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China is focusing on a new long-term growth strategy after the success of its tough measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak
- China was the first into the COVID-19 crisis and the first out
- The Chinese government is also focusing on key strategic products that could come under threat from protectionist measures by the US
- Analysts typically underestimate the importance of China’s gig economy in creating jobs
- The rise of ESG may provide further investment opportunities
China was first into the COVID-19 pandemic and first out. That would be called FIFO in accounting terms. The FIFO moniker has many implications for the global economy and for investors. The spectre of a second wave hitting China may always provide a dampener to bouts of excessive optimism in China’s investment markets for some time. However, the US presidential elections in November may be the more pressing factor for potential investors in China.
China was the first country to see a recovery from the pandemic in both economic and population health terms. As a result, says Edward Evans, emerging equities portfolio manager at Ashmore, it is not surprising that the world is watching China ever more closely as a roadmap for others to follow.
But China’s seemingly successful policies have been at a cost that many other countries might not be prepared to accept. “In China, when they say it’s a lockdown they mean it – so nobody can leave the house beyond a short distance to a nearby supermarket,” says Eng Teck Tan, senior portfolio manager at Nikko Asset Management. “If there is no supermarket nearby, the authorities will get the local community to send food to your home where you have to stay 24-seven.”
If a community has a certain number of cases, the police and army are sent to basically barricade the community effectively. This, says Tan, acts as a “circuit breaker” to the spread of the virus.
China’s approach has succeeded on the economic front. Exports and imports have recovered to pre-Chinese New Year levels first and manufacturing has returned to a full working week. But consumer consumption and retail spending patterns have recovered more slowly.
The pattern is happening in developed markets too, with an acceleration of structural trends towards more online shopping. Bricks-and-mortar retail outlets and restaurants are seeing a more gradual return of consumers.
China has also benefited, argues Tan, from the fact that when China opened up, south-east Asia was shut down because of a spike in Covid-19 cases starting in May. So many customers in the US, Europe and other parts of the world did not have anywhere else to get their goods except from China.
With the Chinese authorities confident that the pandemic is under control, they have the leeway, Tan says, to prepare for a new ‘long march’. They are preparing to take on the US because of the justifiable view that going into the US elections in November severe measures will be taken against China.
That has resulted in measures such as the issuance of a large amount of special bonds usually used to finance infrastructure spending in China. “But so far, if you look at the last two months, the numbers from fixed asset and infrastructure investment are fairly muted,” he says. “So it seems like they are preparing the ammunition but they are not doing much yet.”
The Chinese government is also focusing on key strategic products that could come under threat, with the biggest insecure item for China being semiconductors, says Tan. “That’s why they went out and set up semiconductor funds and encouraged a lot of Chinese companies to venture into semiconductor manufacturing.”
Chinese policy, Evans points out, has directed banks to lend and publicly highlighted that banks should be first and foremost focused on maintaining the solvency of businesses – including SMEs – and domestic economic stability (in keeping with long-term Communist Party aims).
Banks are therefore being pressured not to chase loan repayments until the economy recovers sufficiently. Consumers have also been given vouchers which need to be used by a certain date, ensuring the money is being spent and not saved. That acts as a confidence booster for China.
Another boost to domestic consumption has come from the effective cessation of overseas tourism. “With between 150m and 260m trips abroad by Chinese tourists, they spent probably about 4-5% of the Chinese consumption data numbers overseas,” Tan says.
That spending has been redirected domestically. “All these Chinese that used to buy their Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada in Europe are suddenly all buying it locally,” says Tan. On the day that Hermès reopened its flagship store in Guangzhou after two months of lockdown, the single store is said to have taken a national record of $2.7m (€2.3m) in sales. “The English translation of the Chinese description of this is ‘revenge spending’,” Tan says.
The new digital economy may be faring well while bricks-and-mortar companies might struggle with the inevitable large job losses. However, says Tan, analysts miss out on the reasons why the Chinese government is fairly confident that it does not need a massive support package of the type seen elsewhere to prevent unemployment. “What people underestimate is the gig economy in China,” says Tan. Many people returned to their villages and home towns after the Chinese New Year. But they were able to find local jobs such as delivery riders that may pay 20% less than they were getting paid but they are close to home and they can return to the cities once the companies restart.
“To be considered a global superpower, they recognise China has to be a leader in technology” - Elaine Tse
For investors, the crash and recovery creates new opportunities as the Chinese economy adjusts to a new normal, exacerbating trends such as digitalisation that were already present.
The nature of the pandemic crisis, has highlighted the need for communication infrastructure for working from home, remote learning and e-commerce, points out Elaine Tse, portfolio manager at Wells Fargo Asset Management.
It also reinforces the recent growth strategy of moving up the value chain, with China no longer providing low-cost labour for the rest of the world. “They want to be considered a global superpower and for that they recognise China has to be a leader in technology,” Tse says.So, while investing in infrastructure investment is a typical way to support growth during a downturn, the focus has been on the new infrastructure of 5G telecoms and not just roads and railways. By 2022 many provinces will have full 5G coverage, says Tse.
But some sectors under state direction can be unattractive. Evans says Ashmore has zero exposure in Chinese banks because they can essentially have to pay for the policy of supporting SMEs. SMEs in fragmented unorganised sectors are under huge pressure and hence bigger players with stronger balance sheets and earnings reserves will be able to consolidate such industries to produce outsize market share gains, he says.
Tan concurs: “While overall growth in the white spirit market has been low single digit, the top 25 or so spirit companies have been growing at more than 20% – in the last few years through consolidation of the more than 10,000 brands/companies in the marketplace, with only 25-30% of them being wiped out so far.”
As Michelle Qi, CIO for equities at Eastspring Investments, argues, China has been the first country to successfully get COVID-19 under control and may become the only large economy to achieve positive GDP growth this year. “With a v-shaped recovery post COVID-19 and stabilising renminbi versus dollar exchange rate, Chinese equities are well positioned,” she says.
What the COVID-19 pandemic has woken China to, along with the rest of the world, is the requirement for better governance and sustainability. “Corporate governance has continued and increasing new-economy names are getting listed in A and H-share market as more capital market reforms are being done,” adds Qi.
There is certainly demand for a better focus on sustainability. The China Alliance of Social Value Investment (CASVI) launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in January with Bosera Asset Management investing in 100 companies that scored highly in positive contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals that raised nearly $212m.
For investors, it is worth remembering that the drive towards higher ESG standards in China is only just beginning. The COVID-19 pandemic may be the catalyst for much greater state and private sector support for companies that combine profits with sustainability. That could, indeed, be an attractive opportunity.


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- About Us
- Investment News
According to Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea,
South Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group pledged investment of up to 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 million) in research and developments over the next three years in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), next-generation battery and functional materials for mobile and robotic devices and futuristic vehicles as core innovations for the future.
The group in conjunction with government offices placed 12 themes from the three sectors for competition in search for novel ideas and innovation for sponsorship. It has put up 1.5 trillion won a year since 2013 to sponsor innovations.
The group picked AI as a project theme for longer-term investment in the area. Next-generation batteries should compensate for the shortcomings of lithium-ion batteries as means of fast charging would become imperative in an age when mobile devices and electric vehicles become commonplace. The key would be shortening the charging time without impairing battery life.
The third theme is new materials to make durable, flexible, and smart mobile and robotic devices, and future cars. “We need a prototype or a material that can be commercialized within three to five years as such new materials are already in high demand.
By Lee Seung-hoon
Copyrights Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea. All Rights Reserved.
Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (Jul. 12, 2016)

domain: news


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Game Troopers released new update to Make it Rain: The love of money for Windows Phone devices. The latest update is not major, but it fixes cloud save bugs and it also includes minor performance in this update.
Update Content: V2.1 – Cloud save fix.
Thanks Ayush for the tip !!


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May 31, 2017 - Recycling Today Magazine
APR Member Highlight: Avangard Innovative
Taking a fresh approach
Avangard Innovative, headquartered in Houston, expands its operations by producing recycled LDPE pellets.
Houston-based recycler Avangard Innovative continues to find new material streams to tackle. Through its Natura Zero Program, the company works with Fortune 500 companies to identify and efficiently collect clients’ recyclables; it also collaborates with them to reduce or reclaim spent resources in daily operations.
In addition to the Natura Zero Program, Avangard manufactures its own line of recycling equipment, including foam densifiers, compactors and balers, featuring technology designed to help track bale composition and quality. The company also uses software to help its clients track their recycling efforts.
Avangard is adding the production of recycled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) pellets to its capabilities. Film recovered from its clients in the retail sector will provide the raw material.
A LITTLE HISTORY
“Avangard Innovative started as a plastics recycling company and evolved into a waste- and recycling-optimization company using technology,” CEO Rick Perez says.
“I started the company with a phone and fax at my parents’ house with $1,000 back when recycling was not so sexy and there was really not a big focus on it at all,” he says. At its founding in 1986, the company was known as Innovative Commodities Group. In late 2006, it merged with Avangard Industries Ltd., another plastics recycling, processing and trading company headquartered in Houston, to form Avangard Innovative.
“We were fortunate to be able to grow the business over 30 years, and I think we have made some great strides in this field,” Perez says.
BACK TO ITS ROOTS
With the announcement of its new LDPE recycling facility, Avangard is capitalizing on a material stream that makes up a good deal of the recyclables it handles for its clients through the Natura Zero Program.
“We are doing the same thing we did in the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) market,” Perez says of Avangard’s move to produce postconsumer recycled (PCR) LDPE pellets. He’s referring to the company’s role in the formation of PetStar, Toluca, Mexico, which Perez describes as “one of the largest postconsumer resin plants in the world.” PetStar recycles PET bottles, supplying its food-contact-grade resin to Coca-Cola bottlers throughout Mexico.
Avangard is investing $10 million to build the facility that will convert LDPE film into high-quality PCR resin to be used in film production. The investment includes the building, equipment and working capital for the operation, which will be located on property Avangard already owns in Houston, says Jon Stephens, the company’s executive vice president.
“With our past success in the PCR PET recycle streams, we are very excited about this new venture,” Perez said when the company first announced its plans in March. “With this new LDPE plant, we can vertically integrate and utilize one of the largest streams of material we manage today.”
The company says it manages approximately 100 million pounds of LDPE film scrap annually from the retail sector and other generators throughout the Americas. This material stream is the third-largest Avangard handles, the largest being corrugated containers, followed by organic materials.
“Approximately 50 percent of our LDPE scrap will flow through the new facility,” Stephens says, adding that the company will sell the balance of the material to its current markets.


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The fate of the $1 double cheeseburger seems sealed. McDonald’s has already announced that it will be looking for ways to cut costs or increase revenue from the popular dollar menu item — even if it means taking the double cheeseburger off the menu completely. Now the Wall Street Journal says that McDonald’s is testing different versions of the burger, and that it may lose some or all of its cheese.
In an interview, Don Thompson, president of McDonald’s U.S. business, said the company has tested ways to make the burger less expensive to make. Some restaurants are selling it with one slice of cheese instead of two, and billing it as a “double hamburger with cheese.” Others are offering a double hamburger without cheese. Some are selling the traditional double cheeseburger at prices ranging from $1.09 to $1.19.
Will you eat a cheeseless Double Cheeseburger?
McDonald’s Tests Changes
In $1 Burger As Costs Rise [WSJ] (Thanks, Orlando!)
(Photo: Paxton Holley )


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Hypercasual games are simple games that can reach the broadest audiences on mobile devices, and they can be made almost anywhere. The latest company to prove that is Ducky, a nine-month-old company in Russia whose games have been played 145 million times and generated $1 million a month in revenue.
Ducky’s small team is geographically dispersed. and it works with external game developers to create a factory focusing on hypercasual mobile games. The business is profitable, and the company has been able to raise $1 million in funding, said Ducky CEO Ivan Fedyanin in an interview with GamesBeat.
Hypercasual games are low-commitment forms of entertainment. You can play them while waiting in line to get into the grocery store or while you’re in the bathroom. They’re like casual games, but with an even shorter time span of 30 seconds to a minute. They appeal to busy people or those with short attention spans, whether it’s older people over 45 or young folks who are part of the TikTok generation. Hypercasual games are generating billions of dollars in revenue and they’re showing up in the top 100 lists. Mobile measurement firm Adjust and game engine maker Unity said 95% of hypercasual game revenues come from ads.
Leaders in the industry include Voodoo, Kwalee, and Playgendary. Mobile social game publisher Zynga moved into the market by paying at least $168 million for Rollic. During the early part of 2020, Adjust and Unity reported that hypercasual games were growing at 72% in terms of sessions played, with China leading the growth. Hypercasual games combine simple mechanics and minimalistic design to engage players.
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Ducky’s games have been downloaded at least 25 million times in places such as the United States, United Kingdom, China, and Japan. Developers get paid for performance for their hits, and Ducky runs tests and acquires feedback to improve the games on a quick cycle. Ducky tests hundreds of gameplay videos and constantly gives feedback to developers. It takes a 50-50 split on profit sharing and invests in its hits as they happen. Ducky prides itself on moving fast to give feedback on gameplay submissions within a day.
“Our killer feature is being lightning fast,” Fedyanin said. “The developer gets results for a video in 24 hours. We don’t have a lot of time to get the data. But the developer can get results quickly and stay engaged with the idea. This is important with creative people. If they abandon an idea, they don’t put their souls into the game.”
Fedyanin has 18 years of experience in mobile games, while cofounder Alisher Yakubov has 12 years of experience.
Fedyanin worked at My.Games and Nival Interactive, while Yakubov worked at MRGV, 2RealLife, and G5 Entertainment.
“We decided that it was time to do something of our own because we had so much experience working at different positions,” Fedyanin said. “Our job has been to find young teams that need financial help or expertise. And this year, we decided we wanted to do this on our own. And hypercasual has become an interesting emerging market.”
Production for the hypercasual games is cheap and it can be done anywhere. It thrives on fast iterations and lots of ideas at the top of the funnel. Getting feedback fast to the developers is key to evolving a game so that it can be more engaging with players.
“After 18 years of game development, we figured out that you need to test almost everything,” Yabukov said. “There is no secret sauce. Some guy can’t say here’s how you do it and it becomes a hit. It just doesn’t work like that. You have to engage people. You have to create something new and interesting for them. And this is what hypercasual is about. And what we started to build is a factory of small games that test the ideas. Out of 64 projects in prototyping, there may be one hit.”
In the past nine months, the company tested about 300 games, Yabukov said. One of the hits was Mystery Slice. Another is Slice Them All, a shooter game where you slice a bunch of robots coming at you.
“The theme of slicing is similar, but you play them in different ways,” Yakubov said.
The team has grown to 11 people handling all aspects of developer support and game development. Working with developers, the team can create an idea for a game in two or three days. The team creates a video based on gameplay and tests it on Facebook. If the marketers find good results with a banner ad, then the team greenlights the game. Three out of four games don’t get past this point. Next, the team creates a build of the game in a week or two. A player gets about 500 seconds of gameplay. Then the company will measure the cost per install and the retention of the user for the first day. If the first-day retention (percentage of players coming back) is 40% or higher, then the team will iterate on the game until it’s ready to go.
At that point, the company signs agreements with the developer and proceeds with publishing the game on the app stores.
“If the idea just doesn’t work, we’re not going to work on it,” Yakubov said. “This is how we iterate ideas. When we sign the contract, we start the monetization tests. This is the first place where we start adding interstitial ads or other ads and we test what is required in order to incentivize players to get awards. Otherwise, they’re not going to press the button and see the ad. After that, we start checking the scale, which means that we’re buying traffic, in order to see if the amount of money that the game generates is higher than the amount of money that we pay for the ads. This happens only with the games that are driving huge engagement. If you have an ad for a bad game, it will adversely affect the retention. But with good games, it will drive huge retention.”
While Ducky is hiring people, it doesn’t want to become too big.
“We may hire 10 to 20 people globally in the next year, but we want to stay small and fast,” Fedyanin said.
GamesBeat's creed when covering the game industry is "where passion meets business." What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you -- not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Discover our Briefings.


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Since the Target data breach was announced last month, the world has been wondering: WTF, Target? How does a retailer of your size and scope fall victim to hackers?
Well, it looks like more clues are coming out. The Department of Homeland Security has been conducting a secret investigation into the attacks that compromised Target and Neiman Marcus shoppers and it has now released a report that it is distributing to retailers to help them stave off similar attacks.
One of the interesting details to emerge from the report is that Target and Neiman Marcus are not the only victims. Other well-known retailers have also been hit, according to sources who spoke with Reuters, but those retailers have decided to keep mum about it. In fact, Reuters has uncovered six active attacks on retailers across the country.
The report reveals that the Target breach came from an advanced piece of software called POSRAM Trojan, which is also responsible for other attacks on retailers’ point-of-sale systems. POSRAM is a memory scraper that captures data stored on a card’s magnetic stripe in the moment when it’s swiped through the terminal and the data is still in the system’s memory. Data that’s encrypted appears in plain text.
The malware isn’t new—it’s been around for a few years. And evidently, the malware was customized to avoid detection by antivirus software, so that’s why Target’s antivirus tools didn’t flag it.
On December 19, Target revealed that as many as 40 million people may have had their cards compromised when they swiped them at a Target location between November 27 and December 15. It was later revealed that as many as 110 million people may have actually been affected, some 70 million of whom may have had their names, mailing addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers stolen. Because the malware only affected card swipers, online shoppers were not affected.
Target updated its fourth quarter outlook last week and revealed that while the company anticipates stronger-than-expected sales prior to the December 19 data breach announcement, sales likely dropped off immediately thereafter. Target said it expects “meaningfully weaker-than-expected sales” after the announcement, with a comparable sales decline of 2-6%.
The company expects further uncertainty in its GAAP EPS since it has no idea what kind of costs it’s facing in terms of reimbursements for credit card fraud and liability payments, Target REDcard fraud, civil litigation, government investigations, law enforcement proceedings, expenses for legal and investigative fees, and investments in remediation activities. In sum: there’s a big clusterf*ck of bills on the horizon.
Target has 1,797 stores in the U.S. and 124 stores in Canada, though it looks like only U.S. stores were affected. The company posted a profit of $1.6 billion on $51 billion in sales in the first nine months of 2013. Target originally expected to see a full-year EPS of $3.52.
image source: dailytech.com


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The end of the academic year is always an exciting time at the Business School. It’s when so many of our students' final projects, events and presentations finally come to fruition. I had the privilege of viewing several such projects, including Haute Humber and Marketing Degree students’ capstone presentations. In every instance, I was blown away by the level of our students’ professionalism. Throughout this newsletter, you'll also see our Program Coordinators' "Good News" tweets, celebrating school and student achievements this academic year!
Be sure to share all of your successes with us through the Dean’s Newsletter. For submissions, visit business.humber.ca/content-submission and choose “The Dean’s Newsletter”.
Download PDF versions of the Dean’s Newsletter -
April 2018 - Current Version
On April 30th, 2018, Bachelor of Commerce, Marketing students traveled to Miele Canada headquarters to deliver their Capstone presentations to an audience of Miele executives and Humber Faculty.
Robin Sagi, a Bachelor of International Development grad, is currently the Monitoring and Evaluations (M&E) Officer for EQWIP HUBs Indonesia in their Semarang Hub.
This year one of our Fashion Arts and Business Students, Alyson Condon, submitted one of the winning essays in the Greatest High School Teacher Contest.
Every year, graduating Fashion Arts and Business students organize an annual fashion show called Walk it Out. The student-run event showcases collections from well-known designers.
On Friday, April 27th - on the final day of their final semester - the 8th semester students in the Human Resources Degree program made their Capstone presentations in front of their classmates and a panel of judges.
In February 2018, Neel Narine, a 2017 Paralegal Education graduate, started working at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General as a Court Clerk and Registrar. Henry Lowi, a Humber Law professor, noted that Neel always took his studies seriously, participated actively in lectures, and submitted thoughtfully-drafted assignments. Congratulations on your new position, Neel!
Business Professor Mike Dover travelled to the PZ Marketing Summit in Istanbul, Turkey and presented a talk on his Humber Press book, Infinite Monkeys. The presentation was well received by a room full of industry professionals.
Two business school professors, Jennifer Dawson and Rossie Kadiyska, attended International Week at Saxion University in the Netherlands from March 19-23.
On April 5th, the third year Fashion Management students enrolled in the Retail Operations Management course, enjoyed a Fireside Chat with Stephanie Tomlin, Director of Purchasing and Planning for Sporting Life, and Alan Whitfield, VP of stores for Harry Rosen.
Business Administration students recently chose a fundraising project for Haitian children as part of their course work for BMGT 262, Project Management. The students not only applied what they learned in class but also put their hearts into the project.


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Already at the celebration of the start of deliveries for the locally produced Tesla Model 3 in early 2020, CEO Elon Musk announced that he would also set up his own development and design center in China, where new electric cars would be developed. In June, Tesla launched a design competition for the first such vehicle “in the Chinese style”, and it was recently reported that production of an electric car below the Model 3 could begin as early as 2022. As can be seen from a current video, the gigafactory in China is already being enlarged again. And Tesla should specifically look for the management of its design center in the country.
Tesla observer films Gigafactory expansion
Like the construction of the German Gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin, what is happening around the Tesla factory in China is also regularly documented with drone flights. During 2020, these videos initially showed how another pair of halls for Model Y was created, almost mirror-inverted to the main and side halls for the production of Model 3, which have also been offered locally from the beginning of this year .
And as a new video from the observer Jason Yang last weekend shows, the expansion of the Gigafactory complex in Shanghai is obviously far from over. On the one hand, this shows that the construction of additional buildings has begun within the previous property boundaries. On the other hand, the Tesla site is being expanded on its eastern edge, beyond which the area was previously used for agriculture.
What exactly that meant initially remained open, but obviously the signs at Tesla in China are still pointing to expansion. At the same time, the personnel preparation for the local design center seems to be more concrete. Because according to a report by the news agency Reuters, which cites three informed sources, Tesla has been looking for a line for it for four months, but has intensified these activities since December. Some candidates are said to have already been interviewed by the global design chief Franz von Holzhausen.
Bicultural competence for China electric cars
According to the sources, the search is focused on candidates from China, Reuters reports on. What is needed are experiences of at least 20 years in both Western and Chinese cultures and the ability to combine the two. When the bicultural leadership position is filled, around 20 more team members should follow. Tesla wants to be much more responsive to local preferences when designing for the Chinese market, including the $ 25,000 electric car that CEO Musk has already announced, which will then be more compact than the Model 3.


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Fair Trade campaigners say Supermarket Watchdog has teeth!
The Group who’ve led the campaign for a supermarket watchdog for the past decade finally came face to face with her this week. The Grocery Market Action Group met the newly appointed Grocery Adjudicator – Christine Tacon – in the Government’s Business Department and declared that she has teeth and will not be afraid to use them!
The Group, which includes representatives from the NFU and NFU Scotland, CLA, Friends of the Earth, TRAIDCRAFT, British Independent Fruit-growers’ Association, Action Aid, CPRE, Church of England and others, urged Ms Tacon to “get to work as soon as possible”.
West Cornwall and Scillies MP, Andrew George (Lib Dem) has chaired the Grocery Market Action Group (GMAG) since its creation in 2006. But, like most of its members, Mr George had been pressing for action to protect supermarket suppliers from unfair dealing for many years before.
Mr George said: “We were all pleased to see that she’s quickly getting a measure of the significance of the task before her. And we’re reassured by her even-handed approach to the job. We emphasised to her that suppliers will want reassurance that their confidentiality will be protected. And retailers should be reassured too; if they have nothing to hide they have nothing to fear.
“Equally she wants to manage expectations. Clearly the Adjudicator has no role in price-setting. Nor can she deal with market shocks, like when horse meat is found in a small proportion of beef products. She is there to stamp out unfair trading practices, like those identified by the Competition Commission, where some supermarket buyers were found to have added extra costs and unexpected risks to supplier contracts after they’d already shaken hands on a deal.”


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The semiconductor industry must resort to collaboration, consolidation and continuous innovation to grow and prosper, Thomas Caulfield of GlobalFoundries told an audience at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. "Our semiconductor industry is at a crossroads; it's struggling," he said.
Consolidation in the semiconductor industry has created bigger chip companies that are more vulnerable to patent litigation, says Jean-Christophe Eloy of Yole Developpement. Wi-LAN and Acacia Research are among the most aggressive patent-licensing companies, the market research firm says.
Corporate leaders in Japan are concerned about what will become of the information technology related to Toshiba's planned sale of its semiconductor business, particularly if the buyer is from China.
Intel this year will start fabricating chips with 10-nanometer features, placing 100.8 million transistors on a square millimeter of silicon. It also announced the availability of a low-power 22nm FinFET process for foundry customers.
Rutgers University researchers report combining graphene and boron nitride crystal on a substrate, instead of silicon dioxide, to provide a way to keep microchips from overheating. Rutgers professor Eva Andrei said, "This solution doesn't have moving parts, and it's quite efficient for cooling."
Tsinghua Unigroup has lined up $21.8 billion in funding from China Development Bank and China's Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund for worldwide expansion of operations. The chipmaker may use the money for acquisitions and other purposes.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International wants to make internet of things devices with its mature process technology. The foundry currently provides a 55-nanometer process for IoT chips and will be adding low-power 65nm and 90nm processes for IoT applications.
Shipments of Intel's Optane solid-state drives for PCs will commence April 24. Based on the 3D XPoint memory devices, Optane SSDs will make PC booting twice as fast and boost internal data storage performance by a factor of 14, it was said.
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The big-ticket funding rounds of more than $10 million saw only 56 funding rounds this year, compared to last year's 93.
It helps beat high rentals, paucity of grade A offices
Tracxn says over 60 cos operating in the vertical SaaS domain got funds in 2016.
Startup scenario in tier II and tier III cities
Two surveys, by Kalaari Capital and Tracxn, delve deep to check out the strategies, the investments and people that help run these rapidly-growing firms
India has the fourth highest number of startups in business loan space with 40 companies
Majority of startups are now incorporating real estate strategies such as consolidation, expansion and focus on peripheral locations to save cost.
CrunchBase, the online startup database, finds that single-founder companies do at least as good as, if not better than, multi-founder ones
56 cos were founded in travel sector since Jan, with 20 coming up in the past three months alone
India is now seeing venture investments slide after surging to a record $8.9 billion in 2015, according to the research firm Preqin. The pace dropped to $2.7 billion in the first two quarters, the London firm said.
Startup research platform Tracxn has compiled a list of 50 such startups, referring to them as 'soonicorns', as they show potential to become unicorns
The most definitive survey of India’s most influential startup entrepreneurs and investors threw up a few surprises, check out here.
What majority of influential people in startup sector have to say in a first-of-its-kind survey, there is no better time than now to begin a career in entrepreneurship.
Jaipur is a better city than Delhi to live in with less traffic, shorter commutes, affordable real estate and a lower cost of living.
Roughly 200 km away, in Pune, Nashik the newest hub for tech startups in India, there is a similar spot: Parvati Hill.
Great ideas are often born in smaller cities and towns. To survive, to attract talent and funds, the entrepreneurs travel with their fledgling businesses.
The Indian apparel and fashion market is worth around $150 billion and online retailers have merely scratched the surface.


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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that New York’s COVID-19 state of emergency will expire Thursday.
With that expiration, alcohol-to-go and alcohol delivery services will end as well, according to the New York State Liquor Authority.
To-go and delivery alcohol services were at least one of the pandemic consequences that New Yorkers viewed favorably.
A recent poll by the New York Restaurant Association showed that 78% of New Yorkers favor permanently allowing alcoholic beverages to be purchased with takeout or delivery orders from restaurants.
Some key findings from that survey:
- The regional breakdown of those who support alcohol-to-go remains strong throughout the state.
- In New York City, 81% of respondents are in favor
- On Long Island, 79% of respondents are in favor
- In Upstate New York, 72% of respondents are in favor
- In the New York City suburbs (Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester Counties), 83% of respondents are in favor
- Overall, 96% of New Yorkers who have purchased alcohol-to-go with takeout or a food delivery say they are in strong support of the executive order becoming permanent. Of those respondents, they’ve ordered alcohol-to-go an average of nearly 13 times in the last year, and 71% have ordered an alcoholic beverage to go in the last month.
- New Yorkers also recognize the role restaurants play in communities — 91% believe restaurants are an important part of our community’s character and local economy, and helping our restaurant industry should be a high priority for state leaders.
A statement Wednesday from Melissa Fleischut, President and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association:
“While the lifting of the emergency order is a welcome milestone to the end of the pandemic, with it comes the sudden end to alcohol to-go. A permanent extension of alcohol-to-go is supported by 78% of New Yorkers, but the Legislature failed to extend it and now the Executive Order has ended. Only in New York would elected officials ignore an overwhelming majority of the public. Restaurants are struggling to find staff, keep up with rising costs and manage a limited supply of goods, and nearly two-thirds of the applicants will not receive Restaurant Relief Funds. New York State must do more to help, not hurt, our restaurant industry.”
Check back with News 8 WROC as we will continue to update this developing story.


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Ibec is calling for significant new government measures to support vulnerable businesses.
Ibec Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Fergal O’Brien, said not enough has been done.
He believes spending has focused too much on households and not enough support for businesses.
He said businesses need that "confidence boost" and the Government has "not done as much as we have seen elsewhere."
"The spending to date has been predominantly to households," Mr O'Brien said.
The Central Bank said the Covid-19 outbreak has triggered a severe economic shock, the likes of which has never been seen before.
The bank said the economy could shrink by over 8% of GDP this year and the unemployment rate could peak at 25% in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Brown Thomas Arnotts is to pay staff all their pay and benefits while the stores are shut.
The outlets closed recently because of the coronavirus.
The company says it will avail of the state's wage subsidy scheme and will ensure every employee gets 100% of their salary.


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Halo to come to as many formats/channels as possible says 343 Industries
343 Industries is determined to bring the Halo universe to as many people as possible through as many channels as possible.
In an interview with GamesBeat, Halo: Spartan Assault design lead Mike Elliss spoke of their aims to bring Halo to the masses via games, toys and books with a “universe of experiences”.
“343′s looking to have Halo experiences in as many formats as possible,” stated Ellis. “You can look through our portfolio now. We have games. We have books on the New York Times bestseller list. We have toys and things like Mega Blocks and McFarlane figures. Halo is bigger than any one game. We see it as an entire universe of experiences.”
His comments come hot on the heels of a new job advert with Microsoft Studios searching for a new senior development engineer to help build and new Windows 8 title based on “a beloved franchise”. Could this be a Halo game?
- Left 4 Dead 2 finally gets an uncensored release in Australia
- Starting Destiny from a “blank canvas” was liberating says Bungie
- Driveclub PS Plus Edition will be an added extra for PS Plus subscribers in October
- Chris Roberts: Star Citizen does have potential on next-gen consoles
- Rockstar explains the delay to the PC version of GTA V
- The plan is to bring PSOne, PS2 and PS4 games to PS Now in the future says Sony
- Major Nelson reveals three new Xbox 360 hardware bundles coming this week
- Markus 'Notch' Persson: “I didn’t have the connection to my fans I thought I had”
- Microsoft purchases Minecraft devs Mojang for 2.5 billion USD, Markus Persson and other founders to leave


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Food fraud is big business, and it has been in the news headlines in SA when it comes to fish substitution, and more recently in late 2011 with the Orion meat saga in Cape Town where the company incurred the outrage of the Muslim community due to alleged fraudulent mislabelling of meat products. Respected consultancy, FACTS, headed by the well-known Dr Harris Steinman, now offers comprehensive DNA-based testing to validate meat species.
Although the true extent is uncertain, such food fraud is calculated to cost the global food industry up to 25 billion (over ZAR 300 billion) per year and the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) estimates that up to 10% of commercial food products may be counterfeit.
In this time of rapid globalisation, when a single processed food product may contain ingredients sourced from a dozen different nations, numerous opportunities exist for unscrupulous food producers to fraudulently substitute or add ingredients which are cheaper, but not necessarily desirable.
What is the risk of meat species substitution, why and how does it occur, and what can be done to ensure the authenticity of the meat products you supply? This newsletter seeks to shed some light on these topics.
Description: Donna CawthornIn 2011, one of FACTS’ food scientists, Donna Cawthorn (left), published a set of results from her PhD study conducted at the University of Stellenbosch, in which DNA testing was used to reveal that 9% of fish samples collected from seafood wholesalers in South Africa and a startling 31% of those collected from retail outlets were mislabelled with regards to species.
In addition, simultaneous research commissioned by FACTS on various meat samples in this country has demonstrated that this type of fraud and species substitution is by no means limited to fish.
A further significant concern revealed through its testing, it says, is the potential for meat products to be contaminated with undeclared species during processing. Cross-contamination can arise when poorly cleaned equipment or utensils are used for processing meat from two or more different meat species.
Whether deliberate or unintentional, the effects of meat product misdescription are similar, and include consumer deception, potential health risks and the inability of individuals to choose products for the sake of religious and ethical beliefs.
Due to their high prices, food products such as meat and fish are highly prone to substitution or adulteration, and such practices are often relatively simple to get away with.
The flesh of many meat species differs only subtly in appearance and texture, making it difficult to identify the species based on visual inspection. Once meat is and incorporated into value-added products, however, identification based on appearance and other sensory pacomminuted rameters becomes virtually impossible.
At another level, substitution of meat ingredients may involve the use of cheaper ingredients from the same declared species, but from different body parts (typically offal, connective tissue or blood), or the substitutes may be non-meat ingredients (e.g. plant or dairy sources).
Apart from the concerns that meat substitution or adulteration generate from economical, religious or ethical viewpoints, counterfeit components may be toxic (e.g. melamine) and the undeclared addition of some ingredients (e.g. soy, wheat, dairy) can pose health risks for consumers with food allergies /intolerances.
The deliberate substitution of meat products was recently brought to the forefront in one of the biggest food-related scandals to hit the media in recent years. In November 2011, numerous news reports emerged indicating that Orion Cold Storage in Cape Town had been importing various products from different parts of the world and that the company was deliberately relabeling these as food-grade and Halaal.
According to these reports, Orion was accused of, amongst others, importing pork products from Belgium and Ireland and relabeling them as Halaal sheep or beef products; importing kangaroo from Australia and water buffalo from India and selling these as beef products (often Halaal); importing non-Halaal poultry from Spain (via the UK) and relabeling the goods as Halaal; and importing non-food-grade milk powder for animal feed and relabeling it as Halaal skim milk powder fit for human consumption.
These findings not only caused outrage among the Muslim community, but also sent waves of panic through the entire food industry.
While knowing your meat suppliers and auditing them regularly may be an obvious step in protecting the authenticity of meat products, in many cases food fraud cannot be discovered by following a paper trail and detection requires “state of the art” scientific analysis.
Today, DNA-based techniques are considered the most appropriate methods for making species identifications as identical copies of DNA are present in almost all tissue types of an individual, DNA is relatively stable at high temperatures and since the diversity afforded by the genetic code allows differentiation of even very closely-related species.
Over the past few years, FACTS has developed a large number of DNA-based methods for the identification of meat species, both in single ingredient commodities (using DNA sequencing) and in complex food matrices (using species-specific detection methods).
The detection of the complete substitution of a single meat species with another is one of the more simple scenarios for identifying food fraud.
In general, DNA sequencing conducted on a queried sample will produce a DNA sequence or “fingerprint” which can be compared to a set of known reference sequences deposited in a credible genetic database. The identity of the specimen can thereby be established, which is either the same or different to the one expected.
Investigating the partial substitution or adulteration of meat is considerably more difficult, since it is normally necessary to know the possible identity of the adulterant before it can be detected.
To help alleviate these difficulties, FACTS reports that it’s very excited to have recently optimised an animal species screening method which allows the detection of 14 different animal species in a single reaction. This method, which relies on the use of species-specific DNA probes to detect certain target DNA sequences, will significantly reduce the costs and labour required to ensure product authenticity.
“Food fraud is indeed a food industry issue. Consumers are highly reliant on the accurate and complete declaration of food constituents to enable them to make product choices that are consistent with their lifestyles,” comments FACTS’ Donna Cawthorn.
“Brand loyalty can be severely compromised should this be found not to be the case. As such, DNA testing can be of great value for the routine monitoring of meat product authenticity and should be conducted whenever a case of meat adulteration or contamination is suspected.”
For article references and more on this testing, see the FACTS website.


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The European Commission is contacting for an finish to quick style by 2030, as it introduced a broad expansion of eco-design and style rules that could in future use to any product or service, setting up with textiles.
The EU government also wants huge companies to disclose how a great deal unsold stock they mail to landfill, as portion of a wide-ranging plan to crack down on throwaway society.
EU eco-design guidelines, which set electrical power efficiency requirements for a host of shopper items, these kinds of as toasters and washing machines, will also in future include sturdiness and recyclability. Companies, for instance, could have to use a certain total of recycled material in their goods, or curb the use of supplies that make them difficult to recycle.
“The products we use each working day want to last,” Frans Timmermans, the European Fee vice-president in charge of the EU environmentally friendly offer, informed reporters. “If solutions crack we should really be equipped to fix them. A smartphone should not reduce its operation,” he explained, gesturing to his have device and voicing annoyance that it was not doable to modify the battery devoid of going to professionals. “The clothes we put on should previous more time than 3 washes and need to also be recyclable,” he added.
The EU atmosphere commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevičius, claimed the fee wished quick manner “to get out of fashion”, indicating: “By 2030 textiles placed on the EU marketplace ought to be prolonged-lived and recyclable, created to a big extent of recycled fibres.”
He voiced optimism that individuals – marketed the notion of continuously updating their seem – would embrace the agenda: “They [clothes] will not will need to be thrown absent and replaced as usually as now and that way buyers will truly gain a good choice, an desirable choice to fast manner.”
It stays unclear how significantly the strategies will change the fashion industry, as conclusions on regulating precise solutions have but to be taken. Mattresses and carpets are witnessed as likely candidates for the initial round of EU eco-design and style regulation. “It is quite unlikely, pretty much impossible to see [the EU] applying principles to socks,” a senior EU formal claimed. “What is a great deal far more possible is to implement regulations throughout clothing or throughout footwear,”
The regular European throws absent 11kg of clothing, shoes and other material items each calendar year. Textiles are the fourth-premier emitter of greenhouse gasoline emissions, right after foods, housing and transport, as well as consuming wide quantities of drinking water and raw supplies.
If the proposals appear into pressure, they could have a large impact about the entire world, as almost 3-quarters of clothes and domestic textiles consumed in the EU are imported from in other places.
The commission might also finally ban the exercise of sending unsold merchandise to landfill, though officers stated they essential extra data about the challenge. An obligation on companies to disclose unsold merchandise despatched to landfill would be “a quite efficient track record disincentive”, Sinkevičius reported.
The proposals form section of the EU’s “circular economy” strategy, which aims to lighten Europe’s ecological footprint on the world’s purely natural means. The commission also wants to amend EU buyer regulation in an endeavor to outlaw greenwashing and prepared obsolescence. Describing a product as “environmentally friendly” or “eco” will be banned when the material of the claim are unable to be shown.
Organizations will also be obliged to convey to individuals about features that shorten a product’s lifespan, for occasion, software program that stops or downgrades the operation of smartphones and laptops in excess of time.
Nusa Urbancic, the director of the Switching Markets Foundation NGO, claimed the trend field experienced escaped the “polluter pays principle” for also very long. “High street brand names dazzle us with huge quantities of affordable clothes that aren’t built to previous for extensive, but they really do not pay out for the mountains of waste that get dumped, together with in producing international locations. That is mistaken and will probably now adjust, pursuing today’s announcement,” she said.


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The Westport Farmers Market has issued a holiday challenge to locavores. Lori Cochran-Dougall, Director of the WFM, wants to know how many dishes on your Thanksgiving table are made with ingredients of which you know the origin or source. And Whole Foods doesnt count, she jokes.
The person with the most dishes of known origin will win a Skinny Pines pizza, courtesy of the WFM.
Think you have a shot at the pie? Email Cochran-Dougall at firstname.lastname@example.org and tell her what youre serving and where it came from.
The WFM will be closed Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, and reopen Dec. 1 at its winter location at Gilberties Herb Garden, located at 7 Sylvan Ln. in Westport.
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.


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Today, February 9, is the best day to purchase plane tickets online for the Easter holiday.
That is according to the latest report by Skyscanner, a global search engine for flights, hotels and car rentals.
The website’s data shows that the best moment to make a purchase in Spain is seven weeks before the trip date. Travelers who book now could save 10 percent on Easter flights.
“If you see an offer on Thursday, buy it – don’t wait for Saturday”
Recent years have seen a rise in websites that trawl through airline and travel agency prices in the hopes of detecting patterns that will let them recommend the best days to buy.
George Hobica, founder of Airfarewatchdog, told The New York Times that even if the latest research points to weekends as the best time to buy tickets, “if you see an offer on Thursday, buy it – don’t wait for Saturday.”
His twenty-year experience analyzing the online travel fare market tells him that companies are constantly playing with their pricing, making it increasingly difficult to get the forecast right.
The seven-weeks-early recommendation cited by Skyscanner coincides with the 57 days recommended by the travel booking platforms Expedia and FareCompare.
Another travel expert named Patrick Surry, a scientist who produces the Hopper reports, says that customers have some leeway until 15 days before their planned travel date. After that, prices can go up by as much as 29 percent.
Still, there are no rules etched in stone. Hobica notes that it is possible to find discounts of up to €500 on last-minute flights between the US and Asia.
Depends on the destination
After analyzing bookings for the last three years, Skyscanner believes that each European destination has its optimal reservation dates.
“You can find discounts of between 17% and 20% if you plan trips to London and Brussels two months in advance, whereas Paris requires 10 weeks. In the case of Rome or Amsterdam, it is advisable to book three months ahead of time.”
Overall, January is the cheapest month – except for travelers to Paris, who are advised to go in November. August remains the most expensive month of the year to fly anywhere.
According to Skyscanner, February is a good month to go to Bangkok and Lima (15% discount) and March to Buenos Aires. New York and Havana are desirable destinations in November, when discounts of 22% and 10% can be found.
You have been searching for travel fare online, repeating the same search with the same destination, and you finally found a good price. But instead of buying it immediately, you decide to go have lunch first. When you come back, an additional €100 has been added to the price tag.
And maybe next time you search for a flight, you will get messages warning you that “There are only two seats left!” or “There are 45 people looking at this offer!”
Evidently, someone has identified your weak spot. And they have done so using software that traces your online behavior, which ultimately means that you will probably end up paying a little more for that plane ticket than you originally thought.
This price and search discrimination, which is discussed in a research paper by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, is already being investigated in France. In the meantime, one way to fool the software is to search for a ticket and buy it on two different devices. It also helps to eliminate the cookies on your usual web browser.


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BCME is a non-profit trade organization made up of three companies that it says represent 95% of the European beverage can market: Rexam Beverage Can Europe + Asia, Crown Cork & Seal, and Schmalbach-Lubeca AG. Through June, 18 billion cans were shipped, 54% of them aluminum. BCME reports aluminum is up 9% this year; steel cans are up 2% compared to last year. Beer (6%) and soft drink (5%) markets are showing strong growth. The organization says Germany has overtaken the United Kingdom as the biggest beverage can market in Europe. BCME says worldwide two-piece beverage can shipments in 2000 reached 210 billion. The United States led the way with 114 billion, while 40 million were shipped in Asia, 35.5 billion in Europe, 14 billion in South America, and 7 billion in Africa. At its Web site, www.bcme.org, the organization provides market reports for individual countries in Europe. (JB)
Europe grows can shipments
Shipments of beverages in cans in Europe for the first half of 2001 showed 5% growth compared with a year earlier, according to Beverage Can Makers Europe.
Oct 31st, 2001


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Scientists, ink makers, chip manufacturers, military personnel and representatives of consumer products companies took the stage during the two-day event. A handful of prominent label converting firms were represented as well, among them Dow Industries, Graphic Solutions Inc., CCL Label, and Argent Tape & Label.
The consumer product manufacturers were among the most popular speakers. Tom Torre, B2B supply chain innovation manager for Procter & Gamble, spoke of the company’s intense interest in RFID and its plan for implementation of electronic tracking and response throughout its manufacturing and shipping network.
EPC — electronic product code, as Torre called it — will address high out-of-stock product levels, will correct unreliable forecasting and inventories, and will counter theft and counterfeiting. Theft, he said, is a $50 billion retail supply problem worldwide.
Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a founding member of the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a think tank of large companies at work to promote RFID and establish standards.
A key driver for manufacturers such as P&G, Torre says, is tag cost. “Economics require a 5-cent tag, or less, to start at the case/pallet level; and a 1-cent tag at the unit level.” He added that it will not be easy for suppliers to produce a smart tag that costs 5 cents. “It isn’t here yet, but I have it on good information that it is achievable in the right quantities. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be investing so heavily in EPC,” he said.
Attendees were eager to listen to Chris Desrosiers, director of retail customer development at The Gillette Company, because Gillette had just made big headlines in the packaging business with bold announcement. The company, whose brands include Gillette, Braun, Duracell and Oral B, signed a deal with Alien Technology, a chip manufacturer, to purchase 500 million RFID tags — that’s half a billion — for installation in its packaging.
“I can’t talk about the cost,” she said, “but low cost is a reality for us.” Field trials are under way for the RFID program with Wal-Mart in the US and Tesco in England.
Desrosiers explained that billions of dollars are lost in the supply chain each year through routine failures and theft. Each step of the chain — manufacturing, packaging, warehousing, transportation, customer distribution, store inventory and store shelf — presents an opportunity for a product to get lost. The causes of lost revenue, she said, include inaccurate data and data entry, inventory inaccuracies, failed or late deliveries, theft, incomplete deliveries, and inefficient stock replenishment.
The hope is that RFID tags on cases and pallets will lead to a recovery of a large piece of that lost revenue.
Terry Hennessee, the inventory shrink manager for Lowe’s Companies Inc., told the audience that the home improvement products company intends to use RFID to solve significant product shrink. Hennessee divides shrink into three areas: operational shrink (non-theft related losses of product or inventory dollars) which accounts for 40 percent of the company’s inventory losses; internal theft (losses caused by dishonest acts by employees), accounting for another 40 percent of loss; and external theft (by customers and non-employees), which makes up the remaining 20 percent.
RFID, he said, will enable Lowe’s to track product quantities on a daily, weekly and monthly basis by store, as well as conduct research on all transactions for an item over a 33-week period.
Steven Ludmerer, president of Parelec, Rocky Hill, NJ, presented details on his company’s inks, which are used to print RFID antennas instead of producing tags using etched aluminum or copper antennas.
According to Ludmerer, Parelec’s Parmod Silver Ink cures at a much lower temperature than other such inks, and hence can be run at faster speeds. The conductivity, he added, can be from three to 10 times that of other printed inks. Right now screen printing is the predominant application method, but the company is working on inks for use in gravure, flexo and inkjet presses.
New consortium launched
The conference saw the appearance for the first time of a new group called SAL-C, the Smart Active Label Consortium. An international interest group, SAL-C’s goal is to promote and develop the use of smart active labels, which it defines as “fully active” as well as “semi-active”.
Right now, passive labels are available in the marketplace. By the end of this year, semi-active labels will be in production, and fully active labels are predicted to emerge by 2005. These are described as batter-assisted back-scattered passive labels, which have enhanced functionality and greater performance than standard passive labels.
More information about the Smart Active Label Consortium is available at the group’s web site: www.sal-


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Get Drugs Cheap!
September 18th, 2013
A prescription discount card that could save you an average of 45 percent on many medications and cover your eyes, ears, and even your pooch?
At no cost to any resident of our fair burg? You can use it instead of your regular insurance drug card if it gives you a better deal? And you can use it not only in town but also across the state and the country?
Too good to be true?
Nope. It’s legit, and you’ll be receiving it in the mail in two weeks.
The city has joined others across the state in introducing this new prescription discount card, hoping in particular to help the non-insured and the underinsured, including immigrants.
Mayor John DeStefano as he rolled out the new card initiative in front of Kawa Chan’s East Rock Pharmacy on Orange Street at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
The Connecticut Council of Municipalities (CCM) teamed up with a company called ProAct, Inc to create the card. The savings come because ProAct has a bulk purchasing deal with pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies. Since the ProAct discount means more people get their prescriptions filled, the stores and drug companies benefit by an increase in business, with no added cost to municipalities, explained CCM CEO Jim Finley.
Chan’s is one of 24 pharmacies currently participating in New Haven. That number is growing, according to Finley.
“Basically bulk purchases are working for our benefit,” DeStefano said.
The cards will be mailed to every resident in town, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, the mayor said. The card’s discounts are available to other species as well: pet owners can use the cards to get cheaper drugs for their ailing dogs and cats.
“This promotes the health of city residents, so we avoid urgent care [for many of the uninsured] whose costs are passed on to taxpayers,” the mayor added.
Finley (pictured with the mayor) said New Haven is the largest city to join thus far. He said he expects all municipalities to sign on to the program, which has been percolating for a year in the Nutmeg State but has been operational in other states for several years.
You receive your card—or go online and print your own—and then go in to fill a prescription and maybe get some hearing and eye care covered.
You present your New Haven Prescription Discount Card to a pharmacist like Chan’s. If you have another prescription card, you can ask him to run the transaction with both, to see on which card you get the better deal.
If you’re one of the 360,000 people in Connecticut (10 percent of the population) with no insurance, you now have a drug discount card to use.
The program is in essence paid for by the pharmaceutical companies who will sell more prescriptions if they see more customers, said Finley. “The beauty of the program is there’s no paperwork and no cost to municipalities.”
“We see it as big,” predicted Chan.
If you absolutely can’t wait, you can print out your new discount card online by going to ProAct’s site here.
For a list of the 646 pharmacies statewide, including New Haven’s Walgreens, Rite Aids and Visels, as well as the 63,000 nationwide where you can get your drugs while traveling, click here.
City health chief Mario Garcia, who was on hand for the event Tueday. He praised the prescription discount card initiative. “This program will help those uninsured,” and those who remain uninsured in town after the roll-out of the state’s official health exchange under the Affordable Care Act, he said.
The official exchange, AccessCt., is open for business as of Oct.1.
Claim Your FREE Prescription Discount Card
Anyone regardless of age or income can participate. No eligibility requirements.


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creator Spacetime Studios' latest mobile MMO, Star Legends
, will be the first to bridge cross-platform play between mobile devices and web browsers.
The game, which is on display at GDC Online this week, has been ported from its Android and iOS renditions to the Google Chrome browser, in what the studio describes as a close collaboration with Google engineers.
The port was made possible by Google's Native Client
SDK, which allows native C++ code to run inside of a sandboxed environment within the browser.
When the game is released, it will be the first Native Client game available on Google's Chrome Web Store.
"This is a significant landmark in the fulfillment of our mission to create a social gaming ecosystem where people play together regardless of device or location,” sayid Spacetime co-founder and CTO Anthony Sommers.
The free-to-play MMO has been available for some time for mobile devices. The browser version will be available on the Chrome Web Store as soon as Native Client support is available to the public, a date for which Google has not yet committed to.
Spacetime has been investing in cross-platform mobile and web development following an investment round


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The future of the connected vehicle ecosystem — emphasis on connected — is becoming more clear, it seems, every day. And that push continues this week with news from Amazon and others, along with the start of the annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and conference in Las Vegas — an event where even more connected car and truck news will almost certainly be made.
We’ll give Amazon its traditional place at the front of the line — hey, it’s Amazon — with its news, which also reflects the sharp growth in popularity of voice-assisted payments and commerce, one of the emerging engines of we are taking to call the connected economy.
Amazon announced Monday (Jan. 6) it would be adding high-luxury Italian automaker Lamborghini as well as Michigan-based electric vehicle startup Rivian to its partners that will integrate its voice-enabled assistant Alexa into future vehicles. Rivian plans to include Alexa in its first all-electric vehicles, the R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck, as well as the 100,000 all-electric delivery vans Amazon bought from the carmaker, according to published reports. And those aren’t the only automakers Amazon is courting.
Amazon is “essentially talking” with all major automakers on partnering in some form, according to Arianne Walker, Amazon chief evangelist of Alexa Auto.
“It’s really more of a matter of getting things lined up for the cars that are going to be released as opposed to any hesitation,” she said.
And that’s hardly it.
Amazon, according to a statement, is working with connected-vehicle services provider Telenav to provide Alexa-enabled “voice-first navigation.” The setup is designed to work like this, according to the statement: The Telenav-Alexa integration ensures end-users can use voice for all their navigation-related interactions, even while driving through areas with spotty or non-existent cloud connectivity.
— CES (@CES) January 7, 2020
Such developments are taking place as the lucrative potential of the connected vehicle ecosystem becomes much more clear — including via original PYMNTS research. Every weekday morning, 135 million U.S. adults drive a car to work, with commutes ranging from as little as 15 minutes to over an hour. During this daily grind, motorists are driving $212 billion in commerce as they drive to and from their workplaces and homes. Forty percent of these commuters spend over $18.7 billion getting their daily caffeine fix, while 54 percent order ahead and pay for food, influencing $47.3 billion in commerce every year.
It’s all about the connections, of course, as yet another bit of news from the growing ecosystem confirms. According to a report, as CES prepares to kick off on Tuesday (Jan. 7), Qualcomm has launched its Car-to-Cloud service, which does what the name implies: it helps car companies connect their cars to their clouds. It’s Qualcomm’s first product that integrates its automotive cockpit platform and Snapdragon automotive platforms with 4G and 5G support.
Through the service, carmakers will be able to update a vehicle’s software, as well as be able to collect vehicle and usage data. Possible use cases could include pay-as-you-go services and other new revenue streams for businesses.
Over the last decade, the combination of smartphones and apps has changed how we shop, how we pay, how we connect with people, how we discover and consume information, how we work, how we bank and even how we are paid. But as Karen Webster from PYMNTS recently observed, in many ways, however, the decade of the 2010s was the warmup act for the transformation yet to come — the transition from an app economy to one in which connected ecosystems aggregate commerce experiences and enable transactions across channels, devices and environments.
And it’s all but certain — at least according to all signs and evidence now available — that payments will power that shift.
This rise of a new connected economy is not just about vehicles, either. That connected economy will be the result of the full force of the Internet of Things (IoT) in action. Just about every device will be connected to the internet and capable of enabling a transaction — between every possible permutation of machines, people and businesses. In this new connected economy, we will find ourselves living in a world where new networks, intermediaries and enablers will change what is today considered the payments and commerce status quo.
Evidence of that — for both connected vehicles and so-called smart homes — will be significant parts of the CES show, which runs through the rest of the week.
One of the more significant trends of 2020 will undoubtedly be the shift of more commerce-related activities to consumers’ homes as voice-assisted retail devices gain even more popularity (among other trends). Indeed, that shift gained some major energy in late 2019 when Amazon, Google, Apple and the Zigbee Alliance unveiled a new working group to create and promote the adoption of a new royalty-free connectivity standard to make smart home products more compatible. CES is focusing a decent amount of time on smart homes. Topics are set to include how voice is changing healthcare — Amazon and Google are active in that area — and how to unlock all the data that comes from smart homes.
And for connected vehicles, the show in Las Vegas in will include programs designed to explore the next steps for autonomous private and public transportation — autonomous freight also promises to play a big role — and how such technology will itself connect to other digital ecosystems and services, which is among the most significant challenges and opportunities for this brand new decade.
It’s a chore to underestimated what’s coming down the road when it comes to connected vehicles and the broader connected economy. But this week promises to bring new navigation about that fast-approaching future.


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There was an interesting article on Grazing the Net today, I think I should tag some people in this article:
We spend a lot of GTN blogspace defending farmers and ranchers and trying to dispel myths created by activists/bloggers/charlatans that the food you produce is unhealthy, destroys the environment and causes flat feet. But when we learned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actually had to warn people not to kiss their chickens we realized the bar of low-information eaters is even lower than we imagined. The CDC is blaming a salmonella outbreak on backyard chicken owners for nuzzling their flocks. More than 180 people have been sickened in the U.S. this year by backyard birds, the CDC says, 33 of them requiring hospitalization. Ahhh, but those “natural” eggs are so much better!
By Greg Henderson and Friends


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As part of plans to showcase the talent pool in Africa, Microsoft through its University Recruiting program and Africans at Microsoft is hiring final-year students and recent university graduates from across Africa into full-time engineering roles at Microsoft. The Microsoft African University Recruitment Program for recent graduate engineers will provide
Microsoft through its African University Recruitment Program is hiring final year students and recent graduates from Ghana for full-time software engineering roles and will be providing successful candidates with relocation to the United States and Canada.
Interested persons who will like to apply should have recently graduated from the university
Every good work done deserves an acknowledgement or reward and Microsoft recognizes technology experts who passionately share their knowledge with their community by honouring them with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award. The MVP award spans over 100 contribution areas in 11 award categories across developer and IT Pro
TECNO mobile is announcing its latest premium smartphones with four new devices in the Camon 19 series. They are TECNO Camon 19, Camon 19 Neo, Camon 19 Pro and Camon 19 Pro 5G. The company will however make other variants available for other markets. To mark the launch it held
itel is introducing its latest entry-level and budget-friendly smartphone the A58 series. The device targets new smartphone users with a bigger screen, bigger battery and fashionable device at a cheaper price. itel is also partnering with local telcos to provide buyers of the phone with data bundles for a period.
Flapmax is introducing the first 12 startups to kick off the FAST startup accelerator program. The startup incubation program seeks to help strengthen and scale Africa’s digital ecosystem. In partnership with Microsoft, Flapmax’s twelve-week startup accelerator will begin on March 21st. The 12 startups come from 6 different countries, serve 9
Futurize is launching its first annual Fuel Africa Innovation Program from March 17 to 25, 2022. In partnership with AstraZeneca, through the A.Catalyst Network, and Microsoft and co-funded by Bristol Myers Squibb and Famfa Oil. To equip young entrepreneurs with the resources to build high-potential venture ideas and contribute to
Microsoft Africa Development Center is organizing a free virtual event as part of its ADC's user group series themed Azure Developers Connect for Developers and Software Engineers in Africa scheduled to hold on the 24th of February, 2022. Time 3 PM GMT, 4 PM WAT, 5 PM SAT, 6 PM EAT.
TECNO, the mobile company known for producing entry to mid-range mobile devices for emerging markets like Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan and India is introducing a premium model device with the announcement of the PHANTOM X. The company is rebranding the Phantom model to represent its premium category for its devices.
Microsoft is announcing its partner of the year award winners and here is a list of winning organizations in Africa. The announcement comes ahead of Microsoft Inspire 2021 where it will celebrate exemplary achievements from across its global partner ecosystem. Microsoft Inspire 2021 partner event, is set to take place


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Canada is to open trade talks next month with the four-nation Mercosur trading bloc in South America as part of an ongoing push to diversify its trade partnerships, a senior official said on Friday.
The move comes as Canada’s main trading relationship with the US — the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) — falters, and after Ottawa announced it would sign on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
“We intend to open negotiations for a potential agreement with Mercosur in Paraguay the day after the signing of the TPP, which will take place in Chile on March 8,” the official said.
In addition to Paraguay, the bloc includes Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.
Canada currently trades about Can$8 billion (US$6 billion) annually with the Mercosur bloc, which is the second-largest in the hemisphere after the NAFTA.
This is dwarfed by bilateral Canada-US trade, which topped C$780 billion (US$621 billion) last year, with 70 percent of Canadian exports going to its southern neighbor, according to Canadian government figures.
However, after six rounds of “slow” talks to revamp NAFTA, which Washington has threatened to dump, the future of Canada’s preferential access to the US market is now in doubt, with the parties deadlocked over Washington’s hardening protectionist stance.
Canada already has free-trade deals with several South American nations including Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile.
Mercosur membership would give it greater access to eastern South America and its biggest economies, with a total of 260 million consumers.
Ottawa had initially balked at joining the TPP last year, acting as the main holdout in negotiations after US President Donald Trump decided in early last year to go it alone under his “America First” policy.
However, it did an about-face last month as the prospects of a new NAFTA deal appeared to dim.
Among the sticking points in the NAFTA negotiations are Washington’s demands for a “sunset clause” after five years, and for more US auto parts in vehicles sold in North America.
US crude futures on Friday topped US$80 a barrel for the first time since November 2014 as a global energy crisis boosts demand at a time when OPEC+ producers are keeping supplies tight. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for November delivery popped above the key psychological level before pulling back and closing up 1.34 percent at US$79.35 a barrel, gaining 4.57 percent from a week earlier. Brent crude for December delivery increased 0.54 percent a barrel to US$82.39, up 3.92 percent from a week earlier. This week brought many indications that supplies would remain constrained: Saudi Aramco said a global natural gas shortage was
Units of Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co are targeting to resume full operations of their Ho Chi Minh City plants by the end of next month, a move that could provide relief to global supply chains. Saigon Hi-Tech Park is helping its tenants, many of which are running at about 70 percent capacity, to operate fully next month, park deputy manager Le Bich Loan said in a phone interview. She did not elaborate on the steps the park is taking, particularly efforts at bringing back workers who fled to home provinces. The Ho Chi Minh City unit of Nidec Sankyo Corp,
CHIP CRUNCH: Apple’s woes show that even the king of the technology world is not immune from global shortages made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic Apple Inc is likely to slash its projected iPhone 13 production targets for this year by as many as 10 million units as prolonged chip shortages hit its flagship product, people with knowledge of the matter said. The company had expected to produce 90 million new iPhone models in the final three months of this year, but it is now telling manufacturing partners that the total would be lower because Broadcom Inc and Texas Instruments Inc are struggling to deliver enough components, the people said. Apple gets display parts from Texas Instruments, while Broadcom is its longtime supplier of wireless components. One Texas
Down a dusty farm track in Chilean wine country, behind a wooden gate wrapped in chains, forestry experts are nursing a plantation of saplings whose bark holds the promise of potent vaccines. Quillay trees, technically known as Quillaja saponaria, are rare evergreens native to Chile that have long been used by the indigenous Mapuche people to make soap and medicine. In the past few years, they have also been used to make a highly successful vaccine against shingles and the world’s first malaria vaccine, as well as foaming agents for products in the food, beverage and mining industries. Now two saponin molecules,


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Microsoft has just announced that the global installed capacity of the Windows 10 operating system (the amount of monthly active devices) has exceeded 400 million mark.
Microsoft also said that an average of 600 people per hour to upgrade to the new system, the sum of the use of Windows 10 is also more than 200 billion hours.
Windows 10 installed capacity in the end of March this year reached 207 million, May 5th reached 300 million, the first anniversary of the beginning of August, the end of the free upgrade is also the end of the time more than 350 million.
Windows 10 before the end of the free upgrade, on average each month there are nearly 30 million machines to upgrade to Windows 10, but the last three months on average only 16 million 600 thousand per month, but also normal.
Microsoft's original goal is to spread the Windows 10 in 2018 to 1 billion devices, but in July, said it may take more time to complete.
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In 2021, WhatsApp will end support for some iPhones and Android devices. Now don’t worry already, the messaging app will stop working on older iPhones and Android devices and not new phones. WhatsApp will primarily end support for smartphones using older operating systems. If the reports are to be trusted, WhatsApp will not work on devices that are not running iOS 9 or Android 4.0.3 operating systems.
According to reports, iPhones that don’t work on iOS 9 will not be able to use WhatsApp on their phones from 2021. iPhone models include all iPhone 4s and earlier models. However, if you have iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S, you will need to update your phone to iOS 9 or later if you want to continue using WhatsApp.
The first generation of iPhone 6S, 6 Plus and iPhone SE can be upgraded to iOS 14.
Likewise, Android phones that don’t have Android 4.0.3 will lose access to WhatsApp. This includes models like HTC Desire, LG Optimus Black, Motorola Droid Razr, Samsung Galaxy S2. There could be many more Android phones that could lose support for WhatsApp in 2021.
However, if you don’t know what operating system your iPhone or Android phone is running on, you can go to settings to check it. For example, if you are an iPhone user go to Settings> General> About. There you can check the software details of your iPhone. Similarly, if you are an Android user, you can go to Settings> About phone.
So now those who have the ability to update their phones to the latest software can do so. But for those who don’t have the ability to update their software, they will need to get a new phone to access WhatsApp on their phones.
On a related note, WhatsApp recently received a number of new features. WhatsApp recently rolled out WhatsApp Payments. WhatsApp partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) using Unified Payment Interface (UPI), an India-first, real-time payment system that enables transactions with over 160 supported banks. For Indian users, WhatsApp has partnered with major banks including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and Jio Payments Bank. The feature has been implemented for Android and iOS users.
Aside from that, WhatsApp has launched custom wallpapers, WhatsApp carts, Always Mute option, disappearing messages and many other features.


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As shoppers dust the pandemic cobwebs off their wallets, they’re noticing prices aren’t the same as they were in 2020.
The inflated prices are hitting some products more than others.
The federal government tracks monthly price changes for more than 300 consumer products, ranging from cars and college textbooks to bananas and pet food.
“Inflation is one of those things people know just enough about to be afraid of,” said Matthew Roling, adjunct finance professor at Wayne State University. “So it’s really easy for people to use it as a wedge to drive agendas that might be unrelated to the core issue.”
There’s a litany of reasons for why prices are higher for various products, but it all comes down to supply and demand, Roling said.
Here’s a look at the 10 subcategories that jumped most in price between May and June, per the Consumer Price Index.
- Used cars and trucks: Up 10.5% in June compared to May
- Other lodging away from home including hotels and motels: Up 7.9%
- Uncooked other beef and veal: Up 6.4%
- Uncooked beef steaks: Up 6%
- Car and truck rental: Up 5.2%
- Women’s dresses: Up 5%
- Uncooked beef roasts: Up 5%
- Pork chops: Up 5%
- Other pork, including roasts, steaks and ribs: Up 5%
- Laundry equipment: 3.5%
A few items have declined in price, but nothing by more than 3%. Examples include some condiments (-2.5%), prepared salads (-2.4%) and admission to sporting events (-2.2%).
The price surge data doesn’t surprise Roling.
While new cars and trucks didn’t make the list, their 2% price increase was the largest monthly jump on record. Supply is tight because auto factories halted production last spring and are still not back to full strength because of a semiconductor chip shortage.
Rising new vehicle prices, in turn, sends more people into the used car market. Many rental car companies sold off much of their fleet last summer as demand dwindled, Roling said, but now those companies are looking for inventory as people travel again.
Rental car companies normally sell off some vehicles on the used car market, but are now keeping most vehicles – creating even more of a supply crunch, Roling said.
Stimulus money and a growing stock market have also further boosted vehicle demand. Low supply plus high demand equals rising prices.
For meat prices, those are up because demand for restaurant food has surged and input costs are up for producers – and the cyberattack on JBS Foods in late May didn’t help.
The labor shortage in low-wage jobs, like in the hospitality industry, is also partly to blame for food and lodging prices going up. There’s also big demand for things people couldn’t do as much in 2020 – like traveling and dressing up to go out on the town.
While it may seem like inflation is running rampant, Roling said he expects this to be temporary.
“It’s a lot easier to turn off the global economy than to turn it back on,” Roling said. “Demand is returning to normal at a faster rate than supply is. So everyone is going back to buying all the food and the vacations and the clothes and the gas in the cars – they’re returning to the same behavior they had a year-and-a-half ago.”
Roling expects prices to settle in the next couple months.
“If it’s still here nine months from now, then it’s a problem,” Roling said.
To get a better picture of rising prices, some people look at the 12-month change. Economists urge caution, however, as 2020 prices were hit so hard by the pandemic that it makes 2021′s increases look giant.
Here’s a look at the 10 subcategories that increased most in price between June 2020 and June 2021.
- Car and truck rental: 87.7%
- Gasoline, unleaded regular: 46.4%
- Fuel oil: 44.5%
- Used cars and trucks: 45.2%
- Gasoline, unleaded midgrade: 40.1%
- Gasoline, unleaded premium: 36.8%
- Other motor fuels: 32.1%
- Laundry equipment: 29.4%
- Airline fares: 24.6%
- Propane, kerosene and firewood: 17.7%
There have been some notable price decreases, too. That list includes food at employee sites and schools (-29.9%), consumer information items like telephone hardware and calculators (-27.8%), uncooked ground beef (-8.4%) and admission to sporting events (-7.2%).
The most noticeable category on the increase list is oil – which impacts almost every other product, Roling said. If transportation and energy costs are higher, that means most businesses can’t produce and deliver their product for the same price.
If COVID-19 cases spike again, that could cause some shifts. But ultimately, Roling said the economy is going to keep stabilizing as we recover from the pandemic.
“My advice to people is, if you’re selling something like a car or a home, now is the single-best time in your life to probably do those things,” Roling said. “If you need to buy those things, you should do everything you can to not buy them right now.”


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The first-ever BMW M4 has been welcomed into the M family.
Though the nameplate is new, the M4 essentially replaces the M3 coupe of old and to celebrate its birth, the German automaker decided to take it sideways. But dropping the all-new M4 into an empty parking lot so it can go hooning isn’t BMW’s style.
SEE ALSO: BMW M235i Stars in Epic Driftmob Video
With the M235i starring in an epic driftmob video earlier, BMW had to make sure its M4 video got its fair share of praise. So the company enlisted the help of M owners from all around the country for the video, so that the M4 can weave its way majestically through M history.
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GALLERY: 2015 BMW M4
Discuss this story at our BMW forum


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Officials have pointed to the competitive wireless industry that emerges since the FCC in 2011 blocked AT&T’s $39 billion bid to acquire T-Mobile. T-Mobile came away from that dashed deal with a big breakup fee that it put into expanding its network. Regulatory officials have repeatedly spoken about the need for four competitors in the U.S. wireless market.
Front Porch Digital can now offer its customers a complete, hosted multiscreen video-publishing solution in the cloud. LYNX customers will be able to use mpx to upload, manage, and distribute videos to their own websites, third-party sites, smartphones, tablets, and more.
DirecTV has added more features, including “Local Weather Now,” to its WeatherNation channel. DirecTV turned to Denver-based WeatherNation last month after it couldn’t reach a retransmission agreement with The Weather Channel.
This morning Nielsen announced the launch of its Local Buyer Reach service, which links local TV stations’ viewing information with actual consumer transactions. The service works across more than 40 buyer categories, including automotive, retail shopping, quick-service restaurants, and grocery stores.
Television still remains central to media consumption, the study found, despite the increase in time-shifted viewing and streaming video through a computer or smartphone. In the past year, time-shifting of television content grew by almost two hours, averaging 13 hours per month, the study found.
CenturyLink took the wraps off of a symmetrical, 1 gigabit-per-second tier for multi-tenant unit (MTU) office buildings in the Salt Lake City area. While CenturyLink launched a 1gig service for business and residential customers in Las Vegas last year, as well as a pilot in Omaha, Neb., the Salt Lake City deployment marked the first time it has gone directly to MTUs with its 1 gigabit service.
AT&T’s potential deal with Cable One marks the second significant spectrum transaction already this year for the carrier. In January, AT&T announced it was buying from Aloha Partners 49 AWS licenses covering approximately 50 million people in 14 states including California, Illinois and Massachusetts.
Roughly 200 attendees are expected to be on hand at next week’s second RDK User’s Conference in Denver. The private conference, which is slated for Tuesday, will mark the public debut of sorts for RDK Management, the joint venture between Time Warner Cable and Comcast that was formed last year to help manage the Reference Design Kit (RDK) initiative.
Verizon's recent demonstration of evolved Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (eMBMS) ahead of the Super Bowl was really showcasing the tip of the iceberg for a technology that could significantly improve how content is delivered over today's wireless networks.
Google is introducing a videoconferencing tool designed to make it easier and less expensive to hold face-to-face business meetings even if the participants are scattered in different locations. The device, called "Chromebox For Meetings," goes on sale for $999 Thursday in the U.S. and will be available in the coming weeks in Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, France, Australia and New Zealand.
NBC comes close to gold in delivering the Winter Olympics online from Sochi, Russia. Although NBC has scaled back on a few fronts compared with previous years, things have improved considerably since 2000, when online "video" meant still images grabbed from NBC's video feeds.
Canoe’s certification assures programmers that they can use This Technology’s cloud-based metadata asset management system to efficiently create and distribute information about video assets for VOD and advanced advertising. The result is streamlined metadata authoring, automated input for multiple system types and efficient delivery of dynamic ads on VOD.
Ericsson said it “will gain additional key functionality related to the deployment of TV Anywhere services, including adaptive bit rate and content protection technologies.” The Azuki Media Platform manages both live and on-demand content for multi-screen delivery, complete with ad insertion.
Steve Cochran will take over the tiller at WOW when he succeeds current CEO Colleen Abdoulah on April 1. Abdoulah, who has led WOW since 2002, will continue in her role as chair of the company’s board of directors. Cochran is currently president of WOW. Marketing officer Cathy Kuo will take over Cochran’s operational responsibilities in her new position as chief operating officer.
CSG International announced this morning the worldwide launch of its new cyber security platform, which was designed for the enterprise security sector. CSG applied its 30-years of experience in telecommunications technology to its new enterprise security business, which is known as “CSG Invotas.”


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Nov 29, 2019 - Reportedly, Amazon (AMZN) is gearing up to hire seasonal employees for the busiest time of the year.
Nov 28, 2019 - The department store chain's deal to accept the e-commerce giant's returns isn't yet paying off in higher comp sales.
Nov 25, 2019 - Macy's, Kohl's, Home Depot, Walmart and Target are part of Zacks Earnings Preview
Nov 21, 2019 - The struggling retailer falls into the classic trap of using markdowns to boost sales.
Nov 20, 2019 - Benchmarks closed mixed on Tuesday, the Nasdaq recorded third consecutive high close on gains in tech stocks.
Nov 19, 2019 - When Kohl's (KSS) rolled out its Amazon (AMZN) returns program across the country on July 8, the pri
Nov 19, 2019 - The latest retail earnings results from the likes of Home Depot. A look at what investors should expect from high-flying Target. And why Tempur Sealy (TPX) is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock right now...
Nov 19, 2019 - Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) Q3 2019 Earnings Conference Call November 19, 2019, 09:00 AM ET Company Participants Mark Rupe - VP, IR Michelle Gass - CEO Jill Timm - SEVP and CFO Conference Call Parti
Nov 19, 2019 - KSS earnings call for the period ending November 2, 2019.
Nov 19, 2019 - The two large retail chains were reeling on a down morning for the broader market. Here's what investors need to know.


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Zinio brings magazine subscriptions to the iPad
All Things Digital
Peter Kafka reports that digital newsstand provider Zinio is letting Sporting News offer a subscription option for its iPad edition -- a feature that many of the magazine's competitors don't offer. The Sporting News app itself is free, but a single daily issue is priced at $0.99 and a monthly subscription costs $2.99.
Sports Illustrated planned to launch its app with a subscription option in June, but Apple rejected its attempt.
Kafka writes that because Zinio has its own e-commerce infrastructure and is apparently able to offer subscriptions outside the confines of Apple's more restrictive iTunes store environment. To build on that advantage, Zinio has started launching stand-alone content apps -- including Sporting News -- outside its eponymous digital newsstand.
The trade-off, Kafka points out, is that Zinio's magazine apps are largely PDF-like replicas of the print magazines they represent: