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“The context of these kinds of products has improved,” suggests Ben Arnold, client technological innovation analyst at the NPD Team, which tracks US revenue of electronics. “It’s not the one-handed emailer on the subway any longer. It’s the uber-successful do the job-from-dwelling worker, and there are some distinct proportions to that.”
“At the same time,” Arnold provides, “I seem at my display time, and my screen time has by no means been larger than the earlier 4 months. So maybe there are some synergies there that Microsoft can glimpse into.”
Microsoft, of program, is aware of this. Which is why the company’s virtual briefing on Tuesday morning, which felt just the proper volume of preproduced and off the cuff, provided references to gaming, baking, and video streaming. Panay, demonstrating off an occasion wherever the Amazon Kindle app runs together with Microsoft’s OneNote app, talked about how he reads to his daughter from the Duo.
Shilpa Ranganathan, company vice president for mobile and cross-machine encounters, addressed the pandemic much more straight: “One of the matters which is been really demanding for me for the duration of quarantine has been the capability to program foods for my family members,” she mentioned. She then demonstrated how she simultaneously makes use of the Edge browser and Microsoft’s to-do app for food planning.
“We’ve talked about this rather a little bit. We nevertheless have to have our telephones. We nonetheless require to be cell,” Panay said. “We know how important it is to interact with your Laptop correct now, but we know there are these transition moments. Currently being capable to walk away from the Pc for a little little bit and get to my Duo has been vital in this time. Even if I’m likely to hold out on the couch or sit exterior, I require the true estate. I need the screens.”
Microsoft may possibly incredibly properly be ready to make the case that two screens are far better than a one screen, specifically when it will come to switching concerning applications. But the Duo’s commencing price tag of $1,399 will also convert off lots of a potential buyer. Early pandemic issues about offer chain disruptions in the tech marketplace finally gave way to daunting worries about client demand. Several millions of persons in the US are unemployed, the pandemic is even now raging, and, by the way, you can get a really fantastic Android phone proper now for all around $400. At a thousand dollars far more than that, the Duo is a tall get.


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LumaFusion, a well-regarded video editing app for iPhones, iPads and Macs, is finally making its way to Android and Chrome OS devices. Shortly after it won best iPad app of the year in 2021, thanks to its ability to make complex video editing easy to do using just one's fingers, LumaFusion made its Android debut on Samsung's Galaxy Tab S8 devices. According to Android Police, its developer, LumaTouch, promised to put it up for download on the Galaxy Store back then while also working on a release for the Chrome OS. It took some time to make that happen, but now LumaTouch is rolling out an early access version of the app to the Google Play Store and the Samsung Galaxy Store.
The features iOS users enjoy are expected to be on the Android and Chrome OS releases, as well. LumaFusion lets users lay down up to 12 tracks, six of which can be videos, which they can link and unlink. They can use preset transitions or create their own, import media from various sources or edit directly from USB drives, as well as pick from a library of royalty-free music, sound effects, videos and backgrounds. AP says LumaTouch formed a team of Chrome OS developers to make this release happen, so the app has likely been optimized for the platform instead of being a subpar iOS port.
LumaFusion typically costs $30, but users will be able to purchase it from the Galaxy Store and Play Store for $20 within its early access period. The listing for either platform isn't up yet, from what we can see, but it'll most likely pop up soon enough.

domain: news


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Blandon, Pennsylvania-based Giorgio Fresh Company has named Bryan Shelton as VP of sales and marketing. He will be responsible for sales team leadership, marketing and business strategy.
Shelton is a CPG industry leader that brings more than 20 years of experience, leading sales teams at Kellogg, Pinnacle Foods and Del Monte Foods.
Most recently, Shelton held a leadership role at Del Monte Foods, where he was responsible for the sales organization in the West, overseeing sales strategy development and execution and leading innovation of new categories. He has a proven record of facilitating long-term business goals with customers and industry luminaries.
“Bryan is highly experienced, forward and strategic thinking; we are fortunate to have him lead our sales and marketing efforts in the future,” said Joe Caldwell, president of Giorgio Fresh.
“His track record of building high-performing sales teams coupled with his extensive experience in packaged foods will be advantageous to Giorgio as we continue to prioritize innovation.”
Assisting with the transition into this leadership position, Greg Sagan, EVP of sales and marketing, will be working together with Shelton. “Greg’s leadership, dedication and expertise have been momentous in our company’s success,” Caldwell said. “As Greg transitions toward retirement, we look forward to Bryan’s new approaches to leading the Giorgio Fresh sales team.”
Since 1928, Giorgio Fresh, a grower, packer and shipper of mushrooms has provided the worldwide retail and food service industry with the quality mushrooms.
For more information, visit giorgiofresh.com.
To read more produce news from The Shelby Report, click here.


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The month has been in review for long and just when the end is near; it is time to release the list. Who made it to the top 3 and which games missed to make that comeback or impression on their players and target audience? From companies like ?Ubisoft?, ?Activision? and many more, we expect only AAA titles. But, these have expanded into FPS and other categories as well.
For example, the PC game Tom Clancy?s Ghost Recon Breakpoint by Ubisoft Paris could not find that soft corner among its fans. It was so much a loss to Ubisoft that it is taking a break and rethinking its strategies and approach, and even going to the extent of delaying its release of Watch Dogs: Legion by almost a year from 2020 to 2021. The PC game market is volatile as it can get and all the effort of years of development can simply go to waste if there is any bug, compatibility issues, or just the time wasn?t right for great approval.
Among the best PC games of 2019, Ubisoft admitted that they blew it up with Breakpoint. While the ?The Outer Worlds? was released too, Indie titles like ?Trine 4? was available. The COD Modern Warfare also saw a reboot that players seem to have rejoiced a lot. The PC game, ?The Outer Worlds? was praised for its next-gen Fallout like gameplay, and not to mention when Fallout was released back in the days, it was like no other. This new game proved a nice successor to the game we all had been waiting for so long.
The PC Game for the New Gamer
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep was released for all platforms at the same time. It included PS4, Xbox One, PC, and even Stadia, Google?s new online gaming service. It marked the first release on Steam since the first release and is no longer published by Activision. This PC game is priced under $10 though. Also, Destiny 2: New Light will be a free-to-play version that will be soon released by developer Bungie, and fans are all waiting for it.
For a PC game, if a game has always been a benchmark for PCs and laptops, that is Witcher. The Witcher 2 PC game was released this month, and it is thriving to remain at the top. The Witcher 2: Wild Hunt is the next installment in the series. It will release on Switch too soon. It will include the previous expansions to porting it from 2015 versions. If you are just jumping on this bandwagon, this is a game set in the old era.
Also, the PC game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is taking everything into their hands. The mobile version that was released made a huge splash. The multiplayer version has been revamped, and with a Gunfight featuring 2-on-2, this is making the rounds and keeping everyone on their toes. This PC game is one of the blockbuster releases of October 2019, and there were many more too.


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The Fashion Industry has gone through a rough patch during these unpredictable times, But if there’s one thing that we have learnt during these infinite lockdowns, is to be patient and channelise the creative energy in the time we have. Especially for designers who want to start a venture of their own, despite the challenges during these uncertain times, they have not only managed to launch their brands successfully but have also maintained a steady growth. If you too are on the edge of starting a label of your own but are unsure of how to go about it, here are some rules set by the pandemic-born labels for running a business right from strategizing to marketing:
1. ‘Mistry’ By Ronak Kapoor:
The accessory label ‘Mistry’ was launched in December 2020, and gained recognition among fashion enthusiasts for its crescent shaped handbags. The brand’s aim to support social causes, is what turned the spotlight towards it. They’re decision to donate a portion of their profits to Covid Relief organisation, ‘Hemkunt Foundation’ not only raised their substantial funds, but gained enormous following in their social media platforms.
Partnering with an NGO was just their starting point. Ronak said at an interview that his main aim was to take care of his employees and help people as much as he can. His idea was to generate enough revenue that kept his workshop afloat, and all of the other proceeds were given to NGOs and other people that were in need, like guards who worked in around his neighbourhood and feed people who are homeless.
2. ‘Staple’ By Gona Khanijo And Vidha Chadha:
The label, ‘Staple’ was started in December 2020 and what worked for Gona and Vidha was the amount of time they utilised to establish the brand vision during the lockdown. Despite the risk factor that was involved in launching a brand during the pandemic, they got an opportunity to build the brand from the foundation and up. They spent every day creating the brand mood, which they said helped them create it right and has honestly worked as a great strategy for them. They aimed at creating the same mood and vibe from their Instagram and website to the packaging. “Creating the right kind of clothes is just a part of making a brand. If people can see your brand and say the things that you thought while building it up, that is when your work is done, or at least half done,” they share.
Another strategy that has helped them was to focus on building a community. They try to use products from other small scale businesses and promote them on their social media and try cross-selling each other’s products. Going forward as a community and giving back is really important.
3. Alamelu By Kh Radharaman
During the early days of lockdown in March-April 2020 KH, Radharam was given the mind-space to take ‘Alamelu’ from an idea and give it a tactile form. The basic thought behind ‘Alamelu’ aimed at creating products with origins in India but with truly international sensibilities. The textiles were evidently going to be a strength given their expertise in the area but creating easy silhouettes meant they had to transcend seasonality which was the key drive to enhancing the universal appeal of ‘Alamelu’. This in-turn gave a rise to a virtuous cycle with a better appreciation for quality, design and garments that balance function and occasion. Given this, right from the design and details in their first collection, to availability via landmark retail partners and creating a ‘launch moment’ without an event, their strategy was based on counterintuitiveness. With the absence of real-time interaction with potential patrons, the brand has made the most of technology while simultaneously placing the collection in key stores as well as their e-commerce platforms to reach a global audience.
4.‘TheRealB’ By Binal Patel:
Aiming to bring luxe fashion to women in a way that is easily accessible and fashionably forward but at controlled prices, ‘TheRealB’ sought after women to feel effortlessly beautiful and confident in its designs. Their approach to cope and stay afloat was to start small and avoid mass production and they embraced a simple direct-to-consumer e-commerce model initially, keeping the presence solely online, which helped in controlling the brand identity and kept online wholesale for the future. Banking on the idea that people wanted to invest in high-quality, pret-a-porter clothing that people can purchase right away while sitting inside their homes while still giving them the bespoke quality of haute couture.
5. ‘STEM’ By Mahima Sethi:
Established in October 2020, ‘STEM’ has adopted an ethical approach to the leather accessory supply chain while uplifting long standing traditions of Indian crafts. The secret to their growth is that they were forced to include dealing with uncertainty in the core strategy even before their actual sales began. Their idea was to account for delays, lack of workforce and sourcing options much ahead of time, which helped when the pandemic struck in its full form. They had also partnered with several platforms that resonated with the idea of minimum consumption, ethical consumerism, and an all-digital mindset.
As a made-to-order label, forecasting is tougher, which led to the team adapting differently. Hence for its production, the team kept some artisans and liaisons on standby and broke production lines into must-haves and deferred. When it comes to marketing, they never have and have said that they will never adopt the ‘bombard with ads’ kind of brand. Through the pandemic, they focused on the message to the customers and digital engagement within the community instead of the sell-all approach. Some may consider this counterintuitive because as a small business, they have to make money but on the other hand, they have had a better experience turning micro-moments of conversations into sales than a pushy strategy.
The Fashion Industry has now developed new rules with some such brands making their way into the fashion world. From these brands, we learn that with conception, visualization and aim, you can achieve a successful brand along with the prime focus on giving back to the society.


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The price of plastic bags is set to double and the charge will be extended to all shops in England, the Downing Street has announced.
From April 2021, the price will increase from 5p to 10p in a bid to encourage the public to re-use environmentally friendly bags, the Metro newspaper reported on Monday.
Small retailers – those employing 250 people or less – will no longer be exempt from the fee, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.
The 5p levy on plastic bags was introduced in England in 2015, with the latest figures showing that the number of single-use bags distributed by large supermarkets has fallen by more than 95 per cent.
Environment Secretary George Eustice said the latest move was part of efforts to cut back on single use plastic, after a public consultation found the “vast majority” of respondents welcomed the changes.


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Pannonhalmi Apátsági Pincészet directly translates in Hungarian to “The Abbey Winery in Pannonhalma”. Winemaking started in the Pannonhalma region when Benedictine monks founded the monastery of... Read More
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- Everyone wants to figure out millennials.
What do they like, what do they hate, where do they spend their money?
And so, we go to the numbers.
Research has started pouring in, examining everything from the car-shopping habits to the dating lives of the 18-to-34 set.
Here are five things you might not have guessed about millennials.
1. They still love their cars
It's apparently not true that millennials have broken up with their cars in favour of mass transit. In fact, they love them enough to try to get better cars.
Millennials want nicer cars for their money and are leasing at a higher rate than their older counterparts, according to research by the car-buying website Edmunds.com. Leasing accounted for 28.9 per cent of all new car purchases by those ages 18 to 34 in 2015, according to Edmunds' data. The industry-wide rate is 26.7 per cent.
When they do lease, the cars and trucks tend to be bigger, more luxurious and loaded with technology.
It means millennials are shopping based on a car payment - and a budget - instead of the thrill of outright ownership. They want the most bang for their monthly buck.
2. They like to drink good beer
Budweiser, Coors and Heineken just don't cut it for the up-and-comers. They aren't spending their college years cultivating a binge-drinking devotion to Natty Light.
Craft beer just tastes better to millennials, according to a study by Mintel research. It found that 43 per cent say craft beer tastes better than "lower-quality beer" brewed in mass quantities. And half of all millennials polled had at least tried craft beer.
Only 36 per cent of their boomer counterparts had even tried craft beer - which often uses more pronounced flavours than the light, easy-drinking beers of the world - and then, only 32 per cent said they liked the taste.
3. They're waiting to get married - but not fooling around as much
Millennials are more likely to want to get married (80 per cent questioned) and have kids than previous generations - but they are doing it later, according to a 2014 study by the White House's Council of Economic Advisors. In 2013, only 30 per cent of 20- to 34-year-olds were married, compared to 77 per cent in 1960
Millennials are more accepting of casual sex and premarital sex - but not with as many partners as their baby boomer counterparts, according to study of 33,000 adults published in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour in May.
On average, boomers will have between 10 and 12 sexual partners; millennials about eight, the study estimates.
4. They like to garden
It's true - they like to play in the dirt.
More than a third of American households (about 35 per cent) are growing their own food and the fastest-growing (no pun intended) segment are the 18- to 34-year-olds, according to a 2014 report from the National Gardening Association, "Garden to Table: A 5-Year Look at Food Gardening in America," published last year.
And it's not by a little. Millennials have shown a 63 per cent boost in their interest in growing their own food, up to 13 million growers from 8 million in 2008, according to the study. They nearly doubled their spending on gardening and supplies, from $632 million to more than $1.2 billion in 2013.
5. They want quality food - if it's cheap enough
Millennials want their Chipotle - that is, until the McDonald's Dollar Menu comes calling late at night.
McDonald's is still the most visited restaurant by the 18-to-34 set, yet it was the least likely restaurant to receive their endorsement, according to a 2015 study by Morgan Stanley. They're unlikely to tell their friends to go there, too, according to those stats. Yet, they say they would go there more often if it used quality ingredients and extolled it, a la Chipotle, 1,000 millennials responded in a Ypulse.com survey.
So what's it all mean? That millennials are still flocking to McDonald's although they don't want you to know it.


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SKYCITY Hamilton recognised in Westpac Waikato Business Excellence Awards
The SKYCITY Hamilton team was recently named finalists in four award categories in the Westpac Waikato Business Excellence Awards.
Michelle Baillie, GM SKYCITY Hamilton and Brett Morris, Head of Marketing, were named in two individual award categories of CEO of the Year and Emerging Leader of the Year respectively. SKYCITY Hamilton was also named in two wider categories, Strategy, Planning and Governance, and Marketing.
SKYCITY Hamilton's General Manager Michelle Baillie is proud of what the team have achieved.
"As a leadership team, we have been very clear on our strategy for growth, and Brett and the marketing team have done a great job, particularly with the recent launch of Bowl and Social. It's pleasing to be recognised for our successes and hard work alongside other fantastic businesses in the Waikato."
The Westpac Waikato Business Excellence Awards recognise the Waikato’s best businesses and business people.
The CEO of the Year category recognises leaders who demonstrate exemplary leadership, the ability to develop a strategy for long-term growth and determination to drive related events.
The Emerging Leader of the Year category recognises emerging leaders who have made significant contributions to an organisation.
The strategy, planning and governance awards recognise organisations which have developed a longer term strategy and set business targets that have been fundamental to business success.
The marketing category recognises organisations that can show a successful marketing project where research was used to validate performance such as increasing customer loyalty, retention, satisfaction, profitability and/or brand awareness.
The winners will be announced on 3 November 2017.Back to Media Centre


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Eight years ago, Jacob Folden started working at Missoula’s Goodwill store as a janitor.
“I grew up kind of poor,” Folden said. “I liked being able to give back to that demographic that I knew so well as a kid.”
He worked hard and eventually became the assistant store manager.
Next week, when the doors swing open to the public at Goodwill’s newest Montana store in Hamilton on Thursday, Oct. 3, Folden will be there to greet people as the manager of the facility.
“We’re really looking forward to a successful grand opening,” Folden said. “I want to thank all the generous people who donate to Goodwill and are making this new store possible.”
The store is located at 2124 N. First St. in the former O’Reilly Auto Parts location. On Friday, the 3,000 square feet of sales floor space was filling rapidly with affordable, gently used clothing and household items.
While a good part of the items filling the racks and lining the shelves was shipped from the Missoula facility, Folden said Bitterroot Valley residents were already dropping off donations at the new store’s back door.
“They seem pretty excited that we’re going to be here,” he said. “We take all kinds of clothing and small household items. We don’t accept any large appliances or any liquids or flammable materials. Right now, it’s been mattresses that we’ve mostly been turning down.”
From what he’s seen so far, Folden said it appears like they won’t have any trouble remaining self-sustainable.
Eight people are employed at the store.
The grand opening will feature prizes and giveaways. The first 500 customers through the door receive free canvas shopping bags. There will also be prize drawings for Goodwill gift cards, including a grand prize card worth $100.
“In this economy where people don’t have as much disposable income, Goodwill really is meeting some needs from a shopping perspective,” Folden said. “More people are becoming Goodwill shoppers. It’s a smart thing to do, to recycle and look good at the same time.”
By giving gently used items to Goodwill, donors are giving someone else a chance to change their life. Goodwill employees learn valuable skills like customer service, cashiering, truck driving, time management, teamwork and setting goals — skills that help them in their job at Goodwill and during their entire working career.
Store hours at the new location are Monday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, people can call the store directly at 406-802-7027 beginning Oct. 3.
Goodwill stores in southern Idaho, Montana and Utah are part of Easterseals-Goodwill Northern Rocky Mountain Inc., a nonprofit organization with employment and job training, day programs and housing for adults with intellectual disabilities, children’s therapy and health-related services for adults and seniors. Easterseals-Goodwill provides 43 different programs in 42 locations in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah, according to a press release.
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For those that don't already suffer from high-definition fatigue, Japanese public broadcaster NHK is developing interactive and mobile technologies to make the idea of 8K video -- the next resolution stage beyond 4K -- more appealing.
Samsung is the latest manufacturer to become FreeviewPlus certified. Its range of smart TVs, including its newly released SUHD, 4K models, will allow users to access Catch Up services through the interface of the TV.
Electronics maker Sharp is launching what it believes is the next phase in high-definition TVs with a 4K screen that can display imagery at 8K resolution, seen as the display standard to follow 4K.
Panasonic's 2015 range of LED LCD televisions features over 20 new models that span across eight different series, but four of those series, and indeed 60 per cent of the entire range (11 models), is composed of 4K, Ultra High Definition models.
This year the number of 4K TVs sold around the world will almost triple. Those sales, along with more mature equipment for producing and distributing content, are fueling overall interest in the technology.
LG announced its 2015 television range at an empty Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday. The company unveiled 17 new LCD models that put an emphasis on 4K technology. Up to 66 per cent of its range is now made up of these ultra-high definition (UHD) model...
A complaint filed by a privacy group to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission charged that Samsung's Smart TVs intercept and record private communications of consumers in their homes, violating a number of rules including the Children's Online Privacy Pr...
People can speak freely around Samsung smart TVs without fear that their conversations will be captured and transmitted to a data center, the company has said in response to privacy concerns related to its devices' voice recognition capabilities.
A new standard that supports higher-resolution displays should help move 8K screens from the realm of high-end TV and into laptops, all-in-one PCs and possibly even mobile devices.
CES 2015 might go down as the moment when TVs became more complicated than they should be.
Televisions that can show pictures far superior to today's best high-definition video are making headlines and attracting crowds at this week's Consumer Electronics Show. When they come to market in the next few years, they will likely include a new ...
The battle for the bragging rights to the world's thinnest TV is always something that comes to the fore at the Consumer Electronics Show, and this year Sony says it has come away with winner with three big-screen sets that are as thin as a few coins...
Sharp is quadrupling the number of Ultra HD television sets it sells, raising its bet that consumers will want the TVs despite the lack of a large amount of content.
LG's new GFlex 2 smartphone is built in the spirit of flip handsets, with curvy contours to make chatting on the phone more convenient.
LG Electronics' upcoming smart TVs will run an upgraded version of webOS that promises better performance and more customization.
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GGG Evaluation Team
First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
For work use, Microsoft Word and Excel programs pre-installed on the device are adequate for preparing short documents.
The Fujitsu LifeBook UH574 allowed for great mobility without being obnoxiously heavy or clunky. Its twelve hours of battery life did not disappoint.
The screen was particularly good. It is bright and visible from most angles, however heat is an issue, particularly around the Windows button on the front, and on the back where the battery housing is located.
My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.
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Epic bringing Unreal Engine 4 to the PC with Fortnite
Epic's Cliff Bleszinski has revealed that his next game Fortnite will be the first game to be powered by the next generation of the Unreal Engine 4.
He explained during a presentation at this year's Comic Con that the next generation has arrived proclaiming that it's the PC.
Fortnite will be a PC-exclusive title to begin with but there is the possibility of it arriving other platforms later on.
Bleszinski said on Twitter later, "To be clear - Fortnite is PC primary and first, but we wouldn't rule out the possibility of other platforms later."
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III is coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360 after all
- Tomonobu Itagaki's Devil's Third gets a release date
- Adr1ft is coming to PC and consoles at the end of the summer
- EA gives the new Mirror's Edge a name – Mirror's Edge Catalyst
- ZombiU PS4 and Xbox One port reportedly in the works
- Mike Bithell's Volume to be released this August
- Gearbox's new shooter Battleborn gets a pre-E3 trailer
- Steam Controller launches in October, Steam Machines arrive in November
- Gears Of War devs Black Tusk change their name to The Coalition ahead of E3


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Facebook promised its App Center last month and has now launched the shop front for web and download apps. It caters for both Facebook desktop and mobile users, with iOS and Android users getting some 600 apps to try.
No Appology Required
With most of us used to picking our smartphone apps from Apple's App Store, Google's App Marketplace and web apps from the likes of Chrome's Web Store, Facebook's entry into the market may seem like a piece of unwanted confusion.
But the company, now a public entity, needs to find revenue opportunities wherever it can. By expanding its presence in the app market, as announced recently, and by ultimately bringing its hugely popular supply of Facebook-hosted games and apps to mobile users, the company can help expand the revenues it, and the app developers get.
Currently acting as a half-way house, most apps it recommends, based on your Facebook activity, along with popular choices and what your friends are playing, will take you directly to your usual app store (iTunes or Google Play). So, the likes of Draw Something, Spotify and Instagram are high on the list. Only web apps on the desktop are the ones it can install directly for you.
For mobile apps, the desktop version will send a message to your phone that will provide a direct link to the appropriate mobile app store, just check that the app is available for your device as there are reports of it sending some duff links for iOS apps to Android phones. With both Google and Apple bringing updated map apps soon, will social recommendation soon help the competition?
Facebook's directory of apps should rapidly expand to something far bigger
Looking Forward to World of Apps
The experience on smartphones is currently rather reduced with limited browsing of just Apps and Game, and recommendations, with no obvious search. Expect this experience to grow rapidly as users continue to rely on their mobiles for their social media and entertainment.
If Facebook can get those hugely popular web games playing on smartphones through the Facebook store then it should benefit from the revenue share of in-app purchases and outright buying of huge numbers of games.
It may take some time to be considered on a par with any rival app store, but the company has the commitment and a huge user base to attract developers with. Expect exciting developments in this space in the coming months.


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12/27/02: Big Tax Breaks for Big Guzzlers
This story was reported in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago. Can you believe we support and promote this?
SUVs Get Big Tax Break As Drivers Seize Loophole
By JEFFREY BALL and KAREN LUNDEGAARD Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
If you're a business owner, you're in for a sweet deal on a shiny gift this holiday: Thousands of dollars off the price of a big sport-utility vehicle.But don't thank Santa -- thank Uncle Sam.As a result of a quirk of federal tax law, business owners are allowed to depreciate SUVs and pickups more quickly than cars. The discrepancy has been around for nearly two decades, but it's getting new attention amid the soaring popularity of SUVs and pickups as suburban people-movers. As the end of the year approaches, the tax break gets particularly popular, since business owners often are in the market for ways to cut their taxable income.The deduction stems from the longstanding and somewhat bizarre classification of SUVs as "light trucks" rather than "cars."
That means a tax break that was at least partly intended to help farmers buy pickup trucks is now being applied to today's quintessential suburban passenger vehicle.The law gives people who qualify an immediate deduction of as much as $24,000 -- which grows to $25,000 next year -- off the price of an SUV. Plus, until 2004, there's a bonus deduction of 30% of the rest of the cost of the truck. Both these deductions are on top of the regular five-year depreciation that would apply to light trucks bought as business transportation. The only catch: To get all these breaks, you have to buy a truck that weighs over 6,000 pounds. The Chevy Suburban makes it, but the Chevy Blazer doesn't.Major Price CutIt adds up to a significant price cut. Ford Motor Co.'s Land Rover Range Rover, for instance, has a list price of $71,865, but the combined tax breaks effectively knock $21,560 off the price, over the course of five years, assuming a tax rate of 30%.
The deduction, described in an article Wednesday in the Detroit News, comes at a time of mounting debate over U.S. dependence on foreign oil. SUVs and pickups typically are far less fuel-efficient than passenger cars. That discrepancy -- and the debate over automotive greenhouse-gas emissions -- has become an increasingly hot political issue since light trucks now account for about half of the total U.S. new-vehicle market.
DRIVING THROUGH A LOOPHOLE How tax deductions for business owners can slash the cost of a new SUV: Land Rover Range Rover Retail price: $71,865Effective price after depreciation: $50,305*Amount saved: $21,560 Cadillac Escalade Retail price: $53,995Effective price after depreciation: $37,796* Amount saved: $16,199 * "Immediate depreciation" (which doesn't apply to passenger cars or to light trucks under 6,000 pounds) lets a business owner immediately depreciate $24,000 plus 30% of the rest of the price of an SUV or pickup. Then, the vehicle's remaining value is depreciated over the course of five years, accounting for the rest of the tax break.
Critics call it a loophole big enough to drive an SUV through. Mark Sherrard ordered a Chevrolet Suburban in October to take advantage of the accelerated tax breaks after his accountant told him about them. With a discount on the vehicle courtesy of his brother who works at General Motors and the 0% financing offer GM was offering, he didn't need to think about it long."I wanted to get a new vehicle anyway," says Mr. Sherrard, a doctor who lives in Monroe, Mich. "Frankly, it was a no-brainer."For years, federal law has allowed business owners to depreciate cars and trucks just like any other kind of equipment, letting owners depreciate bigger chunks in the early years, and the full value over five years.
But in 1984, concerned that too many people were claiming the family car as a business expense, the government sharply limited car depreciation. Those limits don't apply to light trucks."You have a Christmas present here," says Aileen Roder, program director for Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C., budget watchdog group that opposes the SUV credit. She estimates the light-truck tax break costs the federal government between $840 million and $987 million yearly, making it "one of the largest tax breaks per capita" on the federal books.
Despite hand-wringing in Washington over U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the tax deduction for fuel-thirsty light trucks is larger than existing tax breaks for fuel-efficient cars. Owners of hybrid gas-and-electric cars -- Honda Motor Co.'s hybrid version of the Civic, and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius -- get a $2,000 tax deduction. Proposals to boost the hybrid tax break were part of a Senate energy bill that stalled this year.For now, however, the light-truck tax break remains on the books. Several dealers contacted Wednesday were unaware of it -- but eager to find out more to use it as a sales tool.Mike Malek, tax partner at Michigan-based accounting firm Plante & Moran, says he makes sure that all his clients are aware of the break. Although the deduction rarely persuades a luxury-car buyer to buy a truck instead, it sometimes persuades people to pick a big SUV instead of a smaller one, he says.'Inexcusable Boondoggle'"If a client is looking at purchasing a Navigator vs. another luxury vehicle for the same amount, we would make sure they understand they get a deduction quicker on the heavier vehicle," Mr. Malek says.
Several environmental activists say they are considering mounting an effort to close what they consider a tax loophole for light trucks. "It's an inexcusable boondoggle for Detroit," says Dan Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global-warming and energy program.Still, he says, environmentalists have regarded other issues as more important. He also notes that tax breaks are typically tough to erase once they are on the books.


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China is being blessed with some PlayStation action. Meanwhile, HTC is said to release a new tablet and Microsoft starts accepting Bitcoin.
China has lifted its ban on foreign consoles, an action that has resulted in the introduction of the Xbox One to the market. This was a great accomplishment, but what good is an Xbox One if it has nothing to compete against?
It’s time for the big players to get down and dirty. Sony has just announced they will be introducing the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita consoles to China come January 11th. These would be priced at 2899 TMB and 1299 RMB, accordingly.
Opinion: It’s a new era for China’s gaming industry. Before these Sony and Microsoft consoles, the country hadn’t seen a foreign console since 2001! Some gamers haven’t even touched these consoles, which are the biggest in the world.
A leaked document has hit @Upleaks’ Twiter page, showing us what could be HTC’s future plan for new devices. Included in the list are the “Hima”, which is said to be the HTC One M8 successor, the HTC Butterfly 3, the HTC RE 2 and a said “T1H” device.
The last one happens to be the most interesting, as evidence suggests it will be a tablet based on the Nexus 9. HTC has been out of the tablet market for quite some time, as the Taiwanese manufacturer has never found success in it. Can they make it with a non-Nexus version of the Nexus 9?
Opinion: I always liked HTC tablets. Well.. the few that were available. The only issue was always price. HTC really used to over-price their tablets, and that was in a time when other Android tablets were starting to become very affordable. Maybe this time they have a better strategy.
Bitcoin is a very popular currency online, but any type of currency needs time in order to become widely accepted. Bitcoin is the most popular crypto currency, and many businesses are starting to recognize it as a legitimate form of payments. The latest Bitcoin supporter is actually Microsoft.
The company has quietly announced that one can now use Bitcoin as a payment for downloading software. Namely, Xbox games and Windows apps. If you have some Bitcoin and want to take advantage of Microsoft’s new payment support, you can learn all about it at Microsoft’s official page.
Opinion: Bitcoin is getting pretty official, guys. I mean, Microsoft is no small player, and it is joining a growing list of supporters. Have any of you actually made payments with Bitcoin?


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APIs offer a more flexible, controllable and tailored user experience than turnkey apps provide.
CU Wallet, the mobile payments CUSO owned by some 80 credit unions, is on track to go live as early as April.
In addition to helping members become fiscally fit, 121 Financial Credit Union has partnered with WellCard Health to offer members discounted health services through its Benefits Plus program.
Yesterday Google announced its debut of “wave and pay” technology that will let consumers carrying Nexus S 4G phones (a Sprint network device) use their phone as a credit card substitute for payments on the fly.
The Federal Drug Administration today approved a new drug designed to fight the affects of the interchange cap on financial services executives.


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Campaign: Cultivate Food, Ideas & Music Festival
PR agency: Edelman, Linhart Public Relations, and Wagstaff Worldwide
Launch: Early September
Objective: Last fall, restaurant chain Chipotle hosted the inaugural “Cultivate Food, Ideas & Music Festival” in Chicago, which featured artisanal dishes, celebrity chefs, and live music. This year, Chipotle will add another location in Denver on October 6 in addition to the September 15 event in Chicago.
“We want to create an event series that could be the premier food and music event in the country,” says Chipotle director of communications Chris Arnold.
“We also want to create an experiential program that helps us connect with customers in an emotional way that goes well beyond the traditional fast-food, limited-time offer marketing,” he explains.
Idea: While food, entertainment, and chef demonstrations may be a draw, Chipotle organizers hope attendees leave the free events learning something new about food, says Arnold.“We want to create an experience that's unique to our business within the fast-food, casual restaurant sector,” he adds.
Festival programs include tasting tents featuring locally crafted food, beer, and wine, as well as a kids' area with potting kits to grow food at home.
Chefs participating in this year's festivals include Richard Blais, Michael Chiarello, Amanda Freitag, Sarah Grueneberg, and Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson. Bands performing include G Love & Special Sauce and Okkervil River.
Tools: The fast-food chain will use social media, including a Facebook page, Twitter account, and website dedicated to the festival. Arnold says the company will also employ in-store components, pitch to traditional media, and live-tweet during the events.
Measurement: Last year's attendance in Chicago reached 17,000, according to Arnold. Chipotle hopes to match or exceed that number and will gauge success by attendance numbers and feedback following the festival.


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In a major announcement on Wednesday, Reliance Jio revealed that due to the undergoing regulatory policy changes for mobile-call-related charges, the Telecom major is compelled to recover interconnect user charge ( IUC ) for NON-Jio mobile voice calls.
As per the new policy, all calls to NON-Jio mobile numbers will be charges at 6 paise/minute, from the next recharge, post October 10, 2019. It however said that free Jio to Jio calls continue on all plans.
Meanwhile, the sudden announcement has drawn mixed reactions from the customers with #BoycottJio trending on Twitter. While some have said that they will switch to other networks through Mobile Number Portability (MNP), others have found the #BoycottJio trend ridiculous citing that the rates charged by other Telecom majors are comparatively higher.
"Highly ridiculous to find #BoycottJio trending. Over that other companies like Airtel trying to poach customers on such tweets! Same companies who were charging Rs 650 for 3GB data in a month and Rs 320 for 28 days validity plus 87 minutes calling before Jio's arrival. Reliance Jio is not a business only! It is a telecom revolution," Chirag Kedia backed Jio.
— Ashutosh Kr. Upadhyay (@AshutoshkrUp) October 10, 2019
Another Tweep said, "I am not going to #BoycottJio. I will only shift when Airtel or Vodafone can beat this beast speed. And also it's just 6p/min, that too only on Jio to other networks. NO BIG DEAL."
I am not going to #BoycottJio. I will only shift when @airtelindia or @VodafoneIN can beat this beast speed.
And also it's just 6p/min, that too only on Jio to other networks. NO BIG DEAL. pic.twitter.com/FFdHb6ue5C
— Apratim ??? (@apratimtweets) October 9, 2019
However, there were some who criticised the Jio's new mobile call rates.
"Please guys.. switch to BSNL & help revive this ailing enterprise. You will help the economy and millions of worried BSNL staff will give you blessings," said Arpita Mukherjee.
"Never used Jio even during its peak but it seems Jio has traited its own customers. Use Airtel or BSNL," said Soham Gupta.
Here's the official notification of Jio.


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Nike noted strong sales growth in China in its fourth-quarter earnings report on Thursday as executives downplayed on impact of the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute on the company's business.
The remarks came shortly after Nike disclosed a rare profit miss. The sports apparel giant reported adjusted earnings per share of 62 cents, falling short of the 66 cents expected on Wall Street, according to Refinitiv data. Fourth-quarter revenue was $10.2 billion, slightly outpacing projections.
Wall Street has been watching for the potential impact to Nike's business as the Trump administration considers further 25 percent tariffs on $300 billion in goods made in China. While Nike manufactures about 25 percent of its products in China, company executives said the brand is well positioned to withstand lingering international trade tensions.
“We have not seen any impact on our business to date," Nike CFO Andy Campion said during an earnings call.
Nike generated sales of $4.2 billion in North America, up 8 percent excluding currency changes. Sales in China grew 22 percent to $1.7 billion.
Nike shares seesawed in after-hours trading.
The Oregon-based company was one of dozens of brands that asked the Trump administration to reconsider further tariffs on goods made in China.


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Outerwear brand Canada Goose plans to go public through an initial public offering.
Experts agree that a recently thwarted plot to plant 10 explosives in Target stores is a rare incident, but not one lacking in danger.
Tiffany & Co. named three new board members, and one analyst has a target price of $102 for Tiffany shares.
Oversupply of new ocean carriers projected to keep shipping rates low.
Texworld USA and Premiere Vision Preview offer expanded rosters.
Kate Lanphear, the former Elle style director, has joined T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
David Rees and Ron Anderson designed one-of-a-kind pieces for 16 of their favorite clients, with the proceeds donated to each client’s charity of choice.
The retailer is celebrating the event with an array of merchandise and a lineup of special events and prizes through Feb. 18.
The Italian brand has provided an off-court wardrobe for the 24-year-old Denver Nuggets player.


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Your product pages are conversion-optimized, and your checkout process is easy. Yet, your e-commerce conversion rate hovers around 2% to 3% — and that’s considered a good one.
Google has been established in the UK for almost two decades. The company has more than 6,400 employees and hired almost 700 people last year. Additionally, Google strengthened
Let’s talk about the key considerations for brands looking to sell direct to consumers, and the benefits of a platform approach. We’ll discuss; Key retail channels, and seller
It’s been a while since WooCommerce bumped the minimum PHP version of WooCommerce to 7.0, and the WooCommerce team believes that now is about time for a new bump. Starting with version 6.5, scheduled for release in May 2022, WooCommerce will require PHP 7.2 or newer to work.
The company says that beginning January 4, the business’s smartphones will not be able to access the company’s provisioning services. Even though it’s a prominent brand in the


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Tips, news, how-tos, and troubleshooting help for the iPad.
With the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple offers two screen sizes: 4.7 and 5.5 inches. Both models feature Retina HD Displays, longer lasting batteries, a faster A8 microprocessor, and compatability with Apple Pay, the mobile payment service. CNET Senior Editor Scott Stein has a hands-on look at the sleeker, newly designed handsets.
The peer-to-peer car service buys another ride-sharing platform that's focused on connecting multiple passengers along the same route.
The first update for Microsoft's latest mobile OS is already rolling out to developers. What new features will they find?
New Genesis 5-liter: Credible, comfortable, affordable. Dash cams, the eye that never sleeps. And a Top 5 we couldn't even imagine a couple years ago.
Epic Watchphones hopes crowdfunding is the ticket to introducing a smartwatch that has absolutely no need for a smartphone buddy.
If you're renting your home on Airbnb, it's worth checking the law. One California woman is finding out the hard way. Her tenant won't leave and does have some rights.
After raising nearly $2 million in a month with presales of its augmented-reality motorcycle helmet, Skully gives fans another 30 days to decide if they want its pricey protection.
Crave's Eric Mack threw cold water on the iPhone 6 back in January 2013. While many of his predictions came true, he's a little shocked at how much he got wrong at the same time.
CEO Tim Cook has promised for more than a year that Apple will bring out new products and step into new categories. At this week's event to talk up larger-screen iPhones, fans are hoping he'll finally deliver the next big thing -- a wearable device.
CEO Tim Cook delivers on a promise to move into a new product category, making a foray into wearable devices with the Apple Watch. Plus: Bigger-screen iPhones and a mobile service called Apple Pay.


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Economists polled by Refinitiv expect the US economy shed 21.85 million jobs in April, by far the largest number on record. The US government’s monthly jobs data dates back to 1939.
Meanwhile, economists polled by Refinitiv expect the unemployment rate soared to 16%, the highest rate since the BLS started tracking monthly unemployment numbers in 1948. That’s a level of joblessness not seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s, for which the BLS estimates annual data.
Government economists estimate the unemployment rate peaked at 24.9% in 1933.
“We’re looking at probably the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression,” Hassett told CNN’s Poppy Harlow.
We won’t have a complete picture of just how bad the pandemic is for the job market until next month, said Marvin Loh, senior global macro strategist at State Street. Job growth will probably resume by Memorial Day as businesses in many parts of the United States start to reopen, noted Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi in a research report this week.
Some states are already beginning to loosen restrictions, while others will take longer to open and rehire.
Economists also worry whether consumers will spend like they used to once the great reopening is under way. Consumer spending typically accounts for about two-thirds of US gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the American economy. A more cautious consumer who spends more time at home could leave the restaurant and entertainment sectors — and their labor forces — to recover more slowly, said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Funds.
Foreshadowing from jobless claims
The Covid-19 outbreak has torn through America over the past two months. People began working from home where possible in the second half of March, as businesses closed and schools suspended in-person teaching. As the lockdown dragged on, companies laid off and furloughed their staff.
Another 3 million initial claims are expected for the week ended May 2. The report is due at 8:30 am ET on Thursday.
People are only counted as “unemployed” by the BLS when they have been out of work but available for a new job, as well as actively searching for one, in the prior four weeks. Or, if they were on “temporary layoff” with the expectation of being recalled to work within six months.
But in the current crisis, millions of jobless Americans won’t be looking for a new job, given business closures and stay-at-home orders.
This means plenty of laid-off people won’t be counted in the April unemployment rate.


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After months of low demand and high supply, the tide looks like it’s slowly turning along the apparel and textile supply chain, from fiber and fabric manufacturers to brand wholesalers and retailers.
The result is finally some pricing power that could lead to profitability following devastating losses throughout the fashion world.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Prices Index for August registered 59.5 percent, a jump of 6.3 percent compared with the July reading of 53.2 percent, indicating raw materials prices increased for the third consecutive month. The 17 industries reporting paying higher prices for raw materials in August were led by textile mills, and apparel, leather and allied products.
“Price growth reflects a power shift toward sellers, as increased costs to produce input materials are being passed on to…companies,” Timothy R. Fiore, chair of the ISM manufacturing business survey committee, said.
U.S. spot cotton prices averaged 58.37 cents per pound for the week ended Sept. 10, according to the Department of Agriculture (DOA). This was down from 58.92 per pound the prior week, but up from 55.97 cents a year earlier, DOA reported.
There is still plenty of volatility and uncertainty surrounding the economy and a jittery consumer. This comes along with global issues that affect production in myriad ways. For example, Cotton Incorporated said Monday that a U.S. ban on Xinjiang cotton may require traceability for fiber-based inputs passing through China. The sourcing cost increases associated with that process, as well as those relating to the movement of supply chains and general uncertainty, can be expected to weigh on order volumes and to have some effect on cotton consumption, Cotton Inc. said.
The synthetic fiber Producer Price Index (PPI) dropped 0.5 percent in August from July, when it had risen 0.6 percent, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data showed. The synthetic fiber PPI was down 3.9 percent from August 2019, according to BLS.
While these key indicators seem to signal some stability and a shift in the right direction, executives feel it could take some time to get there.
Fiber makers pinched
Craig Creaturo, executive vice president and chief financial officer at yarn and fiber spinner Unifi Inc., said the polyester segment experienced a revenue decline of 46.2 percent in is fourth quarter ended June 28, with the primary factor being lower volume, including a price and sales mix decline of 16 percent.
“The average selling price decline primarily follows the year-over-year decline in polyester raw material costs,” Creaturo said.
However, CEO Edmund Ingle said, “We have actually not had a lot of pricing pressure right now.”
“People have been really, really supportive of each other in this environment,” Ingle said. “Everybody’s focused on making sure that they get the product they need, when they need it more than anything else. And we’ve been there to support them. But the pricing pressure has not been an issue right now.”
The Lenzing Group, makers of such fibers as Tencel and Modal, said last month that it faced a “historically difficult market environment” in the first half of the year, with increased pressure on prices and volumes resulting from the pandemic.
“The Covid-19 crisis has an impact on the entire textile and apparel industry and further increased the price and volume pressure on the global fiber market,” said Stefan Doboczky, CEO of the Lenzing Group.
As a countermeasure, the company said it intensified its cooperation with supply-chain partners and adjusted its production volume and sale prices to be in line with market realities. The focus on specialty fibers continued to have a positive impact.
For brands often caught in the middle of price crunches, the recent second quarter found them benefiting somewhat from the first-quarter chaos after the onset of Covid-19. That’s because after they canceled or curtailed production orders, they were able sit on inventory that was now available to be sold as consumers returned to stores and pumped up online sales.
“Our gross margin for the second quarter benefited from the favorable mix of business, as our international businesses were a larger portion of our total revenue versus the prior year and generally carry higher gross margins in our North American businesses,” Mike Shaffer, chief operating officer and CFO for PVH Corp, said. “Additionally, earnings in the second quarter had the benefit of expense reduction initiatives, including salary reductions, temporary furloughs and lower discretionary spending, including marketing travel, consultant and creative and design costs, as well as one-time benefits from Covid-related government payroll subsidy programs in our international jurisdictions and renovating and slowly negotiating with certain of our landlords.”
For PVH, there are still problems to encounter and overcome.
“When we think about gross margin, we expect that our second-half gross margin will be relatively flat compared to the first half as we project heavy promotional activity across the industry in order to clear inventory, particularly in the United States,” he said. “When we think about second-half expenses and when you compare it to the second quarter, we expect our expenses as a percentage of revenue to be slightly higher in the second half than in the second quarter.”
Carlos Alberini, CEO of Guess Inc., said this month that the company has been “very strategic with our pricing and in some cases if we felt that the perceived value of either the [garment] or the accessory or any product that we may be looking at, if we felt that it deserved to be at a higher price, we increased prices.”
“Frankly, we haven’t seen deceleration in demand as we did this,” Alberini said. “So, we are being careful and it all starts with the perceived values, not about ‘OK, let’s go and try to get more margin,’ it’s not like that. It’s more about how much is this worth based on what we are doing and the quality, and then based on that we set the price.”
Morris Goldfarb, chairman and CEO of G-III Apparel Group, said last week that raw materials prices have not been a problem, mainly due to shifting production.
“We’ve done a great job of moving a good deal of our production from China to other countries,” Goldfarb said. “Vietnam has become incredibly important. Indonesia is important. Jordan is very important for our athleisure and our denim areas of business…Our focus became the countries that were most competitive and most appropriate for producing these products. Jordan is duty free. That helped us a good deal.
“We became a dominant player in Jordan literally overnight. We’ve deployed about 10 managers from our Chinese office to live and oversee our production in Jordan and it’s worked out quite seamlessly,” Goldfarb added.
The CEO said G-III has moved handbag production from China to Vietnam and the company now produces “an incredible amount of coats in Vietnam, and that was a key solution for Chinese production.”
While many companies shifted production out of China during the U.S.-China trade war to avert high import punitive tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, rising prices in China over the longer term had begun the process of sourcing diversification, particularly to low-cost Asian suppliers, but also to closer-to-market and duty-free options in the Western Hemisphere.
Wages and prices
Last week, Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor announced that garment workers will be receiving two extra dollars per month beginning Jan. 1, bumping up the minimum wage by 1.05 percent to $192, after negotiations between the ministry, factory owners and trade unions came to an impasse. The extra $2, the ministry said, amounted to an annual “gift” from the government. Depending on their seniority in the workplace, workers may also receive compensation for rent, transportation and food that could tip their monthly earnings to between $209 and $220 a month, it added.
In September 2019, Cambodia has increased its minimum wage for textile workers by 4.4 percent to $190 per month.
Similar incremental wage increases have came to bear in recent years in countries such as Bangladesh, up 51 percent in 2019, but still make production costs relatively cheap compared to key production spots like Italy or Mexico, where wages were raised 20 percent to $6.53. This comes on the heels of a 16 percent hike that took effect in 2019.
In May, Bangladesh’s minimum wage board filed recommendations that could raise the minimum monthly wage for leather and footwear workers to $84. Last year, Vietnam raised its minimum monthly wage 5.3 percent to $125 to $180, depending on the region.
The myriad of factors led retail apparel prices to tick up a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in August–the third consecutive monthly increase–but were down an unadjusted 5.9 percent compared to a year earlier, the BLS reported last week in its Consumer Price Index.
Leading the price hike was men’s apparel, which was up 2 percent last month, with seasonal and lifestyle demands seeming to have an impact on category price swings. The same pattern followed in women’s wear, which posted a 0.5 percent increase in August.


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The Chinese smartphones manufacturer Gionee is expected to launch its new flagship device Gionee M2017 in the official December 26th event in China. The Gionee M2017 has already got the TENAA approval last month revealing all of the specifications and images of the device and we also saw the device listed at AnTuTu benchmark confirming most of the specs again. The main highlight of this Gionee flagship is its booming 7000mAh battery that is first of its kind and it will be the first device to carry such a large battery.
Before the TENAA approval, we saw some images getting leaked on Chinese weibo and now, some more images from the device have been leaked on Chinese weibo before the official unveiling of the device on December 26th. The leaked images again confirms the dual curved edge display dual rear camera, a leather back panel and the other specifications we saw on the TENAA listing and on AnTuTu as well.
As we saw earlier, the Gionee M2017 comes listed at AnTuTu with a QHD display having 2560×1440 pixel resolution and it will be a 5.7-inch display as revealed by the TENAA listing. It is powered by the Snapdragon 653 processor with Adreno 510 GPU. It has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of inbuilt storage capacity. It runs on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS out of the box. It features a 13-megapixel and 12-megapixel dual rear camera along with an 8-megapixel front facing camera.
The TENAA listing revealed the full specifications of the device that includes a 5.7-inches QHD AMOLED dual curved edges display with 2560 × 1440 pixels resolution, a 1.95GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor that comes with a true octa-core 64-bit Cortex-A53 CPU and a dual-core 64-bit Mali-T860 GPU, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of inbuilt storage capacity, Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS out of the box and dual-SIM.
It features a dual rear camera setup with a 12-megapixel and a 13-megapixel lenses having a dual-tone LED flash. Other features includes an 8-megaixel front facing camera and a massively large 7000mAh battery that is expected to give more than 5 days of backup. Connectivity options like 4G LTE with VoLTE, 3G, Infrared, Bluetooth, Micro USB, WiFi will be available and a fingerprint scanner is also available on the front panel of the device. It measures 155.2×77.6×10.65 mm and weights 230 grams. Color options includes Black only.
Let’s wait for the December 26th, when the company will unveil this beast in the home country China. We will have more details on the device like its pricing and availability details at the time of its launch. Till then, stay tuned for more updates and leaks.


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By Sarah Klein
A massive Recyclathon to collect old electronics, used oil and paint, as well as burnt-out light bulbs, will encourage Winnipeggers to drop off their unwanted items on Saturday.
Take Pride Winnipeg! and industry associations are collecting the items in front of the Canadian Tire at Garden City Shopping Centre (2305 McPhillips Street) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“This is a special one-day, one-stop shop for many types of recycling,” said Tom Ethans, executive director at Take Pride Winnipeg! “Many people don’t realize just how many things they own that can be recycled. By keeping them out of landfills, we are helping to keep our environment cleaner and safer for future generations.”
Volunteers will be on-hand to assist with unloading materials from vehicles and getting them to the right truck for recycling. Each association will also have a booth where the public can get more information on recycling these products year-round.
For a full list of what can be recycled, visit TakePride.mb.ca.


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Editor’s note: Due to technical difficulties, this live stream has ended.
After a gruelling negotiation that took both parties to the very first day of their season, general manager Pierre Dorion and the Ottawa Senators have finally reached an agreement with Brady Tkachuk.
Dorion will address the media just hours after striking a seven-year, $57.5-million deal with their franchise cornerstone as the Senators get set to host the Toronto Maple Leafs for their season opener.
The entire media availability can be seen right here on Sportsnet.ca, starting at 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Snap warning feeds concerns over social media ad splurge – BNN
A warning from Snap Inc. is rattling technology investors who have got used to turbocharged growth in ad spending on social media.
Executives from the maker of Snapchat said Thursday that supply-chain bottlenecks are prompting companies to hold back on online ad spend for the upcoming holiday season, meaning sales will rise by only around 30 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to analyst estimates of nearly 50 per cent.
The comments took the market by surprise and set the company’s stock on course for its biggest ever decline.
The announcement adds to growing concerns over whether the wall of money that’s been shifted from traditional marketing to social media in recent years is being well spent.
Social media will account for 39 per cent of ad budgets next year, even though they will only represent 21 per cent of daily media consumption, according to a study from industry researcher WARC on Thursday. The discrepancy adds up to a gap of US$94 billion, it said.
It’s been getting harder to judge whether social media ad spend is really working because Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are making it more difficult for advertisers to track consumers online.
That also poses a risk to the revenues of Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. Shares in both companies dropped after the Snap announcement, reflecting concerns that some marketing budgets will simply be redirected from social media.
Europe’s biggest ad agency networks WPP Plc and Publicis Groupe SA traded flat to slightly higher on Friday.
There’s little sign that the broader transfer of advertising dollars to platforms like Instagram and TikTok will end soon, or that the global crisis in supply chains is leading brands to rethink their ad strategies.
Clients in consumer goods, retail, automotive and electronics “continue to spend, continue to shift spend to digital and there have been no instances of any pullbacks,” said Martin Sorrell, chairman of S4 Capital Plc. “The comments around supply chain issues simply don’t reflect what we are seeing. In fact, we are experiencing the opposite.”
Steph Curry's 45-point performance against the Clippers caused a social media explosion – ESPN
Playing against Stephen Curry just isn’t fair sometimes.
And the Los Angeles Clippers were the latest to suffer the Steph experience.
The Golden State Warriors‘ point guard made up for his self-assessed “trash” performance in Tuesday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers. He dropped 45 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and made 8-of-13 shots from 3-point land in a close 115-114 victory over the Clippers in the Warriors’ home opener. Curry started the game perfectly — netting his first 10 shots of the contest. He never slowed down and carried the Warriors to an exciting victory.
So @StephenCurry30 had a night…
— NBA (@NBA) October 22, 2021
As the two-time MVP was lighting up the Clippers, social media exploded, offering thoughts on what everyone just witnessed from Curry. It’s safe to say the point guard left many in awe with his sensational scoring night.
@StephenCurry30 You’re SICK Man!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 22, 2021
Watching Steph Curry is art
— Paige Bueckers (@paigebueckers1) October 22, 2021
I did watch the end of the Warriors game. I love the Warriors. @StephenCurry30 is a revelation…
— Rochelle Riley (@rochelleriley) October 22, 2021
I honestly believe that the privilege of watching Steph Curry play 🏀 is one of God’s gifts to man
What a basketball sensation
— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) October 22, 2021
— Dr. Julian Hosp (@julianhosp) October 22, 2021
Steph Curry is locking in on being a top 10 player of all time and you Final MVP twitter thugs ain’t changing my mind
— SWAGGY C (@SwaggyCTV) October 22, 2021
Steph Curry is his own sport.
— Jared Wade (@Jared_Wade) October 22, 2021
It remains unclear how one should go about defending Steph Curry
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) October 22, 2021
Even though Curry had a masterful performance, maybe the most important takeaway from Thursday’s game is that the Warriors are 2-0 on a young NBA season.
— Famouslos32 (@famouslos32) October 22, 2021
Trump, barred from Twitter and Facebook, says he's launching his own social media site – CBC.ca
Nine months after being expelled from social media for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection, former president Donald Trump said Wednesday he’s launching a new media company with its own social media platform.
Trump says his goal in launching the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and its “Truth Social” app is to create a rival to the big tech companies that have shut him out and denied him the megaphone that was paramount to his national rise.
“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favourite American President has been silenced,” he said in a statement. “This is unacceptable.”
Conservative voices actually do well on traditional social media. On Wednesday, half of Facebook’s 10 top performing link posts were from conservative media, commentators or politicians, according to a daily list compiled by a New York Times technology columnist and an internet studies professor using Facebook’s own data.
TMTG talking big
Trump has spoken about launching his own social media site ever since he was barred from Twitter and Facebook. An earlier effort to launch a blog on his existing website was abandoned after the page drew dismal views.
TMTG has not set its sights low. In addition to the Truth Social app, which is expected to soft-launch next month with a nationwide rollout early next year, the company says it is planning a video-on-demand service dubbed TMTG+ that will feature entertainment programming, news and podcasts.
One slide in a TMTG presentation on its website includes a graphic of TMTG’s potential competitors, which range from Facebook and Twitter to Netflix and Disney+ to CNN. The same slide suggests that over the long term TMTG will also become a power in cloud computing and payments and suggests it will go head-to-head with Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Stripe.
TMTG also takes some jabs at Trump’s previous favourite social network. Slides accompanying the Truth Social preorders listing in Apple’s app store depict a social network that strongly resembles Twitter, right down to short messages and user handles preceded by “@” signs.
The same graphics also feature a user named Jack’s Beard, who in one image fumes when an employee pushes back on an order to delete a user and its posts, calling it “kinda an overreach.”
The Jack’s Beard account uses the handle @jack, which is the real Twitter handle of Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s CEO; Dorsey’s long scraggly beard has also drawn attention during his congressional appearances over Zoom.
Terms of service
The terms of service for Truth Social, meanwhile, bar users from annoying any of the site’s employees and from statements that “disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site.” It was not immediately clear who the “us” in that statement refers to.
In a release, the new venture announced it had been created through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWA), and said it seeks to become a publicly listed company.
DWA, based in Miami, is a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Such publicly traded companies are designed to list the shares of a private company more quickly than a traditional initial public offering.
In practice, that means the SPAC acquires a private firm and then changes its name and other details to those of the acquired firm.
Deal has initial value of $875M US
SPACs pay for their acquisitions with cash provided by investors who bought into the SPAC’s initial public offering. DWA’s Sept. 8 IPO raised $287.5 million US, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
DWA said it has raised roughly $293 million in cash, which it will use to grow TMTG’s ventures. Among the company’s biggest shareholders are several institutional investors, including Lighthouse Investment Partners, D. E. Shaw & Co., and Radcliffe Capital Management, according to an SEC filing. DWA said more details about the deal will be disclosed in upcoming filings.
The deal has an initial enterprise value, a measure that takes into account a company’s total debts and assets, of $875 million, according to the release. It still requires the approval of shareholders of both DWA and TMTG, as well as regulators.
Shares of Digital World Acquisition soared 94 per cent to $19.32 in morning trading.
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Tyme Wear has secured approximately 200 million ISK (~$1.4m) in funding led by the New Business Venture Fund. Tyme Wear is an Icelandic and US-based startup developing a wearable fitness technology that helps athletes personalize their training by accurately measuring their fitness thresholds from their breathing.
“This funding will help us finalize the development of our technology, and bring it to market,” said Arnar Lárusson, founder and CEO of Tyme Wear. “One of the biggest challenges athletes face, whether you’re an Olympian or training for your first 5km race, is how to combine the right intensity, duration, and frequency in order to improve while avoiding injury and overtraining. In the US alone, there are $9 billion a year spent on solving this problem, with no great solutions. It’s a great honor for us to have the New Business Venture Fund and our other investors join us in tackling this problem.”
Tyme Wear consists of a smart workout shirt and phone app that work together to create on-demand performance lab-quality insights. Soft sensors are integrated into the clothing in order to measure the wearers breathing and body movements 250 times per second, while algorithms analyze the data for insights that get displayed on the app.
Testing will continue this summer. The company expects they will start marketing and selling the product on a subscription basis in Europe next year, with the operation managed from Iceland.
“Tyme Wear is an exciting startup which we really believe in. It’s great to see Icelandic ingenuity being used to improve the training and performance of athletes. Improvements and technical innovations are increasingly important for the sports industry and it’s great to see new technical knowledge being developed. It’s clear that the technology offers many opportunities related to online and remote training, which will continue to see impressive gains in popularity,” states Friðrik Friðriksson, CFO of the New Business Venture Fund.


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If your thinking of taking a trip to Europe, now is a great time to go.
Research has revealed that hotel prices have dropped by almost 50 per cent since last year.
The study by TripAdvisor showed that an average nights stay in locations across Europe have seen prices drop dramatically from last year as the Eurozone continues to struggle.
Popular cities including Rome, Barcelona and Lisbon have seen hotel prices plummet.
Hotel rates in wallet-friendly Albufeira in Portugal have seen a drop from around £82 a night to £47 for a good nights sleep – a 42 per cent drop.
Even popular tourist spot Arles in France which boasts impressive Roman monuments – has seen a drop in hotel prices from around £83 to £55, 34 per cent.
TripAdvisor spokesperson Emma Shaw says: ‘It has been an economically-troubled year for much of Europe, particularly for the Eurozone countries, and we are seeing that hotels are dropping their prices in some very well-known tourist destinations.
‘For travellers looking for value for money, this is clearly good news. And with deals to be had in many destinations across Europe, 2012 looks like a good year for the short-haul holiday.’


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Saturday, August 17, 2019
August 01, 2013
David Amram welcomes Kent Supervisor Kathy Doherty and her two-year-old grandson Colin on Friday.
Cotton candy sales people drum up business at the fair.Dianne Olson and Dan Feeser display chocolate mint plans at the garden tent.Officia...
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Philadelphians don’t exactly need another reason to love the Reading Terminal Market, the city’s one-hundred-plus-year-old iconic public market, but here it is anyway: The whole place is 100 percent self-financed.
Not only are the tenant vendors local, independent businesses, tenant rents and sales cuts fund 90 percent of the Market’s budget. The rest comes mostly from an annual fundraiser that brings in about $100,000. Contrast that with General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, General Electric, Boeing, Amazon and 42 other companies that received more than $100 million each in state or local incentives from 2007 to 2012, according to an independent study by the New York Times.
The study found that state and local governments gave up $80.4 billion in incentives to “attract and retain” businesses for the purposes of “creating jobs.” It’s a number that author and local economy expert Michael Shuman is sure is actually much higher.
“There’s so many reasons why that is a dumb way of economic development,” Shuman says. “The most important of it is the growing mountain of evidence that the best and more important economic development comes from locally owned business.”
Shuman has written four books on local economies, most recently The Local Economy Solution, which came out in June.
“What I was responding to this time was how there were many groups who are doing good work on local economies, and their first impulse is to try and go out and raise foundation money to support their work, while many economic development departments are still stuck ponying up public dollars for economic development,” Shuman explains, citing the aforementioned New York Times study as well as a study he led himself.
Beginning about eight years ago, Shuman and his colleagues began compiling data on statewide economic development programs in the U.S. Choosing 15 states, largely rural given a secondary focus on food systems, they analyzed the three largest statewide economic development programs in each. Of the 45 programs they studied, 26 were giving less than 25 percent of their incentives to local businesses. Sixteen programs were giving 90 percent or more of incentives to non-local businesses.
And yet, there is “a growing universe of self-financing businesses that were undertaking the functions of economic development,” Shuman says. He calls them “pollinator businesses,” self-financing businesses that serve other businesses, whose mission is about building a great local economic marketplace. Reading Terminal Market is one of them, featured in the book.
The first thing you have to do, Shuman says, if you want to support “pollinator businesses,” is to shut down all of your existing economic development programs that are dedicated to “attract and retain.”
“Those are a dead end,” Shuman asserts. “Then you take some of the savings and perhaps you invest in some local entrepreneurs getting pollinators going. Many of the pollinators that I write about are interested in either helping startups elsewhere get going or deploying some kind of franchise model, so you don’t have to start from scratch on most of these things.”
He categorizes them into five different fields — planning, purchasing, people, partnership and purse pollinators. Purse pollinators, for example, include credit unions like Vancity, in Vancouver, British Columbia, which Shuman features in the book. It’s one of the largest credit unions in North America, with 500,000 members, providing 38,000 local businesses with credit, partnerships and technical assistance. (It’s not in the book, but check out this lending model created by a food co-op and credit union.)
One example of a partnership pollinator model is used by Tucson Originals, a local restaurants’ association in Tucson, Arizona. As one of its services to members, Tucson Originals offers pooled procurement. They survey members annually to find out the top 25 products that every restaurant uses, and then coordinates cumulative purchases from bulk suppliers. It’s a way to give small — and particularly minority-owned — firms a more equal playing field with large corporate chains.
“Many of the entrepreneurs in Tucson Originals are Latino sole proprietors,” Shuman notes. “There’s no conceptual reason why any of these programs, even if the existing ones are not targeted at low-income, or of color, could not be redesigned to do so. In fact, the more challenging the economic circumstances, the more one needs a pollinator design because you basically don’t have the resources to pay for economic development as usual.”
There remain some important kinks to work out with pollinators. “Most of these pollinator models, while they have a theory of self-financing, they haven’t quite done it yet,” Shuman says. For example there’s Reading Terminal Market’s annual fundraiser.
“We also don’t know how well they’re going to survive a crisis, a change of management, a strike, a shortage, whatever,” Shuman says. “I kind of warn people that most of the models that you read about are probably not going to be around in five or 10 years. That’s the bad news.”
“The good news is,” Shuman continues. “People are learning from them, people are adapting models and figuring out what went wrong and do better the next time.” Some of the pollinators Shuman writes about in The Local Economy Solution learned from failures he wrote about in his earlier books.
The bottom line, according to Shuman, is that even at the state and local level, public policy right now is systematically subsidizing big business to the disadvantage of small business. “Cities cannot coherently have strong economic development if they continue to do that,” he says.
Part of the response will have to come from civic engagement, one way or another. Shuman points out a need for transparency about how much incentives go to local versus non-local business might help, or more accountability about how much gets spent in incentives per each job created after the fact.
“Another approach, you might call a libertarian approach,” Shuman says, “Is to just get rid of all of it. I’m deeply sympathetic with that. It’s clean. It gets rid of a lot of corruption in politics.”
The Equity Factor is made possible with the support of the Surdna Foundation.
Oscar is Next City's senior economics correspondent. He previously served as Next City’s editor from 2018-2019, and was a Next City Equitable Cities Fellow from 2015-2016. Since 2011, Oscar has covered community development finance, community banking, impact investing, economic development, housing and more for media outlets such as Shelterforce, B Magazine, Impact Alpha, and Fast Company.


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Nowadays, there is nothing you can’t do on your phone. It’s all here: online casino payouts, find online casinos that accept interac here, wallet access, playing big games, and winning some cash.In 2021, the possibilities are endless for mobile gaming technology, so we take a look at what’s to come.
It certainly took a long time for virtual reality to become a reality. With it now being a staple for the likes of the PS5, its merging with mobile gaming will be the next step to full immersion.
When VR headsets become more cost-effective, they will naturally be linked to phones and other mobile devices.
In recent years, augmented reality has already been a huge hit with Pokémon GO as a great example. Nonetheless, its worth will be proved outside the gaming world as well. Whether it is your personal travel guide, sporting analyst or shopping accessory, the possibilities are limitless in 2021.
Mobile devices are replacing TV for entertainment, and gaming spectators will increase as more and more people choose to watch games on mobile devices. The reasoning makes sense. For years, we’ve been following sports with passion, so we just admire someone who’s one of the best at what we do. Doesn’t iGaming work the same way?
Gamers have become movie stars thanks to streaming sites such as Twitch. People who enjoy participating themselves also enjoy watching others to a great extent. Essentially, the traditional business model is flipped when the audience growth exceeds that of the player.
As a result, developers in 2021 will spend more time designing games around not only playing, but watching as well. You can switch between a single and a multiplayer view. There’s plenty of excitement and big money to be had.
Having the ability to direct your avatar, rather than merely controlling it, will have a huge effect on future gaming, especially for mobile devices. Trying to control the screen movement creates too many variables and mistakes, which could all be avoided through voice recognition.
We’re just one step closer to complete immersion, which can be easily combined with VR and AR in the future.
Despite the pandemic delaying 5G deployment, hardware hasn’t been affected. A report estimates that 43% of new devices will have 5G capability by the end of 2021. As a result of the sheer increase in data that can be transmitted through the network, speeds will rise to unprecedented heights. By doing so, mobile gamers will be able to play outdoors without experiencing any lag or cut-outs. In fact, we’d be well on our way to meeting our goals if it weren’t for COVID-19.
In conjunction with 5G, cloud gaming will open up many possibilities for your mobile device. By not being reliant on the hardware in your hand, players will have more freedom to play without first spending money on expensive equipment.
Based on the current storage capacity of powerful online servers, gamers can share gameplay hardware among each other to offer like-for-like gameplay on their mobile devices. To meet the demand, we just need to tweak the current technology.
In the wake of the ongoing pandemic, mobile game providers are focusing on adding social components to their games. As consumers’ demands change, developers adapt. Just take a look at the hangout rooms in games like Call Of Duty: Mobile.


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March 11 2014 The Battle For PayPal’s Future| PYMNTS.com eBay Inc.’s board of directors have been in a pitched battled with activist investor Carl Icahn.
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The Battle For PayPal’s Future| PYMNTS.com
eBay Inc.’s board of directors have been in a pitched battled with activist investor Carl Icahn.
As insults and accusations have flown, and more players have stepped up to be heard in the dispute over the future of eBay Inc.’s Payments Arms, it can be hard to keep track of who is say what about who.
Pymnts presents the high-(and-low)lights over the PayPal Proxy Fight over the last month-and-a-half
Investor Carl Icahn formally requests consideration for a move to split of payments service PayPal from parent companyt eBay Inc. He also makes public his intention to place two business associates on eBay’s board of directors
Icahn earlier in the month acquired shares and derivative securities that give him an economic interest of approximately 0.82% in eBay, the company reported
eBay publically acknowledges investor and shareholders’ rights advocate Carl Icahn’s suggestion that eBay inc. should spin-off PayPal should be to maximize shareholder value.
“We have tremendous respect for Mr. Icahn, so if he wants to talk with us, we’re happy to listen—just like we’ll do with all of our shareholders. Spinning off PayPal as a separate company from eBay Inc. is not a new idea. In fact, eBay’s management team and board routinely explore all of the company’s strategic options. And based on everything the company and board see today, we continue to believe that shareholders and customers are best served by keeping PayPal and eBay together.”
-Source: eBay Blog
eBay Stock spikes in response to Icahn proposal. Shares of the online retailer jumped higher after the online auction website revealed Icahn’s break-up proposal
“eBay is a big contributor to PayPal's growth and expansion," eBay CEO John Donahoesaid in a call with investors before the news broke
Source: CNN Money
Icahn fires back in an open letter to stockholders, reiterating the shareholder value in splitting off the payments arm of eBay Inc. He also excoriates eBay’s board as being rife with conflicts of interest – particularly board members Marc Andreesen and Scott Cook.
“…After diligently researching this company we have discovered multiple lapses in corporate governance… We have found ourselves in many troubling situations over the years, but the complete disregard for accountability at eBay is the most blatant we have ever seen. Indeed, for the first time in our long history, we have encountered a situation where we believe we should not even have to run a proxy fight to change the board composition. Rather, we believe that in any sane business environment these directors would simply resign immediately from the eBay Board, either out of pure decency or sheer embarrassment at the public exposure of the extent of their self-serving activities.
Source: Carl Icahn Open Letter
eBay responds to Icahn, asserts their internal process for dealing with potential conflicts and reiterates the boards commitment to leaving eBay and PayPalc connected.
“New eBay shareholder Carl Icahn has cherry-picked old news clips and anecdotes out of context to attack the integrity of two of the most respected, accomplished and value-driven technology leaders in Silicon Valley. Marc Andreessen and Scott Cook bring extraordinary insight, expertise and leadership to eBay’s board, which is scrupulous in its governance practices and fully transparent with regard to its directors’ other affiliations and businesses.”
Source: eBay Blog
Carl Icahn releases another open letter addressed to stockholders. Icahn renewed his complaints about Marc Andreessen and Scott Cook’s presence on the board, and urged for their removable due to conflicts of interest.
“The point is that because of the multiple hats they wear and a number of their actions, we believe that eBay directors Mr. Marc Andreessen and Mr. Scott Cook have clear conflicts which call into question whether they can adequately fulfill the duty of loyalty that every director owes to ALL eBay stockholders.”
Source: Carl Icahn, Open Letter
eBay’s Board Chairman, founder and largest shareholder Pierre Omidya responds to Icahn in a statement.
“Instead of having an honest discussion about a reasonable question, Mr. Icahn has chosen to attack the integrity of two highly respected and qualified board members, Scott Cook and Marc Andreessen. He also has attacked the integrity of our CEO John Donahoe.
Mr. Icahn’s attacks are false and misleading.”
Source: Pierre Omidya’s statement
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman weighs into the looming proxy fight with support for eBay’s embattled board and CEO.
“To me, what’s most interesting about this story is the light it sheds on the clash of values between Icahn’s Wall Street world and the culture of Silicon Valley.
…The fabled Eureka moments may lead to product breakthroughs. But they rarely lead to fully formed products, and they never lead to mature and fully formed businesses.
Innovation comes from long-term thinking and iterative execution.”
Source: Reid Hoffman LI Blog
Marc Andreessen rises to his own defense, and accuses Mr. Icahn of hypocrisy in his newly acquired standards on conflicts of interest…
Carl Icahn 2014, on eBay:
“I have never seen what looks to me to be such blatant disregard for fiduciary obligations to stockholders.” (1)
Carl Icahn 2005, according to the Washington Post: (2)
Carl Icahn is chairman of the board of XO and owns more than 60 percent of the company, a telecom-crash survivor that provides telephone and data communications services for businesses, using conventional wires and new-generation wireless hookups.
Source: Marc Andreessen Blog
eBay’s Board of Directors rejects Icahn’ handpicked selections for board two seats. Icahn’s choices were reportedly rejected for not being experienced enough.
“John’s track record of success at eBay, driving the company’s turnaround and growth, is well documented,” the said eBay’s board in a released statement. “Yet in pursuit of his own profit motives, Carl Icahn has made another unsubstantiated attack on John. Just like his previous ones, this attack is false and misleading and has already been utterly discredited by the facts.”
Icahn releases another open letter following the board’s decision, lambasting eBay’s culture of incompetence and predicting a grim future for PayPal
“However, on the other hand, I fear that if left under the management of eBay it (PayPal) will “wither” (as Elon Musk said). I believe that if it is left as a division of eBay, PayPal may well go the way of other former technology greats such as Blackberry, Dell, Eastman Kodak, Polaroid, Nintendo, Xerox, Sony, Palm, and AOL – the same way that Motorola Mobility may have gone had we not been able to convince Motorola’s board to bring in a new CEO and separate the companies – ultimately resulting in a sale to Google.”
Source: Carl Icahn Open Letter
Icahn has a changes tacks, and advocates for a partial IPO of PayPal that would still leave the majority of the company under eBay’s control.
“We believe conducting a 20% IPO of PayPal – and creating two dedicated and highly-focused independent businesses – will provide the best opportunity for these businesses to remain competitive over the long-term. The 20% IPO structure should alleviate any concern of lost synergies. All of the “secret sauce” and “flywheels” would be preserved. A 20% IPO of PayPal could allow for all of the benefits of an independent PayPal, preserves all of the benefits of keeping PayPal in-house and could be structured so as to be tax free to shareholders…”
Source: Carl Icahn Open Letter
eBay’s welcome’s Icahn’s change of proposal
“A partial separation of PayPal is not a new idea, and we’re glad to see that Mr. Icahn now seems to agree that a full separation of PayPal is not a good idea,”