 minutes. The viewers of buyers and exhibitors stays, obviously, for the lingerie show which follows, which means the audience is there for nearly two hours after the shows start.
It would never do to have tired, hungry buyers get grouchy in the middle of the show from low blood sugar, so the producers have a lavish “heavy hors dousers” and an open bar to keep the multitudes pacify. And to keep enthusiasm high, at everyday intervals throughout the shows models come down the runway with a range of swag to throw to the crowd. It’s a joyful crowd.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Hirai, who formally takes over as chief executive from Howard Stringer next week, inherits a company that - like much of corporate Japan - has been outgunned in recent years by rivals like Apple and Samsung Electronics.
The maker of Bravia televisions and Vaio laptops expects a 220 billion yen ($2.7 billion) net loss for the year to this month, a fourth straight year of losses, and due in large part to a TV business that has not been able to keep up with nimbler and cheaper rivals.
Sony said Hirai would head a new home entertainment division, which includes TVs and replaces the consumer products and services group that he had led.
"The TV business is Sony's main business and (its recovery) is an absolute condition that must be met for the firm to recover its performance," said Keita Wakabayashi, an analyst at Mito Securities. "That's why it will be placed directly under (Hirai's) control, and means he has to take care of the most important issue."
Sony hopes Hirai, credited with reviving the PlayStation game business through aggressive cost-cutting, can work similar magic with a TV business that has lost more than $11 billion over eight financial years.
Sony will also form a new unit to oversee its medical business, which it has described as a growth area.
"The market is big ... but industrial electronics makers like Hitachi and Toshiba are already in this area so it's not like Sony is advancing into a free territory," said Mito's Wakabayashi. "Compared to this, it's much more important to improve the TV business."
In many ways, Sony's woes illustrate the plight of a once-mighty corporate Japan hobbled by the very system that made it the world's envy back in its 1980s heyday.
Japan's manufacturers have invested hugely in factories and equipment to carry out their traditional strength of in-house production, but are now grappling with plunging product prices and excess capacity in a rapidly shifting digital landscape.
TV makers Sony, Panasonic and Sharp expect to lose a combined $17 billion this year alone, also clobbered by a strong yen, weak demand and tough competition from the likes of Samsung Electronics.
Long Sony's biggest product category by sales, TVs were overtaken by other segments in October-December. TVs accounted for 13 per cent of overall sales in the quarter, down from 19 per cent a year earlier and trailing games (16 per cent) and combined sales from Sony Pictures and Sony Music (15 per cent), according to the company's latest financial statement.
Despite the Walkman creator's image as an electronics icon, its only profitable businesses this financial year have been in entertainment - Sony Pictures and Sony Music - and financial services.Sony has been scrapping production capacity for several months, moving closer to Apple's "asset-light" business model of keeping design and product development in-house and outsourcing manufacturing.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The importance of the data was confirmed through recent reexamination of them by a team of researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
Earlier in March, Yuichi Sugiyama, leader of the team, said the Urazoko fault under the plant is at least 35 kilometers long and could trigger a quake with a magnitude of around 7.4, more than twice as much energy as earlier expected to be contained in a quake.
The research team estimated the length of the Urazoko fault by combining other faults connected to it, and the magnitude in expectation that the fault will cause a total displacement of more than 3 meters if it becomes active.
The government's Earthquake Research Committee and Japan Atomic Power earlier estimated that the Urazoko fault, including other faults connected to it, is 25 km long.
Japan Atomic Energy has failed to provide the data for studies at an expert panel launched in 2008 by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Despite lingering consumer doubts about the technology and practicality of electric vehicles, the Chinese government and automakers are pushing ahead with the development of green cars.
Buyers of hybrid cars, which run on a combination of batteries and conventional engines, are entitled to a direct central government subsidy of 5,000 yuan ($790) per vehicle, while a rebate of up to 60,000 yuan on the purchase price is offered to buyers of battery-driven cars.
Green and clean car promotions begin to pay dividends
New electric cars on display at Jiading Auto City, Shanghai. [Provided to China Daily]
Other than government incentives, auto manufacturers are luring buyers of their alternative cars with free maintenance and a range of personalized services.
Their combined effort to promote greener cars on Chinese roads is beginning to pay off. A survey by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that 8,159 hybrid and electric cars were sold nationwide in 2011. All together, there are more than 10,000 green cars on China's roads.
The energy conversion rate of electric vehicles in general is 46 percent higher than in internal combustion engine cars, and they have the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 68 percent, said Raymond Tsang, partner at Bain and Company.
The majority of early converts to green cars are college-educated young professionals in major cities. For instance, Zhao Yu, a 30-year-old office worker at Shanghai International Automobile City, in Jiading, a district of the Shanghai municipality, bought a hybrid car domestically produced by BYD "to show support for my district's reputation as the country's showroom for energy-efficient cars".
Jiading, home to Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (Group), one of China's largest car manufacturers, considers itself a suitable testing ground for popularizing the use of clean cars.
All the promotions were making Zhao feel embarrassed every time she drove her gas-guzzling, pollution-belching, sinister-looking lump of a sedan to work every day. To repent, she spent 160,000 yuan in April last year to buy BYD's new hybrid model, the F3DM, to drive to work and show her eco-friendly credentials.
To her surprise, buying the car has brought benefits that make her feel like a pampered child. For a start, she received close to a 40 percent, or 60,000 yuan, rebate from the central and local governments on the purchase price of her hybrid car. What's more, she was told she could enjoy free battery recharge at stations sprouting in the city, compliments of the Jiading district government.
"I am still getting the hang of owning and driving a hybrid car," she said. But the many incentives have removed any earlier doubts she had about the economic sense of buying one. "I feel like I am one of the chosen few," she said. That feeling, she added, "makes me feel immensely proud of my decision".
Zhao's F3DM can go as far as 150 kilometers in hybrid mode, a range long enough to make the daily round trip from her home to the office and back. "I never need to worry about running out of juice in the middle of nowhere," she said.
In electric power mode, the batteries can sustain up to 90 minutes' driving, or 80 kilometers, before the gas engine takes over. "I only need to recharge the batteries once every day, after I get to work," Zhao said.
The good thing, Zhou added, is that her car is smooth and quiet. What's more, it saves her quite a bit on fuel costs, compared to her other car, which she drives only on weekends.
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Creditors of Proview Technology (Shenzhen), the insolvent company which registered the iPad trademark in China, have mounted an additional challenge against Apple in its efforts to gain control of the trademark.
This latest episode in the trademark saga comes as Apple is launching the iPad 3, and serves as a reminder of the risks the company is facing in one of its most dynamic markets.
He Jun Vanguard Group, a consultancy that represents Proview Shenzhen’s eight Chinese creditor banks, said on Wednesday that since the banks had taken control of Proview’s assets in March 2009, it would have been illegal for the company to sell the trademark at the time. Apple closed a deal nine months later with a sister company of Proview Shenzhen, under which the US company claims to have acquired the China trademark.
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The argument creates a new hurdle for Apple in a battle which is being fought in several courts in China and in the US. Proview Shenzhen filed the iPad trademark in China as early as 2000 for a PC product it sold back then. Proview Electronics (Taiwan), a sister company of Proview Shenzhen, filed the trademark in several other markets between 2000 and 2004. In December 2009, when Apple was preparing to launch its tablet, it closed a deal through a special-purpose company to acquire the “global” iPad trademark from Proview Taiwan.
The trademarks in other markets have since been transferred to Apple’s name but Proview Shenzhen has refused to transfer the China trademark, arguing it was not included in the deal. Last December, a Shenzhen court rejected Apple’s request to have the China trademark transferred to its name. Apple has appealed the verdict. A final ruling in this case had so far been seen as the most likely end of the dispute.
But the creditors’ intervention throws this into doubt. He Jun Vanguard warned that the banks would try to block Apple’s access to the trademark even if the final verdict reversed the earlier ruling.
“No matter what the [final] result of the lawsuit is, the eight creditor banks have the right to directly apply to the Trademark Office to reiterate the creditors’ rights of control and seizure and stop the loss of Chinese intellectual property,” He Jun Vanguard said in a statement emailed to the FT.
“The essence of the fight over the IPAD trademark is a fight between Apple and Proview’s eight creditor banks,” said Huang Yiding, He Jun’s vice-president.
Thursday, March 01, 2012
AT&T* today announced Sony Tablet™ P, a dual screen, multi-functional tablet ideal for mobile communication and entertainment, will be available beginning March 4. The 4G Tablet will be sold for $399.99 with a two-year service agreement in more than 1,000 AT&T company-owned retail stores.
The new Sony Tablet P pushes the design of a tablet even further by elevating the user experience to entirely new levels. The unprecedented dual-screen layout of Sony Tablet™ P allows its two 5.5-inch displays to be used for different functions such as playing video on one screen while using the other as a controller, or checking email on one screen while using the other as a keyboard. Customers can also combine the displays into a single large screen and its unique folding design means it can fit easily into a pocket or purse.
At launch, users will be able to download apps optimized for the dual screens of Sony Tablet P via Sony’s “Select App,” including games, entertainment and lifestyle applications. In addition to optimized apps, Sony Tablet P users will have access to the full suite of Android applications via Android Market. Like its predecessor, Sony Tablet P is PlayStation™ Certified and provides access to the full suite of Sony Network Entertainment services. Sony Tablet devices are distinguished by four key features that set them apart from any other tablets on the market. These include: uniquely designed hardware and software, a “swift and smooth” experience (which includes Sony original features, Quick view and Quick touch), network entertainment services and cross-device connectivity.
Running on Android 3.2, Sony Tablet™ P is 4G**capable and Wi-Fi compatible. With a qualifying data plan, users of Sony Tablet™ P also have access to AT&T's mobile broadband network and unlimited access to AT&T’s nearly 30,000 hot spots nationwide. With both 4G&Wi-Fi customers can browse the Internet, access digital content including videos, games, and check e-mail, while on the go, nearly anytime.
Customers who sign a two-year service agreement have two postpaid data plan options to choose from, including:
- AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $35 for 3GB
- AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB
Customers may still choose from the existing monthly billing options, or prepaid options, with no long-term commitment. The Sony Tablet P without a long term contract will cost $549.99.
The prepaid plan options include:
- AT&T DataConnect 250MB: $14.99 for 250MB
- AT&T DataConnect 3GB: $30 for 3GB
- AT&T DataConnect 5GB: $50 for 5GB
- Resolution: 1024 x 480 (each screen)
- Screen Size: 5.5" (x 2 - dual screens)
- Camera: Front – 0.3 Megapixel Rear – 5 Megapixel
Inputs and Outputs
- Headphone Output: 1
- MicroUSB: 1
- Internal Memory: 1GB
- Battery Life (Approx): Up to 7 hours (based on general usage)
- Battery Type: Li-Ion
- Processor Type: NVIDIA® Tegra™2 mobile processor, duel-core 1GHz
- Operating System: Android 3.2
- External storage: microSD card slot (expandable up to 32GB, 2GB microSD card included)
- Internal Storage Capacity: 4GB
Weights and Measurements
- Dimensions (Approx.): Open - 6.23l x 7.09w x 0.56h (inches) Closed - 3.12l x 7.09w x 1.03 h (inches)
- Weight (Approx.): 0.83 lbs
- Bluetooth® Technology: Bluetooth version 2.1 + EDR
- Wi-Fi: IEEE802.11b/g/n
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The largest battery in the world has arrived, and you likely won’t be surprised where it landed: Hebei Province, China. The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) and electric car maker BYD--the company that most recently made big headlines a few years back when Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway took a 10 percent stake--have teamed to create a massive battery array capable of storing 36 megawatt-hours of electricity.
That’s enough to power something like 12,000 homes for an hour during a total power failure, and enough for SGCC authorities to declare it the world’s largest energy storage device. The $500 million facility is constructed of arrays of BYD batteries “larger than a football field,” according to an SGCC press release, and they should increase the region’s renewable energy efficiency by up to 10 percent.
The array, located in Zhangbei, isn’t just a stand-alone battery. It is hooked into 140 megawatts of wind and solar power generation projects as well as a smart grid transmission system. Together, these elements represent China’s push toward a smart grid system that can generate renewable energy when conditions are ripe and store excess energy in its new battery array for use when energy generation troughs throughout the day.
The Deputy Director of China’s National Energy Administration is calling it the model for the future of Chinese renewable energy development, which means it will probably be the first such battery facility of many. That’s good for both China and BYD, which has been having a bit of trouble selling its electric cars both at home and abroad.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Technology advances are opening up a huge new market for solar power: the approximately 1.3 billion people around the world who don't have access to grid electricity. Even though they are typically very poor, these people have to pay far more for lighting than people in rich countries because they use inefficient kerosene lamps. While in most parts of the world solar power typically costs far more than electricity from conventional power plants—especially when including battery costs—for some people, solar power makes economic sense because it costs half as much as lighting with kerosene.
Hundreds of companies are swooping in to grab a piece of this market.
"This sector has exploded," says Richenda Van Leeuwen, senior director for the Energy and Climate team at the United Nations Foundation. "There's been a sea change in the last five years."
The sudden interest is fueled by the advent of relatively low-cost LEDs, she says. Not long ago, powering lightbulbs required a solar panel that could generate 20 to 30 watts, since only incandescent lightbulbs were affordable. LEDs are far more efficient. Now people can have bright lighting using a panel that only generates a couple of watts of power, Van Leeuwen says.
But such technological improvements aren't quite enough to open up the market. High-quality LED systems, with a pair of lamps and enough battery storage for several hours of lighting, cost less than $50. The systems can pay for themselves in less than two years, but the upfront cost is still too steep for many people.


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I love Apple products, but I say enough is enough with Apple's continuous litigation against anything Android related. It is very clear on Amazon that the apps are for Android devices.
Amazon.com Inc has asked a federal judge to throw out Apple Inc's false advertising claim in a lawsuit challenging the online retailer's use of the "app store" name.
The claim is part of a March 2011 trademark lawsuit in which Apple, which this year became the world's largest company ever by market value, accused Amazon of misusing its "App Store" name to solicit developers for a mobile software download service.
Apple added the trademark claim last November, soon after Amazon announced the launch of the Kindle Fire tablet and, according to the complaint, began to call its app store "Amazon Appstore" rather than "Amazon Appstore for Android." It said this change could have contributed to confusion among consumers.

domain: news


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Bithumb, which is one of the largest crypto exchanges in South Korea, has opted to reach out to its customers in Thailand and Japan. At the moment, this crypto superhouse is working on getting the regulatory approval from the regulators of the financial activities from the respective countries.
Bithumb Current Ratings
At the moment, Bithumb is the second largest Cryptocurrency exchange operating in South Korea. The company has a trading volume of close to $358 million, and that places it right behind Upbit, which is backed up by Kakao and has a trading volume of $582 million.
Besides the fact that the exchange has not been granted the regulatory approval from the Thai financial regulators, it has gone ahead to create Bithumb Company Limited, which is a Thai subsidiary of its mother company. The subsidiary has so far registered 3,000,000 Baht, which translates to $90,000 within the time it has been in operation.
This is one of the reasons why this South Korean based crypto exchange company view Thailand as one of its large markets. Just recently, Thailand completed working on its regulatory framework for the Initial Coin Offerings as well as the virtual coins.
Bithumb’s Expansion to Japan
In April 2017, Japan became one of the countries that legalized the virtual coins as one of the modes of payment. All the companies that are looking forward to run a crypto exchange in this country must, therefore, be approved by the Financial Service Agency, which is Japan’s top financial regulator. And that is exactly what Bithumb is currently working on.
In January 2018, Coincheck, one of the major crypto exchange platforms in Japan was hacked, and this prompted FSA to review its oversight roles in as far as crypto exchange operations in the country is concerned.
According to an official communication from Bithumb, the company has plans of opening its Japanese branch in February 2019. Through the company’s official publication, Bithumb also has plans to open up a cryptocurrency exchange that would support the largest number of digital assets in the country.
The International Expansion Plan
At the beginning of 2018, Bithumb made a major announcement. In the announcement, the company made it clear that it would closely cooperate with partners from other countries to create platforms that are not only faster but also very efficient for its international client base. Some of the projects that the company has listed in its upcoming international plan include the operation of upcoming exchange platforms, the processing of cash management (debit/remittance/deposit), customer service as well as marketing & promotion.
Apart from these two crypto exchange trading subsidiaries coming up in Japan and Thailand, similar ones had also been established in Britain and Singapore. The company has also made it clear about its plans to create more subsidiaries in Europe and the United States of America.
However, the company has not revealed the time when all these shall be done. Not long ago, April 2018 to be precise, Coinone, which is the largest Cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea said that it would expand to Indonesia.


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HAMBURG: The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has issued a brand-new global tender to purchase 50,000 tonnes of white sugar, European traders said on Monday.
The due date for entry of rate offers is October 6. The Pakistani federal government in 2020 authorized sugar imports to fulfill a shortage as production dropped listed below usage levels.
Read Also :Searle earns Rs3.7bn in FY21
The TCP has released a series of tenders in current months. No acquisition has actually yet been reported in the TCPs previous tender for 50,000 tonnes of sugar which closed on September 29.
Specifications in the new tender have actually been transformed to medium to fine grade granular sugar which must open more feasible supply beginnings, investors stated.


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Anti-government demonstrators and riot police invade Hong Kong malls on Boxing Day as 'shopping protests' enter third day
- 'Shopping protests' targeted malls across Hong Kong since Christmas Eve
- Police have stepped up patrols at the shopping centres despite lower turnout
- Riot officers armed with batons and shields surrounded a mall in Kowloon
Hundreds of protesters marched through Hong Kong shopping malls on Thursday, disrupting business in the Asian financial hub for a third day over the festive period and prompting riot police to close off a mall in a tourist district.
The 'shopping protests' have targeted malls across the Chinese-ruled city since Christmas Eve, turning violent at times with police firing tear gas to disperse demonstrators in areas filled with shoppers and visitors.
While the turnout on Thursday was smaller than on the previous two days, riot police stepped up patrols at shopping centers on the Kowloon peninsula and in the rural New Territories.
A plain clothes police officer holds out a baton after apprehending someone during a rally at the Langham Place shopping mall in Mong Kok, Hong Kong today. Hong Kong endured a third straight day of political unrest over the Christmas period today as police and pro-democracy protesters clashed inside shopping malls
Protesters carry a flag reading 'Liberate Hong Kong, the Revolution of Our Times' as they march through a shopping mall in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong today
Riot police point towards protesters at a Hong Kong shopping mall earlier today
Dozens of police with batons and shields surrounded and sealed off the Langham Place shopping mall in Kowloon's Tsim Sha Tsui district after black-clad, masked protesters occupied it.
'I think the purpose for us to come out is to... let people realize that so many front-line protesters sacrificed (things) for them. They should not forget and (simply) celebrate Christmas,' said Sandy, a young demonstrator who wore a black mask to hide her identity.
'...We have been fighting for almost seven months now, and the Hong Kong police have done so many bad things.'
Riot police ride escalators at a shopping mall during a demonstration in Hong Kong earlier today
Riot police officers point their weapons towards protesters at a Hong Kong mall today
Protesters carry a flag reading 'Liberate Hong Kong, the Revolution of Our Times' as they ride in an escalator in a shopping mall in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong today
The protests began more than six months ago in response to a now-withdrawn bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, where courts are controlled by the Communist Party.
They have since evolved into a broader pro-democracy movement, and became more confrontational over the festive season.
Earlier in December, after pro-democracy candidates overwhelmingly won district council elections, they had been largely peaceful.
Plainclothes police officers detain a protester during a demonstration at a shopping mall in Hong Kong today
A riot police officer wields his baton as he nears the end of the escalators at a Hong Kong shopping mall today
Many protesters have been angered by what they see as the use of unnecessary force by the police, and demanded an independent inquiry into the force's behaviour.
Police, who say they have used only minimum force to control the protests, on Thursday detained several people at a mall in rural Tai Po, north of the city's financial center, public broadcaster RTHK said.
Demonstrators are also angry at what they perceive as increased meddling by Beijing in freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. China denies interfering, saying it is committed to the 'one country, two systems' formula put in place at that time, and blames foreign forces for fomenting unrest.
People practice running as they take part in a march through a shopping mall in the Tai Po district in Hong Kong today
Seated shoppers watch as riot police march through the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping mall in Hong Kong today
A man holds up his hands in innocence as riot police gather near the entrance to a Hong Kong shopping mall today
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam condemned the protesters in a Facebook post on Wednesday, saying many Hong Kongers and tourists were disappointed their Christmas Eve celebrations had been ruined, while local businesses had also been hit.
On Thursday, some restaurants and stores pulled down their shutters in the malls as protesters, some wearing balaclavas and carrying black flags, marched by.
The government on Thursday criticized 'unprecedented violence' by some protesters, but said that protecting freedoms and human rights remained a top priority.


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New bill aims to put the brakes on rogue tow truck driversPosted: Updated:
PHOENIX - Michael Tharp is a runner.
He parks his car in a lot on 40th St. and Camelback almost every Saturday and jogs along the Arizona Canal.
But last month, he returned from his hour-long jog to find his car had been towed.
“All of us were pretty stunned,” he said.
Michael says at the time, he didn't see the tow away zone signs.
Regardless, he believes he probably never would've been towed had it not been for something called a spotter, a person hired by towing companies to tip them off when they see someone parked illegally.
“When people park their cars and walk off the lot, then they basically report us to the towing company,” Michael said.
It's practices like these that prompted Rep. Ed Ableser of Tempe to create house bill 2462, a bill that will prevent tow truck companies from trespassing onto private property to tow.
The bill is now on Gov. Brewer's desk.
“The issue of private property trespass towers has been probably one of the biggest issues for my district, Mill Ave., Marketplace and businesses all around this area,” Rep. Ableser said.
The bill, if signed into law, would also prevent towing companies from paying businesses just to be their preferred tower.
For example, according to Rep. Ableser, towing companies invest tens of thousands of dollars a year just so they can be the official tower for a business.
But he says that investment turns into a major profit with all the cars that are towed from a parking lot.
“It's a scheme, it's a way to basically gouge the customer, the consumer who basically has no other choice,” he said.
Rep. Ableser showed 3 On Your Side one of the biggest towing hot spots in his district - Jack in the Box on Mill Ave. - where a company called Monster Towing has free rein to tow violators away.
According to Rep. Ableser, spotters here watch and wait for drivers to park and walk somewhere else, then the spotter tips off Monster Towing.
A tow truck hooks up and hauls off vehicles in a matter of seconds.
Drivers in these situations could wind up paying hundreds of dollars to get their vehicle back, something house bill 2462 aims to change by establishing a statewide towing rate.
“Tow truck companies are running rampant with no set rates, they're gouging their customers with extremely high rates and people have no other option,” Rep. Ableser said. “They need their vehicle, it's probably their most expensive material possession.”
A spokesperson for Jack in the Box tells 3 On Your Side despite Rep. Ableser's claim, it doesn't accept any money from Monster Towing.
As for Monster Towing, the owner tells 3 On Your Side his company does not condone the use of spotters, and although the practice exists in his industry, his company operates by the book.
Which brings us back to Michael, who believes the towing industry still needs to be regulated and thinks the new law will help consumers.
“I think this something where people are getting burned and I don't want people to suffer from this,” Michael said.
3 On Your Side has learned Gov. Brewer has vetoed the bill so it will not become law, at least for now.
Rep. Ableser tells us he plans to modify, then re-submit the bill later this year.


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Food prices continue to go up and consumers are feeling the pinch. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of food has spiked to its highest rate since September 2011. Consumers are now paying more for such staples as ground beef, chicken and turkey, eggs, bacon, citrus fruit, coffee, peanut butter, and margarine. Normally, politicians would try to alleviate this financial strain on American families. Yet, this administration seems to want to make food more expensive.Did you read that last sentence? Reduced consumption of salt will kill you.
Consider the recent announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that it plans to create “voluntary” guidelines for food manufacturers and restaurants to reduce the amount of sodium in their products and prepared meals. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg explained the move with the classic “it’s good for you” rationale, saying, “We believe we can make a big impact working with the industry to bring sodium levels down, because the current level of consumption really is higher than it should be for health.”
But is American salt consumption really unhealthy?
According to a new study from researchers at the University of Copenhagen Hospital in Denmark and published in the American Journal of Hypertension, the daily salt intake guidelines offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (currently set at 2,300 mg per day for people under 50 years old, and less than 1,500 mg per day for people over 50 years old) are “excessively and unrealistically low.” The researchers found that most Americans consume more sodium than the CDC recommendations (at around 2,645-4,945 mg per day) and that when sodium consumption fell outside that range, there was an increase in mortality.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
THE LAW OF INNOCENT DEATH: FDA's New Food Regulations Are A Recipe For High Food Prices
We really need to get rid of the FDA. I'm sick of their control of the food supply. And they are basing their control on outdated ideas on low sodium intake. It's stupid and archaic. This is yet another example of the Federal Government trying to do one thing - save lives - and accomplishing just the opposite.


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When it comes to industry events, one of the biggest for the mobile world is MWC, held every year in February, all the way in Barcelona, Spain. There's always a flurry of activity and some of the bigger names in the industry head to the event to show off their latest and greatest. Over the past couple of years, HTC has pretty much owned the show, and Samsung are becoming more and more absent from the whole thing. Huawei are one manufacturer though, that has their interest firmly in making a show of MWC. They had a good showing last year and with HTC floundering, this may well be the year for them to break away from the pack.
Huawei are hoping to do that with a couple of new smartphones, and one of them is Ascend P2. Of which more leaked photos have surfaced and it looks like Huawei is going for a more classy, and understated look this time around.
Traditionally, Huawei has been one to release a pair of flagship devices, the Ascend D and the Ascend P, with the P going for a more slender build. Hopefully, Huawei will have a good-looking and svelte phone that is still built to a relatively good standard.
The problems surrounding Huawei have not always been of quality or vision but, the after-market support that is always lacking from them. Not only does it seem to take them forever and a day to hit the market with a certain device but, updates are far and few between. Perhaps not as bad as HTC's recent showing, of updating the Thunderbolt to ICS some 400 or so days after Android 4.0 hit but, they're not exactly good at it either.
Huawei have now begun sending out press invites to their press event at MWC and while it doesn't hint at much, it at least lets us know that they're headed to the event. With Samsung and HTC expected to both be absent, you have to wonder just what we're going to see, and from who.
Overall, I'm pretty excited to see what MWC will bring this year and I'd like to see some great devices from Huawei but, also concrete plans to release them in a lot more corners of the globe.


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BMW of North America won’t change the major components of its controversial dealership bonus program for 2018, but it will relax some of the metrics it uses so that more dealerships should qualify for the payments.
The updates to the Added Value Program were announced to dealers this month at a meeting in Las Vegas. While the modifications are a helpful step, the leader of the BMW National Dealer Forum says retailers are not done trying to revamp the program more thoroughly for future years.
Womack: Eyes “2019, beyond”
“We just want to make sure we’re all walking in the right direction and monitoring and encouraging the right behavior,” said Patrick Womack, forum chairman and general manager of Laurel BMW of Westmont in suburban Chicago. “My goal [is to] immediately start on discussion of 2019 and beyond. We want to discuss and monitor things that are within a dealer’s control.”
Dealers had objected to changes in the program announced last year, particularly two new components that measure and tie parts of the bonus to the proportion of BMWs a store services in its market as well as the number of customer defections to other brands. Megadealer Norman Braman is suing BMW in federal court in Florida over the program.
Under the previously announced guidelines, the percentage of dealerships projected to fall out of eligibility in the two new categories — dealer sales loyalty and service effectiveness — had been well over 10 percent. With those components responsible for 70 percent of the possible AVP bonus of up to 5 percent of a vehicle’s sticker price, missing the targets would be a major financial hit for dealerships.
“Over 90 percent of our dealership profitability is AVP,” Womack said. “It’s a huge impact to the dealers.”
In addition to relaxing some metrics, BMW also agreed to additional steps if 10 percent of dealerships fall out of eligibility on the sales loyalty and service effectiveness components.
If that happens, BMW has agreed to meet with dealers about further adjustments aimed at making more stores eligible.
At the Las Vegas meeting, Shaun Bugbee, BMW of North America’s executive vice president of operations, told dealers that the automaker wants to have 100 percent of the dealer body earning the AVP bonus going forward, Womack said.
Kuhnt: Moving in “right direction”
The program will now take effect June 1. BMW of North America CEO Bernhard Kuhnt had previously put the program on hold until May 1, with all dealerships authorized to receive the bonus in the meantime regardless of their standing on the program’s criteria.
Repairing rocky dealer relations has been a top priority for Kuhnt since being appointed U.S. chief just more than a year ago. He has said often that he wants to see BMW make gains on the dealer attitude surveys that the National Automobile Dealers Association conducts twice a year.
Kuhnt told the dealers meeting in Las Vegas that BMW had moved up five places in the most recent survey’s rankings, from 22nd to 17th. Participation by BMW dealers almost doubled compared with a year earlier, and it was the best result for BMW since the summer of 2009, Kuhnt said.
“It is still not where we want to be, but it’s a step in the right direction,” Kuhnt told dealers, according to a BMW spokesman. “Let me assure you that we want to do more, and there’s a long way to go. Your latest feedback motivates us to work even harder to improve.”
BMW CEO Harald Krueger and other board members attended the Las Vegas meeting. With dealers participating from throughout North America, nearly 1,000 people were in attendance, Womack said. The overall message from BMW was encouraging, he said.
“We’re nowhere near where we want to be,” he said, “but we’ve made a lot of progress.”


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The Foundry, a new section of the Project show held this week at the Jacob Javits Center that brought together over two dozen men’s sportswear, shirt and accessories brands, proved to be a great success for both retailers and vendors.
“The Foundry was designed for smaller, crafted brands that represent the trends of the season,” said Tommy Fazio, men’s fashion director of UBM, who created the section. “It was meant to be an area of exploration and unexpected items.”
The area hosted established brands such as Amsterdam-based cashmere specialist Hommard, accessories specialist Trumbull Rhodes and shirt specialist Stantt to retail newcomers such as contemporary sportswear brand Kyle’Lyk, to primarily D-to-C brands including Dallas-based jeweler Billy Baker, who was attempting to make inroads into the wholesale market.
One such brand, Beltology, was particularly pleased with being part of the section. “Being a direct-to-consumer brand for the past few years, we have brought happiness to more hips than we ever thought was possible! But belts are still an afterthought even at America’s best retailers – not the focal point it should be,” said Frans Sjo, the company’s head of sales and partnerships. “We believe the category is ripe for rejuvenation and we were very excited to bring a best-selling selection of our product to market at Project. The Foundry’s curated approach and vision aligned perfectly with Beltology’s aim of forming strategic partnerships with select retailers. The show was a major commercial success because it paired us with like-minded retailers who focus on perfecting both the customer experience and their satisfaction.”
Indeed, no matter the category, Foundry vendors were thrilled with the experience. “The show had the right mix of clients for us and I thought the Foundry was very nice, with a focused point of view,” said Paul Trible, CEO of Virginia-based shirting company Ledbury. “I thought the area really mixed well with the surroundings; it felt like it was part of a more cohesive show. As a result, we found some new folks who were searching the floor for the right items for their stores and discovered us at the show.”
That sentiment was also expressed by Andy Trammell, VP of Sales for popular Dallas-based sandal maker Hari Mari. “I think the Foundry had great energy and synergy with the brands exhibiting there.”
Added David Barclay, founder and CEO of accessories brand Stolen Riches (known worldwide for their colored shoelaces): “The Foundry was a well-curated group of complementary brands. More importantly, all the buyers we spoke with said it was the most important area of the show as it’s where they went to discover new brands.”
“I loved being part of the launch of The Foundry, it was the perfect place for my brand and point of view,” summed up Josh Madans, owner of Billy Baker Co. “I met a lot of great people and enjoyed the mix of both classic and emerging brands.”


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Recognizing Toyota Material Handling, U.s.a., Inc.by Representative Luke Messer
Posted on 2013-12-10
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Mr. MESSER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Toyota Material
Handling, U.S.A., INC. which recently moved its North American
headquarters to Columbus, Indiana in my congressional district.
Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., INC. (TMHU) has been operating in North America for 45 years and in 1990 began lift truck production at the Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing facility in Columbus. The company has been producing the number-one selling lift truck in the U.S. since 2002. The majority of all Toyota lift trucks sold in the U.S. are manufactured in Columbus.
Recently Toyota celebrated the official grand opening of their multi- million dollar investment in their new campus and the line-off of the first large capacity Toyota 8-Series lift truck. The same event also marked the 450,000th lift truck produced at the Columbus plant. By moving their headquarters to Columbus TMHU continues its investment in Southeastern Indiana and support for the community's economic vitality.
I ask the entire 6th Congressional District to join me in recognizing Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., INC. Their leadership and economic impact on our state has been invaluable. TMHU is a great community partner, and I look forward to working with them often in the future.


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NIVEA Invisible for Black & White, the deodorant from Beiersdorf South Africa that keeps black clothes black and white clothes white for longer, rewrote a chapter in its marketing handbook when it took to the catwalk late last year in a bid to boost already high levels of awareness and trial for the product.
Marketing Director Laurens van den Berg and Brand Manager Inez Valjee briefed Beiersdorf South Africa‘s marketing partner, Draftfcb, with developing an out-of-the-box concept to complement the brand’s existing communication utilising TV, print, in-store.
“We tasked the agency to get closer to the target market and connect with them in a meaningful and relevant way with a glamorous and memorable experience, while further entrenching the brand’s single-minded message: ‘Black stays black, white stays white for longer’,” said van den Berg.
Interpreting this as ‘all about keeping your favourite fashion looking good for longer’, the Draftfcb team devised the NIVEA Invisible Black & White Fashion Experience. Debuting at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Africa, this showcased two up-and-coming designers and their collections celebrating black and white. After the catwalk, fashionistas and VIP consumers who had won a Black & White competition lit up the night at an exclusive Black & White After Party.
According to Account Director, Delene Henrico, this foray into fashion was a local first for the NIVEA brand.
“The project was more than just a response to a brief, it was a revolution in collaboration between Draftfcb and NIVEA in South Africa,” she said.
“Not only did Beiersdorf South Africa take a leap of faith into the unknown, the project came with its own challenges from selecting the right designers for the job to fine-tuning the logistics in terms of hosting the competition winners, creating a fabulous expo stand, devising and directing the fashion show and delivering a star-studded after party all in one go.
“It was exceedingly gratifying to see everything coming together perfectly – after months of hard work the expo stand, fashion show and after party were all a huge success. We’re very grateful for the support African Fashion International gave us, particularly when it came to selecting the designers, and ensuring they met the brief.”
In addition to the fashion show and after party, Draftfcb also delivered magazine ads in multiple formats, a 10 second tag to the existing 20 second spot, a magazine insert, media pack, online banner ads, the expo stand, after party branding and AV for the fashion show.
Concluded van den Berg: “Beiersdorf South Africa’s criteria for success looked at three different measurements – sales, competition entries received and show attendance.
“The collaborative effort realised spiralling sales, record market shares, thousands of competition entries; and the first show at Fashion Week 2012 to sell out. Kudos all round.”
Marketing Director, NIVEA South Africa – Laurens van den Berg
Brand Manager Deodorant, NIVEA South Africa – Inez Valjee
Executive creative director – Stuart Stobbs
Art Director – Coralee Barnes
Copy writer – Conrad de Kock
Creative Director – Toni Hughes
Account Director – Delene Henrico
Draftfcb South Africa – Brett Morris (011) 566-6000
Draftfcb Johannesburg – Alistair Mokoena (011) 566-6000
Draftfcb Cape Town – Eric D’Oliviera (021) 404-0300
Hellocomputer – David Moffatt (021) 404-0300
Debonairs Pizza spoofs sassy Johannesburg Metro police officer, Johannesburg resident who filmed her
FCB South Africa has a reputation for building South Africa’s favourite brands. That’s probably because we consistently produce South Africa’s favourite campaigns. Founded on ideas that truly connect with real South Africans. Ideas that solve business challenges. Ideas that win awards. Ideas that make a difference to our community, our country and our planet. Ideas that matter.
A network of individually run and managed agencies, FCB South Africa offers full service advertising; data analytics and visualisation; corporate identity, way-finding and packaging design; digital; experiential; promotions; public relations; retail advertising and social marketing solutions.


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Study: LinkedIn Positioned To Be Professional Content Marketing Leader, Testing Monetization
LinkedIn’s focus on content has been in overdrive recently. A new in-depth study by faberNovel, titled LinkedIn, the Serious Network, looks at LinkedIn’s ten year trajectory from an online resume repository to a powerhouse hub for professional recruitment, lead generation, sales solutions, marketing tools and, yes, a full-fledged B2B content engine. It is now testing […]
LinkedIn’s focus on content has been in overdrive recently. A new in-depth study by faberNovel, titled LinkedIn, the Serious Network, looks at LinkedIn’s ten year trajectory from an online resume repository to a powerhouse hub for professional recruitment, lead generation, sales solutions, marketing tools and, yes, a full-fledged B2B content engine.
It is now testing ways to monetize its content marketing power with native ads called Sponsored Updates.
The company’s focus on content can be traced back to the inception of social news product, LinkedIn Today in 2011. Acquisitions of SlideShare in May 2012, mobile news reader, Pulse in April and social polling app, Maybe? in May have further played into the company’s content strategy. In October 2012, LinkedIn launched Influencers, a blogging platform for business leaders like Richard Branson, who, the study notes, now has 1.9 million subscribers.
As the faberNovel study points out, one of LinkedIn’s challenges has been to increase user engagement. It lags far behind Facebook and Twitter in average time spent per user each month. LinkedIn’s betting that its mix of exclusive and aggregated content will give users reason to increase the time they spend on the network. The new mobile apps and desktop news feed redesigns illustrate LinkedIn’s efforts to encourage the type of active user behavior Facebook enjoys.
To fuel engagement, faberNovel says LinkedIn’s goal is to become the first social platform for professional publishing.
Monetizing The Content Marketing Machine
LinkedIn is also looking for new advertising revenues. Sponsored Updates, a pilot program that launched in January, is LinkedIn’s latest foray into monetizing the content marketing engine it has built. Much like Facebook and Twitter’s programs for paid content amplification, LinkedIn’s Sponsored Updates allow companies to promote content assets to a targeted user base, at scale.
The program remains in invitation-only mode, but expanded to the mobile apps in April. The native ad program is LinkedIn’s first foray into mobile advertising. The company says they are taking their time with mobile monetization and have been easing into it over the past few months.
Pilot companies include American Express, Lenovo, HubSpot and Xerox. While all aim to engage get their content seen by as many eyeballs as possible by promoting it, these companies are approaching Sponsored Updates with several different goals including gaining new followers, generating leads, building awareness of new positioning.
No date is set for the general release of Sponsored Updates. The program isn’t likely to have an imminent impact on the company’s ad revenues, which were $74.8 million in Q2 2013. The faberNovel study calls LinkedIn the Serious Network, and the company has made impressive moves on many fronts. Yet, if Sponsored Updates is going to make a serious impact on ad revenues, users will need to buy into LinkedIn as a content destination and marketers will need to take it seriously as a place to reach active, engaged professionals — at scale.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


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Many of you enjoyed my previous article on the upcoming NVAX short squeeze so I’m following up with an update on the potential for a Lucid stock squeeze.
As a long-time holder of Lucid stock since the CCIV SPAC, I must admit it’s been a REALLY rough time for the company.
LCID stock is down 11% YTD while the NASDAQ QQQ ETF is up 34% YTD.
Is It Worth HODLing LCID stock anymore?
Well, the good news is that the company has over $5 billion in cash on hand plus recently launched its 2nd EV production factory called AMP-2 in Saudi Arabia on September 27th.
The bad news is that short sellers have targeted LCID shares and contributed to the massive drop in share price. When Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Lucid could go bankrupt in the future, a lot of short sellers began dumping LCID shares.
However, the market isn’t always right and I’m predicting a massive LCID short squeeze in 2024. Here’s why…
7 Reasons Lucid Stock Could Hit $50 After The Short Squeeze
1. Lucid Stock is the 2nd Most Shorted EV Stock on the NASDAQ
2. 2023 Price Cuts Could Cause a Surge in Demand
Lucid followed EV makers like Tesla and dropped the price of its Lucid Air to create higher demand. Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said the price cuts worked but we won’t know the effects until Q3 2023 earnings report on November 13th, 2023.
3. The AMP-2 Factory in Saudi Arabia Is the Only EV Facility in the Country
Saudi Arabia is the growing robust economy with a keen desire for EV vehicles. Lucid operates the only electric car factory in the country thanks to 100k EV order from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
4. Advances in EV Battery Technology Will Improve Margins
EV battery costs are falling and could continue trending down in the future, which helps Lucid improve margins and reach profitability much faster.
5. Lower Interest Rates Could Help Lucid Break Even in 2024
Interest rates wreaked havoc on consumer spending but Fed Chair Jerome Powell may cut interest rates in 2024.
6. Lucid’s First Positive EPS Quarter Will Cause a Massive Short Squeeze
Back in 2019, I posted articles and made videos urging investors to invest in Tesla stock before the company turned a profit in 2020. Once Tesla reach profitability, TSLA shares 10x’ed within the next 2 years.
I truly believe Lucid could be like Tesla 2.0 and soar in value once the bottom line turns black.
7. Bagholders Will Dump Lucid Stock at $50
Don’t expect the LCID short squeeze to last forever because bagholders are still holding LCID shares when Lucid stock was over $50.
$50 is a key resistance level where sellers will attempt to break even but that’s okay since LCID stock is under $6 right now.
- Cash Burn: Lucid maintains a high cash burn rate that’s causing massive losses. If things don’t improved then Lucid must dilute shareholders to stay in business.
- Higher Interest Rates: If Fed Chair Jerome Powell continues raising interest rates then consumer won’t be able to afford luxury EV cars.
My Gameplan for LCID Stock
I jumped back into LCID stock around $5, which is cheaper than the most recent PIF investment price.
Don’t expect the short squeeze to happen overnight. It may take several quarters for LCID stock to make a big move.
Lucid is a long-term hold that should pay off for patience investors. Sell covered calls to generate income while you wait for a better economic environment and Lucid’s first positive GAAP quarter.


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"In effect, the influences of monetary inflation and supply/demand show up in food via the price of oil. Until we stop eating oil (10 calories of fossil fuels are consumed to put one calorie of food on the table), oil is the master commodity in the cost of food."Plain and simple logic.
Regardless of what we eat, we're actually eating oil
of two minds
By Charles Hugh Smith
28 May 2014
Anyone who buys their own groceries (as opposed to having a full-time cook handle such mundane chores) knows that the cost of basic foods keeps rising, despite the official claims that inflation is essentially near-zero.
Common-sense causes include severe weather and droughts than reduce crop yields, rising demand from the increasingly wealthy global middle class and money printing, which devalues the purchasing power of income.
While these factors undoubtedly influence the cost of food, it turns out that food moves in virtual lockstep with the one master commodity in an industrialized global economy: oil. Courtesy of our friends at Market Daily Briefing, here is a chart of a basket of basic foodstuffs and Brent Crude Oil: [above]
In other words, regardless of what we eat, we're actually eating oil. Not directly, of course, but indirectly, as the global production of tradable foods relies on mechanized farming, fertilizers derived from fossil fuel feedstocks, transport of the harvest to processing plants and from there, to final customers.
Even more indirectly, it took enormous quantities of fossil-fuel energy to construct the aircraft that fly delicacies halfway around the world, the ships that carry cacao beans and grain, the trucks that transport produce and the roads that enable fast, reliable delivery of perishables.