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Verizon is in the process of launching its mobile 5G network. The carrier has now confirmed 20 additional markets where it says the 5G network will go live before the end of this year. It had previously announced that 5G would be deployed in select areas of over 30 cities across the country in 2019. Its 5G Home broadband internet service will be offered in some of these markets as well.
Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Des Moines, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Little Rock, Memphis, Phoenix, Providence, San Diego, Salt Lake City and Washington DC will be among the cities that get Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband service this year.
The carrier also confirmed that customers can now place their pre-orders for the Galaxy S10 5G on Verizon. It will exclusively be offering this device in the United States for a limited time. The handset will be available for pre-roder in Crown Silver and Majestic Black colors with the latter being exclusive to Verizon.
Customers will have to pay $53.16 per month for 24 months on Verizon’s installment plan for the 256GB Galaxy S10 5G while the 512GB variant will cost them $58.33 per month for 24 months. Customers will have to wait for a bit fore the handset arrives, though. Verizon has confirmed that the Galaxy S10 5G will be available for purchase from its retail stores on May 16th.


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The Red Tractor assurance scheme has launched a new-look logo to mark its 20th anniversary.
It said its new visual identity addressed a number of challenges facing the British food and farming industry, while clearly differentiating to consumers food that had been “carefully produced to world-leading standards”.
The new logo retains the union flag to signify that the product has been grown, reared, processed and packed in the UK.
It has also replaced the term ‘Assured Food Standards’ with the name ‘Red Tractor’ and updated the tractor to modernise its appearance and bring it in line with the scheme’s TV ad.
Red Tractor has also introduced a ‘tick’, which is “recognised by shoppers as indicating that the product has been checked”, it said, while the logo carries the words ‘Certified Standards’ and a heart to “demonstrate the care and attention that is taken to produce the food”.
The revamp follows work by the scheme to improve its status and emotional engagement with consumers.
This included research that found Red Tractor had a much higher level of awareness than all other food assurance marques. Eight out of 10 shoppers are aware of the logo and see it as a positive, reassuring on-pack signpost in supermarkets.
“While it’s great news that almost 80% of British shoppers recognise Red Tractor and see it positively, our research also found that people were uncertain of what sits behind the logo or its benefits,” said CEO Jim Moseley.
“Given the great care and attention Red Tractor and our farmers put into ensuring that the food we eat is safe and fully traceable, we owe it to our members that we improve shoppers’ and diners’ understanding of the scheme.”
It comes amid greater scrutiny of the scheme in recent years following a spate of alleged animal welfare breaches at Red Tractor assured farms. This led the scheme to launch a suite of toughened new standards last year.
“Created 20 years ago to rebuild trust in British agriculture after a spate of food scares, the logo was designed to be very utilitarian,” said Moseley.
“Two decades on, we are facing a new watershed moment, with the market facing huge uncertainty with the ongoing trade negotiations. At this time it is critical we help shoppers clearly differentiate which food has been produced and checked to world-leading standards from farm to pack – and the simplest way to do this is to look for the Red Tractor and the tick.”
The rollout of the new logo is expected to take 18 months as many of the UK’s popular brands update their packaging. It will be supported by a new 12-month £2m ‘Tractor Test’ campaign, designed to increase shopper understanding of the scheme.
The campaign will kick off with the return of 2018 and 2019’s Red Tractor TV ad running on prime-time TV, digital channels and on-demand over Easter.

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RHINELANDER - You probably already unwrapped your presents, but now is a great time to buy a new car. Sales at the Honda in Rhinelander are higher compared to this time last year. One of the reasons for the increased sales can be attributed to increased advertising.
"End of the year is a great time; it's not just the dealers that need to move as many as they can but the banks as well," says Dave Rushman, Rhinelander Honda Sales Manager. "The bank rates right now are phenomenal I mean you can get 1.9% on used vehicles even, so it is really a great time to buy at the end of the year."
Anytime you're buying a car you want to make sure it's reliable.
"Whether you're buying new or used you want to make sure you're buying from a reputable dealer that goes through the whole 120 point inspection and things like that," says Rushman. "Make sure you know there all machines that can break down but if you're purchasing a used car especially you want to make sure that you're buying from a reputable dealer that is going to take care of that vehicle not only before you buy it but after the sale as well."
Many car dealerships including Honda will offer year-end sales up until January 6th 2014.
BOULDER JUNCTION - Pilots find very little room for error when they make a landing. Wings, flaps, and landing gear all need to work properly. Then there's the runway itself, which needs to be flat and smooth.
So, when pilots found ruts and divots torn into the grass runway at Boulder Junction's airport, folks were more than upset, they were worried about safe landings. Airfield president Jeff Long thinks someone used a pickup truck to do the damage. It happened right before the airfield's busiest weekend of the year, the Musky Day fly-in.
"To see somebody disregard that, disrespect that, and then again the safety, where somebody could get hurt that we're inviting up here for summer fun, doesn't make you feel very good," Long said.
RHINELANDER - The City of Rhinelander and Oneida County will consider borrowing $15 million to help develop a manufacturer in Rhinelander, according to an Oneida County Economic Development Corporation release Tuesday.
The money would help Rhinelander Coated Products start work inside the former Printpack building on Kemp Street.
THREE LAKES - Pollinators play an essential role in the growth of plants, and it's not just bees that help pollinate.
Butterflies, bats, and even mosquitoes are pollinators, but those populations have been in decline in recent years.
"Across the U.S., pollinators have been seeing big declines," said Oneida County Conservationist Michele Sadauskas. "We've been hearing more and more about our honeybee pollinations. The monarch populations have had dramatic decreases. So we're seeing it across the board."
MADISON - New state regulations designed to retain teachers are going into effect.
The package was published Tuesday. The provisions allow retired teachers or teachers nearing retirement to apply for a nonrenewable five-year license without submitting a professional development plan. They also increase the time that short-term substitute teachers can serve in the same assignment from 20 days to 45 days.
KNOWLTON - When you think of Wisconsin, you probably think of the Packers, dairy, and beer. One of the quintessential things that make this state great is its cheese, and you'll find no shortage of that in north central Wisconsin. The largest family-owned cheese factory is right in our own backyard, and it continues to push its limits in the industry
For Bill Mullins, the cheese business is all in the family.
"My other two brothers are in the business," said Bill, Co-Owner of Mullins Cheese. "My brother has four boys in the business full-time. My mom did accounting for us until she was 88."
Disclaimer: All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Rockfleet Broadcasting / Northland Television, Inc. and By Request Web Designs shall not be held responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, or misprints.


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Auto blogWed, 19 Nov 2014
See that red thing? It's the Mini Citysurfer Concept. It is not, in case you were wondering, an automobile. Yet despite this apparent shortcoming, Mini has placed it on a plinth at the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show.
The electric scooter weighs in at 40 pounds, can hit 15 miles per hour, cover 10 to 15 miles and can be folded up and charged in the trunk of a Mini Cooper (or any other vehicle with a 12-volt outlet and a roomy enough cargo area). According to the British marque, these qualities will give the scooter's owner the "spontaneous and convenient mobility even in those sections of an urban area not accessible to motorized vehicles."
It's not terribly difficult to see the appeal, as Mini explains it. With urban congestion becoming an increasingly serious problem - and some cities beginning to ban cars outright - the idea of an easy to charge and easy to stow runabout is extremely attractive. That's doubly true in the case of the Citysurfer, which is rather well equipped, as far as scooters go.
Mini gave us our first taste of its next-generation John Cooper Works Hardtop in concept form at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. And in fact, we already know that the production version will make its debut at the 2015 Detroit show in January. Fitting, then, that this most recent round of spy shots shows a JCW that's pretty much ready to roll - peel back that yellow swirly paper, and you've pretty much got the final deal.
It's easy to make out the final design for the revised front and rear fascias, and we can clearly see a more robust brake package nestled behind those alloy wheels. Speaking of, we must admit, the wheels here look rather pedestrian for a JCW model, but they could just be prototype rollers and not indicative of the final rolling stock. We expect the flashy red decals of the concept to be offered on the production model, as well, though they could be optional kit.
As reported earlier, power is expected to come from a 230-horsepower turbo-four - a modest increase over the 208 hp from the outgoing Mini JCW. Expect that to route through a six-speed manual transmission, sending turbocharged oomph to the front wheels.
Things aren't looking good for Mini this year. The diminutive BMW brand has shown falling sales every month in 2014 in our By the Numbers wrap-ups. If that weren't bad enough, the latest Cooper Hardtop suffered fuel economy issues upon arriving to the US. First, there was a delay getting some versions certified, and then several models had to have their miles-per-gallon ratings revised.
According to Automotive News, the brand's sales are down about 20 percent for the year through October, despite hitting a record 66,502 vehicles in the US for 2013. For their part, Mini execs attribute much of that drop due to constricted supply. However, with the new-generation three-door Cooper finally on sale and the five-door coming at the end of the year, there might be room to bounce back some in the final months of 2014. "We are starting to claw back our way a little bit. It will be an uphill battle," said David Duncan, vice president of Mini of the Americas, to Automotive News. "We will not get back to where we would be even year over year. It should be a lower decrease than it is so far."
AutoTrader Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs reminds Autoblog that external factors aren't helping the brand's sales either. For one, there's "a direct correlation exists between falling gas prices and lower small car sales," she said, and the average price per gallon is now $2.94, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Also, the booming popularity of small crossovers is eating into the compact car market. Mini has its Countryman model, but the trend could be hurting the rest of its lineup. "Mini was fresh, new, unique and stylish, but fashions change and fashion-conscious buyers are fickle. They move on to the next thing," Krebs said.
The Mini brand and its products have typically been a runaway success for BMW, but sales of the retro hatchback dropped a drastic 20.5 percent last month, and have been doing such pretty much all year.
The reason, according to Jalopnik, is that the new model has been held up due to EPA certification. Mini told our compatriots, "Sales have dropped because our supply has been so limited. MY 2015 Mini Hardtops have also not been able to go on sale pending the final results of federal fuel economy certification."
Mini goes on to clarify that "as of October 1st, three out of the four 2015 Mini Hardtop 2 door models, the Cooper with manual transmission, the Cooper with automatic transmission, and the Cooper S with manual transmission, have been released for retail sales and deliveries."
Mini's Superleggera Vision Concept may not be a Paris Motor Show debut, but this is the first time we've seen this stunning all-electric roadster in the metal, having been first shown on the tony shores of Lake Como at Villa D'Este in May. While it's small in stature, it's still big on both presence and detail, from its overall stubby yet sleek proportions to its Union Jack taillamps, Jaguar-esque rear fin and elegant rearview mirrors.
We still don't know much more about what powers this Touring Superleggera coachbuilt showcar, as any powertrain specifics are conspicuous by their absence, but we'd welcome both a pure electric version and something powered by the BMW/Mini turbocharged three-cylinder currently making the rounds in the new Mini Cooper.
Last we heard in September, any decisions on a production future for the Superleggera Vision have been tabled, with word being that a further six months of study is planned before Mini decides to greenlight or nix the project. We'd love to tell you that the fact that it's here in Paris is a great sign, but we wouldn't believe us, either.
We've seen it in super high-res glory, and we can even build one on the automaker's website, but the Paris Motor Show marks the official coming out party for the new Mini Hardtop 4 Door (which is what it's called in the US, despite this Euro car having "5 Door" badging). It's a stretched version of the third-generation Mini Hardtop, but with an extra set of doors for rear seat passengers. Think of it as a more useful Clubman, but with a lower ride height and less rugged-ness than the Countryman. Got it? Good.
Engine options carry over from the normal Mini Hardtop range, with a 1.5-liter turbo-three and a 2.0-liter turbo-four offering 134 and 189 horsepower, respectively. The rest of the car is everything else you know and love from the Mini range, just with a more spacious rear bench. And as you'd expect, there's a nearly endless pallet of customization options.
The Hardtop 4 Door arrives at US dealerships just before the end of the year, commanding a roughly $1,000 premium over its three-door kin. Scope out our new live shots in the gallery above, and take in the extensive press blast, below.
Mini just doesn't want its Rocketman concept to die. It unveiled the truly mini model at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, and since then, there have been countless on-again, off-again rumors about the possibility of it going into production. If the latest talk proves true, a smaller vehicle like the Rocketman might make it into the automaker's lineup after all, as competitor to other stylish city cars like the Smart ForTwo.
According to the company's head of design, Anders Warming, speaking to Auto Express, Mini likes the idea of having a smaller model in its lineup, but it has to figure out a way of actually making it work. Warming is clear that the next iteration of the Rocketman concept (or whatever it's called then) won't be seen until a design is ready.
There are still plenty of challenges keeping a production Rocketman off of the city streets of the world, and chief among them continues to be finding a platform. But Mini is at least considering it. "At the moment, we don't have the right tech solutions, but we are working on it. We don't yet have a final solution, you could say," said Warming to Auto Express. He also thinks the final version would drop the concept's carbon fiber in favor of more aluminum components.
The Mini Cooper five-door hatchback, which the company insists on calling the Mini Hardtop 4 Door, doesn't start arriving at US dealers until January 2015. However, if you dig the latest model's styling but can't live without the two extra doors, you can start speccing one right now in the recently launched configurator.
The new five-door hatch isn't just the standard model with extra doors squished in. It rides on a 2.8-inch longer wheelbase and is 6.3-inches longer overall. That means more room for rear passengers and extra space to haul stuff in the boot. The engine options are shared though with a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder with 134 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque for the Cooper or a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder with 189 hp and 207 lb-ft in the Cooper S. Both are available with a six-speed manual or automatic.
Prices (including destination) for that extra space starts at $21,450 for the Cooper or $25,100 for the Cooper S, which is $1,000 more than the three-door in both cases. However, like any modern Mini, these guys are extremely customizable from the factory. There are an array of colors, 10 option packages and a ton of other add-ons to choose from.
It sold over five million units. It was voted the second most influential car of the last century, bested only by the pioneering Ford Model T. It counted among its owners Steve McQueen, Enzo Ferrari and Peter Sellers. It is the classic Mini.
The tiny, two-box, four-seat hatch is an automotive icon of the first order and it's high time it featured in an episode of Petrolicious. Of course, the video gurus did it right, filming this handsome 1971 Mini, which has been modified to accommodate the 1,275-cc four-cylinder from the Mini Cooper S of the time.
Its owner, Sumner Norman, describes life with his right-hand-drive, UK-spec Mini. Naturally, he points out some of the idiosyncrasies inherent with a car built under the guise of British Leyland, including some of well known reliability woes, which he says is the car "going British." Mostly, though, he just seems to have a good time with the little hatch.
With the latest generation of Minis having only recently launched a few months ago, the company's Plant Oxford has found another reason to celebrate as it reached two major milestones almost simultaneously. Since production of the new, BMW-revived version began there in 2001, the factory has produced 3 million of the retro-looking models and 2 million vehicles exported outside of the UK. Just four years ago, it was celebrating building 1.5 million of them.
The three-millionth model was a Mini Cooper S five-door hatchback with a special Union Jack paint job. At about the same time, the factory hit its two-millionth exported Mini to leave there, as well. It was a standard Mini hatchback in Volcanic Orange heading for a buyer in Japan.
UK Transport Minister Baroness Kramer attended the ceremony and said: "I congratulate the workers at Mini Plant Oxford on reaching this remarkable milestone. The Mini is a British icon and is a major part of a thriving automotive industry spearheading the growing British economy."


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Police arrested a trespassing thief.
Repeat loiterer arrested at shopping center.
Police arrest computer part thief at office property.
Seattle Police arrested two men who tried to break into cars.
At 3:4 3a.m., two men arrive at a Seattle, Washington apartment alley. They’re prepared for a parking garage break-in with flashlights, tool bag,…
In our Catch of the Month at 1:20am a man walks through a Houston, Texas apartment parking lot. He attempts to break into numerous vehicles by trying…
Dallas Police arrested a man that attempted to break into a Texas shopping center.
Fairfield Police arrested drug users at a California shopping center.
Fight in an apartment parking led to ambulance response and an arrest.
Vandals attempted to break into a shopping center.
A thief attempted to steal from a construction but was arrested.
Little Rock Police arrest loiterers behind non-profit organization office.


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Amazon (Amazon Stock Quote, Chart: NASDAQ:AMZN) made headlines this week with a pledge to raise its US minimum wages to $15 per hour, a move that the e-commerce giant says will impact some 350,000 workers. What is the real impact of the Amazon minimum wage hike?
In reality, the move amounts to a great public relations coup, says entrepreneur and venture capitalist Bruce Croxon, who says the pay hike was inevitable. Amazon’s current minimum hourly wage starts at $11.00, still far ahead of the federally mandated minimum of $7.25. (All figures in US dollars.) The announcement came with a promise by the company to lobby Washington for an increase to the minimum wage along with Amazon calling on other big employers to hike their wages.
“We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do and decided we want to lead,” said founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. “We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.”
And while the company says the increase will put more cash into the hands of 350,000 workers -250,000 employees in the US and another 100,000 seasonal workers— the pay hike won’t feature too heavily in the company’s bottom line, says Croxon, partner at Round 13 Capital, on BNN Bloomberg’s The Disruptors.
“I’m a huge admirer of the company and I think this was another brilliant move in a series of brilliant moves,” says Croxon. “[But] this was more about PR than anything else because they have been under some attack for their labour practices and one area that Amazon continues to come under scrutiny for is how hard they work their people and in this case how little they pay them. So, it was about time that this happened.”
“Don’t forget that the unemployment rate in the United States is quite low and so supply and demand would dictate that the wages would have to go up anyway,” he says.
Amazon follows other big US retailers who have recently announced wage hikes including Walmart, which earlier this year raised its minimum pay from $9 to $11, and Target, which raised its minimum from $11 to $12 and plans to hit $15 by 2020.
Amazon minimum wage was already close to $15, anyway
Croxon says, “If you double-click on what [Amazon] actually pays company wide and take out the part-time workers, who have really taken it on the chin —if you work for Amazon [part-time] you don’t get paid much, but now that’s going to be addressed— the average was close to $15 anyway. I don’t think it’s going to do a big amount of damage to their operating expenses but I think it was long overdue and a good PR move.”
“Remember, another fight they’re fighting on the PR front is that they’re responsible for taking a lot of labour out of the market, so the ones they have left, let’s pay them well,” says Croxon.


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What hospitals need to know about Windows 10
The arrival of a new Microsoft operating system does not exactly bring the same excitement that it once did.
Indeed, since about the time Windows Vista launched, subsequent operating systems have come – and in the odd case of Windows 9 essentially vanished – without the fanfare of Windows 95, XP or 2000.
The company has at least managed to create enough wattage around Windows 10, however, that some 5 million so-called Windows Insiders installed early versions to test the software in development – and word slipped out this week that the planned flagship Microsoft store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan will open in the fall.
[See also: IE flaw ushers risky new era for XP use.]
A critical piece of the renewed interest is how Microsoft is breaking new ground with a phased approach to what CEO Satya Nadella dubbed the "One Windows" strategy, beginning July 29 when the OS became available for PCs and tablets.
The aim is to upgrade systems currently running Windows 7 and 8 in the near-term and follow that with Windows 10 Mobile later this year, and devices from Microsoft’s harem of hardware partners are slated to become available before the holiday season. Beyond that, Microsoft intends Windows 10 to serve as the operating system for a range of Internet of Things devices, including its own Surface Hub conference systems and HoloLens holographic glasses, among others.
When that “One Windows” day comes, the sales pitch goes, hospitals will be able to consolidate varying devices onto Windows 10 and the fact that the upgrade is free for systems already running Windows 7, 8.1 or 8.1 Mobile should entice many IT shops to install it; for those still using an older OS, the price tag is $199 for the professional version.
Microsoft, in the meantime, has incorporated some healthcare-centric functionality into Windows 10.
On one of its web pages the company showed the operating system’s capability to “snap together” different applications and, in so doing, enable a clinician to view a patient’s EMR next to a home health app.
A Power BI function can "gather, analyze and visualize quality of care data," while the Power Map feature enables users to combine and compare a hospital's own information with population health statistics. Microsoft also pointed to programs including Office 365, OneNote, SharePoint and Skype that can be used for care management and information sharing.
Later this year, when Windows 10 Mobile becomes available, it will make syncing apps across smartphones, tablets and PCs easier. Now, that’s not likely to inspire CIOs to rip and replace existing smartphones anytime soon, but the ability to coordinate a Windows-based phone with a Surface tablet will invariably have some appeal to a select crowd.
That’s just a taste and Microsoft said that it will be showing more of Windows 10 health capabilities moving forward.
The new OS also brings many broader functions, such as the return of the old Start menu, the new Edge browser, Cortana virtual assistant, and the usual suspects of upgraded apps for mail. Maps, music, photos, and OneDrive to back them up.
Much like its competitors Apple, IBM, Google and Oracle, Microsoft has been ramping up efforts particular to healthcare lately. Earlier this month, for instance, when it unwrapped the Cortana Analytics Suite, Microsoft also revealed that Dartmouth-Hitchcock is already using the tools in a personalized medicine pilot project.
Whether Windows 10 will enjoy the widespread adoption of XP or languish like Vista remains to be seen. But at this point – and with Microsoft's marketing machine stating that the company is gunning to upgrade 1 billion devices to Windows 10 – the former appears more likely than the latter.
What's your perspective? Just another Microsoft OS or a great reason to upgrade?


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Long Island's private sector grew by 1.4 percent year over year.Read More »
April 19, 2018 Comments Off on LI adds private sector jobs
December 18, 2015 Comments Off on LI adds nearly 30K jobs over year
September 17, 2015 Comments Off on LI adds 21.5K private jobs over year
July 16, 2015 Comments Off on LI adds jobs, boosted by construction, financial services
July 17, 2014 Comments Off on LI, nation add jobs in June
April 24, 2014 Comments Off on Postal workers unions protest Staples mail program
April 2, 2014 Comments Off on ADP: US companies add 191K jobs in March
March 6, 2014 Comments Off on Long Island adds 20,400 jobs as of January
October 2, 2013 Comments Off on ADP: US companies add 166,000 jobs in September
September 5, 2013 Comments Off on ADP: Businesses added 176,000 jobs in August
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MADISON, Wis. — NXP Semiconductors is rolling out a Modular IoT Gateway solution this week at Electronica in Munich, one of the largest trade fairs for the electronics industry.
NXP's modular IoT gateway
The launch of NXP’s new IoT Gateway product comes 11 days after Qualcomm officially announced plans to acquire NXP.
Neither NXP nor Qualcomm is commenting on the eventual outcome of the planned M&A (the deal is not expected to close until the end of 2017) and its impact on the IoT market.
The consensus among industry observers is the Qualcomm/NXP marriage will give birth to a genuine IoT powerhouse. Qualcomm brings cellular connectivity, while NXP brings high data security. The combined companies will address two IoT fundamentals – “connectivity and security” – in unparalleled depth and breadth.
That’s the high-level view.
But on a product-by-product level, there are overlaps and conflicts that company brings to the IoT market.
A broad-brush analysis shows that NXP’s newly unveiled Modular IoT Gateway product, for example, demonstrates the Dutch semiconductor company’s strong presence in the “industrial” IoT market, its unmatched expertise in IoT security and the company’s broad MCU portfolio — areas in which Qualcomm seems to trail NXP.
We asked NXP to break down the technology building blocks that enabled its Modular IoT Gateway. We also asked industry analysts to share their analysis on the impact, if any, of the combined portfolio of NXP and Qualcomm products and technologies on the IoT market.
NXP’s Modular IoT Gateway
On the Modular IoT Gateway, Denis Cabrol, NXP’s executive director of MCUs and application processors, told EE Times, “This isn’t a home router that can drive 20 nodes. This is a gateway designed for industrial IoT applications, driving hundreds of nodes or more.”
Built on an open source Linux platform running on NXP’s latest i.MX processors, the Modular IoT Gateway is set up to connect Thread and ZigBee-based end node devices securely with the cloud through Wi-Fi or Ethernet, NXP explained.
Modular hardware supports rapid iteration of specific wireless communication configurations. (Source: NXP)
Cabrol told us, “Bear in mind that many of these IoT end nodes – deployed in such industrial fields as oil rigs — are battery operated and they aren’t always on. They are installed in hard-to-reach places outside.”
More specifically, NXP’s Modular IoT Gateway — featuring buffer — can help battery-operated end-node devices communicate to the cloud, even without power, Cabrol explained. The gateway solution can commission, control and monitor thousands of end nodes, and “upgrade the code for such devices without crashing the network,” he added.
Next Page: Security


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The Hot Chips 23 symposium on high-performance chips kicks off at Stanford University next week. The makers of processors for smartphones, desktops, servers, and networking gear are polishing up their powerpoints to amaze and daze each other from August 17 through 19.
On the traditional server front, Intel is on deck to talk about the next generation eight-core "Poulson" Itanium processors, which the company detailed quite a bit back in March at the IEEE's International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco. Those presentations hit the chip community a few weeks before Oracle caused a ruckus when it said it would not support future versions of its database, middleware, and application software on these future Poulson processors. Hewlett-Packard, the biggest and nearly the sole user of the Itanium chip, has subsequently sued Oracle in California over the withdrawal of support, and last week antitrust authorities in Spain said they were looking into the potential of abuse by Oracle.
Speaking of Oracle, that company is a server chip maker and it has not given presentations at ISSCC or Hot Chips since it took over Sun Microsystems in January 2010. But this time around, Oracle will be trotting out two architects responsible for its forthcoming Sparc-T4 processor, due later this year. The Sparc T4 processors will have eight cores and implement a new core that Sun called "VT". That designation probably does not refer to the state of Vermont, but rather virtual threads and in contrast to the hard-coded threads in earlier Sparc T designs. The new core, Oracle has explained, allows a high priority application to grab one thread on a core and hog all of the resources on that core to significantly boost performance of that single thread. Oracle has been referring to this trick as the "critical thread API".
IBM will be trotting out a geared-down 16-core Power A2 processor that will be at the heart of the future BlueGene/Q massively parallel supercomputer, and the Chinese Academy of Science will be polishing up the ISSCC presentations it made already earlier this year for its "Godson" family of MIPS-compatible processors, which have an x86 emulation mode and which are extremely interesting for a lot of other reasons. The Godson-3C processors are expected with 8 to 16 cores running at between 1.5GHz and 2GHz sometime in late 2011 or early 2012. China has plans to create Godson variants suitable for consumer electronics, PCs, notebooks, tablets, embedded applications, servers, and supercomputers. The Godson-3 design includes instructions added to help the QEMU hypervisor (the one that's at the heart of Red Hat's KVM hypervisor) to translate instructions from x86 to MIPS format, with an emulation penalty of about 30 per cent.
Another MIPS chip revealing its transistors at Hot Chips is the 32-core Octeon II CN6880, from Cavium Networks, which tends to make products aimed at the networking space rather than servers. But there is no reason why someone can't – or won't – try to put the Octeon II into a server if it has price/performance or performance advantages.
Upstart many-core chip maker Tilera will be presenting at Hot Chips, too, showing off its Tile-Gx family chips for servers, networking gear, and other devices. The Tile-Gx3000 series of chips are aimed at servers and will have 36, 64, or 100 cores. Depending on the workload, a single Tile-Gx3000 can deliver the performance of a two-socket x64 server and do so in about a quarter of the space. The 36-core Tile-Gx3036 chips started sampling in July and are expected to appear in products by the end of the year, The The Tile-Gx3064 and Gx3100 processors, with 64 cores and 100 cores, respectively, will sample in early 2012 and will appear in products about six months later if all goes according to plan.
SeaMicro, which has been making a big splash with its Atom-based, dense-packed microservers, is not revealing the innards of its custom ASICs in the SM10000 systems, but will give a presentation that generally talks about the pros and cons of building data center servers using "cell phone chips", as the company put it.
On the desktop front, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices will be talking about their respective "Sandy Bridge" Core and "Llano" Fusion processors.
Neither company will be discussing their forthcoming server processors in the x64 racket, which would be Intel's eight-core "Sandy Bridge-EN" and "Sandy Bridge-EP" Xeon E5 chips and AMD's 16-core "Interlagos" Opteron 6200s. The Opteron 6200s look to launch in the third quarter, with the Xeon E5s expected in the fourth quarter. AMD is giving a presentation on the "Bulldozer" core design, which is employed in the Opteron 6200 processors as well as in desktop and workstation processors.
Facebook system engineer Amir Michael will be joined by Bill Dally, chief scientist at Nvdia, and Allen Baum, a chip architect at Intel, to talk about the Open Compute Project, which launched open source server and data center designs back in April. These servers are built by Facebook and its partner Quanta Computer and are used in the company's Prineville, Oregon data center. ®


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Disney has teamed up with Epic Games, forking out a whopping $1.5 billion to gain a stake in the gaming industry. This collaboration is not only about money, but also about creating a whole new universe where gaming and entertainment collide, promising to breathe new life into cherished Disney tales and characters.
Dubbed “a venture that could redefine the way we play, watch and interact with content,” the partnership hints at a future where the lines between gaming and storytelling are blurring. Imagine stepping into a world powered by Epic’s Unreal Engine, where the magic of Disney and the excitement of Epic’s gaming prowess reign supreme. This isn’t just another game launch; it’s the promise of an immersive universe where fans can explore, create, and even shop within their favorite Disney stories.
Disney’s dive into this “persistent universe” is not uncharted territory. Their characters have already appeared in Fortnite, demonstrating how well Disney’s stories fit with Epic’s gaming landscape. But this new universe aims to go further, offering an integrated experience that leverages content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and more, all in a space that coexists with the Fortnite ecosystem.
The financial aspect of this deal may come as a surprise, as Disney’s $1.5 billion investment is a drop in the bucket for Epic, which is valued at $32 billion. However, the creative and strategic potential of this partnership is truly exciting. Disney’s history in the gaming world has been a rollercoaster of investment and sales, but this move could mark a stable and innovative presence in the industry.
Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, sees this as more than just an investment; it is a significant leap into the world of gaming, promising growth and new opportunities. Although no specific TV or movie projects have been announced yet, the partnership makes such a development inevitable, especially given the current trend of successful video game adaptations. As expected, Disney’s shares soared. With Disney and Epic at the helm, we are on the verge of entering a universe where the magic can be truly Epic.


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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Cisco plans to use its recently acquired BroadSoft cloud PBX to let customers make phone calls...
through Spark, the company's team collaboration software.
The move could make Spark a stronger competitor to Spark's most significant rival, Microsoft Teams. Microsoft added phone calling to Teams late last year.
The Cisco-BroadSoft cloud PBX is powerful enough to run "an IBM or the U.S. Senate," Mark Straton, a vice president of marketing at Broadsoft, said during an interview at the Enterprise Connect conference.
"[Spark] will be a really strong offer because it will have arguably the best collaboration and meetings capabilities, with the best calling capabilities," Straton said.
Having a PBX (private branch exchange) system behind a product like Spark or Teams means users can make calls through the public telephone system. Also, a cloud-based PBX provides enterprises with a management-free option.
Spark has limited voice features today that are only available in the United States. With BroadSoft's platform, Cisco could provide a full-fledged cloud PBX system that's available in 20 countries.
In February, Cisco completed the $1.9 billion purchase of BroadSoft, which primarily licenses the unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platform to communication service providers. cloud service providers then sell the service to mostly small and medium-sized businesses.
The acquisition left Cisco with a somewhat unwieldy collection of products that overlapped with Cisco's technology. At Enterprise Connect, Cisco started to shed light on how it plans to merge the two portfolios.
Cisco plans to absorb CC-One, BroadSoft's contact center platform for service providers, into its contact center business unit, Straton said. BroadSoft, meanwhile, will make Spark and Cisco's online meeting software, WebEx, accessible through UC-One, which is BroadSoft's online user interface for multiple UC services.
Cisco has not set a timeline for any of the above changes to the Cisco-BroadSoft portfolio, but analysts expect the company to release more details at conferences in April and November.
Cisco-BroadSoft plans to widen availability of UC-One
Also at Enterprise Connect, BroadSoft announced that it would make UC-One available to BroadWorks customers via BroadCloud, its UC software-as-a-service platform. Before, service providers using BroadWorks had to host UC-One in their clouds.
BroadCloud and BroadWorks differ mostly on how they are managed. The latter runs in the data centers of service providers, which are responsible for maintaining the UCaaS product. BroadSoft, on the other hand, runs and manages BroadCloud in its data center.
Only around 20% of cloud service providers offering BroadWorks have also gone through the additional work of deploying UC-One in their data centers to sell it as a separate managed service. By making UC-One available as-a-service, BroadSoft hopes to increase adoption of the platform, Straton said.
UC-One is essential to many end-users because it provides a single interface for accessing a variety of services from any device. An all-in-one interface is prized by companies because it increases worker productivity, analysts said. Without a unifying interface, workers have to launch and close separate applications.


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Digital TV News: Kwesé
iflix subscriber numbers up 250% in 1H 2018
Jul 16, 2018 – iflix has announced that it now has more than 15 million subscribers to its service, on the back of 250% growth since January 2018. The first half of 2018 has been a period of significant change for iflix as the service evolves away from the traditional Western SVOD model.
News categories: iflix, Mark Britt, Africa, Asia, Digital TV, Middle-East, OTT, Results, Subscribers
Africa to reach 10 million SVOD subscribers by 2023
Jun 26, 2018 – Digital TV Research has forecast that there will be 9.99 million SVOD subscribers across Sub-Saharan Africa by 2023, up from 1.56 million at the end of 2017. However, revenues will only be $775 million as some platforms are very cheap.
News categories: Digital TV Research, Simon Murray, Africa, Digital TV, Market Research, OTT, Subscribers
Kwesé iflix launches in Zimbabwe
May 31, 2018 – Kwesé iflix has launched an entertainment platform that will bring live coverage of all 64 FIFA 2018 World Cup games, and thousands of premier entertainment programmes, to millions of Zimbabweans via its new mobile app.
News categories: Kwesé, iflix, Econet Wireless, Kwesé iflix, Joseph Hundah, Mark Britt, Douglas Mboweni, Apps, Digital TV, Mobile, OTT, Zimbabwe
Kwesé brings OTT to Africa thanks to tucano back-end
Apr 5, 2018 – Alpha Networks has announced the launch of two products by Kwesé for the African market. Kwesé Play is the first Roku video solution launched by any operator in African territory. Kwesé TV is a new OTT user experience offered to existing DTH users.
News categories: Alpha Networks, Econet Media, Kris Warreyn, Joseph Hundah, Africa, Apps, Content Distribution, Digital TV, NABShow, OTT, Satellite, Set Top Box
Pay TV subscribers in Africa to grow 74% between 2017 and 2023
Jan 8, 2018 – The number of pay TV subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase by 74% between 2017 and 2023 to reach 40.89 million. However, Digital TV Research estimates that subscriber growth will outstrip revenue progress.
News categories: Digital TV Research, Simon Murray, Africa, Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Digital TV, DRC, Kenya, Market Research, Nigeria, South Africa, Subscribers, Tanzania, Uganda
Mediaproxy provides compliance, monitoring and analysis for Kwesé TV
Oct 9, 2017 – Mediaproxy has announced that Econet Media has chosen its unified broadcast compliance, monitoring and analysis solution for Kwesé TV. Mediaproxy software is enabling Kwesé TV to ensure delivery of its pay-TV service to consumers in Ghana, Rwanda, Zambia, and Kenya.
News categories: Mediaproxy, Econet Media, Mark Horchler, David Alpert, Digital TV, Ghana, Kenya, QoE, Rwanda, Satellite, Zambia
Kwesé unveils the first ‘pay-as-you-watch’ TV bouquet in Kenya
Oct 5, 2017 – Econet Media has unveiled its satellite bouquet Kwesé TV in Kenya. Kwesé TV is currently available both in urban centres and rural areas throughout the country and includes a free 30 day subscription for new subscribers.
News categories: Kwesé, Kennedy Ojung’a, Digital TV, Kenya, Satellite
Pay TV market in Africa at 23.7 million subscribers
Oct 4, 2017 – Dataxis’ latest research sheds light on the steady expansion of the Pay TV market in Africa. Based on data for the second quarter of 2017, the total number of Pay TV subscribers reached approximately 23.7 million.
News categories: Dataxis, Africa, Cable TV, Digital TV, IPTV, Market Research, Satellite, Subscribers, Terrestrial
Roku powers Kwesé Play streaming platform in Africa
Sep 14, 2017 – Roku and Econet Media have announced that the companies have entered a Roku Powered license agreement for the launch of streaming TV service Kwesé Play. The Kwesé Play service and streaming player are now available in South Africa.
News categories: Roku, Econet Media, Andrew Ferrone, Joseph Hundah, Apps, Digital TV, IBC2019, OTT, Set Top Box, South Africa
- NCTC to offer discounted Amazon Fire TV devices to members
- Viu reaches 41.4 million monthly active users
- Roku ends 2019 with 36.9 million active accounts
- Online viewing continues to gain ground on traditional broadcast TV
- Vianeos provides revamped UX for Batelco TV in Bahrain
- VUALTO partners with ATEME for automated encoder integration
- STV selects Arqiva Hybrid TV Service for HD restart feature
- AfricaXP adds DTH capacity from Eutelsat for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Altice USA residential video RGUs down 44k in 4Q 2019
- 'Tapering subscriber acquisitions' for Dish TV India in 4Q 2019
- Movistar Spain launches new voice remote control
- Irdeto confirmed as security partner for Mitele Plus
- Swedish streaming market saturating
- Tubi monthly active users grow to 25 million
- beIN SPORTS strikes partnership with XUMO TV
- Cinedigm’s Viewster app available on Foxxum-supporting devices
- Liberty extends Netflix partnership in Europe
- beIN SPORTS XTRA added to Samsung TV Plus
- Sinclair Broadcast joins Pearl TV broadcast business organization
- WISI ABR transcoding approved for Minerva YourTV Now cloud video


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Oct 28, 2022 (MLN): The KSE 100 index witnessed a uninteresting trading session as the buyers remained cautious on the political sound and PKR weakening
October 6, 2022 (MLN): The govt on Thursday contested the Moody’s ranking motion on Pakistan stating that the ranking motion was taken with no prior
©Women Entrepreneurs Improve Global® All rights reserved. Women of all ages Business owners Develop Global® has its subsequent wegginar® coming up tomorrow, 10/5/22, and this
Oct 1, 2022 (MLN): Washington on Friday rolled more than an settlement to suspend company payments on $132 million of Pakistan’s financial debt, the U.S.
In addition, an increase in shopper disposable revenue publish-recession has elevated demand for each niche studio and chain gym memberships. This month brings extra than


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Apple has actually introduced its most current reducing side production, the Apple iPhone 4. The Apple iPhone 4 is even more compared to simply a cell phone.
games to play over skype additionally comes with $4.99 and among one of the most prominent and extremely just like the Nike + GPS explained listed below. Among the functions that make it stand apart are an analytical evaluation, task-based records, precise GPS maps and far more.
Nike + GPS is a paid application at just $1.99 with superior abilities such as; adjustable running playlists, speed monitoring, training course maps, calories shed, electronic mentoring and even more. It showcases a factors system to honor a jogger for certain achievements like individual best, added gas mileage logged, in addition to digital race obstacles.
The cutting-edge phone has actually extremely had the ability to enhance its technical ability while additionally lowering its real dimension when being compared with its precursor. The battery capacity of this phone has actually boosted with a talk time of 7-14 hrs on an extra small integrated into rechargeable battery. The iPhone 4’s premium clearness of its clear layered front scene masks a full bundle of not just a fantastic interaction device, yet additionally an exceptionally enjoyable and source digital tool.
Currently, numerous have actually relocated the iPhone 5 launch day approximately September, though some still claim October. The resource of the September launch day could not be located, though its resource might be the wonderful expectancy of iPhone enthusiasts and technogeeks anywhere.
Also after Foxconn used 18,000 employees for its iPhone 5 games to play over skype manufacturing, reasoning determined that the iPhone had actually to be launched a couple of months later on to enable for its assemblage; this indicated that the day had actually to be relocated back to later on this year. It would certainly not be a poor suggestion at all to call the brand-new iPhone after him.


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Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a subsidiary of Cassava Technologies, announced today the appointment of Denny Marandure to the post of Chief Executive Officer for Raha Limited, Tanzania. Liquid acquired Raha Limited in 2016 and at the time made the pan-African provider the biggest shareholder in the entity, further expanding its reach in Africa.
Marandure joined Liquid in 2014 as the CEO of ZOL Zimbabwe until 2019 when he moved to Liquid South Africa as Group Executive Cloud and Digital Sales and then subsequently as Group Executive Enterprise Sales.
“Denny is a proven senior executive who has the vision, strategic thinking, leadership and energy to successfully drive our Tanzania operations to newer heights of excellence. His proven track record with Liquid not only speaks of his dedication and efforts but also demonstrates his excellent management abilities to navigate through complex business eco-systems in Africa. I would like to wish Denny the best of luck from the entire group as he embarks on his new assignment in Tanzania.”Adil El Youssefi, Regional CEO for Liquid Intelligent Technologies, East Africa
With over twenty-seven years of experience in finance, analytics, business development and management, Marandure is a vastly experienced executive leader with experience in providing value to large international global and dynamic Fortune 500 companies. He has previously worked for multinational companies such as IBM USA, IBM South Africa, PWC (Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP), Verizon Communications LLC, ZOL Zimbabwe – the retail arm of Liquid Intelligent Technologies Zimbabwe.
“This is a really exciting time to join Raha and I am honoured to be taking on this leadership role where I can leverage my wealth of experience, expertise and knowledge that I have gained from working in dynamic markets such as the Unites States of America, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The business landscape in Tanzania is evolving rapidly with massive digitisation opportunities on the horizon, making it the right time to focus on holistic growth and overall business development in the country. Raha Limited has been at the forefront of bringing ground-breaking innovation and technological solutions to the people of Tanzania, I am honoured to have the baton passed on to me and look forward to being part of the team here.”Denny Marandure, Raha Limited CEO
Raha Limited today serves over 1500 businesses as well as a growing number of retail customers with a range of connectivity solutions, including fibre, satellite, WiMAX and Wi-Fi all over Tanzania.
You should also read
- Liquid Telecom ties up Raha acquisition, plans to enhance public WiFi & data centres in Tanzania
- Liquid Telecom acquires Tanzanian internet provider Raha, extends African retail internet ambitions
- Liquid Telecom’s acquisition of Neotel gets regulatory greenlight
- Liquid Telecom acquires QBS group’s Middle East and Africa operations
- Liquid expands footprint with East African assets acquisition


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Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to poke the bear, slandering the SEC on Twitter repeatedly less than a week after he reached a settlement with the Commission over securities fraud allegations. Troubled investors, who grow more nervous by the day, pleaded with Musk to temper his stream of antagonistic tweets - until the settlement goes through, at the very least. But instead of backpedaling on his initial remarks, Musk has instead fueled the flames of controversy even more, reaffirming his stance that the SEC simply exists to help out TSLA short sellers. Will he eventually change his tune? Or will he force the SEC to push for stronger penalties? Either way, Tesla investors are in for a wild ride.
Facebook, who suffered one of the worst data breaches of all time in mid-September, allowed hackers to gain access to over 50 million user accounts after they failed to identify vulnerabilities in their platform code. A top British law firm and its head of group litigation who specialized in class action lawsuits, believes that affected users could be entitled to compensation as high as $8,000. Based on recent changes to digital regulations in the EU, it looks like Facebook could be in for a world of hurt - either from regulators or scorned users, and that certainly won't help share prices.
The U.S./China tariffs are now in force, and according to the media, they've caused a major shift in market sentiment - causing a huge drop over the last trading session and priming equities for a crash. As exciting as that sounds, there's another scenario playing out here, that doesn't spell doom for American stocks, and it might just be what investors need to continue a sustained uptrend.
14 Cent Crypto To Take Down Bitcoin?
...and that you could snag for just $0.14.
Even a measley $100 investment could get you over 714 of these.
Our crypto expert says this could be the "next Bitcoin"...
Despite being involved in a trade war with China, President Trump managed to find enough time to take on one of his oldest enemies - social media. Google, Facebook, and a handful of other companies are now being eyed for an antitrust investigation via executive order - something that will surely hurt share prices. But as stocks on these companies fluctuate amid the turmoil, one in particular stands out as a potentially huge winner in the long run.
Trump and China just can't get along, can they? Newly proposed tariffs are set to unravel the trade war, locking each side staunchly into their positions as they try to see who blinks first. If you've been reading the news, then you'd think that all of this tariff talk would have dire consequences for the American economy. Surprisingly though, the U.S. continues to get high marks - especially in the constantly rising stock market. Should American investors even be worried about the trade war? Maybe, but also maybe not - because if we've learned anything through this whole ordeal, it's that the U.S. markets are far too self-centered to let a foreign power get in their way.
Tilray, Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) surged in value over Wednesday's trading session, fluctuating wildly enough to have trading halted five times before the market closed. Analysts have tried to explain the rapid price hike different ways, but the real reason for the sudden burst may surprise you.
The Chinese just introduced a set of tariffs on American imports, but it looks like the U.S. markets don't care at all. In fact, in the face of these tariffs, the S&P 500 actually went up significantly. There's more to come from both sides of the trade war, but so far we've seen the U.S. with a clear advantage.
Coca-Cola Co announced yesterday that its been in talks with Aurora Cannabis as part of a larger plan to bring marijuana-infused beverages to American consumers. Cannabis has always been closely related to THC, its psychoactive compound responsible for some mind-bending effects, but this other little known substance could ultimately prove to be even more important for the industry.
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99% of investors have never heard of them either… which means this unclaimed income is completely up for grabs.
When used correctly, these 3 “shadow pools” have the potential to spit out $3,600.00 per month… but first you have to know how to find them.


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More than a year after she graced the cover of Rolling Stone Australia’s debut issue, Tones and I is making history as her cover becomes the first to be released as a NFT through The Brag Media’s newly-launched NFT store.
Taking place as part of a 24-hour sale from 12pm AEST on Monday, July 19th, the initiative marks the first time in the iconic masthead’s global 53-year history that a cover has been released as a NFT. Limited to just 350, those luck enough to get hold of one of the bundles – priced at $140 – will also receive a physical copy of Rolling Stone Australia’s debut (and sold out) issue – signed and numbered by Tones And I – plus an exclusive aqua-coloured cassette version of her debut album.
“It’s an absolute honour to be the first artist in the world to have a Rolling Stone Australia magazine cover released as a NFT,” said Tones and I in a statement.
While Tones and I’s debut album – Welcome to The Madhouse – is officially released this week, sales of the NFT bundle will also be part of a pioneering Australian first, with each sale being ARIA Charts accredited.
The 350 collectors to secure one of the collectable bundles will also get their names etched in history, with all willing NFT buyers set to feature in an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone Australia in a double-page spread designed by the magazine’s Australian Creative Director, Katie Taylor.
“We know that being featured on the cover of an iconic masthead like Rolling Stone is a monumental moment for artists, and it was no different for Tones And I who was picked by The Brag Media’s Managing Editor, Poppy Ried, to feature on the cover of our first issue last May,” explained The Brag Media’s Chief Executive Officer, Luke Girgis.
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“By minting an exclusive NFT of this cover to celebrate the issue and create a one-of-a-kind collectable for the NFT community, we also have an opportunity to – hopefully – help Tones And I achieve the first-ever #1 ARIA album sold as a NFT on our new store,” Girgis added.
Powered by Origin, a pioneering NFT platform using Ethereum blockchain technology, The Brag Media’s newly-launched NFT store is a welcome partnership, according to Origin co-founder Matthew Liu.
“We’re very excited that Rolling Stone Australia, an iconic media brand with global recognition and over 40 years of history influencing music culture, is entering the NFT space with the Tones And I NFT release,” Liu said.
Tones and I released her debut album, Welcome to The Madhouse, on July 16th, with NFT bundles on sale now for 24 hours


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Saturday, September 25th, 2021
According to new research by 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, merchants that were positioned the best during the pandemic have one key thing in common: they prioritized payments within their business. 55% of merchants said payments are a highly strategic area of focus within their business. In fact, they went so far as to say that COVID-19 had had a positive effect on sales.
How? Having the right payment processing solutions in place allowed these merchants to quickly adapt over the past year. They had the ability to capitalize on emerging trends and satisfy customer needs.
Pandemic-Related Payment Processing Challenges
On the other hand, things became challenging very quickly for the businesses that entered 2020 without an adaptable payments strategy. Here are three big obstacles they encountered:
1. Fraud. As digital sales volume accelerated due to shifting consumer needs, many business owners found themselves tripping over a big problem. Fraud, and lots of it. Businesses in the early days, while grateful their e-commerce business was scaling, were hit with a shocking number of chargebacks. More than 67% of merchants witnessed an increase in the volume of fraudulent online transactions.
2. Limited Payment Options. The 451 Research study also discovered that 30% of consumers tried contactless payment methods for the first time over the past year. Many business owners found out the hard way that prioritizing cross-border activity is a must. As the uncertainty of the economy and pandemic restrictions continue, business should especially heed this shift. Consumers (78%) say they will simply go elsewhere if their preferred payment method isn’t accepted, and they are less likely to return to that business in the future.
3. Omnichannel Integration Challenges. Many businesses had to scramble to add experiences like curbside pickup and buy online. Others also added services like pickup in-store. The biggest challenge in implementing these offerings was the fact that most merchants surveyed (54%) said their commerce strategy is handled by teams focused on individual sales channels, not omnichannel. 73% of merchants now report that implementing a more unified view of customers is a top priority moving forward.
How to Boost Your Business’ Payments Infrastructure
One of the top things the pandemic has highlighted is the need for businesses to boost their payments’ infrastructure. The best place to start is to look at your payment processor. Do you have a partner that understands your business’ unique needs and challenges? Do they stay current on the trends shaping the payments industry?
If you’re looking for the best retail merchant account available, be sure to browse the many reviews and information the team at bestpaymentproviders.com offers. Discover the payment provider that meets your needs and has the reputation your business deserves.


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Ahead of its official unveil on March 16, a few new details of the India-spec 2020 Honda City have surfaced online. We had reported a few weeks ago that the new City for India will get country-specific changes as far as interior bits and features go. New details now confirm that Honda Car India has made changes to the upcoming City’s dimensions too, keeping Indian customers in mind.
|India-spec new Honda City
|Old Honda City
In terms its size, the new India-spec City measures 4,549mm in length, 1,748mm in width, 1,489mm in height, and has a 2,600mm long wheelbase – the fifth-gen City is longer and wider than the outgoing model currently on sale but has the same wheelbase length. Interestingly, the new Honda City sold in Thailand has a wheelbase that is 11mm shorter than the one that’s headed to a Honda showroom near you, which means the next-gen City for India could have more legroom for the second row, thanks to the longer wheelbase. The all-new India-spec City will also have a higher ground clearance to suit Indian roads and be a bit heavier than the outgoing car.
The new City will continue to utilise its predecessor’s BS6-compliant 119hp, 1.5-litre petrol engine, at least initially. This engine is expected to be offered with 5-speed manual and CVT automatic gearbox options. There will be a BS6-compliant diesel too – the 100hp, 1.5-litre powerplant has already made its debut on the Amaze. Additionally, Honda will also add a 1.5-litre petrol with mild-hybrid tech to the City line-up, sometime down the line.
The new City is expected be available in three petrol-manual variants – V, VX and ZX. The top-spec ZX trim is expected to get features such as full LED lighting, a sunroof and 16-inch alloy wheels.
More details about the all-new City will be revealed at its official unveil in a few days, though the launch of the fifth-generation Honda City is slated to take place in April this year. When new City prices are revealed, it will compete with the upcoming Hyundai Verna facelift, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, the Toyota Yaris and the new 1.0 TSI-equipped Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid.


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New Delhi: The road transport ministry has said it will make it mandatory for carmakers to provide a minimum of six airbags in motor vehicles that can carry up to 8 passengers for enhanced safety of occupants from October this year.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in a statement said that in order to enhance the safety of occupants of the motor vehicle against lateral impact, it has been decided to enhance safety features by amending the Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989.
“A draft notification has been issued on January 14, 2022, which mandates that vehicles of category M1, manufactured after October 1, 2022, shall be fitted with two side/side torso air bags, one each for the persons occupying front row outboard seating positions, and two side curtain/tube air bags, one each for the persons occupying outboard seating positions,” it said.
An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system which interferes between the driver and the vehicle’s dashboard during a collision, thereby preventing serious injuries.
In a series of tweets, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said his ministry had already mandated the implementation of fitment of the driver airbag with effect from July 1, 2019 and front co-passenger airbag with effect from January 1, 2022.
“In order to enhance the safety of the occupants in motor vehicles carrying up to 8 passengers, I have now approved a Draft GSR Notification to make a minimum of 6 airbags compulsory,” Gadkari had said. GSR here stands for General Statutory Rules.
He had further said that to minimise the impact of frontal and lateral collisions on the occupants seated in both front and rear compartments, it has been decided that 4 additional airbags be mandated in the M1 vehicle category.
“…i.e. two side/side torso airbags and two side curtain/tube airbags covering all outboard passengers. This is a crucial step to make motor vehicles in India safer than ever,” he said.
According to Gadkari, this will ultimately ensure the safety of passengers across all segments, irrespective of the cost/variant of the vehicle
According to latest government data, total 1,16,496 road accidents occurred on national highways (NHs), including expressways, in 2020, causing 47,984 deaths.
Last year, Gadkari in an interview to PTI had said small cars, mostly purchased by lower middle-class people, should also have an adequate number of airbags and had wondered why automakers are providing eight airbags only in big cars bought by rich people.
His remarks had come against the backdrop of the automobile industry raising concerns that high taxation and stricter safety and emission norms for vehicles have made their products expensive . —PTI


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Tenants are in the pound seats as rental rates come down because of the number of units available. But owners are seeking briefer lets, hoping tourists will return by summer
A flood of Airbnb properties has begun to hit the long-term rental market as the travel ban leaves tourism investment property owners without incomes.
Many Airbnb owners are converting their properties to longterm rentals, competing with those already on the market, says Jacqui Savage, national rentals manager for the Rawson Property Group. This movement emerged in February and has continued to grow since the start of the lockdown. Tenants will be spoilt for choice with the introduction of so many new properties to the long-term rental market.
“Landlords will therefore need to adjust their approach to account for current trends,” Savage says. Echoing this, Samuel Seeff, chairman of the Seeff Property Group, says this flood of Airbnb stock into the rental market has resulted in an oversupply in most areas and put downward pressure on rental rates.
There are, however, challenges for Airbnb property owners who have rushed their properties on to the residential rental market. The first is that demand for furnished units is much lower. Savage agrees: “Unfurnished properties remain the most popular choice for tenants, so much so that many Airbnb owners are removing the furniture from their properties… Furnished apartments tend to attract much higher rents than unfurnished and this is an issue when affordability is a concern for tenants – as is currently the case.”
Rents for long-term residential rentals are also lower, Seeff says, adding that the periods needed by residential tenants tend to be at least eight to 12 months.
“Many owners are looking at only six-month rentals, although some are taking an eight-to-12 month option to mitigate some of the risks in the market.” The saving grace for Airbnb property owners is the fact that the travel ban has left many travellers in precarious living situations, especially those who planned to emigrate just before the lockdown started, says Adrian Goslett, chief executive of Re/Max of Southern Africa.
“This has led to new trends in the rental market, with fully-furnished, medium-term rentals becoming increasingly popular…” Elaborating on the trend, Jenny de Necker, broker-owner of Re/Max All Stars operating in Alberton and Germiston in Gauteng, says there has been an increase in demand for fully furnished properties.
“Many of our clients who sold their properties to emigrate and had the sale registered just before or during the lockdown were left stranded. They had all the plans to travel abroad and these where placed on hold when flights were cancelled or postponed.”
To accommodate these travellers and keep their finances ticking over, many Airbnb owners switched to long-term rentals, she says. Agents in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are also witnessing an influx of Airbnb properties on to the long-term rental market. The Cape Town CBD has a huge over-supply of furnished properties because of the collapse of the shortstay market, notes Craig Watchurst, a Seeff rental agent in the city centre.
“Most seem to be offered for long-term rentals, either furnished or unfurnished, but there are some owners who are hedging their bets and offering the properties for three to six months in the hope that travel and tourism will be back up and running by the summer. Rental rates are falling fast and will continue to do so in the short term.”
Tourism has a massive impact on the Hermanus economy and, as there is a large amount of Airbnb and tourism properties in the town, it has felt the impact of the travel bans across the board, says Seeff’s rental agent in the area Cisca de Vries. “Most of the Airbnb and holiday stock has come on to the residential market.”
But while many tenants relish the opportunity to rent a beautifully furnished home or apartment, longer-term residential tenants usually want to furnish the property with their own furniture and belongings.
“Some property owners are prepared to remove and store their furniture to secure a tenant,” De Vries says. Airbnb stock has also flooded the KZN North Coast residential market. “This is a devastating shock for the hospitality and tourism industry across our region and has a direct and immediate impact on property owners who often rely on high-demand periods to finance running expenses for their properties, says Andreas Wassenaar, licensee for Seeff Zimbali.
The problem, though, is that most of these properties are unfurnished or owners want short leases of only up to six months. On the KZN South Coast, the tourism decline is also being felt by property owners who rely on the holiday market. Jo Giraudeau, Seeff rentals and operations manager there, says most of these properties have come on to the residential market and landlords are willing to charge lower rents.


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How Victoria's DELWP is tackling shadow IT
Apple loses iPhone trademark case in China
Revived OAIC to be "leaner"
AusPost deploys Australia's first online police check
Turnbull's cyber threat sharing centres to model UK
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The untold story of iiNet and Internode's Basslink internet woes
Anatomy of a cable cut.
Mar 23 2016 6:29AM
iiNet, Internode promise "all required capacity" over weekend
First Bass Strait upgrade delivers less than expected.
Mar 17 2016 9:21AM
TPG scrimps on bandwidth for Tassie home users
Too expensive to double up on transmission costs.
Mar 14 2016 3:29PM
Telstra, Basslink force action on Bass Strait prices
Bad timing for angry end users.
Mar 14 2016 1:50PM
iiNet, Internode strike Telstra capacity deal for Tasmania
Relief on the horizon but days away.
Mar 12 2016 10:37PM
Tas govt wrings TPG 'review' from internet slowdown
Minister intervenes to try to force ISPs to act.
Mar 12 2016 5:24PM
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Speeds fall back to dial-up levels in major “degradation”.
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Somewhere around 2016 someone created the first playable ad ... a mini-game you could enjoy, and an ad that didn’t suck.
Last year, according to a Liftoff report, “playable ads were the most effective ad format” in every month other than September, when they tied with another format.
That makes sense: you're generating engagement with the ad. It's fun. Sometimes it's tied to a reward, and a playable ad often shows something of what the advertised app is all about.
BUT there's been a big problem
Playables have been hard to create. Slow. Expensive. Inflexible. Hard to use with user-generated content. Hard to use with influencers.
Could there be a solution for that? Should you be looking harder at playables? Could they even solve for some of the targeting that privacy is removing?
In this Growth Masterminds, we're sharing a LinkedIn Live host John Koetsier did with CRAFTSMAN+ CEO Alex Merutka.


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Tantalizing prospects of improving economic conditions continue to offer hope to weary business owners and managers, like visions of a cool oasis in the middle of a burning desert. Nonetheless, there’s seldom a shortage of discouraging news, such as the disappointing jobs report or dip in optimism among small business owners. All of a sudden, even a glass that’s at least half full appears half empty.
Fortunately, there’s a tonic that never fails to reinvigorate great expectations for the future of this country: entrepreneurism.
Despite the massive obstacles erected against them, entrepreneurs somehow find ways to invent better products and services. In doing so, they establish businesses that make money, employ people and give back to the community.
It’s invariably refreshing, then, to attend Entrepreneurship Day at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction. The annual event offers an unequaled opportunity to seek out advice from successful entrepreneurs, find out more about local ventures and even hear from university students about their ideas for new business concepts.
The latest E-Day was no exception in offering inspiration along a theme: outdoor gear.
Kenneth “Hap” Klopp, the founder and for more than 20 years CEO of the North Face, delivered the keynote address and shared his story of turning a tiny retail operation into one of the largest and most dominant corporations in the outdoor apparel and equipment industry. Klopp also shared a number of practical tips for others who would aspire to climb as high as the North Face.
Interestingly enough, the winners of the Entrepreneurs of the Year award announced at E-Day were Seth Anderson and Jess Rigg — co-owners of Loki, a Grand Junction outerwear company that’s developed a distinctive brand of versatile products. Anderson’s experiences in the great outdoors inspired the development of hats and jackets that shift shapes to accommodate changing weather conditions.
And then there’s Alex Swaynie, one of three CMU students who presented ideas for new business concepts during the Idea Challenge staged as part of E-Day. Swaynie placed third in the competition with his design for snowboard bindings that extend like snowshoes to help riders recover after falling in deep snow.
It’s understandable to worry the world’s going to hell in a hand basket. Instead, think of the prospects of a world in which entrepreneurs like Klopp, Anderson, Rigg and Swaynie grow vibrant businesses that provide needed products. And that’s just in the outdoor sports sector. Ponder the prospects for innovations in communication, transportation and health care. Entrepreneurs don’t just make money, they make a difference in peoples’ lives.
The next time you’re discouraged about business, or life in general, think about entrepreneurism. And for those thinking about becoming entrepreneurs, consider the advice of Hap Klopp.
Quoting the German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Klopp issues a call to action: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”


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2K Czech-developed Top Spin 4 saw a US release date surface as late as yesterday, but European fans were left in the dark on when the long-standing franchise would hit shelves in the old continent. As of today, that’s changed.
Top Spin 4 will be released in Europe just three days after it hits stores in the US, on March 18th. Be on the lookout for Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Anna Ivanovic as these three will share the cover for the game, as you can see above.
Top Spin 4 is coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.


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China is hungry for the kind of recreational vehicles built in Southern California — at least according to the Chinese entrepreneur who struck a deal with a Riverside firm to build and export $5 billion worth of them.Yes. These RVs would be more affordable, but who would buy them?? Let's analyze.
The Chinese government has placed a focus on developing the RV industry as a cornerstone of the Chinese ideal of the happy home life, said Winston Chung.
"A family with an RV is a family more in harmony with each other," he said, speaking through a translator. "During vacations, people can get into the RV and enjoy quality family time."
Under Chung's agreement with MVP RV of Riverside, the company plans to manufacture the vehicles here and export them to China. However, Chung would not rule out moving operations to China in the future.
Chung spoke about the burgeoning market in China for the motor homes after a news conference with UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy P. White, where they announced Chung's $10-million donation to UCR's Bourns College of Engineering.
In an interview with The Times, a smiling Chung cheerfully detailed his plans to build and export 30,000 diesel-powered motor homes to China, and eventually to develop electric-powered RVs. Chung, 52, is the founder of battery maker Winston Global Energy.
The nascent Chinese RV industry has the potential for high profit margins, despite high taxes on gas-guzzling vehicles, Chung said. He added that the increasing value of the yuan, the Chinese currency, will make buying an RV more affordable for families.
- China has 1.3 billion people in a limited amount of space. People all live in high-rise apartment buildings to save space. Even those people who bought traditional American houses are squeezed together to an uncomfortable small area. There is just no room to park these things that would actually make sense unless its in a parking garage - but thats expensive.
- People in the US enjoy RVs for camping and exploring the country - esp in the midwest and western US. It takes advantage of the cheap(er) fuel prices and the interstate highway system with the comfort of your own hotel-room RV. In China, tolls for the freeways are very expensive and the gas isnt cheap either. It doesnt make sense to travel via RVs since trains, long distance buses and plane travel is so convenient and public transportation and cheap taxis are available everywhere. Also, hotels are cheap as well.
- Mostly older people in the US have RVs. Chinese old people dont know how to drive.
- The people with the most RVs/Trailer homes in the US are for the poor. However, I dont foresee poor Chinese people choosing to live in RVs rather than their houses.
To me, RVs just does not make sense in China. However, if Mr. Chung and his company, Global Winston Energy bought the company to cut costs and sell to US/Canadian consumers (just like Chinese car maker Geely bought Volvo), that would make some sense.
Otherwise, what are you thinking??


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Flickr / Steven Depolo
Europe’s highest court is due to rule on the value-added tax (VAT) status of bitcoin exchanges in Europe on Thursday — a legal decision that could have far-reaching consequences for the digital currency in Europe.
The European Court of Justice could say that purchases at exchanges are VAT-exempt, as bitcoin enthusiasts are hoping. This would mean Europeans can continue to buy bitcoin with fiat currency without paying tax. Alternately, it could rule that the tax should apply, arguably damaging the competitiveness of European bitcoin businesses. Or it could decide that bitcoin itself should be subject to tax — a significant setback for the digital currency.
We spoke to Roger van de Berg a tax lawyer at law firm Baker McKenzie in the Netherlands about the potential consequences. Here’s what you need to know.
The forthcoming ruling stems from a Swedish court case.
“It [concerns] David Hedqvist, who planned operating the Swedish bitcoin exchange service on his website. Through his website it would be possible to exchange bitcoin into Swedish Krona and vice versa. The website operates a bid price


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The UWin Tech Club recently travelled to Waterloo for a tour of the start-up community. They attended the Velocity Fund Finals, a competition for student start-ups at the University of Waterloo, where students pitch their start-up ideas for a chance to win $25,000 in funding. They also attended Communitech and the Velocity Garage, which provides office space and resources to local start-ups. Lastly, UWin students were the first group ever to receive a tour of Google’s new office which had just opened the previous week.
The event was geared towards students interested in the tech start-up scene in Ontario. It was designed to inspire University of Windsor students and grant them the opportunity to network with various start-ups, meet other student founders and learn about what it takes to pitch a real start-up business to investors. The UWin Tech Club sent approximately 25 University of Windsor students and an additional five high school students from the Windsor-Essex community. EPICentre made the trip possible by providing the transportation to and from the event.
The UWin Tech Club’s goal is to promote and facilitate the growth of small tech start-ups on campus. They believe that students at UWindsor are just as talented as those in Waterloo or Silicon Valley but don’t necessarily have the environment to foster their dreams. To develop this environment, they follow a three step process as detailed below:
1) Change mindset – The Tech Club’s goal is to convince students to believe that they can start their own businesses and become successful entrepreneurs. In order to promote this ideology, they organize trips to start-up treks and hack-a-thons. They believe that if Windsor students see and experience other students just like them who have successfully started their own business, this could motivate them to start their own businesses.
2) Provide the means – Give promising students the resources and put them in an environment where they can make their ideas into real businesses. Just this past semester we were able to put together an initial team of students who were able to develop a mobile app for our local Chamber of Commerce. Our second group developed a web mapping service, which uses crime data in Detroit to promote commuter safety; it basically suggests alternate routes to avoid high-crime areas. This current semester, they are partnering with a pair of Kinesiology professors to design an application for health care workers based off of their research.
3) Making a dream a reality – Students can take their start-up business ideas to partners such as EPICentre and the Downtown Business Accelerator, where they are provided with further resources and are able to the take their business to the next level. The overall goal of the UWin Tech Club is to ensure that students will have the knowledge, skill set and exposure to the local tech scene and encourage and support members entrepreneurial aspirations.
Highlights from the trip
One major eye-opening insight for a lot of the UWin Tech students in attendance was the fact that a lot of entrepreneurs were also students who were running established, successful businesses while still in school.
Another highlight was the visit to the new Google office in Waterloo. Paul Meyer, a UWindsor alum and current software engineer at Google, made this possible.
UWin Tech Club members were also looking to see what makes Waterloo such an innovative hub. Osama Khurshid, the executive VP for the UWin Tech Club, said “it was the environment that fostered the entrepreneurial enthusiasm in students. Students viewed the idea of starting a business while studying as an expected norm.” Ultimately, the UWin Tech Club wants to bring this entrepreneurial environment to Windsor and encourage more students that they can start their own businesses even while studying.
Plans For The Future
The UWin Tech Club is currently trying to organize a similar trip for the Winter semester and have students travel to the Silicon Valley area in the San Fransisco Bay area. They currently have tours set up through UWindsor alumni with Google and Facebook in Silicon Valley. They are also planning on visiting the Computer History Museum, the NASA Ames Center, the San Jose Tech Museum and the Stanford University campus. Other potential locations the Tech club is working towards include Apple headquarters, PayPal, Cisco, Samsung and a variety of other tech giants.


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Fiat said today that it earned a profit of 358 million euro or $440 million during the second quarter, because of the inclusion of profits from Chrysler.
Without Chrysler, Fiat would have lost 246 million euros or $302 million.
The Italian automaker said Chrysler generated a profit of 604 million euros or $742.9 million under the European accounting system. On Monday, Chrysler reported a $436-million profit in the same period under U.S. accounting standards.
The results are a steep decline from the second quarter in 2011 when Fiat earned a profit of $1.24 billion euro, or $1.52 billion.
Fiat, like many European automakers, is struggling in Europe where industry sales are on track to decline for the fifth year in a row and the European Central Bank and Eurozone members have been forced to bail out various countries and banks.
The crisis is hitting southern Europe-based automakers such as Fiat and Peugeot Citroen especially hard.
Ford said Wednesday that it expects to lose $1 billion in Europe this year and General Motors, which has shuffled its management team in Europe and has launched a restructuring plan, is expected to report a loss for its European operations on Thursday.
Still, Fiat's shares fell 7 cents on Tuesday even after Chrysler reported strong results for its operations, which are mostly in North America.
At mid-afternoon today in Italy Fiat was trading at 4.11 euros, down from a close of 4.17 euros on Monday.
Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is working to build the two companies into a global automaker that can sell six million cars and trucks annually by 2014.
Fiat owns 58.5% of Chrysler and notified the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust earlier this month that it wants to exercise an option to purchase an additional 3.3% of Chrysler shares. That would increase Fiat's stake to 61.8% of Chrysler. The trust currently owns 41.5% of Chrysler.
On Monday, Marchionne praised Chrysler employees for the progress that the company, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009, has made.
"We have learned that we can accomplish great things when we marshal all of our talent and commitment to work for a common goal," Marchionne said in the email, obtained by the Free Press.
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Justin Bieber showed off his amateur skateboarding skills on the steps of Madison Square Garden in NYC this weekend. Unfortunately for The Biebs, someone was videotaping the event. It would appear Justin needs a little more practice... Watch as Bieber wipes out on his … [Read more...] about Watch Justin Bieber Wipeout On A Skateboard (VIDEO!)
Justin Bieber and his skateboard attended the Leather & Laces Super Bowl party in New York on Saturday, where the singer showed off his tricks! One eyewitness tells NAUGHTY BUT NICE ROB that he was taking photos with the fire department guys because one told Bieber that said … [Read more...] about Justin Bieber Takes Skateboarding To Party (VIDEO) SO STUPID!
Zac Efron embarked on a trip to the grocery store in Los Feliz, California, last week, and found a very fun way to get it all done much quicker. The 26-year-old actor was spotted whizzing around Gelson's supermarket on his skateboard, stopping only to add things to his … [Read more...] about Zac Efron goes grocery shopping on his skateboard – whiiiiiiiiiizzzzzzzzzz


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AMI UK, the British airfreight and express wholesaling arm of Menzies Aviation, has introduced the first phase of its Quote&Book web portal, which will cater to airport-to-airport shipments. The new site – modelled on AMI’s express click2ship portal, which was launched in 2010 – is designed to give customers the ability to receive instant airfreight quotes and select valued-added services.
Currently, the new site is only accessible by AMI-approved agent customers in the U.K., who need to enter just a few shipment details to obtain immediate quotes. Prices can then be filtered using AMI’s consolidation or direct air waybill service, as well as by airport of departure, direct or deferred services.
Phase II of Quote&Book, still under development, will cover airport-to-door shipments and is scheduled for release later this year. Customer support will still be available by phone, but Quote&Book has a “live chat” option for answers during the enquiry and booking process.
The company said that, in its first four days of operation, the Quote&Book portal was visited by 926 AMI agent customers, who submitted 2,261 quote requests. By close of business on day four, these inquiries had resulted in 358 bookings.


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As you may know, the technology was also used in the Sony Xperia sola smart phone back in 2012. The feature let the user to select links and other content by hovering the finger above the screen (kind of like clicking once in PC operating systems while the double-click would be actually pressing on the screen).
Samsung will allegedly use Atmel's brand new maXTouch S controller for this feature, according to the Korean DDaily website. The controller will provide the same functionality as the Sony sola but with a significant less power consumption.
Another phone that could do this was the Pantech Vega LTE phone, which was launched in 2011. The phone was sold exclusively in Korea, to the detriment of the rest of us. The hover select ability on the Pantech Vega smart phone was made possible using the front-facing camera to detect and follow the user's finger.
We should not get carried away with this whole touchless gesture thing, as this is just a rumor. But as with any Samsung Galaxy S IV rumors, we don't have to wait that much to see if there is any truth to it.
The Samsung Galaxy S IV is rumored to be launched as soon as the 14th of February in Russia, just in time for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Samsung is a partner of the 2013 Winter Olympics, so they could might as well do the same stunt they did with the S3 in 2012 when they announced the phone at the Olympic Games in London.
Besides this hover select feature, the S4 is rumored to have a 1080p screen with a new kind of pixels: the diamond shape kind. Also, the S4 is rumored to come with a 1.8GHz quad or octacore processor and with the brand new Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean software version. The phone is also rumored to come with a wireless charging dock.


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SUPPORT is now being drummed up to make sure the final Piping at Forres finishes with a flourish.
Organisers are calling on crafters, food producers and charities to get on board to make sure things go out on a high on June 30.
Joanna Taylor is a director with Forres Events Limited, the team of volunteers who first brought the event, otherwise known as the European Pipe Band Championships, to Grant Park back in 2013.
She said: "We have already had people getting in touch asking to take a stall.
"We hope that demand will be bigger than ever before as this is the final Piping At Forres.
"It will be the sixth year the event has taken place in Forres and we have built up a reputation amongst our traders for our organisation as well as for providing them with a great venue."
Piping at Forres has been Moray’s biggest one-day attraction by far since 2013, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from both visitors and pipers who enjoy the picturesque surrounding of Grant Park.
Supported each year by its title sponsor Benromach Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, it has succeed in bringing both tourists and pipe bands from all over the world to the region.
Featuring top-rate piping from more than a hundred bands, it also includes Highland dancing and the World Tattie Scone Championships.
In addition, it hosts a food and drink village, a craft and retail village, several bars and family attractions such as funfairs.
There are places for over a hundred stalls at the event, with spaces available both inside and outside the marquees.
Joanna added: "This is a fantastic opportunity for local food, drink and craft producers to showcase their products to an audience that comes from across the globe."
Information is available at the Piping at Forres website.
Organisers are also keen to hear from any potential sponsors or volunteers.
As in past years, stalls will be given free of charge to six selected charities. Apply online.
As 2018 is the Year of Young People, Piping At Forres is particularly keen to hear from charities run by or involved with young people.


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CarsBase has a great collection of new Lotus car photos. 73 HD Images of Morgan autos include exterior, interior, spy pictures and new photos from motorshows.
Gallery with 73 high quality Morgan photos. Last update date: at Morgan photogallery.
Morgan lineup will expand for a new flagship sports car.
The producer is using a legendary Routemaster for promotional events in 2018.
Don't forget to come back, new Morgan pictures and photos updates weekly.


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A Lake Charles woman is accused of stealing approximately $30,000 from a Lake Charles business, authorities said.
Joella K. Moss is charged with theft over $25,000 in the case.
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies got a call on April 7 from a business about an employee stealing from the company.
The business owner told deputies he believed that Moss, the bookkeeper, had been stealing money from the company, said Kim Myers, sheriff's office spokesman.
"He advised deputies they received more than one complaint from a resident who was worried his rent payments were not being used correctly," Myers said.
The business owner told deputies they began looking into the complaint and discovered discrepancies in their bookkeeping records. Myers said when they questioned Moss, she admitted to stealing a large amount of money.
"Moss told deputies she was taking money paid to the company for rent, instead of depositing it into the company account. She told deputies she had been stealing the money since October 2016," Myers said,
Moss was booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center and charged with theft over $25,000. She was released the next day on a $25,000 bond set by Judge David Ritchie.
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