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TELCOs – BT
A new era of telco competition
MDA cross-carriage policy, Next-Gen NBN to transform telco landscape
A CONTROVERSIAL government policy and the Republic’s growing fibre-optic readiness will ring up a new era in telco competition next year as all three operators go head-to-head in mobile, pay-TV and broadband services for the first time since they locked horns a decade ago.
In contrast to last year’s subdued start, 2010 kicked off on an industry-shaking note when the Media Development Authority (MDA) introduced its cross-carriage policy in March. After a lengthy deliberation, the mandate is set to kick in early next year and change the modus operandi of the pay-TV sector.
The mandate forces operators who sign exclusive programming deals to share such content with their rivals.
The move is envisioned to cap rising subscription costs and alleviate the hassle of having multiple set-top boxes for viewing content from different providers. It could also open the door to new contenders as they can now force incumbents to carry their programmes.
‘Nevertheless, we believe that there is still merit in being the original broadcaster of the content as all revenues – subscriber and advertising – will accrue to that party. As such, we may still see some fairly aggressive bidding for popular content,’ OCBC Research analyst Carey Wong said in a recent report.
‘And because of the common carriage, we also think that the move may provide an opening for other players such as M1 to enter the market without having to spend too much on building their own pay-TV infrastructure,’ he added.
And M1, which offered only mobile services before its broadband foray in 2008, did eventually throw its hat into the ring. Last month, it introduced OneBox, a service which allows customers to stream movies and concerts to their TV sets.
‘We will support government’s initiative in the pay-TV sector and develop M1 further in this aspect,’ the company said.
While consumers cheered the prospect of lower prices and greater choice, MDA’s policy was met with fierce resistance from the content industry.
The displeasure culminated in the form of a verbal lashing from the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa).
The trade group repeatedly accused local authorities of breaching international trade agreements. In addition, it warned that the implementation of cross-carriage would harm Singapore’s economy in the long run as foreign media investments will dry up.
Despite the protests, MDA stood its ground and it will soon issue a final decision on the mandate and how it is to be carried out.
Meanwhile, SingTel’s mio TV base swelled this year after it paid top dollar to pry the Barclays Premier League (BPL) broadcast rights away from StarHub. The consumer outcry that followed was widely seen as one of the triggers for MDA’s intervention in the pay-television sector.
The red camp’s pay-base jumped nearly 60 per cent in the past year to 250,000 subscribers as it started its first season of BPL broadcast in August.
‘2010 has been an iconic year for us, and has certainly placed SingTel firmly on its transformational journey from a telco into a multimedia services company,’ said SingTel Singapore CEO Allen Lew. In what could be the most significant telco infrastructure upgrade of the decade, Singapore’s new broadband highway – dubbed the Next-Gen NBN (Nationwide Broadband Network) – started to take shape this year.
The new fibre-optic network raises local Internet access speeds by 10 times or more, and is expected to reach all homes and offices by the end of 2012.
The new network also opens the door to new competitors as they can use it on the same terms as entrenched incumbents SingTel and StarHub.
And new competition did emerge with LGA Telecom and SuperInternet joining the three existing operators in launching new fibre-optic broadband packages in September when the Next-Gen NBN became partly operational.
For just under $400, StarHub and M1 now offer 1Gbps (gigabit per second) broadband plans through the new network, 10 times faster than the previous speed cap of 100 Mbps (megabits per second).
The fibre-optic rollout is supposed to reach 60 per cent of all homes and offices by the end of this year.
However, deployment hit a temporary snag as the management committees of condominiums refused to let OpenNet carry out its cabling works for fear of ruining their estates’ facade.
The impasse was eventually resolved when the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) stepped in and forced building owners to comply.
As the rollout is still a long way from completion, industry watchers say that it is not expected to make a big difference to the telcos’ bottom lines over the next 12 months. ‘I don’t think consumers will be rushing to switch to Next-Gen NBN in 2011 and we are more likely to see a gradual migration to fibre in 2011,’ said telecommunications consultant Soh Siow Meng.
‘It really depends on how hard the telcos want to push but I think telcos are likely to step up their efforts when the coverage is more pervasive in 2012,’ he added.
On the mobile front, all three operators managed to strengthen their cellular strongholds this year in spite of the country’s sky-high mobile adoption rate.
According to IDA’s latest estimates, some 142.1 per cent of the population now carry cell phones and nearly half of local handset users are now on high-speed 3G subscriptions.
Beyond the perennial consumer favourite – the iPhone, consumers also snapped up smart phones that are powered by Google’s Android operating system, seen as the closest contender to Apple’s runaway hit.
In addition, the growing popularity of tablets such as the iPad also helped to lift 3G subscriptions. All three telcos started offering standalone data plans that allow users to surf and check their e-mails on these devices in the second half of this year.
‘Tablets aren’t really new, but they seem to have taken off this year, with the iPad, the Dell Streak and others. We expect growing demand for smart phones and the rising predominance of touch tablet devices to become the key focus for 2011,’ said StarHub CEO Neil Montefiore.
On the handset front, more than half of the phones that were sold by the local operators in the January to September window were smart phones.
However, these are offered with higher subsidies to lower the retail pricing for consumers, and they are also accompanied by generous data bundles that once cost a premium on an ala carte basis.
As a result, profitability took a hit across the board but the three telcos said that they should see payback from smart phone users after a six to nine-month period.
With speculation running wild that a new iPhone and iPad are now in the works, consumers and telcos are likely to be bitten by the smart phone bug all over again in 2011.


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Joining the race of tablet revolution, Fly Mobiles has announced its first Android tablet – Fly Vision , for the Indian market. It will be available in the market for Rs 7,299.
It will face tough competition from the Beetel Magiq tablet which has a 786 MHz processor and is priced at Rs 9,799. Also, the government of India has recently announced the Aakash tablet which though will come for around Rs 3,000 but has a slower 366 Mhz processor.
The 7 inch Fly Vision has a TFT LCD touchscreen with a resolution: of 800×480 pixels. It runs on Android 2.2 Froyo OS and features a 600 MHz Rockchip 2818 chipset processor and 256 MB of RAM. It uses a 4000 mAh battery that, according to the company, provides 6 hours of continues operation. This Android tablet also houses an external memory slot which can accommodate a 16 GB micro SD card. There is a 1.3 megapixel camera as well.
Commenting on the launch, Prem Kumar, chief executive officer, Fly Mobile, said, “Design and development is the essence of FLY brand. FLY Vision is an unbeatable combination of innovative feature rich technology and great value for money . With the launch of this tablet, we once again keep our promise of delivering hi end technology at the most affordable price.”
Fly Vision allows the users to access the Android Market and comes pre-loaded with standard kit of Google applications like Google Talk, Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube. Fly Vision is enabled with connectivity functions like Bluetooth, WiFi and 3G.
Additionally, the tablet comes with a SIM card slot where the user can make voice calls and use data for browsing. The tablet can play HD videos, comes with a pre-installed MS Office and utility tools.
The tablet is equipped with different pre-installed applications: e-reader, instant messaging, video player, social web integration, standard 3.5 mm audio jack and a built-in speaker.

domain: news


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The Smart Money Is Bullish on QUALCOMM Stock
Most “Android” phones use QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) processors—that’s one of the most useful things to know about QCOM stock heading into the company’s quarterly results announcement. Simply put, QUALCOMM supplies processors to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. for its popular and powerful “Galaxy S7,” which, as you might have noticed, has been a sales success.
QUALCOMM stock is trading at approximately $55.00 per share, which places it in the high range of the past 52 weeks. QUALCOMM stock is trading a bit higher in expectation of its quarterly results, yet the company is also facing a huge fine in South Korea. Indeed, QUALCOMM stock should be trading lower by standard bourgeois logic, because it will more than likely be slapped with an $880-million fine. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has investigated allegations that QUALCOMM benefited from unfair competition. Thus, it risks being fined up to one trillion Korean won, or US$880 million. (Source: “South Korea may fine QUALCOMM up to $880 million,” Gsmarena web site, July 18, 2016.)
QUALCOMM Stock Should Have Dropped on News
QUALCOMM investors may have become accustomed to the fine, stoically accepting it as the cost of doing business. QUALCOMM, as it happens, has seen all of this before—in bigger doses. In 2015, QUALCOMM paid just shy of $1.0 billion for breaching China’s antitrust laws. (Source: “China Hits QUALCOMM With Fine,” The New York Times, February 9, 2015.)
Even if QUALCOMM stock were to drop because of the fine, it is still worth a closer look. QUALCOMM sales could be phenomenal and a slip in the stock price would only make it cheaper to get into.
The simple fact to remember about QUALCOMM is that the vast majority of Android smartphones rely on a processor that comes out of QUALCOMM’s factory. It single-handedly supplies almost half the Android smartphone market, from high end to entry level, according to a study by AnTuTu. (Source: “Antutu Report:Chip Performance Ranking &Distribution and Market Share,” AnTuTu, July13, 2016.) This means it dominates over such competitors as MediaTek Inc., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., and Samsung.
QUALCOMM has enjoyed more optimistic earnings estimates lately, which could indicate a consensus-beating result. Analysts are suggesting $0.86 per share. (Source: “Why QUALCOMM (QCOM) Might Surprise This Earnings Season,” NASDAQ, July19, 2016.)
These are bullish prospects indeed, considering that in 2015, QUALCOMM lost over a quarter of its market value. The upbeat earnings sentiment is not only based on smartphone sales, but also QUALCOMM’s ever-rising market penetration in the automotive sector. (Source: “QUALCOMM Partners Up With Audi and Offers a New Vision For Wi-Fi,” Fortune, January 5, 2016.)
Automotive and other sectors have helped QUALCOMM regain revenue after losing out to competitors peddling cheaper products and stagnating smartphone sales. Now, thanks to the renewed interest in devices like the Galaxy S7, which some say is the best smartphone on the market, QUALCOMM is back riding the crest of a wave. (Source: “Samsung Galaxy S7 review: Samsung’s awesome smartphone outsells iPhone 6s in US,” Alphr.com, July 21, 2016.) The S7 uses QUALCOMM’s “Snapdragon 820” processor.
Indeed, if there’s one word to explain the bullish sentiment on QCOM stock, it is “Snapdragon.”
QUALCOMM also makes the “Snapdragon 212.” It has voice recognition and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) processing, among other capabilities. It will be essential in powering the Internet of Things (IoT).
Virtual reality (VR) is another new area with huge sales potential where QUALCOMM has a solid footing. The “Snapdragon 821” is coming out just in time to supply new VR-capable phones. (Source: “QUALCOMM Introduces Snapdragon 821 Processor, Just in Time for New Nexus Phones,” Droid Life, July 11, 2016.)
The Bottom Line on QUALCOMM Stock
QUALCOMM’s Snapdragon 820 has dominated the latest top-of-the-range devices. But QUALCOMM’s heavyweight position in the market is also owed to its mid-range processors such as the “650” and “652.”
If QUALCOMM stock has not yet taken off on a bullish run, it’s because the U.S. chipmaker showed 24% lower earnings for the first quarter of fiscal year 2016. QCOM stock is definitely a tech stock to watch for the rest of this year.


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In the midst of the intense political murmurings during the Article 50 extension request, I found myself mesmerised as I stared into a black hole. No, I am not referring to the Brexit negotiations, but to the first ever image taken of a black hole, located in a distant galaxy.
Market participants were clearly lost in space as western equity markets barely moved. Asset class returns in sterling and local currency are below; despite a big week for data and central bank activity, equity markets remained benign as stock indices in the US, UK and Europe all notched marginal gains.
Table 1: GBP total returns
Table 2: Local CCY total returns
One of the largest surprises from last week’s economic data releases came from UK monthly GDP figures which revealed the economy to be accelerating for a third straight month, reaching its fastest level of year-on-year growth since 2017. Many have pointed to the UK’s pending withdrawal from the European Union as a significant headwind for the economy, though it is clear that services – which make up close to 80% of the economy’s activity – have remained robustly in expansion territory since the referendum. While some have theorised that February’s uptick in growth could be explained by manufacturers stockpiling ahead of a potential a no-deal exit from the EU, the official data released from the Office for National Statistics revealed that the construction and services sectors were the largest drivers in the year to February.
Chart 1: A breakdown of contribution to GDP reveals the magnitude of stockpiling ahead of a no-deal Brexit in the manufacturing sector to be negligible in the year to February
Source: Office for National Statistics
So the question is, how does the UK compare to its G7 partners? To look at like-for-like, we can show data up to the end of December 2018 as the UK is relatively unique in publishing its GDP monthly. Having been one of the strongest growing economies from 2013 through to 2016, the UK fell towards the bottom of the G7 growth rankings in 2017 when manufacturing dominant peers (e.g. Germany and France) were boosted from the “broadest synchronised global growth upsurge” since 2010 (according to the IMF). With heightened uncertainty now surrounding global trade (and indeed global growth) recent soft data releases indicate deep contractions in German and French manufacturing activity while hard data in the UK shows its dominant services sector to remained robust.
Chart 2: While the UK dragged towards the bottom of the G7 growth range in 2017, recent developments in the global economy see it once again towards the top of the pack
An IMF report released in April 2019 have seen significant downward revisions to perhaps previously over-optimistic 2019 growth forecasts, including -0.6% for Germany, -0.4% for Italy and -0.3% for the broader Eurozone. Meanwhile, the UK has escaped any downward revision to its growth estimates with 2019 GDP 1.5% higher in real terms, which would represent a marked slowdown from its current 2% annual rate. The lack of change in forecast is in part due to the inability of forecasters to predict the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU. Even a permanent customs union with the EU (which is currently a hot topic in UK politics) to ensure tariff-free trade in goods would secure just under 30% of the UK’s total exports in goods and services – equivalent to 8% of GDP – leaving significant room for uncertainty. Despite the economic resilience, it will be extremely difficult to speculate on what may come next as we must wait to see if any headway in negotiations is made between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Monday: Turkey Unemployment Rate, Bundesbank Monthly Report
Tuesday: Reserve Bank of Australia Meeting Minutes, UK Unemployment Rate, UK Average Earnings, Eurozone ZEW Economic Sentiment,, Eurozone Construction Output, Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment, US Industrial Production, Japan Balance of Trade
Wednesday: China Industrial Production, China Retail Sales, Japan Industrial Production, UK Inflation Rate, Eurozone Balance of Trade, Eurozone Inflation Rate, Canada Balance of Trade, Canada Inflation Rate, US Balance of Trade
Thursday: Eurozone Markit Manufacturing PMI, Eurozone Markit Services PMI, Germany Markit Manufacturing PMI, Germany Markit Services PMI, UK Retail Sales, US Retail Sales, Japan Inflation Rate
STAT OF THE WEEK: 3.8 billion – the number of people worldwide who do not have an internet connection (United Nations).
Data correct at: 12/04/2019


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'Self confessed fitness and health foodie lover' Sally O'Neil and 'serial health craze tester and body positive advocate' Shauna Ryan have released a new wellness podcast- 'Wellness Fact or Fiction':
"We’re all confused. Let’s face it… the billion-dollar wellness industry rarely prioritises your health over their bottom line. Starting Dec 2020, join us weekly for some hard truths and clarity around our favourite health fads and trends, diets and supplements as we unpack them with real science and sort through the wellness claims, separating FACT from FICTION."
To listen to the podcast visit https://www.instagram.com/wellnessfactorfiction/
Image Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIgflDhjPSo/
The latest & greatest straight to your inbox each week!


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UTAH — Attention, coffee enthusiasts: Hugo Coffee has opened today at the Salt Lake City Airport. Find them in Concourse A, between Gates 31 and 33.
After a year filled with change and transitions, Hugo Coffee is ready to serve travelers with its caffeine fixes. Whether you’re flying nationally or internationally, you can now enjoy Hugo Coffee while waiting for your boarding announcement.
“I am so excited that millions of travelers will be exposed to Hugo Coffee,,” said Claudia McMullin, founder/owner of Hugo Coffee. “The more coffee we sell, the more animals we save. Hugo would be so proud!”
Hugo Coffee Roasters, known for their commitment to quality and their mission to support animal rescue organizations, has become a beloved brand in the coffee industry. Despite the recent loss of their namesake dog Hugo, the team at Hugo Coffee has remained resilient and is excited to bring their exceptional brews to airport goers.


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Octo 1103 am eastern daylight time. london business wire technavio has announced the top five leading vendors in their recent global lime market report until 2020. this.Consult Now
Abdulsamad rabiu is the founder of bua group, a nigerian conglomerate active in cement production, sugar refining and real estate. in early january 2020, rabiu merged his privatelyowned obu.
After reaching 95 million metric tons at the end of 2016, the worlds fourthlargest economy produced 101 million metric tons in february 2017, quickly increasing by 11. india, the 14th largest exporter of crude steel, supplied 10 million metric tons of steel to global buyers. india had a meteoric 75 growth in exports as per a few estimations.
Aggregate industries, one of the largest importers of cement in the uk, signed a contract with simon gibson transport in december 2016 for the collection of bulk cement from six import terminals, including chatham, ellesmere port, glasgow, goole, plymouth and ridham. the yorkshirebased haulier will increase its fleet from 85 to 147 vehicles.
Aliko dangote, africas richest person, founded and chairs dangote cement, the continents largest cement producer. he owns 85 of publiclytraded dangote cement through a holding company.
As the worlds largest dedicated independent semiconductor factory, its no surprise that taiwan semiconductor manufacturing co. tsmc is one of the largest companies in taiwan, and in the world. this company has grown rapidly since 1994, with a compound annual growth rate cagr of 17.4 in revenue.
Belarusian potash company is the countrys largest industry operator. since uralkali pulled out of belarusian in 2013, its former partner, stateowned belaruskali, has had a rocky road to recovery.
Below are thailands biggest export companies organized by asset value. shown within parentheses is the primary industry in which each company operates. also shown is the change in asset value as of december 2018 compared to 2017. siam commercial bank financial services us97.7 billion, up 6.1 from 2017 ptt pcl oil, gas 68.5 billion.
Cement is the second mostconsumed resource in the world, with more than 4 billion tons of the material produced globally every year. as a result, the industry generates approximately 8 percent of global co2 emissions, not far behind the agriculture industry, which accounts for 12 percent.ranked with co2 emissions from individual countries, the cement.
Chitra reddy. 13379. each country has a huge number of startups in the world. the organization named national association of software and services companies nasscom has predicted that india has shoot up to the third position in world wide web. moreover, it has emerged as one of the largest startup organizations center.
Companies under cement production is from last four years. in the last 4 years company has increased production capacity by 4 times and planning to extend there production capacity to 40 mtpa by fy20e. cement firms put up good show in q4, beat estimates cement companies has posted excellent growth of 26 in comparison to expected growth of 14.9.
Heidelberg cement is one of the worlds largest building materials companies. with the takeover of the italian cement producer italcementi, heidelbergcement became the number 1 in aggregates production, number 2 in cement, and number 3 in readymixed concrete.
In this post i present only one chart, but it is an important one it shows the breakdown of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2016. 2 this is the latest breakdown of global emissions by sector, published by climate watch and the world resources institute. 3, 4.
Indian cement industry analysis. india is the second largest cement producer in the world and accounted for over 7 of the global installed capacity. indias overall cement production capacity was nearly 545 million tonnes mt in fy20. of the total capacity, 98 lies with the private sector and the rest with public sector.
Introduction. india is the second largest producer of cement in the world. it accounts for more than 7 of the global installed capacity. india has a lot of potential for development in the infrastructure and construction sector and the cement sector is expected to largely benefit from it.
It has over 42,000 employees worldwide and ranked as the worlds largest crane manufacturer in 2017. xcmg china 2017 sales 7 billion . xcmg group is a chinese multinational governmentowned, heavy equipment manufacturing company with headquarters in xuzhou, jiangsu. xcmg is one of the largest construction machinery companies in the world.
Many of the worlds largest emitters today are in asia. however, asias rapid rise in emissions has only occurred in very recent decades. this too has been a byproduct of massive improvements in living standards since 1950 life expectancy in asia has increased from 41 to 74 years it has seen a dramatic fall in extreme poverty and for.
Nyk operates container ships, bulk carriers, tankers, car carriers and multipurpose carriers. if you want to buy this company, its worth enterprise value is about us12.28 billion.this gives them the eighth spot as the worlds largest shipping company in the planet.. from time to time, nyk offers maritime scholarships to deserving cadets. it would be an honor.
Octo 1103 am eastern daylight time. london business wire technavio has announced the top five leading vendors in their recent global lime market report until 2020. this.
Siam city cement plc continued to expand their production capacity and new products in the market while. on december 21,2012, a change in major shareholding occurred when thai roccem company limited and holderfin b.v. sold their holdings in the amount of 21,390,000 shares in the aggregate, representing 9.3 percent of the issued and outstanding.
Snp, ptr, and pngay top the list of the 10 biggest chinese companies. by. nathan reiff. full bio. nathan reiff has been writing expert articles and news about financial topics such as investing.
The company is driving the circular economy as a world leader in recycling to build more with less. holcim is the company behind some of the worlds most trusted brands in the building sector including acc, aggregate industries, ambuja cement, disensa, firestone building products, geocycle, holcim and lafarge. holcim is 70,000 people around.
The group currently has a presence in 17 african countries and is a market leader in cement on the continent. one of the groups subsidiaries, dangote cement plc, is the largest listed company in west africa and the first nigerian company to join the forbes global 2000 companies list. read more.
The indian cement industry is the second largest in the world after china, employing in excess of a million people throughout the country. the cement industry contributes a big deal to the indian economy, more so because the construction industry in india relies heavily on the cement industry for natural reasons.
The largest u.s. producer of construction aggregates, vulcan materials company provides crushed stone, sand and gravel to national construction corporations. for several years, the company has been named the top aggregate in the united states with 2009 sales of 2.5 billion.
The latest cement news from world cement magazine a leading cement publication covering industry trends, cement production, product news and special reports. making it part of the top 5 of all participating companies in.
The project, which had a cost of approximately 200m, was entered in the guinness world records in november 2014 it has also received a highly commended award for outstanding international design project at the british expertise international awards 2015 and the national water company saudi arabia key project award in 2016.
The siam cement group public company limited is the largest and oldest cement and building material company in thailand and southeast asia. in.
The top 100 companies represent 75 of all crushed stone production nationwide. the combined crushed stone production of the top 294 companies was 1.21 gt, usgs adds, meaning 20 percent of the companies out there produced 89 percent of all crushed stone sales in 2016. became part of crh in june 2018. became part of martin marietta in april 2018.
The usbased oil and gas company, exxon mobil corporation, which ranked third in 2016, has seen an increase in co2 emission. china shenhua energy, the largest stateowned coal mining enterprise in mainland china featuring among top 15 co2 emitters, has also seen a rise in emission from 643.8 mtco2 in 2015 to 665 mtco2 in 2016.
This statistic displays the capacity of selected leading cement producers worldwide as of 2017. in april 2014, the merger of swiss company holcim and french company lafarge was announced. with 220 cement plants and a production capacity of some 345.2 million metric tons in 2017, the relatively new company is the largest cement producer worldwide.


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An AR-15 rifle.
Speaking of Sandy Hook, Bloomberg is reporting that Wal-Mart's selection of semi-automatic rifles is out of stock today, and that the world's largest retailer has said it will continue to sell guns, even as other retailers like Dick's Sporting Goods has pulled them from its shelves:
“We remain dedicated to the safe and responsible sale of firearms in areas of the country where they are sold,” David Tovar, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, said yesterday. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
Wal-Mart has about 10 modern sporting rifles, the gun industry’s term for firearms that look like an M-16 military rifle, listed on its website.
Yesterday, The Nation, in a lengthy piece examining Wal-Mart's ammunition sales, noticed that the Bentonville-based retailer pulled the Bushmaster AR-15 -- the model used in the Sandy Hook killings -- from Walmart.com. (While Wal-Mart lists guns on its website, it doesn't sell them online, but refers customers to brick-and-motar stores.) Wal-Mart did comment for The Nation story.
You might recall that, in the 1990s, Wal-Mart curtailed gun sales, but began bringing them back last year as part of a concerted effort to restore "heritage" inventory, attract male shoppers and reverse a series of monthly same-store sales slumps.
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Beyond Fried Chicken is made with plant-based ingredients, including 100% plant-based protein.
Beyond Fried Chicken - A Kentucky Fried Miracle
August 26, 2019
Kentucky Fried Chicken®, the world’s most popular chicken restaurant, has done what no other quick-service restaurant (QSR) has done before. On Tuesday, August 27th, Beyond Fried Chicken™ made its debut in a limited test, crowning KFC as the first U.S. national QSR to introduce plant-based chicken and SOLD OUT in less than 5 hours – a true Kentucky Fried Miracle.
KFC turned to Beyond Meat to create a finger lickin’ good plant-based fried chicken that would appeal to lovers of both Beyond Meat and KFC. Beyond Fried Chicken is a game changer – the perfect choice for those searching for plant-based meat options on-the-go.
Atlantans had the first taste of Beyond Fried Chicken as part of an exclusive, one restaurant test on August 27 at the Cobb Parkway KFC restaurant near SunTrust Park in Atlanta (2637 Cobb Pkwy South East, Smyrna, Ga.). Lucky customers could choose between nuggets, perfect for dipping, or boneless wings, tossed in their choice of three delicious mouthwatering sauces: Nashville Hot, Buffalo or Honey BBQ.
“KFC Beyond Fried Chicken is so delicious, our customers will find it difficult to tell that it’s plant-based,” said Kevin Hochman, president and chief concept officer, KFC U.S. “I think we’ve all heard ‘it tastes like chicken’ – well our customers are going to be amazed and say, ‘it tastes like Kentucky Fried Chicken!’”
Customer feedback from the Atlanta test will be considered as KFC evaluates a broader test or potential national rollout. We wanted to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who visited the store and shared the news about the test. It was amazing to see how much enthusiasm there is for The Future of Protein! In less than 5 hours, not only did they sell out, but guests purchased the amount of Beyond Fried Chicken KFC would normally sell on average of popcorn chicken in a week. Wow.
We will be sure to update all Beyond Meat and KFC fans as we learn more.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
To receive exclusive Beyond Meat offers, updates and more.


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Apple's foray into e-commerce has had a disastrous start. Users complain of registration delays, trouble entering the site, and privacy issues.
Apple opened Apple Club with much fanfare at Macworld Expo earlier this week. The club, which Apple calls the "convenient way to keep you and your Mac up to date," was designed to offer easy access to software upgrades and discounted products.
For $19.95 a year, members get an electronic newsletter, monthly messages from Apple CEO Gilbert Amelio, and access to a dedicated, high-speed network to download products. It is expected to be the first step toward offering Mac products online, creating a new distribution channel to supplement retail stores.
But Mac loyalists complain that the club is not inspiring confidence so far. Apple has acknowledged problems in email messages to users but said it has fixed them.
At first, the company blamed "technical problems" for not being able to process user registration. "All the data you submitted has been completely erased," according to one email Thursday. "We have since corrected the technical problem, and we encourage you to reapply. We apologize for this inconvenience."
Another message posted on the Apple Club site said: "We're sorry!!! Due to technical problems beyond our control, you may not have been able to access the site at certain times during the day. The problem has been fixed. Please try again! Thank you for your patience."
At Tuesday's launch event, Apple had added that it built a high-speed network to ensure quick, reliable access to the system. In the past, Apple users had complained that it took too long to download upgrades from the company's Web sites.
"We are fully aware of the situation, and we are taking actions as we speak," Philippe Bouissou, director of Apple Internet Commerce, said today. "We got an incredible number of people who want to sign up that was beyond our expectations."
He said that many of the problems occurred only on the first day of the launch. Nonetheless, they have made some Mac users livid.
"It's sheer buffoonery," Barry Karch told CNET. Karch, who has owned a Mac for 12 years, said the problems undermine Apple's efforts to build loyalty and fight off competition from the "Wintel camp," as he put it.
Karch also complained about Apple's request for the last four numbers of its members' Social Security number as part of the registration process. "The information can and is used for accessing bank information such as credit card and bank balances, among other things, in national databases," said Karch, who used to work in law enforcement.
"It's interesting that Apple has this track record of putting products out when it seems they never tested them," added Auri Rahimzadeh, who owns six Macs. "And you have it occur at Macworld, of all places. They insult their customers and hurt themselves at the same time."
About ten complaints about Apple Club have been posted on the Macintouch.com Web site, a Mac computing site run by Ric Ford.
One user alleged that he was charged eight times for the annual fee because of a billing mistake; another said he had been billed four times. But in an email message to its members, Apple insisted that no user credit cards have been billed.
Another member complained that Apple operators did not have any information on some discounts being offered through the new service. "Apple Club has a long, long way to go to be worth $19.95," one said.
The Macintouch site summed up the problems this way: "Apple Club is an embarrassment to the company. We advise staying well clear of this mess."
Apple's Bouissou reiterated that the problems have been fixed. Indeed, many other users said they were satisfied, though some did have problems at first.
"I too had problems registering on the first day the club 'opened.' However, the next day I registered fine," Mac user John Byrne said. "I also just completed some downloads at speeds much higher than I was getting from other Apple Servers. Plus, I got a cool free CD-ROM that retails for more than the $19.95 membership fee. All in all, the Apple Club looks fine to me."


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Apple is likely to use its market power to accelerate adoption of smarter retail payment technology.
Executive Tim Cook announced Apple's hotly anticipated move into wearable computing.
The new phones have new features, bigger sizes and competitive prices. Continue reading →
Expected: Bigger and better smartphones, a potential game-changing wearable and a sequel to one of the best tablets yet.
A security exploit puts anyone who uses iCloud at risk.
FBI and Apple are investigating a major hack from online data storage servers.
The most credible report to date shows when the tech giant will unveil the next-generation device.
The company just launched a refreshed version of its 16GB iPod touch for $199.
+ Load More


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HodlBet is the third client to adopt the ‘Built on BetProtocol’ solution and will offer players an alternative blockchain gaming and betting experience. While the website still waits for its official launch, which will allow players to stake real money using the BetProtocol’s licensed white label solution, the company hyped up the brand.
HodlBet will feature several highly sought-after casino games, offering players the entertainment level and depth of engagement they expect. The games at launch will include Coinflip, Linear Dice, Wheel, Wheel Classic, Plinko Neo, and Roulette.
Commenting on this news, the HodlBet operations team had this to add:
“We are very happy to be going live on BetProtocol’s casino technology. There is no other solution like it out on the market. The team made the whole on-boarding process smooth, and we can’t wait to start operations and see our players having fun!”
While HodlBet’s official launch is pending, BetProtocol is yet to reveal the names of the other casinos and gaming portals it has attracted as partners to developer their product using the company’s client.
While BetProtocol and its partners prepare to enter the crypto gaming space with a bang, there have already been several successful projects running similar platforms.
FunFair, another provider and developer of white listed gambling software, has also been successful in pumping new brands. It recently localised its offer for the Japanese market, FunFair today powers several operators, including CasinoFair.


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The manufacturer of Roundup announces they will discontinue selling the product. But, it's not for the toxic and cancer causing effects on the human population.
The manufacture of Roundup announces they will discontinue selling the product. Bayer acquired the Roundup manufactured Monsanto in 2018. Roundup is used as an herbicide by millions of residential customers in the US. As a water soluble herbicide, the vast majority of the toxic substance doesn't even reach the intended target of weeds and other plants. The majority ends up in our waterways, drinking water and in our bodies. As a suspected carcinogen with links to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the glyphosate in Roundup is listed as "probably carcinogenic" to humans by the International Agency for Research on cancer (IARC) and banned by several European nations.
But, the decision to discontinue selling the product is only for residential use. They will continue to sell their toxic product for commercial use. i.e. large industrial farming operations.
Their reason for this decision is not due to the links to cancer and their concern for the welfare of the US population. Their reason is to avoid future litigation and lawsuits. Over the past several years, Bayer has faced nearly 125,000 claims from landscapers, home gardeners, and farmers, alleging that glyphosate in Roundup caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Sadly, it comes down to their bottom line. To date, they have settled all but 30,000 of these claims. And, three of the claims have made it to trial resulting in huge losses against the company.
You can check out the full article below. And for additional information on glyphosate, check out this documentary, GMO's Revealed. At 17:50, Dr. Bush discusses the origin of glyphosate as Agent Orange.
Full Article Referenced: https://thecounter.org/bayer-glyphosate-products-roundup-residential-2023-cancer/


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Quaker Just Announced a New Line of Vegan Oat Milk
Who better than to join in the growing popularity of oat milk than Quaker Oats Company? The beloved 141-year-old company recently announced plans to release its own oat milk, coming to stores in January 2019. Unsurprisingly, the brand plans to focus its marketing on the heart-healthy qualities of oats and will use its wide distribution to compete in this quickly growing market.
The New York Times explains:
Oat milk, while gaining popularity in parts of Europe, has been mostly a trendy, fringe product in the United States. Quaker is betting it can be more than that. The company’s main competitor in the category is Oatly, a 25-year-old company based in Sweden, and its namesake drink.
Oatly is up for the challenge. Just last week the company announced plans to open a new 19,000-square-foot facility in Millville, New Jersey, to meet the demand for its products. This new facility will expand the brand’s production capacity eightfold. Oatly currently has a wide line of vegan products made from GMO-free Swedish oats, including five types of oat milk, and will expand to vegan oat yogurt, oat cream, ice cream, canned lattes, and crème fraîche.
And Oatly is far from the only vegan dairy company growing at a rapid pace. Earlier this month Elmhurst Dairy announced it would also be expanding. Now called Elmhurst Milked, the company made headlines last May when it decided to switch from cow’s milk to plant-based varieties after 90 years in business. Its new products include a barista line of plant milks designed for coffee drinks and a vegan protein shake.
As more people find out about the animal cruelty and environmental degradation inherent in dairy production, they’re ditching milk and other dairy products in favor of healthful plant-based alternatives. Companies like Quaker are taking advantage of this market with new vegan offerings.
Ready to ditch dairy? You can get dairy-free recipes, easy meal ideas, product recommendations, and more by ordering a FREE Vegetarian Starter Guide today.


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“Major record companies are forcing Apple to curtail access to iTunes online stores across borders, leading to higher prices and less choice, the European Commission said on Tuesday,” David Lawsky reports for Reuters.
“The EU executive sent formal charges to Apple and the major record companies last week because consumers can only buy iTunes in their own countries and cannot shop around for cheaper prices and a broader catalogue in other states. ‘Our current view is that this is an arrangement which is imposed on Apple by the major record companies and we do not see a justification for it,’ Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd told reporters,” Lawsky reports.
Lawsky reports, “The world’s major record companies are Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Warner Music Group… ‘Apple are the managers of the iTunes store. It’s true that the focus is the major record companies,’ Todd said.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Bill M” for the heads up.]
Apple, music labels face European Commission antitrust probe – April 02, 2007
EU says probe of Apple’s UK iTunes Music Store limited to pricing, not interoperability – March 22, 2006
European Commission probes charges that Apple iTunes Music Store is ‘ripping off’ UK consumers – February 25, 2005


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So, you say you find yourself having too much time on your hands and need to know every single little thing that happens in the world of the PlayStation 2, Sony, and the game makers supporting them? You say you need to have all of the rumors so you can jump to the boards and post the latest news before all of your buddies?
Well, now you've done it. You've located the rumor nerve center at IGNPS2, Off the Record. We know what's happening in the industry before the deals are signed, before the press releases have been written, before you wake your sleepy ass up in the morning. Yes, we have heard it, but at least we admit it. We've got big ears and we know rumors, probably about you, too (and your mom), so just clam up and read. And remember, this is all on the QT, hush-hush, and very Off The Record.
Free Radical Shops Around
According to little birds that can't fly away from our window quick enough, the burly-fast developers known as Free Radical are looking to publish at least one new game -- and it ain't TimeSplitters 2. The rub is that, apparently, it's shopping its games elsewhere, i.e., to publishers other than Eidos Interactive, the English company that published its first PS2 game, TimeSplitters (at launch of the PS2 in fall 2000), and plans to publish its second game, TimeSplitters 2, this fall. Could the company be in the works with another first-person shooter? Could it be something else? Only the Englishmen from the bird-happy land of Nottingham know for sure (and perhaps a few smart publishers, too), but one thing for sure is, Nottingham is filled with hot English chicks! But, um, anyway¿the point is, prepare for more Free Radical news soon.
Acclaim's QB Club Postponed
From the looks of it, Acclaim is almost definitely postponing this year's NFL Quarterback Club, and it may postponing it forever. According to a few good sources, the company's Quarterback Club license agreement has ended, and Acclaim has either decided against renewing it or it's in a holding pattern, to wait and see what happens. One thing is for sure, though, Acclaim is definitely rethinking its football strategy. With Sega coming on strong and EA trying to retain its gridiron throne in the football category, the football genre is one very hard-to-crack and competitive sector. And NFL QB Club, on the one hand, has potential, but on the other hand, never quite lived up to it. So, it looks like this year we'll see what Sega, EA, and Midway get to battle it out for the football gridiron throne this year. We'll have more as it develops.
That's all for now, just remember that we love rumors, and if you hear any really good ones, we'll post them. Sent them to Off The Record.


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If you think your travel bag's cool because it has wheels that can roll a full 360 degrees, well, we've got a new definition of cool for you. Cool is when a suitcase can follow you around on its own -- hands-free.
This isn't the suitcase of our imagination or some contraption featured on the "Jetsons." Israeli company NUA Robotics has developed a suitcase of the future, a carry-on piece of luggage that uses a camera sensor and Bluetooth pairing to follow its owner.
The smart suitcase sends real-time data (like weight) to your smartphone and has an anti-theft alarm to ensure nobody with a plain, ordinary suitcase gets any funny ideas. It even has the ability to charge your smartphone, tablet and other devices, because nothing's worse than having your phone die while you're in the middle of a Candy Crush marathon on a six-hour flight.
This suitcase of our dreams is still in its testing phase, but Alex Libman, co-founder and CEO of NUA Robotics, told Mashable he plans to have it market-ready in a year's time. We've reached out to find out how much this thing may cost, but in the meantime, let's keep dreaming big.
Watch this bad boy go in Mashable's video below.
Related on HuffPost:


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The Quiet Man, the title first cryptically shown during Square Enix’s E3 2018 presentation, has a release date.
Square Enix’s new game from Human Head Studios will deliver a story-driven experience on November 1, 2018 for PlayStation 4 and PC. For those unable to recall the E3 reveal, the game’s first trailer showed a (very) quiet man as he approached—and beat up—a group of thugs in an alleyway. One of the more interesting aspects of the trailer saw the footage switching between live-action and in-engine.
Little is known about the Square’s obtuse new IP, but the publisher has at least released a new trailer in hopes to garner a bit of excitement. Be sure to check out the new trailer down below.
Additionally, The Quiet Man will be discounted by 10 percent up until November 15.


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Apple warns of possible $8 billion hit from supply constraints and its stock falls
Apple Inc. delivered strong financial results today that bucked investors’ concerns over a deteriorating macroeconomic environment that might hurt demand for high-end smartphones and other devices.
Even so, the iPhone maker’s stock fell slightly in extended trading after a warning that it still faces multiple challenges. They include ongoing supply constraints related to COVID-19 that could lower sales by as much as $4 billion to $8 billion, Apple said. Further, executives warned that demand for its products in China is being affected by the continued lockdowns there.
The company reported earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation of $1.52 per share on sales of $97.28 billion, up nearly 9% from the same period one year ago. That yielded a net profit of $25 billion for the quarter and it surpassed expectations. Wall Street had forecast earnings of $1.43 per share on lower sales of $93.9 billion.
Apple’s stock fell more than 2% in the extended trading session after gaining more than 4% during the day.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook (pictured) cast the strong results as a testament to the company’s focus on innovation and its ability to create the best products and services in the world.
“We are delighted to see the strong customer response to our new products, as well as the progress we’re making to become carbon neutral across our supply chain and our products by 2030,” Cook said.
Apple’s biggest money maker by far is its iconic iPhone, which generated revenue of $50.5 billion in the quarter, up 5.5% from a year ago and above the analyst consensus of $47.8 billion. The results provide strong evidence that Apple’s latest iPhone 13 model continues to sell well. Cook said the company saw a lot of sales to “switchers,” who are people that previously owned an Android phone but switched to an iPhone.
“We had a record level of upgraders during the quarter and we grew switchers, strong double digits,” Cook told CNBC in an interview after the earnings call.
Apple’s Mac computers also continued to fly off the shelves, coming after the company transitioned its latest models to use its own M1 processors instead of chips supplied by Intel Corp. Sales of Macs rose almost 15%, to $10.44 billion, ahead of the $9.25 billion consensus.
The iPad business was less successful, though, with sales there falling almost 2%, to $7.65 billion, but that still came in ahead of the $7.14 billion estimate. Cook blamed the lower sales on “very significant supply constraints.”
Still, the company’s profitable services business went from strength to strength, with revenue of $19.82 billion, up 17% from a year ago and ahead of the $19.72 billion estimate. The services business includes revenue from subscriptions, licensing fees and extended warranties. It’s notable, however, that the business has made a habit of beating expectations by between 3% and 8% over the last couple of years. This time it exceeded estimates by only 0.5%.
Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri told CNBC that comparisons are a bit strange because there have been multiple lockdowns and reopenings during the COVID pandemic. During lockdowns, he said, “digital content went through the roof.”
Sales from Apple’s other products, such as its iPod devices and its wearables, pulled in $8.81 billion in sales, up 12.3% but below the $9.05 billion estimate.
Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE that, despite the warnings, Apple is on track to break the $100 billion revenue barrier by the end of its next quarter, something that would be a truly remarkable milestone. “Apple has shown remarkable resilience in challenging times that have seen it take hits on both the supply chain and the customer side,” he said.
On the conference call, Cook said Apple’s overall performance was “better than anticipated” thanks in part to a 20% sales jump in the Americas region. Sales in Greater China, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, grew at a much slower rate of just 3.47%
Apple once again declined to issue formal revenue guidance, citing uncertainty from the pandemic.
Mueller said that while Apple’s growth in the Americas was extremely impressive, investors will be concerned over its ability to replicate that performance in other regions.
“Europe and Greater China added barely 25% of the growth compared to America,” Mueller said, adding that things are even more concerning in markets like Japan, where Apple’s revenue was flat compared to the previous quarter. “Apple’s revenue actually shrank by half a billion in the rest of Asia, not including the Chinese and Japanese markets. Investors will be watching to see if Apple can revert these trends,” he continued. “Unfortunately, Apple’s decision not to provide guidance suggests the management isn’t confident. That’s understandable given the uncertainties it faces, but not a good practice for shareholders.”
The company announced that its board of directors had authorized a $90 billion share buyback this year, maintaining its position as the public company that spends the most buying back its own shares. In 2021, the company spent $88.3 billion on buying back shares.
Photo: The Climate Group
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Desperate Fremantle fans are being forced to offload grand final tickets because they cannot afford the airfare to Melbourne.
Supporters have turned to social media to trade their excess game tickets for a flight from Perth to Melbourne.
Online fan site Dockerland has been inundated with messages from fans willing to sell or trade their tickets because they cannot get or afford a flight.
Other supporters are trying to sell their plane tickets after failing to get grand final tickets in the ballot on Monday.
Yesterday, the cheapest direct flight from Perth to Melbourne departing on Friday was $1185.
One Fremantle fan wrote online that they had a young child and found shelling out more than $3000 for return flights "unpalatable".
"There IS an incentive to get me on something relatively well priced and that is a ticket into the game" the fan posted.
Perth-based Hawks fan Ryan was devastated he was forced to sell his grand final seat because he could not afford the flights after getting a ticket in the ballot.
"The flights, you pay $300 to $400 one week and then all of a sudden you're looking at $1600 to $1700 and people having to fly through Asia," he said.
"Having a look now you can't really do anything."
Ryan, who did not want his surname published, is trying to sell his ticket for $800 and believes he should be able to profit from the sale.
"It's up to the people who are buying them," he said.
Fans have been urged to avoid buying overpriced grand final tickets - even if they have already bought airfares and accommodation in Melbourne.
AFL deputy chief executive Gillon McLachlan and Victorian Sports Minister Hugh Delahunty warned there were severe punishments for ticket scalping because the league cracked down on profiteering.
Mr Delahunty said anyone caught selling five tickets or fewer at an inflated price could be fined $721 and that fine would increase to $8661 if they sold more than five tickets. Any company caught profiteering from the sale of grand final tickets could be fined $43,308.
He warned that social media, newspapers and websites were heavily monitored and no one should risk buying or selling the tickets.
Mr Delahunty said scalped tickets could be cancelled, leaving the buyer with no way to get into the MCG."If they've come all the way from Perth, it'd be a long way to come over here if your tickets could be cancelled," he said.


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Fleetwood Mac and Oasis have helped the UK vinyl market increase for the 13th consecutive year.
The BPI is reporting a growth in UK vinyl sales by nearly a tenth when compared to 2019 despite a year largely lost to lockdown.
Also giving a projected Top 10 of the best selling albums on vinyl in the UK during 2020 ahead of its final results on January 4th, the BPI has perennial big sellers Rumours by Fleetwood Mac and Oasis’ (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? leading the way, though brand new releases from Idles and Arctic Monkeys have also proved popular.
“In a year when all our lives have changed, music’s power to inspire has never been more evident,” Geoff Taylor, BPI Chief Executive, says.
“The immediacy and convenience of streaming make it the go-to audio format for most of our listening, but more and more fans choose to get closer to their favourite artists and albums on vinyl.”
“It’s remarkable that LP and audio tape sales should have risen at all given the challenges we’ve all faced. The surge in sales despite retail closures demonstrates the timeless appeal of collectable physical formats alongside the seamless connectivity of streaming.”
Projected Top 10 best selling vinyl albums of 2020 (UK):
1/ Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
2/ Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
3/ Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
4/ Nirvana – Nevermind
5/ Harry Styles – Fine Line
6/ Kylie Minogue – Disco
7/ AC/DC – Power Up
8/ Queen – Greatest Hits
9/ Idles – Ultra Mono
10/ Arctic Monkeys – Live At The Royal Albert Hall


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Majority of 47 businesses that are members of the UK-Ghana Chamber of Commerce believe the Ghanaian business environment is at par with other countries on the African continent.
However, a significant portion (40%) also think Ghana is lagging behind.
Despite Ghana being viewed as one of the best investment destinations in Africa, only 18% of 47 businesses surveyed by accounting and auditing frim, pwc, viewed it as such.
However, the country risks losing these businesses to other countries should this persist.
All the respondents from the Mining and Construction as well as Real Estate industries view the Ghanaian business environment as lagging in comparison to the other countries within which they operate.
A significant majority of Professional Services and Other Service Industry respondents, however, feel the business environment in the country matches that of other countries and thus rate it at par.
For respondents within the Media, Data Processing and Telecom industry, half believe Ghana leads, while the others believe Ghana lags behind.
“It will be beneficial for the government and/or its agencies to have further engagements with UKGCC businesses in order to properly attend to their business needs and make the business environment more attractive for further investments. Corruption still remains a problem – as it has in previous years – and the government needs to enforce stringent measures to check this”, the report alluded.
Finally, over half of the businesses surveyed also believed the companies within their industry can be competitive in the global marketplace
The survey was conducted among member companies of the UK – Ghana Chamber of Commerce with 47 members taking part in the survey.
This was a reduction from the 67 businesses in the prior survey of 2021. Respondents represented 16 industries and ranged from small to large companies.
Source: Joy Business
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Send Your News Stories and General Inquiries to firstname.lastname@example.org or Whatsapp: 0206386139


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Wellness tourism grew from a $563 billion market in 2015 to $639 billion in 2017, or 6.5 per cent annually, more than twice as fast as tourism overall (3.2 per cent). And it’s forecast to grow even faster through 2022 (7.5 per cent yearly) to reach $919 billion, according to the non-profit Global Wellness Institute’s (GWI) latest “Global Wellness Tourism Economy” report.
North America drives the most wellness tourism revenues ($242 billion annually) and Europe the most wellness trips (292 million)–but Asia-Pacific is the eye-opening growth leader, with wellness trips growing a whopping 33 per cent in the last two years.
There’s a misconception that wellness travellers are a small, elite, rich group who visit destination spas or meditation retreats
“Wellness tourism burst into the consumer consciousness just a very few years ago, and it’s hard to grasp the speed of its growth and evolution,” noted Katherine Johnston and Ophelia Yeung, GWI Sr. Researchers. “Wellness, hospitality and travel are now converging in unprecedented ways, from the ‘healthy hotel’ concept going utterly mainstream to airports, airlines, and cruises injecting so much wellness programming, to the profusion of ever-more-creative wellness destinations, retreats and tours. The wellness concept is transforming almost every aspect of the travel industry–and wellness tourism will only grow faster in years ahead, as it lies at the powerful intersection of two massive, booming industries: the $2.6 trillion tourism industry and the $4.2 trillion wellness market.”
Wellness tourism is heavily concentrated in several countries across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The top five nations (US, Germany, China, France, Japan) represent 59 per cent of the global market, and the US alone drives over one-third of world revenues. Since 2013, both China and India have shot up in the rankings: China jumping from 11th to 3rd today; India hopping from 16th to 7th. Malaysia has entered the top twenty for the first time.
Wellness travellers are very high-spending, high-yield tourists. In 2017, international wellness tourists on average spent $1,528 per trip, 53 per cent more than the typical international tourist. The premium for domestic wellness tourists is even higher: at $609 per trip, they spend 178 per cent more than your average domestic tourist.
The GWI identifies two types of wellness travellers. The “primary” variety is a traveller whose trip/destination choice is primarily motivated by wellness. The “secondary” is a traveller who participates in wellness experiences on any leisure or business trip.
While there’s a misconception that wellness travellers are a small, elite, rich group who visit destination spas or meditation retreats, it’s actually the more mainstream secondary breed that comprises the dramatic bulk of the market: 89 per cent of wellness trips and 86 per cent of expenditures.
Saudis love a wellness break
RESEARCH from YouGov on behalf of Priority Pass, the world’s leading and original airport experiences programme, shows that people in Saudi Arabia love wellness and spa holidays abroad. According to the survey, 38 per cent enjoy wellness holidays, with 22 per cent listing it as their favourite activity.
This was also reflected in spending, with people splashing out an average of SR5,090 ($1,356) a year on investing in a wellness trip. The purchase of luxury items only ranked 7th in terms of the amount of money people would spend – with the average of SR3,099 ($826).
According to the latest edition of Colliers ‘Spa Benchmark Report’, the performance of hotel spas operating within the UAE and KSA were analysed, providing an insight into indicators such as the average rate, revenue and number of treatments sold during the first half of 2018.
While the UAE emerged as having some of the largest and most advanced wellness and spa facilities in the region, the wellness industry in KSA is gradually evolving as the popularity for wellness and health has gained momentum. This has invariably directed the hotels to focus more on spa and wellness offerings. Opening of dedicated spas for female guests in hotels is an upcoming trend in the kingdom. Increasing participation of women in KSA’s workforce will also have a positive impact on the wellness industry in the Kingdom. In the coming years, the wellness industry in KSA is likely to witness significant changes with several players expected to enter the market.


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The ads are via Amnesty International in Puerto Rico.
The starkness of the photography — including the standard issue prison food trays — makes for riveting advertising.
I’ve seen many anti-death penalty ads over the last 10 years, but these are the best.
Photography by: James Reynolds.
Ag agency: DDB, Puerto Rico.
More Amnesty International death penalty ads from around the world, below.
Ad targeted China in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.
Using their iconic candle logo to memorable effect.
Two ads from a campaign via Spain.
“The death penalty comes from another age. There are still 76 countries that apply it.”
- 200 million women and girls have undergone genital mutilation, UNICEF data says. But the practice's prevalence is down.
- Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders debated head-to-head over who was a true "progressive." 🇺🇸
- Do you know what happened in the news this week? Time to take our quiz.


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BELFAST — History is full of figures spouting off about the uses and benefits of Camellia sinensis, the evergreen plant better known as tea.
In the eighth century, Chinese tea expert Lu Yu wrote, “Tea tempers the spirits and harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drowsiness, lightens or refreshes the body, and clears the perceptive faculties.”
“Make tea, not war,” Graham Chapman advised more than a millennium later, in a skit for British comedy troupe Monty Python.
Yet if tea’s global following is deep and wide — it’s second only to water as the world’s most consumed beverage — it can seem more like chopped liver on this side of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
When’s the last time a server approached you at a diner and asked, “How ’bout some Earl Grey?”
Of course, America and tea go way back. The Revolutionary War began after colonists dumped 342 chests of the stuff into Boston Harbor to protest British taxation.
Whether because of that history or not, many modern Yankees look to coffee, soda or energy drinks for their morning or afternoon pick-me-ups.
And if they do think of tea, says Shelly Patten, who recently opened The Treasured Leaf Tea Co. on Route 1, it may not be fondly. “That’s what grandma always gave me when I was sick,” they may groan.
Actually, though, tea has been having a moment here.
Between 1990 and 2014, national tea sales grew from less than $2 billion to more than $10 billion, reports the Tea Association of the U.S.A.
The group attributes that growth to increased offerings of tea at supermarkets and the spread of specialty shops such as Treasured Leaf Tea.
Patten, a Northport resident who grew up in the area, hasn’t always been a serious tea drinker. But after working in the specialty food business for a number of years, she recognized the growing demand, then had an “aha” moment while drinking black tea with a friend on a trip to South Carolina.
To capitalize on that trend, Patten spent two years drinking tea, researching the industry and contacting distributors around the country, who have in turn supplied her with teas harvested from China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka and Africa.
Last summer, she opened her business next to Perry’s Nut House. The shop carries more than 70 types of loose-leaf tea, along with pots, cups and brewing gear you never knew existed.
Part of the growing demand for tea by Americans are the health benefits associated with it — including lower risk of depression, stroke and heart disease — and the break some want to take from coffee.
Patten doesn’t dwell on the specific health benefits when interacting with customers. Instead, she focuses on the flavor profile of different varieties.
“Any tea is going to be good for you,” she said, “so you should find one you like and just drink it.”
Black tea’s flavor, for example, includes hints of astringency, crispness, nuttiness and spiciness. Pu-er tea, on the other hand, is grown on trees in China’s mountainous Yunnan province and is notable for its fermentation.
Herbal teas, finally, don’t actually contain any tea. Instead they can include everything from berries to flowers to spices such as chili pepper, in blends carefully arranged to help you concentrate or relax.
Regardless of the tea, Patten also stresses to customers how it should be prepared. To that end, each of her 2-ounce bags contains specific brewing instructions. Those bags range in price from $4 to almost $20.
While it can be tempting to prepare any tea by just dumping boiling water on it, Patten said that can lead to an overly strong and bitter taste.
Instead, the instructions printed on every package include how long and at what temperature each tea should be steeped.
That lets the flavors of the teas speak for themselves, avoiding the need for sugar or milk to mask the taste, Patten said.
With iced tea accounting for 85 of the tea consumed in the United States, Patten also encourages customers to consider cold brewing methods, which involve just mixing water and tea in special containers and chilling them in the refrigerator.
At the same time, Patten has been getting into the community to evangelize for tea and push what its means to drink it.
She’s visited the geography class at a local school to serve tea unique to the parts of the world getting studied. She’s also worked with the owners of a local pub to prepare a Bloody Mary cocktail using a tea with a particularly smoky taste.
Think about that the next time you’re at war with a cold.
The Treasured Leaf Tea Co. is located at 45A Searsport Ave., Belfast. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day but Tuesday.


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Madonna's new contract with Live Nation Inc. worth $120 million (EUR 84.5 million) gives the concert promoter the opportunity to tap into concert, recording, merchandising and other profitable revenue streams. But do not discount the role that lowly ticket fees play.
Madonna's decision to leave Warner Music shows how far Live Nation is willing to go to break the hammerlock Barry Diller's Ticketmaster has on online concert and sporting ticket sales.
Ticket buyers may be annoyed by the $5 (EUR 3.50) or more in convenience and delivery fees tacked on to every ticket ordered online or over the phone, but they have proven to be a gold mine for Ticketmaster, a unit of IAC/InterActiveCorp.
Regulatory filings show that Ticketmaster's revenues jumped 14 percent to $1.1 billion (EUR 770 million) in 2006 and generated almost a 25 percent operating profit margin for the nation's largest seller of tickets.
Live Nation, whose 160 venues include House of Blues and Fillmore locations, Nikon at Jones Beach in New York and London's Wembley Arena, currently is Ticketmaster's largest single generator of ticketing fees. But Live Nation has signaled it wants to bring the fee revenue in-house when its Ticketmaster contract expires in 2008 for most of its locations and in 2009 at the House of Blues venues.
Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino has made no secret of his desire to use the company's relationships with artists to get into related businesses. He has talked about selling T-shirts, parking passes, VIP party passes, secondary tickets and DVDs as well as broadcasting shows live. And gaining direct access to fans through ticket sales is seen as a crucial building block to collecting other profit related to the event.
Rapino said Live Nation owes its window of opportunity to the rise of the live show as a profit driver - instead of the records and CD sales as in previous years. "Thankfully for our business, the center of that pie has really become the live show now," he said in September at a Goldman Sachs conference.
The possibility of having Live Nation as a competitor drew a bring-it-on response from Diller, chairman and chief executive of IAC, whose holdings also include the HSN home shopping network as well as Internet businesses including LendingTree, Citysearch, Evite, Match.com and the Ask.com search engine.
"We've invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our infrastructure. Let someone else make these investments and get into ticketing," Diller said at a New York conference in September. "It'll be good for us and interesting for them."
About 22 percent of all event tickets are now sold online and they are expected to generate sales of $4.9 billion (EUR 3.5 billion) this year, according to Jupiter Research retail analyst Patti Freeman Evans.
But a greater number of sellers will not automatically translate into lower prices or fewer fees for customers, she said. That is because tickets are not wholly commoditized, and sellers who tack on bonuses like limousine rides, dinner or other goodies are aiming to capture a segmentof the market from customers willing to pay more, Freeman Evans said.
Among the top shareholders of Live Nation, based in Beverly Hills, California, is L. Lowry Mays, founder of Clear Channel Communications and its CEO for 30 years until 2004. Mays owns 5.4 percent of the company, according to Capital IQ, a unit of Standard & Poor's.
For its part, Ticketmaster has made its own moves to get closer to the fans. It has bought fan management Web site Echo Music and music sharing Web site iLike.com, as well as artist management company Front Line, which includes in its portfolio the Eagles, Christina Aguilera, Aerosmith, Jimmy Buffett and Paris Hilton the singer.
"There's a whole host of things we've been engaged in and organizing and thinking about for the past year," Diller said last month.
Madonna's management told Warner Music Group Corp. last week that the 49-year-old pop singer would accept Live Nation's offer after the record company refused to match the deal, a person familiar with the confidential contract negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Under the proposed deal, Madonna would get a signing bonus of about $18 million (EUR 12.7 million), an advance of about $17 million (EUR 12 million) for each of three albums, stock, and an agreement for Live Nation to exclusively promote her tours.
To try to fend off the Live Nation deal, Warner pursued a partnership with Ticketmaster that would have enabled the record company to offer a spectrum of touring services to Madonna, the person said.
Diller is no stranger to the world of Hollywood. He is credited with the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company and the network's motion picture operations. He also spent a decade as head of Paramount Pictures Corp., as well as working at ABC Entertainment.
Meanwhile, the rise of a secondary market for tickets has brought new players to the industry, including eBay subsidiary StubHub and Tickets.com, which is owned by Major League Baseball's Advanced Media LP.
StubHub is on track to sell its 10 millionth ticket in a matter of days, spokesman Sean Pate said. This year alone, it should sell more tickets than the total of all tickets sold in the years since it was founded in 2000. Last year, its biggest yet, StubHub sold 3.3 million tickets. In February it was bought by eBay.
As a reseller, StubHub and others are taking over what used to only be done by scalpers on the street.
Ticketmaster, which sells tickets for promoters, sports teams and venue owners, is less free to pursue the secondary market since any reselling activity should not infringe on the profit-seeking of its clients, whose main goal is to accurately price tickets the first time around in order to maximize profit.
Still, Ticketmaster hopes to push back against the rapid growth of StubHub with its own resale service, called Ticket Exchange, and Ticketmaster Auctions. As of mid-2007, Ticketmaster reports a 130 percent increase in the number of tickets sold through Ticket Exchange and a 59 percent rise in the number of online auctions conducted.
Volodymyr Zelensky gave an unexpected order to build the "Zaluzhny line” similarly to the "Surovikin line”. Will it save the Armed Forces of Ukraine from defeat?


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STRAIGHT, NO CHASER
Even eating lettuce can be scary
Published: Friday, October 13, 2006 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, October 13, 2006 at 12:00 a.m.
I joined my friend Valerie in celebrating her birthday this past weekend. We were partying in Miami when I got a text message from another girlfriend, Talia, telling me not to eat lettuce because of a recall of the green leafy stuff thought to be tainted by E. coli bacteria.
First it was spinach and now lettuce. I rummaged through my memory trying to remember the last time I had eaten lettuce, or spinach, for that matter.
I had eaten a spinach and cheese calzone from Pronto Pizza the day before, but I felt fine. I turned to Val and told her, but she just laughed and brushed it off.
But, seriously, for vegetarians such as myself, this spinach and lettuce thing is scary. Lettuce doesn't really taste like anything and its nutritional value is moderate at best, but to many vegans, vegetarians and other salad eaters, lettuce is a staple of their diet.
I made it a point not to order any salads or spinach during my visit to South Florida, and I wondered if restaurants in Marion County had been affected by the lettuce recall.
Jonathan Bernard, assistant manager of Crispers on Southwest 19th Avenue Road, said he couldn't say for certain, because business had been slow even before the E. coli scare.
"It hasn't been any different from the norm," Bernard said, adding that sales are usually slow in September. He added, though, that the restaurant does not receive lettuce from California, where the tainted lettuce originated.
After calling two Subway shops in search of a manager, I caught up with one at the restaurant on Southwest College Road. Debra Russell said business hadn't been affected, but that she wasn't supposed to answer any questions. She told me to contact the store supervisor, Paul Eisenhardt.
When I reached Eisenhardt, he said the recall had not affected his shops and that he had been assured by his produce distributor that the lettuce sold in his shops is not the same brand as the lettuce from California.
"Plus that was green leaf lettuce. We use iceberg lettuce," he added.
However, during the spinach-linked E. coli outbreak they pulled all spinach just to be safe, he said.
Chris-Ann Rose, general manager of the Olive Garden on Southwest College Road, said she saw no impact on her business. "All of our produce is tested," she said.
Some locally-owned restaurants were taking precautions, even though subsequent tests of the California lettuce proved negative for the deadly strain of E. coli.
Lakis Greek & Italian Restaurant Manager Martha Stratigos said business had not been affected. "They [customers] love our Greek salads," she said with a laugh. Stratigos said the lettuce ban wasn't "as talked about" as the spinach issue. She also added that their distributor said the lettuce they receive isn't from out West.
Sonjale Grimes, manager of Reno's Grille in downtown Ocala, said business there had been affected and patrons expressed concerns.
"I've had customers ask where does our lettuce come from," she said. "Now we are making our own spring mix."
Grimes said they no longer purchase pre-packaged salad. Instead they purchase produce from local company East Coast and mix the salad themselves. They haven't been able to sell specialty salads due to the scare, but they encourage patrons to try something else on the menu.
"Protecting our guests is of first and foremost importance," she said.
Rashida Rawls may be reached at (352) 867-4132 or email@example.com.
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FRANKFURT: The German economy unexpectedly grew in the third quarter, official data showed Friday, defying predictions of a contraction as Europe’s powerhouse grapples with high inflation and an energy crisis.
German output increased by 0.3 percent quarter on quarter, federal statistics agency Destatis said in preliminary figures, adding that the expansion was mainly powered by consumer spending.
Analyst surveyed by Factset had expected a contraction of -0.2 percent.
“The German economy managed to hold its ground despite difficult framework conditions of the global economy with the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain interruptions, rising prices and the war in Ukraine,” Destatis said.
The overall outlook for Europe’s largest economy remains gloomy however, as the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine takes its toll.
“Today’s positive growth data is a welcome surprise. However, it does not mean that the German economy will be able to prevent a recession,” said ING economist Carsten Brzeski.
“The recession is only delayed, not cancelled.”
Germany was heavily reliant on Russian gas before the war, and Moscow’s move to cut off flows through the crucial Nord Stream 1 pipeline has fuelled fears of energy shortages and skyrocketing heating bills this winter.
Record-high inflation of 10 percent in September has added to the pain, as consumers and businesses see their purchasing power eroded.
The German government expects the economy to shrink by 0.4 percent in 2023.


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Khodrocar – According to the new report of Industry, Mine and Trade ministry vehicle production decreased for 46 percent in September and this is worrying number for whom pre-purchased cars.
This decrement happened while according to the predicted plan they should reach 1.7 million production rate till the end of the year and it reduced to 1.2 million after what happened to the auto industry. if the problems likes shortage of liquidity continues then we may not reach even the second number.
"The reality is auto industry is facing multi challenges which most of them are continuing and cause the low production rate. Because of customs difficulty, lack of coordination in the ministries and delay in pricing, production lines in auto industry are facing challenges.” Amir Hossein Kakaei, an expert of auto industry told Khodrocar reporter.
"In the automotive industry there is a high capacity for production but it is lower than the nominal capacity. If the obstacles remove then auto industry could cover it in shortest time. The auto industry backwardness is not getting worrying yet.” He added. "We are not reaching the second part of sanctions but the auto industry has passed the sanctions till now due to its experiences.”
"If the government reduce its interfere then this backwardness could be cover but if the process of past 7 months continue then conditions would be more complicate and we would face 3 or 4 months delay in delivering presale cars.” He continued. "The root of auto industry backs to before sanctions and it’s because of the lack of coordination between government’s organizations. This lack of coordination is surprising and it makes a question that what happened in the customs and currency market that caused this problems? The obvious thing is all problems had inner sources not foreign.”
"The government stopped illogical presell plan and they just do the pre-sell whenever they have the ability to fulfill it. Right now, pre-sales is logical and automakers can do their promises.” He added.
"If the price of first material reduces and automakers pay their debt to part makers monthly then part makers could continue their activity. But if they want to pay the debt then vehicle prices are preventing them. The offer is vehicle pricing should be real and we offered that prices should be 5 percent lower than the side market.” Mohammad Reza Najafi Manesh, president of part makers association told Khodrocar reporter.
"We experienced some rises in the first 3 months of the year but in the summer the production reduced for 46 percent. These numbers are not good at all and we have to find a solution very soon.” He added.
"Obstacles in front of the auto industry are solvable but if they don’t solve then the whole industry would stop working and they never be able to fulfill promises and behind that is unemployment and social problems too. Now USA is pointing at the auto industry but we shouldn’t let that happen.” He said.
Experts are talking about poor governmental decision and lack of coordination in organizations that they call local sanctions which is more effective than foreign sanctions. Carmakers face different challenges in the current situation, and if there is no solution to their problems, they will be in trouble in their obligations to pre-owned cars, and the industry may no longer be able to grow up and become stuck
Khodrocar Reporter: Speideh Ghazi Nejad
Khodrocar Translator: Amin Zamani


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Rodolfo Pizarro 6.15 Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots ‘Nov.Rodolfo Pizarro 6.Pitchers Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, Mark Buehrle and A.J.
Foot Locker said its Week of Greatness features premium releases from such brands as Nike, adidas, Jordan, Under Armour, Puma, Timberland, New Balance and Asics.Diego Rossi 18.’MLB said that Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully has narrated the https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0868KNJK1 World Series documentary, The 2020 World Series, , which chronicles the first Dodgers championship since 1988.The 2020 World Series 90-minute DVD and digital versions will be available Dec.Javier Hernandez 3.Creative is anchored by a TV spot custom baseball jerseys features six limited-edition SKUs which each honor a different era in Jordan’s basketball career.
Johnny Russell 19.Reebok retail store from launch day through Dec.But my taste buds have got me thinking, McDonald’s knows just what I like, with that cooked-right-when-I-order hotness.3 TBD Highest-Paid Athletes 1.Cristian Pavon 22.Cristiano Ronaldo $105 million $60 million $45 million Soccer 3.
3 TBD Highest-Paid Athletes 1.Ralph Lauren is also an officlal partnerwith the U.S.That statistic, however, was meaningless in light of the Islanders enjoying better quality of opportunities and, most important, a huge edge in putting those medium-to-high danger chances on the scoreboard .
7 CBS ‘Super Bowl LVI SoFi Stadium Los Angeles Feb.Diego Chara 14.’MLB’s Miami Marlins have hired Kim Ng to be their GM, making her the first woman to hold the position in MLB and likely for any of the major professional men’s teams in North American sports.
I never was cool with being second.In addition, T-Mobile said that each time people sent a tweet using the hash tag #HR4HR, it would donate another $1 to Team Rubicon’s recovery efforts, with the goal of $500 added to the $1 million count.


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The British Retail Consortium has reported a drop in sales of non-food items, such as clothing and electrical goods. A drop of 0.4% has been posted for the month of July, August and September in comparison to last year. This is believed to be the first drop of the year.
Due to the excess demand of households, the demand for all the expensive items such as fitted kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms came out to be feeble.
Stephen Robertson, Director General of the BRC said that since people had become more cautious, there had been a decline in spending over major items. Though the BRC declared that a new recession could still be prevented yet it also warned that the third quarter of the year had seen the economy slow down.
The austerity measures planned by George Osborne were likely to mount pressure on the economy. And as for the second quarter of the year, the economy is aid to have witnessed a growth by 1.2%.
With the Chancellor planning to get the Government debt under control, he is likely to outline the biggest programme of spending cuts in the comprehensive spending review which is to take place next week.
“We hold our breath as to whether the upcoming spending review will derail current retail spending further. Confidence is fragile”, said Helen Dickinson, Head of retail at KPMG.


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Both Apple and Google are rivals as far as mobile operating systems are concerned. Apple has iOS, which is selling well in its own right, while Google has Android which is very clearly dominating the smartphone market at the moment, but imagine if Apple and Google were to team up? Wouldn’t that create some kind of super smartphone where hardware and software would be near-perfect? While we doubt that will be happening anytime soon, Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, thinks that both companies should work together.
Speaking during BBC’s Click program, Wozniak was quoted as saying, “I wish to God that Apple and Google were partners in the future.” Wozniak also seems to advocate the idea of cross-licensing and sharing technology, which is what companies aren’t doing at the moment, especially with each company guarding their technology so tightly where they are suing each other left and right just to edge out the competition. All of this sounds like an ideal situation, an ideal matchup, and perhaps the tech’s “dream team” (or dream company), but what do you guys think? Would you love to see Apple and Google team up to create super smartphones? Or do you like the distinction between iOS and Android, and that competition is a healthy thing?
Filed in Google.. Read more about


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Lady GaGa's 'ARTPOP' Tour Isn't Flopping, Live Nation Says
Live Nations has responded to reports suggesting that it has lost over $30 million due to the poor ticket sales of Lady GaGa's "artRave: the ARTPOP Ball" tour. Arthur Fogel, Chairman of Live Nation's Global Touring division, laughs off the reports and calls them "ridiculous."
He explains to Billboard that although the tour won't open until May, 80 percent of tickets in North America and Europe have been sold. Additionally, the 29 shows that are on sale in North America have already grossed $26 million in ticket sales.
"The run with GaGa over the last two tours has been incredibly successful, and this one is shaping up no differently," Fogel says. He then reveals that the Mother Monster will even play six additional North American shows and add more dates for the U.K. leg of the tour.
Fogel also addresses specific reports that the tickets for the star's Milwaukee show are not selling well, saying, "When something like Milwaukee specifically comes up, that show has sold 14,264 tickets, the gross is $961,000, and it's at the end of June. I just don't know how this s**t gets any traction without people doing their homework."
Of Live Nation losing the large sum of money, he says, "Just a complete fool would say something like that and it could only come from somebody who has an agenda, because it makes absolutely no sense, on any level."
More Lady GaGa News
- Khloe Kardashian Claims Lamar Odom's New Romance Is Only a Way to Get Her Attention
- Mila Kunis Gives Her Parents a Surprise Home Makeover
- 'The Flash' 3.20 Promo: Savitar Will Be Unmasked in 'I Know Who You Are'
- Victim's Relative Says Chris Soules Fatal Car Crash 'Was Just a Freak Accident'
- Tarek El Moussa and Christina Put Divorce on Hold to Focus on Their Show
- Kendra Wilkinson Is Slammed by Farrah Abraham on 'Marriage Boot Camp' Promo
- Caitlyn Jenner Claps Back at Kris Jenner Over Harsh Comment About Caitlyn's New Memoir
- HyunA Gets Slammed for Saying That Skin Exposure on Stage Should Be Justified


text: We are excited to announce the launch of the new HM3 website. Our online presence has improved features and a new look and feel. In addition to the refreshed style, the website is now more user-friendly and easier to navigate. Keep an eye on our latest news and subscribe to updates! A big shout out to Phunk Creative for your help and support in this.


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Spike Chunsoft Announces GDC Line-up: RPGs and Visual Novels!
Let's get ready to (Shibuya) Scramble!
03.23.18 - 5:32 PM
As mentioned in this beautifully written piece, Spike Chunsoft has announced the first games they will be releasing as part of their global initiative during the Game Developers Conference. Among them are the Tower Defense game, PixelJunk Monsters 2, and the wrestling game, Fire Pro Wrestling World, which will be released this year, but we know what you're here for: RPGs and visual novels.
When you combine Spike Chunsoft with MAGES, inc., you get Steins;Gate Elite, the updated version of Steins;Gate Phenogram, featuring completely animated events. It will be hitting PS4, Switch, and Steam in 2018. We have a brand-new Steins;Gate Elite gallery with screenshots and artwork.
Fans of Danganronpa will enjoy this new RPG from the creators of the popular series: Zanki Zero: Last Beginning is a new survival RPG coming to PS4 and Steam, with release date info coming soon. We have a new baker's dozen batch of screenshots in our gallery for Zanki Zero.
Last but not least, as it was foretold in our 63 Most Anticipated Games of 2018 feature, 428: Shibuya Scramble will be making its way to PS4 and Steam this summer. (Not recommended for those who don't like sound in video games...)
Check out the latest trailer below, and a brand-new gallery for more screenshots.
While you are getting a taste of the games now, you can catch exclusive looks at 428 and Zanki Zero on Spike Chunsoft's stream tonight at 5:00 PDT. There will be a chance to win prizes, so check out their Twitch channel tonight.


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Twitter Partners with CBS for Massive Video-Ads-Within-Tweets Program (AllTwitter)
Twitter and CBS are partnering to bring live video clips to a Twitter timeline near you through its Amplify program. This is the biggest partnership of its kind for Twitter, with CBS planning on incorporating Twitter-based ads into 42 of its TV shows and many of its Web properties. The New York Times/Bits Blog As an example, Twitter and CBS showed off a possible “60 Minutes in 60 Seconds” ad, which could promote content from the venerable television news magazine. The real-time nature of Twitter’s stream of messages, or tweets, pairs well with live broadcasts. Adweek “It’s a big opportunity to get big advertisers with big budgets,” David Morris, CBS Interactive chief customer officer, told Adweek after his presentation. “But I also want to sell to that mid-market with some of our smaller brands.” Variety CBS and Twitter made the announcement Monday at a presentation to advertisers and agencies as part of New York’s Advertising Week. Twitter is doubling down efforts to generate revenue from TV networks, ahead of its initial public offering expected in the next few months. Mashable The addition of CBS to its list of Amplify partners is a big win for Twitter. Despite the program’s short existence, Twitter has attracted some major partnerships over the last five months, including A&E, Discovery, MLB.com and Time Inc., but CBS brings the largest collection of brands and shows.
Facebook is Testing a New Way to Pay for Things with Your Smartphone (Business Insider)
Facebook is rolling out a new payments feature that will let you easily charge items to your credit card while shopping on your smartphone, Facebook has confirmed to Business Insider. The feature is called “Autofill with Facebook,” and it’s starting to roll out to a small number of users on Monday evening, as first reported by AllThingsD’s Mike Isaac.
Is Social Media Invited to Your Wedding? (SocialTimes)
In the always-on social media-connected world, the line between public and private are constantly being blurred. As if the planning isn’t stressful enough, according to Digital Trends, social media is the new wedding crasher.
China to Lift Twitter, Facebook Bans in Free-Trade Zone (CNET)
In a bid to encourage international business in the new Shanghai free-trade zone, the Chinese government has decided to lift the ban on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Access to banned news sites such as The New York Times will also be allowed, according to a South China Morning Post report.
Fox Sports Reaches Agreement with Facebook to Tap into Data from Media-Centric APIs (AllFacebook)
Fox Sports became the latest media entity to reach an agreement to use the two media-centric application programming interfaces the social network introduced earlier this month, as Facebook and Fox Sports announced a six-month partnership deal Sunday, as reported by Mashable. Data from Facebook’s public feed API and keyword insights API will be used during Fox Sports National Football League, college football and soccer telecasts for enhancements such as live polls, answering viewers’ questions during broadcasts and real-time streams of conversations on the social network, Mashable reported.
Spotify is Now Live in 32 Countries After Launching in Taiwan, Argentina, Greece and Turkey (The Next Web)
Spotify has launched its service in four new markets — Taiwan, Argentina, Greece and Turkey — which takes the music-streaming site to 32 markets worldwide. Monday, a company spokesperson confirmed to TNW that the service had gone live in Taiwan and that Spotify is preparing to launch in other new markets soon.
Apple Introduces New Kids Section in the App Store (AppNewser)
Apple has introduced a new category in the App Store catering to kids. The new Kids Section in the App Store organizes apps aimed at kids into three age ranges, including kids under 5, 6-8, and 9-11.
Line Adds Vine-Style Clip Maker & Video Calling to its Mobile Messaging Platform (TechCrunch)
Snap Movie allows for Vine-style short video sharing, which gives Line users yet another way to communicate with each other without having to leave its social, entertainment playground. Line’s videos have a little more flexibility in length than Vine’s, which caps footage at six seconds and ties them into an automatic loop. Line Snap Movie videos can be between four and 10 seconds long.
The Weather Channel Teams with Red Bull to Extend Reach Off-Air and Offline (LostRemote)
There is perhaps no savvier brand at content and event marketing than Red Bull. It is no wonder, then, that other brands want to develop partnerships with the drink maker – including TV and media companies. The Weather Channel has been a major innovator in the digital space over the past two years, but this past Saturday, they took this trend off-air and offline, participating in a major way in Red Bull’s five-city Flugtag events.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.